Mission Motorcycles: The Mission R Lives??!

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.

Goodbye Husqvarna Nuda, We Hardly Knew Thee

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.

Q&A: Yukio Kagayama Talks About the Upcoming Suzuka 8-Hour with Kevin Schwantz & Noriyuki Haga

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.

KTM RC4 Concept by Luca Bar Design

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.

Q&A: Claudio Domenicali Talks Frameless Chassis, Sacred Cows, & The Future for Ducati

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.

Is Yamaha Using A Seamless Gearbox? The Data Says No

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.

OCC Coming Back to TV? — Universe Collapses in on Self

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.

Alstare Superbike Concept by Team Alstare

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.

Transcript: The Gay Question at Jerez

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.

2014 Suzuki GSV-R Spotted Again

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.

Bimota/BMW Concepts by Oberdan Bezzi

06/19/2012 @ 1:20 pm, by Jensen Beeler4 COMMENTS

Bimota/BMW Concepts by Oberdan Bezzi Bimota BB 2 Concept Oberdan Bezzi 635x443

We follow Oberdan Bezzi’s work pretty closely here at Asphalt & Rubber, if for no other reason than we like the Italian designer’s ability to fantasize about the endless possibilities available in the two-wheel world — and after, who here doesn’t like to daydream about exotic motorcycles? Lately it seems Bezzi’s imagination has gone to a world where Bimota uses more than Ducati’s v-twin lumps in its exclusive street bikes, with his most recent sketches envisioning a BMW/Bimota collaboration.

Inking the Bimota BB-2 superbike, and it’s naked sibling the Bimota BB-3 “Paura”, the usual Bezzi lines and style are present in the designs. Oberdan’s thought-process on the Bimota BB-3 seems to be well-timed though, as the Bavarian company has recently been caught testing a naked version of the well-selling BMW S1000RR at its facility. Set to be a true Germans streetfighter, BMW could very well succeed in a motorcycle segment that the Japanese have historically struggled with here in the US.

Ducati 798 Desmosport R Concept by Oberdan Bezzi

03/22/2012 @ 5:19 pm, by Jensen Beeler13 COMMENTS

Ducati 798 Desmosport R Concept by Oberdan Bezzi Ducati 798 Desmosport R Concept Oberdan Bezzi 01 635x364

Much has been speculated about the alleged Ducati 799 Superbike that surely is being planned in Borgo Panigale this very minute. Connecting the dots with the Italian company’s product roadmap, Ducati surely has a smaller-displacement version of its 1199 Panigale in the works, though what it will be called and what displacement it will use is still the subject of much conjecture. Today Oberdan Bezzi takes us back down that thought process with his Ducati 798 Desmosport R concept.

A supersport-market model, Bezzi’s focus is not with the water-cooled 1,200cc Superquadro motor, but the tried and true DesmoDue air-cooled lump currently found in the Hypermotard and Monster lines. Looking for a €9,000 price point, 100hp power figure, and 365 lbs dry weight, Oberdan Bezzi is striking the same vein that Radical Ducati and NCR have been touching on for the past few years, albeit at different ends of the price spectrum.

Concept: Bimota TB-2 675 by Oberdan Bezzi

06/06/2011 @ 9:04 am, by Jensen Beeler3 COMMENTS

Concept: Bimota TB 2 675 by Oberdan Bezzi Bimota TB 2 675 concept Oberdan Bezzi 635x440

Last week Oberdan Bezzi inked his concept for a Triumph-powered Bimota, dubbed the Bimota TB-1. That fully-faired alternative to the MV Agusta F3 naturally needs a naked streetfighter variant, and accordingly Bezzi has penned today’s latest concept sketch, which he calls the Bimota TB-2 675. Featuring the Triumph 675cc three-cylinder motor, the Bimota TB-2 675 competes against its donor the Triumph Street Triple, and goes head-to-head with the heavily anticipated MV Agusta Brutale 675 B3.

Concept: Bimota TB-1 by Oberdan Bezzi

06/02/2011 @ 8:42 am, by Jensen Beeler11 COMMENTS

Concept: Bimota TB 1 by Oberdan Bezzi Bimota TB 1 Oberdan Bezzi 635x440

For his latest work, Oberdan Bezzi imagines a three-cylinder Bimota that uses Triumph’s 675cc three-cylinder motor. Dubbed the Bimota TB-1 by the Italian designer, Bezzi brings up an interesting point with his sketch, namely that when the MV Agusta F3 comes it will, for all intents and purposes, be in a class of its own. You can’t really argue the point that there is yet-to-exist a premium well-designed supersport triple on the market right now (sorry Daytona owners), and Bezzi says that Bimota could easily come into this space with such a bike as seen here.

Husqvarna 900 Street One by Oberdan Bezzi

05/10/2011 @ 7:35 am, by Jensen Beeler5 COMMENTS

Husqvarna 900 Street One by Oberdan Bezzi Husqvarna 900 Street One Oberdan Bezzi 635x414

Confirming that the rumors were true, Husqvarna recently released photos of its new 900cc motor destined for the company’s first proper street bike. Based on the 800cc BMW parallel twin, we’ll have to wait until November to see what the Swedish brand has in store for us, but until then Oberdan Bezzi has some ideas to help whet our appetite. Called the Husqvarna 900 Street One, Bezzi sees a street-naked in Husky’s future, which will help show-off the firm’s newly minted engine.

With the new Husqvarna expected to have both more torque and horsepower than its German counterpart, Obiboi sees the Husky 900 as a sportier version of the BMW line, and has put those feelings into his concept sketch here. Perhaps the only thing that rivals our curiosity on what the new Husqvarna will look like, is how the company will differentiate its street motorcycles from its parent company’s offering, and what it will mean for the fabled dirtbike brand.

Ducati Desmodoctor by Oberdan Bezzi

04/13/2011 @ 2:33 pm, by Jensen Beeler4 COMMENTS

Ducati Desmodoctor by Oberdan Bezzi Ducati Desmodoctor Oberdan Bezzi 635x444

We haven’t had a sketch by Oberdan Bezzi on the site in a while, but the Italian designer has inked this Ducati concept that we thought would help everyone get through the work week. Coining the name “Desmodoctor” it should be clear to whom Obiboi is paying homage to with this design, as Bezzi imagines what sort of “gift” the Bologna company would give Rossi to play around with when he’s not racing the Ducati Desmosedici GP11 or GP12.

Yamaha VZ1 Concept by Oberdan Bezzi

02/01/2011 @ 2:11 pm, by Jensen Beeler16 COMMENTS

Yamaha VZ1 Concept by Oberdan Bezzi Yamaha VZ1 concept Oberdan Bezzi Design 635x438

UPDATE: Obiboi has done up a Kenny Roberts paint scheme version as well. Find it after the jump.

Do you dream of Yamaha producing a V4 sport bike? How about naked-variant that supplants the popular FZ1? Does a carbon/aluminum trellis frame work for you, with a titanium exhaust of course? If you answered yes to these questions, and envision such a bike late a night when you’re forming your dream garage in, then Oberdan Bezzi has just the concept sketch for you.

Drawing on the same 1,000cc fairing-less street bike theme as the FZ1, Bezzi imagines a Yamaha with a forward-tilted V4 motor that has an almost perpendicular cylinder arrangement, and is capable of being a platform with worldly appeal.

Norton MotoGP Racer Imagined by Oberdan Bezzi

08/27/2010 @ 4:14 pm, by Jensen Beeler10 COMMENTS

Norton MotoGP Racer Imagined by Oberdan Bezzi Norton MotoGP race bike Oberdan Bezzi 635x423

Oberdan Bezzi has seized on the news that Norton intends to field a MotoGP bike in 2012, and came up with a drawing of what that British-born race bike could look like. The Italian designer sees Norton using a carbon-framed chassis to house its four-cylinder motor with pneumatic valves, and of course with a British rider at the helm. Obiboi sees Norton rocking the white paint-job, but we’re hoping that Norton will choose a color that stands out from the pack a bit more…British Racing Green perhaps?

Source: Oberdan Bezzi

Concept: Chaparral A1 e-Racer by Oberdan Bezzi

08/03/2010 @ 7:52 am, by Jensen Beeler19 COMMENTS

Concept: Chaparral A1 e Racer by Oberdan Bezzi Oberdan Bezzi Chaparral A1 e Racer 1 635x449

Italian designer Oberdan Bezzi (view our coverage here) is at it again with his pen and paper, and this time he’s set his mind to imagining a battery-powered electric motorcycle. Based off the now defunked Chaparral brand, Bezzi sees the Texan company reinventing itself and entering the electric motorcycle racing scene. The bike has a full carbon chassis, a liquid cooled motor, and great attention to aerodynamics, according to Obiboi. We can also see five removable battery packs on each side of the motorcycle, and single shock suspension used not only on the rear, but also on the front fork assembly.

Wait…we feel like we’ve seen this before…Yes, it seems Bezzi has ripped-off every detail found on the MotoCzysz E1pc, right down to the motor and controller mounting points. Of course the A1 e-Racer looks like the E1pc 1.0, with its square battery packs. Oberdan must have missed our article on the eDD where we explained that the E1pc’s chevron shaped batteries allowed for more front wheel clearance. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, right Michael?

Ducati Desmolight 450 Concept by Oberdan Bezzi

06/04/2010 @ 3:47 pm, by Jensen Beeler9 COMMENTS

Ducati Desmolight 450 Concept by Oberdan Bezzi Oberdan Bezzi Ducati Desmolight concept 635x427

We promised ourselves that we wouldn’t publish any more Ducati singles by Oberdan Bezzi, after the Italian designer set out with his pen and paper to imagine the Italian brand with a bevy of off-road inspired motorcycles; however Bezzi’s Ducati Desmolight 450 concept was just too great of a design to ignore, and thus here we are. With styling drawn from the current Monster line, Obiboi’s 450cc single looks delicious, especially with the coloring that’s reminiscent of Ducati’s Corse theme. This is the kind of bike that would go in our fantasy garage, and we’ll need a Prozac knowing it won’t be built.