Design guru Oberdan Bezzi has come up with an original idea for a new Royal Enfield Bullet 500 Enduro. He claims the bike looks traditional but is also fashionable and stands for an everyday enduro motorcycle that offers good mileage and requires little maintenance. That is because it is powered by only a single-cylinder engine, which must be as reliable as back in the 1970s.
We have to admit that we are drawn by the idea of reviving the old Royal Enfield scrambler, especially if we’re offered the chance to test the beautiful piece of British motoring where it really belongs – off the road.
As you all know, Buell Motorcycles are dead and gone, but after the brand was killed by HD, people have began to speculate about the last project that Buell was working at. It all started from this photography taken by John Hanson, a contributing photographer for Road Racer X, in the Milwaukee area.
The word is out that Buell had prepared an 1199cc V-twin for what was to become a high performance American superbike. This prototype was surely contoured around the idea of more power and less weight than the 1125R, which could have translated into Buell turning to WSBK. All hope vanished when HD made the radical decision to discontinue Buell. Sad, too sad!
Moto Morini has long been preparing the supermoto version of the Granpasso and these first pics that we came across confirm the all-new bike’s upcoming official unveiling at the EICMA show. The pictures belong to Italian news site Motociclismo, which’s tester took the unfinished version of the Grand Motard for a spin.
Although we’ll have to say that this looks ready for the Italian manufacturer’s EICMA stand, they’re still talking code names such as “V12M01″ for the new machine that will be powered by an upgraded version of the Granpasso water-cooled 1187cc 87° V-twin motor. This will develop 127hp, 9 ponies more than on the adventure bike.
MM may have aimed towards a sporty style and character for their new motorcycle, but they also retained the best of the Granpasso, which is the 7-gallon fuel tank. This means more supermoto fun with fewer stops for gas. Expect us to bring more information and the official shots as they arrive.
> More
According to the Spanish website,
Solomoto, Honda might launch a CBR250RR model for the European market in approximately a year from now. Obviously the bike would address to less experienced, but sport oriented riders and it will supposedly be built around an aluminum frame, while power should come from an upgraded version of the 250cc V-twin engine currently powering the
VTR250. More information as we have it.
> More
MCN’s spy photographers have come up with the most recent shots of the Ducati Stradaperta, which was tested on a motocross track in Italy. While it is unclear how they managed to take such close shots at a presumably remote location, the persons in case also mentioned that the 1098-powered Italian bike “was getting at least six feet of air over some of the jumps,” but their exclusive pictures don’t show that.
Although the successor of the Multistrada was expected to come as a response to the KTM 990 SMT and Triumph Tiger, we can now start referring to it as being a quite possible rival for the R1200GS and KTM 990 Adventure. Still, as you can see, nothing is certain until the bike is unveiled in Milan next month.
These are the leaked official photos of the much anticipated Stradaperta, Hypermotard’s successor in the adventure touring class (that is if you get your hands on a pair of off-road wheels and soften up the suspension a little bit). The bike will be powered by a liquid-cooled, V-twin engine of large displacement such as the ones found on the Ducati Streetfighter (1099cc) and on the Ducati 1198 (1198cc).
In terms of style, Ducati makes quite a daring move with the aggressive air intakes cut into the mudguard and stops pretty much there. Now, we could have lived with the thought that this 2010 Italian road bike comes with a dirt-style mudguard, but what’s with the bar-mounted mirrors? At least they stick to the abbreviated brush guards with integrated indicators and keep things in the off-road register although the bike will most likely never leave the tarmac. The Ducati Stradaperta will debut at the EICMA show next month.
> More
Italian manufacturer MV Agusta has today presented a teaser shot partially unveiling the 2010 version of the F4 superbike scheduled for the official launch on November 8.
Given the fact that the 1998 model was designed by Massimo Tamburini and has withstood the test of time, the front end is mainly unchanged: the diamond headlight has the same shape, but now contains LED running lights and a single large projector lamp, the windscreen now blends better in with the fairing and it is much sharper at the base. The shot also reveals restyled mirrors, which we like.
Expect to hear more about this model as information becomes available. Meanwhile, you can check out the new MV Agusta Brutale models.
The motorcycle press is restless in speculating about the upcoming Ducati Stradaperta or “the next Hypermotard” and the abundance of spy shots does help at maintaining people’s awareness in what this model is concerned until it is finally unveiled at the EICMA show in Milan this November.
These are probably the best spy shots ever and they reveal an entirely digital dash (we hope that GPS will carry on the production bike) as well as Hypermotard features such as the signal lights integrated into the hand-guards, just to mention a nice detail that caught our attention. Still, most of the bike is covered in tape, but that doesn’t stop us from imagining the beautiful Italian curves underneath. We’re just glad the angry face was kept and can’t wait for the official unveiling.
Honda has taken the 2010 Honda VFR1200 to the alps for some nice action pics ahead of next month’s official unveiling and this is where it was spotted by a very dedicated MotoBlog reader, who got the chance to take a few pictures with the bike before it blasted down the tight mountain roads.
Although it was initially thought that the new VFR will have generous dimensions, it hasn’t, so that the innovative technologies such as the dual clutch transmission and variable cylinder management can make a strong point in this industry. Also, we reckon it doesn’t weigh much either.
Click here for the VFR1200 engine sound.
The first rumors regarding the introduction of a new MV Agusta supersport model appeared in the summer of 2008, when the Italian manufacturer wasn’t yet owned by Harley-Davidson. Even so, the new model was spied for the first time just yesterday, close to the factory in Varese, Italy. It looks more compact than its bigger brother, but the design (very similar to that of the F4 model) makes us think that this precise test bike was disguised so that it would pass unnoticed. Well, it didn’t and these photos reveal some details indicating the fact that underneath the fairing is something else: the single-sided swingarm was replaced with a classic one shaped like those found on supersport models, the clutch is mounted higher, the fork arms have a smaller diameter and the original undertail silencers have been replaced by a single lateral one.
According to Italian sources, the future MV Agusta supersport model will weigh in at 353 lbs (dry) and will be powered by a 3-cylinder engine displacing 675cc and developing an impressive 140hp at 14.000rpm. If this bike ends up on the showroom floors with these characteristics, we can only say it will be a very competitive model, if not the best in its class.
This project, which began while MV Agusta was still managed by Claudio Castiglioni, represents an important piece in the plans to revamp the Italian company and the proof is that developing of the F3 was continued even after Harley-Davidson bought MV Agusta.
> More
Pages: 
Post a comment
Picture Gallery
RSS -
Webmaster free news |