always looking at all the other 4 stroke machines and trying to figure out why CRFs have a friggan 20 foot long header pipe....I just saw a CRF450 with a Pro circuit pipe that looked like a grab handle .
these Huskys are growing on me awesome pics http://derestricted.com/motorcycles/2014-husqvarna-line-eicma-2013
I love the angry eyes on the KTM 300 racing machine Kind of reminds me of the Suzuki GSXR face in the late 90's
i really love this one. magni offers a kit that turns your modern mv agusta brutale into looking like the good ol' 750 sport: r
The pedal bike is so cool, sign me up. Oh , how interesting a KTM 4-stroke with Husky stickers on it, gosh where can i pick one up?
Anyone have any idea what % of the bikes at that show actually make it to production without significant changes?
This is what European's passion for design and function is all about. Take a minute to check out the website, unreal.
i guess 80% of the bikes there are actually production bikes already. another 10% are race bikes, and the last 10% are "prototypes". the first two days are "press and industry only", the other four days are "open to the public". all the manufacturers show their portfolio of next year's bikes, you can sit onto them, check out the ergonomics, and so on. of course, you mostly see the "special bikes" on the various websites, so one might get the impression that there's "special bikes" behind fences only. some of these "prototypes" are actually "production bikes", since the production quantity is so low (i.e. magni). some are dedicated one-off custom bikes (i.e. the "deus ex" bikes that were shown at the yamaha booth), some are pre-production bikes (like the ktm 1290 super duke last year), and only a very little percentage is real prototype bikes, like the husky 701. you'll never know if these prototypes will ever be produced. sometimes, companies show bikes that they are unsure about. for example, the 946 that piaggio were showing last year finally turned into a production bike, with only minor changes. sometimes they simply put a bike there that they simply consider "interesting", without ever wantingto turn them into a production bike (i.e. the husky mille). sometimes, the companies are surprised about the public's enthusiasm about a "showbike", change their mind, and turn them into a production bike, or make them accessible to different markets (i.e. honda cb 1300)... my impression over the last years is that the economic crisis reduces the companies' willingness for real innovation and conceptual "experiments". there's obviously a lack of "polarizing" bikes. almost everybody goes to offering "mass-compatible" mediocre design that nobody really likes or hates, and to selling "old wine in new bottles" instead. of course, there's always some exceptions, but those are in most cases "rich men's toys" (i.e. brough superior). even the price is unreal. r
For those who have not heard of Brough Superior and/or the T E Lawrence connection. http://stevemckelvie.wordpress.com/2011/06/07/lawrence-of-arabias-brough-superior-ss100-motorcycle/ wiki has a good history as well I've alwyas loved the SS100/SS80 moniker logic.
