Motorcycle News - 2020 Harley-Davidson Softail Standard First Look
https://ift.tt/3c4cxg9 Harley-Davidson officially announced a new Softail Standard model for 2020, confirming news we first broke earlier this month after the cruiser was certified by the California Air Resources Board. As we expected, the 2020 Harley-Davidson Softail Standard slots in as a no frills, “ready for customization” model. Priced at $13,599, the Softail Standard becomes the most affordable member of Harley-Davidson’s Softail lineup, coming a grand under the $14,599 Street Bob. The Standard comes with a solo seat, a chopped rear fender, a 19-inch front wheel, and a 16-inch rear wheel. The front end includes clear-coated fork sliders, polished triple clamps and chromed headlight bezel. The chromed turn signals are mounted on the underside of the mini-ape handlebars. As with other Softails, the rear monoshock positions a preload-adjustable coil-over shock with emulsion technology under the seat. ABS is optional for $795. As the CARB filings revealed, the Softail Standard is powered by Harley-Davidson’s Milwaukee-Eight 107 V-Twin engine, which claims 110 lb-ft. of peak torque output. Harley-Davidson blacked out the engine’s air-cooling fins, which combines with the Vivid Black paint further provides contrast to the chrome bits. The Softail Standard is equipped with a two-into-two offset shotgun-style exhaust. The engine can also be upgraded with Screamin’ Eagle upgrades. Harley-Davidson touts the Softail Standard as a blank canvas ripe for customization, but for those seeking inspiration, Harley has created four accessory packages to get started:
The post 2020 Harley-Davidson Softail Standard First Look appeared first on Motorcycle.com. Motorcycles via Motorcycle.com https://ift.tt/2Std7JO February 24, 2020 at 12:30PM
MotoGP News - Vinales fastest in final MotoGP test as Honda struggles continue
https://ift.tt/2T9Q74u Maverick Vinales concluded MotoGP pre-season testing in Qatar fastest of all, while Honda appears to have hit a crisis point after Marc Marquez reverted to testing a 2019 bike... Motogp Motorcycle Racing News via MotoGP news - Autosport https://ift.tt/2uOa9Ei February 24, 2020 at 11:36AM
Motorcycle News - Daboia: A vivid BMW K75 cafe racer from Matteucci Garage
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To turn a K75 into something truly attractive, you need to deal with a plethora of parts that are all visually awkward. From the fuel tank to the frame, the K75 has more angles than a geometry paper—and it takes a keen eye and crafty thinking to navigate around them.
Marco is a fan of the ‘less is more’ ethos, so he set out to totally transform the K while still leaving parts like the stock tank, radiator shrouds and wheels intact. He focused on the rear, with a radical reworking of the K75’s subframe.
Marco took the concept further by embedding twin LED tail lights as ‘eyes.’ Then he set out to emphasize the look even more, with a pair of arrow-shaped LED turn signals, hand-formed from a block of acrylic material.
The wheels are stock, and shod with Metzeler Roadtec sport touring tires. There’s a twin Brembo brake setup with 320 mm discs up front, along with a set of Öhlins upside-down forks.
The handlebars are one-off direct-mount units, with an arch that curves ‘around’ the bottom of the speedo. Their mounts are hard to spot from most angles, giving them the appearance of floating above the triple clamp. Marco kept the stock switches but swapped out the grips, and modified the right side’s housing to interface with the Brembo master cylinder.
Marco also did some re-wiring, and shaped another set of LED turn signals to hide in the front of the radiator shrouds.
Finishing touches include a set of Matteucci Garage/BMW roundels on the tank, and a stunning Kudu leather seat cover with two-tone stitching. (Kudu is a type of antelope found in South Africa, popular for its meat and hide.)
Matteucci Garage | Facebook | Instagram Motorcycles via Bike EXIF https://ift.tt/2Mf9b0c February 24, 2020 at 11:09AM
Motorcycle News - LEFT FIELD, BUT SO RIGHT: 1984 Honda Magna V30 by MotoRelic
https://ift.tt/2SSCh7t Written by Martin Hodgson Over the last ten years the custom scene has grown so big that you can practically build a show level bike with off the shelf parts. All the R&D has been done for you and even complex modifications for many models have become mainstream. Despite his demanding schedule, Sean Skinner of Virginia’s MotoRelic decided it was his turn for a bike of his own and chose a left-field option that would be no easy task and sans bolt-on options. But having previously taken out the No. 2 spot in the Pipeburn Bike of the Year, there was never any doubt he’d hit it out of the park with this incredible transformation of a 1984 Honda Magna V30. “I saw one of these bikes while flipping through Facebook marketplace. I noticed the tubular frame and saw that it was chain-drive. Two things that definitely help when building a custom bike. I was curious about what other builders have done with them and my search turned up pretty empty. That actually got me excited because I could ride my own path with this bike and hopefully make the V30 the next CX500, Probably not,” Sean smiles. And with its worn-out condition and no love in the used bike marketplace for the model, he took himself home a steal. The first task was to strip the bike of its ugly ’80s clothing and get it down to the bare bones to see what he was working with. The stock bikes shocking looks might put off some, but probably the real turn off for customisers is the fact the V30 has two fuel tanks. A conventional one that hides an enormous airbox and a sub-tank under the seat. “I saw that Honda used the bottom of the airbox which is aluminum to hold the 4 carbs together. This gave an excellent base to start a new airbox. I cut out aluminum plates to sandwich a custom sized K&N air filter in. Once I had the spacer machined and the air filter assembly properly aligned I drilled and threaded the base to hold it all in place.” With the under-seat area now clear, Sean could focus on getting the bike into a rolling chassis and sorting out the suspension. To convert the bike to a mono-shock setup an Interceptor 500 swingarm fits up nicely but required customisation for what was to come. A switch to a set of CBR600 wheels meant using the Magna cush drive as well as time spent machining spacers and utilising new bearings. Then on went a VTR1000 brake bracket that allowed the use of the CBR rear brake setup, again with more machining required. To control this entire new rear end a custom shock was required and Sean worked with Klaus from EPM Performance. Speaking at great length, “Klaus walked me through everything I needed to make a HyperPro rear shock from a VF1000 work with my set up. Some valve and spring changes and it was perfect! When the custom shock arrived I got to work on the subframe and shock mounts,” Sean explains. Turning his attention to the front end the entire setup from the CBR600 was used, forks, brakes, and wheel. But to make it fit a set of Honda Nighthawk triples had to be used due to the long steering stem of the V30. With the roller now before him Sean decided on the visual approach, an HRC like tracker/supermotard. Having solved the two tank problem he selected a Suzuki T500 and cut and reshaped the tunnel to make it all fit. Adamant about the bodywork flowing together rearward for the racer theme the “number plates and a tracker shape were a must. Once I got the seat shaped to flow with the bodywork it was sent to Wes at Counterbalance Cycles. I sent him a poor drawing of how I wanted the pattern to go and he knocked it out perfectly.” With the front end a stunning mix of LED light, high mount mini fender and alloy screen, all neatly held on by just two bolts. If the Magna has a saving grace in its original form it’s the howling V4 engine, the configuration becoming ever more popular for modern Superbikes. “I contacted Cone Engineering for all of my pieces to make two, 2 into 1 stainless exhaust systems. The front set was easy and fairly straightforward. The rear set was a bit challenging to snake around the shock and up through the back trying to keep all of the pipes nearly the same length. The V4 sound is incredible.” Sean tells us. The engine was given a full rebuild with new bolts, gaskets and seals. While also going to the effort of doing a full 520 chain conversion, the man leaves no stone left unturned! Now it could be all pieced back together and Sean went with the bold choice of having Right Away Powder Coat finish the frame in red. “I just trusted my gut and knew that it would be ok. I have to say I love it!” The wheels got the gold treatment and then it was over to Danny Knight of Knights Kustoms to beautifully lay down the Honda colors that work perfectly with the frame and wheels! For tyres Sean considered the style of bike he’d built and always wanting to use slicks on a build the time had arrived. “Even though they are illegal for street use, whatever, I’m using them!” he grins. And having got the Magna below 370lbs, screaming to 12,000rpm and looking a million dollars, surely the local police can let that one little infraction go! Motorcycles via Pipeburn.com https://ift.tt/2LY9tnG February 24, 2020 at 01:31AM
F1 News - Mercedes say new car is 'a big step forward' from 2019 edition
https://ift.tt/32iPf1q Mercedes say their new Formula 1 car is "a big step forward" compared with its world championship-winning predecessor. Technical director James Allison said they would start the season next month with improvements to the aerodynamics and engine. The team had "a good winter" and produced a series of innovations to try to fend off challenges from rivals, he added. "We decided we would make a car that was aggressive," he said. "Take every part and challenge ourselves to make it better." Allison used a video produced by Mercedes to detail three main areas of innovation on the car - but did not touch on the new 'dual-axis steering' system that surprised their rivals at last week's first pre-season test. Allison said: "The challenge was, in a year where the regulations are completely stable and where the tyres haven't changed one little bit, how do we take last year's best car, the 2019 Mercedes car, and produce something properly competitive when the regulations haven't changed? "The temptation for us was just to keep polishing that one - after all it finished the season really strongly and it was developing very fast all the way through the year, so there was still lots of opportunity to make that one quicker. "That conservative approach was very, very tempting. But in the end, we decided that wouldn't be enough." He detailed three main areas of progress:
He said the front and rear suspension changes had been "a structural compromise" that had added weight, but that this had been offset by changes elsewhere. Allison said: "We have got a car here whose development slope has kicked up, is steeper than the one we finished last year with, in that very, very good car from 2019, and we've got a car that we hope will be fertile ground to develop strongly all the way through the 2020 season." Mercedes are aiming for a seventh consecutive drivers' and constructors' championship double this year, having set a new record of six in a row in 2019. And driver Lewis Hamilton hopes to win a seventh world title, which would put him level with all-time record holder Michael Schumacher. Mercedes drivers Valtteri Bottas and Hamilton set the fastest times at last week's test. The second and final pre-season test runs from 26-28 February, and the first race is in Melbourne, Australia, on 13-15 March. #F1 via BBC Sport - Formula 1 https://ift.tt/OHg7x6 February 23, 2020 at 02:27PM
MotoGP News - Marquez worried about 2020 Honda's Qatar MotoGP performance in test
https://ift.tt/2HL3eUu MotoGP champion Marc Marquez says he is worried about the Honda bike's performance in the Qatar pre-season test ahead of the 2020 season opener at the same venue... Motogp Motorcycle Racing News via MotoGP news - Autosport https://ift.tt/2uOa9Ei February 23, 2020 at 02:37PM
MotoGP News - Miller has used new Ducati MotoGP ride height device since October
https://ift.tt/2ukljp8 Pramac rider Jack Miller has revealed he has been using Ducati's new ride height adjustment device since last year's MotoGP Thailand Grand Prix in October... Motogp Motorcycle Racing News via MotoGP news - Autosport https://ift.tt/2uOa9Ei February 23, 2020 at 01:35PM
Motorcycle News - Custom Bikes Of The Week: 23 February, 2020
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Most of the parts that the previous owner had added on came off again, and got sold to fund the rest of the build. The first major undertaking was reworking the fuel tank. Shop boss, Sven, didn’t like the way the OEM unit dipped low at the back—so he cut away the bits he didn’t like, then welded it shut again.
Up in the cockpit, Barn Built swapped the bars for a set of Gilles Tooling clip-ons, with Magura controls and Motogadget switches, bar-end turn signals and mirrors. The speedo’s a Motogadget part too, and the headlight’s a LED unit. Finishing this Monster off are a set of Alpina spoked wheels, Rizoma belt covers and a ‘rich java’ brown hue borrowed from Volvo’s swatch book. [More]
But this project was a struggle from the get-go. Christophe had managed to find a Staracer frame in France, but it took almost two years of negotiating to wrangle it from its owner. Then he had to find a new motor, since the frame was designed for a 650, and not the 500 in his Daytona. Luckily, he found a 1967 TR6R in the US.
It runs with a set of Mikuni carbs and K&N filters, and a custom exhaust.
The bike was built by Sean Hogan at Portland’s de stijl moto, for his long time friend Tommy Patterson at WKND Digital. The two grew up skateboarding in California together, and later street racing home-built Honda (cars). So the build drew heavy inspiration from 90s Japanese import culture—hence the Toyo logos on the tires, and the Recaro logo on the seat.
The rear subframe is naturally custom too, as are the rear-set mounts and battery box. The bike was rewired around a Motogadget controller, with a Lithium-ion battery, and a couple of components from Revival Cycles. Most of the wiring runs through the actual frame.
The LM 410 has four wheels, it’s powered by a 998 cc Yamaha R1 motor, and it looks absolutely bonkers. It’s also going to be produced in very limited numbers (only ten), and will set you back €100,000 (that’s around $108,470).
Like the 847, the 410 uses a tilting mechanism that allows the wheels to maintain full contact with the road, even on an incline. It’s over-the-top for sure, but it’s also really fascinating, and something we’d love to experience at least once. [More] Motorcycles via Bike EXIF https://ift.tt/2Mf9b0c February 23, 2020 at 11:35AM
Motorcycle News - Church of MO: 1995 Honda CBR600F3 Introduction
https://ift.tt/2T76xL0 Twenty-five years ago Motorcycle Online‘s beloved founder, only one year into its founding and staring up an icy ski jump of an uphill battle (Motorcycle Onwhat?), found himself invited to the launch of the third iteration of one of Honda’s greatest hits of all time – the CBR600 F3. The original CBR600 Hurricane of 1987 was a breakthrough machine that launched 1000 squids, the F2 of a few years later was the first bike upon which yours truly drug knee, and the F3 only improved upon what was a fantastic sportbike you could also vacation upon. Maybe because you were only 35? Sure, they’ve built a lot of faster and sportier bikes since, but I almost think If Honda should last for a thousand years, men will still say, “This was their finest hour.” 1995 Honda CBR600F3 Introduction:Small Improvements, Big Gains
By Brent Plummer, Editor Jan. 20, 1995
Editor’s Note– Whether you’re a racer, canyon killer, commuter, or sport tourer, the CBR600F3 could be the perfect bike for you–not only is the F3 faster, smoother and better suspended than previous versions, it has captured that elusive quality that Japanese motorcycles lacked in recent decades: Personality.So what gives the new F3 its new-found personality?
Look no further than the new ram-air airbox — not something you can see or hear in action — but its there, nonetheless. And it gives you serious bragging and performance value — the top-speed gain from this new airbox is phenomenal. At Honda’s semi-secret proving grounds in California’s Mojave desert, we ran the new 1995 CBR600F3 side-by-side against its older sibling, the F2. Although there was no radar gun available, the new F3 is at least 5.0 mph faster than last year’s model, and probably closer to seven or eight: our 1995 test bike indicated 175 mph around Honda’s 7.5 mile flat oval test track while the 1994 model, decidedly slower, could only muster an indicated 167 or so. In the real world, this means that the F3 could be pushing 160 mph. “We’d guess that the new CBR600 makes seven or eight percent more top-end power.” Seven miles per hour extra doesn’t sound like much of a gain until you consider the amount of power needed to accomplish that — basically, wind resistance is a function of the bike’s frontal area times its coefficient of drag times the square of velocity, meaning that exponentially more amounts of power are needed for each mile per hour gain in speed. After doing the math, we’d guess that the new CBR600 makes seven or eight percent more top-end power, a figure difficult to verify on a dyno since its hard to get a 160 mph wind going in the dyno room! In roll-on tests, the new F3 consistently chugged away from the F2, regardless of what gear we used or the speed we started at. However, in the real world, the deciding factor in winning roll-ons is weight: in our impromptu sessions, the lightest testers always left the heavier ones in the dust, regardless of what they were riding. Eventually, though, the CBR600F3s would always catch and pass the F2s, no matter who was riding what. The bad news about the new F3, if there is any, is that it tips the scales at a claimed 407.9 pounds, without fluids. Comparatively, last year’s F2 weight 2.2 pounds less — never a good thing to gain weight as the years go by. The heavier bike was a surprise, since Honda went to great lengths to trim weight from the new machine: The headlight is now made of plastic and weighs 35 percent less than last year’s, while the swingarm pivot has a larger diameter but is now hollow (generally, larger-diameter hollow tubes are more rigid than solid ones, and can be made lighter) to increase rigidity and save weight. “The new F3 performed flawlessly, absorbing walloping hits and allowing us to rid over mounds in the middle of an apex at speed, with confidence.” Conversely, metal has been added to the rear wheel, widening it by a half inch, to 5.0 inches. A new, CBR600F3-specific Bridgestone Battlax rear tire is mounted on the rear of the CBR600F3, and, according to Bridgestone, offers the best compromise between sporting grip and life span. Out on Honda’s slick road course, the Battlax’s performed well, showing minimal signs of wear after a day’s testing, though traction wasn’t as good as some racing-oriented compounds. Inside the engine, the CBR600F3’s engineers shortened the intake tracts and bumped compression from 11.6:1 up to 12:1 through a more compact combustion chamber and revised piston design. Further aiding power production throughout the rev range are new, low-friction piston rings that supposedly exert 10 percent less pressure on the cylinder wall.The new pistons and rings are mated to lighter connecting rods, which, in turn, are secured to a new, five-main-bearing crankshaft via narrower crank pins–all in the interests of quicker acceleration. Honda also ditched the old cam chain tensioner that had to be primed with oil on reassembly. Failure to do so led to improper cam-chain tension, meaning the valve timing would be off and the pistons could smash into them. The engine, fed through new, larger, 36mm Keihin semi-downdraft carburetors (downdrafts are good for performance since the fuel will fall down to the motor of its own weight, and therefor, the manifold diameter can be larger) mates to a new exhaust system that features cross-connecting tubes on the pipe’s headers, a la Yoshimura race pipes. This, says Honda, boosts midrange performance. “Out on the racetrack, the Honda’s suspension worked flawlessly right out of the box: We never had to futz with any of the suspension’s knobs, dials or other adjustments.” A new fairing on this year’s model, slightly narrower and shorter, promises improved airflow to the engine and a lower coefficient of drag, comes in two color schemes: white, yellow & purple and white, purple & red. The fairing, in conjunction with a redesigned front fender, route more air to a new, curved radiatator which, due to its narrower width, reduces the overall width of the motorcycle. Even better, the new F3 runs five degrees cooler, due in part to increased flow to the radiator and because Honda increased the gear ratio in the water pump so it spins faster. In practice, the new system works: While drafting another journalist for three laps around the high-speed oval, our test bike never overheated despite sitting in a pool of buffeting, stagnant air behind the lead F3. Incidentally, while trailing the other rider at top speed, we felt no appreciable power loss — and when pulling out of the draft, there was no power surge either. And while its nice to pick up such a massive top speed gain between years — especially if you race — we felt an equally important improvement was the F3’s suspension. Over the Honda Proving Center’s speed bump-like surface, the new F3 performed flawlessly, absorbing walloping hits and allowing us to rid over mounds in the middle of an apex at speed, with confidence. In comparison, the F2’s front end was unstable, prone to tankslapping across big bumps — that you were better off going around–while the rear seemed overly harsh. But there were no major revisions to the Honda’s suspension. Indeed, they use the same rear shock as last year. Instead, Honda improved handling with a series of updates and improvements. First, the triple clamp was strengthened, adding stability. In conjunction with a new fork, which features spring preload adjustments and a new-for-1994 12-click rebound adjust, that improves rebound damping by submerging the rebound damping circuits in oil at the bottom of the fork (they used to be near the top), Honda has virtually eliminated the scary wobble that some bumps could set earlier models into. At the rear, a new, less-linear rising-rate linkage hooks to the unchanged shock, which offers rebound damping adjusters in addition to a spring preload collar. In truth, we would have preferred a more RR-type update with upside- down forks and maybe 15 pounds less pork to lug around. But we certainly wouldn’t prefer to pay more than the manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $7,299 (that’s in US dollars). That’s a $900 price increase in one year! But the good news for value shoppers — which, as the dollar continues to drop against the yen, is just about all of us — is that the new 1995 CBR600F3 will give us the best of both worlds: Race-winning speed and technology coupled with good ergonomics, a friendly riding position, and Honda’s rock-solid reliability. Specifications: The post Church of MO: 1995 Honda CBR600F3 Introduction appeared first on Motorcycle.com. Motorcycles via Motorcycle.com https://ift.tt/2Std7JO February 23, 2020 at 11:28AM
MotoGP News - Qatar MotoGP testing: Quartararo tops second day as Marquez crashes
https://ift.tt/2uZZr2Y Fabio Quartararo put Yamaha on top of the timesheets on day two of the Qatar MotoGP pre-season test, as the injured Marc Marquez destroyed his Honda in a heavy crash... Motogp Motorcycle Racing News via MotoGP news - Autosport https://ift.tt/2uOa9Ei February 23, 2020 at 11:21AM |
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