Bike engineering highlights 2013

Motorcycle development and automotive technologies increasingly share the path toward cleaner, quieter, faster, and more diverse two-wheelers.

Resurrecting one of the most iconic brands in motorcycling's nearly 120-year history is no easy task if you're intent on doing it without compromise. The same goes for updating (for lower noise, emissions, and higher performance) a classic engine design that has defined a certain bike maker for 80 years. The OEMs behind these programs-Minnesota-based Polaris Industries, the new owner of the Indian motorcycle, and BMW, the greatest exponent of the horizontally opposed twin-bring fresh thinking and clever engineering to their respective 1811 cm³ V-twin and 1200-cm³ “boxer” powertrains.

Across the industry, bike makers aren't sitting still for 2013. They've wrung greater specific power and torque out of cleaner, quieter combustion engines. Honda's all new CB500 range is powered by a compact parallel twin that may help revive the half-liter category. Electronic throttles, traction control, and chassis-dynamics aids bring automotive sensor and onboard computing technology to the two-wheeler realm (see sidebar on page 37). ABS (anti-lock braking systems) for bikes has been mandated by the EU, and experts predict North America will follow. And the wave of battery-electric motorcycles rolls on, with Brammo pioneering a six-speed gearbox with its electric Empulse R.