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Jensen Beeler

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Interesting Entries for the 2015 Pikes Peak Hill Climb

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The 93rd running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb may be over three months away, but the historic American road race released its official entry list this week, with some interesting participants for 2015’s Race to the Clouds.

So far with 78 motorcycle entries confirmed, our attention was piqued with the entry of a 2015 Kawasaki H2 sport bike by Japan’s Takahiro Itami — an unsupported race entry according to Kawasaki USA.

Bringing things more locally, Colorado-based Ronin Motorcycles has an entry with one the company’s 47 heavily modified Buells, with Pikes Peak class-winner Travis Newbold at the helm.

Coming straight from the Isle of Man TT, Rob “The Bullet” Barber will compete in the electric class with The Ohio State University’s Buckeye Current team.

Other entries of interest include a Ducati 1299 Panigale S by Eric Foutch, a still to-be-determined ride for Cycle World’s road test editor Don Canet, and a TOBC Racing Suzuki GSX-R600 for Asphalt & Rubber contributor Shelina Moreda.

While Pikes Peak has several “To Be Determined” motorcycle entries still to disclose, noticeably absent from the entry list are many of the race’s recent top-finishers.

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News

Energica Taps UBS to Find Investment

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Electric motorcycle startup Energica has found some big guns to help find it funding: UBS .

According to the company’s press release, UBS will be Energica’s sole financial advisor during the electric motorcycle company’s search for Italian or international funding.

Any funding that UBS finds will go towards bring the Energica Ego and Energica Eva models to market, particularly in the United States.

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Bikes

Watch Ducati Assemble the New Multistrada 1200

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When you think about the assembly process involved in making a motorcycle, it is pretty staggering. Not only do Ducati engineers have the task of making the best motorcycle possible, but they also need to design the machine to be easily built by the factory workers at Borgo Panigale.

Which parts should go on before the next? where a cable should be routed through the frame and bodywork? The planning that must go into building out an assembly line is certainly an undertaking I would not want to have.

So while the latest video from Ducati is perhaps not the most ouvertly entertaining, it is certainly impressive nonetheless to watch Italy’s finest assemblying a 2015 Ducati Multistrada 1200.

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Bikes

2015 Aprilia RS-GP MotoGP Race Bike Gallery

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Aprilia Racing officially debuted its MotoGP team today, giving us our first glimpse of Marco Melandri and Alvaro Bautista in the team’s racing livery. It is also our first glimpse of the Aprilia RS-GP race bike all kitted-out, which should be a treat for the tech-heads in the crowd.

The RS-GP is an evolution of the Aprilia ART project, now with pneumatic valves, an 81mm bore, and evolved electronics. There is a lot of ahead for Aprilia Racing, Gresini Racing, and their riders.

The first check box is developing the chassis, finding one that gives both riders the confidence they need to push the RS-GP to its limits. Aprilia is said to have an all-new bike in the works for the 2016 season, but the development of that machine will take cues from what Aprilia Racing learns this year with the RS-GP.

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Bikes

Kawasaki Trademarks “Ninja R2” with USPTO & Others

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Let the rumors fly as to what Kawasaki has up its sleeve, because Team Green has registered “Ninja R2” with the US Patent and Trademark office, as well as similar offices internationally.

The trademark application is fairly broad in what the name can be used for, but knowing Kawasaki’s product line, a new motorcycle can be expected from the “Ninja” name.

What that motorcycle could be, is up for debate. Some draw a line between the “Ninja R2” name and the recently revived “Ninja H2” model, and thus see another supercharged machine to come from Kawasaki. Others hear the whispers of a small-displacement sport bike, perhaps one with a stratospheric rev-limit (our pick).

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WSBK

Troy Bayliss Will Continue Racing in WSBK with Ducati

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A subtle “see you soon” and the photo above from Troy Bayliss set the news on fire that the Australian will continue to ride for the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike team, confirmed for the round in Thailand, and with rumors of Aragon and Assen.

The news continues the fanfare from Phillip Island — where Bayliss asked Ducati Corse to let him replace the injured Davide Giugliano, who crashed earlier in the week at the pre-season test, fracturing two vertebrae — giving Aussie fans a special treat at Bayliss’ home round, not mention a renewed buzz for the WSBK series in general, around the world.

While Ducati had perhaps more competitive riders to choose from, such as Michele Pirro and Xavi Forés, in continuing to replace Giugliano, the Italian racing squad chose the fan-favorite again in the 45-year-old retired World Champion.

It probably helps too that World Superbike engine rules play to Ducati’s favor if Bayliss continues to replace the injured Davide Giugliano, but imagine the fanfare with the previous story, and this one, is the result Ducati Corse was hoping to achieve.

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Bikes

2015 Ducati Multistrada 1200 Mega Gallery

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The international press launch for the 2015 Ducati Multistrada 1200 is underway, and accordingly we have a mega gallery of high-resolution photos for you to ogle over. While the 2015 model looks much like its predecessor, Ducati says the adventure-sport machine is all new, from the ground up.

The chassis is new. The engine is the new 160hp Testastretta DVT motor, which has Desmodromic Variable Timing on both the intake and exhaust valves. And while the large-stroke of the styling cues are obviously similar, Ducati has changed the subtle strokes of the Multistrada’s design.

Like the Ducati 1299 Panigale, the new Multistrada comes equipped with an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), which aids the motorcycle in applying traction and stability control electronic systems.

Also, the Bosch MSC “cornering ABS” package is also standard on the new Multistrada, while other options include the LED “cornering” headlight, the Ducati Multimedia System, and other electric tidbits.

The ADV bike also comes in a variety of flavors, first base and “S” trim. The Ducati Multistrada 1200 then comes with five different flavors: Sport, Touring, Enduro, Urban, and D-Air — the latter of course being a collaboration with Dainese and its airbag equipped apparel, which is only available in Europe.

The base model starts at $17,700 while the “S” model has an MSRP of $19,700.

We have 111 high-resolution photos for you to peruse, download, and generally lust over — after the jump of course. Enjoy!

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Event

Portland’s “Alley Sweeper” Urban Enduro is a Go for 2015

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When it comes to the western states and motorcycling, California gets all the credit. But, Oregon has a thriving motorcycling community all of its own, especially in Portland — albeit, things can get a little weird up here, with influences like Moto Corsa, See See Motorcycles, Dirt Quake, and now Asphalt & Rubber.

On the vein of keeping PDX out of the norm, and reaffirming that there are no bad days on a motorcycle, we hear good news that the much-loved Alley Sweeper ride is back on for 2015.

For the uninitiated, the Alley Sweeper is an urband enduro of sorts, which takes place on the unmaintained alleyways within the Portland city limits. It’s part ride, part parade, part critical-mass….and usually more fun in the mud.

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Products

AGVisor – AGV Helmets Get LCD-Tinted Visors

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One visor to rule them all, that’s the dream of many motorcyclists that enjoy tinted visors during the day, but want an easy “clear” option for night-time riding.

Until recently, if you wanted to protect your eyes from the sun, most helmet systems required you to have two shields: one clear – for night-time riding, and one tinted – for daytime use.

Not always a convenient or practical solution, we have seen riders resort to wearing sunglasses behind clear visors; or worse, wearing tinted visors at night.

Thankfully, some solutions have emerged from the motorcycle helmet industry, namely transitional visors (as seen from Bell Helmets), which change tint based on the ambient light.

Another technology is electrochromatics, which tints the glass or plastic by applying an electrical current (actually, the electricity makes the cells clear in most use-cases). Helmet startup Skully features this technology on its now vaporware AR-1 helmet design.

Add respected helmet manufacturer AGV to the mix now, as the Italian company debuted its LCD-based AGVisor system in Switzerland last week, though with little fanfare.

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MotoGP

Rumor: Casey Stoner To Race at the Suzuka 8-Hour?

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A rumor that we are almost certain isn’t true, yet too good not to muse about: Casey Stoner is said to be making a return to motorcycle racing, competing in the prestigious Suzuka 8hr endurance race for Honda.

The rumor comes from the Sportmediaset blog of Max Temporali — usually one of Italy’s more reputable sporting publications. Given Stoner’s contentious relationship with the media, especially the Italian media, one can guess as to the motivations involved though.

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Opinion/Editorial

Has Ducati’s Success Flat-Lined?

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The saying goes that one time is a fluke, two times is a coincidence, but three times…three times is a trend. Looking at Ducati’s last three years of sales (2012-2014), which spans only a 2% margin of growth, by definition one has to conclude that the Italian company is experiencing sales stagnation.

Granted each of the last three years have been record years for the Italian motorcycle company’s sales figures, but each year has been a nudging over the last, seemingly at the cost of Ducati dealers who have found more and more inventory on their showroom floors.

But it shouldn’t surprise Ducati followers to hear the recent departure of Cristiano Silei, Ducati’s now-former Vice President of Sales and Marketing. With Ducati seemingly hitting a wall on expansion and model diversity, Silei’s departure may have been expected in some circles, and certainly all eyes will be on his successor Andrea Buzzoni, to see what he can do with the role.

Is all of this a sign that Ducati has lost its magic, seemingly during the leadership transition from Gabriele del Torchio to Claudio Domenicali? Or is there growth to be had from the Italian brand, now that it is owned by Audi AG? We examine that thought in more detail, after the jump.

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