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A Honda RVF1000 V4 Superbike for 2019?

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Since before I started Asphalt & Rubber, the scribe’s at MCN have been predicting a MotoGP-derived V4 superbike from Honda – I think the original rumor started with a V5 power plant, if that gives you an idea of how long this story has been making the circuit.

The hands on the clock are finally starting to meet with reality though, and the British magazine now says that a more affordable version of the Honda RC213V-S could hit dealerships in time for the 2019 model year.

This information echoes similar news that we saw before the launch of the updated Honda CBR1000RR – that Honda was working in parallel on a new Fireblade as well as a V4 superbike project.

Though now, MCN now points to recent patents filed by Honda, as well as sourced information that the bike is a couple model years away.

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Rumors

WSBK: Jerez Will Be Added to 2017 WorldSBK Calendar

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The 2017 World Superbike calendar is close to being finalized. When it was announced at the combined WorldSBK/MotoGP test in November of last year, the calendar featured thirteen rounds of racing, only twelve of which had been confirmed.

The missing round, many present at the test felt, was a Jerez-shaped hole waiting to be filled. Now, we have learned, the penultimate round of World Superbikes will indeed take place at Jerez.

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Bikes

Rumors Peg 2017 Triumph Street Triple to Be 800cc

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The rumor mill says that this video from Triumph is teasing us an “all new” Triumph Street Triple for the 2017 model year, which will see a displacement increase to 800cc.

The new bike is set to drop on January 10th, and promises to set “a new benchmark” in the streetfighter category. That is tough talk from a British brand that has let its modern sport bike offering languish over the past decade. But, we’re intrigued.

We have seen a revival in the streetfighter category as of late though, so hopefully the folks at Hinckley are wise to that trend and not keen on seeing the iconic Street Triple and Speed Triple models slip further from the riding consciousness.

Like you, we look forward to seeing what debuts in a couple weeks’ time. Hopefully it lives up to the hype — we’re suckers for nakeds.

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Bikes

Is This the Year of the Monkey, The Honda Monkey?

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If you read as many motorcycle news sites as I do, then you surely know that Honda is almost definitely probably maybe debuting a new “monkey bike” in the near future. The source of this news is Honda’s recent application for design patents in the European and Japanese markets.

Intellectual property filings are a great way of seeing what a motorcycle OEM is up to, but as our colleagues at Motorcycle.com correctly pointed out, they can also be a great source of red herrings.

This is because motorcycle manufacturers not only patent and trademark the design they intend to put into production, but also the design they don’t intend to produce, but have still shown the public. This is just smart policy when it comes to intellectually property protection.

Fortunately or unfortunately, it’s easy to jump to conclusions when one sees a filing that exactly mimics a show bike or concept, as we’ve seen this week with the Grom-powered Honda Monkey.

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Bikes

Two New BMW Models Debuting a INTERMOT

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Every other year, the motorcycle industry gathers in Cologne, Germany in October, for the INTERMOT trade expo. The show provides a good alternative for the Germanic brands to launch new machines, with BMW and KTM often showcasing new models at the show. This year will be no different.

To that end, BMW Motorrad is already getting its hype machine warmed up, telling us that several models will debut updates in Cologne. More importantly, zie Germans tell us that two new motorcycles will also debut at the INTERMOT show.

What those models will be is certainly the conjecture du jour, since there are several possibilities that BMW Motorrad could be working on.

Adding to the mystery is the fact that BMW often leaves something interesting for the yearly EICMA show in Milan, Italy, which happens a month later, in the first week of November. This might make decoding BMW’s game plan all but impossible, but we can still give it a try.

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Rumors

BRP Looking to Get Into the Motorcycle Business?

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Interesting news from our friends to the North, as BRP is rumored to be looking at entering the motorcycle industry with a two-wheeler.

The news comes from the Montreal Gazette, which says that the Canadian company is evaluating a move into the motorcycle business, and is looking for “possibilities and trends” in the two-wheeled realm.

This business venture would seem to be outside of BRP’s Can-Am brand, which already offers a motorcycle, albeit one that has three wheels and more closely resembles an on-road snowmobile.

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Bikes

More Teasers from MV Agusta & Zagato

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Seemingly reading our minds from yesterday, MV Agusta has released a teaser video for its soon-to-be-revealed collaboration with Zagato.

The video uses light a great deal to hide and reveal elements of the machine, thus obfuscating the details of the special motorcycle. But still, we can glean some important pieces of information, nonetheless.

For starters, the MV Agusta F4 does appear to be the basis for this new machine, confirming rumors from yesterday, with the video providing a good look at the crankcase cover and chassis configuration, which are the same as those on the the inline-four superbike.

The various other pieces we see suggest a motorcycle that is very different from the donor model though, with Zagato’s touches seemingly taking the F4 from superbike to avant-garde café racer (the above enhanced photo shows the silhouette).

To that end, the overall aesthetic might not be that different from the Ducati MH900E, with similarly chosen modern touches on a retro design. We wll let you watch the video, checkout the stills, and make up your own mind, though.

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MV Agusta F4 Getting the Zagato Makeover?

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When MV Agusta announced that it was working with automobile design house Zagato, it left us scratching our heads. What were these two Italian brands up to? The teaser image did little to help narrow down that answer too.

We might have another piece to the puzzle though, as Swiss outfit AcidMoto has a source who is saying that the special motorcycle will be based off the MV Agusta F4 – Varese’s venerable superbike.

That news probably doesn’t give us any more clarity than we had before, but it is interesting to see the aged four-cylinder platform getting the Zagato custom treatment.

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Honda CBR250RR To Debut Next Week?

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The reliable Indonesian news source TMC Blog is reporting that the 2017 Honda CBR250RR could debut next Monday. The news stems from Astra Honda Motor, the importer for Honda motorcycles in Indonesia, which sent out a press invite for a new Honda model that is to debut.

While an announcement like that could mean almost anything, the fact that Astra Honda Motor posted a teaser video of the Honda CBR250RR last week though gives us a pretty good hint as what to expect next week from Big Red.

TMC Blog reports that the Honda CBR250RR will sell for 60 million Indonesian rupiah, which at the current exchange rate is roughly $4,500 USD.

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Harley-Davidson Takeover Rumors Spur Wall Street, Again

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If you believed the reports from the financial sector, Harley-Davidson is a prime candidate right now for a hostile takeover by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), a global private equity firm.

The news sent shockwaves through Wall Street, with Harley-Davidson’s stock gaining 20% in value in a single day, as investors tried to capitalize on the news.

You are just hearing about this news on Asphalt & Rubber though for two reasons, 1) I’ve been on either a motorcycle, plane, trolley, or car for the past few days (just getting back from Italy), and 2) we have seen this all this before, and it wasn’t pretty.

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Could a New Yamaha YZF-R6 Be Coming for 2017?

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It makes sense that Yamaha would be readying a new version of the venerable R6 supersport for us…finally. The current iteration has been essentially the same bike that originally debuted in 2008, though it saw mild updates in 2010 that sacrificed top-end for midrange power.

The Japanese OEMs are slowly getting back to their old selves though, when it comes to product design and new model debuts, and last year saw the Yamaha YZF-R1 get a major overhaul. It’s time for its 600cc sibling to do that same.

And, that seems to be the case, as rumors out of Japan and Europe are swirling about an all-new Yamaha YZF-R6 debuting later this year, as a 2017 model year machine.

The bulk of the rumors come from Japanese magazine Young Machine, which is famous for the new model concept renders that it publishes, but not so famous for their accuracy.

A&R has heard plenty of chatter about this bike outside of other reports though, so where there’s smoke…

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