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.

BMW F800GS Adventure – Germany’s Middleweight ADV

A surprise addition to BMW Motorrad’s 2013 model line-up, zie Germans have announced a new middleweight adventure-tourer, the 2013 BMW F800GS Adventure. Like its larger predecessor, the BMW F800GS Adventure is a more travel-ready and off-road capable build of the recently updated BMW F800GS motorcycle. Featuring a larger windscreen, panniers, and a bigger fuel tank capacity (2.1 gallons larger, for a total of 6.3 gallons of fuel), the BMW F800GS Adventure keeps the same 85 hp, liquid-cooled, 798cc, parallel-twin engine found on the F800GS, as well as the same chassis configuration. Pricing in the US will be $13,550 for the base model BWM F800GS Adventure.

Dani Pedrosa Confirms He Will Ride at Qatar

04/08/2009 @ 1:11 am, by Jensen BeelerComments Off

Dani Pedrosa Confirms He Will Ride at Qatar dani pedrosa crash 560x308

Dani Pedrosa has confirmed that he will be racing at Qatar for the opener of the MotoGP season. Pedrosa has been sidelined since a crash while testing, which led to him needing surgery on his leg and arm. Speaking on his blog at repsol.com, the Spaniard announced that he had decided at the last minute to head to Losail, and to risk further injury by riding.

 

In his personal blog entry, Pedrosa announced that he felt he would be fit enough to race although cautioned that he was not 100%. The season opener poses a tough problem for Dani. If he chooses not to ride, he will automatically be behind his rivals by 25 points. If he does ride, he risks crashing and sustaining further injury, and further injury would likely sit Pedrosa out of more than one race.

Dani Pedrosa’s Full Post from His Blog:

A new season is about to start and we are still in contact thanks to my blog. As I know that many of you are waiting for the latest news concerning my participation in the first race of the season I think what I have to do first is to tell you what we have decided. In the end I am glad to be able to tell you that I will be able to ride in Qatar.

The last few weeks have been full of intense work so that I could race in Qatar, but I have to say that it has been possible thanks to the work that my physio and me have done together. The truth is that time has been very tight; when the practice was held in Jerez I could only bend the knee 90º. But over the last ten days it has been getting better and in the end, making use of the time right up to the last moment, we have decided to go to Qatar and race in the first round of the 2009 World Championship.

I am pleased that I can return to racing this weekend, but I have to tell you that I am not 100% fit, so I am well aware that I will be at a disadvantage in Qatar. Doctor Ferreira & Doctor Mir have done some great work on my knee and arm, but the time we had for my recovery, especially for my knee, was quite short. Even though I have made good use of the last two weeks and we have made good progress, I am aware that in Qatar I will only be able to win a few points, but points which at the end of the season could be very valuable. The overriding reason being not to begin the second race of the season with a gap of 25 points to make up on my rivals.

The pre-season was short for us, it is true, but good, it is what we have and something we cannot change. We still have work to do but my team is very used to working this way, so I am sure that they are going to help me a lot. 

I have spent the last few weeks, since my operation, in Barcelona and Switzerland where I usually live. I was in Barcelona for a few days just after the operation, to recover and start walking, and when I was better I went to Switzerland. There I dedicated my time to my recovery, working in the gym that I have at the side of my house, and resting. The time was well-spent anmd very good for my preparation, because I am sure that this season is going to be a hard one. 

I kept an eye on the practice sessions in Jerez and I saw my mechanics with a banner on my bike. The truth is that at times like these you really appreciate things like that, seeing how your team does not forget about you. I am pleased because I will be back with them in a couple of days. Of the practice, I would like to say that I thought Stoner was very strong, and Rossi trying to follow in his wake using all the things he had to  hand. Lorenzo was up there with them too, and as I have mentioned before I think Kallio will have a very good first season in MotoGP. And over the weekend the two Suzukis also showed that that they are very competitive.

I have to say farewell to you now, but one last thing, I want to remind you all that we will be able to meet here every Monday on my blog once again. I hope I will be able to tell you interesting things and that you enjoy my commentaries. Ah… I forgot. Many of you sent me get-well messages via my blog and via the one that TVE created after my accident in Qatar. Well, I would like to say that I read a lot of them – from my blog and also those on the TVE blog when Marc Martín came to visit me in Switzerland to give me an interview – and I am really grateful for them all. To all of you and to those fans that have taken a special interest in me: thank you very much. We will see each other here, on my blog, every Monday. Don`t forget!

 

Source: Repsol

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