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.
No Caponord ?
The Italian OEMs are saving all the good stuff for EICMA.
Wonderful bike with lots of character, sweat handling, wonderful motor and best exhaust noise (personal opinion) in the SBK market.. Favorite bike in my garage….
Sweet ride ! Hope it comes to the US Soon !
I had a 2010 R model for about 18 months. Still regret selling it. What an amazing package. TERRIBLE street bike but amazing track tool (for an advanced rider). My favorite of the current liter bikes by a long shot. Will definitely buy one of these on the used market in a couple years. I also really like Aprilia’s approach to development. Small, yet meaningful upgrades every year or two. Even though the bike appears the same as the 2009 version I would bet a back to back ride on both would be quite a different experience
A couple things bug me about this one though.
A) I HATE the gold wheels. Why??? Black forged OZ’s looked so much better on the 2010 bikes.
B) Why even bother with passenger accommodations? Has anyone ever tried riding 2-up on one of these? I bet it would be absolutely miserable for both parties. Ditch the extra weight and leave them in the accessory catalog.
C) Still no TTX rear shock? Seems like such an easy up-sell over the previous model year and many high end bikes are coming TTX equipped now. Even the Triumph 675R has one. Simply put the Factory is too expensive to not have top shelf suspension in the current market.
If this is really the last year of the current RSV4, just think what next year will bring……. Electronic suspension? Lighter chassis? Full digital dash? GPS lap timer?
Gold wheels are not my favorite neither is the bigger tank looks overweight!! As an owner of a 10 RSV Factory only complains are weight (dropped 20lbs. w/ ti exhaust system) and lack of aero protection. Adding a double bubble helped but at 6’2” im pushing it. Lastly the bike is a little twitchy compared to what Im used to but makes up for it with nimble handling. Awesome bike!!
I agree about the no TTX rear shock. For the factory…I have a 2012 I had that complaint. The Daytona R has NIX30 shocks up front too if I am not mistaken not to mention the TTX in the rear. And also the chain guards should have been carbon fiber as well. I wonder if the engine management is backwards compatible with the 2012 MY meaning if an ecu flash would do the trick. I still need to break in my bike. Only put 400 miles on it since July when I bought it brand new!
So the Ohlins forks up front and Ohlins racing monoshock out back aren’t good anymore? This bike does have top shelf suspension.
Dont kid yourself. Just because it wears an Ohlins sticker does not mean its the same quality as the components you and I have to pay big bucks for in the aftermarket. Ohlins and motorcycle OEM’s know the power of a brand name and Ohlins is by far the biggest brand in suspension. I’m certain that the Ohlins parts on the RSV4 Factory are a step above the Sachs on the R model but there is still much room for improvement. When I see bikes like the 675 with higher spec suspension parts from the same manufacturer, I just have to scratch my head.
And don’t kid yourself into thinking that 99% of the people who buy this bike would be able to tell you the difference between those suspension components at all. For the few who ride sports bikes who even touch an adjustment on their shock(and lets not kid ourselves, most don’t), you can get the TTX shock for it. You can go buy a 675 if you want to, but the Daytona doesn’t come with an optional 999.6 cc, 65 degree V 4 and the best electronics package available on an OEM bike. At some point, price does become an issue, and putting the absolute best of everything on a bike would price it out of the market. Are lighter rims better? Hell yeah, so lets throw some carbon fiber rims on this beast. The absolute best suspension out there? Most people won’t use it, but hey lets do it anyway. And while we are at it, lets make the body panels from carbon fiber, and convert all the hardware to titanium. Then the bike will be so high priced that nobody buys it. I mean, accept some compromise somewhere. The fact that they added the top ofthe line M50 Brembos and a new Bosch system to control them is evidence they are looking out for the stuff riders actually make the most use of, ensuring they get the best bang for the buck. I can’t imagine someone riding this bike and complaining that the bike is all good except for the suspension. In fact, I’ve never read a review of the RSV4 which claims this.
@Michael
Don’t kid yourself, living with extremely boutique Ohlins suspension on a bike you actually put miles on sucks as well. Talk to anyone who lives in a temperate area of the world and ask them how often they have to get the fork seals serviced. Or save the time and google it, don’t take my word for it.
But seriously are we really griping about last generation Ohlins not being good enough, wtf? No one posting on this sight would know the goddamn difference, don’t kid yourself.
Personally I care more about a dynamite braking system, because I’ll actually notice that EVERY TIME I use the bike.
Maybe we have some cats on this site that drag their knee every time they go to the shops to get milk, but I doubt that is the case.
Granted, gentlemen, this is a very track-oriented machine. As shown here: http://ti2tt.com/ti/ti2tt/content/FtKMk6vI.html I clearly care about the suspension. The OEM rear shock, although it is gold, does need a little TLC to do it’s job better, but the cost differential between that and a TTX is substantial. I was glad not to have paid it in purchase price, and instead spent half of it to get the OEM one dialed in for my needs.
But I can’t fit milk into my suit.
This remains my favorite L bike, first for the engine, second but by no means less important for the brakes, which are the best sorted in the business, significantly better than the BMW and the Ducati. Aprilia obviously has their priorities straight.
It is certainly an imperfect package for daily street riding in an urban area, having a number of significant flaws, flaws which are for the most part a result of making it such a track orientated rocket. But for anybody who lives in a rural area with a lot of rolling hills, or in the subtropics to tropics with big wide-open highways, freeways turnpikes etc., I think it’s safe to say you’re going to have a lot of fun on this bike, and quickly grow to love it.
I might prefer to live with the BMW on a daily basis, or the Ducati when I’m just want to be lazy about gearing and throttle, and still have a lot of fun. But when it comes to pushing it to the limit going through a giant sweeper at 170 mph, rolling on the throttle at the top of the rev range coming out of the corner, going full on the brakes into a corner that would put any other bike on the market out of shape, well perhaps no other bike out there today will give you the same satisfaction you will experience with this baby. When the others fade, and you’re left out there all alone in front, or that precise throttle opening that gives you the absolute perfect on the limit drive out of your favorite corner is your thing. If those are the moments you live for, this is probably your motorcycle.
It’s all relative of course, everybody has their own preference, riding style, but in the context of that narrow area that constitutes the very pinnacle of what sport bike riding and racing are all about, this is the peak that everyone aims at, Aprilia is just a bit higher up Everest than the rest.
The 2011 RSV4 Factory SE was the best looking Aprilia ever made ! They should have stuck with that color scheme !