Motorcycle News
Harley-Davidson Announces LiveWire Pricing and Two New Electric Concepts
The LiveWire is Now Truly Alive Harley-Davidson is in the process of turning a new leaf, and the company made a big statement at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The company announced pricing and pre-order availability for its LiveWire motorcycle as well as two new concepts. First, the important stuff. The Harley LiveWire has a …
Get Ready for the New Shoei GT-Air II
Moving Forward from the First GT-Air With 2019 now in swing, Shoei’s new full-face GT-Air II helmet will soon flood into dealerships across the country. That means as 2019 winds up you should keep an eye out for this advanced helmet should you need a new one. You should easily be able to grab one of …
Camouflaged KTM 390 Adventure Spotted in India
KTM’s Little Indian Adventurer The KTM 390 Adventure should be a fun little bike. The bike was spotted testing recently. This isn’t the first time someone snapped a photo of the little adventure bike, but the photos shared by the guys over at Adventure Rider give a very good look. The bike appears heavily influenced …
Motorcycle News Roundup – Week of 12/30/2018
Here’s the big news in the world of motorcycles for the week of December 30, 2018. #1 – Arcimoto Snags $4.5 Million Investment For Electric Trike Production https://www.webbikeworld.com/arcimoto-snags-4-5-million-investment-for-electric-trike-production/ Electric trike company Arcimoto managed to get a 4.5 million dollar investment for production of its unique vehicle. This means the company will start churning these bikes …
Zero Motorcycles Teases New Bike Called SR/F
All New Electric Nake Street Bike Zero Motorcycles recently teased a new model it’s calling the SR/F. The company posted a super short video to YouTube. With just eight seconds of footage, Zero sent a lot of motorcycle enthusiasts into a frothy electrically charged tizzy. The company didn’t say much about the model. Eight seconds isn’t …
KTM’s CEO Is Serious About Buying Ducati
Is VW Group Interested in Offloading the Brand? We reported last month that KTM’s CEO, Stefan Pierer, expressed interest in buying Ducati. It now seems that it’s little more than just a pipe dream. According to Cycle World, the CEO reportedly made an offer of $1.5 billion to VW Group for the brand. There is …
Web Bike World: Year in Review (2018)
The Times They Are A-Changin’ With another year under our belts, I thought it worth it to take a look back over the last 12 months at the changes in the wonderful world of motorcycles. 2018 was no joke. There were plenty of killer new bikes and gear offered and tons of newsworthy items worth …
Indian FTR 1200 S Gets Akrapovič Exhaust as Standard Equipment
Good Response Spurs an Equipment Change Indian Motorcycle recently reached out to us to let us know that the Akrapovič exhaust, specifically the low-mount one, that was an accessory will be standard equipment on the most premium version of the FTR 1200. Now, if you buy a 2019 FTR 1200 S with Race Replica paint, you’ll …
A Fond Farewell to the Legendary Kawasaki KLR 650
The KLR650-A was unveiled in 1987, replacing the smaller KLR600 and becoming the monster of the Japanese dual sports. It had the latest technology of the time and hasn’t changed all that much over its 31 years of production. It is amazing to think that it’s production life spanned such a long time considering there …
The Full 2019 Indian Motorcycle Lineup Announced
America’s First Motorcycle Company Sets Its Latest Lineup Indian Motorcycle solidified its lineup for 2019, and soon those bikes will be rumbling to dealerships across the nation. The company breaks its lineup down like this: FTR 1200, Midsize, Cruiser, Bagger, and Touring. There’s further delineation from there. The FTR 1200 line consists of the standard FTR 1200 …
5 Motorcycle Industry Predictions for 2019
Let the New Year Begin As 2019 kicks off, I thought I’d put together a list of predictions for the upcoming months. Most of these are pulled straight out of my noggin without much to back them up. With that said, I pay attention to the motorcycle industry closely, and I think they may have …
The Suzuki GSX-R750 and GSX-R600 Are Not Long for This World
Well-Known Machines Will Meet Their End When most people think Suzuki sportbikes, they automatically think the Hayabusa, but the GSX-R750 isn’t far behind in their mind. That may change in the future. The motorcycle company will have to kill the GSX-R750 and GSX-R600 soon due to stringent emissions standards and mandatory ABS as stated by …
Vespa Scooters Retain Over 72 Percent of Their Value After 3 Years of Ownership
The Scooters Retain Their Value Better Than Anything Else Can you think of a vehicle that would retain 72.1 percent of its value over three years of ownership? According to data from J.D. Power and Associates, Vespa scooters do just that. This year was the first year that J.D. Power tracked resale value and published …
Arcimoto Snags $4.5 Million Investment for Electric Trike Production
You May See Some of These Ugly Trikes on the Road Soon Arcimoto has an electric trike it thinks will be the future of transportation. The company just received $4.5 million to make its vision a reality. Arcimoto calls its fully electric trike a Fun Utility Vehicle (FUV), and it will start ramping up production in …
Etergo Gets €10 Million Investment for Battery-Swapping Scooters
A Simple Solution to Range Anxiety Etergo is a Dutch scooter company. It just landed a huge investment to the tune of €10M (roughly $11.4M) to build a modular scooter that can swap out batteries on the fly. Range anxiety is the number one reason I would hesitate to buy an electric motorcycle or scooter. With charging …
Motorcycle Helmet FIM Safety Standard Will Eventually Make it Off the Racetrack
Add Another Helmet Safety Standard to Your List There are several helmet safety standards that motorcycle helmets are evaluated by. Their thoroughness and effectiveness vary. However, a new motorcycle standard that seeks to help better protect MotoGP racers will likely impact the consumer market eventually. That standard? Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). All Grand Prix …
Cake Hopes to Sell 70,000 of its Electric Motorcycle Annually
An Off-Road Electric Motorcycle and a Commuter? Electric motorcycles provide zero emissions, instant torque, and plenty of opportunities from a design standpoint. Cake’s electric motorcycle is one of the more interesting out there. The bike targets off-road riders, but the CEO of Cake also sees it as the future of commuting. Stefan Ytterborn, Cake’s CEO …
Bugatti’s 3D Printed Brake Caliper and Its Implications
The Future of Automotive and Motorcycle Manufacturing? I grew up around tool and die makers, machinists, and other people working in the trades. When I think of building or manufacturing things, I think of taking a piece of raw material, reducing it down, bending, and crafting it into the desired item. Additive manufacturing, which is …
AMA Names Travis Pastrana the 2018 Motorcyclist of the Year
Pastrana’s Actions Help All Motorcyclists Every year, the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) selects a motorcyclist of the year. This year, the association picked Travis Pastrana. The AMA had many reasons to select Pastrana, including the fact that he completed three jumps inspired by Evel Knievel. “Few things or people in motorcycling today capture the fascination …
Get Excited for New Arai Corsair-X Graphics
New Graphics Keep the Corsair Looking Fresh Arai recently announced a new set of graphics for its popular Corsair-X full-face helmet. The Corsair-X is one of the best helmets out there, but it has been out for a while now and Arai has to keep it looking fresh. Its most recent effort to do so …
Could a Kawasaki W800 Street Accompany the Cafe in 2019?
More W800 Versions are Welcomed Kawasaki has already committed to selling the W800 Cafe in the U.S., but not the W800 Steet. With that said, Motorcycle.com reported on some California Air Resources Board paperwork that suggests Kawasaki will sell the Street version of the bike in the States. It is a slightly more laid-back version of the …
The 2018 Yamaha World Technician Grand Prix: Winning Canada’s First
Meet Brett Hart, Canada’s Champion Meet Brett Hart, a mechanic at Blackfoot Motosports Calgary, Canada who went to Iwata, Japan for the Yamaha Technician GP. It was a long road, a lot of work and determination that lead to our very own (residing in Calgary, Alberta, Canada) local motorcycle mechanic, Brett Hart, to win the …
Lightning Motorcycles to Move Into New Headquarters
Electric Power, Crazy Fast There are a lot of innovative startups in the motorcycle industry, but most of these companies are more or less a joke. One of the legit ones is Lightning Motorcycles, which builds top-of-the-line electric motorcycles capable of truly high speeds. The company recently announced it’s moving to a new San Jose, …
Motorcycle News Roundup: Week of 12/16
This week has been full of interesting motorcycle news from a customized 180hp Kawasaki GPz750 Turbo to Triumph Factory Custom bikes and rumors of a new Rocket III power cruiser. We’ve covered most of it and rounded up the news that somehow slipped through the cracks. Check out all of this week’s top stories in …
BMW’s Head of Design Discusses the Future of Motorcycle Design
A Design Evolution Is Coming Edgar Heinrich, BMW Head of Design, discussed how BMW’s new S1000RR changed and how electric bikes could change the future of motorcycle design in a recent interview. Motorcycle News talked with Heinrich, and he had some pretty interesting things to say. His focus began on the new S1000RR. He first discussed …
Could a Triumph Factory Custom Rocket III be Coming?
Don’t Bet Against It We reported on the fact that the first Triumph Factory Custom (TFC) will be a Thruxton R TFC and will come out in January of 2019. In that article, we also mentioned the possibility of the next TFC build being a Rocket III. But could that really be the case? You …
Triumph Thruxton R TFC Coming in January
Get Your Bank Account Ready for a High-Spec Thruxton R The news that Triumph has a special high-spec, limited edition Thruxton R isn’t exactly new. The site Triumphrat reported on it back in October. What is new is that it has come to our attention that the bike is slated to appear in January of …
Yoshimura Exhaust System and FE Kit Introduced for 2019 Kawasaki ZX-6R
The Revised 2019 Model Gets New Aftermarket Equipment For 2019, Kawasaki added some new tech, revised the styling, and upped the list of features on its mid-level bike, the ZX-6R. The 636cc machine is a bonafide killer in the middleweight segment. The 600cc market has been slashed considerably in the last few years. Kawasaki has managed …
Indian Motorcycle Files Trademark for Indian Raven
Prepare for One Killer Indian Cycle In a recent patent filing by Indian Motorcycle, it looks as though a bike called the Indian Raven could join the lineup. Motorcycle.com reported the patent filing with the European Union Intellectual Property Office. That should mean that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will receive a similar filing soon. With the patent filing …
2019 KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition Revealed
Updates to the 450 SX-F Factory Edition KTM’s 450 SX-F Factory Edition sits at the peak of the company’s motocross lineup. The new updates to the 2019 model should help make this bike better for supercross and motocross than ever before. Instead of coming out with a completely new bike for 2019 KTM just made some …
Rolling Thunder Will Roll One Last Time in Washington D.C.
“Ride for Freedom” in the Nation’s Capital Ends After 2019 The motorcycle group Rolling Thunder announced its 2019 First Amendment Demonstration Run in Washington D.C. will be its last. This is not due to lack of popularity. In fact, the popularity of the run is one of its biggest problems. Organizers of the event have …
Fly Free Smart Motorcycles Brings Retro Styling and Electric Power
Electric Motorcycles Don’t Have to Look Futuristic I can’t deny that the future will likely come with a battery instead of a gas tank. This is true of cars and motorcycles. When that happens I will forever miss the sound and sensation that comes with an internal combustion engine. I won’t reject electric power’s merits, just gripe …
Customized 1984 Kawasaki GPz750 Turbo Makes 180 Horsepower
This Bike Will Satisfy Your Need for Speed There are few things I love more than 1980s Kawasaki sportbikes, especially ones that have been fiddled with. The GPz750 Turbo shown in the pictures allegedly makes 180 hp, according to its eBay seller. The seller states that before he had to downgrade his bike to its …
New AGV AX9 Helmet Launches in North America
Multiple Configurations, Multiple Uses AGV has been building quality motorcycle helmets since the 1940s. Today, Dainese owns it. Any time the company comes out with something new, you’d better take note. On December 12, AGV announced the North American launch of its new AX9 helmet. The AX9 follows in the footsteps of the AX8 helmet that …
Yamaha Sets Aside $100 Million for Future Startup Investments
The Yamaha Motor Exploratory Fund Begins Yamaha Motor Co. set up a new company fund that will focus on investing in new technologies and startups over the next 10 years. The Yamaha Motor Exploratory Fund is an effort by Yamaha. The company designed the fund to “further strengthen its global corporate venturing activities.” Yamaha allocated …
Suzuki Hayabusa Sales to Continue in U.S. in 2019
Americans Can Continue to Enjoy the Hayabusa When Suzuki announced it would end production of the Hayabusa due to European emissions standards there was a collective cry of “No!” from the motorcycle community. Suzuki now says it will continue to produce the GSX-1300R Hayabusa in the U.S. for the 2019 model year. In Europe, production …
Graphic Launch for 2019 Arai Quantum-X, Signet-X, and VXPRO-4
Bold New Looks for December We recently received word that Arai Helmets created some new graphics for their 2019 Quantum-X, Signet-X, and VXPRO-4 helmet lines. This gives the helmet designs, which are a couple to a few years old at this point an updated look to keep buyers interested. The Quantum-X and Signet-X came out in 2016 …
U.S. Senate Passes Motorcyclist Anti-Profiling Resolution
The Resolution Passed with Bipartisan Support On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate passed a motorcycle anti-profiling resolution that encourages communication and collaboration between motorcyclists and law enforcement, according to the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA). It discourages the profiling of people based only on the fact that they ride a motorcycle. Senate Resolution 154 also encourages law enforcement to …
The Triumph Scrambler 1200 Gets Inspiration Kits
Kits Designed to Pique Further Interest in the Bike With the upcoming kickoff of the Scrambler 1200, Triumph decided it needed to really get people excited about the bike. The company released two Inspiration Kits for the new motorcycle. These will help make your Scrambler 1200 feel special. There are two kits: Escape and Extreme. …
New 500cc Will Soon Accompany the KTM 790 Adventure
The Immediate Focus Is on Smaller Displacement Bikes Yesterday we reported on the fact that KTM’s boss, Stefan Pierer would like to buy Ducati in order to build higher displacement bikes. In the same interview with Speedweek, the CEO let slip that his company will build a 500cc motorcycle. That bike would come with the help …
