American sport bike builder Erik Buell is back in the street game with the just-announced 1190RS

Legendary American sport bike builder Erik Buell, who put himself on the motorcycle map with Harley-Davidson powered sport bikes, is getting back into the sport bike business a little over a year after Buell Motorcycles was shuttered by parent company Harley-Davidson in December 2009. Buell showed off a new Erik Buell Racing 1190RS at last week’s Indianapolis Dealer Expo, and will be the guest of honor at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum’s annual Breakfast at Daytona fund raiser.

Hall of Famer Buell will host the breakfast March 11, 2011, at the Daytona Club in the infield of Daytona International Speedway, and you can bet the major topic of conversation will be his re-emergence into the sport bike scene with the new EBR 1190RS. Developed from Buell’s 1190RR race bike, which was developed from the 1125 series Buell launched just before Harley shut it down, the 1190RS is a street version of the 1190RR that EBR raced in the 2010 Superbike season.

For a brief time at least, it looked like Harley’s closure of the Buell division would put an end to any dreams Erik Buell might have had to continue building an American sport bike. Importantly, when Harley killed the line, its contract with Buell restricted him from building street bikes. Buell could still build race bikes, however, and in short order he set up Erik Buell Racing and launched into building the 1190RR. Now that his agreements with Harley have ended, Buell’s free to market a street bike, and the new 1190RS is the result.

The 1190RS makes extensive use of exotic materials, including a cast-aluminum frame and special magnesium alloy wheels using a new casting method that makes them far less damage prone than standard magnesium racing wheels. Power comes from an 1,190cc version of the Rotax-built 72-degree V-twin used in the 1125. The race version produces 185 rear-wheel horsepower. None of this will come cheap, of course. Base models start at $39,995 and can hit $50,000 fully optioned. Exclusivity is further guaranteed by the fact that only 100 will be built. – Richard Backus 

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We know spring’s just around the corner when it’s time to get ready for the annual madness that is Daytona Bike Week in Daytona Beach, Fla., March 4-13. 2011 marks the 70^th anniversary of racing at Daytona Beach, and classic bike fans can look forward to the annual AMCA National meet in nearby Eustis and the Bator International Auctions 24^th Annual Daytona Classic Motorcycle Auction in Deland.

Missing this year, however, will be AHRMA racing at Daytona International Speedway, which has been moved to October 14-16. That’s a bit of a bummer for vintage race fans, but there will be AHRMA racing March 7-9 at Roebling Road Raceway in Bloomingdale, Ga., about four hours north of Daytona Beach. Frankly, between the AHRMA races at Roebling Road, the AMCA meet in Eustis and the Bator auction in Deland, there’s enough going on for vintage bike fans that you won’t really miss much if you never actually get to Daytona Beach.

The AMCA meet, which includes a judged show and a swap meet, kicks off March 4 and runs through March 6, and the Bator Auction will open for previewing March 9. Bator will hold its Parts & Memorabilia auction on March 10, and the headline Classic Motorcycle Auction on March 11. A swap meet will run at the Bator event all three days, March 9-11. – Richard Backus 

 
The new Norton 961 Commando Café Racer. 

Patience: That best describes the demeanor U.S. buyers for the new Norton 961 Commando have had to assume since Stuart Garner’s 2008 relaunch of Norton.

Garner, who made his fortune in fireworks, originally hoped to have bikes in production by mid-2009. But reality has a nasty way of insinuating itself into even the best laid plans, and it took another year for the first finished bikes, the limited edition 961 SE (200 will be built), to start rolling off the new Norton line. Here's the official promo video for the Norton 961 SE:

Yet delays haven’t stopped interest. Industry veteran Matt Capri was quick to link up with Garner, establishing South Bay Norton in August 2009 as the exclusive U.S. dealer/distributor. South Bay’s John Perkey told us only three of 50 U.S. allotted 961 SEs were still available as we went to press; the U.K. allotment sold out by October 2009.

The first U.K. market SE was delivered last March, the first Sport in October and the first Café Racer in November. U.S. customers can expect to start collecting their SEs in April or May, assuming the 961 passes EPA emissions testing, ongoing as we went to print. Capri expects it to pass easily, with California certification following shortly. The wire-wheeled SE is priced at $17,999 and the carbon fiber-wheeled SE at $19,499. Perkey says those bikes are being sold at a discount to drive interest; in the U.K., the Café Racer and Sport are priced at approximately $22,000 and $19,500, respectively. The first Café Racer could arrive here as early as April, but it could be as late as mid-summer. For a taste of what you can expect, read Alan Cathcart's road test of the new Café Racer.

Garner has clearly been re-evaluating the importance of the U.S. market; in November he named one-time Ducati North America CEO Dan Van Epps as CEO of newly created subsidiary Norton Motorcycles USA. Van Epps will spearhead efforts to establish a dealer network in time to start selling bikes by April or May, with an ultimate goal of dealer presence in the top 50 U.S. population centers. Further, as we went to press, Norton announced it had hired ex-Ducati fashionista Pierre Terblanche as head of product development and design. Among his challenges is designing a new line of multi-valve, multi-cylinder engines.

  
Moto Guzzi showed off this V7 Scrambler at its January international dealer meeting. 

Although Ducati appears to have quietly put its retro SportClassic line in mothballs, rival Moto Guzzi is keeping the old-school-is-cool theme alive, recently showing off two new models said to be slated for 2012. The bikes, a scrambler version of the well-received V7 Classic and an all new 1,400cc touring bike, were shown at parent company Piaggio Group’s international dealer meeting in Monte Carlo January 27 and 28.

The new V7 Scrambler is based on the popular V7 Classic that also spawned the V7 Sport Classic. The new scrambler model differs only in styling cues, with an Arrow exhaust system featuring twin high pipes on the right side of the bike, fork gaiters, polished aluminum fork legs, higher bars, different side panels, rubber knee pads on the gas tank, and a unique to the scrambler headlamp shell with integrated instruments. Otherwise, it’s a standard V7 Classic.

  
V7 Racer is slated for limited production starting this year. 

The new bike joins the Classic-based V7 Racer Moto Guzzi announced last fall, a hooligan-themed café racer. Featuring a bum-stop seat with a mini-seat fairing, blacked-out wheel rims on red anodized hubs, a red frame, rear-set footpegs, leather trim on top of the gas tank, racing numbers (a “7” of course) and fat upswept bikes, the V7 Racer features styling cues we’re used to seeing on one-off customs, not factory production bikes. The V7 Scrambler is expected to find its way to U.S. dealer show rooms, but the V7 Racer’s limited production may make it a Euro-only offering.

 
1,400cc Moto Guzzi California prototype

The real surprise to us was the unveiling of the California prototype, a huge, 1,400cc cruiser featuring an all-new 90-degree V-twin. The California was apparently inspired by Triumph’s equally ginormous 1,600cc Thunderbird, a model designed to lure customers from Harley-Davidson and the Metric Cruisers of Japan.

Moto Guzzi has a short press release about the V7 Scrambler and California on the Moto Guzzi website, but no information on the V7 Racer. Expect the V7 Scrambler to list for around $8,900 and the California to be competitive with the Thunderbird, which starts at $12,499. – Richard Backus 

  
The Hogslayer in action back in the mid-1970s. 

Excitement is building among vintage racing enthusiasts for a new independent documentary about the multi-world champion motorcycle drag racing legend – the Hogslayer. Slated for release later this year, the production company, The Edge Ltd., is accepting additional documentary materials and offering sponsorships on this exciting project.  

Hogslayer: The Unapproachable Legend is the true-life story of the dual-engine Norton dragster designed, built and raced by John Gregory and Tom C. (“TC”) Christenson of Sunset Motors in Kenosha, Wis. The documentary chronicles the Sunset Motors Racing Team’s unrivaled innovation and unbridled courage as they faced unyielding challengers throughout the United States and Europe in the 1970’s. The Hogslayer dragster is presently on exhibit at the National Motorcycle Museum in the United Kingdom.     

The project is currently being financed and produced independently by The Edge Ltd., however the production company is offering sponsorships to assist with the remaining funding and to share in the premieres and distribution promotion of the documentary. The Edge Ltd. is also offering an open invitation for anyone familiar with the Hogslayer story to submit film, photographs, publications and video of the dragster and race team for inclusion in the documentary. For additional information or to submit materials, contact James Cutting, independent producer, The Edge Ltd., at (262) 224-3777 or edgeltd@charter.net 

You can find more information on the Hogslayer by visiting TC’s Hogslayer website, and at his Hogslayer Facebook page. For a preview of the documentary, check out the video below. –Richard Backus