NCR is known for its stunning renditions of Ducati motorcycles, our personal favorite being the NCR Corse Millona One Shot. Of course no bike in the Ducati line-up is safe from getting the once over from this performance-meets-aesthetics tuning brand, and thus the NCR Millona 16 was born. Expected to weigh 145kg (319lbs), make over 200hp (at the wheel), and include a carbon frame, the NCR Millona 16 is a Ducati Desmosedici RR on steroids (BALCO would be proud).
We spend days wading through different marketing and advertising pieces by various groups in the motorcycle industry, which really only makes us believe firmly that either a) advertising companies have no idea how to connect with motorcyclists, and 2) motorcycle industry companies have no idea how to connect with their customers.
As teams look to the future of MotoGP racing, the rumors are beginning to fly on how the newly revised rules will affect the competitive landscape in the race series. With news already surrounding what opportunities exist for private teams, we focus now on the factory efforts. Making it clear recently that the Bologna factory is not convinced that 1000cc is the optimal displacement with the current fuel restrictions, Ducati’s Filippo Preziosi has hinted that Ducati is considering a 900cc or 930cc displacement for the 2012 race season.
Eskil Suter is a popular man in the Moto2 paddock. Not only is his Moto2 chassis one of the cheapest, but it’s also one of the best performing units. It should be no surprise then that his Moto2 solution (shown above) is one of the most popular in the race series, and Suter sees that as a great jumping off point to enter back into the MotoGP fray (Suter helped engineer the Kawasaki ZX-RR, the Ilmor X3, and the Petronas FP1 SBK race bikes).
With the MotoGP rules in 2012 to allow for claiming rule teams, the door has been opened for a Moto2 styled team (production motor in a prototype frame) to play with the big boys. Suter for his part is looking to draw on his current chassis success, and base his design around the very potent BMW S1000RR motor. The result should be a fairly inexpensive solution to a high-performance race bike as the S1000RR has been popping up on the internet with 190hp stock.
This is getting a chuckle around the A&R office this morning. It looks like some Buell owners are finding some extra time on their hands now that the American street bike company is out of business. That’s ok by us, because these boys have a good sense of humor, and some balls to grab some footage from a Harley-Davidson dealer.
Taking a couple good shots at Harley-Davidson, we’re left only with the question as to whether the Extra Soft Tail Deluxe Hyperglide American Bald Eagle Historical Limited VXFR1200 Patriot Skull Edition comes in Nightster Black.
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Crash.net is reporting that Casey Stoner has already made his mind up to leave Ducati, according to a high-ranking Marlboro Ducati team member. While rumors were rife a couple weeks ago that Stoner had signed a deal to ride with HRC in the upcoming season, parties were quick to correct that nothing had been signed, and this was still rumor. Rumor it might be, but the skinny in the MotoGP paddock is that Stoner has basically come to terms with riding with Honda in 2011, with the contract ready to go, but still sans signatures.
After watching this video of two riders narrowly escaping from a head-on collision with each other, we are motivated to check our own pants for evidence of such a near miss. While the rider passing the truck is clearly at fault, and in the oncoming lane of the videoed supermoto rider, we can’t help but ponder the other scenes in the clip where our protagonist is seen crossing the double yellow (at one point grossly in the other lane) in order to line up his corner entry.
Had these riders passed each other a different corner, we suspect the roles would have been completely reversed. Take it to the track fellas, or as Walter would say, “”
Source: MotoBlog.it
We were lucky enough today to get some shots from an Asphalt & Rubber reader who was in attendance at the Newport Beach Ducati shop to check out the Pikes Peak Ducati Multistrada 1200S race bike. From what we can tell the race bike has a cropped windsceen, hand-guards, revamped tail section (no luggage racks needed!), and a killer paint job. The overall affect is pretty dramatic, and makes the Multistrada 1200S look like a real speed demon. Ducati North America, can you say race replica? Thanks for the photos John!
In what we assume is an effort to draw Ducati’s racing heritage onto their new sport-tourer, the 2010 Ducati Multistrada 1200, Ducati has announced that it will run a pair of the new Multistrada’s at the 2010 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Ducati is looking to reclaim its 1200cc-class victory from 2008, where the company secretly used a prototype Hypermotard 1100 (what later became the 2010 Ducati Hypermotard 1100 EVO), in what the company calls a “skunk works” mission. In order to secure victory, Ducati has partnered with Ducati of Newport Beach and Spider Grips of Southern California, the same people behind the 2008 winning team. More after the jump.
While most of our coverage this past weekend focused on the first electric sportbike race to hit US soil, another first occurred at Infineon Raceway: the first female winner of an AMA Pro Racing event. Elena Myers took the checkered flag on Saturday’s AMA Supersport race, albeit with some help from the man with the red flag. From that finish Myers is being touted as the first woman to win an AMA road race, and already there is talk of an entry point for lady riders into this male dominated sport.
Do you remember the video of Kobe Bryant that went viral, and showed the NBA superstar jumping over a speeding Aston Martin? We were pretty amazed by Kobe’s hops (if the video is real), or the great editing that went into the video (if the video is fake). Regardless of that video’s validity, we wish the following gentlemen had either of those talents shown in the above video, because as you’ll see after the jump, when you lack those skills, the stunt goes very wrong.