Mission Motorcycles: The Mission R Lives??!

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.

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.

Nicky Hayden has Best Finish of the 2009 Season While at Catalunya – 10th Place

06/16/2009 @ 11:04 pm, by Jensen Beeler4 COMMENTS

Nicky Hayden has Best Finish of the 2009 Season While at Catalunya 10th Place Nicky Hayden 15th place 560x401

While its hard to top the finish we saw at Catalunya this weekend, we’re afraid the 1-2 Fiat Yamaha podium may have overshadowed some other highlights from the Catalan event. Namely, we’re talking about Nicky Hayden’s best finish in MotoGP this season: 10th place. Taking into account Nicky’s early season injury from Qatar, and aggravating crash at Motegi, we understand if the American isn’t at a full 100% physically. After all, neither is Dani Pedrosa who had to dope up for this weekend’s race, and was only able to finish a modest 6th in Catalunya.

Everyone has an off day right? But maybe Hayden should take a page out of Colin Edwards’ book, and just tell it to us how it is. Speaking after the Catalan GP, Hayden was quoted as saying:

“I was hoping for a little more than this but realistically at the moment it was the best I could manage. I started from near the back but kept passing people and made progress throughout the race. I got close to Kallio and tried my best to pass him but made a couple of mistakes and he beat me. All in all it’s not a spectacular result but it is definitely a step forward. I’ve been close to the front guys all weekend, we’ve worked well and we’ve learnt a lot about the bike. I’m already looking forward to getting back on the bike for the test tomorrow and continuing to work down this path, which we think is the right one.”

What you just read, is politely a load of crap. Hayden qualified 13th out of a grid of 19 riders, Elais only finished 16 laps of the Catalan GP, while Takahashi failed to even finish lap 1. We’re these the riders Hayden was able to pass during the race? Doing some quick math adds only one more rider to the list of people Hayden whizzed by.

Looking at the rest of Hayden’s statement there is some truth to what he said about being in touch with the top-riders during the week. Free Practice 1, saw Nicky in 6th place, right behind A&R whipping boy Randy De Puniet, but Hayden’s results are a slippery slope from FP2 on.

Free Practice 2 sees the Ducatisti fall to 10th fastest on the grid, and almost doubling his gap to session leader Jorge Lorenzo. Falling further, Hayden qualified 13th as we stated earlier, and lapped 14th quickest in the early morning warm-up lap.

If it was any other rider, we probably wouldn’t even mention it, but we feel Hayden has to be held to a higher standard that some like say…Sete Gibernau. A former MotoGP Championship winner, and as a factory supported rider, there are no excuses for finishing in the back of the pack, barely able to squeak by on a satellite rider with the “same” bike.

Looking at the Championship standings, Hayden is 15th overall. If you count Suzuki in the factory team list, Hayden sits 23 points back from the next factory rider, Chris Vermeulen. With the rumor mill just starting to heat up over who will be on what MotoGP team for next year, we can’t help but predict a few rumblings will involve the young man from Kentucky, and if results continue the way the are, we might be inclined to believe some of that paddock gossip.

Nicky Hayden was the second slowest rider around Monday’s test at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Source: MotoGP

Top 5 Related Posts:

  1. Repaved Indianapolis GP Surface is “Pretty Much Perfect” Says Nicky Hayden
  2. Nicky Hayden to Undergo More Surgery on His Shoulder
  3. Officially Official: Ducati Corse Signs Nicky Hayden for 2013 MotoGP Team
  4. MotoGP: Nicky Hayden Ruled Out of Czech GP

Tagged under: , , , ,

Comment:

  1. Asphalt_Rubber says:
    June 17, 2009 at 3:04 AM

    Nicky Hayden has Best Finish of the 2009 Season While at Catalunya – 10th Place – http://tinyurl.com/m2vzej #motorcycle

  2. Dario Zgrablic says:
    June 17, 2009 at 6:53 AM

    LOL, Hayden, you make me laugh. How the hell did you win 2 years ago?! http://tinyurl.com/m2vzej

  3. Bob Minor says:
    June 17, 2009 at 11:17 AM

    Like any other American I was full of hope for Nicky when he first migrated over to Moto GP these many years ago. I was willing to give him some time to acclimate to the totally foreign tracks and the alien cultures that he would have to contend with so I wasn’t expecting immediate results by any stretch. Remember, he was given a factory ride on what was then the all conquering Hondas so he wasn’t destined to be a backmarker because of his machinery.

    What has followed over the years has been less than a steller performance on his part. Yes, he was able to squeak out one championship year (that’s better then most riders ever achieve I grant you) while Valentino was sorting out the new Yamaha. Keep in mind however that he just barely backed into the Championship in what has to be described as a weird year in Moto GP and came close to being beaten by his teammate Dani Pedrosa. Since then Nicky has suffered through poor season after poor season to the point where Colin Edwards on a second tier team is well ahead of him in the standings and in general has out performed him for the past few years.

    Moto GP has simply gotten too expensive for a factory to support a rider who can’t produce better results the Nicky has been giving both Honda and now Ducati and I fully expect that unless he somehow re-ignites his competitive juices and starts getting that Ducati up there with Stoner and the other front runners it won’t make any difference how “nice” a young man he is come new contract time.

    Sorry Nicky but your time may be passing.

  4. Mark Morrison says:
    June 17, 2009 at 2:33 PM

    Nicky will always be the 2006 World Champion and that is a significant achievement that puts him into an elite group. However he has never been a racer’s racer. Despite full factory machinery for his entire MotoGP career which let’s not forget dates from 2003 he has only ever won 3 races in 9 years. He was unimpressive on the 800cc factory Honda for 2 years and now is not surprising me at all by being uncompetitive on the Ducati. I guess I thought he would be finishing 7th and 8th rather than struggling to break into the top 10.
    The reality is that over recent years, faster riders with a more appropriate (ie 250) racing background for the new 800′s like Stoner, Pedrosa, Lorenzo (who let’s face it has a more impressive pedigree than Rossi at the same point in their careers) are taking their place at the head of the field and in any given weekend a rejuvenated and still fast Capirossi keeps them honest along with rising star Dovizioso. The you have steady Edwards who qualifies well, starts slow but grinds his way to 6-8th depending on the track. If not for that one brilliant season in 2006 people would see Hayden, like Edwards as an accomplished Superbike rider who didn’t quite make it in MotoGP. The truth of course is that he both did and didn’t make it. 2006 was one solitary year, Nicky hasn’t before or since had a year like it.