Tag

Infineon

Browsing

Erik Buell Racing had a good weekend at Sears Point, with Danny Eslick riding the Erik Buell Racing 1190RS to its first podium in Race 1, with Team Hero. Making an encore podium in Race 2, Geoff May also put the EBR 1190RS on the third step, this time for Team Amsoil/Hero. With the Erik Buell Racing 1190RS benefiting from Sear Points emphasis on handling instead of horsepower, the EBR has made up a ton of ground in just a short amount of time.

While the EBR 1190RS race bikes were on the track, their $40,000+ street-legal counterparts were on display outside of the Erik Buell Racing garage. Rocking an American flag livery, I naturally took pictures of this show bike. Eye catching to say the least, nothing says “Made in ‘merica” better than a red, white, and blue color scheme, especially when it is laid over carbon fiber. And while I want to love this bike because of its nuances and outside-of-the-box technical design, I don’t.

Trading patriotism for originality, Erik Buell Racing is still pushing the same worn-out Americana marketing plan that Harley-Davidson built for the sport bike company way back when. With two podium victories, a gorgeous product, and a story that is an encapsulation of hard work overcoming adversity, you would think that the folks from East Troy could put away the cheap parlor trick of using Americana to sell motorcycles. One gorgeous bike in its own right, but a played out theme as well. What happened to being innovative guys? Photos after the jump.

It is a rare opportunity when a journalist gets to swing a leg over a prototype motorcycle. Virtually assured by definition to have perceivable flaws, effectively all the companies in the motorcycle industry prefer to keep the public and media at arm’s length until they have massaged their work into something that is ready for primetime consumption. Testing the BRD RedShift SM electric supermoto at Infineon Raceway today, we could attribute our good fortune to the fact that BRD Motorcycles (faster-faster.com) does not subscribe to the motorcycle industry’s status quo.

Conversely, we could also just as easily say that the boys at BRD are easily crazy enough to let a couple moto-journalists test the only existing example of what nearly a million dollars in motorcycle technology builds you, and the fact that those journalists are online blogger internet nerd types, well that just proves BRD’s insanity, right?

That notion of craziness comes almost without question though, as you would have to be crazy to think that you can take on the major OEMs in their own backyard. You would have to be crazy to give up the security of your day job to start a new venture in the worst recession since the 1930’s, crazy to convert your successful existing business into a risky startup, crazy to spend your accumulated life savings so every dollar raised goes into the company’s shared vision.

There is something crazy about what is going on with a small motorcycle startup in the San Francisco Bay Area, and as I not-so-prudently signed my life away on the test ride disclaimer today, Asphalt & Rubber got to see what manifestations BRD’s farce had produced since we last saw the BRD RedShift SM in August of this year.

It’s a good thing for Mission Motors that the Mission R looks fast standing still, as the electric superbike was unable to race in this weekend’s TTXGP series opener at Infineon Raceway. The Mission crew did bring the bike out for fans to see though, which gave us a chance to get up-close and personal with the machine with a camera in-hand. Electricity aside, the Mission R is one of the most attractive motorcycles we’ve seen in a while (even without its clothes on), and the fit & finish on the bike is superb…now if only it actually ran.

We can’t wait to see how the Mission R fares on the track, especially with Steve Rapp on-board. Mission tells us it will be at some of the upcoming TTXGP events, which would be an unfortunate place to launch the Mission R, considering A&R has a strict rule about blogging from New Hampshire. We’ll see what our Bothans can do about sneaking a peak of the bike testing before the next TTXGP round; until then, here are 25 photos to ruin your Monday productivity.

Getting ready for the first practice session of the 2011 TTXGP season, the Brammo Empulse RR is on hand at Infineon now we got a chance to take some photos and talk to Director of Product Development Brian Wismann. We already brought you the first photo of the revised Empulse RR, standing in front of the Brammo offices in Ashland, Oregon, where we saw the newly revised race livery (now in Brammo Racing Green). Photos and details of the Brammo Empulse RR after the jump.

Sitting outside of Brammo HQ in Ashland, here’s the first photo of the Brammo Empulse RR in its 2011 TTXGP livery. The green, white, and black paint scheme is a welcomed change from the red we’ve seen on the Empulse RR in the past, and should make it easy to spot the Brammo Empulse RR at Infineon this weekend, as Steve Atlas will be vying for the top step against the other five bikes that will be on the grid.

As we head up to the Sonoma track for the weekend, Asphalt & Rubber should get some more glimpses of the electric race bike, and bring you the first photos of it lapping the raceway-formerly-known-as-Sears-Point. We should also be getting our first glimpses of the Lightning Motors machines, but unfortunately will only be seeing the Mission R in the paddock, as Mission Motors has decided not to race this weekend.

Source: Brammo

More news from the Asphalt & Rubber Bothan Spy network (that’d be a great spin-off site by the way…if George Lucas wouldn’t bullseye us like womp rats from a T-16 for our copious use of Star Wars references in our posts), as we’ve gotten word that Mission Motors is gearing up to go racing at the TTXGP season-opener at Infineon Raceway in two weeks’ time. At the helm of the gorgeous Mission R electric superbike will be AMA Pro Racing’s Steve Rapp.

The caveat to this news is that it all is contingent on Mission Motors getting its race bike ready to race in time for the event. The Bothans go on to tell us that the bike’s battery pack still needs to come together, which is something we’ve heard for some time now, but could suggest that the team has advanced its tech further and is upgrading the Mission R for even more on-board energy/power. As always, time will tell.

MotorcycleUSA has let it slip that it will be competing in the first round of the North American TTXGP series on-board the Brammo Empulse RR. Taking to the electric race motorcycle with be MotoUSA editor Steve Atlas, who will get the honors of piloting the Empulse RR in its first race outing (Brammo had to sit out its attempt to race a the FIM e-Power race at Laguna Seca last year after having a technical issue).

Brammo has been testing its Empulse RR for almost a year now, so the Oregonian company’s race package should be well-polished for the race at Infineon. When we saw the Empulse RR testing at Thunderhill Raceway earlier this year, the electric bike seemed capable of some good lap times, but of course we’ll have to wait and see how it compares to the competition that arrives later this May.

As for Atlas, the last we heard was that he single-handedly changing the well-earned stigma that motorcycle journalists don’t know how to ride motorcycles, which should make for some good racing for the TTXGP/AMA fans. Some photos of the Brammo Empulse RR are after the jump.

New surrounding Erik Buell Racing and its 1190RS street bike continue to pour in, as the company has announced a three-year title partnership deal with AMSOIL for the Erik Buell Racing AMA Pro Superbike team.

While the news of race sponsorship is certainly good for Erik Buell and his crew (Geoff May will continue at the helm of the #99 race bike), we think the company’s goal of debuting the EBR 1190RS as its race bike starting at the Infineon round in May is what will really excite Buell’s legion of fans.

EBR will start with last year’s 1125RR at Daytona, and expects to switch to the then homologated 1190RS, with its larger displacement, starting at West Coast Moto Jam held in May at the Sonoma track.

MotoGP isn’t the only season about to get under way, and 2010 AMA Superbike champ Josh Hayes will trade his #4 for a #1 on his Graves Yamaha, as he sets out to defend the first title not owned by a Suzuki in…well, nearly too long to count after the dominance of Spies and Mladin.

Hayes was the fastest superbike at the recent weather-plagued tire test at Daytona, but he is likely to face some good competition in 2011, from a slew of experienced Suzuki riders, including Tommy Hayden, Blake Young, Ben Bostrom, Roger Hayden, Chris Ulrich, and 600cc star Martin Cardenas. Add to the suspense veteran Larry Pegram on a BMW instead of his Ducati, and Eric Bostrom on a Kawasaki, and there should be plenty to watch here at home in the AMA.

Asphalt & Rubber was on-hand yesterday for first testing of the SWIGZ.COM electric race bike, which is being put together and piloted by Chip Yates and his crew. Getting blessed with a perfect California winter’s day, we only had to wait for Infineon Raceway, which is becoming the venue of choice for electric motorcycle race teams, to dry out from the previous night’s rain before the sunny 54° F temperature allowed Yates to get on the track. Taking eight laps in the afternoon, Yates ran the SWIGZ bike without the highly anticipated front KERS components, which will be the same configuration the bike will use when racing against the gasoline powered v-twins in the WERA Pirelli Sportsman Heavyweight Twins Superbike class later in January.

With the SWIGZ bike showing more than ample power in the straightaway, the electric race bike “exceeded all my expectations” said an enlighted Yates when he finished his last session. The first shakedown test on a track, Yates was also pleased with the bike having no mechanical failures during the sessions, giving him a vote of confidence for January’s race, which will see the SWIGZ race team contend against Ducati 1198 and KTM 1190 RC8 R superbikes.

In case you weren’t able to attend the inaugural North American TTXGP electric sportbike race at Infineon Raceway two weekends ago, we’ve got a bevy of photos and videos to make you feel like you were right there at the Sonoma track (minus a lack of wine). Above we have the full race from the perspectives of Zero/Agni’s #21 Shawn Higbee and #14 Kenyon Kluge (courtesy of Zero Motorcycles). And after the jump, we have photos and clips from the race and practice sessions. Enjoy.