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Jensen Beeler

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Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance: Confederate P120 Fighter Combat Official Launch

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Asphalt & Rubber spent the weekend in Monterey, drinking flutes of champagne with the rich and marginally famous. Despite rubbing elbows with our eledged betters, we did get to see the first ever showing of motorcycles on the greens at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

As such, there were plenty of motorcycles around the course, and Confederate Motors picked the locale for the public unveiling of their new P120 Fighter Combat. Our invitation to the event must have been lost in the mail, but we still managed to get some photos of the new bike in the flesh.

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Bikes

Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance: 1979 MV Agusta Magni Superlight up for Auction

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We find ourselves down the California Coast this weekend, hobnobbing with the suits down at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Amongst the bevy of tasty four-wheeled vehicles that seem to abound here (who knew?), we found a few motorcycles that we thought would fancy you, our dear reader. First up, is this 1979 MV Agusta Magni Superlight that is up for auction at the MidAmerica Auctions here at the Concours.

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Racing

MotoGP: Back to Business at Brno Qualifying

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After a two week hiatus, MotoGP is back to racing with a stop in the Czech Repubilc. Amongst the press conferences, and positioning for next year, the riders actually made it out to the track to qualify for Sunday’s race. The masters of two-wheels clearly used their break to hone their game, and for the first time a pole position record was broken since the introduction of the one-tire rule.

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Rumors

No Cross-Plane Crankshaft for 2010 Yamaha R6

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Rumors are already flying about the 2010 Yamaha R6, which is due for an update this next model year. One of the prominent theories is that that supersport would inherit the cross-plane crankshaft found in the current R1 liter bike. While Yamaha has officially been quiet on this matter, R1 project leader, Toyoshi Nishida, has pretty much ruled out the possibility of that technology trickling down to the 600cc bike. However, it does seem certain that the new R6 will tip the scales at a paltry 385 pounds or less…wet.

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Kurt Marmor’s Ducati 749 Flat-Track Race Bike

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How do you race in a flat-tracking event at the Springfield Mile in style? With a modified Ducati 749, that’s how. And that’s exactly what Kurt Marmor did at this year’s event. Unfortunately, Marmor wasn’t able to qualify for the main event, but we have a feeling that the Duc-track will show up at other events this year, and regardless, the bike sounds sooo good on the dyno video below. We just might have to get into this flat-tracking thing.

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Racing

Bautista to Rizla Suzuki for MotoGP?

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Jorge “Aspar” Martinez hopes of entering MotoGP with Spanish rider Alvaro Bautista in-tow seem to have disappeared today. After calling an emergency meeting with the young Spanish rider today, Aspar had hope to be able to persuade Bautista to not sign with the Rizla Suzuki factory team, which has an exception to the rookie rule. Those hopes, however, no seem to be in vain as early indications point to Bautista instead opting to ride for the Rizla Suzuki team.

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Reviews

In the A&R Garage: Ducati Streetfighter

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Asphalt & Rubber has gotten our dirty little paws on a 2009 Ducati Streetfighter for long-term review, which was a supremely poor choice according to the little old lady that gave us the bird on our first test ride out. Despite her discouraging use of the bird, we’re so far quite impressed with this spaghetti rocket. Built of the 1098 Superbike platform, the Streetfighter is true to its name, having the punch of a 155hp v-twin motor. This is the sort of bike that when you sling a leg over it, you just look down and say, “Scream if you want, no one is coming to save you.” Continue reading for our thoughts, impressions, and a few photos.

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News

Ilmor Engineering Builds a Five-Stroke Motor

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Motor manufacturer and tuner, Ilmor Engineering, has branched out from its Indy Car, Formula One, NASCAR, and MotoGP duties, and produced what they call a five-stroke motor. With dual camshafts and an asymetrical three-cylinder configuration, the Ilmor is more than intriguing with its design, and promises to bring real benefits both to the race track, and to road-use. Most notably is a 10% increased fuel efficiency, and 20% weight reduction in power-plant weight.

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