The Kneeslider

Doers Builders and Positive People

Hybrid Motorcycles not necessary

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Some time back we posted about hybrid motorcycles but the definition in that post wasn't clear and after some thought, I believe that is one area of automotive development where motorcycles have no need to follow. Think about it, hybrid cars are a gasoline or diesel engine combined with an electric drivetrain for short distances or low speed driving. The end result is a car … [Read more...]

Suzuki Boulevard M109R

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Suzuki has introduced a new Suzuki Boulevard in the hefty 109 cubic inch (1783cc) size. This bike must be made of some super exotic unobtanium material though because their website spec says it weighs 395 pounds dry, that must be freeze dried crystals since other cruisers are in the 600 pound category. (I wonder how long it will take them to correct that) Actually the typo … [Read more...]

Indian says production planned for 2006

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File this under "I'll believe it when I see it." Indian to start production: Stellican Limited, owners of the Indian Motorcycle brand, says that it is looking to start production of the its Chief, Scout, and Spirit motorcycles by the end of 2006 somewhere in the southeast Right. No location, no dealers but they're really going to do it. ... Really. ... Promise. I guess … [Read more...]

Honda motorcycle sales are huge

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If there is any question that Honda makes one helluva lot of motorcycles, this story from a couple of days ago will remove all doubt. The Tokyo-based company expects to sell 12 million two wheelers in the year ending March 2008 in Asia, excluding Japan and China, Honda President and Chief Executive Takeo Fukui told a group of journalists in Jakarta. In the year ended in … [Read more...]

Motorcycle Horsepower Wars – Are they back?

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While I was perusing the new Yamaha models yesterday, I noticed something we haven't seen for some time, ... horsepower numbers. Right there among all of the other specs were clearly stated horsepower figures, FJR1300 at 145 hp, FZ1 at 150, R1 at 183, pretty interesting stuff. When Kawasaki released their new models, those numbers were missing but with the ZX-14, for instance, … [Read more...]

2006 Yamaha FJR1300 AE – electric shift

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The big Yamaha FJR series has always been a very nice bike, lots of folks swear these are the best sport touring machines out there. This year, Yamaha has a nice high tech touch available on the FJR1300 AE model, electric shift five speed transmission, there's no clutch lever. You shift with paddles on the left grip or with your left foot. I bet that would take a few minutes to … [Read more...]