When it comes to superbikes, the Aprilia RSV4 rises to the top, which is why the Italian brand has been slow to change its winning formula.
Now 12 years in the making, we see the Aprilia RSV4 getting another large update, this time with a robust visual makeover, as well as some strategic technical changes.
After a long run-up, it is now really happening: Harley-Davidson is launching an all-road motorcycle with the Pan America 1250. No, not a soft adventure or crossover, but a real all-road, which will enter the category where the BMW R1250GS ruled for years.
As they say within the American brand full throttle marketing campaign: “this changes everything” – even if that’s just the case for themselves.
The Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 is perhaps the most-anticipated motorcycle for the 2021 model year, as the bike is set to define the future of the Bar & Shield brand.
If the bike is a success on the sale floor, the future bodes well for this iconic American institution. If the bike is another failure, like the V-Rod (and Livewire), then well…Harley-Davidson has a tough road ahead of it.
With the European press launch of the Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 coming ahead of the bike’s debut in the USA (weird, right?), we couldn’t wait when came to evaluating this important machine.
One of the most anticipated motorcycles of the 2021 model year is finally here for us to test, and in case the title to this review didn’t give it away, I am talking about the Ducati Multistrada V4 adventure bike.
Ducati has teased us long enough on this new ADV machine, including giving us an early look at its new Granturismo V4 motor, which is most notable for its lack of desmodromic valves. *Gasp* goes the Ducatisti collective.
With 168hp (125 kW) on tap, and 92 lbs•ft of peak torque coming from the compact V4 engine, it is hard to imagine why anyone would complain about what is beneath the fairings on this new Multistrada model, but then again…Ducati did leave a few sacred cows on the slaughterhouse floor when designing this motorcycle.
A pillar to Ducati’s two-wheeled lineup, the Multistrada V4 is a critical bike for Ducati to get right, as it accounts for roughly 20% of the company’s unit sales.
And for all of its changes and upgrades, the Multistrada V4 continues Ducati’s core principle for the Multistrada lineup – of having a model that is four motorcycles in one.
To see if Ducati got this recipe correct, the Italian brand invited us down to Borrego Springs, California, to ride the 2021 Ducati Multistrada V4 S in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
Our ride involved equal parts of curvy mountain roads and sandy desert tracks, giving us a good glimpse of what the Multistrada V4 S was capable of on the street and in the dirt.
The verdict? It’s a big one. If there was only one motorcycle we could buy with our hard-earned blogging dollars, this would be it. The Ducati Multistrada V4 S is the new standard in the premium ADV space. Let me explain.
The much rumored, much anticipated Ducati Multistrada V4 S is finally hitting US soil (in dealers, as we speak) and today we get a chance to ride this new adventure bike in anger.
Ducati North America has brought us to the Anza-Borrego desert in California to try this new machine, and put it through its paces both on the street and in the dirt.
Our bikes are also equipped with the new front and rear RADAR systems from Bosch, which means that we will get to test the adaptive cruise control and blind spot warning systems on the Ducati Multistrada V4 S, even though they won’t officially be available on the bikes until later this summer.
It should be a lively day of riding, and a prime chance to get your questions in about this machine and its new systems.
The Italians have been talking a big game with the new Multistrada V4, so we will be looking to see if this Ducati can top the very best in the big-bike ADV class.
Per our new review format, I will be giving you a live assessment of the Ducati Multistrada V4 S right here in this article (down in the comments section), and I will try to answer any questions you might have about this exciting motorcycle.
So, here is your chance to learn what it’s like to ride the Ducati Multistrada V4 S, before even our own proper review is posted.
As always, if I don’t know an answer, I will try to get a response from the Ducati personnel. So, pepper away.
You can follow our thoughts on the bike live via Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and you can see what our colleagues are posting by looking for the hashtag #MultistradaV4 on social media.
Spec-Sheet Comparison of Relevant Models to the Ducati Multistrada V4 S:
| Ducati Multistrada V4 S | BMW R1250GS | KTM 1290 Adventure S | |
| Horsepower | 168 hp | 136 hp | 158 hp |
| Torque | 92 lbs•ft | 105 lbs•ft | 103 lbs•ft |
| Weight | 529 lbs (wet) | 549 lbs (wet) | 524 lbs (wet) |
| Engine | 1,158cc / V4 | 1,254cc / Boxer-Twin | 1,301cc / 75° V-Twin |
| Price (w/ bags) | $24,095 | $22,415 | $19,847 |
Source: Ducati
When Honda brought us the Rebel 300 and Rebel 500 four years ago, I called the small-displacement cruisers the most important motorcycles to debut for the 2018 model year. Now, Honda is adding a third model to the family: the 2021 Honda Rebel 1100.
Debuting last November, the Rebel 1100 was Honda’s big new model for the 2021 model year , and the bike is basically the amalgamation of the Rebel cruiser line, with the familiar parallel-twin engine found in the Honda Africa Twin 1100 adventure bike.
This new metric cruiser is arriving in Honda dealers as we speak, but the American Honda team invited us to Murrieta, California to ride the Rebel 1100, to see if this interesting, if not odd, motorcycle was more than the sum of its parts.
Our ride saw us burn close to 200 miles, with a mix of tight canyon roads, rolling sweepers, and some urban commuting – the typical duty a bike like the Rebel 1100 would see in the real world.
Big Red will admit that the Honda Rebel 1100 is not a cruiser for everyone that rides in this segment, but the bike brings a unique appeal to a large market, and it does so with a certain flair that has been absent from this space. Let me explain.
The Rebel lineup has been a stalwart bike for American Honda, primarily in its role to get new riders on two wheels. But, what happens when those newly minted motorcycle enthusiasts want to upgrade to something bigger?
As Honda discovered, they go somewhere else, as the Japanese brand lacked an encore to the Honda Rebel 300 and Honda Rebel 500 motorcycles.
These motorcycle riders that Honda fought so hard to create were jumping ship to another cruiser brand.
But now the Japanese brand has a solution, the Honda Rebel 1100 – a bike that looks like a greatest hits album from the company’s current lineup.
Almost two-and-a-half years ago, Asphalt & Rubber broke the story that Aprilia was working on a twin-cylinder sport bike, which would be a more affordable and approachable option than the company’s flagship RSV4 superbike offering.
After teasing us at EICMA with the prototype in 2018, and then with the production model a year later, we were set for the Aprilia RS 660 to debut as a 2020 model…but then, the coronavirus outbreak changed all that.
With Italy no longer under lockdown, this bike is finally ready to take the stage, and of course the 2021 Aprilia RS 660 is headed stateside, with the first examples of it landing at dealerships in time for Christmas (and what a present that would be under the tree).
It has been a long wait for this eagerly anticipated motorcycle, and last week the American motorcycle press got their first miles on this middleweight-twin.
Riding the canyon roads near Santa Barbara, we put the Aprilia RS 660 through its paces on some of the best roads California has to offer (in this author’s opinion, at least), to see how this unique creation from Noale stacked up.
Would it live up to the hype? Is this the new twins class killer? Does Aprilia have another opus on its hands? That is what we aim to explain to you in this review.
When you talk about the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP, the conversation starts with several predictable openers.
First, there is the name, which is like some sort of crazy Gilbert & Sullivan routine about majors who are generals or some other thing. The term “Triple R” was floated at our launch, and I hope it catches on – I’m starting to get a TMJ disorder from saying the full name from Honda.
Then, there is the incredible duration of time that has passed since Honda last debuted a truly new sport bike model (the year was 2008, for those keeping count). For comparison, it took J. K. Rowling less time to make the entire Harry Potter movie franchise than Honda could come out with a proper new Fireblade.
Throw in a quick repartee about the addition of winglets on modern superbikes, and you have your basic bike night bro-dude conversation about the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP all figured out.
The conversation should turn around a different narrative though – one that focuses on how Honda has come back to the superbike market with an absolute beast of an offering.
If you don’t mind, I would like to have that conversation about the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP with you now, as this machine is not only a landmark for the Japanese brand, but also now the new reference point in the superbike segment.
As if waiting for the debut of a new superbike from Honda wasn’t a marathon event in itself, the arrival of the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP onto US soil took its time in its own right, thanks in part to the coronavirus outbreak.
But, the new Fireblade is finally here in the United States, and Asphalt & Rubber is among the first to ride this new superbike.
Our ride test takes us to smokey California, at the Thunderhill Raceway Park in Willows, CA. With fires smoldering not too far away, we consider ourselves lucky to ride this popular Californian track, and the new Fireblade should feel right at home on this undulating circuit.
With only 500 being made worldwide (and maybe 100 or so of them coming to the USA), the chances of getting to swing a leg over the Ducati Superleggera V4 are pretty slim. Riding one around Laguna Seca in anger? Even slimmer.
So naturally when Ducati North America called and asked if we wanted to do exactly that, the answer was an obvious yes.
That brings us to this moment, where on Thursday Asphalt & Rubber will get a chance to ride a $100,000 carbon-fiber-everything superbike around one of the most iconic race tracks in America. Sometimes, this job is really, really tough.
Funny enough, this is a rare case of the coronavirus actually causing some positive changes in the motorcycle industry, as normally the US would only get to send one publication to the press launch for a bike like this.
But instead, Ducati North America has the ability to host its own event, while the European magazines were forced to slum it at Mugello for a day. Hence, here we are.