You may remember that six month’s ago we published a rumor that AMA Pro Racing was considering the idea of adding a Harley-Davidson XR1200 spec racing class. Today, that rumor became reality as AMA Pro Racing announced at the Daytona Bike Week that it would be adding the AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 Series to its calendar. The painful press release and our colorful commentary after the jump.
Usually when you see a video of lovely lady standing next to a motorcycle at an FIM sanctioned event, she’s holding an umbrella. Well the FIM is hoping to change that perception a bit, and is serving up this video with its resident ladies of motorcycling talking about what they do best. Featuring Leslie Porterfield (FIM World LSR Holder), Livia Lancelot (FIM Women’s Motocross World Champion) and Laia Sanz (FIM Women’s Trial World Champion), the video is a part of the new FIM campaign called “Women Ride” that hopes to encourage more femme fatal in our two-wheeled sport.
When was the last time you saw someone seriously rethink how a motorcycle seat functions and operates? To our knowledge this design from Brit Brothers is the first real attempt to rethink what our butts have known all along. With its eye catching design, and roller-style seat, Brit Bros says their seat has numerous benefits over your standard foam wrapped in vinyl garden variety seat, including the ability to help tame a high-side crash.
Nicolas Petit, a 25 year old Frenchman who lives just outside of Paris, is a motorcycle mechanic by day, and motorcycle sketcher by night. With already an impressive resume of motorcycle design sketches and renders to his name, we think Nicolas can add one more stunning example to the list: the Ducati Desmosedici RR Trike concept. We’re not huge fans of trikes here at A&R, but when you base your concept off one of the most powerful streetbikes ever created, it certainly catches our attention.
By now you’ve surely read about MotoCzysz’s new eDD and it’s “suitcase” chassis design. Recently Asphalt & Rubber got a chance to take a peak into the Portland, Oregon based company’s service bay and take a closer look at the 2009 E1pc D1g1tal Superbike, with a specific interest in its quick-release swappable batteries and unique chassis design. We’ll be covering these innovations in a two-part series, starting today with a never before seen look at the MotoCzysz battery packs. More and photos from Peter Lombardi Kustom Photography after the jump.
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.
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.
When Honda showed off its new “Leyla” paint scheme for the new middle weight CBR600RR, the name had us a little confused, but the sometimes clever folks at MCN have spotted what many in the industry (including us) missed. That black & white camo-eque paint job is in fact a woman…moaning in delight…we think her name is Leyla. Take a second look, and you’ll see it.
In addition to the 2010 CBR1000RR, Honda has also announced the 2010 CBR600RR. Like the fireblade, the 600cc middleweight gets a revamping to its color choices.
When BMW set out to build the S1000RR, they wanted to challenge the Japanese manufacturers on their home turf and break out of their established mold, with an inline-four 1000cc superbike contender. The result was a 193hp superbike with traction control and ABS brakes, all in an affordable package (allegedly).
Also a part of this “outside of the box” thinking, was some things we could probably do without. The first of which is that asymmetrical head light. Second, and more to the point, the choice in available colors. After teasing us with pictures of a handsome S1000RR in a red/white/blue paint scheme, BMW debuted the bike in lime green livery, and then showed pictures of the bike in brown and black options. That left us a bit miffed. But luckily we have gotten word that the red/white/blue scheme will be available, but at an additional cost.
