Ducatisti: do you want the good news or the bad news first? The bad news is that the market for motorcycles 500cc and up is down 17% worldwide for the first quarter of this year, which means the “good” news is that Ducati is only down 5% for Q1 2013. Not exactly the start out of the gate that Audi was hoping for its newly acquired two-wheeled brand, but what are you going to do? Western Europe is a mess, with Spain and Italy continuing to go down like a…well, you know. While we don’t enjoy the misery of motorcycle brands, the fact that Ducati Motor Holding is now under the Audi AG umbrella means that we get far more detailed quarterly and yearly reports from the two-wheeled marque, and we’ve got the digits after the jump.
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.
Really nice looking bike BUT…where are the wire wheels. I have an F650GS and I regret not getting the 800 with the spoke wheels :-( Next adventure bike will definitely have them!
I know these might be early “unofficial” shots and things might change a bit — like spoked wheels — but really nice looking. I’ve been pondering a new Adventure Bike and while the 800 is nice, a 1200 would be sweeter. :D
I love my F800GS, but I like what I see in this new Tiger Explorer. It could possibly lure me away from the GS line if the specs and price are right!
Now that a nice looking bike……..could be temped
Triumph does it again! Beautiful bike. I can’t wait to see some specs.
Just curious having never ridden this kind of bike, what’s the deal with wire wheels?
Nice bike, SS swingarm looks cool, shaft drive is the big plus for touring. But till I see weight and seat height, bigger isn’t always better.. Sold my 07 Tiger and went back to a wee Strom and am happy again.
Very nice. While many other makers seem to flounder along, Triumph continues to forge ahead.
On a side note, as one who performs his own maintenance (yes, including tire changes) I’m just not getting the love affair with fussier spoked wheels. Especially given the difficulty in making the argument for unsprung mass on an adventure-tourer or the split in cost of repair for a bent rim. Just saying.
Gary, the wire wheels are not about unsprung mass. Quite a few wire wheel sets are actually heavier. The need for wire wheels lies in off road ability. Spokes flex, deflect and bend…a necessity for off road abuse. But just because there is flexibility doesn’t mean the whole wheel will bend and stay bent. You would have to bend it beyond the material’s ability to spring back. Spoked wheels work a a system. A cast wheel can fracture or even shatter.
The big thing for me is I like tubeless spoked wheels like on the big BMW and Yamaha. Easier to plug than de-mount , install a new tube and re-mount, hp[ing you don’t pinch the tube in the process. In fact, carrying spare tubes sucks as well, especially when 2 different sizes are required per bike.
Spokes are pretty easy to maintain. As long as the nipples are lubed, the spokes can rotate freely as they stretch without twisting. Twisting have less strength and higher stress. Truing is dirt easy too, even on the bike.
Hmmm, enlightening (and well delivered) perspective. Thanks for the nugget, Bob.
Haaa, i see they still insisted on slapping on “the mandatory novelty item” on what basically is an Upright Seating Tourer. I guess it can’t be helped, SIGH…(-_- )
I would rather have two versions of the same theme similar to the 800 siblings.
Road bias: 17″ Front and Back Wheels.
Dirt bias: 21″ Front and 19″ Rear Wheels, SPOKED WHEELS. Not my thing, but for those of u who “need it”. lol.
Go all out or go home.
Im really liking this thing, from the colors to the features. I look forward to picking a ligthly used sample in the coming years…for NOT an arm and a leg.
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And now JUST BECAUSE Day Dreaming is a BLISS:
Where’s that future 190hp DAYTONA 1200 ? Sorry, i can’t be helped. LOL.