Like the above featured gorgeous Triumph bike.
Lucian and I sat down and plotted out our strategy before we went to the show. He covered the broad strokes, informing me that I would be taking him to lunch, where he would drink chocolate milk, have a burger, and we would play pinball at the restaurant he wanted me to take him to. This has been the precursor to previous motorcycle show outings with him, so the plan seemed solid. Then, he said, to the motorcycle show for a few hours, followed up by a visit to Izzy’s ice cream, as long as we were in the downtown area, where he planned on having a scoop of a flavor known as Dinosaur Egg ice cream. I cautioned him that I wasn’t sure he could be that specific, as the flavors are changed out throughout the year, but as it turned out, they did have his ice cream, so that just goes to show that I know.
My portion of the planning, aside from finding a place to park the car prior to going into the show (we ended up parking quite far away and hoofing it a few blocks), was to make a list of what motorcycles we absolutely needed to visit. Here’s what we came up with:
First, was the Indian Scout. Longtime readers may already know that I have a soft spot for Indian motorcycles, now operating under Polaris (also owns Victory brand) which makes it a Minnesota bike in some respects these days, though they are now produced in Spirit Lake, Iowa. Prior to the new Scout’s debut, my favorite Indian bike was their Chief Vintage finished in Willow Green and Ivory, which I’ve featured photos of in a previous post. The Scout is my new favorite Indian brand bike. It’s smaller and more manageable in size, though still not what I would call a little bike. It weighs in at around 550 lbs, depending on how full the gas tank is. It comes in red, black, silver or a dark grayish black from the factory, though as you can see from this blue one I’m about to picture for you, they can be customized.
The Scout has a 69 cubic inch engine that generates about 100 HP and 72 lb-ft of torque, which is plenty of power, considering it only needs to propel about 550 lbs of machine plus its rider. This is a handsome bike. It features a classical shape with a modern sweep to its styling. I’d love to have one.
As a quick side note, while we’re in the realm of Polaris, here’s a photo of their new 3 wheeled Slingshot.
Just to be clear, these are considered 3 wheeled motorcycles, not cars. Don’t count on having airbags or the safety features you’d find in a car, because you won’t get it. It does come with a roughly $20,000 price point to start, which is less than most performance cars cost new, but more than some compacts and subcompacts. Of course, like I said, it’s not a car -it just sort of looks like one. That said, they’re pretty slick. The curb weight is 1,725 lbs, and they’re powered to move that mass around with a 2.4L dual overhead cam engine paired with a 5 speed transmission that produces 173 HP and 166 lb-ft of torque. They can lug just under 10 gallons of 91 octane fuel around, and MPG ratings I’ve been finding on various forums seem to depend on just how fast and hard one likes to ride, ranging between 25-40 MPG.
Next on my list of must see motorcycles was the Harley Davidson Live Wire, which they had on display as well as set up as a demonstrator for people to try out while stationary. The line was quite long, so I didn’t get in it, but I did get some photos.
The LiveWire is an electric bike with a 55 kilowatt electric motor that creates 74 HP and 52 lb-ft of torque. It weighs in a 460 lbs, so it’s somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 lbs lighter than the Scout and with roughly 26 fewer horses as well. This bike requires no trips to the pump to fuel it up, but rather, needs about three and a half hours to charge after you plug it in, which will then let you ride for around 50 miles before you’ll need to search out another power outlet. It’s still technically a prototype at this point, which is why you won’t find it in the Harley sales catalog just yet. God only knows how much it will cost if and when it does hit the sales floor. No doubt, it’s not cheap to develop a bike this technologically advanced from its siblings, so I wouldn’t count on being able to pick one up on the cheap when they do become available for sale.
I’ve heard that one of these is going to be featured in the new Avengers movie, so in case you needed a reason to hit the theater this spring, now you have one.
The next bike on the list of things I wanted to see was a no show. It was the Royal Enfield Continental GT. Try as I might, I could not find a Royal Enfield display at this year’s Moto show. Maybe they were hiding in some remote corner? I don’t know, and I was very disappointed, particularly in view of the fact that there is a Royal Enfield dealer along Washington Ave N just a couple miles away from the convention center in my very own neck of the woods. Would it have been so hard to get a booth and haul a couple bikes downtown for the show, guys? So, no moto show pics of the Continental GT, which is a crying shame, because it’s a nice looking little factory café bike. It’s got a 535cc single cylinder 4 stroke engine that kicks out just under 30 HP and it weighs in at just over 400 lbs. That all adds up to what looks to be a nice, fairly easy to manage bike. It’s just too bad nobody could be bothered to bring one out to the show. I was really looking forward to seeing one there.
Here’s something very interesting that did make it to the show. It’s clearly a custom build, and it’s fantastic.
This is an AWD bike. See that chain mechanism at the front? It drives the front wheel, so this little puppy can climb its way up just about anything. This was built by a guy named William Lawson, and if I recall correctly, he had a second one on display as well. Good job, man!
It was time for some Italian flare, we decided, so next, Lucian and I made our way over to the Ducati display to see their new scrambler. Little did we know that something evil this way had come, and we were greeted by the sight of the Ducati Diavel.
There’s something both odd and appealing about the hump-backed shape of this bike. It’s both ugly and beautiful at the same time. It looks absolutely sinister, which makes sense, considering diavel means devil in Italian. The Diavel weighs in at 463 lbs and features a 1198 cc engine that generates 162 HP and 93.3 lb-ft of torque. This demon is not a beginner bike by any means.
On the happier end of the Ducati display is the new Scrambler, which is a looker. Cute, even, compared to the ominous Diavel. It comes in four trim levels, the Icon, the Urban Enduro, which is my favorite look, and is featured here, the Classic, and the Full Throttle packages. Here, you get an 803cc engine that makes a much tamer band of horses than the Diavel, with a still respectable 75 HP and 50 lb-ft of torque.
Gorgeous and powerful as all the bikes we’ve looked at so far have been, there was something at the show that surprised me with its appeal, and I have to give it props because for me, it kind of stole the show. Check out this little pipsqueak:
That’s my 5 year old nephew sitting on the bike, to give you a sense of scale. This is a minibike of sorts. It’s called the Honda Grom, and it has fun written all over it! It’s tiny -hefting a curb weight of only 225 lbs when full and has a seat height of just under 30”. It’s powered by a little 125cc single cylinder four-stroke and has a four speed transmission. Little engine, little power -10 HP, actually, and about 8 lb-ft of torque from what I’ve been able to find. Yes, there are lawnmowers out there with more power than the Grom, but when you’re this itty bitty, you don’t need a lot of power to have a ton of fun.
Better yet, it’s just about one of the least expensive things on display at the moto show. The Grom carries a sticker price of $3,199 -though any more for such a little bike would seem ridiculous, to be fair. It comes in black, white, yellow, and red.
If all goes according to plan, I should be taking one of these for a ride within the next couple of weeks, so we’ll have to wait and see just how much mischief we can cause with the Grom as an accomplice.
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