As you are returning from summer holidays, picking up the daily routine again, we at Moto Intel Report have been doing the same. Tom and Jasper are back to work, catching up with the mountain of emails, while I’ve picked up the pace with the Scenic 2 Beta.
Apple’s September event is on September 10th, which means that the official iOS13 release will follow shortly after. Before that time, Scenic 2 will need to be in the app store as the current Scenic version doesn’t work well with iOS13. Busy times 🙂 Fortunately I have a small army of active beta testers who, by now, have found all serious bugs.
This week’s Moto Intel Report, I take you to a motorcycle museum in Japan, Jasper… and Tom …
Now, without further ado, let’s get rolling…
Jasper, Tom & Guido
EPIC RIDES
The Iwashita Collection ∙ Oita Prefecture ∙ Japan
I recently came into contact with Greg. A Scenic user living in Japan. Greg offered to upload multiple nice Scenic routes in Japan. While we were talking, Greg mentioned he was a video director and editor and consequently showed me some videos he made. This one stood out to me. Not only are there some amazing riding scenes in there with the beautifull Japanese countryside as a canvas, it’s also about a thing most of you will appreciate a lot; An extroardinary motorcycle museum set up by an extraordinary man. I hope you’ll enjoy this video about the Iwashita Collection as much as I did.
Guido
MOTORCYCLES Two Wheelers Beat Four Wheelers In Europe
Longer traffic jams and urban lifestyle have done little good to automotive sales in the last two years. Back in 2017, car sales still saw a small increase, but sales growth has flattened out since 2018 and turned negative during the first half of this year. Motorcycles on the contrary are silently breaking sales records – jumping 9.6% in H1 2019.
Both Piaggio and BMW are reporting strong two-wheeler sales numbers, 5.9% and 7.3% respectively, and while the combustion engines continue to do well, manufacturers are already investing heavily in new electric motorcycle and scooter platforms. KTM and Bajaj are planning to release a lightweight low-voltage motorbike platform in 2021, and KTM’s CEO Pierer is said to have invited Ducati and Piaggio to join the project in order to bring costs down. We, as true petrolheads are not convinced yet, but once a high-power E-bike comes onto the market, I’ll be more than happy to test it.
Tom
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MOTORCYCLE GADGETS
Denali D4 2.0 TriOptic LED Light Kit
It won’t be the first time I have mistaken the Denali D4 Leds for a car pulling up behind me. Most of the time you see them mounted on the larger BMW GS models, but this model fits all makes. The D4 produces 4x as many lumens as the previous generation – enough to make sure drivers see you from a whopping 560ft away. Have a look at Revzilla – they knocked 15% off the price.
Tom
MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE
Check your spokes (if you have ’em)
With a previous bike I often had this problem, and it was easy enough to fix, but good spoke maintenance can help prevent a trip to the mechanic. Not all bikes can have loose spokes, so this does not apply to everybody but they can puncture your tube, cause your wheel to be out of true or worse. You can check your spokes without any tools by just trying to move them with your fingers, if there is any movement it is time to fix them because if you don’t they will start breaking. The guys over at Chapmoto explain it real well.
Jasper
MOTORCYCLE GEAR
Guglatech fuel filter
I recently got my hands on a Guglatech filter, Guglielmo from Guglatech was kind enough to let us test his products and because I only just installed it I can only report on how that went. Installation was easy, I had to unscrew the petrol cap and it fitted perfectly. In about 20 thousand miles or so I will report back to see how KTM’s weak gas filter system holds up with this filter before it.
Guglielmo told me his team started experimenting with filters in 2009 and in 2012 they finally launched their first prototype. Before the end of the year they will launch the 7th generation fuel filters with increased fuel flow rate during refueling and dirt/water segregation/efficiency.
Reportedly nobody ever had fuel problems again after installing a Guglatec filter. On their website and blog you can read about people doing 20 or 30 thousand miles in Africa. Also make sure you check out their youtube channel!
Jasper
PIC OF THE WEEK
Wall of Snow
This pic was sent in by Ricardo. On their way back from Nordkap (Norway) which was snow free, they ran into some unexpected walls of snow in southern Norway, about 150km north of Kristiansand. Not something you see every day 🙂
What’s your most beautiful / funny / crazy motorcycle pic? Share it with us and it might be featured in the next Moto Intel Report. Here you can find all submitted pics.
