Goodbye Husqvarna Nuda, We Hardly Knew Thee

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.

Q&A: Yukio Kagayama Talks About the Upcoming Suzuka 8-Hour with Kevin Schwantz & Noriyuki Haga

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.

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.

Rumor: New KTM Super Duke & Adventure Bikes in 2013

01/19/2011 @ 7:00 am, by Jensen Beeler9 COMMENTS

The news coming out of Holland this morning is that KTM is working on a new set of Super Duke and Adventure series motorcycles, slated to appear in 2012 as 2013 model year bikes. The news comes from Dutch site Nieuwsmotor, who talked to Robert Prielinger, Head of Development / R & D of Street Bikes at KTM, while visiting the KTM factory, and according to Prielinger KTM is working on a new v-twin motor and electronics package that will see introduction into the Super Duke and Adventure lines by 2013. Also new for the 2013 Super Duke line is a new single-cylinder engine model, which will pick up where the KTM 690 Super Duke left off.

The new Adventure series is supposed to have modular construction, and will see a variety of displacements reside in the same chassis. According to Nieuwsmotor we can expect to see 1,200cc, 1,000cc, and 700cc/800cc models from KTM in this department, but we’re not sure how a 1,000cc would differentiate itself from a 1,200cc machine and what we assume will be an 800cc model to compete with the F800GS and Triumph Tiger 800.

However Nieuwsmotor does go on to say that the smaller displacement Adventure bike will be very off-road capable, more so than the Triumph Tiger 800 XC, and we imagine that the bike will draw on its Dakar roots in design and performance.

For the Super Duke line, KTM has been developing a more complete electronics package (like many manufacturers), and we can expect to see the Austrian company add traction control and other features to its naked streetbikes. The Super Duke will share its v-twin motor with the Adventure line, presumably in a higher-state of tune, while a new 700cc class single-cylinder motor will also debut in 2012 for the 2013 model year.

An early concept of the new single-cylinder Super Duke was spotted by Nieuwsmotor, and is said to be less aggressive in style than previous designs, which might be a good thing for mass appeal, but bad news for the KTM loyal.

KTM is also expected to continue to roll-out smaller displacement street bikes, likely under the Duke name, that will be heavily influenced by Bajaj. We hope that translates into a 200cc-400cc version of the KTM 125 Duke hitting US soil sometime in the near future.

Source: Nieuwsmotor

Tagged under: 2013, Adventure, Austria, Austrian, KTM, KTM Adventure, KTM Super Duke, Robert Prielinger, rumor, single-cylinder, Super Duke, thumper, traction control, v-twin

Comment:

Steve says:
January 19, 2011 at 7:14 AM
I want to see a 450 cc adventure bike! Who needs 1200 cc to go off-road!?
76 says:
January 19, 2011 at 8:28 AM
Looking forward to KTM new lineup, they are one of the most exciting companies in the industry if not top. The Super Duke set a standard that all nakeds get measured. I really look forward to the new features and look for 135 to 140 HP on that new Super
Iwan says:
January 19, 2011 at 8:58 AM
I would think that if it’s from KTM themselves the word “rumour” is not the right title…
BBQdog says:
January 19, 2011 at 9:02 AM
Big, bigger …. who needs that. Give me a descent 450cc road bike or supermono.
Jensen Beeler says:
January 19, 2011 at 9:29 AM
It’s not a slight to your publication Iwan, just us alerting our readers that we can’t confirm any of this information.
Iwan van der Valk says:
January 19, 2011 at 4:55 PM
That's not a rumour, it's what KTM says! // RT @Asphalt_Rubber: Rumor: New KTM Super Duke & Adventure Bikes in 2013 – http://aspha.lt/85
76 says:
January 19, 2011 at 6:10 PM
A 1200 Super Duke with Underbelly Exhaust, shorter wheelbase & Superbike style swingarm for more rigidity. HP it will get 135 to 140 my guess is where they will put it and the torque to go with it. I also am betting they go ride by wire throttle.
I wonder if they keep the Dry Sump or not?
Randy Singer says:
January 19, 2011 at 8:59 PM
It’s not surprising that they will be upgrading their engines. KTM now has an infusion of cash from their new Indian owners:
http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/ktm-motorcycles-to-be-bought-by-bajaj-for-90.htm
The thing is, how smart is it for KTM to announce that they will be coming out with all-new engines in two years? That might chill demand for their current models.
Maximus Hastings says:
March 3, 2011 at 12:22 AM
@Dimwit…. having ridden around the world several times on everything from Hayabusas, R1s, KLRs, Aprilias, Honda Baja, DRs, GS 750, Africa Twin, Batavus MK4S (50cc ) to KTM 990 A I’d say bigger is better for your arse and the little world you haul around with you.. And to American’s round the world (ie a true adventure) means SouthAmerica, Asia, Africa, Europe on every surface possible but usually …. gravel and crappy tar. Of course on mud and sand 125 is enough… but in the end a true adventure means having the skill to tackle anything so on the whole KTM 990 Adventure or Kwaka KLR 650 are best.

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