If you grew up in Japan in the 1950s or 1960s, you probably wanted a ‘Sonicon Rocket.’ It was a little battery-powered spaceship on wheels, made by Modern Toys, with a most unusual mechanism: if you whistled at it, the spaceship would change direction as it rolled around on the floor. These days, Sonicon Rockets…
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Before, during, and after, only one thing matters: how does it make you feel? Tech specs can never do a motorcycle justice. The ride is the product. How I felt about the 2017 Yamaha SCR950 before was erased during. And how I felt after can be wrapped up in a word: hooked. This is the…
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After decades of enjoying the middleweight V-twin market to itself, the Harley Sportster is facing serious challenges. The two biggest contenders? The postmodern Indian Scout and the retro bobber-styled Star Bolt, which is known to Europeans as the Yamaha XV950. In the USA, Yamaha’s already run a custom build-off centered the Bolt—and now it’s the…
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Yamaha has embraced the new wave custom culture by giving its new Bolt to eight builders in North America—and giving them carte blanche to rework the bike. We’ve already seen Roland Sands’ tracker-inspired Bolt, and now it’s the turn of Chappell Customs. Rob Chappell is based in Ontario, Canada and brother Chris in Los Angeles.…
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Harley’s evergreen Sportster has some serious competition these days. And the biggest threat is the new Yamaha Bolt. It weighs less, handles…
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