Industry

Santa Cruz, CA– In addition to the high-speed, knee-dragging motorcycle road race action on the track, there will be plenty of fan-generated thrills inside the Bell Helmets exhibit at the 2012 Red Bull US Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway in Monterey, Calif., July 27-29. Fans can test ...    Read more

Café racers might be all the rage, but we’re still suckers for a super-sano street-tracker—which is why we were so pleased to see this gorgeous gray 1973 Yamaha TX650 take top prize in the Motorcyclist-sponsored “Retro-Mod” division of the 2012 Ultimate Builders Bike Show U.S. Championship, held during Bike Week at ...    Read more

WORDS: Aaron Frank PHOTO: Wunderlich America Forget about BMW’s Boxer-powered GS models, this is our kind of adventure bike! Beginning with the all-conquering 180-horsepower S1000RR, BMW aftermarket accessory specialist Wunderlich has re-imagined the uber-superbike as a Mad Max-inspired off-road warrior—complete with high handlebars and macho-looking Continental TKC80 knobby tires (recently released in ...    Read more

WORDS: Ben Purvis KTM’s product plan for the next few years, inadvertently leaked at a recent dealer meeting, listed not one but two new large-displacement enduro models that will carry the Adventure nameplate. The first, dubbed the 1090 Adventure R, is expected to appear in late 2012 as a 2013 model. ...    Read more

WORDS: Aaron Frank PHOTOS: Erik Buell Racing Hero who? That was the question many American motorcycle enthusiasts asked after Erik Buell Racing (EBR) announced title sponsorship from Hero MotoCorp for its factory effort in this year’s AMA Superbike Championship. Though virtually unknown in the USA, Hero is one of the world’s largest ...    Read more

WORDS: Alan Cathcart PHOTOS: Ducati       After much speculation generated by its reported period of exclusive due diligence, the seemingly inevitable has happened: Germany’s Audi, a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Auto Group, will purchase Ducati Motor Holding from its current owners, Italian equity firm Investindustrial. The final purchase price wasn’t disclosed, but was ...    Read more

Factory Effex is excited to announce the opening of our corporate “Friends and Family” showroom and retail center. “Factory Effex has so many great product offerings, but it’s been difficult in the past to see our entire line all in one place”, says Scott Gilly, Vice President. “We have ...    Read more

UPDATE (09/04/12): Pricing has recently been released for the American market with the dual-purpose TR650 Terra getting a price tag of $6999 and should be arriving in dealers later this month. The street-going TR650 Strada should arrive shortly after with an MSRP of $7499. WORDS: Marc Cook PHOTOS: Husqvarna/BMW Under BMW’s stewardship, ...    Read more

That’s right, it’s still a bit early in the year to be hearing about 2013 bikes, but Kawasaki broken out with news of useful updates for the ZX-10R and Ninja 650, as well as confirmation that the KLX250R and KLR650 stay with us for another year. Kawasaki’s update for the blisteringly ...    Read more

The dual-sport category has changed quite a bit since Yamaha made the go-anywhere genre popular in the late 60s. BMW’s latest dual-sport offerings, the F700GS and the F800GS, are relatively capable in the dirt but still much more street-oriented than the Yamaha ATs, CTs, and DTs of yesteryear. (Or the ...    Read more

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto needs your help to be named ESPN’s Male Action Sports Athlete of the Year. Villopoto earned a lot of hardware over the past year including the 2011 AMA Supercross and AMA Motocross titles as well as claiming the 2012 AMA Supercross Championship. Make sure to ...    Read more

Even after Ryan Villopoto won the AMA Supercross Championship the last two years, Kawasaki has not slowed down one bit on KX series development. Team Green is hungry for another one, and its 2013 model lineup proves it. Kawasaki’s flagship motocross model, the KX450F, has seen modifications in both suspension ...    Read more

AGOURA HILLS, CA –  Surrounded by an array of vintage motorcycles, internationally acclaimed artist and sculptor Steve Posson unveiled the six-foot bronze piece “Flying Mile,” during a special event held on June 23 at World Class Motoring.   Honoring legendary racer Albert “Shrimp” Burns and his 1914 Indian 8-Valve, the piece pays ...    Read more

WORDS: Kevin Hipp PHOTOS: Suzuki Suzuki has announced the 2013 RM-Z line to the public, and the updated bikes received some features that are sure to interest the motocross community. The big changes come to the new RM-Z450 and RM-Z250 models, which receive a new fork, engine and transmission tweaks and an ...    Read more

Colorado MM is ON -- Despite the fires, the July 27-30 Colorado Motomarathon is still a go, and will be looping out of Boulder and Mike's Motorcycle each day. The burn areas are a site to see, and we will try to include some of those on our routes depending ...    Read more

WORDS: Aaron Frank PHOTOS: Harley-Davidson With his trademark bushy beard and black beret, his image has become as iconic as the motorcycles he created, and his influence has had an immeasurable impact on the history and success of Harley-Davidson. Now, after almost 49 years on the job, William Godfrey Davidson—better ...    Read more

Words: Aaron Frank Photos: Triumph Excepting a few years of suspended animation in the ’80s and early ’90s, Triumph is the world’s oldest surviving motorcycle manufacturer, beating Harley-Davidson by one year. This year marks the British firm’s 110th anniversary, celebrated with this limited-edition Bonneville T100 decked out in Aluminum Silver/Khaki Green paint ...    Read more

Words: Aaron Frank Photos: Piaggio Another widely known “secret” confirmed at Piaggio’s dealer meeting was the existence of this new Caponord 1200, which revives Aprilia’s adventure-touring nameplate and applies it to a dressed-up version of the Dorsoduro 1200 megamoto. The composite frame, 130-bhp V-twin and 17-inch wheels appear unchanged, while the bodywork ...    Read more

Words: Aaron Frank Photos: Ducati “Urban military chic” is the design inspiration for this limited-edition Ducati Monster 1100 EVO, a collaboration between the Bologna bike-maker and Italian fashion brand Diesel. The Italian clothing house entered a sponsorship agreement with Ducati’s MotoGP race team in 2011, and this co-branded Monster is the first ...    Read more

Words: Aaron Frank Photos: Piaggio Revealed at the recent Piaggio Group America dealer conference in Miami, Florida, the California 1400 is the first model to utilize the all-new 1400cc version of Moto Guzzi’s venerable longitudinal 90-degree V-twin. Featuring smooth cylinder heads with hidden sparkplugs like last year’s revised 750, the new “big ...    Read more

WORDS: Aaron Frank ILLO: Jean-Marie Guerin Yamaha’s FJR1300 revolutionized the sport-touring segment in 2002, but now, 10 years later, that bike desperately needs a redo. Excepting a minor update in ’06—which included an optional (and imperfect) semiautomatic transmission—the FJR is essentially unchanged and lags behind bigger, faster,infnitely more sophisticated competition such ...    Read more

WORDS: Aaron Frank PHOTOS: Motus Just one year after we attended the Motus prototype debut at Pratt & Miller’s Detroit R&D facility, the Birmingham, Alabama-based motorcycle manufacturer has announced production plans. Motus will begin delivery of two sport touring models, the base MST and the premium-spec MST-R, as soon as this ...    Read more

Words: Roland Brown Photography: AC Sanctuary At first glance these could be just faithfully restored classic bikes—big Japanese machines with a few modifications that were common during the late-’70s/early-’80s heyday of the naked superbike. But look closer and you see these air-cooled inline-fours are much more than just restored old machines. Modified ...    Read more

Legendary riders and vintage motorcycles will gather in Mission Viejo, California on Saturday, August 4 to mark the 50th anniversary of the first official timed off-road run from Tijuana to La Paz, Mexico. Dave Ekins, the man who started what would become the Baja 1000, and 11-time Baja winner Johnny ...    Read more

Hollister, CA-Discovery Channel’s Two-Time Biker Build-Off Champion Matt Hotch is coming up from Southern California to attend Corbin’s 3rd Annual Rider Appreciation Day as well as the world land speed record holder Rocky Robinson and his twenty-one foot record holding streamliner Ack Attack. In addition to being an author and ...    Read more