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.
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.
So what are they gonna do, pull these regular blokes to Portugal to answer for what they did as volunteer work for giggles?
No, but they’ll probably go into how much training was involved, what SOPs they used. Maybe they’ll look at some videos, and then agree it shouldn’t have happened, and to try harder next time. Maybe they’ll high-five…it’s hard to say really.
I would run straight to Rossi’s bike and start collecting the broken bits to put on my garage wall!! hahaha
Mandating that engines be equipped with electric starters would eliminate the need for outside help in case of a stalled engine, thus keeping track marshals out of the equation. Their job is to insure a safe track by removing stalled bikes that may cause a safety issue, not to restart a stalled engine.
Corner workers should never assist in starting any bike. If the rider can’t pick up his own bike and get it going down the track then he’s done for the day.
FIM doing this purely to save face.
I couldn’t agree more with what TM has to say its your bike your race pick it up your self and get back in the race conner workers should only help get the bike off the track. or if your injured. so no one else runs over you.
TM is correct, corner workers should not be assisting any racer in bump starting his bike. It is the race teams choice not to have a electric starter, not a rule.
If corner workers are allowed to bump start bikes it creates problems like this and even bigger safety issues with personal on a hot track.
You’re arguing against reality, the reality is that marshalls do help riders restart and that they did treat stoner pretty shitty here.
Saying “they shouldn’t even be doing it” is stupid when they aren’t prevented from doing it and in fact usually do help the riders.
I think the new Honda clutch makes it near impossible to bump so the point is moot. Is this true?
Kick-starters, anyone?
In this instance I do think Stoner was snubbed, but his bike wouldn’t have started anyhow, while Rossi’s was still running. FIM needs to handle the issue though, maybe put the burden of restarting on the teams, and let the marshalls focus on safety only.
I didn’t watch the whole race, but from what I’ve seen the workers seem to have done an ok job. First priority, get the rider out from under the (very hot) machine. Second help the rider get going who’s bike is still running. 3rd help whoever’s left. Its really lousy luck for Stoner to be sure, but I wouldn’t blame the course workers.
Wacky idea of the day: how about a rotor that the motor spins up to store energy for starting. Make it spin opposite the engine crank to cancel out the gyro effects as well…. ?
I remember the days when anyone but the rider picking up the bike, or even touching it, meant an immediate disqualification for that rider. But back then they were two strokes designed with bump-starting in mind since the the races started with dead engines and the rider bump starting it.
I think one of the arguments for why that was changed (the restarts, not the dead engine race starts) was because it left crashed bikes in a crash zone which was deemed more dangerous than getting them going and back to the race or pits.
Not sure I agree, but you have to admit there would have been about 9 bikes left stranded in the gravel by the end of this one with maybe no way to get them behind the airfence and that could have made it more dangerous for anyone who crashed into that mess after the fact.
I’m not saying get rid of corner workers, and honestly thank all that do that thankless job. They should allow for helping in picking up the bike but not starting and or advancement in position.
Also they of course continue their primary job of pulling bikes off the track and notifying crews when a rider is down
If these guys weighed a little more than 110lbs they would probably be able to start the bike themselves.
Stoner got a push. What is he complaining about?
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