Ducati and Suzuki have both unveiled new naked offerings in the Monster 1100 and SFV 650 Gladius, respectively.
Ducati Monster 1100 (click images to enlarge)
The Ducati will be powered by a 95 horsepower, 79.5 lb-ft torque,1100cc, air-cooled, two-valve, twin cylinder as already seen in the Hypermotard model. It be available in a basic version and higher end, Ohlins-equipped "S" version.
Where the Ducati will be a classic bigger brother to the jack-of-most-trades Monster 696, the Suzuki will be aimed purely at entry-level riders looking for something a bit more stylish than the usual 'beginner bike' options. Yes, that equates to another really poorly disguised Japanese ripoff of Italian Ducati styling, but it still probably has a marketing niche. It will be offered with optional ABS and based on the SV650.
Breaking World Superbike news: Troy Corser has struck a deal with the Germans to join current Ducatista, Ruben Xaus, and ride the BMW S1000RR superbike for the 2009 season.
With Troy's excellent levels of experience and success developing new bikes and his uncanny ability to make them serious threats on the track, many desperately wanted this to happen in order to bring BMW into the competitive fold immediately. Let us hope that the new BMW can compliment the skill of both Corser and Xaus!
"BMW are happy to announce that Australian Troy Corser has signed to ride the all new BMW S1000RR in next year's Superbike World Championship. The former double Superbike World Champion has agreed terms for two years and ends months of speculation as to who will join Spaniard Ruben Xaus in BMW's debut in the Superbike World Championship next season.
Troy won the Superbike World Championship in 1996, becoming the youngest rider ever to do so in the process, and then again in 2005. He has been runner-up in the WSBK championship once and third place on three occasions. To date he has taken part in over 300 races, been on the podium 126 times, and his 42 pole positions have earned him the nickname of "Mr Superpole". Troy is married to Sam and they have two children, Kalani Gray (5) and Kelissa Illiana-Rose (3). Troy was born in Wollongong, Australia, but he and the family are now Monaco residents."
Peter Mueller (Executive Vice President Development and Model Lines) "With Troy and Ruben, I feel confident we will have the best riders possible for our start in the Superbike World Championship. Troy has unrivalled experience in the series and that, together with Ruben's exuberance, is our ‘dream team' and the combination we wanted, right from the start of this project. I feel sure that their knowledge of the series will definitely help us become competitive very quickly." Berti Hauser (Director of BMW Motorrad Motorsport) "I am delighted that Troy is joining our team and that our jigsaw is now complete. He was in our minds from the start and I am very happy because I believe he and Ruben are the best combination of riders for our new challenge. Troy has told me that is excited about helping us develop the bike and be part of the project from the start. He also said that he would like to be the first rider in WSBK history to win the title with three different manufacturers and that he is physically and mentally ready make that his target."
Our leaked pre-release photos turned out to be the real deal and enabled us to break the new GSX-R1000 days before larger moto blogs, thanks to a certain fellow at the Gixxer forum.
The release is now official and photos from Paris and Suzuki PR and specs are surfacing online:
(Click Images to Enlarge)
Engine Type
4-stroke, 4-cylinder, liquid-cooled, DOHC
Bore x Stroke
74.5 mm x 57.3 mm
Engine Displacement
999 cm3 (cc)
Compression Ratio
12.8 : 1
Carburetion
Fuel injection
Oil Capacity (overhaul)
3.6L (1.0 US gal.)
Ignition
Electronic ignition (Transistorized)
Starter System
Electric
Lubrication System
Wet sump
Transmission
6-speed constant mesh
Primary Drive Ratio
1.617 (76 / 47)
Final Drive Ratio
2.471 (42 / 17)
Frame Type
Twin-spar (aluminum alloy)
Rake/Trail
23.8 degrees / 98.3 mm (3.9 in.)
Suspension
Front
Inverted telescopic, coil spring, spring preload fully adjustable, rebound and compression damping force fully adjustable
Rear
Link type, oil damped, coil spring, spring preload fully adjustable, rebound and compression damping force 2-way fully adjustable
Just like with the new R1 and RSV4 earlier, pre-official pics are leaking out of the new 2009 Suzuki GSX-r1000.
This is only an early online leak and the source may or may not be reliable! I'll keep this space updated as further details follow.
Update (9/24/08): It is looking more and more likely that this is indeed the 2009 Suzuki GSX-R1000.
Since posting this, the image has surfaced on several motorcycle forums. That alone is nothing special, however there are also several reports that Suzuki North America has requested the forums remove the images until the official release. Either an elaborate inside joke or this is the real bike.
Still not a sure thing, but if it is, remember that you saw it on Sportbikeblog first!
Amazing! Spoiler warning if you haven't watched the race yet!
Race 1:
1 41 Haga N. (JPN) Yamaha YZF-R1 39'25.030 (150,148 kph) 2 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Ducati 1098 RS 08 0.129 3 11 Corser T. (AUS) Yamaha YZF-R1 0.535 4 76 Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R1000 5.188 5 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 6.693 6 21 Bayliss T. (AUS) Ducati 1098 F08 7.993 7 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098 F08 16.976 8 44 Rolfo R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 18.359 9 34 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R1000 19.214 10 38 Nakatomi S. (JPN) Yamaha YZF-R1 19.386 11 57 Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098 RS 08 21.230 12 10 Nieto F. (ESP) Suzuki GSX-R1000 24.956 13 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098 RS 08 25.186 14 36 Lavilla G. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 31.799 15 86 Badovini A. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX-10R 33.949 16 55 Laconi R. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-10R 34.050 17 94 Checa D. (ESP) Yamaha YZF-R1 34.665 18 9 Walker C. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 52.420 19 88 Aoyama S. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1'02.555 20 100 Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'06.475 21 122 Smrz M. (CZE) Honda CBR1000RR 1'16.985 22 50 Lynn M. (USA) Honda CBR1000RR RET 194 Gimbert S. (FRA) Yamaha YZF-R1 RET 13 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX-10R RET 111 Xaus R. (ESP) Ducati 1098 RS 08 RET 73 Zaiser C. (AUT) Yamaha YZF-R1 RET 23 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR RET 54 Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR1000RR RET 31 Muggeridge K. (AUS) Honda CBR1000RR
In race 1 it was Bayliss looking strong early on, but not for long, as Haga swept past and dominated for the vast majority of the race. Biaggi rode flawlessly, rarely spanning more than 0.5 seconds behind Haga throughout the ordeal and finishing 2nd to the roar of the Italian crowd, with Corser chasing in third. Neukirchner came home in 4th and Bayliss slipped back to finish in 6th just behind Checa.
Race 2:
1 41 Haga N. (JPN) Yamaha YZF-R1 39'10.265 (151,091 kph) 2 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098 F08 1.507 3 11 Corser T. (AUS) Yamaha YZF-R1 2.268 4 76 Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R1000 11.813 5 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 17.922 6 10 Nieto F. (ESP) Suzuki GSX-R1000 18.281 7 34 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R1000 19.368 8 38 Nakatomi S. (JPN) Yamaha YZF-R1 19.717 9 55 Laconi R. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-10R 23.868 10 44 Rolfo R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 24.198 11 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098 RS 08 25.426 12 111 Xaus R. (ESP) Ducati 1098 RS 08 28.384 13 23 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 30.436 14 194 Gimbert S. (FRA) Yamaha YZF-R1 36.490 15 9 Walker C. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 42.903 16 21 Bayliss T. (AUS) Ducati 1098 F08 43.758 17 88 Aoyama S. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 44.993 18 57 Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098 RS 08 48.469 19 100 Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-10R 58.868 20 94 Checa D. (ESP) Yamaha YZF-R1 1'18.547 21 122 Smrz M. (CZE) Honda CBR1000RR 1'42.272 22 50 Lynn M. (USA) Honda CBR1000RR RET 86 Badovini A. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX-10R RET 13 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX-10R RET 36 Lavilla G. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR RET 73 Zaiser C. (AUT) Yamaha YZF-R1 RET 31 Muggeridge K. (AUS) Honda CBR1000RR RET 54 Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR1000RR RET 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Ducati 1098 RS 08
Race 2 was where it all boiled over. At the start, a horrific crash between Biaggi and Sofuoglu sent both flying at well over 100 miles per hour. The crash must have looked a bit more brutal than it was, and both men got up under their own power.
Here it is:
Lets sincerely hope that we have a healthy Biaggi for the rest of the season and for his big move to the new Aprilia team. Sofuoglu has had some of the worst repetitive bad luck I can remember of any rider in recent years. Wrapped up in seemingly every mishap on the WSBK calender, as well as having lost his brother to a motorcycle accident only months ago, Sofu also came in with a DNF in race 1. Good luck to him as far as picking up the pieces for a strong comeback next season.
That was not where the drama ended in race 2, however.
Early on, Bayliss once again took the lead but this time stayed glued to the front, and we can only assume changed something drastic about his setup. Some of the closest side-by-side racing of the year took place between Bayliss and Haga for the lead, reminiscent of Rossi and Stoner at the Laguna Seca MotoGP race.
How reminiscent? A scary-aggressive underdog Yamaha slipping past the rider on pole position with elbows touching, trading the lead back and forth throughout the race with spectators on their feet, until the Ducati loses it in a heart-pounding chase and goes off of the track. Only unlike Stoner's run off the track, Bayliss crashed on the very final lap and could not recover on the podium, ultimately finishing in a disappointing 16th.
Had Bayliss dominated the weekend, he could have decided the championship in his favor with multiple races remaining. Fabrizio piloted his Ducati 1098 F08 to a strong second after passing Corser late in the race, and then passing his ill-fated yet championship-bound teammate, Troy Bayliss.
Ducati Monster 1100 (click images to enlarge)
Suzuki SFV 650 "Gladius"
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