BMW has used their experience from building straight six engines for cars into creating a modern café racer concept powered by a six-cylinder engine displacing 1600cc. This means 266cc for each cylinder of the so-called BMW Motorrad Concept 6, which won’t see the production line pretty soon, but word is out that the German car and motorcycle manufacturer will use this precise engine on their next LT grand touring model.
Surely, this isn’t the first two-wheeler powered by an inline six as Honda had the CBX1000 in 1978, but the impressive part about the modern bike is the fact that it is so narrow for this type of engine rarely used on motorcycles. But when it is used it smoothly delivers impressive amounts of torque, which is why we have great expectations in what regards BMW’s future touring lineup. Hit the jump for the BMW Motorrad Concept 6 press release and picture gallery.
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Triumph and TAG Heuer have joined forces to create a unique motorcycle named “Bonneville Heuer”. The bike is inspired by Steve McQueen and the Porsche 917 K that he raced in the movie “Le Mans” while wearing the famous Gulf Oil Blue and Orange colors.
Enthusiasts waiting for us to mention the limited number of units scheduled for production and the very special price will most likely be disappointed to hear that there will be a single such motorcycle built and it will be used for promotional purposes.
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Aprilia plays with the 2010 Dorsoduro Factory and we’ve just got our hands on the leaked pictures showing that. While the standard version is very aggressive already, just like the Italians like their bikes to look, the Factory adds carbon fiber parts and a black frame, achieving an overall much more aggressive result.
In what the engine is concerned, this remains the 749.9cc twin developing 92 hp at 8,750 rpm and 60lb/ft at 4,500 rpm. While these numbers are more than decent for a midsized super motard, the engine also works closely together with the “Ride by Wire” system, which is available in three modes: sport, touring and rain.
The suspension equipment now translates into a Sachs kit, which is adjustable to as much as 45mm, while the braking system maintains the same 320mm discs and now works with four-piston Brembo calipers. The sad part is that ABS doesn’t find its place in this equation, like in the case of the standard version.
Expect the Dorsoduro Factory to gather quite a crowd at Aprilia’s EICMA stand this year.
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The SEMA Show in Las Vegas is all about standing out from the crowd in a way or another and the 2009 edition turned out to be the ideal occasion for Azhar Hussain, TTXGP founder, to officially unveil the TTX02 electric racebike.
This is the 2010 production version of the exact same bike that won the 2009 TTXGP Isle of Man Electric Motorcycle TT race and it is powered by twin Agni 95 electric motors providing a great deal of torque just above idle and little under 100 horsepower at full blast. Energy (11 kWh) is supplied by three lithium ion battery packs and everything is housed in a KTM RC8 chassis, a good choice considering that the TTX02 is a 130 mph supersport motorcycle.
At least that is what we consider it to be (according to the official claims, of course), but Hussain refers to the TTX02 as being a "laptop on wheels." That is mainly due to the fact that each machine features a dash-mounted computer that runs on Linux, comes with its own dedicated IP address, on-board web server and connectivity to wireless networks, just to start your interest. For more information watch the two videos of the bike’s launch that we attached after the break or go to mavizen.com.
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Moto Morini had to come up with something special for the 2009 EICMA show and an upgraded version of their Granpasso turned out to be the solution, such as these first photos of the new bike reveal.
Built on the platform of the standard Granpasso – their big adventure tourer – the SM will have a more aggressive riding position and feature new suspension and braking systems, sporty wheels and tires as well as a different exhaust system to help retune the engine. Sounds like Moto Morini created the Granpasso 1200 SM for the supermoto track, but don’t really think that the Ducati Hypermotard 1100 has serious reasons to worry about.
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Having signed with Tech 3 Yamaha for 2010, Ben Spies will run his very first Yamaha MotoGP bike at Valencia during the final round of the MotoGP World Championship and his new team has just come up with this absolutely superb Sterilgarda paintjob for the occasion.
Spies won the 2009 World Superbike Championship for Yamaha, while his best result in MotoGP is a 6th place at Indianapolis in 2008, when he was racing for Suzuki.
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We recently brought to you the first teaser shot of the 2010 MV Agusta F4 and we’ve just got our hands on a second sneak peek of the new Italian superbike. This comes together with the official press release, from which we find that the engine develops 186 horsepower at 12,900 rpm, connects to the gearbox through a slipper clutch and is harnessed by an eight-way adjustable traction control system.
This Italian exotic motorcycle heads to EICMA for sure, so we will bring to you the full specs and, hopefully, a generous photo gallery revealing the slightly redesigned bodywork in the day of the launch. Read the press release after the jump.
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It seems that the CR&S Duu has turned from concept into reality as the company announced they will officially unveil their “two liter, twin cylinder, twin seater” at the EICMA show next week and released the bike’s official pictures with the announcement.
CR&S brags about the Duu’s 1,916cc S&S X-Wedge V-twin engine and we’ll have to say that this is precisely the piece that has the most to do with the 20,000 euros (US$29,500) starting price for when this blend of European chassis and American powerplant will go on sale in Europe no later than 2011.
What we like the most about this creation is the fact that you can’t easily identify which bodywork part is which, not to mention their purposes. We can see that the single-side swingarm reflects style at its best, but we still have to wait until EICMA to see the public’s reaction. Fingers crossed because CR&S will be building by hand a few dozen of these every year.
Roehr have put their 1250sc Factory Demo up for sale on eBay and we’re surprised to find out that the 180 horsepower American sport bike housing a supercharged Harley-Davidson Revolution motor is available at just $19,995. Ok, we admit that this is not cheap for the average sport bike buyer, but for a Roehr admirer who’s only retention from buying the thing new was the $45,000 price tag, the Demo bike qualifies as a bargain. It only has 2600 miles on the clock and it’s as exclusive as they get, although we have a hunch that this isn’t the way it will pay itself up to a very lucky and enthusiastic motorcyclists who will get his hands on it. If you plan on being that guy, then work your magic on eBay and have it sent to you.
You can find more about the Roehr 1250sc by reading our article about it here.
Spanish motorcycle manufacturer Rieju plans to officially unveil their new RS3 sports 125cc motorcycle at the Milan show on November 9th. In keeping with the company’s tradition, the RS3 will be powered by a Minarelli engine, which is expected to be the same 125cc four-stroke single cylinder one behind the current selling model, but which will be retuned with the use of a new exhaust system. As this picture reveals, the new European supersport motorcycle will stay true to its reputation on the old continent with the use of inverted forks replacing the conventional items found on the previous generation model. Still, we’re waiting for the official specifications.
What’s currently certain is the fact that the 2010 Rieju RS3 125 looks like a small brother of the Honda CBR600RR, despite the fact that it is supposed to compete with the Japanese company’s CBR125RR model, which is also very popular in Europe (I’ve even seen Repsol ones, so teenagers back there are quite exquisite). The design belongs to Rieju and UK-based Xenophya Design.
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