Motorcycles
KTM unveils radical factory stunt bike
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October 4, 2007 What is it about KTM motorcycles; does the factory fill the front tyre with helium? Many KTM riders treat their front wheels like ornaments, waving them at the sky at every opportunity. KTM must have realized this – and the factory’s clearly decided “why fight it?” Along with a very tasty range of bikes based on the tasty LC4 engine for 2008, they’ve released teaser pics of a dedicated stunt-riding model with some very stunt-specific gear integrated as standard. Read More
2008 Honda Fireblade gets a full makeover
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October 3, 2007 Details have finally been officially released of the Honda Fireblade’s end-to-end 2008 overhaul... and here they are: wet weight drops 6kg to 199kg, power climbs 7hp to just under 180hp. The ‘Blade finally gets a next-gen slipper clutch, as well as a remodelled HESD steering damper. It’s also had a complete style overhaul – not to mention a stubby underslung exhaust. In fact, just about everything except the already-superb suspension has been completely redesigned. Honda’s clearly seeing this model as a big jump forward for the “friendly” superbike, a makeover they’re hoping will be as stunning as the one the GSX-R got in 2005. Read More
BMW Motorrad launches fast, light, DOHC Boxer and intends to go racing
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September 30, 2007 BMW’s iconic boxer engine is set for another lease of life with the launch of the new BMW HP2 Sport - the sportiest, most powerful and lightest Boxer motorcycle of all time. The new motor is the first to sport a double overhead camshaft and includes a host of innovative features including a quickshifter for clutchless gear changes and the news that the factory will enter the World Superbike Championship with the new bike in 2009, indicating that it intends to take on Ducati as a rival on both the road and the track. Read More
2008 Ninja ZX-10R gets traction control
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September 29, 2007 UPDATED - NEW IMAGES Demonstrating the company’s total commitment to uncompromising racetrack focus, Kawasaki has revealed their 2008 ZX-10R flagship superbike will feature traction control as standard. The 08 model is a complete overhaul of the model, featuring a new chassis, updated suspension, a reworked engine and new front-end styling. Read More
Honda unveils six cylinder sports motorcycle prototype
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September 27, 2007 Honda will unveil a series of show motorcycles at this year’s Tokyo Motorcycle Show, headed by a radical six cylinder prototype to be known as the EVO6, which will be based on Honda’s six cylinder Gold Wing engine, but in a form far from its long-distance tourer guise. Seemingly aimed squarely at the Suzuki B-King muscle machine which was unveiled at this show four years ago, the 1832cc engine is much lighter and sportier than its touring brethren and is housed in an ultra-modern lightweight frame and is clearly designed for very rapid acceleration. Read More
First ride: Moto Morini 9½ and Corsaro exotic road bikes
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September 25, 2007 Moto Morini motorcycles have become rarities since the company's heyday in the 1970s, but the brand is enjoying a resurgence - not only is it back under Morini family ownership, but its new range of 1200cc twins are making a strong impression around the world. Loz Blain takes the 9½ streetbike and the Corsaro streetfighter for a back-to-back road test and discovers that even if they share their thunderous 1200cc V-twin engine, these two Italian exotics are as different as Meg Ryan and Naomi Campbell. Read More
KTM RC8 superbike set to launch
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September 21, 2007 With less than two months to go before its debut at the Milan Motorcycle Expo, KTM’s highly anticipated 1150cc RC8 superbike contender is undergoing intensive pre-release road and track testing. Has KTM’s early promise of the world’s most powerful V-twin engine been scuttled by the tyre-shredding Ducati 1098, or do the Austrians have something special up their sleeve? Read More
Vento releases 400cc triple quadbike
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September 20, 2007 Vento have wasted no time in bolting their recently completed 400cc three-cylinder engine into a quadbike for production. The brand-new Reptile 400 will be the first quad designed from the ground up by the American company, and it looks like a good fun sporty middleweight to kick off Vento’s new range for 2008. Read More
Killacycle nearly lives up to its name
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September 17, 2007 We recently covered the record-setting Killacycle electric drag bike, a 350bhp animal of a machine that has been verified at the drag strip as the fastest electric motorcycle ever. The bike’s in need of some TLC now, though, after owner Bill Dube accidentally ploughed it into a parked van while showing off for the video cameras. Thankfully, he wasn’t too badly hurt and the Killacycle will live to drag again. Read More
First ride: the Vectrix Electric Maxi-Scooter
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It’s a special sort of road test when you get to try out not only a brand new bike, but one of the first viable examples of a whole different engine technology. Loz Blain and Noel McKeegan get their hands on the Vectrix Electric Maxi-Scooter, an Italian/American beauty with a 100kph top speed, a 110km commuting range, and a two-way throttle that engages a very handy regenerative braking system. It’s a promising early taste of what’s in store when electric motorcycles hit the market in force. Read More
Triketek X2 Arrow three-wheel twin-seater cruise machine
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September 13, 2007 We’re seeing more and more vehicles coming to market that are completely impractical and purely for fun purposes and three-wheeler trikes fit squarely into this category. Enter the X2 Arrow, currently being shown in Frankfurt, a uniquely styled, low-profile trike that offers a driver and a passenger the wind-in-your-hair freedom and snappy handling of a motorcycle with the roll-cage safety of a sports car. Read More
161mph land-speed record set on a Panhead Harley
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September 12, 2007 Female drag racer Valerie Thompson has her eye on a 200mph top speed on Bonneville’s salt flats. She took a major step toward this lofty goal earlier this week when she took her 120-inch Panhead Harley to a new land-speed record of 161.736mph. The former investment banker ran nitrous oxide and a small fairing to chase the record, and can’t wait until she runs a full streamliner in next year’s all-out assault on 200mph, an unprecedented speed for the class. Read More
New all-American inline triple set to hit the motorcycle market
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September 11, 2007 American motorcycle manufacturer Vento Motorcycles today announced the first engine the company has had designed specifically for its own products. The new three cylinder, 400 cc, 30 horsepower engine, the most powerful inline triple ATV engine ever built, is the first American-made engine to be designed and used by Vento. The company will use the new engine in an expanded range of ATVs and middleweight bikes from 2008 onwards. Read More
Gilera shoe-horns an 840cc engine into its latest scooter
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September 11, 2007 An 840cc, 90-degree fuel injected V-twin, performance chassis, 200kmh top speed and braided brake lines… on a CVT, step-thru scooter? After sending heads spinning with its Nexus 500, a scooter that handles like a sportsbike in the twisties, Gilera have completely dumbfounded us with their GP 800 hyperscooter. Striking some sort of bizarre balance between a super-grunty commuter and a genuine sports-tourer, this bespectacled bad-boy is the new and undisputed king of the scooter segment. Read More
Landmark night Grand Prix to be held in Qatar 2008
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September 4, 2007 Whispers of a night-time MotoGP event first reached Gizmag in early 2006 and now it’s official – the season opening Grand Prix of Qatar on March 9th next year will be held under lights to allow for better synchronization with European television schedules. The staging of the unprecedented night race will involve what is believed to be the biggest lighting project in the world for any sporting event – almost four thousand lights will be used to ensure visibility and remove shadowing from the track. Read More
Christini’s All-Wheel-Drive dirt bikes find huge traction without power loss
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Four Wheel drive cars have taken over at the top-level of off-road rally racing, but dirt bike racing is still predominantly fought out on single-wheel-drive vehicles that spin up, fishtail and slide wildly across rough terrain. Make no mistake though, the All Wheel Drive (AWD) revolution is coming to the motorcycle world – Yamaha and KTM have done significant work with hydraulic front-wheel-drive systems, and when new ideas like this successful all-mechanical AWD kit from Christini hit the mainstream, dirt bike riding will never be the same again. Read More
Confederate's Renovatio – the handmade American streetbike goes modular
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If you thought Confederate’s previous motorcycles, the Wraith and Hellcat, were outrageous to look at, wait ‘til you see the company’s latest project. The virtually frameless Renovatio takes minimalism and modular design to the next level and flags a bold future direction for this iconoclastic New Orleans-based streetbike manufacturer. Read More
Buell 1125R: high performance sportsbike showcases all-new Buell platform
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August 6, 2007 Buell has announced the upcoming release of the 1125R – its first litre-class motorcycle built on an all-new Buell platform including a freshly developed liquid-Cooled V-Twin engine described as the most-powerful street-legal engine ever offered by the company. Just about every aspect of the bike has been changed from previous models – new chassis, fairing, front-brake, muffler, clutch… and on it goes, but the biggest news is the 1125cc DOHC V-Twin Helicon power plant developed in a collaboration between Buell and BRP-Rotax that aims to combine superbike power with the smooth torque characteristics of a V-Twin. The engine redlines at 10500 rpm, produces its 146 crankshaft horsepower at 9800 rpm and 82ft/lbs of peak torque at 8000 rpm. The Buell 1125R is expected to arrive in Buell dealerships in at the end of 2007. Read More
Piaggio ready to release 170 mpg hybrid two and three wheel scooters
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Italian manufacturer Piaggio, the maker of Vespa, is set to become the first company to release a hybrid drive scooter following an announcement that it is developing hybrid versions of its Vespa LX, Piaggio X8 and Vespa MP3 (the carving three-wheeler) models. The new hybrid system, which has a working title of HyS (Hybrid Scooter), can operate in full electric mode with a range of around 20 kilometres as well as hybrid mode - whenever the rider needs to accelerate more aggressively, the electric motor kicks in, providing about 85 per cent extra performance. Piaggio’s HyS system is a parallel hybrid in which a combustion engine and an electric motor incorporated into the gearbox casing are mechanically and electronically linked and simultaneously supply power to the rear wheel. The system uses drive-by-wire and the in-built electronic management combines the two engines to offer not only better acceleration but also a significant reduction in fuel consumption (up to 170 mpg or 1.67 liters/100 km) and in CO2 emissions, only 40 g/km (using 65% the hybrid modes and 35% the electric one). Perhaps the most exciting prospect is the hybrid MP3 which enjoyed such success as a 250cc it has since been developed as a 400cc version and was recently shown as a stylish 500cc Gilera – a sportier hybrid version of the 500 would enjoy exceptional performance. Read More
High-tech motorcycle training system puts learner skills under the microscope
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August 1, 2007 Those who choose to ride motorcycles, including many of us in the Gizmag team, choose to accept a higher level of risk in our daily transport than a car driver. We mitigate this risk through higher levels of attention, roadcraft and dedicated development of riding skills than are typically displayed by drivers – and rider licensing and advanced training courses are a critical part of most riders’ development as safe, confident road users. Still, rider training and testing typically focuses on fairly nebulous goals and results that give the rider very little concrete feedback on their progress or areas of weakness, so Australia’s DVExperts have come up with a device that brings a new level of hard science to the process. Their Motorcycle Operator Training Assessor (MOTA) unit is a set of sensors the size of a deck of cards that can be attached to a bike to record reaction times, acceleration, braking forces, swerving forces and lean angles to provide a very clear readout of a student’s performance in each testing or training exercise along with their levels of improvement after a day’s training. This means license testing can be brought to a new level of consistency and accountability and we suspect the MOTA’s also going to be a fun piece of equipment for the trainers themselves to play with after hours. Read More
All new Aussie Yamaha motorcycles to come with free DataDot theft protection
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July 31, 2007 Motorcycles offer a boundless sense of freedom to their owners – and they’re also seen as boundlessly free by bike thieves who know it only takes two men to lift a parked bike into a van and nick-off with it. But a bike that can always be traced back to its original owner is difficult for thieves to make a dollar from and Yamaha is taking advantage of this fact on behalf of its customers. Since February this year, every new Yamaha motorcycle, scooter and ATV sold in Australia has been sprayed with DataDotDNA theft protection – microscopic dots that carry identifying information linking every part on the bike back to its original frame number and making stolen bikes extremely difficult to on-sell or part out. DataDotDNA are doing these sorts of deals across the world with a number of different manufacturers now, and becoming a worldwide standard in vehicle identification. Read More
2008 Suzuki Hayabusa to be world's fastest production motorcycle
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July 14, 2007 The world’s fastest production motorcycle mantle is about to change hands again, returning to Suzuki due to the 2008 Hayabusa’s just announced specifications which should see it push past Kawasaki's ZX-14. The new 1340cc motor is 41cc bigger, and the three-ring, aluminum alloy forged slipper pistons have a compression ratio of 12.5:1, an increase over the current Hayabusa’s11.5:1 and is expected to deliver 12 percent more power, giving the Busa a rear wheel output of 175 to 180 bhp. The motor comes in two different bikes – the speed king Hayabusa and the hyper muscular B-King. Read More
BMW Motorrad’s exclusive high performance HP2 Megamoto
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July 14, 2007 One of the more interesting new motorcycles of recent times is BMW’s HP2 Megamoto which will be arriving in Motorrad showrooms in July. As motard motorcycles have grown in importance and market share, some manufacturers such as Ducati, have developed 1000cc plus uber motards, and now here comes the the most uncompromising and single-minded street bike BMW Motorrad has ever produced. The iconic Boxer-twin powerplant pumps out an impressive 113 bhp with a whopping 115Nm of torque. Built with some remarkably exotic composite and metallurgical materials for a street bike, the Megamoto weighs in at just 179kg, thus giving the bike a mightily impressive, arm-wrenching power to weight ratio. Read More
World Ducati Week - 200 bhp Ducati Desmosedici RR hits the track
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July 11, 2007 World Ducati Week is a strange phenomena – thousands of Ducatisti, members of the Ducati tribe, travel from all over the world for a week of entertainment and experiences based around Ducati’s values, lifestyle and products. Ducati rewards its most faithful regularly at these events, with unique experiences and first-to-see opportunities that are generally reserved for ballrooms and press only occasions by its competitors. This week the 200 bhp Ducati Desmosedici RR, the world’s first MotoGP replica roadster made its first ever public appearance in action at the event held at Misano racetrack in Italy. Over 170 people from 19 countries who have already placed orders for the Desmosedici RR travelled to WDW2007 to witness the public track debut of the bike that was first announced at the same event back in 2004. Back then it was a promising machine struggling to assert itself against the far larger and established MotoGP teams of Honda and Yamaha. This time the bike it emulates is leading the world title – the company even went as far as showing the prototype 1200 superbike it will run next season - amazing scenes at WDW2007. Read More
US$15,000 Carbon Fibre Enertia electric motorcycle to hit stores in early 2008
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The era of the electric roadgoing motorcycle is upon us and it’s ironic that it should come from a company that looked set to make its mark in automotive history in the supercar stakes with the Brammo GT, an American-designed and built V12 Supercar. That Craig Bramscher has since become one of the foremost evangelists of light weight performance motoring via the Ariel Atom might have foretold the direction, but the Enertia is a perfect commuter machine built with the same philosophy as the Atom. Using a rigid light weight carbon fibre chassis to contain the battery pack (and most of the weight), a small electric motor is all that’s required to see the Enertia accelerate harder than any automobile to its 50 mph top speed – all that’s needed around town. Most significantly in terms of its credibility as a motorcycle, the Enertia could best be described as an electric motard, and comes with impeccable handling credentials - fat tyres, disk brakes front and rear, quality suspension and a very compact centre of gravity – a trait that we’ve seen before in bikes with exceptional flickability and precise handling such as the Aprilia 250 and Buell. The Enertia’s secret is its weight -at just 275 pounds ready to roll, it’s 100 pounds lighter than the featherweight Aprilia Grand Prix Replica . With the carbon footprint of a few lightglobes, and sports motorcycling capabilities to medium speeds this looks like the first viable electric motorcycle to us –the US$15,000 limited edition "carbon" model will be snapped up as collectors items no doubt because it is a landmark machine in personal transportation. At US$12,000, the standard machine is only pricey until you consider how much it costs to run. You plug this sucker into any powerpoint and it'll be ready to go a few hours later for another 45 miles. If the transport authorities encourage responsible road usage as seems likely, ownership costs could be minimal. The Enertia is a landmark motorcycle and its coming heralds the dawn of a new era of electric motorcycles. Read More
Triumph unleashes new Street Triple
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July 5, 2007 Triumph officially unveiled the new 675cc Street Triple to over 5,000 Triumph owners last week at the Triumph Tridays in Neukirchen, Austria. With the first bike to use this motor – the Daytona 675 - winning a string of awards, the "naked" version looks to have the works - comfortable riding position, more upright, balanced, light, powerful, superb handling… it could be the modern version of what the Triumph 650 Bonneville once was when it was king of the road half a century ago. Read More
sunRED solar powered scooter concept
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July 4, 2007 Solar-powered cars and boats are all very well; they've got a lot of surface area to exploit with photovoltaic panels. When it comes to developing a solar-powered motorcycle, though, Spain's sunRED had to get a little more creative. Sliding panels on this soon-to-be-built prototype roll back to give the rider access to the seat, and form a complete cocoon around the bike when it's parked. Featuring some other interesting innovations, the sunRED prototype could make a practical short-range commuter, with a range of 13 miles and a top speed around 30mph. It's interesting to look at too, in a "Tron meets an armadillo" sort of way - but I'd hate to see the damage bill if it falls over. Read More
Suzuki's 2008 RM-Z450: electronic fuel injection first for motocross
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July 4, 2007 In a move that will see other manufacturers scrambling to keep pace, Suzuki has announced the first production motocross machine to feature electronic fuel injection. Developed in the automobile industry throughout the 1970’s and first introduced to road bikes in the early 1980’s in models such as Honda’s CX500TURBO, fuel injection offers better roll on power and improved low-to-mid range delivery. The new system featured in the 2008 RM-Z450 has been tested by Suzuki's factory riders and given the ultra-competitive nature of the motocross environment, where having a bike that's not capable of winning is just not an option, it’s almost certain that fuel injection will become standard throughout the motocross market in the not too distant future. Read More
evDaytona: battery powered sportsbike does 0-60mph in 2.7 seconds
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July 3, 2007 Although the technology is still relatively new, motorcycles are emerging as a great platform for the launch of the electric engine revolution. While high-powered, light and compact electric engines (like the 350hp monster Killacycle Drag Bike) are already available, battery range has typically been an issue. This is perhaps more acute in relation to electric cars, whereas motorcycles are often used as joyriding fun toys and short-to-medium-range commuters, so a 100 mile range still leaves for plenty of practical and fun uses for electric road bikes. With major manufacturers being slow to put electric sportsbikes on the market, smaller enterprises are blazing a trail - like GoBike, who are awaiting DOT approval on a converted Triumph Daytona, with a max speed around 93mph, a cruising range of 143 miles, and a blistering 2.7 second 0-60mph acceleration time that should make it a blast to ride. Read More
Pikes Peak - going sideways at 100mph towards a 3000 ft drop
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July 3, 2007 The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is the second oldest automotive motorsport event in the United States. An annual happening since 1916, the race takes place on July 21 when very brave riders and drivers attempt to scale this 12.42-mile (20-km) course that begins at 9,390 feet (2,862 metres) and finishes at the 14,110-foot summit (4,300 metres) of the spectacular Pikes Peak Mountain. One rider’s experiences: “At the speeds we are going now the road gets very skinny, and at the edge is a 50-3,000-ft drop-off! I was battling for the lead one year when my handlebars got locked with the other rider’s. We were going about 100 mph (160 km/h) towards this turn with a 3,000-ft drop on the outside. At the last second we were able to break apart and turn…...” Read More
It takes two-wheels to beat the traffic
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June 28, 2007 Traffic congestion has to be one of the world’s greatest time-wasters and spending long hours at the wheel just trying to get to and from work is not only unproductive, it’s also very stressful. Now new research from the U.K. suggests that the best way to beat this problem (short of working from home) is to switch from four wheels to two. Analysis conducted by the RAC Foundation has shown that commuters could shave up to three hours off their weekly commutes by choosing a motorcycle or scooter over the car, with the biggest savings to be gained in Central London and the East of England. Read More
KTM to debut new KTM 690 in Baja 500
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May 30, 2007 After conquering almost every competition frontier it has attempted, Austrian sport motorcycle manufacturer KTM is to attempt the famous Baja 500 and the Baja 1000 with a new prototype machine based on the LC4 engine, currently the most powerful series production single cylinder engine in the world. The LC4 was released onto the market in early 2007 in the form of the 690 Supermoto, which came through its baptism of fire in the Dakar Rally 2007 by dominating the event. In combination with the stable, extremely light tubular frame of the Rally 690, the 690 Baja combines the advantages of a very light and superbly handling Enduro machine with the stability of a rally machine. Read More
Triumph launches Street Triple
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May 25, 2007 After much media speculation, Triumph has confirmed that the rumours are true. The brand new Triumph Street Triple will arrive in showrooms in November. Deriving its genes from the iconic Triumph Speed Triple streetfighter and Daytona 675 Supersport machine, the Street Triple is 675cc of pure unfaired aggression: lightweight, agile, and fantastic fun to ride. The bike will be unveiled to Triumph customers attending the Triumph Tridays event in Neukirchen, Austria on June 30. The bike will then receive its official press launch, including a full release of the details, in early July. An official Street Triple microsite containing more information on the new bike will go live in late June. Read More
Dainese seeks beta testers for helmet-to-helmet communication system
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May 25, 2007 In a move that could spell the end of meditative "zen" motorcycling, Dainese is looking for beta testers for their D-Nect helmet to helmet communication system, which allows riders and pillions as far as 400m apart to converse with each other on group rides. A limited number of purchasers of the new Airstream Course Infinity helmet, which features the innovative bluetooth/short range radio communication system, will be able to have direct input into the development of the system - and Dainese will shout all beta testers a bluetooth mobile phone for their assistance. Read More
Triumph Daytona 675 scoops Supertest and Masterbike awards again!
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May 12, 2007 Triumph's Daytona 675 has continued its insatiable award-winning appetite with victory in both the Supertest and Masterbike multi-bike comparison tests for the second year running. Both of the independent tests, held on Spanish racetracks, saw the Daytona 675 reign supreme despite being unchanged since its launch in 2006, a true testament to the bike's inherent qualities. Read More
