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.
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.
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.
An interesting development on the aftermarket side of things has graced our desks, as Öhlins has released a “suspension control unit” (SCU) that upgrades the electronically adjustable suspension on the Ducati Multistrada 1200 S so that it becomes a semi-active suspension system. Whhhaaaat??! So, if you’re the proud owner of a pre-2013 Ducati Multistrada 1200 S, and you think that your electronically controlled Öhlins suspension is no longer boss, now that Ducati has released its Sachs-powered “Skyhook” semi-active suspension pieces on its new batch of Multistrada sport-tourers, there is a remedy for your motolust.
I say yes to streamlining…look at the Ecosse Spirit and the V8 Guzzi – it can work!
Forgive my ignorance, but how would you have the room inside a dustbin to physcially move the bike from left to right? I’m with Czysz on this one.
Leave the option for streamlining open. Let’s give the advocates of streamlining the opportunity to perfect their work.
There are ways to overcome the problems Michael Czysz describes. He may soon see them on the track.
The rest of the motorcycle world is full of anti-streamlining rules. Let’s be allowed to experiment in this one small area, as Electric motorcycle’s could greatly benefit from the added efficiency streamlining brings to motorcycle design.
Rather than advocate rule changes before the races have even begun, lets give streamlining an opportunity to prove itself on the track.
If Michael Czysz doesn’t want to race against stream liners there are ample opportunities in racing throughout the rest of the motorcycle world. He does not have to spoil the opportunity for innovation for those in the electric field.
I have to wonder if this is a preemptive attack on streamlining is because of the rumors that the Agni bike will be streamlined?
Agni won last time.
“Sean Mitchell says:
03/09/2010 at 7:04 PM
Forgive my ignorance, but how would you have the room inside a dustbin to physcially move the bike from left to right?”
It depends on the design. Take a look at this picture:
http://www.vf750fd.com/Joep_Kortekaas/ubiali.jpg
Here’s an interesting simulation studying the Lift/Drag ratio of a rider and motorcycle that suggests the fairing of a conventionally-faired race bike acts as a lifting body at high lean angles. With today’s lean angles exceeding 55 – 60 degrees from vertical could it be that, in addition to Michael Czysz’ concern about cross winds, that an enclosed dustbin, at that flat angle could act as a highly effective lifting body (i.e., reduce grip and traction)? Tests would tell. Nobody leans at Bonneville.
To quote from “Aerodynamic Analysis of a Motorcycle and Rider on a high speed corner”
Giorgio Pagliara and Giuseppe Ganio © CD-adapco 2009
“The results of the simulation predicted that at a straight line speed of 120 Km/h, the motorcycle is well balanced with neither excessive lift or down force experienced. During a turn, however, the rider and bike are at an angle to the ground, generating large amounts of lift and a rolling moment that acts to straighten the bike.
Plots of pressure coefficient show that, during cornering, the rider produces aerodynamic downforce while the bike produces lift. The L/D ratio (lift over drag) ratio of the bike and rider is around 0.4 which may be compared to a typical value of between -3.5 to -2.5 of an F1 car, a difference which is largely accounted for by the lack of any lifting surfaces (front and rear wings) and the effect of rider on the overall aerodynamic performance.”
Czysz: Just Say No to Dustbin Fairings – http://bit.ly/a8fzWn #motorcycle
RT @Asphalt_Rubber Czysz: Just Say No to Dustbin Fairings – http://bit.ly/a8fzWn #motorcycle == I agree with him. FF ain't the way fwd..
[moto] Interesting… RT @Asphalt_Rubber: Czysz: Just Say No to Dustbin Fairings – http://bit.ly/a8fzWn #motorcycle
Didn’t the Red Bull Yamaha team try something along the lines of streamlining a few years ago when John Hopkins was racing for them? If I recall correctly it made very little difference to the lap times (hence it never being raced).
I wondered about aerodynamics last year after talking to a few of the teams at the TTXGP launch. A few were talking about using Hayabusas as a base ‘because it’s the most aerodynamic bike’ but these things were barely reaching 80mph. Surely working on reducing weight would reap more benefits than a dustbin fairing at these speeds. Ok things hav emoved on in a year and the bikes will be faster, but theres a world of difference between 200mph+ at Bonneville and a lap of the island.
Its not so much an increase in speed that the streamliner’s are proposing, although there may be a minor benefit here, but a reduction in the energy/force required to attain it.
In electric racing circles, where the available power reserve is limited (and was the main factor in the final positions of the race last year) any reduction in used energy reserve is greatly appreciated.
I distinctly remember reading about how “dustbin” fairings were banned from prototype (now motoGp) motorcycle racing due to the dangerous handling characteristics that they brought with them. I think the people who are advocating the return of dustbins are ignorant of racing history.
@Scatterbrained – Some students of (and participants in) racing history might tell you that the “dangerous handling characteristics” was the reason given for the banning, but that you should consider all possibilities. Could it have been that the streamlined cycles handled just fine and raced faster, but that the manufacturers behind the racing organizations did not like their use because they looked nothing like what they were selling in the motorcycle shops? An inquiring mind won’t venture calling other people “ignorant” based merely on something he or she “distinctly remember[s]” reading. This is a complex issue and there are strong viewpoints on each side. Frankly, I hope someone (oh… Agni?!) brings an odd-looking bird or two to the races and puts the others to shame. That’s the kind of drama this sport needs.
Scientific advancement requires just that – the application of the scientific method – rather than using 50+ year old rumors – why don’t we open up the rules so that the technology can advance. As to those who say there is very little speed or efficiency advantage to the ‘dustbin’ design – those people are woefully ignorant of the tremendous influence of aerodynamic drag as THE principal power requirement in the motive force of a motorcycle, rolling resistance and vehicle weight are essentially only an afterthought. As to turning ability, I invented something better as a solution, which can be viewed at toytotransportation.com ,
With respect, Someone who has ACTUALLY RIDDEN A DUSTBIN.
I vote for the dustbin too–they handle well if the bike has enough weight forward, and there is no question they work aerodynamically, In 1982 I built a motorcycle that got about 192 mpg in naked form…when we put a dustbin fairing on it mileage leaped to 300+