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.
News that Suzuki plans on returning to the MotoGP Championship in 2014 should be old information for dedicated Asphalt & Rubber readers, and the Japanese company’s inline-four race bike was already spotted doing test laps last year by the eager eyes at Cycle World. Well the American print-mag has another set of eyebrow-raising high-quality photos of the 2014 Suzuki GSV-R to mull over from the Motegi race track, along with some technical insights provided by the venerable Kevin Cameron.
A surprise addition to BMW Motorrad’s 2013 model line-up, zie Germans have announced a new middleweight adventure-tourer, the 2013 BMW F800GS Adventure. Like its larger predecessor, the BMW F800GS Adventure is a more travel-ready and off-road capable build of the recently updated BMW F800GS motorcycle. Featuring a larger windscreen, panniers, and a bigger fuel tank capacity (2.1 gallons larger, for a total of 6.3 gallons of fuel), the BMW F800GS Adventure keeps the same 85 hp, liquid-cooled, 798cc, parallel-twin engine found on the F800GS, as well as the same chassis configuration. Pricing in the US will be $13,550 for the base model BWM F800GS Adventure.
Former 500cc World Champion Kevin Schwantz has certainly been in the news a bit these past few months, mostly for his involvement and falling out with the Circuit of the Americas and the Americas GP, but also more recently for his comments regarding Dani Pedrosa — we also sat down with Mr. Schwantz in Austin, and the Texan gave us some sobering insight into the future of American road racing. As if all that wasn’t enough, Schwantz is making a return to two-wheeled racing, and has entered the prestigious Suzuka 8-Hours endurance race with Team Kagayama racing alongside Noriyuki Haga and team owner Yukio Kagayama.
An interesting development on the aftermarket side of things has graced our desks, as Öhlins has released a “suspension control unit” (SCU) that upgrades the electronically adjustable suspension on the Ducati Multistrada 1200 S so that it becomes a semi-active suspension system. Whhhaaaat??! So, if you’re the proud owner of a pre-2013 Ducati Multistrada 1200 S, and you think that your electronically controlled Öhlins suspension is no longer boss, now that Ducati has released its Sachs-powered “Skyhook” semi-active suspension pieces on its new batch of Multistrada sport-tourers, there is a remedy for your motolust.
So, H-D spends $20 Million to shutter Buell Motorcycles in 2009, and now Erik Buell scores $20 Million in foreign investment to continue building American motorcycles in America. Sorta makes Mr. Wandell and Co. look like real a$$hats, doesn’t it?
Keep it up, Erik. At least you have the dream, desire, and ability to make America proud. Go kick some more a$$!
Already saving my pennies…
I don’t need anymore bikes but if this ebr superbike is good (and under $20), I would seriously think about getting one!
Very happy for Eric and Co.
A $20k Buell Superbike?
If you build it, they will come…
This is great news. I have personally me Erik and owned a Buell. It was not the fastest bike on the planet, but I really enjoyed riding it. I will be taking a serious look at the new machine from EBR when it arrives.
Erik is my HERO! I ride #98 that raced Daytona 200 in 2009. Ride it on the street now. Luv ya man! ( :
Congrats and Good Luck!
Congrats to @ErikBuellRacing Way2GO #success!! http://t.co/H1fGIn9j @BrammoSays
Erik Buell Racing Raises $20 Million from Foreign Investors – Plans to Build $20,000 Motorcycle http://t.co/X2FOF1og
So fortunately there is klike after being runover by a Hog. That is great. You see a Buell sometimes and they always make me smile. Innovative, sound great and can really go.
That’s great.
Congrats to Erik. The man is genius – getting 20 foreigners to invest a Million each in exchange for a green-card is absolutely brilliant. I could be wrong but I think with the EB5investment visa there is no guarantee that the investors will see a penny back, basically they have already been rewarded with a green-card.
So where’s he going to get the bikes? I thought EBR was using leftover 1125R stock as the basis for their new bikes and supporting racers who were riding the existing models, hence the high cost and limited numbers. I always was under the impression that this was a short term deal, as leftover 1125Rs wouldn’t last forever, and EBR is basically just a tuning and race support company for the 1125R.
Doesn’t H-D still own the rights to the engine and chassis tech that Buell uses in the superbikes? So what does this new investment go to? If EBR actually goes “for real” and starts building new bikes, is he going to start from scratch with a new chassis and engine? And doesn’t H-D now own the patents on fuel in frame, perimeter brakes, etc. that you’d expect to see on a new Buell design? So how does he get around that?
Maybe I just have the details of the breakup all wrong.
Whether or not you like Buell or his bikes, one thing is for certain. You cannot call Buell a shit talker. He is a doer who makes things happen. In a world of so many talkers, he is a breath of fresh air.
@ Geddy. You are miss informed. The 1190RS is not an 1125R. While all the tech is similar, in order to dodge the patents from Harley they “revamped” the chassis, and the engine was built by Rotax. Harley does t own anything Rotax does, and Again the engine has been modified to dodge Harley anyway.
the new superbike looks good. All that stuff he built b4 looked too goofy and I would not have bought any of them. Expensive too.
maybe buell finally learned something instead of having a cry when HD pulled the plug.
meatspin- Do a little research and you’ll discover the truth that came out after H-D killed Buell. The “goofy” design elements were a direct result of H-D micromanaging Erik and insisting on things Erik did not want to do. H-D never understood the Buell philosophy, or actual performance for that matter, and through their actions became Buell’s biggest roadblock to success. The high prices were just one example of “Harley thinking”- heck, H-D charged Buell retail price for the Spotster motors used in Buell models. Buell Motorcycles didn’t need an enemy as long as they had Harley Davidson. Good riddance. Just look at the success Erik Buell is having without the limitations imposed on him by H-D. Finally, Erik is able to make a world-class motorcycle America can be proud of. It’s a shame H-D held him back so long, but now he’s free to use his genius to its fullest. These are exciting times!
Good luck to this man. He deserves it. NOW…….about that motorcycle for $20k…i don’t know about that…sounds still too $teep.
Make a Superbike for 15k or less, a naked for less that 10k and smaller fries 500-800 in the 6-7k and maybe some kind of Ninja 250 CBR250R competitor and maybe he’ll have a line up more edible by the regular underpaid Joe…not just the few well heeled Schmocks ?
Otherwise he will remain some NICHE Builder for the rich crowd…and i would rather buy something cheaper, proven and reliable alltogheter.
I hope to see a future Ligthning and Ulyses againg and why not explore some other genres too while at it ?
Screw the whole superbike crack pipe dream, they ain’t selling like HOT BREAD anymore….it’s 2012, NOT 2007 or before.
He’s getting closer. Once he makes a bike below the $16k mark, I’ll line up for that one.
Any chance we’ll see a superbike dressed up as a reincarnated Uly? My Uly might just be worn out by the time this show gets on the road…
Erik Buell Racing Raises $20 Million from Foreign Investors – Plans to Build $20,000 Motorcycle http://t.co/AAEcDJkd
I have great respect for Buell as an innovative, forward-thinking designer/engineer. But a $20K bike? Come on… When Honda can’t give away VFR1200s for $11K? If Buell is serious about building a marketable product (and not just raising cash for his racing program), I think he should look at building a high-performance standard, along the lines of a street-tracker. Nobody offers such a thing. Light-weight chassis, torquey motor, high bars, decent seat/seating position, optional bikini fairing. The Ducati Monster is getting old now, it’s high-maintenance, and it’s uncomfortable for a lot of people. The market is saturated with sportbikes, cruisers, and ridiculous 600-lb “adventure bikes” that will never go off road. Go back to the basics with a bike that looks better than a triumph, can hang with supermotos without the torture seat, and fills a market need.
Note to Buell, take a look at what Richard Pollock is doing over at http://mulemotorcycles.net. Build me something like this, http://mulemotorcycles.net/p7hg_img_14/fullsize/Oz1020-237_fs.jpg , with turn-signals and and injected motor, and I’ll be the first buyer.
Paul, you are totally missing the point of why Honda can’t sell those VFR’s. It’s not a Buell, it didn’t come from America and it’s not the underdog in the cycle world. The 1190 has become an icon for those of that prayed that an American company would do something other than some dogged out push-rod v-twin from the 40′s or a failed attempt at making a super bike that did not perform to expectations. It’s new, fresh and no B.S. thanks to a CEO that believes in something. The Duc’s and had their place in time and it was in the past even though they sell plenty of bikes and I really do love them. We all knew that the 1190 wouldn’t blow anyone’s doors off but, Mr. May currently resides in 5th in AMA points on a bike that has seen the track for just over a year. Tell me Mr. McM, when is the last time Honda or Duc developed something that did that?.. Oh. Sorry they don’t even participate in AMA superbike except for Honda which will show up at Laguna.