Aprilia is either confident or cocky, because according to MCN, the Italian manufacturer’s racing department has halted development on the 2010 World Superbike spec RSV4 Factory race bike. Comfortable with Max Biaggi’s 58 point lead over Leon Haslam and his Alstare Suzuki, Aprilia wants Biaggi to focus on racing with his current setup, rather than risk having a prototype part breaking, and costing the team and Biaggi the World Superbike Championship.
It’s hard to make strategic business partnership announcements sound sexy. Between all the hyperbole about how two companies are going to shift the industry paradigm and synergize the supply chain matrix, the average consumer’s eyes glaze over, and drool starts seeping out from the corners of their mouths. So bear with us on this one, because the announcement (or is the term Brammouncement?) of Brammo and Flextronics is an important one not only for the Ashland based company, but also for the electric motorcycle industry as a whole.
Some of the biggest problems facing any startup in the motorcycle industry are distribution and assembly. With the demand for electric motorcycles being a global issue, electric motorcycle startups, which are based primarily in the United States, have to not only grow their businesses domestically, but perhaps more importantly they need to foster a presence abroad in foreign markets.
With Europe and Asia easily out-pacing the demand in the US for electric transportation, an issue of contention for cash-strapped startups like Brammo has been how to grow globally and effectively with their limited budgets. The solution in this case for Brammo, is partnering with Flextronics, and using their scalable global production facilities.
Starting this November, Oklahoma riders will have to start paying a $3 fee that helps fund motorcycle safety in the OK State. The tax will be added to existing registration fees, and affects new bikes and their renewals.
While the Oklahoma Advisory Committee for Motorcycle Safety and Education will decided how the funds are used, it’s under the presumption that revenue generated from the tax will be spent on safety advertising and promotion.
Despite the hit to the wallet, the Daily Oklahoman says that riders in Oklahoma aren’t complaining about the increased registration costs.
Pope Benedict XVI received a nice surprise today as Ducati Motor Holdings dropped off two purpose-built Ducati Multistrada 1200S Touring bikes for His Holiness. We don’t expect Il Papa to be riding the bikes anytime soon though, as the two Ducatis will be used by the Pope’s motorcade and Vatican gendarmerie (the Vatican police force), hence the special papal yellow paint scheme.
The 2011 Aprilia Dorsoduro 1200 got an early preview today (no, another service manual was not leaked ahead of schedule), as a model of the bike was on-hand for the Piaggio Group’s grand opening of its new office in Milan. Releasing the first official image of the Dorsoduro 1200, Aprilia hasn’t dropped too many surprises on us. Noticeable in the shot is the optional ABS package, and we get news that the 2010 Aprilia Dorsoduro 1200 will use a different traction control system that will be found on the 2011 Aprilia RSV4 Factory.
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).
Erik Buell Racing continues to pump the interwebs with material on its EBR 1190RS street bike, the 1190cc v-twin American street bike. In what looks to be Part 1 of a multiple-part video series, EBR throws a bunch of cut-scenes together, giving us only a quick glimpse of the 1190RS. Although details are scarce about the winged-stead, we do know that the Erik Buell Racing 1190RS will be based of EBR’s 1190RR race bike, which was based in-turn off the now defunct Buell Barracuda 2.
Unfortunately Harley-Davidson closed down Buell before the Barracuda 2 could make it into production, thus gaining the ire of Buelltisti (we think that’s a word) around the world. Reports that the EBR 1190RS can be fueled by the sheer will of Erik Buell and tears of a unicorn might be exagereated, but we’re not certain. Enough fluff text, check the video after the jump.
According to the NHTSA, motorcycle deaths in the United States dropped by 16% in 2009 compared to the number of deaths in 2008. With 4,462 deaths in 2009 and 5,312 deaths in 2008, this makes for the first time motorcycle death tolls have dropped in the past decade; however federal officials are reluctant to call this a victory in rider safety.
“While we are pleased that the number of motorcycling fatalities dropped dramatically in 2009, a one-year drop isn’t a trend. We need to determine why, and ensure that the decline continues,” said Ed Moreland, AMA Senior Vice President for Government Relations.
Workers at Harley-Davidson’s Menomonee Falls plants have caved to Harley-Davidson’s labor restructuring ultimatum today, voting to approve a seven-year labor contract that would see 275 jobs cut and a two-tiered workforce implemented in the company’s Wisconsin-based production plants. The vote comes after Harley-Davidson threatened to move its Wisconsin production outside of the state (Kansas City being one of the alternatives), which would see the unions losing its entire 1,350 member workforce.
While the official Provisional 2011 MotoGP Calendar isn’t expected to go public until later this week, we’ve gotten an inside look at the relatively unchanged MotoGP schedule for next season. Our right and honorable friends at MotoMatters were on the ball this morning when travel agents for MotoGP trips got the provisional calendar in their hands, with some already publishing it to the web (travel agents typically get the calendar before the paddock does, since their industry depends on knowing the schedule as early as possible).
There aren’t too many surprises in the 2011 calendar, but the most noteworthy change is the Qatar GP being moved up three weeks to March 20th, to better compete with the start of World Superbike Championship series. The Portuguese GP at Estoril also moves toward the front of the calendar, which seems to happen every other year now. Lastly, Motegi is on the docket, barring any unforeseen volcanic eruptions. We have yet to see when the TwitGP is scheduled for in 20011. Check the full provisional 2011 MotoGP Calendar after the jump.
Yamaha’s factory-supported World Superbike team, Sterilgarda Yamaha, tipped part of it’s rider line-up last week when it announced that Marco Melandri would be making the move from MotoGP to WSBK. Now the Yamaha squad has released the name of its second rider, and we’ll give you a hint: it’s not James Toseland. Instead for the 2011 season, Sterilgarda Yamaha will be tapping into the young Irish rider Eugene Laverty, who is currently looking for a World Supersport Championship with the Parkalgar Honda squad.