Hugh Janus

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

The ever-shifting sands of the motorcycle market are hinting that low-cost middleweight all-rounders could be the next big growth area, and if that’s the case, then Triumph might be set to cash in with the new Trident. It may look bleached out, but under that white paint, Triumph’s new middleweight Trident “prototype” seems production-ready. (Triumph Motorcycles/)Previewed as a “design prototype” that’s really not much less than a production-ready bike sprayed white to give the illusion that it’s a styling model, the newest Trident revives a famous name and marks Triumph’s entry into the affordable mass-market segment. Having proved that it can make bikes to rival the best that Europe, Japan, and America can offer in the streetfighter, adventure bike, retro, and cruiser fields, the British firm is setting its sights on models like the Kawasaki Z650, Honda CB650R, Yamaha MT-07, and Suzuki SV650. No specs have yet been given, but all indications are that the new Trident is squarely focused on the affordable naked middleweight segment. (Triumph Motorcycles/)What’s The Trident About? Despite showing the bike to the press, Triumph is remaining coy when it comes to specific details of the Trident. It’s the culmination of four years’ work, with engineering done at the firm’s Hinckley headquarters and a dash of Italian styling courtesy of Rodolfo Frascoli. While the company hasn’t revealed much about the bike itself, it’s clear that the engine is based on the firm’s smaller three-cylinder mill, as used in the Street Triple. The company won’t confirm its capacity, but the engine’s components look like they’re borrowed from the original 675cc version of the motor rather than the current Street Triple’s revised 765cc unit or the even bigger 900cc derivative that’s now in the Tiger. Displacement hasn’t been confirmed, but the new bike’s engine looks to be based on the triple-cylinder powerplant used in the Street Triple. (Triumph Motorcycles/)In fact, there’s a strong chance the Trident could use the little-known 660cc version of the engine. Originally developed for the Australian market to suit the country’s LAMS (Learner Approved Motorcycles Scheme) rules, which limit new license holders to no more than 660cc, it featured the 74mm bore of the 675cc original but added a short-throw crankshaft for a 51.1mm stroke instead of 52.3mm. A second-gen 660 is offered in Europe, simply called the Street Triple S, using a 76mm bore and 48.5mm stroke. However, it has the updated engine castings of the 765cc Street Triple rather than the older design seen on the Trident prototype, suggesting the new bike might use the original, longer-stroke version of the 660 engine. Sign up here to receive our newsletters. Get the latest in motorcycle reviews, tests, and industry news, subscribe here for our YouTube channel. In terms of performance, Triumph is sure to be aiming for a peak power of no more than 94 hp. Under convoluted European motorcycle rules, riders who’ve recently gained their licenses are limited to no more than 47 hp but can ride restricted machines provided the model they’re based on don’t make more than twice that. Hence 94 hp has become something of a magic number for any bike aiming to grab a big slice of the novice rider market. With a pillion portion reaching almost to the taillight, the new bike borrows elements from the ’07 Street Triple, though the retro tank shape is a clear nod to the firm’s past. (Triumph Motorcycles/)Design And Styling The Trident’s styling seems aimed to split the difference between the firm’s two most successful models—the retro Bonneville and the Street Triple. The tail, with the pillion seat extending all the way to the rear light, is reminiscent of the original 2007 Street Triple, but the tank speaks more of Triumph’s 1960s heyday, with a rounded top and deeply scalloped sides. A single, circular headlight is another throwback, but the bike stops short of being overtly retro, with 21st-century proportions coming courtesy of the 17-inch wheels, short tail unit, belly-mounted exhaust, and forward-focused mass. The round solo headlight shape is also a retro touch, but no doubt there are modern elements within. (Triumph Motorcycles/)Steve Sargent, Triumph’s chief product officer, said: “The Trident design prototype marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for Triumph, where the brief was all about fun, from the look to the ride. With its pure minimalist form, clean lines, Triumph design DNA and more than a hint of our Speed Triple’s muscular poise, this gives the first exciting glimpse at the full Trident story to come. Ultimately our aim was to bring a new take on character and style, alongside the accessible easy handling and quality Triumph is known for—at a price that’s really competitive.” Triumph aims to keep price low by using an all-new steel tube frame that’s easy to mass-produce. The swingarm here is aluminum however. (Triumph Motorcycles /)Steel Frame An all-new frame is clearly one of the keys to both the Trident’s simplicity and its intended low price. Made of steel tubes, it’s clearly meant to be cheap to mass-produce. While the white paint on the prototype hides it, the swingarm pivot section, which has the look of an alloy casting, seems actually to be a plastic cover over steel underpinnings. The swingarm really is aluminum, while the front suspension, the brakes, and the wheels all appear to be straight from the entry-level Street Triple S. That means you get a nonadjustable Showa 41mm fork ending with Nissin two-pot calipers gripping 310mm discs. The 17-inch wheels, front suspension, and brakes all look cribbed from the entry-level Street Triple S. That’s not a bad thing. (Triumph Motorcycles/)Why The Middle Class Matters It’s hard to take much from 2020′s motorcycle sales so far thanks to the effects of lockdowns and factory closures, but many manufacturers are reporting a boom in sales of cheap, 650cc-class bikes. In the UK, the Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 has become a best seller, while bikes like the Ninja 650, Vulcan 650, and Yamaha Tracer 700 are also showing huge sales growth. That’s in part because lockdowns prevented the normal early season trade-ins—with many existing motorcyclists holding on to their bikes for an extra year and starving dealers of second-hand stock. Simultaneously, commuters keen to get away from crowded public transport during the pandemic are being tempted by motorcycles—especially lapsed motorcyclists who already hold the required license. Low-cost, midrange all-rounders seem to be coming out strongly as a result. RELATED: BEST MIDDLEWEIGHT STREETBIKE: Triumph Street Triple R With the financial aftershocks of the pandemic sure to rumble on for years to come, the demand for value-for-money bikes isn’t likely to end anytime soon. Just how cheap can Triumph make the Trident? There’s no official word on the price, but it will be cheaper than the firm’s existing triples. At the moment, the cheapest S model of the Street Triple—not sold in the US—costs 8,100 pounds in the UK including taxes (equivalent to $10,600), while a Kawasaki Z650 sells for 6,649 pounds ($8,700) and a Honda CB650R is 7,199 pounds ($9,450). The Trident will be aimed at those machines, which means it will have to undercut the Street Triple S by around 1,000 pounds ($1,300). The overall proportions hint at an accessible, upright riding position and a slimmed-down stance. (Triumph Motorcycles/)Trident—What’s In A Name? Triumph has been slavishly renewing its trademark rights to the “Trident” name for years while waiting for the right model to use it on. The original came in 1968, debuting Triumph’s first three-cylinder engine alongside the BSA Rocket 3 (a badge-engineered version of the same bike), but died by 1975 as Triumph fell into financial trouble. Triumph has been looking for the right model to use the Trident name again for a while now. This one looks like it’s ready for prime time. (Triumph Motorcycles/) Word on the street is that the new Trident will be launched in spring of 2021. (Triumph Motorcycles/)John Bloor’s reborn Triumph brought the Trident name back in 1990, initially on a 750 triple. It grew to 900cc in 1991 and remained in the range until 1998. Since then there have been plenty of rumors but no new Trident—although the name was earmarked for use as a sub-brand of Triumph-made, side-by-side four-wheelers that very nearly reached production under the Trident Powersports name in 2014, only for the entire project to be dropped just months before its planned launch. Source

Miguel Oliveira overtook Jack Miller and Pol Espargaró as the two went wide on the final corner, giving himself and Tech3 KTM a first-ever MotoGP win. (Tech3 KTM/)In a race red-flagged and restarted after Maverick Viñales jumped off his brakeless Yamaha at 135 mph, the outcome looked like a straight duel between Jack Miller on Ducati and pole-sitter Pol Espargaró on the now-very-fast KTM. But that failed to consider the readiness of third-place rider Miguel Oliveira (on Tech3 KTM) to exploit any mistake by the lead pair. When they went wide on the final lap, he darted through to win—his first win in MotoGP. Fortunately Viñales slid to a stop uninjured but his bike burned in the Airfence. In the first start it had looked like success for Suzuki’s Joan Mir, who had fought clear and had the pace to win. But on lap 17, as Viñales approached turn 1, his brakes gave him the same non-choice that faced Eddie Lawson when one caliper’s brake pads fell out at the Laguna Seca USGP in 1990: Either instantly jump off, converting his leathers into a giant brake shoe, or go into the barrier with the bike. Viñales jumped. By rule, the race was stopped because a crash barrier had been damaged. “I started to lose front brake pressure. I was trying, trying. I went wide one time.” To rest the brakes, “I made three very slow laps, then I pushed again. “I think the parts go away on the brakes. I understood very well that the brake was broken or something, so I decided to jump.” Alex Márquez said, “Then suddenly when we arrived in the first corner I saw like some small black parts going out from his bike.” This brake problem is not new. Valentino Rossi said, “In these last two weekends we were on the limit with the brakes, especially with the Yamaha.” Yamaha continues to struggle with brake issues—a serious issue at Spielberg as the track has several areas that require hard braking, especially for the Yamahas as they must make up ground on corner entry. (MotoGP/)Fabio Quartararo, Rossi’s teammate, said, “The brakes? I felt the lever getting soft. “In braking I went long twice, once because of me and once because of the brakes.” After brake problems at Jerez, most of the Yamaha riders switched to the 2020 “evo” finned Monoblock aluminum caliper (it is said to operate cooler and contain less fluid than the previous design), but when Viñales didn’t get the feel he wanted from the new equipment, it was decided to stay with the previous calipers. Yamaha team manager Massimo Meregalli added, “Probably because he was behind other riders he couldn’t cool down the system, and after the fifth lap he felt something but tried to manage.” “This track is very severe with the brakes,” Rossi also said. “Everybody suffers. If you see, everybody has big air ducts on the brakes (carbon fiber air scoops are visible in photos), also the other manufacturers.” He further explained “…Yamaha suffers more also because we try to gain (back) in braking what we lose in the straight, because our bike is slow but it’s good in braking, so we try to brake very hard.” This is just what Honda’s engine weakness of a couple of seasons ago forced Marc Márquez to do—brake very late and hard in an effort to compensate. Most riders are now using the 340mm-diameter Brembo carbon front discs, supplied in standard and heavy weights. Save for Ben Spies’ big Motegi brake problem in 2012 and some problems at Phillip Island, brakes have not been much in the news. That has clearly changed. Sign up here to receive our newsletters. Get the latest in motorcycle reviews, tests, and industry news, subscribe here for our YouTube channel. Despite claims that Yamaha’s early season engine warnings (red means stop) have been fully corrected, the riders seem to have a different opinion, and there are rumors of problems with the valve operating finger followers or with a need to more frequently recharge the on-board bottle supplying the pneumatic spring valve train. Mum’s the word, but now we see the riders working the brakes very hard to compensate for lack of straightaway performance. Where was Mir in the second race, after leading the first? “I felt great all weekend and in the first race I felt I could win for sure. But in the restart I had to go out on the used tire.” He didn’t have another left, so it was very hard to hold off the other riders. Miller, on the other hand, had new softs to mount front and rear. It all comes down to what is left in each rider’s tire allocation after practice and qualifying. Andrea Dovizioso won last Sunday’s race on this track where Ducati has had so many successes, so where was he today? Finishing fifth and only three points behind series leader Quartararo, he said, “…Today I started the race thinking I was very fast and I found myself running slower than most of the riders.” Trying to understand the mysterious nature of Michelin’s 2020 rear tire, Dovi said, “The first point is that the new tire is causing problems for everyone. We had already complained about it in the winter. Now the others are doing it too. “It is not normal for such different things to happen in two consecutive races on the same track.” Andrea Dovizioso went from a win last weekend on the very same track to running fifth this week. Dovi cites tires as the number one reason for inconsistent finishes. (MotoGP/)As so often, Dovi provided information useful in understanding other developments. “The Suzuki is so good in the middle of the corner,” he said, “and they have become better at braking, so now they are very similar to us on the brakes. Their acceleration is not as good as ours but they can exit (from corners) with more speed, and when you exit with more speed you don’t have to use the rear tire so much, because you don’t have to pick up the bike and use maximum throttle because you’ve made the speed (already) in the middle of the corner, so you use the tire a bit less, which is why Mir and Álex Rins are so good at the end of races.” The Ducatis, he noted, accelerate fast but catching up to the Suzuki head start doesn’t happen until mid-straight. “They can be fast and more consistent than anybody.” There is another reason for Yamahas to have heat problems with their equipment (brakes, tires, engine) and that is their now-urgent need to draft faster bikes when possible. That forces them to operate much of the time in the shimmering mass of hot air that streams behind these very powerful bikes. From the especially hot races at Jerez and Brno we remember riders saying they suffered greatly from the heat of bikes ahead. And for some time—not just in this season—riders have observed front tire pressure rising to performance-sapping level during drafting. Yamaha has a long policy of building engines more for range than for top speed, but the riders no longer find this an advantage. Also, it is harder to make high-rpm power from an inline-four than from a V-4 because of what I shall call “Ishikawa’s Law.” That is because their extra length makes them vulnerable to serious torsional vibration. V-4 cranks derive greater stiffness and stability from their shorter length. Crankshaft torsional oscillations are transmitted to the camshafts, whose resulting unsmooth rotation makes accurate valve control more difficult. Special measures can deal with this but they add weight and require thorough development. For years it was Honda versus Yamaha, but first Ducati, then Suzuki, and now KTM raised their game, pushing Yamaha riders down the finish orders. Time for change? KTM now has two wins in the last three races with its V-4 RC16. (MotoGP/)I am tempted to speculate that the heat of close drafting may be a contributing cause of the now-you-see-it, now-you-don’t problems with rear tires. Dorna has worked very hard to achieve the present level of machine and rider parity in MotoGP. It educates riders through national series and then via Moto3 and Moto2, to arrive in MotoGP fully familiar with all the tracks and as battle-hardened veterans. And by providing, through the supply of factory bikes of previous years to satellite teams, that every one of these well-schooled riders is aboard a fully engineered racebike. Here is the list of how many riders were lapping within a second of the top man in this weekend’s practice: FP1 20FP2 14FP3 19FP4 18That’s close. Many of the riders have remarked on this unusually competitive field. No doubt multiplying Dorna’s efforts, the running of this second race on the Spielberg circuit a week later gave every team the opportunity to further refine its setup and correct previous mistakes. What is the result of very close competition? Sanctioning bodies seek it for commercial reasons—it makes racing exciting. But a downside is that drafting groups form, from which only an exceptionally powerful bike can escape. We saw this at Daytona in the 600 Supersport class years ago. If you are tail-end Charlie in a group of five MotoGP bikes, you are on the receiving end of roughly one thousand “heat horsepower”—a plume from exhaust pipes and heat exchangers representing the output of a thousand kitchen toasters. The coolest place to be is up front, making it doubly important to get away at the start in the lead group. No telling what all that heat will do to you and your equipment if you are trapped downfield, fighting through a close mass of bikes. One thousand kitchen toasters’ worth of heat can wreak havoc on MotoGP machines in the draft. (MotoGP/)In practice and qualifying, bikes are typically not in tight drafting groups, so tires might operate more normally then. But once the race starts (and poor Viñales once again discovers that the same setup that produced hot laps in practice can act diabolically otherwise in close competition) situations arise in which certain bikes begin to suffer from heat-related tire problems. The above is pure speculation on my part, but it seems to fit many of the facts. We know that close drafting can send front tire, brake, and rider temperatures into the red, and we know that tire behavior in this series is often mysteriously different between practice and race. Now the riders and teams get two weeks off before Misano. Source

British-made scramblers are becoming something of a theme in this year’s delayed crop of Hollywood blockbusters. Not only is James Bond set to appear on a Triumph Scrambler 1200 in the forthcoming No Time to Die film, but niche brand CCM Motorcycles has secured a starring role in Marvel’s upcoming Black Widow. A Spitfire-based scrambler will appear in the upcoming Marvel movie, but CCM is also making this limited-edition version available to the public. (CCM Motorcycles/)Both movies should have hit theaters months ago but have been postponed due to the pandemic, with the result that the limited-edition production bikes celebrating their silver screen siblings have been ahead of their openings rather than after them. Triumph’s Scrambler 1200 Bond Edition was unveiled back in May, and now CCM has released the Blackout to mark its Black Widow appearance. The Blackout is a higher-spec derivative of the movie bike, featuring an adjustable upside-down fork, hand-welded and powdercoated frame, and lots of carbon fiber. (CCM Motorcycles/)It turns out that the limited-edition, hand-built CCM Spitfire Scrambler caught the eye of Marvel’s producers, leading to the call to supply a Spitfire to undergo tests for the Black Widow stunt team. The firm says the standard bike was more than capable of standing up to the beating it met at the stunt riders’ hands—eliminating the need for the dressed-up dirt bike doubles that Hollywood usually resorts to when the going gets tough. CCM’s Spitfire Scrambler came out more than two years ago (and sold out quickly), but you can see the similarities between it and the Blackout. (CCM Motorcycles/)The successful audition led to CCM supplying six bikes to the moviemakers, and preview stills have already emerged showing Scarlett Johansson’s title character aboard a tatty-looking Spitfire. It’s a grittier look than the futuristic preproduction Harley-Davidson LiveWire that the character rode in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and as a result the limited-production spin-off isn’t a part-for-part clone. Instead CCM has built a high-spec Spitfire derivative, labeled Blackout, to mark its appearance in the movie. Powering the lightweight machine is a Husky TE 630-based single-cylinder engine stuffed into a T45 steel trellis frame. (CCM Motorcycles/)The Spitfire—named after the use of the same T45 steel in the frame that was used during the production of the WWII fighter plane of the same name—is the basis of the Blackout, which gains a blacked-out look to match its title. The frame is powdercoated in metallic black, and the tank and carbon fiber nose fairing get the same finish, with the addition of a gray side panel and red pinstripes. The red is mirrored in the anodized red triple clamps, red rear spring, and the cam covers of the Husqvarna TE 630-based single-cylinder engine. That engine puts out about 60 hp, breathing through a new slash-cut, stacked exhaust, and the bike’s lightweight design and liberal use of carbon fiber mean it only weighs around 306 pounds dry (or 7 pounds lighter than the Scrambler that preceded it). The straight-cut underseat mufflers have evolved into more refined and slash-cut versions that are now stacked instead. (CCM Motorcycles/)Who is CCM? The firm, based in Bolton, Lancashire, was founded back in 1971 as Clews Competition Motorcycles by motocross rider Alan Clews, who saw decent results in the 500cc class of the World Motocross Championship in the mid-‘70s. In the 1980s, the firm’s bikes were exported to the USA and sold under the Can-Am brand. CCM also built the Armstrong MT500 military bikes that were later developed into the Harley-Davidson MT350, and still makes the MT230 police and military bikes used by defense and security forces around the world. And the formerly brown leather seat is now a more pillion-friendly black micro-suede unit, set about 34 inches high. (CCM Motorcycles/)In light of the limited numbers built and its hand-made construction, the Blackout’s UK price of £8,995 (around $11,800) doesn’t seem unreasonable—in fact, it’s the cheapest of the nine Spitfire derivatives CCM currently offers, with the remaining eight models ranging from £9,995 ($13,100) to £18,000 ($23,600). The cockpit features upswept bars and special Skunkwerx badging to denote the bike’s provenance. The 3.6-gallon fuel tank keeps a similar profile to the original Scrambler version but takes on a unique black and gray paint job. (CCM Motorcycles/)Black Widow isn’t the first big-budget Hollywood movie a CCM motorcycle has appeared in either; the company’s 644 model was modified to become Angelina Jolie’s transport in 2001′s Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. The scrambler-appropriate spoke wheels—19 inches in front, 17 out back—wear blocky dual sport rubber from Mitas. (CCM Motorcycles/)While the Spitfire and its derivatives are currently only sold in the UK, the company is working on a Euro 5-compliant version to gain full European certification and open the doors to international markets. The company plans to expand its footprint to more markets once a Euro 5 version passes muster. (CCM Motorcycles/)CCM Blackout Limited Edition Movie Tribute Model Specifications MSRP: £8,995 (around $11,800) Engine: 600cc, liquid-cooled single-cylinder Bore x Stroke: 100.0 x 76.5mm Fuel System: EFI Transmission: 6-speed Clutch: Wet, multiplate Claimed Horsepower: 55 bhp Frame: Steel trellis Front Suspension: Adjustable inverted fork; 4.7-in. travel Rear Suspension: Adjustable monoshock; 4.7-in. travel Front Brake: 320mm disc Rear Brake: 230mm disc Wheels, Front/Rear: Spoked; 19-in. / 17-in. Rake/Trail: 26.0°/4.6 in. Wheelbase: 57.2 in. Seat Height: 33.8 in. Fuel Capacity: 3.6 gal. Claimed Dry Weight: 306 lb. Availability: August 2020 Contact: ccm-motorcycles.com Source

British-made scramblers are becoming something of a theme in this year’s delayed crop of Hollywood blockbusters. Not only is James Bond set to appear on a Triumph Scrambler 1200 in the forthcoming No Time to Die film, but niche brand CCM Motorcycles has secured a starring role in Marvel’s upcoming Black Widow. A Spitfire-based scrambler will appear in the upcoming Marvel movie, but CCM is also making this limited-edition version available to the public. (CCM Motorcycles/)Both movies should have hit theaters months ago but have been postponed due to the pandemic, with the result that the limited-edition production bikes celebrating their silver screen siblings have been ahead of their openings rather than after them. Triumph’s Scrambler 1200 Bond Edition was unveiled back in May, and now CCM has released the Blackout to mark its Black Widow appearance. The Blackout is a higher-spec derivative of the movie bike, featuring an adjustable upside-down fork, hand-welded and powdercoated frame, and lots of carbon fiber. (CCM Motorcycles/)It turns out that the limited-edition, hand-built CCM Spitfire Scrambler caught the eye of Marvel’s producers, leading to the call to supply a Spitfire to undergo tests for the Black Widow stunt team. The firm says the standard bike was more than capable of standing up to the beating it met at the stunt riders’ hands—eliminating the need for the dressed-up dirt bike doubles that Hollywood usually resorts to when the going gets tough. CCM’s Spitfire Scrambler came out more than two years ago (and sold out quickly), but you can see the similarities between it and the Blackout. (CCM Motorcycles/)The successful audition led to CCM supplying six bikes to the moviemakers, and preview stills have already emerged showing Scarlett Johansson’s title character aboard a tatty-looking Spitfire. It’s a grittier look than the futuristic preproduction Harley-Davidson LiveWire that the character rode in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and as a result the limited-production spin-off isn’t a part-for-part clone. Instead CCM has built a high-spec Spitfire derivative, labeled Blackout, to mark its appearance in the movie. Powering the lightweight machine is a Husky TE 630-based single-cylinder engine stuffed into a T45 steel trellis frame. (CCM Motorcycles/)The Spitfire—named after the use of the same T45 steel in the frame that was used during the production of the WWII fighter plane of the same name—is the basis of the Blackout, which gains a blacked-out look to match its title. The frame is powdercoated in metallic black, and the tank and carbon fiber nose fairing get the same finish, with the addition of a gray side panel and red pinstripes. The red is mirrored in the anodized red triple clamps, red rear spring, and the cam covers of the Husqvarna TE 630-based single-cylinder engine. That engine puts out about 60 hp, breathing through a new slash-cut, stacked exhaust, and the bike’s lightweight design and liberal use of carbon fiber mean it only weighs around 306 pounds dry (or 7 pounds lighter than the Scrambler that preceded it). The straight-cut underseat mufflers have evolved into more refined and slash-cut versions that are now stacked instead. (CCM Motorcycles/)Who is CCM? The firm, based in Bolton, Lancashire, was founded back in 1971 as Clews Competition Motorcycles by motocross rider Alan Clews, who saw decent results in the 500cc class of the World Motocross Championship in the mid-‘70s. In the 1980s, the firm’s bikes were exported to the USA and sold under the Can-Am brand. CCM also built the Armstrong MT500 military bikes that were later developed into the Harley-Davidson MT350, and still makes the MT230 police and military bikes used by defense and security forces around the world. And the formerly brown leather seat is now a more pillion-friendly black micro-suede unit, set about 34 inches high. (CCM Motorcycles/)In light of the limited numbers built and its hand-made construction, the Blackout’s UK price of £8,995 (around $11,800) doesn’t seem unreasonable—in fact, it’s the cheapest of the nine Spitfire derivatives CCM currently offers, with the remaining eight models ranging from £9,995 ($13,100) to £18,000 ($23,600). The cockpit features upswept bars and special Skunkwerx badging to denote the bike’s provenance. The 3.6-gallon fuel tank keeps a similar profile to the original Scrambler version but takes on a unique black and gray paint job. (CCM Motorcycles/)Black Widow isn’t the first big-budget Hollywood movie a CCM motorcycle has appeared in either; the company’s 644 model was modified to become Angelina Jolie’s transport in 2001′s Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. The scrambler-appropriate spoke wheels—19 inches in front, 17 out back—wear blocky dual sport rubber from Mitas. (CCM Motorcycles/)While the Spitfire and its derivatives are currently only sold in the UK, the company is working on a Euro 5-compliant version to gain full European certification and open the doors to international markets. The company plans to expand its footprint to more markets once a Euro 5 version passes muster. (CCM Motorcycles/)CCM Blackout Limited Edition Movie Tribute Model Specifications MSRP: £8,995 (around $11,800) Engine: 600cc, liquid-cooled single-cylinder Bore x Stroke: 100.0 x 76.5mm Fuel System: EFI Transmission: 6-speed Clutch: Wet, multiplate Claimed Horsepower: 55 bhp Frame: Steel trellis Front Suspension: Adjustable inverted fork; 4.7-in. travel Rear Suspension: Adjustable monoshock; 4.7-in. travel Front Brake: 320mm disc Rear Brake: 230mm disc Wheels, Front/Rear: Spoked; 19-in. / 17-in. Rake/Trail: 26.0°/4.6 in. Wheelbase: 57.2 in. Seat Height: 33.8 in. Fuel Capacity: 3.6 gal. Claimed Dry Weight: 306 lb. Availability: August 2020 Contact: ccm-motorcycles.com Source

Riding the 2021 Husqvarna FC 450 at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, California. (Mark Kariya/)In late May 2018, Husqvarna introduced its 2019 model motocross bikes, which have served as the basis for the brand’s latest generation dirt bikes. Some of the most notable changes shared across the entire full-size motocross and cross-country lineup for MY19 included a stiffer frame, two-piece subframe, more rigid upper triple clamp, new bodywork, and updated suspension settings across the lineup. Related: 2020 Husqvarna FX 450 Review In the past two years, the Austrian brand has made calculated refinements to its motocross models to bring about a suppler feel from the suspension to better match with the stiffer chassis, and went one step further in modifying the WP components for 2021 in order to enhance the bike’s handling. Husqvarna invited us to test its flagship motocrosser at a track of our choosing. We headed to Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, California, to get acquainted with the FC 450 and came away impressed with the improvements Husqvarna made to it for MY21. 2021 Husqvarna FC 450 Engine The FC 450 has an easy-to-control power delivery that can be tailored for different rider preferences and track conditions via the handlebar-mounted map switch, which also features traction control. The optional ventilated airbox cover that comes with the bike is another way to modify the engine’s power characteristics. We still notice some vibration from the engine and think the bike would be even better with a one-tooth-larger rear sprocket. (Mark Kariya/)There are no mechanical updates on the FC 450 engine for 2021. Although the bike’s EFI mapping has been changed to what came standard on the 2020 FC 450 Rockstar Edition. In stock form, I’d say the FC 450 has the easiest to control engine of all the 450 motocross bikes. I enjoyed the more linear and smooth roll-on power of map 2. Map 1 was a lighter feeling and more free revving, whereas map 2 had a little more meat; it was better in the deeper dirt and you could lug it a little more in slippery sections. Adding in the traction control (TC) option helped me focus on better cornering technique and not worry about modulating the throttle. If you are looking to liven the engine up a little, the optional ventilated airbox cover helps with overall throttle response and power. While the FC 450 features the smoothest, most linear powerband in the class, I would not call it slow. The bike always offers more power than the average rider can handle. Third and fourth gear seem to be the most usable gears on the FC 450. Second is great for tighter corners where you lose a lot of momentum. Allowing the engine to rev higher than you might expect can reduce some shifting on shorter straights. On a faster course like Glen Helen’s main track, I used fourth gear several times because I felt it required less of my energy to control. I had no issues with the Magura hydraulic clutch. It worked well with a consistent feel. The engine’s smooth powerband also minimizes the amount of required clutch input. It’s a softer-feeling lever. For my preference, a 10 percent more positive feel would be better. 2021 Husqvarna FC 450 Suspension & Chassis/Handling One of the big updates the FC 450 and the rest of Husqvarna’s full-size motocross lineup received for MY21 is a lowered chassis. This was achieved by shortening the fork tubes and revising the shock linkage. (Mark Kariya/)This is the third year of the current generation Husqvarna chassis and it has come a long way. For 2021, the chassis is 10mm lower via the suspension, which was achieved by shortening the fork tubes and the cartridge inside the fork, as well as revising the shock linkage. There is a new mid-valve damping system in the fork to improve performance and rigidity. Also, a new air bleed system is designed to help with comfort and pressure buildup throughout the fork stroke. Sign up here to receive our newsletters. Get the latest in motorcycle reviews, tests, and industry news, subscribe here for our YouTube channel. The shock has a different seal head to reduce friction and a new bump stop to keep the rear wheel from rubbing on the underside of the rear fender. The lowering of 10mm in the rear was mainly achieved via the linkage. A longer pullrod along with a new bell crank keeps the rising rate the same as it was last year. Husqvarna also added new low-friction seals throughout the linkage to help make everything operate more smoothly. According to Husqvarna, its 2021 motocross models are 10mm lower than the prior year model. The engineers didn’t slap on a lower seat and call it a day. The entire bike is lower to the ground, which means the rider triangle has not changed. (Mark Kariya/)I made some adjustments to the suspension, but by no means felt like this would be a final setting. After a few hours of riding, I set the fork compression to 6 (12 stock), the rebound to 10 (12 stock), the air to 11.0 bar (10.7 stock), and set the fork height to the first line (the second line being stock). The shock was set at 105mm sag, the low-speed compression at 12 (stock), the high-speed compression at 1-3/4 (2 stock), and the rebound at 10 (12 stock). The 10mm-lower chassis makes a huge difference in the overall handling of the Husqvarna. It turns better and seems to be a little easier to hang onto. (Mark Kariya/)The chassis being lowered by 10mm makes a huge difference in the overall handling of the bike. It turns better and seems to be a little easier to hang onto. The suspension settings are still a touch on the soft side, but not too far off that I was not able to get it noticeably more comfortable with some adjustments. For a lighter rider less than 165 pounds, it’s probably very close to perfect in stock trim. Although the FC 450’s suspension settings are still a bit on the soft side, they are not so far off that we were not able to find more comfortable settings with some adjustments. For a rider under 165 pounds, the suspension setup is likely going to be very close to perfect in stock trim. (Mark Kariya/)One thing that should be understood is that the rider triangle has not changed; it’s the overall bike that is lower to the ground—not just a lower seat. When riding the new FC 450, you feel lower to the ground—more like a Yamaha, but without the sensation of sitting in a pocket. The handlebar, levers, and grips are all great. The stock ODI lock-on grips offer slightly more feedback, but the convenience factor makes them totally worth it. How Does The 2021 Husqvarna FC 450 Ride? The 2021 Husqvarna feels like a whole new bike. One of my biggest complaints from the prior two years, the rigidity, seems to have almost disappeared. Husqvarna made a conscious effort to build a bike for more of an intermediate or vet rider, and this is easily the best setting they have had in the past couple years. It seems like 95 percent of the harshness in your hands is gone, while at the same time they have retained performance in the suspension. Add in the smooth powerband and you have a bike that is enjoyable to ride and won’t fatigue you as quickly as a Honda or Yamaha. With hardly a trace of the rigidity we noticed when riding the 2019 and 2020 versions of Husqvarna’s flagship motocrosser, the 2021 FC 450 feels like a whole new bike. (Mark Kariya/)Gearbox Helmet: Shoei VFX-EVO Goggle: Scott Fury Jersey: Fly Racing Evolution DST Gloves: Fly Racing Evolution DST Pants: Fly Racing Evolution DST Boots: Sidi Crossfire 3 SRS 2021 Husqvarna FC 450 Tech Spec PRICE $10,299 ENGINE 450cc, SOHC, 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 223 lb. (w/ all fluids except fuel) AVAILABLE Now CONTACT husqvarna-motorcycles.com Source

Riding the 2021 Husqvarna FC 450 at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, California. (Mark Kariya/)In late May 2018, Husqvarna introduced its 2019 model motocross bikes, which have served as the basis for the brand’s latest generation dirt bikes. Some of the most notable changes shared across the entire full-size motocross and cross-country lineup for MY19 included a stiffer frame, two-piece subframe, more rigid upper triple clamp, new bodywork, and updated suspension settings across the lineup. Related: 2020 Husqvarna FX 450 Review In the past two years, the Austrian brand has made calculated refinements to its motocross models to bring about a suppler feel from the suspension to better match with the stiffer chassis, and went one step further in modifying the WP components for 2021 in order to enhance the bike’s handling. Husqvarna invited us to test its flagship motocrosser at a track of our choosing. We headed to Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, California, to get acquainted with the FC 450 and came away impressed with the improvements Husqvarna made to it for MY21. 2021 Husqvarna FC 450 Engine The FC 450 has an easy-to-control power delivery that can be tailored for different rider preferences and track conditions via the handlebar-mounted map switch, which also features traction control. The optional ventilated airbox cover that comes with the bike is another way to modify the engine’s power characteristics. We still notice some vibration from the engine and think the bike would be even better with a one-tooth-larger rear sprocket. (Mark Kariya/)There are no mechanical updates on the FC 450 engine for 2021. Although the bike’s EFI mapping has been changed to what came standard on the 2020 FC 450 Rockstar Edition. In stock form, I’d say the FC 450 has the easiest to control engine of all the 450 motocross bikes. I enjoyed the more linear and smooth roll-on power of map 2. Map 1 was a lighter feeling and more free revving, whereas map 2 had a little more meat; it was better in the deeper dirt and you could lug it a little more in slippery sections. Adding in the traction control (TC) option helped me focus on better cornering technique and not worry about modulating the throttle. If you are looking to liven the engine up a little, the optional ventilated airbox cover helps with overall throttle response and power. While the FC 450 features the smoothest, most linear powerband in the class, I would not call it slow. The bike always offers more power than the average rider can handle. Third and fourth gear seem to be the most usable gears on the FC 450. Second is great for tighter corners where you lose a lot of momentum. Allowing the engine to rev higher than you might expect can reduce some shifting on shorter straights. On a faster course like Glen Helen’s main track, I used fourth gear several times because I felt it required less of my energy to control. I had no issues with the Magura hydraulic clutch. It worked well with a consistent feel. The engine’s smooth powerband also minimizes the amount of required clutch input. It’s a softer-feeling lever. For my preference, a 10 percent more positive feel would be better. 2021 Husqvarna FC 450 Suspension & Chassis/Handling One of the big updates the FC 450 and the rest of Husqvarna’s full-size motocross lineup received for MY21 is a lowered chassis. This was achieved by shortening the fork tubes and revising the shock linkage. (Mark Kariya/)This is the third year of the current generation Husqvarna chassis and it has come a long way. For 2021, the chassis is 10mm lower via the suspension, which was achieved by shortening the fork tubes and the cartridge inside the fork, as well as revising the shock linkage. There is a new mid-valve damping system in the fork to improve performance and rigidity. Also, a new air bleed system is designed to help with comfort and pressure buildup throughout the fork stroke. Sign up here to receive our newsletters. Get the latest in motorcycle reviews, tests, and industry news, subscribe here for our YouTube channel. The shock has a different seal head to reduce friction and a new bump stop to keep the rear wheel from rubbing on the underside of the rear fender. The lowering of 10mm in the rear was mainly achieved via the linkage. A longer pullrod along with a new bell crank keeps the rising rate the same as it was last year. Husqvarna also added new low-friction seals throughout the linkage to help make everything operate more smoothly. According to Husqvarna, its 2021 motocross models are 10mm lower than the prior year model. The engineers didn’t slap on a lower seat and call it a day. The entire bike is lower to the ground, which means the rider triangle has not changed. (Mark Kariya/)I made some adjustments to the suspension, but by no means felt like this would be a final setting. After a few hours of riding, I set the fork compression to 6 (12 stock), the rebound to 10 (12 stock), the air to 11.0 bar (10.7 stock), and set the fork height to the first line (the second line being stock). The shock was set at 105mm sag, the low-speed compression at 12 (stock), the high-speed compression at 1-3/4 (2 stock), and the rebound at 10 (12 stock). The 10mm-lower chassis makes a huge difference in the overall handling of the Husqvarna. It turns better and seems to be a little easier to hang onto. (Mark Kariya/)The chassis being lowered by 10mm makes a huge difference in the overall handling of the bike. It turns better and seems to be a little easier to hang onto. The suspension settings are still a touch on the soft side, but not too far off that I was not able to get it noticeably more comfortable with some adjustments. For a lighter rider less than 165 pounds, it’s probably very close to perfect in stock trim. Although the FC 450’s suspension settings are still a bit on the soft side, they are not so far off that we were not able to find more comfortable settings with some adjustments. For a rider under 165 pounds, the suspension setup is likely going to be very close to perfect in stock trim. (Mark Kariya/)One thing that should be understood is that the rider triangle has not changed; it’s the overall bike that is lower to the ground—not just a lower seat. When riding the new FC 450, you feel lower to the ground—more like a Yamaha, but without the sensation of sitting in a pocket. The handlebar, levers, and grips are all great. The stock ODI lock-on grips offer slightly more feedback, but the convenience factor makes them totally worth it. How Does The 2021 Husqvarna FC 450 Ride? The 2021 Husqvarna feels like a whole new bike. One of my biggest complaints from the prior two years, the rigidity, seems to have almost disappeared. Husqvarna made a conscious effort to build a bike for more of an intermediate or vet rider, and this is easily the best setting they have had in the past couple years. It seems like 95 percent of the harshness in your hands is gone, while at the same time they have retained performance in the suspension. Add in the smooth powerband and you have a bike that is enjoyable to ride and won’t fatigue you as quickly as a Honda or Yamaha. With hardly a trace of the rigidity we noticed when riding the 2019 and 2020 versions of Husqvarna’s flagship motocrosser, the 2021 FC 450 feels like a whole new bike. (Mark Kariya/)Gearbox Helmet: Shoei VFX-EVO Goggle: Scott Fury Jersey: Fly Racing Evolution DST Gloves: Fly Racing Evolution DST Pants: Fly Racing Evolution DST Boots: Sidi Crossfire 3 SRS 2021 Husqvarna FC 450 Tech Spec PRICE $10,299 ENGINE 450cc, SOHC, 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 223 lb. (w/ all fluids except fuel) AVAILABLE Now CONTACT husqvarna-motorcycles.com Source

The Blechmann R 18 is the latest custom BMW based on the factory R 18 cruiser. (BMW Motorrad/)When BMW finally dropped its long-awaited production R 18 cruiser last April, you could sense that the new machine would spawn a slew of factory-bike-based customs in its wake. Munich didn’t disappoint: Roland Sands’ R 18 Dragster came screaming off the line a couple of weeks back, setting the stage for the second variation on the R 18 platform we’re seeing now: the Blechmann R 18. Once again, the build is a collaboration between the manufacturer and a carefully chosen customizer, one Bernhard Naumann, also known as Blechmann. Related: Roland Sands Gives Us The BMW R 18 Dragster Renowned Austrian designer Bernhard Naumann, aka Blechmann, was tapped by BMW for the build. (BMW Motorrad/)Seen from just the front end, this R 18 gives off a kind of performance bagger vibe, but the Austrian builder’s moniker might give you a better clue as to his custom’s focus. Translated from German, “Blechmann” means “tin man,” a not-so-veiled reference to the renowned Naumann’s reputation for shaping metal. So, yes, there’s lots of curvy sheet metal to take in here, but that doesn’t mean Blechmann approaches his custom projects in the usual manner. No preliminary sketches are drawn, and no prototyping or mockups are constructed to clutter the process; it’s all mostly organic. “My work begins by removing parts of the original version until a white canvas remains. As the construction progresses, the design develops,” the customizer says. Related: A Timeline Of The 2021 BMW R 18 Launch A narrow waist builds toward a shapely fairing supported by additional mounting pieces running from the console. Custom clip-ons hint at an aggressive stance. (BMW Motorrad/)Fortunately for Naumann, the factory R 18′s design is one that relies on classic motorcycle essentials rather than complex formulations, giving the builder freedom to make only subtle changes to the frame and utilizing the original mounting points. Which leads us back to Naumann’s organic process, where he gathers his inspiration and eventual direction for the bike while he’s working on it. Discreet touches include strategically placed tank roundels. (BMW Motorrad/) Sign up here to receive our newsletters. Get the latest in motorcycle reviews, tests, and industry news, subscribe here for our YouTube channel. Neo-retro bagger in the front, pseudo-café party in the rear? (BMW Motorrad/) “I draw my design directly on the object using the final material. This allows me to directly respond to the requirements and to keep an eye on the proportions at all times,” the designer explains. The hand-shaped tail section rides on existing rear fender mounting points, and is punctuated by a sleek leather solo seat. (BMW Motorrad/)In some cases, that meant working backward toward final fabrications—though the original steering angle strongly influenced the basic layout. To nail the proportions of the hand-formed, elegantly swoopy front fairing, for instance, Blechmann said he at first had to “put the cart before the horse” with the rear fender, seat, and pillion (all of which are based on the original’s supporting structure). The Tin Man then went to work on the fuel tank, extensively modifying it to make it narrower, sportier, and employing knee indents to give it a more athletic emphasis. Together with the lines of the fairing, the effect serves to expose that huge boxer engine even more. The hand-sculpted fairing brims with meticulous detailing, using various finishes for even more impact. (BMW Motorrad/)But with that fairing serving as a powerful focal point, not just any headlight would do, so Blechmann customized the headlight frame into a subtle kidney-shaped design with a filament lamp placed squarely in the center, and covered by a one-off Plexiglas lens. For the final touches, Naumann and his crew lavished the skin of this custom with a classic BMW motorcycle paint job, all black and white with white double pinstripes to seal the heritage angle. You might not guess that underneath the impressive new bodywork much of the original R 18 remains intact—including the funky mufflers. (BMW Motorrad/)But if Blechmann says he usually works alone on his craftsmanship and designs, he also acknowledges that for the final product it takes a village of hand-picked professionals: “You can’t do anything in this world on your own. I am more than glad to have a reliable personnel infrastructure.” In total, Blechmann and his team put in 450 hours to transform a factory R 18 into a piece of rolling art. Clearly time well spent. Source