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BMW Unveils a Pair Urban Electric Bike Concepts for the Future

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Transportation is changing. If you need proof beyond that statement, take a look at how brands like BMW are envisioning transportation in the future.

There has been no shortage lately of two-wheel brands reevaluating how people will move in close urban environments, and no brand has been experimenting more in this space than BMW and BMW Motorrad.

The German company already showed us last week its electric Honda Grom contender, the BMW Concept CE 02, which is aimed at younger riders (or non-riders) with a fun pint-sized form factory.

Now, the Bavarians have envisioned two more concepts for their last-mile arsenal, dubbed the BMW i Vision AMBY and BMW Motorrad i Vision AMBY. Names only an engineer could love.

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Podcast

Two Enthusiasts Podcast #39 – Live in PDX

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Episode 39 of the Two Enthusiasts Podcast is a celebration of one year of motorcycle podcasting, and to celebrate our birthday, we figured we should do a live show in our hometown of Portland, Oregon.

The good folks at MotoCorsa were kind enough to host the 40 brave souls that braved the PNW weather to listen to Quentin and myself blather about motorcycles.

It was good fun, and we covered topics like the recent MotoGP test in Valencia, the business issues that comes with running a race track, and how “race” ABS works and how it’s evolving.

We finish the show with a Q&A session from the audience, with questions about racing, race tracks, new bikes, and how to pronounce Spanish words being the topics of choice.

We are extremely grateful for the turnout at our first live show, and hope to bring the format to other cities in the coming months. We are also thankful for all our listeners who couldn’t make it to Portland, but continue to listen to the show each week. Hopefully, we can meet you all soon.

Until then, you can listen to the show via the embedded SoundCloud player, after the jump, or you can find the show on iTunes (please leave a review) or this RSS feed. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well. Enjoy the show!

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Bikes

The Yamaha FZ-09 Gets More Aggressive for 2017

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The Yamaha FZ-09 will follow it European counterpart, the Yamaha MT-09, for the 2017 model year – getting an “upgrade” to its styling, along with a few performance enhancements.

Yes, this means the face that only a mother can love is coming to US soil; but on the bright side, it’s bringing with it traction control, fully adjustable forks, and anti-locking brakes.

The new headlight assembly features four LED headlamps, with other styling changes being made to the tail section, radiator shrouds, air scoops, and license plate mount (now on the swingarm).

Yamaha hopes that this styling effort will appeal to younger buyers, while the added features will appeal to more pragmatic buyers. Like on the 2017 Yamaha YZF-R6, a quickshifter can be added as an optional accessory item, at the dealership.

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News

Continental Announces Cornering ABS for Motorcycles

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The Bosch MSC system isn’t the only game in town when it comes to cornering ABS systems and anti-lowside technology, as another German company has entered the fray, Continental.

The Continental Optimized Curve Braking system factors into account roll, pitch, lateral acceleration, and lean angle and then modulates the brakes accordingly to slow the motorcycle down when the brakes are applied, while keeping the motorcycle upright.

The BMW S1000XR is the first production motorcycle to use the Continental Optimized Curve Braking, and we can expect other BMW models to follow.

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Bikes

Video: Kawasaki Ninja H2R’s Electronic Controls

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With great power, comes great responsibility…I’m fairly certain I read that in a comic book somewhere. The adage carries over to the Kawasaki Ninja H2R though, as any 300hp supercharged machine needs some snappy electronics to keep all that power in line. It’s something we talked about yesterday, when we got up-close with the H2R at the AIMExpo.

Seemingly reading our thoughts on that matter, Kawasaki has released a terse video on the H2R’s electronic controls. The video essentially confirms that the Kawasaki Ninja H2R, and presumably the Kawasaki Ninja H2 street bike, will come with anti-locking brakes (KIBS), traction control (KTRC), launch control (KLCM), quick shifter (KQS), engine braking control (KEBC), and an electronic steering damper (ESD).

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Opinion/Editorial

How Harley-Davidson Got Sued Over ABS Brakes & Why You Can’t Buy an Airbag Leather Suit in the USA

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I was reading DealerNews last week when I stumbled across a brief story about how Harley-Davidson was being sued by a couple, because the Bar & Shield brand did not offer the 2012 Electra Glide Classic with an anti-locking brake option.

The lawsuit comes about as a couple was riding two-up on their motorcycle in Texas, when a car suddenly cut in front of them. Locking up the wheels of the Harley-Davidson, the motorcycle fishtailed out of control, and flung the couple quite some distance. They are subsequently suing Harley-Davidson for $75,000 in damages.

I can already foresee the pro-business comments below this article, deriding these motorcyclists for a series events that amount to “their fault” for their medical and financial woes — after all, it was they who chose to buy a motorcycle without ABS, right?

Legal scholars, and those familiar with tort law and product liability in the United States though, will see the case quite differently. And barring specific details and circumstances, the conclusion to this lawsuit will almost certainly side with the complainants, not Harley-Davidson.

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Columns

motoDNA: Emergency Braking Techniques

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Nothing causes as much confusion or trepidation in riders as emergency braking. How hard can I brake? Will the front wheel lock? Will I go over the handlebars? How far can I lean over on the brakes?

As a Motorcycle Instructor I am continually amazed at how many of our students, who have generally had some training and are licensed, come to us with inadequate braking skills. It’s super important to understand and regularly practice emergency braking on your bike. Normally I recommend a quiet car park with a slight up-hill.

To understand braking we must first understand grip. The main contributor to grip is the weight or load on each tire. The ratio between the maximum possible grip and the vertical load is called the coefficient of friction (?). To understand this, slide an eraser across your kitchen table. Now try the same thing pushing down hard on the eraser.

This same thing happens when you brake on a motorcycle. The bike pitches forward transferring weight onto the front wheel, increasing front tire grip. More so with sports bikes, tall with short wheelbase compared to cruisers, which are long and low.

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Bikes

MV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800 – Stylish Sport-Touring

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Though MV Agusta gave us a good insight into what to expect at EICMA, the company from Varese has finally debuted its sport-touring machine, the 2014 MV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800. Built around MV Agusta’s 800cc three-cylinder engine, the Turismo Veloce 800 and the Turismo Veloce Lusso 800 (the pannier-equipped higher-spec model) feature a 125hp and 62 lbs•ft of torque.

True to the current MV Agusta aesthetic, the MV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800 has obvious design cues from the MV Agusta F3 and MV Agusta F4, and translates those cues into a machine that is very sporty in nature. Slenderly built and having  performance in mind, the 427 lbs machine boasts the best in class power-to-weight ratio.

True to the spirit of MV Agusta’s brand, Giovanni Castiglioni reiterated that “nobody needs an MV Agusta in their garage, you buy an MV because it transfers emotions.” The 2014 MV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800 is no different.

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News

Bosch MSC – Anti-Lowside Technology

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Rider aids like traction control and ABS continue to prove the notion that electronics are the new horsepower, and with the US debut of the KTM 1190 Adventure R just a couple months away, we learn that the hot new adventure-touring machine will debut the new Bosch Motorcycle Stability Control (MSC) system.

An extension of the venerable Bosch 9+ME ABS package, whose dual-channel setup has become the benchmark for OEM-equipped ABS units, the Bosch MSC is the next iteration of that standard. Integrating the ability for riders to brake into corners with a reduced risk of low-sliding, the Bosch MSC system is the next evolution in braking with its anti-lowside technology.

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Bikes

MV Agusta F4 Gets ABS for 2013

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The boys and girls in Varese, Italy are giving only modest updates to the MV Agusta F4 for the 2013 model year, as the company’s four-cylinder superbike will sport an ABS package from Bosch. Featuring the dual-channel Bosch 9M+ anti-lock braking system with anti-rear wheel lift, the F4 will be able to handle better low-traction stops and wet surfaces.

As the name suggests, the Bosch system also keeps the rear-wheel from lifting up during hard braking actions, which may throw a wench in your plans for epic stoppies, but it also will keep Italian dream machine in-check when diving deep into the braking zones.

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News

BMW Makes ABS Standard on All Its Motorcycles

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In introducing its 2013 line-up of returning models (as well as the updated F700GS & F800GS), BMW has announced that it has made anti-locking braking systems (ABS) a standard option on all of its motorcycles. The move is a part of larger safety initiative called Safety 360, which sees the Bavarian company taking a three-pronged approach to rider safety by focusing on: safety technology in the vehicle itself, safety derived from rider equipment, and safety derived from rider training.

Pre-empting the likely introduction of laws making ABS required on all motorcycles in the European Union by 2016, BMW is the first motorcycle manufacturer to make the braking technology standard on all of its models. Fittingly, back in 1988 the German company was the first motorcycle manufacturer to introduce ABS to production motorcycles, and again is the market-leader in this space.

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