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.
A surprise addition to BMW Motorrad’s 2013 model line-up, zie Germans have announced a new middleweight adventure-tourer, the 2013 BMW F800GS Adventure. Like its larger predecessor, the BMW F800GS Adventure is a more travel-ready and off-road capable build of the recently updated BMW F800GS motorcycle. Featuring a larger windscreen, panniers, and a bigger fuel tank capacity (2.1 gallons larger, for a total of 6.3 gallons of fuel), the BMW F800GS Adventure keeps the same 85 hp, liquid-cooled, 798cc, parallel-twin engine found on the F800GS, as well as the same chassis configuration. Pricing in the US will be $13,550 for the base model BWM F800GS Adventure.
And here I thought that Petronas was a Harry Potter spell
aaaannnnnddddd….I just spit water on my keyboard.
“Yamaha Motor Kencana INDONESIA (Yamaha’s Malaysian arm)”
Malaysian
Malaysian
Malaysian
Malaysian
Malaysian
oh god why…..
Whoops…I’ve got Malaysians on the brain..wait that sounds wrong.
Oh well…the fastest way to get over a sponsor is to get under another…right ? LMAO.
Good luck with your next boyf…i mean sponsor, Yamaha.
It is very easy to get all of the SPONSORS back, Yamaha just need to RE-SIGN ROSSI, LOLLLLLLL,,,, BLAH BLAH BLAH,,,,,,
Jarvis: where are you now?
Rossi: I am in italy, why?
Jarvis: can you help us to find new sponsors, please??
Rossi: it is very easy dude, what you need is to re-sign me. Oh, sorry, I forgot you have your new future hero right now. I know him, he is not my friend unfortunately.
While Lorenzo being incredibly fast and Spies learning more and more everyday in Gp both of them combined don’t have have the charisma of Rossi or the late Sic (R.I.P.!) … Thats too bad cause a sport once full of characters is now turning into ROBOT racing…Kinda like F1 which is impossible to watch without falling asleep!! Credit to Lorenzo he rode the wheels of the Yami. this year only problem is once the helmets off he just another JERK in the paddock … :/
The funny thing is of course you could say this is one more leg being knocked out from under the chair holding MGP up as a ‘prototype-only’ class: But just as surely as I’m sitting here typing this, 5 to 10 years from now, the CRT machines will cost WAY more than the current mounts, because remember friends one of the Great Commandments: Money Buys Speed.
I also hope HRC threatening to walk in the face of the CRT’s isn’t inspired by their previous S**T-fit when they walked away from AMA: Boy, THAT was a smart move ! Hey, have ya heard the one where all of their new V4 stuff is gonna look like JetSkis ? ? ? ?
glad to hear that..petronas should do that thing since Rossi left the Yamaha team and sponsor the italian team…as malaysian, i feel very happy…save our money from sponsoring the team without any chance to win the title…
The biggest problem with MotoGP is coverage and exposure. Outside of motorcyclist, who else is interested in the sport? The casual observer will never purchase access to the channel that displays it or the website that offers it, if they don’t know what they are getting.
Can’t blame sponsors for leaving a sport only motorcyclist know exists…
Hehehehehehe, Lorenzo finally seen do not have the power to bring sponsors. All of them leave one by one. See Ducati, remained loyal sponsors. All because of the VR 46.
“Rossi’s not a GOD, he can be beaten” Jorge’s comments in “Fastest”. Well, he may be beaten but nobody commands more brand association than #46. If and when they get a replacement, it won’t be a FIAT or Petronas deal. Spain’s a mess, so a Spanish corporate is as scarce as hens teeth. Ben Spies is a bikers Racer but as the previous commentor said, he speaks to BIKERS and hardly anyone else.
Think about what benefit Petronas got out of their deal though. When FIAT left, their name didn’t get any bigger. In fact, they ran corporate blue and their anniversary red and white for some rounds but besides that,, the Petrona’s. Logo was hidden on the bellypan, next to YAMALUBE ? For 8Million ? Made sense to leave !
Certain spots are reserved for Title sponsors, I get that, but you got nothing else, so why not make and exception to the rule ?
Don’t forget Petronas already buys the italian Selenia oil company and its products are all renamed Petronas, and now Petronas brand is big in Italy too…
Maybe the sponsorship is moving to Ducati?
True Yamaha took Petronas’ sponsorship for granted, not even a special livery for malaysian round, and now petronas left (for good).