Ducatisti: do you want the good news or the bad news first? The bad news is that the market for motorcycles 500cc and up is down 17% worldwide for the first quarter of this year, which means the “good” news is that Ducati is only down 5% for Q1 2013. Not exactly the start out of the gate that Audi was hoping for its newly acquired two-wheeled brand, but what are you going to do? Western Europe is a mess, with Spain and Italy continuing to go down like a…well, you know. While we don’t enjoy the misery of motorcycle brands, the fact that Ducati Motor Holding is now under the Audi AG umbrella means that we get far more detailed quarterly and yearly reports from the two-wheeled marque, and we’ve got the digits after the jump.
Mission Motors tweeted out something interesting just a moment ago, a link to a new website for Mission Motorcycles. Teasing there a photo of the Mission R, it would seem that the electric superbike that does competitive AMA Supersport lap times at Laguna Seca, is finally set to come to production. It seems we won’t know everything about the new Mission Motorcycles project until June 3rd, though we can speculate pretty accurately on what the A&R Bothan spy network has been telling us. Expect to see the Mission R electric superbike in street legal trim, honed even further than when we rode the machine back in August last year.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Wasn’t the Britten V1000 also a ‘frameless’ bike. And yes, I have an OCD for that bike. Seriously though, I find it rather telling that almost 20 years later, folks are just now looking to concepts he embraced decades ahead of their time.
I would hate for the piston to blow through the head and castrate me.
@jimmy, do you think there’s something preventing that from happen with Ducati’s current design?
I see significant detriment with Ducati/v-twin vibration increasing to the rider touch points – many of the newer Ducati motorcycles suffer from this discomfort WITH the full trellis frame. I would also assume the astute rider would feel a significant difference in feedback/rigidity. I will guess there is (will be) a very different rear end suspension feel with a rear swing arm (especially the single swing arm design) bolted directly to the engine instead of the critical stress point on the frame.
I would in fact challenge Ducati to move in the opposite direction to reinforce the existing frame and add alternate crank counter balance to resolve somewhat sever engine vibration. If you perform a direct comparison of the 2009 Monster to a mature Japanese inline four (as I did) you will agree that this is an area where Ducati motorcycles fall short of their Japanese counterparts; all critical attributes of rider comfort and fatigue.
Ducati Applies for Frameless Motorcycle Patent – http://bit.ly/d0uuAe #motorcycle
@Bill Smith, The advent of Pantah engines in ’79 saw the swingarm pivot from the engine cases not the frame. This practice continued until the horsepower being extracted from the progressively lightened engine castings of the early ’00′s World Superbike homogolation models (linear decendants of the Pantah) required the frame to anchor the pivot as well as the engine cases.
Ducati are no slouches when it comes to engineering and I’m sure they have done enough initial work to consider it’s worth their while to beef up the cases where nessecary to get rid of the frame.
As to vibration, having logged plenty of miles on 2 and 4 valve Ducati machinery and Japanese in-line 4s, I disagree with you. Given the choice I’d much rather ride/race a twin with it’s gut rumbling vibes than the hand numbing tingle of an in-line 4.
Is a mature Japanese in-line 4 an older bike or an old mans bike?
Not sure that Ducati has something that is patentable, the Britten and oil-head BMWs have the head stock and rear suspension members supported by the engine and no other connection between them.
Don’t forget the Quantel Nortons, Vincents, and the original Virago. All used engines as a stressed member.
This is the GP10 “110%stressed v4″ He,He… nice job Britten ehm ,i mean Ducati……took u 20 years??????????
@ Mrs. Bjorn Borg,
I certainly would never question Ducati’s design engineering prowess – only their direction and results. I love the new Monster 1100 but after a 30 minute test ride I discovered the following:
Wrists/hands: numb
The engine barely sputters below 3k rpm (but it is extremely powerful from 3.5 k rpm to redline)
You’ll need an athletic supporter when you ride (very common complaint from current owners)
The Monster 1100 has many great features (including the fantastic Ducati visual design) but it is years behind the refinement of the Japanese liter equivalent. I own a Yamaha FZ1 and as an equivalent, it is a Series 7 compared to a Passat (Ducati Monster 1100).
I’m sure we’ll see a level of refinement over the next few years but at this moment — it (the Monster 1100) is a very Inferior motorcycle.
hey bill,
the monster 1100 is an air cooled bike and of course is not going to feel as good as your yamaha watercooled bike. Your bike is about 60 lbs more than the monster and it doesn’t handle as nice as the monster. I had the chance to ride one too and the thing that I love the most was the handling. Ducati builts quality not quantaty.
@Bill Smith, Stop with the cutting jokes about my name. You’re killing me with your sophisticated wit, at least thats what I’m assuming it is.
As Giova points out, the M1100 is an old technology air cooled machine (the cooling fins may have given it away), comparing it to your beloved Fz1 is a bit like comparing a VW Passat to a BMW 7 Series (I assume that’s what you were talking about) or perhaps a Fiat 500 to a Toyota Camry, just to be correct with our nationalities. I’ve never understood the need of motorcyclists to draw analogies with cars.
A more reasonable comparison might be an S4 Monster (4 vave water cooled) to the FZ1. As a rule Japanese 4 cylinder bikes feel smoother due to their 180 degree cranks, but many people are looking for a more viscerial feeling from their motorcycle, hence the popularity of Ducati, Motor Guzzi and Harley Davidson.
I’m aware that ergonomics are pretty subjective things and what fits Jack may not fit John (or Bill). I certainly suffered no ill effects from a 600 km round trip on an M750 a number of years ago, but that doesn’t mean it would be my choice for serious miles.
Keep riding your motorcycle and loving it Bill, cos that’s what it’s all about. But be open to the fact that just because you don’t enjoy something, doesn’t make it intrinsically bad.
Nice shameless plug Guy.
Back to the original topic….this would be sweet (even if it has been done in some form or another before)….and to the side topic, I don’t think ‘refined’ and ‘Ducati’ belong in the same sentence….I don’t ride a Ducati because I want refined (I’ve compared my friends Triumph Sprint ST 1150 to my ST4s and while the Sprint is a dream to ride, shift and lean, it’s not for me…I prefer the raw rumble and torque of my v-twin)….it all comes down to rider preference….in the car world I don’t think you could call a Shelby Cobra ‘refined’, but it is a sweet ride that livens up the senses!
Frameless bike:
http://www.cybermotorcycle.com/gallery/classics_t/Windhoff_750_4_1927.htm
What are they getting a patent on exactly? As has been pointed out it has all been done already over many many decades. Is there something “unique” about this design?
Also the Sachs Beast has no frame…
Considering it is a patent application rather than an actual patent, it will be interesting to see if the patent office judge it to be unique enough in an enviroment where such designs already exist to grant it to Ducati.
Happy Easter to A&R and all the riders who comment here.
Do you know why I like Ducati as a company? They file for awesome patents like this http://cl.ly/3RY7 They remind me of Apple.