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The Husqvarna Vitpilen 401 Aero Concept Is F’ing Gorgeous

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Anyone that reads enough Asphalt & Rubber should know that I don’t particularly shine to the café racer aesthetic. So knowing that upfront should add some gravitas to the statement that the Husqvarna Vitpilen 401 Aero is blowing my mind right now.

Based on the same unassuming 373cc single-cylinder platform as the Husavarna Vitpilen 401 and Husqvarna Svartpilen 401 motorcycles, the Husqvarna Vitpilen 401 Aero concept completes the post-authentic holy trinity of retro standards, scramblers, and café racers.

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Bikes

Here is the Aptly Named Ducati Scrambler Cafe Racer

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The other addition to Ducati’s vintage lineup, the aptly named Ducati Scrambler Cafe Racer adds the last missing piece to Ducati’s post-authentic puzzle: a café racer model.

Following the trend that so many other OEMs have followed, Ducati has wisely used its Scrambler sub-brand for its café racer offering, which features an old-school 803cc air-cooled platform that is easy to own, and cheap to buy.

Tastefully styled, the 75hp machine should be very attractive to retro-focused riders, or those who are simply looking for a basic street bike to add to their garage.

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Bikes

Ducati Scrambler Café Racer Cometh Soon

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In addition to bringing the Ducati Scrambler Desert Sled to market at the upcoming EICMA show, Ducati will pair its off-road focused scrambler model with a café racer version of the Scrambler, which has cleverly been named the Ducati Scrambler Café Racer.

The models will use the same 803cc air-cooled v-twin engine that we’ve seen already in the Scrambler lineup, and as you would expect, the machine will have the typical café racer aesthetic, with a round headlight and bullet fairing.

As with all of the Scrambler Ducati lineup, you can expect customization to be a big part of the Ducati Scrambler Café Racer’s appeal. Keep an eye out for its debut, November 7th in Milan, Italy.

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Bikes

Brad’s Leggero by Walt Siegl

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The latest creation from Walt Siegl Motorcycles, Brad’s Leggero helps fill the void left behind by the departure of the Ducati Sport Classic from the Italian company’s lineup.

Speaking to those who long for simpler machines, at the core of the Leggero is an air-cooled two-valve Ducati engine, which was built and blueprinted by Bruce Meyers Performance.

Other bespoke items include the frame, which is made of tubes of 4130 chrome moly steel, weighs a paltry 15 lbs, and was built in-house at Walt Siegl Motorcycles.

Helping complete the café racer look is the bullet fairing bodywork, which takes a dash of modern by being made of Kevlar. The modern touches continue, with the use Öhlins suspension and radially mounted Brembo brakes.

The effect is a tastefully done café racer that not only shines with real craftsmanship, but also does post-heritage right: taking the best of design from the past, without snubbing the progress of technology in the future.

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Bikes

BMW R nineT Racer – Yet Another Café Racer

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BMW Motorrad’s INTERMOT unveilings centered around two machines for its heritage lineup, the BMW R nineT Pure and the BMW R nineT Racer. Both bikes are based off the iconic air-cooled boxer-twin engine, and both bikes are exactly what their name implies.

The R nineT Pure is a basic street standard, styled for a forgotten era. The R nineT Racer adds a half-fairing to the mix, adding yet another café racer model to the list of choices the post-authentic crowd can pick from.

Admittedly, BMW’s design team did a good job with the 2017 BMW R nineT Racer, making a tasteful café model from the very flexible R nineT platform. We especially like the subtly done throwback white, blue, and red paint scheme.

The BMW R nineT has done well for itself with urban riders, and the BMW R nineT Scrambler is eagerly awaited, finally launching in the coming weeks around the world.

We expect similarly strong showings for the Racer and Pure models, though if we had to pick from the two, this would be the one.

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Bikes

This Looks Like the New BMW R nineT Racer

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INTERMOT is this week, which means that we will see a few “advanced” previews of some of the machines we can expect at the trade show coming in the next 48hrs or so.

The Germanic brands, BMW and KTM usually debut a number of machines at INTERMOT, and the Japanese manufactures usually have a few bikes for us there, as well.

This means new bike season is upon us in earnest, and the first machine to get leaked, teased, or previewed — however you want to define those words as a marketer — appears to be the BMW R nineT Racer – a café racer styled version of the BMW R nineT platform, which we spotted in CARB filings a couple weeks ago.

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Podcast

Two Enthusiasts Podcast #34 – Doohickey

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Episode 34 of the Two Enthusiasts Podcast starts off by using the two new Ducati Scrambler models, which were spotted in CARB filings earlier this month, as a jumping off point to talk about how motorcycle manufacturers are chasing the post-authentic biker movement.

We then opine a bit about the apparent decline in the number of scrambler and café racer builds we are seeing in the custom motorcycle scene right now, and how we think that superbikes from the 1980s could be the next platform of choice for bike builders.

This takes the show into a discussion about the rise of electronics, and how they not only affect the motorcycle hobbyist, but also custom motorcycle builders. We then finish up the show with a listener question that asks about for selling advice on a heavily customized Japanese motorcycle.

There might be a revolving KLR joke in there as well…all in all, it’s another classic Two Enthusiasts Podcast show.

As always, you can listen to the show via the embedded SoundCloud player, after the jump, or you can find the show on iTunes (please leave a review) or this RSS feed. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well. Enjoy the show!

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Bikes

Two New Ducati Scramblers Spotted in CARB Docs?

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More new model news, as filings with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) suggest that we will see two new Scrambler models debuting, later this year.

We come to this conclusion because emissions papers from CARB state that “Scrambler CR” and “Scrambler DS” models are coming from Ducati for 2017, in addition to the models we already have from the Italian manufacturer.

The two-letter designations imply that we are likely to see a café racer (CR) version of the Ducati Scrambler, as well as a dual-sport (DS) version of the machine, which we have already seen in spy photos.

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Bikes

Yamaha R1M Café Racer by Holographic Hammer

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Even if most of it is just manipulating pixels, we are big fans of the work being done by the guys at Holographic Hammer, as they are bringing something fresh and unique to the industry, which is always a good thing.

That being said, we wanted to take a minute to talk about one of HH’s recent pieces: a café racer design based off of the Yamaha R1M superbike. The idea is sort of out there, but yet also makes a reasonable amount of sense.

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Bikes

Praëm BMW S1000RR – Getting Modern with Retros

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We really like what we’ve seen so far from the guys at Praëm. Their first proper build, based off a Honda RC-51, was waaaay outside the box, and featured some really interesting design elements for us to chew on. Their follow-up to that work is no different.

The Praëm BMW S1000RR is a modern riff on the classic superbike design – think of it as a 21st century take on late-20th century racing.

As the name suggests, the donor bike is a BMW S1000RR, but the styling comes from something you would see in the 1980s – perhaps at the Suzuka 8-Hour endurance race, as Praëm suggests in their text.

The “Optimus Praëm” build is a logical, yet a highly more functional, response to what we have seen in the café racer scene as of late, and it bodes well for the future of the custom motorcycle community if more of the same is to come from other builders. Fingers crossed.

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Bikes

Ducati 1199 Panigale Café Racer Concept by AD Koncept

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I think in 2016, we will find that the whole post-authentic motorcycle movement officially jumped that shark right about at this point in time. The 2015 EICMA show was inundated with café racers and scramblers from manufacturers that wanted to cash in on the budding trend.

Now with Deus ex Machina up for sale and no Honda CB350 left behind, the industry feels ready for the next moto du jour – though not before we give it one last go, of course.

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