Technology on motorcycles is a double-edged sword, it bring us new features to amazing machines, like the Yamaha YZF-R1 and its slide control, but it can also, as seen by this tale. Taking a cue from the car world, some motorcycle manufacturers have taken to supplying motorcycle owners with wireless key systems, where you only need to have the key on your person in order to start a motorcycle (note: I am not talking about the key systems where you press a button to start or unlock a vehicle). The process to make this work is simple, as the key fob has an RFID implanted inside it, and when it comes into proximity of the motorcycle, a reader grabs the signal from the key, which has a special code that unlocks the bike and allows it start and be operated.
The reliable AutoWeek is reporting that it has the skinny on the new host for the BBC’s popular Top Gear car show, and one of them is a very familiar face: Guy Martin. The famous road racer will be part of a trio of hosts, with Philip Glenister and Jodie Kidd (a pick that ensures a pretty blonde will always be in the front row), who will be replacing Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond. For those that haven’t been following the BBC fiasco, Clarkson both physically and verbally assaulted a producer while filming an episode for the show, and was subsequently sacked. In a show of solidarity, both May and Hammond said that they would not do the show without Clarkson, and the BBC has ever since been working to find replacements to call that bluff.
Ducati could have their concessions removed a year early. The manufacturers’ association, MSMA, are proposing to introduce the concession point…
The day after a race is simultaneously the best and the worst time to go testing. The best time, because…
Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index (PSI) is one of the major ranking systems out there assessing the US motorcycle industry and its dealerships. To give you a quick primer on how scoring works, Pied Piper takes into account a mixture of “mystery shopper” experiences, along with actual sales success for each brand, thus giving a mixture of subjective and objective measurement. For this year’s assessment, it comes with little surprise that Ducati is once again taking the top honors, followed closely by Harley-Davidson and Victory — two brands that have high customer satisfaction, according to Consumer Reports.
It might be hard to believe, but Can-Am has sold over 100,000 Spyder three-wheelers since the reverse trike first debuted in dealerships in 2008. Some off-the-cuff math here puts Can-Am Spyder sales as averaging 12,500 units a year — an impressive figure for the unique vehicle. The 100,000th Can-Am Spyder was given to its new owner, a Missouri firefighter by the name of Brahm Wilson, at the Spyderfest 2015 gathering in Springfield, Missouri. Wilson is your typical Can-Am purchasers, an ex-motorcyclist returning to the sport/lifestyle after a hiatus, who wanted something a little different than the standard two-wheeled fare. His bike is a 2015 Can-Am Spyder F3, which goes after America’s popular cruiser heritage, and mixes a bit of Harley-Davidson with on-road snowmobile to distinguish itself from the other Spyder models.