#classic

We all know the real meaning of that coy slogan about what happens in Vegas. It really means that what stays in Vegas is your money. It should read: “To play in Vegas, you gotta pay in Vegas.”

The phone rings constantly, the bell that announces another customer has broken the electronic beam through the open garage door that opens onto Hyde Park Street dings only slightly less frequently. One guy really wants that Sportster with the twin flatslides but first feels the need to lay out his qualifications to Yoshi by listing all the other vehicles he’s ever owned. Another guy needs a part for his CB750. Many cool characters who look vaguely familiar from movies and half-remembered MTV videos saunter in under ironic hats behind cool shades.

Motorcycle.com has acquired these spy images of two new Triumph prototypes undergoing testing in Spain, and they reveal a new liquid-cooled powerplant that will surely underpin all future Bonnevilles, Thruxtons, Scramblers, etc.

Standing in “The Land of Joy,” a makeshift beach party Ducati set up inside the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs, California, to serve as its central command post for the 2015 Scrambler launch (the first time a new Ducati model has been introduced Stateside), it was quickly apparent this wouldn’t be like any prior Ducati launch.

Today we’re getting our first crack testing Ducati’s new Scrambler, one of the most talked-about motorcycles of 2015. Some say its all-purpose design perfectly suits their requirements for a retro-themed-but-modern motorcycle, and Ducati tells us initial demand has been huge. Naysayers, however, deride the new Scrambler’s inadequacies for use on dirt trails, asserting that its 800cc V-Twin makes it too heavy when compared to Ducati’s single-cylinder Scramblers from the 1960s and ’70s. So, as we enter a new era of Bologna-built Scramblers, we’re taking a look back at the first-generation models to gain some historical perspective. -Ed.

There are collectors and then there are collectors. And then there’s Virgil Elings, proprietor of the Solvang Vintage Motorcycle Museum. Is he eclectic or eccentric? Discriminating or indiscriminate? Crazy or crazy like a fox? Or all of the above?

Your giant corporations can be a little slow to respond to trends, but sometimes they surprise you. Yamaha started teasing the idea of bringing back its old SR400 a couple years ago, and now they’ve gone ahead and done it. This is not a modern interpretation of the old bike, this is the actual old bike it’s been building and selling in other markets since the ’70s – though it does have modern fuel injection and a charcoal canister to meet current emissions requirements.

Now in it’s sixth year, the Quail Motorcycle Gathering just gets bigger and better. But not too much bigger. More than 250 machines were assembled on the green grass carpet at the Lodge, and between participants and spectators, there were some 2500 attendees. While not quite at capacity, there was still sufficient space to move about, and just enough time to fully enjoy the panorama of motorcycles and people. And both in such variety! Think Renaissance Faire for motorheads.

The annual Bud Ekins Memorial Ride (formerly Steve Wright’s Pre-16 Ride) rolled into Atascadero, Calif. last weekend. Sadly, Steve had died a few weeks earlier, but his pals thought it fitting to carry on in his memory.

We’ve now ridden the new Indian Chief and confidently predict that it will make a massive splash in the cruiser market. Our full review will soon follow, but there’s a lot of ground to cover in telling the Chief’s story.