Photo: Five – Two = Podium

Blurred to protect against spoilers, we’ll just leave things simply by saying that World Superbike’s Race 2 at Donington Park is well worth a watching if you haven’t already seen it. Decided right down to the last few turns, race pundits surely will be discussing the race and its outcome over the next week. Unsurprisingly, geography is playing a major a role in how things are being viewed. Though in a race where a number of questionable passes occurred, it is hard to single out this one event from the plethora of others that occurred during the race, but of course this one had the biggest effect on the race outcome. Click past the jump for the he said, she said, and of course for some slightly sharper photos.

Norton V4 Gets Shakedown Test Ahead of Isle of Man TT

More news from Norton, as the British firm has begun track-testing its V4 road race bike, in preparation of the 2012 Isle of Man TT. Focusing on the bike’s handling, Norton has been working hand-in-hand with Öhlins and Dunlop developing the bike’s chassis. The trio has devised the highly sophisticated “165 mph no hands” test, which supposedly checks the stability of the bike, though we imagine Health & Safety would frown upon it. With the bike’s Aprilia RSV4 motor putting out 195hp at the crank, and with the total race package weighing 419 lbs (195 kg) when it is sopping wet, the Spondon-framed Norton may not be exactly what fans of the famous marques were hoping for after seeing the very appealing Norton NRV 588, though it does seem to be a potent package.

2012 Brammo Empulse R – Was It Worth the Wait?

Launching in downtown Los Angeles, the 2012 Brammo Empulse R & 2013 Brammo Empulse broke their cover and officially debuted. Right off the bat from the designations, you can see that Brammo intends for the Empulse R to be a 2012 model, with the base model Emuplse coming out next year (more on that further down). As we expected, the Brammo Empulse R got quite the price bump after its 22-month marination, and will be $18,995 MSRP. Meanwhile when the Brammo Empulse becomes available next year, it will have a slightly more palatable $16,995 price tag.

Up-Close with the Erik Buell Racing 1190RS ‘merica Edition

While the EBR 1190RS race bikes were on the track, their $40,000+ street-legal counterparts were on display outside of the Erik Buell Racing garage. Rocking an American flag livery, I naturally took pictures of this show bike. Eye catching to say the least, nothing says “Made in ‘merica” better than a red, white, and blue color scheme, especially when it is laid over carbon fiber. And while I want to love this bike because of its nuances and outside-of-the-box technical design, I don’t.

Sunday Summary at Estoril: Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

If there’s one lesson we can take from Sunday’s race at Estoril, it’s this: “I’ve always said we know Casey’s the guy that’s the fastest guy in the world. Maybe over the seasons he hasn’t put the championships together, but by far he’s the best guy in the world.” Cal Crutchlow is not known for mincing his words, and his description of Casey Stoner pulls no punches. But given the fact that Stoner only managed to win the Portuguese round of MotoGP by a second and a bit, is that not a little exaggerated?

Up-Close with the 2012 Brammo Empulse RR

Brammo is back for electric motorcycle racing in the North American TTXGP series, as the Ashland-based company is set to defend it’s #1 plate this year with Steve Atlas on board ( Shelina Moreda is slated to join the team later in the season). Gaining a title sponsorship from Icon, Brammo arrived at Sears Point with some edgy graphics on the 2012 Brammo Empulse RR. Dropping roughly 35 lbs in weight, and gaining roughly 50hp over the bike they ran at last year’s season opener, Brammo is making most of those gains in its revised motor and power inverter for the newest Empulse RR.

Mea Culpa: The Media’s Hard-on for a Good Penis Story

As you can imagine, the bulk of the commentary, both from readers and from professional journalists, has centered around the absurdity of the claim, with even jokes being offered about how an aged BMW rider should be thanking the German motorcycle brand for saving him money on Viagra, etc. The situation reminds me of the McDonald’s hot coffee lawsuit. You know the story, right?. A woman buys a cup of coffee at McDonald’s, spills it on herself while in the car, and sues the bastards for her incompetence. True to litigious American form, the unthinkable happened, and a jury awarded this gold-digging woman millions of dollars. It is repudiating, and it stands for everything that is wrong with the legal system, or so we would be lead to believe — especially by the media.

An Addendum to Valentino Rossi’s Options for the Future

Never say never, but few are expecting Valentino Rossi to hang up his spurs at the end of the 2012 MotoGP Championship. Going out on a career low-point is certainly not the Italian’s style, especially as it casts a particularly dark shadow on a career that has enjoyed the bright-light superlative of “Greatest of All Time” from some of motorcycling’s most knowledgeable sources. Hoping to cast that phrase with an underlined typeface, and not with an interrogatory question mark, there is sufficient evidence to believe that Rossi will want to end his career in a way that will leave no doubt about the nine-time World Champion’s abilities. The question of course is how those final seasons will play out, and who they will be with.

Motorcycle from Japanese Tsunami Washes Up in Canada

Just a little over a year later, debris from the Sendai earthquake and its subsequent tsunami is starting to make its way across the Pacific Ocean, with the first bit major piece of fallout to hit Canadian soil just now being reported. Though the effects to the motorcycle industry were only a small portion of the overall devastation, for our purposes it seems fitting that the first sizable item to wash ashore is a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Landing in the Haida Gwaii islands of British Columbia, the Harley-Davidson Softail was discovered by Peter Mark, who was riding his ATV along the coast of the isolated beach.

Man Sues BMW for Causing Erection – No, Seriously

After a four-hour ride on his motorcycle, one BMW owner realized that he had a problem. Namely, a problem with his erect penis, which after some waiting would not subside. Now while most of us would cheekily reply that such a state is the sign of a good motorcycle ride, this San Francisco Bay Area native is not laughing, and has filed suit in the Superior Court of San Francisco County (CGC-12-520316) against BMW Motorrad North American and Corbin-Pacific. Saying that the motorcycle and its dealer-installed custom motorcycle seat have caused priapism, the man is suing for lost wages, personal injury, medical expenses, product liability, and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

2010 Ducati Hypermotard 1100 EVO

11/09/2009 @ 6:06 pm, by Jenny Gun4 COMMENTS

As we had reported earlier, the Hypermotard 1100 has been updated to fit more inline with the recently released 2010 Ducati Hypermotard 796. Now call the Hypermotard 1100 EVO, the 2010 Ducati Hypermotard 1100 EVO will come with its based model, and the 2010 Ducati Hypermotard 1100 EVO SP, which replaces the Hypermotard 1100S.

With the new EVO name, comes some new modifications. The Hypermotard 1100 EVO make 5hp more than last year’s model, and is an astounding 15.5lbs lighter than the older model. Other changes include design modifications to make the 1100 look more like the 796, including wider handlebars.

Some riders will also be glad to head that the 2010 Ducati Hypermotard 1100 EVO features a refined seat that is more comfortable and allows the rider to still shift around easily when cornering.

With a dry weight of 379lbs, and peak power 95hp the Hypermotard 1100 EVO earns its evolution name tag. Most of this lost weight comes from the bikes refined frame, which has all but removed the forged aluminum pieces from its trellis design.

Suspension is done by 50mm Marzocchi forks, and a Sachs rear-shock. Both suspension units are fully-adjustable.

Stopping comes by two radially mounted Brembo 4-piston callipers gripping 305mm discs up front, and a 245mm disc at the rear.

Working the 1100cc air-cooled DS motor over, Ducati has not only coaxed more power out of the machine, but also lightened the motor’s crankcases by using its Vacural® technology, which it also used on the Superbike engines.

Other changes include a new magnesium alternator cover, a lighter crankshaft assembly that uses a 848 Superbike flywheel. All these modifications made for 11.5lbs of the bike’s 15.5lb diet.

Helping make the bike’s power increases is a revised cylinder head design, which now has improved lubrication and cooling properties. The head also has a redesigned inlet port shape for optimum flow and a modified combustion chamber shape for improved burn efficiency. As a result, the bike’s compression has also been increased, with a new airbox added to help the bike breath.

The 2010 Ducati Hypermotard 1100 EVO will also come with $11,995 MSRP.

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Tagged under: 2010 Ducati Hypermotard 1100 EVO, EICMA

Comment:

Harold Olaf Cecil says:
November 9, 2009 at 2:09 PM
RT @Asphalt_Rubber 2010 Ducati Hypermotard 1100 EVO http://bit.ly/NSGfM
Nick Bair says:
November 9, 2009 at 2:32 PM
RT @GiantLoopMoto: RT @Asphalt_Rubber 2010 Ducati Hypermotard 1100 EVO http://bit.ly/NSGfM
BikePilot says:
November 9, 2009 at 6:37 PM
Very nice! I suspected that the light weight cases that appeared on the Monster 1100 last year would show up on the HM.
Asphalt_Rubber says:
November 9, 2009 at 10:06 PM
2010 Ducati Hypermotard 1100 EVO – http://bit.ly/NSGfM #motorcycle

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