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2012 Yamaha YZR-M1 Breaks Cover at Jerez

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Light on sponsors, but heavy on style, the 2012 Yamaha YZR-M1 broke cover today at the Jerez. The 1,000cc inline four-cylinder machine will catapult factory riders Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies, as well as satellite riders Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 squad, as they attempt to overturn the Honda supremacy of last season.

With more than 240hp at the crank, there can be little doubt that the new M1 will be blisteringly quick, and 220+ mph speed trap times are already being pondered for fast tracks like Mugello. Called the best bike in the paddock by Repsol Honda boss Shuhei Nakamoto, the tuning-fork brand seems set to give Casey Stoner and HRC a run for their money in their Championship defences. Photos and technical specifications after the jump.

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Racing

John McGuinness Tests the Mugen Shinden Electric Bike

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Right after it was made official that John McGuinness would race in the 2012 TT Zero on the Mugen Shinden, the 17-time Isle of Man TT race winner was whisked off to Motegi to test the electric superbike. McGuinness’s involvement with Mugen’s racing effort has only added further credence to the notion that the team is a front for Honda’s foray into full-size electric motorcycles (Mugen was also started by Hirotoshi Honda, the son to Honda founder Soichiro Honda).

Debuting the Honda RC-E concept last year, A&R has also heard reports that the Japanese OEM has been playing with electric motorcycles in various forms for almost a decade now. Despite continued reports that the Mugen Shinden is a rebadged Honda RC-E, the two bikes share almost no similarities, except of course for this whole running on electricity thing.

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News

Photos: Underneath the Ducati 1199 Panigale’s Fairings

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We have shown pornography CAD renders of the Ducati 1199 Panigale sans fairings before, and immediately heard office doors around the nation close shut while trousers were ruined. Showing off its frameless chassis design, the Ducati 1199 Panigale is perhaps one of the most intriguing motorcycles to see without its bodywork.

Perhaps losing some the elegance of previous Ducati models when naked, there is very little free room between the Panigale’s 1437mm (56.6in) wheelbase. With the Tetris-style fitting of pieces together into the Panigale’s monocoque frame, there can be little speculation as to why the 1199 features such a large and comprehensive fairing.

That being said, when the Ducati 1199 Panigale is in the buff, it makes for some good art. But just remember: every time you masturbate, God kills a kitten. Please remember the kittens as you click through to the full-size photos after the jump.

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Racing

Aspar Racing’s Aprilia-Designed CRT MotoGP Bike

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One of the biggest compliments ever made regarding the Aprilia RSV4 was actual meant to be a criticism, as when it came time to homologate the RSV4 for World Superbike racing, the competition cried afoul — saying the RSV4 Factory was really a MotoGP bike in a production bike’s clothing. Said to be the leftovers from Aprilia’s aborted MotoGP effort, the Aprilia RSV4 had a meteoric rise in WSBK, and won the Championship after only the company’s second season back in the series.

It should come then with little surprise that the Aprilia and its V4 motor has been the popular choice for teams in the MotoGP Championship looking for a claiming-rule team (CRT) solution. Dubbed the ART, the Aprilia-powered CRT bike also features an aluminum chassis that is designed by the Italian company. Thus with Aprilia offering essentially a turn-key GP solution for teams like Aspar Racing, it probably shouldn’t shock us that the similarities between the production WSBK-spec RSV4 and prototype ART being almost too close to distinguish between the two, even down to the bodywork.

Given the fact that Dorna desperately needs an alternative to prototype racing machines built by Ducati, Honda, and Yamaha for its CRT gamble to work — not to mention the need for CRT bikes and teams that are competitive on the track with the bikes from the OEMs — one can only imagine that Dorna is turning a blind eye to obvious “bending of the rules” that is occurring with the ART project. If the ends justify the means, then surely none of this matters to Ezpeleta et al, and right now Randy de Puniet and the Aspar Racing team’s CRT effort are the MotoGP rights holder’s best bet at recapturing control of MotoGP racing.

That all being said, the Power Electronics Aspar team debuted its ART race bike, and as is the custom, disclosed only some of the most basic technical specifications about the machine. At the helm of Aspar’s ARTs will be Randy de Puniet and Aleix Espargaro, and while the CRTs as a whole have been off the pace of the prototype bikes, RdP’s pace on the Aprilia has been noticeably quicker, and could give some of the slower satellite riders a run for their money. Technical details and photos are after the jump.

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Bikes

The Frog FZ750 Rana Heads to SFMOMA

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Frog Design is better known for its work designing computer cases for Apple, but  in 1985 Frog Design’s Founder Hartmut Esslinger designed the Frog FZ750. A two-wheeled concept vehicle that was a Yamaha FZ750 underneath the skin, the Frog FZ750 actually helped give birth to the venerable Honda Hurricane.

Conceived just a few years after Frog Design opened its California office, the now iconic Frog FZ750 was a reaction to increasing pressure for safer motorcycles (the Yamaha FZ750 was outlawed in the Golden State at the time), and set the standard for a generation of motorcycle design to come.

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Racing

Ducati Desmosedici GP12 Technical Specifications and Development Video

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Unveiling the 2012 Ducati Desmosedici GP12 online today, Ducati not only gave us our first glimpse at the Ducati Corse team livery, but the Italian race team also “disclosed” the technical specifications of its MotoGP race bike. Of course the details are rather plain and vague, as not to give too much away, but there are some interesting things to point out. Producing 230+ hp and weighing 157 kg (346 lbs) dry, the GP12 is no slouch on paper.

Retaining the same 90° piston configuration, the V4 desmodromic motor has clearly been rotated backwards, as was rumored. This change is evidenced by the singular and solid radiator grill at the front of the fairings, and would allow Ducati Corse to move the engine’s center of mass back and forth in the chassis to a greater degree. Speaking of chassis, the 90% new factory GP12 features an aluminum twin-spar frame, which was designed by Ducati Corse and rumored to have been built by FTR.

This Desmosedici GP12 “Phoenix” chassis design will be exclusive to the Ducati Corse factory team in MotoGP for several races, with satellite teams likely to get the updated chassis design about a third of the way into the season. This means that satellite Ducati riders, like Karel Abraham, will use the Desmosedici “GP0” design that debuted at the Valencia test after the conclusion of the 2011 season. It has certainly been a long road for Ducati in MotoGP this past season, and now we will see if all the hard work will pay off for the Italian company. Technical specifications and a couple videos are after the jump.

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Bikes

2012 Ducati Desmosedici GP12

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Unveiled online today, here are the first pictures of the 2012 Ducati Desmosedici GP12. Unsurprisingly using a twin-spar aluminum frame, instead of the carbon fiber chassis found on the GP11, perhaps the biggest change for fans who have been following the GP12’s development is the new tri-colore paint scheme, which is visually very similar to the design of the Ducati 1199 Panigale Tricolore.

Getting hip to this whole internet fad, Ducati Corse made its 2012 season launch live on Facebook, hosted by team sponsor TIM. With 96,000 fans connected to the video stream, it’s arguably the most public launch of a Desmosedici to date, and the subject of social media was a hot topic for the unveilings Q&A session (including some insight into Nicky Hayden’s accidental leaking of the Ducati Streetfighter 848). We’ve got a bunch of hi-res studio shots after the jump, along with some photos from the live unveiling.

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Bikes

2013 Motus MST – 165hp, $30,975, Fall Production

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Officially debuted last night to the masses of the Daytona Bike Week, the 2013 Motus MST broke cover in its production trim (the 2013 Motus MST-R is shown above), along with details about the bike’s final specs, pricing, and availability. As we reported earlier, the Motus MST will come without its originally planned gasoline direct injection (GDI), with the Motus team instead opting for direct port injection.

With the Motus MST priced at $30,975 and the Motus MST-R getting a price tag of $36,975, our earlier reports of a $30,000 price tag appear to be spot on as well. A “comfortable sportbike” as the American company is calling it, the Motus MST will initially be available at seven premium dealerships nationwide, though sadly none of them are west of the Rockies.

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Photos: 33 Years of Suzuki Endurance Road Racing

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Starting 33 years ago with the 1980 Suzuki GS 1000 (above), the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team (SERT) has been one of the winningest teams in the FIM World Endurance Championship. Racking up 11 wins over three decades, SERT owes its victories to three bikes: the GS 1000, GSX-R750, & GSX-R1000.

Getting ready to defend the team’s 2011 Championship victory, SERT is heading to Magny-Cours, France on April 14th for the Bol d’Or 24-Hours and opening round of the endurance road-racing season. To help cheer the team on, Suzuki has released these photographs of all the SERT race Suzukis of the past 33 years. Enjoy those photos after the jump, just don’t ask us where the 1981 Suzuki GS 1000 is.

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Bikes

Ducati Monster Diesel

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In case you hadn’t noticed, Ducati made a bunch of friends last year, and entered into partnership agreements with companies like AMG, Diesel, and Cigarette Racing. With the first two companies footing a larger bill and sponsoring Ducati Corse’s MotoGP effort, it stands to reason that AMG and Diesel’s involvement with the iconic motorcycle brand would be a bit more extensive than just some logos on a bike and team livery.

With Mercedes-Benz and Ducati intertwined in acquisition talks, it was not too surprising to see the Ducati Diavel AMG Special Edition break cover, though we have to admit we were a bit shocked to see today’s news about the Ducati Monster Diesel — we didn’t see this bike coming.

As the name implies, the special edition motorcycle is based off the Ducati Monster 1100 EVO, with styling cues that evoke the Diesel brand. The Italians are calling this “an ‘urban military chic’ interpretation of Ducati’s iconic naked motorcycle,” which is one way of saying it features olive green paint and matte black accents.

It’s an interesting effect to say the least, though it will probably only resonate with a select group of Ducatisti. Ducati says the Monster Diesel will be available in dealerships from late-July onwards, with pricing in the US set at $13,795. If you came here thinking Ducati had abandoned the gasoline engine, we apologize. We didn’t pick the name.

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Bikes

BRD RedShift MX – Your Electric Lites-Class Race Bike

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First breaking cover at the Indy Dealer Expo, BRD Motorcycles has finally gotten the BRD RedShift MX into the studio for some glamor shots, and it is showing off its “goooollllddddd” paint scheme very nicely indeed. The off-road variant to the BRD RedShift SM prototype that we tested several months ago, the RedShift MX is the San Francisco company’s electric equivalent to a 250cc lites-class off-roader. Promising a super-linear 40+ hp on tap, the model currently has 5.2 kWh of battery on-board, which should be good for two hours of mixed use.

Tipping the scales at 270 lbs in street trim, the BRD RedShift MX is a paltry 250 lbs in racing form, which makes for a very competitive power-to-weight ratio in this category of dirt bike. Priced at $14,995, this electric dirt bike is still an expensive proposition (even with its WP suspension), though its competitive race performance, low-cost of use, and super-smooth electric drive train helps make it a more attractive package for more serious riders. Enjoy the high-resolution photos after the jump.

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