schelzig
Erik Schelzig
schelzig
Nashville-based journalist with a taste for motorcycles, punk rock and beer.

If you read the fine print, the author does seem surprised that most SUV buyers didn’t actually make use of their SUVs’ off-road capabilities. So in a way he may have predicted CUVs. Read more

Recently stumbled upon this article from 1998. Excellent prognosticators these auto industry types!

The cameras selectable on the MotoGP package. You can have as many as four screens going at the same time if you are enough of a multitasker. Here’s one of Aleix Espargaró having a hissy fit during qualifying:

Joe Roberts is in Moto2 this year. Jake Gagne just got a full-time ride for the factory-supported Honda team in World Superbike out of MotoAmerica, while fellow American PJ Jacobsen has a satellite Honda ride. Read more

4th Gear: Audi Decides To Keep Ducati After All

Was relieved to see this: “Motorcycles will travel for free and do not need an E-ZPass,” said Deputy Transportation Secretary Grindly Johnson. Read more

Me just about any time I choose avoid unpaved roads on my GPS.

Don’t forget the other great American hope on the motorcycle side: Honda’s Ricky Brabec, a past stage winner at the Dakar.

You can almost imagine BMW’s design team thinking of way to out-Paso the Ducati Paso. Put on an even bigger rectangular headlight? Check. Throw on even more fairing by putting it on front wheel and adding weird mini-panniers in the back? Jawohl!

There’s a name for those people. And it’s squids. Read more

Option 2 is pretty much how I observed it working on interstates around Los Angeles on a recent visit. Essentially there are two sets of double-yellow lines separating the HOV lanes from the rest of the road, basically the width of a motorcycle. Read more

Wet clutch, hydraulically controlled. Service intervals are at 7,500 miles, valve clearance every 15,000 miles. Read more

It’s a good question about what Ducati will do with the engine on other models. BMW has shown a willingness to deviate from its boxer tradition with models beyond its sportbike. Hard to imagine Ducati won’t follow suit. But when and with which models? We may have to wait until a future motorcycle show to find out... Read more

Right. I think the hint was in the discussion of the discussion of the stroke and bore. If they can make the latter longer for these bikes, they can presumably churn out a homologation special with an engine conforming to race specs. Read more

That’s what these are made for (well, music and talking):

Right. I haven’t ridden one yet, but my understanding of the Africa Twin version is that you can use the finger trigger to adjust gears on the fly if you want to, but that it’s otherwise fully automatic. Read more

It’s right there on the front of the bike. But here’s an inside look: