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Clarian Labs Rotary Generator Hybrid Solution

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Clarian Labs, a Seattle-based tech startup that has been working on power source for the Department of Defense Humanoid Robot Program, has just pulled-out of stealth mode its rotary generator (read the patent here). A battery-sized hybrid generator solution, Clarian’s invention basically creates an electric power source that can be rapidly refueled by swapping out a fuel source pack (a host of fuels can be used in this regard including bio-fuels and hydrogen).

These fuels then in-turn power the rotary-piston motor, exactly as you’d find in any sort of Wankel-powered vehicle, except for one small detail: there’s no output shaft. Instead of mechanically driving the wheels of the vehicle, the unit uses rotational induction from the rotary-piston to create an electrical current, which would then power the electric motor of your choosing. In reality, the system isn’t that different from what is found on modern diesel locomotives (modern trains use a diesel motor as a generator which in-turn powers electric motors), except obviously more compact.

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Racing

Dani Pedrosa Has Shoulder Surgery…Yet Again

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Dani Pedrosa underwent yet another shoulder surgery today, this time to fix a loose bone fragment that had become dislodged during the Spaniard’s recuperation from the broken collarbone he suffered from his crash at Le Mans during the French GP. How this complication with his shoulder occurred is a subject of much contention in the MotoGP paddock, as the Spanish press is adamant that Pedrosa re-injured his shoulder in a supermoto crash. HRC however denies this rumor, though the Japanese company has not offered a counter-explanation for Pedrosa’s current situation. The fact remains though that Dani Pedrosa’s healing process has been pushed back further, and Repsol Honda is not sure that Dani will be fit enough to participate in the upcoming Dutch TT.

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Harley-Davidson Stock Manipulation Being Investigated

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Lawyers have begun an investigation into the recent rumors that private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) was targeting Harley-Davidson for a stock takeover.

Suspecting that Harley-Davidson executives breached their fiduciary responsibility to Harley-Davidson, Inc., investigators were tipped-off to potential breaches at the Milwaukee company after its stock rose by $2 (+5%) immediately after the rumors were first published in financial reports.

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Bikes

LCR Honda CBR1000RR – If LCR Honda Made a Honda

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MotoGP race team LCR Honda has been caught dabbling with one very trick Honda CBR1000RR. While we’re having a hard time believing the rumors that LCR Honda intends to use the bike as claiming-rule team (CRT) entry in MotoGP, the LCR Honda CBR1000RR is an exercise on what one can do with enough money and access to HRC’s secret stash of motorcycle racing parts.

Raiding the HRC parts catalog, Lucio Cecchinello and his crew have boosted the Fireblade’s output to 200hp, and completing the kit are 2010 Öhlins MotoGP forks, Brembo carbon fiber brakes, Marchesini wheels, and of course a Playboy replica paint scheme (naturally). One of the most impressive CBRs you’ll find, we caution you not to believe other reports that state this is all a part of LCR considering a CBR motor as the basis for a CRT entry.

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Video: The Design of the Husqvarna 900

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Along with the “don’t call them spy shost” photos that Husqvarna released yesterday, the Swedish brand owned by a German company that’s based in Italy has also released a video that elaborates on the design of the new Husqvarna 900 street bike. As we’ve seen already from the concept sketches, and affirmed in the photos, the new street-going Husky is a super-sized supermotard that features BMW’s F800 series parallel twin motor, albeit slightly revised to 900cc. Find the design philosophy of the new Husqvarna 900 according to Head of Husqvarna Design Raffaele Zaccagnini after the jump.

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Bikes

Eight Hi-Res Photos of the 2012 Erik Buell Racing 1190RS

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Last week Erik Buell Racing debuted the full technical specifications and price tag on the 2012 Erik Buell Racing 1190RS superbike with turn signals. With it were 15 photos that were…how do we say this politely…disproportionate to the grand performance figures EBR is boasting for its first street bike. We know there’s some Buell loyality in the Asphalt & Rubber readership (you guys are troopers considering the amount of punishment we give the American brand), so it’s with great pleasure we bring you these eight high-resolution photos of the EBR 1190RS.

For extra kicks, we decided not to downsize some of the larger photos, so you can do whatever you want with them. Like for instance, make life-size print outs and paste them onto your existing bike (with only 100 Erik Buell Racing 1190RS motorcycles being made, at a hefty $40k MSRP we might add, this option might be as close as many of us get to owning one). Note: if anyone actually does this, please send us a photo. We’ll have to see what sort of penance we’ll have to do here at A&R in order to swing a leg over an 1190RS, until then we eagerly await to hear what the teased RX, SX, and AX models have in store for us. Find the photos after the jump.

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Bikes

2012 Ducati Superbike 1199 Rendered by Luca Bar Design

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Ever since we heard about the new 2012 Ducati Superbike, we’ve been marking the days until we could see the v-twin sex machine in the flesh. There’s no denying that the specs being banded about on the new Superquadrata motor are impressive, as the new bike is expected to make up to 20hp more than the current Superbike 1198 (though peak performance numbers only tell one side of the story). Also intriguing is the MotoGP-derived stressed-airbox chassis arrangement, which finally does away with the iconic trellis chassis, though has caused some problems for Valentino Rossi on his move to Ducati Corse.

Just last month we got our first look at the new Superbike prototype, as Ducati leaked first a Supersport spec version of what many think will be called the Ducati Superbike 1199. An encore to that moment, the street version of the v-twin superbike leaked just days later. While many of us will have to use our imagination on what Ducati’s latest creation will look like, we’re lucky that Luca Bar Design (website here: bar-design.net) can take those thoughts and put them to paper, err…pixels. Rendering the 2012 Ducati Superbike 1199 from what information that is available, this is perhaps one of the best glimpses as to what the Bologna Bullet will look like. Two more renders after the jump.

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Racing

Six New Teams Added to MotoGP for 2012 Season

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MotoGP has just announced that six new teams will be inducted into the premier motorcycle racing series come the 2012 season. Recieving more bids than there was room for, Dorna’s list of new entries is entirely comprised of teams who currently campaign in the Moto2 or 125 GP Championships, which is less surprising than it seems since these teams already have the resources and logistics to do the globetrotting that MotoGP requires, not to mention the economies of scale.

Also, the participation of these teams in the lower classes serves as a vetting process to ensure that only quality race efforts enter MotoGP. Conversely, it’s in the best interest of Dorna to create a ladder program within the three Championships, so participating teams can groom young talent all the way from Moto3, through Moto2, and into the premier class. Find the list of the six new Moto1 MotoGP teams after the jump.

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Bikes

First Shots: Husqvarna 900cc Street Bike

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Here’s an interesting twist: instead of going through the trouble of setting up some sort of “spy shot” moment, and leaking it to the press, Husqvarna has cutout the middleman, taken its own photos, and sent them to web and print publications. Because of this, the use of the “spy shot” label is probably not appropriate, though we’d make arguments that it hasn’t been an appropriate label in many other situations as well. Leaving that subject for another time, what you really wanted to see is the new 900cc Husqvarna street bike in almost all of its glory.

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News

Even More Teasers of the New Suzuki V-Strom

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Suzuki continues to string us along with dates and teasers of its expected V-Strom replacement/update. Showing three more blurred, yet revealing, photos of the new middleweight adventure bike, Suzuki is now saying to come back to its website on June 22nd for more details on the machine.

From what we hear from our European colleagues, Suzuki has sent out invites for the new V-Strom’s unveiling, which is schedule for June 27th in Croatia — a great venue, but also a week and a half away. Whether or not we’ll get a glimpse of the machine before then remains to be seen (or more teasers for that matter), but there is at least now a definitive timeline on when this madness will conclude. More photos after the jump.

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Racing

Video: Chip Yates Practices for Pikes Peak

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In just a week’s time, Chip Yates and the SWIGZ.com Pro Racing crew will be headed out to Pikes Peak to compete in the famous Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC). At 14,110 feet tall, and boasting over 156 turns, Pikes Peak features some of the scariest turns on the planet, no better exemplified than with the “Bottomless Pit” corner which boasts a 3,000 foot sheer drop down the mountain. Yates will of course be racing his 240hp electric motorcycle up the hill climb course, and will have a distinct advantage over his ICE competitors, as the extreme altitude won’t affect the fastest electric pizza delivery bike in the slightest.

We’re really excited here at Asphalt & Rubber for Chip’s participation in the 2011 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, not only because we like Chip’s mantra of taking ICE bikes head on with his SWIGZ.com racing machine, but also because we think the PPIHC is the ideal event to showcase how electric motorcycles have actual advantages over internal combustion engines. Starting at roughly 9,400 feet, ICE bikes will be already down on power at the start of the race, and will only continue to lose power as their engines struggle to breath on the 12.5 mile race to the clouds (electric bikes of course aren’t meaningfully affected by the thinning air at altitude).

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