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.

Ezpeleta on 1000cc Engine Switch in MotoGP: “Production Engines” Won’t be in the Rule Book

12/08/2009 @ 5:36 pm, by Jensen Beeler7 COMMENTS

There’s be some trouble brewing in the MotoGP/WSBK camp after news hit that MotoGP would be switching back to a 1000cc format by the 2012 season. In that story, several possibilities on how that format would work were put forth by various sides, one such proposal being the running of production based motors in MotoGP.

These motors, which would be based off those found on streetbikes, could be tuned to any degree, provided it met the criteria in the MotoGP rule book (1000cc & four-cylinders are the only regulations agreed upon currently). This news of course drew the ire of World Superbike promoter, Infront Motor Sports, in the form of Paolo Flammini, who believes that format would infringe on his license to exclusively run a production based race series.

Refusing at first to define what a production engine is, Dorna’s Carmelo Ezpeleta is now switching gears and saying the term “production engine” won’t even appear in the new MotoGP racing regulations.

This in theory should allow teams to use cheaper motors that, when tuned, can produce near-current MotoGP performance figures. When Ezpeleta was pressed by Spanish news site AS.com’s Mela Chercoles on the question of exactly what a prototype is, Ezpeleta clarified that “it is the bike which is a prototype, not the engine.” This of course, is the basis for the Dorna Boss’s opinion that MotoGP’s shift will not step on the toes of the FIM.

With this mantra in mind, it would seem MotoGP is setting itself up to be motor agnostic, letting the teams themselves decide how to develop and source their powerplant. Surely teams wishing to be at the peak of the pack will choose to build custom prototype engines, while others looking for a more cost-effective solution will choose to build upon something already in the marketplace.

Ezpeleta is set to announce Friday another regulation that has been agreed upon by the Grand Prix Commission. This regulation is alleged to be the “silver bullet” that will keep the 1000cc format affordable for all teams, with the best guesses being some sort of rev limit or bore/stroke size restriction.

You can also expect to see some more “feedback” from Flammini and the IMS on the subject as well.

Source: AS.com via MotoMatters.com

Tagged under: 2012, Carmelo Ezpeleta, Dorna, engine, FIM, Flammini Brothers, Grand Prix Commission, IMS, MotoGP, motor, Paolo Flammini, production engine, production motor, Racing, regulations, rule, rule book, rules, WSBK

Comment:

Bjorn says:
December 9, 2009 at 12:44 AM
I look forward to Friday.
If this plays out as suggested, it will be a victory for common sense and encourage a broader spread of competitors. Allowing production based engines into the mix will encourage private (well financed) tuners to hack existing designs.
Forward to the Future!
Asphalt_Rubber says:
December 9, 2009 at 1:36 AM
Ezpeleta on 1000cc Engine Switch in MotoGP: "Production Engines" Won't be in the Rule Book – http://bit.ly/8BSezo #motorcycle
road_rage says:
December 11, 2009 at 11:03 AM
Common sense is that if MotoGP has an engine that is a close relative of what I can buy downtown, then what’s the point of WSBK? I get that the frame is prototype, but I can imagine the manufacturers slipping in pics of MotoGP and hinting at the pedigree of the 20XX model even if they are not allowed. FIM is really the manufacturers bitch. I don’t think COI translates in Swiss (Jensen, do you know?)
The only feedback Flammini should give is his refusal to face the wall and grab his ankles for Carmelo.If this goes through, Flammini should be seeking payback from Dorna/FIM the Shawshank way.
FIM/DORNA/SBK/(Maybe should now add TTXGP). Same old shit, different day.
Gordon Bengston says:
December 17, 2009 at 11:05 PM
Ezpeleta on 1000cc Engine Switch in MotoGP: “Production Engines …: Dec 8, 2009 … There's be some trouble brew… http://bit.ly/6fYbtl
Dakota Cheves says:
April 19, 2010 at 5:36 AM
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Roscoe Ryon says:
April 21, 2010 at 2:19 AM
Can you accept guest posts? We would like to write a couple articles here.
Jack @ Express says:
July 12, 2010 at 2:37 PM
@timlane76 There's talk that non-prototype engines will indeed be allowed http://bit.ly/4JNjcd and maybe as soon as next year..

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