The oldest racing organization in the country dedicated soley to motorcycle road racing, the AFM is a Northern Californian non-profit racing organization that has helped hone the skills of riders like Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey, Kenny Roberts, and Steve Rapp — not mention a weekend warrior or two. Each year the racing league comes together for a banquet, and lately the tradition has been to include a highlight film of the year’s racing. I’m not sure what films in the past have been like, but if the latest AFM banquet video doesn’t give you goosebumps, you might want to check your pulse. Bonus points for the including the Versus “Second Place” monologue — it’s very apropos.
Grab some popcorn, because this video from Ducati North America is over 14 minutes long. Telling the story of Ducati at the 2011 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC), DNA has put together a great video that really captures how special the racing is at Pikes Peak, and how gorgeous the scenery is of the Colorado Mountains. With Santa Barbara Ducati’s Carlin Dunne winning the overall motorcycle category on his dealership’s Multistrada 1200 demo model, Alexander Smith from the Spider Grips Ducati Team made it a double podium for Ducati in the 1205cc class. If you’re new to racing at Pikes Peak, or wanted a quick re-cap of last year’s race, Ducati’s video pretty accurately sums up racing on the mountain and the anxiety around last year’s race.
Ducati has announced its factory team for the 2012 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC), and the Italian company has secured the services of last-year’s winner and Rookie of the Year Carlin Dunne as well as six-time PPIHC winner Greg Tracy. Ducati has also partnered with the Spider Grips team, who will help prepare the teams Ducati Multistrada 1200 for the “Race to the Clouds” on July 8th. For 2012, the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb will be fully-paved to the top of the mountain, which will surely see the speeds of competitors increase, and lap times drop on the 12.42 mile long course that ends at 14,110 feet.
I was flipping through some photos from the 2011 EICMA show, and found these shots of the Ducati 1199 Panigale’s Superquadro engine. Unfortunately at the show, Ducati had its 1199cc v-twin motor behind a Lexan case, which created a bit of a glare, reflections, and of course had smudges from the touchy-feely Italian crowd. But still, the photos give a good idea of what’s going on in Ducati’s most-advanced production engine to date, and are better than just looking at the CAD renders. If you look at the shots very closely, you can almost see where the 195hp and 98 lbs•ft of torque is lurking inside.
In addition to testing the factory Ducati Desmosedici GP12 “Phoenix” this week at Sepang, Valentino Rossi is also trying out a new lid from AGV. Aside from the carbon fiber goodness, and of course the Rossi stickers (which add 5hp & $200), AGV’s prototype helmet sports a noticably pronounced rear spoiler. Tucked in behind the windscreen, it is obvious why the Italian helmet manufacturer designed such a large protrusion off the back of the prototype helmet, as it looks to be clearly helping the flow off the back of the helmet, across the rider’s hump, and down his backside.
While Ducati Corse is busy playing hide-the-Desmosedici at Sepang, HRC is all business in Malaysia this week, and has debuted its 2012 Honda RC213V MotoGP-contender. Honda isn’t saying too much about the RC213V, simply stating that the race bike is all new, but is also a continuation of the company’s design with the 800cc Honda RC212V. Testing the Honda RC213V over the course of last season, reigning-World Champion Casey rode the new 1,000cc machine three times in 2011, while teammate Dani Pedrosa swung a leg over the RC213V twice (missing one test because of injury).
You may have been misled by some eager journalists today and yesterday, if you saw a Ducati Corse livery-clad Ducati Desmosedici GP12 that some sites were passing off as the first shots of the “90% new” GP12. With the alleged new GP12 looking surprisingly similar to the aluminum-framed “GP0″ that was tested at Valencia, Valentino Rossi’s mechanic has now Alex Briggs confirmed that the photos taken were not of the all new “GP12 Phoenix” that the factory team will race this season. While the Ducati lords can taketh away, they can also giveth, and Valentino Rossi himself has posted the first photo of the factory Desmosedici GP12, and the bike is clearly different.
Zero Motorcycles has announced the full-commencement of production for its 2012 model line, which is expected to hit dealers in February & March of this year. First off the line was the 2012 Zero DS back in December, though the electric motorcycle company has recently started building the Zero S, Zero XU, Zero X, and Zero MX at its Scotts Valley facility as well. A story we broke back in November, Zero Motorcycles debuted its important 2012 electric motorcycle line up at the 2011 EICMA show in Milan, with the 2012 range being a substantial improvement upon the company’s previous offerings.
Getting a look at Dainese & AGV’s 2012 collection, Asphalt & Rubber was down in Orange County earlier this week to see the highly anticipated Dainese D-Air Racing leather suit, which has a four liter airbag system that helps reduce the risk of injury during a motorcycle crash. Dainese has been working on the D-Air Racing system for 10 years now, and after soft-launching the airbag suit in Europe, the Italian company is ready to bring the game-changing technology to American soil.
Us Danes, we’re a strange breed. From the culture that taught you how to rape and pillage, Scandinavia is making yet another contribution to the motorcycling world with this latest video. Featuring Danish Supermoto Champion Andreas Mikkelsen, we get a RoToR camera-esque perspective (this rig is actually home made) on the Dane’s practice session at the Als Supermotard Club in Denmark. It’s videos like this that are slowly eroding my will-power to resist getting into supermotard riding. Also, I don’t know who was in charge of the music selection on this thing, but my hat is off to him/her. I love the nightlife. I’ve come to boogie.
Boy if this isn’t the truth…..
haha pretty good spoof. I would challenge the reliability dig, tho. I have yet to see a crotch rocket w/ 100k+ on it…
diff bikes for diff purposes…
100K is childs play. Try a 93′ CBR900 with 240K and still running. Or an SV with 110K and climbing. I personally have seen several sport bikes with well in excess of 85K with zero maintenance and repair work besides forks and tires.
Sport bikes owned by responsible people, that do not abuse them, run forever but bikes owned by idiots and children will be destroyed in months, wheelies and crashes claim most of the sport bikes I’ve seen.
reality is setting in at HD, there comes a time when a push rod air cooled engine bike for $30k just wont cut it anymore, that reality is NOW, HD has lost its ENTIRE 25-35 yr old following, not many 25yr olds i know want to ride a 883 skirtster which is about all they can afford at that age, now a 146hp 1125r/cr, THATS what they ride!! not just my opinion, look at the last 3 quarter HD sales reports!! they are in the crapper!!! sucks to be HD
That’s funny as hell.
“This is the most reliable bike on our show room floor” Priceless, and oh-so-true.
F*#k H-D. Buell FTW.
Spoof: The Last Honest Harley-Davidson Ad – http://aspha.lt/11f #motorcycle
RT @Asphalt_Rubber: Spoof: The Last Honest Harley-Davidson Ad http://aspha.lt/11f
RT @Asphalt_Rubber: Spoof: The Last Honest Harley-Davidson Ad http://aspha.lt/11f (via @ScooterDiva) hahahaa
RT @Asphalt_Rubber Spoof: The Last Honest Harley-Davidson Ad – http://aspha.lt/11f #motorcycle
MY FIRST BIKE WAS A 1937 HD knucklehead 61cu.in. PAID $675.00 FOR IT IN 1969. RODE THAT BIKE FOR 20 YEARS, 4SPEED TANK SHIFT, HARDTAIL! PUT OVER 100,000 MILES ON IT, AND ONE DAY A GENTLEMAN OFFERED ME $16,000 FOR IT, AND I SOLD IT, WITH REGRETS. SINCE THEN I’VE OWNED 14 MORE HARLEYS, HAVE BEEN RIDING FOR 41 YEARS NOW. SURE I HAD MY BREAKDOWNS, BUT THEY WERE FIXED ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, IT DIDN’T TAKE A ROCKET SCIENTIST TO GET ME BACK ON THE ROAD AGAIN, AND MOST OF THE TIME, THE FIX WAS CHEAP! , AND PEOPLE HELPED FOR FREE! GOING ON A TRIP WAS AN ADVENTURE, NOT A BORING HUMMMMMM, WE’LL BE THERE SOON. I’M A MOTORCYCLE ENTHUIAST, NEVER BAD MOUTHED IMPORT BIKE RIDERS, ” AND I AM BEING POLITE”, BUT THEY ALWAYS BAD MOUTHED THE HARLEYS, WHY IS THAT? IS IT BECAUSE AFTER 20 YEARS OF OWNING A IMPORT BIKE YOU WERE LUCKY IF YOU GOT $400.00 FOR IT , IF IT STILL RAN? MY 37 HD IS STILL RUNNING, AND TODAY IT IS WORTH AROUND $25 TO $35,000 DOLLARS! YOU WILL NEVER SEE THAT IN IMPORT BIKES, IN YOUR LIFETIME. YOU SEE THERE ARE BIKERS, AND THEN THERE ARE REAL BIKERS, YOU ARE PROBABLY TOO YOUNG TO KNOW THE REAL DIFFERENCE, AND I REALLY DON’T HAVE THE TIME TO EDUCATE YOU. PLUS I AM PROUD TO BUY AN AMERICAN MACHINE, MADE BY FELLOW AMERICAN WORKERS, AND SUPPORT THEM AND OUR COUNTRYS ECONOMY, NOT SENDING MY MONEY TO SUPPORT A FOREIGN COUNTRY, AND THEIR WORKERS, WHILE OUR OWN ECONOMY IS AT STAKE, DUE TO THE FACT THAT THERE ARE AMERICANS, AND THEN THERE ARE REAL AMERICANS, ANOTHER THING I DON’T HAVE THE TIME TO EDUCATE YOU ABOUT. EVEN IF THOSE IMPORTS WERE BETTER, I WOULD STILL SUPPORT MY COUNTRY AND IT’S WORKERS, AND I ALWAYS WILL, YOU WERE PROBABLY BUSY PLAYING PAC- MAN , WHEN IT WAS TIME TO LEARN ABOUT ” AMERICA “, AND ” UNITED WE STAND “. THANKS TO ALL YOU IMPORT BUYERS, YOU HAVE HELPED SELL OUT YOUR OWN COUNTRY, AMERICAN WORKERS AND JOBS AND INDUSTRY HERE. HOPE YOU FEEL REAL PROUD DRIVING THAT IMPORT , AFTER ALL ,I AM SURE IT GETS YOU ALOT OF ATTENTION, MAKES ONE HELL OF LOUD GROUND SHAKING RUMBLE, HAS GREAT LOOKING BABES WANTING TO GO FOR A RIDE ON IT, AND EVEN THE OLD, OLD, OLD, OLD, PEOPLE COME UP TO YOU AN ADMIRE YOUR MACHINE, AND START TELLING YOU ABOUT THERE RIDING TRIPS AND MOTORCYCLE ADVENTURES IN THEIR YOUNGER DAYS, WOW, SOUNDS JUST LIKE WHAT HAPPENS TO ME WHEN I RIDE MY OLD HARLEY……
Dude,
Try inserting some paragraphs, line breaks, or some other way to break up that wall of text.
Holy smokes Sam! Whew. Where to start? Well, first with caps lock, yours is on. Here is a great link for capitalization rules http://www.libraryonline.com/default.asp?pID=48 I’m not touching the rest of it, I’ll just say therapy is a good option for you, lots of it. Then maybe another (maybe a 1st?) trip through high school to brush up on your writing skills. Then, maybe you should check the prices on vintage imports. Many of those Ducs, Hondas, BMW, MV Agustas, etc. go for many, many times what they went for new. Have you seen those ’70′s Honda CBs and what they get for those? A bit more than your average ’70′s AMF Harley, if you can find one running.
Urgh. formatting aside, I’d settle for just turning the caps lock off. It’s kinda funny, the caps lock personifies the obnoxiously loud personality that apparently comes packaged with a Harley Davidson purchase. It started off well, but quickly deteriorated to traditional mix of “Buy American”, “I bought a Harley for attention”, and “I bought it to be part of a clicke”. The memories he holds dear can be had on any bike, it doesn’t need a Harley Davidson logo and price tag. Riding is about the journey, not bragging rights and recognition. Harley has absolutley no bikes targeted at the entry level buyers. They don’t care about spreading the joy of riding to new riders, they’re simply banking on the exclusivity of their little club, which ironically is only exclusive in terms of money, not skill or passion. This cannot be any more evident than in the R&D department, if they even have one. If they cared about riders, they’d make improvements to their design to enhance the ride.
His paragraph starts off claiming he respects all riders, then quickly deteriorates to how he is exclusive and superior to the import riders. I’m happy that his bike is now worth $30k, but that’s not why I chose my bike. I chose my bike based upon power, handling, reliability, looks, comfort, and most importantly, price. I don’t view it as an investment, it’s meant to be enjoyed. I simply wouldn’t enjoy something that is rated lowest in every category yet highest in price. I thought the joy of riding, was riding? As such, I cannot choose a bike based upon recognition and exclusivity alone, and call myself a rider in the mirror. There’s no recognition riding a Buell, as you won’t even see me. I’m not cruising down mainstreet, I’m taking the twisties.
Nothing against Harley riders, but they need to learn how to respect the Jap and Euro bikes (and maybe Buells). I’m tired of not getting the wave when I pass one, because I didn’t buy his brand. Different tastes, still riders. They really can’t throw stones claiming we don’t love the road, because on paper we’re the true riders.
Ride safe everyone. May all your bikes reach the ripe age of 70. All the Gear, All the Time in case they don’t.
Fuggin' HYSTERICAL (and a touch sad). Got to love some Harley ribbing: http://bit.ly/97rvDr
Real good take on Harley Davidson. Harley needs to spend some money on R&D and not a new line of belt buckles and t shirts. I laugh every time I see some sucker riding his new out of date Harley. Even if I was interested in buying a Harley I sure would not buy a new one. The newspapers are full of used Harley’s selling at low prices. All of them are “low miles”. It seems the seller found out what he bought and now he wants to get rid of it at any price. A Harley is your basic “show off” bike. Take the muffler off, dress up like a pirate and ride around town making a lot of noise on your slow Harley trying to impress people. Actually, when people see those morons on Harleys with no mufflers they are thinking or saying “what a stupid moron”.
Hey Sam Fonte, couple of years ago I was itching to get a new bike. “Well” I thought, “should I get this cool looking and RED Ducati Hypermotard, or maybe support my country and its workers?” Well, like you mentioned, I went ahead and supported the American brand. Yep, got myself a Buell Ulysses and love it to death. What does Harley go and do? They stab Erik in the back, the dumb cowards. Buells were (are) the best bikes Harley ever produced. I just don’t understand their decision and have vowed to NEVER again set foot in a Harley shop, much less spend one cent of my money there. However, if and when Erik builds more Buells for the public I will be excited as hell to support American workers again. Hell, I might even apply for a job. Harley (and willi g.) can kiss my Hispanic ass!!!!!! Oh, and I’m getting one of those new CD’s of Erik and the Thunderbolts to support American made music.
Lol, that’s great! A certain irony that it was posted by Buell riders;)
I wish Harley would take their V Rod engine and use it on the whole fleet. keep a couple retro models for the die hard’s, but just move on.
Update and expand their line up, to include technology. wouldn’t hurt to come out with a couple new models for the entry level bikers either.
Please Harley, the whole country is begging!
Sam had 1 bike for 20 years, and a different bike on average every 18 months since..lol
and they broke down on him, holy taco’s!!!
Mr Fonte I have 10 bikes all 1000cc&up . & different brands including Harelys best Jims 131ci engine with roller rockers cams ect ect best of the best . Also Buells 1125 the the cyclone and again a XB12 firebolt with the best available parts . …BUT.. even then the european and Japanese products will outlast any harley product hands down . The Metalurgy might be the same qualityas the Jap/euro products but being 1950s technology beating itself to death with recipricating mass fighting itself internally with every rotation of the crank, the Harley engine will never hold up as well as the smooth running machines the competition has to offer. A person doesnt have to have an engineering degree to figure this out just not be in denial that harley is what it is.. an old tech behind the times dinosaur that has charm but not the longevity of all the other brands on the market .
I wish that was played in the board room at harley davidson,my be then they would wake up to the fact it’s not 1950.(PS)They for got about the druggy 2000 tail bone crusher bike that harley davidson has.
Yeah, that’s good
I own a 1996 S2T Buell and it has been the best all around bike I have ridden to date. I also have a 2006 VRSCR Streetrod. Harley should slam this motor in a touring machine and go watercooled. Traditionalists will catch on to the new model when it blows by their aircooled V twin. I would never buy a traditional V twin from Harley and neither should you. There are so many other great bikes out there now!