It’s the Mission One. It’s the electric motorcycle the blogsphere is buzzing about. It’s green (in energy, not color…although there are a lot of earth tones going on in its design).
It’s electric. It will hit 150mph, go 150 miles, make 100 ft lbs of torque, and take 8hrs to charge on a standard home outlet. Oh, and it’s also going to cost $68,995. That’s the bike in a nutshell, but digging deeper finds there is much more to it.
Times are tough in MotoGP if you haven’t noticed, and the penny-pinchers are in full-force both in the paddock and at Dorna Sports. Word has it that new rules are being discussed, and could be implemented in order to cut the costs of running a MotoGP team down. Continue reading for 3 of the major proposals on the table.
The weather has been grim around the Portimao race track in for the past few days. The last day of World Superbike Championship official testing at Portimao was once again affected by adverse weather conditions, and thus the absolute best times of the entire test were largely set on the second day, leaving Shane Byrne as the new track best pace setter on his private Sterilgarda Ducati. American Ben Spies posted the second fastest lap time over all, showing that he has not only to race in World Superbike, but perhaps MotoGP as well.
After seeing Ducati’s photo shoot of the new GP9 with Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden, we couldn’t help but make the association.
MotoGP is a special animal. Like how Formula 1 is for automobiles, MotoGP is supposed to embody what the cutting edge of technology can bring to the sport of motorcycling. The talent is the pinnacle of its field, and the bikes are rolling R&D platforms.
This also means of course that the costs are exuberant, and instead of an instant applicable payoffs, the value of racing instead comes down the road many years later as the technology trickles down to the production-level bikes.
This makes MotoGP unlike the racing other series, whereas in World Superbike for instance, teams are working with a bike that is actually sold en masse to the consumer, costs for product line development can be absorbed, and the fabled “Race on Sunday, Sell on Monday” marketing buzz phrase has some bearing on reality.
Because of the intangible returns on investments, and escalating environment of prototype racing, it is not surprising to see the semi-departure of Kawasaki for 2009. So how much money are teams really losing by racing at the top of the sport?
Not content to let KTM and Ducati play in the big displacement motard segment by themselves, Aprilia is bringing their Shiver based SMV 750 Dorsoduro motard state-side for 2009. The Dorsoduro’s 90°, 750cc, 8-valve, v-twin makes 92 hp (at 8,750 rpm) and 61 lb•ft of torque (at 4,500 rpm), and with a claimed dry weight of 409lbs, it would seem to be an ideal hooligan machine. Read more for the full details on the Dorsoduro with pictures.
While we have yet to hear an official announcement from Kawasaki about its 2009 season in MotoGP, and there looks to be a fair bit of dust still left to settle; as of now, this is what the 2009 MotoGP grid will look like without Marco Melandri and John Hopkings:
Repsol Honda – Dani Pedrosa
Repsol Honda – Andrea Dovizioso
San Carlo Honda Gresini – Toni Elias
San Carlo Honda Gresini – Alex de Angelis
LCR Honda – Randy de Puniet
Scot Racing Honda – Yuki Takahashani
Rizla Suzuki – Loris Cappirossi
Rizla Suzuki – Christopher Vermulean
Ducati Marlboro – Casey Stoner
Ducati Marlboro – Nicky Hayden
Alice Ducati – Mika Kallio
Alice Ducati – Niccolo Canepa
Onde 2000 Ducati – Sete Gibernau
Fiat Yamaha – Valentino Rossi
Fiat Yamaha – Jorge Lorenzo
Tech 3 Yamaha – Colin Edwards
Tech 3 Yamaha – James Toseland
Spanish magazine Solo Moto has gotten word that Harley-Davidson has put together a plan to revive the Cagiva brand. Cagiva, like many Italian marks, has struggled the past years because of poor financing and business management. In its deal to acquire MV Agusta, Harley-Davidson also acquired Cagiva with that hopes that the American company could provide a remedy to these problems, and has recently laid out its plan on how it is going to achieve those goals. Read more about their road map for Cagiva after the jump.
Rumors are shooting across the web that Kawasaki is retiring from MotoGP for the 2009 season. Allegedly, Kawasaki has notified Dorna Sports that it will be pulling out of the series, with a public announcement to come Monday next week. More on the announcement after the jump.
UPDATE: By now you have surely heard of the Roehr 1250sc. The American made superbike that has a supercharged Harley-Davidson VROD motor at its heart, which makes 180hp. This 432lbs (dry) MV Agusta look-a-like will be sure to turn heads down at the local bike night, especially when you’ve paid out the nearly $50,000 price tag (before taxes and licensing). The regulation friendly bike will meet all CARB and EPA requirements, and will be DOT certified for sale in all 50 states. The 1250sc will be available for delivery starting March 2009.
Enough of that, here’s how the press release should read:
If you like bikes that take their styling queues from the early 2000’s, make the same amount of power as bikes in their class without forced induction, and still costs 67% more than a Ducati 1098R, then this is the bike for you. In which case, the option to purchase the bike through eBay will be especially appealing (I couldn’t make this up if I wanted to). The Roehr 1250sc is representative of everything that is truly American, at least all of the negative stereotypes that people often label upon the American auto industry.
While as much as we’d like to see a great American made motorcycle, it looks like Roehr hasn’t learned from the lessons of Ford, GM, and Chrysler. Bigger does not mean better, and there is a replacement for displacement: It’s called ingenuity.
has managed to get ahold of photos showing Aprilia’s weapon of choice for Hypermoto racing. The Dorsoduro RR race bike will be piloted by Alessandro Tognaccini in the 2009 Hypermoto Series. Weighing just over 300lbs and putting out over 100hp, the RR is a substantial improvement over the stock Dorsoduro. Add-on goodies include Shiver forks, Öhlins rear shock, STM slipper clutch, and a Silmotor exhaust. The wheels are Marchesinis with Galfer Tsunami pads and calipers. Watch out Ducati Hypermotard, we just found something to replace you with in our dreams.
Source: X Offroad