Kawasaki has stamped its foot; Team Green is sick of playing catch-up in World Superbikes, it will no longer be content to languish at the back of the field in World Superbikes. But defeating the monstrous Aprilia RSV4 and the ominous BMW S1000RR is going to require a motorcycle leagues ahead of what Kawasaki has been rolling out in 2010. Behold, motorcycle fans, the new king of the castle. Ripping out a terrifying 210 horsepower and weighing just 198kg full of fuel and fluids, the 2011 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R leap-frogs to the front of the power and power-to-weight charts. But it’s not just muscles that make this bike so special, it sports a completely redesigned chassis aimed at improving handling and racetrack lap times – and a traction control/ABS setup that ditches all notions that such systems are for safety. On the new Ninja, the intelligent electronics are  … Details
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The handwriting had been on the wall for a while: insiders knew that Cycle News, the quasi-official organ of America’s racers, industry insiders and die-hard enthusiasts, was struggling with the double-whammy of competition from new media and an imploded industry. So that’s why hearing Cycle News has shut down as of August 31, 2010 was saddening, but not surprising.
The Cycle News story began in 1965 when Chuck and Sharon Clayton purchased an existing L.A.-area motorcycle publication and renamed it. It quickly got a reputation for providing the best and most timely coverage of Southern California—and later national—motorcycle racing. Sharon (herself an enthusiastic rider) would cover events herself, but the Claytons soon began relying heavily on a network of freelancers, training an army of moto-journalists who would go on to careers at other publications. By the early 1980’s, Cycle News had  … Details
www.stokednews.com
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There has to be a bevy of high-fives going on in Milwaukee right now, as Harley-Davidson has finally unloaded MV Agusta from its holdings (we broke the news on the purchase earlier this morning). Harley-Davidson bought MV Agusta for $109 million back in 2008 (most of which was bad debt), and now just a little over two years later is making a tidy profit of…well, nothing. After wiping the books clean, investing in new infrastructre, and getting MV Agusta back on track with an all new model line-up (with a bike on the way), Harley-Davidson saw a paltry sum of €1 cross its desks. Harley-Davidson shares are down 3.5% as of this writing.
Instead Harley-Davidson is calling things even with the Castiglioni family, who would have seen a stock pay-out had the company exchanged hands with another buyer, like TPG for instance. The Castiglioni’s stock was worth  … Details
www.stokednews.com
Brammo Enertia vs. Native S vs. Zero S
Who would have thought even three years ago that we’d be comparing three U.S.-manufactured electric street motorcycles priced for popular consumption, and with no less a mission than to change the world?
While Zero, Brammo and Native may only sometimes allude to this intent, anyone paying attention to all the rhetoric pouring forth can see this is a goal in which these small startups seriously hope to play a significant role.
Accordingly, the Zero S, Brammo Enertia and Native S are … Details & Pictures
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