Another year has gone by at our tiny motorcycle blog here, as Asphalt & Rubber turns five years old today. The thing is though, the site isn’t that tiny anymore — one million visitors will come to A&R in October alone.
In the past four years, when I have written these birthday posts, I write the same thing about how I look back on the past 365 days with a bit of astonishment, and then list all the great things that we have done in that time.
At the five-year mark though, I find myself looking all the way back to the beginning of A&R, a time when this site wasn’t really anything at all. With that retrospect, I see how Asphalt & Rubber has come into what it is now — if I had to go back, and try to decipher today from the fog of time, it would all feel like an impossible reality, if I am honest.
Not content to have only the Honda CBR250R as its small-displacement offering, Honda Motor Corp. announced at the China International Motorcycle Trade Exhibition in Chongqing yesterday that the 2014 Honda CBR300R would be its latest “world model” motorcycle, with production set to start at Honda’s Thailand factory.
Details on the small-displacement motorcycle are next-to-nonexistent, with Seiji Kuraishi, Chief Operating Officer for Honda China simply stating that “Honda is exhibiting the world premiere of the CBR300R, a global motorcycle model for which Honda is planning to begin production in Thailand in the future. The market introduction of this model in China will be discussed in the future.”
The final realization of the BMW LoRider concept, a modular roadster design project, the BMW R nineT debuted in Munich today as a commemoration of 90 years of BMW motorcycles.
Powered by the German company’s venerable air-cooled 1,170cc boxer twin, the nineT is likely the last motorcycle in the OEM’s range to use the motor, as BMW Motorrad shifts its attention to its new “precision-cooled” boxer. That nostalgia probably only adds to the retro roadster’s mystique though, and if our comments section is any indication, people are likely what they see here.
Built with customization in mind, BMW has gone to some length to make a chassis that builders and hobbyists can easily build-off of to suit their individual tastes — a basic tenet of the original LoRider concept.nIt doesn’t hurt of course that BMW has a litany of genuine accessories and parts to help in that endeavor as well.
Because we know you just can’t get enough of this bike (we certainly like it, though the name is a bit cumbersome), we have 170 high-resolution photos for you after the jump. Enjoy!
Debuting today at the AIMExpo in Orlando, the 2014 Erik Buell Racing 1190RX superbike is already the talk of the event. Based off the company’s uber-pricey EBR 1190RS racing machine, the EBR 1190RX is the RS’s more affordable, yet still potent, street bike sibling.
Featuring 185 peak horsepower in a 419 lbs bulk (sans fuel), Erik Buell Racing is posting some impressive numbers with the EBR 1190RX, though we think the $18,995 is the figure that will really get people excited. Putting the Erik Buell Racing 1190RX in “Ducati territory” for potential buyers, EBR is now a serious street bike company for enthusiasts to consider.
Officially official now, BMW Motorrad has taken the wraps off its new BMW R nineT cafe racer motorcycle. Helping the German brand celebrate 90 years of building motorcycles, the nineT is an air-cooled homage to BMW’s rich motorcycling past.
Based around the iconic 1,170cc air-cooled boxer engine that BMW has employed in a number of its best selling machines, the BMW R nineT is good for 108hp and 88 lbs•ft of torque.
With styling said to be based off the legandary BMW R32 from 1923, the nineT has more traditional cafe racer lines, mated to some of BMW’s best technology.
BMW hopes that the production model R nineT will be the basis for more custom builds though, citing the company’s collaboration with Roland Sands for the BMW Concept Ninety project as one such project to use the nineT’s roots for inspiration.
It looks like BMW’s new air-cooled café racer has made an early, albeit brief, appearance on the internet. Photos of what we have been calling the BMW NineT appeared today on Italian news site La Repubblica, though the writers there called the machine the BMW R Nine. Unfortunately (for us) however, the article has since been taken down by the Italian publication.
With the NineT set to debut later today in Munich, these photos seem to be of the soon-to-be-released production model, and appear to be still shots for the machine’s upcoming press kit.
The Erik Buell Racing 1190RX is one of the sport bikes that we have been anxious to see this year, as it is EBR’s encore model to the EBR 1190RS superbike. A more consumer-oriented machine, the EBR 1190RX is an important release for the small American brand, and it is debuting this week at the inaugural AIMExpo in Orlando, Florida.
Leaking ahead of the show, we can see that the EBR 1190RX doesn’t stray too far from the lines of the EBR 1190RS, though it does feature a pillion and a slightly modified exhaust can. Minus the race-ready suspension, wheels, bodywork, etc the 2014 Erik Buell Racing 1190RX looks ready to come off the track and head for the street. We will know in due time whether the headlight has been revised, as EBR teased a very aggressive front lamp only two months ago.
HRC is getting serious about this whole rally thing. After testing the waters last season, Big Red is ramping up a serious bid for the 2014 Dakar Rally. Already announcing its 2014 team of Helder Rodrigues, Sam Sunderland, Javier Pizzolito, Paulo Goncalves, and Joan Barreda, HRC debuted its new machine, the 2014 Honda CRF450 Rally, to the press.
Judging from the response the bike got in our comments section, we are betting a few marriages might be on the rocks because of this beauty, but that isn’t stopping us from posting some more photos of the Honda CRF450 Rally, and this time the come courtesy of Metzler tires.
Debuting the German tire company’s new unobtainium KAROO Extreme prototype tires, Honda and its riders are hoping Metzler will help make the difference in the Dakar, and will help HRC give KTM and Yamaha a race for their money, come January 5th in Argentina.
The leaks from Ducati keep coming in, and now we have our first photos of the Ducati 1199 Panigale R Superleggera and its tasty details. Stripped of its carbon fiber fairings, we can see where all those magnesium, titanium, and carbon pieces reside on the Superleggera’s rolling chassis.
Asphalt & Rubber has gotten its hands on 16 detail photos of the new Ducati Superleggera, and they are waiting for you after the jump. Our apologies in advance for the insane watermarks, but some people just don’t understand the internet. Other publications should feel free to use our photos, provided they cite their source and link back to Asphalt & Rubber — easy, right?