The oldest racing organization in the country dedicated soley to motorcycle road racing, the AFM is a Northern Californian non-profit racing organization that has helped hone the skills of riders like Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey, Kenny Roberts, and Steve Rapp — not mention a weekend warrior or two. Each year the racing league comes together for a banquet, and lately the tradition has been to include a highlight film of the year’s racing. I’m not sure what films in the past have been like, but if the latest AFM banquet video doesn’t give you goosebumps, you might want to check your pulse. Bonus points for the including the Versus “Second Place” monologue — it’s very apropos.
Grab some popcorn, because this video from Ducati North America is over 14 minutes long. Telling the story of Ducati at the 2011 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC), DNA has put together a great video that really captures how special the racing is at Pikes Peak, and how gorgeous the scenery is of the Colorado Mountains. With Santa Barbara Ducati’s Carlin Dunne winning the overall motorcycle category on his dealership’s Multistrada 1200 demo model, Alexander Smith from the Spider Grips Ducati Team made it a double podium for Ducati in the 1205cc class. If you’re new to racing at Pikes Peak, or wanted a quick re-cap of last year’s race, Ducati’s video pretty accurately sums up racing on the mountain and the anxiety around last year’s race.
Ducati has announced its factory team for the 2012 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC), and the Italian company has secured the services of last-year’s winner and Rookie of the Year Carlin Dunne as well as six-time PPIHC winner Greg Tracy. Ducati has also partnered with the Spider Grips team, who will help prepare the teams Ducati Multistrada 1200 for the “Race to the Clouds” on July 8th. For 2012, the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb will be fully-paved to the top of the mountain, which will surely see the speeds of competitors increase, and lap times drop on the 12.42 mile long course that ends at 14,110 feet.
I was flipping through some photos from the 2011 EICMA show, and found these shots of the Ducati 1199 Panigale’s Superquadro engine. Unfortunately at the show, Ducati had its 1199cc v-twin motor behind a Lexan case, which created a bit of a glare, reflections, and of course had smudges from the touchy-feely Italian crowd. But still, the photos give a good idea of what’s going on in Ducati’s most-advanced production engine to date, and are better than just looking at the CAD renders. If you look at the shots very closely, you can almost see where the 195hp and 98 lbs•ft of torque is lurking inside.
In addition to testing the factory Ducati Desmosedici GP12 “Phoenix” this week at Sepang, Valentino Rossi is also trying out a new lid from AGV. Aside from the carbon fiber goodness, and of course the Rossi stickers (which add 5hp & $200), AGV’s prototype helmet sports a noticably pronounced rear spoiler. Tucked in behind the windscreen, it is obvious why the Italian helmet manufacturer designed such a large protrusion off the back of the prototype helmet, as it looks to be clearly helping the flow off the back of the helmet, across the rider’s hump, and down his backside.
While Ducati Corse is busy playing hide-the-Desmosedici at Sepang, HRC is all business in Malaysia this week, and has debuted its 2012 Honda RC213V MotoGP-contender. Honda isn’t saying too much about the RC213V, simply stating that the race bike is all new, but is also a continuation of the company’s design with the 800cc Honda RC212V. Testing the Honda RC213V over the course of last season, reigning-World Champion Casey rode the new 1,000cc machine three times in 2011, while teammate Dani Pedrosa swung a leg over the RC213V twice (missing one test because of injury).
You may have been misled by some eager journalists today and yesterday, if you saw a Ducati Corse livery-clad Ducati Desmosedici GP12 that some sites were passing off as the first shots of the “90% new” GP12. With the alleged new GP12 looking surprisingly similar to the aluminum-framed “GP0″ that was tested at Valencia, Valentino Rossi’s mechanic has now Alex Briggs confirmed that the photos taken were not of the all new “GP12 Phoenix” that the factory team will race this season. While the Ducati lords can taketh away, they can also giveth, and Valentino Rossi himself has posted the first photo of the factory Desmosedici GP12, and the bike is clearly different.
Zero Motorcycles has announced the full-commencement of production for its 2012 model line, which is expected to hit dealers in February & March of this year. First off the line was the 2012 Zero DS back in December, though the electric motorcycle company has recently started building the Zero S, Zero XU, Zero X, and Zero MX at its Scotts Valley facility as well. A story we broke back in November, Zero Motorcycles debuted its important 2012 electric motorcycle line up at the 2011 EICMA show in Milan, with the 2012 range being a substantial improvement upon the company’s previous offerings.
Getting a look at Dainese & AGV’s 2012 collection, Asphalt & Rubber was down in Orange County earlier this week to see the highly anticipated Dainese D-Air Racing leather suit, which has a four liter airbag system that helps reduce the risk of injury during a motorcycle crash. Dainese has been working on the D-Air Racing system for 10 years now, and after soft-launching the airbag suit in Europe, the Italian company is ready to bring the game-changing technology to American soil.
Us Danes, we’re a strange breed. From the culture that taught you how to rape and pillage, Scandinavia is making yet another contribution to the motorcycling world with this latest video. Featuring Danish Supermoto Champion Andreas Mikkelsen, we get a RoToR camera-esque perspective (this rig is actually home made) on the Dane’s practice session at the Als Supermotard Club in Denmark. It’s videos like this that are slowly eroding my will-power to resist getting into supermotard riding. Also, I don’t know who was in charge of the music selection on this thing, but my hat is off to him/her. I love the nightlife. I’ve come to boogie.
RT @Asphalt_Rubber: California Drops Motorcycle Smog Check Legislation – http://tinyurl.com/nodxvh #motocycle
California Drops Motorcycle Smog Check Legislation – Asphalt & Rubber http://bit.ly/yjVuE
Thanks Asphalt and Rubber. We need to all stand together against this corrupt group of legislators; Especially when it comes to our 2 wheeled lifestyle.
Information about California dropping the Smog Check provision in the revised bill appears to be in error. The Senate Transportation committee did pass an amended bill on 05/28/09. However a review of that amendment still very much includes mandatory smog checks for all 2000 and later Class III motorcycles (larger than 280cc) beginning in 2012. In fact, the bill passed the Senate 22 to 17 and is now in the California Assembly Transportation Committee with a scheduled hearing on 06/29/09. All can be verified through accessing bill status at senate.ca.gov and at assembly.ca.gov for scheduled hearings under the Transportation Committee agenda. Such misinformation also appears to be coming from various sources, resulting in a dangerous drop of interest being expressed to legislative representatives representatives by the California motorcycling public. If I am wrong, Hallelujah! If not, I feel it is important that you let readers know the correct facts!
“Minuscule pollution?” Motorcycles contribute to 10% of the smog-producing emissions in CA. Compared to cars, they pollute disproportionately. I’m not sure why this proposal “doesn’t make sense” considering the environmental effects…and this is coming from a guy with 4 bikes, 2 with exhausts. Yeah, I like the look/sound/power of an aftermarket exhaust system, but there IS a good reason for this law to become implemented, even if it isn’t ideal for riders.
Rather than apply to year 2000 bikes, I’d rather see stricter regulations for motorcycle companies with no restrictions on the aftermarket myself, that way guys and girls that are really into their bikes are able to pollute a bit more w/ their exhausts and people buying bikes of the showroom floor to commute on will absorb some of the pollution.
” Motorcycles contribute to 10% of the smog-producing emissions in CA”
YOU ARE EITHER MISINFORMED, HIGH, OR A MORON.
“This story is about emissions. More specifically, it’s about the surprising level of emissions spewing from on-road motorcycles and scooters. In California, such bikes make up 3.6% of registered vehicles and 1% of vehicle miles traveled, yet they account for 10% of passenger vehicles’ smog-forming emissions in the state. In fact, the average motorbike is about 10 times more polluting per mile than a passenger car, light truck or SUV, according to a California Air Resources Board comparison of emissions-compliant vehicles.”
Source: http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jun/11/autos/hy-throttle11
You, my friend, are either misinformed, high, or a moron. Like I said, I am an avid motorcyclist, but I am fully aware of the consequences of my choices, just like everyone else should be.
Motorcycles And Pollution
Should We All Drive Instead Of Ride?
September, 2008
By Andrew Trevitt
Click to View GalleryA recent column in the Los Angeles Times painted a grim picture for motorcyclists based on emissions data. The story, “Inconvenient Truths About Motorcycles and Smog,” explained how motorcycles emit more nitrogen oxides-NOX, byproducts of combustion that contribute to smog-and concludes by claiming that “Motorcycles, even small ones, are more polluting than Hummers.”
Saying that a motorcycle pollutes more than an SUV because it emits more nitrogen oxides is like saying soda is more healthy for you than juice because soda has fewer calories. There is a lot more involved in vehicle emissions than just nitrogen oxides, and the column in the Times is, at best, misleading. It claims that “the average motorbike is about 10 times more polluting per mile than a passenger car, light truck or SUV, according to a California Air Resources Board comparison of emissions-compliant vehicles.” I couldn’t find the referenced CARB document on the agency’s website, but I did find actual emissions test data for cars, SUVs and motorcycles on the Environmental Protection Agency’s website. Sure enough, many of the motorcycles are listed as discharging more NOX and other polluting byproducts than cars. In the EPA’s test data an ’07 Honda CBR600RR has an average of 0.08 g/km NOX over the various tests. A Lincoln Navigator, in comparison, shows 0.02 g/km for the same byproducts. Carbon monoxide, another smog-producing byproduct, is listed at between 1.7 and 2.4 g/km for the CBR, between 0.6 and 0.8 g/km for the Navigator.
There are several factors that allow cars and trucks to have fewer harmful emissions than motorcycles. All the required hoses, canisters and catalytic converters fit relatively easily under a car’s hood, but not so nicely on a motorcycle. That paraphernalia adds cost and weight, which is more of an issue on a $10,000, 450-pound motorcycle than a $25,000, 3000-pound car. And catalytic converters generate a lot of heat, which can be dangerous as well as uncomfortable when they are exposed on a motorcycle as opposed to tucked away underneath a car. Whatever the reasons, the EPA and CARB regulations are more lenient for motorcycles, and as a result motorcycles do emit more smog-producing pollutants than cars.
But the emissions data is just a small part of the overall impact each vehicle has on the environment, and I don’t think the situation for motorcycles is as bad as it’s depicted in that data alone, or as glum as it’s laid out in the Times article. Primarily, the carbon dioxide emitted by each vehicle must also be considered. CO2 is a product of combustion rather than a byproduct, meaning it is a direct result of the fuel burning. A vehicle that uses less fuel will produce less CO2, and as global warming becomes increasingly important, more emphasis is being placed on fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. It’s safe to say that since motorcycles are, in general, more fuel efficient than cars-and especially SUVs-their CO2 emissions are less. In that respect, cars pollute more than motorcycles.
One aspect not considered in the story is how emissions data relates to real-world driving conditions. The EPA measures emissions on a dynamometer using set criteria representative of a mixture of city and freeway driving. But during a typical Los Angeles commute most cars are idling along, no doubt spewing more bad gases than indicated by the EPA’s data. Meanwhile, motorcyclists are allowed to split lanes, keeping their emissions more representative of the testing procedures. On top of that, more motorcycles on the road means fewer cars, reducing congestion for everyone and, in turn, improving the automobiles’ emissions. Certainly these aspects may not be enough to offset the additional pollutants that motorcycles add to the atmosphere, but they improve the situation, perhaps considerably.
Consider the tradeoffs: Yes, motorcycles generate more smog-producing pollutants than the average car. But they use less fuel, dump less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and reduce congestion for everyone. I’m pretty confident that when I ride to work I’m doing less damage to the planet than most of the cars on the road. It’s frustrating that the local paper in a city that suffers some of the worst traffic problems in the country put a lopsided view on the topic when it should be doing more to encourage alternative transportation. I’m all for reducing pollution and saving the planet, and it’s unfortunate that motorcycles do pollute more than cars in some ways, but let’s be realistic: Motorcycles are more a part of the solution than a part of the problem.
Make sure you write to Senator Fran Pavley D-Agoura Hills regarding bill 435 to let her know you oppose it. Here is what I wrote:
Senator Fran Pavley D-Agoura Hills bill 435 is well intended, but will do little to alleviate noise and will only anger the motorcyclists who already have a quiet motorcycle, which is most owners. Why punish the thousands of riders in the state for the abuse caused by a few? I am sure that the owners of bikes with loud mufflers will only put on their original stock muffler for the ride to the check point and get their sticker, only to ride home and spend 5 minutes putting on their loud pipes.
To alleviate this, the noise levels should be monitored, not a required stamp that will do little or nothing to stop the noise. Set up a guideline that requires pipes to be less than so many Decibels at a set distance from the end of the tail pipe while the engine is revved to 3000 RPM’s. Not subjective, etc. No chance to defeat it in court, the decibel meter does not lie and some models cost less then 100 dollars. Then have the enforcement of each bike done by officers on the street. Putting a stamp on the bike will be useless and one more hoop riders have to jump through. I would support a bill requiring Smog Checking of motorcycles to fight the illegal removal of catalytic converters and other pollution control equipment.
Use her address on the form or it will kick back to you!
2716 Ocean Park Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90405
http://legplcms01.lc.ca.gov/PublicLCMS/ContactPopup.aspx?district=SD23