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It’s the end of October, and there is a picture of me from a birthday track day, so that could mean only one thing: Asphalt & Rubber has aged another year. Now into our third year of this crazy online motorcycle blog experiment, I pleasantly get to reiterate some of the text from last year’s anniversary announcement, as A&R continues to grow beyond anything that this dyslexic kid, who routinely failed writing classes, could have imagined.

This year has been one marked with notable events, as Asphalt & Rubber has come to you live from a bevy of remote locations for our race and event coverage, such as Qatar, Australia, and the Isle of Man. Storming perhaps the last refuge for motorcycle print journalism, we’ve also become one of only two pure-online publications regularly seen in the MotoGP paddock.

But most impressively this year, Asphalt & Rubber passed the 500,000 reader mark, and fittingly this October is shaping up to be our best month ever in terms of traffic & readership…as was the month before that, and the month before that — with all of that math culminating into the fact that A&R has almost doubled in size since last year’s birthday announcement.

It clearly must be almost time for the EICMA motorcycle show, as manufacturers are out in full-force teasing their 2012 model year motorcycles. One of the more anticipated models set to be unveiled in Milan, Italy is the MV Agusta Brutale 675, the naked counterpart to the still unavailable MV Agusta F3 that debuted at EICMA last year. While MV hasn’t been teasing the three-cylinder (tre pistoni) street bike as heavily as the F3, the Brutale 675 is just as important to the Italian brand in bringing the company back to profitability.

Expected to sell in the €9,000 range, the Brutale 675 will go up against other premium brand nakeds, namely the Ducati Streetfigher 848 and Triumph Street Triple. Want to get your first glimpse at the MV Agusta Brutale 675? Check out the teaser video after the jump.

More two-wheel goodness from our friends in Spain, as Radical Ducati has teamed up with Dragon TT not to make a brand new bike, but instead is helping Ducati Superbike 848/1098/1198 owners stand out a bit more at their local coffee shop bike nights. Creating what they call the Vendetta, Radical Ducati and Dragon TT have put together a kit of parts that transforms the soon-to-be outgoing Superbike design into something completely different.

Gone are the smooth and definitively Italian lines of the Ducati, and replacing them are the edgy and sinister designs of the two Spanish firms.We have a feeling that many Ducatisti will cry heresy over this work, and they rightly should. We don’t expect the Bologna brand to make bold designs like this anymore, and the affect of the Vendetta strikes a darker emotion than is legal in the more southern states of the US. Like a bad night in a BDSM sex parlor, there’s something about the Vendetta that screams “I plan on flogging these canyon corners until they scream our safe word” that we really like. More chills down your spine after the jump.

As a 250cc rider, Marco Simoncelli struck me as being very talented, but also a grave danger to his fellow riders. In the 250GP races in which Simoncelli participated, he was always the wild card, and one never knew what he might do in his spirited attempts to win. As the list of other riders who’d narrowly escaped serious injury in on-track incidents with Marco grew, I developed a profound dislike for how he behaved on track, and I thought that this behavior indicated what type of person he was.

But as I gained access to the MotoGP paddock, and found opportunities to glimpse the riders’ personalities, Marco Simoncelli was one of the first for whom I recognized that I could not draw such conclusions based solely on what I saw on TV.

On a motorcycle, Simoncelli was ferocious, as the cat on the back of his helmet indicated. In person he was soft spoken, gentle, quick to smile and generous. Always a gracious participant with Riders for Health fundraising events, he courageously faced crowds who spoke no Italian and charmed them in his accented and limited English. He signed whatever people asked of him, and posed for photos with patience and grace.

Surely not the update that Gixxer lovers were hoping for, the 2012 Suzuki GSX-R1000 sees a modest retooling as the Japanese company’s liter bike most noticeably goes back to a single exhaust can design. Officially dropping 2kg (4.4 lbs) from its curb weight, we assume the weight savings to the new Suzuki GSX-R1000 can be accounted purely from the new exhaust layout, though Suzuki lists a number of small weight savings throughout the Gixxer’s refined design. Despite a bevy of minor improvements, the big changes include the addition of a beefier midrange, better throttle response, Brembo monoblock calipers with .5mm thinner brake discs, and an improved fuel efficiency by 8%. Photos after the jump.

I’m going to come out and say that I loved the 2011 Triumph Speed Triple when it came out. A divisive model with the Triumph’s loyal fan base, the revised Speed Triple’s aesthetics are a marked improvement over the earlier generations in my book, which was the only thing that kept the peppy three-cylinder machine out of my personal garage. Now to thoroughly ruining my Christmas wish list, the British brand has added the 2012 Triumph Speed Triple R to its EICMA debut list, with the “R” designation denoting the bike’s upgraded Öhlins suspension, Brembo brakes, and PVM wheels.

Officially breaking cover now, the 2012 Triumph Tiger Explorer continues the British company’s revamping of its adventure-tourer line. Featuring a 1200cc three-cylinder motor, the Tiger Explorer is the bigger brother of the popular mid-sized Tiger 800, which debuted last year after much build-up. Sans a few spy photos and some rumormill, Triumph has taken a decidedly different and more low-key approach in getting buyers excited about the new Tiger, though we think Triumph fans will like what they see.

Marco Simoncelli has tragically died today, after crashing in a horrific accident during the second lap of the Malaysian GP. Trading corners with Rizla Suzuki rider Álvaro Bautista and battling for fourth place, Simoncelli began the race in Sepang with his usual full-of-heart riding style. Certainly a podium contender for the day, the Italian lost control of his motorcycle in Turn 11 after losing the front. Propping the bike on his knee in order to save the slide, Simoncelli heroically but unfortunately stayed upright, cut back across the track, and collided with fellow racers Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi.

While Rossi rode away unhurt, and Edwards injured only his shoulder, Simoncelli suffered the brunt of the impact, and lay helmetless on the track after the incident. Despite the best efforts of the medical staff at Sepang, Simoncelli could not be resuscitated and succumb to his injuries at 4:56pm local time. Accordingly the Malaysian GP has been cancelled. Asphalt & Rubber joins the MotoGP paddock in mourning the loss of one the most beloved riders in series, and send our thoughts and prayers to Marco’s family, friends, team, and loved ones.

Ciao Marco, SuperSic forever.

Photo: © 2011 Scott Jones Photography – All Rights Reserved

After showing the Honda Crosstourer as a concept model at last year’s EICMA show, the Japanese company has announced that it will bring the V4 adventure-tourer to market for the 2012 model year. Bringing a very polished concept vehicle to Milan, Honda made no secret about the possibility of the Crosstourer becoming a reality. Honda is remaining tight-lipped regarding specifics about the new Crosstourer, saying simply that the bike will have a V4 motor and will have an optional dual-clutch transmission.

This news likely means the 2012 Honda Crosstourer will sport the same 1,237cc motor as the Honda VFR1200F, though Honda UK coyly only says in its press release that the Crosstourer will have a “V4 engine configuration – also found in the VFR1200F.” Honda has already produced some videos explaining the ethos behind the adventure-tourer, but we’ll have to wait until November for all the specifics. Press release from Honda UK after the jump.

BMW did an amazing thing two years ago. Not really known for its performance street motorcycles, BMW took the competitive superbike market head-on, bringing out a motorcycle that not only had class-leading performance figures, but was also priced extremely competitively against its Japanese competitors. That lethal combination of price, quality, and performance made the BMW S1000RR the sport bike to have over the past two years, and it shows in the S1000RR’s sales figures, which eclipsed every other liter bike.

Not wanting to rest too heavily on its laurels, BMW has updated the S1000RR for the 2012 model year, and while the bike may look the same, the German company hopes it has done plenty to its halo bike to make would-be buyers give the S1000RR a good looking over next season, despite going into its third year of production. While the same 193hp engine resides at the heart of the S1000RR, and the curb weight remains a paltry 449 lbs (90% fuel), the 2012 BMW S1000RR gets a bevy of suspension, chassis, and electronics for the new model year.

Troy Corser announced today on Twitter his retirement from motorcycle racing, formerly ending the 40-year-old’s illustrious career in motorcycles. Coy with his words though, Corser’s brief statement hinted at a continued career in racing, likely of the four-wheeled variety. “Retirement is not a word I would normally use. Finishing my bike racing career and starting a new career at 40 sounds better. Racer forever,” the message said.