2013 Harley-davidson Xl883n Sportster Iron 883 on 2040-motos

Moto blog

Zero Motorcycles Named to Made in USA Foundation Hall of Fame

The Made in the USA Foundation has named Zero Motorcycles to its 2012 Hall of Fame class, recognizing the electric motorcycle manufacturer’s commitment to American manufacturing. Zero Motorcycles, founded in 2006 in Santa Cruz, Calif., by former NASA engineer Neal Saiki, becomes the second motorcycle manufacturer named to the Foundation’s Hall of Fame. Harley-Davidson was inducted in 2011.

YouTuber pokes fun at Harley-Davidson [video]

Here at Motorcycle.com we generally have nice things to say about Harley-Davidson products. But we also like a good joke. Especially when it’s full of biting sarcasm.

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.