Home / Posts tagged 'Motorcycle'

• Beemer Screamer: Roland Sands’ Superb BMW S1000RR Drag Bike [Video]

  In Fast Forward / By Tom Anderson / 5 April 2013

  

  Throughout the 1990s, Roland Sands was one of America’s hottest motorcycle road racing prospects. But despite his on-track successes (including winning the old AMA 250GP national championship in 1998), the hard-charging young Californian never made it to the big leagues. Multiple injuries didn’t help, either. In any case, when Sands retired from racing in 2002, he wasn’t sure what to do with himself at first. But eventually, he found his niche as a designer of both custom bikes and biker gear.

  The latest creation of Roland and his company – Roland Sands Design – is a drag racing prepped BMW S1000RR. And even though the engine is basically unchanged, this bad black BMW still manages to cover the standing eighth-mile in less than six seconds (Figure on quarter-mile ETs in the eight second range.). But if you think Roland is satisfied with that kind of performance, well, watch and listen to the last minute or so of the video…

  CLICK HERE TO READ MORE >>

   

• The Wild Ohm: Jay Leno Tries the Brammo Empulse R Electric Motorcycle [Video]

  In Fast Forward / By Tom Anderson / 18 March 2013

  

  Lately, it seems like the automobile industry can’t go more than a week without announcing or releasing a new all-electric (or at the very least plug-in hybrid) car or truck. Such is the desire to offer up a green, forward-thinking image to the public and – perhaps more importantly – gain real-world data and knowledge to put to use on future combustion-free offerings. And while all this is going on, the motorcycle industry is just sticking its collective head in the sand, right?

  Wrong, homeslice. More and more motorcycle buyers are getting a charge (Okay, that’s the only electricity pun, we promise.) out of electric bikes. Even Jay Leno, who has a fleet of fossil-fueled bikes to rival most museums, finds a lot to like about these whisper-quiet two wheelers. This is particularly true of electric bikes that are as potent as the Empulse R from American manufacturer Brammo. And it’s a proper sportbike, complete with a 6-speed transmission.

  CLICK HERE TO READ MORE >>

   

• Don’t Try This at Home: Jason Britton Hoons the New Kawasaki ZX-6R [Video]

  In Fast Forward / By Tom Anderson / 7 March 2013

  

  We’re all familiar with those t-shirt-wearing knuckleheads who like to pop wheelies on their motorcycles while clogging up the diamond lane on the highway, right? Of course we are. There exists a certain temptation to call these yahoos stunt riders. Don’t give in to that temptation; they’re merely squids literally and figuratively taking their act on the road.

  Jason Britton, on the other hand, is no squid. You might recognize him as the host of Super Bikes!, a program that aired on the soon-to-go-bye-bye Speed network, but he’s also one of the top professional stunt riders in the country, if not the world. And in this video from MotorTrend’s “On Two Wheels” series, not only does JB demonstrate his amazing skills, but also his new 2013 Kawasaki ZX-6R and the modifications he’s made to it. And oddly enough, the setting appears to be the parking lot of Kawasaki’s U.S. headquarters. But you know what they say: One man’s parking lot is another man’s playground.

  CLICK HERE TO READ MORE >>

   

• Holiday Customs is a Portland Original [Video]

  In Fast Forward / By Tom Anderson / 21 February 2013

  

  In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve been featuring a lot of custom café racer motorcycles on the site lately. They all look the business, but that’s not the most noteworthy common thread tying them together; rather, it’s the staggering amount of meticulous craftsmanship and attention to detail that went into building them. This makes them too nice (not to mention too expensive) to take out and flog, which certainly defeats the purpose of hacking up the stock bodywork and adding various go-fast goodies for improved canyon-carving capabilities.

  However, Jared Johnson refuses to let the bikes he constructs in his shop – Holiday Customs in North Portland, Oregon – to be more show than go. More importantly, he’s also focused on minimizing the use of off-the-shelf parts, and keeping his prices within a range most enthusiasts can afford. Although we can certainly appreciate the artistry and skill involved in a high-end café racer build, we wish most shops would be content with turning out customs that you won’t be afraid to fire up, point toward your favorite two-lane and have a peg-dragging, tank-emptying good time.

  CLICK HERE TO READ MORE >>

   

• Robbie Maddison’s AIR.CRAFT is Gymkhana on Half the Wheels [Video]

  In Fast Forward / By Tom Anderson / 13 February 2013

  

  If there’s one thing that Ken Block’s growing library of Gymkhana videos has taught Wall Street and Madison Avenue alike, it’s that hoonage sells. More specifically, hoonage draws millions of pairs of eyeballs that can subsequently be sold stuff. But we have a question for Señor Block and the rest of the large goudas at DC Shoes:  Does the Gymkhana formula require four wheels?

  Apparently, they’ve already answered that question with a resounding “No.” Witness DC Shoes-backed freestyle motocrosser Robbie Maddison and his romp through an Arizona warplane morgue. On paper, AIR.CRAFT was made to promote the Aussie throttlejockey’s new signature apparel line; in practice, it’s proof that steel shipping containers have uses besides being filled with Chinese exports or converted into freestanding meth kitchens. Who knew?

  CLICK HERE TO READ MORE >>

   

• 2013 Dakar Rally is Still Racing’s Ultimate Adventure

  In Motorsports / By Tom Anderson / 18 January 2013

  

  The earliest motor races were as much adventures as they were speed contests. Drivers (and, in most cases, riding mechanics) often dashed hundreds of miles from town to town across open countryside, battling not only other competitors, but also the elements, the condition of the roads (if you could call a rutted, lumpy, unpaved horse trail or cart path a road), and the ever-present specter of mechanical failure. Combine these hazards with essentially zero safety precautions and you start to wonder if the first race car drivers made clanking noises when they scratched their wedding vegetables.

  These days, of course, racing is the safest and most sanitized it’s ever been. That’s good for all parties involved, but it also means much of the sport’s danger and romance is gone. Racing has ceased to be – if you’ll excuse our use of a worn-down-to-the-cords term – epic. But this doesn’t mean all racing in the 21^st century is a watered-down shadow of its former self. There is one notable motor race that still requires man and machine to be in peak fitness, as well as participants to have nerves and gonads of steel. That race, of course, is the Dakar Rally, and so far the 2013 edition has been one for the ages.

  CLICK HERE TO READ MORE >>

   

• Mecum Auctions Holds Its First Collector Car Sale in Anaheim

  In Featured / By Tom Anderson / 20 November 2012

  

  When we heard a few months ago that Mecum Auctions would be holding a collector car auction at the Anaheim Convention Center (located literally across the street from Disneyland), we were beyond stoked. Yes, we’ve been to a couple of Barrett-Jackson auctions before, and have watched countless Barrett-Jackson and Mecum auctions on TV, but we were curious to experience a Mecum sale in-person. Also: We rarely turn down the chance to check out hundreds of cool cars and trucks all in one place.

  So behind the Orange Curtain we ventured, and into the main hall we walked (The auction occupied three of the convention center’s four sprawling ground-floor halls.). Immediately, we saw row upon row of gleaming sheetmetal (and, in the case of the scores of Corvettes on offer, fiberglass). And much of the content of many of those rows was really high quality. The paint, panel fitment and other indicators of how much time, money and effort were spent on a restoration on dozens of cars was terrific.

  CLICK HERE TO READ MORE >>

   

• SEMA 2012: Tanom Motors Invader Proves Three is a Magic Number

  In Auto News, Motorcycles / By Tom Anderson / 31 October 2012

  

  Trikes of the adult variety – as opposed to the immortal Big Wheel and its scores of imitators – seem to get a bum rap. Their owners are often stereotyped as being too feeble, lazy, fat or some combination of the three to ride a two-wheeled motorcycle. Worse still, the typical trike, whether it’s of the two-in-front-one-in-back or one-in-front-two-in-back persuasion, is designed more for leisurely touring than flying along serpentine mountain roads.

  However, there are some motorized three-wheelers that won’t be mistaken for the transport of sixty-something retirees with inner ear problems. And the newest hot trike, the Tanom Motors Invader, definitely won’t be mistaken for a Hog with a rear axle kit.

  CLICK HERE TO READ MORE >>

   

• The Top 10 Gearhead Documentaries of All Time

  In Lists / By Tom Anderson / 19 October 2012

  

  Last summer, we compiled a list of 25 movies that should be required viewing for car buffs. We hope you’ve been able to watch at least some of the movies we named since then, because we’re about to tell you about 10 more movies you’ll want to put on your “must watch” list.

  You see, we pointed out in the intro of last year’s article that we were excluding documentary and non-fiction works. We did that for two reasons: One, to leave more room for fiction movies and two, to avoid being accused of favoring one genre over another. Now, the documentaries finally get their turn in the spotlight. However, since there’s one motorcycle-centric flick on the following list, we’re calling them gearhead (as opposed to car nut) documentaries. Here they are.

  CLICK HERE TO READ MORE >>

   

• Vilner Adds Vroom to the Ducati Monster 1100 Evo

  In Motorcycles, Tuning / By Tom Anderson / 2 August 2012

  

  The Ducati Monster 1100 Evo is, well, a monster. Armed with 99hp, 76 lb.-ft and a 373 lb. dry weight, this Trellis-framed naked Italian stallion is a two-wheeled street pugilist par excellence. And at a starting MSRP of just under $12,000, it’s also an affordable monster.

  Of course, since so many people who can drop $12k on a new motorcycle will choose to do so on a Monster 1100 Evo, you might not end up appearing to be as much of a non-conformist as you were hoping. Worse still, there are a fair number of other bikes (some of them also naked bikes) that are quicker. Fortunately, Bulgarian tuner Vilner has fixes for both of these issues; say hello to the Monster 1100 Evo Bulgari.

  CLICK HERE TO READ MORE >>