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.
In case you missed our exhaustive coverage of the Grand Prix of the Americas, those fools at Dorna gave me pit lane access this MotoGP season. So while the whole paddock waits for the Spaniards to come to their senses, I don’t plan on wasting the opportunity to share with our readers our extreme access to motorcycling’s premier racing class. Accordingly, here comes another installment into our ever-continuing “Up-Close” series, featuring the very finest Iwata has to offer: the Yamaha YZR-M1. Thirty 2000px-wide photos are waiting for you after the jump.
I love it!
Seems to much fun!
Amazing concept! Why on earth don’t they built bikes like this one. They now what design to built but they don’t make them.
So weird to see just foot pegs by itself.
Cool bike, but I hate that they never show the bike with the regulatory stuff installed; headlights, signals, mirrors, reflectors, taillight, license plate, etc…If it’s an ‘urban communter’ it’s going to need these things.
Kickstand on the right. Is that just change for change sake?
Ok, seriously? When can I have it? http://t.co/XkwAMz2
Ok, seriously? When can I have it? http://t.co/XkwAMz2
First e-bike for younger riders — no love for Osset? I’m pretty sure that fork will either be much for flexy or much heavier than a normal fork arrangement. If they must have a single sided telescopic fork they should really take a cannondale lefty/headshock apart for some ideas.
It looks like a water cooled perm similar if not the same as the Brammo Enertia
Without any radiators to cool it? Pretty sure it’s an Agni. Check the close-up, you can see the perimeter air-cooling holes.
Very surprised to see that Husqvarna of all brands throwing out this type of concept (no doubt influenced by BMW management). Still…it’s kinda cool. I’m curious how serious this concept is…are they actually looking to put a similar bike into production in the next few years? Or will this turn out to be simply a styling and marketing exercise? I bet they will be keeping a close eye on how the production version of KTM’s Freeride turns out if/when it finally becomes available.
True, true, definitely an Agni, they easily fit under the 15hp continuous, when not air cooled
what a nice design…except for that after thought of a wing above the front wheel that looks like it knows it doesn’t belong there…but overall simple and beautiful…being aimed at the younger market, bang on right! i know i’m not that young anymore, but would still love a get around ‘plug in’ bike this nice!
Looks like it could be serious fun on a cart track (im liking the racing slicks)…or maybe a few spots you can normally only ride on a normal bicycle. this thing will be pretty quiet….think of the possibilities!
I hoping it can pass without all the lights and horns and blah blah blah because it performance will probably be close to that of a bicycle.
How much is it, and who do I pay the deposit to…?
This looks so good. I’d put one in my garage *like that*. Nice & simple, light, twist & go, easy maintenance – it’s all win.
BTW on the subject of EV maintenance – does anyone know what exactly is involved? What costs? I have heard nothing about maintenance, but dying to find out – because I can imagine that it’ll be a heap cheaper than an ICE service…
I like it this concept
@mugget If it does have an Agni aircooled motor, then it’s oil the chain every 1000 km and replace the brushes every 100 000 km. That’s it. No oil, no filters, no tappets, no camchain, no clutch, no rings. Just ride and enjoy.
Cheers Jason – that’s the first info I’ve ever heard about the maintenance side of things. Sounds great to me!!