Another Trike in the style of Ferrari, this time based on Kawasaki motorcycle, was developed in France. Enthusiast named Francois Norrek spent nearly a decade to translate into the reality the dreams in the red color.

As he said by himself, the main reason that the job, which, in general, requires considerably less time, was so long is that he was heavily engaged in other businesses, and was implementing a project only from time to time.

Francois called his offspring Snaefell, and, in general, he invented the car rather than bike or trike, especially when it is viewed from the side where the two wheels are.

In the apparatus some parts from the 1-liter Kawasaki 1000RX sportbike are used, as well as from as much as five cars - Volkswagen Golf GTI, Audi 80, Citroen Xantia, BMW and Renault.

Norrek’s investments in the project amounted to about 15 000 euro. Notably, the cabin has the space for the whole two passengers (if they are slim actually), but on the body there is only one place – due to the unique motorcycle design.

The experts drew attention to the highest level of performance. Also, you can not help but to draw the attention to the three symbolic exhaust pipes! And of course the door, which opens up!

But actually, it is not the first attempt to create a unique sports bike by the car enthusiasts. We have already mentioned an Israeli designer, who created a Ferrari concept based on the legendary Enzo model. So, gladly, we can expect some new models and unique engineering decisions in the future. Well, let it be so!

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Looking at the statistics of bike sales in Italy we can see quite brightly, that the bike segment is experiencing the new growth…

June sales of motorcycles and scooters in one of the most “motorcycle” country - Italy, pleasantly surprised, because at the end of June, 74,506 units were sold, with an increase of 8% compared with a weak start of the year. Bestsellers in motosegment are still scooters - in June scooter sales in average rose up to 76% of the total motorcycle sales.

The number of registrations of bikes in Italy increased by 15.5% and amounted to 58665.

Top 100 models of scooters and motorcycles, the leaders of sales in Italy (January-June 2009):

01 HONDA ITALIA - SH 150 - Scooter - 9.944
02 HONDA ITALIA - SH 300 - Scooter - 9.691
03 HONDA ITALIA - SH 125 - Scooter - 8.726
04 PIAGGIO - BEVERLY 300 TOURER - Scooter - 8.097
05 YAMAHA - TMAX 500 - Scooter - 7.812
06 PIAGGIO - LIBERTY 125 RST - Scooter - 7.162
07 KYMCO - AGILITY 125 R16 - Scooter - 6.706
08 PIAGGIO - VESPA GTS 300 SUPER - Scooter - 6.290
09 YAMAHA - XMAX 250 - Scooter - 5.230
10 KYMCO - AGILITY 150 R16 - Scooter - 5.042
11 PIAGGIO - VESPA LX 125 - Scooter - 3.638
12 HONDA - SW-T 400 - Scooter - 3.397
13 YAMAHA - X-CITY 250 - Scooter - 3.325
14 PIAGGIO - LIBERTY 150 RST - Scooter - 3.291
15 KAWASAKI - Z 750 - Naked - 3.269
16 YAMAHA - MAJESTY 400 - Scooter - 3.175
17 KYMCO - PEOPLE S 200 - Scooter - 3.106
18 HONDA ITALIA - CB 600 F HORNET - Naked - 2.499
19 DUCATI - M 696 - Naked - 2.326
20 BMW - R 1200 GS - Enduro - 2.173
21 YAMAHA - XJ6-N - Naked - 2.097
22 APRILIA - SCARABEO 100 4T - Scooter - 2.021
23 KYMCO - XCITING R 300 I - Scooter - 2.006
24 APRILIA - SCARABEO 200 - Scooter - 1.954
25 PIAGGIO - BEVERLY 250 TOURER - Scooter - 1.854
26 KAWASAKI - ER-6N - Naked - 1.848
27 SUZUKI - AN 400 BURGMAN - Scooter - 1.803
28 HONDA - XL 700 V TRANSALP - Enduro - 1.791
29 KYMCO - PEOPLE S 125 - Scooter - 1.639
30 HONDA ITALIA - CB 1000 R - Naked - 1.560
31 KYMCO - DINK 200 E3 - Scooter - 1.550
32 SYM - SYMPHONY 125 - Scooter - 1.487
33 MALAGUTI - CENTRO 160 - Scooter - 1.480
34 LML - NV 150 - Scooter - 1.427
35 PIAGGIO - VESPA S 125 - Scooter - 1.424
36 APRILIA - SCARABEO 125 - Scooter - 1.416
37 SUZUKI - SIXTEEN 150 - Scooter - 1.400
38 PIAGGIO - VESPA LX 150 - Scooter - 1.382
39 PIAGGIO - CARNABY 300 CRUISER - Scooter - 1.380
40 PIAGGIO - BEVERLY 400 TOURER - Scooter - 1.361
41 HONDA - FORZA 250 - Scooter - 1.323
42 KYMCO - LIKE 125 - Scooter - 1.213
43 SUZUKI - GSR 600 - Naked - 1.197
44 MALAGUTI - CENTRO 125 - Scooter - 1.142
45 SUZUKI - UH 200 BURGMAN - Scooter - 1.114
46 BMW - F 800 GS - Enduro - 1.101
47 SUZUKI - DL 650 V-STROM - Enduro - 1.094
48 YAMAHA - YZF-R1 - Sportive - 1.081
49 APRILIA - SCARABEO 300 - Scooter - 991
50 BMW - R 1200 GS ADVENTURE - Enduro - 973
51 HONDA - CBR 1000 RR - Sportive - 970
52 PIAGGIO - BEVERLY 125 TOURER - Scooter - 954
53 PEUGEOT - GEOPOLIS 250 - Scooter - 953
54 KYMCO - PEOPLE S 300 - Scooter - 938
55 BMW - R 1200 R - Naked - 920
56 KAWASAKI - VERSYS - Enduro - 916
57 TRIUMPH - BONNEVILLE - Naked - 916
58 APRILIA - DORSODURO 750 - Supermotard - 896
59 DUCATI - HYPERMOTARD 1100 - Supermotard - 870
60 SYM - HD 200 EVO FI - Scooter - 869
61 YAMAHA - XMAX 125 - Scooter - 849
62 SYM - FIDDLE II 125 - Scooter - 840
63 YAMAHA - YZF-R6 - Sportive - 820
64 YAMAHA - YZF-R125 - Sportive - 817
65 KYMCO - XCITING 300 - Scooter - 777
66 APRILIA - SPORT CITY 125 ONE - Scooter - 752
67 SUZUKI - SIXTEEN 125 - Scooter - 751
68 SUZUKI - AN 650 BURGMAN - Scooter - 750
69 BMW - F 800 R - Naked - 745
70 YAMAHA - FZ6-N - Naked - 731
71 LML - NV 125 - Scooter - 716
72 HONDA - CBR 600 RR - Sportive - 711
73 DUCATI - MONSTER 1100 - Naked - 710
74 MALAGUTI - PASSWORD 250 - Scooter - 699
75 YAMAHA - X-CITY 125 - Scooter - 692
76 SUZUKI - GLADIUS 650 - Naked - 691
77 TRIUMPH - STREET TRIPLE - Naked - 690
78 PIAGGIO - VESPA GTS 250 - Scooter - 682
79 APRILIA - SCARABEO 250 - Scooter - 667
80 KYMCO - DINK 125 E3 - Scooter - 661
81 APRILIA - SPORT CITY 125 CUBE - Scooter - 656
82 YAMAHA - MT-03 - Naked - 644
83 DUCATI - STREETFIGHTER - Naked - 641
84 HARLEY-DAVIDSON - XL 883N IRON 883 - Custom - 617
85 KAWASAKI - Z1000 - Naked - 607
86 SUZUKI - GSX-R 1000 - Sportive - 597
87 KYMCO - DOWNTOWN 300 - Scooter - 591
88 YAMAHA - FZ6-S - Naked - 587
89 HONDA - LEAD 110 - Scooter - 577
90 KAWASAKI - NINJA ZX-6R - Sportive - 568
91 KEEWAY - OUTLOOK 150 - Scooter - 557
92 APRILIA - SPORT CITY 300 CUBE - Scooter - 554
93 SYM - MIO 100 - Scooter - 542
94 YAMAHA - MAJESTY 125 - Scooter - 542
95 DUCATI - 848 - Sportive - 536
96 HONDA ITALIA - CBF 600 S - Naked - 532
97 BMW - F 650 GS NEW - Enduro - 519
98 GILERA - NEXUS 300 - Scooter - 510
99 PIAGGIO - BEVERLY CRUISER 500 - Scooter - 508
100 TRIUMPH - SPEED TRIPLE 1050 - Naked - 501

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Net profit of the American motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson Inc. for the first half of 2009 declined by almost 3 times and amounted 137 million dollars compared with 410 million dollars from a year earlier for the same period. Such information is contained in the published financial report of Harley-

The Company’s revenues for the first half of this year decreased by 5.1% - to 2,44 billion dollars against 2.88 billion dollars during the same period of 2008. Operating profit amounted to 302.8 million dollars, that in 2,1 times less than the equivalent figure for the previous year, which was recorded at around 636.9 million dollars.

Net profit of Harley-Davidson for the second quarter of 2009 decreased in 11.3 times and amounted to 19.75 million dollars compared with 222.8 million dollars of a year earlier. The Company’s revenues for the quarter decreased by 26.7% - to 1,15 billion dollars against 1.57 billion dollars during the same period of 2008. Operating profit amounted 70.7 million dollars, almost 5 times less than that of the previous year, when operating profit was 345.9 million dollars.

But total assets of the company continued to grow - if at the end of June 2008 it stood at 6.78 billion dollars at the end of December 2008 - 7.83 billion dollars and at the end of June 2009 - 8.76 billion dollars.

Harley-Davidson’s supplies in the first six months decreased from 152 194 units in January-June 2008  to 132 849 units during the same period in 2009. But the supply of Buell motorcycles and MV Agusta (these brands are also under the control of Harley-Davidson Inc.) over the same period have increased - from 6 464 to 6 900 units. But in any case, the overall scale of these brands do not play a key role.

About 66% of Harley-Davidson’s motortechnique was for the North American region, while 34% of units were for the international market.

With regard to exact sales for the first 6 months of 2009, 142 151 Harley-Davidson motorcycles were sold worldwide - 24% less than a year earlier for the same period (186 062). Thus 73% of motorcycle sales (103 333 units) were implemented in the United States and Canada, 24,5 thousand bikes found their owners in different countries in Europe, around 6 200 bikes were sold in Japan, slightly more than five thousand - in other countries in Asia and the Pacific, and 2 800 - in Latin America.

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The famous German racer Michael Schumacher first appeared in public since the last incident, when he fell down from his motorcycle.

Michael visited the paddok of Ferrari team and watched as the pilots are preparing and conducting the tests before the start of the new race.

According to those who saw Schumacher on the track, he is gradually recovering, but still feels not very good. In particular, the legendary pilot could hardly move his head and neck, watching today’s Ferrari pilots riding down the track - Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen.

Recalling that Schumacher after the complete leaving of the motorsport actively enjoys motorcycles, felt down from a bike during a recent training sessions in early February 2009. Shummi felt down in the past, but this time the accident was more serious than usual - the pilot hit the head seriously. The incident occurred on the track in Cartagena (Spain). Schumacher, at some point lost control of his Honda CBR1000 Fireblade,  felt from the bike and hit his head on the asphalt. Immediately after the incident multiple champion of “Formula 1” was sent to a nearby hospital with suspected head trauma. In addition, after the fall Michael suffered from severe pain in his right wrist and neck.

39-year-old Michael Schumacher (born January 3, 1969) is one of the most successful pilots in the history of Formula 1. Schumacher - seven-time world champion, who got two titles performing for the Benetton team, and five, performing for the Ferrari. In recent years, he actively enjoys motorcycling, traveling frequently on the track on different bikes, mainly on the Honda - training, and sometimes taking part in races. However, Michael steadfastly denies rumors that he might continue his racing career in motorcycling. “I’m too old for this” - he said.

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Despite the continuing march of the world economic crisis Italy is actively preparing for the forthcoming this fall global motortechnique show - one of the largest in the world motoshou EICMA 2009, which will take place in Milan.

However, according to preliminary data,  a number of unpleasant surprises is expected . Thus, according to relevant information at this time, two largest and most authoritative Japanese motogiants - Honda and Yamaha refused to participate in the show for the reasons of economy. What would be without them is not clear, but the organizers do not exclude that they may be able to make these giants to change their decision.

The exhibition is planned to be located on an area of about 50 000 square meters. From motorcycle giants and scooter-manufacturers the participation of such brands as Aprilia, Piaggio Group, BMW, Ducati, Harley-Davidson, Husqvarna, Kawasaki, KTM, Suzuki, Triumph, etc. is expected. Total - 420 participants and more than 500 brands.

Active foreign participation is expected, with more and more brought samples of their products from the countries which recently have not been competing for the title of 2-wheeled technique leaders. Planned: China - 17 stands, Taiwan - 29 stands, Pakistan - 23 stands, Spain - 11 stands, United States - 11 stands.

This year the exhibition will be held from 10 to 15 November.

Milan EICMA is the largest motor show in the world. In 2008, it was held in 66th time and was open from 4 to 9 November. About 2 thousand brands were introduced, among them one and a half thousand were motorcycles. For all the days the salon was visited by more than a half a million people. This year, 33 countries were represented - manufacturing companies from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tokelau, Britain and the United States will show their products.

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Today in Rome (Italy) on the Casina Valadier Villa the new Piaggio MP3 Hybrid was officially presented, the first motor scooter in the world, operating on petrol and environmentally-clean electric engines.

The first copy of this update has already been released, one of them has recently been formally presented to the Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi.

As the producer himself states, thanks to the uniqueness of the technology MP3 Hybrid provides a reduction in fuel consumption by more than 50%, as well as more than 50 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions in comparison conventional gasoline models. Piaggio MP3 Hybrid – a hybrid model made by the “parallel” technology, when the gasoline and electric engine work together, integrated with one another as in an electronic or mechanical level, and transfer their energy on wheels at the same time, ensuring synergies. Electric engine increases the power of the four conventional internal combustion engines at startup and at small velocities. And with the usual operation, thanks to gasoline engine, electric engine is being recharged. Synergy of two engines also provides a good economy - Piaggio MP3 Hybrid is able to pass on 1 liter of fuel the entire 60 km, compared to an average of 26 kilometers on one liter for the majority of scooters. Carbon dioxide emissions also account for only 40 g / km (as against 90 g / km on average for gasoline models).

A scooter has two modes of operation - hybrid and pure electric. ” The second is intended primarily for driving at low speeds on small distances, and parking. In doing so, the maximum speed of the electric is 30 kilometers per hour with battery capacity sufficient for 20 km, and most importantly, the environmental advantage - zero emissions. Note that the four-cylinder petrol engine which is equipped with MP3 Hybrid is just 125 cc, it has the system Ride-by-Wire (innovative electronic control acceleration system, which was first installed on a scooter).

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The legendary Formula 1 driver, Michael Schumacher, Germany, has put on sale two of his motorcycles Ducati - Desmosedici and Hypermotard 1100S.

Michael is ready to get rid of MotoGP replica motorcycle for only 58 000 euros (88 thousand Swiss francs), even taking into account that the mileage of his Desmosedici is only 52 kilometers.

This motorcycle has the eighth serial number. Recall that only one and a half thousand ultra-expensive Ducati Desmosedici motorcycles were issued in the first edition, and Michael Schumacher’s bike turns out to be one of the first ones, what gives it additional value.

Ducati Desmosedici RR is a civilian motorcycle, and is was positioned as a MotoGP sport series superbike replica. The motorcycle is equipped with L-shaped 4-cylinder engine Testastretta Evolution liquid-cooled with 4 valves per cylinder and a branded gas distribution mechanism. Engine capacity of this vehicle - 989 cc and maximum power - 147.1 kW - 200 hp at 13 800 rpm. Torque 11.8 kg / m at 10 500 rpm.

It should be noted that the Ducati Desmosedici RR  is intended for one person only, because by its nature it is a serial modification of a racing vehicle and with all the desire you will not have the possibility to ride someone on it any further, as engineers from Bologna have put the exhaust system under the passenger seat and to avoid carbon tail melting, it is covered with the protective sheet of material recalling asbestos.

In Europe this bike is being sold for more than 60 000 euro. Surprisingly, but Michael Schumacher’s  bike cost just a little bit less than that, even taking into account that the vehicle is almost brand-new. And knowing who the previous owner of this gorgeous beauty is makes it quite easy to understand that even now there is plenty of people willing to buy this bike for a price even twice bigger than that.

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Skybike - a flying bike prototype, made in the United States.

American company Swift Engineering from sunny California, in collaboration with Samson Motorworks has presented its latest development – motorcycle-type flying unit under the romantic name Skybike (”Heavenly motorcycle).

The unit has a futuristic design and is able to reach a maximum speed of 80 miles per hour (130 km / h) in the driving mode and 130 miles per hour (210 km / h) in flight.

Inside – just moved directly from the films about James Bond a superagent dashboard, which automatically switches from the position of  “land” to “air“.

A vehicle also has a dual lighting system - for the ride and for the flight, navigation system, radio beacon, just in case unforeseen, leather seats and luggage space.

All machines are intended for two passengers. In a basic version the maximum takeoff weight is 635 kg. Length - 4.72 meters. Width - 1.68 meters. Height - 1.55 meters. Cruising range - 1 400 km on land and 550 km in the air. Fuel tank - 60.5 liters. The unit has two types of engines - a rotary Freedom Motor with 120 hp, or a similar motorcycle engine.

A vehicle also has a version Aerobike - it is more than twice lighter and of course, more economical, but at the same time, preserving the futuristic design, has not the main gadget of the previous project – it does not have the ability to fly and travels only on the ground.

Swift Engineering, Inc. was founded in 1983 and is one of the leading manufacturers of light aircraft and high-speed ground vehicles. In the portfolio of the company, just among other things, a number of orders for aerospace products for the U.S. government. An impressive beginning, huh?

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Italian Aprilia has shown several copies of their superbikes Aprilia RSV 1000 Factory for advertising the new film from the series “Transformers” - “Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen” on the screens on 24 June 2009.

Aprilia is one of the official sponsors of the picture directed by Michael Bay, in which, by the way, Megan Fox, Shayya Labef and John Turturro have acted.

It is expected that Aprilia bikes, which were shown many times during the film, will take part in most of the official presentations of the movie in different countries and regions around the world.

“Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen” is going to be a high-budget movie, so Michael Bay did not come cheap and preferred not to economy on the apparatus. That is why we are going to see such outstanding bikes there.

Aprilia RSV 1000 R – a pure-blooded Italian superbike with a 2-cylinder V-shaped engine of magnesium alloy with the angle of the cylinders of 60 degrees, and mechanism of anti-double-shaft. The exact amount of the engine - 998 cubes. Liquid cooling. Compression ratio - 11.8. Maximum power - 143 hp at 10 000 rpm. Maximum moment - 107 Nm at 7 500 rpm. The exhaust system - 2 silencers with three-sided catalytic converter and lambda-sensor.

Front brakes - 2 floating 320mm discs with Brembo 4-piston radial supports. Rear brake - 1 220 mm disc with Brembo 2-piston support. Front Fork - 43mm Ohlins titanium nitride coated inverted type, the front suspension move is 120mm. Rear suspension - Hydraulic adjustable Sachs shock absorber with 133mm swing. 17-inch wheels. Dimensions – 2035×730x1145mm. Seat Height - 810mm. Wheelbase - 1418mm. Dry weight - 189 kg. Tank - 18 liters.

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Italian manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters Aspes company introduced a new device - the first hybrid scooter Sirio 50cc Hybrid.

Scooter is unique in its kind, with a hybrid engine and with the possibility of a permanent recharging batteries while driving.

The device can move in three modes, switching is done by simply pressing the lever on the handlebars. The first mode - Engine - when only engine is operating. In this mode, the motor is turned off, the electric motor and the battery is being recharged. The second mode - Mix Mode - in this mode at speeds of up to 25 km / h electric battery works, and at the higher speeds it is replaced with gasoline. Finally, the third mode - Electric - involves riding only on the electric thrust.

Dimensions (length, width, height) – 1864×740x1280mm. Wheelbase - 1300mm. Ground clearance - 140mm. Weight - 90 kg. Volume of a 4-stroke gasoline engine - 49.5 cubes. Characteristics of the electric motor - 36V - 500W. Lithium Battery 36V - 15Ah. Maximum speed - about 45 km / h. Maximum power - 2.3 kW (at 8 000 rpm.). Tank - 4.9 liters.

Color - four versions: the blue (Blu Marine), white (Bianco Ice), yellow (Giallo Racing) and red (Rosso Corallo). Price of a unit in Italy - 2 950 Euro.

The company was founded by brothers Aspes Sorrentino  in Gallarate in the Italian region of Lombardy in 1950. Until 1961 the company produces bicycles and in 1961 started producing motorized two-wheeled vehicles. Actively participated in the Italian market until 1982. In 1980 because of the global economic crisis the companies’ deeds have gone bad, she was sold to concern Unimoto, a few years the brand was used, and then it vanished again. Now the brand is reborn again, in March 2009 the brand was bought by Menzaghi Motors srl, which is determined to revive the popularity of Aspes brand. Now the model number of Aspes - four models of retro scooters with engine from 50 to 150 cubes and with the price from 1 400 to 3 000 euro, and one model of the motorcycle is a bike with 125 cubes and the price of 2 500 euros.

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