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There Is a Special Harley-Davidson Livewire up for Auction to Support COVID-19 Relief

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As of this writing, the official death toll in the United States from COVID-19 deaths stands at 86,248 souls. This is truly a devastating time for our country, both in the loss of life, and the effects it is having on our society.

To provide relief to this pandemic, Harley-Davidson is teaming up with auction house Bonhams to offer a special one-of-a-kind Livewire motorcycle, and all of the proceeds (excluding taxes and fees) from the auction will be donated to United Way Worldwide’s COVID-19 Community Response and Recovery Fund. 

The auction will be held online by Bonhams, from Tuesday, May 12th, 2020 thru Tuesday, May 26th, 2020 , and is available to only for participants from the United States.

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MotoGP

Paddock Pass Podcast #144 – Coronavirus Update

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Episode 144 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this one catches us back up on some news from the MotoGP paddock, as Dorna has been hard at work to get the 2020 season underway once again.

As such, this show sees David Emmett, Jensen Beeler, and Neil Morrison on the microphones, talking about how the coronavirus outbreak has affected different parts of the world, and then how MotoGP will return to action.

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News

Android Auto Is Finally Coming to Motorcycles

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It is hard to believe that it took until the year 2020 for the Android Auto media software to come to the motorcycle industry, but yet here we are – five years after the software’s initial release.

Available on Harley-Davidson motorcycles starting in March of this year, now we see that the Honda Gold Wing will also include Android Auto (the Gold Wing was the first motorcycle to have Apple CarPlay too, by the way).

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Bikes

After Feedback, The MV Agusta Superveloce 800 Gets a Color Change

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It seems that the MV Agusta Superveloce 800 will have a new choice of liveries for potential owners when it comes to market, as the Italian motorcycle manufacturer has updated the bike’s color choices after getting feedback from the brand’s fans.

“Following the presentation of the Superveloce 800 in Milano, we took onboard feedback from both the public and importers and decided to create two color schemes, both with a gold-finish frame, that accentuate the neo-retro theme, highlight the curvaceous styling, and align the models to our brand values,” said Adrian Morton, Design Director at MV Agusta’s Research Center CRC.

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Bikes

Is This the Future of the Ducati Scrambler Design?

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If you want to design motorcycles for a living, the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California is the premier place to begin your studies, and attending the school could very well lead to a position as a designer at a two-wheeled or four-wheeled manufacturer. There is no better proof of that than today’s story.

Partnering with the Ducati Scrambler brand, the ArtCenter had students working on designs that explored the future of the Scrambler lineup, and the winner of the competition was rewarded with a training internship at the Ducati Design Center in Bologna, Italy.

In total, 10 projects were submitted for review, and it was Peter Harkins who took home the winning prize. While many students explored electric concepts for the Scrambler brand, Harkins thought of a more classic approach for Ducati’s heritage-based sub-brand.

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News

Kawasaki’s Electric Motorcycle Is Named “Endeavor” But It’s Not Ready for Production

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You have to hand it to Team Green, because out of the four Japanese motorcycle brands, it seems only Kawasaki is truly willing to innovate and take risks in the motorcycle industry.

Abandoning the rat race of MotoGP, Kawasaki has won six out of ten WorldSBK Championships in the past decade. They have released a lineup of supercharged sport bikes, with the Kawasaki Ninja H2 R making over 300hp.

Kawasaki has dominated the small-displacement category with its Ninja 250, Ninja 300, and now Ninja 400 offerings, and the company is about to shock the system again, with the 250cc four-cylinder Ninja ZX-25R.

So, it shouldn’t surprise us that Kawasaki is also the first Japanese OEM to show-off a full-sized electric motorcycle project (that’s assuming you believe Honda’s party line that it had no hand in the Mugen electric superbike at the Isle of Man TT).

We got our first glimpse of Kawasaki’s electric sport bike at EICMA last year, with the machine wrapped in Ninja 650 bodywork.

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Racing

This Year’s Bonneville Motorcycle Speed Trials Have Been Canceled

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Another victim from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 Bonneville Motorcycle Speed Trials (BMST) have been canceled.

The news comes as a joint decision by the FIM, AMA, and local organizer Deliciate Promotions LTT, with the races intended to be held on the iconic salt flats on August 29th through September 3rd.

While no elaboration was given in the FIM’s terse communication on the event’s cancelation, one can only surmise that the logistics of the international event were impossible because of the global lockdown in place because of the coronavirus.

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Racing

The Differences Between Carbon & Steel Brakes, Explained

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Even if you missed our live chat on YouTube with Sylvain Guintoli last week, you still might have caught on that we are really enjoying the videos that the former WorldSBK champion has been making lately.

With a wide-ranging resumé on two wheels, including being the current factory test rider for the Suzuki MotoGP team, Sylvain is perhaps over-qualified to be the newest social media influencer for the motorcycle industry, but that is also what makes his explanations on YouTube so great.

Speaking with first-hand knowledge (and in various languages), as well as delivering his experiences in a clear format, Sylvain has been boiling down high-level topics on motorcycle riding. 

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Live Chat

Come Join Us for a Live Chat with Moto Designer Miguel Galluzzi

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Got big plans for the coming weekend? Of course you don’t, you’re probably stuck inside like the rest of us. But, we can help with that and ease your motorcycle cravings at the same time.

On Saturday, May 9th at 10am PDT / 7pm CEST, Asphalt & Rubber will be sitting down with esteemed motorcycle designer, Miguel Galluzzi.

Currently the head of design at the Piaggio Group (Aprilia, Moto Guzzi, Piaggio, and Vespa), Miguel has been responsible for a wide range of motorcycles and scooters.

His resumé includes a number of iconic designs and important motorcycles for the industry, from his time at Piaggio, and also during his tenure at Cagiva/Ducati.

Always with a keen eye on the industry, and what is happening in the world at large, Miguel always provides great insights. You have probably passed him a motorcycle show or race, and not realized it, while he soaks up the latest trends coming to the industry.

For our live chat, I will of course have some questions of my own for Miguel, but we want to make the show interactive, so we will be taking questions from the audience as well.

This means you can submit questions ahead of time, here in the comments section or via social media. Or, you can join us on the live stream, and ask questions from the live chat on YouTube.

There are several ways to watch the live stream. The easiest is that the video above will go live on Saturday, but we will also be reminding you on social media as well.

Of course, you can also go straight to YouTube via this link here. We hope to see you on the chat!

Link: YouTube

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News

Jochen Zeitz Appointed President and CEO of Harley-Davidson

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Big moves continue at the Bar & Shield brand, as Jochen Zeitz has been named as the permanent replacement to Matt Levatich, dropping the “interim” part of his title as President and CEO of Harley-Davidson, effective immediately.

The move isn’t too much of a surprise for Harley-Davidson, as Zeitz was always a front-runner for the positions, after he took the temporary assignments over two months ago.

Coming closely after the news that Harley-Davidson would drop the “More Roads” business plan for a new corporate strategy, dubbed “The Rewire”, the American motorcycle maker is returning to a position that more closely follows where it was before Levatich took the helm.

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Recall

Aprilia Next to Be Hit by the Big Brembo Brake Pad Recall

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The big Brembo brake pad recall continues onward, this time with Aprilia reporting to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that the recall affects its V4 lineup.

Accordingly, the recall affects both trim levels of the Tuono V4 and RSV4 sport bikes, for the 2017 to 2020 model years (only the 2017-2018 model years for the RSV4 RF though).

This recall affects 3,287 V4 units sold by Aprilia in the United States, which constitutes all the RSV4 RR, RSV4 RF, Tuono V4, and Tuono V4 Factory sold in the United States during those time periods.

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