Specialized Turbo e-bike is too fast and furious for the western world

While not quite the fastest commercially available e-bike in the world as some have suggested (as far as we can tell, that claim belongs to a DIY kit out of Taiwan by a company called Cyclone), the Specialized Turbo is still a speedy little beast. In fact, it's fast enough to find itself on the wrong side of the law both here in the US and across most of Europe. The 250 W rear hub motor is powerful enough to get this guy up to about 28 MPH, or 8 MPH over the legal limit here in America. It's the other features, though, that make this guy particularly interesting. The frame has integrated LED head and tail lights, regenerative breaking and the 342 Wh battery can be juiced in just two hours from an outlet. There's even a backlit display that lets you monitor charge and assistance level, as well as standard bike computer stats like speed, distance and time. Oh, and it even supports ANT+ for wirelessly connecting with your existing accessories. The Specialized Turbo is expected to land in some European nations in May for €5,499. Check out the video after the break to see it in action.

Continue reading Specialized Turbo e-bike is too fast and furious for the western world (video)

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Commencing car dump....
1/?

Ah 4chan, where would I be without you?

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Original Page: http://boards.4chan.org/wg/res/4643657

AGV Introduces PistaGP the Helmet Designed Around the Riders Head

AGV has unveiled its PistaGP helmet, the first product of the AGV Standards program that creates a helmet's fit from a laser scan of the rider's head.

Traditional helmets designs begin with the outer shell first, with the internals designed after, resulting in helmets that fit various generic head shapes. That's not a problem if your head is one of those shapes. Otherwise, you'll usually have to sacrifice some element of comfort for a decent overall fit.

AGV Standards starts with the inside first, with laser scanners creating a digital version of a rider's head. This digital scan can be used to create a 3D model with exact measurements various contours on the head. For the PistaGP, AGV recruited MotoGP star Valentino Rossi to help with development.

With Rossi's digitized measurements, AGV was able to produce a helmet with the internals customized to fit the multiple-time World Champion's head. The interior lining is pre-shaped for Rossi's head for optimum fit.

"I am very happy with the PistaGP, it feels like I am not wearing a helmet," says Rossi, who has been working with AGV on the PistaGP for three years. "Its aerodynamics have increased, with excellent ventilation and exaggerated visibility, like switching from the TV to the cinema."

The PistaGP's outer shell is also adjustable via specially calibrated cylinders in the housing, producing a fit that is also optimized for the rider. Added benefit from the inside-out design philosophy are a more compact shape and reduced weight.

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Original Page: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/motorcycle/the-sidecar/~3/ecjfYlwoSSk/

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

2.5" of rain last night. I appreciate it (and so do the gardens) but its time to let up so I can take to two wheels again. I'm getting withdrawals.

Local Motors: Inside the Factory of the Rally Fighter

The Rally Fighter is the first open source vehicle ever successfully put into production by a group of creative commons designers from their online community. Over 90% of the parts come off the shelf, saving time and money on engineering, research, and development. It features a Chevrolet LS3 engine, a Ford 9-inch rear axle, King coil-over suspension, and a body designed by Sangho Kim - winner of the Local Motors design competition. It's a seriously fierce machine, and it was more than capable of propelling me at over 80 mph through 'whoops,' jumps, and anything that could be thrown at it on my little joyride. So how do you produce such an awesome vehicle? Naturally in a facility that is just as awesome.

The last time I toured an automobile factory, well, it wasn't that fun. Upon walking inside the building, I was told by a rather raspy sounding woman to put on a jacket that somewhat resembled a lab coat, an awkwardly sized hard hat, and some safety glasses that have been around since the 1960's. Needless to say, it was a bit uninspiring. Anything deemed important was delegated to an automated machine and people had very little interaction with actually even building the vehicle. Even though Local Motors is within two hours of where I live and I knew they built a pretty insane vehicle - I was initially a little bit hesitant of touring their facility. I kept thinking of those factory line workers snarling at me, wondering what I was doing intheir factory. It wasn't exactly something I wanted to spend my day doing again. Let's just say Local Motors completely rebounded my entire perception of car factories, and I'm pretty sure they have the coolest production car factory, ever. 

From the moment I walked into the building and noticed I didn't have to pass through security, or get strip searched, I knew this was off to a great start. It was really just a bunch of car guys - much like myself, doing what they love for a living. You can tell pretty quickly after a short conversation that the people building these vehicles aren't what you'd expect at an car factory, most of them are smart - really smart, in fact, most of them are engineers, and they know what they're doing. The entire facility has a great feel to it, you have to want to work at Local Motors, and the friendliness of the staff really shows through into their work environment, which you could call, different to say the least.

More: http://www.expeditionportal.com/vehicules/58-other/898-local-motors-inside-the-factory-of-the-rally-fighter.html

An R/C Car Bomb Blew Up This Real Car... And Everyone Survived

Last September, lawyer Erik Chappell and his two sons were victims of a car bomb assassination attempt driving through Monroe, Michigan. Federal authorities now believe it was an attack using an explosive device partially made from an R/C car. More »

 

Audi In Talks To Buy Ducati

Audi is negotiating the possible acquisition of cash-strapped Ducati, the legendary Italian superbike maker.

One of the four companies (hence the four rings) that merged to form the Auto Union (which later carried the Audi member name exclusively) in 1932 was DKW, which made steam engines, but also motorbikes. It's not that odd of Audi's to was seek to get back in the two-wheeled game. 

Honda still makes both bikes and cars, as does BMW who got started a bit earlier. Yamaha built the cylinder heads for the Taurus SHO. Even Vespa made a car at one time.

I for one don't see any reason it can't work for Ducati and Audi, since the VAG is still doing quite well in a crap economy, reporting over $15b in profits just last year. Not bad. 

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Original Page: http://www.insideline.com/audi/audi-in-talks-to-buy-ducati.html

An F1 Champ On Ice Will Give You Vertigo [Video]

Yes, it's Alain Prost. Le Professeur, rival of Senna, four-time Formula One World Champion. Here he is doing backwards entries, sliding his heavily-modified Dacia that has brought him two championship wins in Andros Trophy ice racing. More »

Stop the room, please. I'd like to get off. 

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Original Page: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/jalopnik/full/~3/QCffe03EATk/an-f1-champ-on-ice-will-give-you-vertigo

Porsche Sets Sales And Profitability Records In 2011

Although the economic climate in both Europe and America may best be described as "less-than-ideal," sales of high-end sports cars grew in 2011. Lamborghini's global sales increased by 23-percent last year, while Italian rival Ferrari sold a record 7,195 automobiles in 2011, an increase of nearly 9.5-percent. Porsche increased...

Further evidence of the increasing wealth gap and shift of resources to the haves over the have nots. 

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Original Page: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotorAuthority2/~3/PRA2V0UXbHQ/1074035_porsche-sets-sales-and-profitability-records-in-2011

2011 Adventure Motorcycle of the Year - BMW GSA

Overland motorcycles are one of the only growing markets in the motorcycle industry. The reason for this is best compared to the popularity of SUVs, where a single vehicle can serve many purposes. Much like the SUV, the adventure motorcycle market is beginning to fracture and segment, some bikes serving more as highway cruisers than anything worthy of the Road of Bones. For the team at Expedition Portal, we like to use the following list for minimum requirements of an adventure motorcycle.

Overall, the 1200 GS Adventure is an exceptional motorcycle, a joy to ride on the pavement and supremely capable on roads in developing countries.  It is least suited to technical terrain use, but that is also the least common environment encountered in long-distance overland travel.  Having said that, I have pushed the GSA far beyond its intended use on single track and deep sand. I have been a KTM 950 Adventure owner for five years and there is no question what my next adventure motorcycle will be: a BMW 1200 GS Adventure.

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More over at the Expedition Portal

Geneva: Mercedes-Benz A-Class hatches new level of refinement for its class

Though the Geneva Motor Show doesn't open until tomorrow morning, automakers have thrown the doors open on their own evening events in order to get a captive audience away from the show. We've just returned from the bright lights of Mercedes-Benz and its new A-Class reveal, and we have to say, it looks far more enticing than spy shots had led to us to believe.

I like the new A more and more. I doubt it will come here, even less so the diesel. 

Displayed in a trio of uplevel trims, we were particularly taken with the bold surfacing on the car's two-box profile, as well as the unique and premium-looking "diamond" grille treatments derived from last year's more radical New York Auto Show concept car. Even the interiors come off as upscale, with convincing carbon fiber-look dashboard treatments and round HVAC vents that riff on those of the SLS AMG gullwing. Simply put, the loaded interiors we saw put even the updated C-Class cabins to utter shame, and they shade those of the current Audi A3 (a new one is being introduced here in Geneva), Volvo C30 and anything in the Mini portfolio. They even seem to be surprisingly roomy - we observed a journalist who had to be six-foot, six-inches find a comfortable seating position without issue. Said scribe had also driven to the show in a new M-Class and proclaimed the materials in the new A-Class to be "not that far off."

Continue reading Mercedes-Benz A-Class hatches new level of refinement for its class

Redesigned Mercedes-Benz A-Class Revealed: 2012 Geneva Auto Show

 

A complete makeover from top to bottom could transform the new A-Class into a world-class car.

I liked the original A-class, but this model is much nicer all-around. 

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Original Page: http://www.insideline.com/mercedes-benz/a-class/redesigned-mercedes-benz-a-class-revealed-2012-geneva-auto-show.html

GM Channel Stuffing Soars To All Time High

Did channel stuffing expert AOL quietly merge with a Government Motors without anyone's knowledge? Because making record amounts of cars only to have them amortize rapidly in showrooms must be some New Normal definition of a recovery. 

Recession? What recession? We're in a recovery!

</sarcasm>

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Original Page: http://www.facebook.com/SurvivingCollapse/posts/356630021043458