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Photo of the Week: Ducati Meccanica

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As the Ducati Cup, also know as World Superbike, enters the 2011 season, the grid looks odd without a presence many have taken for granted for several decades, a factory Ducati team. While Ducati does have Valentino Rossi on its prototype GP11 this year, the Xerox WSBK team is no more, leaving others to defend Ducati’s honor in the series. This weekend at Philip Island, Carlos Checa rode his Althea Ducati to pole and a double victory, dominating the weekend. Though the Bologna factory may not be present as an official team entry, Ducati’s racing heritage appears well represented in World Superbike for 2011.

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Racing

Photo of the Week: Five Star Rating

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2010 World Superbike Champion Max Biaggi will be adding a fifth star to his leathers in 2011, the existing four representing his previous world titles. Coincidentally, or perhaps not, four of his five titles have been on Aprilia machines, the first four being consecutive 250cc GP Championships between 1994 and 1997.

Max has re-signed with Aprilia for another two years and will begin his title defense next weekend when the WSBK season kicks off at Philip Island. The above photo is from the Miller Motorsports Park round in 2010, where Max won twice after Carlos Checa’s Ducati quit while in comfortable leads in both races.

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Bikes

Motorcycle Lust: KTM/Vyrus Frankenbike

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This has to be the most impractical motorcycle ever conceived…but we absolutely have to have one. A mixture of the KTM Dakar 450 & KTM Freeride concept, and the Vyrus 987 C3 4V, this Frankenbike not only grabs our attention for its outrageous design, but for its handy work in Photoshop as well. You’d think with the combined forces of KTM‘s proven Dakar winner, Ducati’s stout 1198cc v-twin power plant, and Vyrus‘ hub-center steering chassis design, this would be the last word on all things two wheeled, but as its creator points out, that’s likely not to be the case.

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Bikes

Honda NSF250R Moto3 Race Bike Breaks Cover

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Honda has finally given us an unshaded photo of its 250cc four-stroke Moto3 race bike, dubbed the Honda NSF250R. Despite the clearer view, there are no real surprises here (this actually looks like the same photo as used before, sans photoshopping), as the majority of the bike is still covered by the primer-painted fairing. Honda says the new NSF250R is designed to be like the RS125R it replaces: high-performaning, lightweight, and compact. This should make the switch from two to four-strokes easier for young riders, and limit the need to adjust riding styles for the new machine.

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Rumors

Yamaha FZ8R Cometh?

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While getting a tour of Yamaha’s French factory (you know, the one they’re keeping open), the folks at MotoBlog.fr spotted something they’d never seen before: an upgraded FZ8 naked bike labeled as the Yamaha FZ8R. After some negotiating with the tuning fork brand, the French publication was allowed to take a photo of the bike’s body panel, as a sort of proof of life in their story.

Expected to be announced soon, the francophones spotted on the FZ8R an upgraded exhaust by Lazer, Öhlins suspension stickers (and perhaps an Öhlins shock), but what looked to be stock forks and stock brakes.

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Racing

Photo of the Week: Trail Braking

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Taking over Valentino Rossi’s factory Yamaha seat, multiple AMA Superbike Champion, 2010 WSBK Champion, and 2011 MotoGP Rookie of the Year Ben Spies will have the same equipment as reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo. Given how well Spies did on the satellite Tech3 Yamaha in 2010, the factory bike and a year of experience could mean the difference between being the “Best of the Rest” and the “Big Four” becoming the Big Five.

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Racing

Photo of the Week: Game Face

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With the 2011 MotoGP season right around the corner, there are several big questions waiting to be answered. The biggest is how Valentino Rossi will manage with the Ducati GP11. Last year Rossi won the season opener at Losail after Stoner crashed out of the lead, and was pleased to have what would become his final year with Yamaha off to a good start.

But his broken leg at Mugello put him out of the Championship running as rival Jorge Lorenzo rode the bike Rossi had developed to the title. Rossi’s challenge in 2011 is formidable if he is going to reclaim the premiere class championship, and go down in the record books as having done so with three different factories. He has a lot to think about before the lights come on in Qatar.

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News

Is This The Erik Buell Racing 1190RS?

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Posted to Erik Buell Racing’s Facebook page yesterday, this photo is what we presume is the soon to be released Erik Buell Racing 1190RS street bike. Based off the EBR 1190RR race bike, Erik Buell & Co. have been slowly teasing the idea of producing a limited production street bike, now that certain legal obligations are coming to a conclusion. No word yet on price or quantities, but we don’t expect this to be EBR’s foray into large production, and units are likely to be hand produced at the American company’s race shop.

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Bikes

Yamaha VZ1 Concept by Oberdan Bezzi

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UPDATE: Obiboi has done up a Kenny Roberts paint scheme version as well. Find it after the jump.

Do you dream of Yamaha producing a V4 sport bike? How about naked-variant that supplants the popular FZ1? Does a carbon/aluminum trellis frame work for you, with a titanium exhaust of course? If you answered yes to these questions, and envision such a bike late a night when you’re forming your dream garage in, then Oberdan Bezzi has just the concept sketch for you.

Drawing on the same 1,000cc fairing-less street bike theme as the FZ1, Bezzi imagines a Yamaha with a forward-tilted V4 motor that has an almost perpendicular cylinder arrangement, and is capable of being a platform with worldly appeal.

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Opinion/Editorial

LCR Honda: This is How You Launch a MotoGP Team

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Testing has already gotten underway and concluded at Sepang today, meaning the teams of MotoGP have released their livery for the next season with varying degrees of fanfare and showmanship. It’s no surprise then that we found a couple photos of the LCR Honda RC212V adorned with a seductive Playboy bunny affixed to it, in what surely has to be the best GP team launch in 2011.

If you read Asphalt & Rubber on a religious basis (we are your motorcycling zen temple, right?), you’ve likely divined by now that I’ll chastise just about any company that uses the premise that “sex sells” (nothing boils my blood more than this cleverly short, yet misguided maxim), and that I love a good scrappy startup that’s got more hustle than funding (case in point: A&R is a penniless motorcycle startup trying to make it in this crazy online world).

So how does a the multi-million dollar motorcycle racing team with half-naked women draped all over their machinery get such accolades from our humble motorcycle blog? Because LCR Honda is the epitome of innovation on the business side of MotoGP racing.

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