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.

Kevin Schwantz Returns to Motorcycle Racing – Enters the Suzuka 8-Hours with Team Kagayama

Former 500cc World Champion Kevin Schwantz has certainly been in the news a bit these past few months, mostly for his involvement and falling out with the Circuit of the Americas and the Americas GP, but also more recently for his comments regarding Dani Pedrosa — we also sat down with Mr. Schwantz in Austin, and the Texan gave us some sobering insight into the future of American road racing. As if all that wasn’t enough, Schwantz is making a return to two-wheeled racing, and has entered the prestigious Suzuka 8-Hours endurance race with Team Kagayama racing alongside Noriyuki Haga and team owner Yukio Kagayama.

Öhlins Releases a Semi-Active Suspension Upgrade for the Ducati Multistrada 1200 S – But, What’s Next?

An interesting development on the aftermarket side of things has graced our desks, as Öhlins has released a “suspension control unit” (SCU) that upgrades the electronically adjustable suspension on the Ducati Multistrada 1200 S so that it becomes a semi-active suspension system. Whhhaaaat??! So, if you’re the proud owner of a pre-2013 Ducati Multistrada 1200 S, and you think that your electronically controlled Öhlins suspension is no longer boss, now that Ducati has released its Sachs-powered “Skyhook” semi-active suspension pieces on its new batch of Multistrada sport-tourers, there is a remedy for your motolust.

Joe Kopp & The Fastest Triumph at Pikes Peak

12/19/2011 @ 12:43 pm, by Jensen Beeler9 COMMENTS

As 2011 winds down, I’ve been going through some of my folders of old material that I wanted to publish earlier this year, but for some reason or another the article didn’t grace the front page of Asphalt & Rubber. One such story was the fastest Triumph ever to run at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC), which in 2011 was a Triumph Speed Triple raced by professional flat track star Joe Kopp.

If I were to say politics were at play with Kopp campaigning the Team Latus Triumph Speed Triple in the exhibition class of the PPIHC (along with Chip Yate’s electric superbike), then surely the metaphor would extend to the redrawing of the district lines at Pikes Peak, and may or may not have had something to do with the Ducati-dominated 1200cc class, where surely the Triumph properly belonged.

Read in between the lines as you will with that explanation of events, but at the end of the 2011 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, Kopp, on his Triumph, was the overall second-fastest rider up The Mountain, winning the exhibition class in the process. Meanwhile Ducati, the official motorcycle of PPIHC, maintained its 1-3 double podium in the 1200cc class, which was lead by rookie rider, and A&R hetero-life partner Carlin Dunne.

Taking the pole-position, setting the overall course record for motorcycles, and winning Pikes Peak all in his rookie debut, Dunne’s performance on the Ducati Santa Barbara’s Multistrada 1200 floor demo was nothing short of impressive, and in the process, the Californian dashed Kopp’s hopes of being the fastest man on two wheels at Pikes Peak.

Making his ascent also in record-breaking time (11:26.530 to be exact), though unfortunately slower than Dunne’s (11:11.329), I found Kopp’s bike after the race throwing a temper-tantrum as fluid leaked from its radiators back in the pit lane. Admittedly, I have a soft spot for Speed Triples, so understand when I say that the Team Latus machine was a thing of beauty, even when propped-up against an evergreen with fluids dripping out of it.

For 2012, Pikes Peak will be paved all the way to the course’s summit, and the motorcycle portion of the race will be under new race direction (ending the almost legendary refereeing of the event by Sonny Anderson & Bill Brokaw).

I haven’t heard yet how the motorcycle division will be handled and divisioned, though there have been serious concerns floating around about having superbikes running the course now that it is fully-paved. One thing is for certain though, expect to see Kopp back at Pikes Peak, with Carlin Dunne and the rest of the Ducati squad firmly in his sights.

Tagged under: hill climb, Joe Kopp, Latus Motors Racing, photos, Pikes Peak, Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, PPIHC, Team Latus, Triumph, Triumph Speed Triple, video

Comment:

Steve Lang says:
December 19, 2011 at 1:00 PM
What an outstanding and inspiring video. I’m going to be there next time (watching not racing) I’m not quite that inspired. Let’s invite some of the boys from the IOM to come over. They can leave the warm beer behind and enjoy a nice cold Coors. Cheers!
RJ says:
December 19, 2011 at 2:03 PM
Superbikes at Pikes Peak, eh? Never thought I’d see the day…
We now could have our own version of the Isle of Man TT!!! Some ring Mr. Martin and Mr. McGuiness please!
Ba-da-da-da-da… I’m lovin’ it!
Please See US (Clay) says:
December 19, 2011 at 8:46 PM
Joe Kopp & The Fastest Triumph at Pikes Peak – http://t.co/kTQGkLoG #motorcycle
hoyt says:
December 19, 2011 at 9:05 PM
No Coors. New Belgium Brewing
Mike D says:
December 20, 2011 at 7:21 AM
Cool behind the scenes video. But I do have to laugh that Ducati invested no money and got alot more publicity on their win. One of their dealers rolled a (relatively) bone stock Mulitstrada off the showroom floor and won, where the Speed Triple is so heavily modified if it weren’t for the frame you would not even know that it was a Speedy. The wheels, forks and shock look like they were pulled from the new Speed 3R. Hopefully these vids get more people interested in Pikes Peak, there is so much amazing history here.
TOE says:
December 20, 2011 at 8:51 AM
I’m pretty sure the Ducati that won was an S (Ohlins clad top spec) but still very standard looking and fair play to them. That Speed has Ohlins but standard wheels (R’s are 5 spokes). I think that Speed looks awesome like that though!
Damo says:
December 20, 2011 at 11:52 AM
I should do that seat mod on my old speed triple. The 1995 Triple has a rear end like an R&B back up dancer.
Jensen Beeler says:
December 20, 2011 at 1:11 PM
Ducati spent way more money on the PPIHC than Triumph….they just didn’t spend it on Carlin.
Ben Faster says:
December 27, 2011 at 8:57 PM
Just want to make a comment that electric vehicles should dominate this even soon. Why? no HP loss with altitude gain. Now we just need a bike that can product 180hp from top to bottom and an really good rider ready willing and able. I know the purest hate the e-bike stuff, but hopefully, it is inevitable. Can’t wait to watch!

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