Motorcycle news

Peugeot Motocycles and Honda hit the 2018 Paris Motor Show with new models from France’s premier scooter manufacturer and a much anticipated CB for the Red Riders.

Continue reading for more on the show.

The 2018 calendar year may have a bit yet to go before its last gasp, but the 2019 model year is in full bloom with the beginning of the show season and the INTERMOT show in Cologne, Germany. So far, we’ve seen the genuine article for a number of previously-teased machines, as well as a few pleasant surprises from unexpected sources along with some much-needed updates. Today I want to take a look at this show, so buckle up as we head across the pond and check out some of my favorites.

Continue reading for more of my look at 2018 INTERMOT.

Taking design elements from both the the championship-winning FTR750 race bike that took the flat-track world by storm at the hands of Indian’s Wrecking Crew and the Scout FTR 1200 Custom unveiled last year, the FTR 1200 and FTR 1200 S feature nimble handling with a new 1,203 cc V-twin engine in what Indian hopes will put their mark on the global stage and appeal to new riders.

Continue for more on the FTR 1200 and FTR 1200 S announcement.

We’ve all been there. Have huge miles to cover through blistering hot weather and the humid air is not making things any better. Sweat is trickling down our neck, and that itchy scalp makes us wish we could rip it off our head. Feeling fresh arriving at the destination only means feeling liberated when the helmet comes off the head. Well, thanks to an American manufacturer Feher, not anymore.

Using what they call as the “Mr.Cool” technology, the ACH-1 is the world’s first self-contained air-conditioned helmet. Invented and designed by Steve Feher, it is a $ 599 DOT certifies helmet fitted with an integrated A/C unit at the rear of the construction. Instead of using heavy standalone battery packs, it connects to the bike’s battery unit.

Two Italian brands, MV Agusta and Pirelli have become permanent partners where the latter was selected as the sole tire supplier for the Schiranna brand a year ago, and to celebrate this agreement, MV Agusta had made a limited edition version of the Brutale 800 RR called the “Brutale 800 RR PIRELLI”.

Now, the same two companies have released another limited edition collaboration, but this time, it will be the newly updated Dragster 800 RR that will receive the Pirelli touch. In a pure exclusive visual treat by the folks who make “Motorcycle Art”, the Dragster 800 RR PIRELLI gets new paint schemes that showcase the partnership with the decals and new wheels that stick to new tires.

Unveiling the brand’s all-new FTR1200 custom street tracker at the 2017 EICMA, Indian has begun the onslaught of looking elsewhere for their inspirations other than just making vintage charmers and majestic cruising machines.

After a year of teasing us, the Springfield firm will be finally launching the production version for the streets at the Intermot show on October 2nd. And still more than a week to go for this big launch, the web has been flooded with the design patents of the motorcycle including the fuel tank, frame, motor and the suspension.

Conceived as a tribute to the birth of the Royal Enfield WD/RE series of motorcycles and Royal Enfield’s military heritage, Royal Enfield launched a special limited run version of the Classic 500 called the “Pegasus” edition back in August this year. Not even a month later, the Indian brand launched another machine highlighting its association with the military.

Called the “Classic Signals”, this special edition motorcycles is based on the brand’s Classic 350 and pays homage to its close association and partnership with the Indian Armed Forces. It gets new colors and cosmetic updates and is also Royal Enfield’s first offering to get ABS in the Indian market where the Signals edition will be launched for.

Last year, BMW Motorrad showcased its Vision Next 100, a motorcycle that is an entirely radical concept of the traditional machine on two wheels today. It is a self-balancing motorcycle that makes the side stand become mundane and mute. It promises to enhance the stability of the motorcycle when on the move and also balances the bike when in stationery.

Now, the German chaps have made a motorcycle that starts its engine on its own, recognizes bends, accelerate and brake all on its own. After more than a couple of years of research, development and testing, graduate engineer Stefan Hans and his team revealed their autonomous BMW R 1200 GS at the BMW Motorrad Techday 2018.

Suzuki is handing out $100 Prepaid Visa Cards to eligible owners of 2004-2013 GSX-R600/750 and 2005-2013 GSX-R1000 to bring in the bikes to have recall work performed in the front brakes.

Continue reading for more on the recall incentive program.

Remember that special GSX-R 1000R with carbon-fiber fairing, top-spec exhaust, race-styled screen and lever guards we spoke about last week? Well, we thought that this was a limited edition affair to showcase Yoshimura’s involvement as the former’s official partner for the upcoming MotoGP season.

At least we were right about the limited edition part. What it is, is the Suzuki GSX-R1000R Ryuyo. It is a not so cheap, nor can be ridden on the street version of the “King of Sportsbike” that gets a bump in power to a crazy 212 hp while losing out a huge 77 pounds, courtesy - so much carbon-fiber.

The Bavarian motorcycle manufacturer has been the market leader in the adventure scene with their promising GS motorcycles running the show for more than 35 years. Topping this chart is their flagship workhorse, the R 1200 GS series and its flat-twin boxer engine that is undoubtedly the best companion for exploring the unexplored. Then there is the R1200RT, a sport touring motorcycle which has many at times been the bestselling model for BMW.

Currently, both these machines run on a 1170cc flat-twin boxer engine and are all set to receive some major updates for the 2019 year along with some high-tech features coming in as standard. The new mill is going to make them specked to Euro-V norms and also make more power without losing on any fuel efficiency. What’s the trick? It’s called the BMW ShiftCam technology.

Back in 2013, BMW teamed up with TVS Motors in a Euro 20 million partnership to support them with the manufacturing and distribution of smaller capacity motorcycles, starting with the G 310R. TVS also launched the Apache RR 310 that was nothing but a full faired G310R for the Indian markets.

Now though, the Germans have perfected that sportsbike and have slapped their badge on what we believe is the potent new mini-superbike, the BMW G310RR Supersport. Snapped by our friends at Oliepeil, this BMW G310RR was on display at the BMW Motorrad Days in Japan and has its dad, S 1000 RR, written all over it.

Entering the 650cc twins into the market, Royal Enfield has fulfilled a long-standing purpose of enchanting world customers with its cafe-racer Continental GT 650 and the classic-retro Interceptor which were launched at the 2017 EICMA.

Although late to the party, the bikes are yet to reach showroom floors and will be happening after the EICMA show of Milan in November. After having gathered many eye-balls, Royal Enfield has given us yet another convincing with its stunt of registering a land speed record with the Continental GT ridden by an 18-year-old pretty face during the Bonneville Speed Week.

The Japanese Green Team have officially released images and introductory videos of their new babies of both their sports and naked categories, finally after a couple of years of speculation ever since the 2017 EICMA. It is the Ninja 125 and Z125 that will be revealed at the upcoming EICMA in Milan.

Although we already have the naked Z125 in our markets, it will be replaced with a newer, more advanced update along with its sportier Ninja sibling. While doing so, Kawasaki will finally have a product to cater to the basic A1 license that has so far limited them to the use of mopeds.

Built by engineers with years of experience and dominations in production-based Superbike, Superstock and Endurance races worldwide, and most importantly the WSBK MotoGP technology, the 6th gen 2017 GSX-R 1000 was the most compact, the most aerodynamic and the best-handling GSX-R 1000 ever.

The folks who made it themselves are upping the ante for 2019 and will be showcasing a new edition of their “King of Sportsbike” at the upcoming EIMA show in Milan. It is going to be a much more brutal version of the already potent GSX-R 1000R and Suzuki Italy has published a couple of pictures on their social media platform giving us a glimpse of this new weapon, probably in conjunction with Yoshimura.

This is the second teaser we received in a span of a couple of weeks proving that Triumph is on a path to rule the popular scrambler category with their upcoming brand-new weapon, the 1200 Scrambler. This second teaser shows us more of what we can expect from the Hinckley chaps.

The 1200 Scrambler boasts of the new high torque engine used on the Brit’s Bonneville lineup, and to handle all that additional power, this Scrambler gets equipped with bigger wheels, bigger brakes, and bigger suspension.

2014 was the year Ducati started rolling their Scrambler editions, and after almost half a decade, Scrambler is no longer just a model, but now it is a brand. Till today, Ducati has been making Scramblers which could have been abused, but it pleased the urban way and masses, and hence they became glorified street bikes.

And the most successful model is receiving a much-needed update for the year 2019 ‘Scrambler Joyvolution’. The Ducati Scrambler Icon – will now come with modern equipment, revised riding ergonomics, new paint schemes, and better safety tech to keep both wheels planted in all situations.

For 2019, the Japanese green team is bringing in smaller babies of both their sports and naked categories to our markets finally after a couple of years of speculation ever since the 2017 EICMA. It is the Ninja 125 and Z125 that will be revealed at the upcoming EICMA in Milan.

Although we already have the naked Z125 in our markets, it will be replaced with a newer, more advanced update along with its sportier Ninja sibling. While doing so, Kawasaki will finally have a product to cater to the basic A1 license that has so far limited them to the use of mopeds.

With their bikes dominating the WSBK championships, we can see the direct impact of this on their street products. With the integration of technology and electronics from their motorsport experience, they have continuously pushed the limits for better handling and a thrilling ride experience along with ground-breaking technology catering to the rider’s needs.

For 2019, the ZX-10R series is receiving major updates to slay the competition. New developments in the engine architecture will take the power figures to 200 hp+ to all three models. The SE will get self-healing paint while the RR will be a limited edition affair with even more fineness inside that 998cc mill.

The Kawasaki Z400 is not a badge you’ll see for the first time on a Kawasaki machine. The Japanese used to make the ‘KZ400/Z400’ between 1974 and 1984 for Asian and American markets. The KZ400 even outsold Honda in the 400 cc twins market through the 1970s. But was culled from the showroom floors after a decade from its launch.

Now though, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) documents published indicate that the 399cc Kawasaki naked motorcycle will be coming back to the US shores after the launch of the full faired Ninja 400 last year and will look much similar to the Z300 it will replace but run on a brand new engine borrowed from the Ninja.

This is the final showdown. And nothing is going to change henceforth. This, guys, is the 2019 BMW S-1000RR. Published by China’s intellectual property office, this liter-class weapon from the Bavarian manufacturer is finally out from the cages in the CAD forms, unofficially though.

Looking at it, and with the snapped test mule we showcased in July, we can confirm that this is indeed the 1000RR we all have been waiting for. The designs are a reminiscence of the S-1000 RRs’ we have been accustomed to before but misses out on that all prolific asymmetric headlights. Instead, we see a pair of matching lights on either side of the central air intake.

Indian Motorcycle announces the new 2019 Chieftain family with a host of new features for the Chieftain, Chieftain Classic, Chieftain Limited, and the Chieftain Dark Horse in both appearance and electronics.

Continue reading for more on the new Chieftain lineup.

Five months ago we learnt that the Japanese manufacturer filed for a trademark application in the USA for the name ‘Katana’ and a swanky new logo too with the sword. It was more of a logo and name protection really, suggesting that Suzuki has strong intentions of getting it back for real.

Looks like the Gods have heard us because Suzuki just released a teaser video confirming the possibility. The video tells us that the Katana will be showcased to us at the Intermot show next month. The video shows a sword being made on an anvil and a statement that reads “Feel the Edge”.