The Antenna

finding signal in the noise

motorcycles 2024.05

An experiment in personal news aggregation.

motorcycles 2024.05

(date: 2024-02-02 17:13:17)


Dylan Duval Kickin’ it Virtually with Nitro Circus

date: 2024-02-02, from: Kickin the Tires blog

By Seth Eggert, Associate Editor Racing for a motorsports icon is a dream for any racer, real-life or virtual. For Dylan Duval, he’s moved from competing for motorsports icon Tony…

https://kickinthetires.net/esports/duval-kickin-virtually-nitro-circus/ Save to Pocket


BMW Motorrad USA and the Barber Vintage Festival Partner to Donate All Kids Bike Bicycles to Leeds Primary School in Alabama

date: 2024-02-02, from: Cycle World News

BMW Motorrad USA, in partnership with the Barber Vintage Festival, the premier vintage motorcycle fan gathering in the U.S.

https://www.cycleworld.com/the-wire/bmw-and-barber-vintage-festival-partner-donate-all-kids-bike-bicycles/ Save to Pocket


“Art of Creating Myths”: Ducati and Automobili Lamborghini collaborate in the name of Paolo Troilo’s art

date: 2024-02-02, from: Cycle World News

Ducati and Automobili Lamborghini together have launched an art display called “Art of Creating Myths” at the Galleria Cavour.

https://www.cycleworld.com/the-wire/art-of-creating-myths-ducati-and-automobili-lamborghini-collaborate-paolo-troilo-art/ Save to Pocket


Cake Motorcycles Files For Bankruptcy In Sweden: Report

date: 2024-02-02, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

Multiple factors are reportedly to blame, including the failure of the firm’s most recent funding round.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/707218/cake-motorcycles-bankruptcy-sweden-report/ Save to Pocket


Triumph: On The Eve of Off-Road Racing History

date: 2024-02-02, from: Cycle World News

This weekend, Triumph is revving up to make motorsport history.

https://www.cycleworld.com/the-wire/triumph-on-the-eve-off-road-racing-history/ Save to Pocket


What’s Ducati’s Advantage in Motocross With the Desmo450 MX?

date: 2024-02-02, from: Cycle World News

Technical Editor Kevin Cameron examines the Ducati Desmo450 MX motocross bike to see what its potential advantages are.

https://www.cycleworld.com/bikes/kevin-cameron-examines-ducati-desmo450-mx-motocross/ Save to Pocket


2024 KTM 1390 Super Duke R Evo: Everything We Know

date: 2024-02-02, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

Let’s take a deeper dive into Team Orange’s most potent hyper-naked to date.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/707103/2024-ktm-1390-super-duke-r-evo-everything-we-know/ Save to Pocket


Nolan Has A New Modular Touring Helmet Called The N120-1

date: 2024-02-02, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

It’s the first helmet in Nolan’s collection to feature flip-back technology.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/707095/2024-nolan-n1201-modular-helmet/ Save to Pocket


Check Out Gocycle’s Sleek And Sporty CX Cargo E-Bike

date: 2024-02-02, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

Gocycle wants to make electric cargo bikes fun and exciting too.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/707092/gocycle-cx-electric-cargo-bike/ Save to Pocket


Check Out The New Moto Morini X-Cape 650 Black Ebony Edition

date: 2024-02-02, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

Check Out The New Moto Morini X-Cape 650 Black Ebony Edition

https://www.rideapart.com/news/707077/moto-morini-xcape-650-black-ebony/ Save to Pocket


Check Out Touratech’s Soft Luggage Lineup For The New BMW R 1300 GS

date: 2024-02-02, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

Touratech gears the new BMW R 1300 GS up for the long haul with a wide selection of tank bags and saddlebags.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/707075/touratech-soft-luggage-r1300gs/ Save to Pocket


You Know You Want To See A MotoGP Bike On Ice

date: 2024-02-01, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

Inch-long studs conquer the slip and make those tires grip for Dani Pedrosa’s Red Bull KTM RC16.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/707073/motogp-bike-ice-racing-pedrosa/ Save to Pocket


KTM Duke - 30 Years of Pure, Naked Motorcycling

date: 2024-02-01, from: Cycle World News

The last 30 years of the KTM DUKE model can be summed up in one word: Evolution.

https://www.cycleworld.com/the-wire/ktm-duke-30-years-pure-naked-motorcycling/ Save to Pocket


2024 Kawasaki KLX230 S and KLX230SM ABS First Look

date: 2024-02-01, from: Cycle World News

The 2024 Kawasaki KLX230 S and KLX230SM ABS models get new styling, smartphone connectivity, engine updates, and revised chassis for improved capability.

https://www.cycleworld.com/bikes/kawasaki-klx230-s-and-klx230sm-abs-first-look/ Save to Pocket


Vmoto Electric Café Racer on Way

date: 2024-02-01, from: Cycle World News

Australian electric motorcycle and scooter company Vmoto is building a new retro-styled model, powered by a 5kW motor capable of propelling the bike to 60 mph.

https://www.cycleworld.com/motorcycle-news/vmoto-electric-cafe-racer-coming-soon/ Save to Pocket


2024 Osaka, Tokyo, And Nagoya Motorcycle Shows: What To Expect

date: 2024-02-01, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

Yamaha and Honda are getting ready, and so should you.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/707070/japan-bike-shows-2024-preview/ Save to Pocket


KTM Duke Turns 30 In 2024, So It’s Pulling Out All The Stoppies To Celebrate

date: 2024-02-01, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

Put your Dukes up; rider’s choice of which wheel.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/707058/ktm-duke-30th-anniversary-2024/ Save to Pocket


Vital Track Position Earns Weeks an Elite Daytona 500 Win

date: 2024-02-01, from: Kickin the Tires blog

By Seth Eggert, Associate Editor The ever-evolving chess match that is superspeedway racing forces drivers to adapt their strategy, pushing them into coveting track position like Mathieu Weeks instead of…

https://kickinthetires.net/esports/vital-earns-weeks-elite-daytona-500-win/ Save to Pocket


Breidinger Joins TRICON for Daytona Truck Series Race

date: 2024-02-01, from: Kickin the Tires blog

By Seth Eggert, Associate Editor History making driver Toni Breidinger is set to run double-duty at Daytona Int’l Speedway, competing in both the ARCA Menards Series and the NASCAR Craftsman…

https://kickinthetires.net/nascar/breidinger-running-arca-truck-daytona/ Save to Pocket


How Much Power Does the 2023 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-4RR Make?

date: 2024-02-01, from: Cycle World News

The 2023 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-4RR gets performance tested on the Cycle World Dynojet 250i dynamometer for peak horsepower.

https://www.cycleworld.com/bikes/kawasaki-ninja-zx-4rr-dyno-test-2023/ Save to Pocket


AI tutoring; what works?

date: 2024-02-01, from: Herman Bear Blog

It’s 2024 and LLMs are still the “hot new thing”. Looking back on 2023, I’m surprised how quickly I went from, “Wow! My computer is speaking to me in fluent and comprehensible English,” to, “Eh, that could have been phrased/executed/generated better.”

Back in the early 2010s, my mother created and ran a non-profit project called Dr Math. This used volunteer students from the University of Pretoria as math tutors via Mxit (the mobile IM popular in South Africa at the time, running over WAP).

The infrastructure was fairly simple. Volunteers would use a computer at the institute loaded with software that allowed them to tutor multiple students at once. They’d do this after school hours into the early evening, giving students whose parents couldn’t or wouldn’t help them with their homework a helpful nudge in the right direction.

And it worked pretty well! Within a few years, Dr Math had tens of thousands of students all over the country using the service for help with their math homework, studies, and exam prep. And all for free.

For those who don’t know, South Africa is a country of contrasts. There is extreme poverty and extreme wealth living side by side. If you fall within the lucky ~20% of the population, your lifestyle looks something akin to Europe or certain parts of the USA, but at a much lower cost of living.

The majority of the population suffers from poor service delivery and other socioeconomic problems, with education falling way behind the developed world. It’s like two distinct countries overlaid on one.

And this was where Dr Math fit in.

It wasn’t supposed to be “the perfect education tool”. Instead, it was a step up. A foot in the door for those students who were the most underserved.

Unfortunately, due to some government-funded institution bureaucracy, the project was shuttered once my mother left the institute, and the whole project ground to a sad halt.

It has been sitting at the back of my mind ever since, and with the release of the GPT 3.5 API, the idea of using it to tutor maths (and later other subjects) with the Socratic method was the perfect catalyst to reignite this project.

The prototype of the project, built in collaboration with my mother and a friend (now business partner), used GPT 3.5 with two agents watching one another to make sure the conversation didn’t go off track (this was before the easily steerable and much more powerful 4 came out). This prototype allowed us to get all the infrastructure in place and test our assumptions until gaining access to the GPT 4 API. We hooked the chatbot (Prof Pi, later Botsy) up to WhatsApp and ran a few pilot projects.

There are a few reasons we chose WhatsApp:

And incredibly enough, this worked as well. Arguably better than human text-based tutors (although more on that later). While LLMs in general are not great at calculations (this issue has since been mostly solved with code-interpreter), using the Socratic method of teaching meant the onus was on the student to do the calculations with the tool prompting them and helping them along. LLMs are also infinitely patient, unlike human tutors, and so would stay cheery and online, helping even the most frustrating of students.

We had multiple pilot projects running throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. There were 2 large high-school cohorts and a university-level cohort in Tanzania, and an interesting and tragic cohort at a University in North Sudan.

The latter pilot was based in Khartoum, and it happened to be running when the unrest started and students couldn’t leave their houses due to shooting in the streets. Many used our tool as their sole means of studying during this time, asking it to generate practice problems, as well as discussing concepts and exploring the curriculum material. All this in fluent Arabic.

There are many things we learned about AI tutors during this time. But a few are fairly novel.

They say that you can give a sufficiently motivated student a library card and they will become a physicist. But most students with library cards aren’t physicists.

This holds true for AI tutors as well. While they are a fantastic tool for assisted learning, they only have the ability to respond. They are unable to engage a student. Instead, the AI tutor may assist or prompt them, leaving the responsibility of learning on the student and their personal reserve of motivation.

One of our other pilot projects partnered with a South African eLearning company that provided low-cost, live video lessons. The AI tutor shone in this particular case since it complemented the classes instead of trying to stand-alone as an education tool. The teachers would act as the prompter, providing the content and structure of the lesson. The AI tutor would then act as a teaching assistant, helping students who were stuck in understand concepts and work through problems.

We also had a few discussions about whether we needed to explicitly state, “This is a chatbot”. On the one hand, there are the ethical implications of AI impersonating real people, which is dishonest. On the other, when students knew they were speaking to an AI instead of an actual human, many would try to game the system to get it to do their homework for them.

This was mostly impossible with a sufficiently good prompt. However, the relationship between the tutor and the student would degrade. In a few cases, we would even see students “mistreat” (if you can call it that) the AI, calling it names and being mean and demanding.

I don’t believe in AI’s ability to feel (yet). However, it’s the spirit of the thing that bothered me, and it obviously wasn’t good from a learning standpoint.

That being said, the vast majority of students used the bot as intended, and we are confident in the learning outcomes and assistance it provides.

We’re currently working with a non-profit in South Africa, trying to make the tutor bot generally available to as many underserved students as possible.

We’re also in the process of exploring other ways AI tutoring can be used in education. If you’re interested in having a conversation with us, check out our website.

https://herman.bearblog.dev/ai-tutoring-what-works/ Save to Pocket


India’s Revolt Motors Unveils Affordable RV400 BRZ Electric Motorcycle

date: 2024-02-01, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

The RV400 BRZ does away with some of the fancy tech features found in its premium siblings.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/706901/revolt-rv400-brz-electric-motorcycle/ Save to Pocket


Gogoro Charges Into Chile And Colombia Via Copec Partnership

date: 2024-02-01, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

Gogoro will be targeting the lucrative last-mile delivery industry with its battery-swapping tech and Smartscooters.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/706899/gogoro-enters-latin-america-partnership-copec/ Save to Pocket


Hero’s New Surge S32 Concept Is A Modular E-Scooter Rickshaw Mashup

date: 2024-02-01, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

Ride it as a scooter on weekdays and take the whole family out in the rickshaw on weekends.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/706894/hero-surge-s32-electric-scooter-concept/ Save to Pocket


This Electric Mountain Bike Is Made Out Of Recycled Nespresso Pods

date: 2024-02-01, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

Swiss bike brand Miloo collaborates with Nespresso for a powerful e-MTB with an eye on environmental sustainability.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/706893/miloo-xplorer-beast-recycled-nespresso/ Save to Pocket


New Scorpion Trail III Adventure Tire Specs And Sizes Revealed

date: 2024-02-01, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

Pirelli’s new ADV rubber promises uncompromising performance both on and off road.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/706892/pirelli-scorpion-trail-iii-specs-sizes/ Save to Pocket


Spec Showdown: Moto Guzzi Stelvio vs. Suzuki GSX-S1000GX

date: 2024-01-31, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

New for 2024, both ADV-tinged sport touring bikes pack a load of tasty tech. Which machine will reign supreme?

https://www.rideapart.com/news/706890/spec-showdown-stelvio-vs-gsxs1000gx/ Save to Pocket


Fat Tire Suzuki Van Van Is The Diminutive Dual Sport It Was Meant To Be

date: 2024-01-31, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

Chunky, funky, aggressive perfection.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/706881/suzuki-vanvan-fat-tire-custom/ Save to Pocket


2024 KTM RC 390 Arrives With Two New Paint Schemes Available

date: 2024-01-31, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

Helping you look good on the street and the track.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/706875/ktm-rc390-2024-new-colors/ Save to Pocket


2024 Kawasaki Ninja e-1 and Z e-1 First Ride

date: 2024-01-31, from: Cycle World News

We ride and review Kawasaki’s Ninja e-1 and Z e-1 all-electric motorcycles, which are designed for urban commuting.

https://www.cycleworld.com/motorcycle-reviews/kawasaki-ninja-e-1-and-z-e-1-first-ride/ Save to Pocket


date: 2024-01-31, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

Today, most manufacturers have bikes equipped with compact yet powerful 270-degree parallel-twins.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/706775/fortnine-270-parallel-twins-popularity/ Save to Pocket


New Gogoro Pulse E-Scooter Is Brand’s Most Powerful, High-Tech Model

date: 2024-01-31, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

The Pulse gets your heart rate going with tons of tech and impressive performance.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/706740/gogoro-pulse-electric-scooter/ Save to Pocket


Decathlon Is Ready For Action With Its New Van Rysel E-GRVL Bikes

date: 2024-01-31, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

The new E-GRVL bikes are decked out in fancy components from Sram, Brose, and Mahle.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/706739/decathlon-van-rysel-egrvl-electric-bikes/ Save to Pocket


Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati Ready For Two-Rider Competition in 2024 Steel Commander MotoAmerica Superbike Championship

date: 2024-01-31, from: Cycle World News

Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati is proud to announce that Josh Herrin and Loris Baz will front a two-rider Ducati team on the 2024 Steel Commander MotoAmerica Superbike Championship.

https://www.cycleworld.com/the-wire/warhorse-hsbk-racing-ducati-ready-two-rider-competition-2024/ Save to Pocket


Alpinestars Reveals The All-New Supertech R10 Road Racing Helmet

date: 2024-01-31, from: Cycle World News

Alpinestars is pleased to present the all-new Supertech R10 Road Racing Helmets.

https://www.cycleworld.com/the-wire/alpinestars-reveals-all-new-supertech-r10-road-racing-helmet/ Save to Pocket


Indian Motorcycle Announces 2024 Factory Race Teams

date: 2024-01-31, from: Cycle World News

Indian Motorcycle, America’s First Motorcycle Company, today announced its 2024 factory race teams for King of the Baggers, Super Hooligan (SHNC) and American Flat Tracks (AFT).

https://www.cycleworld.com/the-wire/indian-motorcycle-announces-2024-factory-race-teams/ Save to Pocket


Honda’s GB350 Classic-Style Roadster Makes Its Way To The Land Down Under

date: 2024-01-31, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

Folks in other parts of the world still eagerly wait for this charming retro-inspired machine.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/706738/honda-gb350-launch-australia/ Save to Pocket


Shoei’s Race-Ready X-Fifteen Now Comes In A Marquez Thai GP Edition

date: 2024-01-31, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

The limited edition race replica is set for release exclusively in Japan from April to June 2024.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/706735/shoei-x15-marquez-thai/ Save to Pocket


2024 Suzuki GSX-8R First Ride

date: 2024-01-30, from: Cycle World News

Suzuki’s 776cc parallel-twin platform has ushered in a new era for the company with four new models. The latest GSX-8R sportbike is a logical addition.

https://www.cycleworld.com/motorcycle-reviews/suzuki-gsx-8r-first-ride/ Save to Pocket


What’s Better Than A Hayabusa Engine Swap? How About A 345HP Hayabusa V8?

date: 2024-01-30, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

If you thought that Finnish racer and engineer Mikko Kataja’s Toyota Starlet was a hillclimb monster before, it’s evolving.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/706696/hayabusa-v8-toyota-starlet-racer/ Save to Pocket


CFMoto MT-X Ready for Production

date: 2024-01-30, from: Cycle World News

CFMoto is taking advantage of its association with KTM to build its own 790 Adventure competitor based on the LC8c engine in that machine.

https://www.cycleworld.com/motorcycle-news/cfmoto-mt-x-coming-soon/ Save to Pocket


Super73 Partnered With Red Bull For The 2024 Dakar Rally

date: 2024-01-30, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

Behind the scenes, folks in the Dakar Rally bivouac moved around aboard custom Super73 S2 e-bikes.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/706571/super73-red-bull-dakar-2024/ Save to Pocket


Scorpio Electric And China’s BYD Join Forces For Electric Scooters In Asia

date: 2024-01-30, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

Scorpio will leverage BYD’s battery expertise and develop a range of new models for the ASEAN market.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/706564/scorpio-electric-byd-partnership-asean/ Save to Pocket


Yamaha To Showcase Tricera Concept At AIMExpo 2024

date: 2024-01-30, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

The three-wheeled electric vehicle is meant to embody the concept of “Urban Exciting Mobility.”

https://www.rideapart.com/news/706560/yamaha-aimexpo-2024-tricera-concept/ Save to Pocket


Paul Yaffe’s BMW R 18 One Eight “C” Is A Custom Big-Wheel Bagger

date: 2024-01-30, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

This custom creation embraces the classic look of the Mercury Lead Sled.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/706559/bmw-r18-one-eight-c-custom/ Save to Pocket


TVS Working On New Model Range For Norton Motorcycles

date: 2024-01-30, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

The new “super premium” models are expected to come in about two years.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/706556/tvs-developing-product-range-norton/ Save to Pocket


Ever Wonder What The Differences Between MotoGP And WorldSBK Are?

date: 2024-01-30, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

Six-time WSBK champ Jonathan Rea gives us a rundown, along with a bunch of other moto racing trivia.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/706555/differences-motogp-worldsbk-jonathan-rea/ Save to Pocket


2024 Harley-Davidson CVO Road Glide ST First Look

date: 2024-01-29, from: Cycle World News

More power, less weight, Harley’s most potent engine ever, and lots of forged carbon fiber: This is the 2024 CVO Road Glide ST.

https://www.cycleworld.com/bikes/harley-davidson-cvo-road-glide-st-first-look/ Save to Pocket


This Supercharged Harley-Davidson Fat Boy Makes 234 Horsepower

date: 2024-01-29, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

Naturally aspirated could never.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/706551/supercharged-harley-fat-boy-ttsperformance/ Save to Pocket


Honda Developing GB350-Based Himalayan Rival

date: 2024-01-29, from: Cycle World News

Honda continues working on models that appeal to the Indian market. Its latest patents show that it’s going after the Royal Enfield Himalayan.

https://www.cycleworld.com/motorcycle-news/honda-developing-gb350-based-royal-enfield-himalayan-rival/ Save to Pocket


Take A Look At Kawasaki’s Ninja H2R-Powered Unmanned Drone Prototype

date: 2024-01-29, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

The VTOL machine can reportedly carry a 200 kilogram (441 pound) payload. Did we mention the delivery robot?

https://www.rideapart.com/news/706550/kawasaki-ninja-h2r-kracer-drone/ Save to Pocket


Would You Like To See A Royal Enfield Hunter 450?

date: 2024-01-29, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

The Himalayan simply couldn’t be the only new model to feature Royal Enfield’s new Sherpa 450 engine, now could it?

https://www.rideapart.com/news/706390/royal-enfield-hunter-450-speculation/ Save to Pocket


More E-Bikes Than Regular Bikes Were Sold In Belgium In 2023

date: 2024-01-29, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

The electric bike industry is booming, with more and more people switching to bikes for both commuting and recreational purposes.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/706385/ebike-sales-belgium-surpass-regular-bikes-2023/ Save to Pocket


Beta’s 2024 RR Race Edition Models Are Coming To The US

date: 2024-01-29, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

The new race-derived machines flaunt an upgraded frame, optimized suspension, and enhanced performance.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/706382/2024-beta-rr-race-editions-usa/ Save to Pocket


Zontes Rolls Out New E125 Beginner-Friendly Maxi-Scooter In Spain

date: 2024-01-29, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

The E125 is all about comfort and practicality.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/706378/zontes-e125-maxiscooter-spain/ Save to Pocket


New Gowow Ori Is A Powerful Electric Dirtbike From China

date: 2024-01-29, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

It’s available in some powersports dealers in Japan and the US.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/706377/gowow-ori-electric-dirtbike/ Save to Pocket