A Paris-based bike designer has come up with a new form of motorcycle – with three inline wheels. The idea is to keep all the fun and manoeuvreability of a two-wheeled bike, but make it harder to crash.
“The basic layout of a bike has hardly changed since it was invented,” says Julien Rondinaud. “Riding a bike remains very dangerous: there’s lots of power and only a small contact patch with the road. On a traditional bike, a loss of grip on either wheel usually produces a crash.”
Harley Davidson reported their 1st quarter results and they’re not out of the woods yet. Another 300 to 400 production jobs will be eliminated as they continue to adjust production to stay in line with shipments. The Company still plans to ship between 264,000 and 273,000 Harley-Davidson motorcycles to dealers worldwide in 2009, less than last year but in line with earlier announcements.
Every motorcycle manufacturer is working through a challenging business environment right now and Harley is no exception. With a combination of cost controls, smart marketing and a little bit of economic improvement, things should improve for everyone.
The Bugatti Veyron dominates in top speed against this Yamaha R1 while they race down a “moterway” in Germany. Very impressive top speed from the Veyron is what we look to expect from this elite vehicle. Not many cars can out run a Yamaha R1 motorcycle. This video clip is somewhat crude but you actually get to see a Bugatti Veyron racing in a top speed race. For the price of the motorcycle it keeps a respectable tail following the Bugatti. Impressive, at least the cyclist can somewhat keep up with this Veryon in a top speed race!
 Zero Motorcycles was a surprise hit in 2008, selling out its stock of ‘X’ battery-electric motocross bikes much faster than expected and proving in the process that customers are well and truly ready to slap down the dollars for a quality electric off-roader. Now the company has announced the Zero S – a street-legal electric supermotard capable of 60mph and with a 60-mile range off a full 4-hour battery charge. At under US$10,000 – before you get your 10% Federal plug-in vehicle credit – the Zero S joins the Vectrix electric maxi-scooter in the list of truly practical electric bikes capable of freeway speeds. And with a power-to-weight ratio almost identical to Suzuki’s DR-Z400SM, it should be a bag of laughs to ride. If consumers liked the X, we reckon they’ll go crazy to be the first on the block to ride this street-legal, lean, green giggle machine.
Technology is finally beginning to catch up with the demands of the market in electric vehicles…Â Â Â … Details