Biker News - Regularly updated

Welcome to our News section, where articles are listed below and if relevant within the categories on the right, just to make it easier for you to find what you wish to read...

Please note that the content within our News section (text and images), follows the same copyright laws/notice as all other content on the website - ie not to be reproduced (including slightly amending) without prior consent. 

 RSS Feed

Category: Motorcycles

  1. Introducing the New Modern Classics‏ - Triumph

    Posted on

    The popular modern classics have had a subtle yet refreshing makeover for 2014.

    Our Bonneville, still one of the most fun and satisfying rides available, now boasts a selection of new features including new machined cooling fin detail, blacked out oil cooler lines and a premium tank badge. It also comes with a redesigned seat for better comfort and a black grab rail to complete the look. New silencers finish the bike with a brand new retro soundtrack. On-the-road from £6549 the Bonnie comes in Lunar Silver, Crystal White/Sapphire Blue (+£150) or Phantom Black.

    The 2014 Bonneville T100 has a similar update with the addition of a chrome grab rail and matching chain guard. The T100 also comes with two tone paint as standard with the choice between Crystal White/Aurum Gold and Jet Black over Cranberry Red. The distinction continues with spoke wheels over the standard Bonnie's cast equivalent. Pick yours up from £7349 OTR.

    Our Bonneville T100 Black is a mean, moody version of the standard T100 and comes with a host of blacked out components. These include black wheel rims and hubs, handlebars, RSU springs, mudguard stays, mirrors, engine casings and grab rail to create a T100 with a darker side for just £7149 OTR.

    The cafe racer inspired Thruxton has also had a new injection of retro style with a brand new megaphone silencer for a more liberating sound. The latest spec Thruxton also gains the same machined detail on the cylinder head cooling fins and black oil cooler lines as the Bonneville with a chrome chain guard also included. A colour-matched flyscreen, including the gold stripe detail, joins the seat cowl as standard equipment. Available in Phantom Black and Brooklands Green from £7349 OTR.

     As with our other modern interpretations of classic motorcycles the Scrambler also returns for 2014 with two brand new colour schemes; a stunning Matt Pacific Blue and a Lunar Silver over Diablo Red. A new seat design adds to the sit up and relaxed attitude with clear anodised bash plate for a striking finishing touch.  Available in dealers from £7349 OTR.

    The 2014 modern classics are available in dealers now.

  2. Lauge Jensen is the first motorcycle manufacturer in the world to pass the new EURO4 emissions regulations

    Posted on

    The Danish manufacturer specialises in creating personalised, premium cruiser motorcycles to its customers’ exact requirements. 

    The EURO4 emissions laws, implemented from 1st January 2016 to 31st December 2020, are being introduced to drastically reduce the amount of harmful exhaust gases produced by motorcycles. These forthcoming mandatory rules for all manufacturers are almost 50% more difficult to pass than the current EURO3 standard.

    More information can be found in the attached press release, but the highlights are:
     
    • ·      First motorcycle manufacturer in the world to achieve EURO4 emission standards
    • ·      The only custom motorcycle manufacturer with global Type Approval
    • ·      Even with worldwide Type Approval, all Lauge Jensen bikes are unique
    • ·      New ‘1-Eleven Squarehead’ engine is ‘mean, lean and green’
    • ·      Lauge Jensen is the first Danish motorcycle manufacturer since Nimbus in the 1960s
    • ·      Orders being taken now for 2014 machines
  3. THE VESPA STORE IS ON LINE

    Posted on

    THE WEB STORE DEDICATED TO THE VESPA UNIVERSE OPENS ITS DISPLAY WINDOWS ON THE INTERNET.

    On the new www.VESPA.COM website, dedicated to the most loved scooter in the world, the Vespa Store opens its display windows: a wide range of clothing, gadgets and accessories, to live every day with the style and values of youth, freedom and elegance which Vespa has disseminated across the five continents.

    Vespa Store, the VESPA.COM web store in which the extraordinary Vespa 946 made its debut, already bookable on line, is now enhanced with five sections - Clothing, Helmets and Accessories, Gadgets, Vespa 946 Accessories and Vespa Special Collections - constituting the richest and most accessible “Official Vespa” catalogue ever presented. To live always in perfect Vespa style.

    Milan, 18 June 2013 - Vespa is not just a scooter. It is the most widespread and popular two-wheeled vehicle in the world. It is a legend built on over eighteen million units, on a record of technology and style that sets it apart over time, since the first unit in 1946 to the latest model, the futuristic and precious Vespa 946. Vespa is the only scooter in the world which knows how to be loved, so much so as to be cared for and maintained well beyond the average life-time of any other vehicle and to go beyond its function as an urban vehicle to become a cult object, a real collector's item, symbol of a lifestyle.

    Vespa has been able to anticipate the cultural upheavals that have swept the world in more than six decades, taking on the role of protagonist in the lifestyle revolutions related to the young, fashion and music. Vespa has been a protagonist in the lives of entire generations becoming the bearer of values of elegance, freedom and friendship. And over the decades Vespa has managed to create a unique style linked to its cosmopolitan soul. Now the web, a perfect synthesis of a world increasingly without borders, becomes the place to share these fundamental values for which Vespa is an ambassador.

    The VESPA.COM website, a point of reference for Vespa enthusiasts worldwide, now hosts the new display windows of the Vespa Store, the web space in which - thanks to the possibility of on-line booking - the Vespa 946 made its debut, the most precious and technologically advanced Vespa model ever conceived. On the new Vespa Store a rich array of clothing, gadgets and accessories, conceived and designed drawing on the most classic Vespa iconography, is available to enthusiasts to live in Vespa style, dress with the same casual elegance, surrounded by preciously made objects which are reminiscent of timeless shapes.

    The Official Vespa Store provides access to the five major sections that divide the items on sale:

    Clothing: with the rich Lifestyle collection consisting of T-Shirts, Polos, Jackets and Windcheaters. Always characterised by top quality materials and first-class workmanship and designed in the Vespa style that perfectly summarises a neglected, graciously snobbish elegance.

    Helmets and Accessories: in addition to Vespa helmets, from the most recent lines to the classic series with the flags of the world, belts, sunglasses and bags of various types, from practical and very young shoulder bags, characterised by an elegant “vintage” look, to large travel bags are on sale.

    Gadgets: the legendary perpetual calendars in perfect 50s style, wrist watches and clocks, document holders, stationery and many other proposals, always decorated with historic Vespa images from original prints preserved in the Historical Piaggio Archive, to surround yourself in domestic life with real Vespa objects.

    Vespa 946 Accessories: a section dedicated to the sale of accessories for the new Vespa 946, to make the most valuable scooter unique. Each accessory - from genuine leather helmet bags to the top fairing, chrome luggage racks, genuine leather hand grips, special parts in aluminium - is made with the richness of materials and attention to detail that characterise this exclusive jewel that is the Vespa 946.

    Vespa Special Collections: helmets and clothing, richly finished and exclusively dedicated to the most modern Vespa. To always wear, on every occasion, the elegant exclusivity of Vespa 946.

    The new e-store, whose content and functionalities are accessible from the various desktop, tablet and smartphone platforms, consistently adopts the look and feel of the new www.vespa.com, the official Vespa website, on-line since a few weeks and true "compass" for lovers of the Vespa and its style worldwide.

    The new Vespa Store is immediately active for Vespa enthusiasts in Italy, Belgium, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK.

  4. KTM 1290 SUPER DUKE R

    Posted on

    THE BEAST UNLEASHED AT GOODWOOD!

    Ear-splitting prototype’s first ever public ridden appearance comes at the UK’s Festival of Speed. On the handle bar of the ultra strong naked bike: Jeremy McWilliams.  

    KTM’s 1290 Super Duke R prototype will be in action for the first time in public at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed in England, from 12th - 14th July. In November 2012 at the Milan motorcycle show (EICMA), KTM’s technicians and designers demonstrated their ability and ideas through two open megaphones to present the prototype of the 1290 Super Duke R. Its appearance needs no explanation. Unfiltered, the 1290 Super Duke R shouts the essence of KTM´s philosophy into the world: Ready to Race!

    In the promotional video shot to accompany its unveiling at EICMA, the machine dubbed ‘The Beast’ escaped from a secure facility in a cloud of powerslides and effortless wheelies. Soon after, the KTM YouTube channel received more than 700.000 views of this video.

    Like any good concept machine, the creators were not about complying with regulations. This was about showing what happens when the best technicians, designers and riders are unleashed at the KTM Factory in Mattighofen. The developers started with another hefty rebore of the RC8 R engine in order to give it maximum punch. Around this two-cylinder elemental force, they fitted a tight suit tailored from light steel pipes, completing the frame with a single-sided swing arm and top level prototype development suspension components from WP Suspension. The chassis is completed with lightweight wheels, racing brakes and racing tyres. With the test rider in the video is still in his recovery period, having had to recalibrate his brain to riding levels never previously thought possible, former MotoGP rider Jeremy McWilliams will attempt to steer this powerful machine around the nine turns that make up the 1.16 mile Hillclimb course. Nirvana for petrolheads, the Goodwood Festival of Speed is the largest motoring garden party in the world – a unique summer weekend that brings together an impossibly heady mix of cars, motorbikes, stars and motor sport ‘royalty’ to create the largest motor culture event in the world. Held in the immaculate grounds of Goodwood House, this annual Hillclimb event is a true celebration of motor sport and all things automotive. The 2013 Festival of Speed will focus on highlights from the Festival’s glittering 20-year history, featuring the biggest, best, fastest, loudest and most outrageous vehicles of all time. KTM won’t be out of place.

    KTM will also be in attendance on four wheels with another UK first, as the recently unveiled X-Bow GT will be trying to beat the official Hill Climb car record of 41.6s.

    Jeremy McWilliams said: “It’s always an honour to ride at Goodwood, but to be honest this will be the most insane bike I’ve ever ridden and yes - more than a certain MotoGP bike. Hopefully I can keep ‘The Beast’ on a leash and put on a good show for the fans at Goodwood. It is going to be memorable!”

     SPECIFICATIONS: KTM 1290 Super Duke R Prototype

    • Engine: liquid cooled V-twin, based on RC8 R Superbike with Ride-by-Wire
    • Displacement: more than ever
    • Power and torque: very, very much
    • Electronic assistants: ABS and traction control – stoppie and wheelie protection disengageable (of course)
    • Top speed: depends on the rider’s courage and figure
    • Frame: Trellis frame made of chrome molybdenum steel
    • Swing arm: single sided aluminium swing arm
    • Suspension components: WP prototypes – upside-down forks with gas pressure reservoir, directly linked rear shock
    • Wheels and tyres: aluminium wheels with slicks
    • Brakes: front and rear Brembo racing calipers
    • Weight: incredibly low

  5. The Swift Chrono brand

    Posted on

    ...faster and more furious - New from Digital Speedos

    Swift Chrono brand grew from a desire to fuse up-to-the-minute electronics with great UK style and design. The results are two stunning new products: the Chronometric Style speedometer and the smooth-revving RPM Gauge, with even more plans in the pipeline.

    The Chronometric Style speedometer With a max speed of 150 mph, the Chronometric Style speedometer is a perfect fit for the classic café racer. Its tramline dial, easy to read white pointer, black metal case and chrome V bezel look great, while the unit slots neatly onto the standard mounts of 60s and 70s British bikes. A wide range of pick ups and speed senders are also available, including cable drive adapters, and both magnetic and non magnetic hall effect senders.

    Swift Chrono RPM Gauge The new RPM Gauge revs smoothly up to 10.000 RPM. It’s designed to work on multiple cylinders, connecting via the coil or ECU. And, just like the Chronometric Style speedometer, the Swift Chrono RPM Gauge benefits from a classic tramline dial, easy to read white pointer, black metal case and chrome V bezel,  fits the classic and café racer style bikes of the 60s and 70s.

    Not content to rest on our laurels, however, our plans for the future include a classic battery operated race gauge, and multifunction gauges. Find out more about Swift Chrono at www.swiftchrono.co.uk

    www.digital-speedos.co.uk