Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2015 i Cycle World

Massive props to the folks at Victory and Polaris who green-lighted Project 156. It was huge in scope, ridiculous in time line, and fraught with consequence. Yet when Victory marketing folks Kyle Clack and Kevin Reilly walked into my office last December and asked if we’d like to go racing with a prototype V-twin engine, the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb was the natural choice. “And I’ve got the right guy in the next office…” referring, of course, to Don Canet, who’d finished third overall last year in his rookie attempt on a Ducati Multistrada. And away we went. I can’t think of any other manufacturer who would undertake a project like this. But after Indian’s time in the sun since the big relaunch, Victory is now shifting gears to…

Forgive us, please, for the trendy Day-Glo colors that dotted our October 1990 issue—on the cover and in several layouts. Far more important, however, are the rare bikes that appeared on this cover: a Wankelpowered Norton F1 (“Norton’s Back!” Really?) and the 1991 Harley-Davidson Sturgis. For our motocross audience, we gathered five of the top 250cc MXers and had them tweaked by local tuners such as White Brothers Cycle Specialties and Race Tech. Our winner of this “Special Forces” test? An especially potent RM250 that was ported and had its suspension tweaked by SCR. “The faster the rider went,” we reported, “the more the bike liked it.” Our annual Ten Best list had some expected winners (the Honda Gold Wing as the Best Tourer) and one big surprise: the Harley-Davidson…

WANT ODO → MODERN ELECTRICS → PLUGGED PILOT → WHEN HOT IS NOT → MOTO GUZZI GRISO ODO CONTROLS Q: I have a 2014 Triumph Tiger 800 “Roadie.” The odometer only displays for the first couple of seconds when I start the bike. Only a tripmeter is visible after that. After reading through the owner’s manual, there doesn’t seem to be a way to have the odometer displayed full time. A motorcycle engine can be re-mapped; can this display be “re-flashed” too? AL CARLSTROM NEW LONDON, PA A: What is needed is a way to “re-flash” our pitiful analog brains. Digital dashes can be dumbfounding. I have been humbled by Triumph’s clock and odometer reset procedure. Here’s the procedure, straight from the owner’s manual: When the ignition is switched on,…

HIPSTER ART FAIR → ALA D’ORO → JONESING FOR MORINIS Your August issue cover story features “Handbuilt” motorcycles. The article states, “Our sport’s future is right here.” What?! Have you guys been watching too many reruns of American Chopper and Junkyard Wars? Handbuilt? This article shows “garage engineering” at its best. Why do you people drool over these cobbled-together cartoonish and unrideable machines? Counterculture embracing counter-engineering. This is not the future but a fringe element of motorcycling. Didn’t you learn anything from the ’90s chopper craze? Save your printed space for real motor cycles, not the Hipster Art Fair. DAVE ROGERS CYCLEWORLD.COM Dave, the artistry of these bikes is what has inspired great machines like the Ducati Scrambler and BMW R nineT. Yes, some of the Handbuilt Show’s bikes would…

1 LEARN TO STRIDE Before your kids learn to ride, it pays to learn to stride. For anyone whose kids started off on a Strider Balance Bike, like the new special-edition Husqvarna ($139), you know how easily little ones transition to a pedal bike without training wheels. Prepare them for cycling or motorcycling by learning balance in a fun and safe manner. → (605) 342-0266 striderbikes.com 2 BAVARIAN BOX Ever wish you had just a bit more storage on your BMW R1200GS/A? Touratech recently announced its Toolbox ($179.95), a 4.2-liter locking case (13 x 7.5 x 3.5 inches) that mounts inboard of BMW’s OEM right-side pannier. The aluminum and plastic storage box provides an excellent place to store tools, first aid, or other travel-related items. → (800) 491-2926 touratech-usa.com 3…

Icebergs are impressive, but ninetenths of their mass is invisible to us, submerged in the sea. We humans love excitement. It can be such a drug to us that people who’ve paid big money to attend a rock concert scream so loudly they can’t hear the music. They are high—not on the music but on their own excitement. The actual substance of the concert (the music) is ignored. We are impressed by the visible part of the iceberg, but the part that tore a 300-foot hole below the Titanic’s waterline is unseen. The same is true in motorsports. An engine’s power stroke is what actually propels a car or bike, but it is completely silent. The noise—which so thrills our senses—is the sudden expansion of lowenergy waste gas, valved out…

YEARS SOLD: 2006–present MSRP NEW: $13,490 (’06) to $12,990 (’15) BLUE BOOK RETAIL VALUE: $5,280 (’06) to $11,440 (’15) BASIC SPECS: An air-/oil-cooled, 1,064cc, longitudinally mounted, 90-degree V-twin powering the early Griso saw significant performance upgrades in 2009 with the introduction of the Griso 1200 8V and the current eight-valve 1,151cc engine. A centrally located chain-driven camshaft operates the valves via pushrods, while twin throttle bodies and Weber-Marelli electronic fuel injection meters air and fuel. The frame has 50mm tubular steel spars running from the steering head to the swingarm pivot plates, with the engine serving as a stressed member. The shaft drive features a proprietary full-floating crown-and-pinion unit that eliminates chassis jacking typical of shaft drive. WHY IT’S DESIRABLE: As Guzzi’s sportnaked, the Griso is crafted with a good…

THE RIDE STARTS HERE BMW R1200RS → KTM 350 SX-F → HONDA AFRICA TWIN → RIDE CRAFT → BIKE LIFE BY THE NUMBERS 2.6 INCHES: is the difference between the available tall (33.7) seat and low seat/lowered suspension (31.1) option. You might not realize it, but BMW’s S1000XR is really the bike you need, even if you don’t like the tall “quasi ADV meets The Jetsons” appearance. But after you ride it, you realize that it speaks to your emotions and fires up your adrenal glands with its high-performance engine and incredibly capable chassis, which has an upright and commanding seating position. We had waited for months to ride this new adventure-tourer, whose engine has been plucked from one of the most significant sportbikes ever made: the S1000RR. In the…

With this latest Ride Craft, I’m not trying to teach you a physical technique that can be mastered with correct practice. Rather, I seek to drive home this simple but important message: Don’t push time. This applies to all riders but particularly to riders who are always in a rush. You know who you are. How can we avoid being at the wrong place at the wrong time? In the intersection when the drunk runs a red light in his Suburban. Next to the semi when its tire explodes. Or behind the pickup truck when the ladder falls off. In each of these cases, five seconds earlier or later would have kept us safe. Do your best to let time flow in a normal manner when on a motorcycle. No…