Pictures of the Highland 950 vTwin has been popping up on discussion forums for years and teasing adventure riders with it’s high capacity, light weight, 120 HP engine and dirt ready design. Now it appears we may see these bikes in dirt and gravel near you. U.S. Highland is building the 950 vTwin  dualsport in 750cc, 950cc and 1150cc capacities and multiple body styles. They also will produce several versions of a single cyinlar dirtbike and ATV from 250cc, 350, 450 and 550cc.

From what I can piece together, Highland was started started in Sweden by ex-Husqvarna employees. Later the company joined forces with Louyang Northern Enterprises Group Company, Ltd to start Luoyang Luojia Highland Motors Co., Ltd. ATK was working with Highland to rebadge the bikes but this fell through. Dirt Wheels claims Cannondale was involved along the way.

US Highland recently got their hands on the equipment to build the machines and have begun production of US made units in Bixby, Oklahoma. The US Highland machines have sophisticated and highly tunable electronic fuel injection. They also come equiped with trick features such as a “G-Meter” to record vertical acceleration and deceleration forces. The US Highland website will allow customers to built a bike with multiple choices of engine and specs to suit their riding style.

The target market for the Highland is customers from 30 to 50 years old who want more than what existing manufacturers offer. All parts will be sourced from American companies and vendors when possible.

Source: Dirt Wheels

Zhejiang Yongkang Easy Vehicle Company took the Bombardier Spyder reverse road trike concept and brought it to the dirt with the TF110. Being familiar with the Spyder I’m not sure why this reverse trike atv caught me off guard. It seems part of the benefit of having two wheels in the back when off road would be additional contact patch with loose dirt and rough terrain. Maybe in deep ruts the centered rear wheel would hook up on high, dry ground? The rider would be in a rather uncomfortable forward leaning position with the front wheels in ruts and rear wheel not.

The concept is interesting and there must be some situations where this 3 wheeled ATV shines. Anyone have any experience riding this Chinese creation? Have any thoughts on terrain it might handle well? Please leave a comment and let me know.

TF110 Specifications

Source: Yongkang Easy Vehicle Co.

Vento announced development of a 3 cylinder, air/oil cooled 400cc engine that marks a departure from importing their engines from China. It will appear in 2008 model ATV’s and Motorcycles. The idea is to create a versatile engine that can be used in many motorcycles and to have greater control of its quality and power characteristics.

This news is a double edged sword for Vento. In a way it acknowledges engine quality is lacking in bikes they currently sell. This is not a huge deal and probably wont’ have a big impact on sales. It does set them apart from American importers who simply rebadge inexpensive motorcycles from China, Korea or Taiwan. It is great to see they went with a unique engine configuration. This combined with its versatility and compact design should give them a lot of options for unique models.

The Kneeslider mentions Bienville Studios is the design team involved in creating the engine. These are the same guys who designed the Confederate Hellcat and Wraith. Sketches of prototype Ventos place the rear shock under the engine displaying how compact the design really is. I am excited to see what Vento releases in 2008.