This week’s news list is slightly off-kilter and more than a little interesting:
- Harley-Davidson is working with Hero Motocorp to release a new bike that will likely not see American shores
- While Harley finds successes with Hero Motocorp, LiveWire teases a new bike that poses… interesting range for a tourer-type variant.
- Happy fourth birthday to Damon’s “HyperSport” prototype! Damon Motors finds two more companies to make battery cases and gearboxes.
- Lid Lovers: Italian Helmet Company Airoh is officially DOT-Certified and in the US!
Let’s start with Harley’s Indian beau, shall we?
Rumor Has It: Harley x Hero’s Working on a Small-CC Nightster
Harley-Hero Partnership Grows Closer with Success of X440 Bike Range
Back in July of 2023 – and hot on the heels of the new Harley x Hero X440 – we covered that Harley-Davidson had registered a “Nightster 440,” leading us to believe that America’s Team Orange would sink deeper into the beginner bike segment here in the Americas.
As it turns out, it wasn’t the Americas they were looking at.
According to coverage from Top Speed, the registration of a Nightster 440 was made for India’s markets. Couple this with the note that Harley’s X350 and X500 (the ones that Harley made for China) never really made it to America, and the potential of seeing a baby Nightster on our shores is decidedly slim to none.
On to the bike’s power potential: The Nightster 440 is set to be built on Harley x Hero’s current X440 platform; as such, we can expect specs to be similar.
Here are the current specs for Harley’s present-day X440:
- ~27hp @ 6,000 rpm
- ~28 lb-ft of torque @ 4,000 rpm
We know that the X440 weighs in around 190kg, or 418lbs, putting the bike’s weight-to-power ratio at 15.51 lbs/hp – nothing to write home about, but then again, Harley’s going for accessibility and versatility in this new Nightster.
Should all roads truly lead to Rome and Harley x Hero put out the Nightster within the year, we will be looking at the very first time that this duo shared a cruiser.
Happy day!
Would you like to see Harley x Hero’s Nightster 440 in America?
LiveWire Prepares to Push Out a Tourer-Style Bike with S2 Range
“Alpinista” to Debut January 15
We move on from the successes Harley has found with their Indian partner, to recent movement from the electric motorcycle company that was Harley’s first foray into EV territory.
Before we land into this new bit of news, it’s worth noting that there’s nothing more frustrating than riding a bike that has to be juiced up every two hours… and we’re getting the feeling that LiveWire’s new variant may very well be in that exact category.
The model in question is something LiveWire is calling the “Alpinista.” Sneaked in snippets of LiveWire’s teaser video, the Alpinista shows tour-y elements like a taller windscreen, saddlebags and a neutral set of ergonomics. This new bike is also a variant of LiveWire’s “S2” platform, meaning we can trust with some level of certainty that the Alpinista will share somewhat similar specs to that of the more urban-ready S2 Del Mar.
But back to the Alpinista’s potential.
By LiveWire’s accounts (aka, the teaser video showing parts of the Alpinista in action), this is a bike that can carve canyons. We juxtapose LiveWire’s positive angle with the findings of Morgan Gales’s LiveWire One Review on Roadracing World, and suddenly we are reminded that the Alpinista is an S2, a bike that features even less highway mile range than LiveWire’s One.
For reference, Morgan set the LiveWire One in his ride review to 65mph, and that bike boasted 7o highway miles. Based on that information alone, we can assume that the S2 Del Mar’s range of 43 highway miles – and, by proxy, this new Alpinista – won’t even put a dent in weekend getaways rife with canyons, valleys, basins, and the eclectic winding roads that were present in the S2 Alpinista’s teaser video.
With a mere seven days until the Alpinista’s reveal (January 15th), what do you think? How long will the Alpinista be able to travel before requiring a full charge?
Damon Motors Lands New Round of Partnerships to Aid in Production of Hypersport’s Battery Case, Gearbox
Real Talk.
We have chatted about a brand moving toward larger markets and spent time with an EV brand getting their next bike out into the local community, and now we tackle a company whose motorcycle has yet to taste the fresh air of our markets… and it’s been almost half a decade waiting for the thing.
Happy fourth birthday to the Damon Hypersport! It was during CES 2020 that Damon presented this pioneering machine. Originally revealed to the public on January 7th, the Hypersport was an electric superbike concept that boasted a new, trademarked warning system called CoPilot™. This was also the EV bike that won CES 2020’s “Best in Innovation” award, launching the hype for a long-range Hypersport into our communities.
Pre-orders opened on Damon’s website the same day the bike was presented at CES 2020 (via Business Wire), and we now know that over 3400 people signed up, pledging $88 million US dollars worth to Damon (via PRNewswire).
$88 million may seem like a lot, but you have to understand: The Hypersport boggled the mind aesthetically and performance-wise, with “well over 200hp and 200nm of torque delivered at zero rpm, a top speed of 200mph and a range of more than 200 highway miles per charge.”
In short, Ducati and BMW – yes, even Energica – were about to get a run for their money to some capacity. All we had to do was wait until the motorcycle got here.
Fast forward one, two, three very complicated years, and the Hypersport’s fourth anniversary is upon us, along with an email update from Damon explaining progress delays. Included in that email was quoted the following:
– Damon Motorcycles. November 26, 2024 (PRNewswire). |
The realistic outlook on Damon’s future accompanies an honest breakdown of where they’re at in the development process:
– Damon Motorcycles. November 26, 2024 (PRNewswire). |
In commemoration of the above stages, Damon has landed two more partnerships to aid in the building of their rare beauty. PRNewswire tells us that Swiss die-casting company Aluwag AG is taking over the making of Hypersport’s hefty aluminum battery case. On the Eastern side of the sphere, Taiwan-based manufacturer Fukuta Elec. & Mach. Co. Ltd will be handling the bike’s electronic gearbox.
Where to go from here?
Damon Motors has a bit to go before mass manufacturing is a reality, but there’s still a chance that Hypersport fans will have access to a Damon bike of their own in the next decade or so…. at the very least, Damon’s pre-orders are refundable, guaranteeing the customer’s investments to be protected.
Do you think that Damon’s Hypersport will be released to the public before 2030?
Western Shores: AIROH is Officially in American Markets
Media Launch Scheduled for January 23
It’s official: he leading company in the motorcycle helmet sector, and the official helmet of the 6DAYS is in America!
Airoh is a Northern Italian lid-maker, and a good one, too; this brand has been making helmets since 1986, with offerings like the lightweight and airy Aviator 3 joining other noggin-happy successes like the versatile Commander 2.
Per coverage on Motorcycle.com, the arrival to American shores also means an all-new AIROH USA facility and team for Airoh; this is an exciting point for the brand, with Dennis Bloch, CEO of AIROH USA, imparting the following below:
– Dennis Bloch, CEO, AIROH USA (Motorcycle.com) |
On top of the 150 world titles in motorcycle racing, Airoh also claims to be responsible for the safety of the following cans, all of whom will be wearing Airoh in the USA this year:
- Jason Anderson
- Tom Vialle
- MRP Husqvarna
- Cody Webb
- Cooper Abbott
Airoh also lays claim to the stereotype that “Italian companies have a keen eye for beautiful design and par excellence taste”- a biased claim, but based on the looks of these lids, not far off at all from reality.
We’re told that Airoh’s helmets will be available from Airoh USA in the spring of this year.
Stay tuned for the official launch in southern California on January 23rd!
Would you wear Airoh helmets?