The Fortnight In Review
Since our last review, so much has happened in this crazy motorcycling world! Let’s review.
X-Games
Let’s step back two or three weeks to the X-Games in Minneapolis.
Our very own Chris Wiggins (co-host, color commentator; Creative Riding Motorcycle Podcast) took part in the first official Harley Hooligan Racing flat track motorcycle race on July 22nd, 2018.
It was a long scrap to get there, as Wiggins had to first travel to Boise, ID to qualify (on a concrete track, none-the-less).
After finding himself in the LCQ at the Boise event, he fared much better at the actual “Games”.
There were 6 qualifying heats, where the top 2 riders moved on to the semis-finals. Wiggins came in 2nd in his heat, beating out some sizable competition that included some well-known competitors.
He moved on to the semi-finals where he came in last in his group, finishing 12th overall in a field of 48. That’s a lot of Hooligans slamming and sliding street-ish bikes around a little dirt oval.
Dirt samples galore
Over the past few weeks, there have been several insane crashes, be it on the road course, MX track, or dirt oval. The most serious one as of late was Brad Baker (#6 American Flat Track), who suffered a spinal injury during X-games qualifying. He is still in recovery following surgery on his spinal cord just days after the injury.
MotoAmerica’s Josh Herrin, (Motul Superbike racer) also had a severe crash, but luckily he was not injured. His dirt sample started as an apparent high-side in the middle of a left-hander during a warm-up session for Sunday’s race in Utah on July 22nd.
Perhaps one of the most horrifying crashes was Michele Pirro’s high speed jettison at the Mugello circuit at this year’s Italian GP round.
New Hogs
We’ve talked about tariff wars, financial losses, factories closing in the U.S. of A. and several other horrible things with Trump writ… oops, I meant Harley-Davidson written all over them. Now it’s time for some good news. After Harley-Davidson made the headlines several times, and even got some bad publicity from the President himself, they turned heads and dropped jaws for a good reason this month.
The closing of a domestic assembly plant (which really doesn’t even happen until 2019) was countered by the announcement that the Motor Company must open its Thai plant in order to remain relevant from a price perspective. Not only would high import tariffs dissuade the brand from operating in any meaningful way, but it also allows for international partnerships that would not otherwise be born.
Along with the announcement of several new platforms and models came the news that H-D was about to expand in a glorious new way: electrics and scooters!!
Not since the early part of the last century has Harley-Davidson dabbled in bicycles and scooters, let alone electric ones. Finally they are putting their name on some totally new -and totally NOT Harley- styles.
Photo/ courtesy Harley-Davidson
Electric, Autonomous, Shared
Banana? Feel? Guitar? What else goes along with that one word besides song lyrics? How about the future of riding?
It seems like there have been a thousand stories over the last year or so meant to rile up the masses with themes about how governments around the world are beginning to ban, or at least consider banning, petrol engines. Cities around the globe have been searching for decades to find the solution to pollution. Poor urban air quality and poor health have a direct correlation to each other. The cause of that pollution has been mitigated somewhat by emission regulations, but some are looking further. Enter electric.
Photo/Creative Riding
Old cities like Paris, Athens, London, Mexico City and even Los Angeles suffer from two things. Thousands of vehicles crowding streets and highways each day are responsible for tons upon cubic tons of smog, but even if you went all electric, that doesn’t solve the other problem. Congestion.
Electric might be enough to cut down on tailpipe emissions, but what about all those commuters? These older cities have been the metropolitan centers even before the invention of the auto. Therefore, they have been built around and squeezed tighter for generations. There is no more room to expand. The next step is to ban the number of vehicles allowed to enter, or – BAM!! encourage shared mobility.
Geeks and sci-fi nerds are having their wildest dreams come true as more and more ‘futuristic’ tech is integrated into vehicles each year. Some of that includes autonomous electric tech, and that opens another door.
Energica Ego Photo/Courtesy Energica Motor USA
Phoenix AZ is the testing grounds for Waymo’s fleet of autonomous shared vehicles. Soon, you may not own a vehicle outright. Instead you may share one in the way that scooters and bicycles are shared in cities across the United States. After dropping you off at work, the vehicle might then drive a few blocks to take an elderly person to a doctor’s appointment, or pick a teen-ager up from the dentist before returning to get you just in time to sit in rush hour traffic… Well, it would have been rush hour traffic, but C-ITS infrastructure and V2V communication will have the autonomous cars working more like a group of drones (and probably using the same tech). With supposedly fewer cars on the road, you’ll be home in no time. Even motorcycle makers are getting on board with this a.s.a.p. with KTM and Ducati slated to use Bosch rider-aides on their upcoming line-ups in just a few years.