2010 Aprilia Shiver 750

2010 Aprilia Shiver 750 Headlight View

2010 Aprilia Shiver 750 Black Red

2010 Aprilia Shiver 750 Wallpaper

2010 Aprilia Shiver 750 Engine

2010 Aprilia Shiver 750 Image

McQueen's Indian Re-discovered

Thanks to Irish Rich's comments, I went back to the National Motorcycle Museum's website and found these photos.

I had seen these shots quite awhile ago and thought they were no longer up. I don't know how old the pictures are, or if the bike still there?

To it's left is a Wild Angels Dragon bike. What's the story on this one?

Are You Having a Great Taint?

Taint, It taint Christmas and it taint New Years.
It's that magical and wonderful period between them. A time for mischief and merry making.

Old Saint Taint, The patron saint of the Holiday.

I'm officially starting this New Holiday Tradition. The Five days of Taint start on the 26th and run through the 30th. The 28th will be the most important and celebrated date, as it's smack dab in the middle. The holiday's colors will be orange and blue.

From now on, be sure to wish all your friends and loved ones a Terrific Taint!

McQueen's Indian Agianagian

Most likely shot at the Santa Paula airport.

Back in Nov. 08 I did a post on Steve McQueen and also showed what was said to be his favorite bike. It was said because he would ride it when he was grubby and nobody would suspect it was him. I have a similar photo of him somewhere (grubbier than this), but found this one recently.

What prompted me to post this was an interesting anonymous comment about the Nov. 08 post that I just received yesterday.

Anonymous said...

Where is this bike? Cause if you want the truth about it I'm the person to tell it because I'm the one who built it for Steve. I built it for him cause I would not sell him mine. Which I still have the twin sitting in my shop. So piss off to who ever claims building this bike. And yes it was his favorite bike. YES it would be a mistake to restore it. It was built to look like my bike, "A Rat Bike" thats what he wanted.

J.D.

It would be very cool if J.D. would tell us more, possible send some photos, or perhaps identify himself.

2010 Lotus Exige S Type 72 Special Edition

The Lotus Exige S Type 72 celebrates the most successful F1 car of all time, the Lotus Type 72 Formula One car, which achieved 20 Grand Prix victories between 1970 and 1975.

The Lotus Type 72 was driven by such Lotus greats as Jochen Rindt, Emerson Fittipaldi, Ronnie Peterson and Jacky Ickx and won three Formula One Constructorsâ€TM Championships (1970, 1972 and 1973) and two Driversâ€TM World Championships (the first being won by Jochen Rindt in 1970 and the second by Emerson Fittipaldi in 1972).

The colour scheme of the Exige S Type 72 commemorates the famous and easily recognisable black and gold Lotus Type 72 livery and is finished by the same sign writer who painted racing cars for Team Lotus.

Performance through light weight has long been a Lotus philosophy. The 935kg Exige S Type 72 sprints to 60 mph in just 4.5 seconds and to 100 km/h in 4.7 seconds, before reaching a top speed of 145 mph, 233 km/h. The Exige S Type 72 also offers class leading fuel economy and emissions, with fuel economy of 6.5 litres/100 km (43.5 mpg) on the Extra Urban Cycle and CO2 emissions of 199 g/km.

The Exige S Type 72 is a powerful supercharged mid-engined sportscar that is equally at home on the racetrack or open road. The intercooled engine has VVTL-i technology ensuring impressive performance all the way to the rev limiter at 8500 rpm.

The Sport Pack comes as standard on the Exige S Type 72 which has a bespoke high quality interior, including black micro fibre ProBax sports seats with gold stitching. Each car comes with a special build plate commemorating one of the F1 car's 20 Grand Prix victories. The exterior of the Exige S Type 72 features unique black and gold light weight wheels and is finished with hand-painted gold Type 72 and Exige S logos, (the Sport Pack also includes a T45 steel main roll hoop, Lotus Traction Control, twin oil coolers and an adjustable front anti-roll bar).

All Lotus cars offer outstanding handling and performance, and the Exige is no exception offering excellent dynamics and great driver involvement. Lotus ride and handling gives an inspiring driving experience and the mid-engined layout of the Lotus Exige S Type 72 offers fantastic balance and agility.

Luke Bennett, Operations Director for Lotus Cars Limited stated, "The Lotus Exige S Type 72 is an evocative sportscar, combining cutting edge handling and performance with the iconic Type 72 colour scheme, one of the most famous racing liveries of all time. The Exige provides an intense driving experience either on road or track and this limited edition is a worthy car to celebrate such a legendary racing car."

Clive Chapman, Director of Classic Team Lotus said, "The Type 72 was a very significant car for Team Lotus and indeed for the world of F1. It was a revolutionary design that pioneered the use of side mounted radiators to achieve its distinctive "wedge" profile, which delivered a significant aerodynamic advantage. Furthermore, by minimising unsprung weight and using a torsion bar, rising rate suspension, tyre performance was excellent. The Lotus Type 72 design was so advanced that it was competitive for an extraordinary six years."

The Exige S Type 72 options include: Air Conditioning, Limited Slip Differential and the Performance Pack, which includes a power increase to 240 PS, larger AP Racing brakes, enlarged roof scoop (compared to the standard Exige S) and Lotus variable traction control and Lotus launch control.

To commemorate the impressive number of Grand Prix wins the Type 72 achieved, Lotus will be producing 20 of this special edition for the UK, a further 20 cars for mainland Europe and there will be a limited run of cars in Japan and selected markets around the world.

Lotus Exige S Type 72 prices:

UK Price: £35,995 MRSP, excluding on the road costs of £950

Euro zone price: €40,332, including delivery and other on the road costs, excluding local country tax.


Exige S:
199 g/km CO2

8.5 l/100 km (33.2 mpg) Combined Cycle

11.9 l/100 km (23.7 mpg) Urban Cycle

6.5 litres/100 km (43.5 mpg) Extra Urban Cycle

Bam!, Xmas is Here

Time's Up

Only 366 days till next year.

First Drive: 2011 Toyota Sienna

2011 Toyota Sienna minivan early next year.

The Sienna looks new inside and out, though careful reading of its spec sheet reveals it's got a lot in common with the last version. It just makes economic sense--though some shoppers will wonder if it made more sense to tear up the Sienna's floorpan and install fold-away second-row seats. The Sienna goes without that clever arrangement, while Chrysler and Dodge and Nissan tease shoppers with the promise of a two-seat, cargo-filled van.

To counter those come-ons, Toyota's putting a few spiffs in the Sienna. For one, you can haul a full 4x8 sheet of plywood inside, if you have to--even if you have to remove the second-row seats or scar them for life. If you treat your Sienna with more respect--and your passengers too--Toyota's seen fit to fit a pair of aircraft-style first-class seats on some Siennas. Tilt them back, tune in two videos on the 16.4-inch-wide LCD screen, and you could practically live in the Sienna, if you parked it on the right side of any Manhattan street. You could probably charge $1200 a month, in fact.

There are other arrows in its quiver, too. The Sienna still offers all-wheel drive, unlike every other minivan. A new SE edition has tighter tuning and 19-inch wheels, for those who refuse to give up the tendency to rub sidewalls for guilty pleasure. And for 2011, Toyota's turned back the clock to fit a four-cylinder engine in the Sienna--and with 187 horsepower and a six-speed automatic, the four-cylinder will give frugal shoppers a serious, convincing alternative to lavish V-6 power.

Toyota says the base price of the 2011 Sienna will come in below the current vehicle's $25,000 price point. At that point, it's a worthwhile investment that gives the Sienna a fighting chance against the plasticky Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country, the price-cutter Kia Sedona, the also-ran Nissan Quest and TheCarConnection.com's favorite minivan, the Honda Odyssey.

This is How it Starts

Brass Balls FXR Concept Art

I recently did this Concept Art for Dar Holdsworth of Darwin Motorcycles (Brass Balls Bobbers), of a new model for 2010. The build of the first prototype will be documented in Cycle Source magazine and also on Bikernet.com.

For more info on this and his other bikes click on the following link:
http://www.brassballsbobbers.com/bikes

2010 ART Mercedes G55 AMG G streetline

2010 ART Mercedes G55 AMG G

2010 Ducati 848 Sport Bike

2010 Ducati 848 First Look

2010 Ducati 848 Picture

2010 Ducati 848 Rear Angle View

2010 Triumph Street Triple R

2010 Triumph Street Triple R Headlight Side View

2010 Triumph Street Triple R Suspension

2010 Triumph Street Triple R Picture

2010 Triumph Street Triple R Bodywork

2010 Triumph Street Triple R Engine

2010 Triumph Street Triple R Sport Bike

2010 Triumph Street Triple R Brakes

2010 Ducati Monster 696 Gallery

2010 Ducati Monster 696 Front View

2010 Ducati Monster 696 Motorcycle Wallpaper

2010 Ducati Monster 696 Red

2010 Ducati Monster 696 Sport Touring

2010 Ducati Monster 696 Picture

2010 Ducati Monster 696 in Action

Dedicated Hardcore Blogs

I recently found these two blogs by hopscotching through a follower.


Click on logos to visit. There are a few Sportster only blogs but this is the first Evo only one I've seen.

The first one features an interesting and fairly unique point of view. Seems that the owner of the blog won't post anything but Blockheads (Evo's) and expresses (kidding or not), a disdain for earlier H-D's. The Blockhead name was thrown around when Evo's first came out and I wish it would have caught on more than it has. Anyway, it's a reminder of how segmented this sport (?) can be.

The blog puts down "Old School" and I can understand how someone might react to the recent craze in vintage chops but, since Evo's are 10 to 25 years old, they themselves aren't exactly New School.

I myself don't dig Twin Cams that much and feel that the Evo is the last true evolution of the classic H-D twin.

Some Evo owners probably now feel like Shovel owners did (maybe still do), not too long ago. Sort of like a lost step child instead of a favorite son.

2010 Ford Focus ECOnetic Pictures

The new 2010 Ford Focus ECOnetic takes a successful formula to the next level by combining new technology with clever details, making the most fuel-efficient Ford Focus up to now.

2010 Ford Focus ECOnetic

2010 Ford Focus ECOnetic

Dedicated Ford Fiesta, Focus, Mondeo and Transit ECOnetic models have already established themselves as credible alternatives for customers prioritising low carbon motoring and high levels of fuel efficiency. Now, the next-generation Ford Focus ECOnetic changes the rules again, and introduces Ford of Europe’s first production application of the optional Ford Auto-Start-Stop system.

Ford Focus ECOnetic

Ford Focus ECOnetic

Fike?

If a three wheeler is a trike, then what's a five wheeler? A Fike... a Pike?

Threesome

Tom McMullen aboard his Corvair powered trike. This photo was taken on the way home from the trike's second showing in '67 and was just before or right after he was pulled over by the police. It was published in AEE's Chopper catalog in '70. Other shots from this ordeal with the cops were originally published in the July 68 Cycle Guide which featured the trike's first completed photos. Tom contributed features on custom bikes to Cycle Guide before starting Street Chopper in '69.