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The AMA has announced January 21 and February 10 for its 2024 Ice Race Grand Championship GP and Oval Events at Lake Winnebago , Fond Du Lac , Wisconsin , after the 2023 cancellation . These are the only amateur ice racing opportunities in which a racer can earn an AMA National No . 1 Plate . Racers will also compete for the AMA Ice Racer of the Year , AMA Vet / Senior Ice Racer of the Year and AMA Youth Racer of the Year . The GP event will run alongside the Steel Shoe Fund Three Hour Endurance Race , an annual endurance ice event that serves as the main fundraiser for the Steel Shoe Fund - a non-profit organization that assists flat track racers who have sustained serious injury during competition . In the event of a cancellation , the GP event will have a reserve date of January 28 . The AMA celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2024 .

Yamaha Motor is to exhibit a prototype hydrogen powered outboard engine at the 2024 Miami International Boat Show in February .

BRP has bought a controlling 80 % stake in Pinion GmbH - a manual and electric bicycle gearbox tech specialist founded in 2008 at Denkendorf , Germany . " Beyond our existing powersports and marine products , we are expanding our addressable market and entering untapped categories such as urban mobility and services ," said José Boisjoli , President and CEO of BRP . Earlier in 2023 , BRP also acquired e-drive systems and transmissions Great Wall Motor Austria GmbH from its Chinese parent company .

The world ' s first ' strong ' hybrid production bikes have been launched in the form of Kawasaki ' s Ninja 7 Hybrid and Z7 Hybrid - but are they answers to a question that nobody asked ? The two bikes are essentially identical , differing only in their fairings and bar heights , with the Ninja taking a sportier role and the Z7 Hybrid a more upright roadster stance , and the technology both share is undeniably impressive . Power comes from a 451 cc parallel twin engine that ' s related to the twin in the new Eliminator 500 and the Ninja 500 and Z500 models that replace the previous Z400 and Ninja 400 , but in the two Hybrid models it

' Ninja 7 Hybrid and Z7 Hybrid break new ground '

puts out a peak of 43.5 kW ( 58.3 hp ) as there ' s no intention to meet the ' A2 ' license rules that the other models comply with , leading to their sub-35 kW ( 47 hp ) outputs . However , the Ninja 7 Hybrid and Z7 Hybrid don ' t stop there , as both also get a 9 kW ( 12 hp ) electric motor coupled to a 48V lithium-ion battery that hides under the seat . The two powertrains can be used separately - allowing the bikes to operate in pure-electric mode for up to 12 km at low speeds , in petrol-only mode ( also recharging the battery ) when out of town or , by using the ' E- Boost ' function , combining both the electric and combustion engine power for a peak of 51.1 kW ( 68.5 hp ) to maximize performance for brief

Z7

Ninja 7

periods . As with most electric bikes , it ' s the torque of the electric motor rather than its peak power that really adds to performance , and Kawasaki says that the two hybrid machines offer performance that ' s on a par with a 650 cc-700 cc bike , but with off-the-line acceleration that matches a 1,000 cc superbike and economy that ' s better than a 250 cc machine . These two power units are combined via a shared transmission , an automated six-speed manual that ' s controlled by buttons on the left bar - there ' s no clutch lever or footoperated

lever - or can work in a full-automatic mode . E-Boost is activated using its own separate button . Like most four-wheeled hybrids , there ' s also an idle-stop system , so the combustion engine stops when you come to a halt , and in ' Eco ' mode , the bike will pull away using pure electric power before kicking the engine into life once on the move . The electric motor also allows Kawasaki to include a ' Walk ' setting that lets the bike use its electric power to shuffle forwards or backwards at low speeds , helping when it comes to parking or moving the bike around a garage . The tech is impressive , but the chassis spec is less imposing , with similar suspension and brakes as the Ninja 650 and Z650 models . Whether customers will buy these new hybrids remains to be seen , but given the relatively good fuel economy already achieved by bikes like Suzuki ' s GSX-S800 - while offering more performance - and the expected high prices of Kawasaki ' s hybrids , they could be facing a tough challenge to attract buyers beyond the most dedicated of early-adopters .