Nik J Miles

Archive for the ‘Motorcycles’ Category

“Yamaha’s Zuma 50F Scooter: Affordable, practical fun”

 Imagine a company having enough faith and confidence in a new product’s performance potential to have the national press launch take place in the “City by the Bay” – San Francisco, with its steep hills and heavy commute traffic. Especially when the new product is a new 49cc scooter and several members of the moto-press are in excess of 220 pounds – the payload for the product in question is actually 222 pounds. The company was Yamaha and the product was their new 2012 Zuma 50F scooter.

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“The electric alternative to fun on two wheels”

 ZERO motorcycles was founded by Neal Saiki, who holds a masters degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, and who formerly worked as a project manager at NASA developing high altitude research vehicles. Prior to that while in college, he set a World Aviation Record by creating the first successful human-powered helicopter. Saiki spent years designing award-winning, world-class mountain bikes for Santa Cruz Mountain Cycle.

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“2011 Kawasaki’s Ninja 1000: Great for Naked Sport”

 My first track-day experience came several years ago at Sears Point International Raceway in Sonoma, CA. Whoops, make that Infineon Raceway. It was a Keith Code school sponsored by Kawasaki and the school bikes were Kawa Ninja 6Rs, which proved to be too small for my lanky frame. As a result, I was granted the use of a Z1000 for the track exercises. As it turned out, the Z1000’s riding position was considerably more comfortable, making it much more manageable, and I was able to make it through the day’s exercises without serious incident and finished unscathed.

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“Victory High-Ball: An old school ride for Tarzan or Cheetah”

Victory, the self-proclaimed new American motorcycle, ahs stepped outside their normal styling box, no doubt to do battle with Harley-Davidson’s Crossbones model which also hearkens back to a more nostalgic era of two-wheeled transport. Victory’s entry into this arena is called the High-Ball.

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“Zach Ness customizes the 2011 Victory Vegas 8-Ball”

The third Ness Signature Series custom ride

All Victory motorcycles, regardless of the genre or category that they might be pigeonholed into, tend to personify highly customized, turnkey units right off the showroom floor. Last year saw the addition of two new touring models – the Victory Cross Roads and Victory Cross Country along with the enhancements made to the rest of the Victory stable.

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Ness clan members add custom touches to individual bikes

Polaris Industries celebrated the 10^th Anniversary of their Victory motorcycle division three years ago and embarked upon their second decade of production of “The New American Motorcycle”, making significant changes to their 2009 lineup of bikes in both the cruiser and touring categories. 2010 saw the addition of two new touring models – the Victory Cross Roads and Victory Cross Country along with the enhancements made to the rest of their stable. All of Victory’s motorcycles, regardless of the category that they happen to fall into, tend to fill the bill as highly customized turn-key units right off the showroom floor.

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Polaris Acquires Indian® Motorcycle

Polaris brings world-class engineering, manufacturing and distribution to Indian’s rich

American heritage and historic brand – perhaps now Indian will finally be Victorious

MINNEAPOLIS (April 19, 2011) — Polaris Industries Inc. (NYSE: PII) today announced the acquisition of Indian Motorcycle.  The business was acquired from Indian Motorcycle Limited (“IML”), a company advised by Stellican Limited and Novator Partners LLP, U.K. Private Equity firms.  Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

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A Bagger that cowboys up in traditional fashion

A couple of years ago, Kawasaki introduced the monstrous Vulcan 2000 as a heavy cruiser – emphasis on heavy. It came with a tall saddle and very short side stand, which made it exceedingly difficult, if not impossible to raise to a level riding position for those who happened to be on the vertically challenged side. Once moving, it was a dream on the road – in low speed maneuvering, not so much.

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“Victory’s Vision 8-Ball: The Maverick of the new American motorcycle” Victory motorcycles is a division of parent company Polaris Industries. The bike division celebrated its 10^th Anniversary in 2008, entering their second decade of “New American Motorcycle” production with significant enhancements to their 2009 lineup of bikes in both the cruiser and touring categories. The company added two new touring models for the 2010 model year– the Victory Cross Roads and Victory Cross Country. As with all of Victory’s models, regardless of category, the bikes fulfill the company philosophy of delivering highly customized turn-key units right off the showroom floor. Read the rest of this entry »

“Russian Ural: A Sports Utility Motorcycle”

Okay, it had to happen sooner or later — someone had to come up with a Sport Utility Motorcycle (SUM). Actually, such a machine has been around for quite awhile — it’s the Ural, and it’s been here in the U.S. since 1993. The Cold War is definitely over in the motorcycle world, as evidenced by the Ural, which is a Russian-built motorcycle with a side car.

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