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.
I think you’re being a bit harsh on KTM. Is the ad lame? Yes. Is the bike still a cool-as-hell bike for a 16 year old? Yes.
This video is so piss poor. The soundtrack is lethargic and boring. The edit is dull and lacks any energy. The shots are uninteresting and lack any kind of beauty or inspiration to go out and buy a KTM. Are they trying to sell bikes here? No one with any marketing or storytelling ability was involved with this project. Which is sad because the subject matter is wicked cool. I’m not a 13 year old, add 30 to that number, but this would make a great fun track bike for Adams Go Kart circuit in Riverside
Huh? was it an awesome video no, was it better than most from M/C companies, hell yeah it was by far… So I would wait for the big guns from KTM and the marketing of this thing closer to launch
KTM have almost got it right. Motorcycling is nothing more than an interpretation of a feeling you get when you ride. It’s almost entirely marketing so branching out is critical.
As far as an attempt to capture mindless youngins, it’s okay, but it falls short imo. The demographic they are targeting have seen hardcore pornography, they spend half the day sexting if possible, and if they are fans of dubstep, they spend hours on youtube talking about filthy drops and Justin Bieber’s lack of scrotum. If KTM are trying to play to the lowest common denominator, they are going to have to crank up the intensity about 10x. They need at least a half dozen scantily-clad, flirtatious college girls who pretend to have a fetish for younger men, and a handful of older guys with trunks popped, throwin’ up signs b/c these kids are cool. Also would have been nice if an older guy on a RC8 with street cred giving a left hand low to these hapless teens who desperately need approval.
Teens are trying to buy cred, but this ad says “I’m an artsy loner with a penchant for ethereal urbanism”. Almost no adventure or experience. No fame. No chicks. No street cred. Slightly awkward teenagers lost in the city. Why would kids want to leave their computer for a 125 Duke? What are they going to see on their ride? Traffic?
This is what happens when middle aged men do all the product development and run the advertising campaigns.
The motocross helmet with goggles was a nice touch though. That works for teens.
I agree with Adam..
-Music stinks, (IDK whats up with who seeing Facebook at the begining is critical to KTM. Is it a music video for the DJ, or a ad for KTM.
-Nothing to pull you into the video or the ad itself.
-The bike is awesome to look at, just wish there were more to show.
The video is lackluster at best and I didn’t get any feeling of “I want that bike!” because of it. I do want the bike and I’m 41 years young so they can market it to whom they choose. I agree with Adam, it will make a great track bike, commuter or grocery getter. I’d buy one tomorrow if they would bring it stateside. As usual, we are getting the short end of the stick! :(
Terrible advert. Im now going surfing on the net to see if I can REALLY see what the bike is like.
Why is this bike not coming stateside?
Its a bike for teenagers. The parents of teenagers who listened to the sex pistols thought the sex pistols sucked and didnt get them either. The same principle universally applies to pretty much everything teenagers are into. All these 40 year olds commenting about how bad the video is actually reinforce how good it is for this target market. The video was launched on facebook, hence the facebook into. Wake up old men!
Thats one cool looking beater bike, i would buy one if KTM won’t ask for my left one as payment and if they bring it to the USA.