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A Brief Glimpse of the Kawasaki H2 in Action

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At the pace Kawasaki is going, it looks to be a long, painful, drawn-out debut for the Kawasaki H2. We’re six videos in now, and not much about the supercharged sport bike has been revealed. Sure, we’ve heard the sound of the bike’s centrifugal supercharger and inline-four engine, and we have gotten a glimpse at the H2’s lines, but our appetite desires more.

Today won’t be that satiation, though we do get to “see” the Kawasaki H2 for the first time…as it does triple-figures past the camera. Once again, Kawasaki takes off another piece of clothing in this two-wheeled burlesque show, yet manages not to show us anything worth the excitement.

We will likely just have to wait until September 28th, when the Kawasaki H2 officially breaks cover, ahead of the INTERMOT show.

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Bikes

Harley-Davidson Livewire Teaser Site Setup

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Three Harley-Davidson posts on Asphalt & Rubber in a single day? Surely the gods must be crazy. But like a Coke bottle to the head, things are about to get pretty out of control in the American motorcycle landscape in a big way. Setting up a dedicated launch site for its first electric motorcycle, Harley-Davidson isn’t tipping its hands too much officially, though in 11 hours we should know a lot more.

Usually with marketing lingo, you can see the hyperbole for what it is, but in the case of the Harley-Davidson Livewire, the Bar & Shield brand’s statement seems more like an honest assessment, rather than typical industry grandstanding:

“There are milestones that change history – those pivotal moments where the future is defined. This is one of them. Just like this country, Harley-Davidson has reinvented itself many times in our 111 years. This is the next chapter of our journey. Whether you’re a rider or not, we’re inviting you to take part in the experience, and be there for this historic ride forward.”

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Bikes

Electric Harley-Davidson “Livewire” to Debut Tomorrow

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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.

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Bikes

A Better Look at the Lightning Motorcycles LS-218

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It was only two days ago that Lightning Motorcycles teased its upcoming LS-218 superbike, complete with a shadowy look of the 200hp+ electric machine.

With the official debut scheduled for this Saturday at The Quail Motorcycle Gathering in Carmel, California, we don’t have long to wait for the full monty; but with a little Photoshop work, and a little sleuthing, we can have a pretty good idea of what to expect of the final design, or do we?

Raising the exposure and adjusting the levels on the press photo reveals a machine that is about 75% complete. Noticeably missing are the hand controls and instruments, a dash, and it seems some bodywork like the undertail, lower fairing, and windscreen (the photo shows an opaque windscreen, which we have a hard time imagining being a part of the final design).

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Lifestyle

Get Excited for “On Any Sunday, The Next Chapter”

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I have had to zip my lips for far too long about this project, but A&R can finally tell you about On Any Sunday, The Next Chapter – the sequel to the famous documentary of a similar name.

A project by Dana Brown, the son of Bruce Brown, the man who filmed the original On Any Sunday, this next installment follows a variety of amateur and professional racers and enthusiasts, from a broad-spectrum of two-wheeled disciplines.

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Bikes

Yamaha YZF-R25 Launched Confirmed for May 20th

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Yamaha Indonesia has spilled the beans on when the Yamaha YZF-R25 will be available, and that date is just a few days away: May 20th.

Yamaha is pitching the Indonesian-built, 250cc, parallel-twin sport bike as a miniature Yamaha YZR-M1, thus making a link between the R25 to Yamaha’s MotoGP racing program — a smart move considering how wildly popular MotoGP is in Indonesia currently.

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Bikes

Yamaha YZF-R3 and More to Debut Next Week?

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Yamaha has setup a teaser website, complete with countdown clock, for a new motorcycle(s) that should break cover next week. With just over eight days on the clock, at the time of this writing, we won’t have to wait long as we speculate to what Yamaha is brewing for us.

The general consensus so far is that we will see the Yamaha YZF-R25 and Yamaha YZF-R3 twin-cylinder sport bikes, which should come in either 250cc or 300cc formats, depending on which country we are talking about. Yamaha teased us with the YZR-R25 concept at the Tokyo Motor Show, and recent trademark filings in the United States and Europe have tipped off the YZF-R3 model.

From Yamaha’s teaser video we get a quick line drawing and head-on render of a sport bike, which looks very close to the R25 model we saw in Tokyo, which helps fuel the small-displacement sport bike fire further. Also seen in the video is some sort of urban maxi-scooter, along with its presumably accompanying engine. More details as we get it.

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Bikes

Video: MV Agusta Dragster 800 Teaser

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With all the details and rumors surrounding the new MV Agusta Dragster, it doesn’t surprise us to see MV Agusta drop us a hint about its newest motorcycle model. Accordingly, we have a teaser video of the Dragster, MV Agusta’s answer to the Ducati Diavel, to show you today.

Based around the company’s three-cylinder 800cc engine, we don’t expect the Dragster 800 to be a turbo, but we do expect it to be muscly and fun bike to ride. With burnouts and wheelies galore, along with a Metallica soundtrack, the Italian brand is certainly making us some promises of that nature, and as usual the bike is a looker to boot.

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Bikes

200 Horsepower Lotus C-01 Hyperbike Breaks Cover

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The first images of the Lotus C-01 hyperbike have hit the internet, MCN and has the “exclusive” on the 200 horsepower machine’s images. The first images are in fact renders of the final design, though they look the part and clearly show the Lotus C-01’s lines.

Said to have a KTM RC8R v-twin engine beneath its carbon fairings, the Lotus C-01 hits a lot of the right numbers on the technical sheets, though visually the machine it is less enthralling. This surprises us, since the bike’s designer Daniel Simon (creator of the new Tron Lightcycle, and author of Cosmic Motors), is one of our favorite designers.

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News

Husqvarna to Unveil New Prototype Motorcycle at EICMA

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The future of Husqvarna is an interesting one to mull over right now as we gear-up for the EICMA show in Milan, Italy next week. Recently acquired by KTM’s Stefan Pierer, through is Pierer Industrie AG company, Husqvarna finds itself now merged into Husaberg, as KTM has consolidated its splintered dirt bike brands back into one cohesive effort.

That move alone in an interesting one, as Husqvarna had begun tackling the on-road world while still under the stewardship of BMW Motorrad — releasing models like the Husqvarna Nuda 900 and concepts like the Husqvarna Moab. The brand now seems destined to stay in the dirt though, but that isn’t keeping Husqvarna away from releasing prototypes and concepts at EICMA, as it seems to do every year.

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