Triumph is right on schedule, releasing more information about its two upcoming adventure bikes. Set to have a smaller displacement than the Tiger, the 2011 Triumph Tiger Cubs will feature a long-stroke three-cylinder engine. Triumph says that the compact triple will be ideal for road and dirt use, allowing you “to do the business” (yeah, we can’t believe they said that) with the bike’s torque-on-tap power plant. Photos and video after the jump.
OTT caught up with John Hopkins at the AMA Pro Racing round in Mid-Ohio, and was able to ask the injured AMA racer about the differences between the bikes found in World Superbike and MotoGP, and how those differences affect how a rider approaches riding each particular type of racing motorcycle. Hopper of course has the unique perspective of riding not only in MotoGP, and WSBK, but also in AMA Superbike as well, and thus might be the most qualified person in talking about their relative pluses and minuses. Check the video after the jump.
The question is a bit rhetorical in nature since it’s the company who is asking it, but why would Erik Buell Racing be putting turn signals and radiator fans on an EBR 1190RR race bike? Well if you were a company that was rapidly approaching the rumored end of a non-compete agreement, wouldn’t you like to get ready to stick it to the man? We’re still not sure about the whole rock band thing though. Maybe if Erik played Freebird more often we could get into it.
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Soon the 2011 Ducati Superbike 848 EVO will be released before a live audience at Laguna Seca, so we thought we’d help wet your v-twin appetites with a little promo video the Italian company put together. The Evo seeming makes right-hand turns as well as it makes left-hand turns, all the while producing a distinctive Ducati note from its exhaust pipes…that should be enough to sooth the masses at Ducati Island, but we wouldn’t mind trying a Bologna Bullet Evo out for ourselves…come on JPC, we know you’re reading this. Video after the jump.
God bless Randy de Puniet. For whatever reason, the French LCR Honda rider has wormed his way into our hearts here at Asphalt & Rubber. At first it was because de Puniet had a penchant for crashing, perpetually misplacing his shirt, and well…being French. As the leading satellite bike rider in the 2010 season though, Randy de Puniet has found a new consistency with the LCR Honda, and has even given the factory Repsol Honda boys a run for their money on more than one occasion. We have to admit, we’ve been impressed with de Randy 2.0 this season.
de Puniet has also stayed mostly out of the gravel traps for 2010, showing a new maturity. He’s still French, pompous, and generally comes across as a playboy, but we sort of like that in our French men. Afterall, if Parisians were courteous to American tourists, the city would feel a lot like Atlanta: hot, dirty, and full of people who talk funny.
So when Randy de Puniet broke his leg during the German GP, we were crushed to hear that our favorite rider in the paddock would be out until Brno, and miss the Laguna Seca round. Our concerns of course then immediately turned to Randy’s well-being as he was being carted off for examination at Clinica Mobile.
Was he ok? Did his broad shoulders fit through the clinic’s meager doorways? Who would hold his brave hand while Dr. Costa poked and proded him with his medical “science”? We now know those answers. Video after the jump.
Were the 30 or so seconds of the Triumph Adventure promo too short for you? Fortunately the A&R summer intern came stocked with some mad computer haxor skillz, and was able to grab the extended version playing on the Triumph website. With more shots of the Triumph adventure bike nestled in the longer version, get ready to enjoy some more teasers of what is being rumored at the long-awaited Triumph Tiger Cub. Video after the jump.
UPDATE: Dorna is hard at work at keeping the videos under wraps. We’ve replaced the original one, who knows how long the new one will stay active.
Do you know what a dogfight looks like on the MotoGP grid? You would if you saw the German GP this weekend at Sachsenring. Playing host to an epic clash between Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi, the German track was a battlefield as these two riders swapped turns with each other. How did it end? Did Rossi ride through the pain? Did Stoner’s new wings give him the edge? Check the video after the jump, and get your Top Gun quotes ready.
After crashing Saturday at Brno and injuring his knee, Christopher Vermeulen has bowed out of the World Superbike series for the remainder of the 2010 season. The Australian racer first injured his knee at WSBK’s opening round at Phillip Island, and has been plagued by the injury ever since. Now with his crash at Brno, Vermeulen has decided to persue a ligament replacement surgery that he had previously shelved until after this racing days were over.
There’s a lot of pressure on Kawasaki for 2011. Team Green has exited MotoGP, and is completely un-competitive with its ZX-10R in World Superbike and World Superstock 1000. Looking to rectify the situation, Kawasaki has gone back to the drawing board with it’s liter bike offering, and have been testing the 2011 Kawasaki ZX-10R at Suzuka for the last two days this week.
With test riders Hidemichi Takahashi & Akira Yanagawa on-board, we get our first glimpse at the rumored 190hp/190kg Superbike taking laps. Video confirms that a normal firing order is inside the four-cylinder motor (sorry, no cross-plane here), but traction control is rumored to come as a standard option. Photos and video after the jump.
Italy was abuzz yesterday as Valentino Rossi took to the track, testing at Misano, after nearly a month long hiatus. Breaking his shin during a highside at Mugello, Rossi was able to get back in the saddle this week partly because of his extensive use of a hyperbaric chamber, which super-saturated his body with oxygen and increased his body’s healing power, but it is also because the Italian World Champion is just that dedicated to racing.
One lucky spectator at Misano was able to catch a number of Rossi’s laps on video, as the Italian completed 26 laps, over two sessions, on the 2010 Yamaha YZF-R1 World Superbike. Rumors peg the carbon-clad WSBK R1 as being one of Cal Crutchlow’s bikes. Crutchlow is a favorite candidate to move into MotoGP (with Monster Tech3 Yamaha) next season, if Yamaha loses Rossi to Ducati in 2011. Check the videos out after the jump.