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Colin Fraser: Catching up with Jordan Szoke

Greg MacPherson — Wed, 24 Aug 2022 19:37:55 +0000

Canada’s best-ever Superbike competitor, Jordan Szoke, attended a number of races this year. Fourteen-time Canadian Superbike ‘number one’ Szoke made it to all but one of the 2022 National CSBK races, as well as a recent Flat Track Canada National, representing long-time sponsor Canadian Kawasaki Motors. Unfortunately, Szoke was spectating, not competing, in 2022. A […]

Colin Fraser: Back to the MotoGP Grind

Greg MacPherson — Wed, 16 Feb 2022 19:37:17 +0000

At the end of last week, the second and final full blown off-season test for the MotoGP Series took place at the Mandalika International Street Circuit on Indonesia. For those who could be confused, this is the track that held the deciding event of the 2021 World Superbike Championship but has not yet hosted a […]

CSBK Spoiler Alert!

Greg MacPherson — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 19:47:24 +0000

This weekend, Alex Dumas (Suzuki), Ben Young (BMW) and Jordan Szoke (Kawasaki) will fight it out during the final two CSBK Pro Superbike Feature Race Nationals of this season, deciding the 2022 number one title. This year, these three have dominated proceedings, with little interruption – after five races, only Suzuki’s Trevor Daley has joined […]

Colin Fraser: Podium Productions

Greg MacPherson — Wed, 18 Aug 2021 15:09:54 +0000

The second event of the 2021 CSBK National Road racing championship took place on Sunday at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, with a strong completion to three days at “old Mosport” that featured almost everything imaginable except a plague of locusts. Due to severe schedule issues, all of Sunday’s Podiums took place at the end of […]

Colin Fraser: CSBK 2011. Szoke vs. McCormick

Colin Fraser — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 02:10:42 +0000

As the Canadian Superbike Championships awaits the chance to start its 2021 season – following several pandemic-related delays – it seems like a good time to have a look back through CSBK National Road race history. Our focus is ten years ago, in 2011, when the series was still struggling to deal with the fallout from the financial melt down that started late in 2008. There were far fewer opportunities for Canadian racers ten years ago, certainly when compared to the boom years of the decade previous.

Colin Fraser: Real Road Racing in Canada

Colin Fraser — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 00:47:06 +0000

One of the basic items of confusion in motorcycle competition are the terms road racing and roadracing. Roadracing defines pavement competition where leathers are worn and knees – and sometimes elbows – are dragged on the ground. In road racing, the activity is similar, but the action takes part on formerly open public roads. The Isle of Man Tourist Trophy is the most famous active road race.

Welcome to the Vallee Report

Todd Vallee — Thu, 05 Jul 2018 21:56:01 +0000

The call came from Inside Motorcycles’ editor Patrick Lambie and I would be telling a fib if I said it caught me by surprise.

Trevitt’s Blog: Can Two-Strokes Make a Comeback?

Andrew Trevitt — Fri, 07 Apr 2017 20:16:53 +0000

KTM and Husqvarna recently announced that they will be producing two fuel-injected two-stroke models for 2018, as part of their respective enduro lineups. (The Husqvarnas will be essentially rebadged KTMs, as are most of the company’s models.) While most manufacturers, including KTM and Husqvarna, offer a range of two-stroke dirt bikes, there have been few […]

Trevitt’s Blog: Cornering ABS and using the rear brake

Andrew Trevitt — Thu, 12 Jan 2017 00:53:37 +0000

One rider aid that is available on an increasing number of new motorcycles is cornering ABS, sometimes incorporated into a stability control package. In its basic form, a cornering ABS function takes into account the motorcycle’s lean angle to adjust brake pressure, increasing the ABS effectiveness beyond a simple straight-line stop. However, as I outlined […]

Street to Track Blog: Track Days, Part II

Patrick Lambie — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 22:40:00 +0000

To be totally honest, my first track day of 2016 started out as a complete disappointment. I arrived at Castrol Raceway's road course confident and ready to ride, having just successfully completed Justin Knapik's On Track Performance Race School less than 24 hours earlier. In seemingly no time at all, my intermediate group received a five-minute warning, and in the time that it takes to start your bike, put on your helmet and gloves and line up, I was out on the track.

Trevitt’s Blog: Electromagnetic Valve Control (video)

Graeme Jones — Mon, 31 Oct 2016 21:47:28 +0000

While variable valve timing has been a hot topic over the last few weeks with the introduction of the updated GSX-R1000 featuring Suzuki's innovative mechanical VVT system, many companies are working toward the next step in this area: eliminating camshafts completely and controlling the valves directly using electromagnetic actuators. There are many stumbling blocks to electromagnetic valve actuation (EVA), but a research group in the Control and Automation Laboratory of the University of British Columbia has created a new type of actuator that may make EVA a very realistic option in the not-too-distant future.

From Street to Track: Track Days, Part 1

Patrick Lambie — Thu, 27 Oct 2016 22:17:51 +0000

There is nothing that can replace the one-of-a-kind adrenaline rush that accompanies pushing the limits of a modern motorcycle. Having accepted that the most appropriate setting in which to do so is in a controlled environment, I dedicated the 2016 season to the track. After investing time and resources into preparing the bike, accumulating gear […]