After holding an online contest to name its 125cc four-stroke based learner street bike, KTM has shockingly come to the conclusion that it should stick to its Duke nomenclature. Schedule to be the 2011 KTM 125 Duke, KTM debuted the concepts at the 2009 EICMA show in Milan. KTM’s plan is to engage young riders with the “Ready to Race” mantra, making them lifetime Team Orange riders with this stepping-stone model
The Mountain at Cadwell Park, as it is known, is like the British version of the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca: another one of those special points on a race track, that would not exist on the computer-generated courses we see today. Famous for lofting bikes into the air, The Mountain makes for spectacular photographs, and should be on every rider’s track day bucket list. Finding the fastest racing line over The Mountain can be difficult though, as riders have to contend with keeping the front of their motorcycles down, but such is not the case for HM Plant Honda’s Josh Brookes…
Track conditions were the talk of the paddock this weekend at the Indianapolis GP, as riders battled the changing tarmac surfaces, and undulating bumps of the Indy infield. Perhaps most vocal of his displeasure with the course was Ducati rider Casey Stoner, who called the Indianapolis Motor Speedway not a world class track, and specifically complained about plastic drains that would catch riders as the ventured in towards the edge of the track (Rossi also complained of these drains). Teammate Nicky Hayden was less critical before Sunday’s race though, saying that Stoner’s comments could be applied to many of the courses on the MotoGP calendar. However after losing a knee puck to one of the drainage grates that Stoner criticized earlier, Hayden may be re-thinking his tune.
Talking after the Indianapolis GP, Valentino Rossi explained that he is waiting to hear from Jeremy Burgess as to whether the Australian Crew Chief will retire next season. Assured of the fact that Burgess would not stay behind at Yamaha, and would not work with another rider, Rossi stated the buzz around whether Burgess would move with the Italian to Ducati, hinges as to when Burgess plans on retiring from motorcycle racing.
Under the lights of the Indy Mile, where motorcycle racing began for the Kentucky-born MotoGP racer, Nicky Hayden has signed a two-year contract with Ducati Corse for the 2011 & 2012 seasons. Not the biggest surprise in the paddock, Hayden’s contract renewal has never really been questioned this season as the American started the season off with series of strong finishes and continues to be a strong brand ambassador for Ducati in the United States. Hayden will be joined the next two years by former teammate Valentino Rossi, the pair rode for Repsol Honda in 2003, with Hayden finishing the season 5th in his rookie GP season.
Infront Motor Sports, rights holder to the World Superbike Championship series, has responded to the news that Ducati Corse will be leaving the series in 2011. Responding with an official press release, IMS’s message essentially boils down to poking holes in Ducati’s statement about technical regulations. Stating that the 2009 season was dominated by the Ducati 1198 Superbike, sans one Ben Spies, the Italian firm has clearly been able to be competitive with the current formula. IMS goes on to basically say that WSBK is about more than one manufacturer, and can’t cater to Ducati’s whims even if they do have a lengthy history together.
As expected, Ben Spies and Yamaha have announced that the current World Superbike Champion and MotoGP rookie will move up to the factory Yamaha team (noticeably not called Fiat-Yamaha in the press release) for the 2011 season. Spies’ move to the factory squad has lovingly been referred to as the “second worst-kept secret in MotoGP,” right after Rossi’s departure from the Fiat-Yamaha team to Ducati Corse.
No one makes the MotoGP media center come alive with emotion more so than Colin Edwards. A veteran of the sport, and born with no filter between his brain and mouth, the Texan Tornado captured the spotlight during the pre-race press conference at the Red Bull Indianapolis GP. A stark contrast to the polished veneers of other riders, Edwards isn’t afraid to tell things the way he sees it, even if it involves some colorful language. To get an idea of what we mean, check out a portion of the press conference transcript after the jump.
Ducati has recieved a trademark with the UK Intellectual Property Office for the Bolognese word for devil, or “Diavel”, which according to MCN is to be the name of the company’s new performance cruiser (shown here in a render done by Bar-Design exclusively for Asphalt & Rubber). Interestingly enough, Ducati has not trademarked the Diavel name with the United States Patent & Trademarks Office (USPTO). However with the British government, Ducati has reserved the Diavel mark for virtually every use possible, including lifestyle items like shirts, perfume, watches, and our personal favorite: skin cleansing lotions and creams.
Missing three races because of a mystery illness, Casey Stoner put any critics he had from his sudden departure in 2009 to bed with his masterful race at Phillip Island. Racing in front of his home crowd, Stoner slid around the Australian course to a decisive victory, in what we called one of the top races of 2009. Making the moment even more special for Australian fans, and Ducatisti alike, was the special race livery that Stoner ran for his home race. Hoping to commemorate that race and Stoner’s contributions to the Marlboro Ducati team (Stoner is leaving Ducati for HRC next year), a French Ducati dealership in Moulins-lès-Metz has decided to sell a limited number of Casey Stoner Ducati 1198S Phillip Island replicas.
Sad… But at least the last one is a nice one.
RT @Asphalt_Rubber Buell Builds Last Motorcycle Before Closing http://bit.ly/28A7TH
I just read your comments on the Kneeslider. I think you’ve absolutely nailed it.
All very well to wring hands, and feel sorry for Erik Buell and the people involvec, but I think your analysis is spot on.
If i owned stock in HD (I dont) I would be sending bottles of wine to the CEO and board about now. $1B in borrowed money? How the hell does that happen!!
” it is a Buell Lightning XB12Scg that will be the last motorcycle to bear Erik Buell’s name.” Unless you have plans to murder the man yourself, this is a particularly venal piece of conjecture disguised as reporting. It is your opinion, and tacking it onto the factual half of the sentence: ” After creating 136,923 motorcycles over the last 26 years” does nothing to imbue it with truth.
Regardless of the merits or mistakes of the man’s past accomplishments or your tumescent ardor for HD’s stock value, wishing an inventor a future in which his name never appears on another motorcycle might well have been the cruellest dig you could scrape out. I myself have no need to wish failure on HD in order to wish future success to Erik Buell and the possibility of a motorcycle landscape with more than one American brand in it.
Buell builds last motorcycle before shutdown. http://bit.ly/14dFJG
I haven’t actually checked, but I suspect HD owns the Buell Trademark – the statement in the article that this is the last bike to bear Erik Buell’s name is likely true if HD does not bring back or sell the brand. This has very little to do with whether Mr. Buell will design or produce bikes again in the future. Careful our you’ll hurt yourself making such a large jump to a conclusion.
Ms Gun did not write ‘might be the last bike to bear his name’, she wrote ‘will’. Phrasing your conjecture as fact does not make it so. I think Erik’s name ‘might’ appear on some motorcycle sometime in the future. Anyone who conjectures otherwise is equally entitled to their opinion, but those who throw around words like ‘will’ and, as you do, ‘true’, is merely using rhetoric to try and add seriousness to their opinions. Phrase it however you and she may, neither of you is any more entitled to know the future than me, and her negativity is the real message, couched disengenously as reporting. Reporters report, predictors predict, but only the arrogant will TELL the future.
I am from the future. Luckily, all of this works out reasonably well.
That scg rolled off the line 29 oct. A picture of it and Henry Duga (seen in the background of this photo) was posted on BadWeatherBikers that evening.
I’ve known Erik Buell since the late 1970s when he got going in a one car garage
out in Mukwagano Wisconsin. Everybody back then thought he was a raving
mad lunatic for building Sportster powered bikes that handled and stopped like
real sport bikes. I kept saying “he’s on to something and I hope he succeeds”.
Well, he did succeed and a few years ago in Libertyville H-D at a BuellRide
I asked him if he ever had a chance to talk to John Britten and try to get
a joint project going with him.
How sadly prophetic in a way, H-D doing Buell in…
Keep going Erik they can’t keep a great man and a great bike down!!!!