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Common Tread

News Cycles: June 22, 2018

Jun 22, 2018

Welcome to this week's News Cycles, Common Tread’s roundup of what’s happening on our servers and everywhere else. Every Friday, look for a collection of news, stories, and all things moto from around the web. This week: Millennials didn’t kill something, the production FTR1200, and espresso.

Something Millennials aren’t killing: sidecars

After allegedly murdering such industries as napkins, restaurants, and diamond rings, Millennials exhibited uncharacteristic mercy towards the motorcycle sidecar, of all things. According to legendary sidehack builder Watsonian, the retro bike trend brought a spike in sales worldwide. For a detailed look inside Watsonian's factory, check out this episode of How It’s Made.

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Why wait? Yamaha Australia's Tenere Retro 655

How long is it going to take for Yamaha to release that T7 already, let alone the rumored scrambler version? Two enterprising employees at Yamaha Motor Australia got tired of waiting and threw just under three grand (USD) at an XSR700. Presto — an off-roadish looker with Yamaha’s parallel twin. It’s no T7, but was that so hard?

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Custom Yamaha XSR700
Skipping the Akra practically halves the cost, but the “exhaust note makes you want to ride through tunnels all day and, despite the hybrid tag, the bike feels stable and steady on dirt.” Custom Yamaha XSR700. Barry Ashenhurst photo.

Build an espresso machine from a piston and cylinder

Totally impractical, but who cares? I just ordered a piston and cylinder kit for a GY6, and I definitely don’t own a bike with that engine… Also, if anyone has spare CBX1000 jugs, it’d be so much easier to simultaneously make those six shots of espresso Anthony needs before he shoots videos, so let us know.

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The lost story of Oskar Schindler, motorcycle racer

The same Oskar Schindler you know from Schindler’s List (or Schindler’s Ark, if you read the book) was a motorcycle racer for a short time before the war. Moto-historian Dr. Erwin Tragatsch wrote a full story about him in 1955, but it went unpublished until it was discovered in an archive just this month. Of course, Tragatsch notes, “Oskar Schindler, in his period as a racing motorcyclist, was not a famous man. Fame came to him, when his own feeling for humanity proved stronger than anything else…”

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Guzzi 250 motorcycles
Guzzi 250s, just like Oskar raced. Aldo Carrer Collection photo.


Indian confirms FTR 1200 production model coming in 2019

Indian’s building that street tracker everyone’s crazy for. But how far will they stray from the production custom?

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This August: Aerostich's Very Boring Rally

The 2018 Aerostich Very Boring Rally is set for August 17 to 19. In honor of Aerostich’s 35th anniversary, VBR4 promises to be “four times as boring as 2013’s VBR 3, seven times as boring as 2008’s VBR 2, and twice as boring as 2003’s VBR 1!” Prizes awarded to “sorriest-looking bike” and “worst worn-out Aerostich suit”, among other things. Just $35 gets you all that boredom and so much more.

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Aerostich factory
Meet up here at Aerostich's factory for the VBR. Aerostich photo.

Thanks for reading; that's all for this week! If you've got feedback or moto news you'd like to share, shoot an e-mail to commontread@revzilla.com. Check back for more News Cycles every Friday.