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April 2011

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Having dominated the final qualifying session under a cloudy sky and in cool temperatures, Carlos Checa won pole (1:35.292) for the World Superbike round at Assen. The Spaniard won pole for the third race weekend in a row, added by the fact that he was the only rider to have a fresh qualifying tire for the third Superpole session. He will be joined on the front row for Sunday’s races by Jakub Smrz, Eugene Laverty, and Noriyuki Haga. Though none could touch Checa at the end, the Superpole sessions were marked by very close lap times, with the twelve riders in Superpole 2 covered by a half second. Only Marco Melandri crashed during the Superpole sessions, on his last lap while attempting to fight for pole. He was unhurt and qualified eighth.

As the weekend approaches and we dream of our Saturday/Sunday milkruns, Fridays here at Asphalt & Rubber always seem to lean a little bit more towards the lighter side of things. Usually it just means a little bit more snark and fun in the tone of our posts, but this week our readers are helping out with the fun.

Posted to our Facebook page, some seemingly disgruntled DRZ owners have made a parody video of the “26 Years of the Suzuki GSX-R” piece that we posted yesterday. While the Suzuki GSX-R has come a long way in its 26 years of development, the DR-Z has, well…you’ll see. Happy Friday, the video is after the jump.

MV Agusta is recalling 211 of its 2010 MV Agusta F4 superbikes again, this time for a faulty subframe design. According to the statement issued by the NHTSA, the MV Agusta F4’s rear subframe could crack or break because of the upper fixture points not being “robust” enough. This problem creates a safety issue for a rider and passenger, who could find their stability on the motorcycle compromised under such a situation.

The great State of Wisconsin has begun to offer Harley-Davidson branded vanity license plates to its four-wheeled constituency. With the words “Share the Road” wedged underneath a double-dose of Harley-Davidson branding, the proceeds of the new plates will go to help fund State-sponsored motorcycle safety programs (a worthy cause).

Admittedly, we’re having a hard time with this story. On the one-hand, we love to see that motorcycle safety courses and programs are getting funded. There is a need to educate new riders, and to generally be good stewards for our sport and industry. On the other hand though, we generally frown on the commercialization of public programs, and while Wisconsin is the home of America’s largest motorcycle manufacturer, the whole thing just feels dirty.

This year marks 100 years of racing on the Mountain Course at the Isle of Man TT, which should make for a special event for all of those involved. Usually each year there is a famous motorcycle racer(s) that has the honor of doing a parade lap on the historic road course, and this year should be especially interesting for us Americans as Nicky Hayden will take a lap around the Isle of Man TT course.

The 2006 MotoGP World Champion will be joined by five-time 500GP World Champion Mick Doohan, as well as Ian Hutchinson, who astoundingly won all five solo races in last year’s TT. With Hayden sponsored by both Arai and Dainese (both event sponsors), it perhaps isn’t too surprising that the charismatic American will be taking part in the Arai Parade lap at the TT. Of course it could be the allure of British food and miserable weather that sealed the deal…tough call on that one.

2011 marks another iteration of the venerable Suzuki GSX-R platform, with the GSX-R600 and GSX-R750 getting an overhaul that sees both bikes’ weight lowered to near anorexic levels. Starting with first with the GSX-R750, it’s hard to believe though that this superbike, along with the GSX-R1000 & GSX-R600 can trace their heritage back 26 years, with many of those years being at the pinnacle of motorcycle performance, racing, and design.

To commemorate and highlight the company’s achievements, Suzuki has put together this short video that underlines the models that have come from the GSX-R’s rich history. Some of the technical achievements are pretty astounding when you see when they occurred (for example, electronically adjusted suspension (NEAS) in 1986…that’s just now becoming an optional feature on consumer streetbikes). It’s a pretty neat history lesson on one of the most recognizable brands in the sportbike market. Check it out after the jump.

The Vyrus 986 M2 has to be one of the most gorgeous motorcycles we’ve ever seen grace our pages here at Asphalt & Rubber. It’s edgy and doesn’t conform to many of the elements we’d expect from a motorcycle design, and best of all Vyrus intends to race the hub-center steering bike (well maybe the fact you can buy one/build your own is the best thing of all).

With the Moto2 World Championship perhaps out of reach for the small Italian company, we instead see the Vyrus 986 M2 making an entry in the Spanish CEV Moto2 Championship, a national-level series that uses the same rules as the World Championship. Helping Vyrus enter that series is exhaust manufacturer MIVV, which has some experience in the CEV series, having partnered with FTR in past years.

Motus Motorcycles has just released the second part of its Daytona launch video, which unlike the first version, is chalked full of close-up and detail shots of the Motus MST and the performance-packed Motus MST-R. The Daytona Bike Week was the public launch of the new American-made sport-tourer, which features the KMV4 1,645cc V4 pushrod motor with gasoline direct injection. Motus’s approach with the KMV4 is to take a page out of America’s rich hot-rodding tradition, and therefore has built a power plant that tuners and hobbiests should find the designs of familiar.

Helping Motus build this tiny buy powerful engine is Pratt & Miller Engineering, who have made a name for themselves building all sorts of racing engines, including those from the C6R Corvette Racing squad, which coincidently also uses a pushrod design. This has lead to many calling the KMV4 as simply half a Corvette motor, which the math doesn’t really support, but the philosophy surely does.

Next for the Motus crew is a ride around the United States that will not only serve as an R&D/proving method for the new bikes, but will also help drum-up interested buyers and the much needed dealers to get the motorcycle company launched off the ground. We’re looking forward to seeing the 161hp sport-tourer come to San Francisco, we just hope the rumors we’ve been hearing of a $30,000+ price tag aren’t true. Get ready to bust out your “V4” gang signs, as the video is after the jump.

Zero. Nada. None. That’s the number of offers made on Moto Morni and its facilities during today’s bankruptcy auction proceedings. The beleaguered Italian motorcycle manufacturer has had a rough time of things, since its closure hit the newswires back in December 2009. Several suitors have come to the company’s door, trying to woo it into acquisition. First it was Paolo Berlusconi, who came close to finalizing a purchase of Moto Morini, before the unionized labor put the kibosh on the transaction, and Berlusconi walked from the business deal.

Perhaps unsurprisingly was the failure of any offer from Thomas Bleiner to materialize, despite the Austrain businessman’s great lengths to publicize his intentions of purchasing Moto Morini. Bleiner’s plan involved supplementing the motorcycle company’s income with a bank of solar panels, made by Bleiner’s other venture, that would be affixed to the Bologna factory’s rooftop. As was thought at the time, this announcement appears to be just a move to drum up some publicity for the photovoltic enterprise, and not a serious interest in Moto Morini.

We haven’t had a sketch by Oberdan Bezzi on the site in a while, but the Italian designer has inked this Ducati concept that we thought would help everyone get through the work week. Coining the name “Desmodoctor” it should be clear to whom Obiboi is paying homage to with this design, as Bezzi imagines what sort of “gift” the Bologna company would give Rossi to play around with when he’s not racing the Ducati Desmosedici GP11 or GP12.