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.
Great picture. Just drove by Laguna Seca on Monday while on vacation with the family to see the Corkscrew in person. Even absent of racing or people that turn is beautiful to behold.
Totally agree Dan,
This last MotoGP race at Laguna Seca, was the first i had ever seen outside of my living room. My experience was the same as yours, awe stuck by the noise, speed, skill, that i was beholding. How could i ever explain the feeling of leaning on the fence with my 75-300mm at the start of the race grid and feel my insides vibrate as the bikes roared by. Having only had my T3i since Dec. 2011, my first DSLR, i was anxious to get pics from every vantage point possible. Especially the corkscrew, i was really impressed at how freely you could move around to line up shots, although I was jealous of those lucky photographers on the other side of the cyclone fence.
After taking pictures from every possible corner i could walk to, i have to say Turn 5 was my favorite, something about that vantage point with the bikes nearly horizontal for so long was great for setting up shots. For me turn 5 in person really conveyed just how extremely good Casey Stoner is, the way he would dive into that turn and hold a line was on a godlike level.
Speaking of the leg-dangle: why do they do that? Is it to stretch out the leg? Feeler like the knee (but at a much higher position)? Leg pump? Wind break?
@Everett
I can’t speak personally on this subject but from what I have read this is the best explanation for the “leg dangle” ; By moving their foot off the peg, riders are able get their bodies closer to the front of bike to help load front end while braking into a turn. Also the braking forces naturally throw the rider to the front of the bike. Resisting that force takes a great amount of effort by the rider, ie it takes much more energy to keep your foot planted on the peg than to let the foot flop forward. So it serves two purposes, to conserve energy throughout the race distance and help transfer more weight to the front. Occasionally you will see a rider dangle the right leg, but it is rare, most often the right leg stays on for trail braking into a turn.
I remember watching Stoner bin it in turn 5 back in ’06 on the satellite Honda. Was like getting roosted at the MX track, but with gravel.
JMc, Thanks for the explanation, a lot of it makes sense. But at the same time, when braking, don’t you want to squeeze the tank to prevent from slamming into it? Another way I’ve noticed it, is it’s almost a rhythm thing. Like a baseball batter and their step before the swing. I see the dangle before a turn (in braking like you say) and then a ‘set’ back on the pegs just before the final dive in for a turn.
When I went to Indy for its first year (also my first year witnessing a MotoGP race live), I remember being disappointed that it rained on Friday for their practices. Naively thinking I was going to see less of a show due to the slower, wet weather speeds. I could not have been more wrong. Watching them take turn 5, in the soaking wet, faster than I had imagined they would take it dry was enough to keep my mouth open and eyes unblinked for 30 min. It almost prepared me for how fast they would be going on the dry Sat. Was an amazing and humbling experience to say the least.
Honestly to delve any further on this topic would be pure speculation on my behalf. Its an advanced maneuver that is only used in the highest echelons motorcycle racing, I will never achieve the ability or need to preform such technique in my daily bike riding. If I could speculate further, one could assume the rider is squeezing the tank and downshifting while braking for the corner. The leg dangle happens after gear selection so the rider is already against the tank. The leg comes out as they continue to brake deeper into the apex. The leg comes back on as they transition from brake to throttle mid corner.
That is my amateur take it on.
No Americans do this “leg dangle” BTW. At least not in MotoGP. I always found that interesting
I’ve heard a lot of opinions on this, but i remember seeing an interview with Rossi a few years ago about why he dangled his leg, since he was one of the first riders to adopt that style.
From what i can remember was, to brake very hard like these riders do before every turn, he would brace himself using his arms much like if you were doing a bench press, because it’s very hard to brake as you turn not only to loss of traction, but just the shear force of braking alone. Getting your leg off before corner apex helps turn in the motorcycle and helps smoothly transfer weight as the rider leans off the bike.
Also a lot of riders have thumb brakes on the left handle bar for the rear braking duties as well.
Rossi also said at one point that he has looked at his data and it provide no benefit, just feels better. Other riders just adopted it. All the more reason I like that American riders have none of it. Eventually I believe this will disappear. As I’ve never roadraced, I’ve never tried to see if there is something to its “feel”.
I , like a few others here, was absolutely blown away by my first live MotoGP (at Indy last year). So much so that I’m going back this year as well. Watching it TV just doesn’t do it justice. TV can’t convey the speed or all the glorious noise! We stood in Ducati Island near the pit exit road and watched them roar past while hitting turn 1. These guys truly are the upper echelon of motorcycle riders. I’m not sure I could even ride one of those bikes hard enough to warm the tires… I’d be a lap down on lap 2… :-) Truly amazing stuff.
The leg dangle is done as I have heard from a couple of riders like Casey and Vale to help break the sturdy frame into turn angle as the motorcycle and the force plus speed make it difficult to turn these bikes, “breaking the frame into 2 from the middle of the bike is what supposedly helps with.
Dangling the leg is just to get some air flow into your balls :p
It is both to weight the front of the bike as well as to get extra wind resistance to slow down. Same principle as sitting up to slow down. If you are using all available braking power but still need to scrub off speed to keep a proper line sometimes a little extra wind resistance and front end traction is all it will take.
Laguna Seca is a truly special track. I started going there with my Dad to watch the historic auto races when I was a kid and hadn’t been there for many years until I began to ride a motorcycle and watch GP racing. The elevation changes not only make it more interesting, but a lot more spectator-friendly as well.
If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend attending a track day at Laguna. Comparing my lap times with what the professionals are able to accomplish makes what they do that much more impressive (and humbling). I can’t wait to do my next track event there this fall.