On Suzuki’s endurance GSX-R1000R, the mudguards, fairing and winglets are made of flax instead of carbon. Swiss manufacturer Bcomp openly names the strengths and weaknesses of the material, and a crash at Suzuka showed how the parts behave when it really matters.
Casey Stoner refuses to accept that MotoGP is leaving Phillip Island after this season. Shortly before the last Grand Prix on the island, the former world champion announces that he will fight for the track’s return to the calendar.
For a year now, rumble strips on the twisty country road between Zella-Mehlis and Oberhof have been meant to slow down speeders on two wheels. The results are mixed, and in November the accident commission will decide what happens to the strips next.
MotoGP is overhauling its race weekend from 2027: the Sprint gets its own qualifying session on Friday, and the Warm-up on Sunday is dropped. This changes the schedule on all three days, and riders will have less free practice time in the very year of the new 850s.
Serious motorcycle crashes keep happening at the so-called Applauskurve on the B62 near Netphen. Now the accident commission is to decide at a special meeting whether motorcyclists there will face further restrictions, up to and including a ban.
From early October, seven new posters from the road safety campaign “Runter vom Gas” (Slow Down) will be displayed along German autobahns, painted by girls aged between nine and twelve. Behind the designs lies a months-long selection process in which drastic alternatives and AI-generated drafts ultimately played no role.
On the twisty L698 over the Kohlberg between Altena-Dahle and Neuenrade, residents have been complaining about noise and excessive speed for years. The CDU group on Altena’s town council wants to change that with a ten-point plan ranging from new speed limits to a fixed speed camera.
After four fatal motorcycle crashes this year, authorities, municipalities and police in Baden-Baden have agreed on a joint package of measures for the Black Forest High Road. More checks with drones and unmarked vehicles are planned, while logbook orders, one-way systems and the confiscation of motorcycles are also being examined.
