Mission Motors tweeted out something interesting just a moment ago, a link to a new website for Mission Motorcycles. Teasing there a photo of the Mission R, it would seem that the electric superbike that does competitive AMA Supersport lap times at Laguna Seca, is finally set to come to production. It seems we won’t know everything about the new Mission Motorcycles project until June 3rd, though we can speculate pretty accurately on what the A&R Bothan spy network has been telling us. Expect to see the Mission R electric superbike in street legal trim, honed even further than when we rode the machine back in August last year.
Stefan Pierer’s acquisition of Husqvarna continues to baffle me. You will note I say Pierer, and not KTM, bought Husqvarna, since the Austrian CEO used Pierer Industrie AG in the transaction as a means to help side-step European antitrust issues. After all, we can’t have Europe’s largest dirt bike manufacturer, nay largest total motorcycle manufacturer, gobbling up even more brands in the two-wheeled world. But, I digress. Developing three road bikes (Husqvarna Nuda 900, Husqvarna Strada 650, & Husqvarna Terra 650), with three more concepts waiting in the wings (Husqvarna Moab, Husqvarna Baja, & Husqvarna E-G0), it is with even more confusion that we learn that Pierer & Co. intend to kill the Husqvarna Nuda project and its other street siblings.
In case you missed the story last week, Kevin Schwantz is preparing to race in this year’s Suzuka 8-Hour endurance race. For the race, Schwantz will be riding on a team formed by Yukio Kagayama, who in addition to having raced in the MotoGP, World Superbike, and British Superbike Championships, is also a previous Suzuka 8-Hour winner with the Suzuki Endurance Race Team (also joining the three-rider team Noriyuki “Nitro” Haga). Releasing a Q&A about his team’s Suzuka 8-Hour entry, Kagayama-san walks us through how the team came together, what equipment the riders will use, and his outlook on the team’s competitiveness.
A single-cylinder hooligan-maker, the KTM 690 Duke is 330 lbs (curbside without fuel) and 67hp of two-wheeled fun, and we hope that the Austrians bring the KTM 690 Duke R our way as well. While we are on the topic of things missing from KTM’s American line-up, a decent supersport is painfully obvious, yet we can’t see the folks at KTM following the paths of other brands. That’s where our friend Luca Bar comes to mind with his latest concept: the KTM RC4. Using the KTM 690 Duke platform and its LC4 engine, Bar has designed a super-single full-fairing sport bike that takes the Austrian company’s “Ready to Race” DNA and applies it to an idea that is not all that disimilar to the Ducati Supermono.
When I sat down with Claudio Domenicali at the Ducati 1199 Panigale R launch, the now-CEO of Ducati Motor Holding was still just the General Manager of the Italian motorcycle company. Four weeks after our interview though, Gabriele del Torchio would leave Ducati for Alitalia; and Domenicali, a 21-year veteran of both the racing and production departments of Ducati, would take his place at the top of Italy’s most prestigious motorcycle brand. After reading our interview from Austin, Texas after the jump, I think you will agree too.
That Yamaha is working on a seamless gearbox is no secret, with Yamaha’s test riders currently racking up the kilometers around tracks in Japan. Recently, however, Spanish magazine SoloMoto published an article suggesting that Yamaha has already been using its new seamless gearbox since the beginning of the season. My own enquiries to check whether Yamaha was using a seamless gearbox or not always received the same answer: no, Yamaha is not using the seamless gearbox. To test this denial, I went out to the side of the track on Friday morning at Jerez to record the bikes as they went by.
After a very public father/son break-up between Paul Teutul Sr. and Paul Teutul Jr., a steroid-ring scandal involving Paul Sr., and finally a bankruptcy proceeding, it appears that Orange County Choppers is the impossible to kill multi-headed hydra of doom that we all knew it was, as the custom chopper shop is once again headed to the small screen and recruiting some talent, on and off the show. Looking for “someone who will work alongside Paul Senior, running the shop and helping build some of the best custom motorcycles in the world,” OCC says it will be back on television with a new show later this month. Please for the love of god, will someone give this man the attention he craves so dearly??! Or, just shoot us in the face.
We love us some concept bikes here at Asphalt & Rubber, and we have featured more than a few pieces of stunning design and imagination on our pages. Though, we can’t remember the last time one of these works of art were brought to us by a legitimate racing team, but that is what we have here with the Team Alstare Superbike Concept. A nod to the former Suzuki team’s return to the World Superbike Championship as the Ducati factory squad with Carlos Checa and Ayrton Badovini, Alstare has enlisted the help of designer Serge Rusak of Rusak Kreaktive Designworks to ink the shape of its futuristic Superbike concept, while Tryptik Studios handled the 3D modeling prowess.
If you didn’t watch Thursday’s pre-event press conference for MotoGP at Jerez, it is worth a viewing right to the end (assuming you have a MotoGP.com account). Building off the news about the NBA’s Jason Collins coming out as gay in a self-written feature in Sport Illustrated, my good colleague David Emmett had the courage to inquire about the culture and acceptance of the MotoGP paddock for homosexual riders. For the sake of accuracy, after the jump is a full transcript of David’s question, as put to riders Cal Crutchlow, Jorge Lorenzo, Marc Marquez, Andrea Dovizioso, Stefan Bradl, and Scott Redding, as well as those riders’ responses to David’s inquiry.
News that Suzuki plans on returning to the MotoGP Championship in 2014 should be old information for dedicated Asphalt & Rubber readers, and the Japanese company’s inline-four race bike was already spotted doing test laps last year by the eager eyes at Cycle World. Well the American print-mag has another set of eyebrow-raising high-quality photos of the 2014 Suzuki GSV-R to mull over from the Motegi race track, along with some technical insights provided by the venerable Kevin Cameron.
OMG, Daddy wants, must convince Momma to let me be buy it!
Super Lambada!
(excuse me lambasted is a word i never heard about)
What’s the offset rearshock doing?
This engine in a Suter chasis = CRT! LOL
I am trying really hard to like this bike. I just keep coming up with “But ‘er face”
its like they turned the 1198 into an evil dead 1198 with those zombie eyes.
Well i just wanna rub my penis on it and take it home…….
question on fit form and function though, for the street, is this thing gunna run pretty hot with all that fairing hugging the motor, rear cylinder under the seat inches from your gentleman berries and that exhuast running through the fairing on some hard riding would fry that plastic, would it not?
there are three groups of consumer, one will have lust and be kicking the door down at their local dealer, one will be waiting a year or so incase of any bugs and the other will look over the shoulder of thier partner whilst having sex to the poster on the wall helping to maintain an iron fisted erection………
I love it hahaha, people complain about the wing mirrors on modern bikes, especially the road users. The company then puts mirrors on that give a wider view, and they are slagged off as ugly, and an afterthought.
Theres just no winning…
Imo the tank looks great, not at all a “blob”. I like the look of that curled rear header, but as with all modern bikes, first thing to go would be the mufflers, bit too big as always for the emissions.
Well done Ducati, now we wait for the road and track tests.
((BANG))
Lets play!
chrome, I’m with you. It seems beauty skips a generation at Ducati.
Why does the Tricolore cost so much? Besides the bodywork, I can’t see what makes it worth the price. Past Tricolores came with Termi exhaust at least, right?
Other than that…beautiful bike. Maybe not the instant classic that the 1×98 is, but still a stunner and a good step forward by Ducati.
If you are a fan of the Desmosedici RR, and the 1098/1198, this 1199 should be the natural progression to your eyes. The lines and design are a perfect blend of the two if you look at it correctly.
I like it. I’ll keep my Aprilia RSV4, but I’m glad Ducati is pushing the envelope with style and function. The Europeans…Ducati, BMW and Aprilia… have left Japan behind in terms of innovation and style. I look forward to riding the 1199 once one of my Ducati friends picks one up.
And everyone thought Pierre Terblanche’s 999 was an ugly ducking?
I love some aspects of the bike but cant really warm up to others… like the rear shock; looks like they totally forgot about that part until last minute then just threw it on there. And is that rear wheel 16″? Looks like a ton of rubber.
@ML, The “ton of rubber” on the rear wheel is a new Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa SP 200/55 x ZR17, the widest rear tire ever fitted to a Ducati Superbike.
Looks like the Luca Bar renderings were pretty accurate.
2012 Ducati 1199 Panigale Redefines the Word 'Superbike' – http://t.co/ppQ18ao7 #motorcycle
I’m not really digging the lower section of head light cavities. The upper part looks like a Fireblade and the lower part looks like an larger Aprilia RSV4. The mirror are functional I’m sure, but they aren’t the most attractive things…
Otherwise, the bike overall looks amazing. Love the underbelly exhaust. That being said, I hope the 848 or whatever the smaller displacement bike is, remains with the current body styling, or the make a 796…
Revolutionary bike.
DES
DQS
DTC
EBC
DDA + GPS
ABS
Multiple Ride Modes
Ability to set suspension maps for the track
195hp/98lb-ft/361.5 dry
Instant Icon.
Tricolore costs so much as it has all electronic options including commemorative bodywork, Titanium Race Exhaust (termi) and few other bits.
Pricey but exclusive as they won’t make many.
WHY the stupid Buell exhaust??? WTF, Duc’?
Bike is AWESOME but what should I do with my Rsv4!? Think I’ll track this Duck and keep the Rsv4 for canyon runs with the boys!! Can’t wait for the test ride!!! :-)
@ Greg, do you even know why the motorcycle market has gone to “underslung” exhaust? Maybe you don’t under stand the effect “mass centralization” has on a motor cycle?
I’m confused about the monocoque and its supposed advantages. Is this the same “frameless” monocoque design that was used in the GP9, GP10, & GP11, that Ducati eventually replaced in the GP12 with a traditional aluminum frame?
If yes, why would you want a bike that you could, potentially, loose front end feel (ignore the point of being able to put 100% out of your bike, please).
If no, I have a lot more reading to do on the actual design of the Desmosedici Carbon Monocoque vs the 1199 Monocoque
2012 Ducati 1199 Panigale Redefines the Word 'Superbike' – http://t.co/18IwPYrl #motorcycle
Zero have had an LED headlight as an option for a year… http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=119&zenid=9v3kmqv29q1tmrngum4pgdsa91 More fact checking please…
2 x biking PHWOARs
Firstly, a restomod masterpiece http://t.co/4NQa1CIs.
Then the extremely hawt new Ducati Panigale http://t.co/r68hFWmL
For some reason I keep expecting to see “Hyosung” printed on the tank. Maybe its just the shape of the tank itself.
The tricolore looks much better than the solid red.
It will be interesting to see one ‘in the flesh’.
“the first engine braking control system, as well as the first GPS-assisted data acquisition system” is an incorrect statement, these are also available on the 2012 S1000RR.
Not talking about fully progammable ECU, DTC, mappings… (Race) ABS you said.. on a race bike? again check out the s1000rr been here for 2 years.
195 HP humm… we should expect around 180 HP at the wheel then.
I can’t wait to test ride it and see the 1199 dyno from AKrapovic site which gives us stock at the wheel: 1198 S at 156 HPstock, the RSV4R at 165HP and S1000RR at 185 HP. I also wonder what the real weight is (414 lbs wet??). Though I like Ducati I don’t live in worderland and I’m always very cautious with marketing figures.
@JCB
Settle down there captain, instant icon? That is a bold statement. The last time Ducati had an instant icon was in 1994.
I bet the bike will perform well (I still doubt it will match the S1000rr or the 2011 ZX10r), but it is still priced a bit off. But at this point lets just talk cosmetics.
The tail section still looks unfinished to me and the tank actually looks MORE blob like now that I have seen high rez pictures. The exhaust still looks a bit messy to me.
No sir I don’t like it. The RSV4 is still the best looking bike coming out of Italy.
That is extraordinary! Now I want a naked one with long travel suspension, hypermotard-ish ergonomics and no other changes. It is awesome to finally have a twin with no weight or peak power penalty.
@ksauze
“Though I like Ducati I don’t live in worderland and I’m always very cautious with marketing figures.”
That is the most level headed and intelligent comment I have read here in a while. +1 to you, Sir.
I don’t even like Ducatis generally, but that thing is gorgeous.
@ksauze – Ducati has to sell, just like the others. But it does so more gallantly.
BMW wanted to develop a bike with lots of power and electronic goodies in order to beat the japs at their own game, no matter what. They had lots of cash on their hands and so they did: an inline 4 with lots of revs and plenty high-end power – well priced too! And it sells good, as it was intended to. They traded their heritage for profit. So, as far as I’m concerned, the S1000RR is the most “japanese” of all the european bikes on the market right now.
Ducati is, as far as my perception goes, more refined. It’s still a goddamn V-twin and they got almost 200hp out of it! Let’s see BMW go even remotely close to those figures with a similar 4 valve twin (boxer). It won’t. And I’m really eager to see the more powerful S1000RR go against the Panigale in Superstock 1000 next year, or in Superbike in 2013…
[exstrat says:]
“I’m confused about the monocoque and its supposed advantages. Is this the same “frameless” monocoque design that was used in the GP9, GP10, & GP11, why would you want a bike that you could, potentially, loose front end feel (ignore the point of being able to put 100% out of your bike, please).”
What percentage of the public do you think could ride the bike on the edge like a MotoGP professional, enough to actually lose the front end feel that Rossi and Stoner speak of?
I think the excuse of front end feel, is a scapegoat for lack of understanding the bikes radical nature. In MotoGP, the bike has been proven fast and capable of winning. Nor has it proven to have gone down any more than any other bike on the grid…
The 1199 at it’s price point, the number of individuals that would even attempt to track it, or ride it on the edge so to speak (let’s face everybody thinks they can), will be so infinitesimal that it would hardly be an issue…
I imagine, for those of us that are not initially seduced by its charm, might feel differently once we actually see it in person…
Looks like we’ve got a typo there in the paragraph about pricing. Left out the number for the S with ABS.
From an engineering and technical perspective, I’m in love with this new Duc. Unfortunately, from an aesthetic standpoint, it just doesn’t captivate and mesmerize me like the 1098 did when I first saw it. It’s entirely possible my opinion will change somewhat once I see it in person but I don’t know that I’ll be able to get over the goofy looking exhaust loop (it looks like a sausage), the antennae-like mirror stalks, or the way it looks half-dressed with the fairing ending mid-point over the engine. As others have said, the bike just doesn’t seem to flow like previous Ducati Superbikes. However, if the 1199 makes the 1×98 depreciate slightly so that I can get a gently used one at a better price, I’m all for it.
@loki
Let’s keep in mind they squeeze almost 200hp out of a 1200cc motor. Also no independent tests have confirmed the rating. They wouldn’t be getting that many horses out of a 1000cc V-twin.
Power isn’t everything. Last year’s Fireblade was way down on power yet finished second in most shootouts AND pulled the best lap times on several circuit tests.
@westward
“In MotoGP, the bike has been proven fast and capable of winning. Nor has it proven to have gone down any more than any other bike on the grid…”
You have to remember when Stoner was winning with the bike it was still in a trellis frame configuration.
Of course the 1199 has VERY LITTLE in common with the MotoGP Ducati. So very little.
@ Damo
The design cues come from the D16 of 2009-2011. That bike has won races with Stoner, and made the podium even in the hands of Rossi and Hayden. The point being, this bike is more than enough for 99% of the general public, and for those that think they are in that 1%, and can ride like a MGP racer, well, you know how that goes…
So complaining that the chassis design is somehow flawed enough to bring down the general riding public that will buy this machine, due to the front end, is about as likely as spotting a UFO while sitting in a hot tub with Lauren Vickers…
******
[Damo says:]
“Let’s keep in mind they squeeze almost 200hp out of a 1200cc motor. Also no independent tests have confirmed the rating. They wouldn’t be getting that many horses out of a 1000cc V-twin.”
MotoGP has shown to get over 200hp out of an 800 cc’s, so anything is possible…
Someone once told me that, “there is no replacement for displacement.” If that were true then the Harley Davisdon Sportser 1200 would smoke a Ducati 848, and we all know that is not true…
@Westward
Point taken and I agree for the most part. In all honesty a 1999 Honda 919RR is more than enough bike for 99% of the people that ride.
I guess I am just nitpicking because I am very fond of this new Ducati engine (finally no 7000 mile service intervals!), but I think everyone is getting all amped up with no third party info yet.
Seriously though the only thing that has prevented me from buying a Duc has been the service schedule and the Ergos (which I can work around). I use my bike as my primary mode of transport, which I know is odd considering I only really ride superbikes.
Another thing that’s hard not to love – the small, minimally funded enterprise of individual engineers and designers perpetually sticking it in the face of other huge budget/workforce corporations with their soulless product committees. Go Italy!
No comment on the aesthetics…other than, you can place my ballot with the thumbs-down populous.
To those hating on the bike because the MotoGP team sucked this year:
The main reason this bike will work and the MotoGP bike didn’t- there is unlimited testing in street bike development….
Love the bike,wonder what it would look like in black and although the design is a work of art in most ways why does the brake resevoir look so cheap and old school 70s type?
Gorgeous. Can’t wait to flog one.
Dan, I hope you’re talking about riding the bike, and not what you do on your lunch break.
Why can’t I do both??
Stoner won last year on the Carbon frame but it was inconsistent.. Ducati will race a twin beem frame but don’t expect it to be made out of aluminum more than likely out of carbon… Reason they currently shelved the airbox carbon frame is because the engine rule prevented them from making too many frame changes cause the 6 motors are selected at the becoming of the season.. Last year Honda test 32 frames with Pedrosa till they finally found the right combination of flex, grip, and durability!! To be frank I think the best decision Honda made was Stoner!!! The Pinagale is awesome and shares tons with the GP bike, biggest difference is the V2…
BTW, MV has had EBS, an engine braking system, for some time, so Ducati is not first on that one.
Oh, and this thing is ugly. Sorry, but it is.
After looking at it for a couple of days now…Meh, what hell, i have done worse than this butter-face…let me at it(base model only, all the others u guys can keep it)…UGLY or NOT. LMAO.
‘Shocking’ things on the new Ducati superbike contender :
1) The styling is not elegant anymore , more like a radical & functional looking superbike.
2) Strange offset position for the rear shock which further enhanced the radical theme.
Coupled that with the monocoque frame, revolution seems the only way forward for Ducati.
@ fazer6 So is your Fazer 6… LOL
Guys to each his own… one can disagree with styling (and other factors with out being bashing. Why can’t we be happy that factories are making such efforts?
Such master pieces that will grace bedroom walls, desk-top backgrounds, and sketch books. Machines that inspire, push, and stir the blood?
THIS BIKE HAS 1 THING ON ITS MIND, GET AROUND A TRACK FAST- SCREW YOUR WRISTS AND BACK!!! ALOT LIKE THE 916
Ducati 916 iconic motorcycle, in 20 years time we wont be saying that about the 1199 !
You heard it here (again).
Ducati 1199 Panigale S is an instant icon.
All of the manufacturers including BMW have much more by the means of resources to generate a bike comparable to the Panigale. They haven’t. Ducati just upped the ante. They have been first to the PRODUCTION market with many innovations that other manufacturers have yet to pull off their GP bikes.
I’ll go a step further @ Damo:
1199 Panigale F will win superstock and superbike in their inaugural years.
I’ll be very interested to see head to head tests as long as Kentu’s bias at Sport Rider isn’t involved.
I think i have come to terms as to “what i think is wrong” with it.
Drum Roll…………. The shape of the “Snow Plow Section” or for those of u still confused, i meant the curve of the lower fairing right after the front wheel.
Check it side by side with the outgoing 1198 AND SEE how the 1199 has little to no curve to it(almost perpendicular to the ground), it too looks very similar to the CBR1000RR “snow plow”.
All the other stuff is alright, even if most of it don’t “flow” or w/e it is … lol.
i dont mind the lines of the ‘snow plow’ its hugging the front wheel and looks good IMO. The 1199 is not at all as revolutionary a design today as the 916 was in 1994.
The tail is very similar to the RSV4, Ducati are probably paying KTM or Buell royalties for the silencer design- so like I said not revolutionary…however in terms of tech and performance coming from a twin cylinder road bike, it is outstanding!!!
Guys,
Ducati sucks in reliability. I used to have a 999 and after 2 months of useage, on a rainy day its tacho went off and engine stop after some drops on the cockpit. I sold it immediately.
I prefer zx10r OR s1000rr OR MV4 over this 1000 times.
btw, in europe we have 210 horsepower zx 10r standard.
it could easily be chip tuned ~230 HP and small mods.
so it is BEST BANG for BUCK
;)
WELL, if you wanna pose and have a COLLECTIBLE bike than you can go for MV AGUSTA F4 from our beautiful Italy.
i–
210 HP standard…u must be smoking hash + its not all about HP, have you heard of rideability? Its the reason checa can lap faster than the more powerful competition.
+ my 999 has been super reliable!
This bike is definately the best looking bike that Ducati have produced. Some will point out the 916 but really that is looking a bit old now. This new bike looks modern but better than most of the Japanese alternatives
@Andy
I hear you, I always hear 916 this and 916 that. That bike looks very antiquated now. This one looks far better than any I have ever seen come from the Ducati stable. There is only one other bike from them that I like just as much and that is the MH900e. I sure do wish they’d make another one withe Monster 1100cc motor.