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.

2012 Ducati 1199 Panigale – 195hp / 395 lbs (Base)

09/23/2011 @ 11:31 pm, by Jensen Beeler8 COMMENTS

2012 Ducati 1199 Panigale   195hp / 395 lbs (Base) 2012 Ducati 1199 Panigale 635x428

Confirming what we reported back in November of last year regarding the performance figures for Ducati’s new Superbike, Ducati dealership Pro-Italia posted on its Facebook wall (now redacted) a less-than-cryptic “395/195″ message while in attendance at the Ducati Dealership meeting in Miami, Floria. Noting the wet weight and brake horsepower, the new 2012 Ducati 1199 Panigale makes good on its promise to trump its predecessor by over 20hp and 20 lbs. To thank for the these benchmark miracles is the 1199 Panigale’s very over-square Superquadrata motor (also known as the SuperQuadro in some rumor reports), which will rev higher than any other previous Ducati Superbike motor to-date, and the company’s new “frameless” chassis design, which has been floundering in MotoGP.

While we can’t speak for the efficacy of Ducati’s new chassis philosophy, and how it will work on the company’s new v-twin production bike, the spec-sheet racers should be impressed with this latest piece of information. And as if those figures weren’t impressive enough already, Asphalt & Rubber has learned that the Ducati 1199 Panigale homologation special, the made-for-racing “production” model which has been making its appearance in the bulk of the 1199′s spy shots, has been producing over 205hp at the crank during its recent testing at Borgo Panigale facility (the namesake for the 1199 Superbike), while in its “stock” form. While we don’t know what naming convention Ducati will use on the race-bike-with-lights-on-it 1199, A&R does know that it will not receive “R” nomenclature that we’ve seen in the past.

2012 Ducati 1199 Panigale   195hp / 395 lbs (Base) Pro Italia Ducati Panigale horsepower weight

Clearly breaking from its traditional naming architecture, A&R has also learned that the Italian company will favor its new naming scheme, with the “S” model debuting as the Ducati 1199 Panigale EVO. Anticipated to debut at a later date than the 2012 Ducati 1199 Panigale base model and race version, the 1199 Panigale EVO will come with higher-spec components, and presumably make power in the 200hp range. The only question with the middle-range Superbike is when it will break cover, and how it will fit into the Ducati line-up both in positioning and pricing.

As we already reported earlier, the Ducati 1199 Panigale is expected to hit the pocketbook harder than the Superbike 1198, with prices in Europe and in the USA likely to go up by several thousand dollars. How will the Ducati 1199 Panigale fare with a steeper price tag, but staggeringly better performance than its predecessor? Only time will tell, but we like what we’re seeing so far (though we are a bit biased around here).

Source: Pro-Italia (Facebook) via Ducati News Today

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  1. 2012 Ducati 1199 Panigale Redefines the Word ‘Superbike’
  2. Video: Ducati Superbike 1199 Panigale Teaser
  3. Spy Photos: Ducati 1199 Panigale Load Testing
  4. Ducati 1199 Panigale Says “Checkmate” to the Competition
  5. Ducati 1199 Panigale Leaks Ahead of EICMA

Comment:

  1. John Magnum says:

    I’m going to need gastric banding on each eye ball, alot of eye candy to come….or cum.

  2. Bike says:

    good job DUCATI 1199 ..

  3. 1199 Panigale Xtreme for the top model. I’m hearing about a super racer version too but it doesn’t make any sense since Ducati needs 3,000 for homologation these days anyway so homologation specials don’t work anymore

  4. Damo says:

    Nice stats, hopefully it has the same long interval valve adjustments as the current Testastretta.

  5. MikeD says:

    @Damo:

    I hope so too…but with those #’s…man, im a little xkeptic.

    1200cc (90*?) V-Twin=205hp…even tho i should be impressed by such a great feat…strangely…im not…so wierd…specially since im such a 90*v-twin fanboy.
    I was xpecting easy 200hp in base model…maybe this thing was too hyped.
    I know 195hp is nothing to poke fun about but man…why does it feels so BLAH now…(0_O ) ?!

    If only the SP1/2, TL1000R/S, SV1000S/N could have evolved into something technically similar to this…(T_T) weep-weep-sniff-sniff. Long live the 90* v-twin.

    Anyways, great job Ducati…maybe one day i’ll have the pleasure…maybe one day.

  6. Jason says:

    Long interval valve adjustments? That’s funny.

  7. Carrijo says:

    Have you idea when its going to be available in USA for sale?

  8. I heard at Newport Ducati it will be out sometime in February, but he was speculating. But they are taking deposits. Around $15000.00?