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.
I have new found respect for KTM and it’s PR Flunkies.
They didn’t retouch the banged, dinged front hedder.
OR………maybe Jensen had these already stashed and not the re-touched ones by KTM.
Wich one is it Jensen ? LOL.
Of all the big “Adventure” bikes this one makes the most sense to me, though I have a friend with the new Yamaha Tenere and it’s very nice indeed.
Jensen thanks for posting so many photos. I know it takes time to upload a large collection.
Now, the only questions is whether I want to part with a 2001 VFR for one of these do-it-all type bikes.
Mike: Seriously, since when did a media photo getting photoshopped become news? ZOMG! For the record, I grabbed these off the press site yesterday afternoon.
Paul: Quite welcome, though these articles are easy ones to do. Usually if you see a gallery article, it means I’m swamped working on something else that is probably more important.
The fruits of that labor should be up tonight (fingers crossed).
Good for Orange. (^_^) ……… im cool with properly portraying this kind of “carnage”. LOL.
Looking at it a couple of times now……..man, this thing is WIDE AS A BARN.
They should have stayed under seat xhaust if it was possible and try to integrate that luggage more “into” the rear of the bike.
Those bags looks SOOOOO OUT THERE on the wind.
Knowing how KTMs behave off road, I’d take this over the competition any day, and be pretty confident I’d come out smiling.
They all seem to have their own ideas about what a so-called adventure bike is all about, the others seem to be set up for street riding, while this looks like something that could handle the DAKAR Rally. So what is the definition of an Adventure bike anyway? This seems more in line with what I think it should be, a bike that can genuinely go anywhere, should have a really long-range, be as indestructible as possible, low maintenance, stable, easy to handle and comfortable.
The 1190 Adventure will be the ideal bike for us here in Australia. I’ve got a 990SMT and the new 1190 with more power and 19″ front hoop for gravel roads… Perfect!!
p.s. I rode a Triumph Explorer on saturday and BIG HEAVY shaft driven adventure bikes just don’t do it for me I’m affraid.. It felt like my SMT could out accelerate, out brake the Triumph and I’d reckon I could ride it to the same locations.
KTM always plays its own particular toon when it comes to bikes. Their roots are in the dirt, and this new model looks no different. Their bikes have always struck me as being for people who’s idea of success, is coming home with more dirt on their bikes (and themselves) than they left with.
Will there be a supermoto version with this motor?
An adventure bike that doesn’t have to be apologetic for its desperate appearance? Unheard of! One that actually delivers on what’s promised? What the heck was KTM thinking? This is just so unfair to all the other makers!
@JJ:
http://www.motorradonline.de/sixcms/media.php/11/thumbnails/KTM-Super-Duke-02-M.jpg.1852478.jpg
I think they’ll get there……….eventually.
Jeeze. Every time I think I’m over the whole adventure bike scene and will settle down with a nice, comfy sport-touring bike … one of these darn articles comes along and makes it look like more fun than I could imagine.
*sigh*
Love my Tenere but that KTM is so “dirt” I gotta love it. The driveshaft is a really nice relief from chain maintenance but it is heavy.
That pipe is goingto need work. It really pushes the panniers out and will require a BMW like space wastiing cutout in the bottom of the pannier.
Really love orange, wonder if that is influencing me. But…KTM’s have always been so tall that until the Tenere came along I was out of the game. After 24,000 miles on my Tenere and a fair amount in the dirt I know that a “lot” of ground clearance or suspension travel is just not required. Nice to have but it limits who can ride these bikes comfortably. Funny thing is, the high ground clearance and long travel are really only for the dirt and that is the one time you will want to be able to get your feet on the ground.