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.

WSBK: One Man Show for Race 1 at Phillip Island

02/26/2011 @ 6:27 pm, by Victoria Reid4 COMMENTS

WSBK: One Man Show for Race 1 at Phillip Island Carlos Checa WSBK Race 1 Phillip Island 635x422

Carlos Checa started the season-opening round of World Superbike racing at Phillip Island on pole, having dominated testing and the weekend. Reigning champion Max Biaggi started alongside him, finally bearing his #1 championship plate, having posted a qualifying time just .013s slower than Checa’s. Completing the front row were Sylvain Guintoli and Leon Haslam, both quick in the dry times from Saturday’s qualifying.

Conditions on Sunday led to some shake-ups in the order for the morning warm-up, as overnight rain dampened the track. Australian Troy Corser led those times, followed by Guintoli, Jakub Smrz, Haslam, and the injured Jonathan Rea. Chris Vermeulen was unable to race at Phillip Island after failing to pass the physical due to a slow recovery from knee surgery. To find out who dominated Phillip Island Race 1, continue reading after the jump.

Though both Biaggi and Laverty gave Checa a run for his money at the start, it was the Spaniard who led by a very comfortable margin to win Race 1 at Phillip Island. Biaggi finished second by his own comfortable margin over Haslam, with Laverty and Melandri rounding out the top five. The first three laps saw some dicing for the lead before Checa checked out, with a gap of nearly six seconds over the rest of the field at one point.

Laverty did well in his first ever WSBK race, leading at the end of the first lap and taking a close fourth from fellow WSBK rookie and teammate Melandri at the finish line. They, together with Haslam, spent much of the race scrapping over the final podium position. Corser and Fabrizio were in that mix early on, but drifted back as the race progressed. Rea had passed the Australian for fifth and was running well when he ran off the track, finishing twelfth. Neither Guintoli nor Joan Lascorz finished the race, crashing out separately and uninjured.

World Superbike Race Results from Race 1 at Phillip Island:

Pos.No.RiderTeamDiff.
17Carlos ChecaAlthea Racing-
21Max BiaggiAprilia Alitalia Racing Team4.365
391Leon HaslamBMW Motorrad Motorsport10.719
458Eugene LavertyYamaha WSBK Team11.266
533Marco MelandriYamaha WSBK Team11.293
684Michel FabrizioTeam Suzuki Alstare12.039
796Jakub SmrzTeam Effenbert-Liberty Racing (Ducati)20.294
866Tom SykesPaul Bird Kawasaki Racing20.742
941Noriyuki HagaPATA Racing Team Aprilia22.421
1011Troy CorserBMW Motorrad Motorsport25.822
1144Roberto RolfoTeam Pedercini Kawasaki29.27
124Jonathan ReaCastrol Honda31.059
132Leon CamierAprilia Alitalia Racing Team31.721
1486Ayrton BadoviniBMW Motorrad Italia SBK36.389
1567Bryan StaringTeam Pedercini Kawasaki36.47
16111Ruben XausCastrol Honda41.928
1752James ToselandBMW Motorrad Italia SBK55.239
1812Josh WatersYoshimuri Suzuki1’00.312
198Mark AitchisonTeam Pedercini Kawasaki1’00.316
20121Maxime BergerSupersonic Racing Team (Ducati)1’30.125
Not Classified
RET13Joan LascorzPaul Bird Kawasaki Racing9 Laps
RET3Sylvain GuintoliTeam Effenbert-Liberty Racing (Ducati)16 Laps

Source: WorldSBK; Photo: Althea Racing

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Comment:

  1. joe says:
    February 27, 2011 at 11:52 AM

    too bad theres no factory ducati team

  2. patron says:
    February 28, 2011 at 8:46 AM

    I’m not sure if that comment was to be read as sarcasm, but Checa is pretty much on a factory supported machine

  3. patron says:
    February 28, 2011 at 8:47 AM

    He is running electronic package upgrades and is using the same suspension as the GP boys are. Its as factory as you can get without being official

  4. joe says:
    February 28, 2011 at 10:59 AM

    It was sarcasm, the lines between factory and non factory are vague though. Seems to have a great deal with the quality of the rider they can draw, as well as the equipment. Checa is no slouch though.