With Race 1 seeing a number of worthy riders vying for the victory, there was little doubt that Race 2 would provide similar close-rider racing on the Dutch circuit. With each manufacturer with a horse in the race, Assen proved to be not only a venue where opportunities could be created, but it also seemed destined to shake up the World Superbike Championship Standings.
Ever since early reports on the 2010 BMW S1000RR suggested that the German superbike was making a claimed 190hp at the crank, the Bavarian bike sounded like a true contender against the Japanese dominated market. Then when we heard that BMW may have been sandbagging those figures, and bikes were popping up wtih 190hp at the crank, it definitely piqued our interest.
With disbelief we weren’t sure what to make of the new BMW, and it seem we’re in the same boat as the folks over at MotoBlog.it, as they’ve gotten their hands on a S1000RR and put it on a DynoJet to see for themselves what the bike could do. The result? 191hp. Check the video after the jump
The results of Race 1 at Assen may not be a huge surprise for race fans, but the racing that took place to get those results surely was. The first race of World Superbike’s stop in mayonnaise country saw some strong showings from hometown favorites, and some disappointments from WSBK greats. This trend in the 2010 season seems to be the norm this year, which means great racing for WSBK fans. With five racers vying for the win and only a handful of laps to go, you’ll be disappointed if you didn’t catch this race and its conclusion.
Racing for third place, Honda National Motos wass rushing to fill their CBR1000RR when all of a sudden gallons of race fuel come out of the refueling hose, and slathered the bike in flammable liquid. What happens next is completely predictable to even the most casual race enthusiast.
Likely hitting the super-heated header pipes, the fuel ignites while crew members with minimal fire protection are crowded around the motorcycle trying to dry it with mechanic’s rags. Luckily it would appear no one was injured, but check the video out after the jump to see how close this could have been to a real disaster.
Bridgestone is halfway through its three year contract with Dorna as the sole tire supplier to MotoGP. The exclusivity contract means that the Japanese tire company has to provide a variety of compounds and options to race teams as they tackle the MotoGP season. Explaining the options available to teams, and the some of the challenges the company faces, Bridgestone has put together these two videos (after the jump) that contain everything you wanted to know about tires and motorcycle racing. Check them out after the jump.
As a California native, I’ve always wanted to ride around Laguna Seca on a sportbike. However my passion for track riding didn’t manifest itself until I moved away from the Golden State to Pennsylvania, making a Seca track day all but implausible. Having just moved back into California, and the warm weather finally upon us here in the San Francisco area, track days and Seca have been on my mind. So when Michael Czysz, Lead Instructor at the Skip Barber Superbike School (and of MotoCzysz fame) shot me an email asking me if I wanted to ride for two days around the fabled circuit and take Skip Barber’s two-day superbike course, I of course took him up on the offer. With perfect 70°F weather, I made my way to the Californian coast, ready to take on The Corkscrew with the brand new 2010 KTM RC8 motorcycle and with the help of Skip Barber’s instructors.
I’ve always heard how Laguna Seca is a special track, and how technical the course is on a motorcycle (or any vehicle for that matter). Driving into Monterey from Salinas, you get about half the distance between the two cities when the track entrance jumps up on you. Most tracks you can see for miles as you approach them, but Laguna Seca is nestled behind a hillside from the roadway, and sits inside a Monterey County park. This topography not only provides a scenic venue to enjoy when you’re not going full-throttle around the race track, but also accounts for Seca’s 300′ change in elevation as you go through the 11 turns that comprise the circuit.
Driving into the park I can already feel my nerves acting up. I went through eight years of competitive sailing, two Junior Olympics, and three Nationals with this same physiological response. On a typical track day this sensation would subside after my first session, and be greatly reduced after the first full-pace lap, but upon entering into the Skip Barber office the apprehension quickly disappears.
UPDATE 2: Ducati has just informed us that the Monster 796 is being considered an early 2011 model year motorcycle, we’ve update our post to reflect this.
UPDATE: Pricing for the 2011 Ducati Monster 796 will be $9,995 in the USA.
The rumor floodgates were wide-open this weekend about a possible late model entry by Ducati that would see the Italian company add a Monster 796 to its 2010 model lineup. We can now confirm that the 2011 Ducati Monster 796 has been added to the Monster product line, and will fit in-between the 696cc and 1100cc versions of the Monster.
The impetus for this late addition is reportedly because of poor sales in the 1100cc range of Monsters, which has prompted Ducati to further segment the line-up with a middle offering. The Monster is actually Ducati’s best selling line of motorcycle, and the brand is keen to maximize its return on the newly updated design, and is seemingly pinning its hopes on this late entry. Video, photos, and more of the 2011 Ducati Monster 796 below.
While the video of MotoCzysz putting their new D1-10 electric motor up on the dyno is not terribly captivating (it’s hard to see anything really moving since all the fun bits are inside the motor’s casings), the performance figures the company quotes surely are impressive. The liquid-cooled IPM motor makes 250lbs•ft of torque, generates over 100hp, and employs a proprietary cooling system to allow a higher percentage of that peak power to be used over extended periods of time. This is particularly important because of the large gap between peak power figures and sustainable power figures in the electric motorcycle world, with the latter being the more important figure to quote.
Next up on our diatribe of motorcycle marketing gone bad, we have Italian manufacturer Aprilia Motorcycles. In an attempt to latch onto this whole “internet” thing they’ve been hearing people talk about outside of the office, the Piaggio Group member has discovered the FaceTubeSpace’s of the .com revolution as a great marketing medium. Hoping for just one killer hit on the interwebs, we have the following video, aptly titled “Aprilia Dorsoduro 750 Factory viral”, which clearly shows the intent behind its production.
Aprilia, here’s a free tip: viral videos historic never include the word “viral” in the title. The video isn’t a bad concept at all (does everyone get the part about how riding the Dorsoduro Factory is like a roller-coaster?), and we love the 2010 Aprilia Dorsoduro Factory as a bike, but with low production budgeting, and 300 views as of this writing, we’re thinking this advertisement isn’t quite living up to its hype. Check the video out after the jump (and be sure to send it to all your friends).
After his race as a fully-inducted MotoGP racer, OnTheThrottle got a chance to talk to Ben Spies about his first race under the lights of Qatar and as a full-fledged GP racer. Spies talks about qualifying etiquette, the difference in style between WSBK and GP bikes, and how he feels he’s stacking up against the competition. See Ben explains all this and take questions from OTT’s live audience in their video interview after the jump.
How important is the 2010 Ducati Multistrada 1200 to the Italian company? Consider this, despite releasing a bevy of new and revised motorcycles for the 2010 model year, only the Multistrada 1200 has seen the Bologna company bend over backwards to market its sport-tourer with a bevy of videos. Part of this is due to the extra pocket change seen in the adventure segment of motorcycling, but an even more important reason for Ducati’s aggressive media push is the need for the Italian brand to stand for something more than just expensive sport bikes.
Before there were Hypermotards and Multistrada 1200’s, Ducati still saw the lion’s share of its sales come from the Monster line, despite the company being better known for its Superbike line. Unlike some other companies, Ducati was fortunate enough to realize that you can’t play in only one market segment, and began looking for new ways to expand it’s product lineup…thus the Multistrada 1200 was born. In an effort to keep up with all the marketing around the beak-nosed bike, we’ve compiled all of the Ducati Multistrada 1200 videos we could find, so sit back, grab a beverage, and enjoy them after the jump.