Alex

So did they ever come to a solid conclusion as to why the expansion is still accelerating? I ordered Brian Cox's wonders of the universe and solar system a few weeks back, highly recommended.

Right I take on board the England flag and Northern Island, I'll get round to adding those once I'm back off holiday. Any others missed out? The problem is it's a country flag system, so I need to manually add any non country.

Hmm that looks like it's a problem with the Yamaha Club server... will be checking memory useage when I get out the office. But if it needs increasing it's going to have to wait until I'm back off holiday :-(

Hi, I've managed to fix the issue with the country flags not working. However it means you'll need to update your profile to get it working. View your profile, click on the edit profile link on the top right, then re-select your country from the drop down menu and all should then work. Cheers Alex

Ok I've fixed this properly, but it means that you'll all need to update your profiles. Go to your profile, select the edit profile link in the top right hand corner and reselect your country.

Right looks like I'm going to have to manually rename them all, as I can't find the same plugin anymore. All the new ones have different image names. Let me know if yours isn't working and I'll start changing them that way

Hmm almost. Looks like I need to find the a new set of flags with the right file names otherwise I'm going to have to change all 250 odd manually.

Fixed

Yeah sorry guys I know about this. I just haven't got around to finding the images and re-uploading them. It's just low on the priority list until I finally get to the bottom of the spamming issue. Thanks for pointing it out though.

Forgot all about this thread! What ever happened to them?

Yamaha Factory Racing rider Jorge Lorenzo wrapped up the final pre-season test of 2012 today in Jerez with an impressive 84 laps covered. Lorenzo spent almost the entire day as the only rider to drop under the 1’39 mark, with rival Casey Stoner joining him to lead by 0.173 seconds in the last moments of the session. The Mallorcan delivered an impressive race simulation, showing his trademark lap time consistency over the distance. Team mate Ben Spies also covered some distance, putting in 61 laps as he worked on final set up solutions for his 1000cc YZR-M1. The Texan ends the test as the fourth fastest rider, 0.715 seconds from the front. Spies also worked on a race simulation earlier in the test and was satisfied with a competitive pace. The MotoGP paddock now moves to Qatar where the first race will be played out under the floodlights in the desert on the 8th April. With the gap to their rivals much closer than last year in testing, both Yamaha riders are keen to line up on the grid and get the season started. Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 2nd Time: 1'38.953 Laps: 84 “I’m really happy because we tried to make some good lap times so we put new tyres on the rear this morning to make the 1’38.9 which is a good time. This afternoon we improved the bike for a race simulation which went really well. In general we are very happy, it’s not just me, Ben is also very close to the competition as are Cal and Andrea. We need to improve our braking a little, if we can do that we could gain some more tenths of a second.” Ben Spies - Position: 4th Time: 1'39.495 Laps: 61 “I’m happy with how the test went. Both Jorge and I worked really methodically on getting through a number of different things, I think we’re quite happy with the bike going to Qatar, it’s been good here and good in Sepang. A couple of the areas where we had problems last year seem to be a lot better. We can’t say if they are completely fixed until we go to more tracks but we are happy with the balance of the bike and I think we have a very competitive bike for 2012.” Click here to view the _RLS_

The Swan Yamaha team has today (Monday) confirmed that World Superbike sensation Noriyuki Haga will be completing their line-up for the 2012 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship as he permanently replaces the injured Ian Hutchinson for the forthcoming season. Fans’ favourite Haga is famous for his flamboyant riding style with much of his World Championship success in the past powered by Yamaha. Japanese ace Haga joins the MCE BSB Championship with the Swan Yamaha team following a record of 43 race wins in the World Championship, finishing runner-up in the title race on three occasions (2009, 2007, 2000) and securing third in the overall standings in an additional four seasons (2008, 2006, 2005, 2004). Haga has already celebrated success on MCE BSB Championship circuits at World level including podium finishes at Brands Hatch, Donington Park, Silverstone and Assen as the Japanese contender prepares for his first full season in MCE BSB which gets underway at Brands Hatch on Easter weekend (6-9 April). Haga said: “It is a new challenge for me to race in BSB and I am now ready for the new season with Swan Yamaha. I feel that after many years in the same series this will be a kind of restart to my racing career. BSB has grown a lot and I have big support from the fans in the UK, so I liked the idea of racing in the Championship. It will also be a return to Yamaha, where I spent so many years taking many wins and now I feel like I am going back to my family. I have won races with Yamaha before in the World Championship and now I hope that we can do it again in BSB. I don't know several circuits in England and the BSB Championship but I will do my best to get results this year for the fans, myself and for Yamaha. We will start testing soon and I am very excited to get back on track as we have big ambitions for this season. Finally I hope that Ian Hutchinson can recover soon from his injury.” Team Owner Shaun Muir concluded: “It was a difficult situation for the Swan Yamaha team when Ian (Hutchinson) was sidelined with just four weeks remaining before we begin our pre-season testing programme. We then had to set out to find a replacement rider and the result for us could not have been better. We are absolutely delighted that Noriyuki will be joining us and we are now looking forward to welcoming him into the team. Noriyuki has such vast experience of racing a Superbike and during his career has always had a strong partnership with Yamaha and we are happy that we can continue that relationship this year. The Swan Yamaha team won the title last season and Noriyuki is really ready for the challenge of BSB and is coming to race here to win.” Swan Marketing Manager Mark Alldred concluded: “We are thrilled to confirm the full team line up for the 2012 season after Ian’s unfortunate injury. We are delighted to welcome Noriyuki Haga to the team at this late stage. He has a fantastic pedigree at the highest level and will be a real contender for the championship this year. We have a great rider line-up at Swan Yamaha having signed two of the top riders in the championship. We wish them both the best of luck for the forthcoming season.” Click here to view the news

Welcome mate, great bike

What do you expect for $5, saved me phoning her ;-)

Hahaha. Funnily enough I paid $5 on fiverr.com for some guy to sing happy birthday to my aunt. He was pretty good ;-)

Yamaha filled a place on the podium of the world’s toughest and most prestigious rally for the second year in succession as Portugal’s Helder Rodrigues claimed third position overall on his WR450F Rally. The 32 year old pushed through almost 9000km from Buenos Aires in Argentina to Lima in Peru via Chile in fourteen days and thirteen stages of the 33rd edition of the Dakar. Rodrigues gathered two stage victories as the test of endurance, strength, belief and navigational skill took the competitors through the diverse topography of the three countries. From desert dunes to the Andes mountain range, 97 motorcycle riders were able to reach Plaza de Armas and the chequered flag in Peru. “Making it to the end of a Dakar is always terrific,” the Yamaha rider said to the official website www.dakar.com. “So finishing on the podium is simply incredible. There are two great riders, Marc and Cyril, and they're tough nuts to crack. I lost 20 minutes in stage 4 and 20 more two days later. I was 40 minutes back, so I knew catching up with them would be hard. Winning the Dakar requires perfect preparation all year round and making sure everything goes well during the race. I'll try and find the solution to be as good as they are.” Helder started the rally with a conservative speed but after 15th and 12th places on the first two timed ‘specials’ embarked on a run that saw him drop out of the top four only four times over the next ten days. He won stages eight and thirteen to consolidate his second podium result in a row and take his record to 4th, 3rd and 3rd from the last three attempts. The record – together with 2011 FIM Cross Countries Rally World Championship - establishes the Portuguese as one of the best rally specialists in the world. Elsewhere in the two wheeled division Olivier Pain snared his best stage result of the rally at the final time-of-asking – with 6th – that cemented his final ranking of 9th and means that Yamaha technology filled two spots at the higher echelon of the leaderboard. The Frenchman posted ten finishes in the top fifteen. David Casteu was hunting a slot in the first five for almost half of the rally but ran into some technical trouble and could never regain the ground he has worked hard to grasp. Pain’s team-mate eventually rolled into Lima with the final position of 41st. Also of note from the 2012 contest was Yamaha Dakar legend Stephane Peterhansel. The veteran put himself into the record books once more. The Frenchman won the car class of the rally for his tenth success. The win was his first in five years. “My finest victory will always be my first win in the motorcycle category, but this one has something special to it,” the 46 year old said. Click here to view the news

Well it looks like the latest round of spammers has stopped. Thanks for your patience guys

Hi everyone, Sorry that the site has been down without any explanation. It's completely my fault, I thought the upgrade I was performing was going to be a typical 15min job. As it was late at night in the UK, I didn't think anyone would be on the site so just started the upgrade without setting the board offline. Which explains why the board is down. Unfortunately it wasn't a quick upgrade like normal, and ended up taking about 12 hours work! Anyway I am also in the process of installing some new anti spam software to work alongside the existing IPB spam software which should help eradicate the unwanted spam users we've been getting over the last few days. Thanks for your patience and I'll ensure moving forwards that I'll always follow the correct procedure and set the board off line. A little embarrased Alex ;-)

Yamaha Factory Racing riders Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies kicked off their one day visit to Jakarta this morning with a special visit to meet potential racing stars of the future. They shared some of their valuable knowledge with up and coming racers in the Indonesian Yamaha R Series Cup as part of a unique Yamaha Coaching Clinic. The MotoGP stars gave tips on rider positioning, cornering and overtaking to the delighted local riders. Following the morning coaching session Lorenzo went on to help Yamaha Motor Indonesia launch the new Yamaha Byson motorcycle to an audience of over 3000 Indonesian Yamaha Dealers at a special event just outside Jakarta. The 150cc Byson street bike is Yamaha’s star new machine for 2012 in Indonesia. Spies was due to co-host alongside his team mate however a bout of food poisoning unfortunately meant he was unable to participate. “It’s been a pleasure to meet the new Indonesian racers of the future,” said Lorenzo. “I think with good teachers they can be professional riders in world championships. It was important as well for us to see all the dealers here in Indonesia this afternoon who sell all the Yamaha bikes; I hope we helped to motivate them to achieve success in 2012.” “It’s been extremely cool to come here and meet the Indonesian people” commented Spies. “They’ve been so warm and welcoming to me. I’m really sorry to have not been able to meet all the dealers this afternoon, just my luck to get struck down with a bug today. I’m off to Bali now to recover and take a few days rest but I’m already looking forward to another opportunity to come back here again and see everyone.” Click here to view the news

The 2012 AMA Supercross series was launched in front of a capacity 45,000 crowd at the Anaheim stadium in Los Angeles last weekend and Joe Gibbs Racing’ James Stewart took his YZ450F to sixth position in the opening main event of seventeen on the U.S. calendar. The former Champion endured a dramatic first evening of the season. He had marked the fastest lap-time in the second qualifier but was undone at the beginning of the 20 lap sprint when a poor start left him deep in the pack. Behind runaway leader and winner Ryan Villopoto Stewart worked up to third position and then enjoyed a tight battle with 2010 champion Ryan Dungey. The Floridian made a small mistake on the approach to a table-top jump and hit the hay bales at the side of the track, causing a crash and some light damage to his motorcycle. He was hit in the stomach by his handlebar but had no other problems. By the time he could rectify his radiator plastic shroud and regain his composure he had lost several places and needed to push again to reach sixth. “James showed a lot of patience out there tonight,” said JGR/Toyota Yamaha team manager Jeremy Albrecht. “He didn’t get the best of starts, but he did a really good job of being patient and catching the leaders without taking too many risks. But the track was changing a lot throughout the night and he just got caught out over there and landed in the Tuff Blox. He was missing a radiator shroud when he got up, and the front end was kind of tweaked, but he still made the most of it. Championships are won on your bad days, and this wasn’t a good day, but he still salvaged sixth place. That’s pretty good.” Ryan Morais and Davi Millsaps filled 15th and 16th places under the Anaheim lights. Ryan Sipes (5th spot) and Monster Energy Yamaha’s Zach Osborne – completing several West Coast events as warm-up for the FIM MX2 World Championship – (9th) posted finishes on the YZ250F in the Lites division. Round two takes place next weekend at Chase Field in Phoenix. Click here to view the news