Volkswagen Motorcycles: Volks-Cycle
Motoring Channel Staff - 16/May/2008
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Volkswagen Motorcycles
Volkswagen will work with Austrian motorcycle
company KTM to develop the first VW motorbike
Volkswagen made a quasi-bike (3-wheeler)
in 2006 that seated two passengers, the GX-3
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Wolfsburg, Germany —
There are number of car makers who also produce motorcycles, namely
Japanese manufacturers like Suzuki and Honda. There are also German car
makers who are becoming more proficient in the art of the motorcycle,
BMW a perfect example. But what about a Volkswagen motorcycle: could it work? Would people buy them? New
reports from Europe confirm that Volkswagen will join forces with KTM -
an Austrian motorcycle maker - to create the first VW motorbike. It's
still early days so we don't know whether the motorbike will be
a sports bike, a super motard, a dirt bike or a naked street bike.
But the prospect of a 2-wheeled Volkswagen has made many in the Web
Wombat offices very excited. Volkswagen and KTM have worked together in the past, creating the minimalist KTM X-Bow sports car. It uses a VW Group 2.0-litre turbo engine. With ties already there, it makes sense for KTM to return the favour for Volkswagen. Volkswagen
also showed interest in a quasi motorcycle design in 2006, when it
released the GX-3 concept. This 3-wheeled vehicle used a car-like front
end with a motorcycle inspired rear-end, complete with a swing-arm. The
lightweight GX-3 concept was powered by a 1.6-litre engine outputting
138kW (185hp) that sped from zero to 100km/h in 5.7 seconds and had
excellent fuel consumption (5.2L/100km). Could this concept
be back on the drawing board? Volkswagen's first motorcycle is most
likely to be a traditional 2-wheeled vehicle, but a 3-wheeler isn't out
of the question as the concept was fully operational. Like BMW,
Volkswagen will most likely try to differentiate itself from the
Japanese motorcycles by incorporating technology into its bikes, and we
could see the emergence of a 2-wheeler with a dual clutch transmission
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