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.
Great, I’ve already spent a fortune on R/Rs for a Daytona 675 because my bike is out of warranty, and they keep frying. Someone must have really pushed this, because Triumph has managed to keep other bigger safety issues non-recall (they had a decent batch of bikes with shift fork failures, and they replaced them under a “secret” recall if you brought it up).
Agree with Jmz.
My 2008 fried it’s R/R two years ago while coming down a long switchback on a mountain. I’d be surprised if many of the early bikes still have an original R/R. Upgraded mine since original was resistive bleed off design that was pretty much destined to keep failing.
Finally! I’ve replaced my R/R twice now, with some scary moments on busy highways without engine power to show for it. If only they did this 2 months earlier, it would have saved me a ton of money :(
I agree with everybody. I swear everybody with one of these bikes has had to deal with this problem. It’s truely sad that it took triumph this long to finally fess up to it. I too had two r/r’s replaced.
and this is why i will never buy a triumph again
Why pick on triumph and not the other manufacturers like aprilia/guzzi? aprilia owners have been fighting this for years. attempts have been made to get them to pay for recalls but no results. I guess it depends on how deep your pockets are.
A known issue and good they’re doing something about it. Glad they waited until they have a known good unit to fit as well instead of just doing it and having the same issue in a couple of years time!
My ’06 Daytona is still on its original R/R and have the new unit waiting at home.
Unfortunately Triumph is not the only one with recall issues. Every manufacturer has done the same, there is not one exception. The industry really needs to police itself better than this.
It’s long overdue. Triumph has been covering the repairs for even out-of-warranty bikes for a couple of years now, but it’s a potentially very dangerous situation.
I’m on my third R/R, too. Fortunately it’s the latest upgrade, so I’m hoping the failures are a thing of the past. Cost me a fortune, too, even though Triumph covered the parts and labor. I had to pay to have the bike transported twice and it ruined a few of riding excursions.
If you’re a Daytona/ST 675 owner and you’ve had an R/R failure, make sure they check the stator. Mine got progressively fried through the two failures and even though it tested okay, it eventually failed, causing more expense and hassle. Have someone pull the cover off and actually look at it. Triumph covered the cost of the part, even though the bike was long out of warranty, but I had to pay for labor.
Absolutely love my Daytona. Best bike I’ve ever owned or ridden but this problem nearly ruined my experience. Nothing else has ever gone wrong with it.
This isn’t just a Triumph problem, though. Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Ducati and others have had similar issues with R/Rs on several different models. My buddy’s Duc GT 1000 has the damn thing mounted under the seat, where it was sure to overheat and fail. Sure enough, it did.
Thank god I’m not the only one, I’m on my 3rd one. Yah seriously the expense and time taken out of my life for this issue, f. Ill never get it back, love my bike tho, but yah like another said Ill prob not buy another triumph after all this mess. Worst feeling after the shit happens to u, then happens again and ur riden, and u second guess taking a long ride and shit, wrryen it will f up again. AHHHH DAMMIT TRIUMPH thanks for the best first moto experience.
If we have already replaced our R/R is there any recourse for the money spent?
Secondly, I replaced mine for a Honda one but now my battery is draining when turned off..someone suggested this could be the stator, which could be fried as someone mentioned above.. I will ask Triumph to check and consider replacement.
I have a Triumph here in Nigeria……beautiful piece of work….but of course,the stator got fried….i think it also affected my ECU (brainbox)…I’m on the 2nd one as well……May i know how i’ll got about this recall process from here?
Thanks alot.
Oladiran