This, race fans, is Danilo Petrucci, one of the brave souls trying his luck on the future of MotoGP hardware, in his case the doggedly underpowered Came IodaRacing Project machine. Not on a (relatively) zippy Aprilia ART, or a Honda-powered FTR, Petrucci qualifies on the same grid as Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo, and brings to this gunfight a knife that packs a whopping 185 bhp, compared to the factory prototype engines that are rumored to be around 260 bhp. As I photograph a race, I see a much different version of the event than TV viewers. I watch the recorded TV broadcast later, and can tell you that there is a lot going on with the Claiming Rule Team bikes that doesn’t make in onto TV.
We are now purely a “suck, squeeze, bang, blow” society, and while that suits many motorists just fine, there are some who enjoy the smell of pre-mix in the morning — you know who you are. You enjoy the sound of angry bees following you from apex to off-camber. You think a displacement for “serious riders” starts at around 250cc. You like your engine compression low, and your powerbands narrow. You sir (or madam), are a two-stroke junky, and we have just the fix you need. Having a bevy of intriguing two-wheeled projects within its walls, the Swiss bike that catches our eye today is the Suter 500 Factory V4: a two-stroke, 500cc, V4, track weapon that puts out over 200 hp and weighs 284 lbs ready to race — no, that is not a typo.
Blurred to protect against spoilers, we’ll just leave things simply by saying that World Superbike’s Race 2 at Donington Park is well worth a watching if you haven’t already seen it. Decided right down to the last few turns, race pundits surely will be discussing the race and its outcome over the next week. Unsurprisingly, geography is playing a major a role in how things are being viewed. Though in a race where a number of questionable passes occurred, it is hard to single out this one event from the plethora of others that occurred during the race, but of course this one had the biggest effect on the race outcome. Click past the jump for the he said, she said, and of course for some slightly sharper photos.
More news from Norton, as the British firm has begun track-testing its V4 road race bike, in preparation of the 2012 Isle of Man TT. Focusing on the bike’s handling, Norton has been working hand-in-hand with Öhlins and Dunlop developing the bike’s chassis. The trio has devised the highly sophisticated “165 mph no hands” test, which supposedly checks the stability of the bike, though we imagine Health & Safety would frown upon it. With the bike’s Aprilia RSV4 motor putting out 195hp at the crank, and with the total race package weighing 419 lbs (195 kg) when it is sopping wet, the Spondon-framed Norton may not be exactly what fans of the famous marques were hoping for after seeing the very appealing Norton NRV 588, though it does seem to be a potent package.
Launching in downtown Los Angeles, the 2012 Brammo Empulse R & 2013 Brammo Empulse broke their cover and officially debuted. Right off the bat from the designations, you can see that Brammo intends for the Empulse R to be a 2012 model, with the base model Emuplse coming out next year (more on that further down). As we expected, the Brammo Empulse R got quite the price bump after its 22-month marination, and will be $18,995 MSRP. Meanwhile when the Brammo Empulse becomes available next year, it will have a slightly more palatable $16,995 price tag.
While the EBR 1190RS race bikes were on the track, their $40,000+ street-legal counterparts were on display outside of the Erik Buell Racing garage. Rocking an American flag livery, I naturally took pictures of this show bike. Eye catching to say the least, nothing says “Made in ‘merica” better than a red, white, and blue color scheme, especially when it is laid over carbon fiber. And while I want to love this bike because of its nuances and outside-of-the-box technical design, I don’t.
If there’s one lesson we can take from Sunday’s race at Estoril, it’s this: “I’ve always said we know Casey’s the guy that’s the fastest guy in the world. Maybe over the seasons he hasn’t put the championships together, but by far he’s the best guy in the world.” Cal Crutchlow is not known for mincing his words, and his description of Casey Stoner pulls no punches. But given the fact that Stoner only managed to win the Portuguese round of MotoGP by a second and a bit, is that not a little exaggerated?
Brammo is back for electric motorcycle racing in the North American TTXGP series, as the Ashland-based company is set to defend it’s #1 plate this year with Steve Atlas on board ( Shelina Moreda is slated to join the team later in the season). Gaining a title sponsorship from Icon, Brammo arrived at Sears Point with some edgy graphics on the 2012 Brammo Empulse RR. Dropping roughly 35 lbs in weight, and gaining roughly 50hp over the bike they ran at last year’s season opener, Brammo is making most of those gains in its revised motor and power inverter for the newest Empulse RR.
As you can imagine, the bulk of the commentary, both from readers and from professional journalists, has centered around the absurdity of the claim, with even jokes being offered about how an aged BMW rider should be thanking the German motorcycle brand for saving him money on Viagra, etc. The situation reminds me of the McDonald’s hot coffee lawsuit. You know the story, right?. A woman buys a cup of coffee at McDonald’s, spills it on herself while in the car, and sues the bastards for her incompetence. True to litigious American form, the unthinkable happened, and a jury awarded this gold-digging woman millions of dollars. It is repudiating, and it stands for everything that is wrong with the legal system, or so we would be lead to believe — especially by the media.
Never say never, but few are expecting Valentino Rossi to hang up his spurs at the end of the 2012 MotoGP Championship. Going out on a career low-point is certainly not the Italian’s style, especially as it casts a particularly dark shadow on a career that has enjoyed the bright-light superlative of “Greatest of All Time” from some of motorcycling’s most knowledgeable sources. Hoping to cast that phrase with an underlined typeface, and not with an interrogatory question mark, there is sufficient evidence to believe that Rossi will want to end his career in a way that will leave no doubt about the nine-time World Champion’s abilities. The question of course is how those final seasons will play out, and who they will be with.
Yes, but why does it look just like a GSR600/B-King?
“<>”
Stick to English if you don’t understand French…
Matthew, If you’re not familiar with the Benelli TNT or it’s 1130 Cafe Racer, you should check it out. The styling has been similar since about 03 or so when the TNT came out as essentially a Naked version of their Tornado Superbike. I’m the first to admit that the design is a Love/Hate affair. Much like said BKing, it’s definitely aimed at the crowd who appreciates the styling of angular muscle wrapped around brutish torque. And as far as the “headlights that cut-out at traffic lights due to over-heating”… This author needs to educate himself on the finer points of the Benelli Design structure. The Headlight cuts out when the computer senses that the engine has been at an uninterrupted idle for in excess of 5 seconds. The headlight is then disabled to save charging voltage from the VERY limited charging system on the bike. As soon as the throttle is blipped or manipulated, the headlight comes back on, as the computer assumes you are now about to return to riding. Hope I’ve saved some face on Benelli… even IF they are an *ahem* ITALIAN manufacturer with CHINESE ownership. That’s like saying that Jaguars arent British any more because Ford owns them… Pish…
CarbonWarrior,
I’m fully educated about the TnT, after nearly buying one for my personal transport. I’m EXTREMELY leery of a company that in my own words “paints over” a serious problem, and in the process creates another. The TnT does have charging issues, as well as cooling issues. In a prolonged stop the bike will begin to heat-up causing the fans to kick in, this draws power from the battery which isn’t being recharged sufficiently from the rectififier.
So instead of fixing the charging issues, or the cooling issues (harder to do here because of the basic design of the bike), Benelli decided to half-ass it, and cut the headlight out when stop. Yes, it does come back on when you blip the throttle, but that doesn’t change the fact that at night your visibility is potentially reduced. It also doesn’t change the fact that you’re not address the underlying problem in the first place. That’s not good engineering in any book.
For the amount of money one purchases a Benelli for, I hope one would expect a better quality product. I for one love the look of the Benelli, and wish they’d get their act together with their quality and the business side of their operations. But, I’m not going to give them a “get out of jail free” card because of it.
This brand has amazing potential, but I’m still waiting to see if they can realize it with Qianjiang Motors backing them. I hope so, I really do.
Educated about TNT’s you might be, but the backstab of the C word is pretty low class. Nobody called Ducati an american company when TPG owned them. You are right about the headlights cutting out, that is dangerous at night. But there is a fix available. My Tre 1130 has been reliable so far.
I wish bike journalists stopped the tongue in cheek / “dont mention the germans” routine. In a different vain, Chinese put a man in orbit, a feat eclipsed only by their ability to feed all one billion of them in a time span of 20 years, famin having been the rule for millenia.
They known they would kill their property if there was only a hint of fundamental involvement. Instead of moving engine assembly from Morini Motori to China, they moved it back to Pesaro. Shocks, calipers, chassis, engine … all are Italian, with exception of minor parts. What more can they do to stop the inuendo’s ?
It’s a pity you didn’t buy the TNT. You would’ve loved it.
I own a benelli tre-k and I am waiting for someone to get out of their car and hit me. this is due to the headlights going off when in traffic when the power is required to run the fans don’t believe that this done for your benfit as a rider this is so they do not have to upgrade the under powered charging system and battery as this only happens when the temp raises and the fan need to kick in . true they do come on when you turn the thottle but still not safe if headlights go out at night.
build is cheap and cheerful love the bike but what a load of cheap skates build is worst than some of the bikes from china Em maybe that is where the problem lays 5000 miles rust appearing grips look like they have done 50,000 miles paint chips very easy love the bike but can see long term issues with the bikes appearancee see how it goes