If you were having a break from riding your bike and were watching the opening ceremony for the recent Winter Olympics, you may have spotted a Ducati 999 in the opening parade. Devoid of all its stickers (due to advertising restrictions) it was wheeled out by red helmeted clowns and ridden by a man dressed as a punk, complete with Mohican hair-do!

Staying with Ducati, its Hypermotard concept bike has been voted as the best overall motorcycle design for 2005 by the Motorcycle Design Association, a group of designers and professionals from within the two-wheel industry worldwide. Designed by Pierre Terblanche, the Hypermotard also received the 'Best of Show' award given the during the EICMA show in Milan last November.

Aprilia is to launch a 1000cc Superbike at the end of 2007 with the intention of re-entering the World Superbike Championship for 2008. Aprilia's top man, Leo Mercanti, recently confirmed the engine will be a V-4. Although no hard details are being released, expect the cylinder vee angle to be around 75 degrees with about 170 bhp for the road-going version that can be upped to 200 bhp when used on the race track. Aprilia hopes to keep the price for the road version to acceptable levels.

We mentioned some time ago that Aprilia were going to launch a 550cc road bike utilising the V-Twin motor from their SVX Supermoto. The idea has also been confirmed by management and it appears demand is already high. The only problem is that in either the 450 or 550 version, the motor needs a rebuild after every 60 hours of use, something a street bike rider will not put up with. So now the problem is how to make the motor more durable!

MV Agusta was officially taken over by Gevi S.p.A. on March 1st. The Italian investment house has injected 10 million pounds ($17,582,000) to help with development of the 2007 F4 to enable it to pass more stringent emission controls. New suspension and brakes are also expected. It has also just been announced that the factory will have an official involvement with the 2006 Isle of Man TT races. Although American Thomas Montano raced last year on an MV entered by Munro Motors, finishing well, this will be the first time for many years the factory has been involved.

Tuning house and Italian bike specialist Motocorse have just launched a Platinum version of the MV Augusta F4 1000 Tamburini. Features on the bike include a 1080cc big bore kit plus lots of titanium pieces. Conversion kits are also available so you can fit Brembo radial callipers, as seen on racing machinery. Prices as you might imagine are not cheap!

The Cagiva Mito will be a 4-stroke by 2007, that's official according to spokesperson Daniele Torreson. 'The cost of adding fuel injection to the learner legal machine would make it too expensive for the market and this is the only way it will pass the new stringent Euro 3 emission tests.'

No real problem, you may think, with power capped to 15 bhp, but the popularity of the current 'stroker' is due to the fact that when the test is passed it can be derestricted. It then pumps out 35 bhp, an impossible figure for a 125cc 4-stroke!

Gilera is back with its first production sports bike - the SC125 - since it was revived five years ago. However, the 125cc water-cooled two-stroke is in fact a re-badged Derbi GPR 125 Racing, as both companies are owned by Piaggio! The bike has been produced to draw attention to the factory race team. There is also a re-badged Derbi Senda as well.

Derbi themselves has just added two larger engines to its GP1 sports scooter range. There is now a learner-legal 125cc 4-stroke and a 250cc for full licence holders. Both of these new machines use Piaggio engines and belt drives.

Austrian firm KTM is rumored to have two engines undergoing test for its RC8 concept bike. One is a Twin and the other is a Four similar to their abandoned MotoGP motor. Apparently the dual test is in case 1200cc twins are to be allowed in World Superbike in 2008. If they are, expect to see the Twin as KTM's weapon of choice.

The aforementioned displacement proposal is being headed by Ducati who currently supply more bikes to other teams than any other manufacturer. According to sources, the Bologna firm has already developed a 1200 as it is struggling to get more performance out of the current one-litre machine.

BMW are apparently just about to release a Supermoto under the guise of their HP brand. It is in reality a street version of their HP2 Enduro and will have 105 bhp and a weight of around 175kg. Its direct competitor is of course the KTM.

Beemer's Supermoto will be on offer with 17-inch black anodised road wheels and tyres and a larger (320mm) front brake disc. The extras will cost around 600 pounds ($1050) on top of the standard HP2 price.

If this is not enough for you, then German tuning firm Schnitzer have their own version on offer with 111 bhp. Their version also has alloy wheels, Dunlop Sportmax tyres, twin discs gripped by Brembos at the front and 50mm WP forks, matched by one of their shocks at the rear. The extra power comes from a redesigned exhaust system that is road legal. A track day system takes power to 112bhp. All the parts will be sold in kit form. More information from www.ac-schnitzer.de.

The saying goes that 'less is more,' but thanks to a German firm it could mean 'more is more'! They are developing three headlights in a line to improve night vision for the motorcyclist. The center beam points forward as normal, but when you corner the appropriate other unit switches on thanks to a tilt switch and points around the corner. It is some way off production at present, but watch this space for more information.

Last month we brought you news of the new AJS machines made in China but with the famous AJS logo on the tanks. Now another once famous and dominant British factory is about to see its name grace the petrol tanks of some commuter-friendly machines.

Norton is making a comeback with some machines sourced from India and China, along with a range of pedal cycles and scooters. None of these 125cc to 250cc machines will carry the famous Norton scroll, just the name. They are claimed to be high specification and will sell well below the Japanese competition. However, their website also mentions a return to racing, although no details of the bikes or timeline are mentioned. The firm who trade under the Norton Villiers name already produce spares and competition parts for the Villiers range of two-stroke motors including some competition gears and cranks.

We have mentioned before that Russian-owned British sports car manufacturer TVR had intended to build a motorcycle from scratch after its efforts to buy Benelli fell through last year. In fact they actually got as far as designing a prototype, but now it appears they will not progress any further with this. Instead, the firm will wait for a suitable motorcycle company to buy instead of trying to develop a bike from scratch!

Uruguay is not a country associated with motorcycle manufacturing, but it is now about to launch a motorcycle powered by compressed air. Looking like a beefed-up mountain bike with a diving cylinder bolted on each side at pedal level, the bike is claimed to have a range of 70 miles. The bike's inventor, Armando Regusci, claims a top speed of 50 mph for the machine which is completely emissions free. He says these bikes will still be running in 30 years when the oil reserves have run out! More information on www.airenergycars.com.

The Peugeot Speedflight scooter is now 10 years old, and to celebrate they have launched an anniversary edition called the Iron-X. It comes with a new blue and white paint scheme, wavy brake discs, aluminium foot boards and a rear spoiler, which should help it continue its phenomenal sales record!

French tire manufacturer Michelin has launched the first road tire to feature MotoGP style dual-compound technology. The new Pilot Power 2CT is made with two different compounds of rubber to give a hard wearing centre and soft edges for improved cornering. This technology has been in use on the race track since 1994, but this is the first time it has been used on a fully road-legal tire. The company states it is for the road rider who attends the odd track day and does not want to purchase race tires for these outings. Initial tests, show that the firm's claims are not far fetched and they do offer exceptional grip and lean angles when cornering.

Unveiled at the recent Geneva Motor Show, the Acabion GTBO 70 is a "jet fighter canopy on wheels" capable of going 375 mph according to the manufacturers claims. Powered by a turbo-charged Suzuki Hayabusa motor, the cigar shaped two-wheeled projectile has a couple of training wheels at the back for stabilization at a walking pace, but as soon as you get going, the stabilizers lift up and fold out of the way.

European manufacturer Vectrix already produces an electric scooter, but a Superbike is not far off. The firm claims the new bike, called the R-Moto, will reach up to 160 mph. Quite an exciting new toy, and it comes with battery included!

Acabion make some pretty incredible claims on their website for the 1.3 litre machine. 'The GTBO 70 can go from zero to 280 mph in just 19 seconds and has a fuel economy of 70.5 mpg, and you even have 150 litres of trunk space at your disposal, all just weighing a mere 359 kg (791 lbs).' For the fainthearted there is a lesser version available, with a mere 355 hp and a max speed of only 344 mph! There is no word on pricing for either vehicle, but it seems the German firm is already taking orders for a yet to be determined launch.

We already have green scooters and electric pedal cycles, but now the first electric Superbike could be on its way. The Vectrix R-Moto Superbike will hit a claimed 160 mph, but 120 mph gives a more useful time span from the battery! More information at www.vectrixeurope.com

Finally in New Zealand a biker crashed into a police vehicle after a high speed pursuit. Garry Muzyka, aged 46, had a lever on his machine that enabled the registration plate to move to the horizontal position in order to avoid detection by speed cameras. Bizarrely his 612-pound fine ($1075) did not include any penalty for attempting to avoid detection by cameras!


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