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.
Beleaguered French motorcycle company Voxan has found life after death, and today was acquired by Venturi Automobiles. Backed by an investment group in Monaco, Venturi itself was resurrected back in 2001, but with new cash in-hand the company sees motorcycles as a way to bolster its portfolio. The French conglomerate has released some interesting plans for its newly acquired motorcycle company, namely that it hopes to have Voxan release a production electric motorcycle in the next three years.
Quirky Italian motorcycle manufacturer Moto Morini has reportedly been saved from the chopping block by Paolo Berlusconi. If that names rings a bell, it should because Berlusconi is the brother to Italy’s Prime Minister, and owns Garelli scooters. The Italian businessman has also been recently linked to acquiring MV Agusta, which if both transactions go through could see Berlusconi owning the parts of a formidable Italian motorcycle company. Berlusconi has reportedly made a €2.9 million offer for Moto Morini which includes the company name, infrastructure, and rights to past and future product lines.
After we posted yesterday that Moto Morini had shut down its production line, amid the Italian company’s financial problems, other publications began covering the company’s complete closure. This caught the folks at Moto Morini off-guard, who while on an extended day-off, insist they are still keeping the production line functioning, if admittedly at a significantly reduced capacity.
UPDATE: Moto Morini has responded to other reports that the Italian company has shut its doors, and instead says its production line is at a greatly diminished capacity.
After going into receivership a few months ago, Moto Morini has found its financial stability withering away as time marches-on. With no end in sight for the company’s blight, Moto Morini has shutdown its production line, and will remain in that state until a new buyer or group of investors emerge and breath life back into the small Italian brand.
Despite signs that the economy seems to be bottoming out, UK-based wheel manufacturer Dymag Racing UK, Ltd has entered into bankruptcy. What appears to be beyond just a mere restructuring, the company’s assets are being auctioned-off, placing doubts as to whether the manufacturer will continue making wheel products after the bankruptcy process concludes.
Well, we saw it coming. Electric scooter manufacturer Vectrix Motorcycles has finally filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. For those that didn’t learn the intricacies of Chapter 11 filings from the recent reorganization of General Motors, Vectrix as we know it will be transfered to a new corporation (New Corp.), while the bad assets and debt of the company remain in old company (Old Corp.). In this case, New Corp. will take the form of “New Vectrix LLC” and the move will leave the brand with minimal debt obligations (at the detriment of its current creditors).
While a pretty standard announcement for a Chapter 11 filing, Vectrix isn’t out of the woods yet. This filing will give Vectrix the second chance it needs, but it does nothing to address the fundamental problems that caused the company to go bankrupt in the first place (much like GM you say??!).
Hopefully with proper management, this move will give Vectrix the second chance it needs to be successful. The Chapter 11 filing is at least a good sign for the company and creditors as a Chapter 7 filing would have meant both parties would have been S.O.L. Such is the miracle of the United States Bankruptcy Court. Press release after the jump.
Italian manufacturer Moto Morini has entered into voluntary liquidation in an effort to get its business back on track. Voluntary liquidation is an Italian concocted form of quasi-bankruptcy, although we’re sure Italian businesses would be quick to point out the differences; however, the affect is essentially the same though, and the act will shield Moto Morini from the debts it owes its suppliers.
Moto Morini has been denying earlier reports that it hasn’t paid its 65 employees, although it admits it hasn’t paid its suppliers since last June. Despite this, Moto Morini has stated categorically that its own intention is to go straight ahead with all the company activities, and all actions to date have been made with this goal in mind.
Electric scooter manufacturer Vectrix is set to file for bankruptcy in 30 days, after failing to find the cash infusion they need back in April. The move to Chapter 11 doesn’t surprise too many people close the company, citing both poor business practices and customer dissatisfaction as being reasons for the manufacturer’s demise.
Source Interlink, publisher of such motorcycle magazines as: Motorcyclist, Sport Rider, Dirt Rider, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company, which is owned by billionaire Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa Cos., is expected to privatize after the bankruptcy, with debtors losing nearly $1 billion in outstanding loans.
It’s expected that heavy restructuring and cost cutting will now take place within the company’s publications, but it’s too early to determine which, if any, titles will be closed or sold.
On the potential chopping block is the following motorcycle titles: ATV Rider, Baggers, Dirt Rider, Hot Bike, Motorcycle Cruiser, Motorcyclist, Sport Rider, Street Chopper, & Super Street Bike
