2013 Mugen Shinden Ni (神電貳) Revealed

Shipped up and on its way to the Isle of Man, we can finally now see more than test shots of the Mugen Shinden Ni and get its basic racing specifications. The electric superbike that John McGuinness will ride in the 2013 TT Zero race at the Isle of Man TT, the Mugen Shinden Ni represents that evolution of the Japanese firm’s design, having now a TT race under its belt. Like its main competitor MotoCzysz, Team Mugen is eyeing a 110 mph lap around the Mountain Course, which would be a pretty remarkable one-year advancement for either team. With Mr. McPint at the helm, and seemingly brimming with on-board energy, Mugen is a serious contender.

Ducati Q1 2013 Sales Drop 5% – Audi Dishes the Details

Ducatisti: do you want the good news or the bad news first? The bad news is that the market for motorcycles 500cc and up is down 17% worldwide for the first quarter of this year, which means the “good” news is that Ducati is only down 5% for Q1 2013. Not exactly the start out of the gate that Audi was hoping for its newly acquired two-wheeled brand, but what are you going to do? Western Europe is a mess, with Spain and Italy continuing to go down like a…well, you know. While we don’t enjoy the misery of motorcycle brands, the fact that Ducati Motor Holding is now under the Audi AG umbrella means that we get far more detailed quarterly and yearly reports from the two-wheeled marque, and we’ve got the digits after the jump.

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.

WBSK: Photo Finish for Race 1 at Phillip Island

02/28/2010 @ 3:54 pm, by Jensen Beeler6 COMMENTS

The wait is over, World Superbike racing action is back as Race 1 was underway at Phillip Island today. Perhaps a glimpse into the racing year, the action from down under did not disappoint race fans, and sets up WSBK to have a excitingly close season. Click past the jump for all the racing news of Race 1 at Phillip Island, including rider quotes, video highlights, and race standings.

4/1000th’s of a second determined Leon Haslam as the winner of race one, narrowly beating out Italian Michel Fabrizio. The margin was so close, that Fabrizio thought that he had won the race until an examination of the photo finish proved otherwise, and he was announced the second place finisher. As you can see, Haslam won the race by less than half a tire’s radius. With Noriyuki Haga 3/4 of a second behind the finishing pair, the battle for WSBK supremacy is well underway, and very heated.

For Haslam, who won his first Superpole yesterday, this is also his first WSBK victory and judging from his early showing, probably not his last podium finish of the year. Talking about his first win, the British rider said the following:

“The first race was such hard work and it was impossible to relax for a second. I knew that I had Michel and Nori breathing down my neck, but I just kept concentrating on my lines and my braking points and tried to hold them off. I realised that Michel was in my wheeltracks going into the last turn and would try and use the draft to get past me, but I kept my head down and charged to the flag. At the end, I didn’t know if I’d won or not, but when I realised that I had, I was so unbelievably happy and it was such a fantastic feeling. All weekend I knew that a win was possible, but thinking about and it happening are two different things.

For the former MotoGP riders, Vermeulen & Toseland, their outings back in WSBK went less than according to plan. Both riders ended up in the gravel traps for Race 1. Similarly Max Biaggi had only a moderate showing for his return on the Aprilia RSV4′s second season, he finished 5th in Race 1. Video highlights and standings below.

Results from Race 1 of World Superbike at Phillip Island, Australia:

Pos	No.	Rider	Country	Bike	Diff
1	91	L. Haslam	GBR	Suzuki GSX-R1000	-
2	84	M. Fabrizio	ITA	Ducati 1098R	0.004
3	41	N. Haga	JPN	Ducati 1098R	0.769
4	65	J. Rea	GBR	Honda CBR1000RR	10.201
5	3	M. Biaggi	ITA	Aprilia RSV4 1000 F.	10.782
6	50	S. Guintoli	FRA	Suzuki GSX-R1000	11.079
7	7	C. Checa	ESP	Ducati 1098R	11.208
8	96	J. Smrz	CZE	Ducati 1098R	16.522
9	11	T. Corser	AUS	BMW S1000 RR	20.291
10	57	L. Lanzi	ITA	Ducati 1098R	26.352
11	2	L. Camier	GBR	Aprilia RSV4 1000 F.	29.775
12	76	M. Neukirchner	GER	Honda CBR1000RR	30.155
13	66	T. Sykes	GBR	Kawasaki ZX 10R	31.951
14	67	S. Byrne	GBR	Ducati 1098R	31.957
15	88	A. Pitt	AUS	BMW S1000 RR	55.082
16	31	V. Iannuzzo	ITA	Honda CBR1000RR	1’10.932
17	15	M. Baiocco	ITA	Kawasaki ZX 10R	1’11.237
18	95	R. Hayden	USA	Kawasaki ZX 10R	1’17.357
19	25	J. Brookes	AUS	Honda CBR1000RR	6 Laps
RET	35	C. Crutchlow	GBR	Yamaha YZF R1	17 Laps
RET	77	C. Vermeulen	AUS	Kawasaki ZX 10R	19 Laps
RET	52	J. Toseland	GBR	Yamaha YZF R1	20 Laps

Tagged under: Australia, Christopher Vermeulen, James Toseland, Leon Haslam, Max Biaggi, Michel Fabrizio, Noriyuki Haga, Phillip Island, race, Race 1, Racing, video, world superbike, World Superbike Championship, WSBK

Comment:

mafiax says:
February 28, 2010 at 4:01 PM
RT @Asphalt_Rubber: WBSK: Photo Finish for Race 1 at Phillip Island – http://bit.ly/djq3E0 #motorcycle
Sporting Dude says:
February 28, 2010 at 5:07 PM
WBSK: Photo Finish for Race 1 at Phillip Island: The wait is over, World Superbike racing action is back as Race 1… http://bit.ly/aEs7at
Sen Heng says:
February 28, 2010 at 10:33 PM
Would be grateful if you wouldn’t spoil the results with that photo. Not everyone has managed to watch the race this season.
Jenny Gun says:
February 28, 2010 at 10:52 PM
Sorry Sen Heng, I knew there was something I forgot to do today. Pict blurred as we intended to post it. Sorry for the spoiler.
Kerry Powell says:
February 28, 2010 at 10:57 PM
WBSK: Photo Finish for Race 1 at Phillip Island http://bit.ly/98tcUp
Asphalt_Rubber says:
February 28, 2010 at 11:55 PM
WBSK: Photo Finish for Race 1 at Phillip Island – http://bit.ly/djq3E0 #motorcycle

Follow Asphalt & Rubber on Facebook

Follow Asphalt & Rubber