2006 Harley-davidson Touring 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.

2013 US Motorcycle Sales Data

The Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) reported a modest 1.4% growth in U.S. motorcycle and scooter sales in 2013, with consumers purchasing 465,783 vehicles. The sales data represents numbers from the MIC’s member brands which include BMW, Can-Am, Ducati, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Kawasaki, KTM, the Piaggio Group (which includes Aprilia, Moto Guzzi and Vespa), Victory, Suzuki, Triumph and Yamaha.

Shelved Harley-Davidson Penster Tilting Trike Prototypes Revealed

The Harley-Davidson Museum has pulled the covers off discarded prototypes of a leaning three-wheeled motorcycle developed by The Motor Company. Harley-Davidson commissioned automobile hot rodding legend John Buttera to build the original prototype (pictured above) in 1998. Codenamed the “Penster”, the Trike looks like it could have been an earlier version of the Can-Am Spyder, but it had a tilting front end similar to the Piaggio MP3.