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.

KTM 690 SMC R by Isaac Chavira

03/29/2011 @ 10:14 am, by Jensen Beeler1 COMMENT

KTM 690 SMC R by Isaac Chavira KTM 690 SMC R Isaac Chavira 635x447

More work from our man Isaac Chavira, maker of the Ducati Monster 848R everyone was drooling over last week. This week Chavira turns his attention to Austria and its resident motorcycle maker KTM. Focusing on Team Orange’s supermoto offering, Chavira has dreamed up a KTM 690 SMC R concept bike, saying “I’d really love to see this bike come to reality and frankly speaking I don’t see why it cant become a reality. Heck any gear head worth his salt can build 95% of this bike from a KTM parts catalog.” That sounds to us like a challenge.

Ducati Monster 848R Concept by Isaac Chavira

03/24/2011 @ 6:54 am, by Jensen Beeler9 COMMENTS

Ducati Monster 848R Concept by Isaac Chavira Ducati Monster 848R Corse crop 635x403

Today we have a concept sketch that should appeal to A&R‘s Ducatisti readership, as Isaac Chavira brings us his rendition of a Ducati Monster 848R. The name sort of gives off what’s going on here, as Chavira has incorporated the 848′s superbike motor into a Monster chassis (a Monster 796 chassis to be exact).

While the Monster line has become Ducati’s air-cooled street machine, we like where Chivra’s head is at when explains his choice for using the 848 Superbike’s water-cooled motor: “As you’ll see I have given it a heart transplant stuffing the 848′s motor into the Monsters chassis. After all they gave it a menacing name, why not have the heart of a beast right?”

KTM Supermoto Concept by anyaverageartist

03/22/2011 @ 6:46 am, by Jensen Beeler3 COMMENTS

KTM Supermoto Concept by anyaverageartist KTM 990 Supermoto anyaverageartist 635x476

We love us some concept bikes here at Asphalt & Rubber. While not all of them live in the realm of possibility, it’s interesting to see the ideas that come forth when people put pen to paper with reckless abandon. Motorcycling is about individual expression, which we often see exhibit itself in the way people modify their bikes after purchase.

If this customization process is the physical and practical manifestation of this idea, then concept sketches and renders are examples of the same act being done as purely a mental exercise. Luckily for us, Photoshop allows for just about anyone with the skillset to now create these concepts, which supplies us with a regular healthy dose of motorcycles to day-dream about.

Rendered: MV Agusta Brutale 675 B3

03/03/2011 @ 4:30 pm, by Jensen Beeler5 COMMENTS

Rendered: MV Agusta Brutale 675 B3 MV Agusta Brutale B3 675 Jerome Vannesson Moto Revue render 635x423

Naturally with the new MV Agusta F3 supersport, which according to MV Agusta will be available in the Fall of 2011, comes the news that we’ll be seeing a naked version of the 675cc three-cylinder motorcycle. Dubbed the Brutalina by Castiglioni, the MV Agusta Brutale B3 675 seems a more appropriate and official name for the smaller Brutale, and is a sign the project is becoming more cohesive. While official details are still scarce, judging from how the larger predecessor compares to the venerable and iconic MV Agusta F4, we have some vague idea of how the Brutale B3 675 will compare to the now officially debuted F3.

Helping us form a more cohesive thought though is photoshop master Jérôme Vannesson, of French magazine Moto Revue, and thankfully he has done up some renders on what the MV Agusta Brutale B3 675 could look like. Vannesson’s work is flawless, and in the past he’s been spot on with the design cues used by the OEMs. Time will tell if MV Agusta follows Vannesson’s line of thought, but until the Brutale B3 unveils, we’ll have to drool over his renders instead. Check Moto Revue‘s site for all four of Vannesson’s photochops (we like the black and white bike with the red frame the most).

Source: Moto Revue

Kickboxer Concept Gets Diesel and AWD Variants

02/22/2011 @ 6:32 pm, by Jensen Beeler10 COMMENTS

Kickboxer Concept Gets Diesel and AWD Variants Kickboxer diesel AWD Ian McElroy 3 635x337

Back in 2009 we fell in love with the Kickboxer concept by Ian McElroy, who taught himself some SolidWorks and dreamt of a motorcycle powered by a turbocharged Subaru WRX engine. Well McElroy is back with two variations on his original Kickboxer design: one with a diesel motor (also sourced from Subaru), along with an all-wheel drive model.

To make the AWD configuration work, McElroy employed a dual-chain drive design that uses a jack shaft, idler sprocket, and a drive axle with a U-joint. While the original Kickboxer was designed in the 3D modeling software to be precise enough to produce, we’re not sure about all of the engineering behind McElroy’s AWD design (that’s a polite way of saying this author was a social science major in college), but the idea is certainly intriguing.

The diesel Kickboxer though, it’s so crazy it just might work…we’ll just have to wait for someone to build one. Renders galore after the jump.

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.

Triumph Daytona 1050 Imagined

01/06/2011 @ 1:06 pm, by Jensen Beeler18 COMMENTS

Triumph Daytona 1050 Imagined 2011 Triumph Daytona 1050 imagined 635x377

Triumph for some time now has had these glaring holes in its model line-up, which it has only begun to address with the launching of bikes like the 2011 Triumph Tiger 800 and 2011 Triumph Tiger 800 XC.

One hole that still remains in this Swiss cheese product offering is a liter class sportbike. Up until the recent release of the 2011 Triumph Daytona 675R, the Daytona 675 has been single-handedly holding down Triumph’s sportbike offering; while the British company’s naked plus-sized Speed Triple has nearly become the Branch Davidian of the street biking cult status, giving Triumph fans plenty of ammo to speculate upon when Triumph would release a fully-faired 1050cc three-cylinder machine that came from the best of these two bikes.

Ducati ST1200 Concept by Luca Bar Design – Teasing ST Owners Never Looked So Good

11/19/2010 @ 5:40 pm, by Jensen Beeler16 COMMENTS

Ducati ST1200 Concept by Luca Bar Design   Teasing ST Owners Never Looked So Good Ducati ST1200 concept Luca Bar Design 1 635x454

Ducati ST owners were less than thrilled to learn that their sport-tourer would not return for the 2008 model year, after Ducati sold just barely over 1,000 units of the bike in 2007. Adding insult to injury was the news that Ducati wasn’t looking to revive the ST brand in the coming years, leaving the Italian company without a proper sport-tourer in its model line-up.

With the introduction of the Ducati Multistrada 1200, the Italian brand offered what some ST owners thought was a poor successor for their cult status motorcycle. With the MTS 1200 being more oriented for adventure duty than a pure street/sport tourer, there remains a gap in Ducati’s line-up that some believe should be filled.

One of those persons is designer Luca Bar, who took some time to make a Ducati ST1200 concept, which draws inspiration from the Multistrada 1200, and shows that Ducati could make a convincing sport-tourer that could share heavily from the common parts bin, thus making it a cost-effective model.

Ducati Diavel Pricing – $16,995 Base & $19,995 Carbon

10/25/2010 @ 1:46 am, by Jensen Beeler8 COMMENTS

Ducati Diavel Pricing   $16,995 Base & $19,995 Carbon Ducati Diavel Termignoni exhaust render

It’s Monday morning, so that means our friends at Ducati News Today have let loose more details about the upcoming 2011 Ducati Diavel performance cruiser. Showing us what looks like a CAD render of Termignoni’s exhaust system for the Diavel, DNT also tells us that the Ducati Diavel will start with an MSRP base price of $16,995, while the up-market carbon version will hit the wallet with an MSRP of $19,995. Rumored to make around 165hp, the Diavel is based off the same Testastretta 11º motor as the Ducati Multistrada 1200, and weighs 456lbs according to Ducati.

Yamaha VMAX Concept by Vacuita

09/14/2010 @ 2:16 pm, by Jensen Beeler15 COMMENTS

Yamaha VMAX Concept by Vacuita Yamaha VMAX render vacuita 560x446

We came across this render while trolling the internet for Ukrainian wives, and thought to ourselves that it sure did look like the bastard child of the Yamaha FZ1 and the upcoming Ducati Diavel. Made back in 2009, this artist’s render pre-dates any of the leaked viewings we saw of the Diavel, but could be an interesting evolution of the VMAX design to answer the Ducati power cruiser.

We like to think of the render as a VMAX on steroids, although we can’t seem to wrap our heads around how the Öhlins shock above the motor mounting works out…but then again we had trouble finding Ukrainian wives on the internet (now that’s saying something).