Ever wonder what great action footage of the 2010 Ducati Multistrada 1200 would be like if you set it to the music commonly found in a piano bar? Well never fear, Ducati has the answer for you. Watch the Multistrada 1200 take on four different riding situations without missing a beat. Beat! Get it! Uggh…we don’t get paid enough for this. Video after the jump.
Today MotoCzysz is announcing its Electric D1g1tal Dr1ve (eDD), better known to us as “the suitcase”, which is essentially the housing for the E1pc’s proprietary controller, motor, and batteries. MotoCzysz will be using the eDD on their 2010 E1pc D1g1tal Superbike, and intends on letting other teams use the suitcase as well, helping fill the grid at electric motorcycle races.
This announcement is important on a variety of levels, and most electric motorcycling enthusiasts will be interested to get their first glimpse at technology beind Michael Czysz’s 2010 E1pc D1g1tal Superbike, which will for sure be at the TT Zero race at the Isle of Man this year. The suitcase contains MotoCzysz proprietary battery, motor, and controller designs, which are setting the bar higher in electric motorcycle racing.
Erik Buell Racing has just updated its website, and releasd the first real clear shot of what the EBR 1190RR will look like it in its racing form. With 185hp being made at the rear-wheel (according to the optimistic DynoJet dynamometer), the EBR 1190RR sits at the top of the Buell totem poll.
Based off the 1125R chassis, the 1190RR is virtually anorexic, dropping 30lbs off the AMA Daytona Superbike racing machine, while still bumping up displacement by 65cc’s. With 93lb•ft of torque on hand at 9,500 RPM, the EBR 1190RR is sure to sling your eye balls into the back of your head…if you can find a racing series to race it in.
“Greed, for lack of a better word…is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms: greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge, has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed, you mark my words, will not only save motorcycling, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA.”
The Suzuki TL1000R is a special bike. It garnered little love from the media during its release; but despite being discontinued seven years ago, the TLR continues to foster a cult following, especially in Europe. So it doesn’t surprise us a great deal that when 25 year old fabrication apprentice, Mathijn Nelis, set out to create is first custom work under the careful gaze of master builder Nico Bakker, that the young Dutchman chose to work with the stout TL v-twin powerplant that dwarfed its Italain competitors during its initial release.
With its latest bike the Yamaha XT1200Z Super Ténéré, Yamaha is stepping up its game and getting serious about the adventure-tourer motorcycling segment. The Dakar inspired Super Ténéré is a ground-up production for Yamaha, making it the first Japanese manufacturer to get serious about this emerging (and very profitable) market segment.
With 1,199cc under the hoood, the XT1200Z Super Ténéré is aiming its sights on the class-leading BMW R1200GS and new-comer Ducati Multistrada 1200. The powerplant features a parallel twin motor with four valves per cylinder, and makes 108hp @ 7,250 RPM and 84lbs•ft @ 6,000 RPM.
Moto2 testing was underway in Catalunya this week, but rain sidelined a substantial portion of that testing event. For the Moto2 teams, this meant a rare opporunity to get familiar with thier machinery was lost, but for the roving eye of Italian site GPone.com, it was an opportunity to take a gander at some very beautiful race motorcycles.
Despite all the teams having the same Honda-sourced, 600cc, four-cylinder, four-stroke motor, there is a large variety in body styling and chassis approach. Check the RSV, Moriwaki, BQR, Kalex, Tech3 Mistal, and Suter MMX bikes out after the jump.
MotoCzysz has confirmed today that they will be racing at the Isle of Man’s TT Zero event. The Portland based team has been hard at work on a new bike design that they feel not only has a chance of breaking the 100mph barrier, but possibly winning the event as well. MotoCzysz was a favorite in last year’s event, but failed to finish after suffering a failure to its Agni electric motor drive system. Learning from that hard taught lesson, Czysz & Co. are expected to return to the Isle of Man with their new 2010 E1pc, and tackle the Mountain Course once again.
BMW Motorrad USA has posted a video to YouTube that shows an engine cutaway view of the 2010 BMW S1000RR’s cylinder head. Looking into the chamber one can see the titanium valves work their magic as the bike is rev’d all the way to its redline of 14,200 RPM. Spinning valve springs, squirting oil, titillating sounds…they’re all there. Check it out after the jump.
I got a strange email today…which isn’t that strange in of itself, because I get strange emails on a regular basis, but the email contained a link to Motorcyclist Online, the internet version of Motorcyclist Magazine, which is owned by Source Interlink Media. Clicking onto the link I see an article that was written this morning, published in its full text. “That’s funny” I think to myself, because we certainly never gave Motorcyclist permission to use our articles…clicking further I see we’re not the only online motorcycle site whose content is being copied onto the online pages of Motorcyclist Online…we’re just the latest addition to this blatant act of plagiarism and IP theft.
Blasphemy, heresy, stupidity, sacrilege, un-American, and downright irreverence. Go ahead, get all those words out of your system. I’ll wait. The default opinion of marketers, analysts, and the general population is that Harley-Davidson has one of the strongest brands in the United States, this being confirmed by the fact that every business student in America has studied Harley’s marketing efforts if they’ve ever taken a brand management course. So why would I start a three-part series on how to fix Harley-Davidson by arguing to change one of the most revered marketing houses in the motorcycle industry? Giving credit where credit is due, Harley-Davidson, or I should say its admirers in business school academia, wrote the book on demand generation marketing geared towards the baby-boomer generation. However, in defending this market position, Harley-Davidson has painted itself into a corner by only engaging a very small segment of the population with its product. Unless they redefine and reposition their company image and who it resonates with, Harley-Davidson is going to watch the continued erosion of its footing in the motorcycle industry, and also the continued deterioration of its only industry leading quality: its brand.
UPDATE: Click here for the release of the 2010 Bimota DB8.
Italian manufacturer Bimota believes they have the perfect bike to take on the Ducati Streetfighter, and it’s called the DB8. Scheduled to be unveiled at the Verona Motor Bike Expo this coming Friday, the DB8 (artist’s sketch above) is reported to be the sister bike of the Bimota DB7. While both bikes will use the Ducati 1098 Evoluzione motor, the DB8 will do it sans clothing, and with at least 155hp on board.
UPDATE: Click these links to get the latest news on the 2010 Yamaha FZ8 & 2010 Yamaha FZ8R (Fazer 8)
Rumors of the 2010 Yamaha FZ8 appear to be true, as the Japanese company has just released this teaser shot of the new middle-weight naked bike. Details are non-existent scarce on the FZ8, but it is rumored the bike will be replacing the FZ6 in Yamaha’s 2010 line-up.
Riding at the Pinnacle of the Naked bike craze is the MV Augusta Brutale. In typical MV fashion, very modest changes have occured for the 2009 line-up. Most obviously is the extra 169cc’s, which bump the Brutale’s displacement equal to that of the F4 (no surprise since they share so many common parts). Read more after the jump.
We don’t care if it’s because of changing tastes and trends, or if the naked/standard motorcycle is the industry’s attempt to tempt drivers away from their 4-wheeled cages, but these are the hot bikes of 2009. While this Abarth Assetto Corse FZ1 is merely just a show bike to help commemorate 100 years of Fiat sport-tuning, it’s choosing comes days after the release of the Ducati Streetfighter debut (and new Monster style launch), as well as KTM’s Super Duke R recoloring, just to name a few. Pictures and more after the jump.
Ducati has added a flash intro to their site telling of a “Streetfighter” to be released this Monday, November 3rd. We can only speculate on what this bike could be, considering the wraps on the new Monster 1100 is already out. Could this be the rumored 1098 streetfighter to help stave off the likes of the Aprilia Tuono, Benelli TnT, and other naked sportbikes?
UPDATED: Only time will tell what the real bike looks like, but read more to see some artistic “opinions” of what the naked livery could look like.
