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.
Why couldn’t MV have though to do that with the pipe instead of that triple pea shooter monstrosity?!?! Good job that man!
Schwing!!! That is HOT! However, I kinda like the pea shooters too…
that ticks all my boxes
Oh…..that is nice.
The triple exhaust is killer and I wouldn’t trade that for the world. The belly exhaust looks cool too, but I want my 3 pipes. I’ve already got my down payment on one. :-)
That exhaust is beautiful! The triple pipes are terrible.
I’m still deciding what my next bike will be (most likely will end up purchasing the ZX-10R or the F3). With that said, I think my decision would be much easier if several items were changed on this bike.
Since you all care about my tastes related to the new F3, here are some of the things that annoy me:
1) I hate the color scheme (I hope they offer the F3 in a dark color scheme, like black and dark gray).
2) The fork bottom looks cheap (probably because they are).
3) Wish the production bike would come with true projector headlight(s).
4) Will probably cost $15,000.00+ when it finally ships.
5) Forks don’t look adjustable (related: see item 3).
6) Wheels look ugly. Wish they were regular 5/7 spoke design, not pseudo 10 spoke.
7) What ever else I forgot to mention.
This is the color scheme I have in mind when I think of a good looking F3/F4:
http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/75870_455557988852_366985198852_5447535_7198359_n.jpg
@ML – I saw the bike at EICMA and the forks are adjustable for compression, rebound and of course preload. I highly doubt the bike will hit $15,000. In interviews they’ve already said it will be priced less than an 848 (and the official price has been announced for Europe, which is less than the 848).
I think the fork bottoms look cheap as well. I’d like to see a set of R/T forks on there myself.
Overall I’m really stoked on this bike. The cheaper items are easy to replace and I probably would have anyway to get the setup I like such as the rear sets, front fender, master cylinders, etc…
The core of the bike sounds like it is done right though – the engine and electronics. If they hit their goals it will be the highest output and have the most advanced electronics of any bike in the 600cc class. The weight will most likely be impressive as well.
I must say though – I like the silver/red paint scheme. I’ll probably do a carbon belly pan, rear fender and front fender, but leave the rest on mine.
RT @Asphalt_Rubber: Product Lust: Photoshopped MV Agusta F3 – http://aspha.lt/bx #motorcycle
Yeah, the rest of the bike is awesome.
Like you I’ll make many changes, too. Custom paint (unless stock paint comes in a color scheme I like), front forks, rear sets, upgrade to brembo clutch and brake master cylinders, BST carbon wheels, carbon rear hugger, and perhaps a carbon front depending on the bikes color scheme.
Oh, and a GP style exhaust. At this point I should just buy a better bike. Hah!
No doubt… but if you bought a better bike you’re probably do all the same to it too as even the best bikes don’t come setup exactly how you’d want! We sold a Biaggi Rep. RSV4 to a customer (the $70K track only version) and it still had quite a few things I’d upgrade on it. A very cool bike overall, but just not totally done up. It has the electronics done right though!
“While we deride MV Agusta for constantly recycling the Tamburini aesthetic”
Why deride MV for doing something that Ducati have been doing for far far longer?
And Porsche even longer? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I’d like to see any of you design better!
To expand on that, I would argue these makes, MV, Ducati, Porsche like I mentioned, have a rare aesthetic that is tied to their image. Kawasaki redesigns all the time, and we see how ugly those have been recently.
As for this photoship, it’s extremely well done. And while it looks good, I agree that the triple pipes give it part of it’s MV flair. This gp style doesn’t look bad but it doesn’t set it apart, looks like MANY other (japanese) bikes. Nothing wrong with Japanese bikes, but you buy Italian for a reason.
I’m surprised you think of Japanese bikes with an exhaust like that. To me the RC8 comes to mind first and then Buell – neither Japanese. You’d better get used to this style exhaust on an Italian bike though – the 2012 Ducati 1200cc Superbike has exactly this exhaust stock!
Are you still within reasonable noise level (not sure if you have a bylaw to obey)? What about cat? There’s no free lunch, right?
I think they are broke and that’s why it’s not available….yet?
Just seems logical to me, but I was wrong once before.
See http://www.daidegasforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=458024&page=8 for some nicely coloured Photoshop F3s if you don’t like the classic MV Paint Scheme.
Looks more like the NEW 2012 Ducati superbike. You will see in November.
@Anthony true, good post!
@Other Sean you are on some serious drugs or live on another planet if you think the underslung exhaust looks like a Jap bike and is what the Japs do LOL!! KTM and Ducati did this 1st and others will follow in the future.