A motorcycle with a built-in camper is something completely
Most riders’ first question will be about handling dynamics, and from the descriptions we’ve seen, it’s hard to make a call on the Motohome’s viability.
At its core, the Motohome is a Honda CB street bike with a CR500 front end and modified rear suspension, with a miniature camping shell grafted on 4 wheel carrier to the back.
Carman claims the camper shell weighs about 20 kg, which isn’t that much, but the added surface area would likely make the machine a handful in any sort of crosswind, and when the machine is in use, that centrestand might not be enough to prevent a tipover if the camper rolls over in their sleep..
But a motorcycle with a built-in camper is something completely new. He’s currently about halfway to his $5,000 US goal. No doubt he’ll figure out the answer to those questions and more, if he actually makes it around South America as planned.Motorcyclists have camped in tents, etc.
It’s a senior thesis project for Jeremy Carman, an architectural student from California, and he’s hoping to take it across South America to prove it actually works., for more than 100 years, and more recently we’ve seen bigger touring bikes hauling miniature camper trailers, designed to be pulled by bikes.
The bike is powered by a liquid-cooled SOHC four-valve
6 litres of capacity, and it’s made of titanium.The much-anticipated Honda CRF450L will carry an $11,899 price tag when it hits Canadian showrooms this year.We haven’t been given an official arrival date for the CRF450L, but we’d expect to see it in showrooms this fall sometime.
There’s also fully-adjustable Showa suspension and a 260 mm front brake disc (two-piston caliper) with 240 mm rear disc. It’s still a lightweight enduro-style motorcycle, with wet weight said to be 131 kg..
The fuel tank has 7.The price tag puts the CRF450L well above any of the existing 650-class machines on the market motorcycle shock absorber manufacturers (the Suzuki DR650 is $6,299 and the Kawasaki KLR650 is $7,199).
For comparison, the only other Japanese 400-class dual sport on the market now, the Suzuki DR-Z400S, has a 144-kg wet weight. In Canada, the bike will be available in red this year. It’s also more than $4,000 more expensive than the $7,299 Suzuki DR-Z400S. However, it’s right around where KTM’s street-legal EXC-F line is priced.
It’s based on the CRF450 off-road bikes, but retuned for longevity and use on the street.Officially revealed back in May, the CRF450L is Honda’s new attack on the single-cylinder dual sport market.We haven’t seen official horsepower numbers yet, but the bike is powered by a liquid-cooled SOHC four-valve single-cylinder 450 cc motor, with six-speed gearbox and EFI
It’s probably a good thing to have a Canadian pipeline
WP provides suspension for most KTM and Husqvarna motorcycles, but also offers aftermarket shocks and forks that fit other bikes, and builds stock components for other OEMs as well.Based in Austria, WP Suspension is closely tied to KTM, as it’s part of KTM’s tricky ownership structure..
This facility will work with existing WP Authorized Centers (Blackfoot Direct, Rider’s Edge, Mission Cycle) to sell WP Pro components and distribute WP spares in Canada.
WP already has a North American subsidiary, but now there is a Canada-specific branch headquartered in Chambly, Quebec (same base of operations as KTM Canada).WP Suspension has launched a Canadian headquarters for suspension supply and repairs.
KTM’s Canadian bigwigs say this enables them to sell WP Pro components easily in Canada, something they’ve wanted to do for years.
And, given the uncertainty that President Donald Trump has introduced into North American motorcycle markets, it’s probably a good thing to have a Canadian pipeline to parts, just in case it becomes more difficult to buy those pieces in the US
