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.
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.
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.
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.
I’ll take the UNPOPULAR posistion, the posistion that….simocelli didn’t do a thing wrong. Not so far as CAUSING Dani to bin it and bust his collar bone anyway. Both came in too hot, both braked too late (imo) BUT Dani waited way too long and came in way to hot all in an effort to try to keep Simo from taking that corner…Just race incident no negligence as such on anybodies part.
BUT because simo is developing a supposed rep…it has gotten blown out of proportion imnsho. feh, that happened at a club race the wouldn’t have even called for a ride through or a call to the office.
>>feh, that happened at a club race the wouldn’t have even called for a ride through or a call to the office.
LOL.. of course he wouldn’t, there’s not millions of dollars, the pressure from massive sponsors, and a Global audience.
World Champ Lorenzo wouldn’t even have a career, if the powers that be at MotoGP decided to get all tough about so called ‘reckless’ manoevers when he was trying to make his name in GP’s.
The world is becoming more and more of a Nanny State. Ever safer cars, motorbikes with airbags FFS, this latest come-down on a hard-man racer is just more of the same.
I think Rossi summed it up best. “MotoGP these days is full of Pussies”
:)
Agreed. He shouldn’t have even gotten the ride-through. He’s been the focus of a lot of anger in the paddock, when others are doing the same or worse and getting away with it. Looking at you, Lorenzo. Had the person Jorge passed in such a manner been in too hot, they would have ate it as well (was it Dovi? I forget).
Bad luck for Pedrosa, but he shares fault for it.
And I was a Simoncelli-hater at the beginning of the season.
The incident was just as much Pedrosa’s fault as anything, after all, it was he that hit Simoncelli. Watching a recording frame by frame and in HD, Simoncelli comes into frame first with knee down well before Pedrosa does, having just placed his inside foot on the foot peg…
Passions are high, I’d expect no less from the Spanish…
They both hit the corner too hot because they are both very competitive and niether wanted to loose out to the other guy. I think pride came into play as well as complacancy. They both must have relied on that alien magic to round them out so they could squirt out of the turn but……….well you saw what happened.
All this boils down to is perception. Yeah it looked bad but hey none of us were out there on the bikes and none of us are mind readers. So, there is no way to tell.
It is the person coming from behind that is responsible for a clean pass. Period. Unless there is a claim that Pedrosa saw and intentionally ran into him then Cimoncelli is at fault. This is yet another example of his almost systematic dissregard for safety. Yes, it is racing, but riders must follow at least the minimum safety rules in an otherwise dangerous sport. As far as the mandatory ” in club racing ” comment, look up Isidro Castillo. A perfect example of a bad pass, executed by a rider with a history of overly aggresive racing resulting in death and in a “club” race. These kind of passes are unnecesary and not good racing in any venue, class or discipline. Cimocelli shows a pattern for dissregarding consequnces whether they be financial, safety, or mortal and that is why Dorna is taking him out back for a flogging.
Simoncelli was clearly past and in the turn, it looked like Pedrosa stood the bike up after already entering the corner, maybe he didn’t think he could brake harder without washing the front? If he had committed to the turn and not stood the bike up he may have low sided instead of rear ending, or t-boning Simoncelli. Who knows, but it looked like a clean pass to me. I seem to remember Pedrosa making at least a few iffy passes in his time, with no penalties. One involved a team mate in line for the championship, hmm.
Everyone of you IDIOTS above are just that. Idiots talking out of the hole in your body that doesnt think!! Marco didnt have the line. Dani did!! Marco was late coming into the corner and late on the brakes hoping to pass Dani in the apex. Dani did nothing wrong. Dani was text book. Marco F’d it all up.
DucracerX you have more issues than the whole GP paddock combined.
LOL, I’m with DucracerX, and I’m floored by how many people think it was no harm no foul. Simoncelli shoved it in there and Dani had absolutely no time to react. And nobody has been a bigger Dani Pedrosa critic than me. I like Simoncelli, but he’s getting what he deserves.
heh, seems ducracerx has issues with percecption. Dani biffed it…period, his standing the bike up is proof. The collision was just a mistiming on both their parts. IF you can’t see that, well you have issues with judging corner entry on the track and the street.
Seems like almighty managers (Puig) and sponsors (Repsol) do not win championships after all…Now, if Dorna gets involved, maybe together they can win one for little Dani. Obviously, he cannot do it on his own.
I like Simoncelli a lot, i met him at the Indy Museum in ’08, super nice guy… he was just there taking in the sights. And while I’m glad that Pedrosa got taken out… I think Simo was a little out of whack on the pass attempt. In trying to pass on the outside without giving Pedrosa any room on the inside, he forced the contact and the crash. The ride through penalty was highly unusual, but the right thing to do.
Not that I can read minds, but I have a feeling Dani was intentionally into that corner a bit hot, so that he could drift out and push Simoncelli out mid-turn. Seems to me he didn’t think Marco could brake any later than he, let alone turn it in at that speed. Dani got in over his head, wasn’t comfortable cranking it over at the speed he was going and chickened.
And DucracerX, you might have a few internet tough-guy issues. Just sayin’.
All good points raised. Apart from Ducracerx. Dude, this is not a f-u forum. Mum’s calling you for school, so run along now.
What happens next with Race Direction @ Catalunya will be interesting, as it will set a precedent for all racing that follows. In racing, someone is going to try a hard pass on you. Fact of life! Did people also watch the previous race where Simo tried a similar pass, cornering around the outside of Stoner ? Stoner instantly backed off, held the line and eventually went on for a podium. This is Racing! When Simo did the same thing to Dani, I just think Dani freaked out a little bit and maybe, just maybe, could have saved it a little better – given his experience and skills.
DucracerX,
Way to be a troll. And I seriously doubt you have a Ducati parked in the garage. It would be more believable that you owned a ‘Big Wheel’.
Simo had the pace but rolled the dice and actually came out of it, thats it. Earth to everyone, they were racing, not only at the very pinnacle of the sport but on machines that are identical in performance. Margins are going to be slim, that is a simple fact especially now with the current GP format.
It really gets to me when people say oh he could have waited? For what? There are so many different variables in racing GP, wait till next corner? maybe perdrosa takes him out, maybe next corner he forces and lowsides, wait till next lap, when your mapping automatically cuts your fuel by 15% so you can finish the race, yes stoner could not even make his slowdown lap, why he ran out of gas….when your racing you see a gap, chance, mistake and you take it, if you don’t well then your simply not racing.
Leave this F1 Bullshit alone and get back to GP the way it should be, not about rules, being nice, and crying because pedrosa is injured, I can tell you this much, it dosent take an itailian to broke babybones, he does it every year, count them… now lets get cat on’!
The truth is – there are two kinds of riders: ones like Stoner,Pedrosa or Gibernau – they are great once they are in the front of the pack but freak out when someone gets too close to them. The other group – Rossi, Simoncelli, Lorenzo – they love hand to hand combat and that what racing is for me.
DarN, I agree with you except on adding JLo to that second group. He’s without a doubt one of the “pussies” Rossi talked about. Motegi and Valencia last year come to mind. And for what it’s worth bitching to the media and race commission about Sic this year makes him the biggest prick in motogp. More fitting than that “1″ plate would be “douche” on his front fairing.
Philip, right on the money. JLo gives me the shits too. I love to watch him comically stuff up his post race celebrations though. Also….I’m an aussie, but I wish stoner would STFU. Sometimes, his mouth outweighs his ability ;)
@Philip
You are right. I included him in this group only for his ability to come from behind which the other group seems to lack. By no means I am thrilled by his comments / off truck antics (I think confrontation with Simo was pretty comical – just showed what a spoiled kid he is when things do not go his way)…
Racing’s a contact sport. Just ask Eslick.
Simo’s move was legit & CONSISTENT w/ past laps.