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2015 Aprilia RS-GP MotoGP Race Bike Gallery

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Aprilia Racing officially debuted its MotoGP team today, giving us our first glimpse of Marco Melandri and Alvaro Bautista in the team’s racing livery. It is also our first glimpse of the Aprilia RS-GP race bike all kitted-out, which should be a treat for the tech-heads in the crowd.

The RS-GP is an evolution of the Aprilia ART project, now with pneumatic valves, an 81mm bore, and evolved electronics. There is a lot of ahead for Aprilia Racing, Gresini Racing, and their riders.

The first check box is developing the chassis, finding one that gives both riders the confidence they need to push the RS-GP to its limits. Aprilia is said to have an all-new bike in the works for the 2016 season, but the development of that machine will take cues from what Aprilia Racing learns this year with the RS-GP.

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2015 Honda RC213V Livery Mega Gallery

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HRC unveiled its factory MotoGP team this weekend in Bali, Indonesia — giving us our first glimpse of the Repsol Honda livery for the 2015 season.

Both Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa were in attendance, which is no surprise considering how important the Indonesian market is for Honda.

The Indonesian unveil also helps the two GP riders to have only a short hop now to Malaysia, to start the MotoGP season with the first official test a Sepang International Circuit.

As for the 2015-spec RC213V, things remain mostly the same to the layman’s eye. Red Bull’s sponsoring and support of both Pedrosa and Marquez, as well as the Repsol Honda team, is more prominent, and displayed on the belly pan fairing of the bike.

We’ll let you play spot the differences in the photos after the jump, they are super-sized high-resolution shots, so they might take a minute to load. Enjoy!

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2015 Erik Buell Racing 1190SX Debuts

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While hosting a press rider for the Erik Buell Racing 1190RX at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, EBR unveiled its next street bike, the 2015 Erik Buell Racing 1190SX. Since Asphalt & Rubber, the premier sport bike motorcycle blog, was apparently not invited to the event, we’re a little light on details for our million monthly readers.

However, we do know that the 1190SX is the naked version of the 1190RX, sharing many of the same chassis components. What we don’t know is what Erik Buell Racing has done inside the motor, as motorcycle manufacturers are often prone to detune their streetfighters, to help differentiate them from their superbike counterparts.

Erik Buell strikes us as the kind of man that would be resistant to that trend, if for no other reason than to try something else in the market, cue ZTL brakes, fuel-in-frame chassis designs, and underslung exhaust worshiping. More details as we get them on the 1190SX, but until then, here’s the first photo of the 2015 Erik Buell Racing 1190SX streetfighter.

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Ronax 500 – Your Modern 500cc Two-Stroke Track Bike

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After teasing us what looked like a direct knock-off of Valentino Rossi’s NSR500 two-stroke GP bike, complete with vague #46 references, the German project has finally taken the wraps off its Ronax 500 GP street bike.

Making 160hp (@ 11,500 rpm) from its nearly square (54.5 x 54 bore and stroke) 500cc V4 engine, the Ronax 500 also boasts two counter-rotating crankshafts inside its all-aluminum engine block.

Fuel-injected for more rideability, Ronax has programmed the Ronax 500 with a sport and rain ignition map. Upgrading the class GP bike design with modern components, an electric starter and four carbon/kevlar mufflers are part of the Ronax 500’s highlights, while carbon fiber fairings, Öhlins suspension, and Brembo brakes complete the package.

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Ducati Monster 821 – A Midsummer Dream from Bologna

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Once we saw the unveiling of the Ducati Monster 1200 at EICMA last year, we knew it was only a matter of time before Bologna wedged its new 821cc liquid-cooled motor into a mid-size Monster machine.

That feeling was fueled further by spy photos the 821cc Monster making their way onto the internet, and now we have confirmation of the mid-sized Monster, as Borgo Panigale has officially launched its Ducati Monster 821.

Borrowing the 821cc Testastretta 11° engine (112hp and 65.9 lbs•ft) found on the newly revised Ducati Hypermotard, and its cousin the Ducati Hyperstrada, the Monster 821 continues Ducati’s trend to repurpose powerplants for multiple product families.

The Ducati Monster 821 also continues Bologna’s new trend of building its lower-spec midrange motorcycles with double-sided swingarms, to help further stratify and differentiate its models.

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Yamaha YZF-R25 Debuts in Indonesia

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The wait is finally over, as the Yamaha YZF-R25 has been revealed to the world, at a press launch in Indonesia. Based aroun a fuel-injected 249cc parallel-twin engine, which makes 35.5hp and 16.7 lbs•ft of torque, the YZF-R25 is Yamaha’s response to the newly revived 250cc sport bike category, which Honda and Kawasaki have been dominating, as of late.

Built in Indonesia, and being released into that market in July of this year, Yamaha sees 12,000 units being sold worldwide in the next 12 months for the R25 — a number we suspect will grow as more markets added.

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Bultaco Rapitan Unveiled – Spanish for “Whoa!”

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As promised, here is the first glimpse of Bultaco’s revival as an electric motorcycle company, and the Spanish brand calls it the Bultaco Rapitan. Really a spin-out project by LGN TECH Design S.L., the new Bultaco is the work product of José Germán Pérez, Raúl Pérez, Juan Manuel Vinós, Gerald Pöllmann, and Jorge Bonilla.

Underneath the Rapitan’s edgy exterior (note the Hossack front-end) resides an electrical powertrain system that the Bultaco gents say they developed themselves. Good for 53hp and 92 lbs•ft of torque, the Bultaco Rapitan isn’t going to blow away the competition with power, but should make for a decent and unique riding experience.

The Spanish firm isn’t saying how much battery is on-board, but claims 125 miles of city riding, and 68 miles of highway riding at 75 mph — which we would guessimate at 10+ kWh, but we all know how accurate these range claims are, right?

Tipping the scales at 416 lbs (189kg), the Bultaco Rapitan isn’t the lightest street-naked on the market, but it certainly isn’t the heaviest either. With 92 lbs•ft of torque, we suspect this should make for a peppy ride, and if the avant garde styling is to your liking (it suits our tastes just fine), then we hope the final production model won’t stray too far.

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Lightning Motorcycles LS-218 Debuts at Quail Lodge

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As we reported here just a few days ago, Lightning Motorcycles announced its release of the new LS-218 electric superbike, along with plans to preview it at this year’s Quail Motorcycle Gathering.

While the photos then were rough, we got a general idea of what the Lightning LS-218 was supposed to look like at its California debut. Taking the wraps off at the Quail Lodge in Carmel, California, Lightning showed up to the gathering this weekend with what they are calling a nearly finished version of the LS-218.

The first thing that stands out about this bike, as many onlookers noted, was that it looks very much like its petrol-powered cousins, thanks to the gorgeous design by Glynn Kerr. The bright blue metallic paint, contrasted by the brass colored Öhlins dampers and big Brembo brakes, really make for an eye-catching piece of machinery.

What’s more, Lightning claims that this street-legal version of their race bike produces in excess of 200hp and 168lb-ft of torque, but is it enough to live up to the claims?

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Bultaco Lives Again – Will Debut Electric Motorcycle

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Reviving old brands for an electric future is becoming the new vogue, as we have already seen the restart of marquees like Voxan and Saroléa in the two-wheeled space.

Well, add a third name to the list (does that officially make this a trend?), as Bultaco has been restarted once again by investors, who wish to see the Spanish motorcycle brand enter the 21st century.

Missing in action for the past 30 years (not including a failed restart in 1998, which lead to the Sherco brand), it is hard to tell what to make of this news; though the continued emergence of new players in the EV arena only further hints towards where the motorcycle industry is headed.

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Yamaha YZF-R25 Launched Confirmed for May 20th

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Yamaha Indonesia has spilled the beans on when the Yamaha YZF-R25 will be available, and that date is just a few days away: May 20th.

Yamaha is pitching the Indonesian-built, 250cc, parallel-twin sport bike as a miniature Yamaha YZR-M1, thus making a link between the R25 to Yamaha’s MotoGP racing program — a smart move considering how wildly popular MotoGP is in Indonesia currently.

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Erik Buell Racing 1190RX to Debut at AIMExpo

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Heavily teased, we now know that Erik Buell Racing will debut its EBR 1190RX sport bike in mid-October, at the AIMExpo in Orlando, Florida. Tipped to be a more affordable version of the Erik Buell Racing 1190RS, the 1190RX has been spotted with a seat for a pillion, has an uber-aggressive headlight, and will likely come without its premium suspension, wheels, and braking components.

“This is the culmination of decades of dedication, innovation and teamwork,” said EBR Founder Erik Buell. “We have been working to create a pure rider’s machine and a true world brand. From the heartland and the heart of America, these are extraordinary motorcycles that discerning riders everywhere will be passionate to own.”

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