Motorcycles

05:08 October 27, 2009 PDT

The oddball styling of Honda's forthcoming VFR1200T tourer isn't just the result of a designer's whim; the shape is designed to radically reduce rider injuries in the most common sorts of accidents. The appearance of the touring version of Honda's fourthcoming V4 has already been revealed in design patents which copyright the bike's styling, but for the first time we've managed to dig beneath the skin and discover that the looks aren't simply there to catch buyers' eyes. In fact, they've been dictated by the technology underneath. Read More

Yamaha's Super Tenere 'art installation' baffles Tokyo crowds

By Noel McKeegan

07:39 October 23, 2009 PDT

Tenere is a desert region in the south central Sahara - a place where, in 1977, Frenchman Thierry Sabine famously got lost on his motorbike for three days during the Abidjan-Nice Rally. The rest as they say is history - Sabine returned to France to create the Paris-Dakar rally and Yamaha's two wheeled namesake dominated the event in the 90s. The Yamaha Tenere made a comeback in recent times in with the new XTZ660, but the brand has bigger things in store with a twin-cylinder "Super Tenere" in the pipeline which will compete against the BMW R1200GS. Yamaha gave some hints as to the makeup of the new adventure bike at the Tokyo Motor Show with its eye-catchingly bizarre mock-up - which was appropriately wrapped in desert garb - sporting a shaft drive and side mounted radiators. Read More

Honda’s V4 VFR1200F official announcement all fluff and no substance!

By Mike Hanlon

16:47 October 8, 2009 PDT

Honda has finally unveiled its much-anticipated V4 road-sports VFR1200F, though sadly it has gone the verbal-diarrhea-PR route with its press announcement and not a great deal has been revealed about the machine. Isn’t it high time that Honda allowed its knowledgeable engineers to tell the story directly to a public that it should know by now is allergic to unsubstantiated prose, and deliver some facts. We understand that the bike is quite special, and raises the bar much higher for its competitors, but in allowing advertising copywriters to write the press statements and its communication strategists to indulge in prolonged onanistic delight, it is simply selling its engineering prowess way-too-short. Read More

The GG Quadster - a four-wheeled, 167-horsepower quad bike for the road

21:34 October 1, 2009 PDT

Since the emergence of non-tilting 3-wheelers like the bizarre snowmobile-for-the-road Can-Am Spyder, and the abundance of attention they've received, this new class of novelty multi-wheelers seems to be gathering steam. The latest we've run across, thanks to a Gizmag reader suggestion, is the GG Quadster. This Swiss creation takes the 167-horsepower motor and electrics from a BMW K1200 sportsbike and puts it in a 4-wheeled chassis with sticky sports tyres and more machined billet aluminum than comes out of OCC in a whole week. At US$65,000, or around US$40k more than the Can-Am Spyder, you'll rarely see one on the road. But if you do, and there's a really tall black guy riding it, you might want to catch him for an autograph. Read More

Honda to exhibit 2WD electric motorcycle at Tokyo Motor Show?

By Mike Hanlon

18:19 September 30, 2009 PDT

The side view of the EV-Cub electric motorcycle

Honda has released images of several new eco-friendly two-wheelers it will present at the Tokyo Motor Show later this month, including the EV-Cub electric motorcycle, the EVE-neo electric scooter and its previously-announced PCX global scooter, the first two-wheeler to employ an 'idling stop system'. The most interesting of the new eco-bikes is without doubt the EV-Cub, which employs what appears to be car2car and car2driver communications dubbed HELLO! (Honda ELectric mobility LOop) and a LOOP portable communication tool that fits in the palm of one’s hand and “allows people and mobility devices to communicate with each other.” The EV-Cub also appears to have electric motors in both front and rear wheels, indicating that it is almost certainly a two-wheel-drive (2WD) motorcycle. 2WD motorcycles are expected to become commonplace in the future as, like their 4WD automotive cousins, they offer traction advantages on loose surfaces and wet roads and improve rider safety, especially for learners. Read More

Triumph’s Rocket III Roadster gets more power and torque

03:58 September 30, 2009 PDT

When way too much is insufficient - the Triumph 2010 Rocket III Roadster gets 15% more tor...

Triumph’s three-cylinder 2,294cc Rocket III megamotorcycle has the strongest motor of any two wheeled roadgoing conveyance we’ve ever ridden – nothing else comes even close. As much as we fell in love with the monster, all the Rockets until now have been created with a laid-back riding position which doesn't necessarily suit everybody in general, or mountain roads and city traffic in particular. For 2010 though, the iconic British marque is to introduce a Roadster version with increased horsepower and a 15% torque boost to 224Nm. Anti-lock braking is fitted as standard and ergonomics have been reworked for a more natural around-town riding position. Read More

Diapermotard? Ducati dips under US$10 grand to deliver its baby Hypermotard 796

22:58 September 28, 2009 PDT

Official images: Ducati's Hypermotard 796

Ducati's supermotard-on-steroids, the 1100 Hypermotard, has been terrorizing the streets for a couple of years now, a concept bike that became reality after it made a sensational splash at the 2005 EICMA show in Milan. Aimed at marrying some of the soft-suspension, short-wheelbase, low-weight feel of a motard with the grunt of a 100-horsepower L-twin motor and unmistakeable Ducati streetbike style, the Hypermotard is an absolute giggle machine. It's also fairly pricey though, which is why Ducati have just given it a much more affordable little brother. The Hypermotard 796 will sneak in under US$10,000, using a torqued-up version of the 696 Monster engine and boasting both less weight and a lighter clutch than the 1100. Read More

BUB 7 Streamliner motorcycle breaks 367mph for new world record

By Jeff Salton

20:00 September 27, 2009 PDT

The BUB 7 Streamliner set a new land speed record of more than 367mph to be the world's fa...

Looking more like a long, blurred, red flash than a motorcycle, the BUB 7 Streamliner is now the fastest motorcycle on earth (pending FIM verification) after Chris Carr set a new FIM world record and AMA national record at 367.382mph (591.244kmh) through the mile - and an exit speed of 372.534mph (599.534kmh) - at the Cook Private Meet at the Bonneville Salt Flats Utah. It probably also makes Carr one of the bravest men on the planet. BUB 7 beat the previous record of 360.913mph (580.833kmh), set by Team Ack Attack last year. We originally covered the BUB 7 when it broke through the 350mph (563km) barrier back in 2006. Read More

The Can-Am Spyder gets a trio of fully-faired touring versions

18:49 September 17, 2009 PDT

The Can-Am Spyder gets a trio of fully-faired touring versions

Bombardier Recreational Products has had a remarkable success with its three-wheeled Can-Am Spyder since the roadster’s launch more than two years ago, and the big news is that the Spyder is to be developed into two streams – one for sports riding and one for touring. The existing GS model will now be designated the Spyder RS (roadster sport) and the new touring range will be designated Spyder RT (roadster touring). There’s also a new special edition Spyder RS-S model, with a host of additional features as standard, three RT models and a purpose-built 622 liter trailer. Read More

Mission One sets electric land-speed record with production prototype motorcycle

05:20 September 15, 2009 PDT

An electrifying wheelie on the Mission One electric superbike. Electrifying, get it?

Electric motorcycles, while economical, technologically fascinating and environmentally friendly, are unlikely to light a fire under the average petrolhead until they start tickling our inner hooligans... Which is why we're hanging out to throw a leg over the Mission One electric superbike. Fresh from its first run at the Isle of Man TTXGP, this battery-powered beast pulls power wheelies from faster than freeway speeds, handles like a dream and can top 150 miles on a battery charge. And the latest feather in the Mission One team's cap is a national AMA land-speed record for electric motorcycles. Product Manager and test rider Jeremy Cleland pushed a production prototype - with the same powertrain that customers will get off the shelf in late 2010 - to a top speed of 161mph (259kph) and a two-way land speed record of 150.059mph (241.5kph) in poor conditions and high winds at Utah's Bonneville salt flats. Excellent. Read More

First ride: Honda's outrageous(?) DN-01 automatic sports-cruiser motorcycle

23:55 September 9, 2009 PDT

At a recent Honda test-ride day, I finally had the chance to throw a leg over what must be one of the oddest motorcycles on the market - the bizarre DN-01 "sports cruiser." The Dino's way-out looks don't particularly float my boat, but it's bristling with fascinating new technology, like Honda's 'Human-Friendly' automatic transmission (HFT), which operates as a CVT in Drive or Sports modes, but is also able to mimic a 6-speed manual box when you want to get some gumboot up it. Then there's the Combined Braking System (CBS) with ABS, which isn't quite as techno as the computer controlled Combined ABS system going into Honda's new sportsbikes, but it's still right at the pointy end of motorcycle brake technology. So how did it ride? Read More

Honda announces Dual Clutch Transmission for large-displacement sport motorcycles

00:46 September 8, 2009 PDT

Honda Dual Clutch Transmission will debut in the company's new VFR motorcycles in 2010

Dual Clutch Transmissions (DCT) are still a relatively rare breed, though in the past few years we have been inundated with them in high end automobiles. By using a separate clutch for odd and even gears, gears can be changed without interrupting power by applying the engine's torque to the next gear just as it is being disconnected from the previous one. This enables quicker and smoother gear changes and delivers better fuel economy while reducing emissions. Honda’s newly-announced, fully-automatic motorcycle DCT is a first for large-displacement sport bikes and will debut on the new VFR set for release in 2010. Read More

Confederate's all-aluminium P120 Fighter Combat motorcycle

17:54 September 1, 2009 PDT

Harley-Davidson might have set the mold for the archetypical American motorcycle, but it's boutique brand Confederate that has taken it to the extreme. Confederate's Hellcat and Wraith are glaringly unique machines - all metal and carbon, nasty skeletal designs dripping with confrontational attitude. Now they're joined by the limited-edition Fighter Combat - a celebration of machined metal that looks like it's been chiseled from one hunk of polished aluminum for the next Terminator movie. But beyond its arresting looks, there's some interesting ideas on board. Read More

Electric Motorcycle World, U.S. and U.K. Championships for 2010

00:40 August 19, 2009 PDT

The success of June's TTXGP for on the Isle of Man in June has spawned an electric motorcy...

The success of the TTXGP for electric motorcycles held on the Isle of Man on June 12 has quickly spawned a world championship, feeder series in the UK and United States, a UKP10,000 Technical Package for teams, and the likelihood that a complete electric racing bike will be on the market in Q1, 2010 for under USD40,000. Having been sanctioned by the governing body for motorcycle racing, (the FIM) to create a world championship in 2010, TTXGP founder Azhar Hussain is working to create a five-race global series with rounds in Europe, Asia and the Americas. A four-round U.K. National series and three-round American National series for 2010 are being planned, with the biggest news being the availability of a technology starter pack later this year - the UKP10,000 kit will include an AGNI electric racing motor, race batteries, controllers and all electronics – just add your own frame and running gear. Read More

The quietest Orange County Chopper yet: the electric Siemens Smart Chopper

03:13 August 14, 2009 PDT

Paul Teutul Snr. cruises on the the Siemens Smart Chopper

The beefy gents at Orange County Choppers have surprised us a few times before, going out of their normal raked-out design brief to customize a Ducati Monster 1100, for example - but they really turned heads this week when Paul Teutul, Snr, presented the company's - and perhaps the world's - first all-electric chopper. Commissioned by Siemens and built using recycled steel, LED lighting and environmentally-friendly water-based paints, the Siemens Smart Chopper features a 27hp brushless motor good for a top speed in excess of 100mph, and enough battery life for a 60-mile range. And it's going up for auction. Read More

V4 engine set for two-wheeled renaissance

05:47 August 6, 2009 PDT

V4 engine set for two-wheeled renaissance

It seems the V4 engine is set to come back into vogue for high-end motorcycles, with the 1000cc RSV4 of Aprilia besting long-established successful marques at the Czech Republic World Superbike Championship round and the imminent launch of Honda's much awaited V4 roadster in its 50th year of Grand Prix motorcycle racing. Details of the new 1200cc Honda V4 are starting to emerge and it looks like some fairly significant new technologies will be incorporated into the design, including variable cylinder management, meaning that the rear cylinders will cut out when full power isn't needed. Aprilia meanwhile, is making hay and is already preparing an RSV4 Naked Bike (sans fairing), and a 600cc supersport machine is also likely. Read More

Erik Buell announces 2010 Buell Blast: a crushed cube of metal

00:27 July 31, 2009 PDT

The 2010 Buell Blast - mass centralisation taken to the extreme.

The Buell Blast was a friendly motorcycle, a beginner's bike and a favorite of US-based rider training organizations. Its 500cc air-cooled single was reliable, simple and unintimidating, its low seat height made it great for shorties and lady riders, its unassuming looks made it a bike that you didn't have to be a rev-head to ride. But the unassuming Blast wasn't exactly a sales hit, and worse, Erik Buell was finding that it was giving young riders the wrong impression about the Buell range - so, in a commitment to balls-out sportsbiking, he canceled the bike for 2010, and stuck a few of his remaining stock into a crusher. Next year's Blast, it seems, will have an exceptionally short wheelbase and highly centralized mass. Read More

Zero releases dual purpose electric motorcyle

By Jeff Salton

01:09 July 30, 2009 PDT

Electric motorcycle manufacturer Zero has followed up the success of its X and S ranges with the Zero DS – a combination dirt/street machine the company says can “handle any surface you can throw at it.” This new option for those looking to ditch their noise-polluting, emission-spewing internal combustion bikes looks very similar to the S model, but has a bigger front wheel (17 inch), chunkier tread on the back tire and a nobby on the front, specially-designed wheels and suspension and a distinctive naked round headlamp without the windshield found on the S. Read More

Flipping out over the Tower of London

00:20 July 14, 2009 PDT

Robbie Maddison's backflip over the Thames

Stuntman Robbie Maddison celebrated his 28th birthday (today) with yet another hard-to-believe stunt on Monday, using the Tower of London's lifting road bridge to perform a backflip over the Thames in the wee hours of the morning. Maddison has been regularly breaking his own world record for the longest motorcycle jump for several years and has currently pushed it to 106.98m (350.98 feet) as well as performing regular other outrageous feats as publicity stunts for Las Vegas casinos and sponsors Red Bull. Great image gallery.. Read More

Suzuki joins big-bore enduro market with RMX450Z

22:06 July 13, 2009 PDT

Suzuki is finally joining the serious off-road marketplace with an all-new fuel-injected RMX450Z enduro racer. The bike is based on Suzuki's RM-Z450 motocrosser, with a significantly-reworked version of the Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI), 449cc, DOHC, four-valve, liquid-cooled, single-cylinder engine. A longer inlet tract, less radical cam profiles, wider gear ratios plus an electric starter are the main changes to the high-spec off-road weapon, all wrapped in the motocrosser's frame, suspension and bodywork. Read More

BMW Motorrad Navigator IV next-gen GPS for motorcycles

21:13 July 8, 2009 PDT

BMW Motorrad Navigator IV - 4.3-inch, 16:9 touchscreen with big buttons to accommodate glo...

Navigation specialist Garmin has collaborated with BMW on the company's latest motorcycle-friendly GPS unit, the BMW Motorrad Navigator IV. Due to hit shelves in Europe and North America in Q3, the Navigator IV features a faster processor, flatter housing and a larger 4.3-inch, 16:9 touchscreen with big buttons to accommodate gloved hands. Software improvements include a lane assistant, junction views and 3D building representations while Bluetooth capability lets you listen to phone calls, MP3s and more importantly, spoken turn-by-turn instructions. Read More

4mc test ride: can a motorcycle have four wheels?

17:56 July 7, 2009 PDT

Thanks to its four-wheeled design and ingenious suspension system, which means it can go t...

MOST tests involve a long process of careful assessment to judge the relative benefits and disadvantages of the bike in question, painstakingly attempting to judge whether the new machine has any clear advantage over its competitors. But on swinging a leg over the only existing 4MC prototype there's just one big question to be answered - can a motorcycle have four wheels? Ben Purvis finds out. Read More

Dean Kamen developing eco hybrid that will run on anything that burns

20:19 June 28, 2009 PDT

Entrepreneur behind the Segway developing eco hybrid that will run on anything that burns

Dean Kamen – the multimillionaire inventor behind the Segway personal transporter – is well down the road in the development of a new bike that combines electric power and a radical generator which will allow it to burn almost any fuel. Although the majority of the work that goes on in Kamen's product development company, Deka, is shrouded in mystery, as it includes significant projects for the US military, details are emerging about Kamen's new two-wheeler, which is part of a project that also includes a car designed around the same technology. Read More

Yamaha set to launch hybrid production motorcycle for 2010