by Sabrina Giacomini from https://www.rideapart.com A legend brought back to life. The 2019 show season was a good one for Kawasaki. Not only did Team Green unveil the Z H2 as well as the updated Ninja 1000 SE SX+ and 650, but it also teamed up with Bimota to create the polarizing Tesi H2 prototype. As though that wasn’t enough, the manufacturer also introduced the W800, a stripped down, entry-level version of the W800 Cafe. I remember vividly the collective gasp we had when the model was first unveiled. The clean and simple lines were a hit among the RideApart team. I even remember being just a little upset about the U.S. and Canada getting the bike in red rather ...

by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com For the past 20 years or so, the European custom motorcycle segment has been flooded with Harley-Davidson based or inspired builds coming from Germany. The group responsible for this onslaught is called Thunderbike and as part of our Two-Wheeler Month coverage in June we’ve talked about them at length over the past few weeks. Generally, we focused more on their most recent builds, but there are others, much older, that deserve their time under the spotlight. For the end of this week we chose a build the Germans call Ego Shooter. It was first presented in 2011, at a time when the shop was half the age it is today. Unfortunately, we have no info ...

by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com Over the past week, as part of our Two-Wheeler Month coverage, we talked at length about the custom motorcycles made by Wichita, Kansas-based Big Dog Motorcycles. As the week draws to a close, so do our stories about the group, as we’ve reached the end of the list of Big Dog machines available. And of course we saved the best for last. Big Dog is among the few shops out there to have turned custom motorcycles into series production bikes. That’s a good way to provide people with the riding thrills they like without sending them into bankruptcy. With this approach, Big Dog managed to keep prices low, as low as $28,995 for the Coyote ...

Hey, As you know, life is nuts and then you die. Done deal. But wait. I’m here in Deadwood. I escaped the madness of California. I’m in a place where folks are having fun, where chrome is cool, gambling is a blast and the girl drink shots. The Thought for the day: Wherever enlightened ones dwell, in a village or wilderness, on a mountain or on a coast, that is indeed a place of joy. Let’s party and check the news: CLICK HERE TO READ THE WEEKLY NEWS ON BIKERNET Join the Cantina - Subscribe Today https://www.bikernet.com/pages/custom/subscription.aspx

by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com Harley-Davidson’s Softail frame has become over the years the backbone of a great number of motorcycles. The Milwaukee-based bike builder currently has 12 bike models using it, ranging from the Standard to the Heritage Classic. Down the ages – the first time the frame was used as a registered trademark was way back in 1984 - other names were stealing the headlines. There were names like the Night Train, Cross Bones, and of course the Springer. As do the Softails of today, older ones are favorites of the custom industry, even if perhaps not as much as say the more recent Breakout. And one fine example of custom work on an older Softail is the ...

by Elena Gorgan from https://www.autoevolution.com It’s a sad day for electric two-wheelers: the iconic and often-derided personal transporter Segway, a true pioneer in urban mobility, has come to the end of life. The factory producing the PT will shut down permanently on July 15, 2020. When it was teased back in 2001, Segway was said to come to replace the car. It would be, they said, what the car was for the horse and buggy, an invention more revolutionizing than the computer itself. The Segway, a two-wheeled personal transporter (they called it human transporter, HT, back then), was more than just a product; it was, in very simple terms, the future. In many ways, Segway, with its self-balancing technology and ...

by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com For the past month or so, as part of our Two-Wheeler Month coverage, we talked at length about some of the craziest builds on two wheels out there. A good portion of our attention was focused on a German group called Thunderbike. In the business of customizing Harleys but also create their own frames for about 20 years, Thunderbike is one of the most active shops not only in Europe, but in the world. The number of bikes they modified over the years is simply huge, and there seems to be no stopping them. Their latest stunt is called Solid Dude, and is a Fat Boy turned into the “absolute power cruiser.” Previewed this week ...

by Margaret Naczek from https://www.bizjournals.com While retailers across the country experience tremendous hits to their businesses, Harley-Davidson dealerships in southeastern Wisconsin are seeing the pleasant surprise of busy service departments and continued sales during the Covid-19 pandemic.

by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com Generally speaking, custom bikes are not cheap. For one, there’s the wealth of parts that go into making one, then the hours of labor spent, and God what else. All that add up and reflects in the asking price for such a build. Of course, most shops make custom bikes on demand, but even if they make one out of the blue, there’s still that only one. No series production means no standardized parts or assembly processes, and that means more money too. Wichita, Kansas-based Big Dog Motorcycles is one of those few businesses that make series-production custom bikes. That means their products, although they have the look and feel of something unique, are priced ...

by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com Generally, custom bike builds are meant to convey a message of hardcore two-wheeled motoring. To get that message through, custom builders usually have to create monsters that stand out through sharpness, coldness, or perhaps meanness. The bike in the gallery above has none of those attributes. If anything, it looks soft to the touch, possibly smooth as silk, but somehow manages to retain an air of coolness specific to custom Harleys. What you see in front of your eyes was once a 2017 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy. It lost most of its industrial look at the hands of a German custom garage by the name of Thunderbike, and was gifted with a more eye-soothing appearance. There ...