Here is a recipe for success: take a slow-motion camera, and film motorcycles doing awesome things with it. Presto! Internet gold. The folks at Red Bull did just that with their Romaniacs series. Enduro bikes taking big drops, crossing obstacles, and generally being bad ass…I feel like I don’t have to explain this video any further.
When KTM’s product road map leaked onto the internet, it showed that three small-displacement motorcycles would be built by the Austrian brand (with some help from its Indian shareholder and partner Bajaj). The first of these machines was the KTM 390 Duke and its progeny, and the second of these machines was just released: the KTM RC390 (along with the RC125 & RC200).
A third model was teased on that now infamous powerpoint slide, a bike that was simply labeled as an “Enduro 350” model, though sources since then have described the bike to be more like a supermoto or small adventure bike. It seems today we have our first glimpse of the machine, as a supermoto based off the Duke platform has been spotted in Austria by a forum member at KTMForum.eu.
There is nothing about the Erzberg Rodeo that appeals to me, other than the fact that it is totally bonkers, awesome, and horrible all rolled into one single-day event (there’s a reason this site is called Asphalt & Rubber).
Any race where 1,500 riders start, 500 qualify, and only 14 finish, has got to be an epic competition, and considering the fact that the Erzberg Rodeo starts in the excavation pit of an Austrian mine…well, it takes a special rider to be enticed by such an event.
One such special rider is Graham Jarvis, who was the first of the fourteen men to reach the 20th and final checkpoint. Taking 2 hours and 52 seconds to complete the course, Jarvis made the 2013 Erzberg Rodeo look downright easy.
However, with one look at the race-day conditions from this past weekend, we know it was anything but. Take a look for yourself after the jump — race results are here.
At over to 5,000 miles long, and with 14 days of competition, the 2013 Dakar Rally may be the most grueling event you can race on a motorcycle. But what about the most grueling single-day race? That honor would have to go to the Red Bull Hare Scamble at the Erzberg Rodeo. An enduro event like no other, the 2012 edition saw 500+ competitors at the starting line, but only seven actually finish the race.
An active open-air iron mine the rest of the year, the “Iron Giant” hosts some of the most determined enduro and trials riders in the world each year. A test of bike control, navigation, stamina, and a bit of luck, we imagine you will be tired simply after watching the hour-long video that is waiting for you beyond the jump. As for The Dakar? Imagine something like this for two weeks straight and you would be in the right ballpark.
For some time now, we have known that KTM intended to bring a 300cc-class version of its KTM 125 Duke motorcycle to market, thanks primarily to a leaked product road map that covered the Austrian company’s product line-up clear through the 2014 model year.
Slotted to bring the KTM 390 Duke to the US market this coming spring, the leaked road map has so far proven to be accurate, and has two interesting machines listed for 2014: the KTM Moto3 350 & KTM Enduro 350.
Now confirmed by KTM’s CEO Stefan Pierer, KTM will debut a “faired” model (the KTM Moto3 350) and a “travel” model (KTM Enduro 350), which are based off the KTM 390 Duke platform, and will share the bike’s 375cc single-cylinder engine.
We promise, this is our last Bimota posting for the day (unless something juicy breaks regarding the recently announced Bimota BB2) — we did save the best for last though. Simply called the Bimota DBx, what we see here is Bimota floating another non-superbike concept out to the public to gauge its reaction. Bimota, we’ll make this real easy for you: BUILD THIS BIKE.
A Bimota DB10 with a severe affliction for getting its feet dirty, the Bimota DBx is probably the most expensive dual-sport we have ever seen. Öhlins TTX forks and four-way adjustable shock for suspension, Brembo monoblocs for brakes (2 x 300mm discs up front, 200mm in the back), carbon fiber everywhere, and machined pieces of billet aluminum that are ruining our Christmas wish list…every criticism you could level at Bimota this model year might easily be redeemed with this motorcycle.
Though we doubt any DBx machines will see off-road duty, there is a 19″ front wheel, with a 17″ rear wheel or optional 18″ unit for the rear, which are all laced up and ready to ride on their mixed-terrain Pirellis. Weighing 385 lbs dry, and making 95hp, the Bimota DBx isn’t the lightest or most powerful motorcycle in this class, but it definitely is the sexiest. Pardon us, we are late for the pants party.
The dirt-going counterpart to the road-bound 2013 BMW F700GS, the 2013 BMW F800GS sees a modest update to its adventure/enduo platform for the next model-year. Unlike the F700GS, the new F800GS doesn’t get a power-boost, and sports the same 798cc four-valve parallel-twin liquid-coooled motor that we have all grown to know and love (and was the basis of the Husqvarna Nuda 900’s 900cc motor).
Making 85hp at 7,500 rpm, and 61 lbs•ft of torque at 5,750 rpm, the real changes to the 2013 BMW F800GS come to its updated gauges, controls, and bodywork — oh, and of course the now standard anti-locking brakes system that BMW is pushing across its entire model line-up.
If you want to end your Wednesday on a high-note, look no further than this video of Julien Welsch (Facebook & Twitter). Riding his Triumph Street Triple through woods enduro-style (yes, with knobbies and all), the famed stunt rider makes this fish-of-water look like its has lungs for gils.
Throw in some great photography, a dubstep soundtrack that doesn’t make you want to bang your head against the wall, & some epic riding, and well…for three minutes and twenty-nine seconds you won’t have anything bad to say about the French (je plaisantais mes amis!). In other news, somewhere in Leicestershire, a Triumph engineer is quietly sobbing.
The writing has been on the wall for sometime now, as the entire electric motorcycle community has been waiting for a major OEM to debut its own electric motorcycle. Answering that call, KTM unveiled at EICMA today the new 2012 KTM Freeride E. Saying that as the leading off-road motorcycle manufacturer (KTM accounts for about 50% of the worldwide dirt bike market), the Austrian motorcycle manufacturer could not afford to sit idly by while other companies innovated in its space.
Built along the Freeride’s ride anywhere mantra, the KTM Freeride E comes with 2.1kWh of battery power on-board, and is powered by a permanent magnet synchronous motor. With a rated output of 10hp, KTM says the electric motor is good for 30hp peak, with a maximum of 300 Volts going through the system. Helped by its small battery size, the Freeride E weighs only 204 lbs and can be recharged off a 220V socket in 90 minutes. As for range, KTM has an interesting rating system for the electric Freeride, quoting a 20 minute ride time in the hands of a professional, while the KTM Freeride E is rated to last 45 minutes in the hands of an amateur.
Taking the “anti-lock brakes don’t work off-road” mentality head-on, Husqvarna has debuted an anti-lock braking system (ABS) package designed specifically for off-road use. Derived from BMW’s extensive experience with the technology (BMW Motorrad was the first OEM to fit ABS to a production motorcycle), Husqvarna has taken the lessons learned by its German parent company, specifically BMW’s Race ABS from the S1000RR superbike, and adapted the technology for its dirt models for off-road racing.
Continuing to prove our “electronics are the new horsepower” hypothesis and fitting the flagship Husqvarna TE 449 with the new off-road ABS technology, Husqvarna hopes to make a statement not only about the use of ABS in off-street conditions, but is taking things a step further by putting anti-lock brakes on a race-bred dirt bike. The key to the off-road ABS technology from Husqvarna is two-fold. First, Husqvarna’s dual-channel ABS still allows for the rear tire to be locked-up while under heavy braking (this can also be achieved on the S1000RR’s ABS package under the “slick” mode setting). Second, the system, like its road-going counterpart, is extremely light, and only adds 1.5kg (3.3 lbs) of weight to the bike.
We’ve been following the guys at BRD since the beginning of the year, and this scrappy San Francisco company has finally busted out of stealth mode with its first electric motorcycle line: the BRD RedShift. With a goal of meeting or exceeding parity with gasoline-powered two-wheelers, BRD’s first foray into the motorcycle industry is an interesting one, as the RedShift line brings true 250cc four-stroke power to the electric realm. Producing 40hp from the company’s proprietary water-cooled AC motor, the BRD RedShift SM produces more power than a Honda CRF250R while tipping scales at less than 250 lbs in supermoto trim (less than 240 lbs in MX-spec).
The RedShift line is BRD’s first line of motorcycle, and will feature three different purpose-built trims. The Supermoto (SM) model will be BRD’s on-road city bike, while the MX model will be the company’s enduro offering. BRD has also factored fleet sales heavily into its business plan, and will have a vehicle, designated as the RedShift PD, that will be available for government and private fleet usage. Point of sale and warranty work will stem from a standard dealer model, which will be aggressively built out over the coming months, and plays back into the company’s mantra that electric vehicles don’t need to be different from gas bikes, just better than them.