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.
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.
How about a 250hp supercharged 2L in a sandrail? :)
That could be fun. As a dirt biker, we know that deep sand can seriously bog down an underpowered engine and stall you out.
What would really be bad ass is if you could bolt 2 of these end to end like you can a lot of big diesel engines.
If the price is right I can certainly see myself putting on in a Lotus 7 replica, and a B mod autocross racer.
Sweet!
I am a bit miffed though that their motorcycle is carrying around wasted weight in the form of overly thick cylinder liners. Why not make it a 2L to start with or shave some poundage? maybe they left the walls nice and thick for the soon-to-be-unvailed forced induction version ;) GDI and boost are a match made in dino-burning heaven.
If Harley was smart – this is exactly what they needed! They wouldn’t need to spend on R&D for a new motor, as they could stuff this technology into a new line of HD sport tourers and they will be on their way. No doubt.
this would be nice in a 3 wheeled morgan. atm they are using the s and s x-wedge 2Litre motor, but this bored out to 2L should be sweet in that little car.
Hello Jensen – do you know if the crate motor plans include the chain final-drive gearbox? It looks like it is unit-construction but since many have talked about putting this motor in another type of vehicle the crate might not come with the gearbox. Hopefully the option will exist to purchase the gearbox too.
Thanks
No clue Racetrack. I’ll see if Lee can chime in with an answer.
I like the idea of the sport touring bike, and I like the hot rod ability. However, I just do not get this bike. I just do not see that remarkable spark. Right now it seems like they did it to do it. I think to be remarkable in motorcycles these days you either have to racing, making a racer or developing some new fandangled electric/hybrid eco bike. Once that has been established a sport touring bike seem like the next logical progression.
Coming out with your sport touring bike just seems backwards as a business progression. All the big name or successful cars and motorcycle companies got their brand established from either racing, or for being really cheap. Two things this company is missing.
I would however, love to see these guys succeed.
Word from Lee on the crate motor options: “The engines will be available with or without the gearbox. They are 2 separate units.”
So there yah go, a little something for everyone.
I could see this as an awesome plant for a Forumula SAE open wheel car or go full retard and shoe it in a monocoque single seat mini supercar and give the Arial Atom drivers some nervous moments.
As someone who loves the motor concept, but feels mildly disappointed by the motorcycle that has emerged at the end of this process, I’m encouraged to hear that the engine will be available separately. Now I’ve just got to find the funds to get one shipped over to the UK and get Spondon to knock up a suitably sexy chassis for it.
BikePilot – One reason for the extra mass is what the Japanese do on all of their entry bikes, make them a tad bit heavier than necessary and then shave off the extra weight each year and then declare an improvement over the previous model to get sucke…….er, new buyers. Why have real R&D development of a totally breakthrough motorcycle when you can have the appearance of inexpensive improvement?