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Trailer: Charge – The IoM TTXGP Movie Out in a Week

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Since we first heard about it, we’ve been less than patiently waiting for Mark Neale’s next opus Charge, a movie about the first zero-emissions motorcycle race, which was held during the 2009 Isle of Man TT. Now we get word from the movie’s Facebook page that Charge will be available in about a week’s time, and we’re downright giddy about it.

Check the DVD library of any die hard MotoGP fan, and you’ll find Neale’s Faster, an iconic movie about MotoGP’s shift from two-stroke to four-stroke motors — we imagine Charge will have this same point of reference appeal to electric motorcycle enthusiasts, and eventually motorcyclists as a whole.

We got an email from Neale the other day, saying that an advanced copy of Charge would be headed to our mailbox. With promises of death by ex-Navy SEAL (no, seriously) if it should land into the wrong hands, Asphalt & Rubber will be hosting the world premiere of Charge here in the San Francisco/Bay Area (location pending). Until then, check the video after the jump.

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Bikes

Brammo Engage – Electric MX & Supermoto from Ashland

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A part of Brammo’s announcement that it will be entering the electric dirt bike scene, the Brammo Engage is the cornerstone of the Ashland, Oregon company’s off-road line. Featuring the S.M.R.E. designed Integrated Electronic Transmission (IET), Brammo is not only getting into the dirt bike and supermoto scene with the Engage (going squarely after players like Zero and Quantya), but is raising the ante by offering a six-speed transmission specifically designed for electric motors.

Details and specifics are still coming together about the Brammo Engage, and even the photos given to the press are of pre-production machines that are based-off S.M.R.E. prototypes. However, early speculation is that the IET system will also feature regenerative braking, another first for the Oregonian company. Photos, video, and more after the jump.

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Racing

John Hopkins Takes First Race Win in 11 Years

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It was the first time that an American has won a British Superbike race, and his victory in Race 2 at Oulton Park was John Hopkins’s first race win in 11 years, making the event doubly special for the Anglo-American and his fans. Taking a second place finish in Race 1, Hopkins’s result this weekend was equally impressive as the Oulton track was another venue that the former MotoGP rider had to learn as he went.

Proving to be in top form on the Crescent Suzuki GSX-1000R, Hopper is now fourth in the British Superbike Championship. With a format a bit different than what us Americans are used to, moving into the the top six “Title Fighters” group of riders is tremendously important to winning the overall Championship. In BSB, only the riders who are in the top six in the points standings qualify to compete for the “British Superbike Champion” title, which occurs over the final three rounds of the season.

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Banter

Video: BMW S1000R vs. BMW M3

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Ah, the age old question of which is faster: a car or a motorcycle? We’ve seen the answer debated countless times on internet forums to no avail, and it seems at some point every publication in both the two-wheeled and four-wheeled realms tackles this issue in their own way. BMW recently took up the challenge to see which was faster, and the answer was painfully simple: the BMW…we jest.

Here’s the setup though, two of BMW’s fastest machines, a BMW M3 & BMW S1000RR, start at opposite ends of an unknown course. Unleashing their beasts at the same time, they lap until one catches the other, thus definitively faster. Sounds simple enough, right? There is a kicker though: part-way through, it starts raining. Make your guesses now as to whom won the race, and watch it unfold after the jump. Thanks for the tip Craig!

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Racing

Kawasaki WSBK Trucks Found Trafficking Drugs?

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According to the UK’s Telegraph, the Kawasaki World Superbike trucks of Paul Bird Motorsport were stopped by the UK Border Agency (UKBA), and found drugs and a gun with 35 rounds. Now, we know what you’re thinking, someone forgot to hide their stash, and the media is making a mountain out of a molehill, right?

However crossing by ferry into England, presumably for the Donington Park round, the UKBA allegedly stopped and searched a pair of Kawasaki trucks, finding 157 lbs (71kg) of amphetamine tablets, more than 220 lbs (100kg) of marijuana, and enough cocaine to kill a small elephant (18 lbs/ 8kg).

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News

Build a Horex VR6 in 46 Seconds

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Development of the Horex VR6 street bike continues at the German company, with this latest teaser video hitting YouTube (we suspect it will put a sizable dent in the Royal Wedding viewership, at least it did for us). Using a time-lapse video technique, we see the Horex engineers assembling one of their Horex VR6 prototype motorcycles in just 46 seconds (less if you don’t want to count the end branding).

As the name implies, Horex is using a 1218cc VR6 motor, which offsets and staggers the six cylinders with a 15º “V” arrangement that allows for a more compact design across the bike’s width. Supercharged, the Horex VR6 will make nearly 200hp, while weighing 526 lbs, which should excite many road-going two-wheel fans. Check the video out after the jump.

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News

Rok Bagoroš Meets the KTM 125 Duke

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We thought we had the good life here at Asphalt & Rubber, blogging in our pajamas until noon, no rent, and mom making us an endless supply of cookies. This was of course before we got an email from KTM Factory stunt rider Rok Bagoroš. The young Slovenian probably has the dream job of more than few motorcyclists. Traveling the world, riding bikes all day, and teaching Spanish cops how to wheelie are just some of the perks of his job.

Now that Bagoroš has a gig with the KTM squad, he’s taken possession of the company’s latest motorcycle, the KTM 125 Duke. Tasked with making the entry-level Duke appeal to its target market, KTM has marketed the 125 Duke mostly as a hooligan machine for teenage boys, which is like trying to sell a magnifying glass to a 14 year-old sitting on an ant hill. Enter Bagoroš with his bag of tricks, and the list of things we’d probably break trying to replicate them (getting old is tough).

Anyways…check the videos after the jump, and keep counting the days until KTM releases are larger displacement model of the new Duke to the American market.

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Bikes

Aprilia Tuono V4 Street by Paris-Nord Moto

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On paper the Aprilia Tuono V4 R is a monster, boasting the most horsepower in its class, and coming armed with a sophisticated electronics package to help hook-up the 162hp on the tarmac. While all the early ride reports are positive about the new true-blooded streetfighter, and we’re sure the slightly watered-down naked RSV4 would paint a silly grin on our face, it’s the headshot of this bike that makes us cringe just a little bit — the RSV4 headlight just doesn’t work without the accompanying bodywork.

While your mileage may vary, at least one dealership in France appears to agree with us, and has taken matters into its own hands. Putting together what it calls an Aprilia Tuono V4 Street, Paris-Nord Moto has created its own special version of the Aprilia Tuono V4 R with a new headlight and half-fairing design.

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Racing

Brammo Going Racing at the AMA Mini Moto SX

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The Asphalt & Rubber Bothan spies were hard at work over the weekend. Taking a break from finding ALL of the Easter Eggs in the A&R office, the Bothans did what they do best, and found the entry list to the AMA Mini Moto SX that’s going on next week in Las Vegas.

Sure enough in the paperwork was our favorite Ashland-based motorcycle company, which isn’t surprising since Brammo likes to go racing, but raises some eyebrows since you might recall the Mini Moto event is an off-road supercross-style race. Since a company doesn’t just decide to go racing on a whim, this surely must mean that Brammo has dirt bikes on the brain.

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News

How to Steal a Ducati Diavel in 60 Seconds?

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Ducati News Today must have gotten the same news tip as us, as a IT security blog is purporting to have information on how one can steal a Ducati Diavel (and presumably a Ducati Multistrada 1200) via the bike’s keyless ignition system.

It should be stated up-front that the pos referenced is dated April 5th, with the writer of the blog supposedly discovering this information on April 1st…and well all know what sort of Tomfoolery goes on during that time of the year.

According to the post’s author, the Ducati Diavel can be started not only without having the key in the ignition, but without the key at all.

While anyone who has ridden the Diavel knows that you only have to have the key in the proximity of the Diavel while you’re riding, the idea that one can start the bike without the key comes from a default code that comes up when such an act is attempted.

Where things get sticky though is that the author claims that this four-digit PIN is set from the factory to be the last four digits of the Diavel’s VIN, and that few owners know of security feature.

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Racing

First Look at the 2012 Honda MotoGP Race Bike

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While we were busy filing our taxes last week, HRC was busy at the Suzuka circuit shaking out its yet-to-be-named 2012 MotoGP race bike. Details are a bit sparse, but motogp.com is reporting that HRC test riders Kousuke Akiyoshi and Tady Okada were at the helm of the new bike, and the website shows a solitary photo that craftily doesn’t give away too much about the machine. The private test is a prelude to Honda’s factory riders hopping on the machine to likely greater media fanfare, which will most likely happen at the MotoGP test scheduled after the Mugello round.

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