Photo of the Week: Here’s to the Unsung Heroes of MotoGP

This, race fans, is Danilo Petrucci, one of the brave souls trying his luck on the future of MotoGP hardware, in his case the doggedly underpowered Came IodaRacing Project machine. Not on a (relatively) zippy Aprilia ART, or a Honda-powered FTR, Petrucci qualifies on the same grid as Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo, and brings to this gunfight a knife that packs a whopping 185 bhp, compared to the factory prototype engines that are rumored to be around 260 bhp. As I photograph a race, I see a much different version of the event than TV viewers. I watch the recorded TV broadcast later, and can tell you that there is a lot going on with the Claiming Rule Team bikes that doesn’t make in onto TV.

Suter 500 Factory V4 – Thank You for Smoking

We are now purely a “suck, squeeze, bang, blow” society, and while that suits many motorists just fine, there are some who enjoy the smell of pre-mix in the morning — you know who you are. You enjoy the sound of angry bees following you from apex to off-camber. You think a displacement for “serious riders” starts at around 250cc. You like your engine compression low, and your powerbands narrow. You sir (or madam), are a two-stroke junky, and we have just the fix you need. Having a bevy of intriguing two-wheeled projects within its walls, the Swiss bike that catches our eye today is the Suter 500 Factory V4: a two-stroke, 500cc, V4, track weapon that puts out over 200 hp and weighs 284 lbs ready to race — no, that is not a typo.

Photo: Five – Two = Podium

Blurred to protect against spoilers, we’ll just leave things simply by saying that World Superbike’s Race 2 at Donington Park is well worth a watching if you haven’t already seen it. Decided right down to the last few turns, race pundits surely will be discussing the race and its outcome over the next week. Unsurprisingly, geography is playing a major a role in how things are being viewed. Though in a race where a number of questionable passes occurred, it is hard to single out this one event from the plethora of others that occurred during the race, but of course this one had the biggest effect on the race outcome. Click past the jump for the he said, she said, and of course for some slightly sharper photos.

Norton V4 Gets Shakedown Test Ahead of Isle of Man TT

More news from Norton, as the British firm has begun track-testing its V4 road race bike, in preparation of the 2012 Isle of Man TT. Focusing on the bike’s handling, Norton has been working hand-in-hand with Öhlins and Dunlop developing the bike’s chassis. The trio has devised the highly sophisticated “165 mph no hands” test, which supposedly checks the stability of the bike, though we imagine Health & Safety would frown upon it. With the bike’s Aprilia RSV4 motor putting out 195hp at the crank, and with the total race package weighing 419 lbs (195 kg) when it is sopping wet, the Spondon-framed Norton may not be exactly what fans of the famous marques were hoping for after seeing the very appealing Norton NRV 588, though it does seem to be a potent package.

2012 Brammo Empulse R – Was It Worth the Wait?

Launching in downtown Los Angeles, the 2012 Brammo Empulse R & 2013 Brammo Empulse broke their cover and officially debuted. Right off the bat from the designations, you can see that Brammo intends for the Empulse R to be a 2012 model, with the base model Emuplse coming out next year (more on that further down). As we expected, the Brammo Empulse R got quite the price bump after its 22-month marination, and will be $18,995 MSRP. Meanwhile when the Brammo Empulse becomes available next year, it will have a slightly more palatable $16,995 price tag.

Up-Close with the Erik Buell Racing 1190RS ‘merica Edition

While the EBR 1190RS race bikes were on the track, their $40,000+ street-legal counterparts were on display outside of the Erik Buell Racing garage. Rocking an American flag livery, I naturally took pictures of this show bike. Eye catching to say the least, nothing says “Made in ‘merica” better than a red, white, and blue color scheme, especially when it is laid over carbon fiber. And while I want to love this bike because of its nuances and outside-of-the-box technical design, I don’t.

Sunday Summary at Estoril: Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

If there’s one lesson we can take from Sunday’s race at Estoril, it’s this: “I’ve always said we know Casey’s the guy that’s the fastest guy in the world. Maybe over the seasons he hasn’t put the championships together, but by far he’s the best guy in the world.” Cal Crutchlow is not known for mincing his words, and his description of Casey Stoner pulls no punches. But given the fact that Stoner only managed to win the Portuguese round of MotoGP by a second and a bit, is that not a little exaggerated?

Up-Close with the 2012 Brammo Empulse RR

Brammo is back for electric motorcycle racing in the North American TTXGP series, as the Ashland-based company is set to defend it’s #1 plate this year with Steve Atlas on board ( Shelina Moreda is slated to join the team later in the season). Gaining a title sponsorship from Icon, Brammo arrived at Sears Point with some edgy graphics on the 2012 Brammo Empulse RR. Dropping roughly 35 lbs in weight, and gaining roughly 50hp over the bike they ran at last year’s season opener, Brammo is making most of those gains in its revised motor and power inverter for the newest Empulse RR.

Mea Culpa: The Media’s Hard-on for a Good Penis Story

As you can imagine, the bulk of the commentary, both from readers and from professional journalists, has centered around the absurdity of the claim, with even jokes being offered about how an aged BMW rider should be thanking the German motorcycle brand for saving him money on Viagra, etc. The situation reminds me of the McDonald’s hot coffee lawsuit. You know the story, right?. A woman buys a cup of coffee at McDonald’s, spills it on herself while in the car, and sues the bastards for her incompetence. True to litigious American form, the unthinkable happened, and a jury awarded this gold-digging woman millions of dollars. It is repudiating, and it stands for everything that is wrong with the legal system, or so we would be lead to believe — especially by the media.

An Addendum to Valentino Rossi’s Options for the Future

Never say never, but few are expecting Valentino Rossi to hang up his spurs at the end of the 2012 MotoGP Championship. Going out on a career low-point is certainly not the Italian’s style, especially as it casts a particularly dark shadow on a career that has enjoyed the bright-light superlative of “Greatest of All Time” from some of motorcycling’s most knowledgeable sources. Hoping to cast that phrase with an underlined typeface, and not with an interrogatory question mark, there is sufficient evidence to believe that Rossi will want to end his career in a way that will leave no doubt about the nine-time World Champion’s abilities. The question of course is how those final seasons will play out, and who they will be with.

Mugen Will Compete in the 2012 Isle of Man TT Zero

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02/16/2012 @ 3:42 am, by Jensen Beeler16 COMMENTS

Mugen Will Compete in the 2012 Isle of Man TT Zero Mugen power logo

As of today, famed Honda tuning house Mugen will be tackling a new kind of project: the 2012 TT Zero. Announcing and confirming their entry into the Isle of Man TT’s electric motorcycle race, Mugen will be showcasing not only the company’s lesser-known motorcycle tuning chops, but also its hand at prepping electric vehicles for racing duty. Found in 1973 by Hirotoshi Honda (son to Honda founder Soichiro Honda), Mugen has previously made its name mostly on the automotive side of things, though the company offers a bevy of prepared Honda motorcycles as well.

Said to be campaigning an all-new original electric motorcycle, if we had to take a stab at what Mugen could be bringing to the Isle of Man TT, we doubt we’d have to dive too deep into our imagination. While it may not be quite as big of news as Honda itself racing in the TT Zero, we can expect Mugen to bring a very competent and polished machine to the Isle of Man, and we can also officially begin the speculation between Mugen’s entry and its connection to a certain Japanese motorcycle manufacturer.

For those that don’t follow the nuances of electric motorcycle racing, there exists a double-edged sword for OEMs who may wish to enter events like the TT Zero. While they may have decades of experience building motorcycles and an almost inexhaustible supply of very smart engineers, there is no guarantee that the resources of an established motorcycle manufacturer would solidify a race win at any of the electric motorcycle racing events, and as such a multibillion dollar motorcycle OEM could very well face the possibility of being embarrassed by a team operating on a shoestring’s budget and racing on a home made chassis.

Wanting to be sure that an OEM-backed entry would be more than competitive against entries like those from Lightning Motorcycles, Mission Motors, and MotoCzysz, it would be clever for a company like Honda to test the waters of electric motorcycle racing through say…less-official channels.

For example, Honda could consider using an entirely separate, but cordially related, racing-focused company to campaign Honda’s technology under a different own banner than its own. If that company should fail, well then it would not necessarily be a Honda failure and loss of face, while conversely the company’s success would lay the groundwork for a more official entry down the line.

Or, maybe this is just Mugen being Mugen. As always, only time will tell, but we think the bar just got raised for the competition for this year’s TT Zero.

Source: Isle of Man TT

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  4. More Photos & Video of the Mugen Shinden
  5. Confirmed: TT Zero for 2012 Isle of Man TT

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Comment:

  1. Matt says:
    February 16, 2012 at 6:08 AM

    Bruce Lee – Enter The Dragon…

  2. Michael Uhlarik says:
    February 16, 2012 at 10:35 AM

    As predicted, the heavies are coming. Start ups will find it harder and harder to make a good showing as Japanese consumer electronics technology meets Japanese motorcycle technology.

    This is going to become very interesting.

    M

  3. GOluse says:
    February 16, 2012 at 12:57 PM

    My hope and assumption at this point would be that the announcement has come as an afterthought. Meaning, there were plans well in advance to compete with the Electrics. Just a thought.

    Agreed, it should be very interesting indeed.

  4. Julian Bond says:
    February 16, 2012 at 2:50 PM

    Is it too much to hope for McGuiness on the Mugen vs Rutter on the Czysz? One of the hidden catches of TT-Zero is that you have to find a rider who is already racing during TT week and prepared to take on the extra hassle.

  5. Dr. Gellar says:
    February 16, 2012 at 3:17 PM

    This is exciting news! Welcome to the party Mugen… :-)

    @ Julian…I wouldn’t think it is too much to hope for. I read it from somewhere before that last year McGuiness was quite interested in trying out an e-bike on the TT course.

  6. Jensen Beeler says:
    February 16, 2012 at 7:07 PM

    When I talked to McGuinness at the 2011 IOMTT, he was very keen about the electrics. I’ll have to transcribe the interview this weekend I think.

  7. Damo says:
    February 16, 2012 at 7:44 PM

    I personally can’t wait for a long range, fast, silent electric superbike to come our way. I am super sure I am in the minority here, but I can wait to throw a leg over my bike and hear nothing but the wind and scenery blast by. I think we are still a long way off though.

  8. ttxgpfan (@ttxgpfan) says:
    February 16, 2012 at 9:01 PM

    Oh good. Lightning and MotoCzysz could do with a light snack before the race. I vote vaporware.

    @Damo. Well, how fast and how far? Last I heard Lightning will sell you a bike for $40,000 that has 150 mile range, has (way) more power, and weighs about 50lbs less than a ‘busa. The new eCRP Energica has 120hp and is about the size of a 600, although it isn’t for sale yet, but you can reserve one.

    Depending on your definition of a long way, I don’t think electric superbikes are a long way off. The power is there, and you are looking at what 2 years, maybe less for Lightning, for someone like Brammo to offer 150+ hp bikes for the price of GSX-R1000. It’s range, or batteries that are the concern. Depending on how much range you feel you need the wait could be 5-7 years. Is that a long way off? In the mean time, the on-board charger tech should come along and motorcycles can take advantage of the power the charging stations have to offer. The new Empulse coming out will have an on-board charger as powerful as the one in the Leaf (3kw, up from the Enertia’s .8kW).

  9. Joey Wilson says:
    February 16, 2012 at 11:00 PM

    I agree that

    1) the idea of a ‘silent’ motorcycle is very appealing, and . . . .

    2) that same bike with useable range is not here yet.

    I live not far from where Nissan is building (at ‘damn the torpedoes’ speed) the new American plant for Leaf production, as well as a battery plant for same. And I’ll apply this same test I applied to a Leaf when I thought about buying one:

    I live roughly 275 miles from The Barber Motorcycle Museum, on the outskirts of Birmingham. While not the Rockies or the Smokies, it’s a very ‘hilly’ drive from Nashville to Birmingham. At its current state of development, in a Leaf, it would be a THREE DAY DRIVE each way, no matter which way you recharge it (much less where). Any car or bike with a gas engine, this is a four or five hour drive, depending on traffic and lunch.

    Now I’m not ready to surrender the freedom to go anywhere I want, when I want, for what are now urban commuters (and I do mean urban). And if you think the EPA mileage projections are a little off, a lot of these electrical mfg. claims have more blue sky in them than a Montana sunset.

    So until this difference can be resolved, it’s a non-starter for me. I know over time it will be brought in line, one with the other. But then, at that time, how many more power plants will TVA have to build to recharge all these electric vehicles as they replace petroleum-powered vehicles? Will we be smog-shifting from engine exhaust to power plant smokestacks?

  10. Dr. Gellar says:
    February 16, 2012 at 11:22 PM

    Hahaha…gotta love how some folks (no matter what websites you go to) always have to turn the comments section of an e-bike racing article into one about EV viability. Cracks me up…

  11. Joey Wilson says:
    February 17, 2012 at 1:20 AM

    Actually, Dr. G, I’m all for them. But as far as viability, at this point they’re just as not-visble for me as a 200hp sportbike, or an Electra-Glide, they’re just not on my radar at this stage of their development. Am I missing something, or aren’t these still either prototypes, one-off racers, or eked out in small numbers by startups (save for maybe the KTM FreeRide) for big bucks with small ranges, if I wanted to go buy one tomorrow?

    And no, if I can’t get on one tomorrow and ride several hundred miles without worrying about thumbing back home, it’s not viable right now. I am, despite what you may have taken from my comments, looking forward to the day to where the choice of internal combustion or electric is as simple as what color I prefer. But tomorrow, 17 February 2012, is not that day.

    I have no doubt that the technology will surely proceed to ‘that day’ faster than we can imagine. But I don’t think it’s unreasonable to wonder where the extra electricity will come from.

  12. Damo says:
    February 17, 2012 at 4:31 AM

    @ttxgpfan (@ttxgpfan)

    I am with Joey Wilson on this one. I am really excited about the whole thing. I would also be excited about a hydrogen bike as well, but I might feel like Dr. Strangelove riding the ICBM.

    In all seriousness, when an electric bike that can travel a minimum of 150 miles, has about 150-160HP weighs less than 420 pounds, can catch a full recharge in less than an hour AND only costs about $15,000 makes it to the market I will be first in line. That would be enough for me.

    Currently if I had $40,000 to drop on a bike I would buy the Erik Buell 1190RS.

  13. Richard Gozinya says:
    February 17, 2012 at 8:16 AM

    @Damo

    You know, there’s parts of your criteria that ICE powered superbikes can’t manage. Specifically weight (Not dry weight, but full running order weight) And range. But it seems that what you’re basically asking for is energy density parityl. By the time that comes around, most superbikes will probably cost at least $20k.

    As for Mugen getting involved, it’s great news for electric racing. The more competitors the better.

  14. Damo says:
    February 17, 2012 at 8:51 AM

    @Richard

    I was talking dry weight. Also my 2003 aprilia RSV Mille meets all these criteria (not to mention I only paid $3,400 for it, but that is another story).

    Basically if an electric bike came out with the weight/performance of an 10 year old superbike, at the cost of a present day superbike, I would still take the plunge.

    I actually think that is fairly reasonable on my end.

    I agree though, Mugen getting involved can only be good.

  15. Dman says:
    February 17, 2012 at 1:22 PM

    Considering Mugen has an exceptional reputation of providing very high quality bolt-on parts that do not add any performance enhancements whatsoever, it seems like a perfect fit for them to get into the e-bike realm.

  16. Joey Wilson says:
    February 17, 2012 at 10:59 PM

    Whaddya want to bet that Mugen shows up with something that looks a lot like this:

    http://world.honda.com/design/designers-talk/TMS2011/rc-e/

    . . . . . ya think ? ? ? ?