Still waiting for an announcement from Ducati that they’ve signed Valentino Rossi? So are we, and as we know now the delay of the worst kept secret in MotoGP is due to a gentleman’s agreement between Ducati & Yamaha. In exchange for delaying the announcement until after the American round at Laguna Seca (now slated for the Monday after racing at Brno), Yamaha is allowing Rossi to test the Ducati Desmosedici GP10 when MotoGP stops at Valencia at the end of the 2010 season.
UPDATE: Ducati will be unveiling to the public its 2011 Ducati 848 Superbike EVO, which will have a $1,000 cheaper “Dark” variant as well.
Get ready Ducatisti, a new Ducati model is coming in two weeks. To be launched at Laguna Seca’s Ducati Island during the GP weekend, Ducati is tight lipped as to what the new model could be. In our invitation to the event, we are told only that the unveiling will be “hosted by four very excited guests to whom this new model means quite a lot.” The unveiling will be at 1pm on Saturday, and we’ll be there with our cameras.
We’ve been expecting an electric sportbike from Brammo for over a month now, getting our first clues from our Bothan spies last week that the bike’s launch was imminent. Now we can officially say that the Brammo Empulse is the latest creation from the Ashland, Portland based Brammo, Inc. Continuing Brammo’s electric motorcycle offering, the Brammo Empulse represents the first production sportbike to be available by consumers. The Empulse comes in three flavors (Brammo Empulse 6.0, Empulse 8.0, & Empulse 10.0) with differing amounts of on-board power each variant.
From the official results of World Superbike’s stop at Brno, the FIM has once again determined that twin-cylinder motorcycles, i.e. Ducatis, will get another minimum weight reduction. Averaging more than a five point deficit over the last three WSBK events (Miller Motorsports Park, Misano, and Brno), WSBK rules require that twins be given another 3kg weight reduction, as the rules have been deemed to “favor” the 1000cc 4-cylinder motorcycles too heavily.
UPDATE: John Paolo Canton, Ducati PR Manager, has responded in the comments that Lock was last spotted slaving away in his office, and it’s business as usual in Ducati North America.
With all the commotion going on today, our last piece of breaking news is the developing shake-up that’s going on at Ducati North America. Presumably involving the departure of Ducati North America CEO Michael Lock, we’ve been told changes at Ducati N.A. are occurring at the highest levels. All day we’ve been unable to reach anyone at Ducati’s Cupertino office, so we cannot confirm the report at this time…hey guys, pick up your phones!
Let’s avoid the the “scoops”, “exclusives”, and “OMG’s”, and just say that Asphalt & Rubber has received word from a trusted source that Valentino Rossi has signed a two-year agreement with Ducati, that’s set to be announced on Monday…and boom goes the dynamite (sorry, we couldn’t resist). The Rossi/Ducati fantasy has been put forth for years, with the fervor on the subject reaching its pinnacle this season, as Ducati reportedly wafted a €15 million salary (almost double Yamaha’s offer) in front of the nine-time World Champion.
It didn’t take long for the other shoe to drop, and now it is official that Casey Stoner will race with HRC in 2011, after it was announced moments ago that the Australian would be leaving the Ducati MotoGP team. Perhaps the most unexpected development in this announcement is HRC’s intentions of keeping both Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso for the 2011 season. The likely result of this will be a two-man Repsol Honda team, and a second single-bike team, which is likely to be sponsored by Red Bull.
There’s a lot of pressure on Kawasaki for 2011. Team Green has exited MotoGP, and is completely un-competitive with its ZX-10R in World Superbike and World Superstock 1000. Looking to rectify the situation, Kawasaki has gone back to the drawing board with it’s liter bike offering, and have been testing the 2011 Kawasaki ZX-10R at Suzuka for the last two days this week. With test riders Hidemichi Takahashi & Akira Yanagawa on-board, we get our first glimpse at the rumored 190hp/190kg Superbike taking laps. Video confirms that a normal firing order is inside the four-cylinder motor (sorry, no cross-plane here), but traction control is rumored to come as a standard option.
Motorcycle upstart Motus Motorcycles continues to press forward with its MST-01 sport-tourer, and has released a video that talks more about the development of their 1645cc gasoline direct-injection V4 motor: the KVM4. Balking at the advice of others not to build their own powerplant, Motus has teamed up with Katech to design an in-house motor for the Motus MST-01.
There’s so many things going on in this video, we’re not certain where to begin. Filmed on Mulholland Highway by the same fine folks who brought us video footage of the guy who crashed in front of a CHP officer, this new saga takes a different approach to riders exceeding their limits on city streets. Take an unsuspecting white Honda Elite scooter, a pair of Crocs shoes, and some invisible knee pucks, and you’ve got all the ingredients for a bizarre Sunday morning lowside that could have been much, much, much worse. While we’ll give bonus points for good dirt-tracking technique, be sure to check the slow-mo footage for the exact moment the rider’s shoes depart humanity, and dive over the cliff.
Er, wouldn’t it be a K1000RS? R1000RS implies some big ol’ jugs hanging off the sides.
Hey, that’s what the man called it.
Editor, editor, that should be K1000RS. BMW has that space covered with the K1300S and K1300R (which isn’t selling in the US), not to mentioned the failed K1200R Sport, which had a small fairing and resembles this mock up.
Besides in BMW’s naming scheme, historically RS denoted a racing bike, but with the intro of the R100RS the initials became synonymous with sport tourers.
If you look at their naming structure across all lines, I would expect it to be called an S1000R. Just like the naked versions of the F800S, k1300S, and R1200S are called the F800R, K1300R, and R1200R, respectively.
Regarding the design above, I love the idea and hate the sketch. It’s neither Bavarian, nor Italian, and as such has no strong design position. It’s very generic. I doubt BMW would ever make a bike that looks like this, thankfully. I imagine it would conform to the F800R/K1300R/F800GS aesthetic, or it would explore the ideas presented in the Concept6. I wouldn’t mind either, personally.
This wouldbe even better as a half faired sport touring bike.
Alright people… lets get this right. Pens and paper handy? It’s called “BMW Bike naming 101″ BMW names their bikes based off power plant and intended use. The K series engines going into their respective frames… K1300S, K1200R Sport… etc. Everyone still with me? You… in the back of the class, falling asleep… Have I lost you yet? The R Series engines going into their respective bikes… designed for the Boxer engines… R1200S, R1150RT… etc. Everyone still with me? NOW…. having said that. A naked version of an “RR” or “Race Ready” bike would no longer be an RR. It would be something more like one of BMW’s famed naked R bikes. Examples would include the K1200R and R1200R. See the trend? So, with the S1000 engine in it, we would end up with a S1000R. Sure, it doesnt sound as cool… but, we all know that manufacturers such as BMW dont name them for “cool”. The only exceptions to the “no cool name” that come readily to mind are the “Rockster” and the “Paris/Dakar” versions of the popular GS bikes. As far as the concept… I think it’s great. Maybe the artist could have been somewhat more creative with the tidying up of the engine oil cooler and such devices hanging from the front. Possibly a subtle shrouding around it would make it far less obtrusive. But, all in all… I think a bike like this would find its way into my garage if it had adjustable rearsets, adjustable clipons, and a somewhat relaxed seating position from the RR. That way I could wedge my 6″6′, 220 lb self onto it for some truly exhilirating canyon carving. Until then… I’ll stick with my Benelli Cafe Racer as choice for sexiest naked to date.
Oberdan Bezzi Ponders the BMW R1000RS – A S1000RR Based Streetfighter http://goo.gl/YcZh
http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/bikes/oberdan-bezzi-ponders-bmw-r1000rs-s1000rr-based-streetfighter/ BMW版Z1000としか言いようがない。
#BMW #motorcycle : BUILD THIS!!! http://bit.ly/d7YkDS And @Asphalt_Rubber: PLEASE stop teasing me!!! Need to get some work done! ;-)