Cutaway Photos of the Ducati Superquadro Engine

I was flipping through some photos from the 2011 EICMA show, and found these shots of the Ducati 1199 Panigale’s Superquadro engine. Unfortunately at the show, Ducati had its 1199cc v-twin motor behind a Lexan case, which created a bit of a glare, reflections, and of course had smudges from the touchy-feely Italian crowd. But still, the photos give a good idea of what’s going on in Ducati’s most-advanced production engine to date, and are better than just looking at the CAD renders. If you look at the shots very closely, you can almost see where the 195hp and 98 lbs•ft of torque is lurking inside.

AGV, Please Make This Helmet!

In addition to testing the factory Ducati Desmosedici GP12 “Phoenix” this week at Sepang, Valentino Rossi is also trying out a new lid from AGV. Aside from the carbon fiber goodness, and of course the Rossi stickers (which add 5hp & $200), AGV’s prototype helmet sports a noticably pronounced rear spoiler. Tucked in behind the windscreen, it is obvious why the Italian helmet manufacturer designed such a large protrusion off the back of the prototype helmet, as it looks to be clearly helping the flow off the back of the helmet, across the rider’s hump, and down his backside.

2012 Honda RC213V Debuts in Malaysia

While Ducati Corse is busy playing hide-the-Desmosedici at Sepang, HRC is all business in Malaysia this week, and has debuted its 2012 Honda RC213V MotoGP-contender. Honda isn’t saying too much about the RC213V, simply stating that the race bike is all new, but is also a continuation of the company’s design with the 800cc Honda RC212V. Testing the Honda RC213V over the course of last season, reigning-World Champion Casey rode the new 1,000cc machine three times in 2011, while teammate Dani Pedrosa swung a leg over the RC213V twice (missing one test because of injury).

No, This is the “90%” New Ducati Desmosedici GP12

You may have been misled by some eager journalists today and yesterday, if you saw a Ducati Corse livery-clad Ducati Desmosedici GP12 that some sites were passing off as the first shots of the “90% new” GP12. With the alleged new GP12 looking surprisingly similar to the aluminum-framed “GP0″ that was tested at Valencia, Valentino Rossi’s mechanic has now Alex Briggs confirmed that the photos taken were not of the all new “GP12 Phoenix” that the factory team will race this season. While the Ducati lords can taketh away, they can also giveth, and Valentino Rossi himself has posted the first photo of the factory Desmosedici GP12, and the bike is clearly different.

Zero Motorcycles Commences 2012 Model Line Production

Zero Motorcycles has announced the full-commencement of production for its 2012 model line, which is expected to hit dealers in February & March of this year. First off the line was the 2012 Zero DS back in December, though the electric motorcycle company has recently started building the Zero S, Zero XU, Zero X, and Zero MX at its Scotts Valley facility as well. A story we broke back in November, Zero Motorcycles debuted its important 2012 electric motorcycle line up at the 2011 EICMA show in Milan, with the 2012 range being a substantial improvement upon the company’s previous offerings.

The Dainese D-Air Racing Airbag Suit Comes to America

Getting a look at Dainese & AGV’s 2012 collection, Asphalt & Rubber was down in Orange County earlier this week to see the highly anticipated Dainese D-Air Racing leather suit, which has a four liter airbag system that helps reduce the risk of injury during a motorcycle crash. Dainese has been working on the D-Air Racing system for 10 years now, and after soft-launching the airbag suit in Europe, the Italian company is ready to bring the game-changing technology to American soil.

I Love the Nightlife. I’ve Come to Boogie.

Us Danes, we’re a strange breed. From the culture that taught you how to rape and pillage, Scandinavia is making yet another contribution to the motorcycling world with this latest video. Featuring Danish Supermoto Champion Andreas Mikkelsen, we get a RoToR camera-esque perspective (this rig is actually home made) on the Dane’s practice session at the Als Supermotard Club in Denmark. It’s videos like this that are slowly eroding my will-power to resist getting into supermotard riding. Also, I don’t know who was in charge of the music selection on this thing, but my hat is off to him/her. I love the nightlife. I’ve come to boogie.

Confirmed: KTM 350 Duke in 2013 – Moto3 Inspired 350cc Sport Bike in 2014

Our friends over at IndianCarsBikes.in were in attendance at the KTM 200 Duke launch in India this week, as the Austrian brand launched its somewhat bigger-displacement version of the popular KTM Duke 125. During the press event, KTM talked about the future of the mini-Duke line and its product roadmap for the emerging country, as well as abroad. With the Austrian brand confirming/clarifying that KTM would release a KTM 350 Duke for India in 2013, zie Austrians also confirmed that the KTM 350 Duke would be built locally in India by Bajaj, but would be exported worldwide — allaying fears that the KTM 350 Duke would be an India-only model.

Why Today is the Most Important Day for Ducati…Ever

Now that the first Ducati 1199 Panigale has rolled out of the door in Bologna, the die is cast, the chips are in play, and our course is set to see if Ducati has created a “massive breach of brand trust and honesty.” The realization of course should be that Ducati’s brand was never in danger with bikes like the Hypermotard, Multistrada 1200, or Diavel. Instead, the danger of serious brand dilution has always rested on how Ducati handled its Superbike line. A failure to produce a two-wheeled machine that is both as striking visually as it is kinetically, could permanently alienate a loyal fan base that has endured a great deal in the past half-decade.

Video: Community + Motorcycles = Motomethod

There is a lot that can be said about why dealerships fail or succeed (we’ve already seen an interesting insight on the subject of shops being open on Sundays), and one aspect on how to be a successful dealership that will surely rise to the top is one of community. Here, Vancouver-based Motomethod is all about the community, as the do-it-yourself community garden style repair shop has become a place for British Columbian riders not to work on their motorcycles, but also to congregate together with a shared love of riding on two wheels. Not exactly a new concept business-wise, but still a fresh perspective in an otherwise unwilling to change industry. More on this thought process to be published in the coming weeks. Enjoy.

Supersport Motorcycle Racer Caught Doping [Updated]

Mon, August 31st, 2009 @ 9:00 am, by Jenny Gun7 COMMENTS
Home » Racing » Supersport Motorcycle Racer Caught Doping [Updated]

First it was baseball, then the witch-hunt progressed through the other professional sports, going as far as NASCAR and Formula1. So, it makes logic sense to say that it was only a matter of time before the issues of athletic doping entered into the motorcycle racing world.

While the issue of doping in motorsports seems almost absurd, considering the benefits of athletic doping are deminimus when machinery takes center-stage, it would seem our beloved sport is not immune from athletes looking for that extra edge during competition.

UPDATE: David Emmett of MotoGP Matters has revealed in the comments below that Rodríguez, while testing positive during a doping screening, in fact had recreation drugs in his system, not performance enhancing drugs as we had thought earlier. Thanks for the tip David.

The Real Federación Española de Motociclismo (RFME), the Spanish version of our AMA, have announced that 2008 600cc National Champion, Angel Rodríguez, has tested positive for doping, which was later confirmed with a secondary sample. Rodríguez, the current points leader for the 2009 season, tested positive at the July 19th Spanish Supersport race at Albacete, Spain.

Because of these testing results, Rodríguez’s season is now over, even though the RFME hasn’t come to an official conclusion on the sanctions and punishment it will impose on the young Spanish rider. Howver, it is likely that Rodríguez is likely facing a 2-year suspension from motorcycle racing.

While the incident is tragic, it legitimizes the drug testing the FIM has conducted on MotoGP and other Grand Prix racers, and shows that even in motorcycling, riders are looking for any edge they can get to rise above the rest.

The big question now, is what sort of discussions this incident will bring forth in arenas like the AMA and MotoGP.

Source: Motociclismo

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Tagged under: Angel Rodríguez, Campeón de España de Velocidad 2008, CEV, doping, drugs, FIM, performance enhancement drug, RFME, Spanish, Spanish Supersport, steroids, supersport

Comment:

Kropotkin says:
August 31, 2009 at 3:52 PM
Rodri failed a drug test, but reportedly, he didn’t fail because of performance enhancing drugs, but rather for banned recreational substances. Just as Anthony Gobert failed a drug test for using a different banned recreational substance, it raises the question of why such substances are banned. Neither of the substances involved have any performance benefits – quite the opposite. But rules are rules and both men broke them, and even worse, got caught.
Jenny Gun says:
August 31, 2009 at 4:38 PM
Hmm…what’s your source David? I’m going off what Motociclismo reported.
Kropotkin says:
August 31, 2009 at 4:46 PM
My source is someone who writes for Motociclismo, who knows Rodri personally. But the FME has declined to name the substance involved, to save everyone’s embarrassment.
Jenny Gun says:
August 31, 2009 at 5:07 PM
Wonder why they’re saying he was doping then, if they know it was a performance enhancing drug. A suspicious case of Viagra perhaps?
Kropotkin says:
August 31, 2009 at 9:06 PM
The exact RFME quote is “La Real Federación Española de Motociclismo comunica que el piloto Ángel Rodríguez Campillo ha dado positivo en el análisis antidopaje” which translates as “The RFME announces that the rider Angel Rodriguez had a positive result during the analysis of an anti-doping test.” The Motociclismo headline mangles the news to fit a headline. But strictly speaking, any substance found which is on the list of banned substances is a violation of the anti-doping code, whether it is performance enhancing or not. This whole thing plays out to the N-th degree in professional cycling, which I follow quite closely. It’s so easy to fail a doping test, even if you haven’t used anything which will actually help your performance.
Sully says:
September 2, 2009 at 5:02 PM
Do you know what list motorcycling uses? Is it the WADA list of banned substances?
Jenny Gun says:
September 3, 2009 at 1:47 AM
It would appear so, as the WADA list mentions the FIM specifically in provisions on alcohol and beta-blockers.
http://www.wada-ama.org/rtecontent/document/2009_Prohibited_List_ENG_Final_20_Sept_08.pdf