The Kneeslider

Doers Builders and Positive People

IMME 1200 BMW Boxer Sport Bike

By

Two students at the International School of Design, Nicolas Bubar (24) and Yves Dufeutrelle (22), thought a BMW Boxer based sportbike would be a good idea and they set to work designing one. They designed a tube frame around a BMW 1200 boxer engine, with a new head and exhaust that brings output to 150 horsepower. In a 341 pound bike, performance should be quite acceptable. … [Read more...]

Indian Motorcycles New Website

By

Indian Motorcycles moved to North Carolina last year in preparation for restarting production of the Indian Motorcycle. They just launched their new website which gives a pretty good run down of where things stand. According to their site, they plan to start production of 2008 Indian Chief in the fourth quarter of 2007. Engine for the bike will be the PowerPlus 100. … [Read more...]

KTM Builds a Car – The KTM X-Bow

By

KTM builds a car, the X-Bow. This comes after Bombardier builds the Can-Am Spyder, a road going 3 wheeler and Buell says they're going to race Rotax powered motocross bikes. You have to wonder what else is cooking in some of those back rooms. Since the beginning of the new century, KTM, as the world market leader in the offroad segment has successively expanded its range … [Read more...]

You Can Help Companies Build Better Motorcycles

By

My story about the Harley Davidson strike led to an interesting exchange about dealers getting a backlog of bikes in their inventory they did not want in the first place. It happens all the time and results when dealers must order a particular mix of motorcycles, across the company’s product line rather than just the specific models the dealer is sure to sell. This sounds … [Read more...]

The Kneeslider Sunday Updates

By

Interesting updates and additional information related to earlier stories: When writing about the Harley Davidson strike, I said the interruption of motorcycle shipments caused by the strike might be a convenient way of reducing the backlog of unsold inventory, something the union might not have considered. Although a comment took me to task for this idea, it seems at least … [Read more...]