Latest Posts:
Asphalt & Rubber
Tag

photos

Browsing
Bikes

Radical Ducati 7½ Sportiva

By 5 Comments

It has been a while since we posted about those crazy Spaniards at Radical Ducati, but long-time readers will remember fondly the exquisite custom motorcycles that Pepo and Reyes have created from the various pieces of Ducati’s finest.

It is hard to pick a favorite from machines like the Radical Ducati RAD02 Imola Cafe Racer, Radical Ducati Café Veloce, Radical Ducati Mikaracer, Radical Ducati Raceric, and Radical Ducati RAD 02 Corsa EVO, but our moto-lust keeps bringing us back to the Radical Ducati 9½ – a café racer styled motorcycle that uses an ST2 motor, a Monster 900 frame, and a 916 fuel tank and swingarm.

Getting its name from the ST2’s 944cc engine displacement, the 9½’s designation should tip-off where the Spanish firm has gone in its creation with the Radical Ducati 7½ Sportiva. Another water-cooled machine, the 7½ Sportiva ups the ante with the Ducati Superbike 749R taking the honor as its donor bike, while still remaining true to its predecessor’s café racer look and feel.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

2013 Triumph Speed Triple SE

By 12 Comments

The second bike getting Hinckley’s special edition treatment, the 2013 Triumph Speed Triple SE is as you would expect: the British brand’s venerable full-figured streetfighter machine, with revised paint and parts. Getting a distinct blue frame and swingarm, the Triumph Speed Triple SE also sports a “matte graphite” paint job with blue decals.

Other changes include a bevy of carbon fiber parts (mudguard, side pods, tank cover panel, and inner radiator panels), along with color-matched fly screen, belly pan, and seat cowl. Triumph also saw it fit to add a clear taillight assembly, as well as new covers for the clutch, alternator, and front sprocket.

With loads of other detail-finishes, you can get your first look at the 2013 Triumph Speed Triple SE on May 1st at your local Triumph dealer, but you better bring $13,399 with you if you want to take the bike home with you.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

2013 Triumph Bonneville SE

By 12 Comments

For the 2013 model year, the Hinckley brand is bringing out some more special edition model goodness, and first up is the 2013 Triumph Bonneville SE. The equation is simple, take one Triumph Bonneville, add a new red frame, new paint, a new headlight, a black pillion grab rail, and presto, you have the Triumph Bonneville SE.

A unique twist to Triumph’s 865cc retro-classic, the design gives us the same feeling as the Moto Guzzi V7 Clubman Racer, with its black, chrome, and candy-apple red tricolor paint scheme. If the headlight looks familiar to you, that’s because it comes from the Triumph Thruxton. Triumph has also added a unique black vinyl seat with red stitching. Available May 1st, the 2013 Triumph Bonneville SE will sell for $7,999 in the USA.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

2013 Ducati Hypermotard Mega Gallery

By 7 Comments

Ducati is getting ready for the international press launch of the 2013 Ducati Hypermotard in Ronda, Spain this week, which means we have a bevy of photos to share with you. Dropping its air-cooled dual-spark v-twin motor for an 821cc water-cooled lump, the 2013 Ducati Hypermotard is a truly a brand new model, from the ground up.

Getting cross-polinated with some of the design features found in the Ducati Multistrada 1200, the new Hypermotard really is a middleweight option to its bigger-displacement counterpart, though it still retains a presence of its own. Powerful and light, the Ducati Hypermotard continues to be a two-wheeled hooligan machine with enough suspension to soak up the bumps along the way.

We think Ducati did a nice job of retaining the Hyper’s unique character, while fitting the model into the company’s current motorcycle range and long-term goals. Of course, we haven’t gotten to ride one, and since we’re not in Spain this week, it looks like we’ll have to wait for the bike’s arrival at dealerships in March. Until then, there are 165 high-resolution photos waiting for you after the jump, enjoy.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

Bottpower BOTT 1000 Morlaco – When Engineers Dream

By 14 Comments

It is always interesting to see what motorcycle engineers work on in their spare time. Sometimes its motorcycle related, and sometimes their inspiration goes down a completely different path. Luckily for us, in the case of Bottpower’s David Sánchez, the Spanish engineer’s very limited free time stayed within the two-wheeled realm.

A project spanning 11 years, Sánchez started his design with a Honda CBR954RR engine as the centerpiece, and built from there. Employing a Hossack-style trellis for the front-end, and a matching steal trellis chassis (in orange, naturally), Sánchez has picked up the nearly complete project once again, after recently finishing the BOTT XR1 project, and has some renders to show for the final design.

Going from fully faired sport bike to naked street bike, the BOTT 1000 Morlaco has that same outside-of-the-box feel that you get when looking at the work of Italian house Vyrus. Using Bottpower’s CR2 electronics package that Gabor Talmacsi will race with in World Superbike this season, the Morlaco isn’t just a pretty face, there’s a brain up there too…and Sánchez highlights it with a prominent mounting point at the airbox cover.

Sans fairings, covers, or really any bodywork to speak of, you could say that the BOTT 1000 Morlaco is process in function over form, but then agin, the pictures tell a different story. Check them out after the jump, and follow the build on Bottpower’s website.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

Only 30 Triumph Speed Triple R “Dark” Bikes for the UK

By 3 Comments

Our friends across the pond get all the cool stuff: crumpets, Ginger Spice, and the 2013 Triumph Speed Triple R “Dark” street bike.

While they may have an overabundance of the prior two items, the Triumph Speed Triple R “Dark” unfairly comes with a limited production run of 30 units, making it one venerable and exclusive piece of machinery.

Collaborating with custom shop 8 Ball to make the limited edition Speed Triple R bikes, Triumph has put together a sporty machine for only £11,349 — £200 over the MSRP of the standard Speed Triple R.

For that extra coin, one gets a color-matched screen and belly pan. Other highlights include the “R 1050” logos (with serial number) and an air-brushed Union Jack flags on the fuel tank.

How very patriotic. Photos after the jump.

Keep Reading
By
Racing

Yamaha YZR-M1: 2013 vs. 2006

By 13 Comments

It is hard to believe, but it has been eight years since Valentino Rossi raced a Yamaha in liter capacity in MotoGP. Without even getting into the 800cc era that started in 2007 and ended in 2011, it is safe to say that a lot has changed since Rossi’s 2006 Yamaha YZR-M1 and the still unofficially debuted 2013 Yamaha YZR-M1.

While we already have a pretty good idea what was under the fairings of Rossi’s 2006 M1, since Yamaha Racing made detailed high-resolution pictures of the machine publicly available, what lies beneath the fairings of MotoGP’s current crop of prototypes is a closely guarded secret.

That secret must not have been guarded closely enough though, because the eagle eyes at GPone have gotten a photo of the Jorge Lorenzo’s M1 in the buff, and the Pride of Iwata has some interesting secrets to share with us.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

2013 Moto Morini Granpasso & Scrambler Get Price Cuts

By 12 Comments

After a tumultuous bankruptcy, Moto Morini is alive an kicking in 2013, albeit with a very familiar model lineup. Touching some new paint to its models, and adding some “human components” accessory pieces, Moto Morini has created three special offerings so far for the new year.

Calling its new pieces the 2013 Moto Morini Scrambler 1200 Military Green, 2013 Moto Morini Scrambler 1200 White Queen, and 2013 Moto Morini Granpasso 1200 Travel Yellow, Moto Morini is obviously trying to move some bikes and clear out its inventory with some factory specials.

While you will either love or hate what Moto Morini has going on with the aesthetics of its Scrambler and Granpasso bikes, the bevy of free gear (both for the bike and the rider), along with the new lower price points (€12,500 for the Granpasso and €10,900 for the Scramblers), are two points that are certainly going to be attractive to would-be owners.

Will the fresh paint and low prices help get Moto Morini back in black? Only time will tell. However, leave a note in the comments if you think the Italian brand should bring its wares across the pond.

Keep Reading
By
Racing

2013 Aprilia RSV4 Factory WSBK Race Bike Debuts

By 7 Comments

Fresh from Italy, we get our first glimpse of the 2013 Aprilia RSV4 Factory WSBK race bike in its new livery. While the uniforms may look the same, the men wearing them have changed to some extent, and in many ways so has the Italian brand’s racing strategy.

Building its previous team around Max Biaggi, the previous incarnation of Aprilia Racing catered to every whim of The Roman Emperor — read into that as you will. But now with Biaggi’s retirement from motorcycle racing, Aprilia is forced to replace tried-and-true talent with two up-and-coming stars.

Out from behind Max’s shadow, Eugene Laverty is expected to impress this year, having shown himself a formidable rider on the RSV4 Factory last season with his sixth-place Championship finish. Seventh in the Championship himself, Sylvain Guintoli will join the Irishmen, after coming off a tumultuous season with Liberty Racing. With three race wins and six podiums, Guintoli made a definite impression, especially when he was on the slower Ducati.

With both of Aprilia Racing’s WSBK riders starting to come into their own, the Italian brand is showing a lot of growth potential in the premier production-motorcycle racing series. Time will tell on the results, but we expect a bevy of podiums from the Aprilia riders this year, and maybe a win or two. Mas photos after the jump.

Keep Reading
By
Racing

IOMTT: Team Mugen is Back for the 2013 TT Zero – New Lighter “Shinden 2” & Same-Sized John McGuinness

By 4 Comments

Runners-up in the 2012 TT Zero race at the Isle of Man TT, newcomer Team Mugen made quite the stir with its Shinden (??) electric race bike, which was piloted by none other than TT great John McGuinness.

Announcing its intention to return for the 2013 TT Zero event, Mugen again confirms McPint as the team’s rider, and boasts of an even lighter and more refined Shinden Ni (????), or Shinden 2, electric motorcycle.

Light on details with its new race bike, Mugen only mentions that the team has developed the Shinden Ni from the original Shinden, which has resulted in the weight of the motorcycle body and electric systems being reduced (read: less battery mass).

Mugen also says that the electric motor and aerodynamics of the motorcycle have also been analyzed and modified to make the Shinden Ni a more potent adversary.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

Photos: Ducati Alstare Unveils The WSBK Hotness

By 17 Comments

Ducati is back in the World Superbike Championship, and today the Ducati Alstare team debuted its Ducati 1199 Panigale R race bike that Carlos Checa and Ayrton Badovini will campaign with this season. Heavily supported by Ducati Corse, it comes as no surprise then that the team’s livery is in the customary Rosso Corsa, and comes with some very familiar names on its side.

Energy Trading International (ENERGY T.I.) is a name you will see on Andrea Iannone’s Pramac Ducati, while communications company TIM has been a feature on the factory MotoGP bike for a number of seasons. Battery maker FIAMM has also been in the MotoGP paddock with Ducati, while energy drink FICC is the only new-comer to the world of two-wheeled motorsport on the team.

Despite all the cross-pollination, Ducati Alstare is true to form with a stunning machine for 2013. Enjoy some hi-res photos after the jump.

Keep Reading
By