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.
FYI – the i in Marco Melandri wasn’t include in the link!
Jamie Robinson might invest in a microphone for his subjects…the audio is echoey and a little tough in concert with Biaggi’s accent!
Brilliant interview. I haven’t been a fan of the Max Biaggi personality in the past, but always thought he was an awesome rider. I get the feeling he was speaking more from his heart and not from a PR release.
It’s funny, but I’ve always wanted to dislike Biaggi, but I just can’t bring myself to do so. I’ve been going through the complete race archives at motogp.com recently and am just beginning the 1998 season. Through the previous years of watching Biaggi win the 250cc championship and the way he expressed himself in interviews, I’ve come to really appreciate his riding and passion for the sport.
True, running Rossi off the track at almost 300 kph is bad juu-juu, but overall I’m becoming a fan. Despite my intentions to the contrary.
Cool video… a personal friend of mine once wrote to Max and thought nothing of it… A couple of weeks later she recieved a letter from Max along with some sign hats and posters… Max is tough on track but way cool of it so here’s hoping for a good 2012 … Wonder if Aprillia and Max end up back in MOTOGP for 2013!?!?!?!?!
I had the personal experience of shaking the man’s hand, as I looked him in the eyes and said in the early rounds of 2010, “You are going to be champion at seasons end.” He smiled and said, “I am doing my best.” He seemed a decent fellow… But he also seems like the type to get caught up in the moment…
But overall, he’s a good guy…
I would have liked him better if he had taken Ducati up on their offer to ride for them in 2003 MotoGP. Maybe, he would have teamed up with Capirossi, and Bayliss would have stayed in WSBK and won one more title than he has…
Alain Prost
He is certainly one of the more interesting characters in racing in the last 25 years. Immensely talented, but IMO his only real detriment was that he was racing at the same time as Rossi while on an outclassed Yamaha early in the 990 era. Without VR in the picture, you never know what Max could have achieved in the way of early MotoGP championships. IIRC he is the only rider to have ever won their first 500GP race AND their first WSBK race.
Videos like this are nice because it shows another side to racers away from the track. One thing I always liked about him was that he was “real”. If he was happy, you knew it. If he wasn’t, you definitely knew that too. But regardless you could just see his intensity and desire to compete. Age and children may have softened him a bit off the track, but I suspect when the helmet goes on it is still 1994 and Massimiliano wants nothing other than to crush the spirit of his competition.
If the Aprilia CRT bike proves to be competitive it would be great to see him race a round or two late in the season.
I’ve been impressed with Max the past several years. I can’t be certain if ‘Faster’ simply cast him in an unfortunate light. When I’d seen his podium interviews of late, it’s obvious he’s got more dimension and personality than many of his peers. Perhaps due to age. This video only underscores the ‘human’ side of the Emperor. Well done.