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Jensen Beeler

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UPDATE: Get your first glimpse of the MV Agusta F3 here.

In what can only be described as a terse press release, MV Agusta has released two teaser photos of its upcoming MV Agusta F3, the three-cylinder supersport bike that Claudio Castiglioni hopes will save his company. Known to be using a three-cylinder motor, it has been previously reported that the MV Agusta F3 would be a 675cc machine, just like the Triumph Daytona 675. However the Italian brand has confirmed that it will be using a 600cc displacement for its street machine, while giving us a glimpse of the bike without its F4 camouflage.

Some fellas down under have been hard at work, building what they hope is the ultimate track car. Named the Spartan V (yes, they’re only making 300 of them), the project centers around the 1198cc Ducati Superbike motor, and uses carbon fiber over a tubular space-frame chassis to reach a 661 lbs weight figure.

Powered by a 170 hp Ducati 1198S Superbike motor, boys from Oz claim that Spartan V will hit 0-60 mph in less than 3 seconds, with a top speed of 173 mph. Rounding out the package is a six-speed sequential gearbox, and an optional FIA approved roll bar that replaces the street bars for racing duty. Photos and more details after the jump.

Harley-Davidson has just announced that it will be giving out a 10¢/share dividend for the third quarter of 2010. Being paid on October 15th to anyone who owns Harley-Davidson stock (NYSE: HOG) on October 1st, 2010, holders of HOG common stock will get a chance to be rewarded for investing in the Milwaukee brand. It’s not clear at this time if Harley-Davidson intends to keep the cash dividend for future quarters, or if this is one-quarter only event.

With HOG currently trading at $28.43/share, this announcement means essentially an automatic 1.2% investment gain for stock owners, however contact your financial advisor before placing any orders…you shouldn’t take stock advice from a motorcycle blog.

From the Aragon GP today comes news that Dani Pedrosa has signed a two-year contract renewal with Honda, which will see the Spaniard on a factory-backed bike for the 2011 and 2012 seasons. The news has been expected for some time, so it’s hardly surprising to see HRC tap Pedrosa for another stint of racing, and Spanish sponsor Repsol is expected to be along for the ride with another one-year extension added to their sponsorship.

After releasing the at the grand opening of the Piaggio Group’s new Milan HQ, the Italian company has followed up now with a video of their 1200cc street tard to appease our motorcycling senses. Movie critics will cringe at the sound track and cheesy graphics, but v-twin lovers will enjoy some nice canyon carving moments on what Aprilia hopes will be “a fun bike.” We’ve never met a v-twin we didn’t like (that statement might not be true), and the Dorsoduro 1200 look like a good time. It’s just a shame Aprilia won’t be bringing it to the US…yet.

Source: Solo Moto Trienta

Aprilia is either confident or cocky, because according to MCN, the Italian manufacturer’s racing department has halted development on the 2010 World Superbike spec RSV4 Factory race bike. Comfortable with Max Biaggi’s 58 point lead over Leon Haslam and his Alstare Suzuki, Aprilia wants Biaggi to focus on racing with his current setup, rather than risk having a prototype part breaking, and costing the team and Biaggi the World Superbike Championship.

It’s hard to make strategic business partnership announcements sound sexy. Between all the hyperbole about how two companies are going to shift the industry paradigm and synergize the supply chain matrix, the average consumer’s eyes glaze over, and drool starts seeping out from the corners of their mouths. So bear with us on this one, because the announcement (or is the term Brammouncement?) of Brammo and Flextronics is an important one not only for the Ashland based company, but also for the electric motorcycle industry as a whole.

Some of the biggest problems facing any startup in the motorcycle industry are distribution and assembly. With the demand for electric motorcycles being a global issue, electric motorcycle startups, which are based primarily in the United States, have to not only grow their businesses domestically, but perhaps more importantly they need to foster a presence abroad in foreign markets.

With Europe and Asia easily out-pacing the demand in the US for electric transportation, an issue of contention for cash-strapped startups like Brammo has been how to grow globally and effectively with their limited budgets. The solution in this case for Brammo, is partnering with Flextronics, and using their scalable global production facilities.

Starting this November, Oklahoma riders will have to start paying a $3 fee that helps fund motorcycle safety in the OK State. The tax will be added to existing registration fees, and affects new bikes and their renewals.

While the Oklahoma Advisory Committee for Motorcycle Safety and Education will decided how the funds are used, it’s under the presumption that revenue generated from the tax will be spent on safety advertising and promotion.

Despite the hit to the wallet, the Daily Oklahoman says that riders in Oklahoma aren’t complaining about the increased registration costs.

Pope Benedict XVI received a nice surprise today as Ducati Motor Holdings dropped off two purpose-built Ducati Multistrada 1200S Touring bikes for His Holiness. We don’t expect Il Papa to be riding the bikes anytime soon though, as the two Ducatis will be used by the Pope’s motorcade and Vatican gendarmerie (the Vatican police force), hence the special papal yellow paint scheme.

The 2011 Aprilia Dorsoduro 1200 got an early preview today (no, another service manual was not leaked ahead of schedule), as a model of the bike was on-hand for the Piaggio Group’s grand opening of its new office in Milan. Releasing the first official image of the Dorsoduro 1200, Aprilia hasn’t dropped too many surprises on us. Noticeable in the shot is the optional ABS package, and we get news that the 2010 Aprilia Dorsoduro 1200 will use a different traction control system that will be found on the 2011 Aprilia RSV4 Factory.