In brief: Harley courts bad boys

Harley Davidson has released a bad-boy stripped-back Softail it's dubbed the Blackline. Expected here by April at about $26,750, the bike strips instruments and lighting to the bone and sports black-rimmed lace wheels, a gloss black-and-silver motor, black denim paint and a shotgun exhaust.

57th time around for Ferrari
Ferrari's F150 is the 57th single-seater it's built specifically to race in Formula One, its name chosen to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Italy's reunification. The car gets a hydraulically adjustable rear wing and wheel-retaining cables to improve crash safety.

Kids at risk on roads
Take extra care in back-to-school traffic; 169 5- to 12-year-old children were injured on the roads in the 2010 school year, and one died.

Merc takes road trip
Mercedes-Benz has launched a round-the-world fuel-cell drive to celebrate 125 years since Carl Benz patented a vehicle with "gas-engine drive" in Berlin. The three B-class fuel-cell cars will travel 30,000km across four continents and 14 countries in 125 days.

Bike sales down, ATVs up
On and off-road motorcycle sales dropped 5.4 per cent in 2010 over 2009, though ATV sales lifted by 8 per cent. Off-road bikes made up 73.2 per cent of the overall market, with Suzuki, Honda and Yamaha leading the sales tables. Scooter sales are expected to rise this year, despite ACC levy increases, as the high cost of petrol causes commuters to rethink their transport options.

Reversing cameras on sale
Worried about reversing into your kids - or a pole? After-market reversing cameras are now available. The Pantera Command Centre includes GPS, Bluetooth phone connection and a music centre, and retails at about $1675, including fitting.