Not soon after KTM CEO Stefan Pierer dismissed the viability of electric motorcycles, and told Italian journalists that the Austrian company was scrapping its plans to build an electric dirt bike, the KTM Freeride E, KTM has announced the KTM E-Speed electric scooter study, with Pierer even making the bold statement that “we at KTM are completely convinced of electric mobility as a perfect complement to conventional powertrains.”

Debuting the machine at the Tokyo Motor Show, KTM has appropriately recycled the same battery and motor technologies from the Freeride E concept, and put them in the unimaginatively named E-Speed scooter. Using a liquid cooled 14.75 hp / 26.5 lbs•ft motor, KTM has opted for a larger 4.36 kWh battery pack for its metro-targeting scoot.

The second installment to the AMA’s favorite web series, this time on Following Fillmore Chris sits down with his new KTM/HMC Racing teammate Taylor Knapp.

The two AMA Pro Road Racing Superbike riders talk what it’s like to come from racing families, growing up in Michigan, and finding a solid teammate in the paddock.

It’s pretty clear from their interactions on the camera that Chris and Taylor get on well together, and it’s interesting to see how the pair’s fathers played a role in shaping the riders they are today.

If you needed some bike-build porn for your Monday, then you have come to the right place. Taking a look behind the scenes of KTM’s factory in Mattighofen, Austria, Red Bull has put together a quick video on what goes into building the motorcycles that so often bear the energy drink company’s logos.

There may not be a lot of new insights given by the words of KTM Product Manager Joachim Sauer and KTM PR Manager Thomas Kuttruf, though there is some good two-wheeled romanticism going on here, but if you wanted a glimpse into KTM’s factory, with some well-done photography, here is your chance.

In three weeks’ time, the 2013 season gets underway for all three Grand Prix classes, and motorcycle racing’s winter will finally be over. Before that, there is a week of testing at Jerez, where first the Moto2 and Moto3 classes get their final run out on the track from Monday through Thursday, before MotoGP takes to the track on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.

Testing at Jerez may be affordable for GP’s junior classes, but it does not come without risk. Moto2 and Moto3 tested at both Valencia and Jerez in February, and while conditions were sunny and dry, if a little cool at Valencia, the test at Jerez was very mixed indeed, with rain disrupting two of the three days of testing. This test looks just as likely to be disrupted by rain: while good weather is forecast for Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, Tuesday looks like being a total washout.

That will leave the riders with two full days of dry testing – for some arcane reason, IRTA has decided to spread the three days of Moto2 and Moto3 testing over four days, with the test starting on Monday afternoon, and concluding on Thursday lunchtime.

There is surely method to this madness, but unfortunately, IRTA does not have a press office, and so nobody to explain it. In the absence of an IRTA – the International Roadracing Teams Association, the official body representing the teams – press officer, the media are left to scratch their heads, speculate, and all too often, concoct explanations for themselves.

After a last-minute appointment to replace the injured Marc Coma in KTM’s factory rally team for the 2013 Dakar Rally, American Kurt Caselli impressed many with his stellar rookie performance on the South American course. Taking two stage wins, Caselli will join Marc Coma and Ruben Faria on KTM’s factory-backed rally team, which will go by the “Red Bull KTM Factory Racing” name.

With Chilean rider Francesco ‘Chaleco’ Lopez also getting full-factory equipment, noticeably absent from KTM’s announcement is five-time Dakar Rally winner Cyril Despres, who is leaving the KTM squad “to move on and face new challenges.”

Winning the most recent edition of The Dakar in a comfortable fashion with his support rider, Faria, finishing second, Despres’s probable move to another team is a huge shock to the sport, and could make KTM’s dominance in motorcycle rally racing questionable for the future.

The first episode of Following Fillmore is out, as the web series tracks KTM’s AMA Pro Superbike rider Chris Fillmore out to Pala Raceway for some motocross riding.

Joining Fillmore are a couple familiar faces, namely 2012 AMA Pro Superbike Champion Josh Hayes and Monster Yamaha Tech 3 MotoGP rider Cal Crutchlow…we see photographer Andrea Wilson was also there as well, trying to steal the show, as usual.

Three professional motorcycle racers on one race  course, how could things not get competitive?

The first OEM to show a near-production electric motorcycle to consumers, KTM touted at the 2011 EICMA show that as an industry leader in the dirt bike sector, it could ill-afford to stand idly by while other companies explored the development of electric two-wheelers.

Then unveiling the KTM Freeride E concept, KTM said it would trial the machine with a select number of European consumers, before rolling out the electric dirt bike to the masses later in 2013.

With nary an update since then, it would seem that the Austrian company is rethinking its position on electric motorcycles. Talking to Italy’s Motorciclismo, KTM CEO Stefan Pierer spoke of the safety and cost concerns surrounding electrics, and concluded that the timing is still too soon for EV’s to replace petrol-powered machines in the two-wheeled sector.

It is good to see the AMA Pro Road Racing paddock getting some love this month, the series desperately needs it. With more than a few video projects going on in the AMA, fans should have a bevy of good media to consume this year, even with all the shenanigans going on with TV rights this year.

Our latest attention turns to a new web series, Following Fillmore, which as the name implies, follows KTM factory rider Chris Fillmore as he trains with the Bostrom Brothers, gets some chalk-talk from Jason Pridmore, and hits on Cal Crutchlow, among other things.

Coming to a YouTube channel near you starting March 7th, if the show is anything like the trailer, we should be in for a real treat…especially the ladies, who tell me “Chris is so dreamy” all…the…time. The trailer is after the jump, enjoy.

Just a couple ticks off the KTM RC250GP raced in the FIM Moto3 Championship that we saw built in time-lapse last week, the KTM RC250R is perhaps one of the most potent 250cc four-stroke production racers money can buy…and it takes a lot of money to buy one.

“The differences [between the RC250GP & RC250R] come through some little details,” says Head of KTM Customer Racing Wolfgang Felber. ”The GP bike for example runs with the regulation enforced Dell’Orto electronics unit, has a different Akrapovic exhaust system, magnesium wheels, and modified brakes as well as WP factory suspension parts, which help to save some more weight.”

Only 67 of these machines will be made for the 2013 season (40 for sale, 27 for the Red Bull Rookies Cup), which posed a problem for the KTM. Too big of a production run to be hand-made by racing engineers, and yet too small (and perhaps too important) of a run to be built on one of the four general assembly lines, zie Austrians instead opted for something in between, and built the bikes on the company’s #5 “training” line.

A behind the scenes look at this limited production run, if you weren’t in love with the KTM Moto3 race bike, you might be after this. Want one? You better come up with €45,000 to afford this price tag…that’s $60,000, or a moderately equipped Mercedes-Benz E-Class, with today’s exchange rate.