News that KTM would be making a full-fairing version of its small-discplacement single-cylinder KTM 390 Duke street-naked is nothing new, and is something that we have reported ad nauseum. News that Stefan Pierer has confirmed that bike’s release isn’t new either, but for the first time the Austrian CEO has given us a concrete date on when we will see the now-called KTM RC390 in the flesh, and that date is the 2013 EICMA show in Milan, Italy.

Talking Sir Alan Cathcart with Cycle News, Pierer explains that three flavors of the full-fairing machine will come from Mattighofen, in the 125cc, 200cc, and 390cc varieties. As reported earlier, the new RC bikes will feature styling very similar to KTM’s Moto3 race bike, the KTM RC250GP, and will be manufactured in Bajaj’s Chakan factory in India.

Are you ready for KTM’s little thumper to come to US soil? Likely our runner-up  for Best in Show at EICMA 2012, the Austrians have been teasing the idea of the KTM 390 Duke for far too long. Expected to be here in Spring 2013, the bigger baby Duke sports ABS and 43hp for its 300 lbs hulk (sans gas).

A strong contender in the brewing small-displacement wars, American buyers will have the pleasure of choosing between the Honda CBR250R, KTM 390 Duke, Kawasaki Ninja 300, and Suzuki GW250 next year, with Yamaha expected to enter the quarter-liter market in 2014. Does the 2013 KTM 390 Duke tickle your fancy? We’ve got 13 high-res photos for you after the jump.

It is no easy feat in picking the very “best” from a wide array of motorcycles, like we have to do here with the 2012 EICMA motorcycle show in Milan, Italy. How do you compare an adventure-touring bike to a sport bike, and then declare one better than the other? As you can imagine, the comparison is very much an exercise in measuring apples to oranges.

If our metric of choice was simply based on how much buzz was generated here on Asphalt & Rubber, and on the various social media networks as a whole, then the clear winner would be the KTM 1290 Super Duke R Prototype. With a bored-out RC8 R motor that makes 180hp, the KTM surely performs as good as it look, and it looks quite delectable indeed.

Maybe the best bike of the show should go to the now water-cooled Ducati Hypermotard, or its touring variant the Ducati Hyperstrada. Doing away with the air-cooled DesmoDue design of Pierre Terblanche, the 2013 Hypers are a new chapter for Ducati, and just further proof that there are no sacred cows in the Borgo Panigale factory. Speaking of Panigales, we also have to consider the Ducati 1199 Panigale R, of course if that conversation is to occur, then we have to also include the Aprilia RSV4 Factory ABS.

You see it is no easy feat to pick the “Best in Show” at EICMA, and in even our short thought-process above, there are names that are glaringly omitted. What makes the process possible however is when a new model comes along, and clearly outshines everything else — such is the case with the Vespa 946.

Debuting the MV Agusta Rivale at the EICMA motorcycle show, the company from Varese didn’t give us too much in terms of press photos of its new 800cc hypermotard. Based off the MV Agusta Brutale 800, the Rivale has been highly anticipated ahead of the Milan show, and with our first glimpses of the machine, it is clear that the Rivale is has a look that is unique in the MV Agusta line (though you may find some hints from other Italian manufacturers within its lines).

We go back and forth on whether we like the new MV Agusta Rivale, and our feelings on the machine might depend on which angle we are looking at it from. Beautiful in profile, the Rivale has an intriguing tail section as well, which seems to be a design element that the Italian company triumphs with consistently.

That headlight though…it is like the Ducati Streetfighter, only worse. That being said, this author criticized the SF1098 when it first debuted at EICMA, and then promptly bought one when he got back to the USA, so…we’ll let you make your own minds up on that one.

Like the Ducati, we might have to reserve judgment until we see a Rivale in the flesh, as so often is the case with motorcycles and the internet. Priced €500 cheaper than the now water-cooled 2013 Ducati Hypermotard, and €1,500 cheaper than the Ducati Streetfighter 848, one thing is clear: MV Agusta means to take a piece of Ducati’s business with what we figure will be an $11,000 bike — interesting stuff for sure. There are a few photos of the MV Agusta Rivale live from EICMA after the jump — courtesy of our good friends at OmniMoto.

Although Ducati hasn’t closed out the year yet, CEO of Ducati Motor Holding Gabriele Del Torchio was confident when speaking to the press at EICMA that the company would top last year’s record numbers, with a solid 20% grow margin. Expected to take the company to 44,000 units sold worldwide, 2012 is the best sales year by volume in the history of the company, and comes just after the company’s acquisition by Audi AG.

Doubling its marketshare worldwide, the Bologna Brand says it has made a 10% increase in what it calls its “Ducati Relevant Market” – the company’s core demographic of buyers (or what Mitt Romney would call, the brand’s 53%). For fun facts, nine out of ten Ducatis made in Borgo Panigale are destined for foreign markets (read: Italy now accounts for 10% of Ducati’s sales). We already knew that the US is Ducati’s top stronghold, with the American market growing by double-digits this year.

You know that scene in Crocodile Dundee where Mick says, “that’s not a knife, this is a knife!” and whips out a big-ass bowie blade? That’s the inner-dialogue Alessandro Tartarini (of modern Lambretta fame) must have had as he designed the simply named “Brutus” motorcycle concept. Likened to being half an ATV, the main calling in life for the Brutus is to go where no other motorcycle dare dream.

Helping it achieve that lofty goal, the Brutus has a massive 750cc water-cooled single-cylinder motor, which is rated at around 50hp, and is paired with a CVT transmission. 14″ wheels are mated to Maxxis Big Horn tires, which give the two-wheeler that Bigfoot look, though we were surprised to learn that the Brutus is only one-wheel drive.

Expected to debut a production model later this year, with public availability in Spring 2013, the Brutus will come with a bevy of options, including sidecar, ski, and fire-fighting configurations. Massively over built, the Brutus is completely ridiculous in almost every way, yet the idea of monster-trucking our way through the most rugged terrain seems oddly appealing. Hrmmm…

Our favorite news from the 2012 EICMA motorcycle show has to be the one where Bimota announced that it has entered an agreement with BMW Motorrad to use the BMW S1000RR motor in its rolling pieces of moto-art.

Using an almost exclusive diet of Ducati motors for its most recent creations, it only takes a quick look at the Bimota DB7, DB8, DB9, & DB11 to see that the boutique Italian bike builder has hit a bit of rut with its design inspiration. Our hope was that the partnership with BMW would change that.

Getting our first glimpse of the Bimota BB2, courtesy of sak_art design, the folks behind the machine, we can see our prayers haven’t gone unanswered. A clear homage to the Bimota BB1, the BB2 has some of the now-retro lines that distinguished Bimota so well in the early 1990′s.

Perhaps it is not the obscene hyperbike some were expecting when the S1000RR was tapped for duty, but there is an interesting blend of new and old in the Bimota BB2. Photos after the jump.

SPOILER ALERT: Yes it does. Remember that audio clip we posted last week of a then unknown KTM revving its motor in what sounded like a tunnel or warehouse? Well now we have the video to that special moment, and naturally of course “The Beast” was in a bunker, probably in Austria, and the part of some larger government experiment to make super-humans…or something like that.

A mixture of dubstep, octane, and honest hooliganism, the clip has a little bit of something for everyone. Watch the video after the jump, checkout the photos of the KTM 1290 Super Duke R Prototype, read the rest our damn-fine coverage of the 2012 EICMA motorcycle show, and grab a beverage of your choice. It is a Wednesday after all, and that’s the only reason you need to motocelebrate.

We promise, this is our last Bimota posting for the day (unless something juicy breaks regarding the recently announced Bimota BB2) — we did save the best for last though. Simply called the Bimota DBx, what we see here is Bimota floating another non-superbike concept out to the public to gauge its reaction. Bimota, we’ll make this real easy for you: BUILD THIS BIKE.

A Bimota DB10 with a severe affliction for getting its feet dirty, the Bimota DBx is probably the most expensive dual-sport we have ever seen. Öhlins TTX forks and four-way adjustable shock for suspension, Brembo monoblocs for brakes (2 x 300mm discs up front, 200mm in the back), carbon fiber everywhere, and machined pieces of billet aluminum that are ruining our Christmas wish list…every criticism you could level at Bimota this model year might easily be redeemed with this motorcycle.

Though we doubt any DBx machines will see off-road duty, there is a 19″ front wheel, with a 17″ rear wheel or optional 18″ unit for the rear, which are all laced up and ready to ride on their mixed-terrain Pirellis. Weighing 385 lbs dry, and making 95hp, the Bimota DBx isn’t the lightest or most powerful motorcycle in this class, but it definitely is the sexiest. Pardon us, we are late for the pants party.

The big news from Ducati at EICMA has to be the debut of the 2013 Ducati Hypermotard and its more touring focus sibling the 2013 Ducati Hyperstrada. Trading in their two-valve air-cooled lumps for a 110hp 821cc liquid-cooled v-twin engine, we are sure there are some Ducatisti who had there cooling fins ruffled by that move. Never fear, Bimota is here.

Using Ducati 95hp 1,078cc air-cooled engine that was in the original Ducati Hypermotard 1100, the Bimota DB10 debuted last year as a tasteful alternative to the maxi-motard from Bologna. Back again this year, Bimota has up-spec’d the DB10, with the 2013 Bimota DB10R coming with a bevy of more carbon fiber goodness.