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.
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.
I feel bad for the proud/loaded owners that drop’d all that coin for a serving of Pheasant and now are getting Crow… (^_^)
Hating aside…this is nothing…if they say failing conecting rod or it’s bearing i would be throwing a fit…lol.
“The swingarm shaft pivots can loosen from the swingarm which can lead to loss of control of the motorcycle, increasing the risk of personal injury.”
What delicious doublespeak. Let me translate to plain english:
The large bolt that holds your swingarm on can come off wich would split the bike in two making it more likely that you be screwed and in much pain.
Technically these last 5 items were all filed under one recall notice. Not that it makes
It better understandably, but they’re all minor items.
The swingarm bolt issue was also much less severe than originally thought, however the risk if
One were to break certainly wasn’t worth it. Having seen some of
The affected bolts personally, it’s nothing more
Than some bending. The bolts were not
In a position where they could even break or come out.
So real world people do some stoppies and the swingarm bolt bends. This kept happening to my nephew’s R6, he was always asking me to fix his rear wheel bearing, he was on the heavy side. I told him to focus on riding more…
Geez Ducati! Reminds me of software. The first consumers to buy a new version get to do the last stages of de-bugging.
@TimM:
Isn’t it THAT way now a days with ALMOST everything ! ? LOL
I really like Ducati as a company and have considered them for my next bike, but no amount of creative marketing or customer relations can make it worth owning a bike that you can’t count on to work. With all of their recent influx of money they shouldn’t continue to have these issues.
Holy crap, I thought I would never see anything like that. What’s next a piston change required notice?
it has two short pivot shafts now, not one long bolt.
Where’s the link to the picture that says, “Ducati: making mechanics out of riders since 1945.”
I recall (pun not intended) someone commenting here about something about the S1000RR having one or two recalls and hence it being bad bike and out of the question for purchasing. So what does that make the 1199…..
Nothing new in the motorcycling world here. Some of the commenters here would have gone bonkers if they’d bought one of the first Aprilia V4s which had conn rod problems.
8 recalls in 1st year. Ducs, they suck. RT @Asphalt_Rubber Mega Recall Continues: Ducati 1199 Panigale – http://t.co/rTEOsmsI
And that is why I never buy the first release of any new technology…
Though I might have to brake that rule on an upcoming camera…
I personally never buy the first model of anything, with the possible exception of it be a derivative of an existing model (Streetfighter 848, Honda CB10000R, etc)
I am surprised something critical like a swing-arm bolt and brake master cylinder got missed though. So far everything seems like relatively quick fixes.
When your gas tank starts expanding and engine internals start failing that is a bit trickier. The first generation aprilia RSV4 was a nightmare. I am sure the Panigale is going to have similar growing pains.
Lets translate this into English……..
personal injury – lawyer looking to make money for clients trying to make a fast buck with no attention paid as to whether the person actually suffered at all and 100 % focus on transferring blame for ineptitude to someone else. The Jack Daniels case springs to mind, Henry Wolf, the list is long.
The large bolt that holds your swingarm on can come off wich would split the bike in two making it more likely that you be screwed and in much pain.
If you ride the bike like a moron, with sports shoes furry helmet, t shirt and shorts as seen on 1000′s of youtube vids. When you sit on the tank going down the highway and do a stoppy then as all the weight is on the front and you slam the back down repeatedly as well as doing mile long wheelies. It may possibly in a rare event cause an issue, which some scumbag lawyer will get a case for and try to win an unjustified award for the moron client.
Road safety and quality recalls that have nothing to do with safety and safety recalls but a great deal to do with commercial lawyers.
“This kept happening to my nephew’s R6, he was always asking me to fix his rear wheel bearing, he was on the heavy side”.
This makes for interesting reading….
http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/motorcycle_recalls/
The latest Ducati recall b4 the Panigale was in 2006. With none for the 1098, 1198 and 848. The Panigale is clearly the most complex sportsbike on the market today as well.
As for Ducati’s being more unreliable than other bikes. I am now on my third (after a CBR 600 and Fireblade). Tracked and thrashed each one and the only issues I have had are a broken starter motor and a flywheel bolt that came loose.
Most Ducati riders are mechanics because they do not treat their bikes like a commodity but something to cherish.
What are bridges for, so Harley owners can repair their bikes out of the sun.
Pot kettle black….!
Rant over normal service restored.
@smiler
You are making several assumptions without having any facts. No where in the recall does Ducati say that these problems can only happen when you ride the like a “squid”. If they were only worried about people doing stoppies and extremely odd riding situation they wouldn’t have issued the recall. The statements you are making are born of emotion and not facts. (Note:Ducati had two recalls just last year for the Diavel just to set the record straight.)
I am not dogging Ducati, but much like when aprilia brought the RSV4 to market. It was a technical marvel (and still is), but it had some growing pains. These things happen. Also you can’t argue that pre-1098 era Ducatis weren’t “maintenance intensive” to say the least.
Hell I saw the aftermath of a local squid that snapped his front forks doing a stoppie on a Honda 954, which is arguably the most rock solid liter bike of all time. THAT was due to over-riding not a factory defect, this is something else entirely.
Gee’z all the talk of them crappy bikes. Go to safercar.gov and look up just about any model from Japan bikes or cars and you will see that no one is mistake free. The biggest difference in recalls is being proactive and doing a voluntary recall rather than waiting for NHTSA to make it mandatory.
These all seem like pretty minimal issues compared to the con rod bolt recall on the 2012 S1000RR’s. That bike has been around for a few years now, and the recall repair requires splitting the engine case…
Alas, still no recall for repulsive appearence…
@Gary:
LMAO.
My 2006 r6 had 2 recalls but I will never buy a first year bike cuzz of it, second or third year for my now
I love to read all these “wanna have, but I can’t afford it”…makes me feel even happier when I stop at the traffic light and think these people are green with envy
In my opinion, I would rather have a company recall and fix the problem vice having them hide the problem and wait for people to get hurt. I owned many bike from V-Stars to Haley’s to Suzuki and now a Ducati 1098, all of which had recalls. Let me tell you that the worst to deal with was Suzuki, and the best was Ducati and Harley. Someone said that if you put $30000 on a bike, you will spend more on servicing. This statement is true as you will treat that bike like a gem. Owning a Ducati is like having a Lamborghini in the garage. I also use my Ducati for track days and the bike performs without a flaw, try this with any production cars.
My 20 year old son was recently killed on his 2012 Ducati Panigale 1199 S ABS. He was traveling in under 35 mph immediately before the accident. I purchased his bike for him in August of this year, after being told how this was the safest bike in the world because of all of the safety technology Incorporated into it. When I wasn’t told however, was at an Ducati’s efforts to reduce weight and hence increase the speed of the bike, that safety was seriously compromised. It is because of these compromises, that my son is no longer here.
It is tremendously unfortunate, that Ducati chose to bring this bike to the stream of commerce before thoroughly testing it to ascertain what safety problems would manifest in its everyday use. Ducati was fully aware that this bike was going to be driven on US streets and highways, where they take an extra efforts to make it a street legal bike. My son was not going to race this bike, but wanted it because of the sophisticated electronics, traction control, ABS braking and other features that were marketed is making this bike the most technologically safe bike ever produced. This of course, is untrue as manifested by the significant number of safety recalls that of the mandated by the NHTSA. It certainly would seem prudent, for Ducati to addressed all of these compromised issues before putting this bike into the stream of commerce for people to ride.
Despite the slow speed of operation immediately prior to my son hitting a utility pole, because of bike was built with handlebars that have the strength papier-mâché, my son was unable to ride the bike down to the ground, because the handlebars, snapped off causing his body to propel forward beyond the bike, causing him to have contact with the Pole. Inspection of the bike manifests that the single bolt that held the sophisticated electronic suspension system onto the bike, had broken clean off as if the bolt had been prefabricated to snap at that point.
The parts of the motorcycle, but we were told were made of carbon fiber, or actually fiberglass or plastic. To place a driver in a position of such compromise to save literally single grams of weight, so that you could obtain higher performance with the same motor, is unconscionable. Were this vehicle was being driven on US roads and highways, and did not have the tent style strength to stand up and impact that would have been easily written out safely had the handlebars not snapped off like pieces of dry spaghetti.
Is is immensely troubling that this bike is not the engineering marvel that has been proffered to be by Ducati, as clearly demonstrated by the numerous safety recalls. I am confident, there will be several subsequent recalls addressing other issues that Ducati and its dealers will tell its customers are minor issues that need to be addressed. If you own one of these motorcycles, please be sure to have all of the recalls preformed before you use the bike. The so-called minor items that are being recalled, if unaddressed, may very well cost you your life.
Incidentally, my son was an experience motorcyclist who may have enjoyed a bike that was fast, but would always drive safely, never recklessly.