competition

Harley-Davidson Forty-Eight Gets Low Stance and High Exhaust

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by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com Two weeks after we started, we came to the end of our Harley-Davidson King of King’s coverage. Of the 15 bikes that took part in the competition, only one is left, the one its builders call the Harley-Davidson XL 1200 FT. The creation of Harley’s dealer in Bordeaux, France, the build started life as a regular Forty-Eight, and received a number of changes meant to alter its appearance and performance and make it suitable for the Harley-designed contest. As usual, the shop had to respect the budget limit imposed by Harley for the bike to be admitted into the competition, so the changes that have been done to the stock machine are not necessarily extensive, but they are effective. To give the bike – officially called XL 1200 FT – a meaner appearance, the rear has been shortened and the exhaust has been raised to a higher position. At the front, the fork has been paired to high performance shock absorbers that also help give the motorcycle a lower appearance, and there’s also a special housing for the headlights. Engine wise, not many modifications have been made to the stock engine. The shop did add new camshafts and a high-flow air filter, but that’s about it. “Our XL 1200 FT brings together modern and historic elements of the brand to make it a somewhat timeless motorcycle,” said the French dealer about the build. As did all other bikes that have been entered in the competition, this too needed public votes to win. In the end, it failed to do so, and the title went to a Mexican build named Apex Predator. King of Kings was a competition dedicated to Harley’s international dealers. 15 bikes were featured on the roster from all around the world, all […]

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Harley-Davidson El Ganador Is How the Brits Build Club Style Motorcycles

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by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com Harley-Davidson’s King of Kings competition may have concluded last month, but it will probably be some time before all of the builds that were entered fade into history. A souped-up version of Battle of the Kings, King of Kings was dedicated to the bike maker’s international dealers, which in their spare time find enough resources to modify existing Harleys. In fact, that is what the entire thing was about: take an existing Harley, make it unique within a €6,000 ($6,500) budget, and keep it street legal. For a British Harley dealer that meant modifying a Roadster until it became El Ganador, a club style bike the likes of which are becoming increasingly popular in Europe. “Club Style can be a blend of many things: paintwork that is very in your face – we’ve used a lot of hard candies, the metal flake in the paint, and serious patterns on El Ganador. “ says the dealer about the chosen motif. “Club Style is based on performance and that’s why we went with æhlins suspension, chain and sprocket conversion, 2-1 exhaust system, upside-down forks and more.” The changes to the Roadster were not limited to the things stated above. The bike also received the wheels from a 2009 883R for an old-school look, while the tank comes from a King Sportster simply because it’s bigger than what the base bike had. The look of the El Ganador seems closer to that of the FXR because of the way in which the side panels have been shaped. Custom fenders, a new seat, and new chains complete the list of modifications made. In the end, the El Ganador did not win the competition, but a Mexican build by the name Apex Predator did. However, this does not make the

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Harley-Davidson Daytona’s Red Has a Transparent Fuel Tank

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by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com There have been 15 entries in all in Harley-Davidson’s King of Kings custom bike building competition, and the winner was crowned the Mexican-made Apex Predator. The bike is, of course, a great build, but that doesn’t mean the ones who lost are anything less. King of Kings was the culmination of a years-old custom bike challenge called Battle of the Kings (BOTK). All the entries for the final, bikes customized by the bike maker’s international dealers, were previous winners of BOTK. Among the most exciting projects was that of the Harley-Davidson Barcelona shop. The bike, called Daytona’s Red, was initially a Harley-Davidson Roadster, and even if the custom work done to it didn’t make it something else entirely, this two-wheeled machine sure does look different than any other roadsters out there. The thing that stands out the most is the crazy fuel tank the bike is fitted with. At its origins a stock Harley tank, it has been modified by hand to include a transparent section through which the gasoline and even the fuel pump in operation can be seen. The garage chose the Roadster for its project because “it is the most racing bike in the Harley-Davidson range.” “We have been inspired by the history of Harley-Davidson racing looking for a more racing style of motorcycle, differentiating ourselves from the most common styles in customization contests,” the garage says. The bike has been modified with more than just the exclusive tank. Several other parts were added, most of them built in house, including the exhaust, grips, and headlights. As a touch of class, the turn signals were integrated in the brake lever, it too built by hand. Even with all those remade parts, the Barcelona crew stayed true to the rules of the competition.

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Apex Predator Is One Sportster Harley-Davidson Should Start Making

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by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com At the beginning of April, Harley-Davidson announced the winner of this year’s King of Kings competition, a mashup of the best 15 previous winners of the Battle of the Kings. Its name is Apex Predator, and with it we’re kicking off a series that will bring to light over the following days all the participants. Known in the industry as BOTK, Battle of the Kings kicked off in 2015 as a custom build competition for Harley dealers worldwide. It is, if you like, a competition of ideas Harley itself was incapable of having, but recognized by the bike maker as possibly game changing for the custom industry. The rules of the competition are simple: the base motorcycle needs to be a Harley-Davidson bike, the customization must not cost over €6,000 ($6,500) and must have at least half of the parts used taken from the Harley inventory, and the final bike must be road legal. Over the years many competed in the Battle of Kings, but in April 2020 Harley crowned one of them ruler of the pack. And as fate would have it, that King of Kings is the Apex Predator. Built by a dealer in Mexico called Harley-Davidson Queretaro, the Apex is based on the Sportster XR1200 with the stock engine, and it is supposed to be a “retro-futuristic XR-based track monster meets street fighter.” Featuring custom parts like front fork covers, dual air intakes, and wave-style brake rotors, the bike does not shy away from making use of materials not often used in the motorcycle industry, like the Alcantara on the seat. Aside from the visual upgrades made to it, the Sportster also got a full color TFT Bluetooth instrument panel, and a hand built 2-1-2 exhaust system. As for the Sportster line,

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Eli Tomac Charges to Fourth in Atlanta

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Foothill Ranch, Calif. (March 1, 2020) – Round 9 of Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship made its way to Atlanta, Georgia, where Monster Energy® Kawasaki rider Eli Tomac overcame a difficult main event, putting together a strong ride to come from behind to finish fourth and hold onto the red-plate. Eli Tomac scored his first pole position of the season by setting a blistering time of 50.294 seconds marking the eighth time in nine races a Kawasaki rider has earned the pole position in the 450SX class. As the gate dropped on the second heat race of the night it was the No. 3 KX™450 rocketing out the gate, grabbing the holeshot and checking out from the competition. Tomac crossed the finish line with an impressive nine-second lead to take the heat race win. In the 450SX Main Event Tomac found himself buried off the start with his work cut out for him. As he began charging forward making his way up to seventh place, his progress was quickly halted when he and another rider came together, sending Tomac back to 15th place. Tomac began his charge forward, but a small mistake caused his bike to stall, a quick press of the electric start button on the handlebar minimized the damage and from there Tomac put together an amazing performance, riding from behind to narrowly miss the podium with a fourth-place finish. Tomac heads to Daytona tied in the lead for the 450SX championship point standings with Ken Roczen. This weekend’s race in Atlanta marked the first time in Monster Energy Supercross history that a race would be held on leap day. “The main event didn’t go as planned, but the good news is we live to fight another day and line back up next weekend at

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Monster Energy® Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac Captures First 450SX Win of the Season at Round 3

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January 18, 2020 | Angel Stadium | Anaheim, Calif. Foothill Ranch, Calif. (January 19, 2020) – Eli Tomac and his No. 3 Monster Energy® Kawasaki KX™450 ascended to the top step of the podium at Round 3 of Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship. Racing returned to Anaheim, California for the second and final stop at Angel Stadium, with Tomac grabbing his 28th career 450SX win, meanwhile 450SX rookie and teammate Adam Cianciarulo continued to impress by finishing in sixth place amongst the title contenders. For the third week in a row, the Monster Energy Kawasaki dynamic duo kicked off the day by qualifying with the two fastest times as Cianciarulo clocked the fastest lap time of 51.865 with Tomac hot on his heels in second with a 51.934. The two Monster Energy Kawasaki riders were the only two riders to put in a hot lap in under 52 seconds. For the third week in a row, Cianciarulo was the fastest qualifier heading into the night show. Tomac lined up for the first 450SX heat race and right out of the gate was able to tuck under the competition in the first turn. The No. 3 machine wasted no time getting out front and quickly darted away from the competition as he built an impressive nine-second gap over the field and went onto claim his first 450SX heat race win of the season. Carrying the confidence of qualifying into the night show, Cianciarulo shot out of the 450SX Heat 2 gate in second place, but by the second turn had already claimed the lead. Cianciarulo began clicking off laps where he was able to lead the first half of the heat race before surrendering the top spot and finishing second. In the 450SX Main Event both Tomac and

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Aprilia 250 to 350cc motorcycles planned – To take on Royal Enfield

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by Abhinand Venugopal from https://www.rushlane.com/ Seeing the success of Royal Enfield in the 250-350cc segment, many motorcycle brands are planning entry with new products. Royal Enfield is arguably one of the most demanded names in the 350cc category in the Indian motorcycle market. For the same reason, many brands have come forward with their own range of compelling products to take on the Chennai-based motorcycle manufacturer. Now, the Italian automotive brand, Piaggio has revealed its plans to enter the same segment through its Aprilia sub-brand. Diego Graffi, MD of Piaggio, shares that the company has a lot of interesting in the Indian motorcycle market and sees untapped potential in the 250-350cc market. With Aprilia — the winner of multiple racing championships in the world — under its belt, Piaggio is confident that it can make a strong presence in the market, especially against the likes of Royal Enfield products. As per data, Indian two-wheeler sales have dropped by 15.74% to 1,28,64,936 units between April to November of the current fiscal year. In turn, Piaggio sales (predominantly, Aprilia and Vespa range of scooters) declined by 16.86% to 48,471 units. Out of the 7,73,855 motorcycles sold in the 250-350cc segment in the country within the same period, Royal Enfield contributed to almost 99% of the sales, at 7,64,012 units. For the same reason, it makes sense for Piaggio to introduce something that would be much more desirable than the market leader. Mr Graffi commented that this would take time, but is definitely in the plans. Royal Enfield products have a cult following in the country and some folks even see it as ‘the motorcycle’ over anything else on the market. The charm of a Royal Enfield is its classic styling that can simply overshadow its relatively poor output characteristics and chassis dynamics.

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2019 Screamin’ Eagle Drag Team and H-D Factory Flat Track Team

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2019 Screamin’ Eagle / Vance & Hines Drag Team and H-D Factory Flat Track Team Season Previews Harley-Davidson is excited to share a preview of the 2019 NHRA Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines Drag Team and Harley-Davidson Factory Flat Track Team seasons. 2019 NHRA Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines Drag Team The Harley-Davidson® Screamin’ Eagle®/Vance & Hines drag racing team opens its 17th season of NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle competition at the 50th Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals, March 14-17 in Gainesville, Fla. The team will begin pursuit of a 10th Pro Stock Motorcycle championship with a three-rider squad, as Angelle Sampey joins Andrew Hines and Ed Krawiec on Harley-Davidson® Street Rod™ competition motorcycles. The trio of veteran riders have won a combined 12 NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle titles. “We will be bringing a formidable team to the track at Gainesville,” said Vance & Hines Motorsports owner Terry Vance. “Three former champions with all the savvy and experience it takes to reach the pinnacle of our sport, backed by a strong team in the pits and Harley-Davidson V-Twin power. We are racing in a very competitive class but we expect to be one of the teams to beat for the championship this season.” The Harley-Davidson Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines team races competition drag bikes are inspired by the Harley-Davidson Street Rod production motorcycle, an agile middle-weight powered by the liquid-cooled High Output Revolution X 750 engine. The Gatornationals is the first of 16 Pro Stock Motorcycle events on the 2019 NHRA Mello Yellow Drag Racing Series schedule. After the first 10 events, the points are re-set for the top-10 riders that then qualify for the Countdown to the Championship playoffs (the final six races), with the season ending in November at the Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif. 2019 Harley-Davidson Factory

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Rewaco Trikes USA : Thrilling Threesome

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Rewaco Trikes USA : Thrilling Threesome Innovative Triking from a German company blows out the competition by Ujjwal Dey I have seen the future of Trikes in America and it is called REWACO. Incredible trikes and a pro-range of models with the bonus benefits of customization, comfort, ready-to-tour, financing and eye-candy. The optional Power-Shifter on the handlebar – operated on demand in ″SP-Sport-Mode″ – can turn this sweet regal lamb into a speedy mile-hungry wolf. The broad classification after selecting a purchase model is: 1. Engine Variations 2. Equipment Packages such as Classic or Dynamic 3. Colors 4. Choice of Wheel set in Alloy 5. Further Special Options to make you drool on its fender, frame extenstion, footrests, ABS, handlebar, navigation system, safety lock system, etc. CLICK HERE TO READ THE FEATURE ARTICLE

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