Still waiting for an announcement from Ducati that they’ve signed Valentino Rossi? So are we, and as we know now the delay of the worst kept secret in MotoGP is due to a gentleman’s agreement between Ducati & Yamaha. In exchange for delaying the announcement until after the American round at Laguna Seca (now slated for the Monday after racing at Brno), Yamaha is allowing Rossi to test the Ducati Desmosedici GP10 when MotoGP stops at Valencia at the end of the 2010 season.
UPDATE: Ducati will be unveiling to the public its 2011 Ducati 848 Superbike EVO, which will have a $1,000 cheaper “Dark” variant as well.
Get ready Ducatisti, a new Ducati model is coming in two weeks. To be launched at Laguna Seca’s Ducati Island during the GP weekend, Ducati is tight lipped as to what the new model could be. In our invitation to the event, we are told only that the unveiling will be “hosted by four very excited guests to whom this new model means quite a lot.” The unveiling will be at 1pm on Saturday, and we’ll be there with our cameras.
We’ve been expecting an electric sportbike from Brammo for over a month now, getting our first clues from our Bothan spies last week that the bike’s launch was imminent. Now we can officially say that the Brammo Empulse is the latest creation from the Ashland, Portland based Brammo, Inc. Continuing Brammo’s electric motorcycle offering, the Brammo Empulse represents the first production sportbike to be available by consumers. The Empulse comes in three flavors (Brammo Empulse 6.0, Empulse 8.0, & Empulse 10.0) with differing amounts of on-board power each variant.
From the official results of World Superbike’s stop at Brno, the FIM has once again determined that twin-cylinder motorcycles, i.e. Ducatis, will get another minimum weight reduction. Averaging more than a five point deficit over the last three WSBK events (Miller Motorsports Park, Misano, and Brno), WSBK rules require that twins be given another 3kg weight reduction, as the rules have been deemed to “favor” the 1000cc 4-cylinder motorcycles too heavily.
UPDATE: John Paolo Canton, Ducati PR Manager, has responded in the comments that Lock was last spotted slaving away in his office, and it’s business as usual in Ducati North America.
With all the commotion going on today, our last piece of breaking news is the developing shake-up that’s going on at Ducati North America. Presumably involving the departure of Ducati North America CEO Michael Lock, we’ve been told changes at Ducati N.A. are occurring at the highest levels. All day we’ve been unable to reach anyone at Ducati’s Cupertino office, so we cannot confirm the report at this time…hey guys, pick up your phones!
Let’s avoid the the “scoops”, “exclusives”, and “OMG’s”, and just say that Asphalt & Rubber has received word from a trusted source that Valentino Rossi has signed a two-year agreement with Ducati, that’s set to be announced on Monday…and boom goes the dynamite (sorry, we couldn’t resist). The Rossi/Ducati fantasy has been put forth for years, with the fervor on the subject reaching its pinnacle this season, as Ducati reportedly wafted a €15 million salary (almost double Yamaha’s offer) in front of the nine-time World Champion.
It didn’t take long for the other shoe to drop, and now it is official that Casey Stoner will race with HRC in 2011, after it was announced moments ago that the Australian would be leaving the Ducati MotoGP team. Perhaps the most unexpected development in this announcement is HRC’s intentions of keeping both Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso for the 2011 season. The likely result of this will be a two-man Repsol Honda team, and a second single-bike team, which is likely to be sponsored by Red Bull.
There’s a lot of pressure on Kawasaki for 2011. Team Green has exited MotoGP, and is completely un-competitive with its ZX-10R in World Superbike and World Superstock 1000. Looking to rectify the situation, Kawasaki has gone back to the drawing board with it’s liter bike offering, and have been testing the 2011 Kawasaki ZX-10R at Suzuka for the last two days this week. With test riders Hidemichi Takahashi & Akira Yanagawa on-board, we get our first glimpse at the rumored 190hp/190kg Superbike taking laps. Video confirms that a normal firing order is inside the four-cylinder motor (sorry, no cross-plane here), but traction control is rumored to come as a standard option.
Motorcycle upstart Motus Motorcycles continues to press forward with its MST-01 sport-tourer, and has released a video that talks more about the development of their 1645cc gasoline direct-injection V4 motor: the KVM4. Balking at the advice of others not to build their own powerplant, Motus has teamed up with Katech to design an in-house motor for the Motus MST-01.
There’s so many things going on in this video, we’re not certain where to begin. Filmed on Mulholland Highway by the same fine folks who brought us video footage of the guy who crashed in front of a CHP officer, this new saga takes a different approach to riders exceeding their limits on city streets. Take an unsuspecting white Honda Elite scooter, a pair of Crocs shoes, and some invisible knee pucks, and you’ve got all the ingredients for a bizarre Sunday morning lowside that could have been much, much, much worse. While we’ll give bonus points for good dirt-tracking technique, be sure to check the slow-mo footage for the exact moment the rider’s shoes depart humanity, and dive over the cliff.
And Chicken Strip Assessment Technology! RT @Asphalt_Rubber Metzeler Sportec M5 Interact Tires http://bit.ly/cUMZUy
how big are your chicken strips? RT @Asphalt_Rubber: Metzeler Sportec M5 Interact Tires: Now with Pi Sign – http://bit.ly/cUMZUy #motorcycle
So I’m thinking this will shut some of my friends up for sure!
Metzeler Sportec M5 Interact Tires: Now with Pi Sign http://bit.ly/8XsVBQ
Not to be a big neg head on such a cool idea but…Isn’t this encouraging people to lean over further in corners simply to show off?
Wouldn’t this say…increase accidents/injuries/fatalities on those that are less skilled/showing-off/being pushed for a mark on there tyres?
That said, cool idea :P
Of course, if would have to be the Germans to incorporate a scale on the tires for the squids to refer to. As we all know, experienced riders typically get the strips down to mere fractions of an inch from the edge of the profile. Having said that, it’s a confidence booster courtesy of Metzeler. How’s that? Look at the pix and tell me that you know any rider NOT capable of hitting the 5 on the strips. Even at a “Full 5″ lean, You’re still not touching the Elephant. When u can wear off the speeding Elephant, THEN yer really GETTIN IT. And, in case anyone wants to see a Metzeler carcass with the Elephant worn off from normal street use, let me know. I’ll be glad to email u a set of pix of my latest set of Sportec M1’s… Ride it like ya stole it and keep the breeze between yer knees.
They should have replaced the top figure by one that has a skirt, haha. Great on Metzeler though.
If this article had been released on April 1st, I would have believed it was a joke. As it is, I’m not sure how to take this. I’m with CBR on this one. I think it’s going encourage riders to push past their limits, and I’m not sure that’s a good thing. The last thing I want to see is even MORE squidly and irresponsible behavior on the street. On the street, I just wouldn’t allow myself to be pushed much past 4.5 or 5 on the above depicted lean scale. It’s just not safe.
Track days would be another story. That would be a cool tire to market directly to the track day crowd as a “measuring stick” on how well you are progressing. What kind of compound does the M5 have? I’m assuming it’s a sport tire and not a touring compound…
Nothing a belt sander can’t take care of. :D
Chicken strips are like herpes. You either have them or you don’t. The severity doesn’t matter. I don’t look down on people who have ‘em, but I like the fact that I have none.
Manhood rate meter aka Metzler’s Chicken Strip Assessment Technology system! http://tiny.cc/1Pn3l
RT @Asphalt_Rubber: Metzeler Sportec M5 Interact Tires: Now with Pi Sign http://bit.ly/cUMZUy
If you can’t make number 5 you need training, or some serious suspension tuning.
This is hilarious – Metzeler's new sportbike tires have Chicken Strip Assessment Technology. Chase that Elephant! Lol. http://tr.im/LSee
How good of a rider are you really when this is the way you rate your skill? When the turns come you see who can keep up and who can’t. At 38 I’m not so sure its talent or balls anyway and I know mine don’t seem as big as they once were!
well the numbers a cool for average street riders but im hoping for mor performance and longevity out of these tires because i currently use metzler m3’s and i chang the rear every 2k and front every 4k.. plus the assesment is good for people that cant reallly lean and are just trying to show off because i rubbed the elephants off my m3 and rolled over the edges after about 200 miles on it..
Who needs this, give me my Battle Axe BT0-16 and I’ll blister it enough to scrape off the leftover rubber.
Chicken strips=lean angle. Proper body position=less lean angle=more chicken strips. I can scrub my strips in an empty parking lot at 35mph with the proper body position (leaning to the OUTSIDE of the turn, the technique for tight U-turns on the street). The measure of a rider should be how fast/smooth (s)he is through the twisties, not chicken strips. If you use up all of your tires on the street (utilizing proper riding technique and body position) you are pushing too hard. Take it to the track before you hurt yourself and/or someone else.
I go to the track and it is true that you lean differently on the track but that because you have to to get around that turn as fast as possible I have no need to go that fast on the street and I rather not hang my body off the side of my bike in the street because the roads suck and in not wearing race leathers and wrecking sucks I ride hard on the street but the track is a whole other world where you can get rid of you chicken strips in the front tire on a good day
By far between bridgestone,Michelin and Metelzers…..metelzers suck ball sack…Used M3’s on the track and never again…oh yeah btw good PR for squids to show off how far the lean on their tires….
Not sure what's worse here: pretentious chicken strip meter, or faux carbon fiber sidewalls? http://bit.ly/b2f1Ft
Well funny thing about those chicken strips… I can leave mine on and out ride guys that have ground them off riding.. A lot to be said about “technique” and getting your fat butt off the seat…
My track tires are for certain off the scale but I refuse to push that hard on the street.. More squid food IMHO…
Moto tires with "chicken strip" indicators: http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/news/metzeler-sportec-m5-interact/
The lawyers will love it.
Especially the ones in state legislature who can get a few votes back home by proposing to outlaw motorcycles because the cost to society from death and injury have gone up.
I even think it is sad that the dead and dying will be squids…such a waste since getting on a track is so easy for anyone with common sense.
They need to replace the elephant with a pair of testicles.
The elephant represents that you have balls like an elephant!!! Yamaha kai den eimai kala.
Chicken strip assessment technology? http://bit.ly/c6hLsP when in doubt add moar numbers
Just ride with low pressure in the tyres for a while. That will certainly mark the tyres nicely. : )
My penis is huge, and I can piss really far. This tire meter will prove it to everyone who doesnt beleive me. But seriously this is funny stuff.
次のMetzeler Sportec M5のマーカーがとても面白いｗ いいねこういうの。http://bit.ly/b2f1Ft
i hope the compound is good because the marketing is lousy. What a lot of bullsh#t!