MotoGP Conspiracy: Is Yamaha Secretly Racing the 850? + The 4-Year Maintenance Item Everyone Ignores
CanyonChasers Podcast // The Braking ZoneShow Notes
We are completely all over the map in today’s episode, balancing heavy dose ADHD energy with some deep-dive motorcycle nerdery! First, we unpack the absolute chaos shaking up the MotoGP paddock. From Ai Ogura’s historic, emotional victory as the first Japanese rider to win in the dry in over 20 years , to the mind-boggling news that Pecco Bagnaia turned down a massive $10 million contract with Yamaha to sign a 4-year factory deal with Aprilia. We also look at Jorge Martín's genuine shock over how completely different the Aprilia chassis handles compared to his previous rides , and we debate a wild fan conspiracy theory: Has Yamaha secretly been running an 850cc bike all season?
Beyond the track, we dive deep into the garage. We discuss a hidden factory maintenance rule that mandates replacing your rubber brake lines every four years , and why unique firing orders mean a Ducati Panigale full exhaust system costs up to $8,000 compared to a $4,000 Aprilia setup. Finally, we share exclusive details on the ultra-rare KTM 990 Track bike landing in the US and look to the community to help us pick our next giveaway bike under $10,000!
Timestamps & Chapters 00:00 - Ripping defeat from the jaws of victory & Ai Ogura's emotional, historic win. 01:55 - Deconstructing Bezzecchi’s Assen crash & Aprilia's aerodynamic downforce threshold. 04:49 - A historically tight championship standings & Pedro Acosta’s battle with carpal tunnel. 06:46 - Trackhouse racing's phenomenal 1-2 sprint weekend & Raul Fernandez's contract leverage. 08:59 - Pecco Bagnaia leaves Ducati: Turning down $10M from Yamaha for a 4-year Aprilia seat. 13:16 - Marc Marquez's retirement timeline & Jorge Martín’s mind-blowing first impressions of the Aprilia. 16:32 - Eurosport demo days: Why the upright Aprilia RS660 is outselling the V4 by a massive 5-to-1 ratio. 22:32 - The modern reality of motorcycle reliability vs. the "Big Four" Japanese bias. 26:10 - The 4-year rubber brake line rule & navigating boiled fluid past catalytic converters. 32:43 - The toothbrush trick for cleaning brake calipers & the rebuildable Brembo Mark II master cylinder. 38:43 - Exhaust dyno shootouts: Why full race systems barely change a BMW but unleash a Panigale V4. 44:14 - Firing orders, 70-degree pin offsets, and the manic "machine gun" feel of a KTM V-twin. 51:12 - Factory weapons: The 25 ultra-rare KTM 990 Track bikes coming to the US & Norton's Atlas GT. 54:35 - The BMW GS "SUV of motorcycles" & the conspiracy behind Toprak's 850cc Yamaha test times. 01:01:33 - Help us pick our next under-$10K giveaway bike: RC51, R nineT, or Honda 1000?
Help Us Pick the Next Giveaway Bike! Our Triumph giveaway didn't lose money, which means we get to do it all over again! We are looking closely at a budget under $10,000. Should we hunt down a tidy BMW R nineT GS , a square-bike classic Honda 1000 with a single-sided swingarm , an Aprilia 660 , or a legendary, clean Honda RC51? Let us know what you want to see in the garage next!
More from CanyonChasers Podcast // The Braking Zone
Enter to win the Moto Guzzi V85TT: https://fanathem.com/canyonchasers - Ducati’s factory team just ran away with the most dominant World Superbike season ever, and we think it exposes a bigger problem. When the Panigale V4 R is basically a GP bike you can buy for $50k, why would Yamaha, Kawasaki, or Honda spend millions to show up and lose? We dig into the tech that makes the Ducati so good (twin pulse firing order, counter-rotating crank, electronics that add rear brake mid-corner), why fuel flow limits haven’t slowed it down, and what we’d do with the series if it were up to us. Spoiler: more power, fewer rider aids, worse tires.
Enter to win the Moto Guzzi V85 TT at https://fanathem.com/canyonchasers - Dave spent the week at Barber Vintage Motorcycle Days riding Honda's new CB1000F alongside Freddie Spencer, the only rider to win the 250 and 500 world championships in the same season. We get into how Honda deliberately tuned character into this engine (mismatched velocity stacks for a two-tone intake note, offset cam timing, carburetor-style fueling), why Dave came away liking it more than expected after his long-term time on the Hornet SP, and what it actually takes to keep pace at a press launch on a bike and road you've never seen.
There's a new bike in the garage: a 2021 Ducati Panigale V2, bought to replace an Aprilia RSV4 Factory as a club race bike. We talk about the first track days on a completely bone stock V2 (slicks only), what the Showa Big Piston Fork does well on the brakes and where it falls apart mid-corner, and why racers ditch BPF internals for cartridges.
Motegi wasn't an exciting weekend, but it was a fascinating one. A brand new track surface, a Michelin rear tire that came apart in the sprint, and a hard-carcass "safety tire" that not one rider mounted until Sunday warm up, which turned out to be the tire they should have been on all weekend.
Royal Enfield might be the heritage motorcycle Harley buyers think they're getting, and after 800 miles of Route 66 on a Classic 650, Dave has thoughts. The CanyonChasers Podcast is back.