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.

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.

Kawasaki Deals Suzuki an Upset at the 76th Bol d’Or

04/16/2012 @ 4:40 pm, by Jensen Beeler2 COMMENTS

With the weather changing almost constantly during the weekend’s race and close to freezing at night, the 76th annual Bol d’Or proved to be both an exciting and grueling race that saw teams changing to wets, slicks, and cut-slicks almost constantly in the pit stops. Racing for 24 hours, the SRC Kawasaki Team did the unthinkable, and beat the heavily favored Suzuki Endurance Racing Team (SERT) in this year’s Bol d’Or endurance race. Losing most of its time in the pits, SERT had to contend with a crash in the fourth hour of the Bol d’Or, which sent lead-rider Vincent Philippe home early with a broken collarbone.

Completing the remaining 20 hours of the race with only two riders, SERT was able to close the gap to SRC Kawasaki in the final hours of the contest to only 60 seconds, but after several more pit stops the team would have to settle for finishing just on the same lap as the Kawasaki squad, as they slowed their pace to ensure victory. While one could make the argument that SERT lost the race instead of SRC Kawasaki winning it, riding a flawless and careful 24 hours is a part of the winning strategy in the FIM World Endurance Championship. Kudos to the SRC Kawasaki Team.

Also playing the hare to Kawasaki’s tortoise was the Honda TT Legends crew, which also suffered a crash on Sunday morning. Losing the front-end of the Honda TT Legends CBR1000RR at high-speeds, Cameron Donald had to push the battered CBR back to the team’s pits, where after a 20 minute pit stop the Honda TT Legends crew was able to get back to racing with John McGuinness at the helm. The quick rebuild allowed the Honda TT Legends to salvage ninth place overall, and sixth place in the WEC standings.

“Not the result we came for but it was one of our strongest rides yet,” said Honda TT Legends Rider John McGuinness. “We were holding fifth and looking good in very difficult conditions. It was a gruelling race with temperatures as low as 2 or 3 degrees through the night. I got caught up in some of the bad weather and had to pit for tyres changes which meant I then had to do double stints with 50 or 60 laps at a time and that is hard work.

“After Cameron slipping off at probably 150mph and the bike cart wheeling its way though the gravel, luckily Cam was alright and the team did amazing job at getting the bike back out there,” continued McGuinness. “We wanted to be a bit further up but at least we’ve picked up some world championship points.”

Finishing third was the Monster Yamaha YART squad, while the Yamaha France backed Yamaha GMT94 Michelin Yamalube finished a close fourth to its Austrian factory rival. With the Yamalube Folch Endurance team finishing fifth, Yamaha accounted for three of the top-five positions.

Race Results from the 76th Bol d’Or 24 Hours at Magny-Cours, France:

Pos.	Team	Bike	Riders	Class	Time
1	Team Kawasaki SRC	Kawasaki	Da Costa/Leblanc/Four	WEC	781 laps
2	Suzuki Endurance Racing Team	Suzuki	Philippe/Delhalle/Foret	WEC	+ 1’41.055
3	Monster Yamaha YART	Yamaha	Jerman/Martin/Giabbani	WEC	5 laps
4	Yamaha GMT94 Michelin Yamalube	Yamaha	Checa/Foray/Lagrive	WEC	5 laps
5	Yamalube Folch Endurance	Yamaha	Ribalta/Dos Santos/Tizon	WEC	16 laps
6	3D Endurance Moto Center	Kawasaki	Debise/Delegue/Holub	SST	31 laps
7	Penz13 Kraftwerk Herpigny	BMW	Buisson/Fastre/Vallcaneras	SST	32 laps
8	Starteam 67	Suzuki	Lucas/Hardt/Diguet	SST	33 laps
9	Honda TT Legends	Honda	Donald/McGuinness/Andrews	WEC	34 laps
10	DG Sport Herock	Yamaha	Van Keymeulen/Cudlin/Vizziello	SST	40 laps
11	Atomic Motorsport	Suzuki	Muteau/Jond	SST	44 laps
12	Team 18 Sapeurs Pompiers	BMW	Molinier/Prulhiere/Briere	WEC	45 laps
13	Racing Team Sarazin	Kawasaki	Gerouah/Kokes/Bernon	SST	46 laps
14	Louit Moto 33	Kawasaki	Baz/Guarnoni/Chevaux	SST	49 laps
15	Dunlop Motors Events	Suzuki	Charpin/Maccio/Wolf	WEC	51 laps
16	Team R2CL	Suzuki	Capela/Dumain/Cheron	WEC	54 laps
17	SH Technologie Scrubs	BMW	Pouhair/Teramoto/Demarey	WEC	59 laps
18	Moto AIN Racing Team	Yamaha	Haquin/Mizera/Varesco	SST	63 laps
19	MCS Racing Ipone	Suzuki	Devoyon/Bellucci/Saseta	SST	70 laps
20	National Motos	Honda	Monge/Bocquet/Masson	WEC	77 laps
21	Space Moto	Suzuki	Nouvellon/Deneque/Gallerand	WEC	81 laps
22	Aprilia Le Mans 2 Roues	Aprilia	Boue/Parisse/Le Royer	SST	91 laps
23	Viltais Racing Division	Yamaha	Bardet/Besnard/Berthome	SST	91 laps
24	Motors Events AMT Assurances	Suzuki	Savary/Dietrich/Moreira	SST	98 laps
25	Leman Racing	BMW	Villarroya/Monnot/Vinet	WEC	106 laps
26	BI-Meca Racing Team	Kawasaki	Feuillee/Pons/Bergeron	SST	109 laps
27	24 Racing + Lesmotard.com	BMW	Delage/Romanens/Bruno	SST	111 laps
28	Max et Yann Racing Team	Suzuki	Thepaut/Cury/Laniel	WEC	113 laps
29	Motos Actives Sport 14	Suzuki	Pigeon/Pigeon/Roche	SST	115 laps
30	Acro Racing Team	Yamaha	Jean/Grimber/Lucas	SST	116 laps
31	Team Racing 85	Kawasaki	Gaugfreteau/Landreau/Perrin	SST	126 laps
32	AZ Moto Expert	Suzuki	Mezard/Mau/Navarrete	SST	133 laps
33	Flembbo Dijamant Serbia	Kawasaki	Bosio/Cersosimo/Dehaye	WEC	133 laps
34	Team Racing+ Oui FM	Honda	Dubarle/Tabaries/De Sousa	SST	135 laps
35	Team ACR 74	Suzuki	Huguenin/Schertenleib/Petitjean	SST	144 laps
36	YD Racgin CG Motos	Kawasaki	Thouzet/Deneque/Belmomme	SST	157 laps
37	Ecurie Chrono Sport	Kawasaki	Herveux/Pibolleau/Segura	SST	179 laps

Source: Bol d’Or; Photo: SERT

Tagged under: 2012 Bol d'Or, 2012 FIM World Endurance Championship, Bol d'Or, Bol d'Or 24, Bol d'Or Endurance Race, endurance racing, FIM World Endurance Championship, Monster Yamaha YART, SERT, SRC Kawasaki, Suzuki Endurance Racing Team

Comment:

Jake says:
April 16, 2012 at 9:24 PM
“Suzuki Endurance Racing Team’s legacy of FIM World Endurance Championship domination remains intact, which lead SERT Team Principal to say, “I don’t understand what the competition is doing!” during the press debrief.”
Karma has a way of knocking you down a peg when you make those kinds of proclamations.
Trane Francks says:
April 17, 2012 at 9:01 PM
@Jake: Indeed. :)

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