Shipped up and on its way to the Isle of Man, we can finally now see more than test shots of the Mugen Shinden Ni and get its basic racing specifications. The electric superbike that John McGuinness will ride in the 2013 TT Zero race at the Isle of Man TT, the Mugen Shinden Ni represents that evolution of the Japanese firm’s design, having now a TT race under its belt. Like its main competitor MotoCzysz, Team Mugen is eyeing a 110 mph lap around the Mountain Course, which would be a pretty remarkable one-year advancement for either team. With Mr. McPint at the helm, and seemingly brimming with on-board energy, Mugen is a serious contender.
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.
With the price of the EBR 1190RR more than twice that of a Ducati 1198S (though less than the Desmo), the odds we’ll see more than the pair produced for Pegasusraceteam is pretty slim.
Even though the 1125RR is homologated for AMA racing, at just a slight discount in price (and 15 hp) down from the 1190RR, it’s still going to be out of reach for any privateer I know of. The 1125R DSB remains within reach, but with no contingency money to be had, only a privateer with a deep desire to make a statement of loyalty is going to make that purchase.
Until Erik’s non-compete agreement expires, EBR’s six employees are going to have to rely on whatever funding they’ve been living off of since December, and hope for the sale of a few $10k track bikes.
I’d like to see them open up a program of rebuilding existing 1125Rs to track spec. But who listens to us? :)
Yes, no, maybe on the price. When you look at those racing classes and what it takes to be competitive in them, these prices are more than fair. DSB uses close to stock bikes, whereas the other classes allow for much more modification. In these classes teams aren’t buying bikes from dealers and modifying them, they’re buying race-prepped bikes directly from manufacturers.
These bikes can cost up to $250k for a front-running WSBK level bike. The base models of these bikes cost much less, but are still nearly double from the EBR’s. A Ducati 1098RS is about 90k euros, with the Aprilia RSV4 rumored to tally in at 60k euros. Check this post out for more on that: http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/rumors/aprilia-rsv4-race-replica-rumor/
Erik Buell Racing Prices Announced – http://aspha.lt/100 #motorcycle
Yes jensen, but the ducati and aprilia are winners….
Well Ducati is having a hard time of it this year, but that’s besides the point, ehh?
In some senses you do get what you pay for, but I think real winners succeed despite the obstacles in front of them.
We will see at infineon AMA if the buell even has a chance in superbike. I wish buell luck
Have to agree with SoCal Buell Rider. EBR has produced some awesome bikes, but unfortunately, they really don’t fit into any class — at least, economically.
For 44 large, you can build a race ready GSXR, R1, CBR, F4 and have a number of classes to race it in. Just sayin’…
Hopefully, some VC money will come along and Buell can get back to building street bikes.
Sure would like one of those 1190 motors for my CR….
Wheeeee!
R
Here we go again! Buell motorcycles went out of business because they built somewhat competitive bikes with premium prices. The market responded by not buying their bikes, Harley Davidson pulled the plug, and the m/c community lamented Buell and vilified HD. Now, Buell has returned and it’s the same story all over again! Public opinion seems to be much the same as it was before regarding bikes vs price, so it will be interesting to see how this latest endeavor in custom motorcycle building pans out for Buell. I hope EBR is a success because Eric Buell is a creative engineering genius and is fighting the good fight for independent motorcycle builders and racers.
These bikes can barely compete with the 600 class, ala – AMA. And you want to pay 44 gs for a Buell? Are you people on crack. Yes, you can build a superbike that will out perform the buell even at 25k deep including bike… Hell, you can build a Factory Graves Yamaha R6 for about the same price and again will smoke the balls off the Buell. The AMA is biased and geared towards the Motor Harley Gearheads for the American Public. The reality here is its an overpriced 6oo with the reliability of a two stroke… Now, I can see why HD pulled the plug.. Obsolete!!! And why Mladin and Spies left the AMA… Its nothing more then overzealous Club Racing sponsored by fat walleted Michael Jordan has beens.
John what are you missing here? You cannot be serious that a 600 in line 4 can compete with a 185 Rear Wheel HP 360 pound wet weight machine. You may be talking about a 1125r which is NOTHING like this bike. (Although the 1125 did wipe the floor with the 600s last year.) This bike is near identical to the Ducati 1198R which is right up there with the new BMW as one the fastest road bikes ever made. Buell has announced they will be selling a street version of the 1190 next year. That means they will likely race in superbike next year.
By the way a non-race prepped 1198R is $39,995.00.