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Cyril Despres Makes Switch to Cars for 2015 Dakar Rally

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We had to check the date on this one, because five-time Dakar Rally winner Cyril Despres has announced that he will not be on two-wheels for this year’s rally raid, and instead will campaign in the car class with Peugeot. The announcement comes as a bit of a shock, after Despres rocked the Dakar Rally world last year, announcing his switch from KTM to Yamaha.

After a difficult race in 2014, where Cyril still managed to finish fourth overall, it seems Despres is content with his five rally wins, though one cannot count the Frenchman out from future motorcycle engagements.

Signing a contract with Peugeot Sport, Despres will be leading the return of the marquee’s re-entry into rally racing, after taking a 25-year hiatus from the sport. Despres will be following in the footsteps of another French motorcycle rally raid racer, Stéphane Peterhansel, who like Despres moved from Yamaha Racing’s motorcycles into racing cars.

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News

US Government Gets Closer to Having Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication in a Car Near You

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Big news dropped today in the world of automobiles and motorcycles. The US Department of Transportation (DOT), along with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), has announced that the vehicle-to-vehicle communication (V2V) is a step closer to becoming  a reality in the United States.

The DOT has decided to move forward with plans to mandate V2V systems for light on-road vehicles, i.e. cars and presumably motorcycles as well. The technology is complex to implement, but the concept is fairly simple: vehicles broadcast their direction, speed, and relative speed to one another — 10 times every second — in an effort to avoid collisions.

V2V enables other vehicles near by to gauge whether or not a collision or safety concern is about to happen between the two vehicles, and alert the drivers to avoid an accident. In essence, V2V is the first active safety system for automobiles — i.e. we are now enabling safety systems that prevent accidents, rather than just lessening the severity of them.

We have talked at great lengths here at Asphalt & Rubber about what V2V can mean for motorcyclists, especially as autonomous vehicles use the communications system and become more prevalent on the road. In the long-term, V2V will introduce a huge shift in our driving culture, and it is not clear what the means for motorcyclists.

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MotoGP

Picts & Video of Valentino Rossi at the Monza Rally Show

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Every year Valentino Rossi competes in the Monza Rally Show in Italy, and The Doctor does quite well for himself at the event — he was the winner of the rally at last year’s event. For 2014, Rossi found himself on the podium once again, scoring a second place finish with his VR46 team and Carlo Cassina as his co-driver.

Rossi & Co. were bested by WRC’s Dani Sordo and his rally-spec Citroen, though to be fair, Rossi himself had a works Ford at his disposal. Perhaps too many wheels, the event is a fun end to The Doctor’s racing season, as the nine-time World Champion enjoys competition in a variety of forms. For those wondering, Uccio finished ninth.

“For me this is one of the highlights of the year – I get to race against my friends and there is very little pressure to perform,” said Rossi. “It is a shame that I didn’t get the overall wins today but I’m proud of four stage wins which is incredible for me. And I get to see all of the fans from rally and MotoGP which is great.  I’m coming back next year!”

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News

American Suzuki Files for Bankruptcy

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Certainly wanting to bury the news in the after-work hours, American Suzuki Motor Corporation has just announced that it is filing for Chapter 11 protections, as the American subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation heads into bankruptcy and business restructuring.

Pivoting its business to focus on marine and motorcycle/ATV sales, Suzuki will wind-down and ultimately stop selling cars in the US market. In its press release, Suzuki says will honor all current warranties, and parts and servicing will continue to be available to Suzuki automobile owners.

Today’s news should have little to no immediate affect for Suzuki motorcycle owners in the USA, as the Chapter 11 proceedings are focused more around Suzuki dumping its failed automotive business here in North America, than anything else.

While it remains to be seen how the Japanese company will restructure its American office, the move in fact could be a boon to motorcyclists, as it could mean some life could be pumped back into ASMC. The American Suzuki office has suffered recently from under-staffing and disorganization, and the company could benefit from a proper reorganization.

Time will tell how effective Suzuki’s restructuring will go, and we certainly haven’t heard the full extent of this news item yet. As the ball of yarn untangles, check out the full press release is after the jump. Suzuki’s letter to motorcycle owners is here, car owners here, and there is also an FAQ.

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Banter

Video: Ken Block Gymkhanas San Francisco — Awesomeness Tenuously Linked to Motorcycles

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Asphalt & Rubber readers are an eclectic group of men and woman, and I am not going sully the romance we have going on here by lying to you guys with some sort of convoluted web of reasoning as to how a nearly team minuted Ken Block / DC Shoes / Ford Focus video is related to motorcycles — because well frankly, it’s not. Yeah sure, there is a 12 second Travis Pastrana cameo tucked-away in there somewhere, and that might be enough material to spin-doctor the snot out of this puppy, but here’s the deal:

First, the video is awesome in that 12-year-old boy discovering bottle rockets sort of way. Second, the video is set in my home town, and we all know how militant I can be about the Golden State, whose border I draw somewhere just south of Ojai. And third, the video is an example of great marketing, and it is such an easy example of what can crossover into motorcycles, it pains me that we here in the two-wheeled world haven’t answered back with something even better. Enjoy after the jump.

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News

Suzuki Says Sayonara to Volkswagen

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Back in 2009 Suzuki and Volkswagen made some headlines, as the German automaker took a 19.9% stake in the Japanese manufacturer. The basic points of the agreement were that Volkswagen would get access to Suzuki’s small-displacement motors and Indian presence, while the latter would benefit from Volkswagen’s larger-vehicle technologies, etc.

Seemingly however doomed from the start, the partnership in motorcycle circles erroneously spurred some interesting thoughts of a Volkswagen motorcycle coming to fruition. While industry journalists spun gold out of hay, the two behemoth manufacturers failed to come to terms on any of their proposed partnership goals, leaving both parties to wonder why they were interested in each other, let alone financially intwined.

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Banter

Wherever You Want to Go – BMW Looks at the Future of Transportation and Personal Mobility

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BMW is halfway through releasing a four-part video on the future of transportation, which explores a multitude of ideas including infrastructure, city dwelling, personal transport, population growth, and the environment. BMW obviously is approaching the issue with its automotive hat squarely on its head, and doesn’t directly deal with motorcycles, but when you stop and think about it, cars and bikes are wrapped up in the same situation. While the only the first two videos have been released, there’s already some interesting concepts to think about.

While we wait for Part 3 (Feb. 15th) and Part 4 (Feb. 22nd), chew on these facts and figures: over 50% of the world’s population lives in urban areas, automobiles are parked about 90% of the time, and there’s roughly five parking spots for every car (that’s 1,500 sqft of space just for a single car!). It sure seems like motorcycles could help solve that utilization/space problem.

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News

MotoCzysz D1g1tal Dr1ve D1 – The Fully Integrated Electric Drive System with 737 lbs•ft of Torque

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The folks at MotoCzysz just got back from a trip to China (the EVS25 show in Shenzhen, China) where they debuted the MotoCzysz D1g1tal Dr1ve D1 — the world’s first fully integrated electric drive system. Complete with motor, inverter, oil pump, gear reduction, and differential housed in an aluminum chassis, MotoCzysz says the D1g1tal Dr1ve D1 is a complete plug-and-play system that can be used in the development of electric vehicles.

Based off the Portland company’s experience racing the MotoCzysz E1pc at the Isle of Man and FIM e-Power Championship, the MotoCzysz D1g1tal Dr1ve D1 uses Remy motors to produce 60kW (80hp) of continuous power, with a 75 kW (100hp) peak power delivery figure. The D1 comes with plenty of torque, 1000 Nm of torque to be precise (no, that’s not an extra zero, the motor makes 737 lbs•ft of torque). The feather-light D1g1tal Dr1ve D1 weighs under 150 lbs, making it ideal for a variety of applications. Available in May 2011, pricing will start under $8,999 as the MotoCzysz D1g1tal Dr1ve D1 will compete head-to-head with Mission Motors’ MissionEVT program.

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News

MotoCzysz D1g1tal Dr1ve to Power Cars

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MotoCzysz is partnering with Indiana-based Remy Electric Motors to bring the electric motorcycle power plant to the four-wheeled world. Remy, a former division of General Motors that specialized in electric and hybrid powertrains, developed the D1g1tal Dr1ve system used in the TT Zero and e-Power winning E1pc. According to Remy the D1-10 electric motor makes 135hp and 250 lbs•ft of torque, all while in a compact form-factor. With power outputs likely to improve, and the small footprint of the D1-10, the potential for the collaboration in four-wheeled vehicles is certainly beyond intriguing.

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