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.
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 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.
Old Timer Checa is on FIRE !!! WOOOHAAAAAA…!
P.S: Jensen, how come u don’t cover SuperStock 600/1000 ? They have the Panigale racing in SS1000.
Panigale made the rostrum in third position. Also Kawasaki on the podiums all over WSBK competition… Talent aside, Kawasaki is making anyone look better than usual…
I thought that Checa would have a more difficult time with the weight they added to the Ducati this year. It’s great watching how smart he rides. He just stays smooth and preserves the tires until everyone on more powerful bikes use theirs up then he goes on the attack. His smooth riding style is fun to watch.
@Westward:
Yup, little Green seems to have pulled their %^&* togheter this year…not to mention Sykes is on fire too.
Yup, saw the Panigale mixing it up on the top three positions with more mature machines…good, good…(^_^)
Bryan, that 6kg is the same 6kg that Checa had to ride with back in 2010 before Althea were given two weight reductions – one in May and another in time for the Siverstone round in July. It’s no coincedence that since riding a bike with a 200cc advantage over its four cyclinder competitors Checa’s results suddenly improved eventually leading to a championship win.
But when Checa had to compete on a level playing field riding the Tenkate Honda he was beat by his then rookie teammate a certain Mr Jonathan Rea.
Really? There are still people blabbing about 200cc from a machine with two less cylinders (with intakes restricted, by rule has to carrying 6kilos more weight, and lowest top speed)? Do some research on wsbk history and the rule change in 2008. Plus, educate yourself in mechanical workings of an internal combustion engine (concentrate on cylinder numbers and puts per sec and while you are in there, bore and stroke relation).
The weight reduction was given to all two cylinder machines. If KTM would put some pants on and race, some of you with blinders on would realize how hard it is to make a competitive machine, let alone a formula different from everyone else.
I’m sure there was/is no other factor in Checa’s situation other than moving to another bike. If you want all the machines to be exactly the same, go watch NASCAR and have your self a cup of tea.
@Cpt.Slow:
It never goes away, does it ? LOL.
+1 all u said……..and then some. Some people are just(blocked) that way (it reminds me of myself on e-bikes articles)…and choose to remain like that forever.
Just to make myself clear, im OK with the 2cyl engines being 1.2L.
I’m well aware of the 2008 rule change – where Ducati threatened to quit if it didn’t get its way again. And as for the KTM argument – comparing a manufacturer who until 2008 never even had a superbike in their lineup to one that’s been involved in WSBK from the start – is rather weak.
A major manufacturer like BMW have shown how difficult it is to go toe to toe with the established marks so why should KTM risk their balance sheet if they feel they’re not ready? At least BMW are having go without needing extra cc’s though. Regarding the NASCAR comment – you do realise the Aprilia is a V-4 right? therefore NOT the same as the other 4 cylinder bikes.
And Honda showed what a nice advantage it is to have extra cc’s by winning the championship at the first try with its RC51.
You just completely ignored the several factors, mechanical facts, and attribute a riders success in a world championship to a single factor? Weak- is what your argument is and serves only prof of how much you fail grasp.
A rider who was soundly beat by Biaggi when they were racing in GP’s and a rider who was soundly beat by a rookie in WSBK when they were teammates riding a 1000cc bike, but when this same rider gets on a bike with an extra 200cc over its four cylinder rivals suddenly he starts winning on a regular basis and even wins himself a championship.
The fact that Ducati are still winning even with air restrictors in place and a weight limit that goes up and down is proof enough that even the WSBK organisers are unsure about the extra 200cc twins are allowed to use. So perhaps you should forward these mechanical facts you keep going on about to the WSBK organisers so they can finally put in place rules that are fair to ALL those competing.
What it all boils down to is if Ducati aren’t winning enough they throw a hissy fit and threaten to quit until the rules are changed to their liking.
(-_-)’ CRAP…190mph is still at it and im running low on PopCorn…LOL…Man, it never gets old.
Like the Buell and H-D thing…LMAO.
You’re really going to get you panties in a bunch if the homologation special 1199 may has Ducati Energia (akaKERs).
*You’re really going to get your panties in a bunch if the 2013 homologation special 1199 has Ducati Energia (aka KERs).
*not use to typing on a borrowed mobile device*
You realize that was an April Fools article, right?
@Jensen: LMAO.
Yes, I know :D