Daytona Bike Week is looming, and Indian Motorcycle has some treats in store for racing fans. But before heading down to the hot streets of Florida, Indian has a few stops to make, which has so far included The One Show in Salem, Oregon and Mama Tried in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Races held at these events gave fans a glimpse of the Roland Sands Design SuperHooligan Indian Scout Sixty dirt trackers.
At The One Show, RSD brought out four custom Scout Sixty SuperHooligans along with riders Drake McElroy, Travis Newbold, Cameron Brewer, and local racer Tori George. The team held four of the five top spots for a good chunk of the race, and Newbold took a second-place finish.
At Mama Tried, the Hooligan Scout Sixty race team included Roland Sands, Aaron Frank, Brewer, and professional GNC racers Jesse Janisch and Kevin Walters. The Hooligans dominated qualifying with a win in every heat race, and Sands led his heat from flag to flag. Four of the 12 riders in the eight-lap main event were aboard Indians. Sands’ aggressive start gave him the holeshot (meaning he was the first racer through the first turn), but deteriorating track conditions led to some unpredictability and raucous race action, as is expected in hooligan racing. Brewer took fourth place, followed by Janisch in seventh and Frank in ninth. Sands took a fall while seeking a good finish and consequently came in last.
“Engaging in elbow-to-elbow combat with a dozen other ultra-aggressive hooligan racers on a track that’s barely bigger than an NBA basketball court was more than a little intimidating,” says Aaron Frank, former editor of Motorcyclist magazine. “I’ve done hundreds of races in my life but this was far and away the best. The unique indoor venue, the huge crowd, the camaraderie of riders, the bar-banging racing action and the roar of a pack of Scout V-twins — SuperHooligan racing is pretty much the most fun I’ve ever had on two wheels.”
The Hooligans will make their next appearance on Tuesday, March 8 at the Ocean Complex West Parking Lot in downtown Daytona Beach during Bike Week. Sands and Team RSD will once again pursue the checkered flag on their Scout Sixty customs. Winners of Indian’s Project Scout custom build contest will also be announced at this event. Racers who are interested in participating can sign up here.
You can catch the SuperHooligans at the IV Flat Track Del Mar in Del Mar, California, on March 19, and at the Hand Built Show in Austin, Texas, on April 8.
Volkswagen’s newest EVs in China are making its American and European models look unusually conservative.
With Xpeng’s help, VW has introduced 800-volt charging and advanced urban driving assistance. The new VEGA technology package brings its locally developed vehicle platforms and CEA electronic architecture under one umbrella. Bloomberg reports that Volkswagen intends to update VEGA every three months. Western buyers can find pieces of that package, but not the whole thing in a Volkswagen.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?