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BMW Strikes First with Adaptive Cruise Control Feature

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Adaptive cruise control has been coming for a long time now to the two-wheeled world, and in the past couple of years we have seen more than a few European brands playing with the technology (all of which are likely working with Bosch to integrate this feature).

Already a staple in the automotive industry, now adaptive cruise control comes to the motorcycle industry, with BMW Motorrad being the first company to feature the tech on its bikes, which the company calls “Active Cruise Control” (ACC).

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News

Bosch Is Working on 3D Displays for Your Dashboard

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For the 2020 model year, the standard for motorcycle interfaces will be rich-color TFT dashes, and this is not a new trend.

Sure, there will be a few “heritage” models that will employ analog gauges, but gone are the days of LCD dashes that share more with a Timex timepiece than the smartphone that is in every rider’s pocket.

I have no doubt that a few brands will still fail to get this memo, as there seems to be just about every year, but that number is shrinking rapidly. The motorcycle industry is slowly getting hip to this 21st century thing.

But now, we get word that some seemingly 22nd century tech is on its way, as German automotive parts supplier Bosch is touting the arrival of 3D dashboards for motor vehicles.

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News

All of Ducati’s 2019 Model Year Bikes Come with Cornering ABS

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I once had a conversation with Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali, where he described that in terms of safety advancement, cornering ABS was to the front wheel what traction control was to the rear wheel.

A few years later now, we see that the Italian brand is taking cornering ABS very seriously, and during the company’s EICMA unveiling event, Domenicali announced that Ducati is making cornering ABS a standard item on all of its 2019 model year motorcycles.

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Bikes

Spicy Meatballs! 2019 Aprilia RSV4 Factory Makes 214hp with 1,078cc

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The 2019 EICMA show in Milan is next week, and there we expect to see a bevy of new models, including a few from Aprilia, but those crafty Italian have gotten a jump on things, releasing today the 2019 Aprilia RSV4 Factory.

As we predicted, the new top-spec superbike is getting a displacement increase to 1,078cc on its 65° V4 engine (we wonder why), which gives the new Aprilia RSV4 Factory a class-leading peak power figure of 214hp (159.6 kW), and 90 lbs•ft (122 Nm) of torque.

Matching that substantial gain in power, the 2019 Aprilia RSV4 Factory gets a solid weight reduction, tipping the scales at 439 lbs when fully fueled. Helping cut the weight down is a lithium-ion battery from Bosch and a street legal titanium exhaust from Akrapovic.

For those doing the math, we will save you the trouble: the 2019 Aprilia RSV4 Factory weighs 11 lbs lighter than its predecessor, and makes 16hp more power, and 5 lbs•ft more torque as well. Win, win, win.

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Rumors

More Details on the New Ducati Hypermotard

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It is by pure happenstance that the featured story at the top of the Asphalt & Rubber homepage is about the new Ducati Hypermotard, which also coincides with today’s story that highlights more info about the 2019 model. Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.

With that said, more information about the new Ducati Hypermotard has leaked, though it will depend on who you ask what those specifics are when it comes to this new machine. This is because we have conflicting reports from the British site BikeSocial and Italy’s GPone.

Both sites have proven themselves to be reliable in the past, which makes it difficult to decipher their differing opinions on the new power and weight figures of the Ducati Hypermotard. So, let’s dive into what we know, and what we don’t know.

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Podcast

Two Enthusiasts Podcast #78 – Princess Düsseldorf

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Episode 78 of the Two Enthusiasts Podcast is out, and in it we talk about an omnibus list of topics. 

As such, the show begins with some racing news, both for the Isle of Man TT and for the World Superbike Championship, with a conversation about Bosch’s safety thruster technology stuffed somewhere in-between those topics.

The conversation then turns to some timely news, namely the continued rumors that Honda is readying a V4 superbike, MV Agusta is building a Moto2 bike, Ducati will return to Pikes Peak, and Alta Motors entering the Erzberg Rodeo.

We then shift gears into a long conversation about the rising trend of motorcycle fatalities, when compared to total on-road vehicle deaths.

The show finishes with a look at how profitable halo superbikes can be for motorcycle manufacturers, and how that could be the future of sport bike sales.

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. 

We hope you will join the conversation, and leave us some audio comments at our new email address: twoenthusiasts@gmail.com.

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News

Your Motorcycle Could Have Thrusters from Outer Space

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You are driving down a road with questionable conditions, and as you round a bend, you see a minefield of gravel the path of your motorcycle.

For anyone who has ridden the backroads of America, this scenario should be one that is familiar, and while a certain amount of rider skill can navigate you to safety, if you hit a gravel patch while leaned-over, the physics simply aren’t on the side of the motorcycle.

According to the CNET though, the folks at Bosch want to change that, and it seems that Bosch has a novel concept in the works – straight from NASA and the space program. The idea is both simple and complex. It is compressed gas thrusters.

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Lifestyle

The Miracle That Is Cornering ABS, Explained

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Cornering ABS, it’s the hot new thing on motorcycles rights now. So important is this braking technology, one industry CEO explained it to me in the following terms: in terms of safety, it does to the front wheel what traction control has done for the rear wheel.

I won’t make the bold statement that IMU-powered (that’s inertial measurement units for the uninitiated) braking systems make it impossible to tuck the front wheel of a motorcycle, but they do make it exceedingly difficult to do so, especially by use of the brakes.

Not surprisingly then, we see a number of motorcycle brands offering this technology now, usually on their more premium models. KTM was the first do so, getting an exclusive from Bosch, one of the leaders in this space.

Since then though, cornering ABS has come to virtually every brand (strangely, none of the American motorcycle brands offer a motorcycle with cornering ABS right now), and we see several players offering systems to these OEMs, with Bosch and Continental leading the pack.

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Podcast

Two Enthusiasts Podcast #61 – Wasted Talent

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Episode 61 of the Two Enthusiasts Podcast is out, and in it we talk about riding some motorcycles…and driving some motorcycles. We also talk about new motorcycles, recalled motorcycles, and how to fuel motorcycles in our coming Mad Max future.

For the past month, we have been riding the 2017 MV Agusta Brutale 800, so we rant and rave about how great that bike is, and how I think it might be the best street bike on the market.

We also discuss my recent trip to SoCal to drive the Polaris Slingshot, and how Polaris has created the autocycle category in 40 states now.

Our attention then turns to Harley-Davidson’s new batch of motorcycles, and discuss where the American brand is headed. We also talk about BMW Motorrad’s plethora of recalls in the recent weeks.

The show ends with us talking about Bosch’s synthetic fuel strategy, which could have interesting implications…especially if fuel prices increase over the coming years.

There’s a little something for everyone in this show. We think you’ll like it.

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.

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News

Bosch Invents Carbon-Neutral Synthetic Fuel

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Reducing greenhouse gases will be a huge part of transportation in the coming years, as countries get more serious about climate change and the factors that cause it. This should be obvious, if not already present.

Vehicle emissions have put tremendous pressure on governments, and we are already seeing a trend in Europe for vehicle manufacturers pushing to stop the production of gasoline-powered vehicles within the few decades.

This puts electric motorcycles, cars, and trucks at the forefront of future transportation plans, but Bosch has another idea to solve our transportation and climate needs: synthetic fuels.

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News

V2V Tech Could Prevent One-Third of Motorcycle Crashes

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Alongside the rise of self-driving cars, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) technology is set to massively change the motorcycling landscape – arguably for the better.

The technology comes in a variety of forms, but its basics involves cars, trucks, motorcycles, and possibly even pedestrians sharing basic travel data, like which lane they are in, how fast they are going, and whether they are changing lanes, coming to a stop, or a similar action.

Being able to communicate these basic pieces of telemetry, and thus alert drivers and trigger self-driving systems, means a big safety increase for all motorists – motorcyclists especially.

Bosch estimates that one-third of motorcycle crashes could be prevented with V2V technology – basically any car-motorcycle crash where the car driver didn’t see the motorcyclist, or vice versa.

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