Articles by Mike Ryan

A rare example of the 'longest production motorcycle ever built' will shortly be auctioned in the US, as part of the huge Las Vegas motorcycle sale hosted by MidAmerica Auctions.

Stage 6 of the 2012 Dakar was cancelled following potentially dangerous weather in the form of heavy snow and subzero temperatures on the planned route. Riders joined all other classes and support vehicles in crossing the 'Paso San Francisco' border crossing in convoy. The weather conditions - as low as minus 8 degrees Celsius at one point - forced a revision of the route that added an additional 200 kilometres in order to reach the original Stage 6 finish point at Copiapo, Chile.

Stage 5 of the 2012 Dakar was characterised by bad weather and the notorious sand dunes of Fiambala, one of the most challenging and energy-sapping sections of the entire rally.

Mecum Auctions' Florida auction event is a showcase of American muscle, race and custom cars that runs over six days. While motorcycle consignments for the auction, held at the Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee, Florida are minimal, there are some standouts amongst them, like this restored Harley-Davidson board track racer.

Making a stand at Kawasaki showrooms across Australia, the world's most powerful production motorcycle has arrived. The 2012 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14R ABS comes complete with 3-mode KTRC (Kawasaki TRaction Control), selectable power modes and optimized ABS settings. Kawasaki is offering the newest Ninja for the same price as its outgoing predecessor - $19,999 plus on road costs.

The "battle of the KTMs" between Spain's Marc Coma and France's Cyril Despres continued on Stage 4 of the 2012 Dakar, with the two past champions continuing to be the class of the field.

The third stage of the 2012 Dakar rally, from San Rafael to San Juan, showed that in the motorcycle class, at least, this year's event will be a battle of two between experienced campaigners and former winners, Marc Coma and Cyril Despres. A combination of skill from Despres and misfortune from Coma saw the Frenchman come out on top, winning the stage and moving into the overall lead.

After a cautious start on the opening day's stage, Spain's Marc Coma hit the accelerator on Stage 2 of the 2012 Dakar, putting some distance between himself and his main rivals for victory, starting with Cyril Despres, who is almost 3 minutes behind in the general standings.

The 2012 Dakar commenced on January 1, and the opening day's 57km stage from Mar Del Plata to Santa Rosa Del Pampa saw Chilean rider Francisco Lopez win ahead of race favourite, Spain's Marc Coma. But the opening leg of the 2012 event was marred by the death of Jorge Martinez Boero.

When it comes to getting your first motorcycle, there are heaps of LAMS models to choose from. Most first timers tend to go for road bikes, rather than cruisers, road/trail machines or scooters. In order to capture that slice of the market, Korean brand Daelim broadened their scooter-based range to add the 'VJF 250' manual roadbike in 2009. Australian riders got their first look at the VJF 250 in late 2010, when Victorian-based Mojo Motorcycles relaunched the Daelim brand locally.

After featuring as the top selling lot from the recent auction of the Lee Roy Hartung Collection, two examples of the rare and highly collectable 'Flying Merkel' marque have been consigned for the Las Vegas Premier Motorcycle Auction, to be held on January 12 - 14, 2012.

The CB 125E is the latest addition to Honda's entry-level range. Billed as a reliable, economical and fuel-efficient machine, the CB 125E will be released early in 2012 at the bargain price of only $1,990 MLRP.