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.

Transcript: The Gay Question at Jerez

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.

2014 Suzuki GSV-R Spotted Again

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.

BMW F800GS Adventure – Germany’s Middleweight ADV

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.

Kevin Schwantz Returns to Motorcycle Racing – Enters the Suzuka 8-Hours with Team Kagayama

Former 500cc World Champion Kevin Schwantz has certainly been in the news a bit these past few months, mostly for his involvement and falling out with the Circuit of the Americas and the Americas GP, but also more recently for his comments regarding Dani Pedrosa — we also sat down with Mr. Schwantz in Austin, and the Texan gave us some sobering insight into the future of American road racing. As if all that wasn’t enough, Schwantz is making a return to two-wheeled racing, and has entered the prestigious Suzuka 8-Hours endurance race with Team Kagayama racing alongside Noriyuki Haga and team owner Yukio Kagayama.

Öhlins Releases a Semi-Active Suspension Upgrade for the Ducati Multistrada 1200 S – But, What’s Next?

An interesting development on the aftermarket side of things has graced our desks, as Öhlins has released a “suspension control unit” (SCU) that upgrades the electronically adjustable suspension on the Ducati Multistrada 1200 S so that it becomes a semi-active suspension system. Whhhaaaat??! So, if you’re the proud owner of a pre-2013 Ducati Multistrada 1200 S, and you think that your electronically controlled Öhlins suspension is no longer boss, now that Ducati has released its Sachs-powered “Skyhook” semi-active suspension pieces on its new batch of Multistrada sport-tourers, there is a remedy for your motolust.

Suzuki Recalls 70,000+ Motorcycles for Faulty Rectifier

02/25/2011 @ 2:56 pm, by Jensen Beeler7 COMMENTS

Suzuki Recalls 70,000+ Motorcycles for Faulty Rectifier 2009 Suzuk GSXR 600 635x422

If you’ve bought a Suzuki motorcycle in the past few years, you might want to check out the list for the Japanese company’s latest motorcycle recall. Affecting 73,426 motorcycles from various product lines and model years (2008-2010), Suzuki has discovered a faulty electrical rectifier/regulator in its design that needs replacing.

According to the recall, rectifiers/regulators on bikes built between July 2007 and September 2009 have an inadequate amount of adhesion between the power module and the case, which results in the unit not sufficiently being cooled by its heat sink (affected Suzuki part numbers are: 32800-41F11, 32800-15H10, 32800-05H11, 32800-41G10, 32800-15H00, 32800-18H00, 32800-05G10, 32800-10G10, 32800-05H20, OR 32800-06G01). As a result the unit’s circuit board could warp, and become dislodged from its casing.

Should the rectifier/regulator start malfunctioning because of this condition, the motorcycle would improperly charge its electrical system, likely draining the battery, and possibly causing the motorcycle to stall. Suzuki will notify owners affected by the issue, and a Suzuki distributor will replace the affected part for free. The recall is expected to take place March 2, 2011, the affected models are listed below. Concerned Suzuki owners can contact Suzuki 1-714-996-7040, and as always the NHTSA is available at 1-888-327-4236 or at the safercar.gov website.

Affected ModelAffected Model Year
Suzuki / AN4002008-2009
Suzuki / DL10002008-2009
Suzuki / GSF12502008-2009
Suzuki / GSX-R6002008-2009
Suzuki / GSX-R7502008-2009
Suzuki / GSX1300B2008
Suzuki / GSX1300R2008-2010
Suzuki / GSX650F2008-2009
Suzuki / SFV6502009-2010
Suzuki / VL8002008-2010
Suzuki / VLR18002008-2009
Suzuki / VZ15002009-2010

Source: NHTSA

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Comment:

  1. Andre says:
    February 25, 2011 at 4:25 PM

    Shame Ducati won’t acknowledge and fix it’s rectifier issues. Good on Suzuki!

  2. Sean says:
    February 27, 2011 at 5:57 PM

    hhhhmmm, lots of rectifier problems on the 06/07 600 and 750′s.

  3. Mike (Vancouver BC) says:
    February 28, 2011 at 9:48 AM

    Last summer there was backorder on rectifiers! I had to wait 1 month on my GSXR600 K9 to receive a new rectifier on my bike that had only 48km on it! I wrote to Suzuki Canada in July 2010 and they’ve still haven’t replied or said anything. I’m sure Suzuki USA would of responded a long time ago. Boo Suzuki Canada! Shame on you! It’s bad enough that we pay more for our bikes here in Canada than the US, the least Suzuki Canada can do is acknowledge our existane as customers.
    Anyways enogh said, for the rest of you people out there with defected rectifiers. You really got three options… 1. Call your local dealership to see if they got the new rectifiers in stock and get it done now befor the season begins…(Duh).. 2. If it’s too late and there’s a back order, glue a CPU fan on it to prevent it from frying the rectifier, that way you can enjoy the bike till they get them in stock.. 3. Write to Suzuki Canada and read them the Riot Act, those bastards in Toronto deserve it. :p

  4. Jason O. Nungesser says:
    March 1, 2011 at 1:52 AM

    Suzuki Recalls 70,000 Motorcycles for Faulty Rectifier http://goo.gl/jxxdF Is your bike on the list? Mine isn't.

  5. Mike (Vancouver BC) says:
    March 1, 2011 at 3:24 PM

    What year and model is your bike?

  6. Ray(Australia) says:
    March 1, 2011 at 9:34 PM

    Does this list include bikes sold in Australia?

  7. Mike 2 says:
    March 22, 2011 at 5:19 PM

    Mike vancouver. What riot act re what topic what is the going to so. Also the recall came out now. They probably knew something was up but needed to wait and see what the issue is and how to rectify it. Manufactures don’t issue recalls that fast without proper tests,