The Borg collective that is Comoto Holdings continues to assimilate large brands into its collective of retail enterprises for the motorcycle industry. No, not familiar with the name Comoto?
Surely though you have heard of – if not shopped at – the companies that Comoto controls, as it is the holding company for RevZilla and Cycle Gear, and it is also now the new business entity that owns J&P Cycles.
The Indian FTR1200 is coming soon, and it promises to be the American brand’s first proper sport bike. The funny thing is though, it is unlike any other sport bike currently on the market.
It is a complicated concept to understand, so we will save it for another story, but part of the big news surrounding this bike is the robust number of accessories that Indian is making available when the FTR1200 is finally on the market.
As such, there will be four aftermarket flavors that you can use to customize the Indian FTR1200, if you so happen to put one in your garage. Those four flavors are as follows: Tracker, Rally, Sport, and Touring.
Mark this as the sixth recall (#1, #2, #3, #4, #5 here) that BMW Motorrad has had to issue in the United States, as the German brand has seen a number of its models run afoul of DOT and NHTSA standards.
This time around, BMW’s headache stems from its accessory turn signals, which may not be sufficiently visible to other drivers, and as such, they fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 108, “Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment.”
In total, this recall affects 9,000 units, which fit a bevy of motorcycles in the BMW Motorrad lineup.
Last week, we published the story about how the EPA was laying claim to emissions regulation on production vehicles, even when they were being used privately for off-highway uses, such as racing.
This news sent a shockwave through the motorcycle and automotive communities, because this viewpoint from the EPA would drastically change not only the racing and track-enthusiasts landscape in America, but also the aftermarket sales of performance parts that are sold through the “race only” loophole.
As you can imagine, two-wheel and four-wheel enthusiasts were incensed over this revelation from the EPA, and I am sure a number of pitchforks were sharpened in the process.
So against my better judgment, I want to put forward to you an idea that I already know that many of you will disagree with out of hand: the unpopular argument that the EPA is right about all this.
If you’ve bought an Öhlins shock or Öhlins steering damper in the last year and half or so, you may want to check your part’s serial number as it may be affected one of the two recalls Öhlins just issued for the company’s aftermarket suspension pieces.
As much as we harp on the them, Harley-Davidson really is one of the few motorcycle companies that truly seems to grok the idea that motorcycles are about personal expression, and are an extension of a rider’s personality. This simple understanding has lead to the company’s brand marketing and lifestyle business strategy being taught in business schools around the world, tattoo parlors keeping a healthy array of Bar & Shield designs at the ready, and ensuring the State of South Dakota stays out of Canadian hands.
So it should come as no surprise then that the Milwaukee based company has started a factory-level customization program that will allow Harley-Davidson customers the ability to purchase a nearly one-of-a-kind motorcycle that is built from Harley’s 8,000+ genuine parts & accessories, which will then be built at the factory and shipped to the customer’s local dealer.
Sometimes if you want to know where something is going, it helps to know where it’s been. That seems to be the case as Ducati News Today has esnagged some photos 2011 Ducati Diavel from way back in May of last year. Caught in the United States being fitted with a new swingarm (according to DNT), this version of the Ducati Diavel shows some interesting lines that depart from the photos we’ve seen earlier of the performance cruiser.
But why does this Diavel look so different from the clay models and spy shots we’ve seen? While some will say it’s an earlier model, our eagle eye spots a few parts from the Roland Sands Design parts bin. When we saw the latest spy shots of the Diavel, the bike had some wheels on it that screamed influences from Performance Machines. It’s no secret that PM and RSD have close ties, so we went digging, and our sources tell us that Roland Sands Design has been helping Ducati kit the Diavel with aftermarket parts (note the Öhlins shock which will surely be a Ducati Performance part for the Diavel). More info and photos after the jump.