2014 Harley-davidson Xl1200c 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 Reports Q3 2011 Results

As expected, Harley-Davidson reported a net income of $183.6 million over the third quarter ended Sept. 25, 2011, a 106% increase from the $88.8 million reported in the same quarter of 2010. Harley-Davidson reported sales revenue of $1.23 billion, a 13.4% increase from the $1.09 billion reported in the same quarter of 2010.

Harley-Davidson Hires ex-GM Engineer Federico

Harley-Davidson has hired a former General Motors engineer and executive, most recently recognized for leading the automaker’s internal investigation of its ignition switch fiasco that resulted in a recall of 2.6 million vehicles. Jim Federico retired from GM on May 5 after working in various roles with the company over nearly four decades, most recently as executive director of global vehicle integration. Federico will join Harley-Davidson on June 2 as vice president of engineering.