Aprilia RX50 Motorcycle

Aprilia RX50 Motorcycle

Aprilia RX50 Motorcycle

Aprilia RX50 Motorcycle

The RX exhaust is fitted with a catalytic converter, and emissions respect euro 2 standards without penalising the advanced performance of the Aprilia 50 cc engine. The Aprilia RX is equipped with a 21” front wheel and an 18” rear wheel, just as on real competition enduro bikes. They are both powered by an engine of the latest generation and feature the sort of chassis that many big can only envy. The RX 50 enduro supermotard is high performance 50 cc machines.

The Aprilia RX50 is clearly dedicated to young riders seeking the best technology around plus head-turning good looks.

DERBI Mulhacen - The Thumper Cafe Scrambler

Please note that all images are 3000 x 2500 or higher. This is because you will truely and really appreciate the beauty of this bike. So while I apologize for the size which will take a long time to download, but believe me, you will like what you see!

DERBI is one firm which has been a standout in World Championships in the smaller categories. Derbi has made its status legendary with 10 World Championship titles in the 50cc, 80cc and 125cc categories. In 2008, DERBI claimed back the 125 World Championship title with its Balas Rojas (a. k. a Red Bullets) which was their 19th title including 11 titles for riders and 8 as manufacturers. But these championship titles were very few previous to 2008; in fact the last title before 2008 came in 1989 and that was in the 80cc category. There are not too many Spanish bike builders now but Derbi seems to be holding rather well and it has been well received in the biking community for whom Derbi is actually intended for. Although Spanish, it is now owned by the Italian firm Piaggio.
As such majority of the bikes are within the 125cc range. However there is this other engine of 659cc which has a body to die for, I mean the overall look of the bike that is. Of course, this is the Mulhacen 659. The same engine does duty on three different versions, the regular Mulhacen 659, the Mulhacen Café 659 and the limited edition Mulhacen Café 659 Angel Neito LTD Edition. Pronounced Mull-hass-en, Mulhacen is the name of a mountain in the Iberian Peninsula. From the first time it was displayed at the 2004 Munich show, the bike was very well received and it has also won an award from the Motorcycle Design Association (MDA) winning the third spot for "Best of Show" when it was competing against Benelli's TNT, KTM's RC8 and Yamaha's MT-01.

Among the 3 versions, first came the Mulhacen 659, essentially a scrambler. Then for the many fans of street versions, the bike came in the form of Mulhacen Café 659 and now Derbi have dedicated this new Euro3 version of the Mulhacén Café 659 to Angel Nieto, the man who contributed the most to make the Derbi brand famous in the racing world by winning world championships between 1969 and 1986.
The idea of making a Scrambler came to Derbi as they wanted to bring back the 70s in a modern machine. This is another new-age retro which seems to be the flavour of the decade. By sheer looks of the bikes, it is just magnificent. It’s so sleek looking that you feel like keep on staring at it as it stands still. Now Derbi has gone a step further and launched the Mulhacén Café 659 Angel Nieto LTD version. It is oh-so-beautiful. So elegant and the new colour scheme is absolutely breath taking. Only 50 units of the L.E. which will be built. The Café version differs from the L.E and the regular in its tyre size which are thinner, a slightly longer wheelbase while having a shorter overall length.
Like some other manufacturers (e.g. Aprilia) Derbi gets the engine from the Yamaha-Minarelli partnership and the engine is a single-cylinder four-valve Euro 3 compliant engine. It is the same engine that powers Yamaha MT-03, XT 660 and Aprilia Pegaso 650 Strada. It has a steel tube frame with aluminum swingarm. Basically the models are the same but the ergonomics of the motorcycles have been carefully reworked for the different versions.The engine is a liquid-cooled, fuel-injected, SOHC, four-valve, 659.7cc single-cylinder unit that has a modest 47bhp on tap and 55Nm of torque and weighs around 170kg. Top speed is around 165kmph and a 0 to 100 is achieved in 6.44 seconds. Torque is quite good even at low rpm which helps the rider feel at ease in urban traffic as well as long winding roads. All the 3 models have almost similar specifications, with the difference in tyre sizes that is smaller tyres with a slightly longer wheelbase while having an overall shorter length for the Café version. The Café version has a removable seat cowl and the suspension is kept soft for long distance travel.

Actually the Mulhacen Café looks a little bit of a dual purpose, probably because of its long stance typical of a scrambler, but it is essentially a café racer. Actually no, I mean it is sort of a mixture, but it is also projected as a middleweight sportsbike, so it is actually worth for that category as to go along with the Café Racer category (which is anyway an urban sport bike), it has some typical sportsbike character like the 17-inch wheels (shod with 110mm (front) and 150mm (rear) Pirelli Diablo tyres), 43mm USD Marzocchi fork (non-adjustable), fully adjustable ZF Sachs monoshock and high-spec Brembo brakes with radial-mount callipers at the front. So, it seems it will please a lot of bike fans of different categories from scramblers to café racers to sportsbike and a little of dual purpose. It is a good mixture between these categories albeit you have to compromise on certain aspects on building cross category bikes. Looking at the bike, you know the tyres are definitely gravel friendly and aluminum swing-arm will surely handle well on off roads but it has a soft suspension which is for in alignment for city driving and just might be not that helpful in the mountains. But the good thing is that it is factory set and can be adjusted. The seat height is also lower than one would expect on a scrambler, but good enough if you think you are on a café racer. This might mean that the foot pegs may touch the tarmac though.

The engine is of course the trusted and tried one, but the Mulhacen has its fuel injection is re-mapped specifically for the bike. There is ample torque at the bottom of the rev range for its city riding pleasure.
Opening the throttle in first will have the front arcing up in a smooth controllable wheelie with the second gear perfect for typical town speeds of 30-40mph. Well, it will easily do over 160 kmph and would touch the 175kmph mark. The rear shock is neatly placed, offset on the right-hand side of the swingarm and with the battery at the center of the middle of the frame, it centralizes its weight. The Yamaha -Minarelli 660cc single is known to have a nice pull above 5,000rpm and also known as very satisfying in the twisties and you could enjoy all that to the 7000 rpm. Although the feul injection has been re mapped, power comparision vis-à-vis other models based on the engine (say XT660R), the power has been detuned in the mid range which is probably due to the single silencer and the size of the airbox. Riding style is aggressive with the rider sitting close to the tank.
The digital clocks are small but clearly visible. There are eight different levels of backlight brightness to illuminate the dash with a clinical white glow. The small fuel tank will see you up 138kms (86 miles) before you are being informed to refill or else by another 24 kms more and you will need to start dragging the bike.
The Mulhacen is the baby of one Mr. Klaus Nennewitz, who was previously involved with Aprilia in creating the Tuono and Falco and Mr. Jose Gonzales who was man behind the design. To create a narrow bike, one usually prefers a single downtube splitting into two bottom cradles and that is there, but don’t miss the unique side-mounted rear suspension that has the shock in upright position. Why this is important is because can you think about any other combination which would allow such a narrow and low midsection while still housing a proper-sized air box? It’s probably an overlook by most or all of us, but there are many similar detailing that has gone into the bike for which Mr. Gonzales needs to be applauded, but even if you miss the great detailing, everything comes out as a total picture when you really start appreciating the beauty without knowing what it is that has really taken the cake. From the bodywork to the proportions and the lithe curves, everything seems so well suited.

Now coming to the main part, the looks! Just standing there, it simply looks brilliant, no doubt about it. Those spoked wheels, fat tyres and the sweet exhaust gels so well with the small but very good looking tank which is so in tune with the low-seat and the big massive swingarm! And that massive front disc brake also adds to the overall macho but slick look.All in all, basically it is a fun bike and will suit riders from all ages and categories, it won’t overwhelm you, you won’t be overpowered but you will have the smile of riding a middleweight bike with lots of character and with even much much more style. Derbi probably wants it to feature as a all rounder and as such it has certainly done a wonderful job. Well, it is not actually cheap anyway because at 6,785 UK Pounds or 7,700 Euros or 11,000 USD, you can get a lot of bigger multi cylinder bikes which will be much more powerful. In fact, barring the YZF R1, you can get any of the supersport bike from the Yamaha stable even the R6 or the FZ1, but what the Mulhacen promises you is a stand out anywhere. You will be noticed! This actually is a piece of art, very customized but you can have it. Visit the DERBI website, you will also like the off-roaders and in case you want some further info on the specific bikes, here are the links to the Mulhacen 659, Mulhacen Café 659 and Mulhacen 659 LE.

Specifications
Engine - Single cylinder, 4S, 4 Valve, 659.7cc
Bore x stroke - 100 x 84 mm
Fuel supply - Nippondenso electronic injection with second air system, 44mm throttle valve
Cooling system - Liquid
Compression ratio 10:1
Lubrication system - Dry sump with oil pump
Ignition starting system - Electronic & Electric
Primary & Secondary transmission - Gear & Chain
Clutch - Multi-plate
Gearbox - 5 speeds
Front & Rear suspension - 43 mm. Upside-down fork, 120 mm travel & Hydraulic progressive linkage monoshock, 120 mm travel
Tyres - Front: 110/80 x 17" (for LE & S), 110/60x17” (for Café) & 150/70 x 17" (for LE & S), 160/60x17” (for Café)
Front & Rear brakes -320 mm disc & 245 mm disc
Wheelbase - 1.386 mm (for LE & S), 1.390 mm (for Café)
Total length - 2.120 mm (for LE & S) & 1.998 mm (for Café)
Maximum width - 800 mm
Seat height - 810 mm Fuel tank - 13 Litres

Interestingly, BIKE EXIF featured a deriavative of the Mulhacen (Mulhacen Hot Bob) on their daily feature today. I am a subscriber of BIKE EXIF and everyday they send you a nice motorcycle link of rare bikes and as I was writing the text of the post, I was surprissed to see BIKE EXIF also featuring the same. Here is the permanent BIKE EXIF link to the Mulhacen Hot Bob. From Bike Exif "The great Spanish names of Ossa, Bultaco, and Montesa have gone, but Derbi remains—albeit as a subsidiary of Italian giant Piaggio. Most Derbi motorcycles are sub-125 cc city bikes, but the Mulhacén 659 is an interesting crack at the burgeoning scrambler market. It’s powered by a Yamaha-designed big single, reportedly the largest engine ever fitted to a Spanish motorcycle. At the 2006 EICMA show, Derbi revealed this ‘Hot Bob’ concept: unsurprisingly, nothing came of it, but the Mulhacén is gradually making a name for itself as a respectable scrambler with a strong dash of style. The latest variant from Derbi is the “Mulhacén Café 659 Angel Nieto Limited Edition”, a tribute to a 1970s Spanish roadracing hero. It has a slightly better paintjob than Hot Bob."

The Hot Bob and the Original

Bimota Tesi 2D Motorcycle

Bimota Tesi 2D Motorcycle

Bimota Tesi 2D Motorcycle

Bimota Tesi 2D Motorcycle

Bimota Tesi 2D Motorcycle

Bimota Tesi @D Specifications: # Front brake: 2 x 320 mm semi-floating discs, 4-piston calipers - Brembo # Frame: Omega machined aluminium alloy # Wheelbase: 1375 mm / 54.1 in # Front suspension: Progressive linkage with fully adjustable Double System monoshock # Front wheel travel: 120 mm / 4.7 in # Front wheel: 6 spoke design light alloy forged 3.50x17 # Front tyre: 120/70 ZR 17 # Rear suspension: Direct linkage with fully adjustable Double System monoshock # Rear wheel travel: 120 mm / 4.7 in # Rear brake: 220 mm disc, 2-piston caliper # Rear wheel: 6 spoke design light alloy forged 5.50x17 # Rear tyre: 180/55 ZR 17 # Fuel tank capacity: 13 l / 3.4 US gal (including 3 l / 0.8 US gal reserve) # Weight: 149 kg / 340,6 lbs # Seat height: 830 mm / 32.7 in # Warranty: 2 years unlimited mileage # Colors: Silver/Red/Black # Engine: Ducati - L twin cylinder, 2 valves per cylinder Desmodromic; air cooled # Displacement: 991 cc # Bore x Stroke: 94x71.5 # Compression ratio: 10,5:1 # Power: 63 kW - 85.5 Hp @ 8000 rpm # Torque: 87.5 Nm - 9 kgm @ 6300 rpm # Fuel injection: Electronic fuel injection, 45 mm throttle body # Emissions: Euro 2 # Gearbox: 6 speed # Final drive: Chain; The passion for the bike that stems from racing and carries through into the production of exclusive models made with an intense care for each and every component. The Bimota Tesi technology of the fully adjustable Double System suspension.

2009 Buell Firebolt XB12R Wallpapers

2009 Buell Firebolt XB12R Picture

2009 Buell Firebolt XB12R Motor Sport

2009 Buell Firebolt XB12R Wallpaper

The Beautiful Silver Hawk from MATCHLESS

Matchless has a rich heritage of TT history. There was another post on a Matchless bike, the Matchless G50some time back on the blog. This beautiful piece of machinery is the Matchless Silver Hawk. Designed by Bert Collier and produced first in 1931 at the Motorcycle Show at Olympia, London along with another classic the Ariel Square Four which was also its main competitor in those times.
The Silver Hawk was a luxury motorcycle and was very expensive. Critics however have mentioned that in terms of performance, it was second to none which credited the high price. Till that time, it was heralded as the most fascinating machine. It was silent, smooth and provided comfort like no other. The engine was flexible and could be started by hand and run in top gear most of the time. On top gear alone the Silver Hawk could run from as low as 6 miles per hour to over 80 miles per hour and aided by the four speed gear, riders mention the drive of the Silver Hawk is something that must be experienced to be believed.
The Silver Hawk was a development on the Matchless Silver Arrow. Besides sharing the frame design, majority of the cycle parts were continued over from the Silver Arrow. The frame actually housed the smaller vee-twin and featured cantilever rear springing in which the rear sub-frame pivoted in Silentbloc rubber-bonded bushes behind the gearbox. Two compression springs were mounted under the saddle, and damping was by friction discs, controlled by a knob. Brakes were coupled 8 in diameter, meaning that both front and rear drums came into operation if the brake pedal was pressed, but the handlebar lever operated the front brake alone.
On the engine front, it was also derived from the Silver Arrow, it had a narrow-angle V-four (18 degree V with a one-piece OHC) like the Silver Arrow monobloc twin. The single bevel-gear overhead camshaft ran across the cylinder head and four bores with special air cooling housed two pairs of cylinders at 26 degres to each other. A single carburettor fed all four induction valves through a cross shaped induction that produced an uneven feed. Coil and dynamo Ignition was driven by skew gearing from the camshaft-drive vertical shaft. A dry-sump oil system was supplied from a steel tank at the base of the front-down tube, bolted to the engine's crankcase. There was just one crankshaft set across the frame and it had a centre bearing mounted in a plate which was unusual but not for the future as it found home a few decades later in the AJS and Matchless vertical twins.
The Matchless Silver Hawk was in production for 4 years, from 1931 to 1935. The Silver Hawk did not exactly take the world by storm as Matchless had anticipated, and after struggling on for a few seasons, it was quietly dropped from the range in 1935. Actually it was not the bike but the time. This hugely expensive motorcycle didn’t find many takers during the years of the Great Depression and there was not much to choose between the Silver Hawk and the Ariel Square Four, but probably due to the price tag, people went for it and it had its run for 2 decades. But whatever happened, you just can’t deny the beauty of this bike. Those chromed pipes dropping off to the fish tail exhaust, the beautiful hand lever and the entire front fork and suspension assemble is so beautiful finished off with the round headlamp. The narrow V-twin almost looks like a sideways in-line 2 built along the same unit to make it a square four. For all those years, Matchless didn’t provide any up gradation on the Silver Hawk except that in its final period of production during 1935, a foot gear change was available at a more premium price.

In the News - Speed Shop, Viper V10, Kalex, V-Quad

So much has been happening in the motorcycle world recently that it is difficult to keep pace with the new things. Just wanted to put some new 'things' that got attention of the world in the past one and half weeks. I am sure you must have caught the info and news, but in case you haven't, links are provided of the original source for full stories.

After the recent AMD mind blowing beauties, here is another one which should have easily gone to the AMD. It's so beautiful, it is almost unreal and of course credit goes to photgrapher Jim Gianatsis of Fast Dates for depicting the beautiful handcrafted bike in such fine visual delight. OH! the bike... Yes, this is #6 (that's the name of the bike) from Seattle-based Chris Flechtner. And his approach got a big tick from the judges at last month’s Calendar Bike Building Championship in Long Beach as it walked off with the Pro Builder trophy. The bike was three years in the making at Speed Shop Design, and uses many hand-crafted parts. Sitting in the custom frame is a 1978 Sportster motor—a 38mm Mikuni VM carb supplies the gas, and air arrives through a modified horn scoop from a 1936 Ford. The front suspension, an 18” internal springer, is a Flechtner one-off. Chris Flechtner is a builder, has been for quite some time, starting out with RC model cars, then hand built bicycle frames and then a custom from a Honda CB350. The tank is a heavily modified Yamaha RD200 unit. He kept building while earning his MFA in design and metal arts from Cranbrook Academy of Art. Then he apprenticed under one of Japan’s most accomplished sword polishers and restorers, Tatsuhiko Konno, where he is still involved in the restoration of priceless samurai swords and armor. It’s not the usual path to custom motorcycle building but it lays a great foundation. Visit SPEED SHOP DESIGN although currently, it is inactive but has a flickr link for more photos. But you can also vist Chris Blog.

Source: BIKE EXIF & Knee Slider.

Brit bike builder Allen Millyard has launched his biggest and best machine yet - a 500bhp monster powered by a V10 Dodge Viper supercar engine. This is a street-legal motorcycle that’s powered by an 8,400cc motor. The V10 really needs no special tuning to get that output so all you have to do is fit the engine into a frame, Millyard has built a lot of interesting customs over the years, like a V12 Kawasaki from two 1300cc straight sixes, among others. Source: Faster and Faster through MCN.

Well that was the first one. Though not as massive as the Millyard motorcycle, the second one is a Arizona Boss Hoss Viper V10. It was posted in Kneeslider and one of the reader, Nawitus sends the link of the official source of this Arizona Boss Hoss. Apparently, these guys sale a lot of monster bikes and trikes. It’s really amazing how different the two bikes look while using the same powerplant. Visit the Arizona Boss Hoss websit to have a look at their lineup. including a 6000cc, 425 hp freaking liquid cooled V8, made from a Chevy, the 57 Chevy Trike. Sweet!

There is a new Superbike firm in the news and this is something similar ro the HD Roehr firm. Meant only for racing, very very costly as expected and what stunner to look at. A Superbike has hardly looked this good before. The stylish machine is the AV1 from Kalex Engineering. This is a limited production track weapon with space-age chassis engineering—and the Rotax V990R motor from an Aprilia RSV bored out to 1100 cc. Described by Performance Bike magazine as 'The best bike since the Britten', it was created by Alex Baumgärtel and Klaus Hirsekorn for trackday enthusiasts and riders in the European ‘Sound of Thunder’ race series. The AV1 is about to be joined by the Kalex Moto2, which is on a drawing board right now in Bobingen, Germany. It’s being developed for the Moto2 race category, which uses modified 150 bhp Honda CBR600RR engines and will replace the 250cc class in 2010. Source of info: BIKE EXIF and you can visit Kalex Engineering for more details. Pssst! They are also working on a customized Triumph.

And here it is. The fastest bike in the world. this is a V-Quad engine from Nelson Engineering. V-Quad sets new world record at the Bonneville Salt Flats then breaks that record too! The final record speed is now 164.172 mph. Mike Maggio rode his V-Quad bike to the new record on Wednesday 8/12/09. The V-Quad engine, basically a side by side V-Twin, that Greg Nelson produces, was installed in a custom motorcycle built by Brouhard Design for owner Mike Maggio. They took it to Bonneville recently and Maggio ran 164.172 mph for a new record in the APGU class. This is an open motorcycle (no fairings or streamlining), push rod, gas, unlimited engine size above 3,000 cc’s. This is the production V-Quad engine you can buy. Greg says they’re already working on an upgrade with plans for 180 mph in October at El Mirage. Mike Maggio's twin turbo V-Quad is on the cover of September's issue of America Cycle magazine. Check out the V-Quad website for lots of interesting stuff and all the details of the Carl Brouhard built award winning custom and there is also a video of the bike on the Salts.

Source: The Knee Slider

The BEAST from Target Designs

This is the BEAST 1000 from Target Design. This German styling firm has a simple concept of bikes with the bare minimum, no frills and accessories, just the minimum essentials and with this kind of a vision, it is one thing that it is difficult to make a designer bike but to make a designer bike that stands out is really wishing for the stars. But Target Design is good at getting the stars! The Beast 1000 is short, is a 100bhp bike weighing 145 kilograms! Beat that! No doubt, this is a radical motorcycle concept with the motto of the firm to keep to the essentials while giving out the maximum driving pleasure. With this kind of weight for power figures, it is a ‘quantum leap in motorcycle development’. The Beast made its debut in Intermot 2000. It looks like a muscle bound mayhem wrestler who had just gone further on a weight loss programme.

The machinary, engine and ergonomics have been greatly detailed. There are some great innovations that have gone in designing the Beast. The peculiarities of the Beast for example, consist in the fact that the cooling air is transported inside the aluminum box frame, the cooler can therefore be moved from the front end to a rear area, and then no longer acts as a disturbing porch. The Beast 1000 cc rides on a V2 with a cylinder angle of 60°. It also has a compressor version, which the firm says has a much higher performance than the base engine. The weight of the complete engine was visualized to be less than 50 kilograms which would be cutting of almost 50% of weight for similar engines. Usually only SBK engine weigh this much as they are made of ultra-lightweight components and so as expected are correspondingly expensive. To continue the purpose of designing a light weight bike, the box had a monocoque frame and the wheels made with magnesium. There is no conventional steering head, the two camps are located respectively above and below the frame and it allows for a fully open air inlet. The central aluminum box frame is cooler and internally has separated air box, a fan in the rear frame providing adequate ventilation at standstill.

The prototype/ concept model at the Munich exhibition consists of an aluminum frame, the plastic parts are made from GFK (Glass Fiber Komposit - GFK is a plastic reinforced with Fibre Glass, it uses plastic resin). Xenon lights provide the illumination, and miniature wings for aerodynamic efficiency.
Target Design made a name for themselves in the motorcycling world when they designed the futuristic Katana for Suzuki as early as 1980 and then again in 1990 with the BMW R100 GS Paris Dakar, they created a new motorcycle category. Besides bikes, they are into a lot of other things, both automotive and non automotive. They have shared a long standing partnership with Sachs motorcycles and I am sure you remember the MADASS 500 that they designed for Sach, based on the Royal Enfield 500 that made as a concept in Intermot 2004. It was “a motorcycle without plastic” according to Target Design. It had a tremendous response and it becomes a new cult! And before the Madass and the Beast, there was the BigRoadster V3.8 which debuted at the Intermot 1998.
Target Designs are having talks with smaller similar motorcycle firms like Sach to take the BEAST 1000 from its concept to production.

The MADASS 500 & BigRoadster V3.8

Honda EVO 6 Motorcycles

Honda EVO 6 Motorcycle

Honda EVO 6 Motorcycle

Honda EVO 6 Motorcycle

Honda EVO 6 Motorcycle

The Honda EVO6 concept motorcycle is Automatic Sports Cruiser features a transmission that can be driven in automatic or six-speed manual mode and a six-cylinder engine.