Ducati Q1 2013 Sales Drop 5% – Audi Dishes the Details

Ducatisti: do you want the good news or the bad news first? The bad news is that the market for motorcycles 500cc and up is down 17% worldwide for the first quarter of this year, which means the “good” news is that Ducati is only down 5% for Q1 2013. Not exactly the start out of the gate that Audi was hoping for its newly acquired two-wheeled brand, but what are you going to do? Western Europe is a mess, with Spain and Italy continuing to go down like a…well, you know. While we don’t enjoy the misery of motorcycle brands, the fact that Ducati Motor Holding is now under the Audi AG umbrella means that we get far more detailed quarterly and yearly reports from the two-wheeled marque, and we’ve got the digits after the jump.

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.

Honda Now Has Five Factory Riders – Knights San Carlo Honda Gresini as a Factory Squad

03/02/2011 @ 11:40 am, by Jensen Beeler9 COMMENTS

Honda Now Has Five Factory Riders   Knights San Carlo Honda Gresini as a Factory Squad San Carlo Gresini Honda launch 635x414

How serious is Honda about winning the 2011 MotoGP World Championship? At Team Gresini’s MotoGP launch at Monza today, it was quietly confirmed that the San Carlo Honda Gresini squad has been given the keys to the candy store, turning the team into a factory-backed effort. While Marco Simoncelli was already assured factory support from Honda for the 2011 season, the move adds Hiroshi Aoyama to the factory rider list, and likely makes Gresini’s life infinitely less complex by not having to manage between a factory and non-factory split garage.

Team Gresini will now get full access to the Honda’s technical staff and data acquisition from the other factory riders — meaning every Honda rider except Toni Elias. This bodes well for the squad, as Simoncelli looked very promising at Sepang (likely a factor adding in this announcement), and of course Honda is keen not to see its only countrymen in the series (Aoyama) excluded from having the best equipment.

“Today is a factory team a hundred percent,” said Team Principal Fausto Gresini (translated from Italian to English via Google). “And I feel much more official than in the past for the opening of the Honda against us: we now have access to all data and Honda placed his staff between our technical team. If you see the box you understand that our team is official.”

Cramming the MotoGP grid full of factory riders seems like an interesting way to better the Honda’s chances for success, although it remains to be seen how having five hungry mouths to feed with technical support will work for the Japanese manufacturer, and who, if anyone, will get top priority with development efforts.

In addition to its five factory riders, Honda has already had to tip its hand regarding its new faster-shifting transmission, after accusations that Honda was using an illegal DCT arose from the Italian press. At the latest Sepang test, the 2011 Honda RC212V looked assuredly faster when compared to the Yamaha, Ducati, and Suzuki MotoGP efforts. It’s far too early to make analogies to the 2011 season, but Honda has certainly thrown down its challenge. It’ll be interesting to see how the other teams respond.

Source: GPone

Comment:

  1. Westward says:

    It really seems like the best solution for other manufacturers too. Here’s hoping Tech3 gets the same, though I feel that Pramac and Aspar kind of already are…

  2. Pramac is basically a training ground for Ducati Corse mechanics. They all eat together, share info, etc. It’s certainly much more than a satellite effort, but not quite a factory one. Can’t say much about Aspar’s squad, it wouldn’t surprise me though.

  3. Harb says:

    This season looks like it could be quite boring for anyone who isnt a fan of Honda. Hopefully they arent quite as dominant as this preseason stuff suggests…

  4. vonich says:

    I don’t think honda will be as dominant as it was bach then. Whereas all the top rider is riding honda machine. now we have four alien and three hoping to be are in three different manufacturer. This years honda’s strutegy is to launch a four rider attack actually its five including hiro, but soon it will come down to two rider that they will support or focus on half way through the season and that is stoner and dani unless the script has change where we could see dovi and marco having a great year beating out stoner and dani. As for yamaha rider they will be strong no matter how fast the honda bikes now. lol and for Rossi? oh well he is rossi right? so there is nothing to say about the guy. he has done anything and probe everybody wrong countless times. so i won’t leave out in the cold looking in to get hot. he will be there no matter what his position right now.

  5. KK says:

    Well, i guess i better start liking honda now…

  6. William says:

    I think if this is true Aoyama will take Simoncelli, He practiced without full support at Sepang. They were holding up full support there and he did not have the advantage the others did. I like Simoncelli but think with his riding style he will eat those tires up. Qualifying is different than a full race.

    The Japanese have always been looking for one of their own, I cannot remember the Race last year but both these riders battled it out and even after Simo’s rough tactics Aoyama took him. Plus he had a bad accident that hurt his back.

  7. 76 says:

    Sorry, show me the Japanese rider that actually won a championship? They choke, every time, its in the script.

  8. Alberto S. says:

    Honda is going to make a good season in 2011 with these five riders and how they show up in Sepang tests, the RC212V is very fast.

    But, what about Toni Elias? Isn’t he a Honda rider? Why is not going to be supported by Honda factory as Marco Simoncelli and Hiroshi Aoyama as he is the 2010 Moto2 champion? I think Elias deserves that support as equal as Honda Gresini riders.

  9. cn says:

    @76 Didn’t Aoyama beat Simoncelli to the 250cc World Championship in 2009?