Motorcycle News - XR338: The compact street tracker that Harley needs
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Meanwhile, an Italian industrial design house has seen potential in the idea of a small, single-cylinder street tracker—so they’ve built their own, fully functioning prototype. And just like the bike that H-D have teased, it uses the Benelli 302S as a base.
Dubbed the XR338, this plucky little street tracker is aimed squarely at the US market, and with younger riders in mind.
“This year is the 50th anniversary of the legendary Harley-Davidson XR750, not only the most successful flat tracker in history, but also one of the most beautiful motorcycles ever made. It was past time that an accessible tracker was made that captures that, and makes it available to a new generation.”
The XR338 more than just a design exercise though. The custom and OEM worlds are littered with renderings and clay sculptures that never see the light of day—but this is an actual working prototype. What’s more, it’s a prototype that could go into production.
The Benelli 302S that it’s built on is an affordable 300 cc twin-cylinder naked, which makes around 29.6 hp and 25.6 Nm. But this donor’s not quite stock.
But the team was careful not to change the base machine to the point of being impractical. Chief engineer on the project, Daniele Alvisi, explains that the team “worked very hard to preserve the fundamental performance characteristics of the Benelli, to reduce cost and maximize reliability.”
Under the tank panels is a steel reservoir, which was also designed with mass production in mind. The yokes, handlebars and risers are all new, and the speedo is a KOSO unit in an aluminum housing, with a CAN-BUS interface that lets it run seamlessly with the Benelli. The design is finished off with neatly-integrated LED lighting at both ends.
Now let’s just hope the big OEMs are paying attention. Motorcycles via Bike EXIF https://ift.tt/2Mf9b0c October 30, 2020 at 12:33PM Leave a Reply. |
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10/30/2020
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