Mission Motors tweeted out something interesting just a moment ago, a link to a new website for Mission Motorcycles. Teasing there a photo of the Mission R, it would seem that the electric superbike that does competitive AMA Supersport lap times at Laguna Seca, is finally set to come to production. It seems we won’t know everything about the new Mission Motorcycles project until June 3rd, though we can speculate pretty accurately on what the A&R Bothan spy network has been telling us. Expect to see the Mission R electric superbike in street legal trim, honed even further than when we rode the machine back in August last year.
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.
When Motus released the final details on its inaugural 2013 Motus MST motorcycle, we were shocked to see that the Alabama company did not have any dealerships lined up for west of The Rockies (surely the bigger shock felt by others was the $30,000+ price tag). Well that has changed now according to Motus, which has signed up four West Coast dealerships, one in California, one in Washington, and two in Nevada. Sorry folks, the price is still the same though.
Officially debuted last night to the masses of the Daytona Bike Week, the 2013 Motus MST broke cover in its production trim (the 2013 Motus MST-R is shown above), along with details about the bike’s final specs, pricing, and availability. As we reported earlier, the Motus MST will come without its originally planned gasoline direct injection (GDI), with the Motus team instead opting for direct port injection.
With the Motus MST priced at $30,975 and the Motus MST-R getting a price tag of $36,975, our earlier reports of a $30,000 price tag appear to be spot on as well. A “comfortable sportbike” as the American company is calling it, the Motus MST will initially be available at seven premium dealerships nationwide, though sadly none of them are west of the Rockies.
Talking to Lee Conn when Motus was on its US tour here in California, the Motus founder revealed that part of Motus’s business plan incorporates selling the Katech-designed KMV4 motor as a crate motor for enthusiasts and tuners. Though the Motus MST motorcycles will be using a 1,645cc 160+ hp version of the gasoline direct injection (GDI) motor, Katech and Motus have left plenty of beef to the KMV4′s cyclinder housings, allowing the V4 lump to be bored out to a 2L displacement.
Stopping on the way back from the US GP at Laguna Seca this weekend, the Asphalt & Rubber crew stopped by Alice’s Restaurant on Skyline to check-out the Motus MST & MST-R Prototypes. Making a cross-country trek on the bikes, Lee Conn and Brian Case have been gathering some development data while meeting with local dealers and potential customers. Hoping to produce somewhere between 200-300 motorcycle next year, Motus is looking for 25 or so quality dealers for its initial launch.
The bikes are clearly test mules, both because of their unpolished state that has data acquisition boxes clearly visible, and also because of the emblazoned “Prototype” sticker set. Still, it’s also clear that Case’s design is reaching its final-production trim, and fellow Penn State alum has included plenty of interesting details into the Motus MST that owners will enjoy.
The side-mounted clutch is perhaps the one feature that will sneak-up on you the most easily, as it’s a pretty standard vision on motorcycles these days…just not on longitudinally-mounted motors (are you reading this Moto Guzzi?). In fact, much of the Motus MST seems to come from a pragmatic approach, as you can even service the motor without removing any bodywork.
If you have a chance to stop by Alice’s, try the “Harley” burger. The rumors that its applewood bacon and breakfast sausage toppings will take years off your life are probably untrue, but not completely unfounded. Though lighter on the cholesterol, the photos of the Motus MST & Motus MST-R prototypes after the jump may make your heart skip a beat.
Another update from those southern boys at Motus, this time showing off their MST & MST-R American sport-tourers hitting some track time at Barber Motorsports Park. Obviously still in the development phase of their production process, we see that the MST-R has gotten some carbon fiber clothes (yum!), while the MST looks very fit and polished with its touring bags on-board.
We’re still not sure about how the Motus MST and MST-R will fare in free market, as we’ve seen so many American motorcycle companies generate a lot of buzz with little substance. However, one thing is for certain about the Motus project: the company has the right amount of cowbell in that KMV4 1,645cc GDI motor that should make any motorcyclist with a pulse grin ear-to-ear. Check the video out after the jump…yes, it’s ok to watch it several times.
Motus Motorcycles has just released the second part of its Daytona launch video, which unlike the first version, is chalked full of close-up and detail shots of the Motus MST and the performance-packed Motus MST-R. The Daytona Bike Week was the public launch of the new American-made sport-tourer, which features the KMV4 1,645cc V4 pushrod motor with gasoline direct injection. Motus’s approach with the KMV4 is to take a page out of America’s rich hot-rodding tradition, and therefore has built a power plant that tuners and hobbiests should find the designs of familiar.
Helping Motus build this tiny buy powerful engine is Pratt & Miller Engineering, who have made a name for themselves building all sorts of racing engines, including those from the C6R Corvette Racing squad, which coincidently also uses a pushrod design. This has lead to many calling the KMV4 as simply half a Corvette motor, which the math doesn’t really support, but the philosophy surely does.
Next for the Motus crew is a ride around the United States that will not only serve as an R&D/proving method for the new bikes, but will also help drum-up interested buyers and the much needed dealers to get the motorcycle company launched off the ground. We’re looking forward to seeing the 161hp sport-tourer come to San Francisco, we just hope the rumors we’ve been hearing of a $30,000+ price tag aren’t true. Get ready to bust out your “V4″ gang signs, as the video is after the jump.
We just showed you the first video that Motus has shot while down at Daytona launching the company’s new sport-tourer to the Bike Week crowd. We’re clearly not on our A-game today (I’m suffering from a nasty head cold, and have to fly in 24 hours to Qatar for the MotoGP test), but luckily our readers are, as one commenter has spotted the fact that Motus switches bikes mid-way through the Daytona video.
Sans fairings, and adorned with Öhlins forks (along with a carbon fiber front fender), it looks like Motus has snuck in the Motus MST-R into the shot without anyone noticing. Still not convinced? Well the rider in the video has a clearly labeled “MST-R” logo on his helmet as well. We’ve reached out to Brian and Lee to see what they can confirm or deny on this. Stay tuned.
There might be snow on the ground for most of the United States, but things in the south are starting to heat up now that Motus has gotten its MST sport-tourer on the dyno, and for a quick ride in its latest video on YouTube. Letting the 1645cc gasoline direct-injection KMV4 motor “unleash the beast” as it were, the project seems to be coming together nicely as we’re given a rapid succession of quick-cuts on the MST’s build job.
We expect to see the built-in-America bike on city streets once the ice thaws (or Motus realizes it was 70°F in sunny San Francisco today, and makes a stop by the Golden State), and the video’s ending suggests we’ll get another installment while we wait for winter to subside.
We’re still going through the video to see if there’s any nuggets of info hidden inside. Call them out in the comments if you see something.
