Innehållsförteckning för April 2017 från Cycle World

Kawasaki’s Ninja 650 has always been a great lightweight sporting twin, and now it’s a lighter-weight sporting twin thanks to the 2017 model’s significant revisions. Kawasaki has not only updated the Ninja 650 with a sportier, ZX-10R-inspired look but also a managed an anti-massive 42-pound weight savings. While that alone would be enough to make any bike accelerate, stop, and handle better, add to it a new trellis-style frame, new swingarm, and you’ve got a real contender in the middleweight class. Power delivery is smoother than before while also coming in stronger, thanks to the combination of a revised cylinder head, updated exhaust, new cam profiles, and 36mm throttle bodies. Cruise along comfortably at 65 to 70 mph—around 5,500 rpm in sixth gear—or bully the Ninja around in the canyons;…

1 ROSSI REDO Get your head into a MotoGP-developed helmet. Valentino Rossi put his into the creation of the AGV Pista GP Project 2.0 ($1,399.95) featuring an aerodynamic full carbon-fiber shell with an eyeport offering a wide field of vision in the tucked position. New metal quick-release visor mechanism and #46 graphics make this a signature lid. (949) 645-9500 agv.com 2 HEAR HERE Hearing protection is something motorcyclists should take seriously. The Pinlock Earplugs ($26.95) are engineered with an advanced precision filter to block harmful wind noise without causing muffled hearing. Two sizes of the medicalgrade silicone-free plugs are included to better ensure comfort and noise reduction performance. Sounds good to us. (910) 880-0324 pinlockusa.com 3 EAGLE EYES You can hide those ridin’ eyes behind a thin disguise. The Flying…

While it’s true that scramblers began as standard motorcycles made dirt ready, I'd argue the a certain aesthetic evolve to now describe a certain aesthetic instead of a type of performance. It’s been 60 or so years since those first scramblers hit the scene, and since then the industry has blessed us ith bikes called dual-sports, which are great at doing double duty. Just as “café racers” no longer have anything to do with racing from one café to the next and now mean little more than having clip-ons and a seat cowl, I think scramblers can stop pretending to be good off road and just be bikes with classic looks, a higher bar, bench seat, and high pipes. Releasing scramblers from a hard performance requirement leaves them with two…

You have to be a special kind of crazy to sign up for a 24-hour motorcycle race—one of those irrational types who only thinks in the present and disregards the long-term consequences of his actions. Unfortunately (fortunately?), I’m one of those people. About three-quarters of the way through the UMRA 24hr Endurance Race at Grange Motor Circuit (in Apple Valley, California), I begin to regret it. The race is run from noon to noon, and while our Kawasaki Z125 Pro is mostly stock (hold for thicker fork oil, aftermarket bars, rearsets, an exhaust, brake lines, and Dunlop tires), the racing is tight. Adrenaline pumping, even. We do an admirable job of keeping the seasoned competition in our sights, though crashes (yes, me…), tire/ wheel changes, and a few unnecessary fuel…

BLEEDIN’ ABS Q:The Brembo brakes on my 2016 Triumph Thruxton R have good power and modulation, but I can’t get a consistent front brake lever feel. The first squeeze is soft, with the lever pulling about halfway to the bar. Release, give it a quick second squeeze, and the lever feels fine. I’ve bled the front brake system and so has the dealer. The tech said that she has noticed this on all the new bikes. I took the bike to our local Ducati race shop, and they said the softness may be due to the ABS system. I’ve been riding Ducatis with Brembo brakes for 40 years, and I’m used to a firm lever with a short stroke. Are those days gone, or is there an ABS bleed procedure…

Minutes after deplaning the 1943 vintage Douglas DC-3 chartered by Indian Motorcycle for transporting several journalists to Lake Havasu, Arizona, its on-site press relations corps dropped the bomb! Wraps were pulled unveiling the new 2017 Roadmaster Classic. The leather-clad variant of Indian’s proven Roadmaster touring platform blends modern long-haul amenities with iconic styling cues akin to those of the popular Chief Vintage. The Classic’s spacious sculpted saddle, relaxed riding position, and superb wind protection behind its bar-mount fairing are all very familiar. In fact, nearly every aspect of this machine is identical to its hard bagequipped stablemate that topped our “Highway to Hell” comparison just two issues ago. Differences begin with the full-grain leather saddlebags and top case. While offering a 33-gallon combined capacity and the trunk’s ability to swallow…

BELL PRO STAR HELMET bellhelmets.com PRICE: $1,199.95–$1,299.95 UPS + Lightweight + Great aerodynamics + Improved ,field of view DOWNS - Cost - Extremely snug fit - Vent access tabs too small for gloved hands Bell isn’t shy. In its description of the Pro Star, it defines the all-new helmet as, “The lightest, most advanced race helmet on the market, packed with cutting-edge technology to earn the top spot on the podium.” Can the helmet back that claim up? A look at the Pro Star’s spec sheet is promising. A complete rethink of what a race helmet should be, it features easily removable magnetic cheek pads, a Bell Panovision shield with drama-free push-button installation system, and Flex Impact Liner system, which uses three separate materials—EEP (for midspeed impact), EPO (for low-speed…

All you have to do is look at the Alta Motors Redshift MX to know: New tech electric device or not, the Redshift was designed by people who deeply know motorcycles. It may have no exhaust system, no gas tank, no kickstarter, no traditional subframe, no engine (!), but this bike looks like a badass MXer—just one that happens to be from the future. Or at least a future. And so it turns out. Alta Motors was started more than nine years ago with an insight on the part of two friends, Derek Dorresteyn and Jeff Sand, that electric technology was ready—at least in the narrow world of motocross and off road—to potentially offer a better motorcycle. Sand had been a longtime amateur off-road rider, participating in Hare & Hounds…

Right off the bat I left my always-present earplugs in my pocket. This electric motocrosser has chain and tire noise, a bit of gear noise, and a mild whine from its electric motor. So I thought I’d enjoy riding with the sounds of nature rather than obliterating them with the wondrous thump from our companion testbike, Yamaha’s fantastic YZ250FX. I n terms of quietness, electric motorcycles do seem like magic. The Alta is also a vacation from the hassles of needing to keep an engine running with “technique” surrounding use of clutch and gears in tough terrain. There is but one gear on the Alta, and once the e-motor is on, it’s always there for you. No clutch, no shift, no stall, no worry. Need to start on an ultrasteep incline? Electric…

BY THE NUMBERS 14 Percent power-toweight- ratio improvement over its immediate predecessor 65 Percent gain over the CBR900RR that spawned the total control concept 470 Units sold worldwide in thousands over the 25-year history of the liter-class CBR-RR It’s been a long couple of years since two of the Japanese Big Four dived headlong into the electronic rider aid pool. Kawasaki and Yamaha followed in the wake of the Euro manufacturers’ early use of advanced systems featuring traction control, wheelie control, race-calibrated ABS, and more. Now Suzuki and Honda have each made a splash with all-new liter-class superbikes for 2017. When Honda debuted its $185,000 RC213V-S a year ago, the MotoGP-inspired road bike was met with mixed reviews. While many enthusiast questioned the logic behind Big Red’s limited-market machine, we…

This body position overview was sparked by my recent participation in AHRMA (American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association) racing. On track and from the fence, I witnessed some riders taking more risk while sacrificing speed. They were going slower and riding less safely, all due to poor or nonexistent body position techniques. In a nutshell, we move our body to the inside of our bikes—or “hang off”—to run less lean angle. Lean angle is risk, and GP-like body position allows us to run less lean angle at the same speed. If you can run less lean angle, you can use more throttle and brake pressure. Safely. Street riders benefit from this just as much as racers. The ability to carry less lean angle through something like gravel (because you hung off…

THE GROM WORKS ON THE SAME THEME OF LOW COST, BIG FUN, AND BULLETPROOF RELIABILITY. A POTENT COMBO. Life as a motorcyclist is shaped by small, fleeting moments of accomplishment. The moments where you finally learn to work a clutch. Grasp balance. Or muster the courage to ride that little bit farther down a trail and, at long last, experience true, two-wheeled freedom. For many people, a Honda minibike has been the ticket to those lifechanging moments. Whatever happened after that was inconsequential; you were forever a motorcyclist because of that little bike and the places it took you. You probably even met nice people on it… Not much has changed. Only now, instead of Z50s and Trail 70s, Honda is inspiring future generations of riders (or rekindling old flames)…

Grant Langston was a 125cc MX world champion in 2000 and won the AMA 125cc outdoor championships in 2003 and 250cc Supercross championships in 2005 and 2006. He also went on to win the 2003 AMA Supermoto championship and the 2007 AMA 450cc outdoor motocross championship. He currently runs a multiline motorcycle dealership in Perris, California, works as a riding coach, and is a TV commentator for AMA ArenaCross and outdoor races. We asked this maximally experienced rider to try the Alta Redshift MX. As he walks around eyeing the Redshift, Langston quickly notices the missing clutch lever: “This thing is going to humble me,” he jokes. “I remember first riding four-strokes and thinking, ‘How do you ride this?’ Now it’s getting on a two-stroke again and, ‘How do you…

Time flies when you’re having fun. Seems like just the other day we got our Triumph Tiger 800 XCx, and already Triumph North America is wanting the British-built adventure-tourer back. By the time I got my hands on “my” long-term testbike, it had 5,575 miles on the clock and a fairly fresh set of Avon TrailRider tires courtesy of the British firm sponsoring the Cycle World Adventure Rally. While those tires worked great on the road, they honestly weren't much of an improvement over the stock Bridgestone Battle Wings and were likewise biased 90 percent on road/10 percent off. That seems an odd choice for the supposedly “off-roadready” model in the expansive Tiger 800 range, thus I was actually glad that 4,000 miles later the Avons were toast. That’s far…

PANIGALE WINS → “ALIEN” POWER → HITTING THE NUMBERS → 2017 CONTENDER THE VIEW FROM INSIDE THE PADDOCK It may have taken too long for comfort, but Chaz Davies and Ducati Corse have turned the official Aruba.it Racing 1199R Panigale into the hottest current World Superbike property there is. It’s been a long road back for Ducati. Historically the Italians have owned more executive World Superbike real estate than anybody. They have been the longest-term fanatics, the ones who stayed put with a factory team while others came and went. hat all changed after Ducati’s MotoGP obsession blinded its 20/20 Superbike vision in 2010 and the factory pulled the sump plug on the official Ducati Corse World Superbike project. The lack of a fullfactory squad did not stop the 1098R—the…