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.

WSBK: Effenbert Sponsorship on the Rocks Says Liberty Racing – Blames Teams & Riders, Not Infront

05/11/2012 @ 2:20 pm, by Jensen Beeler4 COMMENTS

The hoopla surrounding the Effenbert Liberty Racing team and last weekend’s World Superbike race at Monza continues, though the Czech-based racing squad is present and accounted for at Donington Park this race-weekend. Traveling without its hospitality suite, the largest in the WSBK paddock, Liberty Racing is essentially sans its title sponsor this weekend, and the teams says Effenbert may withdraw its participation in World Superbike after the events at Monza, though the team is committed to completing the 2012 World Superbike Championship.

Saying that its ire in the press was improperly casted towards Infront Motorsport, the team in another statement has clarified that it blames a small number teams and riders, who helped shape the cancellation of Race 1 at Monza, and the shortened distance of Race 2. With Effenbert Liberty Racing rider Sylvain Guintoli on the pole position in Italy, the team is understandably upset about not being able to capitalize on the weekend, especially after securing two podiums at Assen, one of which was a race win. The broken English press release after the jump, while Liberty rider Jakub Smrz currently sits on WSBK’s provisional pole.

Press Release from Liberty Racing:

The Liberty Racing Team, following an interview released by La Gazzetta dello Sport with team owner Mario Bertuccio, would like to further point out that the press release issued by the team on Sunday, May 6, has been unambiguously understood by some media and given the wrong interpretations to the concepts expressed.

The clear disappointment was directed to a small number of Team Manager and riders, that conditioned the development of the Monza race for their specific sports interests, and not against Infront Motorsport, to which the Czech team has great respect and trust, and thanks to which the team’s image has grown over the years.

When the Sunday race 1 was cancelled at Monza, the team had a damage. “Our sponsor has invested heavily in the Effenbert Superbike project, on Sunday we had Guintoli on pole and with such a result we couldn’t properly take advantage of the media visibility. And now we risk losing the title sponsor.”

At Monza the team was ready to run, also thanks to the guarantee given by Pirelli about the perfect integrity of the tyre’s performance, thesis supported by our riders that they would have no hesitation in competing regularly.

Mario Bertuccio, Team Owner also said that the Liberty Racing will continue on its path of professional and sports growth in the World Superbike Championship. The SBK is passion, in the world it is the expression on two wheels more closer to the real fans, the Team Liberty attempts to give aim to this thrill world every time it takes the track with its riders.

Dedication, enthusiasm and the will to compete with opponents shoulder to shoulder, without distinction between “official and unofficial”, is the indissoluble element that urges the Czech team to compete more strongly motivated, without underestimating to the sense of respect for significant economic investments without which it would be impossible even to make dream all the followers in the tracks around the world.

Source: Liberty Racing; Photo: WSBK

Tagged under: Donington Park, Effenbert, Effenbert-Liberty Racing, england, Infront Motor Sports, Infront Sports & Media, italy, Jakub Smrz, Mario Bertuccio, Monza, world superbike, WSBK

Comment:

Steve says:
May 11, 2012 at 5:03 PM
I think the problem is the paint job. It looks like a little yellow school bus.
Earl Shives says:
May 12, 2012 at 1:12 PM
Shut Up! Shut Up Shut Up shut Up! Shut Up already!
Go Race! Go Race Go Race Go Race! Shut Up and Race already!
No one cares about your precious little Effing feelings…
grant madden says:
May 12, 2012 at 3:14 PM
Cant blame them really.Looked like they had the race winning bike but in the end they never got to show it.The 600s went out in the rain and Sylvain wanted to race and he was on poll.You could see he was pised off when the others wimped out.Whats wrong with them.They should know how to ride a wet track by now(Very carefully)I know how stresfull that is but they have the best tyres available and should have fronted up.I know if I had been in Sylvains place I would have been gutted and he has every right to be pissed off.Sykes was annoyed(nice version)when the rest chickened out.
What I wonder is that when a rider puts his hand up in front of you is it ok to go racing past saying”Chicken!”or is it the right thing to do and put your hand up too and slow down?and the lead rider didnt put his hand up until the red flag came out.You could see he wasn,t happy about stopping either.Lets hope the next round flows a bit better
Bucks Miaggi says:
May 13, 2012 at 4:02 PM
Well, the problem was that Max wasn’t really up to pace, and he didn’t want to lose his lead in the championship. Therefore the best that could happen to him was if the race was being cancelled.
Of course Max wasn’t the only rider who requested the race to be cancelled, but he was a big part for it, and you clearly could see that he was pretty happy about the decision.

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