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.
A surprise addition to BMW Motorrad’s 2013 model line-up, zie Germans have announced a new middleweight adventure-tourer, the 2013 BMW F800GS Adventure. Like its larger predecessor, the BMW F800GS Adventure is a more travel-ready and off-road capable build of the recently updated BMW F800GS motorcycle. Featuring a larger windscreen, panniers, and a bigger fuel tank capacity (2.1 gallons larger, for a total of 6.3 gallons of fuel), the BMW F800GS Adventure keeps the same 85 hp, liquid-cooled, 798cc, parallel-twin engine found on the F800GS, as well as the same chassis configuration. Pricing in the US will be $13,550 for the base model BWM F800GS Adventure.
Former 500cc World Champion Kevin Schwantz has certainly been in the news a bit these past few months, mostly for his involvement and falling out with the Circuit of the Americas and the Americas GP, but also more recently for his comments regarding Dani Pedrosa — we also sat down with Mr. Schwantz in Austin, and the Texan gave us some sobering insight into the future of American road racing. As if all that wasn’t enough, Schwantz is making a return to two-wheeled racing, and has entered the prestigious Suzuka 8-Hours endurance race with Team Kagayama racing alongside Noriyuki Haga and team owner Yukio Kagayama.
An interesting development on the aftermarket side of things has graced our desks, as Öhlins has released a “suspension control unit” (SCU) that upgrades the electronically adjustable suspension on the Ducati Multistrada 1200 S so that it becomes a semi-active suspension system. Whhhaaaat??! So, if you’re the proud owner of a pre-2013 Ducati Multistrada 1200 S, and you think that your electronically controlled Öhlins suspension is no longer boss, now that Ducati has released its Sachs-powered “Skyhook” semi-active suspension pieces on its new batch of Multistrada sport-tourers, there is a remedy for your motolust.
I love triumphs, and this isn’t what I’d call ugly, but this thing has a face only a mother could remember… like their old 4 cyl 600, which I even can’t remember the name for as the styling was so safe and bland. forget the offroading pretense, give us a long distance bike with the speed triple attitude :)
That is one ugly bike…no matter how i stare at it or how long…i just can’t swallow it.
Seems like they won’t let this one DIE just yet…probably to keep it as “the more road oriented” of the big Tigers(17″ front hoop).
Im willing to bet that even tho the future Tiger[1200?] will be sporting a 19″ front wheel it will be nothing but a facade of its adventurous pretencions.
They should just accept the cold facts and slap a 17″ for good measure and turn it into a “long legged tourer”… and that’s not just Triumps…all the other “wannabee” should too. There’s no bussiness case for a 500lbs bike to be off road or to be called “dual-sport”…that just lying to urself.
I wonder how old and recycled are those pictures…since all 4 bikes are wearing Michelin’s Pilot Road (the first Gen) … that’s what came standard on my 2003 SV1000N…2003 !
U can’t even buy those tires anymore! I think ?
Those suspension settings should suit it perfectly. Excellent bike that only lacked in the suspension department. With that sorted it’ll be a top all-around street bike. I wouldn’t kick one out of the garage. A punched up motor and, a styling revision and maybe a few pounds shed would have it really competitive with the SMT990. I really hope it doesn’t turn into some bloated pig like the GS or Super-Ten.
The Triumph Multistrada?
Immitation is flattery, I guess.
But not at all elegant.
@Singletrack – right.
There is a Ducati ad at the top right with a Multistrada picture facing to the left of the screen, which was staring right at the top picture of the Triumph facing to the right of the screen. (like 2 girls giving each other a look after seeing the same outfit)
Well, they are doing a handful of the things I wished they’d have done in the first place. If only they could have fitted a proper set of headlights.
Sad thing is they’re about to ruin the bike by trying to make a British version of the GS, shaft drive and all, for 2013. It’ll get a 19″ front, but it will be an absolute pig.
I’ll stick with my ’07.
Immitating a Multistrada which was released a decade after the first Tiger 1050??? OK ….. Pleeeease, they don’t seem to have nothing similar. Nothing.
Sometimes the world would just be better off without blogs a comments ….
@MXS
Don’t be selfish…(^_^ )…we all can’t agree…all the time…diversity is the bomb(think about women).
I too happen to see some lite similarities between this 1050 model and the previous Gen MS.
@Heineken:
I too hope they don’t blow it up(both size and weight) like the GSA…that last Mule i saw was so HIDEOUS looking…(-_- )…the 19″ front is for sure but hey…miracles sometimes happen, no ?
ugly? you mean compared to the BMW GS (John Deere) and the Multistrada (Safari chic poser)?No one has (visually) managed to blend sport with tour with adventure better than this Triumph.
no, no, no to the 19 in. front. This is a great street/touring bike. If you want off road – get the 800.
in fact I wish the road version 800 had a 17 in. front
keep up the good work Triumph
Looks really awful in red. Black is nice though. Triumph make a great hybrid.
Got chased down and overtaken by a couple of guys on Multistradas on the tar, when we got to the dirt road they stopped, pulled to the side and took pictures of their bikes. Ducati owners…
mxs … “don’t seem to have nothing similar”?
Nothing… except the identical target market, pointy dual swept-headlight half fairing, separate half fairings at sides, black handguards, sporty street only rubber, chin spoiler under stressed member engine, deeply sculpted seat, identical red or black colors…
True, the Tiger has been out for 2 decades, but it was a homely, style-less lump until recently. But admittedly a little better looking than the original Multistrada a decade later (no immitation there from Ducati). That was UGLY all by itself. Now the Tiger’s a stylish machine, that takes after the newly redesigned and successful Multistrada. I’m not saying either is good looking, just stylish.
mxs.. maybe you should start by ceasing your double negative “blogs a comments” ;)
@Singletrack — Not that I want to argue on the internet, but the ‘newly redesigned and successful Multistrada’ came out in 2009. The 1050 Tiger came out in 2007. Who’s imitating who?
@Harry89r: +1 on the Road T800 should come with 17″ Front Hoop.
heineken… i admit you’re right about chronology. I should be ashamed. It seems that Ducati is more of the immitator. The Tiger’s fairing format in 2007-2011 is essentially the same as 2012, but somehow the 2012 in red and black colors make it look much different, and more like the Ducati.
Ducati Tiger has a nice ring to it too.
Haha, no worries. It does look like a different bike with all the black hardware and wheels. I can see how they might be trying to entice some fans of the Multi over to Triumph.