More Afternoon Moto News - Electric Motorcycle Racers & Pegram Racing Club

As you might expect, electric motorcycle racers simply want to face the best of the competition. With the strange competition between the three major players in organizing the races, it looks like some teams will never meet on the track, and that is not good for the sport. The questions abound and most are covered after the link...

http://tinyurl.com/ykpw9a4

With the upcoming AMA Pro Racing season getting even nearer, Larry Pegram has come up with another way to gain some sponsorship money has created the Pegram Racing Club. With support from Foremost Insurance and Ducati NA, Pegram has been able to build a successful team around the Ducati 1098R - he won 3 races last year and finished fourth overall. With the Club, which is only limited to 10 people, the members will get a first-hand experience with American motorcycle racing...take the link for more information.

http://tinyurl.com/ylx6czb

Thursday Afternoon Moto News - Mission Motors & Foggy-Petronas FP1

Mission Motors has delayed the first deliveries of their Mission One electric superbike until the second quarter of 2011; it was originally supposed to ship at the end of 2010. This is another issue which comes to us courtesy of the Bush economic policies which led to this recession. It is sad news to hear, but they should be able to recover. They are also planning a down-market model of the Mission One which will be known as the Mission Two.

http://tinyurl.com/ye4b5ou

A huge store of Foggy-Petronas FP1 motorcycles has been discovered in Essex (UK). The ill-fated attempt at taking on the world with these machines - which were supposed to be put into full production in Malaysia back in the day - is well-known by most of us. Carl Fogarty was the man behind this effort, but they just could not keep the machine in the points, even with all of that experience. It would be nice if they auctioned these off just so we could own a piece of road racing history, but they will likely end up in some wealthy idiot's garage somewhere...

http://tinyurl.com/yjeo42p

And, More Morning News - LeoVince USA, UK M/C Industry & China Eyes Mission

LeoVince USA has announced their global sponsorship program and the teams that they will support for the 2010 motorcycle racing season. The list is rather long and includes such series as MotoGP, Moto2, World Superbike and many others. For the full details, please take the link.

http://tinyurl.com/yaytcd7

If you have been reading up on your U.K. cycle news, you have probably heard that the Motor Cycle Industry Association (MCI) is trying to get some help from the government. They would like something similar to Britain's 'cash for clunkers' program (which was similar to the US scheme) for motorcycles. Also, some environmental subsidies would be very useful to them. Given the suffering of that industry in a place like the U.K. where it is so important, I am hopeful that their government officials will find some way to assist...

http://tinyurl.com/yb67nxp

Zongshen Power Machinery, a Chinese motorcycle manufacturer, is looking towards Mission Motors in San Francisco to aid them in developing electrical engine systems. There is an agreement already signed which will have them trading tech and knowledge and may even lead to a Chinese electric motorcycle start-up. Wow, once the Chinese start building them, they will get very inexpensive everywhere. Let's just hope the quality does not suffer in the brands we already know and love.

http://tinyurl.com/ylz7gbv

More Monday Moto Design News - Mission One and Chris Carr

The Mission Motors Mission One, designed by Yves Béhar, has been included in the short list of the 2010 Brit Insurance Design Awards to be presented at the Design Museum. About 100 other items are on the very diverse list and vying for one of seven categories' awards, and they will be profiled at the museum from 17 February to 6 June. So, you have some time...but, it will go by faster than you think.

http://tinyurl.com/y926fuf

Coming up at the 22nd Annual AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum Breakfast at Daytona this 5 March 2010 during Daytona Bike Week. The headliner will be the fastest motorcycle rider on Earth - no, not Rossi - Chris Carr. The streamliner builder Dennis Manning will also be there next to Carr. They will be on hand to give speeches and answer any questions from the attendees. So, get your tickets!

http://tinyurl.com/yckeaot

Tuesday Afternoon Moto News from Around the World - More...

That's right, there is even more moto news today, but it sure is coming late and slow - must be the holidays.

Cycle World reviews the 2010 Ducati motorcycles for our pleasure. This link will display a list for you, which includes the 1198, 1198 R Corse Edition, 1198S, 1198S Corse Special Edition, 848, GT1000 SportClassic, Hypermotard 1100 EVO, Hypermotard 1100 EVO SP, Hypermotard 796, Monster 1100, Monster 1100S, Monster 696, Multistrada 1200, Streetfighter and Streetfighter S. So, you get the entire line-up placed in front of you...

http://tinyurl.com/ydet7se

They also try their hands at the new 2010 models from Kawasaki. This includes way too many to list here, so take the link and go and have a look - there are 21 different models reviewed there!

http://tinyurl.com/ybt74j3

And, finally, the people over at Mission Motors have taken their Mission One out to Infineon Raceway - and they pushed the bike to its limits and filmed every bit of it. You can watch after the link

http://tinyurl.com/ye7d9vv

Electric Motorcycles - Here to Stay?

A nice opinion piece on the coming of electric motorcycles and what the future of them may be. The author has some good points, but some of them are easy to dispute. In either case, it is worth reading just to see yet another perspective on this quickly expanding niche in the motorcycle industry. Just do not expect the article to cover your views on the subject, it doesn't match mine.

http://tinyurl.com/y8hzqtf

ZERO Motorcycles Joins With TTXGP eGrandPrix Series

Well, at least I expected to hear something about this - I just interviewed Saiki and he mentioned that something like this was coming - and now we all have! Zero will join the eGrandPrix series in 2010. The series is part of the TTXGP series and will run the first event in the US (yes, believe it or not) at Infineon Raceway in California. It is believed that Zero will use the frame and fairing of the Mavizen TTX02 (based on the KTM RC8R) with Zero's own batteries and motor. Looks like the TTXGP has one-upped the new FIM e-Power series. There will be many more announcements coming soon - stay tuned!

http://tinyurl.com/yh58ydf

More information on the current commitments to the TTXGP series:

http://tinyurl.com/yzqbje9

Mission One Motorcycle Receives Gold Design Award

The 2009 Spark Design and Architecture Awards were really more of an honor for Fisker Automotive (company which makes sweet looking hybrid car), but there was one point of light for motorcyclists. Mission One - from Mission Motors - received the Gold Award at the event. There is only one line about it in the linked article, but it is a prestigious award.

http://tinyurl.com/yg3s9q9

The Tech and People Behind Mission Motor's Mission One Electric Motorcycle

The bike is really grabbing the press - all press - especially after setting a land speed record for an electric motorcycle. But, what do we know about the Mission One? Very fast and actually rather attractive. What do we know about Mission Motors? Talented engineers from all over the automotive, motorcycle and even academic disciplines. Well, there are now better answers to those questions. How about clicking the link and learning something about the future of motorcycle technology...

http://tinyurl.com/y8rs2vj

Last Stop on "Tradition is Not a Business Model" is Mission Motors

I put up the first one of these a few weeks ago, but I just let it rest until the final entry so that I don't over-report on this subject. Anyway, the last stop on the Tradition is Not a Business Model is Mission Motors of San Francisco, California. You probably already know these guys as they are still holding the fastest electric motorcycle record at over 150 MPH. Their new Mission One is even in the Neiman-Marcus Christmas catalog, though it is a special one-off edition for the famous catalog. Have a read and see what we two-wheel riders will be riding in the near future!

http://tinyurl.com/yg9adzy

P.S. Plus, you can see the rest of the series here:

Brammo: http://tinyurl.com/yzr4sl5
Zero: http://tinyurl.com/yfq3s9z
MotoCzysz: http://tinyurl.com/yfurm5k

Lightning Motorcycles Sets New Electric Motorcycle Top Speed

Well, Mission Motors once had the fastest electric motorcycle - now, that record belongs to Lightning Motorcycles. They put down a 166.388 mph run in one direction; though, not setting a new actual record, they were not there to do that. This visit to the Salt Flats was to test their technology and design. Well, if the performance of this one machine is any indication, I think they are on the right track!

http://tinyurl.com/yjlfmbv

"Tradition is Not a Business Model" Article Discusses the NEW American Motorcycle Companies

Written by Jensen Beeler, from Asphalt & Rubber and a motorcycle industry consultant, this piece is something which we should have heard before. Building the 'American' motorcycle need not be an exercise in turning a V-twin into a sportbike. Instead, we should be looking to the new electric motorcycle companies for our home-grown US motorcycle production...this is the first in a series, so check the site about once a week to get updates (I will post them here as I see them).

http://tinyurl.com/ydfprmp

2010 Mission Motors Electric Mission One Breaks Speed Record

This story has been popping up all day long and I like it. The Mission Motors team, who finished the 2009 TTXGP in fourth place due to a drivetrain failure (they had to use a lower-spec version for the actual race), managed to take their US$68,000 Mission One electric motorcycle to 150.059 MPH on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah! Quite a start, eh?

http://tinyurl.com/npu3m8