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January 2012

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Unveiled for the American market at the New York IMS Show, the Honda NC700X is officially coming stateside for 2012. The more off-road oriented version (6″ of travel up front, 5.9″ of travel in the rear) of the boringly practical 2012 Honda NC700S, the NC700X features Honda’s new 670cc parallel twin motor, which was built with fuel consumption and rideability in mind. The numbers won’t blow your hair back, with Honda’s new urban motor making 47hp and 44 lbs•ft of torque, but at 65 mpg, more practically minded riders will appreciate what the NC700X & NC700S have to offer.

After testing for three days at Jerez with Carlos Checa and Franco Battaini, Ducati Corse may not be saying much about the new Ducati Desmosedici GP12, but that hasn’t stop Karel Abraham from releasing some details about the new Italian steed today. The “official” technical specifications of MotoGP race bikes are always a bit vague, and Ducati Corse has unsurprisingly stuck to that trend with the GP12. Stating horsepower in the 250hp range, 15hp more than what was quoted for the GP11, Ducati also lists a top speed of over 360 km/h, up from the GP11’s 340+ km/h quoted figure.

Perhaps more interesting than the power and top speed figures is the quoted displacement for Abraham’s GP12. With fuel restrictions not increasing with the maximum displacement allotment for 2012, and the maximum bore size set at 81mm for the new MotoGP era, Ducati in particular was rumored to be exploring a displacement figure in the 900cc range, but interestingly enough appears to be taking the GP12 up to the maximum cylinder volume. There is also of course some speculation that Ducati Corse could use a narrower V° angle, a change from the standard 90° V4 we’ve seen from the Italian brand.

Today would have been Marco Simoncelli’s 25th birthday, and despite his untimely passing, the Italian MotoGP star is being remembered the world over by race fans. Dying in the early laps of the 2011 Malaysian GP, Simoncelli’s fateful crash was a tragedy that weighed heavily on the the MotoGP paddock during the fews weeks after his passing, and that dark cloud loomed over the sport as MotoGP re-assembled for the final race of the season at Valencia.

Sent off with a minute of noise, not silence, the healing process for the paddock has been slow but steady since the Spanish round. SuperSic has formally been remembered by the Misano circuit, which changed its official name to honor the Italian rider, while the Simoncelli family has setup the Marco Simoncelli Foundation to honor its lost son, and do humanitarian work in his name. Happy Birthday SuperSic. You are still missed.

Husqvarna continues its push into the on-road market, and has debuted another concept while at the New York IMS show today. Already showing us the Husqvarna Moab Concept in Milan, the folks at Husky have continued the thought process with the Moab, and built a more off-road capable dual-sport, which they are calling the Husqvarna Baja Concept. Another modern-take on retro design, the Baja concept carries over with it many of the Moab’s bigger design features, while sporting a 19″ knobby front tire for better off-road use.

Husqvarna simply states that the concept uses a four-stroke liquid-cooled 650cc single-cylinder motor (same as the Moab), which surely will be sourced from BMW’s G650GS. The Baja is also being fitted with a five-speed wide-ratio transmission, fuel-injection, perimeter frame, and Brembo brakes. The design from Husqvarna looks fairly polished, and we wouldn’t be surprised if some form of the Baja or Moab made it into production (or a fusion of the two).

With the Swedish brand already releasing the Husqvarna Nuda 900, and set to bring the Huqvarna Strada into production sometime this year, BMW’s want-to-be rogue street bike company could have a robust line-up if it brings the Baja and/or the Moab into produciton. We hope they do, because out of all the street bikes we’ve seen from the brand, these two seem the most intriguing, and also happen to better fit the Husqvarna name as well. Photos after the jump.

In Spain right now, an assembly of Ducati Corse technicians, mechanics, and riders are tucking into bed after completing the first of three days of MotoGP testing at the Spanish track. After failing to debut its new Ducati Desmosedici GP12 at the 2012 Wrooom media event, Ducati Corse is holding some very private tests at Jerez to sort out the GP12 before Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden ride the 1,000cc format machine at the Sepang test at the end of the month. Details about the Desmosedici GP12 have been sparse, though Ducati Corse General Manager Filippo Preziosi did let it be known that the 2012 Desmo was 90% new in its design.

Indiana is on the verge of redeeming itself in the eyes of Asphalt & Rubber, as the Hoosier State is all set to vote on allowing motorcycle dealers to sell bikes on the Lord’s day (that’s Sunday for you heathens). Indiana State Senate Bill 192, which is sponsored by State Senator Ed Charbonneau (R-Valparaiso), would end Indiana’s ban on “buying, selling or trading motorcycles on Sundays.” The bill is a part of a larger national movement to do away with one of the motorcycle industries more puritanical customs of trade.

Every year Interbrand releases a list of the Top 100 global brands — ranking each company on its brand value and then assigning a dollar amount to that value. As such over the years, the Interbrand 100 has become the de facto metric on the strength of a company’s brand. For some time Harley-Davidson has been a stalwart of the Interbrand 100, with the Bar & Shield brand regularly getting the nod from the consultancy’s specialists — after all, how many brands are responsible for enthusiasts tattooing its logo on their body? However the past few years have seen a worrisome trend, as slowly Harley-Davidson has fallen farther and farther down the Interbrand 100 rankings.

We already told you that 2011 was BMW Motorrad’s best sales year ever, and that the BMW S1000RR topped the Bavarian brand’s charts here in the United States. Zie Germans must be feeling rather pleases with themselves right now (and rightfully so), as BMW has released more details about its all-time motorcycle sales record. Pushing out 104,286 units in 2011, BMW Motorrad was up 6.4% in 2011 over 2010, with each of the 2011’s twelve months outselling its 2010 counterpart. Toppling its previous sales record from 2007 (the height of the world economy), it says something about BMW’s current business strategy that it can best that figure in an economy that is still exceedingly weak in comparison.

It is interesting to note in which markets, and in which segments, BMW is finding this growth, because the answers are not necessarily our usual suspects. Basically doubling its worldwide 500+cc market share over the past four years, BMW now accounts for 12% of the worlds “big” displacement motorcycles by units sold per annum. This goes counter to the trend that we’ve seen, where small-displacement are being cast as the sales leaders for large brands (namely the Japanese Four).

After battling with KTM teammate Marc Coma for the entire duration of the 2012 Dakar Rally, Cyril Despres bested the Catalan rider on the final stage, and claimed his fourth Dakar title. Despres won only four stages of the Rally (compared to Coma’s five stages), but the Frenchman was able to cling to his overall lead, despite finishing behind Coma on the last stage. With The Dakar concluding in Lima for the first time in history, Despres’ triumph brought KTM its eleventh consecutive Dakar win. After a critical time penalty was levied against Marc Coma, Cyril Despres won the rally with a 53 minute margin, though the racing was decidedly closer than that number implies.

Sunday’s final stage was only 23km long (14.29 miles) and largely ceremonial, with Saturday’s penultimate round truly deciding who would win the 2012 Dakar Rally. With only several minutes of time separating the two riders as they entered the last true round of racing, Coma unfortunately damaged his gearbox after a big jump. Getting lost in the process, Coma was able to nurse his KTM back through the stage, though he had a 45 minute time penalty levied upon him for swapping-in his third motor, which cost the Catalan his chance of a fourth Dakar win, and allowed Despres to coast to victory during Sunday’s final round.

On his way to recovery, in more than one way, John Hopkins may not be the man he used to be after this weekend. Having a number of surgeries and complications with his right hand after his MotoGP wild card crash at Brno, Hopper finally resorted to having the top of his right ring finger amputated on Friday. Set to start physiotherapy in about a week and to back on the bike in three weeks, Hopkins hopes to be ready in time for World Superbike’s season-opener at Phillip Island in six weeks’ time.

Consulting with physicians before the surgery on Thursday, the amputation of part of Hopper’s finger was viewed as the best way to resolve his continuing problems with his hand, and ensure that his 2012 WSBK season would remain intact. Hopkins has a lot riding on this season, as he and Crescent Suzuki are hoping to continue the momentum from the 2011 British Superbike Championship. With Hopper hoping to return to MotoGP in 2013, we don’t think the Anglo-American’s resolve to accomplish that goal can be questioned at this point.

If you want to know the real story behind Ducati’s snow tire shod Desmosedici two-up ride with MotoGP riders Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden, well this video should shed some insight into the antics that the Ducati Corse crew has been undertaking at the 2012 Wrooom media event being held at the Madonna di Campiglio ski resort this week.

Catching some big air on the Italian Alps, our protagonists race down the slopes on their snowboards, egging each other on to go faster. However, when Hayden hurts his shoulder (the American GP racer did break his collarbone and ribs two weeks ago in real life), the Ducati Corse duo have to get Hayden down the mountain as soon as possible, and video goodness ensues. Yes, MotoGP racers have such a hard life.