Goodbye Husqvarna Nuda, We Hardly Knew Thee

Stefan Pierer’s acquisition of Husqvarna continues to baffle me. You will note I say Pierer, and not KTM, bought Husqvarna, since the Austrian CEO used Pierer Industrie AG in the transaction as a means to help side-step European antitrust issues. After all, we can’t have Europe’s largest dirt bike manufacturer, nay largest total motorcycle manufacturer, gobbling up even more brands in the two-wheeled world. But, I digress. Developing three road bikes (Husqvarna Nuda 900, Husqvarna Strada 650, & Husqvarna Terra 650), with three more concepts waiting in the wings (Husqvarna Moab, Husqvarna Baja, & Husqvarna E-G0), it is with even more confusion that we learn that Pierer & Co. intend to kill the Husqvarna Nuda project and its other street siblings.

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.

Zero Motorcycles Grabs Ex-Bueller Abe Askenazi

02/27/2010 @ 12:25 pm, by John Adamo11 COMMENTS

Zero Motorcycles Grabs Ex Bueller Abe Askenazi zero motorcycles hires buells Abe Askenazi 560x283

Zero Motorcycles and other electric manufacturers are rising stars in the motorcycle industry where few American companies have seen large scale success. Late last year one of the most loved to hate American motorcycle companies in history closed it’s doors just as it was starting to win AMA races and claimed an AMA Daytona Superbike Championship.

Years of motorcycle experience hit the streets after Buell closed it’s doors and it appears Zero was able to grab 14 years of it by bringing on Abe Askenazi as Vice President of Engineering. With that much knowledge of motorcycles under his belt, it is a great sign companies like Zero are on the right track. Check out the press release after the break for more details.

Santa Cruz, CA (Feb. 25) – Zero Motorcycles today announced that Abe Askenazi has joined the company as Vice President of Engineering. Askenazi, who comes to Zero from Buell Motorcycle Company will lead Zero’s engineering and design teams. Askenazi has more than 14 years of product and technology experience in the motorcycle industry, and was previously Senior Director of Analysis, Test and Engineering Process at Buell Motorcycle Co.

“Abe is a seasoned leader and engineer and is an excellent addition to our management team,” said Gene Banman, CEO of Zero Motorcycles. “He impressed us with his vast experience and many successes at Buell and we are looking forward to working with Abe in his new capacity at Zero Motorcycles.”

Askenazi has a Master’s of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley and often shared his knowledge of motorcycles and design in technical articles as part of his regular “Ask Abe” column in “Fuell Magazine.” During his tenure at Buell, Askenazi led his team to develop 26 motorcycle models from concept to production across four different platforms, which attributed to more than one billion dollars in sales. Other notable accomplishments credited to Askenazi include patents for front brake rotor mounting, lightweight wheels, spoke arrangement, and an integral fuel storage unit with a breakaway steering head currently featured on several Buell motorcycles.

You can find out more about Zero Motorcycles product line and general information on Zero Motorcycles’ website, www.zeromotorcycles.com.
For media information, please contact John Ewert, DRIVEN Public Relations 951-461-2429 or media@zeromotorcycles.com

Source: Plug Bike Photo: Fuell Newsletter Winter 2007

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Comment:

  1. mafiax says:
    February 27, 2010 at 12:29 PM

    RT @Asphalt_Rubber: Zero Motorcycles Grabs Ex-Bueller Abe Askenazi – http://bit.ly/aK5dKz #motorcycle

  2. SoCal Buell Riders says:
    February 27, 2010 at 1:03 PM

    RT @Asphalt_Rubber: Zero Motorcycles Grabs Ex-Bueller Abe Askenazi – http://bit.ly/aK5dKz #motorcycle

  3. Dora Fang says:
    February 27, 2010 at 1:11 PM

    Congrats Abe! RT @Asphalt_Rubber: Zero Motorcycles Grabs Ex-Bueller Abe Askenazi – http://bit.ly/aK5dKz #motorcycle

  4. EnvironMoto says:
    February 27, 2010 at 3:01 PM

    RT @Asphalt_Rubber: Zero Motorcycles Grabs Ex-Bueller Abe Askenazi – http://bit.ly/aK5dKz #motorcycle

  5. MotorcycleFans says:
    February 27, 2010 at 6:09 PM

    RT @Asphalt_Rubber: Zero Motorcycles Grabs Ex-Bueller Abe Askenazi – http://bit.ly/aK5dKz #motorcycle

  6. topsy_top20k says:
    February 27, 2010 at 6:09 PM

    Zero Motorcycles Grabs Ex-Bueller Abe Askenazi – http://bit.ly/aK5dKz #motorcycle

  7. Electric Moto Guide says:
    February 27, 2010 at 6:54 PM

    RT@Asphalt_Rubber:Zero Motorcycles Grabs Ex-Bueller Abe Askenazi – http://bit.ly/aK5dKz #motorcycle

  8. Shawn higbee says:
    February 27, 2010 at 7:59 PM

    Congrats to Zero for grabbing such talent! The ebike caught my attention a while ago, and hope we continue to see growth and exponential development in this market for quite some time. I’d say the future for ebikes, looks that much brighter with Abe and Zero motorcycle joining forces. Unleash the innovation and hone the technologies, best of luck!

  9. Shawn Higbee says:
    February 27, 2010 at 8:01 PM

    RT @motoelectric: RT@Asphalt_Rubber:Zero Motorcycles Grabs Ex-Bueller Abe Askenazi – http://bit.ly/aK5dKz #motorcycle

  10. Asphalt_Rubber says:
    February 27, 2010 at 8:26 PM

    Zero Motorcycles Grabs Ex-Bueller Abe Askenazi – http://bit.ly/aK5dKz #motorcycle

  11. Ted Dorsey says:
    February 28, 2010 at 5:42 AM

    RT @Asphalt_Rubber: Zero Motorcycles Grabs Ex-Bueller Abe Askenazi http://bit.ly/aK5dKz