speed

Honda’s all-new superbike

by Nicole Garcia Merida from https://moneyweek.com The Honda Fireblade has been overhauled to deliver even more power and speed. “It’s not the same bike with different colours, it’s not a facelift. The new Fireblade is a completely different beast,” says Cristian Predoi in DriveMag Riders. The CBR1000RR-R boasts an all-new, ultra short-stroke inline four-cylinder engine, which means the machine packs quite a punch, with a lot more speed and a lot more torque than its predecessor. It looks like Honda really means business with the 2020 Blade, says Jordan Gibbons in Motorcycle News – it is “gunning for all-out superbike glory”. The engine delivers an astounding 215bhp, making it more powerful than almost all its competitors. (The only exception, the 988cc Ducati Panigale V4R, sneaks ahead with 217bhp.) And clever new technology and reworked engine details means you can “rev the engine like mad and achieve the big power figures they’ve clearly been chasing for track success”. It looks like Honda “got bored of being beaten by its rivals on road and track and pulled out all the stops to create a far sharper Blade”. The new frame is designed to maximise feel for the rider. It is also far more aerodynamic, says Ben Purvis in Bennetts. “A trio of winglets hides behind the outer fairing panel on each side… The tank is shaped to let riders tuck in better, and the bellypan is more enclosed than any rival and runs right back to the rear wheel, where it’s shaped to deflect air and water away.” Honda has clearly not come to play with this version of the Fireblade. “When a Honda is named, every ‘R’ in its title means more performance.” The new model boasts an “R” more than its older sibling. Is it worthy? “Without a doubt.”

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Cause determined in Jessi Combs’ fatal speed record crash

by Zac Palmer from https://www.msn.com Occurred at speeds near 550 mph. Jessi Combs’ fatal high-speed crash was caused by “a mechanical failure of the front wheel, most likely caused from striking an object on the desert,” according to the Harney County Sheriff’s Office in Oregon. This information comes to us two months after Combs’ tragic accident on the dry lake bed of the Alvord Desert. Combs was 39 years old. The investigation concluded that the front wheel failure “led to the front wheel assembly collapsing.” The sheriff’s department says this happened at speeds approaching 550 mph. Both the Harney County Sheriff’s Office and the North American Eagle Race Team collected evidence from the scene to come to this conclusion. Her cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma to the head, which happened before the vehicle was engulfed in flames. No other official information regarding the crash was released. Combs was an extremely well-known racer, fabricator and a longtime host of Autoblog’s “The List” video series, and it is with heavy hearts that we convey this news to you today. The sheriff’s office concluded its release by passing on “its condolences to the family of Jessi Combs and the North American Eagle Race Team.”

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The German Autobahn is under threat

By Cameron Kirby from https://www.whichcar.com.au The last bastion of high-speed driving freedom could soon be outlawed There is a new plan to kill the Autobahn as we know and love it. If a minority party in Germany’s federal parliament has its way, a new national 130km/h limit could replace the unrestricted sections of the Autobahn. Currently there are 5353km of Autobahn which have the ‘unrestricted’ advisory speed limit. The Alliance90/The Greens political party, often referred to simply as The Greens, is behind the move, and is pushing the lowering of limits as part of a package of new measures intended to reduce emissions. “A speed limit would be a commandment of reason for an enlightened society in the 21st century,” said Green politician Cem Özdemir. It’s claimed that enforcing a 130km/h limit would lower Germany’s carbon dioxide emissions by between one and three million tonnes per year. In 2018, Germany produced 725.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. Lowering speed limits to 130km/h on the autobahn is supported by the German police union, with the head of the federal trade union Michael Mertens stating: “For us, a speed limit for transport policy reasons is urgently needed”. A vote on the proposition will be held in Germany’s national parliament, the Bundestag, on October 13. The federal parliament has 709 seats, with the joint Union alliance, made up of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU), and Social Democratic Party of Germany (SDP), holding a majority with 398 members. The Greens hold 67 of the 311 seats in opposition. The Union has previously defended the unrestricted speed limits on the Autobahn, including when they were attacked earlier this year. In January a leaked report from a government-appointed committee called the National Platform on the Future of Mobility

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Berlin to tighten rules for electric scooter users

City transport officials said after a meeting with scooter providers that they’ll designate special on-street parking zones for the battery-powered vehicles BERLIN: Berlin plans to stop electric scooters from being left haphazardly on sidewalks and other anti-social behavior that’s drawn the ire of residents in the German capital since the vehicles were made legal two months ago. City transport officials said Wednesday after a meeting with scooter providers that they’ll designate special on-street parking zones for the battery-powered vehicles, which are popular among tourists and young people. Berlin police will also step up patrols to prevent illegal behavior such as doubling. Police say seven people have been seriously injured and 27 suffered minor injuries in scooter accidents since mid-June, saying most were due to riders behaving carelessly. In Paris, where about 20,000 scooters roam the streets , authorities recently proposed limiting speeds to 8 kilometers per hour (5 mph) in areas with heavy foot traffic.

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Google Maps introduces a feature to make commute easy

Google has reportedly introduced a new features in Google Maps which will offer preview of users’ commute with a map as soon as they get into the car. Tech giant Google keep on introducing new features in its navigation app Google Maps in order to enhance the user experience. Recently, the company rolled out the speed camera and accident alert features. Now, Google has reportedly introduced a new features in Google Maps which will offer preview of users’ commute with a map as soon as they get into the car. According to a report by Android Police, Google is working on a major improvement which will offer advance notification including a small preview of the route that the Maps suggest the user to take. This will offer a better idea to the driver as they will get to know about the traffic congestion in advance. The company will be using the same colour codes to inform about the traffic condition. The blue area will suggest the clear route and the orange will highlight the slow traffic movement. The roads which will appear red indicate heavy traffic. In order to access the preview users just will have to expand the notification which they will receive before their morning and afternoon commutes. The report also adds that the update consisting of the new feature has started rolling out as a server-side update and is yet to reach the Android users. Recently, Google Maps were updated with features like report a Crash, Speed alert and traffic slowdown. While the first one lets the app know about a possible crash and show others a different route, the second one alerts them about upcoming Speed Traps on the way. However, the team is rolling out the third ‘Add a report’ option in the app –

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The IIHS: When a New Study is Not New and Not a Study

By Gary Biller, NMA President Every two or three years, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) splashes the media with a recycled report of how many deaths have occurred due to raised speed limits. And reporters dutifully echo it as gospel because sensational headlines like, “Speed limit increases are tied to 37,000 deaths over 25 years,” grab attention and generate views. That is the current press release title from IIHS for a just-issued report that is a rehash of a similar effort from 2016. The claim from the insurance industry advocacy group made back then, with uncanny precision for a methodology based almost entirely on assumption and extrapolation, was that 32,894 people died from higher speed limits since the 55 mph National Maximum Speed Limit (NMSL) was repealed. This skeptical review of that IIHS claim three years ago could serve just as well in critiquing the 2019 IIHS repeat of the “speed kills” mantra. Perhaps my favorite quote in the current reporting of the IIHS release is this from Axiom’s “Slow the hell down:” “ ’Every time you raise speed limits, you see more deaths,’ said IIHS vice president for research and statistical services Charles Farmer.” It isn’t necessary to stretch our advocacy muscles even a tiny bit to show this as provably false. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System Encyclopedia publishes annual highway fatalities rates. Speed limits have climbed steadily since the full repeal of the NMSL in 1995, commonly reaching 75, 80 and even 85 mph, and yet fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled have plummeted: 1995                1.73 2000                1.53 2005                1.46 2010                1.11 2015                1.15 The 2017 fatality rate of 1.16 marks a 33 percent reduction over the past 22 years. Mr. Farmer sees statistics differently than most, but then again,

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Salt Torpedo Action Update Chapter 16

Making Move on Everything! The last few weeks have been interesting and challenging. We are actually getting close to watching the Salt Torpedo sit on its own three wheels with the help of Yelvington Shocks. This week we could finish the steering system. We could link the steering with the wheels. We could have a gas tank mounted. We are getting damn close to making a battery mount, and then hooking up the drive line for a run around the block. READ the True Story of the First Streamlined trike to be registered for Bonneville Salt Flats racing. CLICK HERE. Join the Cantina. Check out the new Hal Robinson Tee-shirts and 5-Ball Racing Special Op Vest. http://shop.bikernet.com/ Ride Forever!!!

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Yamaha Expects India to Become its Largest Production Base in 5 yrs

Markets in Indonesia, Vietnam saturating; India priority No. 1, says top executive. Japanese auto major Yamaha Motor Company (YMC) expects India to overtake Indonesia to emerge as its largest base in terms of production output in the next five years. “India sells more than 20 million two-wheelers annually and the numbers are growing. Our company’s market share is in single digits. We want to improve this. There is a lot of opportunity,” says Yamaha India Chairman Shitara. Two-wheeler sales in India increased 6.95% to 19,740,727 units till February this fiscal. In the same period, India Yamaha Motor’s sales remained largely flat at around 732,006 units. The company additionally exported 226,010 units. Yamaha Motor India’s group chairman Motofumi Shitara was speaking on the sidelines of the launch of MT-15 priced at ₹1.36 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). “India is priority number one for us worldwide. We aim to have production volume of 2.5 million units in India in the next five years,” he said. Going ahead, Shitara said the company would steer clear of the mass segment and focus on launching premium motorcycles in the domestic market. The company has also commenced a study on introducing electric two-wheelers in India. Shitara is currently defining the mid-term roadmap for the company till 2025 to lay the foundation on how the brand Yamaha takes shape the country. Apart from growing volumes, Shitara said a focus area for him is to project a strong image for the Yamaha brand in the local market. Yamaha MT-15 was launched on Friday – a 155cc bike with liquid-cooled four-stroke engine mated to a six-speed transmission. MT-15 is priced at Rs 1.36 lakh ex-showroom. It has ABS and fuel injected variable valve actuation (VBA). On the idea of electric motorcycles, the Yamaha Chairman says – “Three points are important, one

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Zero introduces bold new SR/F Electric Streetfighter

Zero launched a new SR/F streetfighter in Amsterdam, which claims to deliver an attractive blend of “industry-leading power, control and connection.” It is a tangible improvement in range capability and recharging time, along with new styling that brings its electric powertrain with sharp and conventional – naked streetfighter looks. The Californian brand leaps forward making electric motorcycles look and perform in a way more appealing to both new and largely electric-phobic existing bikers. Vice President of Product Development, Brian Wismann, said: “The bike was inspired and influenced by the same things that inspire designers that are working on internal combustion bikes. “I don’t want anybody to think that this was meant to look like an electric Ducati, or Triumph – it’s not a derivative design, but having an understanding of where this cultural reference for having beautiful machines comes from and then integrating some of those design elements into the SR/F are pertinent in describing why it looks as good as it does.” New Zero SR/F specs 200-mile range potential One-hour charge to 95% Makes 110bhp / 140lbft Two models available in May Weight is 226kg Zero’s new SR/F has the power and charm to attract regular street racers. The torque makes this a serious streetfighter. The model uses Zero’s new ZF75-10 motor, coupled to a ZF14.4 lithium-ion battery. The powertrain uses air-cooling to improve longevity. It eliminates many routine maintenance jobs. A single charge is claimed to have the potential to deliver a 200-mile maximum range when ridden at town speeds, using Zero’s Power Tank, which arrives in Autumn 2019. The innovative Rapid Charge System works on the large and growing network of Level 2 charge stations and provides a platform that allows for up to three independent charging modules. This means the SR/F can boast the fastest recharge

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Rewaco Trikes USA : Thrilling Threesome

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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