Racing
Taking nearly two years to go from vaporware to reality, Brammo has announced that its true second model in its lineup is finally ready for primetime. Set to be unveiled May 8th, with technical details to be released April 18th, the Brammo Empulse will finally become a consumer reality, as well as Brammo’s a six-speed gearbox.
Touting a 100 mph top speed and 100 mile range, the Brammo Empulse on paper should be a market-leading machine (the Zero S tops out at 88mph and 114 mile range). Though it will remain to be seen under what conditions those figures are achieved (Zero’s range figure is at in-town speeds only), as over-promising has been the calling-card of the electric motorcycle manufacturers thus far.
Things looked dubious reagrding the KTM/HMC Superbike Racing Team competing in the 2012 AMA Pro Racing season, but despite talk of the opposite before the season, the factory-backed squad is now on the race card. Someone must have tipped off KTM that its “Ready to Race” slogan really carried no water in the American street-bike scene unless the Austrian manufacturer actually raced here in the United States. That is just fine by us, as it means that KTM has committed itself to the AMA racing ranks, adding another competitive manufacturer to the struggling series’ roster.
It also bodes well for Chris Fillmore, Stefan Nebel, and the rest of the HMC Racing crew, who were out testing at Homestead-Miami Speedway after the Daytona 200. With Fillmore taking 12th & 14th finishes in the two races of AMA Pro Racing’s first Superbike round, KTM/HMC Superbike Racing is aiming for Top 5 finishes this season, as the squad continues to build its American road-racing program. You can meet the factory-supported AMA Superbike crew in the video after the jump.
There you are, minding your own business while ripping a fat wheelie through the Lincoln Tunnel on your way to work. Unfortunately, you have to stop because the tour bus in front of you, which is probably full of maple syrup loving Canadian tourists, is crawling along at a snail’s pace. You of course change lanes to resume your morning one-wheeled commute, but realize that the guy behind you is carelessly and dangerously driving while filming you with his cameraphone. The worst part? When you ask the jerk for a copy of the video, he doesn’t even send it to you. Gahh!
We aren’t really interested in publishing the tabloid pages of MotoGP, but this story is so ridiculous it was too hard to resist. Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa doesn’t seem like the yachting type, but the Spaniard was arrested last week by the Spanish Guardia Civil in connection with a network of people responsible for helping people cheat on their yachtsman exam, a test which would let the bearer of the certificate operate a yacht under Spanish authority.
According to the reports, 21 people in total were arrested by the Spanish Guardia Civil for cheating on the exam — ten were caught wearing ear pieces during the exam, which included Pedrosa, seven people were charged with false identity, and four were members of the gang were also arrested. Arrested on Friday, Pedrosa has already been released by the Guardia Civil, and has issued an apology for his actions. It is not anticipated that this incident will affect Pedrosa’s participation in the Qatar GP this coming weekend.
It looks like Moto Morini gave up on its month-long teasing of the new Moto Morini Rebello 1200 Giubileo, with the company’s latest bike breaking cover today — two weeks ahead of schedule. That is just fine by us, since we had already forgotten about the Rebello 1200 Giubileo and its painful jigsaw puzzle reveal strategy, and the move is even better for the motorcycle public because Moto Morini has quite an interesting bike to show here.
A street-standard with some café racer touches, the Moto Morini Rebello 1200 Giubileo looks like quite an elegant bike with some very nice finishing touches being shown in the company’s limited photo set.
Easily our favorite detail is the unique “electric moveable saddle” that takes the Rebello 1200 Giubileo from monoposto to biposto with a simple flick of switch, while maintaing the bike’s rear-cowling look. It would seem gone are the days of having to remove a rear seat cover, or swapping out a rear cowl for a padded seat. Molto bene.
We don’t know exactly how this story started, but as the video commences we see a motorcyclist sitting on his bike between two cars. With words being exchanged and the situation already rapidly deteriorating, the biker kicks the car. The driver then rams the biker, knocking the bike over. Now on the ground, the biker gets up and walks towards the car, eyeballing the driver on the way there. The rest? You’ll have to see for yourself to believe. Needless to say, Brazilians know how to road rage.
Perhaps the only thing we don’t like about the 2012 KTM 690 Duke is the fact that the big Austrian thumper won’t be coming to the United States. Not quite sure how to exist outside of the off-road market here in North America, KTM’s street bike offerings are giving Hansel & Gretel a run for their money in the “worst sense of direction” category (we take that back, clearly Moto Guzzi is having a tougher time of it).
Despite our domestic suffering, our European brothers-in-petrol not only get to enjoy the hooligan machine that is the Duke 690 on the street, but KTM has managed to get the single-cylinder machine as the bike of choice for the European Junior Cup, a young-rider grooming series for racers 14 to 19 years of age.
Unveiling the 2012 Ducati Desmosedici GP12 online today, Ducati not only gave us our first glimpse at the Ducati Corse team livery, but the Italian race team also “disclosed” the technical specifications of its MotoGP race bike. Of course the details are rather plain and vague, as not to give too much away, but there are some interesting things to point out. Producing 230+ hp and weighing 157 kg (346 lbs) dry, the GP12 is no slouch on paper.
Retaining the same 90° piston configuration, the V4 desmodromic motor has clearly been rotated backwards, as was rumored. This change is evidenced by the singular and solid radiator grill at the front of the fairings, and would allow Ducati Corse to move the engine’s center of mass back and forth in the chassis to a greater degree. Speaking of chassis, the 90% new factory GP12 features an aluminum twin-spar frame, which was designed by Ducati Corse and rumored to have been built by FTR.
This Desmosedici GP12 “Phoenix” chassis design will be exclusive to the Ducati Corse factory team in MotoGP for several races, with satellite teams likely to get the updated chassis design about a third of the way into the season. This means that satellite Ducati riders, like Karel Abraham, will use the Desmosedici “GP0” design that debuted at the Valencia test after the conclusion of the 2011 season. It has certainly been a long road for Ducati in MotoGP this past season, and now we will see if all the hard work will pay off for the Italian company. Technical specifications and a couple videos are after the jump.
In case you hadn’t noticed, Ducati made a bunch of friends last year, and entered into partnership agreements with companies like AMG, Diesel, and Cigarette Racing. With the first two companies footing a larger bill and sponsoring Ducati Corse’s MotoGP effort, it stands to reason that AMG and Diesel’s involvement with the iconic motorcycle brand would be a bit more extensive than just some logos on a bike and team livery.
With Mercedes-Benz and Ducati intertwined in acquisition talks, it was not too surprising to see the Ducati Diavel AMG Special Edition break cover, though we have to admit we were a bit shocked to see today’s news about the Ducati Monster Diesel — we didn’t see this bike coming.
As the name implies, the special edition motorcycle is based off the Ducati Monster 1100 EVO, with styling cues that evoke the Diesel brand. The Italians are calling this “an ‘urban military chic’ interpretation of Ducati’s iconic naked motorcycle,” which is one way of saying it features olive green paint and matte black accents.
It’s an interesting effect to say the least, though it will probably only resonate with a select group of Ducatisti. Ducati says the Monster Diesel will be available in dealerships from late-July onwards, with pricing in the US set at $13,795. If you came here thinking Ducati had abandoned the gasoline engine, we apologize. We didn’t pick the name.
The story of Moto Morini could be straight out of a Monty Python sketch, as the Italian brand has proven, several times now, that it’s not dead yet. Going into receivership back in late 2009, the brand was finally bought in July 2011 for the tidy sum of €1.96 million by entrepreneurs Sandro Capotosti and Ruggeromassimo Jannuzzelli. With production expected to resume in January of this year, the Italian company is teasing its first new bike: the Moto Morini Rebello 1200 Giubileo.