Video: 2011 AFM Banquet Film – Death to Second Place

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.

Pikes Peak International Hill Climb 2011 – The Ducati Story

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 Announces Pikes Peak International Hill Climb Team with Carlin Dunne & Greg Tracy

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.

Cutaway Photos of the Ducati Superquadro Engine

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.

AGV, Please Make This Helmet!

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.

2012 Honda RC213V Debuts in Malaysia

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).

No, This is the “90%” New Ducati Desmosedici GP12

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 Commences 2012 Model Line Production

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.

The Dainese D-Air Racing Airbag Suit Comes to America

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.

I Love the Nightlife. I’ve Come to Boogie.

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.

Electric Scooter Maker Vectrix to go Bankrupt

Fri, July 17th, 2009 @ 6:01 pm, by Jenny Gun4 COMMENTS
Home » News » Electric Scooter Maker Vectrix to go Bankrupt

Electric scooter manufacturer Vectrix is set to file for bankruptcy in 30 days after failing to find the cash infusion they need back in April. The move to Chapter 11 doesn’t surprise too many people close the company, citing both poor business practices and customer dissatisfaction as being reasons for the manufacturer’s demise.

For instance, the $10,495 Vectrix VX-1 electric scooter allegedly didn’t get the range that had been advertised, and also suffered from poor build quality. Dealers also complained about the order quantity size they would be forced to purchase, likely from Vectrix trying to push as much product out the door of its manufacturing line.

Vectrix motorcycles were available in more than 90 dealerships in the US, and nearly 160 dealerships worldwide. Mike Boyle, CEO and President of Vectrix, stated back in February that models and dealers were the two things holding the company back from being a big success. This statement makes us wonder though what things were driving the company forward, the logo?

A source close to the company had a different take on the reason Vectrix was floundering:

“It’s just such a shame, because it was a really good idea and a decent product but lacked the appropriate price point and follow-up development. It was frustrating for those of us from the motorcycle industry who were involved, and we tried to convince them to change how they were doing things.”

Vectrix Corp. is headquartered in Middletown, R.I., an assembly facility in Wroclaw, Poland, and an R&D center in New Bedford, Mass. Employees in the U.S. were told of the likely closing of the doors when they arrived at work on July 131th.

Source: DealerNews via HFL

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Tagged under: bankrupt, bankruptcy, electric, electric scooter, scooter, startup, Vectrix, Vectrix VX-1

Comment:

Asphalt_Rubber says:
July 17, 2009 at 10:01 PM
Electris Scooter Maker Vectrix to go Bankrupt – http://bit.ly/2Pcbq7 #motorcycle
Bert says:
July 19, 2009 at 10:09 AM
This was obvious many years back, they rolled in with a fancy van and a demo bike. They were bragging how they already have burned through 70 million in R&D.
They did allow a test ride but were asking to keep it short. I took the bike from 84th Street on York avenue down to 72nd street and back and the fuel gauge dropped to half. (less than 2 miles but I was pushing it as hard as I could) The electric bike I have built in my dad’s shop when I was 8 years old had better performance than that!
Also, the front panel popped off and went flying into traffic but they assured me that that “should not happen” on the production bike.
We never signed up as dealers, fearing this would be the outcome and many of our customers would be left with a 10k piece of junk.
It kinda never fails, too many MBA brains in the kitchen but none listening to the guys in the trenches is a recipe for failure. See: Tidalforce, Ego, EV Global (eBike), EV Warrior… and many more.
Its a shame that the customer always gets stuck with a worthless, overpriced product.
Ralph says:
August 18, 2009 at 1:55 PM
Came upon your article after having read about Vectrix’ demise in a Dutch motorcycle magazine. These are pivotal times in the whole ‘personal transportation’ industry. A lot of eco-entrepreneurs come up with alternatives that don’t make sense business-wise or from a consumer standpoint. You really need to favor electric propulsion ‘an sich’ if you want to drive a Tesla or Vectrix scooter.
I am presently working on the so-called Space-Efficient Vehicle project. Narrow track vehicles have many advantages: superior fuel economy, lower emissions, new design perspectives, and lean production potential. Plus superior range if equipped with an electric motor and batteries. The SEV is more comfortable (long wheelbase), more energy-efficient (shape), more practical (3 seats) as well as safer (layout) and better handling than a Smart ForTwo. And that car is already out there!
Mike says:
October 4, 2009 at 4:09 AM
While Vectrix had a good product, it was not much more robust than the R Martin EVD made by Efun. The EVD is less than $3500 and gets as much or more range. It is a much better value. You should not over sell and over price electrics. Look at the EVD here: http://www.electricbikedistributor.com/evd-electric-motorcycle.html. It is a much better deal.