2006 Harley Davidson Softail Nightrain on 2040-motos

Moto blog

Vespa goes back to the future

IT'S been a while coming, but the gorgeous Vespa 946 - EICMA 2012's Best of Show - has finally introduced something to the two-wheeled world that our four-wheeled counterparts have had for a while.  I call this 'reverse retro-futurism' - the art of borrowing lines from models past and imbuing them with a sleek sense of future direction (as opposed to retro-futurism, the pre-1960s design trend of depicting the technology of the future. The term 'decopunk' may come close, but feel free to tell me if there's a more exact term.) It's what the New Mini and the New Beetle (both 1997 and 2012 versions) have done so well, and so successfully: building an all-new model as a tribute to a classic, something that's modern yet already timeless, with a widely-appreciated, inclusive aesthetic (and here we eliminate the Plymouth PT Cruiser from the conversation). The biking world is great at retro, indeed thrives on it, but not so good at adding in a taste of the 21st century.

Harley-Davidson Sells Test Track to Chrysler

Harley-Davidson has sold its 531-acre private test track in Florida to the Chrysler Group for $7 million. The property, located off of Interstate 75 in Naples, Fla., includes six miles of track including a 2.1-mile straightaway and several buildings. The track was originally built for Ford, with construction completed in 1992.

Harley-Davidson World Ride Tops 10 Million Miles; Eclipses 2012 Total by 28 Percent

Motorcycle riders from around the world enthusiastically joined members of the Harley Owners Group (HOG) on June 23 and 24 to shatter last year’s record mileage total for the Harley-Davidson World Ride by collectively logging more than 10 million miles, a 28 percent increase over the 2012 total. Launched in 2008 as HOG’s Million Mile Monday, the annual event was expanded into the two-day Harley-Davidson World Ride in 2012 to give more riders worldwide an opportunity to participate. In 2012, participants logged 7,799,140 miles, but this year as riders celebrated the 110th Anniversary of Harley-Davidson Motor Company and the 30th Anniversary of HOG that culminates this Labor Day weekend in Milwaukee, they blitzed that record by more than 25 percent, tallying an official total of 10,018,231 miles.