A lot of hoo-ha has been made recently about electric motorcycles, their role in today’s motorcycling world, and their impact on the future of transportation. There are a lot of people advocating these contraptions, and then, there are those that are against. Who’s right? Well, no one, of course.

Talking about the good sides of electric vehicles makes no sense, because they’re so obvious that even primary school children can point out and describe them. What the real issue here is, how can we take those good things and put them to use. It seems like everyone is ignoring the problems right now and they’re all trying to work around them. What are the problems?

Electric vehicles, of course, run on electricity. To store that electricity, they use tanks called batteries. The batteries, the tanks that hold the juice, are causing majority of problems. You see, batteries today, as much as advanced as they are and as they will be in the future, are heavy …and they’re not my brother. But, the batteries are heavy in a bad way. Compared to conventional internal combustion engines and their tanks, electric ones never change their weight. An empty petrol tank weighs considerably less than a full one. That leaves a lot of room for calculating with the weight of the whole vehicle. The best example for this is racing – when setting fastest times during qualifying, racers carry amount of fuel enough only to last them a few laps. That nicely translates to the real-life situations. If your daily commute takes 50 kilometers, it makes no sense dragging around a full tank of fuel enough for covering over a thousand kilometers. Less fuel in the tank equals less weight to drag around equals less consumption and better performance. And there’s no such thing with batteries. Fully charged battery weighs just the same as a completely discharged one. That means you drag that heavy lump around no matter where you go. The other big issue is recharging. Because it takes several hours to charge a battery in a normal, usable way, it renders batteries as completely useless form of storing energy in vehicles. Charging batteries the way we do today equals filling up a petrol tank using an eyedropper. Of course no one ever tried suggesting filling a petrol tank in that way because he, or less likely she, would probably be shot at sight on account of ultimate stupidity – even in Vatican. And there’s such a nice and sleek solution to all that.

I think that all car and motorcycle designers should take on photography. They should try living of taking photographs of weddings and they should do it for at least two years. I think that should be enough for them to comprehend the problems with their current work. You see, after using up all the energy from a battery in their cameras, between the two dances, they would not come to the bride and groom and ask them to halt the wedding for a few hours until the battery recharges. No, they will swiftly take the useless battery out and replace it for a fully charged, reserve battery. No one would even notice that and the wedding would continue as if nothing had happened. Furthermore, if the vehicle engineers slash wedding photographers wanted to go perhaps a bit longer time without a battery replacement job, they would combine two or more batteries together for a longer range. Get it?

Of course we shouldn’t force car and bike makers give up on their careers to become wedding photographers – we’d end up with a whole lot of crap wedding pictures that broke all the time. What we should do is make them realize that having a battery as an almost structural part of a vehicle just isn’t a job well done. What vehicles need are batteries that are easily removable and replaceable. And that brings us to the other part of this world-saving article.

Having removable batteries means we should be able to pull the empty batteries out and chuck in the full ones. And we should do that on places specially designated for such activities. Sounds familiar? This next piece of my proposal is the world-saving one. The big oil companies should start offering recharging services, but not to our batteries. They should recharge batteries they own. This is how it works: we buy a car or a motorcycle that uses a standardized size battery with a standardized connector. We go to an energy station, the ones we now call petrol stations, get a couple of batteries and put them in our vehicle. I imagine in the USA they would probably even deliver them. Then when we start running low on juice, we pop ‘round to the same station and exchange the empties for the fresh ones – and we pay for the electricity only. Genius, right?

To conclude: if we start using exchangeable batteries in electric vehicles, we’d never again have to wait for a battery to recharge because a fresh battery would be awaiting you just around the corner, right where the petrol station used to be. We’d save ourselves the hassle and expense of disposing used-up batteries, having big, lumpy chargers at home, and getting ulcers every time the charge drops below 50%. Probably the biggest benefit of all this would be that the big oil companies would have something to do once the oil runs out. They would become electricity dealers, recharging and leasing their batteries. We’d exchange the empties for the full ones, and never think of them again. So, big oil – start investing.

That’s me in the picture above.

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Having both qualified on the front row of the grid for today’s races, it was Haslam who took the early lead, swooping around the outside of pole-sitter Tom Sykes at Redgate Corner, with Melandri settling into third. In dry, but blustery conditions, Sykes was pushing Haslam all the time, finally taking the lead when Leon ran wide on the fourth lap at Goddards.

With Max Biaggi closing in on Marco Melandri, there were soon two Brits leading two Italians, with Jonathan Rea and Carlos Checa trying to join the quartet out in front. By half distance, it was Melandri who began to look the most composed, fighting off challenges from rival Max Biaggi and then following his team-mate past Tom Sykes at the Melbourne Loop to move up into second place behind Haslam.

Now, with two BMW S 1000 RRs at the front, it was a race to be the first rider to make history and claim the first ever WSBK victory for BMW. With seven laps remaining, Melandri passed Haslam into Redgate Corner, but Haslam retook the lead later the same lap. With both riders visibly pushing hard and in danger of tripping each other up, there was no margin for error with Sykes and Biaggi now back in the frame.

Unfortunately for Leon, he was forced into the gravel trap to avoid a braking manoeuvre by his team-mate, but was somehow able to stay upright and rejoin the race, albeit behind Sykes. Melandri now had a clear lead and it was left to Haslam to try and find a way past the Kawasaki rider, which he did at the Foggy Esses, with just one lap remaining. Despite a blisteringly fast last lap by Leon, he was not close enough to challenge his team-mate for the victory and Melandri crossed the finish line 0.728 seconds in front to celebrate a truly historic maiden win on the RR and the first ever for BMW Motorrad Motorsport.

It was a thrilling opening race that saw five manufacturers in the top six. BMW Motorrad Italia Goldbet SBK team riders Michel Fabrizio and Ayrton Badovini finished race one in tenth and 11th place respectively.

Race two was full of excitement and drama, which lasted until the final corner of the final lap. Having treated thousands of his British fans to yet another thrilling race at Donington, Leon had fought his way right to the front and was just seconds away from his maiden WSBK win for the team when another rider collided with him and knocked him off the track, due to his over motivated maneuver, which caused Haslam to take out his team-mate in the consequence crash. All Haslam could do was pick up his RR and push it over the line for a single point.

Despite this unfortunate incident, it was nevertheless a historic day for BMW Motorrad, who are now third in the WSBK manufacturer standings and will go into the next round at Miller Motorsports Park in the USA in two weeks time full of confidence. BMW Motorrad Italia’s Ayrton Badovini finished in a solid sixth place in race two and his team-mate Michel Fabrizio recovered from a ride-through penalty to finish in 13th place.

Marco Melandri: “It is an awesome feeling for me to put my name in the history books of a factory like BMW Motorrad. I could not have imagined dreaming of this when I was young. I just want to say thank you to BMW Motorrad in Germany, to the team at the track and to everybody involved in the project. We have been working so hard and we have never given up, even when we were encountering some difficulties. We will keep pushing, and I am more than happy.

“I am disappointed with the result of the second race of course. I was trying to pass Leon in the final corner although I knew it would be difficult. Anyhow, I am a racer and I had to try. I ran a little wide and expected Leon to pass me back – finishing second would have been ok for me. Then Leon was hit and he crashed. His bike hit me and I crashed too. I feel sorry for both Leon and me but that’s racing. We now have to keep our heads high and look forward to Salt Lake City where we hope to be fighting for wins again.”

Leon Haslam: “What a day. I had a good pace in race one. In the end, I have to say that I am a bit disappointed with the second place. I had a big wobble out of Coppice and it actually put me on the right hand side of Marco instead of the left, and he braked a bit earlier that lap. I had nowhere to go, so I opted for the gravel. It was kind of a combination of things which caught me out. But fair play to Marco, a BMW 1-2 result is just fantastic. Right now I just want to forget race 2. I feel a bit frustrated because I was going for my first win for BMW Motorrad – at my home round. But we were denied that deserved victory. The crash was not my fault at all… Anyhow, that’s racing, and we now look forward to the next round. Hopefully we can turn things around at the next race meeting in Salt Lake City. I want to dedicate my race 1 result to Robert Fearnall, who was a close friend of the family.”

Bernhard Gobmeier (BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director): “The first race was absolutely thrilling. We saw bike-to-bike action and our opponents gave us a hard time on track. Marco’s race was impressive: he organized his race excellently, showed great overtaking abilities and subsequently deserved the victory. For us it is even more satisfying to see that Leon was also able to showcase his talent. He also showed great battles on the track and completed BMW Motorrad’s first double victory in World Superbikes. This 1-2 is the result of hard work of all the people involved in this project – in Munich, in Stephanskirchen and at the track. A big Thank You to our riders and the whole team.

“The second race again was great – until the last corner. It is just too disappointing to see both riders crash guiltlessly when leading the pack in the final corner of the race. But now we have to keep our heads up and look forward to Salt Lake City. We hope to fight for wins there as well.”

Results

Race one
1. Marco Melandri (ITA) BMW Motorrad Motorsport; 2. Leon Haslam (GBR) BMW Motorrad Motorsport; 3. Sykes (GBR) Kawasaki 10. Fabrizio (ITA) BMW Motorrad Italia Goldbet SBK Team; 11. Badovini (ITA) BMW Motorrad Italia Goldbet SBK Team

Race two
1. Rea (GBR) Honda; 2. Biaggi (ITA) Aprilia; 3. Sykes (GBR) Kawasaki; 6. Badovini (ITA) BMW Motorrad Italia Goldbet SBK Team; 13. Fabrizio (ITA) BMW Motorrad Italia Goldbet SBK Team; 15. Leon Haslam (GBR) BMW Motorrad Motorsport; DNF. Marco Melandri (ITA) BMW Motorrad Motorsport.

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Lee Richardson was a regular SpeedwayGP rider from 2003 until 2006. He was crowned the World Under-21 Champion in 1999, he holds the record of being the top scorer for the Great Britain’s team in the FIM Speedway World Cup with 240 points over the ten tournaments.

His fellow racers and fans are paying their respects from all over the world. Lee Richardson Rico was 33 years old when he passed away.

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The picks:
SR420 Cafe | $16,990 AUD
2003 model with 528 kms. SR donk expanded to 420cc with flowed head and round slide carb. A Deus favourite.

Norton Commando 750 | $14,990 AUD
1972 model with 30,212 miles. A well sorted beastie with go fast Combat internals.

SR400 Hardtail Kit | $14,500 AUD
2003 model with 556kms. An every day brat style ride. Custom alloy abounds. Learner approved.

W650 Hardtail | $16,900 AUD
2001 model with 20,000kms. An every day hardtail by Deus. Great sound and a perfect ride.

1969 T120R Triumph | $14,990 AUD
Lipstick red Triumph with matching engine and chassis numbers. 1969 model with 6,112 miles. Direct from Meriden UK via west coast USA. A highly desirable unit construction 650 in fantastic condition and ready to ride.

Blue XS650 | $12,990 AUD
1972 model 4,880kms in factory blue. Without doubt the most original and best example of this rare electric assist model.

1973 King Kenny XS650 | $13,500 AUD
1973 model with 1,000kms. Slide like Kenny R on this fully rebuilt 750cc Street Tracker.

BMS R90S | $17,990 AUD
1975 model with 30,000kms. Totally original and an absolute stunner. BMW’s classic boxer.

W800 Cafe | $17,990 AUD
2011 model with 1,800kms. Deus enhanced with a host of top shelf components.

HD L17T Grass Tracker | $29,000 AUD
1000cc Grass Tracker. Excellent example in running order and ready to race.

MT01 | $17,990 AUD
2005 model with 4,488kms. A brutal 1700cc DEUS Street Tracker. When too much is barely enough.

Oddjob SR542 | $17,990 AUD
2004 model with 500kms. The Oddjob SR542cc has a stump puller of a donk. This puppy has the best the planet can offer.

Photo: Deus Ex Machina

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Entering the second of the trial, the top ten riders are placed very close together regarding the points with only handful of points between the leader and the tenth rider. The top rider, Jordi Pascuet, without marks and the tenth rider R Danby are separated by only nine marks. In the company of the podium’s top spot chasers are also, with Pascuet and Dougie Lampkin, the last year’s winner James Dabill currently on third with total of three points, Michael Brown on fourth with four points, followed by Ian Austermuhle with five points and Alexz Wigg with nine points on ninth position. The remaining classes are kept just the same with Bradley Cox leading the newcomer’s class, Emma Bristow still being the first lady and John Shirt the first in the over-40 class. The rest of the official chart can be found here, as usual.

Thursday’s stage is the longest and toughest one in the 2012 SSDT and until then, enjoy the Wednesday’s action, proving that salmon is not the only one being able going upstream.

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At this unique electric vehicle industry event, Brammo has demonstrated to consumers and motorcycle insiders alike the advancements in electric motorcycling and is providing a glimpse of what is to come in the future. The Empulse is the only electric motorcycle to include a 100-mile range and 100-mph top speed as well as a breakthrough battery and powertrain system enabling a great zero-emission experience.

At the launch party, Brammo announced the Empulse and Empulse R will cost $16,995 and $18,995 respectively with financing available from Sheffield Financial. Through this financing, customers will be able to purchase the new Empulse and Empulse R from Brammo dealers as follows:

• Empulse: 8.9% for 72 months at $303, 6.9% financing for 60 month at $334 and 3.9% for 36 months at $499
• Empulse R: 8.9% for 72 months at $339, 6.9% financing for 60 month at $373 and 3.9% for 36 months at $558

Availability of each model will vary based on demand for the Empulse and Empulse R. Production for the Empulse R will take place first with limited availability in June 2012 and in volume by Q3 2012. The Empulse will be available in Q1 2013.

Research conducted by Brammo with both customers and dealers has driven the development of the Empulse and Empulse R. As a result, these motorcycles now come with a water-cooled AC motor and fully integrated IET ™ six speed transmission, seating for two, regenerative braking and on board J1772 Level 2 charging capability. To ensure the highest quality performance and design, Brammo works with internationally renowned manufacturers for superior components of their motorcycles. This close attention to the supply chain ensures the durability, reliability and ultimately future resale value of Brammo products.

“It was important to Brammo to create a great motorcycle and we paid attention to customer feedback to create just that,” said Craig Bramsher CEO and president of Brammo. “From concept to production the Empulse product has evolved quite a bit. We are bringing you a different motorcycle that promises to be more than what our riders expected.”

The two models vary as follows:

• The Empulse body work is all plastic has semi adjustable front suspension and semi adjustable rear suspension.
• The Empulse R uses carbon fiber for headlight shroud, front and rear fenders, top panel and the rear light housing.

Brammo promised that of the first 1000 people who pre ordered an Empulse, one would be selected at random to receive their motorcycle free of charge. Last week from the first 1000 orders six finalists were selected. At the event, Craig Bramscher rolled a dice and Jueiming Chen was the lucky winner.

True to Brammo’s devotion to zero tailpipe-emission transportation, the Empulse launch event was carbon-neutral. Brammo has worked with Carbonfund.org to purchase carbon offsets to mitigate the greenhouse emissions generated by transportation, electricity use, and other resource-intensive activities associated with this event.

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In the newcomers class, seventeen-year-old Bradley Cox, riding for Beta, continues to impress by leading the newcomers class and being sixteenth overall. The female class is led by Emma Bristow, riding an Ossa, and the leader of the over-40 class is John Shirt, upon a Gas Gas. The rest of the results is available on the SSDT official full results list

Wednesday marks the midpoint of the Trial with a lot of hard terrain to cover. In the meantime, check out the Tuesday’s action video.

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Greg Tracy takes the Multistrada 1200 to a track day at California Speedway.  Greg wanted to put in some practice on a road course; this was Greg’s second time on a road track with a motorcycle. Greg was having so much fun on the Multistrada that just past the bridge he was backing it in at we would guess 80 to 100 MPH.

Greg is a six time Pikes Peak International Hill Climb champion including his most recent win in 2010 on the Multistrada 1200. Greg is riding the Multistrada completely stock right down to its rear luggage rack – except for a set of Bridgestone BT003 type 3 tires; a Ducati performance exhaust, and K&N filters.  We would say that Greg quickly adapted to the Duc and was hauling the mail in this video.  Next time you hear someone tell you that the Multistrada is just for touring make sure to remind them that it is also a lethal track day weapon as well.

Greg Tracy will be competing in the 2012 Pikes Peak hill climb where he will be trying to redeem himself after last years crash.  If you are interested to attending the 2012 Pikes Peak hill climb Ducati is offering a All Roads Lead to Pikes Peak package.

 Greg Tracy Trackday with Ducati Multistrada 1200

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Well after the rumor mill started burning full blast the Doctor himself Rossi put the rumor to rest for good.

@TobyMoody @MOTOCI_Maroto ciao guys, the rumors about my retirement at the end of the year are not true!see you in Le Mans.

— Valentino Rossi (@ValeYellow46) May 8, 2012

Enough said the Doctor has spoken.  Don’t listen to everything you read until you hear it from the source.  Case closed and see you in Le Mans.

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After the whole day of riding, the organizers have half-jokingly said that they had made it too easy this year. Five riders on top are sharing the first place having finished the course without any points. They say they will rectify this for the future. Top riders with no points?!? Having no points is a good thing in moto trials. The first provisional results are out. The first five are J Pascuet, R Sadler, J Dabill, A Wigg and D Lampkin. The rest of the list can be found here, on the official Scottish Six Days Trial web-site.

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