THE BRADLEY REPORT
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THE BRADLEY REPORT
NEWS
BRIEFS
Unlikely though it may seem , Italian electric sports bike manufacturer Energica has joined forces with the Malaysian oil giant Petronas Lubricants International . Petronas has become Energica ' s Industrial Partner and was Energica Racing ' s main sponsor for 2023 . Supporting Tytlers Cycle Racing in the Roland Sands Design ' s Super Hooligan National Championship , part of the MotoAmerica series , Energica was the only electric manufacturer to compete alongside ICE ( Internal Combustion Engine ) motorcycles for the full season .
BMW may finally have found a way of making the kind of ' winglets ' increasingly seen on sport bikes actually useful . A patent filing shows BMW integrating LED lights into the ' winglets ' on a S 1000 RR-style superbike . The design gives the manufacturer the option of eliminating protruding , standalone indicator lamps .
Reports suggest that Royal Enfield has targeted 2025 for the launch of its first new electric motorcycle . Having acquired a 10 % stake in internationally respected Barcelona based Stark Future ( of Stark Varg eMX vehicle ), it is thought that Royal Enfield will be leveraging Stark ' s expertise to launch a global EV - based on RE ' s Harris Performance developed chassis capabilities .
With the cold , hard realities of life cast adrift from the European Union that legendary Brit Conservative Prime Minister Winston Churchill first called for some 75 years ago starting to become apparent , the United Kingdom has abandoned the new , post-Brexit UKCA ( United Kingdom Conformity Assessed ) mark . The scheme was intended to reduce complexity and cost for vendors selling on the UK market , allowing their products to diverge from EU standards - namely become poorer quality . But it turns out the scheme was actually increasing complexity and cost and was starting to reduce consumer choice as nobody wanted poorer quality goods than riders elsewhere could buy . With brands starting to decide that the extra overhead on building down to the new UK standards for a diminishing market would not likely result in an acceptable ROI , the British Conservative government , the same one , in essence , that thought commercial isolation was a " good thing " in the first place , has now surrendered to the Johnny Foreigners ' nasty rules and abandoned the UKCA scheme . Who ' d-a-thunk it !
Ducati joins the singles scene : Hypermotard 698 Mono By Ben Purvis
Ducati ' s longstanding obsession with 90-degree V-twins took a huge hit with the introduction of the Panigale V4 and the growing range of fourcylinder models that followed it - and now the company is heading in the other direction as well , by introducing its first mass-produced single cylinder for half a century . Debuting in the new Hypermotard 698 Mono , we see the latest creation of Ducati ' s engine department , the Superquadro Mono . A 659 cc , DOHC , liquid-cooled single , its design is based on that of the 1299 ' s Superquadro V-twin , which lends its 116 mm bore and combustion chamber design . In the new Superquadro Mono it ' s paired with a 62.4 mm stroke to create a highrevving , oversquare design that claims
' New 659 cc single and upcoming 450 motocrosser show the V-twinonly era is long gone '
to be the most powerful singlecylinder ever to grace a production street bike . The peak is 57 kW ( 76 hp ) at 9,750 rpm , enough to beat KTM ' s largercapacity , 693 cc ' 690 ' single-cylinder engine , and the Ducati engine redlines at an impressive 10,250 rpm , reflecting its unusually high-revving design . Max torque is 63 Nm and doesn ' t arrive until 8,050 rpm . While Ducati ' s 1990s Supermono single is fondly remembered , it was a race-only machine made in limited numbers - fewer than 70 were made - and the company hasn ' t made a roadgoing , showroom single-cylinder model since the demise of the bevel drive , desmo singles in 1974 . The new Hypermotard 698 Mono is the first home for the Superquadro Mono engine , but probably won ' t be its only application . It ' s a lightweight supermoto-style machine , along the lines of the existing V-twin Hypermotard 950 , but with less weight and an even more focused appeal . Built around Ducati ' s usual
recipe of a steel trellis frame , the Hypermotard 698 Mono weighs in at just 151 kg without fuel . Like the company ' s other bikes , electronics are a strong part of the Hypermotard single package . There ' s cornering traction control and ABS , of course , but also launch control , three power modes , four riding modes , wheelie control , launch control and engine brake control as part of a suite of electronics that far exceeds most single-cylinder bikes . There ' s even an optional wheelie-assist system that helps keep the front wheel in the air if that ' s what you want to achieve . The suspension comprises 45 mm Marzocchi USD forks and a Sachs rear monoshock , offering long travel - 215 mm at the front and 240 mm at the rear - a hint that the Hypermotard 698 Mono could result in an off-road-oriented derivative in the future . As usual , the brakes are Brembos with a single M4.32 fourpiston front caliper gripping an oversized 330 mm disc . Those brakes are fitted with an advanced cornering ABS system that not only has multiple sensitivity settings , but also allows a ' slide by brake ' function that allows the back wheel to be drifted into corners in some modes . A higher-spec ' RVE ' version of the bike is also offered , with more eyecatching graphics and a standard-fit up / down quickshifter . Ducati will also offer a restricted 43.5 hp version of the bike to suit A2 licence rules in Europe , with its peak power arriving much lower at only 6,250 rpm . Meanwhile , a track-only Termignoni exhaust will take power higher still , adding an extra 7 hp to the standard bike at the expense of road legal emissions and noise levels . Ducati ' s single-cylinder revolution will continue into 2024 with the planned launch of the company ' s first modern motocross bike and a works entry into the Italian Motocross Championship . Ducati has already signed nine-times world champion Antonio Cairoli as test rider for the project . Claudio Domenicali , Ducati CEO , said : " I am proud to announce Ducati ' s entry into motocross . A totally new world for Ducati in which we want to bring our talent in designing lightweight motorcycles with excellent components and high performance ."
16 INTERNATIONAL DEALER NEWS - JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2024