RideLust

Meet Grayson Perry, the 49 year old motorcycle loving artist and transvestite that lives in London. As a child Perry had a teddy bear name Alan Measles, who was apparently the dictator and God of the imaginary world that Perry created in his mind (I’m not making this up folks). Now almost 50 years after first receiving the bear, Perry decided to pay homage to his life long friend by building one of the most outlandish motorcycles we’ve seen to date. It’s called the Kenilworth AM1 and according to Perry the bike is a cross between the, “Mexican Day of the Dead meets Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.”
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Now here’s one that even threw me for a loop. You see Harley Davidson is synonymous with many things, none of which have anything to do with speed, performance and handling. Yet here we are looking at a four-wheeled roadster that is powered by a big 120 cu. in. Harley Davidson V-twin that is linked by a drive shaft to a rear mounted, sequential shift trans-axle. It’s a pretty cool little rig actually. According to the eBay ad from which these pictures stem, this little bugger was designed by a couple of retired Ford engineers and test driven by former Nascar driver Ricky Rudd. Now, I have no idea how this thing drives and performs, and just be cause it was built by a few retired engineers that still doesn’t mean it’s any good. It is definitely intriguing though.
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Harley-Davidson Outsourcing Motorcycle Production. To India.

I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news for you, so I’ll start with the good: if you live in India, buying a Harley-Davidson may soon cost you fewer rupees. Now for the bad: if you build Harleys in America for export to India, you may soon find yourself with less work. Harley-Davidson has announced the opening of a new assembly plant in Haryana, India, specifically to build bikes for the Indian market. Components will be supplied from Harley-Davidson plants in the U.S. and Brazil, and final assembly will take place in Haryana. One reason is the huge tariff the Indian government slaps on imported motorcycles, which Hell For Leather tells us is equal to 60% of the bike’s value. Indian labor is also less costly than American labor, which should help lower the cost of product in the Indian market, thus increasing Harley’s market share.

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A while back we told you about a one-off Harley Davidson that was being painted by Jack Armstrong for Bartel’s Harley-Davidson (the Harley Dealer to the Stars!). Bartels is asking a cool million dollars for the bike, which is the only one that Armstrong will ever paint, for which I’m extremely thankful. Here it is in all of its dribble-painted glory, complete with sea sponges glued to the tank and flyscreen. If a 10 year old did this for an art class project art, his best hope would be a C- if the teacher was particularly kind. It’s art, so you’re really not supposed to understand it.

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If you’re going to dream, it’s said, dream big. The blind like the wind in their face (and bugs on their teeth) as much as you and I do, so if you’ve got the money, live the dream. This ad for Lotto dates back a few years, but the message is still relevant; you never know what fate has in store for, so make the best of it.

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The risk of Milwaukee losing corporate citizen Harley-Davidson appears to be over, as Harley-Davidson management reached agreements with the steelworker’s and machinist’s unions earlier this week. The new contracts take effect in April of 2010, and cover the production of engines and transmissions in Milwaukee, plus the production of motorcycle components in Tomahawk, WI.

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The Veon is sportbike mode

This isn’t my opinion, this is fact; at least according to the 2010 AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building voting. The event, held at this year’s Sturgis motorcycle rally, pitted bike builders from around the world against one another. In the end, the bike that took top honors was the Veon, built by Belgium’s Krugger Motorcycles. Krugger is no stranger to the competition, haven taken third place in 2004, 2005 and 2009.

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2010 MV Augusta F4

It’s official: MV Augusta has escaped the fate of Buell Motorcycles, and has been sold to Claudio Castiglioni and MV Augusta Motor Holding, S.r.l. In case you’ve been keeping track of the über sexy Italian brand, this is indeed the same Claudio Castiglioni that sold MV Augusta to Harley-Davidson back in 2008, before the global financial meltdown.

Castiglioni has remained tied to the brand, serving as chairman of MV Augusta under Harley-Davidson’s ownership. No details were released on the sale price, although Autoblog indicates that it was symbolic exchange of €1.0.

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The Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee, WI

You guessed it – Harley-Davidson is in the midst of negotiations with their union workers, whose current labor contract expires in April 2012. It’s no secret that the global powersports market has been hammered by the global economic downturn, and no segment is feeling the pinch more than the heavyweight cruiser market, which Harley dominates. Harley is asking their unions for cost concessions and scheduling flexibility to better meet seasonal demand; the machinist’s union, which represents Harley’s line workers, has been silent on the issue.

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Let’s face it: Harley-Davidson’s XR1200 is already a minimalist standard motorcycle, as it was inspired by the legendary XR750 flat-track race bike. There really isn’t a lot of farkles on the XR1200 that don’t need to be there, but Roland Sands Design makes the original XR1200 seem like a Tupperware-wrapped touring mule. RSD takes the minimalist approach to the extreme, and you’ll either love it or hate it. Either way, you’ve got to admire the handbuilt swingarm and assorted performance parts (Ohlins forks from a Ducati 1098, Performance Machine calipers) RSD worked into the build. I don’t think I’d want to ride it for very long, but it is easy to look at.