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Operation F800GS paddle tire
I've been known to have crazy ideas from time to time, and every once in a while they've actually come to life. This particular idea strikes me while reading an email from a friend who is planning a dirt bike trip to the dunes. Half jokingly I say, "I'd like to come to the dunes with you guys, but only if I can ride a BMW F800GS with a paddle tire!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLLs8xEqAKA One...
Pictured: the future
In the future, our race suits will be capable of predicting crashes, inflating prior to impact in order to absorb forces exceeding even 23g without injury. In the future, those suits will sync to mobile devices more powerful than the computers used to put men on the moon. In the future, all those components will add only 450 grams of weight and require no additional space in the suit. In the futur...
Dailies
RideApart 9: The booming Triumphs of Garage Company
Vintage British bikes are the ultimate fantasy for many older bikers as well as those pesky whippersnapping hipsters, especially the stylish and loud twin 650s by Triumph. And a visit to see the incredible collection at Yoshi Kosaka's Garage Company in LA is better than Disneyland. Jamie Robinson and Adey Bennett snag two of Garage Company's finest vintage Triumphs and head to the Malibu canyons t...
Dailies
The best Hammarhead photo shoot ever
Everyone who reads HFL knows how much we adore Hammarhead bikes. Back in June 13, 2011, James Hammarhead hired me to shoot all three models in one very special location. The shoot was for an outside project that never materialized, leaving the photos to languish on my hard drive. Finally, James has decided to release the images and has even given HFL an exclusive of his reflections on that day. I ...
Dailies
A continuing discussion on electric motorcycles
Last wednesday, I participated in a discussion in the comments section of HFLʼs last installment of the Life Electric series, something that lead to a very spirited exchange between myself, designer JT Nesbitt and a bunch of regular readers. The crux of the article concluded that electric motorcycles, while interesting and fun, have not arrived to a point of development which makes them practica...
Life Electric: is it possible?
My time with the 2012 Zero DS is up. The nice man from Zero came and picked it up this morning. For three whole weeks, the fastest, longest-range electric motorcycle ever was my only transportation. I didn’t drive any cars, I didn’t ride my bicycle, I didn’t hop on any other bikes. I might have walked a little bit once or twice. Why? I wanted to know if it was possible. Early adopters and te...
Dailies
What VW means for Ducati
After weeks of rumor, Bloomberg and Reuters are both independently reporting that VW has agreed to purchase Ducati for something in the neighborhood of $1.12 billion. But why does a gigantic auto conglomerate want a tiny bike manufacturer? What will VW do with Ducati? And, what does the deal mean for that most evocative of bike brands? Let’s examine the background, business and speak to experts ...
Finally, a real naked supersport
Speaking at the US media launch of the Ducati Streetfigher 848 yesterday, North American general manager Dominique Cheraki described his ideal motorcycle — a real sportsbike sans the fairings and equipped with high bars to make it comfortable. The perfect bike for riding fast on real roads, whether they be city streets or mountain curves. That’s certainly not a new concept, but it’s not one...
Behind the Scenes of RideApart’s first episode
What you can’t see in this photo is that Grant, aboard the KTM 990 Adventure, is actually flying past me on the Yamaha Super Tenere, through a water crossing. Nothing to do with the capability of either bike, just as a relatively new dirt rider, I find riding a 637lbs behemoth absolutely shit-my-pants terrifying. I’m basically going to be comic relief in this first episode of our new show, Rid...
Custom: Indigan Diablo
Built to showcase a new, American-made moped parts company, the bike you see here is based on an old Bultaco 125 frame. It’s quite possibly the hottest moped we’ve ever seen. “Indigan is a return to manufacturing in the USA,” explains our old buddy Dan Kastner, who’s involved with the project. “Fun parts made that fit.” ...
A tale of two Bonnevilles
What you’re looking at here is the 2012 Triumph Bonneville T100. It swaps in a 19-inch, spoked front wheel, tubes, two-tone paint, a flat seat, more conservative suspension geometry and higher, narrower, more swept back handlebars for a $1,400 premium over the standard Bonneville. Worth it? Nope. Those mods effectively ruin what’s otherwise a great bike. Photos: Grant Ray Confidence Late...
40 years later, Paul Smart remembers the Imola 200
In 1972, Paul Smart won the Imola 200 aboard a a Ducati 750 equipped with Fabio Taglioni’s as-yet-unproven 90-degree, desmodromic valve L-twin. That victory kickstarted Ducati’s production bike race program and gave the company an engine architecture that is still winning Superbike races in 2012. Some time ago, Paul put memories of the race into words. Here they are along with historic images ...
This is the city gear that saved my life
About a month ago, I had a terrible motorcycle accident here in LA. Six broken bones, a week in the hospital and three surgeries. About as bad as it gets, right? Well, not quite. That's thanks to the gear I was wearing — head-to-toe protection. But, I wasn't in leathers or ungainly Cordura or anything like that, I was in jeans and a jacket; the kind of thing I wear to go to a meeting or a bar. C...
Two guys, one really bad crash
On January 28th, I had a terrible bike crash and ended up in hospital for a week with six broken bones. In a shocking case of inadvertent symmetry, that bike was an Aprilia Mana, the same bike Wes used as a mobility bike last summer when he broke his left arm. My head’s been pretty fucked up on painkillers since, but finally, here’s the story of what happened in the crash, afterwards and how I...
Can 14 little changes transform the GSX-R1000?
No traction control. No ABS. Down on power and heavier than most rivals. It’s easy to write off the 2012 Suzuki GSX-R1000 before even riding it. But should you? We flew down to scenic Homestead, Florida, home of a NASCAR track, to find out. Paper, Performance and foregone conclusions Burdened by the weight of testosterone and bragging rights, it’s common to see the conversation on new motor...
The $3,200 solution to the modern motorcycle
“Cool is being able to afford a bike that looks good and makes the owner feel good, but does not break the bank,” said the guy who designed this bike back when he first showed it to us in 2010. Finally, the Cleveland CycleWerks Misfit is available in the US. It’s not hard to define its USP — the $3,200 price tag — but, for that price do you still get a real motorcycle? HFL is the first...
Motorcycle drifting > car drifting x2
Remember when Nick Apex had a drift-off with a ‘vette-engined RX-7 around a race track? Remember when Icon destroyed a Porsche 928 in the name of douchebag awareness? Well, put the two together, add public roads, a V8 Mustang cop car, Triumph Speed Triples, Ernie Vigil and plenty of tire smoke and you have Icon’s latest video, High Plains Drift 2. You’re exclusively seeing it here on HFL fir...
Ural M70 Anniversary Limited Edition: Ceci n'est pas une Cruiser
Ural is launching 2 new 70th anniversary limited edition M70 models that pay homage to the M72, the first Ural. Only 30 of the anniversary M70 sidecars will be built and an even tinier run of 10 M70-Solo anniversary bikes will be produced. To be clear, the M70 is not so much an all-new machine as it is a repurposing of the older and somewhat clumsy model known as the “Retro” cruiser. Much like...
Honda’s awesome future is electric
Honda’s theme at this year’s Tokyo Motor Show? “What makes people feel good?” Well, now that you ask, an electric superbike styled like a ‘70s GP racer would be a good start. Maybe you could follow it up with a 21st century riff on the Motocompo? Awesome, thanks, we’re good now. The show isn’t till December, so these concepts are just being unveiled with a couple pics and minimal i...
Now this is a Husqvarna
If Husqvarna is going to be BMW’s youth brand, it needs street products that are more than me-too KTM wannabes. Products like this Husqvarna Moab concept. With mechanical configuration and purpose loosely based around the idea of an updated ‘60s or ‘70s desert sled, the styling manages to reference motorcycling’s golden age without shamelessly copying bikes of old. Equipped with a 650cc si...