MOTORCYCLE NEWS

Harley-Davidson profits fall

Milwaukee's most famous son has been talking big recently. The firm has announced its intention to manufacture 100 new models over the next 10 years—which isn't actually that impressive when you think about it. Why not? Because Harley-Davidson is apt to slap on a new paint job and shift the foot controls this way or that way and then call that a new model. And that ain't exactly what we'd call it. However, that isn't the real story here. That's just the context. The real story is about Harley-Davidson's operating profits fall which shows that for the third quarter of 2017 (July, August, September), profits slumped 45.8% when compared to the same three months in 2016. In hard cash, that's down from $114.1 million to just £68.2 million. [More...]

Honda Neo Sports Café 

Honda Motorcycles has been playing around in the concept pit again and has produced this Neo Sports Café roadster. The bike has just been revealed at the Tokyo Motor Show, and it looks like something we've seen a thousand times before—albeit with the usual Honda flourishes. If this motorcycle is ever manufactured, a few things will no doubt have to be changed or included, such as the rear mudguard hanger which is conspicuous here by its absence. Mirrors will also be required. Ditto possibly for some form of grab handle. The exhaust, as it stands, might fall foul of the legislators. And we see one or two other areas that will perhaps have to be modified/toned-down for real-world road use. [More...]

2018 KTM Freeride E-XC 

One and a half hours in the saddle before the battery croaks might not sound much. But if you're riding this second generation bike the way it's designed to be ridden, you'll be glad when that electric 90 minutes comes to a sputtering end. This is the 2018 Freeride E-XC, or "Electric Cross Country" if you want to see it that way, and KTM has just released the details. Apparently, thanks to a new KTM PowerPack there's a maximum of 10-kW to be screwed from the motor with a claimed 50 percent capacity hike. The bike is fitted with a WP Xplor 43 inverted front fork ("with enhanced sensitivity") coupled to a WP PDS Xplor shock absorber ("with improved progression and adjustment options"). The seat height is "just" 900mm (35.4-inches) which sounds suspiciously like nosebleed territory, but KTM Kowboys are no doubt used to these altitudes and probably even dispense with the oxygen. [More...]

Triumph Tiger Tramontana 

It's been dubbed "The Road into Hell", and with 40-degrees centigrade temperatures, baking sand, thousands of square miles of hostile desert, a growing terrorist threat and a lot of headshaking in the UK Foreign Office, the 1,242 mile, 5-day Panafrica Rally across Eastern Morocco isn't exactly everyone's idea of a fun excursion. But that didn't stop Triumph Motorcycles fielding a highly modified Tiger 800XC.

Developed over six months, a team of Triumph experts cobbled together this motorcycle, the features of which include longer suspension travel, revised body panels, improved guards, a modified sub-frame, lightweight headlights, a custom screen and dozens of other, more subtle mods to bring the weight inboard and rebalance the riding package. [More...]