World War

Kawasaki Celebrates 70 Years Of Making Motorcycles

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In September of 2023, Kawasaki Motors celebrates its 70th anniversary of making motorcycles, first making its forays into the motorcycle business in 1953. After the end of World War II, Kawasaki produced motorcycle engines under the name of “Kawasaki Machine Works.” Since then, Kawasaki has continued to Let the Good Times Roll and has strived to share “Fun to Ride” motorcycles with our customers around the world. Today, Kawasaki motorcycles are sold in more than 90 countries and regions. To commemorate Kawasaki Motorcycles’ 70-year anniversary, a special exhibition will be held at Kawasaki USA Heritage Hall in Foothill Ranch, California as well as Kawasaki Good Times World in Kobe, Japan starting in September 2023. The display will focus on the history of the motorcycle business in the U.S. market, which marked a major turning point in Kawasaki’s overseas strategy. It will be the first in a series of events to commemorate this special anniversary. Working toward upholding our mission statement of “Working for the happiness and joy of all those whose lives Kawasaki touches,” Kawasaki aims to keep moving forward and growing into the future. (Press Release) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Follow Bikernet Free Weekly Newsletter to get latest Motorcycling news, updates, reviews, tech, tips, events & lot of fun. Click here & take a test ride.

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World War II Rider Beatrice Shilling, OBE

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by Jason Marker from https://www.rideapart.com With a simple, thimble-shaped washer, this pioneering woman gearhead saved the lives of countless RAF pilots in WWII. During the Battle of Britain, the Royal Air Force discovered a glaring problem with its Rolls-Royce Merlin-powered fighters—the Hawker Hurricane and the Supermarine Spitfire. See, that generation of Merlin was fitted with dual-choke, updraft carburetors built by the S.U. Carburettor Company Limited. These worked just like your regular updraft carb and were great in level flight. Problem was, you see, that fighter planes don’t spend a lot of time in level flight. Any negative-G maneuvers, such as pitching the nose down sharply in a dive, would cause the carbs to flood and the engine to cut out. Not exactly what you want in your badass, high-po, Nazi-killing fighter. RAF pilots figured out pretty quickly that they could perform a quick half-roll before diving in an attempt to counteract the flooding, but this only worked so well. It also introduced a delay in the RAF boys’ maneuvers that provided ample opportunity for the fuel-injected Luftwaffe fighters—especially Willie Messerschmitt’s legendary BF109—to either blow up the RAF planes or run for it as the situation allowed. The RAF needed a solution to this problem, and fast. Enter one Beatrice Shilling. Humble Beginnings and Early Career Beatrice Shilling was born on March 8, 1909, in Hampshire, and raised in Surrey. Her parents were butcher Henry Shilling and his wife Annie (née Dulake). She was, by all accounts, a peculiar young girl for her time. She was obsessed with Meccano, a model-building system similar to an Erector Set, and even won a prize in a national Meccano-building contest. She spent her pocket money on tools, knives, and pots of glue, and, the fact that most concerns us here at RideApart, bought her

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The Flying Wrens: Sisterhood of Motorcycling Heroes

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All-Female British dispatch riders of WW-II Originally, the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS) was formed in 1917, during WW-I. Riding on narrow British roads in all weather conditions can be a dangerous enough occupation. Doing so around the clock during WW-II with the German Blitz going on around you required steel nerves. The bikes used were mostly small, single-cylinder affairs, built specifically for military use. Click Here to Read this Feature Article & Historic Photos on Bikernet.com Join the Cantina for more – Subscribe Today. https://www.bikernet.com/pages/custom/subscription.aspx

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Rare 1901 Triumph Motor Bicycle to Make First Public Appearance in 84 Years

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by Florina Spînu from https://www.autoevolution.com Salon Privé Week, now in its 16th year, will once again highlight the best of the automotive and motorcycle worlds. Any car enthusiast and motorcycle aficionado will drool at the most incredible supercars and classics and alongside the rarest motorcycles. Triumph will also take part in this year’s series of events and will create a buzz with a rare sight: its first motorcycle ever built. What began in 1886 as the Triumph Cycle Company has become one of the most recognizable of all motorcycle brands, with iconic models including the Speed Twin, Bonneville, and the famous Thunderbird 6T ridden by Marlon Brando in “The Wild One.” Siegfried Bettmann and Moritz Schulte, the company’s founders, started out making Triumph-branded bicycles, but they gradually extended production to include motorcycles as well. That’s how the company’s first “motorcycle” was born. It was a bicycle fitted with a 3/4hp 172cc Belgian Minerva engine. The machine had no clutch or gearbox, and the rider could adjust the rear chain with the use of a rear band brake and an eccentric crank. The Triumph motor bicycle was introduced in September 1901 for the 1902 season. The brand’s reputation for quality and durability was well established by the outbreak of WWI, which eventually led to substantial orders for military use. The rare exemplary will be on display at on the South Lawn at Blenheim Palace as part of the Salon Privé Concours d’Elégance. Its appearance represents a unique opportunity for visitors to see this historic motor bicycle ( which is the forerunner of all subsequent Triumphs) in public for the first time since 1937. On September 1st, Salon Privé Concours d’Elégance will include two classes: Exceptional Motorcycles and Exceptional Competition Motorcycles. Allen Millyard, a well-known motorcycle builder, will be back this year

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Numbers-Matching BMW R 11 Series 5 from 1934 On Auction

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by Silvian Secara from https://www.autoevolution.com Numbers-Matching 1934 BMW R 11 Series 5 Costs More Than a 2021 S 1000 RR. We hope you’ve been consistent with your savings, because it’s time to put them to good use. Online Auction at https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1934-bmw-r11-series-5/ In many ways, old-school motorcycles are a lot like fine wine; the older they are, the better. We’re all pretty thrilled about rides from the ‘70s and ‘80s, but that excitement tends to grow tenfold when you bring a pre-WWII bike into the equation. Take, for instance, the untainted 1934 BMW R 11 Series 5 featured in the photo gallery at the auction website. Motorrad’s numbers-matching artifact – which was assembled during the final year of production for this model – can only be described as the two-wheeler equivalent of a precious treasure chest. In fact, we dare say this Beemer is to a moto-loving petrolhead what Sauron’s ring was to Gollum in the Lord of the Rings series (or something like that). Odd comparisons aside, you’ll be intrigued to learn that Bavaria’s jewel is making its way to the auction block on Bring A Trailer. As you might expect, this bad boy is pricier than the vast majority of BMW’s modern machines, having fetched a generous top bid of $24,000 so far. If you happen to be sitting on a sizeable pile of spare cash, you may enter the BaT auction until Thursday, August 5. Now that we’ve caught your attention, let’s take a minute to remind ourselves about R 11’s main specs and features. In this manner, you can get a clear idea as to what we’re dealing with here, even if this creature is more of a showpiece rather than a bike that’ll be ridden on a daily basis. Within its steel framework, the Series 5

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Ural Phenomenon : the Incredible Sidecar Sub-culture Among Motorcyclists

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Soviet Russian espionage during World War II, Nazi motorcycles, hacking, ancient resource rich Ural mountains, a defunct brewery factory, privatization – what have these things got in common? A legendary sidecar wielding motorcycle is what they all mixed together to create in the heat of world economy. CLICK TO READ NOW !!! A legacy of WWII is now an ambassador of goodwill and friendship across the world. We present two-part Feature Article on Ural sidecar motorcycles.

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