Ever wonder what great action footage of the 2010 Ducati Multistrada 1200 would be like if you set it to the music commonly found in a piano bar? Well never fear, Ducati has the answer for you. Watch the Multistrada 1200 take on four different riding situations without missing a beat. Beat! Get it! Uggh…we don’t get paid enough for this. Video after the jump.
Today MotoCzysz is announcing its Electric D1g1tal Dr1ve (eDD), better known to us as “the suitcase”, which is essentially the housing for the E1pc’s proprietary controller, motor, and batteries. MotoCzysz will be using the eDD on their 2010 E1pc D1g1tal Superbike, and intends on letting other teams use the suitcase as well, helping fill the grid at electric motorcycle races.
This announcement is important on a variety of levels, and most electric motorcycling enthusiasts will be interested to get their first glimpse at technology beind Michael Czysz’s 2010 E1pc D1g1tal Superbike, which will for sure be at the TT Zero race at the Isle of Man this year. The suitcase contains MotoCzysz proprietary battery, motor, and controller designs, which are setting the bar higher in electric motorcycle racing.
Erik Buell Racing has just updated its website, and releasd the first real clear shot of what the EBR 1190RR will look like it in its racing form. With 185hp being made at the rear-wheel (according to the optimistic DynoJet dynamometer), the EBR 1190RR sits at the top of the Buell totem poll.
Based off the 1125R chassis, the 1190RR is virtually anorexic, dropping 30lbs off the AMA Daytona Superbike racing machine, while still bumping up displacement by 65cc’s. With 93lb•ft of torque on hand at 9,500 RPM, the EBR 1190RR is sure to sling your eye balls into the back of your head…if you can find a racing series to race it in.
“Greed, for lack of a better word…is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms: greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge, has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed, you mark my words, will not only save motorcycling, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA.”
The Suzuki TL1000R is a special bike. It garnered little love from the media during its release; but despite being discontinued seven years ago, the TLR continues to foster a cult following, especially in Europe. So it doesn’t surprise us a great deal that when 25 year old fabrication apprentice, Mathijn Nelis, set out to create is first custom work under the careful gaze of master builder Nico Bakker, that the young Dutchman chose to work with the stout TL v-twin powerplant that dwarfed its Italain competitors during its initial release.
With its latest bike the Yamaha XT1200Z Super Ténéré, Yamaha is stepping up its game and getting serious about the adventure-tourer motorcycling segment. The Dakar inspired Super Ténéré is a ground-up production for Yamaha, making it the first Japanese manufacturer to get serious about this emerging (and very profitable) market segment.
With 1,199cc under the hoood, the XT1200Z Super Ténéré is aiming its sights on the class-leading BMW R1200GS and new-comer Ducati Multistrada 1200. The powerplant features a parallel twin motor with four valves per cylinder, and makes 108hp @ 7,250 RPM and 84lbs•ft @ 6,000 RPM.
Moto2 testing was underway in Catalunya this week, but rain sidelined a substantial portion of that testing event. For the Moto2 teams, this meant a rare opporunity to get familiar with thier machinery was lost, but for the roving eye of Italian site GPone.com, it was an opportunity to take a gander at some very beautiful race motorcycles.
Despite all the teams having the same Honda-sourced, 600cc, four-cylinder, four-stroke motor, there is a large variety in body styling and chassis approach. Check the RSV, Moriwaki, BQR, Kalex, Tech3 Mistal, and Suter MMX bikes out after the jump.
MotoCzysz has confirmed today that they will be racing at the Isle of Man’s TT Zero event. The Portland based team has been hard at work on a new bike design that they feel not only has a chance of breaking the 100mph barrier, but possibly winning the event as well. MotoCzysz was a favorite in last year’s event, but failed to finish after suffering a failure to its Agni electric motor drive system. Learning from that hard taught lesson, Czysz & Co. are expected to return to the Isle of Man with their new 2010 E1pc, and tackle the Mountain Course once again.
BMW Motorrad USA has posted a video to YouTube that shows an engine cutaway view of the 2010 BMW S1000RR’s cylinder head. Looking into the chamber one can see the titanium valves work their magic as the bike is rev’d all the way to its redline of 14,200 RPM. Spinning valve springs, squirting oil, titillating sounds…they’re all there. Check it out after the jump.
I got a strange email today…which isn’t that strange in of itself, because I get strange emails on a regular basis, but the email contained a link to Motorcyclist Online, the internet version of Motorcyclist Magazine, which is owned by Source Interlink Media. Clicking onto the link I see an article that was written this morning, published in its full text. “That’s funny” I think to myself, because we certainly never gave Motorcyclist permission to use our articles…clicking further I see we’re not the only online motorcycle site whose content is being copied onto the online pages of Motorcyclist Online…we’re just the latest addition to this blatant act of plagiarism and IP theft.
Blasphemy, heresy, stupidity, sacrilege, un-American, and downright irreverence. Go ahead, get all those words out of your system. I’ll wait. The default opinion of marketers, analysts, and the general population is that Harley-Davidson has one of the strongest brands in the United States, this being confirmed by the fact that every business student in America has studied Harley’s marketing efforts if they’ve ever taken a brand management course. So why would I start a three-part series on how to fix Harley-Davidson by arguing to change one of the most revered marketing houses in the motorcycle industry? Giving credit where credit is due, Harley-Davidson, or I should say its admirers in business school academia, wrote the book on demand generation marketing geared towards the baby-boomer generation. However, in defending this market position, Harley-Davidson has painted itself into a corner by only engaging a very small segment of the population with its product. Unless they redefine and reposition their company image and who it resonates with, Harley-Davidson is going to watch the continued erosion of its footing in the motorcycle industry, and also the continued deterioration of its only industry leading quality: its brand.
When it comes to rings, women get all the bling, leaving men to choose bands that have a de minimus amount of creativity to them. Well that’s all about to change as Kinekt has come up with a ring that should warm the hearts of engineers and gear-heads alike. The Kinekt Design Gear Ring is both functional, in that it turns on itself…not that it actually serves any purpose other than as a constant reminder of your love and devotion. Check the video of it in action after the jump.
For 2010 Pirelli is introducing a new high-performance streetbike tire, the Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa. Replacing the Pirelli Diablo Corsa III, Pirelli intends the Diablo Rossa Corsa (DRC) to be the weapon of choice both on the track and on the street. With a pair of DCIII”s on our Ducati Streetfighter, we’re excited to see what the DRC brings to the table after hearing about the tire at EICMA this year.
J.D. Power and Associates has completed its 2009 Motorcycle Helmet Satisfaction Study, and the results are in. In their research, J.D. Power & Associates measures the overall satisfaction of motorcyclists with their new helmet in three key factors:
These three factors are then marked into 11 attributes:
Continue reading after the jump for the results.
Things have been quiet on the Italian front after Harley-Davidson acquired premium sportbike manufacturer MV Agusta last year, with the American company apparently leaving the brand alone for a while after its purchase. The company we love to hate from Milwaukee has finally started to make some changes in the old Italian brand, drawing a clear line between what product lines will focus on a premium road bike experience for the rider, and what products will be developed for track day weaponry for the weekend warrior.
Pirelli’s Cyber Tire will provide real-time tire performance information via a chip/transponder setup embedded in the tire tread. The system will send and store a myriad of information such as: operating temperature, pressure, road conditions, and vertical load. The system will work in conjunction with another Pirelli invention, the Cyber Wheel, which will convey wheel information such as hub loads in a similar fashion. While the naming is gruesome, the potential for data logging and analysis could be extremely useful to racing and enthusiasts.
Pirelli has also partnered with Brembo and Magnetti Marelli on the Cyber Tire project. While details are not certain, we’d suspect the partnership would mean a system that quickly transfers information from the tire to the driver, car, and brakes, and allows for more informed and instantaneous performance changes based on driving conditions.
The technology’s use is centered around automobiles, but the mechanics and application could easily be carried-over into motorcycles. Just don’t hold you breath on seeing it soon though. The car version is expected in 2010, with no details on whether there will be a motorcycle version. As we are all well aware, motorcycle tires already cost considerably more than car/truck tires, and last an even shorter amount of time. Presumably the decreased longevity and added costs of the Cyber Tire/Cyber Wheel system would make the technology a bit harder to justify cost-wise in a motorcycle application outside of racing.
Source: Autoblog
Michelin is set to retire the tried and true track-oriented Power Race with the new Power One tire. Details are still thin, since the tire will be officially released to the world in March, but we do know that the One is the result of three years of work, more than 35,000 track laps, and will come in slick and treaded form. Michelin reports that it uses eight new technical solutions in the manufacturing of the Power one, including a new compound housing.
Expect the tire to come in three different compounds: A (soft), B (medium), and C (endurance). Slicks will be immediately available in 16,5” and in 17″ form in 2010. There is also talk of a rain and supermotard version of the tire.
Rossi pulled no punches this year at Mugello when he debuted his customary custom helmet design for the home venue race. Emblazoned with a picture of his own face, wide-eyed and mouth agape, the design was the talk of the paddock, and a sight to be seen as he put his head down around the chicanes and straight-aways.
Because of all the attention this helmet created, AGV is now offering a limited edition replica of Rossi’s likeness in their top-of-the-line GP-Tech series of motorcycle helmets. The helmet features all the usual GP-Tech bells and whistles, including a carbon-Kevlar shell construction.
Source: AGV
DynoJet has come out with a new version of their Power Commander fuel injection computer, the Power Commander V. The new unit is smaller than the prior models, and more importantly it boasts some impressive features. The Power Commander V will only be available for 2009 model year motorcycles, so you’re pretty much out of luck if you actually own a bike right now, but if you’re in the market click to read all of the juicy details. Oh, did I mention this will be an auto-tuning device that dynamically changes your fuel based on sensors throughout the bike? Yeah, now you want to click for more.
