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Harley-Davidson Turns to OnlyFans to Engage Younger Riders

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That Harley-Davidson has an age problem is no secret in the motorcycle community. The Bar & Shield brand is suffering heavily from the decline of baby boomers in the two-wheeled lifestyle, and now it must reinvent itself for a new generation of rider.

In that effort, no stone has been left unturned. Harley-Davidson was the first major motorcycle manufacturer to create a full-sized electric motorcycle, and it is about to debut its first true adventure bike (don’t believe the marketing hype to contrary).

Harley-Davidson has even made an effort to engage with millennials and younger generations in meaningful ways, which has meant deviating from more traditional market-outreach efforts.

Today’s news pounds that point home further, as the Bar & Shield brand has launched a presence on the OnlyFans social media platform.

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News

Japanese Brands Agree on Swappable Batteries for Motorcycles

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All four Japanese motorcycle brands have agreed to a standard on swappable battery packs for two-wheelers, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha are reporting.

The Swappable Battery Consortium for Electric Motorcycles is focused only on the Japanese market, and shouldn’t be confused with a similar agreement and effort that Honda and other brands (Yamaha, KTM, and Piaggio) agreed to earlier this year.

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Reviews

Gone Riding: Aprilia Tuono 660

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The other side of the same coin? The Aprilia Tuono 660 is the “more naked” sibling (it’s a little unfair to call it a naked bike) to the Aprilia RS 660 sport bike.

With a more upright sitting position, cheaper price tag, and a lack of an IMU, the Aprilia Tuono 660 hopes to be a bit more approachable for street riders who aren’t looking for the race-ready design that comes with the RS 660.

Is there enough meat on the bones to hoon around on the track with this 660cc Tuono though? That’s what we aim to find out.

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Recall

Ducati Begins an Engine Replacement Recall for the Multistrada V4

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The Ducati Multistrada V4 has been making waves in the adventure-touring space since its debut last month, but for some unlucky owners, that fun is about to come to a stop.

This is because Ducati has found quality issues with the valve guides on some of the V4 Granturismo motors, which could lead to excessive wear and could cause the engine to lose power and ultimately fail at the head.

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Podcast

Paddock Pass Podcast Episode 195 – Moto3 Season Preview

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Episode 195 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this show is the third of three season-preview shows that we will be releasing this week. This must mean that we are talking about the start of the Moto3 Championship.

On the mics, we have Steve English, David Emmett, Neil Morrison, and Adam Wheeler, and they are joined with an interview with Moto3 Darryn Binder. Just as in the other previews, the show runs through the expectations for the year.

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Bikes

An Electric Motorcycle Concept That Cleans the Air While You Ride

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Electric motorcycle concepts always seem to have a vein of the fanciful in them. Maybe it is because the thought of an electric powertrain feels like the future, and so designers swing for the fences on what the future could hold for society.

That seems to be the case here with the Aether electric motorcycle concept by Taiwanese designer Lin Yu Cheng, who has designed a motorcycle that cleans the air around it, while it rides down the road.

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MotoGP

Paddock Pass Podcast Episode 194 – Moto2 Season Preview

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Episode 194 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this show is the second of three season-preview shows that we will be releasing this week. This must mean that we are talking about the start of the Moto2 Championship.

On the mics, we have Steve English, David Emmett, Neil Morrison, and Adam Wheeler, and they are joined with interviews with Moto2 racer Sam Lowes and Triumph Chief Product Officer Steve Sargent.

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Rumors

Talk of a Kawasaki Ninja 700 Middleweight-Twin Begins

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The internet is rife right now with rumors of a Kawasaki Ninja 700 in the works, to compete better in the budding middleweight-twin class.

According to the rumors, the bike would be an evolution of the current Kawasaki Ninja 650, with an obvious displacement bump to help it compete against the likes of the Yamaha MT-07 and even the higher-spec Aprilia RS 660.

The veracity of this rumor is up for grabs, but there is some logic to the idea – should it pan out to be true.

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Bikes

Triumph’s Electric Motorcycle Project Begins to Take Shape

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Two years ago, Triumph set out in a partnership with Williams Advanced Engineering, Integral Powertrain Ltd.’s e-Drive Division, and WMG at the University of Warwick to develop an electric motorcycle.

The group is funded from theUK government’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) via Innovate UK, and today they have reached “Phase 2” of their four-phase development process.

Effectively, this means Triumph et al have developed an electric drivetrain package for a motorcycle, and to make this a little sexier, they are sharing their design sketches for the prototype bike that they plan to build in Phase 3 of the project.

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