World's first electric Supermoto

Swiss electric bike manufacturer Quantya has been one of the first on the planet to release a electric mx bike: the Quantya Evo1. Next to the Track version they also have a street legal Strada version which is legal to ride on the road in Germany. Since they have really strict rules in germany for road bikes, it should not be hard to get it street legal in any other country.

Some specs of the bike:

Weight: 85kg
Torque: 31.5 Nm (about the same as a Honda CRF250R)
Suspension: Marzocchi Shiver 40mm fork and Sachs rear shock
Price: €7800 (+taxes)

Now the good news, starting January 2009 the Evo1 Strada will also be available in supermoto version! The set will costs €490 (+taxes). The kit includes:

- Supermoto wheels with street tyres
- 52 teeth rear sprocket
- Front & Rear wave discs

Check out more info about the bike here

A thrilling GP at Busca Italy

Thomas Chareyre won his second consecutive GP and also second of the 2008 season

BUSCA (ITALY), 5 October 2008 – A thrilling penultimate round of the 2008 campaign prepared what will be a fantastic finale in Greece in a couple of weeks.

With Thomas Chareyre winning an eventful S1 Grand Prix and Thierry Van Den Bosch being disqualified in heat one Bernd Hiemer capitalized on his Championship lead. The latter was third on the podium as local favourite Ivan Lazzarini was second.

Adrien Chareyre won the S2 class making it another Chareyre one-two after the very first time two brothers won a GP in the same day at Andorra. Chareyre capitalized on his lead as runner up Davide Gozzini crashed in heat two. The “Gozzo” was second on the podium ahead of Christian Iddon rounding off his first season’s rostrum.

In the UEM SuperMoto series Fabrizio Bartolini wrapped up the overall in the Open class with Luca D’Addato securing the Championship lead courtesy of a second overall. In the S3 class Olivier Scheen won the round from Championship leader Oliver Pope and Matteo Traversa.

S1

Thierry Van Den Bosch won heat two from Ivan Lazzarini

It was an eventful S1 Grand Prix with Husqvarna CH Racing’s Thomas Chareyre taking his second consecutive win as KTM Italia Miglio’s Bernd Hiemer built on his Championship lead courtesy of a third overall. DRC SuperMoto Aprilia Factory’s Thierry Van Den Bosch was disqualified in heat one because of being too hot in his attack to Hiemer for first as both crashed. In the second heat VDB won but lost valuable points to Hiemer in the Championship. VDB’s team mate Ivan Lazzarini salvaged the weekend with a solid second overall as he made a mistake and crashed in heat one. Eddy Seel and Fabio Balducci rounded off the top five with VDB being an eventual eighth.

After a positive first heat in third place Jerome Giraudo crashed hard in the following heat and was immediately brought to the Santa Croce e Carle Hospital in Cuneo. The rider is currently undergoing the necessary tests in order to evaluate his condition.

Top five overall: 1. Thomas Chareyre (FRA, Husqvarna), 45 points; 2. Ivan Lazzarini (ITA, Aprilia), 40 p.; 3. Bernd Hiemer (GER, KTM), 40 p.; 4. Eddy Seel (BEL, Suzuki), 32 p.; 5. Fabio Balducci (ITA, Suzuki), 30 p.

S2

Adrien Chareyre’s chase to Davide Gozzini in heat one ended in the final lap when the Italian lost the front

Husqvarna CH Racing’s Adrien Chareyre took a solid victory on rival Gozzini’s ground as the latter fell after dominating most of heat one. TM Factory Racing’s Davide Gozzini was out for revenge in heat two and won to secure the second overall position. A mistake by Chareyre in heat two saw his overall advantage on Gozzini slim to five points only while PMR H2O Aprilia Off Road’s Christian Iddon mounted on the podium for the first time this season. Other Husqvarna CH Racing rider Gerald Delepine was fourth with BRT’s Paolo Gaspardone fifth. After a positive third in heat one Attilio Pignotti dropped to sixth overall due to a troubled final moto.

Davide Gozzini won heat two

Top five overall: 1. Adrien Chareyre (FRA, Husqvarna), 45 points; 2. Davide Gozzini (ITA, TM), 40 p.; 3. Christian Iddon (GBR, Aprilia), 40 p.; 4. Gérald Delepine (BEL, Husqvarna), 38 p.; 5. Paolo Gaspardone (ITA, Husaberg), 31 p.

Full race report

Van den Bosch takes Pole in Busca GP

BUSCA (ITALY), 4 October 2008 – A sunny Busca welcomed the Superiders at this penultimate round of the 2008 season.

Thierry Van Den Bosch took a storming pole in the S1 class leading Championship leader Bernd Hiemer. It was Adrien Chareyre taking the honours in the S2 class topping the time sheets ahead of Christian Iddon.

In the S3 class Olivier Scheen took pole as Fabrizio Bartolini was the quickest in the Open class.

S1

Courtesy of an incredible lap DRC SuperMoto Aprilia Factory’s Thierry Van Den Bosch took today’s pole as he was the sole rider breaking the 1 minute 19 second barrier. The Frenchman sits second in the standings as KTM Italia Miglio’s Bernd Hiemer leads the Championship.

Thierry VDB on a power slide

The latter took a solid second quickest time behind VDB as he led the first half of the timed session before Van Den Bosch’s charge.

The duo will be back to action tomorrow morning fighting for the Superpole together with other challengers HM Honda Racing Monticelli’s Jerome Giraudo and the winner of the latest GP in Andorra Thomas Chareyre onboard the Husqvarna CH Racing machine.

Bernd Hiemer having fun at the end of the free practice

Third placed in the Championship Ivan Lazzarini took fifth missing the front row by 0.2 seconds as Eddy Seel was sixth.

Using a special clutch lever combining also the rear brake lever Matthew Winstanley struggled throughout qualifying and decided to use the standard brake and clutch system in tomorrow’s GP.

Top five: 1. Thierry van den Bosch (FRA, Aprilia), 1:18.697; 2. Bernd Hiemer (GER, KTM), +0:00.387; 3. Jerome Giraudo (FRA, Honda), +0:00.414; 4. Thomas Chareyre (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:00.502; 5. Ivan Lazzarini (ITA, Aprilia), +0:00.712

S2

Championship leader Adrien Chareyre took a solid pole aboard the works Husqvarna with PMR H2O Aprilia Off Road’s Christian Iddon and KTM Italia Miglio’s Attilio Pignotti also on the same pace of 1.19 minutes.

Adrien Chareyre checking out the pit board

The trio will head the Superpole challenge as TM Factory’s Davide Gozzini is set to round off the front row after a shot to the top spot tomorrow.

Gozzini is still six points off Chareyre in a dogfight for the S2 World Title; Gerald Delepine is a distant third and he was fifth in today’s time sheets.

The defending Champion will head row two next to young guns and home riders Andrea Occhini and Paolo Gaspardone.

Luca Minutilli was ninth as he can still build on his fifth place in the Championship exploiting Massimo Beltrami’s absence due to injury.

Christian Iddon took a solid second today

Top five: 1. Adrien Chareyre (FRA, Husqvarna), 1:19.407; 2. Christian Iddon (GBR, Aprilia), +0:00.477; 3. Attilio Pignotti (ITA, KTM), +0:00.553; 4. Davide Gozzini (ITA, TM), +0:00.658; 5. Gérald Delepine (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:00.919

Source: Youthstream

Ghostrider on a KTM Supermoto

Honda CRF230M Supermoto

The all-new CRF230M is street-ready for hours of urban and backroad adventure, with sporty 17-inch wheels and low-profile tires, plus a torquey, electric-start engine that boasts exceptional fuel economy(70mpg). This agile street specialist features a dependable 223cc single-cylinder air-cooled four-stroke engine that pumps out 15hp(yes only 15...). Finally, the CRF230M packs CRFR-inspired bodywork and graphics to provide lots of style while you're on the go.

MSRP $4,749

Lazzarini and Gozzini still holding a title chance

FUNCHAL (PORTUGAL), 1 October 2008 – As the 2008 season draws to a close none of the two World Titles has been won in the S1 and S2 classes; the fact keeps up the excitement as the circus enters Busca for the penultimate round of the GP campaign.

Bernd Hiemer retained the S1 lead after a tough Andorran GP where Thomas Chareyre won his first overall of the year. Italian Lazzarini and Aprilia fellow rider Van Den Bosch are still in the chase for the title.

Chareyre’s brother Adrien completed a legendary one-two by winning the S2 GP from rival Davide Gozzini and Gerald Delepine. The fight for the S2 crown now seems a private affair in between Chareyre and Gozzini.

In the UEM S3 series Oliver Pope leads the way as Heino Meusburger is on top of the Open class Championship.

S1

After a superb performance in Andorra Husqvarna CH Racing’s Thomas Chareyre has increased his World Title chances dramatically as he sits fourth with a 38 point gap from leader Bernd Hiemer. Last year in Busca a mechanical failure prevented Chareyre to take another double heat win as the young Frenchman dnf’d in heat one then dominated the final heat.

With 100 points to be taken in the final two rounds KTM Italia Miglio’s Hiemer has four other moto’s to secure the Title. Hiemer sits first in the standings but has not been winning since Valladolid even though his impressive consistency saw him miss the podium just once in Andorra.

Busca is actually a bittersweet venue for the German. In a troubled debut season in the S1 class Hiemer took his first podium last year at Busca as the year before he crashed twice on his way to his maiden World Title.

DRC SuperMoto Aprilia Factory team mates Thierry Van Den Bosch and Ivan Lazzarini are currently the closest rivals to Hiemer as they sit in second and third in the Championship with Chareyre rounding off a close top four.

The Lazza and VDB were second and third on the Andorran podium collecting the same amount of points each as Hiemer lost four points on both. Busca will be another home GP for Italian Lazzarini who took victory at the Kart Planet in 2006.A solid Matthew Winstanley rounds off the top five ahead of Sylvain Bidart.

S2

After a dogfight with archrival Gozzini Adrien Chareyre of Husqvarna CH Racing eventually won the Andorran Grand Prix but could not pull away from the Italian in the Championship.

TM Factory Racing’s Davide Gozzini took a hard fought second ending level in points with Chareyre to limit the damages to the points standings.

Six points divide the duo who is set to continue battling until the final round in Greece as third placed and defending Champion Gerald Delepine of Husqvarna CH Racing is losing contact with the leaders.

Delepine built on his position by taking his second consecutive podium after Austria; on the other hand last year’s runner up Attilio Pignotti of KTM Italia Miglio has been on the podium just twice as he sits in fourth behind Delepine.

PMR H2O Aprilia Off Road’s Luca Minutilli is currently the highest placed Aprilia rider in fifth and he pulled away from Aprilia fellow rider Massimo Beltrami in Andorra as the latter missed the event due to a wrist injury.

A distant Christian Iddon is eighth behind Lorenzo Mariani; a mid season injury forced the Brit to sit out of two Grand Prix’s as the misfortune reflected on the points standings. Though Iddon will seek revenge in Busca where last year he won the second GP of his career.

Source: Youthstream

Gary's YZF

Gary from the UK has sent me a pic of his Yamaha YZF-450 for the Yamaha Gallery. I thought it's such a beautiful bike that it deserved a spot on the front page.

Got a good looking special supermoto? Don't hesitate to mail some pics of it to me so I can add the pics to the gallery.