Blurred to protect against spoilers, we’ll just leave things simply by saying that World Superbike’s Race 2 at Donington Park is well worth a watching if you haven’t already seen it. Decided right down to the last few turns, race pundits surely will be discussing the race and its outcome over the next week. Unsurprisingly, geography is playing a major a role in how things are being viewed. Though in a race where a number of questionable passes occurred, it is hard to single out this one event from the plethora of others that occurred during the race, but of course this one had the biggest effect on the race outcome. Click past the jump for the he said, she said, and of course for some slightly sharper photos.
More news from Norton, as the British firm has begun track-testing its V4 road race bike, in preparation of the 2012 Isle of Man TT. Focusing on the bike’s handling, Norton has been working hand-in-hand with Öhlins and Dunlop developing the bike’s chassis. The trio has devised the highly sophisticated “165 mph no hands” test, which supposedly checks the stability of the bike, though we imagine Health & Safety would frown upon it. With the bike’s Aprilia RSV4 motor putting out 195hp at the crank, and with the total race package weighing 419 lbs (195 kg) when it is sopping wet, the Spondon-framed Norton may not be exactly what fans of the famous marques were hoping for after seeing the very appealing Norton NRV 588, though it does seem to be a potent package.
Launching in downtown Los Angeles, the 2012 Brammo Empulse R & 2013 Brammo Empulse broke their cover and officially debuted. Right off the bat from the designations, you can see that Brammo intends for the Empulse R to be a 2012 model, with the base model Emuplse coming out next year (more on that further down). As we expected, the Brammo Empulse R got quite the price bump after its 22-month marination, and will be $18,995 MSRP. Meanwhile when the Brammo Empulse becomes available next year, it will have a slightly more palatable $16,995 price tag.
While the EBR 1190RS race bikes were on the track, their $40,000+ street-legal counterparts were on display outside of the Erik Buell Racing garage. Rocking an American flag livery, I naturally took pictures of this show bike. Eye catching to say the least, nothing says “Made in ‘merica” better than a red, white, and blue color scheme, especially when it is laid over carbon fiber. And while I want to love this bike because of its nuances and outside-of-the-box technical design, I don’t.
If there’s one lesson we can take from Sunday’s race at Estoril, it’s this: “I’ve always said we know Casey’s the guy that’s the fastest guy in the world. Maybe over the seasons he hasn’t put the championships together, but by far he’s the best guy in the world.” Cal Crutchlow is not known for mincing his words, and his description of Casey Stoner pulls no punches. But given the fact that Stoner only managed to win the Portuguese round of MotoGP by a second and a bit, is that not a little exaggerated?
Brammo is back for electric motorcycle racing in the North American TTXGP series, as the Ashland-based company is set to defend it’s #1 plate this year with Steve Atlas on board ( Shelina Moreda is slated to join the team later in the season). Gaining a title sponsorship from Icon, Brammo arrived at Sears Point with some edgy graphics on the 2012 Brammo Empulse RR. Dropping roughly 35 lbs in weight, and gaining roughly 50hp over the bike they ran at last year’s season opener, Brammo is making most of those gains in its revised motor and power inverter for the newest Empulse RR.
As you can imagine, the bulk of the commentary, both from readers and from professional journalists, has centered around the absurdity of the claim, with even jokes being offered about how an aged BMW rider should be thanking the German motorcycle brand for saving him money on Viagra, etc. The situation reminds me of the McDonald’s hot coffee lawsuit. You know the story, right?. A woman buys a cup of coffee at McDonald’s, spills it on herself while in the car, and sues the bastards for her incompetence. True to litigious American form, the unthinkable happened, and a jury awarded this gold-digging woman millions of dollars. It is repudiating, and it stands for everything that is wrong with the legal system, or so we would be lead to believe — especially by the media.
Never say never, but few are expecting Valentino Rossi to hang up his spurs at the end of the 2012 MotoGP Championship. Going out on a career low-point is certainly not the Italian’s style, especially as it casts a particularly dark shadow on a career that has enjoyed the bright-light superlative of “Greatest of All Time” from some of motorcycling’s most knowledgeable sources. Hoping to cast that phrase with an underlined typeface, and not with an interrogatory question mark, there is sufficient evidence to believe that Rossi will want to end his career in a way that will leave no doubt about the nine-time World Champion’s abilities. The question of course is how those final seasons will play out, and who they will be with.
Just a little over a year later, debris from the Sendai earthquake and its subsequent tsunami is starting to make its way across the Pacific Ocean, with the first bit major piece of fallout to hit Canadian soil just now being reported. Though the effects to the motorcycle industry were only a small portion of the overall devastation, for our purposes it seems fitting that the first sizable item to wash ashore is a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Landing in the Haida Gwaii islands of British Columbia, the Harley-Davidson Softail was discovered by Peter Mark, who was riding his ATV along the coast of the isolated beach.
After a four-hour ride on his motorcycle, one BMW owner realized that he had a problem. Namely, a problem with his erect penis, which after some waiting would not subside. Now while most of us would cheekily reply that such a state is the sign of a good motorcycle ride, this San Francisco Bay Area native is not laughing, and has filed suit in the Superior Court of San Francisco County (CGC-12-520316) against BMW Motorrad North American and Corbin-Pacific. Saying that the motorcycle and its dealer-installed custom motorcycle seat have caused priapism, the man is suing for lost wages, personal injury, medical expenses, product liability, and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
I wonder if they’ve done much testing for pillion comfort. From my POV a sport-tourer that can’t comfortably tote another is a waste – if I’m alone I’ll stick to a much lighter sporty bike. In that vein the pillion seat looks rather small and poorly shaped and I fear the long passenger peg hangers/exhaust hangers will end up transmitting a ton of vibs to the passenger’s feet (see e.g., bandit 1250 right pass peg). A reasonably light, simple, fun, visceral sport bike for two would get my attention.
There was a woman how got a pillion ride. Dunno how much feedback you can get going once around the block though.
Even for a Prototype it looks a well put together and thought out motorcycle. Love the Trellis frame and swing-arm, and it certainly possesses all the goodies (Ohlins etc). Will be interesting to see the finished product.
If it’s priced right it could definitely sway a few people away from the Multistrada.
Good to see some American motorcycle design that is aesthetically pleasing too!
I still find it Bland,BLAH & Mehh…The Candy looks delicious (we all have hear that sweet engine screaming)…is just the Wrapping that has me Cold…hope they have a Sharper/Better wrapping for the final product.
Yes, i understand this is not an R6 or MV Agusta F3 competition (looks and performance wise) and is just a Prototype but dang… (-_- )’
very cool jensen … nice feature/scoop.
I got up close to it at Laguna and was amazed at how narrow it was at the seat. So far in concept it looks like a really good sports tourer. I’m not loving the kicked in the face look though. If you like the way KTM’s look you’ll probably like this, but I think KTM’s are the ugliest bikes ever manufactured so for me not so much.
Maybe they can hire a couple of Italians to help with the front fairing.
agree with MikeD, it is very vanilla, especially the R version…whatever happened to the motus they showed in the Daytona video, that looked nicer naked i thought…i think it has potential to be a beauty, although needs some plastic surgery…
Looks interesting.
Incidentally, Guzzi runs a shaft drive so putting side clutch on would require two extra sets of highly expensive, power robbing, potential weak point, helical gear assemblies to make two extra 90 degree turn in the power-train. Not ideal. Motus needs to turn once anyway to make the chain drive work (just as a Guzzi has to once in the final drive of the shaft assembly). Still, I agree they were smart to make the adjustment where they did to allow a conventional clutch location. Lots of good thinking.
well… it doesn’t just look like a ktm. looking at the close-up picture of the headlight…. i can now confirm my long standing suspicion that they’re using an off the shelf ktm 950/990 adventure headlight. why do all that work around someone else’s design? it’s understandable for a custom bike builder… plenty of people using yamaha mt-03 headlights, and v-rod headlights… but those decisions at least come out of the shadow of the original manufacturer and stand on their own… when you look at radical ducati bikes, you don’t think yamaha and harley. for an new manufacturer to make such a novice mistake is just dumb.
Happy you guys in the US have a home grown (me OZ) bike, and a great motor.
though i think all those in favour of the styling are lying to themseves, its just down right outdated.
Without the RC8 style headlight it looks like something out of the 80′s with a fresh paint job.
Take its clothes off and keep it naked / streetfighter. let its character (motor) show.
Hey chris, no need to get mad, they’ve stated long ago they are using ktm headlights and this is not the final fairing design, just a test mule. Maybe those complaints about the bland fairing (i don’t find it attractive too) are just too early, let’s wait and see the final shape.
I’d like to see integrated turn signals instead of those stalks, looks disruptive to the lines of the bike. I feel on faired bikes they just fit better. And please, please, please, make the naked musclebike version a reality!
by @Asphalt_Rubber: Up-Close with the Motus MST at Alice's Restaurant – http://aspha.lt/q4 #motorcycle: Up-Close with the… #sffoodbuzz
One word “PROTOTYPE” Things often change on final production. Bodywork is easy skin. But it takes time to source custom made stuff.
ugh! Swapping out that alternator AND adjusting the belt is going to be a BEECH! As for pillion issues…none as that is where the trunk/5gal fuel cell goes. ;^)
Good to hear someone has at least sampled the pillion provisions – hopefully the provisions are more accommodating than they look.
We’ll see. It seems like it has potential but I’d drop the Two Brothers pipe (if that is the final choice, that weave always looks like crap after a couple of years in the Cali sun). Faring is ok from the saddle but meh from everywhere else.
The seat makes me laugh, I can’t see the label but I think the reason it looks uncomfortable to you all is that you aren’t Harley riders. I’ll just bet that’s a Harley based seat design, its got just about the shape to be a Softail or Dyna seat….but I could be wrong….
definitely nix the 2 brothers pipe
PLEASE MAKE IT PRETTY!!! The KTM nose has to go. This bike has got everything else going for it. A bike can sound awesome and handle great, but if I have to avert my eyes every time I walk out to the garage – I won’t buy it.
Well, it looks like all my comments were hit upon already. Saw pillion questions / comments, saw questions on the looks (to me, it doesn’t look ugly – it just looks plain; though the MST-R is somewhat improved with the graphics package), saw concerns about the slip-ons (ditto – ditch the Two Brothers…they don’t match the rest of the bike…Go Austin Racing or something similar), finish the dash – cubbies would be cool if that could be arranged….And it’d be cool if there was a shock to match the forks (though I do like the remote preload adjuster).
It’s getting there guys! Looking forward to checking out a finished one.