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.

Yamaha is gearing up to debut some models, this much we know. Both the US and European arms of the tuning fork brand have been in full marketing/PR swing lately, and today’s quick video teaser just confirms as much.

What exactly Yamaha is gearing up to promote though is a different story, however we do know that the Japanese brand sees three-cylinder engines as the way forward with its motorcycle designs.

Teasing today what appears to be an upright-sitting street bike, we can only assume that Yamaha has some sort of new naked or streetfighter machine it is readying for mass consumption.

With the video coming from Yamaha Europe though, one can guess as to whether this particular motorcycle will be a small-displacement machine, Europe-only model, or what exactly. Could it be the first three-cylinder machine from Yamaha? Time will tell, and we won’t have long to wait.

The eagle eyes over at the Italian magazine Motociclismo have caught BMW testing the naked-bike version of the BMW S1000RR out in Italy. A machine that has long been rumored, and expected to be the encore production of the Germany company’s very successful superbike project, the streetfightered RR is expected to have the same four-cylinder superbike motor, though likely in a lower state of tune.

Dressed in BMW’s typical black and white swirl camouflage, it is hard to see all the details of the new motorcycle, though the front fairing looks ahem interesting. Building off an already existing model, a naked RR is the logical next machine to come from zie Germans, and if it debuts as a 2014 machine, then we can expect to see it at the EICMA show in Milan later this year in November (there is no INTERMOT show this year).

Spy photos of the KTM 1290 Super Duke are nothing new, and the Austrian company has even gone as far as to tease us with a heavily massaged KTM 1290 Super Duke R prototype at the 2012 EICMA show. With the final version of the superbike-powered streetfighter expected to be decidedly less edgy, the photo brought to us today (one can only guess when it was taken), if anything else, is a reminder to be reluctant our expectations.

The ever elusive “spy” photo, what we have here looks to be a near production prototype of the KTM 1290 Super Duke that has been caught in the wild. Easily the clearest photo we have seen of the road-going bike, it clearly holds KTM’s LC8 motor as well as the same trellis frame found on the “beast” prototype.

If we had to summarize Kawasaki’s new model philosophy, it would have to be with the old tuner’s phrase that “there is no replacement for displacement.” Bumping the 2013 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R from 599cc back to its odd 636cc figure from 2003-2006, Team Green has also trumped the quarter-liter market with the debut of the 2013 Kawasaki Ninja 300, a peppier clone of the Kawasaki Ninja 250R world-model that debuted last month (it looks like North American will have to make do with the mundane and carb’d version of the Ninja 250R, sad trombone).

While we expect to see a bevy of new Kawasaki’s later next week, one bike we don’t expect to see is the 2013 Kawasaki Z800, which just officially debuted in Europe. We were on vacation when some Thai readers leaked the first images of the Kawasaki Z800 in our comments section, luckily other publications read our site and picked up the story. You have probably already seen the photos, but just in case they are in a gallery after the jump.

It remains to be seen how the high-reving Superquadro motor will fit into Ducati’s “one-motor-fits-all” strategy, but the speculation is already becoming rife about a supersport version of the Ducati 1199 Panigale, and of course a streetfighter version as well.

With the Panigale’s engine being an integral part of the superbike’s design, there is a definite challenge for Ducati’s design team in making the Emperor of the Sport Bike Kingdom look good naked. Until we see what Borgo Panigale can conjure up, we are lucky to have weekend couch jockey’s on the Ducati.ms forum who happen to have incredible photoshoping skills.

Pictures of a supposedly naked version of the BMW S1000RR have surfaced on MotoRevue, as the motorcycle was caught testing at BMW’s proving grounds by spy photographers. Showing an S1000RR-esque motorcycle with a half-fairing, the motorcycle would be just the second addition to BMW’s true sports bike line, after the S1000RR itself of course.

Expected to be a detuned version of the superbike variant, we can expect horsepower north 160hp, flat bars, and improved ergos from such a design experiment (in order to compete with the Aprilia Tuono V4 R and Ducati Streetfighter 848), though there is some reason to give pause about what these photos actually mean.

You wouldn’t know that the Aprilia Tuono V4 R even existed if you went to Aprilia’s USA website, though the fire sale of the older Tuono 1000 should at least raise an eyebrow. That being said, Aprilia USA is set to bring the new, as in debuted at EICMA last year, Aprilia Tuono V4 R to our American shores. Set to hit dealers in March 2012, Aprilia USA has at least gotten one thing right with the 2012 Aprilia Tuono V4 R, and priced the streetfightered RSV4 with $14,999 MSRP.

That puts the base model Aprilia Tuono V4 R a full $4,000 cheaper than the $18,995 MSRP 2012 Ducati Streetfighter S, and $2,000 more than the $12,995 MSRP Ducati Streetfighter 848. With that price point, Aprilia has aggressively positioned the Tuono V4 R against Ducati, its biggest competition in the performance-oriented street-naked segment. With 167hp on tap, there is plenty to get excited about with the Aprilia Tuono V4 R, and true to its ethos, the Tuono V4 R is basically a de-tuned Aprilia RSV4 R superbike without its fairings.

Now that the European press launch of the 2012 Ducati Streetfighter 848 is over (we’ll have to wait a bit longer for the US press launch…le sigh), some more professional photos and a video of the new middleweight Streetfighter have hit the interwebs. Of course Ducati is really pushing the revitalization of the Italian yellow paint scheme, but we think the matte black “Dark Stealth” version will turn a few heads, and admittedly, this author wishes his Streetfigher 1098 had the red frame on the Rosso Corsa version of the Streetfighter 848.

At $12,995 MSRP, the Ducati Streetfighter 848 is $1,000 cheaper than the Superbike 848 from which it gains its roots (and shares the $13k price point with the Superbike 848 “Dark”). With the added benefit of Ducati Traction Control (DTC) and a 132hp Testastretta 11° motor with longer service intervals, Ducati has refined the Streetfighter 848 to be more civil for its for its urban hooligan duties, while maintaining an appropriate amount of uncouthed sensibility. 19 photos and a video after the jump.

After Asphalt & Rubber first announced the bike back in July, the 2012 Ducati Streetfighter 848 has finally made its official debut (with a little teaser help from Nicky Hayden). Expanding Ducati’s Streetfighter brand to now include two bikes (we’ll have to wait a little longer for the 2012 Ducati Streetfighter 1198), the Ducati Streetfighter 848 is certainly not a shocking release. True to the streetfighter movement’s ethos, the Streetfighter 848 is a stripped-down version of the Superbike 848, with a twist.

As we predicted, Ducati has brought over the Testastretta 11° engine configuration for the smaller Streetfighter, meaning not only will the Streetfighter 848 have a wet-clutch, but also a 15,000 mile valve service interval. While Ducati is mum on many of the new SF 848′s details, the Bologna brand says the bike will come with the Ducati Traction Control system (DTC), and from what we can see in the photos, unsurprisingly lower-spec Brembo brakes and Marzoochi forks, instead of the Superbike 848′s monoblocs and Sachs units.