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Motus to Reveal Production Plans at Daytona Bike Week

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The last time Motus Motorcycles graced the pages of A&R it was August 10th of last year — yes, I actually went back thru the pages to check that date. Since that time, the American motorcycle startup has been busy getting its sport-tourer finalized and ready for production. Launching the Motus MST prototype at the 2011 Daytona Bike Week, Motus Motorcycles will be returning to the Floridian biking event this year to announce its production plans, pricing, and availability of its American made motorcycle.

While we’ll have to wait to hear from Motus for its official plans, we expect to hear something along the line of a production run of under 300 units, with pricing in the $30,000+ range. Certainly exclusive, it remains to be seen if Motus can sell such an expensive sport-tourer without the gadgets and gizmos that normally accompany that market segment. Featuring the gasoline direct injection (GDI) 1,645cc KMV4 engine, the Motus MST will make over 160 hp from the power plant, which is also being sold as a crate motor.

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Racing

Kawasaki WSBK Team – Behind the Scenes at Phillip Island

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After consistently struggling in the World Superbike Championship, Kawasaki finally seems to have all its duck in a row for the 2012 season. Teething the recently updated Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R over the course of last season’s races, Tom Sykes and Joan Lascorz made it clear at the season’s opening round at Phillip Island that Team Green can contend for podium finishes and even race victories against the mighty Ducati of Carlos Checa and Aprilia of Max Biaggi.

With Sykes starting at the pole position after the cancellation of Superpole qualifying, the Englishman lapped in the position in both races at the Australian track. Battling with a very strong Honda factory team, Sykes even squeaked out a great victory over fellow countryman Johnny Rea, securing a podium finish for Kawasaki on the team’s first outing of the season. Clearly excited by that start, Kawasaki Racing has put out a video of the team’s weekend at Phillip Island. Check it out after the jump.

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Opinion/Editorial

At the Intersection of the Future…

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Despite the fact that the business side of motorcycling is run by a small close-nit group of curmudgeons, Neanderthals, and Luddites, the world outside of motorcycling continues to press on without us.

And while various parts of the motorcycle industry are busy trying to figure out how to adapt to this whole new “internet” technology fad thing (it has only been commercialized for over two decades now guys), the same group of people are busy trying to maintain the same business models and practices that came from the post-World War II economy.

In other words, when it comes to technology and the motorcycle industry, we are all pretty much fucked.

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News

Project 46, AGV Standards, & Rossi’s New Helmet

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You may have already noticed that Valentino Rossi has been sporting a new lid in his off-season tests with the factory Ducati Desmosedici GP12. Said to have a greater field of vision, the prototype helmet has being going by the code name “Project 46” as the helmet has literally been built around Rossi himself. I say literally because AGV’s new helmet is based off what the Italian company is calling AGV Standards, a new philosophy on how the Italian company makes its forthcoming helmets.

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Racing

John McGuinness to Ride Mugen/Honda in TT Zero

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When it was announced that Mugen would be racing at the Isle of Man TT in the TT Zero event, a bevy of speculation began to hit the newswires. Of course, the biggest topic of conversation was that Mugen’s entry was really a front for Honda to race its electric bike unofficially against the privateer efforts of teams like Lightning, Mission Motors, and MotoCzysz.

With the entire electric motorcycle racing community believing there to be a connection between Mugen’s entry and Honda’s recently debuted RC-E electric race bike concept, it seemed that an established motorcycle OEM would finally have some sort of presence in electric motorcycle racing this year.

Of course if Honda is involved with the TT Zero race, then surely the company would tap its main man, seventeen-time Isle of Man TT race winner and King of the Mountain, John McGuinness. McGuinness hasn’t been shy about his desire to get on an electric bike after watching MotoCzysz’s Michael Rutter and Mark Miller narrowly miss the 100 mph average speed mark at last year’s TT.

Confirming his entry in the TT Zero race during a video shot in what looks to be the Morecambe FC locker room (yeah, we have no idea), McGuinness also lets it slip that he will be in Japan next week testing the Mugen/Honda electric bike — boom goes the dynamite. Video is after the jump, skip to the nine minute mark.

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Racing

Video: Lightning Electric Superbike vs. BMW S1000RR

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On Monday, we got a chance to swing a leg over the Lightning Motorcycles electric superbike at Infineon Raceway. While a full review is till to come, the initial report is basically that Lightning’s bike pulls like a freight train when you get on the throttle, and despite how “big” it is, the electric superbike handles surprisingly well, even around the crucible that is Sears Point Infineon Raceway. During our test, Lightning Motorcycles’ Richard Hatfield tipped us off to a video with Ted Rich at the helm of the Lightning, with AMA Superbike rider Jake Holden giving chase (and video) on his BMW S1000RR race bike.

Lapping around Chuckwalla Valley Raceway, Holden and his BMW look like they could have gotten past the Lightning in several spots, though Rich and the Lightning certainly hold their own in the video. The Lightning’s straight-line speed is more than evident, as it pulls away from the 200+hp BMW S1000RR with ease, and as we experienced at Infineon, the bike is now slouch in the turns, and continues to develop in advance of the electric motorcycle racing season. Check out the video after the jump.

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News

Video: Who is Max Biaggi?

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I’m not going to front, when it comes to jobs, I have a pretty good thing going here with Asphalt & Rubber. Of course, if you want to talk about guys who really have turned a passion into a dream, Jamie Robinson takes the cake. Traveling around the world on miscellaneous two-wheeled adventures, the moto-videographer gets to sit down with some of the most interesting personalities in motorcycling. This morning, Jamie sent us this video of an interview he did with probably one of the most mysterious persons in motorcycle racing: Max Biaggi.

The Roman Emperor as he has become called, Biaggi has an amazing life story, and has often been cast as the antagonist in pieces involving fellow Italians Loris Capirossi, Valentino Rossi, and more recently Marco Melandri. A four-time 250GP World Champion, Biaggi’s crowning achievement to-date was his 2010 World Superbike Championship victory on the Aprilia RSV4 Factory. Plagued with injuries during the 2011 season, Biaggi is back for 2012 and looking for his #1 plate again.

Despite what you probably already think of Max Biaggi, Jamie has really managed to show another side to the Italian rider in this video interview. Now a family man and in his 40’s, maybe what we are seeing is a new and improved Biaggi, or then again, maybe this is the same Max that the media just never wanted to portray. Good stuff, check it out after the jump.

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Racing

Listen to the KTM Moto3 Race Bike Purr

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The KTM Moto3 racer is a thing of beauty, and for bonus points, it comes in two varieties. One is the orange-trellis framed factory-built KTM, which will be campaigned by the three-rider factory team of Sandro Cortese, Danny Kent, and Arthur Sissis for 2012.

The other variety is the one engineered by Kalex Engineering, which features the same 250cc KTM motor as the factory version, but takes the German company’s prowess at chassis design, and uses a twin-spar aluminum frame instead of the factory team’s trellis variant. The venerable Team Aspar is one of the teams signed on to use the Kalex/KTM, and will have riders Alberto Moncayo & Hector Faubel aiming to beat the factory KTM squad at their own game.

With no Americans in Moto3, the entry-level GP series won’t get too much attention here in the US, but the machinery certainly looks pretty good to our eyes. Still clad in carbon fiber for the testing season, the KTM and KTM/Kalex machines are like tiny pieces of motorcycling art.

Though some are lamenting the passing of the two-stroke era, and its unmistakable buzzing sound on the track, we think the newest four-stroke GP class will please motorcycling’s audiophiles. Listen to the KTM Moto3 race bike warm up after the jump, and enjoy some eyecandy.

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News

Yas Marina Circuit + Troy Bayliss + Ducati 1199 Panigale S

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The International press launch of the Ducati 1199 Panigale is underway in Abu Dhabi this week, with initial reports on Ducati’s flagship superbike being very positive. A track usually reserved for cars, not bikes, the Yas Marina Circuit is really something to behold. Situated on a man-made island off the Abu Dhabi coast, the Middle-Eastern track cost a cool $1.32 billion to construct back in 2009, and holds the distinction for being one of Formula One’s night races.

Such a setting is of course appropriate for Ducati to introduce its latest creation, and the Italian company will be showcasing the first production motorcycle with an LED headlight, the first sport bike with electronically-adjustable suspension, and of course putting journalists on the company’s much-talked-about “frameless” monocoque chassis design. Expected on dealer floors in April, the base model Ducati 1199 Panigale will cost $17,995, while the “S” will cost $22,995, and “S Tricolore” will hit the wallet for $27,995 MSRP.

While we wait for the Panigale to come across the Atlantic Ocean, Ducati has put together this video of Troy Bayliss taking a lap around the 21 turns of the Yas Marina Circuit. It’s an oddly edited video, but should bring grins to the Ducatisti in your life. Be sure to turn your speakers up to hear the Superquadro v-twin motor in all its glory.

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News

Video: BRD Proves Electrics Can Hoon Too

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BRD Motorcycles continues to make progress with the company’s first electric motorcycle: the BRD RedShift. Asphalt & Rubber thoroughly enjoyed our time on BRD RedShift SM prototype when I rode it around the Infineon karting track, which makes me confident that the San Franciscan company’s small legion of wait-listed buyers will be pleasantly surprised by the electric motorcycle’s pep when it becomes available later this year.

Producing now a quick video of the BRD RedShift SM hooning around San Francisco, it could be that the guys at BRD want to build a little buzz about the RedShift before the company goes to Indianapolis to woo potential dealerships at the Indy Dealer Expo. Or maybe, the over-aged children at BRD couldn’t help but have a little fun between their 25hr work days. Either way, stunt rider Ryan Moore finds a way to put his creative and electronically-powered stamp on all the fine neighborhoods of San Francisco.

Bonus points for the pan-around shot in front of the Broadway strip clubs guys…not that we’ve been there.

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Banter

Video: Circus Motorcycle Jump Goes Horribly Wrong

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Performing at the Shrine Circus in Saginaw, Michigan, a motorcycle jump goes horribly wrong under the big top. There’s some not so safe for work audio from the audience member who took this video, but you’ve got to hand it to the circus’ ringmaster for keeping the crowd calm and the situation under control. We are happy to report that the rider in question survived the incident, and only suffered a broken femur from his 25 foot fall. Investigators believe a wire may have been hung too low in the circus tent (not to state the obvious).

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