Before you get too excited about a Zero Motorcycle discount here in Canada it looks like this one is just for the US unfortunately. An interesting way to offer a little discount though.

Zero Motorcycles has announced that the company will pay for the first 25,000* miles of electricity when riders purchase a new 2012 Zero through the end of May. Zero launched the promotion to highlight the 2012 lineup’s incredible efficiency and how inexpensive each model is to operate. The promotion is timed to generate additional interest and awareness as Zero Motorcycles kicks off its first ever National Demo Day event this coming weekend on Saturday, May 19, 2012.

“With rising gas prices and the summer riding season just around the corner, we want riders to enjoy an exceptionally fun and carefree summer of riding on a new Zero. The fact that Zero Motorcycles can offer to pay for the energy for the first 25,000 miles of riding helps to highlight the incredible efficiency of our entire lineup. We invite interested riders to schedule a demo ride at this weekend’s National Demo Day to both experience the ride and learn more about Zero Motorcycles,” said John Lloyd, vice president of global sales, Zero Motorcycles.

Zero Motorcycles dealers across the country will be participating in the upcoming National Demo Day. The event is designed to encourage both new and experienced motorcycle enthusiasts to visit a local Zero dealer where they can both ride a new Zero and learn more about the motorcycle industry’s fastest growing segment – electric motorcycles. Dealers will be offering free demo rides for qualified, licensed motorcycle riders, along with providing product overviews of Zero’s entire 2012 ground-breaking model line.

For details on the First 25,000 Miles of Electricity on Us promotion visit the Zero website HERE:

*25,000 miles based on the 2012 ZF9 Zero Motorcycle S model at $.10 USD per kWh for $.90 per complete charge cycle and 222 charges with 114 miles range per complete charge cycle for a total of $199.80. A $200 (USD) Visa gift card will be sent 4-6 weeks after Zero Motorcycles receives the vehicle warranty registration card showing date of sale between May 15, 2012 and May 31, 2012. Offer available only through participating US dealerships. Cannot be used towards the purchase of the motorcycle, taxes or destination fees. Cannot be combined with any other promotional offer with exception of Zero Motorcycles retail finance program offered through Freedom Road Financial. Program expires May 31, 2012.

Some companies do social media well and give you all kinds of reasons to interact with them via those channels. Case in point - BMW Motorrad.

They've got a great Facebook page that you could spend some serious time reviewing. They've got near 20,000 "LIKES" and probably deserve to have more than that.

Check it out HERE.

Just one week after the Spanish GP, Casey Stoner went from pole here in Portugal to take his second win of the season, pursued to the line by Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) and team mate Dani Pedrosa. Like the Spanish GP, free practice this time began with unsettled weather, but brightened for Saturday and Sunday. Stoner made best time in both warm up and qualifying, and kept up this pace to pull off a fine win. Honda was able to achieve consistently better times in this race, although many issues remain to be fixed. The Honda team were really not sure they could pull off a second successive win, and were immensely grateful to Casey Stoner for his superb ride, showing all the strengths of a true champion.

After the Spanish GP, HRC Team Principal Shuhei Nakamoto commented "It was Casey who won this one for us." Here in Portugal, he had much the same to say "To tell the truth, we hardly helped at all. It was all Casey. I hope we can start doing our part soon and fix his issues with the bike." Dani Pedrosa, in 3rd place, could only salute the inspiring turn of speed displayed by his team mate. Under less than ideal conditions, the Repsol Honda team won their second out of three races, continuing their run of two riders on the podium each time. Team Principal Nakamoto talks to us about the Honda team's second successive win of the season.

Brammo finally unveiled their new production-level Empulse and Empulse R models on Tuesday, May 8, in Hollywood, California. No mention about what the plans for Canada are at this time. One might imagine that they'll probably focus on the more densely populated US for now and work on geting approvals for Canada at a later date. How much later? We'll hopefully find out. I know we've gotten a few emails from people wondering when and where they'll be able to pick one up in Canada.

One major differentiator Brammo has over other electric bikes on the market is that it features a gearbox. That makes it perhaps just a little more like a traditional internal combustion engine than the other big player in the electric motorcycle market right now.

Not many people I know ride 300 miles every day to work and you can do that with this bike if you have the charging infrastructure set up. - Craig Bramscher, CEO/Chairman at Brammo

In the first four months of 2012, BMW Motorrad sold 37,461 (prev. yr. 36,181) vehicles. This represents a growth of 3.5% compared to the same period in 2011. A total of 13,088 (prev. yr. 13,072 / +0.1%) BMW Motorrad vehicles were delivered to customers in April.

The number of units moved at Husqvarna may be far less than BMW but they're seeing some BIG gains.

Husqvarna delivered 918 (prev. yr. 603 / +52.2%) motorcycles last month to its dealer network. Year to date, deliveries grew +40.0% to 3,560 motorcycles compared with the first four months of 2011 (prev. yr. 2,543).

Ural spent the first few months of 2012 redesigning their site to be easier to use, to look better, and deliver the best Ural content-from photos and specs to FAQ and photos-and they hope you like it!

Over the next few months you should watch for Ural to continue to add new content and categories to the site. One interesting thing they're going to be doing is featuring project bikes from all over the world and showcasing all their past limited edition models. And oh, there's a blog too , so be sure to check it out

Here's the LINK.

First quarter numbers (2012) for the sales volume of motorcycles is up slightly vs the same period in 2011 for BMW with sales of 24,373 units vs. 23,109 in 2011. A difference of 5.5%. A different story at Husqvarna with sales of 2,642 vs 1,940 in 2011. A difference of 36.2%.

That's a big step in the right direction for Husqvarna. We've said it before but the next couple of years should be really exciting ones for the Husqvarna brand and fans of it.

You may have heard that Pikes Peak - home to many an exciting race - is now fully paved. The mixture of high speeds, a big climb up a mountain, long drops, many corners, and combination of paved and mixed surfaces has made it an extremely challenging and wickedly exciting motorsports venue since late 1910. There's 156 turns in 12.42 miles (19.99 km) and climbing 1,439 meters.

The course is now fully paved. Sad news for some but it'll undoubtedly mean faster times and higher speeds for all.

What does the new course look like now that it's paved? You can see for yourself here:  The new paved section runs from about 3:40 to 8:01.




This video is filmed on a closed course with permission.

Win Your Yamaha or $5000 


Yamaha’s ‘Right Here Right Now’ program has returned. This means great savings for customers purchasing a Yamaha motorcycle, scooter, ATV, outboard, snowmobile, side-by-side, WaveRunner, Sport Boat, or Power Product. On top of this, starting May 15th until June 30th, any customer purchasing a new unit could win the Yamaha they bought, while still qualifying for the cash savings!

“We have some great savings across our entire 2012 Yamaha lineup” said National Manager, Marketing, Tim Kennedy. “The ‘Right Here Right Now’ sales event and ‘Win Your Yamaha’ promotion are intended to inform our customers that the best time to buy a new Yamaha is now. Even Yamaha fans without a purchase during these events can enter and win $5000 for anything found onYamaha-motor.ca”

For more details on both events, see your local dealer or visit Yamaha's website - HERE.

Just found out about a new show called Devils Ride that's coming to the Discovery Channel. Discovery Channel will be going "inside" the world of motorcycle clubs with the members of San Diego’s Laffing Devils.

Check out some details here:

Toyota Truck presents Motorcycle Experience on TSN

Episode 7  - Sunday, May 06 at 11:30am (Eastern)

Catch the longest running televised Motorcycle Magazine in North America with it's uniquely Canadian perspective on the sport of motorcycling!

This week:

- Host Dave Hatch invites viewer Jeff Keay to sample the BMW R1200GS adventure machine.
- Dave and Norm meet the crew of the Lady Ella in Summerville, Newfoundland during their "BMW Ultimate Ride"
- Reporter, Aliki Karayan turns the spotlight on the Honda Canada CBR125R Challenge roadracing series
- Paul Kahnert drops in on a group of motorcycle riders at the IceHouse in Campbellville, Ontario
- Yamaha's Bryan Hudgin tackles Round 4 in this season's Ultimate Motorcycle Challenge!

EPISODE 7  Broadcast Schedule on TSN*
Sunday May 06 - 11:30am
Thursday May 10 - 2:30pm

EPISODE 7 Broadcast Schedule on TSN 2*
Tuesday May 08 - 7:30pm
Friday May 11 - 03:00pm

*All times eastern

Check out the War of 1812 Rider's Club Contest - HERE