Mission Motorcycles: The Mission R Lives??!

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.

Goodbye Husqvarna Nuda, We Hardly Knew Thee

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.

Q&A: Yukio Kagayama Talks About the Upcoming Suzuka 8-Hour with Kevin Schwantz & Noriyuki Haga

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.

KTM RC4 Concept by Luca Bar Design

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.

Q&A: Claudio Domenicali Talks Frameless Chassis, Sacred Cows, & The Future for Ducati

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.

Is Yamaha Using A Seamless Gearbox? The Data Says No

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.

OCC Coming Back to TV? — Universe Collapses in on Self

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.

Alstare Superbike Concept by Team Alstare

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.

Transcript: The Gay Question at Jerez

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.

2014 Suzuki GSV-R Spotted Again

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.

American Suzuki & Dainese Sign Elena Myers

01/25/2011 @ 9:10 am, by Jensen Beeler15 COMMENTS

American Suzuki & Dainese Sign Elena Myers Elena Myers SuzukiScoopFans race livery 635x422

Finally we get some good news on Elena Myers’ search for funding for the 2011 season. The 17 y/o phenom spent the 2010 kicking the boys’ butts in AMA Supersport, even winning Race 1 at Infineon, and becoming the first woman to win a professional American motorcycle race (depending on how you look at it), only to be left searching high and low for racing support for the 2011 season.

She’s cute and she’s fast, and we were fairly dumb-founded to hear she was having trouble finding sponsors to go ride for this season, but luckily that all seems to be past the California native now. Announced this past weekend that she’d been signed to American Suzuki, Myers has also secured Dainese as an apparel sponsor for 2011.  To go along with wearing the Devil on her back, Myers has a very interesting sponsorship deal that American Suzuki has put together, which sees the Californian using social media to engage fans with the Suzuki brand.

We were live at Dainese in Costa Mesa for the announcement that the Italian apparel company had singed Myers to its roster of supported riders, and when we got home from the event we found a press release from Suzuki waiting for us, confirming that Myers will ride a race-prepped Suzuki GSX-R600 from American Suzuki for the 2011 season.

Myers gave a shout out to Chris Ulrich for helping her secure the Dainese deal, and we imagine her contract to the folks at Team Hammer helped pave the way to what looks to be a very interesting contract with American Suzuki (one we imagine we’ll see other rides take in the future).

As a part of her deal with American Suzuki, Myers will interact with SuzukiScoopFans on Facebook and YouTube. On race weekends, the 17 y/o will select a fan comment (on Facebook) from each of her post race updates, and then display the comment on the tank of her GSX-R600 (for inspiration, naturally) during the following race weekend.

“I’ve been on facebook for a couple years now, and let me say, I’m a really big fan of it,” said Myers. “It’s been a great way for me to communicate and connect with fans all over the world. That said, I’m extremely excited to be riding for SuzukiScoopFans for the 2011 season. For me, it’s an amazing opportunity because it’ll help get my name out more to fans other than those of road racing, and also give me an even better way to connect with fans.”

Myers will operate out of the Team Hammer truck, but will be sporting a SuzukiScoopFans racing livery (official artist render shown above) on her GSX-R600. Increasingly manufacturers are looking for ways to engage fans with their teams, and riders are slowly realizing the value of building their personal brand. As both these considerations grow, don’t be surprised to see social media becoming more in your face in motorcycle racing. For what it’s worth, we’re really big fans of Facebook too.

Source: Dainese & American Suzuki

Top 5 Related Posts:

  1. Elena Myers Will Lap the Rizla Suzuki GSV-R at Indy GP
  2. Elena Myers Rides The Brickyard on the Suzuki GSV-R
  3. American Suzuki Expects 9.8% Sales Decrease for Fiscal Year

Tagged under: , , , , , ,

Comment:

  1. froryde says:
    January 25, 2011 at 9:49 AM

    I’m actually liking the paint job…

  2. lord_tizzle says:
    January 25, 2011 at 10:59 AM

    way to go Elena. Big fan happy to see her get her ride secured. Season not coming soon enough.Paint job is nice.

  3. berzerker says:
    January 25, 2011 at 11:00 AM

    let’s be real folks…..EM, aside from a fluke win at IR in a very shortened race is another Jessica Zaluski , who is currently riding the “im better looking then my results” band wagon…..sure the sponsors will temporarily jump all over the attractive female in a male dominated sports bandwagon…. but at the end of the day…. mid-pack results dont get/keep the sponsorship dollars….regardless if your hot or not…

  4. Will says:
    January 25, 2011 at 11:07 AM

    Ohhh!

    Pretty sure Dianese’s logo isn’t the devil’s head, but a fox’s head.

  5. Richard Mushet says:
    January 25, 2011 at 11:46 AM

    The mock-up looks nice, but can’t wait to see the real thing!

  6. RSVDan says:
    January 25, 2011 at 11:58 AM

    Will: It is the Dainese Devil, not a fox head. The Devil head has been Dainese’s logo in various forms since 1972.

  7. Damo says:
    January 25, 2011 at 7:21 PM

    I semi-agree with the berzerker, but at the same time: she is only 17 and has alot of potential. If she can get sorted out, maybe she’ll do all right in the future.

    Finishing even middle of the pack is pretty impressive for a girl still in high school :)

  8. buellracerx says:
    January 26, 2011 at 6:32 AM

    what ever happened to Elena testing w/ Rizla Suzuki?? Or maybe that was just a hype-generator…

    way to go, Elena; not only for bagging a sponsorship deal but also for taking interest in building a personal brand. I agree, Jensen, more riders should be doing the same

  9. Jensen Beeler says:
    January 26, 2011 at 8:54 AM

    buellracerx,

    From what I’ve gathered on that, someone pitched the idea without getting it cleared all the way through, then had to back-track the offer. Think less malicious, and more disorganized.

  10. Other Sean says:
    January 26, 2011 at 9:25 AM

    Will we see more photos of her on posts like this once she’s 18?

    Even if she becomes the Danica Patrick of scooters, good on her. She’s faster than me, and has a better job.

  11. Jensen Beeler says:
    January 26, 2011 at 9:30 AM

    I’m not sure I understand the question. What does her turning 18 have to do with anything?

  12. elenafan says:
    January 26, 2011 at 4:58 PM

    So Bezerker…Jessica Zulusky…really? If I recall, Jessica barely used to qualify for nationals, let alone win one. Finishing out of the top 10 only once in 2010 is mid-pack? Yeah, sure the class has changed but finishing 2nd in the West Coast championship in her first year at age 16 was not bad. But I’m sure you know, anyone could do that and racing at the AMA level is easy. Elena is just 17 years old and is only going to get better. I’m glad for Elena’s sake that there seems to be more positive comments than negative. So what are your credentials and what have you accomplished as a racer?

  13. berzerker says:
    January 27, 2011 at 9:52 AM

    Elanafan, I hope you are right and indeed i am wrong. Only time will tell if she is the “real deal” or end up like her team mate, giving 2-up rides to justify their worth to the team…

  14. berzerker says:
    January 27, 2011 at 12:26 PM

    .. better yet, EM should leave the age restricted Pee Wee AMA Super Sport class and move up to the AMA Sportbike Class and all things being equal at the recently completed Dunlop tire test at Daytona EM’s best lap time of 1.57.2 would place her 13th, just .7 second slower then 51 year old Pat Mooney on his Buell.

  15. elenafan says:
    January 27, 2011 at 4:07 PM

    Berzerk, You obviously know nothing about what goes on at the AMA level. If we use your logic concerning the Dunlop test than I guess Tommy Aquino should go back to the Super Sport class since he was clearly off the pace, about 4 seconds. So I’m sure everything went exactly to plan for Tommy just as I’m sure it did for Elena or anyone else that was not where they usually are. You seem to be a hater while including Chris Ulrich into your rant, I guess finishing within the top ten in superbike means nothing. Again I ask, what are your credentials as a racer or rider? You seem to be quite jealous of what Elena is getting for support. Is she the quickest rider in her class? No, but she has shown just as much potential as anyone else she raced against this year. And yes, being a girl does make her special. Special because no other girl has done what she has in this country at such a young age or any age for that matter. This sport needs her and as much as you think she is not worthy than you clearly do not see the whole picture.
    Rock on Elena!