Sundowner Seat 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.

Best Western Debuts Global Partnership with Harley-Davidson at 110th Anniversary Event in Rome

Best Western International debuted its new global partnership with Harley-Davidson in style at Harley’s 110th Celebration in Rome. The 67-year-old hotel company presented hundreds of thousands of attendees with its “Motorcycle-Friendly Hotel” program as part of a four-day celebration at the famous Port of Ostia. Riders in the US, Canada and Mexico already know Best Western is the hotel of choice for real moto-travelers.

Harley-Davidson Hiring 400 Temporary Workers

Harley-Davidson is looking for 400 casual workers for its factory in York, Pa., to help with a planned seasonal surge in production. The jobs begin in January 2014 and will run through until the end of May. “When we ramp up production to meet customer demands, it allows us the manufacturing flexibility to build the right bike, the right time for the right person,” Harley-Davidson Spokesperson Bernadette Lauer tells the York Daily Record.