When Harley-Davidson first entered the Indian market, The Motor Company decided to import existing models as complete knockdown kits for final assembly in the burgeoning market. Considering the average motorcycle in India has a displacement smaller than 200cc, it was inevitable Harley-Davidson would eventually have to produce a small-displacement model rather than rely on its existing product line which currently lists the 883cc sportsters as its smallest bikes.

Despite a denial last May by Harley-Davidson India’s Managing Director Anoop Prakash, it now appears Harley-Davidson is set to announce a new small-displacement model to be produced in India at the 2014 Indian Auto Expo next February.

According to a report by IndianCarsBikes, the new made-for-India Harley will be equipped with V-Twin with a displacement close to 500cc and will use locally-sourced components which should keep the price somewhere between 300,000 to 400,000 Indian rupees ($5,500 to  $7,300 in U.S. dollars.) Continue Reading »

A Minnesota man has been reunited with his 1938 NSU 251 OSL, nearly 56  years after the German motorcycle sank to the bottom of a lake.

In 1956, Wyman Ailie bought the motorcycle for his then-15-year-old son Dean from a farmer who brought the bike back with him from Germany during World War II. That December, Dean Ailie went for a ride with his friends and on his way home, decided to take a shortcut across the frozen surface of Big Swan Lake in Dassel, Minn.

He had taken that route safely on the way out, but the way home was a different story. The ice cracked underneath him, and rider and motorcycle fell into the water. According to reports, air trapped in Ailie’s leather jacket buoyed him up to the surface where he was rescued by a pair of nearby fishermen. The NSU however was lost to the lake. Continue Reading »

BMW is entering the scooter market this year with its C600 Sport and C650 GT maxi-scooters, but the German manufacturer almost entered the scooter segment nearly 60 years earlier. In the 1950s, BMW produced a pair of scooter prototypes it called the R10.

The first prototype produced in 1953 was equipped with a 175cc Single producing about 8hp while the 1954 prototype (pictured above) was equipped with a 200cc producing about 10hp. Unlike the successful Vespas of that era the BMW 1954 R10 scooter prototype (pictured here) had a large fairing that served as both leg shield and front fender. The end result however made it look a bit like a cyclops version of Snoopy from Charles Schultz’s “Peanuts” comic strip.

Though the R10 scooter never entered production, BMW is trotting it out for display at the second annual Concours di Motociclette, a side event to the Concours D’Eleganza Villa D’Este, May 25-27 at Lake Como in northern Italy. Continue Reading »

A collection of 71 classic MV Agusta motorcycles will be up for sale in an auction, Aug. 16-18 in Monterey, Calif.

Organized by Mecum Auctions, the auction will be for all 71 motorcycles to be sold as a single lot. The MV Agusta motorcycles and scooters from a 1946 MV 98 “3 Velocita” (pictured above) to a 2007 MV Agusta F4. The collection belongs to Gary Kohs, a self-described fan of Massimo Tamburini who designed motorcycles for MV Agusta as well as Ducati and Bimota.

“This is not just a collection of motorcycles, this is a collection of art, and I’m thrilled that Dana Mecum and his staff agree that keeping it together as one is so important,” says Kohs. “MV Agusta is the only marque that can truly represent the post-war history of the motorcycle, and I look forward to sharing it all with the international motorcycle community.”

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A collection of classic motorcycles including some owned by the Du Pont family was auctioned by Bonhams in Las Vegas, with sales reaching $1.8 million, nearly double the pre-auction estimates.

The auction included 50 motorcycles and 113 lots of spare parts from the Du Pont family including some from the personal collection of E. Paul du Pont, founder of Du Pont Motors and one-time president of Indian Motorcycles. The Du Pont collection accounted for $1 million. The auction also featured 70 other rare motorcycles.

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For Indian, 2012 represents 110 years since the first motorcycle bearing the namesake rolled off whatever sufficed for production line at the Hendee Co. in 1901. To celebrate, Polaris Industries, owner of the Indian brand since April of this year, is celebrating the occasion with special badging on all 2012 models. The twenty-twelve bikes will be the first produced under the auspice of Polaris.  According to company spokesman, Robert Pandya, the Polaris-built Indians are endowed with minor technical changes and a few new colors.

There are three Indian Chief models for 2012, Vintage, Dark Horse and Classic ranging in price from $26,500 to $36,700. The hand-built Indians are powered by a 105 cu. in., fuel-injected, air-cooled, 45-degree Powerplus V-Twin. Power reaches the rear wheel via a belt drive attached to a six-speed transmission. Hauling the 800-pound machines to a stop is a trio of Brembo braking components.

The $26,500 Indian Chief Classic is available in solid Indian Red with gold script and solid Thunder Black with silver script with a black leather seat, chrome wheels and black wall tires. The $28,000 Dark Horse is painted Thunder Black Smoke with a black leather seat, black wheels tires. The Vintage Chief is available in both solid colors, Thunder Black and Indian Red for $35,600 and two-tone schemes, Indian Red and Ivory Cream, Arizona Turquois and Winter White, and Willow Green and Ivory Cream for $36,900.

American motorcycle pioneer Norbert Schickel has been named to the Motorcycle Hall of Fame’s 2011 class.

Schickel founded Schickel Motor Co., in Stamford, Conn., in 1912, a year after exhibiting his first “two-cycle” motorcycle at the Chicago Motorcycle Show. Schickel Motor sold more than 1,000 motorcycles between 1912 and 1924 when the company filed for bankruptcy. Schickel’s designs included innovations such as twist grip transmission control, a rotating magneto spark advance, spring fork front wheel suspension and an integrated frame and fuel tank.

“It’s fitting for the Motorcycle Hall of Fame to reach back 100 years in time and honor one of the true pioneers of American motorcycling,” says Jeffrey V. Heininger, chairman of the American Motorcycle Heritage Foundation, which raises money for the Hall of Fame. “The Hall of Fame honors and memorializes the men and women who have made motorcycling great. And without early pioneers like Norbert Schickel, there would be no American motorcycling.”

Schickel will be inducted into the Hall at a ceremony Nov. 18 in Las Vegas alongside Cycle editor Phil Schilling, Parts Unlimited founder Fred Fox and road racing World Champion Doug Polen.

Related Reading
Doug Polen Joins Motorcycle Hall of Fame Class of 2011
Parts Unlimited FoundeParts Unlimited Founder Named to 2011 Motorcycle Hall of Fame Class
Schilling Headed to Motorcycle Hall of Fame

[Source: AMA, SchickelMotorcycle.com]

If contemporary society has taught us anything, it is that few things are held as sacred. Shameless film and television remakes are rampant while musicians sample (steal) any beats or mixes they deem suitable that will gain their crumby creation attention. In regards to motorcycles, there are times when retro-inspired modern engineered creations work, like the Triumph Thruxton for instance. Then there are times when they don’t, such as the case with the Confederate B120 Wraith.

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