Buried in Honda’s rather large media dump for the EICMA show in Milan is confirmation that Big Red is set to bring back the Honda Hornet motorcycle.
The upcoming Honda Hornet is tipped to use an 850cc parallel-twin engine – part of the same engine platform that is expected to power the Honda Transalp adventure bike.
Rumors of a proper mid-sized adventure bike from Honda have been percolating for some time now – as far back as eight years ago.
The news gained traction again last year, with rumors from Japan suggesting that an 850cc model was in the works, which be offered alongside the now 1,084cc Africa Twin 1100.
Oberdan Bezzi has an interesting concept for us today, taking a peak into the world of Italian heritage at the motorcycle factory in Mandello del Lario, Italy.
We are of course talking about Moto Guzzi, and the bike in question is an idea that is built off the Moto Guzzi V85 platform, which we know Moto Guzzi is keen to use in a variety of motorcycles, not just the current V85 TT adventure-touring bike.
Dubbed the “Black Eagle”, the concept shows a sporty usage of the air-cooled 853cc transverse 90° v‐twin, with the bike using a half-fairing design, clip-ons, solo seat, and copious amounts of carbon fiber.
When we rode the Moto Guzzi V85 TT in Sardinia, it was made clear that the Italian brand saw its new 850cc air-cooled v-twin engine as more than a one-trick pony.
Part of Moto Guzzi’s ability to offer the V85 TT at such an aggressive price is centered around the larger plans at hand in Mandello del Lario.
Namely, this strategy centers around several models sharing Moto Guzzi’s new engine platform, and it seems we are set to see the next iteration of the V85 lineup later this year.
This is because rumors are starting about Moto Guzzi debut its next V85 model at November’s EICMA show in Milan.
Even as the official opening of EICMA rapidly approaches, our Bothan Spies are hard at work looking for clues to next year’s motorcycle debuts. As such, they bring news from Milan, where BMW Motorrad is set to unveil a bevy of new motorcycles.
Most of these new bikes we know of, with the BMW R1250GS Adventure and BMW S1000RR already leaking, and the BMW R1250R and BMW R1250RS obviously tipped by CARB filings for the new ShiftCam boxer-twin engine.
With BMW Motorrad telling us that we will see nine new motorcycles this new bike season, all that is left is simple math on what remains, now that the BMW R1250GS and BMW R1250RT debuted ahead of the INTERMOT show.
So far, our total is six…but we’re about to make it seven, as our Bothan’s report that the BMW F850GS Adventure will debut tomorrow morning in Milan.
For the last year, Moto Guzzi has been trickling out its newest ADV machine. As such, we have had a long time to get the know the Moto Guzzi V85 TT, without actually knowing the machine at all.
Released as a concept at last year’s EICMA show, the V85 became production-ready at this year’s INTERMOT show, but even at that time, Moto Guzzi was mum on details. That all changes today though, as we finally have some tech specs on the 2019 Moto Guzzi V85 TT, and we like what we hear.
We got a quick teaser of the new Moto Guzzi V85 TT just a day ahead of this year’s INTERMOT show, but now the uniquely styled adventure-tourer is officially ready for its debut.
Surprisingly, Moto Guzzi is still being tight-lipped when it comes to specs on the V85 TT, choosing instead to wax poetically about the bike’s retro styling, and the brand’s longing to return to the Paris-Dakar rally of many decades ago.
Moto Guzzi’s launch at INTERMOT was equally as confusing, with the Italian brand making little of a presentation, and then referring the world’s gathered media to a press kit that had no discernible information.
As such, the details we can share on the 2019 Moto Guzzi V85 TT are reduced to mostly what we can observe, which we have already shared with you before.
With its European counterpart, the 2014 Yamaha MT-09 dropping earlier today, America too will be getting a 847cc three-cylinder naked bike for the 2014 model year, the 2014 Yamaha FZ-09. Replacing the Yamaha FZ8 in the Japanese company’s line-up, the FZ-09 is the first motorcycle from the tuning fork brand to sport the Yamaha’s new line of three-cylinder engines.
The Yamaha FZ-09 comes about as the MIC is reporting its second-consecutive year of growth in the 751+cc sport bike segment, as well as increase in commuter riding over short-distance sport riding.
With those trends in mind, Yamaha has punched out the displacement on its middleweight naked bike, and focused on giving riders a comfortable, yet stout, motorcycle. Priced at $7,990 MSRP, we think Yamaha hit the nail pretty much on the head with this one.