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.
I have never, EVER been a fan of scooters, but this … THIS got my complete and undivided attention. What an interesting set of wheels to zip around on for city consumption.
Akira inspired design…
I like some of the elements. Adaptable frame, buell front brake system, belt driven, I love it. What would be even cooler is a more Tron lightcycle inspired design, I’m thinking original, not legacy…
Holy Shit Batman….(0.O)….LMAO.
Let me have a T-MAX 530 instead.
I actually like this a lot. I was thinking the same thing as Westward…about the Akira-inspired design, and that is not at all a bad thing. I believe few people on a conventional motorcycle would probably give the rider of a “scooter” like this dirty looks if it pulled up next to them. To me, this is the look and style of machine the Honda DN-01 sorta tried but failed so miserably to achieve.
A Japanese custom with a Buell ZTL inside brake system.
Is this sweet irony or what?
All these years Americans get slammed for building customs from UJM’s and here a Japanese custom uses American bike parts.
I love it!
The build and engineering quality seem top notch, and it is cool in a way that Bramo, Zero, and all the others only dream of being.
WELL DONE in any language.
Mark L.
Ozark, MO USA
I have allways hated scooters with a vengeance but this is spectacularly cool! I really really want one.
Thumbs up! Innovative and inspiring. Love the perimeter rotors (puts the mass farther away from the wheel center, but it does improve braking, and it fits visually with the large sprocket on the rear).
go go Akira. Fun.
a bike that looks like that and doesnt reach at least 150 is a bit … disappointing. i would love it if it had a bit more power (but maybe the frame just looks cool, but drives like crap)
These kind of “SuperScooters” are all the trend in Japan right now and have been for some time, I guess the akira phantasy lives on strong over there.
I cant wait until the first Japanese OEM releases one of these for the states and the same people that are saying this is cool ridicule it asking what where they thinking.
More photos in the gallery now.
“These kind of “SuperScooters” are all the trend in Japan right now and have been for some time”
Really? I’ve lived in Tokyo for the last 21 years and haven’t seen anything that looks even remotely like this. Scooters are all the rage here, but about all you see in terms of tuning are fart cans and straight pipes.
@76
It’s arguable, but I think this has has already happened (as I mentioned above) with Honda’s DN-01. Granted, the DN-01 was no Akira-looking machine like the zecOO, but it was a feet-forward scooter/motorcycle hybrid or sorts.
Looks good. Could be improved by seatback with headrest, integrated with aerodynamically tapered backbox for general or helmet storage and including light clusters; ergonomic grips rather than straight bars; a more aerodynamic ‘nose’ to extend range, battery life and top speed; footrests moved forward and protected by faired in ‘boxes’ for safety & aerodynamics (again).
http://pinktentacle.com/2008/05/japanese-custom-scooters/
http://www.bornrich.com/entry/top-10-customised-japanese-scooters/
Take your pick Trane, I dont know where you’ve been in tokyo but they are there there, hamamatsu, kumamoto take your pick
Dr. Geller your very right about DN-01, these “SuperScooters” are basically are part of the core of its concept but just not as far, DN-01 was kind of 1/3 the way there, I bet. How many DN-01′s were sold? and 16k Sticker? maybe 40?
I look at these things and say sure fun, the reality is nobody si ready for these types of things here in the states, at least to actually spend Superbike level money on.
@76: I didn’t mean it to sound that there aren’t custom scooters in existence here, but your statement of “all the trend” pushes it, IMO. There will always be a small-to-medium-sized segment of any car/bike market that engages in extreme customization. That said, I stick by my original statement that I’ve never seen anything like the zecOO on the street here and that for the most part all you see are fart cans. Maybe some strips of blacklight LEDs and chrome, but …
The zecOO stands well and truly apart. IMO, YMMV and all that. Maybe Kumamoto Prefecture is full of design aliens who all rip around on these scooter/bike hybrids. They sure do not in GTMA.