Our French-speaking cousins to the north have apparently been toiling away designing a 185 mile electric street-naked motorcycle. While we only have CAD renderings right now, Lito is set to debut the Sora at the June 12th Formula 1 stop at Montreal. The French-Canadian company says its electric motorcycle features “the best design elements of Bobber and Café Racer/Street Fighter bikes”…whatever that means. Perhaps Lito is waiting to see how the bike is received before putting a label on it, which is fine by us since words aren’t stopping us from digging the look of the Sora.
It’s been a tough season so far for Max Biaggi. The reigning World Superbike Champion has had a decent start to the 2011 season, and currently sits second in the point standings after three race weekends, but his progress has been nothing like the blitzkrieg campaign he accomplished last year. Facing a non-factory Ducati that seemingly rides like a factory bike, Biaggi is 43 points behind Carlos Checa, while the devilishly quick WSBK rookie and former MotoGP contender Marco Melandri is only four points behind his fellow Italian.
Likely feeling the pressure to bring honor to the #1 plate, we’ve already seen Biaggi revert back to some of his old antics of the past. With the “slap” incident from Donington Park still fresh in peoples’ minds, more accusations come from riders that the Roman Emperor has been blocking and in the way during the Superpole qualifying event, and this time those accusations come from inside the Aprilia garage.
Erik Buell Racing finally has its own official YouTube channel, which is sort of strange considering how well the small company has taken to the internet and viral marketing. Sidestepping that oddity, there is of course the issue of what good is there in having a YouTube channel if it doesn’t have a video — not to worry, the folks at EBR have our backs there. We’re not sure if the EBR 1190RS is the great white hope of American sportbikes, but we like Buell’s gumption and grit to start anew in one of the worst economic climates since WWII.
For some weekend eyecandy, feast your eyes on a time lapse video of the Erik Buell Racing 1190RS motor being built, along with some cool footage of the Erik Buell Racing’s streetbike being tested on the dyno. Only 100 EBR 1190RS street machines will be made, at a price Erik Buell Racing calls comparable to “the price of a top of the line minivan,” which sounds pretty steep for a motorcycle, but will help the Wisconsin company comply with AMA homologation regulations, and race the EBR 1190RS at Infineon later this May.
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.
Photo: Yamaha Racing
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.