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.
Badassery! RT @Asphalt_Rubber #Brakko Combined Wheel Brake System – http://bit.ly/513rcr #motorcycle #design
Imitation is the sincerest form of…? Think Buell ZTL brakes RT @Asphalt_Rubber Brakko Combined Wheel Brake System – http://bit.ly/513rcr
That is a ripoff of Buell brakes. I’m disappointed in this publication for making a big deal out of a product already done in EARLY 2002
Rip-off? I dunno about that. These, like the one’s on the Buell, are a single-disc perimeter style brake. However, Buell’s design is mounted on the side, like a conventional braking system, whereas these are directly centerline with the tire. Also the caliper mounting is completely different not to mention the disc is an actual stressed member of the wheel.
It would be a bitch to clean, I’m betting.
http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/news/brakko-combined-wheel-brake-system/ もしビューエルが復活したらこれにしようぜ
Buell’s design put the disk on the side of the rim for reasons of cooling… I would like to see the heat coming of those after a few hot laps. A step back from the Buell design I think.
Huh. Looks like they took the Buell ZTL system and then made it unecessarily complicated. I’d like to see a weight-saving comparison between the two.
Dave makes a great point about the heat as well… those pads are virtually shielded. Certainly a step up from conventional brakes, but seems to me like Buell still had the better design. Sometimes a thing can be ~too~ high tech for its own good.
Nice, looks great, but I see the same basic idea on my Buell XB9R every time I ride her.
And no, Erik Buell did not do this to take care of any heat issues. Weight is the enemy, and that is why it was done.
Neat looking computer generated vaporware variation on the Buell ZTL system. Simple questions screaming for answers:
1. How much does it weigh compared to the Buell ZTL wheel/brake/fork lower?
2. How does it perform under severe stress, meaning high heat, aggressive braking.
The Buell Forum at http://www.BadWeatherBikers.com has taken notice. See comments there at…
http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/4062/518759.html
What happens when heat causes the rotor to expand? I don’t see much room for the disc to expand, and I sure wouldn’t want to try and bleed them if the brake lines route through the hub.
Looks like it’s just an end-around to keep from violating Buell’s patents?
Seems sad to me that Erik Buell, probably the smartest man in the motorcycling industry today didn’t get this kind of attention when he brought this type (and better) of braking to production motorcycles several years ago.
yeah, but have you guys seen what honda is doing with their underslung exhaust?
man, those guys …..oh, wait. ummm…. never mind.
This system looks great. Our company holds the patents for U.S distribution of Internal brake wheels. We came up with this system 6 years ago. As for the buell bikes they never had true internal brakes.( calipers behind both wheel faces) The Buell calipers were externally mounted conventionally on the lower fork leg. We initially designed a setup similar to this one. However our current system is much cheaper to manufacture and allows the wheels to be tailored to any bike with ease. and cost is similar to a complete set of billet Pm’s or extreme machine etc. $5,500 to 6,500 dealer cost complete. Brakes, wheels any finish, rotors etc. we make them in 18″ to 26″ sizes unlimited width. Check out glenndynedesign.com The gunmetal and black set on the website was a prototype set. The production sets use all DOT brake lines and fittings. We are just now finished with our rotary forging dies for all Wheel faces ranging in sizes 18″ to 26″ we are now in full production designing different styles and setting up dealers.
No 17″ wheels Aaron? It’s gonna be hard to win over the sportbike crowd without a 17″/16.5″ option
Jenny,
We have just been producing 18″ and up because of demand in the custom industry. With harleys etc. We would consider building the rotary forging dies for the 17″ wheel faces if costomers want them. We are just now launching the wheels for production bikes at the CINCI dealer expo. Feb 2010. thanks for your question.
I guess that this “centered” system, besides heating problems, still transfers torsional load to the hub, where calipers seems to be attached, requiring wheels to have more mass. Am I wrong, or this would “throw away” the real advantage of ZTL system, e.g, reducing unsprung wieght?