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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I like it, been following the rumors as much as possible. Also needs to be answered, will it cost less than the VMAX? Ducati isn’t really that competitive price-wise, but the Max is crazy out of Yamaha’s usual range.
Ducati – Why you make FAAAAAT bike??
Voglio cavare gli occhi fuori, abominio orribile.
That there means “ugly as sin” in Italian.
Might look a lot less “FAT” and ungainly in silver… zoom in and you can see the rear folding passenger footpeg brackets. Color scheme from this angle looks pretty good… have to wait and see on the side view…
Looks great from that angle. Very masculine and stout in appearance. I love the color scheme, too.
On another note: lol at everyone all over the internet who are getting angry over a motorcycle model. I understand it’s not visually pleasing to everyone, but there are a few who seem genuinely angry at the bike/ducati/theworld. Almost as if Ducati broke a personal promise to them or something.
But its human nature to bicker and moan. This bike, I’m sure, will lose Ducati some ‘faithful’ customers, but it’ll definitely bring them some new ones. Just like when a music band/artist changes their sound over time… old fans leave, new ones take their place.
If Ducati stayed the same, people would complain that they are boring and lack innovation…
Who are these ‘faithful’ Ducati cruiser customers that Ducati are going to lose?
Badassery! RT @Asphalt_Rubber: First Official Photos of the #Ducati Diavel http://bit.ly/a6bMdh #motorcycle #ducatidiavel
Not exactly what I think of when I hear the word “cruiser”. I don’t think it will hurt Harley’s sales any
I just want to see the final Product…is that asking too much?
Right now our sales dept is hearing figures around 162hp, so it is putting out a bit more than the Multistrada. You are correct in thinking that there will be two versions of the bike. While our sales manager was sworn not to reveal the actual price of the bike by Ducati but I did manage to get from him that the base would cost a bit less than Yamaha’s V-Max while the S/SP/Carbon model would cost a bit more than the V-Max.
Just like the new Speed Triple I’m trying to hold my judgment until I see it in person but from what I’ve experienced so far there just isn’t that much demand for a power “cruiser” priced at this kind of premium. Our Warrior’s have been a poor seller for a while now, the Raider gets some looks but not much else, the Streetfighter also gets ignored partially due to its price but also its intimidating power output, and we’ve sold a grand total of 2 V-Max’s since its release.
Also if you ask me it has to many styling cues from the DN-01, which is worrisome since we’ve had the same DN-01 since its original release sitting on our floor gathering dust, but that’s a rant for another time.
where does a license plate fit into that clean tail?
@Wiggins
“…the base would cost a bit less than Yamaha’s V-Max while the S/SP/Carbon model would cost a bit more than the V-Max.”
Could you kindly define “bit”?
Ducati is going after the “focus groups” who say they want a cruiser but don’t want a HD or one of the big 4 clones. Make it sporty, powerful cruiser with a Ducati lineage and they will come. I think the price might be a bit high on this but time will tell.
Well like I said, since he was bound by Ducati not to release the actual MSRPs I had to play a bit of 20 questions but as far as I could tell the base would be around $15-16k and the SP closer to $19k. Since he couldn’t give me a straight answer I can only give you a guesstimate of the prices but since we have 2 of each model actually on order I imagine these prices are pretty much fixed. Still its a bit higher than its competition with the R3 Roadster being at $13,999 and the V-Rod Muscle at $14,999 but lower than the new 2011 V-Max which is coming in at a stupid $19,890. Sorry I can’t be more specific but I’ll pass on any info as soon as I get it.
Yeah, that VMAX Price is fricking UNREAL. Most be made out of unobtanium alloy and unicorn horn dust. (-_- )’
Kevin C Says:
“Ducati is going after the “focus groups” who say they want a cruiser but don’t want a HD or one of the big 4 clones. Make it sporty, powerful cruiser with a Ducati lineage and they will come. I think the price might be a bit high on this but time will tell.”
That sounds pretty close to the truth, you have to love all of the insight from focus groups.. The one positive thing is that the power cruiser / Sport hybrid cruisers have been an emerging trend in europe for the last couple years on the custom side
No thanks, can’t stand the power cruiser looks. Mind, I do realize that isn’t fair considering what I ride. 8^) But come on Ducati, Harley already did that look.
Ted Baxter was thinking exactly the same as me… but I realized that the British License plate (which is huge) will never fit there. Perhaps this is an indication that they only intend to sell it in a few markets….
Look to the left of the rear wheel…there is the mounting plate for the license tag.
I think it’s pretty hip (the bike as a whole). While it might not be my particular cup of tea, I like that Ducati continues to make interesting bikes that don’t quite fit any one particular mold. Supermono (single cylinder racer? wha wha?), Hypermotard (road going dirtbike? Mmmkay), Monster (originally an 888 racebike without a fairing built from the part bin for fun), Streetfighter (150hp naked bike?! With traction control…are you kidding me? Love it), ST4 (performance-touring bike with chain drive in a sea of shaft drive bikes), the Multistrada…and now a power cruiser, with proper weight, power and chassis. Sure it’s not a race bike. So. Most of the bikes in Ducati’s line up have never been pure race bikes. But they sure make you feel like they are. I’m sure this will have that character as well.
Plus, if you WERE in the market for a cruiser…would you at least go sit on the bike if it was at your Ducati dealer…and maybe even pick one up instead of the ubiquitous HD? Me thinks yes you would. And would any of you NOT giggle in your helmet as you blasted past a slow-train of HD cruisers with the sound of a 90 degree v-twin peeling the paint of those lardy tassel-clad slugs?
@ jackie
Seconded.
@jackie
“Plus, if you WERE in the market for a cruiser…would you at least go sit on the bike if it was at your Ducati dealer…and maybe even pick one up instead of the ubiquitous HD? Me thinks yes you would. And would any of you NOT giggle in your helmet as you blasted past a slow-train of HD cruisers with the sound of a 90 degree v-twin peeling the paint of those lardy tassel-clad slugs?”
Agreed.
From what I can see it’s apparent that Ducati has created a very good marketing machine in the US and has been gaining market share (US sales up 25% last QTR YOY) with their sport and Monster line. All of the Ducati products have consistent appeal for the US sport buyer, the advanced touring rider and many educated buyers in between.
However, a good share of Harley owners don’t fit this mold/mindset – they’re not the type to look at a V-Max (or even know who a V-max is). One needs to spend a fair amount of time in a Harley dealership or go on rides with Harley groups to really understand the demographic.
If Ducati expects to penetrate any of Harley’s market share here (in the US) they need to:
1. Build it in the US “Built in the USA but designed back home – in Italy”
2. It MUST be easy to ride – I’ve ridden the 848 and the Monster 1100 and they are not easy to ride!
3. It has to fit every attribute of a Harley owner’s expectation
4. It must LOOK like a cruiser
5. But it must retain its Italian heritage, flair, design
@Bill Smith, The anecdotal reports that people are ignoring the Victory in favour of HD just because it’s HD or even avoiding the V-Rod because it’s not a “proper Harley” suggests to me that Ducati would be wasting their time in setting up a manufacturing facility in the US in order to pick up a few sales when that particular market is comprised of rusted on brand fans. I think that Ducati will be pleased to poach sales from Nipponese cruiser buyers and attract those who are fans of, or curious about Italian engineering, but still want to have a cruiser.
I also don’t think Ducati are too concerned about people who want big, heavy, low powered cruisers, they are after the power cruiser market, where excessive power to weight ratios are king. A number of posters have commented on the rise of this market segment in Europe; traditionally the first market Ducati have sought to satisfy.
In a good year (2007) Harley Davidson will sell just north of 300,000 motorcycles world wide. In a bad year (2010) HD will sell 200,000 units. Our friends in Asia and Italy would build anything the HD cruiser consumers would purchase if they could gain even 25% of that pie. The Asian manufacturers have spent 20 years working to gain almost 50% of the US cruiser market building over-sized comfy lumps better, cheaper and with much higher quality control.
There is no reason for Ducati (or any other motorcycle manufacturer) to ignore this market despite their heritage — it’s FAR too lucrative!
HD has built the model, the image and the best dealerships in the country and they are more venerable to overseas competitors today than ever before. Ducati knows the formula, the expectation and the end prize. They have the capability to build the best cruisers for the cruiser-hungry US market. I just wonder if they’ll pull the trigger.
I think the Ducati brand value is seen as intrinsic in the “Made in Italy” sticker on the tank, just as HD’s is “Made in the USA.”. I seriously doubt that Ducati would build a North American manufacturing facility in an attempt to parachute into some kind of bogus “Made in the USA” heritage. I believe they will continue to manufacture in Italy and rely on their philosophy of engineering and design that produces the subjective view of it being the best bike in a given class.
That will be enough for a share of the world-wide market including the US.
First official photos of Ducati's NEW Cruiser – the 2011 Diavel. Is this bike the Duck's Nuts or what? http://x.co/JQO7
RT @DrBobParsons: First official photos of Ducati's NEW Cruiser – the 2011 Diavel. Is this bike the Duck's Nuts or what? http://x.co/JQO7
@Speedster9110 RT @DrBobParsons: First official photos of Ducati's NEW Cruiser – the 2011 Diavel. http://x.co/JQO7
It gave me a hardon @DrBobParsons First official photos of Ducati's NEW Cruiser – Is this bike the Duck's Nuts or what? http://x.co/JQO7
I think that this is a perfect fit for me. I own a 1098 and friends that have ridden many of the Japanese bikes out there, ( Yamaha R1, Honda 1000rr, Gixxers) report that my bike is the most aggressive and uncomfortable bike they have been on. That and the acceleration makes the passenger seat into an ejection seat. I have been looking for a second bike to buy that would be a good everyday bike to ride and take someone with. Love Ducati, and not really fond of the others in the cruiser market, Victory was the leading bike before this one. once I get the cash this is it.
For the first of this type cruiser on the market I think they have done a bang-up job. I may even start riding again because it looks good, and seems like a promising ride
RT @DrBobParsons: First official photos of Ducati's NEW Cruiser – the 2011 Diavel. Is this bike the Duck's Nuts or what? http://x.co/JQO7