The Confederate X132 Hellcat is the latest creation from the boutique southern motorcycle brand, and continues the Hellcat lineage’s custom-roadster aesthetic. Like any machine produced by Confederate, the real beauty of the new Hellcat comes down to the bike’s detail finishes, which for the X132 includes a motor casing that was built out of two pieces of billet 6061 aircraft grade aluminum. Officially spec’d with “sufficient” power and torque figures, the 2,163cc v-twin motor on the X132 is more than eye-catching, and should propel you down the road just fine with its estimated 132 peak horsepower and 150 lbs•ft of torque.
During the second AMA Pro Supersport qualifying session at Sears Point, #422 Genki Hagata had a moment that every motorcycle racer knows all too well: a highside. Still completing his out-lap, Hagata’s Yamaha YZF-R6 lost traction at the rear wheel, and then abruptly regained it, which for most riders would usually mean an ejection seat straight into the kitty litter, but not for Genki. Holding onto the bars throughout the incident, Hagata avoided crashing (again, as the case would be for the weekend), and while he missed making the cut-off for Supersport grid by only a few tenths of a second, we still think he was the big winner of AMA Pro Racing’s third road-racing stop of the season.
This, race fans, is Danilo Petrucci, one of the brave souls trying his luck on the future of MotoGP hardware, in his case the doggedly underpowered Came IodaRacing Project machine. Not on a (relatively) zippy Aprilia ART, or a Honda-powered FTR, Petrucci qualifies on the same grid as Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo, and brings to this gunfight a knife that packs a whopping 185 bhp, compared to the factory prototype engines that are rumored to be around 260 bhp. As I photograph a race, I see a much different version of the event than TV viewers. I watch the recorded TV broadcast later, and can tell you that there is a lot going on with the Claiming Rule Team bikes that doesn’t make in onto TV.
We are now purely a “suck, squeeze, bang, blow” society, and while that suits many motorists just fine, there are some who enjoy the smell of pre-mix in the morning — you know who you are. You enjoy the sound of angry bees following you from apex to off-camber. You think a displacement for “serious riders” starts at around 250cc. You like your engine compression low, and your powerbands narrow. You sir (or madam), are a two-stroke junky, and we have just the fix you need. Having a bevy of intriguing two-wheeled projects within its walls, the Swiss bike that catches our eye today is the Suter 500 Factory V4: a two-stroke, 500cc, V4, track weapon that puts out over 200 hp and weighs 284 lbs ready to race — no, that is not a typo.
Blurred to protect against spoilers, we’ll just leave things simply by saying that World Superbike’s Race 2 at Donington Park is well worth a watching if you haven’t already seen it. Decided right down to the last few turns, race pundits surely will be discussing the race and its outcome over the next week. Unsurprisingly, geography is playing a major a role in how things are being viewed. Though in a race where a number of questionable passes occurred, it is hard to single out this one event from the plethora of others that occurred during the race, but of course this one had the biggest effect on the race outcome. Click past the jump for the he said, she said, and of course for some slightly sharper photos.
More news from Norton, as the British firm has begun track-testing its V4 road race bike, in preparation of the 2012 Isle of Man TT. Focusing on the bike’s handling, Norton has been working hand-in-hand with Öhlins and Dunlop developing the bike’s chassis. The trio has devised the highly sophisticated “165 mph no hands” test, which supposedly checks the stability of the bike, though we imagine Health & Safety would frown upon it. With the bike’s Aprilia RSV4 motor putting out 195hp at the crank, and with the total race package weighing 419 lbs (195 kg) when it is sopping wet, the Spondon-framed Norton may not be exactly what fans of the famous marques were hoping for after seeing the very appealing Norton NRV 588, though it does seem to be a potent package.
Launching in downtown Los Angeles, the 2012 Brammo Empulse R & 2013 Brammo Empulse broke their cover and officially debuted. Right off the bat from the designations, you can see that Brammo intends for the Empulse R to be a 2012 model, with the base model Emuplse coming out next year (more on that further down). As we expected, the Brammo Empulse R got quite the price bump after its 22-month marination, and will be $18,995 MSRP. Meanwhile when the Brammo Empulse becomes available next year, it will have a slightly more palatable $16,995 price tag.
While the EBR 1190RS race bikes were on the track, their $40,000+ street-legal counterparts were on display outside of the Erik Buell Racing garage. Rocking an American flag livery, I naturally took pictures of this show bike. Eye catching to say the least, nothing says “Made in ‘merica” better than a red, white, and blue color scheme, especially when it is laid over carbon fiber. And while I want to love this bike because of its nuances and outside-of-the-box technical design, I don’t.
If there’s one lesson we can take from Sunday’s race at Estoril, it’s this: “I’ve always said we know Casey’s the guy that’s the fastest guy in the world. Maybe over the seasons he hasn’t put the championships together, but by far he’s the best guy in the world.” Cal Crutchlow is not known for mincing his words, and his description of Casey Stoner pulls no punches. But given the fact that Stoner only managed to win the Portuguese round of MotoGP by a second and a bit, is that not a little exaggerated?
Brammo is back for electric motorcycle racing in the North American TTXGP series, as the Ashland-based company is set to defend it’s #1 plate this year with Steve Atlas on board ( Shelina Moreda is slated to join the team later in the season). Gaining a title sponsorship from Icon, Brammo arrived at Sears Point with some edgy graphics on the 2012 Brammo Empulse RR. Dropping roughly 35 lbs in weight, and gaining roughly 50hp over the bike they ran at last year’s season opener, Brammo is making most of those gains in its revised motor and power inverter for the newest Empulse RR.
Let’s hear it for unions! In my own experience, I have yet to see or hear of an American labor union doing anything good for the rank and file guy. Unless you consider keeping lazy, overpaid, under-skilled laborers from being fired good for the rank and file guy. I wonder if European unions are that much different?
I was a union man back in the day. I got paid over $40/hr to do unskilled manual labor, with all sorts of perks. I have friends with J.D.’s and M.B.A.’s who make less than that now, which is sort of disconcerting when you consider how much those programs cost.
The EU is far more worker oriented than the US, and Bologna is the center of the socialist movement in Italy. Getting around the unions there is next to impossible…which just adds to the “magic” of owning an Italian motorcycle company.
To grow, Moto Morini needs to come out with a new Superbike!
Unions Put the Kibosh on Moto Morini Acquisition – http://aspha.lt/10t #motorcycle
..based on the existing Corsaro Veloce chassis of course.
“Belusconi’s original offer was rumored to be for around €2.8-2.9 million, and included provisions for worker severance pay, new hires, and the new company leasing the current factory for the next six years, which would keep jobs in the Bologna area.”
Apart from this paragraph we don’t really know what was offered to the workers. Many in the media think that workers should just shut up and accept anything that is offered.
Yes, there have been crazy demands from Unions but until you know the facts why assume the Unions are the sole problem. What if Belusconi offered half pay for new hires, should the Union accept that?
In addition, If you think the Unions alone destroyed GM and Chrysler you are a fool.
Let’s stick to Motorcycles and keep away from politics, shall we.
@Anthony: Again, in my experience, if a union is involved, the union will be the issue. Which is not to say employers are always fair in their dealings, but when my uncle lost his GM job because the UAW and GM could not reach an agreement the “politics” of it became moot. The other union with which I am forced to contend with on a daily basis (whom I shall not name for employment reasons) makes it a point to go out of their way to get reinstated employees who have been fired for proper cause (assault, drugs, etc) and has even directed their chapters to file grievances for the sole purpose of extorting monies from the company. When the company is no longer able to afford to do business because of frivolous grievances and must shut down, who then is to blame?
Union is just trying to defend workers. According to the italian media, no official offers were made in order to mantain the job of any of the present day emploees, just a verbal(!) promise to save 20 jobs out of ca. 60. Any solution proposed by the Union, which they say woud cost nothing to Berlusconi, was refused.
Several people think that Berlusconi is interested only in the brand and would shout down the pruduction of bike in Bologna, hence fire all workers, and perhaps to it move abroad. His other company (Garelli) is in fact 100% “made in China”.
Unions do need to improve, but unions definitely are needed. Without them, big business will not take long to do whatever to whomever. Best wishes on a mutually beneficial agreement and long live Moto Morini
Its a shame that they are having these troubles. I’d love to see a larger selection of sport twins on the market. IMHO unions aren’t necessary – business, big or little are limited by the market quite nicely. This point isn’t universally accepted, but does have significant support – at least enough that it shouldn’t be quickly dismissed. I totally agree with the best wishes for all parties involved!
The workers have always been a liability to the CEO class, and unless your a CEO, you should back off of blaming unions or workers for this deal falling through.
There are no published offers made from Belusconi or the unions. So when bashing unions or the workers, you show your own bias.
How do you know it’s not the unions/workers insisting the factory stay there longer that the other side cant agree to? or firing the workers and rehiring for half the pay ala circuit city….
its always the worker makes or wants too much money..what a joke.
all the money ends up at the top, maybe one day the union bashers will realize they’re fighting for the owner class and hurting us all.