VANITY FAIR EN ROUTE SEPTEMBER 2019
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Having lagged behind the car industry in the adoption of
electric propulsion systems, motorcycle manufacturers are
beginning to forge ahead. Harley-Davidson leads the charge with
its impressive £28,995 LiveWire that can reach 60mph from
standstill in 3.5 seconds and offers a range of 140 miles. The first
LiveWires are due to be delivered this month, while Arc Vector—
described as “the world’s most advanced electric motorcycle”—is
due to enter production in 2020. The Vector will be capable of 150
mph, should sprint from standstill to 60mph in 2.7 seconds and
have a range of 170 miles. Each £90,000 bike will be sold with a
dedicated helmet and jacket. harley-davidson.com; arcvehicle.comElectric DreamsSPEED DEMON
Those who believe that “you can’t beat
cubes” (that’s cubic inches in garage
parlance) will be blown away by the
latest offering from Triumph—the new
Rocket 3 TFC that boasts the world’s
largest production motorcycle engine at
a whopping 2.5 litres. The three-cylinder
bike produces 168 horsepower and will
be made in 750 individually numbered
examples by the recently launched
Triumph Factory Customs division, set
up to create high-end, hand-built
limited editions. The first model to
emerge was the £17,500 Thruxton café
racer launched in January. The Rocket 3
is available to order now at a base price
of £25,000. triumphmotorcycles.co.ukRocketSCIENCEritish biker Henry Crew returned to his
London home in April having ridden into
the record books by becoming the youngest
person to circumnavigate the world by
motorcycle. Crew (inset), who turned 23 a month into
his journey, completed the 55,000-mile trek in 381
days, crossing 35 countries and experiencing
temperature extremes ranging from minus seven to
50-plus degrees Celsius. He completed the journey
on a Ducati Scrambler Desert Sled and was required
to take daily notes, photographs and videos, and to
keep receipts and GPS records in order for the
record to be officially recognised.MAN OF THE WORLD
ON YOUR BIKE Rockets and
record-breakers: the number one two-wheelersOn 6 April 2019 Zef
Eisenberg (below)
set a new record at
Pendine Sands in
Wales, reaching
182.40mph on his
400bhp
supercharged Suzuki
Hayabusa, just
beating the
180.361mph record
set by actor Idris
Elba behind the
wheel of a Bentley
Continental GT in
2015—prior to which
Sir Malcolm
Campbell’s 174.8mph
record in Bluebird
had stood since- Eisenberg also
holds the record for
the fastest turbine-
powered motorbike
after riding a
machine powered by
an Agusta 109
helicopter engine to
226mph. He lives on
the small Channel
island of Guernsey
which has a speed
limit of 25 mph...
En Route News
By Simon de Burton09-19-News-Two-Wheels.indd 16 09/07/2019 16:09