Motorcycles

Kawasaki steps up its game ahead of the 2020 model year with new body components, updated electronics, and a smoother-running engine for its Ninja 1000SX. The factory also tuned up the ergonomics in an effort to improve long-range comfort and even chucked on an adjustable clutch lever for a little bit of lagniappe. Improvements in rideability, control, and aesthetics join the liter-plus engine and Ninja pedigree to deliver a refined product to the masses.

Arch Motorcycle, the brand new makers of the “American Power Cruisers,” has updated its flagship model, the KRGT-1 for 2020. Featuring over 20 major changes, and more than 150 newly designed and manufactured components, this $85,000 machine harks on the ‘obsession for an amazing soul’ for Keanu Reeves and his vision.

To up its badassery status, the machine now gets bestowed with beefier brakes, Arch spec Öhlins, fancy materials, enhanced electronics, and some fine aesthetic refinements. The 2032cc S&S twin-cam V-twin drive remains the workhorse but is tuned to deliver greater torque and power. Then, of course, is the bespoke ergonomic and aesthetic package to tailor the KRGT-1 to every individual’s spec.

FYI, KRGT is the initials of Hollywood’s Keanu Reeves and the self-taught engineer Gard Hollinger.

Italian marque Moto Guzzi treated us with an expansion to its V85 TT family at 2019 EICMA with its new V85 TT Travel. As the devilishly-ingenious name suggests, the “Travel” is a touring-oriented adventure bike that comes with a number of long-range comfort-related features meant to help you stay in the saddle longer. Power delivery is on par with the rest of the V85 range with a transverse V-twin “Eight and a Half” that cranks out 80 horsepower for your riding pleasure. Adjustable suspension components, traction control, and variable power-delivery modes round out the package.

So, there are days when you wake up and rub your eyes to clear out the haze and see things clearly. Well, this is one of those. The haze is not the water in my eyes, but this all-electric motorcycle that is calling itself the HyperTek.

A gorgeous sci-fi machine built by the famous carbon-wheel supplier – BST (Blackstone TEK), the HyperTek has been designed by Piere Terblanche who’s visions have given us multiple Ducatis, Cagivas, Moto Guzzis, and Confederates. This time though, Terblanche has consciously gone bonkers with his design, creating a robotic machine on two-wheels that reads out data on an integrated heads-up display in the bespoke helmet.

It had been over a couple of weeks that we’d learned about the Japanese Green Team’s acquisition of the celebrated Bimota brand from Swiss-Italian entrepreneurs Marco Chiancianesi and Daniele Longoni. But little did we know that this hostile effort would turn out to produce a no-holds-barred hyperbike powered by most powerful motorcycle engine in production in a jiffy, and we’ll get to see it in the flesh.

Imagine the thunderous H2’s 998cc supercharged mill harnessed in a Bimota Tesi chassis with the state-of-the-art electronic wizardry. That, my friend, is what the Bimota Tesi H2 is all about. It is the best of Japanese engineering and Italian architecture the modern world is going to witness and was unveiled at the recently concluded EICMA 2019. The universe is so kind.

Kawasaki beefed up its naked Z900 with even more under-the-hood updates for 2020 and an all-new look created by a wild new color combination. It may look a lot like the previous generation, but this model saw a ground-up rebuild that touched on just about everything but the engine with refinements across the board. While the 948 cc engine reprises its role as the beating heart of this machine, it also benefits from new electronic features in a bid to garner an advantage in the hotly-contested, sub-liter naked bracket.

Sharing the fancy DNA of the Atoms’ and Nomads’, Ace has been Ariel’s bare-bone take on the two-wheeled world that saw the first daylights back in 2014. A completely customizable machine that could become just about anything; Low riding cruiser, street, naked, touring, or out and out sport. They sold for $25k a piece, and a few of them came onto our shores as well.

Five years later, Ariel is setting up the stage to unveil a (literally) shiny new model called the “Ace Iron Horse” at the upcoming Motorcycle Live show in Birmingham, England. Based on the existing Ace Muscle Cruiser, the Iron Horse is said to be a homage to the ’Black Ariel’ produced between 1926 and 1930 and will come with a price tag of around $40,000.

Piaggio updated its Medley range with a host of top-shelf tech items and a facelift that mixes new aesthetic features with classic touches to set them apart from the previous generation. LED tech replaces the incandescent lighting with a new digital LCD instrument bundle to handle the pertinent metrics. Perhaps best of all is the new i-Get powerplant that pushes output up to the top of the range for the 150 cc displacement bracket to deliver GT-like performance in an around-town scooter.

At the 2019 EICMA show in Milan, the Bar & Shield brand pulled the curtains off their brand-new, strategically developed machines that will bring them a new bunch of riders, ones who’ve never looked inside its shops before. Behold the “Bronx” and the “Pan-America.”

Paving the company into the Streetfighter and the ADV touring category, the Bronx and the Pan-America are the first babies of Harley’s “More Roads to Harley-Davidson” growth plan through 2022, though it all started with the launch of its first electric, no-clutch “twist and go” LiveWire.

These new motorcycles will be powered by the company’s new 60-degree V-twin Revolution Max engine that is supposed to be like nothing seen on a Harley before. The Milwaukee brand hasn’t divulged much information, but enough to just keep us excited through to their launch sometime towards the end of 2020. We’ve gathered them around here for a pre-production review of the Pan-America 1250 Adventure Tourer.

Ducati stripped down its Panigale V4 superbike and made a handful of aesthetic and functional changes ahead of the 2020 model year to bring us the Streetfighter V4. The resulting machine is truly something to behold. The redesigned rider’s triangle and stripped-down visage of the Streetfighter V4 and V4 S are joined by a 200-plus horsepower Desmosedici Stradale engine and a robust electronics suite to round out the package and deliver the performance and control we expect from the Italian giant.

2020 is the year the Bar & Shield brand will be aggressively trying on new markets, and the first leg is already underway with the launch of its first electric, no-clutch “twist and go” LiveWire. As part of its “More Roads to Harley-Davidson” growth plan through 2022, this year’s EICMA witnessed Harley-Davidson unpacking their first-ever models, paving the company into the Streetfighter and the ADV category.

Rightly called the “Bronx” and the “Pan-America,” these new babies will be powered by the company’s new Revolution Max engine. Harley hasn’t divulged much information, but enough to just keep us excited through to their launch sometime towards the end of 2020. We’ve gathered them around here for a pre-production review of the Bronx. The Pan-America will follow suit.

Italian EV bike builder Energica rolls into the 2020 model year with something a little different; the new Eva Ribelle. This newest offering rocks a naked-sportbike look in a bid to expand its footprint while it acts as an ambassador for the electric sector in general – a genre that’s still scrabbling for mainstream acceptance. The Eva Ribelle relies on a new 21.5 kWh powerpack to deliver an impressive range, and it comes complete with a full ride-quality electronics suite and surprisingly fast recharge capacity along with safety equipment that should make it competitive against the current smoker bikes.

Aston Martin, the British luxury carmaker tipped as the "coolest brand in the world" of automotive, has announced plans to turn itself into a freak motorcycle manufacturer at the ongoing EICMA, Milan 2019. Partnering in with another legendary British manufacturer, Brough Superior (currently based in France though), Aston brings in a limited edition, track-only, 180 hp hyperbike - the AMB 001. It couldn’t get any more James-Bond-ish.

Taking on extremely rich finery, this $120,000 machine showcases the best of British motoring. An amalgam of a futuristic, nearly anime-inspired aesthetics of Astons’ as we know, and the engineering prowess of Brough Superior, who once used to make the most expensive road-going motorcycles in the world last century.

Let’s just say you’ve made it big out there in the world, bought a billion-dollar mansion somewhere along the coast or up in the mountains, and you have enough space to indulge with all sorts of gadgetry and machines.

But for that whiff of pure unadulterated freedom, you know you need one motorcycle that can truly make sense of all of that. An experience no other motorcycle could possibly give. Which one’s going to be your tool?

Here’s our way of spoiling you for choices. A list of those breathtaking machines on two wheels you could buy right now that are truly made for opulence, opportunities, and most vividly, to make a statement.

Woo wee sports fans; it’s show season once again in Milan, Italy, and as always there’s plenty to see on the world stage at EICMA 2019. This year we see the return of Bimota in partnership with none other than Japanese giant Kawasaki, new EV bikes and scooters, and new adventure bikes from both Husqvarna and Harley-Davidson with the latter checking in with a new sport/street machine as well. There just ain’t enough hours in a day to cover every single detail, so today I’m going to grab a handful of the most significant bikes to be revealed so far.