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.
Minus the Red Bull and other racing stickers, it is easy to imagine a future KTM response to the BRD Redshift looking a lot like this.
Wouldn’t it be nice if KTM actually could produce something like this. I love their products, but as a company they seem to have no idea what direction they are going.
KTM SMX-E Imagined by Piers Spencer-Phillips – http://t.co/erjYAdEi #motorcycle
@Mike, In some ways this bike is already in production, it is the SX-F, SMC-R, freeride (E) and an SMR all mixed together and slightly modified. KTM have a very clear idea of where they are going, and in the offroad world that is to the top step of the podium where they are winning everything, from the Dakar to enduro, to motorcross and finally now for the first time with their new SX-F which is a big part of the bike above, in the AMA Supercross.
Looks nice, but before adding the stickers, don’t forget the “onboard loud mono- sound generator”. Otherwise it just won’t be a KTM…
I am not sure that KTM needs to respond to any of the smaller “electric” companies out there, like Zero or BRD. Once the battery technology is out there available at price point and density the big manufacturers can justify selling in big series, the game will be over for the smaller guys … it’s just a matter of time. In a way I feel sorry for them, but you simply cannot just erase the long term experience in making motorcycles in a couple of years. Right now they seem to be getting sales thanks to the first adopters and well off enthusiasts …. but that well will dry up real quick.
The real KTM Freeride E is the best electric attempt out there by far. The amount of R&D has put into it cannot be matched by any of the smaller companies. The real bike looks much lighter than the rendering here where the author basically has used rolling chassis of their gas bike and slapped in an electric motor and batter. It’s nice, but way too heavier than it needs to be …
I am not knocking the smaller guys, but the clock is ticking ….. look at the cars. Anybody else but Tesla left?
@oOOo your right when it comes to the dirt side of the company. They are doing great. The street side of things is a different story. No new SuperDuke , no new 690 Duke, no 125 Duke, no 200 Duke, the only street products we have to choose for 2012 is RC8 or what ever is left on dealers stock from past years. I truly love this brand with the quality they serve up but guys get it together and market your street side of things. No one knows about it. The only people that know are familiar with the brand already and that’s only those who have bought into it. So many times I’m out riding my SuperDuke and a lot of motorcycle riders have never seen one or even know what it is. There’s a lot to choose from out in the market, but buyers will never choose your company if they don’t know about it. I just wish they would promote their street divison as much as they do for dirt and adventure.
With the name recognition and the history behind KTM, all they have to do is undercut the existing electric companies, and they would bury them… Then with Honda jumping into the fray, all the electrics would end up like Solyndra, regardless of how much money they have in their war chest…
And I was looking forward to having those new players involved…
It doesn’t need too much of a bigger pack for 45 minute session dirt duty, but more power. For super moto, it needs both power and battery capacity. The bike is already a year behind the Zero’s MX bike. And BRD’s bike, ha! I think people assume way too much that the ICE comanies can just flip a switch and start making electric motors and such. It’s not that easy. And people have been making electric motors for 100 years, and own patents and rights, as do controller and battery companies. And these companies aren’t going to roll over, you have to buy their stuff. And if they have a deal with someone else already, then tough noogies. I think the fact KTM did the right thing and sourced things from other companies (mostly German or Austrian) is proof of that.
KTM’s Freeride E can be considered more or less a play bike (as KTM has pretty much come out and said already), while BRD’s Redshift will be closer to an full-blown electric equivalent of a 250cc 4-stroke MX\supermoto bike. Should the Redshift prove successful (both in sales and on the track), KTM would likely want to “respond” with an electric bike of their own with more power and overall performance than what the Freeride E will likely have to offer on the track…if it wants to compete in that niche of the market. Such a bike would more than likely be outwardly similar to what is shown in this article.
I really don’t understand the need to respond to … who? A few companies who sold hundreds bikes at best, most of them have not delivered any at all. The reason the big guys are not jumping fully in yet, is because they know they cannot make money selling them enough with the battery being the biggest obstacle (it’s not only about whether a pack will last 45 min ride …. it’s about much more than that). What about battery warranties, firmware/controller updates as the batteries and other gizmos develop (nobody wants to talk about it). How will the consumers investment be protected? These are all the questions the big guys have to have a solid answer for. The small guys, not so, as they rely on high price and first adopters to be patient and understanding …..
Once the obstacles are removed, the companies who know how to make a motorcycle will just resource a partner to provide battery, motor and black box to control it, in the beginning. Later, who knows? But there’s no way the smaller companies will be able to keep up with processes tested for decades. It takes a lot of experience to mass produce a vehicle with a success.
I want to see the motor/battery/controller manufacturer with reputation who will say no to Honda, because they sell few units to someone else … they’d be crazy and stupid if they ever signed an exclusive contract with one of the small manufacturers.
I do agree that if the smaller companies will be around long enough and they are successful in sales and performance, the big boys will have to keep their eye on them. But that’s many ifs. For now, I don’t think they have to exactly be loosing sleep over either BRD, ZERO or Brammo bikes.
I very much appreciate all of your insight, but my statement about KTM ever responding to BRD’s Redshift is simple really. Again, the Redshift will likely be, of all the current electric dirt bikes coming out that I’m aware of, the closest to being the electric equivalent of a 250cc 4-stroke MX\supermoto bike (which I believe is BRD’s stated goal) in overall performance. Their product will (likely) be the first in this niche of the market. So if it all works out for BRD and again, if their bike is successful regarding sales and track performance, then the Redshift will set the example for any other potential competitors in the 250cc 4-stroke MX\supermoto electric equivalent niche to follow…to respond to. That includes KTM, Honda, Zero, Brammo…any of them.