Investors at the Tokyo Stock Exchange were not happy with Yamaha Motor this morning, as the Japanese motorcycle manufacturer reported its 2010 earnings and 2011 forecast, and promptly saw its stock drop 10%. Despite managing to turnaround its 2010 income from the ¥216.1 billion ($2.5 billion) loss it took in 2009 to a profit of ¥18.3 billion ($219 million), Yamaha only expects to improve on these gains by just over 9% in 2011.
Ruben Xaus will start his 200th World Superbike race at Phillip Island, making him the third rider in this season’s field to start such a large number of races. He will join the ranks of Carl Fogarty, Noriyuki Haga, Troy Corser, Aaron Slight, and Frankie Chili in numbers of starts by racing at the season opener later this month. Xaus began his WSBK career with two wildcard entries in 1998, after a rookie Supersport season in 1997.
He returned to World Supersport for 1999 and 2000, but began his full-time career as a World Superbike rider in 2001. He left WSBK for the 2004 and 2005 seasons to go racing in MotoGP, with a career high of third at Qatar in 2004 on a satellite Ducati. Xaus was named MotoGP Rookie of the Year for 2004 and moved to a satellite Yamaha for 2005, where he did not have the same luck.
KTM must have read our wish list for Christmas (we originally asked for a reduced price and free puppy with every purchase), as not only has the Austrian company improved upon its already impressive KTM 1190 RC8 R v-twin awesomebike, but they’ve considerable slashed the RC8 R’s MSRP. Prices so low, they’re practically giving the bike away, the 2011 KTM 1190 RC8 R will retail for $16,499 — a nearly $3,500 price reduction from the 2010 model (the RC8 R effectively takes over the price point of the RC8, which has been discontinued for 2011).
Making 175hp (with the right fuel), the 2011 KTM 1190 RC8 R benefits from a dual spark plug ignition setup that features two different spark plugs for different ignition points. Improving not only performance levels, the new spark plug configuration also gives the RC8 R a 12% fuel economy increase, while decreasing emissions. Also new for 2011 is a new crankshaft and flywheel which have increased masses (100g & 1,000g respectively) to smooth out the power pulses of the RC8 R.
There’s a quiet rumor going on in the electric racing circles that a major OEM of internal combustion motorcycles is poised to enter one of the electric racing series this season. Which manufacturer and which series is not being openly discussed, but judging from whom is talking about the possibility, and perhaps more importantly who is not talking about it, our best guess would be a Japanese manufacturer like Honda is at the center of the rumor. Honda has already been caught testing hybrid componentry at the 25hrs of Thunderhill, coincidentally with technology produced by electric motorcycle upstart Mission Motors.
Taking over Valentino Rossi’s factory Yamaha seat, multiple AMA Superbike Champion, 2010 WSBK Champion, and 2011 MotoGP Rookie of the Year Ben Spies will have the same equipment as reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo. Given how well Spies did on the satellite Tech3 Yamaha in 2010, the factory bike and a year of experience could mean the difference between being the “Best of the Rest” and the “Big Four” becoming the Big Five.
The Spanish custom bike scene continues to warm our hearts as Radical Ducati (Happy 10th year anniversary guys!) has just created another v-twin masterpiece. Taking a Ducati Superbike 1098 frame and motor, RAD has worked its touches into this desmodromic dreamboat with its usual flare. It’s easy to spot the Spanish team’s design ideas and inspirations that we’ve seen on some of its other bikes, but the exhaust on this Ducati Mikaracer certainly stands out as something unique and special.
Part GP racer, part street tracker, the asymetrical mounting might have our OCD in a tizzy, but the result is also very striking and sounds oh so good (check the video after the jump). The tail section on the Mikaracer also pops-out, if for no other reason than the fact it looks like it was removed from a giant hornet’s thorax (you almost want to drag the Spanish equivalent of the DMV into the street for ruining things with that license plate and holder though), which is becoming a hallmark feature for RAD’s bikes. Photos, video, and technical/build specs after the jump.
There might be snow on the ground for most of the United States, but things in the south are starting to heat up now that Motus has gotten its MST sport-tourer on the dyno, and for a quick ride in its latest video on YouTube. Letting the 1645cc gasoline direct-injection KMV4 motor “unleash the beast” as it were, the project seems to be coming together nicely as we’re given a rapid succession of quick-cuts on the MST’s build job.
We expect to see the built-in-America bike on city streets once the ice thaws (or Motus realizes it was 70°F in sunny San Francisco today, and makes a stop by the Golden State), and the video’s ending suggests we’ll get another installment while we wait for winter to subside.
We’re still going through the video to see if there’s any nuggets of info hidden inside. Call them out in the comments if you see something.
The news coming out of the Santa Cruz area today is that there’s been a management shake-up at Zero Motorcycles, as multiple people at the top of the company’s leadership have been given pink slips, including company Founder & CTO Neal Saiki. Recently talking to PlugBike.com‘s John Adamo, Zero Motorcycles CEO Gene Banman denied that Saiki had been let go from the company, saying that Saiki’s absence at the company was due to his child’s recent birth and Saiki’s desire to spend time with his newborn.
However multiple sources close to the company have confirmed to Asphalt & Rubber that Neal Saiki was a part of a larger management shake-up that was precipitated by the company’s lead investor. With many of the terminations expected to be finalized next month, and spanning more than one division at the California-based startup, there appears to be a considerable personnel and culture shift occurring at Zero at this point in time.
The name “Castrol Honda” in motorcycle racing is something that spans several decades, and for this writer conjures up the days when v-twins ruled World Superbikes. The battle in 2002 between Colin Edwards and Troy Bayliss is a season talked about when referencing “the glory years of World Superbike”, and I can still remember watching The Showdown at Imola, the final race of 2002 season, when Colin Edwards clinched the World Championship (did you just get goose bumps too?)…in fact it’s that race that got me hooked on motorcycles in the first place.
Taking that legacy into 2011, the newly reformed Castrol Honda team, campainged by Ten Kate Racing with factory Honda support, has quite a legacy to live up to…and the team knows it. Talking about what it means to wear the green, white, and red livery, Castrol Honda team members talk about the name’s past, and what they plan to accomplish this season while wearing the oil company’s banner. Check out their video after the jump.
Our friends at IndianCarsBikes.in have spied the KTM 200 Duke again out testing again near Bajaj’s factory in Pune, India. This time riding down the street, we get to see how the 200cc variant of the KTM 125 Duke will sit with an adult on the frame, and the bike looks fairly comfy for a full-sized person (although we have no idea how tall the rider actually is of course). The second spy shot of the KTM 200 Duke in a just a week, Bajaj is either getting sloppy (unlikely), or the debut of this machine could be edging closer and closer to reality.
Yamaha Racing has just announced that it will debut its 2011 MotoGP team livery at the Sepang test on February 21st. Yamaha has been without a title sponsor since the departure of Valentino Rossi, as Italian car manufacturer Fiat dropped its support of the Japanese team when Rossi went to Ducati Corse for this upcoming season.
Despite having the reigning MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo, the 2010 MotoGP Rookie of the Year Ben Spies, and being the team to beat in 2011, Yamaha has reportedly struggled to find a title sponsor for the upcoming season, that is until now.