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.

Manx Grand Prix to Become a “Classic TT” Event

08/06/2012 @ 12:23 pm, by Jensen Beeler2 COMMENTS

Our most beloved sovereignty in the middle of the Irish Sea, the Isle of Man is of course most well known for the race that bears its name, the Isle of Man TT. Traditionally taking place in the first weeks of June, the road race attracts tens of thousands of spectators to the small island, for a fortnight of racing on closed public roads. Words don’t do the Isle of Man TT justice, so honestly you are just better off booking the trip and experiencing this two-wheeled bucket-list carnival first-hand for yourself.

Not as well known as the TT, the Isle of Man plays host to a second road race on the famous Mountain Course, the Manx Grand Prix. Traditionally held in late-August or early-September, the Manx, as it is known, uses the same course as the TT, but only features non-professional racers in its classes (except for the classic class). Changing the Manx’s format to better promote and differentiate it from the more popular TT, the Isle of Man has decided to do away with modern machinery all together in the festival, and the Manx Grand Prix is to become a “Classic TT” according to its organizers, as was the rumor during the 2012 Isle of Man TT.

The problem for the Isle of Man is fairly simple, as the Island nation’s tourism industry centers around a solitary event. Traditionally not a huge crowd-drawing race (and dare we say an event of questionable profitability), the Manx hope to elevate the status of the Manx Grand Prix to a higher status beyond being just an amateurs’ TT. The solution for the MMMC and Isle of Man government has been to make the race entries classic bikes only, which serves a second purpose of slowing the novice road racers down to safer speeds.

An unwelcomed change to many old-school TT and MGP fans, from what we could gather while on the Isle of Man earlier this year, the changes are ones of necessity, as the other option was to discontinue the historic race. Apparently it is a lot of work to shutdown the roads of an entire nation. A joint press release form the Manx Motor Cycle Club and the Isle of Man TT Department of Economic Development follows below:

Press Release from the Manx Motor Cycle Club and the Isle of Man TT Department of Economic Development:

Following discussions between the Manx Motor Cycle Club and the Department of Economic Development regarding the future direction of the MGP Festival, a provisional proposal and schedule has been agreed for 2013.

The newly developed Festival will retain elements of the existing Manx Grand Prix Races, while also leveraging the TT brand in a new ‘Classic TT’, which will form part of a three-day classic meeting.

The Festival will consist of the ‘Classic TT Races’, ‘The Manx Grand Prix Races’, the ‘Manx Classic’ and ‘Manx Two Day’ Trials and the ‘VMCC Manx Rally’, which will include the Festival of Jurby. The festival will remain as a two-week event including a week of practice and qualifying. A title for the Festival will be confirmed shortly.

Four Classic TT Races will now take over the traditional middle weekend of racing and August Bank Holiday Monday, which will also feature the VMCC’s popular Festival of Jurby meeting on the Sunday, with Manx Grand Prix races scheduled to run on the following Wednesday and Friday.

The Department of Economic Development will promote the Classic TT and will contract the Manx Motor Cycle Club to deliver the races. Regulations for these races will be confirmed shortly. The Manx Motor Cycle Club will assume responsibility for the role of promoter and organiser of the Manx Grand Prix races, with financial assistance being provided by the Department.

Hon John Shimmin, MHK, Minister, Department of Economic Development commented:
‘We are very pleased to announce progress with our ongoing discussions with the Manx Motor Cycle Club on the future direction of the event. We are confident that we have a clearly segmented and focused festival that can generate additional visitors to the Island and the team will look to further develop the Classic TT and Festival.’

Harvey Garton, Chairman, Manx Motor Cycle Club commented:
‘We have a clear way forward for the Manx Grand Prix Races as part of the Festival and will be working closely with the Department of Economic Development to build and grow the event. We are now focusing all of our efforts on delivering a successful 2012 event.’

Source: Manx Motor Cycle Club

Tagged under: Classic TT, Isle of Man, Isle of Man Department of Economic Development, Isle of Man TT, Manx GP, Manx Grand Prix, Manx Motor Cycle Club, press release, road-racing

Comment:

Gutterslob says:
August 6, 2012 at 8:23 PM
A lot of the locals don’t seem to be fond of this change. Most are blaming the banks (no idea). I haven’t been there in a few years so can’t really comment further.
Thing is, while I understand the reasoning behind wanting to keep novices safe, the Manx used to be a way for amateurs to gain entry into the TT proper the following year, provided they did well enough. I wonder how that’s going to affect things.
Campisi says:
August 7, 2012 at 4:38 PM
While I’m sure it’s better for the financiers and event organisers to have two more distinct events to promote and profit from, the amateur racers gunning for a moment in the spotlight and a shot at the Isle of Mann TT probably don’t appreciate the elevated cost and difficulty of sourcing, prepping, and racing vintage machinery. The difference in technology also makes the experience gained in the Manx Grand Prix both by the racer and the teams less relevant to other non-vintage races.

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