Ranging from touring helmets to race helmets, and everything in between, NEXX has a helmet for nearly any rider.
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THE WOW FACTOR
Differentiable, unmistakable, unique. A NEXX is immediately recognizable. The “wow” factor is our drive and what makes us different from others. Fueled by this obsession and energy, we transform our design and development skills into magic-filled products, ready to solve our customers’ challenges, no matter how big or small they are.
Our ranges are the combination of hard work, dedication, and passion with state-of-the-art and high-tech components that guarantee uncompromised safety and quality.
Style, comfort and performance unite with the essence of Gran Turismo, in a unique Modular, full of technology and solutions that bring you closer to the world that surrounds you. Enter the ultimate comfort zone – where safety meets peace of mind, the journey becomes unique and the pleasure of riding, pure emotion.
The all-new X.WED 2 is NEXX’s first update to its popular Dual-Sport helmet. X.WED 2 pitch has been ‘the only thing that is changed is everything and despite the overall look, identical to its predecessor, X.WED 2 packs in more advanced features than ever and a long list of refinements, designed to offer the ultimate all-road, all-weather, WILD, adventure helmet.
X.R2 has made a number of modifications to the design, creating a helmet that holds the technical basis of the XR1.R, but offers a refined aerodynamics and aero-acoustics, with even greater level of comfort and new sport/track solutions.
X.G100 R (RACER) is a modern re-issue of the legendary racing helmets from the 70s. Its round shape shell comes with a retro feel but the low profile technology, sets the stage for the most comfortable and best performing helmet of its style.
The X.WST 2 is the street version of the popular X.WED 2, that has been redesigned to a more sportive version with integrated sun visor, a new visor mechanism and a lower weight. The sport character of the X.WST 2 makes it versatile for daily use in all kinds of weather.
Have you ever wished for the best of both worlds? Motorcyclists demand helmets with high quality features but commonly they find themselves looking for solutions at the cheapest price, sometimes compromising their comfort and / or even their safety. SX.100 is NEXX´s attempt to bring some of the top-notch features of a high-end strret full face helmet down into a more price driendly model – the best of both worlds!
MirrorLoks enhance your view to the rear by moving your bike’s mirrors outward and damping vibration. The helmet locks are a clever bonus.
Why is that so many motorcycles have rearview mirrors that are better at providing a view of your shoulders than of what’s behind you? Good explanations are nonexistent, but I’m sure it has a little to do with a lot–styling, clearance, cost, etc.–because the manufacturers of our motorcycles just aren’t that inconsiderate without reason. On the other hand, they’re the ones who have started including fiddly little cables that loop around underseat hooks as a substitute for convenient keyed helmet locks, and I can’t think of anything less considerate that that. Dang cables are never long enough, and removing the seat can be a pain if luggage is installed.
On my BMW I had to relocate the switch for my auxiliary lights from the top of the left control pod to make room for the MirrorLok, but it doesn’t block any of the other buttons.
Leave it to an engineer to do something about this stuff rather than just complain about it. You have probably heard of Al Jesse–he’s the guy who created a line of rugged motorcycle luggage suitable for around-the-world travel that is still highly sought after by big-mileage ADV riders. As part of a semi-retirement plan Jesse recently sold the luggage business to the guy who fabricated it for him, and is now happily tinkering away on other projects under the Moto Manufacturing banner. They include the MirrorLok, an ingenious little bolt-on that he designed to address the problems of obstructed mirror view, vibration and the lack of a helmet lock on many motorcycles.
A pushbutton locks the helmet shackle once it’s closed, and it opens with a barrel key. The mirror stem mount and tapered MirrorLok handlebar mount are specific to the bike.
The MirrorLok starts with a solid hunk of black powdercoated aluminum a little less than 3 x 1 x 1 inches in size that has smooth, rounded edges. This mounts to your existing mirror mount on one end, extending outward at the angle of your choice. Your stock mirror mounts in the outward end in a threaded socket dampened with thick polyurethane O-rings, which absorb vibration and improve the view in the mirror. On my BMW R 1200 GS, both mirrors ended up about 1-inch higher and about 2.5 inches farther out as well as clearer at speed on the highway, greatly enhancing the view to the rear.
Appreciating multi-purpose designs, Jesse has also included a sturdy spring-loaded, pushbutton-locking shackle on the MirrorLok for helmet D-rings or cable loops (yes, even the cheapo one that came with the bike) that opens with a key. Moto Manufacturing also offers its own sturdy gear security cables in a 16-inch length to make it easier to secure helmets with or without D-rings to the shackle (e.g. around the chinbar), and a 42-inch length for multiple helmets and/or other riding gear such as jackets and overpants.
My sweet, color-matched Shoei GT-Air secured using the optional MirrorLok 16-inch cable around the chinbar. Some helmets have long enough D-ring straps that they can be secured without a cable.
I had no trouble at all installing the MirrorLoks, though more detailed instructions would have made it easier still (the installation video on the website does help). Vibration blur in both mirrors has been reduced enough to notice a difference, and I especially like the wider field of view–it allows me to see not just around my shoulders but nearly the entire lane behind me and well out to the sides. The only downside is that I tend to bump into the mirrors more often now getting on and off and walking around the parked bike (perhaps this is another reason the manufacturers make them narrow…).
I would suggest investing in MirrorLoks primarily for the wider field of view and the helmet lock(s), since how much mirror clarity improvement you experience will vary from bike-to-bike. And though they’re sold as a pair you don’t necessarily have to install both….
MirrorLoks retail for $125 per pair and come with mounting hardware specific to your bike, as well as a promise from Moto Manufacturing to make good on any defects. The 16-inch gear cable is $8.95 and the 42-inch is $12.95.
The original Honda Super Cub C100, in the Japanese “sea and sky” livery. Photo courtesy Honda.
“You meet the nicest people on a Honda.”
The year was 1963 and American Honda, which opened its doors in Los Angeles barely four years prior with eight employees, wanted to change the way car-loving Americans saw motorcycles. When Honda came to the United States in 1959, fewer than 60,000 motorcycles were sold here annually, with most of those being domestic and European models larger than 500cc.
Dealers were skeptical of this bold, upstart new Japanese company, essentially telling 39-year-old General Manager Kihachiro Kawashima, “Good luck, but you’re just splitting a small pie into even smaller pieces.” Undaunted, Kawashima responded: Fine, we’ll make the pie bigger on our own. And the key to that bigger pie was the 50cc CA100, the “nifty, thrifty Honda Fifty,” known in Japan as the Super Cub.
“To succeed in the U.S. is to succeed worldwide. To take up the challenge of the American market may be the most difficult thing to do, but it’s a critical step in expanding the export of our products.” –Takeo Fujisawa, Senior Managing Director and co-founder of Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
Honda’s “You meet the nicest people” ad campaign has become the stuff of legend, and it almost single-handedly changed the American motorcycle industry forever. Image courtesy Honda.
The Super Cub was designed to be accessible: a bike anyone could ride, rugged enough to handle the rough unpaved Japanese roads and with a quiet, fuel-efficient engine. Honda fitted it with its first-ever semi-automatic centrifugal clutch transmission, meaning gear changes were initiated by simply toeing the gearshift lever, no clutch required. The Japanese model was painted a lovely “sea and sky” combination of dark and light blue with a contrasting red single seat, reportedly inspired by Mr. Honda’s penchant for wearing a red shirt and driving a red sports car.
The American version, meanwhile, had two-up seating and a bright, toy-like red and white paint job that reflected American Honda’s strategy of marketing the Super Cub as something fun and unthreatening, the perfect accessory for modern youths of the Jet Age. It was a marked departure from the image most Americans had of motorcycles and “bikers” in general, personified by somewhat dangerous, black leather-clad young men, a la Marlon Brando in “The Wild One.”
And it was a booming success. In 1961 Honda sold 17,000, in 1962 35,000 and in 1963, the year of the “You meet the nicest people” campaign, 90,000 CA100s were sold in the States.
The Super Cub’s new image was “unlike anything that Americans had imagined before. It was that of a completely new vehicle; a motorcycle that simply didn’t seem like one.” –Kihachiro Kawashima, General Manager, American Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
American Honda Motor Company got off to a humble start at this small, unassuming building on Pico Blvd. west of downtown Los Angeles. The building is still there, albeit with a new owner. Photo courtesy Honda.
Unfortunately, like most booms the Super Cub ran its course in the U.S., with sales peaking in 1965 and then declining until the model was retired in 1974. It was replaced by the larger displacement C90 and C70 Passport, the last step-through Honda motorcycles sold in the States, which themselves disappeared from our shores after the 1983 model year.
The Super Cub lived on elsewhere, however, especially in Southeast Asia, where reliable, efficient, rugged and inexpensive two-wheeled transportation is a necessity. As of October 2017, more than 100 million Super Cubs had been sold worldwide, the most by far of any motorized vehicle in history. Meanwhile, the unassuming Super Cub had started a revolution, introducing Japanese motorcycles to the American masses and throwing the door wide open for the “Japanese Invasion” that swept the U.S. motorcycle and automotive markets in the late 1960s and beyond.
The 2019 Honda Super Cub is just as much time machine as it is motorcycle. At a glance it can be hard to differentiate between old and new. Photo by Drew Ruiz.
Return of the Super Cub
The year 2019 marks American Honda’s 60thanniversary and also the return of its breakthrough model, now dubbed the Super Cub C125. Based around the air-cooled 125cc single used in the Grom and the Monkey, the 2019 Super Cub is almost as much a time machine as it is a motorcycle.
Fuel injection replaces the carburetor, 17-inch wheels are cast rather than spoked and carry modern tubeless tires, the front disc brake has standard ABS, there’s no kickstarter and the instrument is a combination LCD fuel gauge/odometer/tripmeter/gear indicator with analog speedometer. But the bike still uses that same semi-automatic centrifugal clutch–since utilized in everything from Honda’s mini dirt bikes to ATVs–and it looks almost exactly the way it did 60 years ago, in the classic Japanese “sea and sky” livery.
Analog speedometer and LCD gear indicator/odometer/tripmeters/clock/fuel gauge. Photo by Drew Ruiz.
Since every story must start at the beginning, our press launch ride started at the original location of the American Honda Motor Company, a small, nondescript white building on Pico Blvd. west of downtown Los Angeles, where we swung a leg over our time machine–er, motorcycle.
The first clue this is a 2019 model, not a ’62, is the key–or lack thereof. The proximity-sensing fob locks and unlocks the side cover storage (large enough to hold the owner’s manual and not much else) and seat, under which are two helmet lock hooks and the fuel filler, and enables the ignition. Turn the ignition knob to “on,” thumb the starter button and the Super Cub purrs to life.
The new Super Cub’s keyless ignition lets you remotely lock/unlock the seat and side cover. As long as you’re in close proximity it enables the ignition as well; simply push the knob to activate, then turn it to the “on” position and thumb the starter. Photo by Drew Ruiz.
For a rider used to clutching or even Honda’s own automatic DCT transmission, it takes a bit to get used to the lack of a clutch lever while continuing to toe a shifter. Neutral is at the bottom, then it’s all up from there, gears one through four. The lever itself is a heel-and-toe design, and a couple of testers remarked that it was easier to push the heel plate for upshifts, especially with thick boots on.
The transmission uses a centrifugal clutch and a standard spring-loaded clutch plate; when you toe (or heel) the shifter the clutch plate pulls away, the gear changes and the plate returns. The system responds best to an easy-going pace, befitting the Super Cub’s personality. I found that pushing rather than jabbing the lever and operating the throttle just like I would on a traditional bike–rolling it closed slightly during shifts–resulted in the smoothest operation.
Wheeee! You won’t win any drag races, but the 125cc single has enough get-up-and-go to keep up with traffic…up to about 55 mph, that is. Photo by Drew Ruiz.
Like the Grom and Monkey, the Super Cub isn’t designed for speed–55 mph is about the most you’ll comfortably do, and 45 is even better–but the larger 17-inch hoops bestow a stability the other two lack and make it feel more like a “real” motorcycle. Our test ride meandered south and west, including plenty of impatient L.A. traffic, hills, road construction and even a police escort along the sandy boardwalk in Redondo Beach. The Super Cub handled it all with charm and grace, coaxing smiles from scowling, gridlocked drivers like a lion tamer soothing a roaring beast.
Modern LED headlight is highly visible for daytime riding. Traditional front fairing design allows some wind protection for those chilly mornings. Photo by Drew Ruiz.
The little single, which probably generates 10 horsepower on a good day, feels smooth and comfortable, thanks at least partially to rubber pads on the rigid-mounted footpegs and the thickly padded red solo saddle. There is no adjustability to either the 26mm inverted front fork or the twin rear shocks, and no passenger accommodations (Honda does offer a nice accessory chrome luggage rack, however). Parking involves dismounting while holding the 240-pound bike upright, then lifting it onto its centerstand (there is no sidestand, nor is there a parking brake).
Our pack of Super Cubs got a police escort onto the pier at Redondo Beach, where tourists and locals alike gawked at the stylish blue-on-blue motorcycles. We just grinned back. Photo by Drew Ruiz.
After rolling through the green hills of Palos Verdes, we turned our backs to the sea and cruised to the Honda North America campus. Our time machines had brought us full circle, from 1959’s single, humble storefront with eight employees to the sprawling, 101-acre North American headquarters of the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world. Honda had one more surprise for us, however.
Blocks away from the main campus, it maintains a private collection of cars and motorcycles, from the first Civic to milestone motorcycles to the latest IndyCar racecars. There they wheeled two bikes out of the museum, a 1961 Japanese-spec C100 Honda 50 and a 1980 C70 Passport, and let us take them for a quick spin. Pull the choke knob and give it a kick–the smooth purr feels immediately familiar. Three gears instead of four, a drum brake up front, but otherwise these were the same fun, easy to ride motorcycles we’d been traveling on all day. The circle closed, the story begins again.
The author takes a spin on a 1980 C70 Passport, the last step-through Honda motorcycle model to be sold in the U.S. Honda North America’s Jon Seidel rides just behind her on the new Super Cub. Photo by Drew Ruiz.
The Super Cub represents everything Honda was and has become, especially in the U.S. where it, aided by some deft marketing moves by American Honda, almost single-handedly altered American motorcycling culture forever. We’re happy to see it again, and maybe it will even inspire a whole new generation of “nice people” to take up two wheels.
2019 Honda Super Cub C125 ABS. Photo by Drew Ruiz.
2019 Honda Super Cub C125 ABS Specs
Base Price: $3,599 Website: powersports.honda.com Engine Type: Air-cooled single, SOHC, 2 valves Displacement: 125cc Bore x Stroke: 52.4 x 57.9mm Transmission: 4-speed, semi-automatic centrifugal clutch Final Drive: Chain Wheelbase: 48.9 in. Rake/Trail: 26.5 degrees/2.8 in. Seat Height: 30.7 in. Claimed Wet Weight: 240 lbs. Fuel Capacity: 1.0 gal. Avg. MPG: NA
2019 Honda Super Cub C125 ABS. Photo by Drew Ruiz.Side cover holds small tool kit and not much else. Photo by Drew Ruiz.2019 Honda Super Cub C125 ABS. Photo by Drew Ruiz.Heel/toe shifter is designed to be easily used in anything from thick riding boots to slick dress shoes. Photo by Drew Ruiz.
Alpinestars dealt a major blow in the airbag wars with Dainese in Germany. Could other countries follow?
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After a long judicial battle, the Munich Court of Appeals (following the Munich Court decision of First Instance I in August 2017) reached a final verdict that the Tech-Air Street airbag Vest (for road use) and Tech-Air Racing airbag Vest (for track use and road), manufactured and marketed by Alpinestars, infringe on Dainese’s European patent EP 2 412 257 B1.
This comes after the German Federal Patent Court had previously ruled in 2017 that Alpinestars violated Dainese’s D-air technology; a decision which Alpinestars appealed. The current decision by the Munich Appeals Court in this infringement proceedings is only appealable by way of the German Federal Supreme Court.
The Munich Court of Appeal ruled in favor of Dainese regarding the core issues of the litigation, has issued the judicial order:
1) prohibiting Alpinestars to commercialize the Tech-Air Street Airbag Vests and Tech-Air Racing Airbag Vests in Germany;
2) ordering Alpinestars to recall any such vests which Alpinestars has supplied since 1 July 2015 and which are still in the possession of commercial customers in Germany;
3) Compensating Dainese for all damages suffered due to the sale of the infringing vests in Germany since 1 July 2015.
This decision is a major victory for Dainese in an intensive patent litigation fight against Alpinestars in Italy, Germany, the UK and France.
Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci shocked the crowd and himself on the final day of the MotoGP test in Sepang, clocking a 1:58.239 lap – almost six tenths faster than the previous record set by former Ducati rider Jorge Lorenzo last year. Right behind him was rookie rider and Moto2 World Champion Francesco Bagnaia on the satellite Alma Pramac Racing Ducati, and hot on their heels were the Ducatis of Jack Miller and Andrea Dovizioso. Not a bad start for the Italians.
Adventure touring boots have a serious job to do. In addition to keeping your feet dry and protected from rocks and impacts, ADV boots should provide plenty of ankle support and have a sturdy sole for long periods of standing on footpegs. The problem is that all of this often results in a boot that is stiff, heavy, uncomfortable and hard to put on and take off, with lots of straps, buckles and hook-and-loop flaps.
Rev’It’s new Discovery Outdry boots take a different approach to ADV boot design, by incorporating the stability and safety of off-road boots with the user-friendliness and clean, lightweight construction of a touring boot. A key element is the lightweight Boa lacing system, which replaces shoestrings, buckles and straps with stainless-steel wire laces and low-friction lace guides that snug up the boot with the turn of a dial. Pull the dial to release the laces and the boot slips easily on and off; push the dial in to engage the locking adjustment system and a few turns result in a perfect fit every time.
Boa closure technology allows you to tighten or loosen the boots with the simple twist of a dial.
Boa technology was invented for snowboarding boots in the 1990s and is now used by hundreds of footwear companies worldwide. The steel laces only need to withstand five pounds of pressure to work, but are rated to 10 times that amount, and Boa guarantees its dials and laces for the lifetime of the product in which they’re integrated.
Beautifully constructed of suede and full-grain leather and 500D Cordura nylon with a rubber abrasion edge around the sides and toe, the boots are laminated with an outer layer of Outdry, a 100-percent waterproof membrane that sheds water before it soaks in, keeping your feet dry and warm. My pair passed the soak test handily, but I haven’t yet been able to rain test them.
Injected ankle cups and thermoformed plastic armor in the heel, toe, shin and a hook-and-loop flap that covers the Boa dial provide comfortable protection. A versatile Vibram Apex sole with a shock-absorbing EVA midsole and anatomic footbed is comfortable and grippy for walking or hiking and provides plenty of support for standing on footpegs. Reflective panels in back enhance conspicuity, and large loops on top aid in pulling the boots on.
Rev’It Discovery Outdry boots come in Euro sizes 38-47 (U.S. 6-13) and have a pricy MSRP of $499.99, but as a rider who dislikes time-consuming complication and clutter in my apparel, I couldn’t be happier with them. Fit and comfort are exceptional, they break-in quickly and are light, fast and easy to put on and take off, yet the level of protection they provide is substantial enough for pretty gnarly ADV riding. While they won’t quite substitute for motocross or enduro boots, short of that you’d be hard-pressed to find as much comfort and protection in one boot. Or even two.
For more information, see your dealer or visit revitusa.com.
“A lot, but it counts for very very few,” said ‘Petrux’ when asked how pleased he was to set a new lap record at Sepang. “I’m happy, especially about yesterday, the race simulation, about how we performed in hot conditions. That, I think, was the main focus we had. This morning I only did one attempt, and it was very very fast, I didn’t believe it, I thought maybe it was wrong.”
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing test rider Dani Pedrosa has undergone surgery at the Barcelona Teknon Medical Centre due to his right collarbone non-union fracture (lack of consolidation), diagnosed at the beginning of January. Doctors Soler and Orozco have performed a reconstructive surgery consisting in the fracture stabilisation on the Spanish rider, using osteosynthesis material and a contribution of bio-graft with a dose of forty million of autologous stem cells, an Advanced Therapy drug authorised by the Spanish Medicine Agency (Agencia Española de Medicamentos y Productos Sanitarios AEMPS).
“For sure, we’ll struggle a bit in Qatar and in the next two or three races but our goal is to improve the bike and if we can be fast, we can win races and if it’s something much better than expected, we could fight for the world title. For now, I’m not one of the favourites, there are other riders like Marc, obviously, who must lead and fight for the world title, together with Dovizioso, Valentino, who is always there and knows the bike and Viñales, for example.
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Street airbag Vest (for road use) and Tech-Air
