The Ducati Scrambler seems set for a mid-summer debut, as Borgo Panigale has confirmed that the new Italian motorcycle will be shown to Ducatisti at the 2015 World Ducati Week event.
Like Ducati’s teaser event with its staff in Bologna, viewings of the Ducati Scrambler will be private and reserved (held on July 18-20th), as Ducati hopes to generate buzz around the new model, while limiting the Scrambler’s details from being revealed.
Harley-Davidson is releasing an electric motorcycle tomorrow, did you know? Something that we were put onto two years ago, alluded to last year, and spied last week, a quick stroll through the US Patent and Trademark filings shows that the “Livewire” name was registered by Harley-Davidson, for use on “motorcycles and structural parts therefor.”
Harley-Davidson has just posted a video to its YouTube, which teases a new model coming tomorrow, June 19th, 2014. The video itself is devoid of any information, with a sole blurred motorcycle jetting past a Route 66 sign. The only hint we have on what to expect is the unmistakable sound of an electric drivetrain at full-tilt.
We first broke the news about Harley’s electric motorcycle two years ago, and we have already caught the electric Harley-Davidson on the Avengers: Age of Ultron film set, looking pretty much ready for production, including DOT reflectors, so this revelation isn’t completely out of left field.
A quick stroll through Harley-Davidson’s trademark filings shows the “Livewire” name being registered with the USPTO back in November 2012. The name can also be spotted on the side of the motorcycle that was seen on the Avengers set.
After our story broke last week, our spies reported that a launch of that machine was said to be coming later this week. With this announcement, all the pieces of the puzzle now seem to fit.
Continuing today’s theme on fairly useless cellphone knowledge for motorcyclists, the good people at The Unicode Consortium (the people who run the industry standard on computer text and symbols) have released a new batch of emojis.
We understand if you may not know what an emoji is, but you’ve likely encountered one if you text message or use social media like Facebook or Twitter — think of it as a sophisticated smilie that is built into your operating system’s language code (a smilie being a group of punctuation that is meant to look like a picture, which is meant to convey emotion).
Popularized by teenagers, emjois saw explosive use after text and instant messaging applications gave access to them. Surprisingly though, there has been no motorcycle emoji for motorcyclists to use…until now.
Not too long ago I had to replace the clutch on my track bike, as I had a track day rapidly approaching that weekend. Driving around to get the parts I needed, I turned to Siri on my iPhone for help in finding a nearby Yamaha dealer, as I knew that the clutch plates would need to be ordered that day (with only a couple hours left in the work day) and overnighted to me, if I was to get my R1 ready in time.
A couple verbal commands later (along with a couple chuckles over how Siri pronounces “Yamaha”), and something funny happened. Siri decided to give me a little life advice on my two-wheeled inclinations, with a “now, you be careful on that thing” comment.
Testing alongside the rest of the MotoGP paddock, Suzuki Racing was present again at the Catalunya test, with Randy de Puniet once again turning laps on the Suzuki XRH-1. Now using the Magneti Marelli electronics, Suzuki has the long process of dialing-in the XRH-1’s full potential.
Also a priority at Catalunya was Suzuki’s more powerful iteration of its inline-four engine, which the Japanese OEM hoped would close its gap to the other OEMs. In the hands of Randy de Puniet, the Suzuki XRH-1 was 2.499 seconds off the pace of test-leader Marc Marquez, though that margin comes with an asterisk.
While the rest of the paddock has had since Friday to hone their machines and bodies to the Circuit de Catalunya, Suzuki and RdP did not have that luxury going into Monday’s test. One can also argue De Puniet’s pace to the other GP riders, as with all due respect to the Frechman, Marc Marquez he is not.
With a thousand variables at play (we can even question the validity of test times in general, as teams are testing not qualifying/racing), it is easy to make excuses for RdP and Suzuki as to why the gap remains so far from the other factories, but the end result is that the XRH-1 is a tough character to judge. That makes Suzuki’s return to the GP paddock a bit of a wild card.
With Both of Ducati Corse’s riders praying for a miracle, or a better option, Suzuki could be that salvation. One also has to consider Dani Pedrosa’s rumored $8 million price tag, and the bevy of other contracts that expire at the end of the season. Suzuki’s impending presence is a considerable factor in MotoGP’s game of musical chairs..
Being a difficult factor to judge though has made Suzuki, the Suzuki XRH-1, and Randy de Puniet’s role in all this is very speculative and uncertain. The only thing we can say for sure then is that it will be interesting to watch the limited number of “factory” seats sort themselves out.
While we collectively take a ponder on what to do with the electric Harley-Davidson motorcycle that will be in the next Avengers movie, here’s another interesting twist involving the Bar & Shield brand.
We’re not usually ones for cruisers, but the Harley-Davidson XR1200TT from Shaw Speed & Custom tickles our racing inclinations the right way, and makes us remember when Harley-Davidson’s name was synonymous with road racing.
As the name implies, the project started from a Harley-Davidson XR1200. SS&C then added its own custom-built exhaust, along with a Screamin’ Eagle tuner and breather — good for roughly 100hp at the rear wheel.
Completing the look is suspension from Öhlins, wheels from Dymag, brakes from Brembo, while the bodywork is a conversion from SS&C’s own Bonneville streamliner design. Add a custom tail and seat, and you have the XR1200TT.
It all sounds rather simple, but the finished product deceives the time and energy that Shaw Speed & Custom put into the design. This bike looks like it could have rolled right out of Milwaukee, and it puzzles us as to why Harley-Davidson recently stopped selling the XR1200, let alone never built upon the model’s popularity after its debut.
We will keep pondering all that, but in the meantime, enjoy photos of the Harley-Davidson XR1200TT by Shaw Speed & Custom. It might be a Harley we’d have to have in our own garage.
It’s not our cup of tea, but we can see how hardcore cinephiles can get easily worked up about behind the scenes photos of movies that are still in production — it’s likely not too dissimilar from how we feel when we catch a glimpse of an upcoming motorcycle before its release. It’s not our thing, but we can understand it.
What is a lot easier to understand though is when an actual motorcycle gets caught by these Hollywood spy cameras, as is the case here. On the set of the next Avengers movie, the eagles eyes of the linkbaity Daily Mail caught photos of what is clearly an electric Harley-Davidson motorcycle — piquing our interest, of course.
For the 2015 season, the World Superbike Championship is to officially adopt the current EVO rules, in an effort to reduce costs within the premier production motorcycle racing series. Meeting this week at Catalunya though, the Superbike Commission has agreed to amend the 2015 “EVO” regulations, in order to ensure more parity amongst the variety of machines competing in the series.
As such, new stipulations regarding the 2015 World Superbike rules have been released. The new rules largely clarify what can be altered in a Superbike engine for 2015, as well as outline how OEMs can continue to develop their electronics packages (WSBK is the last World Championship to allow electronic development). For the full breakdown on rule changes, read after the jump.