Mick Doohan rides a Honda RC213V at the Philip Island Circuit

Mick Doohan rode a Honda RC213V MotoGP bike today, at the Philip Island Circuit. The five-time 500cc world champ said he was rusty, but enjoyed riding the bike...

Among Australian riders who’ve won the 500cc motorcycle grand prix racing world championship, there’s Wayne Gardner, who won the title in 1987, Casey Stoner, who took the crown in 2007 and 2011, and then there’s Mick Doohan, who won the 500cc world championship in 1994. And in 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1998. That’s right, the former Gold Coast resident won five 500cc world championships on the trot in the 1990s, earning the nickname ‘Dominant Doohan.’

Doohan retired from the 500cc GP class in 1999, when he only participated in the first two races of the season, leaving Spaniard Alex Criville to win the world championship that year. And now, at 47, Doohan is back. Well, just for the weekend, for a few exhibition laps around the Philip Island Circuit aboard the current Honda RC213V MotoGP bike, but for Doohan fans it was still a treat to see the old warrior ride the way he used to.

‘I was rusty, but it felt good. The last time I rode a Grand Prix bike at all was in the mid-2000s in Japan, so it’s been a long while. Repsol Honda gave me a fantastic opportunity to ride this year’s bike and I can’t thank them enough. It was a lot of fun, but I’m glad I’m not trying to line-up and go and qualify later this afternoon,’ said Doohan, speaking to SpeedCafe. The five-time 500cc world champ was lapping the circuit about 13 seconds slower than reigning MotoGP world champ Casey Stoner.

1984 Kawasaki GPZ 750 Turbo vs 2012 Kawasaki ZX-14R

Can a 30-year-old 750 - even one that's a relatively rare factory turbo - keep up with the fastest bus in the world? The Kawasaki GPZ 750 Turbo takes on the ZX-14R

‘30 Jahre K-Modelle’ BMW K1300S to be shown at the EICMA

This special edition K1300S, which is being released to mark the 30th anniversary of BMW's K-series bikes, will be displayed at the EICMA in Milan next month

BMW Motorrad will unveiled a new special edition ‘30 Jahre K-Modelle’ K1300S at the EICMA motorcycle show in Milan next month. This special edition K1300S marks the 30th anniversary of the BMW K series and gets a white/red/black paintjob, tinted windshield, electronic suspension adjustment (ESA II), a safety package that includes automatic stability control (ASC), heated grips, onboard computer an Akrapovič sports exhaust system.

BMW Motorrad launched the first K-series bike, the K100, in 1983 and this was the first BMW motorcycle to be fitted with a liquid-cooled inline-four engine. With electronic fuel-injection and BMW’s compact drive system with longitudinally-mounted crank and horizontal cylinder bank, the K100 was a pretty advanced piece of engineering for its time. BMW also brought anti-lock brakes (ABS) to its motorcycles with the late-1980s K-series machines, followed by 4-valve cylinder heads, Duolever front suspension and electronic suspension adjustment.

Today, while the S1000RR is BMW’s flagship sportsbike, the K1300S continues to be an excellent sports-tourer, the K1300R is a big, handsome super-naked sportsbike and the K1600GT/GTL is a brilliant touring bike. BMW have covered most bases with the K-series, though we do wish they’d build a naked K1600R that combines the K1300R’s styling with the K1600GT’s six-cylinder engine. A modern-day German version of the Honda CBX1000? Yes indeed, bring on the K1600R already…

Nicki Pedersen’s motorcycle speedway masterclass on Fifth Gear

Open the throttle and sling it sideways to make it turn. Speedway bikes are not for the faint of heart. Nicki Pedersen, one of the best in the business, shows how it's done...

Nicki Pedersen, from Denmark, knows a thing or two about speedway. He would, because he’s won the Speedway World Championship in 2003, 2007 and 2008 and he’s been the Speedway World Cup champ in 2006, 2008 and 2012. So if a bike rides on skinny wheels and tyres, has just one gear and no brakes, is powered by a 500cc single-cylinder four-stroke engine that runs on pure methanol and produces about 75bhp, and must be made to powerslide in order to turn, Pedersen would be the man to ride such a machine.

The 35-year-old Pedersen recently appeared on one of our favourite TV shows, Fifth Gear, where he explained motorcycle speedway in some detail and showed Vicki Butler-Henderson how to ride a speedway bike. With a 1:1 power:weight ratio (and, remember, no brakes…), a speedway racebike is the devil’s own work and riding one at race pace is certainly not for the faint of heart. So watch the video to see how Ms Butler-Henderson fares on one of Pedersen’s bikes…

Source: Fifth Gear

Kreater Custom Motorcycles strut their stuff

Honestly, we don't know too much about Kreater or their bikes. But we did like their video. For more information about Kreater, visit their website