The pandemic puts paid to this year’s event, but the intention is to stage the 50th run in March 2022

By ROGER HOUGHTON, Business Day The 2021 DJ Run commemorative regularity rally for motorcycles made before 1937 has been cancelled due to Covid-19. The event was to have started in Hillcrest, outside Durban, on March 12 and finished in Johannesburg the following day after an overnight stop in Newcastle. Clerk of the course Larina MacGregor says the intention is to hold the event again in March 2022 which will mark the 50th staging of the commemorative rally between the two cities. The famous event was originally a race on public roads between 1936 and 2013 after which it was banned on the grounds of safety as traffic on these roads increased. This is one of several major motoring events cancelled this year due to the pandemic. Others include the George and Knysna motor shows and the 1000 Bike Show in Gauteng. However, the organisers of the Simola Hillclimb in Knysna are hoping to stage their event from September 2-5, while the Pretoria Old Motor Club says it is still on track to stage its Cars in the Park motoring expo at the Zwartkops Raceway, near Pretoria, on August 1.

In July 2020, a Canadian man was charged with dangerous driving and speeding in Alberta for allegedly sleeping in a self-piloted Tesla between Edmonton and Calgary. In the December 11^th court trial, witnesses claimed that the driver Leran Cai and his passenger were asleep with their seats fully reclined, traveling 150 km/h (93 mph). His next court appearance was scheduled for January 29, 2021, but no information has yet been released on the outcome.

Tesla has a feature called AutoPilot, which enables autonomous driving on the highway, even though drivers are required to keep their hands on the steering wheel at all times to take back control as needed. Drivers must apply a slight amount of torque on the wheel every so often to signal to the system that they are still engaged. Apparently, there are ways to trick that safety feature with weights so you can take a nap. It is unclear if that is what Leran Cai did in this case.

Falling asleep in a Tesla has made many headlines in the past several years. Here are just a few of the incidents:

• Driver Falls Asleep, Wrecks Tesla In South Brunswick, NJ (Patch)
• Video appears to show Tesla driver ‘literally asleep at the wheel’ (USA Today)
• Another Tesla Driver apparently Fell Asleep—here’s what Tesla could do (ArsTechnica)
• Tesla is sued by the family of a Japanese man who was run over and killed by a car on Autopilot after the driver fell asleep behind the wheel (Daily Mail UK)

Tesla announced in October 2020 that all future Tesla vehicles would have self-driving capability. Many articles were written about this announcement, but this headline from The Verge caught our eye: Tesla’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ Beta is here, and it looks scary as Hell. This post also has a subtitle, “Using untrained consumers to validate beta-level software on public roads is dangerous.”

At the end of The Verge post, Ed Niedermeyer, communications director for Partner for Automated Vehicle Education (a group that combines nonprofits with AV automakers such as Waymo, Argo, Cruise and Zoox) said:

“Public road testing is a serious responsibility, and using untrained consumers to validate beta-level software on public roads is dangerous and inconsistent with existing guidance and industry norms. Moreover, it is extremely important to clarify the line between driver assistance and autonomy. Systems requiring driver oversight are not self-driving and should not be called self-driving.”

In the United States, motorists and automakers still have no clear-cut autonomous driving guidelines. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has recently been criticized by the National Traffic Safety Board (who inspects these driverless car incidents) for not better regulating the autonomous levels of driving between full driver control, Level 0, and complete system control, Level 5.

Also, if you build the technology, does that mean consumers will buy it? Does self-driving technology really make everyone safer on the road? Many questions remain. It doesn’t seem that Tesla, or anyone else, has yet figured out how to make autonomous driving systems foolproof.

Let’s face it, automakers aren’t good at regulating themselves, and bureaucratic government agencies like the NHTSA often try to accommodate everyone and end up protecting no one—especially, in this case, drivers and passengers.

In the meantime, do you want to share a highway with a sleeping driver on autopilot?

I have had my 2019 Harley-Davidson Street Glide for a little while now and the one thing I wanted to change was the sound of the audio. Since I bought the bike, I had my eye on upgrading the fairing and saddlebag lids with Harley’s flagship Stage II Boom Audio speakers and amps.

I upgraded the fairing to Stage II recently and just want more.

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More than three years after President Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement, we’re back in.  On Biden’s first day in office on January 20th, one of his first priorities was to sign an executive order to re-enter the global pact to slow climate change.  Rejoining the accord was simple; the next step gets harder: How can the world’s second-largest polluter shrink emissions 45-50% by the end of this decade to comply with the deal?

One of Joe Biden’s campaign promises was to “Transition away from oil” and create a “carbon pollution-free power sector” by 2035, as part of a $2 trillion investment to build back the economy by investing in green infrastructure.

The Paris Agreement does not prescribe exact methods for eliminating emissions behind global warming, but establishes binding targets for avoiding worrisome temperature thresholds.  Research conducted by the German Aerospace Centre, says that passenger car engines as we know it need to be completely phased out from new sales before the end of the next decade in order for Europe to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the most ambitious part of the Paris pact’s “well below 2 degrees Celsius” overall aim.

GM SETS 2035 TARGET TO PHASE OUT GAS-, DIESEL-POWERED VEHICLES GLOBALLY

General Motors has set a 2035 target date for phasing out gasoline and diesel powered vehicles from its showrooms globally, among the first major auto makers to put a timeline on transitioning to a fully electric lineup.

DOUBLE-DIGIT MOTORCYCLE SALES INCREASE DURING WORST YEAR THIS CENTURY

In spite of the economic and health uncertainty posed by the Coronavirus pandemic for the bulk of 2020, the powersports sector experienced an 18.4% increase in sales for the year.

The double-digit growth was owed largely to a big bump in off-highway bikes and ATVs, which jumped 46.5% & 33.8% respectively, but new-model motorcycle and scooter sales were also up 11.4% over 2019, according to the Motorcycle Industry Council Retail Sales Report.

“Overall, the industry had a good year under difficult circumstances,” noted Erik Pritchard, president and CEO of the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC), stating; “The COVID-19 pandemic forced all of us to be nimble and to make the changes we needed to survive.  In the end, many in the industry saw strong growth, and now our opportunity is to keep all of these new riders riding and to inspire even more people to join us on two, three, and four wheels.”

ELECTRIC MOTORCYCLE BUYERS GET A U.S. TAX CREDIT THROUGH 2021

If you’re thinking about buying a new electric motorcycle this year, and you live in the USA, here’s some good news: the federal tax credit that went into effect for new electric bike models at the end of 2019 has been extended until January 1, 2022.

Any electric motorcycle that can go at least 45 mph is eligible for a 10% tax credit, up to $2,500.

Electric motorcycle owners new and old should also know that, at the same time that electric motorcycle credit got extended, the 30% EV charger installation credit was re-upped by the federal government as well.  For 2021, you’re eligible for a credit up to $1,000 for home installations and up to $30,000 for business installations on new EV chargers.

“The electric motorcycle industry is rapidly responding to our country’s need for affordable and environmentally responsible transportation,” said Zero Motorcycles’ CEO Sam Paschel, adding that “These tax credits represent an investment in a cleaner energy future, and also effectively create jobs in the ever-growing electric vehicle industry.”

 

VR COULD ALLOW CONSUMERS TO ‘RIDE’ MOTORCYCLE PROTOTYPES

It seems virtually unreal, but Virtual Reality is starting to fulfill futuristic promises, and it’s even forged a place in the real-world development of motorcycles.  VR has long straddled the line between sci-fi and sci-fact, with crazy promises made in movies from ‘Tron’ to ‘The Matrix’, but the tech is coming of age and moving from the living room to Yamaha’s boardroom.

Far from VR computer gaming, Yamaha VR opens new doors to improve product development, and possibly expanding consumer marketing.

Masayuki Miki, a member of the joint research team in the Fundamental Technology Research Division at Yamaha’s Technical R&D Centre, explained to Cycle World, “Yamaha has been using riding simulators built around actual motorcycles for some time.”

“Since VR allows us to ‘ride’ a wide range of products on all kinds of road environments we’ve created, our simulators and VR equipment play an important role in our research into rider–machine dynamics.  It also goes toward achieving our Jin-Ki Kanno development ideal [which is about bikes providing fulfillment as well as transport].”

FIRE GUTS LACONIA MOTORCYCLE WEEK HEADQUARTERS

A catastrophic Christmas Day fire tore through the offices of the Laconia Motorcycle Week Association, destroying decades-old memorabilia and rally archives detailing the history of the nearly 100-year-old event, often referred to as the Oldest National Motorcycle Rally with roots dating back to 1916 when a Gypsy Tour gathered for several days at Weirs Beach on the southern shores of Lake Winnipesaukee.

“It was absolutely terrible,” executive director Charlie St. Clair told Ridin’ On.  “We lost almost everything.  We lost all of our memorabilia.  Photos and archives from more than 50 years.”  All Motorcycle Week-related stuff “is pretty much all gone” including their entire inventory of just-arrived 100th anniversary T-Shirts and promotional apparel.

“It was literally a museum in itself,” said St. Clair, much of it irreplaceable, estimating the total loss will be in the “hundreds of thousands” of dollars.

In calling for help from the public, in terms of rebuilding and gathering new Laconia Motorcycle Week artifacts and collectibles, St. Clair said they would welcome donations of such items and reports a GoFundMe page was also launched by Friends of Laconia Motorcycle Week at (www.gofundme.com/f/we-love-laconia-motorcycle-week).

 

DAYTONA BIKE WEEK IS A ‘GO’!

By a 6-1 vote on January 20, the Daytona Beach city commission endorsed plans for the 80th annual bike rally, scheduled for March 5-14.  Daytona Bike Week’s organizers feared they might have to pull the plug on the 2021 rally, due to a resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the event is a huge economic driver for the region, and with this year being the 80th anniversary, businesses were especially looking forward to the needed financial boost.

AMERICADE POSTPONED DUE TO CORONAVIRUS

This year’s Americade Motorcycle Touring Rally, typically held in June in Lake George, N.Y. each year since 1983, has been rescheduled to Sept. 21-25 due to Coronavirus concerns.

 

BILL COMMEMORATES ROUTE 66 CENTENNIAL

Federal legislation was signed into law on December 23, 2020 to establish a commission to recommend ways to commemorate Route 66’s upcoming 100th anniversary. The first all-paved U.S. highway was completed in 1926 and ran from Chicago to Los Angeles.

The new 15-person commission is to include representatives from the states through which the highway ran: Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.

FUTURISTIC AUTOMATIC DE-ICING ROAD CONSTRUCTED IN FRANCE

Roads as we know them have been around since 4,000 B.C., but though those first paved tracks may seem a million miles from the blacktop of today, it doesn’t seem like road-building has kept up with the times.

That could be about to change, reports visordown.com, as a French company named Eurovia announces a new type of tech that allows a road to heat itself in winter to clear snow and ice.

The road is built around the fairly basic principle of a heat exchanger and is not dissimilar to the pipes you find in under-floor heating.  A fluid is passed through the pipes and depending on the road’s ambient temperature energy can either be taken from or sent to the road’s surface layer.

Because of the natural propensity for roads to absorb heat — being black and facing directly upwards — the system can also take in heat during the summer, store it and then release it in the winter.  This could either be to help clear obstructions like ice or snow, or the energy could be diverted into heating nearby homes or buildings.

This project has advanced beyond the drawing board, with Eurovia already building an actual working version of the new “Power Road” tech, located along a 120m stretch of road recently opened in Égletons, France.  The region has seasonal hot and cold weather, making it a perfect urban environment to try the road out… and it didn’t disappoint.  With some flurries of snow over the festive season, the automated road managed to clear snow and ice before it reached such a level that vehicles would have been inhibited.

 

MOTORCYCLE TAXI INDUSTRY CAUSING KIDS IN AFRICA TO QUIT SCHOOL

Difficult times have forced African youngsters to put their studies aside in favor of making a living driving motorcycle taxis.  Many people rely on motorcycle taxis to go about their daily lives, and this unconventional means of public transportation fuels the livelihood of many individuals in developing countries like Asia and Africa, with lots of people making a living solely from ferrying people around aboard their motorcycles.

Now, the unfortunate global disaster caused a massive shutdown of nearly all schools, giving kids a lot of idle time as laborers were left jobless and without a stable income to support their families.  So, students have begun dropping out of school and instead are getting into the motorcycle taxi business.  As it turns out, kids would rather spend their time outside working, and ferrying food deliveries or people from point A to point B, rather than stay at home taking online classes.  Idleness paired with affordable Chinese motorcycles has lured kids as young as fifteen to buy their own bikes as an investment to earn a living.

 

ABOUT AIM / NCOM: The National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM) is a nationwide motorcyclists rights organization serving over 2,000 NCOM Member Groups throughout the United States, with all services fully-funded through Aid to Injured Motorcyclist (AIM) Attorneys available in each state who donate a portion of their legal fees from motorcycle accidents back into the NCOM Network of Biker Services (www.ON-A-BIKE.com / 800-ON-A-BIKE).

Buell is Back. Buell Motorcycles are back in production

Grand Rapids, MI – Buell Motorcycles is back in production in America. The new Buell® Motorcycles will launch 10 performance models by the 2024 model year. The exciting models will be representative of the superbike performance and handling expected of the legendary Buell brand. Exciting times ahead for fans of American Motorcycles.

“Buell is back!” said Bill Melvin, CEO. “We are excited to bring Buell back with this awesome assortment of superbikes and performance motorcycles. We start with the fastest American production motorcycles, hand built in the USA, so that’s a nice start! We’re building out those platforms for more touring & adventure models, then we’re expanding our displacements to be competitive with other global brands. The passionate Buell Nation can grow and thrive again.”

Buell Motorcycle upcoming models will include variants for dirt, dual-sport, touring, and cruisers while expanding the line up to include medium and small displacement motors. Buell is also in the initial exploration phases for a high-performance Electric model and is open to collaboration ideas with other companies. The models currently in production are built by hand in Grand Rapids, Michigan and based on the high-performance 1190 platform, known for the innovation of Fuel in Frame, Perimeter Brake Rotor, exceptional handling, and high horsepower.

“Buell is known as the American brand for high performance, innovation, & adventure. Fast is fun again on a Buell. We will continue and expand on that,” said Melvin. “We have already launched a dirt bike with Cipala Racing that won an AMA Championship and Buell will be dominating at NHRA this year. Follow us Facebook and Instagram where we’ll showcase passionate fans, new developments, as well as racers and riders having fun on a Buell. The future will be fast and fun on a Buell.”

EBR Motorcycles acquired the Buell brand in early 2020 and began developments to bring Buell back. Buell will be present at Daytona Bike Week 2021 at J&P Cycles Destination Daytona Mega Store. Visit the Buell booth for gear, to view current models, and learn about the developments of the fast and fun American Motorcycle brand.

Buell is back and racing to the future!

Website: www.BuellMotorcycle.com

THE COUNTDOWN IS ON!
Bike Week Rolls into Daytona Beach in 15 Days
If you haven’t made your plans to attend the 80th Anniversary Bike Week in Daytona Beach on March 5-14, what are you waiting for? Scenic rides, championship motorcycle racing at Daytona International Speedway, and of course, 23 miles of wide, white-sand beaches await your arrival. Don’t miss out on all the sun, fun and racing action — book your Bike Week getaway today!

The Bikernet Weekly News is sponsored in part by companies who also dig Freedom including: Cycle Source Magazine, the MRF, Las Vegas Bikefest, Iron Trader News, ChopperTown, BorntoRide.com and the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum.

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by Bogdan Popa from https://www.autoevolution.com

If you’re in the market looking for a small piece of motorcycle history, this is probably the best thing you’ve seen in a long time.

Because what we have here is none other than a super-rare 1962 Harley-Davidson KRTT Road Racer motorcycle that last raced at Daytona in 1968.

Unfortunately, we’re only provided with just a couple of pictures showing the bike, and while it’s listed as a “barn find,” the seller says the KRTT was with the previous owner since 1969. Currently at its third owner (so you’d be the fourth), the Harley has never been restored, so it’s fully original. It comes with the same set of tires and even the original paint it sported when it left the factory.

“Never been apart. Everything on this bike came from factory with it. Probably the rarest bike that left the factory all of its original parts. Never been restored [because] they are only original once,” the seller, which claims they’ve owned the bike for 27 years, says in a post on Craigslist – Click to See it here.

This bike allegedly finished second at Elkhart Lake, and given that it comes with a full history since new, everything is fully documented, so you should be able to determine if these details are accurate quite easily. And there’s no doubt you should do this, as everything sounds a little bit too good to be true.

The KRTT is Harley’s KR version built for road racing, quickly becoming one of the names dominating every competition. The standard model was produced between 1953 and 1969, with its successor being none other than the super-popular Harley-Davidson XR-750.

It goes without saying that such a rare bike can’t go cheap, and this Harley really doesn’t. The seller says anyone who’s willing to pay $80,000 for the KRTT can take it home, and serious buyers are encouraged to check it out in person in Marion, Ohio.

by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com

Following a bunch of novelties on the motorcycle front over the past few months, Italian carmaker Ducati expands the scope of its business with the introduction in its 2021 apparel collection of something it calls the Smart Jacket.

The product, developed together with specialized company Dainese, uses the so-called D-air airbag technology, specifically adapted and branded to use with other Ducati gear.

According to the Italian bike maker, the device can be worn over or under any other motorcycle jacket, and it needs no physical connection to the bike to work.

The airbag system has everything it needs to function embedded in itself. It runs on batteries that can keep it alert for 26 hours at a time (recharging is made using any available USB plug). An electronic control unit is on deck, looking at available data 1,000 times per second to predict sliding, high-siding, rear-end collisions, or impact with other objects in front.

When such a scenario takes place, the control unit automatically tells the jacket to inflate along the entire surface, wrapping the rider in a soft shield that prevents them from being seriously injured. According to the specs, the protection achieved using this system is “equal to that of seven level 1 back protectors, without having any rigid protector inside.”

And it’s practical, too. “Ducati Smart Jacket is an extremely light and practical garment, which, once you get off the bike, can be easily folded and stored in a side bag or backpack,” say the Italians.

“In addition, another technological innovation introduced by Dainese allows the protective bag on the chest to be folded, to occupy a smaller area and thus allow the passage of air through the fabric of the vest.”

Ducati does not say anything about pricing for the jacket but reveals they are already available at dealers, in both men’s and women’s versions. Important to note is that the use of this equipment requires registration and activation.

 

by Colleen Morgan from https://www.moodiedavittreport.com

An exhibition exploring the history and development of motorcycling has opened at San Francisco International Airport (SFO).

The SFO Museum exhibition, in the International Terminal Departures, started on 11 February and will run through 19 September 2021.

According to exhibition organisers, early American motorcycles “reflect a bygone era of mechanical innovation and bold industrial design”. They are prized by collectors around the world and displayed on vintage rides, endurance runs, and at special events.

The exhibition presents fourteen ‘exceptional’ examples made prior to 1916, along with a collection of rare engines and photographs from the pioneering era of motorcycling.

It follows the development of the motorcycle – “one of the earliest and most exciting applications of another new invention, the gasoline-powered internal combustion engine” – from the 1890s until 1915. The exhibition highlights the progress of motorcycle technology during that period and the evolvement of riding “from a novelty, to a hobby, sport and a reliable source of transportation”.

As the presentation points out, “motorcycling in the early twentieth century was always an adventure”.

“Road conditions were generally poor and hitting a pothole or other hazard on a motorcycle supported by a primitive, stiffly sprung suspension could easily throw a rider off the bike”.

It also underlines the need for “athletic ability” to start and ride these machines and that motorcyclists had to be mechanically minded to keep them in working condition.

Early American Motorcycles is one of several exhibitions which are running for limited periods at the SFO Museum. Others include Hair Style, Instrumental Rock ‘n’ Roll, Paula Riff, Amelia Konow   and Alternative Process by the San Francisco University School of Art.

The airport also offers a strong line-up of permanent exhibitions which include Pan American Airways, Harvey Milk ‘Messenger of Hope’ and Spirogyrate, an interactive children’s exploration area featuring artwork by Bay Area artist Eric Staller.