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Alpinestars Talks with Stoner, Pedrosa, and Dovi

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Alpinestars has been fancying itself a bit of a movie maker lately, and has a video with the three members of the factory-backed . Talking to the three extremely talented riders, Alpinestars explores each racer’s path to motorcycle racing, and their early moments in the sport.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the interview is the question: “When did you realize you were special?”, which provides for some insightful replies. Check out the video (above) for the answer to that inquiry, and for bonus points there are some videos with Jorge Lorenzo after the jump that Alpinestars also made.

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Racing

What Does a Bike Catching on Fire at 120 MPH and Crashing into a Wall Look Like? Just Ask Jonathan Rea

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Despite the . Having to make the difficult choice between being a human fireball and hitting the tarmac at 120 MPH, Rea opted for the latter, ditched his firing stead, fractured his wrist, and injured his hand & arm in the process.

Now with video of the frightening event, we get a glimpse into the crash that nearly sidelined the British rider, who will still ride in Sunday’s World Superbike season opener at Phillip Island. We generally don’t like our motorcycles on fire, and there’s something very creepy about watching Rea’s Castrol Honda CBR1000RR do a ghostride into a barricade. While unconfirmed reports say Colin Edwards has welcomed Rea to the club, check after the jump for Rea’s personal message to Arai Helmets.

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Banter

Watch the Ducati Diavel Get Built in 1 Minute

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Here’s a cool time-lapse video put together by MCN that follows the 2011 Ducati Diavel power cruiser getting built at Ducati’s Bologna factory. Ducati is currently building 40 Diavel’s per day on its rolling assembly line, but that number is set to increase by 50% in the coming weeks as the Italian company predicts strong sales in the summer months. As was seen last year with the Multistrada 1200, Ducati expects the Diavel to lead the company’s sales in 2011.

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Racing

UPDATE: Jonathan Rea to Race at Phillip Island

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Jonathan Rea has been cleared to race by doctors at Alfred Hospital in Melbourne after a test crash on Tuesday left his race weekend in question. Rea crashed at Turn 3 on the Phillip Island circuit after his Honda caught fire. Though he said he felt “a bit like a FMXer that just f**ked up a record attempt at the longest distance double backflip. Pretty much look like that guy too!” Rea’s doctors have discharged him with clearance to race. “He’s on his way back to Phillip Island with an all-clear from the hospital docs,” Castrol Honda announced, adding a picture of Rea eating dinner for good measure.

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Wherever You Want to Go, Part 3: Reinventing Mobility

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In this third video of four (see Part 1 & 2 here), BMW sat down some experts to talk about how mobility will change in the future. It’s funny to hear the issues the different sides propose and talk about in regards to automobiles, as they’re the very same sort of subjects we’ve talked about on Asphalt & Rubber in regards to motorcycles.

Some of the key debates explored in Part 3 of the Wherever You Want to Go series include vehicles as purely a form transportation, the “three internets”, the rise of electric vehicles, and of course whether the future of mobility will be fun. There are valid points all around the table in this video, and almost all of it applies to the future of motorcycles (except maybe the automated land train thing…we don’t see that working for two-wheeled machines). Check it out after the jump, and chew on it over the long weekend.

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Racing

Larry Pegram’s “Superbike Family” Debuts on Discovery HD Theater Next Week

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Forget , it looks like The Discovery Channel has finally gotten hip to the what sort of reality show motorcycle enthusiasts really want to see on their television. Following AMA American Superbike privateer Larry Pegram, Discovery HD Theater’s new show Superbike Family follows the close-nit crew of Pegram Racing as they battle against teams who are factory-backed, well-funded, and have more resources and manpower at their disposal in the premier AMA Pro Racing class.

With Pegram’s interesting backstory, and ample amounts of “personality”, it should be an interesting show to watch, not to mention being a great promotion for our sport and the AMA Pro Road Racing series. Showtimes are below, but be sure to double check your local listings, as schedules may be different in your locale.

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Bikes

Radical Ducati Mikaracer

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The Spanish custom bike scene continues to warm our hearts as Radical Ducati (Happy 10th year anniversary guys!) has just created another v-twin masterpiece. Taking a Ducati Superbike 1098 frame and motor, RAD has worked its touches into this desmodromic dreamboat with its usual flare. It’s easy to spot the Spanish team’s design ideas and inspirations that we’ve seen on some of its other bikes, but the exhaust on this Ducati Mikaracer certainly stands out as something unique and special.

Part GP racer, part street tracker, the asymetrical mounting might have our OCD in a tizzy, but the result is also very striking and sounds oh so good (check the video after the jump). The tail section on the Mikaracer also pops-out, if for no other reason than the fact it looks like it was removed from a giant hornet’s thorax (you almost want to drag the Spanish equivalent of the DMV into the street for ruining things with that license plate and holder though), which is becoming a hallmark feature for RAD’s bikes. Photos, video, and technical/build specs after the jump.

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News

Video: Motus MST Stretches Its Legs on the Dyno

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There might be snow on the ground for most of the United States, but things in the south are starting to heat up now that Motus has gotten its MST sport-tourer on the dyno, and for a quick ride in its latest video on YouTube. Letting the 1645cc gasoline direct-injection KMV4 motor “unleash the beast” as it were, the project seems to be coming together nicely as we’re given a rapid succession of quick-cuts on the MST’s build job.

We expect to see the built-in-America bike on city streets once the ice thaws (or Motus realizes it was 70°F in sunny San Francisco today, and makes a stop by the Golden State), and the video’s ending suggests we’ll get another installment while we wait for winter to subside.

We’re still going through the video to see if there’s any nuggets of info hidden inside. Call them out in the comments if you see something.

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Racing

Castrol Honda Talks about Being Castrol Honda

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The name “Castrol Honda” in motorcycle racing is something that spans several decades, and for this writer conjures up the days when v-twins ruled World Superbikes. The battle in 2002 between Colin Edwards and Troy Bayliss is a season talked about when referencing “the glory years of World Superbike”, and I can still remember watching The Showdown at Imola, the final race of 2002 season, when Colin Edwards clinched the World Championship (did you just get goose bumps too?)…in fact it’s that race that got me hooked on motorcycles in the first place.

Taking that legacy into 2011, the newly reformed Castrol Honda team, campainged by Ten Kate Racing with factory Honda support, has quite a legacy to live up to…and the team knows it. Talking about what it means to wear the green, white, and red livery, Castrol Honda team members talk about the name’s past, and what they plan to accomplish this season while wearing the oil company’s banner. Check out their video after the jump.

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Wherever You Want to Go – BMW Looks at the Future of Transportation and Personal Mobility

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BMW is halfway through releasing a four-part video on the future of transportation, which explores a multitude of ideas including infrastructure, city dwelling, personal transport, population growth, and the environment. BMW obviously is approaching the issue with its automotive hat squarely on its head, and doesn’t directly deal with motorcycles, but when you stop and think about it, cars and bikes are wrapped up in the same situation. While the only the first two videos have been released, there’s already some interesting concepts to think about.

While we wait for Part 3 (Feb. 15th) and Part 4 (Feb. 22nd), chew on these facts and figures: over 50% of the world’s population lives in urban areas, automobiles are parked about 90% of the time, and there’s roughly five parking spots for every car (that’s 1,500 sqft of space just for a single car!). It sure seems like motorcycles could help solve that utilization/space problem.

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“I’m So Sorry. Are You Okay?”

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We don’t really know how this accident happened on the byway (it’s hard not to notice a motorcycle that you sat behind at a traffic light just seconds earlier), but we’re pretty sure of two things: 1) that Suzuki is a total loss, and 2) the rider’s face plant into the Mitsubishi SUV will buff right out. It’s amazing that his rear-end job didn’t result in a worse outcome for the motorcyclist (from what we can tell at least). Thank goodness for ATGATT.

Source: Jalopnik

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