It was 1973, BMW produced what is believed to be the first production motorcycle with handlebar fairing designed according to aerodynamic principles. Sport a 67 hp, top speed of 124 mph, double disk front brakes and sporting riding dynamics, the R 90 S was considered the "Sound Barrier" motorcycle of its time.

The R 90 S had a huge history of racing success and as such BMW wanted to make sure this racing heritage made it into a new bike they are proud to offer today as the R 12 S. This bike transfers the spirit of the R 90 S into the here and now.

R 12 S embodies the retro sporty motorcycle blending several of the R 90 S ingredients in paying it homage.

This model in the image above is the European spec R 12 S with the required extended tail over the rear wheel and license plate holder. The U.S. model with have a short rear tail and swing arm mounted license plate frame. See picture below.

The 2025 R 12 S will come standard with Ultimate Care Break-In Service at 600 Miles standard. This allows BMW to ensure the customer get a truly premium experience with this first service at 600 miles or maximum of 750 miles/six months from in service.

The 2025 R 12 S come with a standard 1,170 CC 2-cylinder air/oil cooled Boxer engine with 6-speed gearbox, DOHC cylinder had with 4 radially arranged valves, Shaft Drive,  Cast aluminum wheels, BMW Motorrad ABS Pro, BMW Motorrad Paralever, Twin disc front brake with radial brake caliper, DTC Dynamic Traction Control, Rear Preload Adjustable, Steering Stabilizer, Upside down fork with adjustable rebound, compression and preload, 12V Socket, Speedometer and Revolution counter, Electronic Immobilizer, LED turn indicators, LED Headlight and tail light, USB Port, On-Board Computer, Ride Modes, Adjustable handbrake and clutch levers, Keyless Ride, Chrome plated Header, Aluminum Fuel Tank, Intelligent Emergency Call, Ultimate Care Break-In Service.

With the R12 S Daytona Package one gets the following:

• Lava Orange Metallic Paint.
• Cockpit Fairing.
• Short rear tail with integrated LED lighting.
• Black license plate frame attached to swing arm.
• Option 719 Classic II Wheels.
• Hill Start Assist.
• Headlight Pro.
• Shift Assistant Pro.
• Single Seat and Rear Hump Cover.
• Heated Grips.
• Cruise Control.
• Billet Pack Shadow.
  • Milled Shadow ignition coil covers, oil filler plug, Avus Black Metallic Matte cylinder head covers.
• Billet Pack Shadow II
  • Milled shadow foot shift and brake levers, rider and passenger footrest systems, hand brake and clutch levers, brake reservoir cover, bar end mirrors.

BMW Gallery

The BMW R 12 S paying homage to the iconic R 90 S is expected to launch Q1 2025 with 109 hp / 85 ft-lbs of torque with a top speed of 134 mph and a acceleration of 0-62mph in 3.6 seconds.

2023 marks 120 year of the Harley-Davidson Motorcycles and the company is pulling out all the stops with new models and special editions.

Commemorative Editions will be offered in seven classic models. On the top-of-the-line CVO Road Glide Limited Anniversary model, seats are covered with Alcantara with gold and red contrast stitching. A special Heirloom Red color painted over Anniversary Black and outlined with a bright red pinstripe and hand-painted gold paint scallop. A gold-plated tank medallion is a retro Art Deco version of the Harley-Davidson eagle. Gold-tone powertrain inserts with bright red rocker boxes and pushrod tube collars complete the look.  A similar paint and trim scheme will be offered on six other 120th Anniversary models, but with red fade powertrain inserts.

Harley-Davidson is limiting the production of the anniversary editions, and each one will have a laser-etched serial number on the fuel tank.

• CVO Road Glide Limited Anniversary (production limited to 1,500 examples globally)
• Ultra Limited Anniversary (1,300 examples)
• Tri Glide® Ultra Anniversary (1,100 examples)
• Street Glide® Special Anniversary (1,600 examples)
• Road Glide® Special Anniversary (1,600 examples)
• Fat Boy® 114 Anniversary (3,000 examples)
• Heritage Classic 114 Anniversary (1,700 examples)

In addition to the Anniversary Models, Harley-Davidson is (re)introducing models to its North American lineup and adding trims to existing ones.

2023 Breakout

Back after leaving the North American market in 2020 is the Harley-Davidson Breakout.  This factory chopper features more models with the Milwaukee-Eight 117 V-Twin.  They’ve increased the fuel-tank size to 5 gallons and lengthened its profile to give the bike a leaner look. The handlebar riser and polished stainless steel handlebar is ¾-inch taller than the previous model.  Chrome is applied generously and new 26-spoke cast-aluminum wheels are machined and finished in gloss black.

Power specs were not released for the Breakout, but we expect it to match the 124 lb-ft of torque other bikes with the 117 engine have.

2023 Road Glide 3

Joining the Freewheeler in the Trike lineup is the new 2023 Road Glide 3. Essentially a Trike version of the popular Road Glide, the Road Glide 3 adds a frame-mounted aerodynamic fairing with splitstream vents to reduce rider helmet buffeting, the Boom! Box 6.5-inch color touch screen with navigation and Bluetooth that powers two 5.25-inch fairing speakers, weather-proof trunk with two cubic feet of capacity, electric reverse gear, and Trike-specific safety features like Enhanced Cornering Braking, Enhanced ABS, Enhanced Traction Control, and Enhanced Drag-Torque Slip Control.

For 2023, the Freewheeler swaps out the chrome for dark finishes and gets new gloss black cast aluminum wheels.

2023 Nightster Special Model
Built on the Sportster platform but given a more classic silhouette, the Nightster blends modern technology and H-D’s most technologically advanced engine family, the Revolution Max 975T,  into one classic bike. For 2023, the Nightster gains a Special Model.
The additional Special Model Features include:

• Cruise Control
• Passenger pillion and foot pegs
• Headlight faring
• Cast aluminum wheels with tire pressure monitoring system
• A new handlebar and riser to move the hand controls two inches up and one inch back.
• Four-inch round TFT screen from the Sportster S that allows integration with the H-D app for navigation using turn-by-turn on the display and audio instructions over Bluetooth.
• All-LED lighting
• Selectable Ride Modes
• 3.1-gallon fuel cell located below the seat, which lowers the center of gravity

Power for the Nightster Special Model comes from H-D’s Revolution Max 957T, which produces 70 ft-lb of torque at 5,000 rpm and a maximum of 90 horsepower at 7,500 rpm.  The engine is integral to the frame to help provide a significant reduction in weight.

Harley-Davidson is celebrating its anniversary with a homecoming festival in Milwaukee, WI. The festival will run from July 13th - 16th this summer and will feature the Foo Fighters and Green Day as headliners. Tickets are on sale now at http://www.h-d.com/HomecomingTickets

Like the auto industry, the motorcycle industry has been turned upside down by the electric revolution. Harley-Davidson attempted to hold off a slew of electric motorcycle startups by bringing out the LiveWire motorcycle.

The LiveWire motorcycle clashed with the traditional Harley-Davidson buyers in many ways and to most followers of the motorcycle industry this was a young versus old battle. Millennials embracing electric motorcycles while baby boomers in their final years embracing the HOG.

Harley-Davidson for the last few years struggled with getting a price and feature competitive electric motorcycle out. The original Livewire motorcycle was considered too expensive and not enough range for the price.

In 2018, we here at Cheers and Gears covered the Reveal of the Harley-Davidson Livewire motorcycle.

Harley-Davidson felt people would be willing to pay $30,000 for an electric motorcycle that only had 100 miles of range and fell to around 75 miles of range with highway riding. Yet in January one of the oldest startups brought out another electric motorcycle that has received rave reviews as an entry level electric motorcycle at $13,000 starting price and a range of 150 miles highway.

Lighting Motorcycles has been leading the revolution in electric motorcycles. 

With dismal sales, a clash between cultures, and then worse yet, financial decline since 2008 with plunging sales, Harley-Davidson has been hit hard. A decade of fewer models, in the red financially, fewer markets that can support their high price, this then led to the Pandemic of 2020-2022 with firing of hundreds of employees and the firing and hiring of a new CEO Jochen Zeitz.

Harley-Davidson in crisis: The downward trend continues | About motorcycles (misfitmademotorcycles.com)

The new CEO Jochen Zeitz realized that with an aging conservative clientele and little success with young motorcyclists that a radical change had to take place. This was put into their future roadmap as Harley-Davidson needed to expand their portfolio of models to include smaller displacement classes that are in demand in Asia, especially with a demand from e-bikes to electric motorcycles.

To achieve this change, it would require large investment of capital, something Harley-Davidson had in short supply. This was then complicated with a trade dispute with the European Union which hurt the American made motorcycles further straining the balance sheet of the company. Worse yet with the global Covid-19 lockdowns, Harley-Davidson saw a year over year drop in sales by 53%, going from a profit of $181 million in 2019 to a loss of $121 million in 2020. 2021 was not much better for motorcycle sales globally.

Harley new CEO, Jochen Zeitz announced a new five-year plan that would take immediate effect in 2021 and with it a new brand ambassador, Jason Mamoa. The Pandemic years saw a financial restructuring, reduction of American employees, building of motorcycles overseas for the European market and Asian rim to deal with the trade dispute and a move of the Harley manufacturing in the U.S.

All total, over 700 employees have been laid off, considerable consolidation and optimization of the current structure along with a $150 million dollar loan in 2021. These changes while helping to slow things down have not reversed the fortunes of Harley nor have, they brought in the new younger generations. As such, Harley did the next logical step, spun off as a separate motorcycle company the electric motorcycle division and gave birth to LiveWire Motorcycles.

LiveWire Electric Motorcycles | Home

Focused on the young generations of new electric motorcycle riders, LiveWire has their initial motorcycle called the LiveWire ONE with a starting price of $22,799 and a range of 146 miles city, 95 miles combined.

There is then the S2 Del Mar electric motorcycle with a 110-mile range city and a starting price of $16,999. 

Per LiveWire News release, the S2 Del Mar electric motorcycle sold out first year's production in 18 minutes having the company point to pent up demand for clean, emission free motorcycles.

LiveWire went live as a publicly traded company on September 27th under the ticker "LVWR". They are the first EV motorcycle company to be listed on the NYSE. The stock raised $334 million in gross proceeds to help fund LiveWire as it starts building and delivering electric motorcycles.

Harley-Davidson as a publicly traded company under the ticker "HOG" holds considerable stock in LiveWire and their CEO Jochen Zeitz is both Chairman and CEO of Harley-Davidson and LiveWire. This transaction freed up resources for Harley to reinvigorate their own identity and brand of ICE motorcycles worldwide while also funding the growth of the electric motorcycle under its own identity.

It would appear that Harley-Davidson took a page out of the Ford Motor Company playbook in separating the ICE from the EV and as global sales change in one or the other will allow the board and executives to survive as one company grows and another declines. The future looks bright for LiveWire and very interesting for Harley-Davidson.

Harley has reinvigorated their product line which one can check out here: Shop Harley-Davidson Motorcycles | Harley-Davidson USA

LiveWire is clearly focusing on the youthful future electric motorcycle riders and their products can be looked at here: LiveWire Electric Motorcycles | Home

One thing that the new Chairman and CEO felt was underutilized was apparel, parts and cross merchandising sales. Here one can find plenty to shop for on both websites depending on ones interest in supporting ICE or Electric Motorcycles and the brands they represent.

Zaiser Motors of Colorado has shown off their Cruiser version of an electric motorcycle in AWD/RWD form. The basic design is a 300 mile range motorcycle that can reach 60mph in 3.6 seconds and a top speed of 120 mph. 

Looking at the history of motorcycle startups as well as established companies like Harley Davidson with their livewire bike that only has 90 miles of range, the obvious question is how do they get such a long range on a bike? The answer is in-wheel hub motors.

Yes, there has been much written about the pro's and cons of in-wheel hub motors. Pro, you no longer have the drive chains/belts and other consumable parts that require maintenance, nice. Con side is the unsprung weight which requires the suspension to have to work harder in giving a smooth ride.

Zaiser Electrocycle answer is a removable, easily rechargeable battery pack that allows a much more flexible ride with a long range solution that riders are expecting based on ICE Motorcycles. Based on the Wefunder page, Quote: 

"A 300-mile range is quite a claim, but we are ready to back that up.

By moving the powerplant out to the wheels and shedding weight, we are confident that we will have the flexibility to achieve a 300-mile range on our model 1 Electrocycle. Freeing up space in the center of the Electrocycle will allow us to fit our 17.5 KWH battery unit and more without compromising aesthetics or aerodynamics. Additional improvements consist of efficiency gains thanks to our new twin-hub cooling system and ultra light-weight composite material implemented during manufacturing. 

These benefits alone give us the '50-mile-edge' over current over the ~250-mile industry average, however, we anticipate rapid advancements in battery technology in the near future, making this goal very attainable for Zaiser."

True Sustainability comes via ease of routine servicing, empowering the customer base and extending the lifespan of the Electrocycle. Part of this will come via building in compatibility with all levels of charging including fast DC charging, Home charging with interchangeable battery packs and recycling of battery packs allowing for a complete circle of life. This will come about via supporting the cycle industry modularity of battery packs with replaceability within the industry. Solid state batteries and using organic composite materials will be the other.

The initial Electrocycle is to be the AWD model, but they have in their business plan a much cheaper model that would imply RWD only. Safety is also right up there with their battery range, true traction control and auto stabilization are to be standard, unobtrusive to the rider and yet present when it counts. Zaiser says they are not stopping there as they have planned for a tech package that is a cohesive implementation of Lidar sensors, haptic feedback via the handlebars allowing for accident avoidance and much more that has never been present in motorcycles. Their Safety tech package they believe will play a crucial role in reducing accidents by 20%.

To succeed in todays market, Zaiser Motor company believes in three main principles for success, Culture, Community, and Events. Today's dealerships are not cutting it and Zaiser wants their stores to be a gathering hub for the community they are in. These places will be more than sales and service, but also a place for training, certifications and for hosting events to connect the Zaiser brand and it's customers and community.

Motorsports also falls in the three categories helping to drive innovation in the electric motorsport space with electric cycle advancements and innovations. Zaiser initial go-to-market strategy is to focus on urbanites that want to escape the city pod life cleanly taking them out and back safely in their adventure.

The Electrocycle is scheduled to launch by early 2022 at the latest according to their website and will come in a range of colors.

For your next bike, consider a Zaiser Electrocycle and go green!

Zaiser Motors • The Electric Motorcycle With A Soul

Invest in Zaiser Motors: The First Twin-Hub Electric Motorcycle! | Wefunder

At the Consumer Electronics Show on Monday, Harley-Davidson announced the production version of the Livewire all-electric bike would go on sale in August of 2019 and pre-orders are open now.  The Livewire starts at $29,799.

The estimated riding range for the Livewire is approximately 110 miles on an urban cycle.  With the onboard level 1 charger (a standard household outlet), the bike will charge overnight. Level 2 and Level 3 DC fast charging is available while out on the road, but charging time has not been released.  Harley has stated that all dealers that sell the Livewire will have chargers on-site for public use.

Harley states that the Livewire can do 0-60 in 3.5 seconds. That sounds fast for a car, but merely mid-pack for a motorcycle. 

Harley-Davidson in investing heavily in electric motorcycles and expects to have a full portfolio of EV bikes available by 2022.

Volkswagen, still under steep financial pressure from their diesel emissions scandal, is apparently looking to put some of its many assets on the auction block.  Up first looks to be famed Italian motorcycle builder Ducati. In July of 2012, Volkswagen originally acquired Ducati for $909 million through a complicated transaction involving subsidiary Audi which in turn owns Lamborghini which is the current holder of Ducati. The purchase was the brainchild of then VW Chairman Ferdinand Piëch, a long time motorcycle enthusiast.  Analysts at the time felt that it was more a trophy purchase for Chariman Piëch than one that made financial sense for VW.

Sources have reported that VW has enlisted Evercore, an investment bank, to investigate the possible sale options for Ducati. Estimates currently peg Ducati with a value of around $1.63 billion (1.5b €).  Speculation is that Indian automaker Eicher, maker of motorcycle brand Royal Enfield is interested and exploring possibly acquiring the brand. While not as well known in the US, Royal Enfield sells more motorcycles globally than famed maker Harley Davidson. Eicher, which also partners with Polaris and Volvo Trucks for production in India is aggressively looking to grow its global portfolio. Eicher Motors recent growth means it has over $540 million* in cash reserves to put towards that global expansion goal. 

Ducati sold 55,451 units in 2016. Other possible buyers of Ducati could include Harley Davidson, Polaris, and Suzuki.

Source: Times of India

Pictures courtesy of Ducati and Royal Enfield

*In an earlier version of this article we converted Indian Rupee to US Dollars incorrectly. -DD

G. David Felt

Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer

www.CheersandGears.com

The week of June 23^rd Harley Davidson will introduce its first electric bike. A company known for its big loud touring bikes and iconic brand plans to become a leader worldwide in developing technology and standards for electric vehicles.

At an invitation only event in New York, Harley will show off its handmade demonstration models. The company will then take the bikes on a 30-city tour to allow people to test drive the bikes and provide feedback. This tour will allow Harley to refine the bike so its engineers can plan to bring it to market over the next few years.

Risky is an understatement since no market exists for full size electric bikes. The market is almost exclusively driven by scooters and low powered bikes in Asian countries like China. Yet these investments by a well-know icon could very well create demand. Regardless of immediate demand, the long term potential for Harley should be a win no matter what.

The LiveWire bike is expected to sell on performance more than environmental awareness or what is called the green factor. The sporty bike can go from 0 to 60 in approximately 4 seconds with no need to shift gears. Like a jet airplane taking off, the engine is silent except for the meshing of gears which emits a hum.

The lead engineer Jeff Richlen states, “People get on thinking Golf Cart and get off thinking Rocket Ship.”

Hurdles for the company are the current battery pack lasts about 130 miles and takes up to 1hr to recharge. Hitting the highway will likely frustrate riders for road trips due to the short range and long recharge time.

Harley does see this as an outstanding suburban and city commuter bike. With sales of more than 260,000 motorcycles last year, the potential for EV bikes cannot be ignored.

William Maley

Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com

March 12, 2012

Well, this is different. Car Magazine is reporting that Audi has signed an agreement with Italian motorcycle maker, Ducati to possibly buy them. The deal would cost of 850 million euros (about $1.1 billion) The 850 million includes a 800 million euro debt. Sources at Audi tell Car the company will most likely offer between 50 to 100 million euros and take on the large debt load.

So, why is Audi interested in Ducati? Well there are three reasons. One: Audi has a bit of motorcycle history with former brands DKW and NSU. Two: Ducati chairman Andrea Bonomi has said he views "'Ducati as the two-wheel equivalent of Audi". Three: Volkswagen chairman Ferdinand Piëch has been wanting Ducati for the longest time. Back in 2008, Piëch said it was mistake not buying Ducati at the time.

However, Audi isn't the only wanting Ducati. Mercedes-Benz, who's own AMG performance division is a partner with the brand and India's Mahindra are also in the running.

Source: Car Magazine