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.
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.
If Yamaha wants to capitalize on the news at Laguna Seca it should be them announcing that Ben Spies is replacing Rossi.
Yeah, you broke the new alright, and got a big pie in your face…..
Oh Snap @Faceplanter ^
“Breaking the news”? Havent other media outlets already reported this same rumour?
Until a reputable source is named,the rider announces it or the mfg’s announce it,it is still rumour. Not saying I dont think it isnt gonna happen just that it aint a done deal til the Skinny Italian sings. lol
sometime i think AR gets too excited and pleased with it’s self. a objective editor might help.
Hmm. I’m excited and pleased with myself on a daily basis. Screw objectivity.
Burgess has been quoted before as saying that he will follow his rider wherever he goes. I can’t believe the Ducati deal happened without his inclusion. I will be excited and pleased to see what happens after Brno.
if objectivity does not resonate, how does the term journalism feel?
either way, your infograph was nice. more eyecandy please.
Ducati & Yamaha’s Gentlemen’s Agreement: Rossi to Test GP10 at Valencia – Announ… – http://aspha.lt/16q #motorcycle
The contract is signed, done deal. No rumor, just fact. We’ve heard that from too many sources now.
As far as Spies announcing at Seca, it won’t happen. Maybe at Indy though.
Rossi’s announcement is holding up Yamaha from announcing anything, and it’s also holding up Ducati from announcing Hayden’s re-signing. For example, Yamaha can’t announce Ben Spies moving up to Fiat-Yamaha, without then outing themselves for letting Rossi go.
At the end of the day, it’s all a series of dominos that starts with Rossi.
salty britches some of you guys.. I still dont know what you would rather, hear nothing at all until the manufact. announces?
hey look, i love the site, read it everyday and since i don’t want to be “that guy” i will leave it at that…
I’m actually one of those people that likes it when people disagree with me, and give us “feedback” about the job we’re doing here. That means our readers are digesting what we put out there, and making their own minds up for themselves. Independent thought is a rare thing, and it worries me when you just read a bunch of cheerleading in the comment sections on other sites.
Yeah, it sucks us for us that they didn’t announce on that Monday like they had intended, but that doesn’t mean the news is wrong, or that Ducati hasn’t signed Rossi. Things change, and in MotoGP where there are tons of politics and egos, things change a lot.
Some people might not believe the news until it comes from Rossi’s mouth, and that’s fine. You shouldn’t take things you read for granted, including news from A&R. Of course, if you hold fast to that strategy, you wouldn’t have believed that Michael Lock was leaving Ducati N.A….and we were the ones that broke that news before even the company knew about it.
Enjoy the site, leave comments (both positive & negative), and ride safe.
ps. Ruby, more infographs are on the way!
Good to see Ducati and Yamaha are working this out so well.
Ditto BikePilot.
Although I’m not entirely surprised. When Rossi left Honda for Yamaha, Big Red held him to his contract right to the very last day; to delay testing on the YSRM1. Honda’s letter-of-the-law enforcement of The Doctor’s contract made it so much cooler when he won the World Championship during his 1st year at Yamaha. It was a great poke in the eye for Honda with their corporate philosophy of, “Engineering wins, the pilot is ballast.”
I think Yamaha are smart enough to see how it made Honda look and take steps to avoid doing it to themselves. Besides, it is apparently common for companies to release riders after the racing finishes.
Ciao, Bjorn.
I have it on good athourity (call it inside information also) that Val has one of two plans for this sport before his retirement. Neither of which do I know what he will choose.
He has always wanted to ride for the Italian manufactuerer so he can continue to spend more time near his home. He has commented that being away from home has made life itself “interesting”.
A. He plans to retire soon and is going to do so being closer to home while helping to develop the GP11 with the exception of testings and races.
B. He wants to retire by winning a championship on all 5 major manufacturers ( HRC, Yamaha, Ducati, Suzuki, and Kawasaki). Which once again is inside information.
This is my own insite and based on opinion only to follow.
I how ever will interject the possibility of the latter not taking place to the dismay of enthusiast’s of suzuki and kawasaki. Both of these factories have issues with their engineering processes.
Val has the unique ability with the assistance of Jeremy and the team to translate what the rider needs the bike to do in order to perform well. This is not something all riders on the circut can achieve. Claiming the bike ” won’t turn” or “wont break hard enought” for example is not benificial to the process of developing a bike properly.
Thank you for your time.
DNAPU999s —i agree with u
Rossi to Ducati, Lorenzo must have frightened
Instead of Kawasaki and Suzuki, I’d like to see Rossi have a go at Aprilia and BMW, if and when they decide to throw their hats onto the circuit.
I have a feeling that BMW may not enter the MOTOGP circut for some time. If you look at their global sales for sportbikes, it takes up less than 1% of global sales. MOTOGP as well as WSBK is about R&D as well as bike sales.
As for Aprilia, who’s to say when they will make that leap.
I stick with what I know and hear. I can only relate my information when I am permitted to leak it. My opinions are just that.