We’re sad to announce that Harley-Davidson is discontinuing the Buell brand and selling off its share in MV Agusta. As a result of the shocking news, Erik Buell comes ahead and speaks with a trembling voice about his 26-year engineering adventure that resulted in a motorcycle brand with global recognition, the first one to show that America can deliver competitive bikes and go head to head with European and Japanese brands in this segment of the industry. Also, the founder of the company thanks customers and dealers for that support and he explains that motorcycles currently found in dealerships are the last to ever be sold and HD will continue to honor the full factory warranty on his motorcycles. You can see the video and read HD’s immense press release about their third-quarter results after the break.
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These are the leaked official photos of the much anticipated Stradaperta, Hypermotard’s successor in the adventure touring class (that is if you get your hands on a pair of off-road wheels and soften up the suspension a little bit). The bike will be powered by a liquid-cooled, V-twin engine of large displacement such as the ones found on the Ducati Streetfighter (1099cc) and on the Ducati 1198 (1198cc).
In terms of style, Ducati makes quite a daring move with the aggressive air intakes cut into the mudguard and stops pretty much there. Now, we could have lived with the thought that this 2010 Italian road bike comes with a dirt-style mudguard, but what’s with the bar-mounted mirrors? At least they stick to the abbreviated brush guards with integrated indicators and keep things in the off-road register although the bike will most likely never leave the tarmac. The Ducati Stradaperta will debut at the EICMA show next month.
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The original Honda Cub has to be one of the greatest motorcycles of all times simply because it was affordable, easy to maintain and very practical. That small motorcycle helped put the world on two wheels, so you can understand our joy of hearing that Honda is planning to revamp the extremely popular model. The biggest news about it is that it will have two-wheel drive and benefit of power coming from a small, electric engine, while the exterior design is reminiscent of that first late 1950s model.
2WD enhances traction and stability around corners, allowing riders to control the already highly maneuverable motorcycle with the greatest ease. This is not a Honda breakthrough as Yamaha and KTM have also flirted with the idea, but Big Red will present the EV-Cub at this year’s Tokyo Motor Show and it is expected to hit dealerships by the end of 2010.
Honda also speaks about one of their latest gadgets called LOOP and supposed to enable riders to communicate with one another during long rides. This should make Honda’s stand even more interesting.
The “Snowmobile” is a concept belonging to British Designer Evangelos Gicas, who drew it as a combination between current snowmobiles and MotoGP racing bikes. This is only in theory because our friends at Gizmodo practically see it as a “Sperm-Shaped Snowmobile” and while we have to admit that the human machinery was always a trendsetter, urgent protection methods are required.
Long, low and sleek, the Snowmobile concept will supposedly offer a riding position similar to that of a supersports motorcycle, but we can’t see how this can be an advantage considering the fact that, unlike its inspiration sources, this thing doesn’t offer riders the possibility to lift themselves in a fairly upright riding position when braking or, in this case, trying to see and avoid dangers in time. Still, it looks like it can start an avalanche from a standstill and that’s why we like it so much.
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Verdandi is an electric-powered chopper designed by automotive designer Michael Hallgren and two students from the Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden: Anton Grammatikas and Viktor Berglin.
They started from the question “why fewer women than men ride motorcycles, and what can be done to attract female users and customers to the motorcycle market?” and came up to the conclusion that very few bikes are built with the female ergonomics in mind.
The Verdandi project is the solution to this problem and they’ve even created a full-scale clay model to prove it. This is claimed to be fairly safe, comfortable to ride for women and not harm the environment.
I wish we had this kind of projects back in college.
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Suzuki has created a 400cc version of their versatile entry-level naked bike, the Gladius. The new model will even feature ABS, despite the much smaller newly designed V-twin engine.
Suzuki will have this exposed at the next Tokyo Motor Show and the bike will then start being sold in Japan. If it comes to the US, it will probably turn into a hot seller, but there’s no word on that yet.
Italian manufacturer MV Agusta has today presented a teaser shot partially unveiling the 2010 version of the F4 superbike scheduled for the official launch on November 8.
Given the fact that the 1998 model was designed by Massimo Tamburini and has withstood the test of time, the front end is mainly unchanged: the diamond headlight has the same shape, but now contains LED running lights and a single large projector lamp, the windscreen now blends better in with the fairing and it is much sharper at the base. The shot also reveals restyled mirrors, which we like.
Expect to hear more about this model as information becomes available. Meanwhile, you can check out the new MV Agusta Brutale models.
It’s official! None of the 2010 GSX-R models will be technically new, as revealed by these photos. Still, Suzuki has come up with a new blue/white color scheme for their notorious supersport lineup and this even includes dark blue coating for the frame and swingarm. Prices of the 2010-spec GSX-R1000, GSX-R750 and GSX-R600 are yet to be announced.
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Kawasaki starts the week at full throttle and releases the first photos and info regarding four of their 2010 street models, the Ninja ZX-10R, Z1000, Concours 14 and Versys. We have come to find that they are a bit retained with the upgrades, something that defines their strategy in the uncertain times that we’re traversing.
The best example in this concern is definitely the new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R, which gets the looks of its middleweight brother, the ZX-6R, and an 18-position Ohlins steering damper. I believe it’s in vain mentioning how much more we were expecting considering the competition in this class, but in the end 200bhp is nothing to laugh at.
At least Kawasaki doesn’t break the “all-new 2010 Z1000” promise and the new bike will be powered by a 1,043cc inline-four engine developing 136bhp and 81lb/ft of torque. The frame is now made of aluminum while the suspension and brakes are new as well and the thing has a dry weight of 436.9lbs (198.2kg). The 2010 Kawasaki Z1000 also looks new, but that doesn’t necessarily mean better. It should make a statement against motorcycles such as the Ducati Streetfighter and MV Agusta Brutale 1090RR, but definitely not at a first glance.
The 2010 Kawasaki Concours 14 gets traction control and a fuel economy mode as well as anti-lock brakes and a much more appealing design.
At the bottom of our list is the new Kawasaki Versys, which gets a new strange headlight and what we dare calling a facelift. Powered by the same 62bhp 649cc parallel-twin, this versatile middleweight motorcycle
should now be an even sweeter ride thanks to the new footpegs with rubber inserts, clearly a nice touch claimed to reduce vibrations.
Expect to read more about each model on this page in the next couple of days.
That car guy who at one point in time qualified motorcyclists as being ‘grown up man in power ranger suits’ might not have been that far from the truth considering that Universal Designs have created the Dark Knight Batman leather motorcycle suit. It is made of cordura, leather, kevlar and CE approved armor, which can be removed when you’re not actually riding your way to the end of delinquency.
Priced at US$998, the suit will be sold in a number of 1000 units, so you better hurry up if you were long planning to find the right gear to wear on your midnight cruiser.
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