What’s up guys? You guys are probably sick to death at the point of the new Honda VFR1200. I know I am. The amount of press that Honda has been cramming down our throats has been, quite literally, choking us to death.

Well, get ready for more, because apparently Honda of the UK has effectively banned owners of VFR800 and other previous VFRs from riding the 2010 Honda VFR1200. I know what you are thinking, WHAT?!?

MCN, England’s largest bike publication, had scheduled a loan of a VFR1200, nicknamed Shamu in order to get real riders’ opinions of the new bike. But, when Honda got wind of MCN’s plans to put VFR owners on the bike and then publish their opinions, they balked, ordering the paper not to allow anyone but editorial staff on the heavyweight V4. MCN’s response? They won’t test it. Cheers! Right?

European journalists have been complaining about everything from the VFR1200’s 591lbs weight to the expected price of repair following a low-speed spill to much more serious criticisms like the 160-mile tank range and the uncomfortable seat. Following that coverage, Honda’s refusal to allow consumers on to the bike before it reaches showrooms is damning. Many other publications claim that that demonstrates a shocking lack of faith in their own product’s ability to weather criticism.

Hmmm… I have a different take. With the downward facing global economy, our great friends at MCN tried to do something different and push the envelope with this particular testing. Sure, regular schmoes get to test ride new bikes for the first time. Of course, they would have the public on their side!

Honda’s concern and refusal are standard operating procedure. Think of the liability! These are not trained professional riders/writers. It’s going to be a fiasco. Honda did right but that doesn’t mean they won’t pay for it. Much like other media, the motorcycle community is going to tear Honda a new one over this.

The motorcycle media is going to have a feeding frenzy over this. Sorry Honda. All I can do is not join in. All things aside, things are not shaping up well for the new VFR…

Stay tuned for more updates, folks.

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Hey guys, welcome to my first editorial piece of 2010. 2009 was a bad year for many of us in the automobile industry. With record low sales, repossessions, and record bankruptcy filings, buying new cars and motorcycles was the last thing on everyone’s list.

Just a quick recap of 2009, to prove my point later. 2009 saw the birth and death of the disastrous Cash for Clunkers fiasco. Yes, dealers were able to move a few new models in the beginning, only to have the irresponsible default again on the new loan. Motorcycle sales were so bad for the big four that Suzuki is not even importing any 2010 models this year. Why? The 2009 models are still sitting on showroom floors!

So, this brings me to my concern. What happens to auto insurance companies when no one is buying any new vehicles? Sure, people still have to insure their old cars, but with the economy the way it is, they probably stick with liability coverage only. With less new auto loan companies requiring full coverage, the insurance companies are making less money.

Enter cheap insurance offered by online companies. By moving business online, companies cut out many costs associated with traditional offices. No office rent means less supply costs. No office equals less employees to pay. Employees working from home will use their own computers. Etc. etc.

But with so many of these cheap insurance boutiques opening up, the quality of service tends to take a downward spiral. No more one-on-one face time with your insurance adjuster, because time is money, and they have many other clients. And with profits being razor thin, companies tend to watch out only for themselves, which in turn hurts the customer.

My point, and advice? Stick with the larger, more established insurance companies, if you can afford it. When and if you should be in an accident, it will pay off. However, if like the rest of the millions of other Americans, you are strapped for cash, and are a relatively safe driver, then by all means, try one of the cheap insurance companies online.

If nothing else, they usually have great websites that are chock full of free information. Most of these cheap insurance websites have different pages on how to apply for discounts, what to do if you need to file a claim, etc, etc.

I’ll try to get back to my point now. While 2009 may have been a bad year for us in the automobile industry, as well as for everyone else, it has been a long time coming.

The economic trend in America for the past few decades has been poverty to boom, reset, poverty to boom. With a war inserted in the pattern. So, with no major war in site, and all these government band-aids implemented, we are just making that inevitable rest all the more worse.

I know it’s strange for me to give economic advice here, but start saving folks. You don’t need the 2010 BMW S1000rr, or the 2010 Aprilia RSV4. Take care of your current ride, or rebuild a classic. I think that is the direction IPM will be taking this year. Hope you guys enjoy the ride!

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Hey guys, it’s difficult to believe that another year has come and almost gone. But, here we are again at year’s end! And as always, it’s a tradition to look back on things accomplished and significant events during these times.

Since the formation of IPM, Triumph motorcycles have always been staples in our garage. From the Speed Triple, to the Daytona 675, to the Street Triple. We have always supported them and have watched as they grew by leaps and bounds in the past three years.

So, it is with great pride that we announce that Triumph has promised to grow its range “significantly” in the next three years, as it celebrates becoming the best-performing bike firm in the world. We kind of believe that we had a little something to do with that!

The Hinckley firm’s profits have grown 16% during the worst year for biking ever, and claim they will plunge that profit straight into new model development.

Triumph’s Product Manager Simon Warburton states: “We’ve been very active in the last five years releasing new models. Apart from Ducati, everyone else has been fairly static. Three years ago we had 13 models, now we have 16, and despite the recession we have not cut our development program at all – I suspect other manufacturers have cut theirs. Our range will grow significantly over the next three years.”

So, what’s next? Triumph won’t confirm anything, but we here at IPM are hoping for a 1050 Daytona (but not likely, as the trend in automobiles have been to go smaller and more fuel efficient, so it’s likely that motorcycles will follow), or a smaller Tiger/Sprint, but the most likely at this point, is a lighter evolution of the top-selling 675.

Happy holidays everyone, and thanks for coming along for the ride. And, as always, stay tuned!

Be sure to check out Triumph Boards and all the other motorcycle brand forums we sponsor!

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What’s going on guys? Remember that video of the Lamborghini Gallardo vs. the Ducati 999? Legendary. It spawned a slew of wannabe car vs. motorcycle videos on Youtube, most notably the follow up Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera vs. Ducati 1098 vid. But none could come close to the popularity of the original.

While browsing the internet the other day, I came across a video by our counterparts across the pond, MCN. Those crazy blokes pit a Ferrari 430 Scuderia against a Ducati Desmosedici.

Car fans will argue a supercar can out-brake and out-corner a bike, but a bike’s power-to-weight ratio is much better, so in a straight race the car will never even get close enough to the bike. Check it out!

So, which is better? As you saw in the video, they pit one of the arguably best road bikes in the world against one of the best road cars, in perfect conditions at the Almeria circuit in Spain. Who cares? Enjoy it!

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Although I was not at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for this year’s Red Bull U.S. GP this past week, I did manage to catch the AMA/DMG American Superbike race on my TiVo. And I have got to say, I have a very different perspective than Dave, and am amazed at what a joke that DMG has made the sport into.

It all started with a botched start by Tommy Hayden, when he jumped prematurely and then took off, after which the AMA held all the riders on the grid instead of turning the lights green as they should have.

Then, chaos ensued. Furious riders threw their hands in the air as their tires cooled to surely unsafe temperatures. After agonizing minutes, they were sent back around for another warm-up lap.

The second start was then marred by Ben Bostrom getting into Turn 2 far too deep, appearing to lock up the rear end as he low-sided and took out several riders in the process – Neil Hodgson and Larry Pegram included. But, it got worse.

In an attempt to “control the field”, as riders completed the first lap, the AMA hastily threw up a double-yellow flag. They then sent the pace car out, positioning it on top of the hill in the Turn 1 area, sitting at a dead stop. What the fuck, right?

Now remember, this is a point on the track in which the riders would first have seen the car gunning it at full speed on 200+ horsepower superbikes, bunched together. Not exactly a lot of time or space to get slowed down.

As the riders proceeded through Turn 2, the pace car made its way onto the track via the outside line, trying to merge in mid-pack as it veered onto the racing line, with two wheels still in the dirt and a pack of motorcycles flying past it at more than double the speed. Who the fuck was driving that thing?

The riders then slowed to a crawl, all looking at each other in confusion. Why was there a car in the middle of a fucking full fledged motorcycle race? Then, the AMA red-flagged the race, and called for a full restart. OMG, right?

By this time, the AMA/DMG and American Superbike race looked like such a cluster-fuck that when the third, and finally successful restart happened, no one seemed to even be paying attention. It’s a shame, too, as Mat Mladin made a heroic run from a poor start to take an awesome victory.

I’ve got one thing to say: Hey DMG, this ain’t NASCAR!

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