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For those that haven’t been keeping track on Asphalt & Rubber, the Brap Talk podcast, and on social media, we are spending more than a little bit of time at the track this year, racing with the Oregon Motorcycle Road Racing Association (OMRRA) to chronicle what it means to become an amateur racer.

I have already outlined my reasons for wanting to go racing, but I wanted to spend the next two article mentioning what I am racing with, both in terms of machinery and gear. First up is an introduction to our racing platform, which for this season is a Kramer HRK Evo2 S.

We have already talked about Kramer’s ready-to-race single-cylinder motorcycles, and in fact our race bike for this series is the same bike featured in that article’s story.

Previously a demo bike for Kramer in the Pacific Northwest, this “S” model machine found its home in my garage, and as you can see from the photo above, it has been on quite the journey since.

A patent application by the Suzuki Motor Corporation is causing some waves, and for good reason, as the Japanese manufacturer is teasing an engine that looks very familiar…if you have ever seen the inside of the Ducati Supermono engine.

While Suzuki’s patent centers around the lubricating structure for a motorcycle engine, the diagrams being used for the patent application concern a single-cylinder engine type that includes a dummy cylinder for a balancer.

We have long been wondering when the KTM 690 Enduro R would get an update, especially after seeing the Husqvarna 701 Enduro get the revised big thumper from the KTM 690 Duke street bike.

That wait is over for the 2019 model year, as the KTM 690 Enduro R gets a bevy of revisions.

A new motor, a new chassis, better suspension, and a slew of electronics, the 2019 KTM 690 Enduro R is better in practically every single way, which should ensure that this popular dual-sport continues to be at the top of the big-bore heap.

If I said that there was an 81hp track bike that weighed less than 280 lbs ready to race, would that be something you’d be interested in? If so, say hello to the Krämer HKR EVO2, a purpose-built track bike from Germany.

Built around KTM’s 690cc single-cylinder engine, which is found in KTM 690 Duke and Husqvarna’s 701 series of bikes, the Krämer HKR EVO2 features a bespoke steel-trellis chassis, custom bodywork, and a host of top-shelf components.

The real tasty part about the Krämer HKR EVO2 though is the attention to detail and the purposefulness of its design – take for instance the 12-liter XPE plastic fuel tank that doubles as a subframe, which has integrated crash sliders, and a sighting hole for easy adjustment of the rear shock damping.

Up-close, the build quality is excellent and the bike feels incredibly light. Oddly enough, the riding position is even comfortable for riders over six-feet in height, and as such we are itching to get some ride-time in the coming weeks.

At the 2015 EICMA show, the Husqvarna 701 Vitpilen (shown above) debuted to much fanfare, as the neo-retro model showed a new direction for the Swedish brand’s street lineup, with the machine heavily expected to come as a production model.

And now today, we see that a “Svartpilen” 701 model will debut as well, with spy photos of the bike being captured in its near-production form.

The black-colored and more scrambler-styled Husqvarna 701 Svartpilen is an addition to the white-colored and more roadster-styled Husqvarna 701 Vitpilen that we have already seen.

As such, it seems clear that Husqvarna is expanding its on-road offering in a big way, and to be beyond its current crop of simple supermoto designs.

The CCM Spitfire (above) was a big hit with A&R readers, with the bike’s basic looks and 600cc single-cylinder engine showing that sometimes less is indeed more.

In case you are not in the market for a roadster model though, CCM reportedly has a scrambler version in the works as well, so says Britain’s MCN .

The idea seems pretty obvious, when you think about it, with the two design aesthetics being very similar, and the SWM-sourced engine originally coming out for use in dirt bike models.

As such, we are almost surprised that CCM didn’t start first with a scrambler model, but that is despite the point.

The good folk over at ADV Pulse have some interesting news for the dual-sport crowd, as British marque Clews Competition Machines is getting ready to discontinue its CCM GP450 dual-sport/adventure-tourer.

Replacing it will be a 600cc model, which will share the same engine as CCM’s recent Spitfire roadster model, which is really a big-displacement single-cylinder lump from SYM, which is really just a liquid-cooled four-stroke motor from the BMW era of Husqvarna. Still with us on that?

Confusing lineage aside, the new CCM GP600 Adventure sounds like it will be the perfect choice for those in the ADV category who want a dirt bike that can go on the highway, rather than a highway bike that can go off-road.

When renders of the CCM Spitfire roadster hit the internet, it cause quite the stir. The British brand was clearly onto something with its 600cc four-stroke thumper.

A bespoke machine priced around £7,995 – the CCM is not only an intriguing design, but remarkably affordable. It shouldn’t surprise us then to hear that the Spitfire has sold out.

Hopefully the folks at Clews Competition Machines realize that they hit an interesting niche squarely on the head, and produce more basic and affordable machines like this.

It looks even better in real life as it does in the computer renders. See for yourself, after the jump.

Clews Competition Machines is probably not one of the most well-known brands in the USA, though the British marque has a solid niche following around the world.

So, we should explain that CCM is best known for its single-cylinder four-stroke motorcycles, namely dirt bikes, though a number of interesting supermoto models wear the company’s monogram as well.

Right now, CCM is focused on selling its GP450 Adventure model, which takes a repurposed Husqvarna 449 engine, and wraps it in an aluminum chassis that’s built with long-distance ADV riding in mind.

CCM is looking to get back into road bikes though, and has begun teasing a new model. Named the Spitfire, this street bike has a 600cc thumper at its core and a chassis that is a lot more “roadster” than what we have previously seen from this rebellious band of Brits.