Monday February 27, 2012
Cuba is notorious for its (barely) surviving population of mid-century American cars, but bikes comprise a notable-- if rarely publicized and even smaller-- element of their transportation matrix.
Consider the Harley-Davidson, a quintessentially American brand with a captive audience on the 745 mile-long island.
Importation of the bikes has been banned for half a century thanks to an embargo against American products, and perhaps that's part of why the 150 or so remaining bikes-- 80 of which run-- are so coveted by locals. The bikes' endangerment isn't helped by the unavailability of parts, though there's no shortage of available handiwork and inventive workarounds.
"The world of Harleys is a very special one," Cuban mechanic Fernando Varera says in a National Post article. "People will pay very big money for them, even if they don't work." The curious case of Harley preservation in Cuba has been explored in a documentary dubbed "Cuban Harlistas: The art of Harley-Davidson maintenance in Cuba" (available here on DVD).
Whether or not you're a Harley fan, anyone who digs classic motorcycles should be able to appreciate H-D's unusual role in the vehicular microcosm of Cuba.
Source: National Post
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Photo © Getty Images
Saturday February 25, 2012
World Superbike Racing's opening weekend was struck by tragedy when 17 year-old racer Oscar McIntyre was fatally injured after his Yamaha collided with other riders in the Australian Superstock 600 support race.
The accident delayed the weekend's proceedings, which saw the cancellation of the Superpole event; Sunday's grid was thus determined on earlier qualifying sessions, with Kawasaki's Tom Sykes at the head of the class, followed by Aprilia's Max Biaggi and Ducati's Carlos Checa.
Fatalities are an inevitable side effect of racing, and though we've been reminded in the past through the deaths of riders like 13 year-old Peter Lenz and 19 year-old Shoya Tomizawa, the loss of young life begs especially difficult questions, the least of which begins with whether or not kids should be riding at all... what do you think?
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Photo © Getty Images
Saturday February 18, 2012
Having recently track-tested the
Yamaha R1 and
Suzuki GSX-R1000 stateside, traveling nearly 9,000 miles to Abu Dhabi to ride Ducati's new 1199 Panigale flagship was a bit of a shock. It wasn't the windswept desert locale or the stunning race track with the longest straightaway in the Formula 1 circuit, but because in contrast to its more approachable (and affordable) competitors, Ducati's mad creation was like bringing a cruise missile to a knife fight.
The Ducati 1199 Panigale is an all-new, ground up expression of a superbike that's 22 pounds lighter, 25 horsepower more powerful, and far technologically superior to its predecessor, the 1198.
What surprised me most about the Panigale, and how did it feel while blasting down the Yas Marina Circuit straight at 170 mph?
Find out in my 2012 Ducati 1199 Panigale Review.
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Photo © Ducati Photography; click for review
Tuesday February 14, 2012
What a difference a generation of superbikes makes: the last GSX-R1000 I tested was a 2009 model that could hit 101 mph in first gear, and felt like more bike than you could possibly need.
Now in 2012, it's hard to be taken as a serious player in the literbike realm if you don't offer available ABS and traction control... oh, and approaching nearly 200 horsepower doesn't hurt, either-- for proof, look no further than the latest offerings from BMW, Honda, Kawasaki, and Yamaha.
I tested the traction control-less and ABS-free Gixxer thou at the Homestead-Miami track, and ponder its station in the modern superbike world in my 2012 Suzuki GSX-R1000 Review: An Analog Bike in a Digital World.
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Photo © Andrea Wilson; click for review
