A round-up of this week's other motorcycle news in brief ...
Two-week halt for Yamaha
Due to the effects of the global economic downturn, Yamaha Motorcycles are being forced to shut down 11 of their worldwide factories for a period of two weeks.
Victory unveils concept bike
Honda also announced recently that it is to halt production at some of its factories around the world, including motorcycle and motor car plants.
American Motorcycle manufacturer Victory unveiled an unusual concept motorcycle at the recent New York Motorcycle Show.
The quirky concept bike is called the Core and its design is based around one of Victory’s existing V-twins.
It has a hard-tail rear end, wooden seat and open exhausts, and is designed with the aim of turning the traditional motorcycle inside out. It also has radially- mounted Brembo brakes and inverted front forks.
But the Wisconsin motorcycle company say they have no plans to put the Core into production yet.
New chopper from Honda
Meanwhile, the much-anticipated Honda Fury was officially unveiled at the New York Motorcycle Show.
The new chopper is a big departure for Honda. It’s powered by a reworked 1312cc fuel-injected, liquid-cooled V-twin engine.
Styling is radical, with the longest wheelbase of any Honda ever produced – and a 200 section rear tyre and neatly hidden monoshock give the Fury a hard-tail look.
The US-only model is set to go on sale later this year.