Q&A: Yukio Kagayama Talks About the Upcoming Suzuka 8-Hour with Kevin Schwantz & Noriyuki Haga

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.

KTM RC4 Concept by Luca Bar Design

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.

Q&A: Claudio Domenicali Talks Frameless Chassis, Sacred Cows, & The Future for Ducati

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.

Is Yamaha Using A Seamless Gearbox? The Data Says No

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.

OCC Coming Back to TV? — Universe Collapses in on Self

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.

Alstare Superbike Concept by Team Alstare

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.

Transcript: The Gay Question at Jerez

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.

2014 Suzuki GSV-R Spotted Again

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.

BMW F800GS Adventure – Germany’s Middleweight ADV

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.

Kevin Schwantz Returns to Motorcycle Racing – Enters the Suzuka 8-Hours with Team Kagayama

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.

Up-Close with the 2011 MotoCzysz E1pc

06/04/2011 @ 2:00 am, by Jensen Beeler16 COMMENTS

MotoCzysz was out at Jurby Airfield yesterday, turning a wheel for the first time on the Portland company’s 2011 MotoCzysz E1pc electric superbike. With TT Zero’s first practice session tonight on the Mountain Course, the team has been busy getting ready to field two bikes for riders Mark Miller and Michael Rutter.

While Miller will ride the updated 2010.5 MotoCzysz E1pc, Rutter will be on MotoCzysz’s new machine that features the 200+ hp MotoCzysz D1-11 VDR D1g1tal Dr1ve electric motor. With more power at the motor, more battery on-board, and a lighter overall package, MotoCzysz has its eyes on the 100 mph mark, and the £10,000 check the Isle of Man TT has put up as bounty for the milestone. Photos after the jump.

MotoCzysz has made obvious aesthetic changes to the 2011 MotoCzysz E1pc, with the race team sporting the blue, white, and silver livery of sponsor Segway. However, it’s the technical changes that impress us the most, as the new E1pc has a stronger motor, more battery power, and a overall lighter package. As expected, the MotoCzysz six-axis fork system is up front, though it has been revised from the previous version, and sports a new linkage design. The rear suspension has also changed, as all that is visible is a carbon fiber strut that connects the swingarm to the shock, which is located under the faux-fuel tank.

Nestled in-between the carbon fiber frame, which looks gorgeous by the way, are two enclosures that house Dow Kokam battery packs. Czysz is not saying how many kWh are on-board, but we’d guess about 20% more over last year’s E1pc. We’ll get a chance to see today how the 2011 MotoCzysz E1pc fares on its first run around the Mountain Course, while Mark Miller’s 2010.5 MotoCzysz E1pc is already a veteran of the Isle of Man TT. With improvements to its motor design and software, MotoCzysz is confident that the 2010.5 bike will crack the 100 mph mark, while the untested 2011 bike has great potential to blow the TT Zero competition away, though there also exists reasonable uncertainty about the until-yesterday-untested package. For how that plays out, we’ll have to run our tried and true phrase, and say that time will tell.

Tagged under: 2011 MotoCzysz E1pc, E1pc, electric, electric racing, Isle of Man, Isle of Man TT, Motoczysz, photography, photos, TT Zero, up-close

Comment:

supersic says:
June 4, 2011 at 3:53 AM
great pics. the bike looks out of this world! i hope everything can get sorted in such a short amount of time for Rutter to tear the TT roads up.
Brammofan says:
June 4, 2011 at 4:28 AM
Great coverage, Jensen!
BrammoBrian says:
June 4, 2011 at 7:53 AM
Ah… Jurby airfield. I remember her well. Best of luck to all the competitors! Any signs of the elusive Lightning bikes? Are Agni there this year?
shallwedance? says:
June 4, 2011 at 8:12 AM
I’m going to be there for that race,and Rutter will win it
Keith says:
June 4, 2011 at 8:28 AM
Very pretty, now knock my bawlz off with how it does on the track. Especially with range/power.
Mark says:
June 4, 2011 at 9:09 AM
I understand that the Lightning bikes were stuck in customs and only arrived this morning, but the batteries are still in London, and are to be delivered tomorrow.
Apparently Lithium batteries are considered a hazardous material and require special shipping arrangements. I wish Lightning all the best in getting things together in time, as it should make for a great battle between them and MotoCzysz.
Hugo says:
June 4, 2011 at 2:19 PM
Well it seems Mr.Czysz reads the Bottpower website because we worked on such a concept some 7 years ago ;)
http://bottpower.com/eng/?p=3
Brammofan says:
June 4, 2011 at 4:32 PM
Up-Close with the 2011 MotoCzysz E1pc http://bit.ly/mUCT34
djam says:
June 4, 2011 at 10:01 PM
I will just say this! Michael is a genius and I’d love to be a part of the think tank that redefines the motorcycle. Simply Brilliant!
Rob749 says:
June 4, 2011 at 11:34 PM
Good good, its beautiful. And it seems we’re really pushing the envelope on performance too. If they all keep this up “Electric Motorbike” will no longer be dirty words.
Matt says:
June 5, 2011 at 10:40 AM
When do we get some video?
Ian says:
June 5, 2011 at 9:30 PM
What kind of rear shock is that? Doesn’t look anything like a conventional shock.
Does he have oval fork stanctions and lowers too? Wonder how he got those.
Bill says:
June 6, 2011 at 5:47 AM
I noticed he removed the Trail Adjustability from his forks, and it doesn’t look like the batteries are “swapable” any more. But I guess both of those help contribute to the “lighter overall package”.
Shoya says:
June 6, 2011 at 10:09 AM
Fantastic. Best of luck with the 2011 bike at the TT!
Frenchie says:
June 7, 2011 at 11:11 AM
In qualifying Rutter was less than 1 minute away from the record and was over 106 mph after the first half of the lap…did he slow down to make it more spectacular on race day?
Miller was second, Lightning motorcycle was in between the 2 Motoczysz but they did not complete their lap.
Jensen Beeler says:
June 7, 2011 at 3:40 PM
The first half of the course is relatively flat, whereas the latter half of the course includes the mountain. Naturally the average speeds start dropping after Ramsey.

Follow Asphalt & Rubber on Facebook

Follow Asphalt & Rubber