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.
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.
Reminds me of the old Superhawk.
As a satisfied owner of a 900SS, I can certainly see the charm of an aggressive air-cooled street bike. Although I was sad to see the SuperSport disappear from the Ducati lineup a few years ago, it was replaced with the pretty (in pictures) Sport Classic line for the poseurs, and the Hypermotard for the hooligans; pretty much covering all of the people who would purchase an SS. With the demise of the Sport Classics (poor sales?) there is certainly a market for those who want others to beleive they own a ‘real Ducati Superbike.’ For those with deep pockets and a real love of air-cooled Ducatis, there are a few good choices out there from Pierobon, Bimota, and NCR among others (albeit not so much street legal in the US).
It seems right now that Ducati is more concerned with looking into the future than dreaming of past glory days. Although this isn’t necessarily a bad thing (1199 looks to be pretty mean), I will still be dreaming of that Pierobon Fo42 Street.
Meh… kinda fugly. Not a fan of the halfway sport halfway naked bikes personally. Why blur the lines between the two, especially when Ducati excels at both so supremely?
This looks, umm… ugly. Please don’t make this, ever.
I love the idea, but not this styling, it looks pretty ordinary to me. I’d love a superlight, torquey super handler with the best suspension with styling cues and colors from the original bevelhead 750/900SS bikes, but thats just coz I’m old enough to remember them fondly.
The Paul Smart was ok looking, but had the plastic tank problems, and the compromised suspension, both of which put me off buying one. I like the look of nostalga, but I don’t want to step back in time when it comes to road ability. A factory Ducati with big dose of NCR ‘New Blue’ syling flair would be a very tempting platform.
Not very easy on the eyes.
As long as they stick to that atrocious trellis front and cast sub frame rear the bike is gonna look like ass, no matter what goodies they hang on it. Not that they couldnt get the 2 to compliment each its just that they DIDNT.
This is an ugly attempt at something Ducati should have retained in their line up. There are better renderings out there for an SS for sure. The front fairing just doesn’t fit… the lines just do not flow with the rest of the bike. Looks just right from an accountants perspective though because cobbled together “parts bin specials” keep costs down and margins up!
I love my Ducatis’ but still long for a bike that I can take the wife riding on. Apart from its odd appearance and ridiculously high seat, the MTS1200 pillion accommodation is good, I’ll give you that. (but man it’s an ugly bike and certainly not sporty looking). The Superbike, Monster, Streetfighter and Hyper are NOT pillion friendly by any means. The Diavel seems OK for a small passenger only; but its a cruiser :-(
Ducati, in their bean counter driven pursuit of the bottom line, have forgotten one of the core market segments that kept them alive for a couple decades, namely a reasonably comfortable sporty looking bike with touring ability FOR TWO PEOPLE!.
I don’t think the SportClassic was ever meant to remain a key part of their product lineup and certainly with the demise of the GT they have little for those who wish to ride with a partner. Proof of the fact that the market exists is shown by the fact the GT was carried for longer than the other SportClassics. Further evidence that the market is there can be seen in the many online forums but they just haven’t addressed the need. They are so busy segmenting the market they have overlooked the need for an all purpose machine with great sporty looks offering the traditional Ducati experience.
I suppose it should not come as a surprise because one thing they have done consistently from the early 70′s onward, is to make some pretty bad marketing decisions on occasion. Thats the Italian way!
Ugly enough to be a BMW
There is a better option http://www.f042.com!
That supersport rocks!
I’m going to buck the trend here. To me, the look of this bike is just about right on the money. Exhaust mounted low on the opposite side of the single swing-arm? -correct. Open visibility of the beautiful air cooled twin? -correct. Long saddle with room to move around? -correct. Stripped down look but still a useable fairing? -correct. The bottom line is, this could be a daily rider you enjoy every time you fire it up. It depends how well the product delivers verses the concept intent. If it was sitting on the showroom floor, would you want to test ride it? -correct.