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January 2011

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Moto Morini Opening Again…Sorta Not Really

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Don’t get too excited Moto Morini fans, the Italian brand isn’t making a comeback from the dead as of yet. However Piero Aicardi, Moto Morini’s receiver (the person in charge of handling the company’s affairs during the liquidation/bankruptcy process), wants to re-open the Bologna factory to assemble 45 bikes that are apparently sitting in parts at the factory.

With 16 Scamblers and 29 Granpasso’s capable of being built, Aicardi foresees that Moto Morini could open temporarily to build the 45 bikes, which would sell for €6,300 – €7,100 ($8,500 – $9,600), and use the proceeds to pay off some of Moto Morini’s debts.

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Racing

Official: Hopper to British Superbikes

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Truly official now, John Hopkins has signed-on with the Crescent Suzuki British Superbike team for the 2011 season. Hopper’s first duty on the BSB team will be to test at the upcoming sessions at the Spanish tracks of Cartagena and Guadix. Crescent Suzuki also says that Hopkins will ride as a wildcard entry at the World Superbike round at Donington Park in March, which precedes the season BSB opener at Brands Hatch in April.

“I am really looking forward to BSB and working with Crescent again, it will obviously be a different crew but I know they are a great group of guys and that will be a good foundation to start the season. It is going to be a huge challenge for me, I know there are new tracks to learn, but I am not too concerned,” said Hopkins

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Rumors

Rumor: New KTM Super Duke & Adventure Bikes in 2013

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The news coming out of Holland this morning is that KTM is working on a new set of Super Duke and Adventure series motorcycles, slated to appear in 2012 as 2013 model year bikes. The news comes from Dutch site Nieuwsmotor, who talked to Robert Prielinger, Head of Development / R & D of Street Bikes at KTM, while visiting the KTM factory, and according to Prielinger KTM is working on a new v-twin motor and electronics package that will see introduction into the Super Duke and Adventure lines by 2013. Also new for the 2013 Super Duke line is a new single-cylinder engine model, which will pick up where the KTM 690 Super Duke left off.

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News

Video: In-Depth Look at the New 2011 Suzuki GSX-R750

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Derek Schoeberle, our favorite Suzuki media personality, is back with a feature walk-through on the 2011 Suzuki GSX-R750 (catch his video on the 2011 Suzuki GSX-R600 as well). Like the GSX-R600, Suzuki continues to make improvements to its 750cc track weapon, namely in the form of weight reduction and mild aesthetic overhauling.

Rotating the 750cc motor backwards by 3°, Suzuki was able to shorten the wheelbase on the GSX-R750 by 15mm, and bring the front axle closer to the swingarm pivot point. With a bevy of small weight savings throughout the bike (including Brembo monobloc brakes), the new Suzuki GSX-R750 shaved 21 lbs in component weight from its bulk (a weight loss breakdown is after the jump), and tips the scales 17 lbs less than its 2010 counterpart.

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News

The Mission R with Its Clothes Off

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The Mission R, the latest creation to come from San Francisco-based Mission Motors, looks like any typical gasoline-powered sportbike (well, any really good looking gasoline-powered sportbike), and that’s sort of the point behind the machine: an electric motorcycle that can excite petrol-heads and electron nerds alike. Although the Mission R was made to draw mainstream appeal, today we see further proof that any resemblance to modern ICE motorcycles was made to be only skin deep.

Beneath the carbon-laid fairings of the Mission R, we see a hint of the bike’s unique chrome-moly trellis frame that mates to a previously hidden headstock/front sub-frame unit that was made by Speedymoto and designed by James Parker (of GSX-RADD fame). With the Mission R’s mass centralized around the 141hp 3-phace AC induction motor, Parker also had to contend with Mission’s carbon enclosed two-tiered battery pack that comprises the bulk of the race bike’s weight.

Read after the jump as Parker walks us through his process and thoughts on designing the Mission R, and be sure to check out the photo galleries for an up-close look.

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Racing

Castrol Honda Returns to World Superbike

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Ten Kate Honda officially became Castrol Honda at the 2011 launch of the team in the UK today. Though Jonathan Rea and Ruben Xaus were confirmed as riders in November 2010, the return of a Castrol Honda team to World Superbike was kept pretty well under wraps until today’s launch. Naturally the livery is very different from last season, with the previous yellow-green color of previous sponsor Hannspree completely removed in favor of a Castrol green, red, and white and a bit of Honda’s wing logo.

“When our world championship racing adventure was first beginning, many years ago now, Castrol Honda was the one team in the paddock which everyone looked up to, whose professional and performance standards we all wanted to achieve. It is an honour for us now to be racing under this famous and historically successful banner and we are privileged to be following in the footsteps of the team we admired so much in the past,” said team manager Ronald ten Kate. The factory Honda team sponsored by Castrol won three superbike championships: John Kocinski, 1997, and Colin Edwards, 2000 and 2002.

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News

Roland Sands Talks about Bell Helmets

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We’ve had more than a few Bell Helmets rolling around the A&R office these past months, and one of the things we’ve really liked from this American-based company is how it has teamed up with notable designers from inside and outside of the motorcycle industry to bring attractive and fresh looks to consumers. While it’s been the Bell Star and Vortex that have been keeping our brains firmly in-between our ears, it’s the designs by Roland Sands and Jona Cerwinske that have been attracting us to Bell, and propelling the company back into the motorcycle helmet market as a whole.

Taking some time to talk to Roland Sands at his new Southern California shop, Bell Helmets has put together this short video with the former motorcycle racer turned designer. While Bell and RSD are obviously out to hock the new gold-leaf-over-carbon fiber “Speed Freak” helmet they’ve created for 2011, Roland has some interesting stories about his process and growing up around motorcycles…the photography is spectacular too boot.

With Bell in the process of restoring its name after having its motorcycle helmet division operated overseas by another company, we expect to see more videos in the future like the one after the jump that engage riders with this once-defunct American brand.

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Racing

WSBK: BMW Motorrad Italia Launches in Monza

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BMW Italy launched its satellite team at Monza on Monday, which will see James Toseland partnering with WSBK rookie Ayrton Badovini, on BMWs that are only barely removed from the factory effort. According to Bernhard Godmayer, Head of BMW Motorrad Motorsport, “Now we can count on two teams, and we want to establish an excellent relationship between them, allowing for a constant exchange of data.

The German engineers will have a chance to compare themselves to the Italian engineers, and vice versa.  The first step in development will be given to the factory team, and once it is tested and approved, it will be passed on to the Italian team.”

As such the major engine development for the BMW Superbike effort will fall on factory riders Troy Corser and Leon Haslam. Toseland is on his second season back in WSBK after a failed effort in the satellite Monster Yamaha Tech3 MotoGP squad. His experience and double world championships should help BMW in its effort to improve beyond what Godmayer called the team’s “not satisfactory” 2010 season.

BMW approved this Italian arm of the BMW Superbike effort on September 21st, according to team director Andrea Buzzoni, in an effort to improve the company’s overall standings in World Superbike.

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Francisco Lopez Caught Stealing Gas During Dakar Rally

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In an event that’s probably more embarrassing than nefarious, Aprilia’s Francisco “Chaleco” Lopez was caught by the camera of a Dakar Rally spectator stealing gas from a parked motorcycle near the race course. Lopez didn’t get too far in the process as several local policeman were nearby and gave the Chilean rider a stern talking to…of course when you speak the language, we imagine it’s a lot easier to talk your way out of a ticket than end up in some South American jail. Check the video after the jump, and let us know if you think Lopez should have been handed a time penalty for his actions.

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WSBK: Gabor Talmacsi Still Considering Team Pedercini

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Gabor Talmacsi ended his trial with Team Pedercini at the Sepang Kawasaki test on Friday by informing the team that he would let them know if he would race for them in 2011 in a few days. According to the team, he “sampled a Superbike for the first time in Sepang, with a view to a possible switch to the world championship with Pedercini team. Talmacsi was impressed by the team’s skill and the Kawasaki new Superbike’s performances and potential.”

Team Pedercini has had Roberto Rolfo signed to contest the 2011 World Superbike championship since late November. He was given the most time on the bike when Sepang’s afternoon rain was not falling. There is a note on what appears to be Talmacsi’s official Facebook page (here at A&R we are not, regrettably, fluent in Hungarian) that suggests that Talmacsi was a bit upset by his lack of time on the bike.

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