More Afternoon Moto News - Pretty Buell, Harley 48 & Aspire

A builder and designer in the U.K. has actually managed to turn the Buell 1125R into something which has a far superior aesthetic value than the stock model. The bike is called the Magpul Ronin, and it just may be a model for future products. As it is now, it is merely a prototype, but the Buell owners will likely push them to produce some of the cool bits on this machine for the public to buy. If Magpul does not, they will be losing some serious money.

http://tinyurl.com/ykvge96

And, it is from the same source that we get the first real look at the new Harley-Davidson 48. It is based on a Sportster 1200 (the second most common H-D) and it has fatter tires and a single seat. Not sure what is supposed to be so special, but then I am not an obsessive H-D fan like some are...

http://tinyurl.com/ykljt9u

US review: http://tinyurl.com/y93gugm

And, here is some important news for U.K. residents; the Aspire charity group which does work for people with severe spinal injuries, allowing them to live normal lives. They will be having what they call a D-Day Ride Out, which will take place in France on 12 - 13 June 2010. Head on over to the website for more details.

http://www.aspire.org.uk/bikers/

Friday Afternoon Moto News - H-D Loss, Erik Buell & Derbi

Harley-Davidson posted their first quarterly loss in 16 years at the end of 2009. It is a sad representation of what this economy is doing to the industry. To help fight this, they have created another entry-market motorcycle, the Forty-Eight, which they hope will bring in some new customers. It is unlikely to make an impact like they want, but they will certainly sell some of them. Good Luck H-D!

http://tinyurl.com/yby5d2t

Erik Buell Racing has signed on with think3’s ThinkDesign (CAD) and ThinkPLM (PDM) to help optimize their product development. This comes to us via a press release from the Erik Buell Racing company and think3. For more details, take the link.

http://tinyurl.com/yd9bd69

Derbi, with help from Sevcon, have created their own electric motorcycle, the GPR EV. They say that it is far beyond what is currently being produced by other electric motorcycle manufacturers due to its fully-integrated power system. No word on production or racing for this machine, just the short article and the photo.

http://tinyurl.com/yeg5ask