We typically don’t cover the Free Practice/Qualifying sessions in World Superbike, but considering that the entire season will come down to Sunday’s race, we’re making an exception. With QP1 in the bag already at Portimao, we get some insight into how the grid could come together for the last race of the WSBK season, and the results might surprise some people. More after the jump.
What will transportation look like in the future? MotoCzysz and Indian based Bajaj seem to have their theories, and the two companies have announced a joint-venture that will explore the next generation of automobile. Releasing a vague press release, we suspect the two companies are in the process of creating prototype hybrid vehicle that will explore a form factor and design not previously seen in the automobile industry. More from the announcement after the jump.
An icon of motorcycling, the Honda Super Cub changed the perception of motorcycles in American culture by creating a bike that normal everyday people could use for basic transportation needs.
As times have changed, and a new-found desire for a cheap, efficient, people-pusher has emerged in the motorcycle industry, and Honda seems uncomfortable letting companies like Brammo tread on its domain.
Accordingly at the Tokyo Motor Show this week, Honda released an all new electric scooter design that plays heavily off its Super Cub predecessor. More info after the jump.
Reports are coming in that Alex de Angelis will be headed to Scot Honda (thus ending any rumor that Toni Elias would be joining the satellite Honda team), and that Elias will be headed to Moto2 with the Sito Pons team. Kalex Engineering is expected to be providing Sito Pons with one of their Moto2 chassis solutions. You may remember Kalex from their gorgeous liter-bike track weapon we ran a couple months ago. While many are reporting these moves as fact, their appears to be some margin of uncertainty in the plan.
Daniele Romagnoli, Team Manager on the Lorenzo side of the Fiat-Yamaha garage, has announced that he will be leaving the factory Yamaha team at the end of the 2009 season. A born engineer, Romagnoli is looking to return to his crew-chief roots, and Honda HRC may have that answer.
Behold the most powerful production motorcycle in the world. If you’re saying to yourself, “gee…that looks a lot like the Bimota Tesi 3D,” you’d be right, and that’s because the Vyrus 987 C3 4V was designed by Ascanio Rodorigo, who worked with Massimo Tamburini at Bimota in the early-1980’s. Now running the boutique shop Vyrus, Rodorigo has unveiled his latest revision in his series, the 987.
Problems seem to be afoot at Zero Motorcycles this month as the company has recalled nearly 200 Zero X and Zero MX motorcycles for malfunctioning throttles. Zero is also delaying its 2010 Zero S supermoto because of problems with the motor over-heating. More on both announcements after the jump.
After much back and forth, Kawasaki has finally announced that Tom Sykes will be joining Christopher Vermeulen on its factory World Superbike team, riding the 2010 Kawasaki ZX-10R. Sykes, who is currently Ben Spies’ partner at Sterilgarda Yamaha, will be making the switch to Team Green, where he will once again be playing second fiddle.
The latest data from the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC), suggests that the end of cascading motorcycle sales may be near. According to the MIC, the combined new unit sales for motorcycles, scooters, and ATVS during the past 9 months were down 40% from last year’s numbers. While still frighteningly low, these results show a 2% rebound in sales when compared to the first 6 months of 2009.
Today I want to broach the subject of what it means to be not only a motorcycle startup, but what it means to be an American motorcycle startup. For a majority of our readers, the concept of American motorcycling is something that we have understood since our days as children. No matter how you came to this industry/sport/lifestyle, as a reader of A&R you no doubt have a strong personal compass of what is means to be an American motorcyclist, and it is something that you touch and understand on a daily basis.
The business side of this understanding is less straight-forward though. It is one thing to identify personally with what makes an American motorcycle, but it is a very different exercise to build a product that evokes that same emotion to the mass consumer. This concept becomes even more relevant today, as the motorcycle industry is still recovering from the news of Buell’s closure and Harley-Davidson’s drastic measures to stay afloat. With no precognition of this impending news, I headed to Portland, Oregon to talk to Michael Czysz, CEO of auto-biographically named MotoCzsyz. Czysz’s journey presents a unique story about a company that has twice attempted to create an American-bred sportbike, and as such is the appropriate company in which to frame our topic about what it means to be an American motorcycle startup.
Honda by most standards is the rock of the motorcycle industry, so take notice with the news that the Japanese manufacturer is preparing to cease its production lines in Santa Perpetua, Spain. While not an outright closure, 160 employees will be laid off, taking the Spanish Honda workforce from 340 employees to 180.