Latest Posts:
Asphalt & Rubber
Tag

video

Browsing
Bikes

Husqvarna Nuda 900R Revealed

By 9 Comments

UPDATE: Find 23 Official Photos of the 2012 Husqvarna Nuda 900R here.

These are the first images of the Husqvarna Nuda 900R motorcycle (taken by our good friends at OmniMoto), the Swedish brand’s first foray into the street bike scene. Making over 100hp and weighing less than 385 lbs, the new Husqvarna will hit dealer floors by the end of the 2011 (hopefully by then they’ll have the spec-sheet ironed out a bit more). What technical specifications we do is this: 320mm Brembo disc brakes, fully adjustable 48mm Sachs forks, and a fully adjustable Öhlins rear shock. Check out the photos and video from the unveil after the jump.

Keep Reading
By
Racing

Video: Muay-Thai Superbike

By 14 Comments

AMA Pro Racing had its crash at Daytona, World Superbike had Max Biaggi’s slap, and MotoGP is apparently still dealing with its Marco Simoncelli. Yes, if there is one common denominator in motorcycle racing, it’s that the drama llama rears its ugly head from time-to-time. This maxim apparently holds true even in Thailand’s domestic Superbike racing series, as this latest video shows some less-than-sportsmanlike behavior occurring.

What started out as a two jumped-starts, ends with a throw-down melee in pit lane, and somewhere in-between those two things, there is some heated racing that sees competitors kicking at each other mid-corner, swerving to collide, and generally trying to kill one another while racing around one of the most “interesting” race tracks we’ve seen in a while. If you like your motorcycle racing with a little Muay-Thai influence, then we’ve got just the video for you.

Keep Reading
By
Racing

On-Board Chip Yates’s Electric Superbike at Pikes Peak

By 11 Comments

Chip Yates claimed two records at the 89th running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb: the most powerful motorcycle ever to race on the mountain, with 241hp, and the fastest electric motorcycle ever to finish the 12.42 mile climb and its 156 turns. Finishing with a time of 12:50.094, Yates not only smashed the previous electric motorcycle record by over four minutes, but also raced to the top of Pikes Peak with a very respectable time on a motorcycle, even for a rookie.

In the video you can see how much time Chip loses in the dirt section (he was officially the 97th fastest out of 112 racers in that section), though on the paved sections showed true speed (9th fastest overall on the first section of asphalt). With Pikes Peak to be completely paved for its 90th running in 2012, Yates and his crew will have a leg-up on the competition for further dropping the mountain’s fastest pace, and for showing that electrics can compete, and even best, their internal combustion engine counterparts. Click pas the jump to see Chip’s record run on the SWIGZ.com Electric Superbike.

Keep Reading
By
Racing

One Lap on the Mission Motors Mission R at Laguna Seca

By 9 Comments

The Mission Motors crew was out at Laguna Seca this past weekend with the Mission R electric superbike. Taking part in the Refuel Time Trial, Steve Rapp piloted the Mission R around the historic coastal Californian track, clocking in a top lap time of 1:43.700 according to the Mission stopwatches. With that pace, it would put the Mission R as backmarker in the AMA Supersport race at Laguna Seca last year, and about 15 seconds off Steve Rapp’s own Daytona SportBike time at the same event.

While true sportbike parity isn’t here yet, this is to only the second time that Mission Motors has had the Mission R on the track (Mission somehow sneaked the Mission R onto Thunderhill Raceway without our Bothans informing us), which makes the lap a pretty impressive starting point for the design. Check the video after the jump.

Keep Reading
By
News

Video: Husqvarna 900 Spied on the Street

By No Comments

The ever infamous motorcycle industry spy footage continues, as a video of the Husqvarna 900 naked street bike has surfaced on the internets. Compared to the “spy shots” Husqvarna sent out to the press last week, there isn’t too much new information to glean from this short video clip of the Husqvarna 900 cruising down a city street, as even the exhaust note is muffled by the camera’s wind blast. Still, seeing the bike in motion adds another dimension to the machine, and likely whets the appetites of anyone in the market for a new large-displacement maxi-motard. Check the video out after the jump.

Keep Reading
By
Racing

Video: I Hate It When This Happens

By 13 Comments

Imagine yourself racing at Magny-Cours, minding your own business, hitting your lines, setting up your next pass, etc. And then all of a sudden, one of your competitors wipes-out, and takes you down with him. Tough break, but it happens right?

Nine times out of ten in slow speed crashes, you can pick up your bike and recoup some points…that is of course assuming that your bike doesn’t lock handlebars with the other fallen bike, have its throttle stuck open, and the proceed to spin around like a whirling-dervish. What follows is probably humorous to everyone, except the rider on the green bike. No, that looks like one upset Frenchman. Merci beaucoup pour le tip Mullet!

Keep Reading
By
Racing

The Sh*t Alyssia Edwards Has to Put-up With

By 30 Comments

If we told you that Colin Edwards was known for his colorful language and straight-shooting assessment on life, it would probably be the understatement of the year. As it is, the Texan Tornado has carved out a lively on-stage/track persona for himself that resonates with the lowest common denominator that resides in all motorcycle fans. Likable, truthful, and unabashed, Edwards is a fan favorite in the MotoGP paddock, one of our favorite riders to talk to in the premier series.

One of the highest ranking privateer riders, Edwards unfortunately saw his 141 MotoGP race start streak come to an end in Barcelona with the Catalan GP, but the American rider was back in the saddle the very next race at Silverstone (finishing on the podium we might add). Admitting to taking pain-killers during the Friday sessions, a groggy Edwards elected to forgo meds on Saturday, and in-between sessions he was back to his usual tricks, entertaining British race fans at an event for the venerable motorcycle charity Riders for Health.

Seven minutes in length, a sober Colin Edwards said plenty to get himself in hot water around the paddock, but you’ll have to wait until the end to see what got him in trouble with his wife Alyssia. Asked about the incident later, Edwards retold what he said to his loving wife, “Honey, I’m a comedian. I was just looking for a laugh, if you know what I’m saying. I had no aspirations to do anything I was saying. It was just cracking a joke.” He continued saying, “she knows I’m a ding-dong sometimes and say stupid shit.”

We hope Colin won’t have to spend too much time on the couch when he gets back to the US, check the video out, and for bonus fun, a response video after the jump.

Keep Reading
By
News

Video: The Design of the Husqvarna 900

By 8 Comments

Along with the “don’t call them spy shost” photos that Husqvarna released yesterday, the Swedish brand owned by a German company that’s based in Italy has also released a video that elaborates on the design of the new Husqvarna 900 street bike. As we’ve seen already from the concept sketches, and affirmed in the photos, the new street-going Husky is a super-sized supermotard that features BMW’s F800 series parallel twin motor, albeit slightly revised to 900cc. Find the design philosophy of the new Husqvarna 900 according to Head of Husqvarna Design Raffaele Zaccagnini after the jump.

Keep Reading
By
Racing

Video: Chip Yates Practices for Pikes Peak

By 1 Comment

In just a week’s time, Chip Yates and the SWIGZ.com Pro Racing crew will be headed out to Pikes Peak to compete in the famous Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC). At 14,110 feet tall, and boasting over 156 turns, Pikes Peak features some of the scariest turns on the planet, no better exemplified than with the “Bottomless Pit” corner which boasts a 3,000 foot sheer drop down the mountain. Yates will of course be racing his 240hp electric motorcycle up the hill climb course, and will have a distinct advantage over his ICE competitors, as the extreme altitude won’t affect the fastest electric pizza delivery bike in the slightest.

We’re really excited here at Asphalt & Rubber for Chip’s participation in the 2011 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, not only because we like Chip’s mantra of taking ICE bikes head on with his SWIGZ.com racing machine, but also because we think the PPIHC is the ideal event to showcase how electric motorcycles have actual advantages over internal combustion engines. Starting at roughly 9,400 feet, ICE bikes will be already down on power at the start of the race, and will only continue to lose power as their engines struggle to breath on the 12.5 mile race to the clouds (electric bikes of course aren’t meaningfully affected by the thinning air at altitude).

Keep Reading
By
Banter

Video: Stay a Hero, Stay Safe

By 7 Comments

It seems more often than not, the video advertisements we feature here on Asphalt & Rubber are examples of what is wrong with marketing in the motorcycle industry. However every once and a while, we get a gem like this safety campaign for The Sussex Safer Roads Partnership, which was done by director Daniel Cox , the maker of a similar car campaign that was quite the rage in the advertising world.

The best part about this ad is that it centers around a little boy who seeS the motorcycle of his father, and wants to share in that experience. In a way, a lot of us are like little boys when we get on our bikes, and there certainly is a captivating element with motorcycles and small children. It just makes the imagery seem more fitting, and then there is of course the whole rolemodel message. It’s good heartfelt stuff, and it’s waiting for you right after the jump.

Keep Reading
By