Hugh Janus

Patents show Aprilia working on a new trike, possibly powered by the old Mana 839cc V-twin. (Aprilia/)When Aprilia introduced the automatic transmission-equipped Mana in 2006, it wasn’t a success. The idea of bolting a scooter-style twist-and-go transmission to a big 839cc V-twin engine turned out to be better on paper than in reality and didn’t attract a vast number of buyers. But the same powertrain might turn out to be just the right solution for the firm’s latest brainchild—a big tilting trike that looks to rival the likes of Yamaha’s Niken. The larger-capacity three-wheeler may be in the same category as Yamaha’s 847cc Niken trike, though it would (presumably) have an automatic transmission. (Aprilia/)Leaning three-wheelers make up a section of the market that’s still trying to define itself. Aprilia’s parent firm, Piaggio, popularized the trike idea for smaller scooters with its MP3 model some 15 years ago and many rivals have emerged since then, but there’s clearly a lingering belief that the same arrangement could also be a success on larger machines. Aprilia and Piaggio both tried 500cc scoots based on the layout, but it’s Yamaha that’s gone all-in on the big tilting trike format by launching the Niken, which is powered by the 847cc three-cylinder engine from the firm’s MT-09 two-wheeler. That doesn’t appear to be a move that Piaggio is taking lying down, and the patent images you see here show how the company is working on a bike that would clearly rival the Niken, as well as debuting a new version of the leaning front suspension system that’s been developed specifically for higher-performance applications. The patents show the rear end of Aprilia’s since-retired Mana model, presumably just for reference. (Aprilia/)The bike in the patents clearly uses the rear end of the Aprilia Mana, which might be an ideal choice, as its CVT transmission and relatively gentle 75 hp, 839cc, SOHC V-twin would offer an easy-to-use appeal for the car drivers it would be hoping to convert. Combining motorcycle levels of performance with scooter-style ease of use and the added grip, stability, and confidence that two front wheels bring might be just enough to sway potential new riders who lack the confidence to jump straight from cars onto two wheels. What’s more, in some places—including the EU—the layout would be legal for car license holders to use without needing to take any more instruction or testing. However, the Aprilia patent’s main focus is the high-performance tilting front suspension system, which means a similar design could also be applied to a machine using another of Aprilia’s engines—perhaps the new 660 twin or even the 1,100 V-4 of the RSV4. The main focus however is not on the older engine or bodywork, but a new high-performance tilting front suspension system. (Aprilia/)Like both the Niken and the MP3, the tilting front end on this patent is based on a set of parallel spars that mount on pivots just below the bike’s bars and carry a head tube at each end, ensuring that the front wheels lean at the same angle as the main body of the bike. However, the suspension works differently: Where the Niken uses telescopic forks and the MP3 features leading-link suspension, the new Aprilia design features curved alloy uprights leading down between the front wheels, connecting to them via four short, wishbone-style links. RELATED: Yamaha’s Niken Three-Wheeler Is a Corner-Carving Missile The result is a setup that offers racecar-style levels of adjustment. Tweaking the lengths and pivot points of those “wishbone” elements means the wheel angles can be altered depending on suspension travel to maximize grip. Like a car, each wheel has a coilover shock of its own—and patent illustrations show these as high-spec, remote-reservoir units. The new setup uses a different style suspension than previous designs, with each wheel receiving its own high-spec shock. (Aprilia/)While we wouldn’t expect the final production machine to look quite like the illustrations—it seems unlikely that Piaggio would dig up the old Mana’s rear bodywork and exhaust as shown in the drawings—their detail appears to suggest a project that’s much more advanced than an engineer’s idle doodling. It’s likely that there’s a genuine prototype somewhere in Aprilia’s Noale headquarters that looks just like the drawings. No doubt Piaggio’s bean counters are paying close attention to Yamaha’s Niken sales and making calculations to decide whether the market for big, tilting trikes is healthy enough to support a rival. Source

“He did so much for us, and the only thing he really asked in return was to give our best effort.” (Andrea Wilson /)“What’s wrong, son?” chuckles the man, laying his hand gently against the young boy’s cheek. A lamp on the bedside table reveals stubborn defiance and a trembling lower lip, the little face framed by a pillowcase adorned with a motorcycle motif. “No!” the young boy demands. “Wrong ending! Tell it again!” And so, with mock reluctance, the man launches into what is clearly a familiar tale of a thrilling racing battle waged between protagonists identified by colorful nicknames. A glimmer of suspicion lingers on the young boy’s rapt visage as the astonishing exploits of King Kenny and Fast Freddie tumble out until, with the imaginary conflict seemingly approaching its climax, a new character is introduced. “But wait, who’s this?!” the man exclaims, and the young boy’s wariness morphs into gratification. “Number 69? The race program says he’s a rookie, entered as a wild card. He’s listed as an American, name of Nicky, but how can he be up to third place after starting from the last row of the grid?! And he’s not finished yet! They enter the final corner, and Nicky swoops under Fast Freddie and locks onto King Kenny’s rear tire! Now he’s pulling out of the draft, and as they cross the line, it’s Nicky by a hair!” And with that, finally, the young boy permits Earl Hayden to tuck in the sheets, switch off the lamp, and kiss him good night. Three and a half decades later, the racing exploits of Earl’s offspring are now complete, and the Hayden family legend is cemented. Along with older brother Tommy and younger brother Roger, the late Nicky Hayden has captured the hearts of racing fans, first on dusty Midwestern ovals, and eventually on roadrace circuits across the country and globe, the old-school “Earl’s Racing” logo accompanying them from start to finish. Earl and Rose at their wedding in 1976. Earl would later half-joke that he courted Rose—a talented equestrienne who began motorcycle racing while they dated—figuring she would improve the Hayden bloodline. “I needed to catch a Thoroughbred because I’m not that fast!” (The Hayden Family/)Champions may be born, but they’re also made and, along with mother, Rose, the Hayden family patriarch has guided and supported his children in myriad ways: remov­ing springs from the playroom rocking horse to develop balance; running five stopwatches while the kids (including daughters Kathleen and Jenny) spun countless laps around their farm practice track, Sunset Downs (so-named for the family’s penchant for riding until dusk); and driving the old box van through the night to get from school to another race. Having contracted the motorcycle bug when his school bus made a daily stop at a local dealership, Earl began racing locally, wearing the No. 69 that would later be famously appropriated by his son Nicky. (Earl claims he chose the number because it could be read even when his bike was upside down.) (The Hayden Family/)“He did so much for us, and the only thing he really asked in return was to give our best effort,” Roger recalls. “That was between the races as well—out in the shed washing bikes and gear, just doing what we could. We had a mechanic, but our dad wanted us to be a part of it—not just watch TV all week and then show up when it was time to get in the truck to leave. Our teams have always liked us, and I think that goes back to our respect for them because we knew the time they were putting in. At the end of the day, it taught us about responsibility.” With three daughters of his own, the lessons are perhaps even more apt for Tommy. “He’d drive us 12, 15 hours each way nearly every weekend,” he marvels. “After I was 4 or 5, his commitment to just us was unlimited. He didn’t have any hobbies of his own; every bit of energy and money and spare time went to help us reach our goals—and that didn’t change until now, really. I think about it all the time; that unselfishness would work in whatever path you choose with your kids. Now, honestly, I look myself in the mirror and think, Could I do that for my kids? I’m more appreciative than ever.” Nicky works the bike wash in the Haydens’ Owensboro, Kentucky, driveway. (The Hayden Family/)Of course, committing to a cause is easier when you truly believe in it, and thanks to Earl’s inspirational example, the Hayden kids were true apostles, to the extent that they viewed scrubbing race wheels more as playtime and less as a household chore. And as the examples of the family’s devotion to racing accumulated, they took the form of tales that were added to Earl’s ample canon—factual but imbued with romance through countless narrations. Nearly every weekend beginning in 1991, the family’s ’89 Ford box van (purchased used from pro dirt-tracker Scott Stump) was on the road to another race, loaded down with equipment for up to five kids (not counting friends and mechanics). (The Hayden Family/) Earl would sometimes fashion a second level in the back using folding tables, and he swears he could fit 12 or 14 bikes (many of which were 60s or 80s). For return trips, space for trophies had to be factored in. (The Hayden Family/)Anyone who has had the good fortune to sit with “Squirrel” can attest to his yarn-spinning prowess. With a Kentucky twang, a charming lexicon, and a bottomless pool of material accumulated through a lifetime of experiences, he has regularly entertained audiences of adoring race fans, jaded journalists, and hard-nosed team personnel, just as he once enthralled the Hayden kids on Earl’s Lane in Owensboro (where race posters still cover the walls and ceiling of the little upstairs bedroom). Earl started Nicky racing so early, they had to use batting gloves for his tiny hands (The Hayden Family/) Following the advice of dirt-track legend Scott Parker, the Haydens transitioned to roadracing in the early ’90s, making regular trips to Texas CMRA races. (The Hayden Family /)Since checking out library biographies of sports greats as a youth, Earl has recognized that stories have the power to teach, but also to advance careers. He once happened across a vinyl disc called Motorcycle Man: The True Story of Motorcycles, with singing by Buddy Mize, as well as spoken-word stories about actual AMA Grand National Championship racers. Earl recorded the album to play on road trips with the kids, who gained an appreciation for racing history, but he also made bootleg copies and handed them out to potential sponsors, firmly establishing his family in the minds of managers—handy when it came time for contract dispensation. Earl often reminds people that Nicky, Tommy, and Roger’s renowned ’02 Springfield TT podium sweep was technically the Haydens’ second such accomplishment; 13 years earlier, Tommy, Nicky, and sister Jenny took the top three positions in the 65cc TT class at the Peoria, Illinois, AMA Amateur Nationals. (The Hayden Family/)More than anything, though, Earl’s stories inspired his kids to chase their dreams—to seek a historic brotherly sweep of the 2002 Springfield TT podium; to leave behind a beloved family and live in a frigid Belgian apartment in order to face the world’s best; to be the first rider on the track and the last one off during monotonous days of testing at sweltering circuits; and even, in the Portuguese gravel at the 2006 MotoGP World Championship’s penultimate round, to dare think that a crash out of the point lead needn’t mean all is lost. Earl in a typical pose—trackside with Rose and his faithful clipboard, complete with three stopwatches (one for each son). (The Hayden Family/) Thanks to their talents and abilities—but also their good manners and likable personalities—Roger, Nicky, and Tommy managed to land spots on top teams throughout their careers. (The Hayden Family/) Through their success, the Hayden family has remained united but open, even as their numbers have grown through marriage and children. Here, they celebrate MotoGP’s 2019 retirement of Nicky’s No. 69. (The Hayden Family/)The young man lines up in fifth position and glances at “the Doctor,” who sits four grid spots and eight championship points ahead, with the crown to be decided over the next 30 laps. The Spanish crowd roars, the lights flash off, and the young man drops the clutch, rocketing forward with a lightning start. He brushes alongside his title rival’s left elbow as they hurtle down the front straight, and when the pack exits turn one, he sits several spots out of the lead, but ahead of the Doctor. Inside his helmet, the young man’s expression is calmly determined. He already knows how this story ends. Source

The 2021 BMW R 18 heavyweight cruiser certainly gives you a lot to look at, but the monstrous 1,802cc or 110ci horizontally opposed boxer twin engine—the largest BMW Motorrad has ever produced—steals the show. Strapped onto Cycle World’s in-house Dynojet 250i dyno, the R 18 produced 81.34 hp at 4,800 rpm and 103.09 pound-feet of torque at 2,880 rpm. The graph clearly shows the emphasis BMW engineers were going for, with generous torque from near idle: Roughly 95 pound-feet is available from 1,750 rpm and output doesn’t drop below 90 pound-feet until just before 5,000 rpm, with stated rev limit of the engine at 5,500 rpm. So ample torque is available across the range, emphasis and sweet spot being 1,750 to 3,500, which backs up real-world test impressions. 2021 BMW R 18 Dyno Chart (Robert Martin/)In our first ride of the BMW R 18, Senior Editor Justin Dawes noted both the ample torque available down low, and the presence of vibration as revs rose. “This is an engine that prefers to lope rather than gallop—both power delivery and higher-rpm engine vibration ask the rider to short-shift and use torque rather than revs,” Dawes commented. “And vibration is prominent when trying to make time on the R 18. Beginning just at about 3,500 rpm and continuing through 4,500 rpm, the engine is a buzz-bomb in this 1,000 rpm range. Mirrors blur, fingers fizz, and lower portions of your body tingle. Thankfully, at 80 mph in sixth gear, revs sit just below the vibration threshold, meaning you can go fast.” Technical Editor Kevin Cameron wrote about the engine in this preview, including BMW’s decision to omit a balancer that would reduce engine vibration. The R 18′s power output is on par with its American-made competitors, particularly the Harley-Davidson Milwaukee-Eight 114 V-twin, which produced a near identical 81.3 peak horsepower at 4,780 rpm, but roughly 8 percent more max torque of 111.47 pound-feet of torque at 2,520 rpm. It’s no coincidence the R 18′s curves closely resemble those of the Harley. You can see the last time we ran the Street Glide 114 on the dyno here, as well as the resulting power increase of the Screamin' Eagle 131 crate engine swap project bike for which we had run the 114. Source

The new 1250TR-G is the most powerful production bike yet to emerge from China. (CFMoto/)Few Chinese motorcycle firms have been as readily accepted in the West as CFMoto. This year it has raised its game again with the launch of the 700CL-X, and for 2021 the company is taking another huge leap into the big leagues with its new 1250TR-G tourer. First making its debut earlier this year as a prototype targeting the contract to supply China’s massive market for police and security service motorcycles, the 1250TR-G is the production-spec, civilian version that will go on sale in the first half of 2021. It made its debut over the weekend at the huge CIMA show in China, which is one of the few big motorcycle expos not to be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The new bike continues the years-long cooperation between KTM and CFMoto, with the latter company building some of the Austrian firm’s smaller engines of late. (CFMoto/)What makes the 1250TR-G significant? Well, it’s the most powerful production bike yet to emerge from China and a machine that cements the growing ties between CFMoto and KTM. The two companies have worked together for several years, with CFMoto building KTM-branded bikes for the Chinese market and responsible for manufacturing some of the Austrian firm’s smaller engines for sale worldwide. This year CFMoto has also taken on production of the KTM LC8c parallel twin, as used in the 790 Adventure, 790 Duke, and 890 Duke R. The TR-G’s large-displacement V-twin is based on KTM’s LC8 vee, but in this application it’s tuned more for torque. (CFMoto/)With the 1250TR-G, CFMoto gets its own large-capacity V-twin using a design based on the big LC8 vee that’s powered KTM’s most powerful models over several generations, ever since it first appeared in the RC8 superbike more than a decade ago. Coming in at 1,279cc, the CFMoto engine isn’t identical to any existing KTM version of the engine, and unlike the Austrian versions, it’s tuned for torque rather than out-and-out power. Peaking at 140 hp, it’s just a fraction ahead of BMW’s 134 hp R 1250 RT, which is surely the CFMoto’s most direct rival in the touring bike market. That TFT screen is the largest you’ll find on a motorcycle and it performs multiple functions. (CFMoto/)Along with more power, the new CFMoto promises an overload of technology as befits a range-topping tourer. The bike’s TFT instrument display is the largest ever seen on a motorcycle, and it offers multiple configurations of instruments as well as a mind-boggling array of information. It can tell you everything from the radio station playing via the bike’s JBL-made stereo to the tire pressure. It also allows the rider to control several onboard functions including the bike’s built-in Bluetooth multimedia and navigation, as well as the riding modes and the settings of the electronic suspension, which comes courtesy of WP. Brembo radial calipers operated by a Bosch ABS aim to change the unflattering image of Chinese bikes. (CFMoto/)The name brand components continue onto the brakes—Brembo radial calipers are operated via a Bosch ABS system—and between them mean that despite the 1250TR-G’s Chinese roots there’s little to suggest the bike’s quality will fall anywhere below what you might expect from Japan or Europe. Just as Hyundai and Kia have transformed the image of Korean-made cars in recent years, CFMoto is on the warpath to change the perception of Chinese motorcycles. As it’s going up against the likes of BMW’s R 1250 RT, the 1250TR-G piles on touring amenities like JBL speakers. (CFMoto /)At the moment we’re still waiting to find out what CFMoto’s plans are for the 1250TR-G on the export market, but with production expected to start in the first half of 2021 it shouldn’t be long before that becomes clear. Source

One of the ways the CB750 changed the industry in 1969 was by simplifying production via a one-piece crankshaft and plain journal bearings. Shown is a 1970 model. (Courtesy Bonhams /)Honda’s 1969 CB750 took the marketplace by storm, outselling Triumph/BSA’s 750 Triple 10 to one. England did nothing. Advanced Japanese production systems could now build overhead-cam electric-start bikes at pushrod and kickstart prices. Honda’s new four introduced automotive cost control in the form of a one-piece forged steel crankshaft that was carried, not in the traditional ball or roller bearings, but in simple and reliable plain journal bearings. Triumph’s Edward Turner had moved in this direction in 1937 by running the 500 Speed Twin’s aluminum rods directly on its crankpins, but like Ducati in its long-running twins, he retained rolling main bearings. Motorcycle engines had always used rolling bearings. Soichiro Honda himself was a believer, insisting that his classic four-stroke GP bikes of the 1960s have complex and fabulously expensive pressed-together roller crankshafts, able in the five-cylinder 125 to spin up to 21,000 revs. Today, every single engine in Formula 1, MotoGP, and World Superbike spins on plain journal bearings. Kawasaki’s early big four-strokes like the Z1 continued to use a crankshaft turning on traditional rolling bearings. (Courtesy Wikipedia/)Plain bearings are sensitive to dirt, but factories were now clean, and use of fine-particle-stopping pleated paper oil and air filters was beginning. A forged one-piece crank had no pressed-together joints to slip, but Honda’s fearsome RC181 Grand Prix 500 four in its final year (1967) did suffer instances of slipped joints. Enough. It was time for change. That would take time—Kawasaki and Suzuki in their early big four-strokes continued use of roller cranks (Suzuki’s big GS has a role to this day in ProStock drag racing, so Vance & Hines list its own, made-from-new-forgings roller drag crank at $5,500). Today, some off-road four-stroke singles do have roller rods, but that is more to simplify the oil system than for any intrinsic value in rolling bearings. The brand’s new two-stroke H1 triples quickly showed their prowess in match races against Bonnevilles and Sportsters. (Kawasaki Archives/)Kawasaki, inheriting a lackluster BSA-like 650 twin from a subsidiary, in the later 1960s pushed into the US market with high-performance two-stroke rotary valve twins in 250 and 350 displacements. Honda’s long experience in that market had given them full coverage from 50 to 750cc, but the relatively bland performance of most Honda production bikes left room for hot rods like the new Kawasakis. In 1969, the former aircraft manufacturer added a 500cc inline-triple, the Mach 1, a bike which quickly became king of the closing-time match races, pushing Triumph Bonnevilles and Harley Sportsters down the pecking order. Talk right and you could ride away on one for under a grand. Yes, they smoked and said “ding,” but quarter-mile time slips didn’t lie. Disc brakes on the CB750 were also a first for production motorcycles of the late 20th century. (Andrew Cherney /)Disc Brakes Arrive Honda’s CB750 introduced the disc brake to the motorcycle market, but the idea had been played with off-and-on since Jaguar in 1953 used experimental Dunlop disc brakes on its C-type sports racing car to win the Le Mans 24-hour race. Drum brakes could be made very powerful by adding the self-servo action of leading shoes (a geometry in which shoe pressure is boosted by wheel rotation), but this tended to make braking “digital”—either on or off. Disc brakes could be both very powerful and accurately controllable. When our new 1974 TZ250 arrived at Boston Cycles, we sold its outdated big drum brake to a street guy for a hundred bucks (people are paying $2,500 for them now) and put a single 10.6-inch RD350 disc brake in its place. By the early 1970s, more powerful motorcycles were starting to overwhelm the narrow-profile, skinny tires of the day (Motorcyclist Archives/)The Tire Revolution Of 1972 Little Yamaha 350 twins won Daytona in 1972 and ’73 while full 750 two-stroke triples from Suzuki and Kawasaki tore up their tires. In ’72, Phil Read on Peter Williams’s Norton-based racer was fourth behind three little Yamaha twins, and in ’73, Dick Mann on a Triumph Triple was fourth behind three Yamaha 350s. Motorcycling was turning upside down. Everybody was learning fast in racing. When we got to the Dallas national in ’73, there was Dick Mann, puzzling over what he was to do with the Triumph 750 twin he’d been issued for the event. Wider rubber with a round profile and under-tread belts would prove to be the answer. (Motorcyclist Archives/)Dunlop’s Tony Mills saw that what he called “the hard rubber era” was over. To handle the 100-plus hp of the new 750 two-stroke racers plus the added load of the Daytona banking, called for a much wider tire with a round section that laid down a big footprint at all lean angles. Race tires had always been of all-weather design, with deep water drainage grooves molded into their tread. Such grooves made individual tread elements weak, allowing them to flex, generating tire-destroying heat. Mills' new tire retained only a few vestigial grooves—just enough to say so. To stop centrifugal tire growth at speed, he gave his tire a fabric under-tread belt. The modern motorcycle tire of today began with his innovations. Bultaco saw the possibilities of placing a lightweight engine in a minimal package to appeal to the off-road crowd. (Courtesy Amazon/Jager/)Off-Road Bikes For Everyone Back in the “you meet the nicest people” days, it wasn’t long before “street ‘n’ trail” versions of small Japanese bikes appeared, often with a giant bacon-slicer rear sprocket. Bultaco, in mountainous northern Spain, combined the lightweight two-stroke engine with minimalist cycle parts to make off-road bikes attractive to a specialist following. The new European sport of Motocross was transformed by the lightness of two-stroke power. Marketing now took over—if a few purists like off-road sport, where’s everyone else? Yamaha’s DT-series two-strokes sold briskly and soon great numbers of riders were churning dirt on weekends. Sign up here to receive our newsletters. Get the latest in motorcycle reviews, tests, and industry news, subscribe here for our YouTube channel. 1974—Long-Travel Suspension Arrives There’s nothing like active competition to inspire ideas. Up to the beginning of the 1970s, motorcycle chassis and suspension had evolved along 1950-60s lines, following the epoch-making Featherbed twin-loop frame designed for Norton in 1950 by the Irish McCandless brothers. Rear suspensions offered roughly 3 inches of travel—plenty for traditional street riders, but the impacts and jump landings of the expanding off-road market soon uncovered an underlying principle: a suspension’s ability to absorb energy is proportional to the wheel travel, squared. In practical terms that meant you could leave the 3-inch people far behind by extending suspension travel, and enjoy the victory party while the short-travel riders took to their beds with hot compresses. Rethinking Suspension Dampers And here came another discovery: Traditional rear shocks, even though designed to have 90 percent of their damping on the rebound stroke, felt like they were locking solid at the high damper-rod speeds of off-road riding. It was a case of simultaneous invention—when engineers at Honda, in the US aftermarket, and elsewhere, actually measured damper-rod speeds in the field and tried to simulate them in their labs, damper rods broke just as they were breaking on MX tracks everywhere. Simple compression damping just pushed oil through an orifice, converting suspension energy into the kinetic energy of a fluid jet. The nature of fluid resistance is that the pressure necessary to produce this jet rises as the square of speed. This quickly reached a state of “orifice limitation”; it effectively locked solid at higher damper rod speeds. Engineers quickly came up with variable-orifice compression systems (usually, flexible washers covering many orifices) that prevented this, and soon found they could tailor any desired curve of resistance-versus-damper-rod velocity. This tailoring is what “re-stacking your shock” is all about—using combinations of bending washers and shims to achieve the desired damping curve. RELATED: Kawasaki Z1 - CLASSICS REMEMBERED Racers had long known that it was best to time your upshift off Daytona’s last infield turn 5 to occur just as you hit the transition from the flat onto the 31-degree banking. If you didn’t, the combination of damper compression lockup and being under power could send you sliding. Strange to say that problems first encountered in the Spanish mountains and on 25-hp 250 MXers produced a revolution in road bike and roadrace suspension, but that’s just what happened. Three fundamental changes launched the modern late-20th-century motorcycle—Tony Mills' wide, round-profile tire on a matching wider rim, long-travel suspension, and the engineered suspension damping curve. Wider Tires Back in 1971, we were told what a privilege it was to have a rare WM4 rear rim 2-1/2 inches wide between flanges to give a proper foundation for present-day wide tires. (They’d been made especially for the anticipated but unrealized 1968 500 battles between Mike Hailwood on Honda and Giacomo Agostino on MV. Today, powerful motorcycles have rear rims 2-1/2 times wider than this—6.25 inches.) In 1974, Yamaha’s TZ750A was delivered with a 3-inch (WM5) rear rim and we later mostly used 3.5-inch. But 20 years later those tire and rim sizes, which were huge in our eyes at the time, were being used on little 250s! Source

Want to know the highest price ever paid for a motorcycle? Yeah, me too. But getting a straight answer about a seven-figure private motorcycle sale is a sketchy enterprise. Even discreet inquiries to the very rich are typically answered with a dollop of BS, the usual sum of money, plus ego. While I can confirm that many motorcycles have sold for more than $1 million, none can be independently verified, hence there really should be an asterisk on the title of our story. The only reliable-ish accounting of collectible motorcycle sales is via public auctions. With company reputations at stake on big sales, my experience is the major auction houses give straight reporting of their high-dollar transactions. Things you should know: It’s perfectly legal for auction houses to ghost bid up to a bike’s reserve price, so while you may be the only person bidding on a 1940 Crocker, up to a point you will still have vigorous competition! RELATED: 10 Things The Las Vegas Motorcycle Auctions Tell Us About The Collector Market Here’s a list of the top 15 motorcycle sales at auction. As you’ll see, it’s heavy with super-rare V-twins: Brough Superiors, Vincents, Crockers, and Cyclones. There are two four-cylinder bikes (Henderson and Brough Superior-Austin), and one flat twin that’s the only Grand Prix racer on the list. That might seem surprising, if you follow the car auction scene, where race history is the golden ticket. This Vincent tops our list of the world’s 15 most expensive motorcycles. How much? Read on. (Bonhams Auctions/)It seems motorcycle collecting is much more about passion and PR (perceived reputation) than in the car world: Bikers will spend fortunes on what’s cool rather than what won races. Dig into that any way you like, but the bottom line is, if you want a motorcycle that’s rare and everyone agrees is the absolute coolest thing on wheels, be prepared to dig deep: The entry level for this list is $450,000. And no, there hasn’t been a million-dollar motorcycle sale at auction…yet. 15. 1926 Brough Superior SS100: $453,000 (October 2012, RM Auctions) 15: The British-made Brough Superior was known as the Rolls-Royce of motorcycles. (RM Sotheby’s/)The first beauty on our list and one of several Brough Superiors is this SS100 still in its original early form, with a J.A.P. KTOR racing engine, and “dog ear” rocker arm supports for its exposed pushrods and valve springs. The first-generation SS100 is spindly and raw, and despite being incredibly elegant, is an uncompromising machine. With hard-inflated 23-inch beaded-edge tires, it carries its cast-iron cylinders fairly high, giving a razor’s edge feel when pushing around a parking lot. With 9.0:1 compression, a big swing on the kickstarter gives a woffly chuff, followed by a smooth bonky idle. Pull the lever throttle back to feel 94 years of history vanish, and you are aboard a fast-running cheetah, making an incredible noise, and quickly outrunning any hope of braking for an emergency. Affordable in an elite group, this first-generation 1926 Brough SS100 sold for $453,000. (RM Sotheby’s/)No matter, tears of joy erase the worry of repeating Lawrence of Arabia’s demise, and an easy 80 mph on any American road will see you mostly airborne due to rock-hard tires and minimal suspension. Beyond that is terra incognita, the land of the very brave and well-insured, but given the chance, you must, mustn’t you? Every cell of your body will be altered forever, hopefully not by dying. I speak from experience, having ridden exactly this model across the USA on the coast-to-coast vintage bike rally called the Cannonball in 2018. Nothing of the era can touch it, and it’s worth every penny—if you have them, of course. 14. 1929 Brough Superior SS100: $465,350 (October 2015, H&H Classics) 14. Broughs are popular on this list. In fact, this $465,350 bike is on it twice! (thevintagent.com Archive/)Later on this list, you’ll see this bike appear again. Yes, this is the same machine as No. 9, sold a year later at a loss of about $30,000. Who says prices always go up? When you’re in big money land, the price comes down to who is bidding, how much they’re willing to spend, and if anyone else is bidding against them. As far as I know, there were no asterisks or question marks attached to this bike to justify a lower price, but there you go. I once asked a Brough Superior collector, who happened to be a hedge fund guy, if blue chip motorcycles were a good investment. “Motorcycles are terrible investments: Buy them because you love them.” Sound advice. 13. 1922 Brough Superior SS80 “Old Bill”: $469,800 (October 2012, H&H Classics) 13. This 1922 Brough SS80, shown here with former company workers in 1968, was known as “Old Bill.” (H&H Classics/)Another one of George Brough’s personal competition bikes, “Old Bill” was the prototype of the SS80 model, with its guaranteed 80-mph top speed. Named after a cartoon character from World War I, Old Bill was built for speed, and was the first British side-valve racer to top 100 mph. The engine was tuned by the legendary Bert LeVack, who carved the flywheels down to slender rims connected to the crankpin by a single arm. Struts were added to the frame for stability, and George, who could really ride, took this bike to 52 first-place finishes in a series of sprints (that’s drag racing to you) in 1922. It was the prototype for the then-new SS80 models and sold for $469,800 at auction in 2012. (Mecum Auctions/)But George wasn’t on Old Bill over that last finish line—he’d got a flat and fallen off, but the bike carried on to make the stripe, but he was disqualified because, as one competitor protested, “If the rider ain’t on it, you might as well fire it from a gun!” 12. 1939 BMW RS255 Rennsport Kompressor: $480,000 (January 2013, Bonhams Auctions) 12. The only Grand Prix racer on the list, this BMW RS255 is fast, rare, and supercharged. (Bonhams Auctions/)The only Grand Prix racer on our list is this supercharged BMW, a legendary model for having won the 1939 Isle of Man TT, and holding the absolute motorcycle land speed record from 1937-1951, at 173.68 mph. The RS255 was a brilliant machine, with an integral supercharger powering a shaft-and-bevel double-overhead-camshaft motor, that managed despite its complication to be 30 pounds lighter than its rival Norton racers. It didn’t handle like a Norton, though, and Georg Meier was a brave man to wrestle this wild animal to victory in the TT, and many other races. How much? This bike, built from BMW factory spares in the ’80s, sold for $480,000 in 2013. (Bonhams Auctions/)RS255s are extraordinarily rare, and this bike was built up by racer Walter Zeller in the 1980s, from genuine factory race team parts stored in the BMW race shop. Imagine that. It really is the ultimate BMW, for while the postwar Rennsports won more races, the prewar blown version is the cat’s meow. 11. 1931 Brough Superior BS4: $481,624 (April 2016, Bonhams Auctions) 11. Back to Broughs? Yep, but this rough roller four-cylinder is one of only 10 made. Yes, three wheels! (Bonhams Auctions/)A four-cylinder Brough Superior? The company built four different fours, actually, but this was the only version to see production, if 10 examples count. George Brough made a deal with Austin to use its water-cooled Austin 7 motor, beefed up with a high-compression aluminum sports cylinder head and twin carbs. Rather than cast up a new gearbox, George cheekily used the Austin 'box, running the driveshaft between a pair of close-coupled rear wheels, driven via a bevel box. The Brough three-wheeler was a sensation, and had a reverse gear too! It was intended for sidecar use, but journalist Hubert Chantrey challenged George, who claimed it could be ridden solo. George suggested Chantrey ride one in the London-Exeter Trial, which he did, and was so impressed he ordered this machine for himself! Chantrey entered this bike in several road trials in 1932 and ’33, and was famous for riding it backward around Piccadilly Circus. RELATED: The First Superbike Motorcycle Built by George Brough Austin car engine and transmission led to three-wheel setup. Even like this, it sold for $481,624! (Bonhams Auctions/)The BS4 is unique, and just might be the most elegant motorcycle ever built. Sadly, this bike sat for decades in outdoor storage in Bodmin Moor, and was rough as a bear’s behind when sold in 2016. Someone still thought it was worth a fortune, and having road tested a BS4, I endorse this message. 10. 1912 Henderson Four: $490,000 (January 2017, Mecum Auctions) 10. This original paint American-made 1912 Henderson four made $490,000 at auction in 2017. (Mecum Auctions/)If the Brough Superior was the Rolls-Royce of motorcycles, the Henderson four was the Duesenberg. Long and elegant, the brainchild of William Henderson was a remarkable machine for its day, being fast, reliable, and extravagant. It was good enough in 1912 to become the first motorcycle ridden around the world (Carl Stearns Clancy), and even today early Hendersons make every mile on the Cannonball cross-USA rally. A man of style: Henderson reliability let Carl Stearns Clancy ride around the world in 1912. (thevintagent.com Archive/)This machine is a first-year model in totally original condition, with an achingly beautiful patina and fascinating small details. Original paint is the gold standard in the motorcycle world, partly because it’s so easy to make a replica, and partly because the hand of the manufacturer is visible, something impossible to reproduce in a restoration. 9. 1929 Brough Superior SS100 Alpine Grand Sports: $494,580 (November 2014, Bonhams Auctions) 9. Brough enough? This 1929 SS100 with cool twin headlights guaranteed a 100-mph top speed. (Bonhams Auctions/)George Brough started production of his eponymous Superiors in 1919 with the Mk 1, and nailed his reputation to the mast in 1924 with the SS100 model. The SS100 was a true super-sports machine with a guaranteed 100-mph top speed, and it was beautiful too, with a nickel-plated bulbous gas stank straddling the frame (an industry first), and an elegant line from the nose of its “mudguard” to the tip of its throaty “carbjector” mufflers. It sold for achingly close to a half-million at $494,580. (Mecum Auctions/)The Alpine Grand Sports gained its name after trouncing all comers in the Austrian hillclimb scene, and this bike (like George’s above) has rear suspension via a Bentley & Draper swingarm. The twin-headlamp craze of the late 1920s is evident (Harley-Davidson did it too), but the Rexine-covered twin valise panniers tell a tale of gentility that would today be at odds with such world-beating performance. 8. 1930 Brough Superior SS100: $542,500 (March 2019, H&H Auctions) 8. This rolling basket case was George Brough’s personal SS100. (H&H Auctions/)The Brough Superior SS100 was a dream bike in all regards, from the days when a “luxury motorcycle”—a category lost in 1940—could also be the fastest streetbike in the world, and hold the absolute land speed record. The Superior emerged from George Brough’s fantasies of the ideal motorcycle in the dark days of World War I to become an enduring legend. Because of its history, this 1930 model sold for a remarkable $542,500. (H&H Auctions/)What George wanted: a racing engine in a stable chassis, with the most beautiful styling ever, a two-wheeled Grand Tourer, and the “Rolls-Royce of Motorcycles” as the ads proclaimed. This was George’s personal SS100, on which he competed in the 1930 ISDT, and that provenance was sufficient to launch even this rolling basket case to the financial stratosphere. 7. 1940 Crocker Big Tank: $550,000 (May 2019, Mecum Auctions) 7. America going big: Hand-made Crockers were hot rods circa 1940. Only 64 were built. (Mecum Auctions/)The first Crocker on our list is an ex-Australian bike, as the 1346Venice collection was thinned. The ensuing fight for one of the 64 (or so) Crockers ever built meant even in basic black, a Crocker is worth the price of a house, not that the bidders were in danger of homelessness. This “Big Tank” model in basic black sold for $550,000 in 2019! (Mecum Auctions /)This is a second-generation model with larger cast-aluminum fuel tanks, and improvements to the cylinder heads: Crocker went through five cylinder head designs in six years. Regardless they built the coolest and fastest American motorcycles for decades, Crocker could only build about 10 bikes a year, and if we’re honest, a lot of development work was left to the owners. Nobody cares 80 years later, as we have the technology to make them better, stronger, and faster. 6. 1915 Cyclone Board Track Racer: $551,200 (July 2008, MidAmerica Auctions) 6. This American-made Cyclone was the first bike to break the half-million mark, way back in 2008. (MidAmerica Auctions/)This Cyclone was the first auction bike to break the half-million mark, way back in 2008. Cyclones are apex collectibles, and don’t come up for auction generally, so when they do, all bets are off. I was in the room where it happened, providing color commentary for that sale from the podium, and had the great pleasure of asking the whole audience to raise their hands for the first $100,000 bid…luckily the next bid doubled that, and I was off the hook. It sold for $551,200 despite its replacement frame, thanks to being America’s first OHC V-twin. (MidAmerica Auctions/)This despite a non-original chassis (the frame is Indian, the fork Merkel, just like our upcoming No. 2 Steve McQueen Cyclone), which is typical for Cyclone racers, as their factory frames were weak and replaced with stronger parts from their rivals. But with Cyclones, it’s the engine that matters: America’s first OHC V-twin. Sign up here to receive our newsletters. Get the latest in motorcycle reviews, tests, and industry news, subscribe here for our YouTube channel. 5. 1939 Crocker “Big Tank”: $704,000 (January 2019, Mecum Auctions) 5. Bobber style from the factory, this 1939 Crocker’s polished aluminum fuel tanks set the mood. (Mecum Auctions/)Crocker magic is strong with this one. With polished cast-aluminum fuel tanks and a scallop paint job, the Crocker was perhaps the first “factory custom,” or at least, the first production motorcycle to incorporate what customizers were doing to their bikes in the 1930s. The hot trend in the USA began in the early 1930s, when fast riders chopped the frames of their Harley-Davidson JDHs for better handling, making them lower and shorter. And the mood for this Big Tank Crocker was $704,000 at auction in 2019. (Mecum Auctions/)The “cut down” style was the OG custom, and Al Crocker built his V-twin in like manner, with all the hot SoCal mods: cow horn handlebars, short fenders, and cool paint. This bike sat in the MC Museum in Sweden, was restored by Michael Weigert in Germany, and had an Idaho title from the 1950s! 4. 1907 Harley-Davidson “Strap Tank”: $715,000 (tie, March 2017, Mecum Auctions) 4. Time-warp original and just the 94th Harley ever built, this 1907 Strap Tank is ultra rare. (Mecum Auctions/)The only H-D on our list is not a V-twin! It’s a super-rare single-cylinder model from the first three years of actual Milwaukee production, and an amazing survivor in totally original, from-the-factory condition. With full provenance from new—collector EJ Cole bought it from the first-owner family—this is the 94th Harley-Davidson built. H-D began true production in 1905 with five bikes built that year, and by 1907 the Motor Company put out 150 bikes, and this was the 37th of the year. That rarity, plus its remarkable condition, helped it achieve $715,000 at auction. (Mecum Auctions/)Very few of these first “strap tanks” survive, and this is reckoned to be the best of them all. They work well too: a similar machine won the 2018 Cannonball, traversing every mile across the USA without a hitch…not that anyone would ride a time-warp machine like this. 4. 1937 Crocker “Small Tank”: $715,000 (tie, March 2017, Mecum Auctions) 4. Yes, another $715,000 bike, this Crocker making a tie for fourth on this remarkable list. (Mecum Auctions/)Not a typo: Fourth place is a tie. This early Crocker sold for exactly the same amount and at the same auction (EJ Cole’s collection liquidation), as the H-D above. This is a well-documented machine, from arch-enthusiast Chilli Child’s collection in Sydney, and is a gorgeous example of Al Crocker’s handiwork. Low production and high style mean Crockers like this 1937 Small Tank will continue to rule values. (Mecum Auctions/)The Crocker V-twin was designed with Paul Bigsby, Al’s former supervisor at Indian, who gained fame designing a whammy bar for electric guitars. The Crocker Big Twin debuted in 1936, a few months before H-D’s first overhead-valve V-twin, the EL Knucklehead, and was 20-plus-mph faster, depending on customer spec. It was a badass shop-built special, and has lodged in every true biker’s heart evermore. 3. 1936 Crocker “Small Tank”: $825,000 (August 2019, Mecum Auctions) 3. Preciously close to $1 million, another Small Tank Crocker rocked the gavel. (Mecum Auctions/)Another machine of myth and legend, the Crocker was the American V-twin everyone wanted when it was new (1936-42), but few could afford. That’s still true today! Al Crocker was an industry veteran, having started his career at Indian in the 1900s as a development engineer, and owning a string of dealerships in the ’20s and ’30s. His last dealership was on 1346 Venice Blvd., the hallowed home of Crocker motorcycles. This bike is said to be unrestored, helping it achieve an amazing $825,000 at auction in 2019. (Mecum Auctions/)Al Crocker built excellent speedway bikes and Indian Scout OHV conversion kits before embarking on a Harley killer, an overhead-valve Big Twin that vied with the prewar Vincent V-twin for the title of fastest production bike in the world. This bike was claimed as the only original, unrestored Crocker extant: replicas are made, caveat emptor. 2. 1915 Cyclone board track racer: $852,000 (March 2015, Mecum Auctions) 2. Steve McQueen once owned this 1915 Cyclone board track racer, pushing its value way up. (Mecum Auctions/)As American bikes go, the Cyclone has a mythical aura that is all out of proportion to its impact on the industry. It is arguably the most technically advanced American motorcycle engine until 2001 (V-Rod), with a single overhead-camshaft motor that was outer-space tech for the day. The chassis was pure 1915, though, with a single-speed chain drive on both racers and roadsters, though the road bikes had a clutch and rear brake. How much? This early-American OHC racer took a stratospheric $825,000 at a 2015 auction. (Mecum Auctions/)Cyclones were the fastest thing on wheels for a while, before cooler-running F-head racers from Excelsior and Harley-Davidson made it obsolete. That was after its legend was firmly established, and the Cyclone name captured the public’s imagination. This machine is doubly legendary, as it was previously owned by Steve McQueen, a connection that pushed its price heavenward. 1. 1951 Vincent Black Lightning: $929,000 (January 2018, Bonhams Auctions) 1. And the most expensive motorcycle is: this 1951 Vincent Black Lightning. (Paul d’Orleans/)In 2018, four Black Lightnings were sold: two for around $350,000, this one for close to $1 million, and the long-lost 1950 Earls Court show bike, purchased for $20,000 off Craigslist (yes there’s hope, dreamers). Tossing the outliers, the selling price of a Lightning is clearly in the mid-$300K range. What happened here? This highly original Vincent was $929,000 thanks to its unbroken history and 1-of-31 rarity. (Bonhams Auctions/)Two things; this is an unmolested original paint bike, and it’s famous in Australia, as Jack Ehret rode this machine to an Australian speed record in 1953 at 141.5 mph. Clearly Jack didn’t strip to his bathing trunks to get an extra 9 mph, as Rollie Free did at Bonneville in ’48 at 150 mph…and that bike is one of our asterisk machines, selling for a reputed $1.1 million, privately. So, history, and this bike gives lie to my theory that race history won’t push values skyward, but it’s the only bike on our list with a known track record. Lightnings are very rare, with only 31 built between 1948-52, and their reputation was enshrined by Richard Thompson, whose song “1952 Vincent Black Lightning” is a compelling argument for must-have status. Source

To be able to ride into a Harley-Davidson dealership and ride out the same day with a 50-percent increase in horsepower is the goal with the new Screamin' Eagle 131 crate engine. Yes, if your dealer is up to it, you can turn your stock touring bike into a hot-rod bagger with a day in the shop. But there’s much more to this new engine than just increased peak torque and horsepower. How and where does that new power hit, and what about heat and fuel management? We picked up a stock Street Glide Special, rode it as-is for a couple of weeks, then swapped out the 114 engine for the 131 to find out. The Harley-Davidson Street Glide Special in Performance Orange retails for $28,199 with the Milwaukee-Eight 114.Jeff Allen (Jeff Allen /)The crate 131 engine is changed in many more ways from stock than just increased displacement vs. the 114. The Screamin' Eagle 131 gets the typical Stage IV upgrades from H-D, plus a few bigger alterations. This includes 1mm larger intake and exhaust valves (when compared to Screamin' Eagle Milwaukee-Eight Stage IV kits), a higher lift cam with longer duration and higher lift for both intake and exhaust lobes, increased compression ratio with forged pistons, steel-sleeve cylinders, a larger 64mm throttle body with its corresponding intake manifold, and high-capacity 5.5-gram-per-second fuel injectors. So while the bump in power does come largely from the increased displacement, the wide, flat torque curve and how usable that power is comes as a result of a complete engine tune to take the greatest advantage of its extra cubic inches. We took the 114-equipped Street Glide to our testing grounds to get base numbers in acceleration and brake testing. ( Jeff Allen/)We gave the dyno sheets to Technical Editor Kevin Cameron for his take on stock vs. hop-up tuning: "The 114 engine has been given a classic H-D ‘shed roof’ torque curve—the peak of 112 pound-feet is on the left-hand side of the page at 2,500 rpm, after which it slopes downward to 70 pound-feet at 5,500. Often what this downslope means is that the smaller-diameter intake ports needed to peak the torque down at 2,500 aren’t really enough to supply the airflow the engine would like at higher revs. English engine pioneer Harry Ricardo called this ‘wire-drawing.’ After we tested the Milwaukee-Eight 114, the Screamin’ Eagle 131 crate engine was installed. (Jeff Allen /)“The big engine is not only larger in displacement, but has been re-cammed to give a broad ‘haystack’ torque curve, with its peak of 120 pound-feet 1,700 revs higher, up at 4,200,” Cameron continues. “This engine has more breathing capacity at higher revs than the smaller one, a result of both larger ports and the more aggressive cam.” And that “haystack” torque curve translates to a very wide range of readily available power, peaking at 130.67 pound-feet and putting out more than 120 pound-feet of torque from 2,800 to 5,200 revs. Horsepower production is also pleasingly linear, climbing steadily from idle until it plateaus right before redline, peaking at 121.62 hp at 5,620 rpm—a massive increase from the stock 114′s 81 hp at 4,780 rpm. The same tests were performed with both engines to get comparable results. (Jeff Allen /)In our instrumented performance testing, the 131 ran 0-100 mph 4.4 seconds faster than the 114 at 9.35 seconds, and finished the quarter-mile more than a full second faster at 12.58 seconds. It feels healthy on the low end, although 0-30 mph times are almost identical to the stock bike. Road Test Editor Michael Gilbert noted that his quickest times on the 114 were with traction control disabled, since he could control the lower power and torque output given available traction. To get the best times with the 131, traction control was necessary to moderate wheelspin on launch due to the remarkable increase in torque and horsepower. Also, power production is shifted toward the midrange, so, in a sense, the greatest gains make themselves felt over the 40 mph mark. “SE,” for Screamin’ Eagle, adorns a cooling fin of each cylinder. ( Jeff Allen/)On the highway, the Street Glide runs an indicated 80 mph at just under 3,000 rpm. What this means on the 114 is that, since its torque declines from its 2,520-rpm peak, it is already on the downslope at highway speed. On the 131, torque continues to climb all the way to 4,260 rpm, resulting in much stronger top-gear roll-on performance. Sign up here to receive our newsletters. Get the latest in motorcycle reviews, tests, and industry news, subscribe here for our YouTube channel. “These acceleration improvements from roughly 40 to 100 mph are addicting, and enough to slide your butt back in the saddle as you tuck behind the fairing,” Gilbert says. “The 131 develops a personality here not found in the Street Glide, with an attitude of ‘I’m not going to kill you, but you better hang on tight.’ This is also reflected in the top-gear roll-on numbers.” The 131 does not come with a new derby cover, so some 114 badging remains. (Jeff Allen /)Gilbert is totally right: This power is addicting, and so is the sound that goes with it. Swapping the intake and exhaust is a key part of the upgrade here, because the 131′s larger valves and more aggressive cam need more airflow to keep up. This also results in a chest-shaking exhaust note. Not just louder, but deep, the kind of rumble you can feel in your bones. And every crack of the throttle is intoxicating in the same way—crisp, clear, low. The sound is part of the traditional Harley-Davidson appeal and with the big bore, cam, and new exhaust, it really makes the bike come alive. The crate engine alone costs $6,195, but installation and auxiliary parts add to the price tag. ( Jeff Allen/)Any downsides? Previous testing of the Twin Cam’s 117 kit some years ago had us expecting radiant engine heat to go up and for fuel economy to go down. But the 131 gets excellent marks on both counts. Even while testing in the heart of summer, engine heat remained at acceptable levels for the class and did roast our legs, even at lower speeds in traffic. Fuel economy, meanwhile, decreased from an average of 36 mpg to 32.5 on the Screamin' Eagle 131, which, given the performance increase, is an acceptable tradeoff. The SE 131 showed massive gains over the 114, jumping from 81.30 hp to 121.62 on the <em>Cycle World</em> dyno. (Jeff Allen /)The crate engine is $6,195 in the oil-cooled configuration (as tested here) or $6,395 for Twin-Cooled models. Other associated costs such as the intake and exhaust systems, fan-assisted oil cooler and other parts, plus the Harley-Davidson estimated an 8-hour install time, will put the on-the-road cost at roughly $10,000, depending on your dealer’s labor rate. The 131 is available for 2017 and later Touring models, as well as 2018 and later Softails. If the work is performed at a H-D dealership, the engine comes with a one-year warranty and will not impact your motorcycle’s factory warranty. Dyno chart for the 2020 Street Glide Special with the stock Milwaukee-Eight 114, and with the Screamin’ Eagle 131 crate engine. (Jeff Allen /)Riders in pursuit of power have spent much more money than the cost of the 131 crate engine without achieving the results we have seen here. If you’re after economy and long-mile touring prowess, you’d be just fine sticking with the 114 and maybe a few basic upgrades. Sure, you’re paying the cost of a Sportster for the Screamin' Eagle 131 crate engine with install, but when it comes to real, to-the-wheel power gains, it’s hard to argue with a warranteed one-step program after seeing the results on the dyno and asphalt. 114 Performance Numbers Horsepower: 81.30 hp @ 4,780 rpm Torque: 111.47 lb.-ft. @ 2,520 rpm 1/4 mile: 13.67 sec. @ 99.84 mph 0-30: 2.00 sec. 0-60: 4.83 sec. 0-100: 13.74 sec. 40-60 Top-Gear Roll-On: 4.38 sec. 60-80 Roll-On: 4.88 sec. 131 Performance Numbers Horsepower: 121.62 hp @ 5,620 rpm Torque: 130.67 lb.-ft. @ 4,260 rpm 1/4 mile: 12.58 sec. @ 106.72 mph 0-30: 2.02 sec. 0-60: 4.09 sec. 0-100: 9.35 sec. 40-60 Top-Gear Roll-On: 4.29 sec. 60-80 Roll-On: 4.49 sec. Source

The best riders don’t just look farther down the track or road, they are constantly scanning back to what’s right in front of them. Use this pre-ride drill to understand the importance of scanning back while riding. (Nik Wogen/)In the next few weeks, this column will give you some pre-ride ideas to experiment with in the hope that the ensuing ride is better than the one before. That means safer, more consistent, and more pleasurable if you’re a street rider, and safer, less dramatic, and consistently faster if you are a trackday rider or roadracer. Although my name is on this column and my fingers type these words, the thoughts come from riders who have achieved much more than I have on two wheels: motorcycling’s world champions. What are the best riders in the world doing? How can we mimic those actions and approaches with the goal of attaining a champion’s consistency? That’s a little insight into why we named our school the Champions Riding School back in 2008, rather than Quick Nick’s Bag O' Tricks School. Examples Everywhere We can look to other sports too. Watch professional golf and you will see each player has a pre-swing routine. If that routine is interrupted, they stop and begin it again. Watch a professional baseball player’s routine before he digs in at the plate: same glove adjustment, same practice swing, same foot movements. Why? Because their success improves with ritual. A ritual before any sporting endeavor—including motorcycling—helps get the mind focused and prepared for what lies ahead. (Brian J. Nelson /)But how often do we simply jump on the bike and go? I do—or did—all the time. Golfers and baseball players find increased consistency and mental focus with a pre-play routine, and that’s what we will search for in the next few weeks. My own riding, lapping, and racing has improved in consistency and enjoyment due to the discussions we will have here. Part 1: Eye Warm-Up The best riders don’t just “look farther” (you’ve often heard “get your eyes up”), they look farther sooner, and then scan their eyes back. They look all the way through the corner, and then scan back to anything that needs attention like leaves in the center of the lane or a tall inside curbing at the track. Out sooner, scan back. Out and back. Constantly and quickly. Street riders can throw in a mirror check too. Jump. Those. Eyes. So before your next ride, get that out-and-back eye pattern established with a quick game of catch with a friend. Use your riding glove or a water bottle and throw it back and forth. A quick game of catch will easily show the importance of constantly scanning with your eyes. Ever try to catch a ball while only looking at your hands or the person who threw the ball? (Nick Ienatsch /)You will need to look at your friend who has the glove, and then follow the thrown glove as it comes toward you. Looking at him is the long look through the corner; watching the glove approach your hands is the scan back to the midcorner pothole. If you’re riding solo, then throw a ball up against a wall and play catch with yourself. You will instinctively watch the ball all the way to and from the wall, mimicking the eye patterns of world champion roadracers who must feed their brains with their eyes as early as possible, but not lose their place on the track, especially in close quarters. Experiment To Learn Try two things: Look at the eyes of your friend who has the glove, and leave your eyes there as they throw the glove to you. If the throw is awesome and hits your hands, you have a chance to catch it, but learn how difficult it is to catch an imperfect throw when your eyes do not scan back with the glove. <b>What are you learning?</b> That placing the bike consistently is very difficult when you get your eyes up further and leave them there. I wrote “very difficult” and that means uncomfortable, creating a lack of confidence and enjoyment: two reasons riders quit riding.Give the glove to your friend and this time, stare only at your outstretched hands. Have your friend throw the glove and see how easy it is to catch consistently and confidently when your eyes are focused closely to your body. <b>What are you learning?</b> You’re learning the main reason coaches say, “Eyes up,” because it is very difficult to plan for the future when you aren’t looking at it. Riding with your focus right in front of the bike is scary and uncomfortable—another two reasons riders quit riding.If you are riding solo, stare only at the wall for a few throws and then stare only on your hands after you throw the ball. Not much fun chasing that ball down the driveway! “Get your eyes up!” is great advice—if it is followed by “and scan back.” (Barry Hathaway/)In these experiments you clearly see the issues created when simple coaching phrases are uttered. “Get your eyes up” is great advice for the very common problem of riding with your eyes too close to the front of your bike, but the first experiment shows you that “and scan back” must be included. Now And Then Put this little game into your pre-ride routine now and then. See if it increases your comfort in the initial mile or first few corners. My hope is that it specifically helps your eye moments, but there’s more. As you toss that glove or ball, your brain knows that this ritual is because you are about to do something with risk, and your brain is ready before the key turns. More next week! Source

Call them what you will—show bikes, concept bikes, future bikes, whatever—they’ve been around for a long time. Sometimes they point the way to the future, most of the time they should wear a sign that says DEAD END. But the fun part is that nobody knows for sure at the time. Suzuki Falcorustyco The Suzuki Falcorustyco concept bike of 1985 with square-four engine and center-hub steering. (Cycle World Archive/)The first memorable concept bike of the modern era may have been the Suzuki Falcorustyco (gyrfalcon in Latin - pictured above), which appeared at the 1985 Tokyo Motor Show. Suzuki can deny it all they want, but it seems like the similarity between the Falco and the light cycles in Tron (1982) are a little too coincidental. Powered by a supposed square-Four four-stroke with three cams and packed with “hydraulic drive,” hub-center steering, etc., all of it was “so advanced in its development that it could be produced almost immediately,” said Suzuki. In January, 1986, CW bet “you won’t have to wait a decade to see its like on the street.” In retrospect, the Falco looks like it might have been a simple corporate diversion to throw curious types off the GSX-R trail—a conspiracy theory that unravels when you factor in that the GSX-R had already been introduced earlier that year. Maybe the Falcorustyco was just an internal diversion to keep the troublemaker engineers away from the GSX-R? Suzuki GSX1000 Katana The early-’80s Suzuki Katana production bike looked like a concept and inspired later designs. (Cycle World Archive/)Another Suzuki that had already been introduced, three years before the Falcorustyco, was the 1982 GSX1000 Katana. Penned by ex-BMW chief designer Hans Muth for the German market, where high-speed stability and aerodynamics are important, the Katana’s shape is not difficult to see in the concept bikes that came after it (right down to the suede seat). Suzuki Nuda Inspired by earlier success, the Nuda concept followed in 1986 and featured two-wheel shaft drive. (Cycle World Archive/)Possibly still happily bemused at the reception the Falcorustyco had received, Suzuki was back at the 1986 Tokyo Show with the Nuda. This one, they said, is functional—not that anybody actually got to see it function. To keep it real, Suzuki said the Nuda contained a GSX-R750 engine, and then it was off to Tomorrowland again and babbling on about two-wheel shaft drive, hub-center steering and the “Suzuki Total Engine Control System”—a computer-controlled fuel-injection system regulated by air/fuel sensors, throttle-position sensor and engine-rpm sensor. Yeah, right! In any case, it all paid off in the form of the GSX1300R Hayabusa in 1999. As with every show bike come to fruition, the stylists got a lot of what they wanted, and the technicians with the hub-steered dreams and three-cam square-Fours woke up alone on the couch yet again. Not that it mattered in the case of the Hayabusa: Its boring old inline-Four, telescopic fork and singleshock rear end provided more than enough kinesthetic stimulation. Harley-Davidson Café Racer Concept Harley-Davidson went big at the 1985 Cologne Show with this ahead-of-its-time Café Racer concept. (Cycle World Archive/)Not to be outdone at the ’85 Cologne show, Harley-Davidson was, as usual, way ahead of its time with this Sportster-powered, Katana-inspired Café Racer, which shared the limelight with the new GSX-R750, Bimota Tesi, et al. Even H-D’s visions of the future share parts with the past: Bend that rear pipe up a little, Bob. Perfect! Craig Vetter’s KZ1000 Mystery Ship Fairing maker Craig Vetter built the Kawasaki “Mystery Ship” that mysteriously never caught on. (Cycle World Archives/)Back in the U.S.A., meanwhile, we really were busy rolling our own. Having made quite a nice chunk of change by selling a Windjammer fairing to everybody in America with a motorcycle, Craig Vetter began cranking out his futuristic, modified KZ1000 Mystery Ship. Stylistically, the Mystery Ship looks like a sort of dead end, but thematically, Craig Vetter knew exactly where motorcycles were headed. And now that it had occurred to somebody that wind protection and styling were good ideas and didn’t have to be mutually exclusive, the floodgates were open. Bates Clipper The accessory Bates Clipper fairing with front-trunk “style” was meant to revolutionize fairings. (Cycle World Archive/)The Bates Clipper (see ad above) fairing makes your bike look like it’s doing a constant cartoon double-take. What the?! Nice storage, though. And when the GL1100 Aspencade got its first factory fairing in 1982, the basic difference was that Honda moved the trunk to the back of the motorcycle. John Mockett’s Yamaha XS11 John Mockett's Yamaha XS11 faring was a dealer option in England circa 1980. Sometimes more is less? (Cycle World Archive/)Soon, the fiberglass resin was flowing like Gallo Burgundy; unfortunately, much of it flowed into molds that could’ve used a little more time in the barrel. One example was the creation of British designer John Mockett for the new Yamaha XS11 and available Over There as a dealer option; it never crossed the Pond. Just as well: It looks like a boating accident. DuPont’s Version of the Future The future became plastics, just not DuPont’s 1984 version shown at a Chicago engineering show. (Cycle World Archive/)One word: plastics. DuPont showed its version of the future at the Design Engineering show in Chicago, circa 1984. We’re told there’s a V-Four Honda and associated running gear under the DOX-designed plastic bodywork. In the real world, you’d be able to appreciate the silver paint and orange wheels and trim. BMW Futuro BMW’s 1980 BMW Futuro had acres of fiberglass, a trunk, and a turbo flat-twin engine. (Cycle World Archive/)Meanwhile, in Bavaria... The 1980 BMW Futuro was powered by a turbocharged Boxer Twin in a wrapper reminiscent of the classic dustbin, but with hints of shapes yet to appear—including a nearly auto-motive trunk Honda would put to good use in its Pacific Coast 16 years later. BMW K1 Perhaps the Futuro was meant to break us in for the futuristic production K1 of 1990. (Cycle World Archive/)And 10 years after the Futuro, in 1990, that trunk reappeared wrapped around BMW’s inline “flying brick” K100, labeled (literally) K1 and, for the first time, marketed to compete directly with the Japanese superbikes. Heavy, slow, buzzy, hot, uncomfortable and also with some characteristics that did not appeal to BMW devotees, about 650 of a total run of 2400 bikes were reportedly sold in the U.S. Combine BMW-guy devotion with weird-bike fanaticism, and it’s not hard to imagine the loyalty of the current K1 cult. Yamaha Morpho Even outlandish concept bikes like the 1990 Yamaha Morpho often hint at later production machines. (Cycle World Archive/)Another interesting bike from 1990, the machine that stole the spotlight at the Tokyo Show that year, was the Yamaha Morpho (pictured above, alongside the oval-piston Honda NR750 inset). This was an FZR400 spin-off named after a genus of iridescent South American butterfly. In addition to its hub-steered front end, the Morpho’s claim to fame was adjustable ergonomics: Its bars and mini-fairing swiveled up and down, and its seat and footpegs were also adjustable. The future, we concluded, will therefore be lightweight, powerful, well-suspended and comfortable. Bring it on! Yamaha GTS1000 Just 3 years after the Morpho came the 1993 Yamaha GTS1000 production bike with center-hub steering. (Cycle World Archive/)When the payoff came three years later in the form of the fattish, expensive, not terribly comfortable and not-ergo-adjustable GTS1000, we’d been had again; and aside from the odd Bimota and the adventuresome folks at BMW, it’s been the tried-and-true telescopic fork for the lot of you ever since. Honda NR750 Hard to believe the $60,000 oval-piston 1992 Honda NR750 wasn’t just a concept bike. (Cycle World Archive/)In ’92, on the other hand, Honda’s awesome fuel-injected NR750 appeared, ready for public consumption and looking almost exactly like the prototype displayed three years earlier at the Tokyo Motor Show. In fact, the ovalpiston V-Four at the heart of the NR had been in development since 1977, when Honda decided a V-Eight disguised as a four-cylinder was the only way to achieve four-stroke parity with the two-stroke GP machines. (The FIM had declared that 500cc bikes could have no more than four cylinders.) It’s not so hard to translate “futuristic” into titanium and carbon-reinforced plastic when you’re only building three bikes a day by hand—200 total—and charging $60K for each one. Though the oval-piston NR racers never did achieve any success, the FIM declared in their aftermath that pistons would henceforth be round. That left the NR750 in a niche all its own, a futuristic cul-de-sac, a high-tech, outside-the-circle salute to Soichiro Honda, who died just a few months before the bike’s 1992 debut. Yamaha MT-01 Fairings fell out of favor for a while, as shown by the Yamaha MT-01 from the ’99 Tokyo Show. (Cycle World Archive/)Shooting in the dark with a pair of rear-facing bazookas at the 1999 Tokyo show, the Yamaha MT-01 (pictured below) was sort of equal parts tube-frame Buell and V-Max. As a concept bike, it showed what could be done by rearranging existing parts; and when a production version appeared nearly everywhere but in the U.S. for 2005, it didn’t look terribly different from the show bike. The torquey (a claimed 150 foot-pounds at 3500 rpm!), 1670cc Twin from the Road Star Warrior fit right in, and the fork and swingarm from the YZF-R1 looked right at home. On the other hand, the small-batch MT did have a bespoke controlled-fill cast aluminum frame, which must have driven its cost up considerably. For U.S. buyers, the MT-01 remains a “show bike,” though Yamaha sold it for years it in many other markets, including Canada. Suzuki B-King Easy to get crazy on paper? 2001 Suzuki B-King concept became production minus its supercharger. (Cycle World Archive/)“Streamlining,” wrote Technical Editor Kevin Cameron in a February, 2002, piece about the star of the 2001 Tokyo Show, “would just be an insult to the air-crushing power of the supercharged engine.” Correct! The Suzuki B-King added a belt-driven supercharger to the already potent 1299cc Hayabusa four-banger to produce more than 200 horsepower. And a fat, 240-section rear tire under a huge pair of glutei maximi exhausts encouraged even the dullest bystanders to take notice and clear the blast area. Still pretty outlandish, the B-King had a Hayabusa engine in an anime-inspired naked bike. (Jeff Allen/)Alas, when the B-King entered production in 2006, the supercharger was nowhere to be found (you’d have to make do with only 164.8 hp and 99.5 ft.-lb. of torque), and those huge exhaust cans hanging over a 200mm tire gave the look of a weightlifter who hadn’t spent enough time working on his legs. Suzuki sold a few, mostly to owners who must’ve parked the things under a cover once the honeymoon was over and reality set in. You really don’t see many B-Kings running around, do you? It’s destined to be a serious Craigslist bargain in another few years when owners throw in the towel after admitting that fashion is never going to catch up to this motorcycle. The experimental Honda NAS (New American Sports) Honda’s 1991 NAS 1000 concept was based on an existing streetbike but never saw production. (Cycle World Archive/)When the experimental Honda NAS (New American Sports) design exercise appeared at the Laguna Seca World Superbike round in 2001, it made enough splash to appear on the October, 2001, cover of Cycle World. It was obviously a tarted-up version of the VTR1000F Super Hawk, a great Honda that had already been in production for three years by the time the NAS appeared. The top-secret Honda skunkworks basically took one of the best Hondas ever devised for street use and made it apparently uncomfortable and less affordable than the bike that already existed. As for the trick perimeter front brake disc and underengine exhaust can, the NAS shared the cover with the brand-new (production) Buell XB9R, which came standard with both. Honda’s design team said the New American Sportbike was about putting the focus back on street riding instead of racing, which was pretty confusing, given that’s exactly how the Super Hawk had been positioned, a machine that was (and is) an awesome sportbike for the real world. Looking back, could the NAS in fact have been an early Honda cry for help? Could we have done more to prevent the DN-01? Kawasaki ZZR-X Kawasaki got in the center-hub & adjustable-ergonomics game with its sleek 2004 ZZR-X concept. (Cycle World Archive/)The motorcycle industry was cruising full speed ahead when the blue-sky Kawasaki ZZR-X (pictured above) appeared on the cover in January, 2004, resplendent in chic, smooth bodywork with integrated saddlebags and truly futuristic running gear that included conical perimeter brake discs (which were supposed to cool better). Again they teased us with adjustable ergonomics, this time in the form of handlebars that pivoted with the (fake) gas tank and fairing to allow the rider to go racy or relaxed at will, and with electric fairing leading edges that would allow airflow adjustment. As the home-equity bubble continued to inflate with no end in sight and motorcycle sales surged toward the 2005 high-watermark, Kawasaki designers brazenly pursued buyers’ significant others via softer, less-threatening curves that would go nicely with the new Shabby Chic living room ensemble. When reality eventually reared its head in the form of the 2008 Concours 14, precious little of the ZZR-X remained; the new bike was way more predatory ZX-14 than ZZR. Suzuki G-Strider Suzuki got weird with the recliner-inspired moto-scooter G-Strider of 2003. (Cycle World Archive/)Hey, money was flowing freely in the industry circa 2003—motorcycle sales were up seven percent and scooters were up 22 percent—so manufacturers tried some interesting things. The Suzuki G-Strider was one of a few cool crossover moto/scooter models that appeared at the Tokyo show late that year while we all grew fat and wealthy, sporting “posture that a relaxed human body assumes in a weightless environment.” Looks like somebody at Suzuki pried the front end off the dusty old Falcorustyco and created a whole new future vehicle behind it, powered by a parallel-Twin with electronic CV transmission. What the G-Strider did get right was its “next generation telematics system, with interactive communications over a bidirectional wireless infrastructure…all controlled via glove-friendly trackball.” Which is actually similar to the thumbdrive controller that sorts through all the electronics on BMW’s new K1600s. This wouldn’t be the first time BMW took some good cues from the generally proletarian Suzuki. The Victory Vision 800 Defunct American maker Victory showed the Vision 800 in 2006 with parallel-twin and shaft drive. (Cycle World Archive/)If you knew you were going to introduce a touring bike as radical as the Victory Vision in a year or two, what better way to prepare everybody than to show an even radicaller concept bike of the same name at the Long Beach (California) International Motorcycle Show? The Victory Vision 800 showbike of 2006 was more of an urban scooter, propelled by an 800cc snowmobile Twin running through a CVT, but the Vision Tour’s direction was already apparent in the boomerang cab-forward sweep of the thing. It was a nice try on Victory’s part, but touring riders tend to be a conservative bunch, many of whom still haven’t quite accepted the Vision’s aesthetic. Like the citizens of Rome carting off blocks of Coliseum to build apartments and Pizza Huts, the Vision’s advanced aluminum frame concept has gone on to form the foundation for more traditionally styled bikes like the Cross Country and now the Hard-Ball, complete with ape hangers. It ain’t easy being a visionary. Suzuki Stratosphere 2005 Suzuki Stratosphere concept combined a narrow 180-hp inline-6 with 1982 Katana-inspired design. (Cycle World Archive/)Yet more shades of Katana (on that bike’s 25th anniversary), resurrected once again for the 2005 Tokyo show, and this time called Suzuki Stratosphere, arching above a lovely inline-Six. Using then-current bore/stroke numbers, Kevin Cameron suggested an 1100cc Six could be an inch or two narrower than a typical Four, and that 200 horses would be an easy target to hit for such a smooth-running, shortstroke engine. In 2007, Suzuki went so far as to announce that the Stratosphere would be entering production at an unspecified future time. Shortly thereafter, as you may have noticed, the free-market system imploded, and our Suzuki contacts claim to have no knowledge of what became of the bike. Still, a running prototype was built and did appear in a Suzuki teaser video that’s viewable on YouTube (though it’s not clear in the darkish vid what exactly is propelling the bike). In the meantime, BMW introduced its six-cylinder K 1600 touring bikes to worldwide acclaim and has enjoyed a sharply upward trajectory in sales and profits. Yamaha Gen-Ryu Cooler than a Prius, the Yamaha Gen-Ryu gas-electric hybrid got some of the craziest style ever. (Cycle World Archive/)Motorcycling’s answer to the Prius, the 2005 Yamaha Gen-Ryu hybrid invention melded a YZF-R6 engine with an electric motor. A lightweight aluminum frame, steam-locomotive wheels and Buck Rogers bodywork all come together with high-tech safety features such as a vehicle-to-vehicle distance warning system, a pivoting headlight like on BMW’s 2012-and-later K1600s and a noise-canceling system to reduce audible wind roar. Anticipating your iPhone, the Gen-Ryu also sports voice navigation and hands-free cellphone function. I could see a greener, gaunter me on this one cruising to Burning Man with one of those helmet Mohawks. You? What do you do with the bratty, smart kids if you’re in charge of the kindergarten and you want a little peace and quiet? Put them to work in the corner with the crayons and Popsicle sticks, that’s what. And when times are hard and the class needs to be thinned, they’re the first to have their graham crackers and milk withheld: What the world needs is more mid-level managers. In current times when motorcycle sales haven’t been skyrocketing every year, we haven’t been seeing so many concept bikes, but it’s interesting to note that the most outlandish ones we sampled here were Suzukis—a company known, really, for producing reasonably priced, hard-working motorcycles for the common man. Meanwhile, the Big Three Euro-brands conspicuous by their near absence—Ducati, Triumph, and BMW—have been busier cranking out striking machines (admittedly at a cost) for people to buy and ride. And in fact, BMW has taken a few Japanese showbike features and run with them: the inline-six and the menu-navigation multifunction wheel controller to name two. Let that be a lesson to you. Dreaming is fun. Doing is way more lucrative. Doesn’t mean we prefer one over the other. Source

As the US motorcycle market in the late ’60s exploded, Japanese motorcycles rose to the top. Yamaha’s TD-1 was one of the first to be competitive with the English and American racers. (Cycle World Archives/)When I was a rank novice in the sign-up line at the club roadraces, the sound coming from the track beyond was the drone and brumm-bah of Triumphs, BSAs, Nortons, and Harleys. Most were warmed-over amateur-built stockers of limited reliability. My first time at Daytona (1969), I overheard two mechanics talking as they strode past: “We brought down seb’m motors for ’im and he’s already gone through five of ’em.” That had been my experience—trying to race warmed-over Honda Hawk twins had taught me it was best to begin with a made-for-the-job production racer. The background for all this racing—both national and at club level—was that motorcycling was exploding in popularity in the US, with sales doubling from 1965 to 1970, then doubling again by 1974. Racing had been an important part of that marketing success. Little of today’s sophistication then existed. The Japanese industry had introduced electric starting on a large scale, but aside from small Hondas there was nothing in the US bike market with a single overhead camshaft (SOHC), let alone two (DOHC). Chassis were steel pipe. Gearboxes had only lately taken up residence in the engine cases (in 1963, Triumph called it “unit construction”—a big advance over separate engine and gearbox that had been bolted between steel plates). Electrical systems remained the butt of jokes (renaming British electrical parts supplier Joseph Lucas, Ltd. “The Prince of Darkness”), and parts falling off from vibration were normal and expected. Today it is normal to expect a 450-watt alternator on late-model bikes, but as the 1960s began in Britain, 35W remained standard. Norton had continued to sell its Manx 350 and 500 single-cylinder production racers until 1962-63, but along with BSA’s all-purpose Gold Star singles and the AJS/Matchless 7R and G50 they were discontinued. Privateers in GP racing kept existing racing singles in service for another 10 years (two Matchlesses scored GP points in 1974—the last bow for those long-serving singles). Norton continued selling the Manx single-cylinder production racer until 1963. (Bonhams/)Yamaha took up that slack by offering over-the-counter two-stroke 250 twin production roadracers—first the TD1, then TD1-A, and in 1965, the bike I am now assembling, the TD1-B. Retail was $1,149 plus destination and setup. Today that money won’t cover the damage resulting from a late-model bike falling over when its stand sinks into soft asphalt. TD1s were created by adding tuning parts to the YDS-2 production engine, and were not yet 100-percent reliable (that would come in 1967′s TD1-C), but 200 or more were sold by Yamaha dealers. Suddenly Ducati singles (like the one Gordon Jennings fettled to 25 hp in 1965-66) were over-faced by bikes with 5 to 10 extra horsepower. The Aermacchi pushrod singles fielded as Harley-Davidson Sprint lightweights made more power (and they were _loud_), but needed factory support to be really fast. Even they were soon worn down by the new Yamahas. Suzuki brought out its X-6 Hustler with a six-speed gearbox in 1966, and followed it with tuning information. Despite the X-6′s high performance, Suzuki did not offer a production racer based on it. Lightweight racing in the US became nearly 100-percent Yamaha-based—because they and their special parts were cheaply available at any dealer. You didn’t need factory connections or “know somebody.” These production racers, because they made it unnecessary for racers to re-engineer production models, expanded the sport. Sign up here to receive our newsletters. Get the latest in motorcycle reviews, tests, and industry news, subscribe here for our YouTube channel. Until 1970 the US AMA big bike class was for 500cc overhead-valve models or 750cc side-valves (Harley and Indian). Triumph made available a range of racing parts and from time to time even offered complete race engines or bikes, but the policy varied. A great many riders used Triumph’s available racing parts or the aftermarket to build dirt-trackers, roadracers, and dragbikes. There was a huge aftermarket for the BSA Gold Star, but after 1950 that factory’s main sales push turned to twins. Norton, after winning four Daytona 200s 1949-1952, mostly left US racing to the aftermarket. Triumph fought its way even with Harley’s KR750 flathead, winning the Daytona 200 in 1966 and ’67, but an accidental discovery made in the 1967-68 off-season at the California shop of dyno and tuning specialist C.R. Axtell became the core of a KR revival, boosting its engine to 58 hp. In ’68 and ’69, this made Triumph’s intensive development pointless (its 500 twin, straining itself at 9,000 revs, was stuck at just under 50 hp). Two-Strokes Threaten In 1968 Daytona 200 Meanwhile, something terrifying to the US big-bike establishment occurred. Yamaha entered its 350 two-stroke twins with riders Yvon DuHamel and Art Baumann. As so often happens in racing, those in charge had recently decided racing was too dangerous and should be slowed down. Their plan? To cut back the 500/750 formula to a straight 350cc OHV class. Harley was quickly ready with 350 top ends for the Sprint Aermacchi, and Triumph began trying to coax racing performance from its 3T, the 350 version of its parallel twin (designed prewar). Never mind that Calvin Rayborn brilliantly won the 200 in ’68 on the powered-up flathead KR, making Triumph 500 OHVs obsolete. Little two-stroke Yamaha twins finished second and third! AMA had handicapped them (it seemed to us back then that AMA’s first rule was “Oppose all change”), locking out first gear to leave them with just four transmission speeds. Those 350s were “little”—but in ways that worked to their advantage. They were light, so they accelerated strongly. They were narrow, greatly reducing drag at high speed. And they were easy to handle, tiring their riders less. Cal Rayborn took the 1968 Daytona 200 on a flathead Harley-Davidson KR. (Don Emde Collection/)A Big-Bike Future Is Chosen Poof. Away went any possible consideration of a 350 class, now revealed as a path to an all-two-stroke future. A big struggle was anticipated at the AMA’s December ’68 Competition Congress, but changes in the market would make that meeting almost convivial. That fit well with the US market’s direction toward ever-bigger and more powerful bikes. Honda would introduce its SOHC four-cylinder CB750 in 1969. Honda fours had become famous worldwide in GP racing, and now at last we mere mortals could own one—and more than 400,000 did. Triumph and BSA would answer, after years of corporate dithering, with their 750 pushrod triples that were basically their 500 twin with an extra cylinder. Suddenly 500s were an irrelevant sideshow in both racing and sales. The real action now moved to big, muscular bikes. After consideration of opening proposals, the AMA’s Competition Congress decided that beginning in 1970, the big class would meet the coming sales trend: 750cc machines of all types—OHV, OHC, side-valve, two-stroke—run what ya brung. The English Bike Industry Fades Standing in the Daytona paddock in 1970, with factory bikes and mechanics everywhere, it appeared to be a battle of titans. What we didn’t know was that England’s industry was empty at its core. Triumph, BSA, and Norton had been played by professional asset managers until they were weak in sales, weak in competition, and weak in replying to Japanese leadership. Edward Turner, designer of Triumph’s Speed Twin 500 back in 1937, had reported after a 1960 trip to Japan that Japanese production systems were the most modern in the industry, able to build more sophisticated products at competitive prices. His perceptive warning was ignored; England’s two-wheeled leadership had always existed, and it always would. Don’t worry about Japanese automation—England could stay price-competitive by paying its manual workers less. Japan Takes The Lead Dick Mann won the 1970 Daytona 200 on a Honda CB750 four, but barely. One by one, the other factory Hondas had stopped. Only Mann was able to keep his together to the finish. Yet this was a revolution—a Japanese bike beating all comers in the big class. Dick Mann smartly rode his Honda CB750 inline-four to the 1970 Daytona 200 win. (Cycle World Archives/)The following year Mann won again with the same basic strategy—but on a BSA Triple. BSA engineers assured him this was an 8,200-rpm engine, but he privately decided it might actually finish at 7,800 rpm. It was a great day but in the long run it didn’t matter. Very shortly England was finished as a major manufacturer of motorcycles. Source

Honda’s CT125 will be coming to the US, but will be called the Trail 125. (Honda /)Honda has announced another MiniMoto model powered by its semi-auto 125cc single—one that brings back fond memories of dusty days rambling to and fro at a campsite in the mountains. Step forward Honda’s new Trail 125, the US-market version of the CT125 that was launched elsewhere earlier this year. Officially revealed as a 2021 model, the Trail 125 name is the only real change for the American model, mimicking the naming convention used by the bike’s predecessors dating back to the Trail 50 of 1961. Elsewhere the bike goes under the “Hunter Cub” title. Those very first Trail 50s were inspired by riders taking Honda’s existing Cub scooter and adding off-road tires, creating a rugged, lightweight, go-anywhere machine at a minimal cost. The recipe remains the same in 2021. The Trail 125 is based on Honda’s Super Cub, but features a more rugged and off-road-capable build. (Honda /)Just like its predecessors, the new Trail 125 is based on the existing Cub, in this case the latest Super Cub 125, which takes the iconic look of Honda’s most successful model and adds modern electronics, ABS, and emissions controls. To turn the Super Cub into the Trail 125, Honda added 0.5 inch to the wheelbase, 1.1 inches to the ground clearance, and 0.4 inch to the front suspension travel. While the resulting 4.3 inches of movement doesn’t make it into a motocross machine, the idea is to make a bike that can cope with dirt roads with ease. It’s a recipe that’s worked before; the bike’s direct predecessor, the CT110, was used for decades by the Australian postal service to get mail to the far corners of the country. Not to mention just about every motorhome seen in a forest in the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s had some version of a Honda Trail riding on the bumper—complete with plastic milk crate—ready to explore at a moment’s notice. Sign up here to receive our newsletters. Get the latest in motorcycle reviews, tests, and industry news, subscribe here for our YouTube channel. A reinforced steering head and new triple clamp makes the chassis more rugged than the Super Cub’s, while the bars are redesigned to allow a tighter steering lock—up to 45 degrees in each direction. Semi-knobby tires on 17-inch wire wheels give grip on loose surfaces, though they’re clearly not aimed at deep mud. The high-mounted exhaust and air intake mean the Trail 125 should have at least some ability to wade through water too, while a bash plate protects the engine if you run out of ground clearance. The Trail 125 gets a reinforced steering head and new triple clamp more suited for off-road duty along with a skid plate and high-mounted exhaust and intake. (Honda /)Theoretically, the Trail 125 is good for 158 mpg, and with a 0.4-gallon-larger fuel tank than the Super Cub it’s based on—at 1.4 gallons—it would conceivably be possible to cover more than 200 miles between fill-ups. Even if you’re heavy-handed with the throttle—and with just 8.7 hp on tap you’ll need to be—it should be pretty easy to see more than 100 mpg. The economy isn’t quite as good as the Super Cub’s, thanks to those knobby tires and a larger 39-tooth rear sprocket that makes for lower overall gearing, but even so you’ll struggle to find many alternatives that will go so far for so little. That’s thanks to the simple, air-cooled, SOHC single with two valves and fuel injection. It’s retuned for the Trail 125, with a longer intake and that new, higher-mounted exhaust, leading to a slight loss in top-end power (the Super Cub makes 9.5 hp) but more midrange grunt. Honda’s Trail 125 will produce a claimed 8.7 hp—slightly less than the Super Cub. (Honda /)Just like the Super Cub, the Trail 125 uses Honda’s semi-automatic four-speed transmission—there’s no clutch lever but you kick through the gears manually—and there’s still a kickstarter to back up the electric start. One disappointment is that Honda hasn’t adopted the secondary, selectable low-range gear that was a hallmark of the original Trail models, effectively giving them an eight-speed transmission. A large rack on the rear of the Trail 125 has plenty of room to strap your tackle box, cooler, and chair for a scramble down to the water. (Honda /)How much will Honda’s rugged little package set you back? The Trail 125′s MSRP is pegged at $3,899, just $150 more than the Super Cub it’s based on. You’d better like Honda’s signature red paint; that’s the only option we’re getting in the USA even though Japan gets the CT125 version in a khaki shade as well. Now where did we put that milk crate? Source

As the US motorcycle market in the late ’60s exploded, Japanese motorcycles rose to the top. Yamaha’s TD-1 was one of the first to be competitive with the English and American racers. (Cycle World Archives/)When I was a rank novice in the sign-up line at the club roadraces, the sound coming from the track beyond was the drone and brumm-bah of Triumphs, BSAs, Nortons, and Harleys. Most were warmed-over amateur-built stockers of limited reliability. My first time at Daytona (1969), I overheard two mechanics talking as they strode past: “We brought down seb’m motors for ’im and he’s already gone through five of ’em.” That had been my experience—trying to race warmed-over Honda Hawk twins had taught me it was best to begin with a made-for-the-job production racer. The background for all this racing—both national and at club level—was that motorcycling was exploding in popularity in the US, with sales doubling from 1965 to 1970, then doubling again by 1974. Racing had been an important part of that marketing success. Little of today’s sophistication then existed. The Japanese industry had introduced electric starting on a large scale, but aside from small Hondas there was nothing in the US bike market with a single overhead camshaft (SOHC), let alone two (DOHC). Chassis were steel pipe. Gearboxes had only lately taken up residence in the engine cases (in 1963, Triumph called it “unit construction”—a big advance over separate engine and gearbox that had been bolted between steel plates). Electrical systems remained the butt of jokes (renaming British electrical parts supplier Joseph Lucas, Ltd. “The Prince of Darkness”), and parts falling off from vibration were normal and expected. Today it is normal to expect a 450-watt alternator on late-model bikes, but as the 1960s began in Britain, 35W remained standard. Norton had continued to sell its Manx 350 and 500 single-cylinder production racers until 1962-63, but along with BSA’s all-purpose Gold Star singles and the AJS/Matchless 7R and G50 they were discontinued. Privateers in GP racing kept existing racing singles in service for another 10 years (two Matchlesses scored GP points in 1974—the last bow for those long-serving singles). Norton continued selling the Manx single-cylinder production racer until 1963. (Bonhams/)Yamaha took up that slack by offering over-the-counter two-stroke 250 twin production roadracers—first the TD1, then TD1-A, and in 1965, the bike I am now assembling, the TD1-B. Retail was $1,149 plus destination and setup. Today that money won’t cover the damage resulting from a late-model bike falling over when its stand sinks into soft asphalt. TD1s were created by adding tuning parts to the YDS-2 production engine, and were not yet 100-percent reliable (that would come in 1967′s TD1-C), but 200 or more were sold by Yamaha dealers. Suddenly Ducati singles (like the one Gordon Jennings fettled to 25 hp in 1965-66) were over-faced by bikes with 5 to 10 extra horsepower. The Aermacchi pushrod singles fielded as Harley-Davidson Sprint lightweights made more power (and they were _loud_), but needed factory support to be really fast. Even they were soon worn down by the new Yamahas. Suzuki brought out its X-6 Hustler with a six-speed gearbox in 1966, and followed it with tuning information. Despite the X-6′s high performance, Suzuki did not offer a production racer based on it. Lightweight racing in the US became nearly 100-percent Yamaha-based—because they and their special parts were cheaply available at any dealer. You didn’t need factory connections or “know somebody.” These production racers, because they made it unnecessary for racers to re-engineer production models, expanded the sport. Sign up here to receive our newsletters. Get the latest in motorcycle reviews, tests, and industry news, subscribe here for our YouTube channel. Until 1970 the US AMA big bike class was for 500cc overhead-valve models or 750cc side-valves (Harley and Indian). Triumph made available a range of racing parts and from time to time even offered complete race engines or bikes, but the policy varied. A great many riders used Triumph’s available racing parts or the aftermarket to build dirt-trackers, roadracers, and dragbikes. There was a huge aftermarket for the BSA Gold Star, but after 1950 that factory’s main sales push turned to twins. Norton, after winning four Daytona 200s 1949-1952, mostly left US racing to the aftermarket. Triumph fought its way even with Harley’s KR750 flathead, winning the Daytona 200 in 1966 and ’67, but an accidental discovery made in the 1967-68 off-season at the California shop of dyno and tuning specialist C.R. Axtell became the core of a KR revival, boosting its engine to 58 hp. In ’68 and ’69, this made Triumph’s intensive development pointless (its 500 twin, straining itself at 9,000 revs, was stuck at just under 50 hp). Two-Strokes Threaten In 1968 Daytona 200 Meanwhile, something terrifying to the US big-bike establishment occurred. Yamaha entered its 350 two-stroke twins with riders Yvon DuHamel and Art Baumann. As so often happens in racing, those in charge had recently decided racing was too dangerous and should be slowed down. Their plan? To cut back the 500/750 formula to a straight 350cc OHV class. Harley was quickly ready with 350 top ends for the Sprint Aermacchi, and Triumph began trying to coax racing performance from its 3T, the 350 version of its parallel twin (designed prewar). Never mind that Calvin Rayborn brilliantly won the 200 in ’68 on the powered-up flathead KR, making Triumph 500 OHVs obsolete. Little two-stroke Yamaha twins finished second and third! AMA had handicapped them (it seemed to us back then that AMA’s first rule was “Oppose all change”), locking out first gear to leave them with just four transmission speeds. Those 350s were “little”—but in ways that worked to their advantage. They were light, so they accelerated strongly. They were narrow, greatly reducing drag at high speed. And they were easy to handle, tiring their riders less. Cal Rayborn took the 1968 Daytona 200 on a flathead Harley-Davidson KR. (Don Emde Collection/)A Big-Bike Future Is Chosen Poof. Away went any possible consideration of a 350 class, now revealed as a path to an all-two-stroke future. A big struggle was anticipated at the AMA’s December ’68 Competition Congress, but changes in the market would make that meeting almost convivial. That fit well with the US market’s direction toward ever-bigger and more powerful bikes. Honda would introduce its SOHC four-cylinder CB750 in 1969. Honda fours had become famous worldwide in GP racing, and now at last we mere mortals could own one—and more than 400,000 did. Triumph and BSA would answer, after years of corporate dithering, with their 750 pushrod triples that were basically their 500 twin with an extra cylinder. Suddenly 500s were an irrelevant sideshow in both racing and sales. The real action now moved to big, muscular bikes. After consideration of opening proposals, the AMA’s Competition Congress decided that beginning in 1970, the big class would meet the coming sales trend: 750cc machines of all types—OHV, OHC, side-valve, two-stroke—run what ya brung. The English Bike Industry Fades Standing in the Daytona paddock in 1970, with factory bikes and mechanics everywhere, it appeared to be a battle of titans. What we didn’t know was that England’s industry was empty at its core. Triumph, BSA, and Norton had been played by professional asset managers until they were weak in sales, weak in competition, and weak in replying to Japanese leadership. Edward Turner, designer of Triumph’s Speed Twin 500 back in 1937, had reported after a 1960 trip to Japan that Japanese production systems were the most modern in the industry, able to build more sophisticated products at competitive prices. His perceptive warning was ignored; England’s two-wheeled leadership had always existed, and it always would. Don’t worry about Japanese automation—England could stay price-competitive by paying its manual workers less. Japan Takes The Lead Dick Mann won the 1970 Daytona 200 on a Honda CB750 four, but barely. One by one, the other factory Hondas had stopped. Only Mann was able to keep his together to the finish. Yet this was a revolution—a Japanese bike beating all comers in the big class. Dick Mann smartly rode his Honda CB750 inline-four to the 1970 Daytona 200 win. (Cycle World Archives/)The following year Mann won again with the same basic strategy—but on a BSA Triple. BSA engineers assured him this was an 8,200-rpm engine, but he privately decided it might actually finish at 7,800 rpm. It was a great day but in the long run it didn’t matter. Very shortly England was finished as a major manufacturer of motorcycles. Source

Honda’s CT125 will be coming to the US, but will be called the Trail 125. (Honda /)Honda has announced another MiniMoto model powered by its semi-auto 125cc single—one that brings back fond memories of dusty days rambling to and fro a campsite in the mountains. Step forward Honda’s new Trail 125, the US-market version of the CT125 that was launched elsewhere earlier this year. Officially revealed as a 2021 model, the Trail 125 name is the only real change for the American model, mimicking the naming convention used by the bike’s predecessors dating back to the Trail 50 of 1961. Elsewhere the bike goes under the “Hunter Cub” title. Those very first Trail 50s were inspired by riders taking Honda’s existing Cub scooter and adding off-road tires, creating a rugged, lightweight, go-anywhere machine at a minimal cost. The recipe remains the same in 2021. The Trail 125 is based on Honda’s Super Cub, but features a more rugged and off-road-capable build. (Honda /)Just like its predecessors, the new Trail 125 is based on the existing Cub, in this case the latest Super Cub 125, which takes the iconic look of Honda’s most successful model and adds modern electronics, ABS, and emissions controls. To turn the Super Cub into the Trail 125, Honda added 0.5 inch to the wheelbase, 1.1 inches to the ground clearance, and 0.4 inch to the front suspension travel. While the resulting 4.3 inches of movement doesn’t make it into a motocross machine, the idea is to make a bike that can cope with dirt roads with ease. It’s a recipe that’s worked before; the bike’s direct predecessor, the CT110, was used for decades by the Australian postal service to get mail to the far corners of the country. Not to mention just about every motorhome seen in a forest in the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s had some version of a Honda Trail riding on the bumper—complete with plastic milk crate—ready to explore at a moment’s notice. Sign up here to receive our newsletters. Get the latest in motorcycle reviews, tests, and industry news, subscribe here for our YouTube channel. A reinforced steering head and new triple clamp makes the chassis more rugged than the Super Cub’s, while the bars are redesigned to allow a tighter steering lock—up to 45 degrees in each direction. Semi-knobby tires on 17-inch wire wheels give grip on loose surfaces, though they’re clearly not aimed at deep mud. The high-mounted exhaust and air intake mean the Trail 125 should have at least some ability to wade through water too, while a bash plate protects the engine if you run out of ground clearance. The Trail 125 gets a reinforced steering head and new triple clamp more suited for off-road duty along with a skid plate and high-mounted exhaust and intake. (Honda /)Theoretically, the Trail 125 is good for 158 mpg, and with a 0.4-gallon-larger fuel tank than the Super Cub it’s based on—at 1.4 gallons—it would conceivably be possible to cover more than 200 miles between fill-ups. Even if you’re heavy-handed with the throttle—and with just 8.7 hp on tap you’ll need to be—it should be pretty easy to see more than 100 mpg. The economy isn’t quite as good as the Super Cub’s, thanks to those knobby tires and a larger 39-tooth rear sprocket that makes for lower overall gearing, but even so you’ll struggle to find many alternatives that will go so far for so little. That’s thanks to the simple, air-cooled, SOHC single with two valves and fuel injection. It’s retuned for the Trail 125, with a longer intake and that new, higher-mounted exhaust, leading to a slight loss in top-end power (the Super Cub makes 9.5 hp) but more midrange grunt. Honda’s Trail 125 will produce a claimed 8.5 hp—one less than the Super Cub. (Honda /)Just like the Super Cub, the Trail 125 uses Honda’s semi-automatic four-speed transmission—there’s no clutch lever but you kick through the gears manually—and there’s still a kickstarter to back up the electric start. One disappointment is that Honda hasn’t adopted the secondary, selectable low-range gear that was a hallmark of the original Trail models, effectively giving them an eight-speed transmission. A large rack on the rear of the Trail 125 has plenty of room to strap your tackle box, cooler, and chair for a scramble down to the water. (Honda /)How much will Honda’s rugged little package set you back? The Trail 125′s MSRP is pegged at $3,899, just $150 more than the Super Cub it’s based on. You’d better like Honda’s signature red paint; that’s the only option we’re getting in the USA even though Japan gets the CT125 version in a khaki shade as well. Now where did we put that milk crate? Source

Last year’s BMW’s Vision DC Roadster concept may be closer to production than we originally thought. (BMW Motorrad/)A spate of new trademark registrations from BMW suggests the firm is planning two distinct ranges of electric bikes for the near future. The company has registered a host of trademarks with the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) all pointing to electric bikes. The first, and perhaps the more significant, set of trademarks all revolve around the letters “DC”—hinting that the Vision DC Roadster concept the firm showed last year might be closer to a production model than it first appeared. BMW’s submitted no fewer than nine trademarks having to do with the DC branding, all of them for use on motorcycles. (BMW Motorrad/)Nine DC Trademarks BMW has registered no fewer than nine trademarks around the DC branding. They start with DC 01 and run to DC 09, with each one specifically intended for use on motorcycles. That doesn’t necessarily mean BMW is set to immediately launch a nine-model range based on the Vision DC’s design, but it suggests the firm has plans for multiple machines and wants to make sure it owns the rights to all the names it might use on them. RELATED: BMW Patents Radical New Electric Motorcycle While the Vision DC was overtly futuristic, BMW also revealed its E-Power Roadster prototype last December—a running electric bike that used parts from existing gas-powered machines including the front of an S 1000 R and the shaft-drive rear of an R-series boxer. The chances are that the production DC models will use elements from the Vision DC’s styling wrapped around the fully functional electric drivetrain of the E-Power Roadster. This working E-Power Roadster uses bits from existing ICE models but is powered by an electric drivetrain. (BMW Motorrad/)As to what the “01” to “09” numbers could stand for, they may be different styles of bike—street, touring, and adventure models, for instance—or they might be references to battery size or performance. Equally, BMW could simply be planning to use the DC branding for a long time, and wants to make sure it can create multiple generations without hitting trademark problems. RELATED: Not A United Front On Electrics While the Vision DC Roadster’s styling seems too futuristic for a production model, BMW has previously used the term “Vision” on near-production concepts, particularly when it comes to electric or hybrid vehicles. The 2009 Vision EfficientDynamics turned into the i8 production car, for instance. All signs point to the likelihood that BMW’s current electric scooters are due for a revamp as well as an expansion of the series. (BMW Motorrad/)More Electric Scooters Coming The DC models are certain to be full-sized electric motorcycles, with the Vision DC as their template, but we’ve already seen plenty of evidence that BMW is also working on more electric scooters to succeed the current C Evolution. Sign up here to receive our newsletters. Get the latest in motorcycle reviews, tests, and industry news, subscribe here for our YouTube channel. At the same time it filed the DC trademark applications, BMW also put paperwork in for rights to the names CE 02 and CE 04. Whereas the DC trademarks are specifically for motorcycles, the CE marks are intended for “motorcycles/scooters,” and it doesn’t take a huge leap of imagination to see how the existing C Evolution name could mutate into CE branding once there’s more than one model in the range. As with the DC trademarks, there’s no firm indication as to how a CE 02 might differ from a CE 04, but the numbers are likely to relate to the bikes’ size, range, or power. Source

Honda conceived the CB500 model range in 2013, two years after the NC700, the highly innovative and visionary response to the 2008 financial crisis and ensuing slow motorcycle market. The CB500 model range appeared as a more traditional approach to the mission of enticing riders: neatly conventional in chassis and powertrain design, sporting the right styling in every variation, but still very accessible thanks to a smartly friendly and easy-to-use engine and surprisingly responsive chassis dynamics. 2021 Honda CBR500R (Honda /)The CB500 range underwent an extensive redrawing that extracted a much stronger and attractive personality plus a sharper specialization of every model variant. Now the CB500F roadster, the CB500X adventure crossover, and the CBR500R sport model are most definitely aimed to meet the tastes of different classes of potential customers. Honda’s CB500F has been updated to Euro 5 status and enjoys some upgrades to the dash, but as of now the US will not see this model as a 2021, as the 2019 model is the only option on the Honda website. (Honda /)In 2019, the CB500 line also received technical updates and upgrades in both the engine and chassis departments. The CB500F runabout is compact on its wheelbase, spanning 55.5 inches, and its 31-inch seat height makes it easy to access and handle for all—beginners and smaller riders included. A 416-pound wet weight is made easy to manage even at low speed thanks to the well-centered mass for low center of gravity. LCD instrumentation display now includes a gear indicator and signals when to upshift. Front headlamps and rear light are all LED technology. Only the CB500X is slated as a 2021 model for the US; the CB500F and CBR500R remain as past year models on the Honda website—an indication of remaining stock of the previous model years. (Honda /)These same upgrades come on CB500X and CBR500R versions as well. CBR500X spans a slightly longer 57-inch wheelbase and a taller 32.5-inch seat height due to its longer-travel (150mm/5.9 inches) suspension intended to duly absorb the bumps on mild off-road rides. Additionally, the steering axis rake has been increased from 25.5 to 27.5 degrees to ensure more stability on the rough ground. Although not a really specialized off-roader, the CB500X is intended to easily manage moderate adventure rides. The look is inviting, the engine is super flexible at a claimed 47 hp at 8,500 rpm and 31.5 pound-feet of peak torque at 7,000 rpm, but the 435-pound wet weight is up 28 from the spritely F model. Sign up here to receive our newsletters. Get the latest in motorcycle reviews, tests, and industry news, subscribe here for our YouTube channel. The CBR500R shares the same chassis geometry numbers with the CB500F, but the look is perfect for any rider who dreams of an entry into real sportbikes. Basically the engine remains unchanged; only the upshift indicator on the LCD instrumentation is set at 8,750 rpm—250 higher than peak power, for that extra shot of adrenaline coming from the sound (well civilized) of a twin hitting high revs. The 31-inch seat height combines well with the clip-on bar position for a “sort-of” roadracer riding posture. The CBR500R remains as a 2020 model in the US while other parts of the world get an updated Euro 5-compliant model. (Honda /)Now, the real technical novelty: The “square” (67mm bore by 66.8mm stroke), 180-degree twin has been upgraded to comply with Euro 5 emission standards, and that is a most relevant evolution mainly achieved by further refining the catalytic converter in the new, dual-tipped muffler. The Euro 5 homologation and the LED technology light all around are the most significant upgrades for 2021, plus new colors, and don’t forget the revised LCD instrumentation. Only the CB500X has been announced for the US market as a 2021 model and will be priced at $6,999. Both the CB500F and CBR500R are shown on the Honda website as 2019 and 2020 models, respectively. Source

The hugely popular Himalayan is back for 2021, now with switchable ABS. (Royal Enfield/) The trickle of 2021 model announcements has officially morphed into a steady stream as more manufacturers have started locking down their lineups for the new model year. Part of the growing tide is Royal Enfield’s confirmation that its Himalayan model will be returning for 2021. It looks like the popular 411cc midsize adventurer will come into the new model year mostly unchanged, though it does get switchable ABS this time around, as well as that ever popular manufacturer “upgrade”—new color options. Want to add some more pop to your adventuring? Opt for the Rock Red option, new for 2021. (Royal Enfield/)On its face, those changes sound pretty underwhelming, but then, since its introduction in 2016, the Himalayan has piled up enough accolades and impressive sales figures to the point that Enfield probably saw it as an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” situation. Which means the 2021 Himalayan retains all the original architecture and underpinnings, and simply adds a few subtle features to improve the riding experience. That includes a switchable antilock braking system (ABS) to give riders more control during sketchy off-road conditions, as well as a revamped rear brake mechanism that improves brake engagement and rider feel for decreased stopping distances. Royal Enfield says customers also requested a more refined sidestand design, so the new Himalayan gets a tweak to that unit as well. Additionally, the company improved the hazard light switch design as well for better accessibility during road- or trailside emergencies. Revamped brake mechanism gives better rider feel for sharper stops. (Royal Enfield/)Now for the new colors, because for some folks that’s important too. The 2021 Royal Enfield Himalayan will be available in three new colorways: Lake Blue, Rock Red, and Gravel Gray, which join the existing Snow White, Granite Black, and Sleet hues. As before, the bike comes with a three-year warranty and will be available across all Royal Enfield dealerships in North America at the slightly increased price of $4,999. You can also have your new Himalayan in Lake Blue. (Royal Enfield/)“The Himalayan continues to be one of the best-selling units in North America,” said Krishnan Ramaswamy, interim business head and president of Royal Enfield Americas. “The affordability, versatility, and capability of the Himalayan has established it as a must-have adventure bike, and with these updates, it’s better than ever before.” Related Content: 2019 Royal Enfield Himalayan Royal Enfield has a passel of accessories available for the Himalayan as well. (Royal Enfield/)There’s also a wide variety of Genuine Motorcycle Accessories on tap so you can customize the Himalayan accordingly. To see the full lineup, visit royalenfieldna.com; interested parties can reserve a 2021 model starting September 1. Royal Enfield says quantities are limited, though we’re unsure if that’s temporary or not. If you’d rather keep your Himalayan basic, Snow White remains in the color options list. (Royal Enfield/)Source

The Tuono V4 X joins Aprilia’s exclusive, limited edition club. Large carbon winglets cribbed from the marque’s MotoGP bikes sell the track-only intent. (Aprilia/)The level of adrenaline in the Italian motorcycle industry surges every time any manufacturer can make “a limited and numbered” edition of any very special and very hot model. First to capitalize on this marketing policy was MV Agusta, but in reality most of its “numbered” editions were the result of special paint and graphics. Ducati has always been very serious with its fascinating line of Superleggera editions, each of them definitely worth the identification numbering. Last to join the competition for the most exclusive “limited edition” model has been Aprilia, which is closing fast and in great style with its X models. First came the Aprilia RSV4 X with its frightening 225 hp to propel a mere 364 pounds. Aprilia hand-made only 10 units and the next day, every one of them was gone, so marketing bureaucrats at the Piaggio headquarters quickly realized that they might have taken better advantage of that situation. Enter the Aprilia Tuono V4 X. In the center is Aprilia’s narrow-angle 1,077cc V-4—the one you’d usually see in the RSV4 1100 Factory—but here it generates a claimed 221 hp. (Aprilia/)At the heart of the operation is the 65-degree V-4 powerplant, enlarged to 1.1 liters and generating well in excess of 200 hp (claimed), combined with truckloads of torque. The RSV4 X put out a frightening 225 hp to propel its mere 364 pounds, and the Tuono V4 X duly aims to follow in its footsteps, both in power and exclusivity. That means the bike will also be numbered by unit (the number of units hasn’t yet been confirmed) though actual production might end up being limited only by the response of the enthusiasts around the world ready to put down 34,900 euros (41,667 dollars), one after the other. Related Content: Aprilia Unveils Exclusive 2020 RSV4 RR And Tuono RR Models Look familiar? The RSV4 X chassis provides the foundation for the Tuono V4 X. (Aprilia/)Overall, the Tuono V4 X looks an absolute superbike, stripped only of its fairing and given a “touring” handlebar in place of the clip-ons. And the bike is so absolutely fascinating in its very precious mechanical and aerodynamic execution that, in my humble opinion, it would shine even more under a less aggressive graphics scheme. Top-shelf components dominate throughout. Forged Marchesini wheels and Brembo brakes with GP4-MS calipers mimic those on the RSV4 X model. (Aprilia/)The rest is pure racing, starting from the MotoGP-inspired wings extending from the Tuono top. They’re there no doubt to generate the downforce that the top speed potential demands and to ensure the stability needed when flashing down the highway at past 180 mph, courtesy of this 221 hp capable edition of the ultra-efficient Aprilia narrow-angle V-4. The chassis on this Tuono is the same as the RSV4 X unit, complete with forged magnesium wheels and front 330mm twin rotor Brembo disc brakes and the latest GP4-MS radial calipers and carbon fiber forced-cooling air intakes. Suspension is comprised of Öhlins Smart EC 2.0 electronically active units all around, and as always, an Aprilia electronics suite is at the top of its class, bringing a cluster of selectable mode buttons on the left grip. Exotic materials like the carbon fiber and titanium used on the Akro exhaust system are designed to keep weight down to the bare minimum. (Aprilia/)Carbon fiber and machined aluminum elements dominate the Tuono V4 X’s precious finish to ensure a drastic weight reduction, which is down to a claimed 366 pounds, dry. Former SBK racer-now-test-and-development rider Lorenzo Savadori has expressed no doubts about the superior efficiency of the Tuono V4 X even on a racetrack, thanks in part to its less compressed riding posture. After the news spread, the Aprilia MotoGP team riders then wanted to experience the terrific Tuono for themselves, and in the end, all agreed that it was indeed superb. Aprilia had better plan a run of at least 100 units for this hypernaked machine, as they will likely go in one week, even at the stated price of 34,900 euros. If you’re interested, Aprilia’s website will be accepting orders. Up/down quickshifter enables clutchless shifts. Note adjustable footpegs. (Aprilia/)Related Content: 2020 Aprilia RSV4 1000 RR And Tuono 1100 RR Misano Limited Editions A cluster of selectable mode buttons make their way onto each side of the handlebar. (Aprilia/)Source

While many riders and racers are faced with deciding between a 250F and 450 motocross bike, a middle ground between the two can be had from Husqvarna and KTM, the only two brands to offer 350cc four-stroke models. Dubbed as a machine that benefits from having the lightweight handling feel of a 250F while possessing a 450-rivaling power-to-weight ratio, the Husqvarna FC 350 is designed for riders who desire more overall power than a 250F, but don’t want or need the unmitigated horsepower and torque of a 450. Husqvarna and KTM’s 350cc four-strokes have become some of our favorite bikes in recent years, so we couldn’t wait to swing our leg over the 2021 version of Husqvarna’s middleweight MXer at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, California, for our first ride on the bike. Riding the 2021 Husqvarna FC 350 at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, California. (Mark Kariya/) Related: 2021 Husqvarna Motocross And Cross-Country Models First Look The FC 350 is Husqvarna’s middleweight four-stroke motocross bike. (Mark Kariya/)2021 Husqvarna FC 350 Engine The FC 350 comes with an optional ventilated airbox cover that has six slit-shaped perforations. Running it helps with overall throttle response and power. (Mark Kariya/)The FC 350 engine works well. It’s a fair compromise between Husqvarna’s 250cc four-stroke and 450cc engines. I would say it’s closer to a fast 250F than a slow 450. Even though it makes good torque, the engine likes to be revved like a 250F. Sign up here to receive our newsletters. Get the latest in motorcycle reviews, tests, and industry news, subscribe here for our YouTube channel. I ran the engine in map 2. It has improved torque over map 1, which helped it recover in softer areas when I let the rpm fall and allowed me to carry third gear in some of the tighter corners. I didn’t notice any significant gaps in the gears and found the shifting to be easy. Second and third gears were usable in most of the flowing corners. The Magura clutch is smooth and consistent. I think a slightly firmer or more responsive feel at the lever might improve the performance of the clutch. 2021 Husqvarna FC 350 Suspension & Chassis/Handling With shorter fork cartridges and outer tubes along with a revised shock linkage, the 2021 FC 350 is 10mm lower than the prior year model. The claimed seat height is 37 inches. (Mark Kariya/)Overall, I was really impressed with the changes to the chassis. The suspension is still quite soft for me, but earlier in the day, with a smooth track or the presence of some small bumps on the faster track conditions, the FC 350 handled well. The relatively smaller-displacement engine and the bike being lower to the ground made it feel significantly smaller than the FC 450. However, the rider triangle remained very comfortable because the chassis is lower—not the seat. The FC 350’s suspension setup might be too soft for faster-level riders in race trim, but there is plenty of room for adjustment with the clickers and fork air pressure. (Mark Kariya/)My suspension changes were mainly to make the bike stiffer. For the fork, I increased the air pressure to 10.9 bar (10.6 bar stock), set the compression clicker at 6 (12 stock), and left the rebound at 12 (stock). For the shock, I went with the low-speed compression at 8 (12 stock), the high-speed compression at 1-3/4 (2 turns stock), and left the rebound at 12 (stock). Compared to the prior year model, the 2021 Husqvarna’s lower chassis and revised suspension settings work more cohesively. (Mark Kariya/)The new chassis settings are a major improvement on this bike. The combination of the 10mm-lower chassis and softer suspension make it much easier to corner. The brakes were as expected—firm but still progressive. The 220mm rear rotor is smaller in comparison to the Japanese bikes, which makes it easier to modulate. 2021 Husqvarna FC 350 Overall Impression A super-fun, confidence-inspiring powerband is one of the many aspects we like about the FC 350. One of our minor gripes about the bike is that it has a long throttle pull, even with the optional black throttle cam installed. (Mark Kariya/)The FC 350 was a lot of fun to ride—quite possibly the most fun Husqvarna I have ridden to date. Husky did a great job with the updates to this bike for 2021 and I can’t wait to spend more time on it and other Husqvarna models in the near future. The 2021 FC 350 is quite possibly the most fun Husqvarna we have ridden to date. (Mark Kariya/)Gearbox Helmet: Bell Moto-9 Flex Goggle: Viral Brand Factory Series Jersey: FXR Racing Podium MX Gloves: FXR Racing Slip-On Lite Pants: FXR Racing Podium MX Boots: Sidi Crossfire 3 SRS 2021 Husqvarna FC 350 Tech Spec PRICE $10,099 ENGINE 350cc, DOHC, liquid-cooled, single-cylinder four-stroke TRANSMISSION/FINAL DRIVE 5-speed/chain FRAME Steel central double-cradle FRONT SUSPENSION WP Xact 48mm fork adjustable for air pressure, compression damping, and rebound damping; 11.8-in. travel REAR SUSPENSION WP Xact shock adjustable for spring preload, high-/low-speed compression damping, and rebound damping; 11.8-in. travel FRONT BRAKE Brembo 2-piston caliper, 260mm disc REAR BRAKE Brembo 1-piston caliper, 220mm disc WHEELBASE 58.5 in. SEAT HEIGHT 37.0 in. FUEL CAPACITY 1.9 gal. CLAIMED WEIGHT 221 lb. (w/ all fluids except fuel) AVAILABLE Now CONTACT husqvarna-motorcycles.com Source

Andrea Dovizioso has announced he will not be racing for Ducati in 2021. (Ducati/)Some weddings are bound to last forever, others to end. The Andrea Dovizioso and Ducati union was a romance without a happy ending. A 125 world champion in 2004, Dovi joined Ducati in 2013 with the hard task to regroup the team after Valentino Rossi’s flop in red. In eight seasons with Ducati, he won 14 races and scored 39 podium finishes. In the last three seasons he fought hard with Marc Márquez, finishing second three years in a row (2017–2019). Nevertheless, these results were not enough to convince Ducati top management to renew him for the 2021-22 seasons. This winter they tested the pulse of Maverick Viñales and Fabio Quartararo, they signed Jack Miller, but the seat for the No. 1 rider in the team is still vacant. Sign up here to receive our newsletters. Get the latest in motorcycle reviews, tests, and industry news, subscribe here for our YouTube channel. On August 15, the eve of the Austrian GP, the Italian rider announced he will not continue with Ducati because, “There were no more conditions.” Twenty-four hours later Andrea won in Austria. Ironically the success that celebrates Ducati’s 50th victory in MotoGP will be remembered as the revenge that Dovi gave to his soon to be former team. Related Video: 2020 Ducati Superleggera V4 First Ride Review Dovizioso has left without a plan B and all the seats in the factory teams are already taken. Ducati has now three options on the table: Promote Johan Zarco or Francesco Bagnaia to the factory team, or bet on Jorge Lorenzo, who has already an offer. Dovi gave Ducati it’s 50th victory in MotoGP this past weekend in Austria. (Ducati/)You won in Austria, but for Ducati was it a victory or a defeat? It was a strange victory, with incredible feelings, also because of the terrible incident in the first race. What happened was very dangerous. The riders involved were really lucky not to get hurt. I’m happy for that. It was difficult to restart after only 20 minutes, but the feeling with the bike was very good; I was particularly strong in braking. There were two, three points where I was breaking very hard. This helped me to make the difference over Miller. Did your victory taste like a revenge? It was not a revenge. I have nothing to prove. It was a strange feeling because of the incident in race 1, plus there were no spectators to celebrate. How much did it help to race with a clear mind? Of course we are human, and Saturday night after the announcement I slept really well. Then, of course, these kinds of decisions are not taken in one day. I have already digested it. What was the winning key? It was confusing to see you struggling so much at Jerez and Brno and then be so competitive in Austria. It's proof that the new Michelin tires create a lot of mess. They are responsible for the ups and downs of many riders. It takes just a small change in setup or riding style that you win or you lose competitiveness. I have improved in braking, but now we have to do it in the middle of the corner and in the first part of acceleration if we want to fight with Yamaha and Suzuki on the other tracks. Coming back to your decision not to continue. Was it the result of frustration? It was the right thing to do. There are many reasons behind this decision. Waiting two races wouldn’t have changed anything, while there is a championship ongoing. I’ve been eight years with Ducati. Many good things happened, so it wasn’t an easy choice. There were good times—mistakes have been made as well—but I have no regrets. Dovizioso says he has no regrets regarding his time at Ducati. (Ducati/)What about the future? The decision to leave Ducati was not made because there is already a plan B, but in motorsport you never know. You are second in the championship, 11 points from leader Fabio Quartararo. Could this be the right year? I’m totally focused on fighting for the title. We have a chance and I want to do everything possible. Although his departure has been announced, Dovizioso is committed to fighting for a championship. (Ducati/)How will you spend the second half of the season with your former team? Nothing changes. I will spend the time on my side of the garage. You receive a lot of support from your colleagues, starting from Casey Stoner who tweeted: “Just my opinion but I don’t believe @DucatiMotor can afford to lose someone like @AndreaDovizioso. I think they need to realize at some point that it’s the rider, not wind tunnels, that get results, so listen to them…” Casey said it. I prefer not to answer. Not now. It’s not time to fight [with Ducati]. Who knows what the other riders could do with a Ducati? This is something we will never find out. Every year is a different story. It’s easy to talk, but then you have to respond with the facts. Source

Things are buzzing over at Enfield of late, with multiple electric prototypes being put through their paces. (Royal Enfield/)It wasn’t all that long ago that Royal Enfield motorcycles weren’t even offered with electric starters, but such is the firm’s recent rate of development that it’s now running prototype all-electric machines with serious plans to start offering a production version. Sign up here to receive our newsletters. Get the latest in motorcycle reviews, tests, and industry news, subscribe here for our YouTube channel. The company has confirmed that it has built multiple prototypes and it’s now working out the details of how to incorporate an electric bike into its range. The firm’s UK-based technical center is said to have developed initial test-bed models, using existing Enfield machines as a basis and fitting electric powertrains to explore the idea. The company’s UK-based tech center is said to be fitting electric powertrains onto existing machines for testing. (Though that sketch looks like a cruiser concept…) (Royal Enfield /)Related Video: New Electric Motorcycles For Sale The move into the electric field comes on the heels of impressively rapid growth at Royal Enfield. The Indian-owned company spent decades happily catering mainly to its home market, building the descendants of the Bullet that’s been in continuous production ever since 1948. But over the past decade the firm has made giant leaps forward, developing and launching the Himalayan 400cc adventure bike and the new 650cc Interceptor and Continental GT twins and investing in vastly increased production capacity. Until 2010, the firm made around 50,000 bikes per year. But five years later that figure was 50,000 per month. In FY 2019, the company sold an astounding 823,828 bikes. Enfield has made huge gains in market share and production capacity in just a few short years. Much of that is due to new models like the INT650. (Royal Enfield/)While Royal Enfield has now decided that the move to electric power is inevitable, the company is faced with a decision about how to position its future electric model. The firm’s recent success and growth comes in part from a focused approach; the company builds only affordable midsize bikes and has expressed no interest in spreading to other sectors. It’s an interesting contrast to the normal scattershot route to expansion that other bike manufacturers have applied. Enfield makes nothing smaller than 350cc and nothing bigger than 650cc, and while there’s a chance that the latest parallel twin models will eventually grow to 750cc, the firm has shown no interest in stretching its capacity range wider than that. Though Enfield currently has both feet firmly planted in the affordable midsize gas-powered segment, it has confirmed an electric is in the works. (Royal Enfield/)With that in mind, it’s likely the firm will target any future electric model in the same area, eschewing headline-grabbing power or range figures in favor of an appealing price-to-performance ratio and enough range to make it a viable machine for day-to-day use. Confirming the project, Royal Enfield CEO Vinod Dasari told Indian financial website Moneycontrol.com: “It is not about whether electric will come or not, but it’s a question of when. We did make some prototypes, we have looked at several segments, and we will be adding to the team in the near future.” Might be time for a new mission statement. “Built like a … battery? (Royal Enfield/)While a factory-made electric bike would be a Royal Enfield first, there have already been plenty of EV RE conversions in the past. The low cost of the Bullet 500 means it’s been popular as the basis of homespun electric bikes, and it’s also served as the platform for the pro-built Photon from British conversion company Electric Classic Cars (though that was a one-off). Will Royal Enfield go big with its electric or stay in its midsize wheelhouse? Time will tell. Source

Seems Suzuki’s long-running Recursion project is still in the works, but has taken on several different forms. (Suzuki Motor Corporation/)New models from Suzuki have been a rarity over the last few years, but a newly published patent shows that behind the scenes the firm is still working on the parallel-twin project it first hinted at with the Recursion concept nearly seven years ago. It’s been a long and convoluted development path for the twin, which began life as the SOHC, 588cc, turbocharged unit in the Recursion in 2013 before mutating into the 700cc, DOHC XE7 engine that was shown two years later, still packing a turbo but otherwise completely redesigned. Since then, there’s been a stony silence from Suzuki but a steady drip of patents to show the project remains underway. The last major redesign saw the SOHC turbocharged engine evolve into this DOHC 700cc XE7 (still with turbo). (Suzuki Motor Corporation/)Where’s The Boost? The latest patent from the company, filed in Japan last February but only published on August 20, 2020, is the first news we’ve seen on the Recursion project for a while, but reveals an interesting development—the turbocharger is gone. Every previous patent about the new design featured the exhaust-driven blower, largely because that’s what led to most of the patentable technology. The turbo impacted the engine’s packaging, its airbox design, its cooling, and its exhaust; after all, apart from the short-lived mid-1980s Japanese efforts, turbos have been largely ignored by bike designers. RELATED: Three New Motorcycles We Hope Husqvarna, Suzuki, And Yamaha Will Build The new Suzuki patent, however, shows the XE7 engine shorn of its turbo and intercooler, adopting a much simpler, normally aspirated layout instead. That doesn’t mean the turbo version has been killed; it’s just that the boosted version has needed much more development, leading to all the patents that have kept us informed of its progress. The chances are that a normally aspirated version of the engine has always been part of Suzuki’s plan, but the more conventional design means it simply hasn’t required additional patents. Newly obtained patents show the powerplant taking on a more basic, normally aspirated form. (Suzuki Motor Corporation/)So What’s New Here? In this instance, the patent relates simply to the layout and position of the catalytic converter, which is sited diagonally across the front face of the engine. The idea is that putting the cat at that angle locates it close to the exhaust ports to ensure it heats up quickly after the engine starts while also allowing it to be long and wide enough to be effective without sacrificing ground clearance like an under-engine design would. Related Video: 2020 Suzuki Katana Road Test Sign up here to receive our newsletters. Get the latest in motorcycle reviews, tests, and industry news, subscribe here for our YouTube channel. The turbocharged version, which appeared in its own catalyst-related patents published last year, manages to use shorter header pipes leading straight into the turbo, with the catalyst fitted straight to the turbo’s exhaust and placed vertically down the front of the engine. Without the turbo, the exhaust header pipe lengths are more important to the engine’s performance and power delivery, needing to be longer than those used on the turbo version, hence the repositioned catalytic converter. Without a turbo, the normally aspirated engine has to accommodate longer header pipes and reposition the cat. (Suzuki Motor Corporation/)How Will The Non-Turbo XE7 Stack Up? With its roughly 700cc capacity and parallel-twin layout, the new Suzuki twin is likely to be a rival to the likes of Kawasaki’s Ninja 650 and Z650 models and Yamaha’s MT-07, with about 80 hp on tap. As such, the engine looks like a viable replacement for the ancient 650cc V-twin used in the SV650 and V-Strom 650. As well as having a cleaner, more modern design than the V-twin SV650 engine—which can trace its roots back more than 20 years—a parallel twin cuts down on the component count when compared to a V-twin design, with half the number of camshafts and a simpler cam drive system, to reduce manufacturing costs. It’s also easier to package in a bike, simplifying exhaust routing and eliminating longstanding V-twin problems like how to mount the rear shock away from the rear cylinder head and its exhaust heat. With Honda’s CB500 range, Kawasaki’s 650s, and Yamaha’s MT-07 and Ténéré 700 all enjoying the advantages of the parallel-twin layout for their midsize machines, Suzuki’s V-twin design has become an outlier. The firm is clearly looking to follow the same route as its rivals in the future. The new parallel twin under development could reduce manufacturing costs and replace Suzuki’s aging SV650 V-twin engine. (Suzuki Motor Corporation/)What About The Turbo Version? With patent activity still ongoing, the turbocharged version of Suzuki’s new parallel twin remains a live project even seven years on from the original Recursion concept bike’s debut at the Tokyo Motor Show. RELATED: Suzuki Recursion - First Look It’s hard to second-guess the power it might make, since it depends entirely on the levels of boost used, but it should be easy to make GSX-R600-matching power figures or even GSX-R750 levels of performance. Both those bikes are showing their age and have been dropped from many international markets due to emissions rules, so the development of the new parallel twin could be Suzuki’s route back into the sportbike market. Seven years on, there’s still hope of seeing the Recursion reach production, though not necessarily in this form. (Suzuki Motor Corporation /)What’s more, the torque boost of a turbo means the blown version of the XE7 engine could also act as a replacement for the 1,050cc V-twin of the V-Strom 1050, another ages-old engine with roots going back to the mid-‘90s TL1000S motor. That means that by creating a range of normally aspirated and turbocharged versions of the same parallel twin, Suzuki could spawn an engine that powers machines all through its model range, creating huge economies of scale by allowing seemingly disparate bikes to share large numbers of components. Source

While many riders and racers are faced with deciding between a 250F and 450 motocross bike, a middle ground between the two can be had from Husqvarna and KTM, the only two brands to offer 350cc four-stroke models. Dubbed as a machine that benefits from having the lightweight handling feel of a 250F while possessing a 450-rivaling power-to-weight ratio, the Husqvarna FC 350 is designed for riders who desire more overall power than a 250F, but don’t want or need the unmitigated horsepower and torque of a 450. Husqvarna and KTM’s 350cc four-strokes have become some of our favorite bikes in recent years, so we couldn’t wait to swing our leg over the 2021 version of Husqvarna’s middleweight MXer at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, California, for our first ride on the bike. Riding the 2021 Husqvarna FC 350 at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, California. (Mark Kariya/)Related: 2021 Husqvarna Motocross And Cross-Country Models First Look The FC 350 is Husqvarna’s middleweight four-stroke motocross bike. (Mark Kariya/)2021 Husqvarna FC 350 Engine The FC 350 comes with an optional ventilated airbox cover that has six slit-shaped perforations. Running it helps with overall throttle response and power. (Mark Kariya/)The FC 350 engine works well. It’s a fair compromise between Husqvarna’s 250cc four-stroke and 450cc engines. I would say it’s closer to a fast 250F than a slow 450. Even though it makes good torque, the engine likes to be revved like a 250F. Sign up here to receive our newsletters. Get the latest in motorcycle reviews, tests, and industry news, subscribe here for our YouTube channel. I ran the engine in map 2. It has improved torque over map 1, which helped it recover in softer areas when I let the rpm fall and allowed me to carry third gear in some of the tighter corners. I didn’t notice any significant gaps in the gears and found the shifting to be easy. Second and third gears were usable in most of the flowing corners. The Magura clutch is smooth and consistent. I think a slightly firmer or more responsive feel at the lever might improve the performance of the clutch. 2021 Husqvarna FC 350 Suspension & Chassis/Handling With shorter fork cartridges and outer tubes along with a revised shock linkage, the 2021 FC 350 is 10mm lower than the prior year model. The claimed seat height is 37 inches. (Mark Kariya/)Overall, I was really impressed with the changes to the chassis. The suspension is still quite soft for me, but earlier in the day, with a smooth track or the presence of some small bumps on the faster track conditions, the FC 350 handled well. The relatively smaller-displacement engine and the bike being lower to the ground made it feel significantly smaller than the FC 450. However, the rider triangle remained very comfortable because the chassis is lower—not the seat. The FC 350’s suspension setup might be too soft for faster-level riders in race trim, but there is plenty of room for adjustment with the clickers and fork air pressure. (Mark Kariya/)My suspension changes were mainly to make the bike stiffer. For the fork, I increased the air pressure to 10.9 bar (10.6 bar stock), set the compression clicker at 6 (12 stock), and left the rebound at 12 (stock). For the shock, I went with the low-speed compression at 8 (12 stock), the high-speed compression at 1-3/4 (2 turns stock), and left the rebound at 12 (stock). Compared to the prior year model, the 2021 Husqvarna’s lower chassis and revised suspension settings work more cohesively. (Mark Kariya/)The new chassis settings are a major improvement on this bike. The combination of the 10mm-lower chassis and softer suspension make it much easier to corner. The brakes were as expected—firm but still progressive. The 220mm rear rotor is smaller in comparison to the Japanese bikes, which makes it easier to modulate. 2021 Husqvarna FC 350 Overall Impression A super-fun, confidence-inspiring powerband is one of the many aspects we like about the FC 350. One of our minor gripes about the bike is that it has a long throttle pull, even with the optional black throttle cam installed. (Mark Kariya/)The FC 350 was a lot of fun to ride—quite possibly the most fun Husqvarna I have ridden to date. Husky did a great job with the updates to this bike for 2021 and I can’t wait to spend more time on it and other Husqvarna models in the near future. The 2021 FC 350 is quite possibly the most fun Husqvarna we have ridden to date. (Mark Kariya/)Gearbox Helmet: Bell Moto-9 Flex Goggle: Viral Brand Factory Series Jersey: FXR Racing Podium MX Gloves: FXR Racing Slip-On Lite Pants: FXR Racing Podium MX Boots: Sidi Crossfire 3 SRS 2021 Husqvarna FC 350 Tech Spec PRICE $10,099 ENGINE 350cc, DOHC, liquid-cooled, single-cylinder four-stroke TRANSMISSION/FINAL DRIVE 5-speed/chain FRAME Steel central double-cradle FRONT SUSPENSION WP Xact 48mm fork adjustable for air pressure, compression damping, and rebound damping; 11.8-in. travel REAR SUSPENSION WP Xact shock adjustable for spring preload, high-/low-speed compression damping, and rebound damping; 11.8-in. travel FRONT BRAKE Brembo 2-piston caliper, 260mm disc REAR BRAKE Brembo 1-piston caliper, 220mm disc WHEELBASE 58.5 in. SEAT HEIGHT 37.0 in. FUEL CAPACITY 1.9 gal. CLAIMED WEIGHT 221 lb. (w/ all fluids except fuel) AVAILABLE Now CONTACT [husqvarna-motorcycles.com](http://www.husqvarna-motorcycles.com) Source

2019 Ducati Hypermotard 950 with Termignoni full system. (Seth Richards /)Motorcyclists sometimes treat exhaust systems and other aftermarket accessories as if they were more like expensive jewelry than performance parts. Like many of us, I’ve been known to fall under the spell of carbon fiber, titanium, and billet aluminum—not to mention a sweet-sounding exhaust note. But if you want to know the value of hardware, spend some time with your mechanic. Earlier this summer, I called my mechanic Steve Saucier to discuss options for improving throttle response and drivability on my 2019 Ducati Hypermotard 950. I met Steve back when he owned European Cycle Services in Middletown, New York, an independent shop with a reputation for being one of the best garages on the East Coast for race prepping, restoring, and working on Ducatis. Several years back, Steve merged his shop with Hudson Valley Motorcycles (HVMC) in Ossining, New York, where he’s currently the service manager. Termignoni close-up. (Seth Richards /)HVMC’s been around since 1966 when Richard Alexander Sr. opened it down the street from its current location. Today, it’s a Ducati, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Energica dealer and is still owned and operated by the Alexander family. If you’re a race fan, you might recognize the name. Richie was the 1998 AMA 750 Supersport champion and his nephew Corey currently races in the MotoAmerica Stock1000 and Superbike classes on an HVMC/Iconic Motorbikes-sponsored Kawasaki prepped by Graves Motorsports. The astute Egan-ite will at once recognize that HVMC meets two of the esteemed author’s criteria for dealership excellence (“Dealers,” October 1991): 1) it supports and is deeply involved in racing (on a high level at that), and 2) sells at least one line of non-Japanese motorcycle. The only aspect where it falls short on Egan’s rubric is its lack of free coffee. Fortunately, there’s an excellent diner next door. Termignoni exhaust unboxed. (Seth Richards /)After talking with Steve and my friend Alex at Ducati, I settled on installing a Termignoni full system from Ducati’s performance catalog ($3,009). Its titanium-sleeved can, carbon fiber end caps, and stainless steel pipes look great, but most importantly, the system includes a dedicated ECU map. It also ditches the catalytic converter and exhaust valve, which turns my Hyper into a track-only bike. That should encourage me to get to the track more often. Purchase also includes a two-year warranty. Sign up here to receive our newsletters. Get the latest in motorcycle reviews, tests, and industry news, subscribe here for our YouTube channel. The shop’s been slammed lately, but Steve did me a huge favor, coming in on his day off to get the exhaust installed. While he was working, I poked around the garage. Like many motorcycle shops, there’s the typical mix of sacred metal and corroding junk. The obviously sacred: a 0-mile 1199 Panigale R, still shrouded in its packing material; a 1979 900 Super Sport, deep into a restoration; and a clean ’90s 900 Supersport. Ducati 900 Supersport. Classic. (Seth Richards /)Each of these bikes has its associated historical drama, its own cast of legendary characters. The 900 Super Sport has Ing. Taglioni and a thread connecting it to Paul Smart and the Imola bike. The later Supersport variant has Miguel Galluzzi and the whole Cagiva era that saw Ducati hit its stride on the world stage. The Panigale R has its own legacy simply because it’s a homologation-spec superbike. The enthusiast can’t fail to see the links between all of these bikes, particularly as the eye wanders from the variously shared Brembo, Marchesini, Marzocchi, and Termignoni logos pasted on their respective parts. But for the enthusiast, what most would consider junk—a pile of bent trellis frames, a dented three-spoke Marchesini wheel—can also be endowed with significance by proxy, without regard for their usefulness. Discarded trellis frames sitting in the sun. (Seth Richards /)There’s a danger in considering an object for what it can be made to mean, rather than valuing it purely for what it is. We can’t help but be let down for wanting it to mean more than it can. While seeing history in a motorcycle model is more an intellectual pursuit than anything else, there’s always the enthusiast’s temptation to fetishize three-dimensional parts. In contrast to my reverential prostrations, Steve, having worked on motorcycles for decades, is in no way moved by sparkly bits or otherwise significant motorcycles. Considering the motorcycle in its own right, and letting history get out of its own way, is the best antidote. So to properly appreciate an exhaust system is to simply let it be an exhaust system. Back to the Hyper. Steve dyno’d my bike with both exhaust configurations, and peak power and torque figures are virtually unchanged. It’s a testament to the effort of the Ducati engineers who were able to achieve roughly equivalent peak performance numbers from the stock exhaust/ECU map and the competition-only setup—the latter of which isn’t required to comply with current emissions standards. That our dyno runs didn’t reveal the 3-percent improvement in peak horsepower or the 2-percent boost in peak torque that Ducati claims is a nonissue for me. I was never after more power. I was in search of improved throttle response. The before-after dyno chart shows that the Termignoni system smooths out the dip in horsepower around 4,750 rpm, but doesn’t increase power along the curve. However, the graph shows that it does improve torque everywhere. For what it’s worth, Ducati insists that with its dyno, peak power output is increased. (Seth Richards/)In stock trim, the throttle felt—there’s no other way to put it—electronic. It is, of course, a ride-by-wire throttle, but that’s not what I’m getting at. There was a remoteness and artificiality to throttle feel that took my mind off the road. It was a little snatchy below 4,000 rpm, and rolling off the throttle at any rpm was too abrupt. With the new exhaust, I can lug the engine and it pulls much more cleanly from low rpm. Throttle delivery is smooth, controlled, and more neutral, though still characterized by a sprightliness derived from relatively lightweight internals (crankshaft, etc.). With the included ECU flash, the dash displays “Racing Evo” to let you know you’re running the correct map. (Seth Richards /)Ducati claims the exhaust weighs 8.5 pounds less than the stock setup, which, unfortunately, we’ll have to take its word on. Like many of us, I’ve been stuck at home, and I haven’t had an accurate means by which to get the weight on both setups. My apologies. I should note, however, that in general it’s very difficult to discern any change in handling resulting from the loss of a few pounds, unless that weight has come off something with a large gyroscopic effect, like wheels. Anyway, as Steve said, “Now it sounds like a Ducati.” He’s right. It doesn’t sound like a twin-cylinder Ducati superbike; there’s something, well, motard-y about it. Like a single on steroids. It’s more shouty than a slow-revving desmoquattro, for instance, and less metallic-ly snarly than the Panigale’s superquadro (which has chain-, rather than belt-driven, cams). I’ve ridden it with and without the decibel killer and have settled on keeping it inserted for the sake of my eardrums (even with earplugs in). The exhaust changes the resonant properties of the bike too, so now I can feel the engine through the seat in all its robustness. Exhaust installation. (Seth Richards /)Ducati and Termignoni worked in tandem to make the Hypermotard’s design work equally well with both the stock twin undertail exhausts and the single high-slung Termi system. The stock number plate-like panels out back are 86′d with the Termi in place, which shows off the shapely subframe, and the different pipe routing exposes the inside of the single-sided swingarm between the rear wheel and the swingarm pivot. New exhaust routing exposes the swingarm. (Seth Richards /)The way the stock system routed the headers behind the right footpeg, reminiscent of my 996, looked good but the Termi system enhances the physical sparseness of the bike. Photographs don’t really do it justice. The quality of the titanium canister and the precision of the welds on the exhaust pipes showcase the craftsmanship you’d expect from Termignoni. But here I am segueing into hardware lust again. Carbon fiber details. (Seth Richards /)A motorcycle’s appeal is often based on a subjective preference or feeling, an attraction to a particular exhaust note, an association with a legendary racer, or just the basic draw of the motorcycle as a whole. But hanging out with Steve for the day reminded me that a motorcycle is, objectively, only as good as its performance. Function trumps form. A mechanic who’s intimately familiar with the inner workings of the machine is far less tempted to rhapsodize about some oblique value that captivates a hack with a keyboard. Ultimately, the Hypermotard 950′s Termignoni full system cleans up throttle response, sounds bigger, changes up the bike’s style, and weighs less than the stock setup. So, what that means—or rather, what it is—is a good exhaust system. Source

Kevin Cameron’s TD1-B 250 roadracer project presents welcome challenges—like getting proper function from old carburetors. (Cycle World Archives /)One step in the assembly of my 1965 Yamaha TD1-B 250 roadracer is to find acceptable carburetion among the 10 used carbs and two and a half sets of remote floats that the original owner had accumulated. Not one single carb body would allow easy throttle return. Eight of the 10 had distorted mounting flanges (where an insulating fiber spacer is sandwiched between carb and cylinder). Two of the brass slides still bore most of their original “wear-preventing” chrome plating. Many a born-again motorcyclist has rolled out a much-beloved Norton Commando, BSA Rocket, or Triumph Bonneville, cleaned the tank and fuel system, performed a basic tune-up, and then been rewarded with a lumpy idle that changes from minute to minute—often with stalling thrown in as a special test. Closer study often reveals that idle would be perfect and steady if a disembodied thumb could be found that would constantly press the throttle slide against the downstream side of its bore (as opposed to randomly rattling backward and forward with every intake pulsation). When I first laid eyes on early Mikuni VM carburetors in 1968–‘69 I noticed that their metering needles and throttle slides were aluminum, their surfaces hardened by anodizing (which converts the metal surface into the hard ceramic aluminum oxide). But I didn’t realize the importance of those features; they would not wear out. When I rode a few novice races on a TD1 in 1967, I became aware of the problems of carb mounting. Each of the two 27mm lead-zinc alloy carbs mounted on a pair of 8mm studs. This became an approach conflict: I wanted to tighten the nuts to prevent intake leakage (air leaks can be death on two-strokes), but if I tightened them too much, throttle slide return became iffy. There I was, approaching turn 3, when suddenly… Mikuni engineers were well aware of this, and of the problem of engine vibration causing float bowls to froth and overflow, so they pretty much gave up the ideas of separate float bowls and flange mounting on studs. In their place they mounted a rubber-covered steel flange to the cylinder, with a short projecting cuff of flexible rubber into which you popped the carb’s circular spigot. The VM’s float chamber was concentric with its main system, an integral part of the carb body. A narrow flat steel band and pinch-screw clamped the rubber cuff against the carb, preventing leakage, and a groove in the carb’s spigot engaged a narrow rib inside the cuff, preventing backfires from blowing the carb off the engine. Although I didn’t appreciate it then, this form of mounting also separated the carb body from the large forces of the flange mounting, absolutely eliminating that as a source of carb body distortion. For some classic carbs there are machine shops that provide a re-sleeving service. They fixture the carb body on the miller bed and then oversize the throttle slide bore to accept a steel sleeve that restores roundness and reliable slide return. That allows you to begin the distortion process all over again, but for an unspecified period you may indeed enjoy both a stable idle (resulting from reduced slide leakage) and confidence-boosting throttle slide return. Out you roll on your classic machine with its proper classic carbs. Reminds me of poet Ogden Nash’s advice on woolen socks: “Wear them once as they’re shrinking by.” Enjoying a stable idle and proper slide return on an old TD1-B is short lived, but a worthy endeavor for some. (Cycle World Archives/)At present, the aesthetics of this matter have caused at least one maker of modern bikes to style its fuel-injection throttle bodies to look vaguely like 1960s carburetors. Kind of like making a transistor radio with dimly glowing red filaments inside to remind you of vacuum tubes. Many a classic bike enthusiast, deciding that it’s the experience of riding the classic that stirs their emotions, rather than the 100-point correctness of its every part, will install one of the many Mikuni conversion kits available—some of which convert fussy twin-carb installations to the more pleasant T110-style single carb. Starts, runs, idles. Doesn’t leak. Satisfaction. Sign up here to receive our newsletters. Get the latest in motorcycle reviews, tests, and industry news, subscribe here for our YouTube channel. I know that many present-day owners of bikes like mine have installed proper electronic ignitions and Mikuni VM carbs, but mine is not a silk purse project. I want to sit with my Okuda Koki meter and piston-motion dial gage to set the magneto’s points gaps and timing. I want to see if I can make these terrible original carbs carburate. If I wanted to update, why not also see about having some water-cooled cylinders and heads cast? I could also do away with the crankshaft-mounted clutch by installing a TD1-C crank, longer gearbox input shaft, and full-sized clutch. And so onward to the present day, improving everything until no part of the original bike or experience remains. I’ve honed the distorted throttle slide bores until the slides return nicely. I’ve made the carb mounting flanges flat again. Next comes assembly of carbs and float bowls, leak test, and installation on the bike. Maybe it will be not only terrible but embarrassing, with fuel dribbling out to wash the upper surface of the gearbox clean. Maybe I’ll push the thing, trying various throttle openings, ooo-wahhh-ooo, hoping for a pop that never comes. I have the pleasure of anticipation, of not knowing. Source

Kevin Cameron’s TD1-B 250 roadracer project presents welcome challenges—like getting proper function from old carburetors. (Cycle World Archives /)One step in the assembly of my 1965 Yamaha TD1-B 250 roadracer is to find acceptable carburetion among the 10 used carbs and two and a half sets of remote floats that the original owner had accumulated. Not one single carb body would allow easy throttle return. Eight of the 10 had distorted mounting flanges (where an insulating fiber spacer is sandwiched between carb and cylinder). Two of the brass slides still bore most of their original “wear-preventing” chrome plating. Many a born-again motorcyclist has rolled out a much-beloved Norton Commando, BSA Rocket, or Triumph Bonneville, cleaned the tank and fuel system, performed a basic tune-up, and then been rewarded with a lumpy idle that changes from minute to minute—often with stalling thrown in as a special test. Closer study often reveals that idle would be perfect and steady if a disembodied thumb could be found that would constantly press the throttle slide against the downstream side of its bore (as opposed to randomly rattling backward and forward with every intake pulsation). When I first laid eyes on early Mikuni VM carburetors in 1968–‘69 I noticed that their metering needles and throttle slides were aluminum, their surfaces hardened by anodizing (which converts the metal surface into the hard ceramic aluminum oxide). But I didn’t realize the importance of those features; they would not wear out. When I rode a few novice races on a TD1 in 1967, I became aware of the problems of carb mounting. Each of the two 27mm lead-zinc alloy carbs mounted on a pair of 8mm studs. This became an approach conflict: I wanted to tighten the nuts to prevent intake leakage (air leaks can be death on two-strokes), but if I tightened them too much, throttle slide return became iffy. There I was, approaching turn 3, when suddenly… Mikuni engineers were well aware of this, and of the problem of engine vibration causing float bowls to froth and overflow, so they pretty much gave up the ideas of separate float bowls and flange mounting on studs. In their place they mounted a rubber-covered steel flange to the cylinder, with a short projecting cuff of flexible rubber into which you popped the carb’s circular spigot. The VM’s float chamber was concentric with its main system, an integral part of the carb body. A narrow flat steel band and pinch-screw clamped the rubber cuff against the carb, preventing leakage, and a groove in the carb’s spigot engaged a narrow rib inside the cuff, preventing backfires from blowing the carb off the engine. Although I didn’t appreciate it then, this form of mounting also separated the carb body from the large forces of the flange mounting, absolutely eliminating that as a source of carb body distortion. For some classic carbs there are machine shops that provide a re-sleeving service. They fixture the carb body on the miller bed and then oversize the throttle slide bore to accept a steel sleeve that restores roundness and reliable slide return. That allows you to begin the distortion process all over again, but for an unspecified period you may indeed enjoy both a stable idle (resulting from reduced slide leakage) and confidence-boosting throttle slide return. Out you roll on your classic machine with its proper classic carbs. Reminds me of poet Ogden Nash’s advice on woolen socks: “Wear them once as they’re shrinking by.” Enjoying a stable idle and proper slide return on an old TD1-B is short lived, but a worthy endeavor for some. (Cycle World Archives/)At present, the aesthetics of this matter have caused at least one maker of modern bikes to style its fuel-injection throttle bodies to look vaguely like 1960s carburetors. Kind of like making a transistor radio with dimly glowing red filaments inside to remind you of vacuum tubes. Many a classic bike enthusiast, deciding that it’s the experience of riding the classic that stirs their emotions, rather than the 100-point correctness of its every part, will install one of the many Mikuni conversion kits available—some of which convert fussy twin-carb installations to the more pleasant T110-style single carb. Starts, runs, idles. Doesn’t leak. Satisfaction. Sign up here to receive our newsletters. Get the latest in motorcycle reviews, tests, and industry news, subscribe here for our YouTube channel. I know that many present-day owners of bikes like mine have installed proper electronic ignitions and Mikuni VM carbs, but mine is not a silk purse project. I want to sit with my Okuda Koki meter and piston-motion dial gage to set the magneto’s points gaps and timing. I want to see if I can make these terrible original carbs carburate. If I wanted to update, why not also see about having some water-cooled cylinders and heads cast? I could also do away with the crankshaft-mounted clutch by installing a TD1-C crank, longer gearbox input shaft, and full-sized clutch. And so onward to the present day, improving everything until no part of the original bike or experience remains. I’ve honed the distorted throttle slide bores until the slides return nicely. I’ve made the carb mounting flanges flat again. Next comes assembly of carbs and float bowls, leak test, and installation on the bike. Maybe it will be not only terrible but embarrassing, with fuel dribbling out to wash the upper surface of the gearbox clean. Maybe I’ll push the thing, trying various throttle openings, ooo-wahhh-ooo, hoping for a pop that never comes. I have the pleasure of anticipation, of not knowing. Source