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.

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.

Husqvarna TE449 RR Dakar Race Bike by Speedbrain

11/13/2012 @ 2:50 am, by Jensen Beeler2 COMMENTS

To be entirely honest, we don’t follow the adventure racing arena as much as we should, giving only a little bit of press to the world-famous Dakar Rally at the start of each year. So, we really can’t do justice to what Husqvarna and Speedbrain are doing with this factory-backed Husqvarna TE449 RR Dakar bike.

The photos are surprisingly detailed though, and are probably as close as you will ever get to a proper works rally machine, and Husqvarna gives a good accounting of the bike’s progression and current development. Rather than fake our own rewording of their story, read it after the jump. It’s pretty interesting.

Back at the start of 2010, Speedbrain began developing a version of the BMW G450X, which was specifically designed to meet the demands of marathon rallies. BMW made its return to the Rally Dakar with this bike at the start of 2011. By spring 2011, the engineers at Speedbrain had already started to develop and assemble a new rally bike: the Husqvarna TE449 RR by Speedbrain.

It is an ultra-modern and innovative racing motorbike, which is particularly light, possesses good handling and stability on a wide range of terrains, giving the rider maximum confidence. Husqvarna is feeding its know-how into the further development of the engine and endurance mapping to improve stability. Speedbrain and its research and development department are responsible for developing the chassis and rally-specific components. The bike is continuously being developed and optimised in cooperation with the riders.

At the heart of the bike is the Husqvarna TE449 engine, which has been modified to handle the demands of rallying. Husqvarna is responsible for the development, design and overall performance diagnostics of the 450cc engine, and supplies the race-ready power train to the Speedbrain team. The Husqvarna TE449 engine is one of the bike’s biggest strengths and has been optimised again ahead of the 2013 Rally Dakar.

The electronics form one complex but key area, as the rally bike is equipped with numerous navigational and safety components. The Husqvarna TE449 RR by Speedbrain has its own electronics system, which was developed specifically for this motorcycle and is also the subject of continuous modifications and improvements. In addition, Speedbrain reworked and partly redeveloped the entire frame concept after the 2012 Rally Dakar. As such, the bike that lines up at the 2013 Rally Dakar will be a further development of the bike used in 2012, which has been improved in many areas.

Among the features of the rally version is a very compact, concept-driven package in the chassis area. This allows the optimal integration of the two-part central/rear tank in the bike, which in turn guarantees the rider maximum freedom of movement, Enduro-like ergonomics and perfect balance. The fact that the Husqvarna TE449 RR by Speedbrain is so light is down, in part, to the aerodynamically optimised Carbon Kevlar fairing and a special rear part. The Carbon Kevlar engine protection with integrated three-litre water tank gives the engine and the low rally header pipe full protection.

Technical Specifications of the Husqvarna TE449 RR Dakar Race Bike:

Bore x stroke: 98 mm x 59.6 mm
Capacity: 449.5 cc
Front wheel suspension: WP Upside-down big bore cone valve fork Ø 52mm
Rear wheel suspension: Aluminum dual swing arm with WP Trax rear suspension
Suspension travel front: 300 mm; Suspension travel rear: 320mm
Brake, front: Single disc brake, diameter 298 mm, double-piston floating calliper
Brake, rear: Single disc brake, diameter 220 mm, single-piston floating calliper
Unladen weight: 137 kg
Usable tank volume: 30 liters
Tires: Michelin Desert Race

Source: Husqvarna

Tagged under: Adventure Racing, Dakar, Dakar Rally, EICMA, Husqvarna, Husqvarna TE449 RR, photos, Speedbrain, TE449 RR, technical specifications

Comment:

RJ says:
November 13, 2012 at 8:04 AM
So sweet…
jackie says:
November 13, 2012 at 11:47 AM
Every time I see one of these bikes I’m in love, and I don’t even like riding through puddles.
When the Apocalypse comes I’d like one of these please.

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