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Ducati Superbike 1199 to Get Significant Price Increase

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If you’re one of the many Ducatisti that are salivating for the 2012 Ducati Superbike 1199, you better start unloading your IRA, cashing-out your savings, and raiding your kids’ piggy banks, because Ducati is set to increase its flagship’s base price for the 2012 model year. With the base model Superbike 1198 sporting a $16,500 price tag here in the United States, and selling for just shy of €18,000 in Italy, Asphalt & Rubber has gotten confirmation that Ducati will bump the upcoming Superbike 1199’s price tag by several thousand euros/dollars when it debuts later this year.

Expected to be a €20,000+ bike in Europe, we can only imagine what that price tag on the base model 1199 will amount to here in the North American market, though we wouldn’t be surprised with a figure in the $19,000 range (or just shy of it). With two higher-spec versions expected as well, an “S” and a race variant, A&R has also heard rumors that the pricier models will see an even larger price increase over the 1198’s figures, making owning a Superbike 1199 a very pricy commitment to one’s garage.

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Bikes

2012 Yamaha YZF-R1 – Traction Control Cometh

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The 2012 Yamaha YZF-R1 has broken cover, and the biggest feature the lightly tweaked liter-class bike boasts is a new seven-level traction control system (for our brothers in arms across the pond, a six-level traction system is being used…consider that punishment for your European ways). Other material changes include a revised engine map for smoother power delivery in the lower and middle rpms, while the footrests, triple clamps, headlight marker lamps, front cowl, and exhaust guards & end caps have also been revamped for 2012. More after the jump.

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Racing

Official: MotoGP to Race in Argentina in 2013

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It looks like the rumors were true, as Dorna announced today that the MotoGP World Championship will race in Argentina during the 2013 season. In an event attended by Argentinean President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Dorna announced that MotoGP will come to the Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo track in the Santiago del Estero province for three years, starting in 2013 (subject to FIM homologation of course). Bringing premier motorcycle racing back to South America, Argentina is the second stop added so far to the 2013 calendar, as Austin, Texas will also host MotoGP starting in 2013.

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Husqvarna Concept E-go – The Entry-Level Electric

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Watch out Zero, Brammo, BRD, and KTM as Husqvarna just decided to enter the electric motorcycle market with its Husqvarna Concept E-go. An urban commuter aimed towards first-time bikers, the E-go concept draws from the Swedish brand’s dirt and supermoto background to bring a stylishly aggressive electric motorcycle package to the table. Clocking in at 80kg (176 lbs), the Husqvarna Concept E-borders on anorexic, and is the first electric motorcycle we’ve seen specifically geared towards younger riders.

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Bikes

BMW Concept e Maxi-Scooter – Electric Urban Mobility

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BMW is latching like a lamprey onto the idea of urban mobility in a big way. In addition to debuting the Husqvarna Concept E-go, zie Germans also launched the BMW Concept e at the Frankfurt International Motor Show today. An electric variant of the BMW Concept C we brought you last year, BMW realizes that when it comes to urban people-movers, the electric power train becomes a ripe contender.

Announcing that it will debut two maxi-scooters by the end of 2011 that address the needs for transportation in urban environments, with the Concept e being the electric component to that two-pronged solution. Though we are certain that the BMW Concept e is an electric maxi-scooter, we should note that BMW’s press release makes conflicting statements about the eletric Concept e, which sees the media communication also state that BMW would debut two maxi-scooters that feature a twin-cylinder internal combustion motor.

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Toni Elias to Test with BMW Italia’s WSBK Team

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It’s not exactly a secret that Toni Elias has been having a tough season in MotoGP this year. Typically two to three seconds off the pace from the front-runners, you’d be hard pressed to remember that the Spaniard was once a rising start in the MotoGP paddock, and dominantly won the 2010 Moto2 Championship. Rumors of Elias’ exit from the LCR Honda have been going almost from day one it seems, though the down to Earth and pleasant rider continues to persist onward.

Though electrifying the crowds with his first race win in 2008, Elias appears to be on his way out of MotoGP…for the second time in his career. Unable to do anything with the LCR Honda that Randy de Puniet confidently rode in 2010, Elias is now reported to be testing at Misano this week with the BMW Italia World Superbike squad, which in-turn recently just lost James Toseland to a career-ending hand injury. With WSBK becoming the home from MotoGP’s Lost Boys, a move to the premier production motorcycle racing class seems almost fitting for Elias, but is that in the cards?

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Yamaha Confirms Jorge Lorenzo Will Race at Motegi

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In a short statement, Yamaha Racing confirmed that factory riders Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies will compete in the Japanese GP in late-October. While both Yamaha riders have been reluctant about going to Motegi, they, like the rest of the MotoGP paddock, have been made uneasy by concerns over radiation reports, suspicions of the Japanese government candor on the issue, and safety considerations about the state of the Fukushima nuclear reactor.

With MotoGP riders threatening a near mutiny over Dorna’s pressure to go on with the Japanese GP, at the center of the riders’ push-back were Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner. With both Stoner and Lorenzo continually softening their position on Motegi over the course of the past few months, Lorenzo now is the first of the ringleaders to let the shoe drop that he will compete in the Japanese round. With the Aragon GP this weekend, it will be interesting to hear what has brought around the young Spanish rider, though we have our guesses.

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Bikes

2012 Ducati Streetfighter 848

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After Asphalt & Rubber first announced the bike back in July, the 2012 Ducati Streetfighter 848 has finally made its official debut (with a little teaser help from Nicky Hayden). Expanding Ducati’s Streetfighter brand to now include two bikes (we’ll have to wait a little longer for the 2012 Ducati Streetfighter 1198), the Ducati Streetfighter 848 is certainly not a shocking release. True to the streetfighter movement’s ethos, the Streetfighter 848 is a stripped-down version of the Superbike 848, with a twist.

As we predicted, Ducati has brought over the Testastretta 11° engine configuration for the smaller Streetfighter, meaning not only will the Streetfighter 848 have a wet-clutch, but also a 15,000 mile valve service interval. While Ducati is mum on many of the new SF 848’s details, the Bologna brand says the bike will come with the Ducati Traction Control system (DTC), and from what we can see in the photos, unsurprisingly lower-spec Brembo brakes and Marzoochi forks, instead of the Superbike 848’s monoblocs and Sachs units.

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Racing

WSBK-Spec Ducati Superbike 1199 Spied Testing…Again

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In yet another glimpse of the 2012 Ducati Superbike 1199, we see the World Superbike-spec version of the v-twin machine testing on the track with a Ducati test rider at the helm. Clearly seen are the Öhlins FGR forks and horizontally-placed rear shock, and also apparent is the dual-underslung exhaust cans that the belly pan accents (we like this touch a lot). Beyond the blacked-out race bodywork, there isn’t anything terribly new to glean from the photo, but what is interesting is that for an OEM that is rumored to have no plans for a factory-backed team in WSBK for 2012, it sure is testing its WSBK-spec racer quite a bit. Make of that as you will.

Source: Ducati.org via Ducati News Today

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Bikes

Rendered: 2012 BMW R1200GS

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Our friend Luca Bar did these renders for Infomotori that shed some light on what the 2012 BMW R1200GS could look like once the German manufacturer takes the duct tape and camouflage off the water-cooled boxer-twin adventure bike. With emission standards putting increased pressure on air-cooled motors, and the adventure bike segment becoming more competitive, BMW has finally had to tinker with the good thing it has going, updating the big boy GS to a water-cooled power plant for the 2012 model year.

With spy shots of the 2012 BMW R1200GS already hitting the interwebs, we have at least a basic understanding of what the new R1200GS will look like, and it would seem that BMW hasn’t moved too far from its best-selling design. As such, Bar had plenty to work from in the spy photos and current GS to create a series of renders that show what the new GS could look like at its unveiling later this year. As always it is top-notch work, check out Luca’s work after the jump.

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Nissan Responds Over Juke Commercial Controversy

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After an outpouring of criticism of its Nissan Juke commercial, it looks like someone at the Japanese company has yanked its videos of the motorcycle-eating CUV from the internet. With the videos on YouTube and Vimeo now set to “private” and requiring a password to watch, it would seem that Nissan wisely doesn’t want you to see one of its latest promotions of the Juke, where a computer animated version of the Nissan Juke turns the tables on the “predatory” motorcycles, and hunts them down by running-over the motorcyclists. The pièce de résistance to this motorcyclist massacre is that the Juke’s motorcycle-inspired center console is in fact a trophy from one of the CUV’s many kills from the video. We seriously couldn’t make this up if we tried, and yet that very storyboard somehow made its way through an ad agency pitch.

Getting a proper roasting here at Asphalt & Rubber, we can only imagine that the frustration vented by motorcyclists in our comments showed a glimpse into the emails that Nissan recieved from the advertisement. Luckily one of our readers here at A&R shared with us the response they got from Nissan Canada, the branch responsible for the online Nissan Juke campaign in question. The reply confirms that the videos are in the process of being removed, though we’re not sure the duration of the campaign, nor its “super-natural” fell has much relevancy to the situation, and it certainly does not ease the fact that Nissan is showing an automobile maliciously run-over motorcyclists.

Considering that many of the members of the motorcycle community can share a common story about how a negligent or road-raged driver has nearly run them of the road (or worse, succeeded in that endeavor), we stand behind our position that Nissan probably could have picked a better way to make references to motorcycling-inspired design elements than what the company produced in this “trophy” storyline. A copy Nissan Canada’s response, with redacted names, is after the jump.

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