Ducati hoolaganism in the streets of Indy

Just up is a video of Randy Mamola with Antron Brown riding monkey on which sounds like a Ducati D16 Biposto. Don't let this guy borrow your bike! Mamola is a 13 time MotoGP 500 champion so it goes without saying that the man can ride... But man, I'm not sure I'd like to be Mr. Brown during all that angry bike piloting. Enjoy the video!

KTM.. uh.. Dance?

Just found this and thought I'd share it so I wouldn't have to suffer alone. Actually, it's pretty funny.

I think.

KTM Fall Sales Promotion

The Letko Cycles

SEPTEMBER SELL-OUT

Fall Sales Promotion!

This Fall, Letko Cycles had the opportunity to purchase additional '09 model bikes from KTM and would like to pass some $aving$ on to you.

Here's how it works:

Buy a NEW in stock KTM and recieve a FREE pair ofBULLETPROOF DESIGNS radiator guards and choose one of two savings options..

• OPTION A - $500 PARTS CREDIT (good on anyKTM brand hard parts, accessories, or apparel. Includes Leo-Vince brand exhaust, Flatland Racing or Bulletproof Designs add-ons.
• OPTION B - FULL suspension service (including springs) by Letko Cycles and Liechti Racing/Race Tech Service Center.

What a better way to get your new bike set-up than to start with FREE stuff!?!?

Contact Letko Cycles for eligible units! Offer ends October 31rst 2009.

Get your NEW bike now and SAVE $$$$$$!

Video of the Letko Track day at HPT

It took a bit, but we have video of the Heartland Park track day up! The above video is the "Letko Lunch" where during the lunch break, riders were encouraged to try our demos for a couple of laps around the park to see the Ducati difference first hand. Streetfighter, M1100 S and M696 all make an appearance as well as the 848 Superbike.

Video is via the HPT control rider video crew. Special thanks to Joel Brooks who sent the vids to us!

RoMANIACS!

Looking for 2009 KTM RedBull Romaniacs highlights? Got em!

If you're not sure what the RedBull Romaniacs hard enduro is... I'm not really sure how to explain it. You really have to see it to believe it. Especially the urban stages!!

IDM racing: KTM starting to make waves

Well, starting to make waves isn't exactly appropriate as the Austrian manufacturer KTM and it's RC8 superbike have podium finishes already this season. However, for the Assen race, there were 5 RC8s on the playing field and three finished in the top 10! That's impressive for a company that most folks here in the U.S. still don't realize make road-bikes. Now that I think about it, most folks never even heard of KTM here, so... SURPRISE! You can read more about the Assen race on KTM's site.

Current standings in the IDM league:

1. Joerg Teuchert, Germany, Yamaha, 248 2. Stefan Nebel, Germandy, KTM 175 3. Werner Daemen, Belgium, 150 4. Gabor Rizmayer, Hungary, 149 5. Arne Tode, Germany, 141 11. Kai Borre Andersen, 60 12. Didier van Keymeulen, Belgium, 59

MotoGP: Indianapolis on Deck!

The 12th stage of the premier international motorcycle racing theatre known as MotoGP is happening this weekend at Indianapolis for it's second time in as many years. Nicky Hayden, home-favorite, former world-champion and Ducati pilot will be wearing a special one-off Make-A-Wish Foundation helmet which will be auctioned off afterwards to benefit.. Well, Make-A-Wish.

Let's hope he doesn't use the helmet before they auction it off!

Mika Kallio, Hayden's temporary team-mate will be at Indy in his first U.S. race with Casey Stoner still recuperating in the wings. Ducati says that they believe Stoner's recovery will have him back in the saddle by the time the Estoril stage arrives.

Personally, I kinda enjoy having the untested Kallio on the field as it brings a level of excitement and mystery (not to mention anxiousness!).

Make sure you wear your Ducati GP Red this weekend, and if you're like us and can't make it to the MotoGP extravaganza, you can buy your Ducati shirts here at Letko and support from home :)

On the horizon with MV Agusta

Okay, here's the info that I was searching around for:

A couple of print mags recently published that MV had a middleweight triple in the works. I immediately thought of it as a typo ("They've must of meant Triumph right?"), but concept pictures seem to prove otherwise.

It looks like Castiglioni's old company is utilizing some of that new Harley-Davidson money to produce new engine designs and thus open up their market. Good job!

The 675cc triple catagory, once dominated by Triumph is getting some attention from BMW and Benelli as well perhaps now that the 675 is World Supersport legal. Having the Daytona 675 be the brand's best-seller in 2008 probably attracted a small bit of attention too.

Read more here.

Flashback: The MV Agusta... That wasn't

Since I'm at home sick today, I find myself with all sorts of time to update the blog. You have to see the treasure I just found!

Apparently, MV Agusta isn't immune to the waste that is cross-platform promotion. It looks like, last year some time, they teamed up with French auto manufacturer Citroen to produce a one-off special edition "Brutale" based on the Citroen C2 hot hatch.

Special seats and Brutale paint scheme doesn't exactly equal coveted in my book, but its worth a look all the same if not for the pure gonzo-ness of the idea.

Check out the MCN article here for more deets.

Ducati Cayenne?

Apparently, the new Ducati Multistrada replacement for 2010 has changed names. It's unofficial title was previously the Strada Aperta, but now it is the...

Wait for it!

Ducati Cayenne!

Yeah, I'm not too hot on that one either. (Pun intended) Porsche already has an ugly soft-roader of the same name, and now, so does Ducati. Allegedly.

The offical info release of the Triumph Tiger-esque BMW GS-like do-it-all bike has yet to be released by Bologna Panigale, but there are plenty of spy shots and concept renderings available if you're into Google Images. The only information that seems to be confirmed by those in the know is that the bike will be seeing the 1098 superbike engine instead of the previously rumored 1200 dual spark motor.

155 horsepower in a psuedo dual-sport? Yeah, that is hot!

The teaser!

What does BBQ, Mario and Ducatis have to do with each other?

Oh yeah, it's coming...

RedBull Air racer gets grounded via KTM

2008 RedBull AirRace champion and current 2009 points leader Hannes Arch recently took delivery of a KTM 990 Super Duke and apparently its news. Already an owner of an LC4 enduro, the Duke will join his stable of toys alongside his... plane? Allaboutbikes.com has the full monty on whats what; click here to check it out!

For more on Hannes Arch, click here to peruse his site.

Shaken AND Stirred

This is awesome!

Martini-Ducati? Yes please! This special one-off was revealed recently at the Historic Races in Monterey. You can read the where and why here.

MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo... For Ducati?

It's arguable that Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo is the best of the next-gen riders in the premier class of motorcycle road racing. In fact, if not for the best of the current-gen riders still winning races (Valentino, obviously) Lorenzo would currently be first in the points standings.

Apparently, Malboro and Phillip Morris have noticed this as well and have made Lorenzo a 13 Million pound bumper deal to join the Ducati team if Stoner doesn't regain his fitness. The two-year deal was optioned out this week during the testing in Brno. The 22-year old Spaniard apparently acknowledged the Ducati option, but did not say whether or not he was seriously considering it, despite his issues with Yamaha.

You can read more here.

AMA Enduro: Taddy wins.. Again!

Taddy Blazusiak wins his second Endurocross event in a row this weekend in Gunthrie, OK. The RedBull KTM rider ran first after second lap and despite two crashes, carried enough gap to take the first finish. Other KTM riders Aaron and Haaker finished fourth and fifth.

You can read more, here.

Road Racing: Weekend Results

Lots of road racing this weekend with the MotoGP in Brno and an AMA weekend at the Virginia International Raceway.

AMA:

Foremost Ducati rider Larry Pegram had a decent weekend following the last race double-header win in Topeka. He finished fourth behind Bostrom, Hayden and Hayes.

Results:

1. Josh Hayes (Yamaha)
2. Tommy Hayden (Suzuki)
3. Ben Bostrom (Yamaha)
4. Larry Pegram (Ducati)
5. Aaron Yates (Suzuki)
6. Taylor Knapp (Suzuki)
7. Blake Young (Suzuki)
8. Neil Hodgson (Honda)
9. Mat Mladin (Suzuki)
10. Jake Holden (Honda)

MotoGP:

With Casey Stoner out for three races it was up to Nicky Hayden and Stoner replacement Mika Kallio to make up for his absence and hopefully gain some manufacturer's points for Ducati. While the race was really a battle between Yamaha riders Rossi and Lorenzo, Hayden did have an impressive finish after fighting with Edwards for sixth. This week at Brno, the manufacturers are getting rare testing session time which is a bit unfortunate for the Malboro Ducati team as Stoner is on sick leave.

More info is available here and here.

The KTM you never knew existed

The KTM X-Bow (crossbow) has been in development and thus limited production for a while overseas. This four-wheeled monster is a track eating, corner conquering beast of which we may never see here in the states... At least, anytime soon. Powered by an audi 2.0L engine and wrapped in lots of carbon fiber, this car comes in three different trims. Watch the video above for Fifth-Gear's review, or check out KTM's site for official info.

Wanting a race 848? Look no further than to Larry Pegram Racing!

While tooling around on the Formost Ducati rider Larry Pegram's site this morning, I found some toys that might interest you wannabe racers out there. He has two 848s with race engines in them ready for the track! Features include:

• Race bodywork
• Vortex Sprockets and gas cap
• Sato rearsets
• Ohlins ttx shock
• revalved Ohlins forks
• Adjustable ride height
• Quick-remove cases
• Titanium rods and valves
• High compression Wiseco pistons
• Slipper clutch
• Ported heads
• Lightened flywheel
• close-ratio transmission
• race-kit camshafts

All for $25K. If you want more info (You know you do!), check out Pegram Racing!

2010 KTMs have arriveth!

We just recieved three new '10 KTM dirt bikes... All special editions! One of the three is a Six Days edition 450 XCW and the other two are Redbull Championship edition EXCs; one 450 and one 530. They're not setup yet, but you can still come by and check them out! And if you've been waiting for the 2010 models to show up so you can get a killer deal on that '09 you've been salivating over, now is the time!

MotoGP: Casey Stoner out for three races.

image snagged from motogp.com

Looks like Stoner is out and Kallio is in. In a crazy chain of events, the fatigued Casey Stoner (Australia) is stepping out of the GP in hopes to recover is health whilst satellite Ducati rider, Mika Kallio(Finland) will replace him on the Malboro Ducati team.

You read the Reuters India article here.

You can read the MotoGP.com post here.

Letko Track Day: Aftermath

I used to laugh about how excited John and James Avelluto were about taking their bikes on the track; it was as if they were getting ready to go to sleep on Xmas eve and had all the Ninja Turtle toys listed on their Xmas list.

Yeah, just like that.

Well, two days after my first track day experience, I find myself, and everyone else here, still excited and ready to go back for a second helping of road race pie. Leigh, Josh, Mario, Jared.. We're all itiching for another day of tarmac, bumper strips and leather onesies in 97 degree heat.

Delicious!

I believe another track day is in the works. If you haven't done it before, or haven't in a while, we highly suggest you come and join us in the fun!

Letko Track Day well represented

Yesterday at Heartland Park Topeka, The Letko Crew participated in a special track day. Besides someone whom I won't mention dropping our 848 demo during a corner braking miscalculation, it went pretty smooth. Everyone had plenty of chances to ride and we even let folks ride our demos on the course during the lunch break.

There were a good number of Suzukis, Yamahas, even a few KTMs (!!) but we were all very surprised about the number of Ducatis that showed up to ride the course; we hear a lot of our customers present and future talk about not wanting to damage their bikes by taking it out on the track, but after a number of laps, you realize that the track is what Ducati built bikes for. And because there is no traffic, unknown road conditions, etc. you're more likely to wad up your bike on the street anyway.

I was out on the track quite a bit and didn't get very many pictures, but you can view the ones I did take here.

STAR coming to town

Jason Pridmore and his STAR motorcycle school is coming back to Topeka this year (Sept 31 and 1rst). If you're like me and have been dying to learn yourself some sportbike skills, this is the place to go. Jason, former AMA racer and FIM endurance nice guy, is reknown in his teaching ability. So not only do you get the tips you want from a guy who has experience, you also will learn something. Awesomeness!

I've already signed up to become a better rider, and hope to see you at Heartland Park!

You can learn more about Jason, his staff, and the upcoming school by visiting his website.

New bikes in: KTM ADVENTURE 990

I've called everyone I promised to call (Sorry David, your voicemail inbox is full buddy!), so now I'm going to let everyone else know what's what! We just recieved a (apparently super rare) 2009 KTM Adventure in adventure white.

We are trying to carry more, but KTM dual-sports and adventures are very, very hard to get at the moment (blame the rocky trails of Colorado).

If you're interested, don't call. Don't email. Just come down and get it.

Old but good news

In case you weren't aware, this past weekend in Topeka at Heartland Park, Larry Pegram and his Ducati 1098R superbike pretty much owned the weekend. He had that fastest time on Friday in free practice and superpole, won his first race on Saturday and won his second race on Sunday. It was Pegram's first double-header win in the AMA and we at Letko Cycles were there for it!

We have pictures up and if you'd like to take a look, click here.

New Blog, new way to keep you informed!

We've been wanting to do this for a while... Figured it be a good way to keep those who care abreast of what's going on at Letko, especially if those individuals aren't privvy to Facebook or Twitter.

This is the first post; it's kind of a test of sorts. Expect more. Lots more!

-Keith