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British interior designer and motorcycle enthusiast Barend Hemmes hadn’t any experience at designing vehicles, but the 36-year-old South London resident knew he had struck a winning shape when he penned Jaguar’s famed “Leaper” logo onto a bike frame.

Hemmes says that he had been doodling at, “combining corporate logos with motorbikes” when he realized that Jag’s Jaguar would make for a perfect fit with a motorcycle. Having no construction experience, Hemmes sought out the bike builders of South Yorkshire’s Polar Cycles, who helped to craft the cat on top of running gear from a 1997 Buell S3 Thunderbolt.

The re-bodied Buell doesn’t exactly have performance to match its sleek appearance – only reaching speeds of around 50 miles per hour for unspecified reasons – but according to Hemmes the bike is quite the head turner wherever he rides it. It could be argued that a motorcycle shaped like a giant duck could boast the same,but we digress.

Have a better look at the Leaper bike in our gallery above.

+ Mail Online: Pictured: The ultimate PURRING machine - a motorbike in the form of the pouncing Jaguar logo

So you say you haven’t heard of Japanese mega star Rollerman? Please allow us to help you remedy that injustice, with a short look at this fascinating video above. Here, the wheeled-wonder takes on some dude riding a motorcycle, in a battle that teaches lessons about carrying speed through the corners. Watch and learn.

+ YouTube: Human bobsled vs. motorcycle

From the Can-Am Spyder to the Piaggio MP3, it seems like there has been a pronounced uptick in trike development and interest over the last year or so. The question is… do you care? Are these new three-wheelers interesting to you, and would you ever consider buying one... or would you really rather just have a motorcycle?

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Making a rather extreme spin on vehicles like Piaggio’s three-wheeled MP3 scooter, thanks in part to the borrowing of a 654cc 63 horsepower engine from Austrian motorcycle builder KTM, the Brudelli Leanster looks to be an impressively fast and agile toy.

Ridden in the same fashion as a traditional sport bike, the Leanster sports two front wheels which follow the driver’s side to side inputs by leaning up to 45 degrees each. This setup gives the vehicle a vastly more stable platform on which to ride while still allowing for superb handling characteristics. Brudelli claims that the Leanster can handle road surfaces ranging from normal tarmac, to gravel, to snowy surfaces, while giving even novice riders the ability and confidence to perform “controlled power slides” with apparent ease.

While the Brudelli creation should make for some truly recreational riding when it begins limited production sometime next month, the 21,000 Euro price tag may prove to be a rather large hurdle for most buyers. Have a closer look at the Brudelli Leanster in our gallery above.

+ Gizmag: The Brudelli Leanster - remarkable car-bike fusion

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Israeli designer Amir Glinik is the latest in a long line of artists who’ve attempted to create something beautiful and outrageous enough to carry Ferrari’s storied crest on only two wheels. Glinik’s Ferrari superbike concept is centered on an unrealized V-4 engine, and is said to draw as many visual cues from the F-16 fighter jet as from the slinky forms that abide in Maranello. The enclosed bodywork gives the concept rendering an eye-bulging shape that’s made all the better for its lack of needless ornamentation.

Ducati may make the worlds closest real interpretation of a Ferrari bike but we’d be willing to give this one the once over if it ever made the leap from monitor to motorway. Have a look in our gallery above.

+ Autoblog: Lean Machine: Ferrari V4 superbike concept

Yesterday we established that many of you would be willing to make the switch to a two-wheeled commute, weather permitting, but what sort of bike would you choose? Big cruiser, sport bike, out right crotch rocket, perhaps even something along the lines of a vintage moped or scooter? Pick your poison, and post a picture if you have one handy, in comments.

Just having spent some time in the scooter-happy (and year-round warm) Austin, Texas, we’ve been wondering about how many drivers would make the switch from four to two wheels for their daily drivers. Have you considered a scooter or motorbike for your daily ride, or will your everyday vehicle always be something a little more contained? Give us your choice, in comments.

With so many nooks and crannies for road filth to hide in, washing a motorcycle can be a tedious task. So consider us intrigued in Moto Express Wash, reportedly the country’s only fully-automated bike washing system.

According to its builders, this Indianapolis car wash system can wash and dry a motorcycle in five minutes, and the prototype machine even automatically rotates the wheels to ensure all of the bike's spokes are cleaned.

Amazon has added yet another level of shopping functionality to its consumer’s paradise of an online store with news coming today that the retailer has opened a motorcycle and ATV wing to its site. The new store will offer parts, clothing and protective gear, and other sundry items for the sport rider. Amazon has been offering general automotive parts and accessories since 2007 and believes that, with interest in motorcycles and scooters getting greater every month, the time is ripe for additional motive sales. The store has opened with the usual “all in” approach, with major manufacturers like Harley-Davidson, Honda, Suzuki, and Yamaha already signed on. Click through the link below to check it out.

+ Amazon

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Aprilia is looking to capitalize on a ballooning demand for commuter smart scooters with the release of its SportCity Cube 250. The 2009 SportCity has refined what was already a popular package for Aprilia, adding a bit more usability and performance to the big-wheeled scooter. The bike sports an even larger luggage rack with improved grab handles for passenger convenience, and has added an outlet for cell phone recharging to its already clever lockable glove compartment. Aprilia has also expanded the dimensions of the under seat compartment for even more stowing space.

A hearty 224cc, single-cylinder, four-stroke engine is called upon to haul around all this new found equipment along with a rider or two, and should prove suitably quick for around town runs and medium length commuting with its 22.5 horsepower and over 16 pound-feet of torque. The clean-burning engine is likely to be suitably frugal on fuel bills, though no official consumption information has been released.

The SportCity Cube 250 retails for $4699, not an insubstantial sum where motor scooters are concerned, but cheap enough that it should still be in the wheelhouse for those looking to seriously cut costs in their urban-oriented budgets.

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Yamaha has just announced its new 2009 FZ6R sport bike, an entry level way on to some of the same high performance technology that can be found on the company’s more hardcore offerings like the dominating R1.

The 600cc four-cylinder powered FZ6R looks to be a nice way for novice, or nearly novice, riders to break into sport bikes, with user friendly features like lower seat and handlebar height as well as improved wind protection from the full fairing. Yamaha has also tuned the engine and transmission to be responsive, while still being easier to modulate for newer riders. But perhaps the biggest attraction of the FZ6R for the uninitiated is the price, starting just below $7000 the new Yamaha should be a good candidate for affordable thrills to a wide swath of the population.

Read the official Yamaha press release below.

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The Dutch city of Eindhoven is in the midst of a 100-day event which celebrates a vehicle which is of passionate importance in the Netherlands; the bicycle. Aptly titled “Bicycle” the event is centered on a stunning exhibit at the Designhuis gallery, which features any number of human powered vehicles. The cycles range from interesting applications of traditional bikes, to utterly sublime creations of pure fantasy. Check out some of the amazing creations in the gallery above, or click through the link below to see even more of the Designhuis stockpile.

+ Core 77: Core77 Photo Gallery: FIETS Bicycle Show

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A new form of advertisement has hit the streets, and it’s wearing a tank top. Founder and owner of Biker Babe Marketing LLC., Leslie Slaasted has devised the brilliant idea of fitting a sign on the back of her motorcycle to sell it as advertising space.

While using women and motorcycles to sell products isn't anything new, it is a bit rare outside the pages of motorcycle magazines, and biker events.

"Everyone can't help noticing a pretty woman in tight jeans riding a motorcycle," says Slaasted. "Who's got a better job than me with the wind in my hair and gas in my tank? I get to ride around south Florida helping promote our clients and bringing smiles to people's faces."

The biker babes have already gotten a few gigs too, the latest of which will be promoting Walter T. Shaw's new book, "A License To Steal."

+ Motorcycle USA: New Ads with Biker Babe Marketing

Art Center College of Design student Jake Loniak has designed a concept vehicle that, though seemingly lifted straight from a big-budget sci-fi movie, he claims could be produced today if the resources were available to him. The wearable motorcycle concept is called Deus Ex Machina and would seem to offer unparallel thrills to anyone brave enough to strap themselves in.

The three-wheeled exoskeleton is designed to be parked upright, allowing a driver to simply step in to the suit, and can adjust the position of its wheels to flatten its profile as speed increases. Powered by lithium-ion batteries and ultracapacitors, and controlled through the use of 36 pneumatic “muscles,” the concept would be able to hit 75 miles per hour when topped out.

Deus doesn’t exist as anything but a digital rendering yet, despite our fervent hopes to the contrary, but there is a short video of it in operation available through the link below.

+ Popsci: A Wearable Motorcycle

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A lot of people are taking a harder look at motorcycles these days, both from an enthusiast’s standpoint and as a fuel-saving measure. To that end, we welcome BMW’s new entry-level 2009 BMW F 650 GS motorcycle, which should be hitting dealers as you read this.

Powered by a 71-horsepower two-cylinder (its predecessor offered a single-cylinder engine), the steel-framed GS is a dual-purpose on- and off-road bike, and it features cast aluminum wheels, telescopic forks, and double-sided swing arm suspension. The model starts at $8255 (plus freight), but a Standard Package model also includes anti-lock brakes, heated hand grips, a trip computer, and white turn signals.

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Vectrix, builders of a posh electrically-powered scooter, seemed at the beginning of the year to be on the verge of going belly up. The company built over 2,000 examples of its EV two-wheeler in 2007 but managed to sell only 123 of the bikes for the massive price of nearly $12,000 per.

Rapidly shifting values of American consumers have seen Vectrix fair quite a bit better in the first half of this year though. Helped in no small part we’d guess by a price drop to $8795 for the 2007 model scooter, the company has already managed to sell more than 1,000 examples in 2008. The sales explosion has seen the total of Vectrix retailers grow from just five in the U.S. during the spring of last year, to fifty locations currently. The company also claims some 75 dealerships in other countries.
The company is likely to see an even greater explosion in popularity in coming years, as there are plans in the works for an even more affordable model that will use a new NiMH battery, and should have an effective range of around 70 miles. Target price for the new scooter, which could launch sometime next year, is roughly $5000.

+ AutoblogGreen: Vectrix sales get their scoot on, more affordable model coming next year

Harley-Davidson is set to get a huge shot of European flair to its line-up of all-American motorcycles, as the company announced today that it had signed a deal to purchase Italian sport bike-builder MV Agusta. The deal sees Harley acquiring 100 percent of the Italian company for the price of $109 million. About $70 million of that will be used to pay off MV Agusta’s outstanding debt. 

Agusta has always presented a range of interesting and sexy products, so the influx of capital from H-D could be a much-needed boon for the company. On the other hand there does seem to be some potential friction with current Harley subsidiary Buell, another sport bike-maker.

MV Agusta’s Cagiva brand, which specializes in lightweight motorcycles, is also a part of the H-D purchase. Scroll down to read the official Harley-Davidson press release. 

In this completely mind-blowing YouTube video, long-distance stunt jumper Ryan Capes breaks a world record by managing a distance of 390-feet and four-inches. Seen in real-time from quite a distance away, the jump looks completely surreal. It doesn’t get much more extreme than this.

+ YouTube: Ryan Capes breaks world distance record at 390'4"

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Victory Motorcycles is teaming up with Hollywood B-lister Tom Arnold to help out a children’s charity called Camp del Corazon .

The group is auctioning a customized Victory Vision Street bike, whose design was the work of legendary special effects man Stan Winston . Winston, whose remarkable credits include work on the Terminator, Aliens, and Jurassic Park movies, envisioned the special edition Victory as a match for one of his final projects, Iron Man.

While we can clearly see the Iron Man influence in the bike’s color scheme, and we’re happy to hear that the profits are going to help kids that are living with congenital heart disease, but we have to admit that we can’t see how Arnold is involved at all. Perhaps he just latched on and won’t let go? In any event, a cool bike for a worthy cause, bid away.
 
+ eBay Motors:  2008 Victory  Vision