Harley Davidson expands its range for the year 2012 with the addition of two new motorcycles, which follow the recently unveiled Dyna Switchback: they are called Sportster Seventy-Two and Softail Slim. The Sportster seventy-Two somewhat retrieves the legacy of the old Sportster Custom, with a large old school metal spoke wheel at the front and specifically dedicated paint job, whereas the Softail Slim loses the chrome bits in favour of the black color, keeping the frills down to a minimum in order to retain that wicked look that was typical of the 1950s bobbers.

Describing the Seventy-Two, Harley-Davidson emphasizes that the model is inspired by the chopper’s pioneering years, when the bikes used to come with flashy colors and loads of chrome bits, but were also deprived of all the superfluous parts in order to make them sleeker and lighter. In fact, looking at the motorbikes of that period, one cannot help but notice how stripped they were, almost like pushbikes: that style of custom bikes is typically American and was originated in California. One of the most distinctive features of the Sportster Seventy-Two is its Hard Candy Big Red Flake paint, which can be found on the small fuel tank, tail and front mudguard, which covers the big 21″ Dunlop tyre with white side (typical of the custom bikes of the 70s). The model is powered by an air-cooled 1200 cc V-Twin Evolution engine - which we have already seen on all the latest Sportster models - and provides a peak torque of 96 Nm at 3,500 rpm. Besides, it makes use of the advanced Electronic Sequential Port Fuel Injection (ESPFI), which waves goodbye to carburettors and boasts increased reliability and less routine maintenance.

With its big, fat tyres and the minimalistic design, the Softail Slim instead is a real ‘bobber’. It uses certain elements that are more reminiscent of a Sportster (i.e the fuel tank) but everything on this bike seems to underline its essentiality. After all, this is exactly what H-D had in mind when they got started with the project: taking a Softail and put it on a diet. The Softail Slim has a smaller rear wheel with a shorter mud guard, and leaves an empty space between saddle and tank that allows riders to admire the upper side of the engine while traveling. The bike is powered by an air-cooled 1,690 cc Twin Cam 103B unit with Electronic Sequential Port Fuel Injection (ESPFI), which is mated to a Six-Speed Cruise Drive transmission and produces a maximum torque of 132 Nm at 3,250 rpm.

View the full Harley Davidson Softail Slim 2012 photo gallery

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American company Brutus Electric Motorcycle presents the Brutus 2.0, an all electric cruiser that - as the name suggests - follows a first ‘Brutus’, which was introduced last October. The Brutus 2.0 shares quite some feature with its slightly younger sister - like the exposed trellis frame, the DC engine, those old-school mudguards and a 5-speed gearbox - but boasts some pretty distinctive trait of its own, such as the chrome cover for the primary transmission chain on its right side, a transparent box hosting the Hairball interface for the liquid-cooled Zilla controller on the left side, and also a little piece of fairing for the head lamp, providing some aerodynamic protection.

In light of the fact that the Brutus 2.0 weighs 243 kg (over 500 lbs), the performance available at the moment are not bad at all. The Brutus 2.0 is still undergoing its texting stage, but Brutus Electric Motorcycle’s main man, Mr. Chris Bell, said that the model can easily hit the 60 mph mark (96 km/h) in 4.7 seconds, while top speed should be well over 100 mph (160 km/h), a speed that has already been approached during testing. It can only get better. As for the breaking system, the model uses two discs with 6-piston calipers at the front and a single ring at the back, with a pair of clamps individually controlled by a handlebar-mounted lever and a more traditional foot pedal.

After the jump you will find a couple of interesting official videos released by the manufacturer, a one-minute long clip showing us the bike in action and a very short one giving us the chance to listen to the actual sound of the Brutus 2.0. While it has been announced that the first Brutus will become available on the market by the end of the current year, the 2.0 version will have to carry on with its development program for a while.

View the full Brutus 2.0 photo gallery

via | Brutus Electric Motorcycle and AutoBlogGreen

Continue reading: Brutus 2.0: a new all-electric cruiser made in U.S.A. (videos)

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And here is the third and final chapter of our photo gallery dedicated to the most impressive custom bikes on display at the 2012 Motor Bike Expo in Verona, Italy. This time we present you with a slew of spiced up Harleys, some intriguing one-off prototype, a bunch of colorful Vespas, some old-school piece and then some. Each one of them seems to ooze passion from every bolt, and if you are into this kind of special motorcycles as well, we are pretty sure that you are going to enjoy this last set of pics as much as we did. By the way, if you have missed the first two episodes, here are the direct links to Part 1 and Part 2.

View th full Custom bikes at the Motor Bike Expo 2012 - Part 3 photo gallery

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Italian manufacturer Headbanger Motorcycles did not miss out on the opportunity provided by the 2012 Motor Bike Expo to show off its most recent creations, and once again they surely did not disappoint the audience. The model that probably got the most attention at HB’s massive booth is the Special LowRide (pictured), which has been designed with and named after a popular Italian custom bike magazine. The bike has been unveiled with a proper ceremony during the opening day of the event in Verona, and is based on a standard Headbanger Gipsy Soul - equipped with a 1,530 cc (93 cubic inches) Shovel S&S engine - whose aesthetics have been created by renowned designer Oberdan Bezzi with input coming from both Headbanger and the mag’s staff. The outcome of this collaboration is a magnificent custom bike with a design inspired by the racers of the 70s, which comes with some premium parts such as magnesium wheels by Marvic, brake system by Discacciati and an ‘homemade’ cast aluminum frame courtesy of Metal Bike Garage. To top it off, the paint job was performed by specialist Kaos Design, which adopted certain specific procedures in order to emphasize its ’70s racer’ looks.

Another pretty interesting ‘newcomer’ at the Headbanger Motorcycles’s stand in Verona is a special version of the High Flyin‘ turned into a sort of “cafè racer“ with the simple addition of a mudguard at the rear and new handlebars. These simple modifications change the overall line of the bike quite significantly, making it even more ‘custom’ and unique. We just cannot help but notice how fast this young manufacturer is growing, but if you want to know more Headbanger Motorcycles just check out their official website.

View the full HB al Motor Bike Expo 2012 photo gallery

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A promise is a promise. In the wake of the good response to the first part, here is the second installment of a special photo gallery dedicated the most interesting custom bikes displayed at the 2012 Motor Bike Expo in Verona, photographed on the spot by our friends from Motoblog.it. We got some pretty interesting model here too, but we invite you to get ready for the grand finale: the third and final part of the gallery is already waiting in the wings..

View the full Custom bikes at the Motor Bike Expo 2012 - Part 2 photo gallery

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Verona’s Motor Bike Expo has a reputation in Italy for the astounding number of custom motorcycles, choppers and cafe racers that every year show up at this event, coming from every corner of the world. Many of these bikes have been designed and built by specialists with the specific goal of showing up there and make an impression on all enthusiasts and fellow artists alike. Here is a first lot of pictures of some of these bikes, a first installment of the models that caught the attention of our mates from Motoblog.it. Just looking at them we can feel the passion and dedication that their makers have put in their work, and we obviously have the utmost respect for what they do. Part 2 and part 3 will follow soon.

View the full Custom bikes at the Motor Bike Expo 2012 - Part 1 photo gallery

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BMW can be more than satisfied after posting record sales in 2011 , a +6.4% increase from 2010 despite a waning world wide economy and now their super six cylinder tourer, the BMW K 1600 GT has been voted the “International Bike Of The Year 2011,” with two other of their motorcycles making it into the top five.

Announced at a press conference given by the Belgian motorcycle magazine Motor Wereld at the Brussels Motor Show. The award for the K 1600 GT comes from an international jury representing 25 motorcycle magazines: (Australian Motorcycle News (Australia), Auto By (Japan), Autocar India (India), Bike (Scandinavia), Bike (UK), Cycle World (USA), Der Reitwagen (Austria), Inmoto (Italy), KicXstart (Netherlands), Kiwi Rider (New Zealand), La Moto (Spain), Maximoto (France), Moto Kultur Asia (Malaysia and Singapore), Moto (Greece), Moto Journal (Canada), Moto & Loisirs (Belgium), Moto Mag (Israel), Motoraj (Czech Republic), Motoron (Turkey), MotoSi (Slovenia), MotorWereld (Belgium), PS Magazin (Germany), Revista Moto (Mexico), SuperBike (South Africa), Swiat Motocykli (Poland).

The K 1600 GT convinced the motorcycle journalists with its unique combination of comfort, performance and use of innovative technologies. The powerful in-line 6-cylinder engine was said to offer power, refinement and lots of fun. The bike’s sophisticated technology – in addition to ABS, traction control and navigation system, an adaptive headlight and electronically controlled suspension with various modes increase active riding safety – makes the K 1600 GT an incomparable touring motorcycle. On the road, the outstanding qualities of the K 1600 GT are its agile chassis and unusually light handling. All this gives the rider a unique riding experience, according to the jury, impressing the most demanding touring and sports motorcyclists.

Continue reading: BMW K 1600 GT voted the 2011 International Bike of the Year

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Bet you couldn’t live without knowing this latest snippet about Britney Spears, and the fact that she gave her new fiancé Jason Trawick a $45,000 (34.500 euros) custom motorcycle.

Spears ordered Confederate’s new and ’slightly’ more affordable X132 Hellcat with its 2,163cc v-twin motor and 150 lbs•ft of torque which will go into production in January 2012 and will be limited to a mere 164 units.

Apparently the older princess of pop was so bowled over by her lover’s appearance in her ‘Criminal’ video that she decided to present him with the new motorcycle for his 40th birthday.

Video after the jump.

Continue reading: Britney Spears buys fiancé a Confederate X132 Hellcat

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If you want to capture the attention at international motorcycle show like the EICMA, you have to try to stand out and that’s what Yamaha Europe decided to do by giving three well know custom builders the iconic Yamaha V-Max to modify.

Ludovic Lazereth of France, Marcus Walz of Germany and Roland Sands from the US, worked their creativity and special magic to come up with these stunning results. Check it out.

Continue reading: Lazareth, Walz and Sands hyper modify the Yamaha V-Max

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Check out Harley-Davidson’s second ‘No Cages’ ad campaign, this one is called ‘Liberation’ and no doubt this one will probably go down big with animal lovers and the younger generation, than with the older and very stereotyped Harley riders.

After dropping their former ad agency Carmichael Lynch, HD went to Victor & Spoils and this is part of their crowd sourcing creative strategy which allows Harley fans to come up with the new commercials.

This one features Harley-Davidson’s new Twin Cam 103 engine, which comes with all their 2012 Touring, Softail and select Dyna motorcycles.

Harley Davidson No Cages commercial after the jump.

Continue reading: Harley-Davidson Liberation Ad (w/videos)

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