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.
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.