Last week, Honda revealed the modern successor to the Z50 “Monkey” bike in the new MSX125. While it’s not clear if the Honda MSX125 will be offered in North America, our original post drew a lot of positive comments from our readers so let’s hope American Honda is paying attention.

The 2013 Honda MSX125 will be available in Europe however, and Honda’s European arm has released more photographs of the new model. The new images show the MSX125 from multiple angles and the high resolution allows us to take a closer look at details like the 125cc engine inherited from the Honda Wave scooter, the projector headlight and LCD display. Look for the gallery after the jump. Continue Reading »

Honda announced a new 125cc motorcycle aimed for youths that draws its inspiration from the Honda Monkey mini-bikes first introduced in the ’60s. The new 2013 Honda MSX125 (which stands for “Mini Street X-treme 125″) will be manufactured in Thailand. At the moment, it has been confirmed for Europe and Japan, but there is no word about U.S. availability.

The MSX125 is powered by a 125cc air-cooled two-valve single-cylinder engine with Honda‘s PGM-FI fuel injection system inherited from the Honda Wave 125i underbone motorcycle that’s popular in Asian markets. Honda claims an output of 9.7 hp at 7000 rpm and 8.0 ft-lb. at 5,500 rpm. The engine has some low-friction features such as an offset cylinder and roller-rocker arms. This should help the MSX125 provide good fuel economy though Honda did not release any fuel consumption estimates. Continue Reading »

Honda introduced its 2013 CRF off-road model lineup featuring a new CRF450R motocross bike and a new entry-level CRF110F trail bike.

The 2013 Honda CRF450R was developed from Honda’s factory racebikes in the Japanese Motocross Championship, along with input from its European and AMA factory squads and racing legend Jeremy McGrath. The 2013 model features new Kayaba pneumatic front forks, just like Kawasaki’s competing KX450F.

According to Honda, the air-sprung forks are 1.76 pounds lighter than forks with coil springs with less frictional losses. Preload adjustments are made by changing the air pressure. The standard pressure level of 33psi while the pressure can be adjusted from 32psi to 36psi. The fork is also compression and rebounding damping adjustable. Removing air pressure also helps lower the front end without risking damage to fork seals, making it easier to transport the CRF450R. Continue Reading »

BMW unveiled its concept for an electric-powered entry-level motorcycle, the Husqvarna E-go, a motard-style urban commuter that appears to be BMW’s answer to Zero’s offerings.

Despite the rather self-centered sounding name, the E-go is a humble-looking vehicle with some intriguing innovations.

At first glance, the Husqvarna E-Go looks a lot like a bicycle – until you notice there are no pedals. The E-go is powered by an electric motor, though BMW has not released any information about the motor or the battery.

Visually, the E-go does reflect Husqvarna’s brand identity with the red and white colors, dirtbike-style number plate and a similar front fender to the Nuda 900R. Two things do stand out with the E-go however: the 176 pound claimed weight and the single-sided front wheel.

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BMW will unveil an electric scooter concept model and an entry level Husqvarna streetbike concept at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show.

The BMW concept, shown in the teaser sketch above, will likely be a version of the E-Scooter electric maxiscooter concept announced in July. BMW claimed the E-Scooter’s liquid-cooled electric motor offers performance similar to a 600cc combustion engine, while the battery casing itself will form the body of the frame.

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Suzuki is bringing back the DR-Z125 entry-level off-road motorcycle and its slightly larger DR-Z125L variant as part of its 2012 model year offerings.

Last offered in 2009, the Suzuki DR-Z125 returns for 2012 with updated graphics similar to Suzuki’s RM-Z family of motocrossers.

The DR-Z125 is powered by a 124cc air-cooled four-stroke engine Suzuki describes as having strong low to mid-range power. Power is delivered through a five-speed transmission with link-type shifting.

The 2012 Suzuki DR-Z125 is equipped with a 17-inch front wheel and a 14-inch rear wheel. Both wheels are stopped by drum brakes. The slightly larger DR-Z125L uses a 19-inch front wheel and a 16-inch wheel at the rear, with a disc brake on the front wheel. The DR-Z125L has a seat height of 31.7 inches while the DR-Z125′s seat is 30.5 inches from the ground.

[Source: Suzuki]

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According to reports out of India, KTM Chief Executive Officer Stefan Pierer has announced the Austrian manufacturer will produce 200cc and 350cc versions of its youth-oriented 125 Duke. Unfortunately for us in North America, the two new Dukes will appear destined for emerging markets such as India, Brazil, Thailand and Malaysia.

Speaking with the Indian press, Pierer says KTM is partnering with Bajaj Auto to develop the 200 Duke in 2012 with the 350 version to follow in 2013. Bajaj is one of India’s largest home-grown automotive manufacturers and a part-owner of KTM, and also helped develop the 125 Duke. Pierer says the 200 Duke will be introduced at the 2012 Delhi Auto Expo.

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Suzuki announced its 2012 motocross lineup consisting of the RM-Z450, RM-Z250, RM-85 and RM-85L. All four models return unchanged save for graphic updates.

The 2012 Suzuki RM-Z450 and RM-Z250 (pictured above) are fuel injected and equipped with fully-adjustable Showa forks, twin-spar aluminum chassis and swingarm and five-speed transmissions.

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The world is getting more and more paranoid about safety for children.  Sure, this can be a good thing in some aspects but in others it’s just ridiculous.

In America, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act became a law which allowed congress to ban products that could be harmful due to traces of lead found in them.  Sounds like a good idea on paper but it seems that this could be doing more harm than good.

Youth motorcycles and ATVs may contain a small amount of lead in some parts of these vehicles such as the alloy used to connect AZ batteries terminals.  Because of this, the CPSIA can ban all of these recreational vehicles from children. The Motorcycle Industry Council claims that this amount of lead and the way it might ever interact with a child (ie: not swallowing it) would never cause any harm.

Banning toys with lead in them was to make sure that if a child happens to put a toy car (for example) in their mouth, they wouldn’t get lead poisoning from such an innocent act (we’ve all put toy cars in our mouths at some point as kids!).

Motorsport can be and is a family sport.  I remember going to a motocross show as a kid with my friends and family, marveling at the high-flying dirt bikes.  Most, if not all of the professionals out there on bikes probably got their inspiration under the same scenario.  They saw those amazing feats and exciting races and had to get on a bike.

And they did, and at a very young age.

With the ban of these recreational vehicles catered to kids, where will the new batch of racers come from?  Can the sport even survive without giving young enthusiasts a chance to try it out?  Will youth riders start riding adult sized vehicles and be in even more danger?

My real question is: Does the tiny amount of lead found in the alloy in some small bits of metal (that will never get ingested) even matter when kids are now using cell phones, staying indoors to play video games, sitting at computers all day, eating junk food and doing tons of other things that can do more harm than good?  Would denying them the fun, excitement, experience and even the education of riding be better when the alternative might be picking up a video game controller instead?

Could the industry avoid this whole ordeal by improving and developing parts to not include that lead?

What do you think about the ban of youth motorcycles and ATVs?

The Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) is out to stop the ban and by golly they are giving it their best shot!

See the rest of the post for a few videos about the ban.  Head over to MIC to sign a petition and read up on their cause.  Follow them on twitter to stay up to date (we have!)

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Lawlessness, rampant sexual promiscuity, theft, gambling, drugs and being a general menace to society are the stripes motorcycle riders wear… 40 years ago! No doubt the image of motorcycling in the U.S. hit a low spot starting in 1947 with the infamous, and allegedly staged, photo of a Boozefighter motorcycle club member surrounded by empty beer bottles in the gutter, lying next to his bike. There’s more detail to that story, but this incident eventually became the premise for the Marlon Brando classic, “The Wild Ones.”

A couple decades later, during the ‘60s and ‘70s, the Hell’s Angels became the face of all that was wrong with motorcycling in the public’s mind. Since then it’s only been in the past 15 or 20 years that motorcycling seems to have largely made a full public image recovery. Though there’s still a faction or two that seem to keep biking with one foot in the grave. Regardless, in the U.S. the image of motorcycles and riding them has come light years from where it once was for a very long time.

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