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.
What’s with Triumph’s trend with putting more and more plastic on their naked bikes?
Another bike F**ked up by Triumph……well done….ffs
i think it looks more cleaner and the seat has a better flow into the tank. The seat also looks more kampfy. I still dont get the shroud over the lower run of exhaust but i’m glad the underseat pipes are gone.
The Street Triple R is giving me good hopes for the Daytona 675r. Now just impatiently waiting pictures of that
Looks more like my 07 Benelli from the side. The old underseat muff set up was visually bulkish. A single muffler tucked in looks better IMO. Again, see Benelli. The new exhaust is butt ugly. It looks as though it was lifted from Japanschrott. Wasn’t that an early estimation when Triumph was re-introduced? Too Japanese?
Gentlemen, please, prove to the world you’re not as out-of-touch as some other brands. Do something about the friggin headlights!!!
…and that muffler!
I will modified it immediately once I get it from the dealer’s truck
The “R” model looks sexy as hell!!! I just wish they’d be a little more creative with the flyscreen look and paint job or give us several different looking flyscreens.
I really don’t like that frame, or that shitty side mount exhaust.
I do however like the tail unit! Bring back underseat cans.
I think is alright but I wouldn’t buy this with my hard earned $$$. I guess that says it all.
Still daydreaming of a MODERN full size Daytona/Speed Triple 1200.
@Seb: +1.
“Do something about the friggin headlights!!!”
Gary nails it. WTF is up with the bug eyes already? The rest of the bike looks pretty nice. The eyes ruin it for me completely.
I personally like the look of this bike. There are only a couple of things I would change,
1. Those butt ugly head lights.
2. Kill off the option to have that front faring at all! It looks down right stupid.
3. Kill off that damn exhaust. Go back to under seat exhausts. Can’t stand side exhausts ever since I got my Daytona.
Besides that, awesome looking bike! Keep up the good work Triumph but at the same time, listen to your fans!
Imagine this bike with 150 hp = fun
It looks amazing from the side without the exhaust…then the other side is completely ruined by the pipe.
Dear Triumph stylists: Stop taking clues from bad Japanese designs. Remember BKing = BAD, Original Street Triple = GOOD. Your Speed Triple and Street Triple created this category. They should NOT look like a Jap sport bike with the front fairing removed. Oh, and whoever came up with the headlights should reimburse the company for the 50% reduction in Street Triples Sold. Your lights design = Edsel grill. Everybody I know says “Can’t get past the headlights… would never buy one. Next.”
I actually like the look of the bike, even the lights and exhaust. Guess there’s no accounting for taste! I will be looking to test one when they hit the UK.
I agree with with Mark F. I actually really like the new R, but only in white. In fact I could see myself having to buy it. Bold and risky decisions to change those Noddy Car round lights which I’ve always liked, but in the end you’ve got to move on or become a cliche. Well done Triumph and you’ve kept me as a customer still after 13 years and 10 Triumph models.
pints are supposed to make ugly stuff look lot better…ive alrwady had 12 and still when i look at those ugly headlights i get depressed ….. how many should i drink ????
Hmm looks like they have ABS sensors on the front and back brake discs….
What a great bike, ridden an earlier model. The bug eye headlights are just beautifully different to the boring circular/round common ones. Think about it. Everyone who owns one loves it. I want one also.