Latest news with #RideApart
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
An Award-Winning, First-of-Its-Kind Honda Motorcycle Is Finally Coming to Market
As speculation swirls about the Concept that just garnered Red Dot kudos, the brand says a production version will roll out early next year. From cruisers to ADVs, street bikes to touring motos — not to mention tech like e-clutch and DCT — Honda has long been a leader in many corners of the two-wheeled world. Which is why it's kind of surprising that the red brand has yet to release a true electric motorcycle. Sure, there was the Wuyang-Honda E-Vo a couple months ago, but that one comes with so many caveats it doesn't really count. Regardless, it appears Honda is finally getting serious about this growing category. The brand recently announced not only that its long-simmering EV Fun Concept won a big award but also that it's coming to life. Awash in accolades I don't want to say Honda is being coy about the EV Fun Concept, which itself is no secret, having been showcased at EICMA last fall. However, the press release sandwiched that news between an announcement that the Fastport eQuad micromobility vehicle had won a Red Dot Best of the Best award and that the concept movie for the Honda V3 motorcycle engine had also been honored. Both of those kudos are notable — as is the scooter-like EV Urban Concept also garnering Red Dot recognition — but for serious two-wheeled enthusiasts, the big news concerns the electric sportbike. Especially because of this loaded sentence: 'The production model based on this concept model will be a naked sports model equivalent to a mid-sized (ICE) motorcycle and is scheduled to go on sale before the end of the current fiscal year (ending March 31, 2026) as the first Honda electric sports model equipped with a fixed battery.' Hype(d) machine Adding fuel to this fire is a teaser video Honda dropped a couple weeks ago, one that appears to show an updated version of the Concept and telling viewers to 'be the wind' — and also to stay tuned for more news on September 2. What jumps out in the 15-second clip? Among other things, a new TFT display, a revised triple clamp and a busier left-hand switchgear. Those features round out a great-looking streetfighter Honda itself touts for 'quiet yet overwhelming acceleration,' a 'slim, easy-to-manage chassis package' and 'a new emotional experience that is very different to internal combustion engine (ICE) motorcycles.' One downer, as RideApart points out, is a claimed 62 miles of range from the fixed battery. That's a bummer considering the brand is already deploying its Mobile Power Pack in all sorts of vehicles. A swappable power source would not only enable more miles but also be appealing to apartment dwellers who may lack a garage in which to charge the bike overnight. On that front, electric-only brands such as Maven — not to mention, believe it or not, Harley-Davidson — could eat Honda's lunch with removable batteries. That being said, we're talking about Honda and a bike that just won a major design award. Given the brand's pedigree, production capability, dealer network and general chutzpah, I'd be shocked if what actually rolls out early next year isn't pretty damn impressive. Now managing editor, Steve has served in a variety of roles with GP since 2019. Having previously written and edited for such publications as Men's Health, Men's Journal, Esquire and ESPN, he enjoys covering a range of topics — but mostly those pertaining to cycling, snow sports, pocket knives and motos — and dreams of a utopian world in which everyone's bike seat is at the proper height.
Forbes
21-06-2025
- Automotive
- Forbes
250 Million Acre Public Land Sale Would Ruin The Off-Road Industry
Ford Performance at the 2025 King of the Hammers in Southern California's Johnson Valley. Since President Trump took office in January, the amount of threats to anything considered public—from a large slice of our nation's workforce to the media—have been unrelenting. Earlier this month, these threats took on a new form: potentially robbing the American people of millions of acres of public land. Unveiled on June 11th and revised on the 14th, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee's budget reconciliation bill outlines over 250 million acres, to be slightly more exact, that could be offered up for sale to private business. As reported on by Jonathon Klein of Ride Apart, this could have a tremendous negative impact on not just our natural resources, but every corner of the outdoor industry as well. For those amongst us who enjoy off-road driving (or hiking, camping, fishing, hunting, cycling, climbing, etc.), the possibility of being cut-off from lands where we savor such activity is very real. Klein points out one particular swath of land in Southern California, Johnson Valley—home to one of the world's top off-road racing events, King of the Hammers—is on the chopping block, which would not only be detrimental to this event, but every single industry that's involved in it. Automakers, the aftermarket performance and racing industries, tourism, general outdoor equipment industries; the list goes on. Take that same scenario and multiply it by every other parcel of land that outdoor enthusiasts could lose access to, and the damage would be extensive. For a good overall picture of what's on the chopping block, The Wilderness Society has created a handy map. Competitors at the 2020 King of the Hammers in Johnson Valley, California. But why is all of this land potentially for sale? As stated in the bill itself, as much as $15 billion in revenue could come from expanded oil, gas, coal, and geothermal leasing. Other aims include increased housing production, domestic energy security and timber production, as well as, in the bill's summarized words, 'ensuring states and counties benefit from energy projects on federal lands.' The Wilderness Society has also outlined a handful of counter arguments. In its words, 'research suggests that very little of the land managed by the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) and USFS (US Forest Service) is actually suitable for housing.' It also explains that the federal government can revoke national monument status and that certain changes would negatively impact sovereign Tribal Nations. We can't forget the fact that increased energy production carries its own environmental hazards, too. It's all bad and very unnecessary. One thing that truly makes America great is its beautiful natural land that's here for all of us to savor, and this bill could cut off a very significant portion of it. And again, there's the immense adverse effect on every single outdoor industry, especially off-road driving and racing, and the massive amount of American companies that feed it. Contact your US senator and let them know how you feel. Especially if you live in Utah, which is Senator Mike Lee's turf. He's Chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the creator of this bill—ironically, as many as 18 million acres of his state's land could potentially be up for sale. That's a lot of territory for off-road driving, hunting, shooting, fishing, climbing, camping, hiking, mountain biking, and so on.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
This Tacky $15 Million Desert Compound Comes With Two Dozen Off-Road Machines To Share With All The Friends You Can Buy
If you're one of America's 756 boring and soulless billionaires and you wish you had more friends, this desert compound is calling you, even if your kids won't. This 400-acre desert complex in Winterhaven, California butts right up to the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area (colloquially known as Glamis). Since you wealth-gobbling wage thieves are completely bereft of creativity, the house and its many garages come fully stocked with sand rail cars and side-by-sides. You'll get a full ten Polaris RZR RS1s, which have been discontinued but cost $15,999 each brand new, so a full one percent of the $15 million purchase price of the home can be accounted for just in Polaris RZRs. Another thirteen sand cars are in another garage on the property, each packing paddle tires and General Motors LS V8s, probably running deep into the five figures for each one. It seems the seller's pick of the litter is the Tri-five Chevy-looking machine, as they've had the car painted on the wall of the home's 2,100-square-foot game room. The games in the room, which are not likely to be played often, are also included with the home. Special thanks to our pals at UTV Driver and RideApart, who dug this house up for us to find it. That game room, by the by, accounts for just a quarter of the main home's 8144 square feet. An attached 1,223 square foot casita provides plenty of room for your friends to enjoy your hospitality, drink your wine, and use your wifi. If that wasn't enough, there's also a bungalow with a pair of one bed one bath guest homes, and a 2,316 square foot "caretaker home" for the help to live in. A full 10 bedrooms and 12 bathrooms are included with the house. I've always wondered why rich people need more bathrooms than bedrooms. Do they expect all of their guests to get diarrhea at the same time, or do they just need a private space to snort rails of coke? If you want to hire a full-time mechanic to work on your machines, they'll have plenty of space to lay out their tools with an on-site 7,115 sq. ft. garage, 3,461 sq. ft. covered carport, 7,200 sq. ft. shop, 3,240 sq. ft. man cave, 4,800 sq. ft. hangar, and 13,700 sq. ft. container building. That is, of course, in addition to the main house's three-car attached garage, the bungalow's 2,432 sq. ft. attached garage, and the caretaker home's single carport. Everywhere you look, there's plenty of room to tuck away a machine, which is good because the home also includes "numerous tractors" from Caterpillar, Massey, John Deere, Kubota, and Case. Read more: John Oliver Explains How All Of Boeing's Problems Can Be Traced Back To Stock Buybacks And Incompetent Leadership In case none of that was enough for you, there's a helicopter hangar, various utility machines, an off-road race track, tanker trucks, and a dune-crawling schoolbus included with the price. You get everything you'd ever need to run a facility like this, assuming you hire enough people who know how it all works. Obviously you're not going to spend your valuable time learning how to run a tanker truck or properly maintain all of the water/power/septic systems to keep the place alive. Give yourself a pat on the back, you're creating jobs by buying this house. Perhaps you can call your friend, the president, and see if he'll carve out a tax exemption for this house, it is a new business expense, after all. For added convenience, this home is conveniently located within spitting distance of Interstate 8 and the Mexico border. Good luck getting any comps for this complex in the area, as the median home value for Winterhaven, California is $80,000. You'll have to bring cash, because it's unlikely any banks would put up a mortgage on this place. Of course you'll probably have some fake "unrealized gains" in the stock market that you can borrow against to pay for it, or you can do a round of layoffs in order to raise the share price of your own company in order to make a bit extra to cover this purchase. Some way or another, I'm sure you'll find the cash, right? Maybe cut employee dental or something. It's a sacrifice you're willing to make. This house was built in 2007, and it looks like it hasn't been redecorated since, so you'll have to budget a few million extra to cover the renovation. It would be tragic for your new desert-riding friends to visit your house and have it still match the photos from the real estate listing, right? Yeah, it's better to hire a contractor now. By the time next season rolls around, you'll be positively drowning in friends. Good job, you won. Read the original article on Jalopnik.
