It is sad to say, but the Harley-Davidson XR1200X is just about the only thing from the Milwaukee brand that intrigues me. And what kills me the most is that Harley-Davidson could really add something more to its product line up if it just explored the flat-tracker aesthetic in greater detail with its brand. Instead of bringing to market twenty or so variations on the same cruiser shape, Harley-Davidson could really bolster its brand with younger riders if it simply tapped into the street-tracker/scrambler movement that is percolating underneath the “looks like a Power Ranger” street scene.

Wake up Milwaukee, because the emo-teenger, full of high school angst, has matured into the “college is for pussies” hipster scene, which is comprised of an eclectic group of people that have been collectively displaced out of the 1940′s and into the new millennium + 10 years. Building a brand off the 1% rebel perception, I don’t know why its such a hard concept for Harley-Davidson to understand that it can latch onto these new-age bohemians, and create a similar bond with them as it did with the Baby Boomers so many years ago. After all, there is already great symmetry between the two cultures, as both Harley-Davidson and the hipster elite seem forever-fixated on a period in time that is far enough removed from out parents’ generation to be considered cool again.

What the hipsters wouldn’t like of course is the Bottpower BOTT XR-1. A racier and more custom version of the Harley-Davidson XR1200X (The BOTT XR-1 is actually based off a Buell motor), Bottpower has done such a good job making the Buell look Alana Blanchard hot that the Voltron generation will forget all about the reasons their didn’t like the Bar & Shield brand in the first place, and instantly liquidate their pre-IPO Facebook stock in order to make room for Bottpower’s work in their marina-view apartments. Needless to say, I like what’s going on here.

It may still be the pre-season, but the banter regarding MotoGP on Twitter is certainly getting us ready for the start of the 2012 MotoGP Championship. Sending out a simple infographic this morning with the message, “this picture says it all,” HRC’s official Twitter account posted some interesting statistics that compared Repsol Honda rider Casey Stoner to Ducati Corse’s Valentino Rossi.

Breaking down Stoner’s win percentage over the past five years, the results of course paint an interesting picture. Of course the image “didn’t say it all” as the reaction on Twitter is about what you’d expect from a world widely divided by international boundaries. This of course lead to the image’s immediate removal, but alas nothing truly dies in the digital age.

In case you aren’t already aware, Valentino Rossi is a nine-time World Champion, and also happens to be the favorite son the of MotoGP Championship. Casey Stoner on the other hand…well, the Australian has at best a tumultuous relationship with the public. Naturally, backlash ensued, and HRC finally removed the graphic from its Twitter account.

Asserting that it was all in good fun and simply pointing out some statistics about the last five years, HRC surely was trying to bolster Stoner’s record, and remove the Repsol Honda rider from the “Most Underrated” list in MotoGP — a hard thing to do, even on the heels of a World Championship.

You know when a company starts quoting sales figures “in the last nine months of the year…” that the numbers from the first three months that they are not mentioning have to be pretty bad. Such is the case with American Suzuki, though the company’s overall performance continues to flounder in the this economy. In Suzuki’s fiscal nine-month period (April 2011 to December 2011), sales to North American dealers were up 160%, as wholesale unit sales to dealers rose from 13,000 units (mostly ATVs)  in 2010 to 34,000 units in 2011.

However despite shipping more models to dealers, Suzuki’s sales in North America were actually down 11.5%, as the Japanese company sold only 31,000 units in the nine-month period, compared to the 35,000 units it sold during the same fiscal period last year. Because of this dip in consumer sales, Suzuki has revised its sales predictions for the end of its fiscal year in North America from 50,000 units to 46,000 units. American Suzuki sold 51,000 units to consumers in 2010, meaning that for the 2011 fiscal year, Suzuki is expecting a 9.8% retail sales decline compared to last year.

Aprilia was in Milan today, unveiling its 2012 World Superbike team with Max Biaggi and Eugene Laverty. For this season, Aprilia Racing is outfitting its RSV4 race bikes with the company’s classic black & red livery, a break from the white Alitalia paint scheme from last year. Unable to defend his #1 plate, the 40-year-old Max Biaggi will return to racing with his “3″ on the front of his RSV4.

Eager to regain World Superbike’s top position, Biaggi’s toughest competition could come from his own teammate. His first season in World Superbike, Laverty has shown a great deal of promise already on the Aprilia. Keep your eye on the Irishman for some podiums in 2012. Technicals specifications and 14 hi-res photos of the WSBK-spec 2012 Aprilia RSV4 are after the jump.

Julien Dupont blah blah blah Arthur Coutard blah blah blah trials, awesome, BBQ sauce. Yes, that crazy French trials rider-turned-urban stunt monsieur is at it again, this time with hetro-life partner Arthur Coutard at his side in the French Alps. Continuing his “Ride the World” video series, Dupont & Co. haven’t picked a city for this adventure this time, instead choosing to do things in a more au naturel setting. With more Frenchness on tap than a silent black & white film tragedy about mimes with baguettes, you’ll have more “je ne sais quoi” than you can shake a croissant at after the jump.

About to be his third year as a factory Ducati rider, Nicky Hayden is one of the hardest working men in MotoGP, and is long-overdue for some good luck. But, 2012 is already off to a tough start as Nick was unable to make much out of the Sepang test due to an injured left scapula, and accordingly underwent surgery today to repair cartilage and muscle damage in his left shoulder. Will he be fit to ride the next test at the end of February? Or will he wait until the last pre-season test at Jerez a month later? Only time will tell. Here’s to a speedy and full recovery for the Kentucky Kid.