BMW 6-cylinder K 1600 B‘ Bagger’
There has been much debate about whether or not the withdrawal of the Victory brand would benefit Harley, and now the dust has settled from Polaris’ January announcement, the general consensus is that the impact will be neutral. However, maybe it is an altogether different picture for BMW. Their longmooted entry into the domestic U. S.‘ Bagger’ market is now upon us, and with the Victory‘ Vision’ gone from the market, there is now a clear niche available to the K 1600 B. BMW has long trailed their domestic U. S. ambitions, not least targeting custom buyer opportunities with their increasingly popular R nineT variants, but with the‘ B’ they have tuned their existing K 1600 GT / GTL touring offer“ specifically with American riders and great open American roads in mind”. With an entry level MSRP of $ 19,995.00, the company says that it“ features a spectacular backward sloping linear design with a specifically engineered rear section to reflect the
characteristics of a grand American tourer. This not only makes the Bagger appear low-lying and slender, but also, thanks to the new rear frame, significantly reduces the height of the passenger seat.” For the record, it has a 1,649 cc in-line six-cylinder engine that produces 160 hp and 129 lb-ft of torque. The bike comes as standard with a level of technology, rider assist and creature comforts that Milwaukee can only dream of- three riding modes( Rain, Road and Dynamic), Dynamic Traction Control, cornering-optimized integral
Harley # 3 of 50?
ABS Pro, heated seats and hand grips, power-adjustable windshield, cruise control, multifunction display with onboard computer, Dynamic Electronic Suspension Adjustment( D-ESAR) with“ Road” and“ Cruise” damping modes. Available options include Gear Shift Assist Pro, Reverse Assist, Hill Start Control, adaptive headlight, tire pressure monitoring, floorboards, central locking system, anti-theft alarm, Keyless Ride, LED auxiliary lights, GPS preparation, audio system with radio, Sirius XM, Bluetooth and more.
Working on the assumption that Matt Levatich wasn’ t counting paint scheme variants, then the new Revolution X750 engine‘ Street Rod’ will be number three in his 50 new models in five years blitz- that’ s if you give Harley the benefit of the doubt and start counting from January’ s XG750R announcement( the engine is available as a“ Crate Motor”, even though the bike itself isn’ t a production model), and include February’ s Road King Special as # 2 in the plan for global domination. Ever since the‘ Street Rod’ was announced, we have been trying to remember who it was at
Harley that went on the record at the time of the V-Rod launch, swearing that there would never be any“ baby rods”...
Klock designed Indian / JD Special # 2
Following the popularity of last year’ s Brian Klock designed Indian Motorcycle and Jack Daniels limited edition Chieftain, the three have collaborated again this year on a second custom-inspired Chieftain. As this edition of AMD Magazine went to press, reports were circulating that the planned limited edition production run of only 100 of these individually numbered specials had sold out within 10 minutes at an MSRP of $ 34,999. The first and only unsold 2016 Limited Edition Chief Vintage sold at auction for $ 150,000 in October last year – 149 of the 2016 run of 150 specials had initially been offered at $ 29,999 in March last year.
NEWS
BRIEFS
The United States has seen a continued decline in ATV deaths and injuries with a recent government department report citing fatalities for the period 2007 to 2012 as-31 percent, with deaths of children in ATV related accidents-50 percent.
Portuguese Enduro machine manufacturer AJP has reported a third straight year of record growth in the United States, with 2016 sales + 62 percent, 17 new dealerships added and two further new models taking their U. S. range up to five offroaders. AJP has launched a new 600cc adventure bike( the PR7) in Europe for 2017.
The acquisition of Minneapolis based ATV, side-by-side and snowmobile manufacturer Arctic Cat( AC) by Textron Inc. for $ 247m in cash is being investigated by a New York law firm that specializes in mergers and acquisitions. They contend that the basis that the Board of Arctic Cat may have“ breached their fiduciary duties” by failing to make sure they got the best possible price for the business. AC is to join Textron’ s Specialized Vehicles business, which also owns E-Z-GO, Cushman, Jacobsen, Dixie Chopper, Bad Boy, Ransomes and Douglas. Textron owns Bell Helicopter, Cessna, Beechcraft and Hawker, among others.
Stefan Pierer’ s Austria based investment vehicle Pierer Industrie AG, the company behind KTM, Husqvarna, WP Suspension, and others, has made a $ 9m strategic investment in heads-up display( HUD) company NUVIZ. The San Diego, California based technology start-up hopes to have a heads-up display unit and connected rider system available in the first half of 2017.
Arctic Cat has finally won a patent infringement action first brought against it in 2011 in the Canadian courts by Bombardier Recreational Products( BRP). Designs used on some 44,000 Arctic Cat snowmobiles, covering model years 2007 through 2015, were found not to have infringed 56 of BRP’ s patents and patent claims.
www. AMDchampionship. com AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE DEALER- APRIL 2017 17