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.
Photo Credit – the amazing and talented Douglas Sonders. When I get rich, I want hire him to make me look cool.
RT @Asphalt_Rubber: Chinese Motorcycle Powerhouse Zongshen Eyes Mission Motors for Strategic Partnership – http://bit.ly/bZVWIX #motorcycle
RT @Asphalt_Rubber: Chinese Motorcycle Powerhouse Zongshen Eyes Mission Motors for Strategic Partnership – http://bit.ly/bZVWIX #motorcycle
An interesting development for sure. I wonder where Mission sees themselves in a few years. Agreed, that is a cool photo series.
RT @skadamo: RT @Asphalt_Rubber: Chinese Motorcycle Powerhouse Zongshen Eyes Mission Motors for Strategic Partnership – http://bit.ly/bZVWIX #motorcycle
Sounds like a deal with the Devil. I hope Mission closely guards their intellectual properties.
@CBontheMV Why do you think it sounds like a deal with the devil? To me, it sounds shrewd, visionary, and profitable.
@Brammofan – because Chinese manufacturers have a history of stealing intellectual property in order to further their own business prospects. It’s well documented across industries that many manufacturers take the technologies they’re contracted to produce and set up similar knock-off lines or use the technology to advance their own products.
Chinese Motorcycle Powerhouse Zongshen Eyes Mission Motors for … http://bit.ly/anqbtp
I can confirm that; worked on 3 different projects with three different groups of Chinese companies… In the furniture, Optics and funiture again. They were presented as honest, independ auditors said the same, they were real nice and all… Got shafted three times… I refuse to work with China now.
First project, they did a fine proto, then the pre-series was crap beyond belief.
Second project; they tried to sell to the competition before even first delivery.
Third time they tried strealing our client. Client not amused.
Chinese Motorcycle Powerhouse Zongshen Eyes Mission Motors for …: Motorcycle news, Industry Rumors, MotoGP, Worl… http://bit.ly/cWIG3e
We’ll see in the impending trade war between the US and China allows this to happen. I think it’s a good idea, except for the problem with intellectual property laws in China, which is a major issue. I would think South Korea or a similar country would be a better place to try this, just because of IP law.
Either way, I hope it brings down the cost of Mission’s product. $68,995 is just ridiculous, even if it is semi-bespoke. What I actually think will happen, though, is Mission will have it’s ideas stolen, end up in a protracted legal battle, and fold because of legal expenses.
Mission Motors e motorcycles are nearing a deal w/a major Chinese company, meaning millions of gas scooters off the road http://j.mp/b7wrLq
RT@asphalt_rubber:Chinese Motorcycle Powerhouse Zongshen Eyes Mission Motors for Strategic Partnership – http://bit.ly/bZVWIX #motorcycle
RT@asphalt_rubber:Chinese Motorcycle Powerhouse Zongshen Eyes Mission Motors for Strategic Partnership – http://bit.ly/bZVWIX #motorcycle
It is interesting that the notion of “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” exists in these cultures — however if they copy and sell, they will have hard time penetrating established world markets where IP/patent protection is strong.
So the risk is really in China — and there even if you do not have this kind of deal, they will make copies anyway! i.e. internal Chinese market best case scenario is some market share for US company– for a short period of time!!