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2014 Honda CBR300R – Small-Displacement Warfare

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The battlefront in the small-displacement motorcycle war is heating up, as Honda has responded to last year’s debut of the Kawasaki Ninja 300 with its own 300cc sport bike, the 2014 Honda CBR300R. Departing from the looks of the Honda CBR250R, the Honda CBR300R instead gets its styling from the Honda CBR500R that debuted last year at this time.

Finally giving us some details since its preview last month, we now know what Honda has added another 37cc to its entry-level spot, as the Honda CBR300R has a 286cc single-cylinder engine, which makes 30hp and 20 lbs•ft of torque.

Honda says the CBR300R has an improved throttle response, and will come with ABS as standard. From the way the Japanese are talking, the Honda CBR300R is set to replace the Honda CBR250R worldwide, which means we will see this bike in the United States.

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MotoGP

Preview of Valencia: In the Pressure Cooker at Cheste

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Mixed emotions greet the final race of most MotoGP seasons. There is sadness at the prospect of four months or more without racing. There is interest and expectation, as fans look past the race weekend to the test which immediately follows, when the bikes for next year appear and the riders switching teams get their first shot at a new ride.

And there is excitement of course, at the prospect of a race to wrap up the season. But with the title usually already decided in advance, there is only pride at stake, and not much more to play for.

This year, it’s different. Yes, the test on Monday is a big deal, with Cal Crutchlow’s debut on the Ducati, the Honda production racer making its first appearance, with Nicky Hayden on board, and the Aleix Espargaro giving the Yamaha production racer its first run out. But for the first time since 2006, the Valencia race really matters, and will decide who gets to crown themselves champion.

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Bikes

Up-Close with the MV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800

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MV Agusta’s big announcement at the 2013 EICMA show was of course its new sport-tourer, the MV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800. Based around the Italian brand’s 800cc three-cylinder engine, the Turismo Veloce is a big step for MV Agusta, though one taken cautiously both in terms of progress and design.

Borrowing heavily from the firm’s F3 and F4 sport bikes, the MV Agusta Turismo Veloce feels like its stuck in the Varese company’s past, though in many ways it is MV Agusta’s future.

We are sure that the sport-tourer is just the first of many line-extensions for MV Agusta that will borrow from the same common elements found in all the current MV Agusta motorcycles, but the real highlight of the Turismo Veloce 800 is that it debuts a number of new technologies for MV Agusta, which have all been packaged into the MVICS 2.0 system.

Despite the impressive advancements made with the MVICS 2.0 system, as with all MV Agusta motorcycles, the real connection with the machine is a visual one, and the MV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800 certainly makes an impression.

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Bikes

2014 Kawasaki J300 — A Maxi-Scooter from Team Green

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Scooters aren’t really our thing here at Asphalt & Rubber — I mean sure they’re fun to ride, just as long as no one sees you on one, right? That’s the joke at least, but the reality is that the more people we gett on two-wheels in America, the better; and today’s maxi-scooters are essentially just really comfortable motorbikes anyways.

That’s what makes the 2014 Kawasaki J300 such a big announcement at the 2013 EICMA show, as Kawasaki is finally offering a scooter built for the European market, and is now offering its first maxi-scooter.

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Bikes

Brough Superior SS100 – Bringing Back a Legendary Brand

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The legendary brand of Brough Superior is making a resurgence, as the British marques debuted today at the 2013 EICMA show its first all-new street bike in decades, the Brough Superior SS100.

A bit of high-tech meets old school, the Brough Superior SS100 draws heavily from the classic lines of the original Brough Superior SS100 before it, though the modern-day machine incorporates some clever innovations and contemporary pieces.

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Bikes

Bimota BB3 — Italian Design, German Performance

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Today marks a formal new beginning for Bimota, as the boutique Italian firm has recently been acquired by Daniele Longoni and Marco Chiancianesi. Helping to commemortate that event, Bimota debuted at the 2013 EICMA show its new S1000RR-powered Bimota BB3 sport bike.

Using the 999cc four-cylinder superbike motor found on the BMW, the Italians quote 190hp for the Bimota BB3, the same as what the Germans have been able to coax from the S1000RR. Weight is 394 lbs dry, also the same as the BMW S1000RR, so on paper the two bikes appear to be quite similar. In person though, they are anything but.

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Bikes

Up-Close with the Ducati 1199 Superleggera

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The highlight of the 2013 EICMA show has to be the Ducati 1199 Superleggera, which Ducati formally introduced to the press last Monday night. The “super light” street bike may not have the dynamism of being a completely new machine, as was the case with the Desmosedici RR, but the 155kg (dry) Superleggera is just as impressive when you pause to take a moment and examine all of its details.

With only 500 units being made, Ducati says roughly only 50 are unspoken for as of Sunday morning — a pretty impressive figure considering that up until that moment, only a handful of people had actually seen the Ducati 1199 Superleggera in the flesh. Once the 500th bike is sold, that will be it for the Superleggera, Ducati having learned its lesson from the Desmosedici launch.

The most obvious part about the Superleggera is its orange-red paint scheme, which matches the Rosso Corsa paint found on the Ducati Desmosedici GP13. If you only examined the Ducati 1199 Superleggera skin-deep, this would be your big takeaway from the experience, but the beauty really resides in the details.

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Zero Motorcycles Debuts New Zero SR at EICMA

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Every year, the electric motorcycle lineup from Zero Motorcycles grows up a little bit more, both in terms of product evolution and in terms of technology advancement.

So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that for 2014 Zero Motorcycles once again has something for enthusiasts: the Zero SR, which builds off the company’s Zero S electric motorcycle, and features 67hp, 106 lbs•ft of torque, and a 102 mph top speed.

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Photos: Husqvarna 701 Concept – A Future Supermoto?

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One of the more eye-catching things we saw today at the EICMA show (besides the Triumph Tiger 800 XC SE), the Husqvarna 701 Concept is an homage to the Swedish brand’s past, and a signal to its future. Truly Scandinavian in its aesthetic, the modern, yet simple, lines of the Husqvarna 701 provide a unique approach to the very cookie-cutter supermoto segment.

Featuring a 650cc single-cylinder four-stroke engine, Husqvarna says that the concept is good for 75hp and “outstanding” torque. Built with a chromoly steel trellis frame, WP Suspension, and Brembo brakes, the real eye-catcher is the custom Akrapovic exhaust and its integrated bodywork shroud.

The seat is made of multiple materials, and is designed to have grippy spots for where the rider sits under braking and acceleration, and slippery spots for where a rider needs to move along the seat unimpeded. We aren’t huge fans of the LED headlight, but otherwise it is a nice concept by Husqvarna.

Will the folks at Husqvarna create an on-road machine in the future? Certainly not. A supermoto perhaps though? Time will tell. Photos of the machine, taken in-person by yours truly, are after the jump.

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2014 Triumph Tiger 800 XC SE — That’s Hot

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Unless you are into the cruiser thing, Triumph’s press event at the 2013 EICMA show was a fairly timid affair, with talk about the company’s future growth, its plans for emerging markets, and the high-fives over 2013’s business dealings being the soup de jour.

However, we were tickled by one of Triumph’s more minor announcements, the 2014 Triumph Tiger 800 XC SE. Really just a cosmetic reworking of the British brand’s middleweight adventure-tourer, the bright red frame and subtle “Volcanic Black” paint scheme were enough to capture our blogger ADD.

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MotoGP

Aprilia Racing Making a Return to MotoGP for the 2016 Season — Just in Time for a Rule Change?

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There is a lot of fascinating news coming out of this week’s EICMA motorcycle show in Milan: the boom in smaller capacity motorcycles, an upgraded Fireblade, a massive push from MV Agusta, but the show is also making headlines which will affect motorcycle racing as well.

Today at the EICMA, during a presentation on Aprilia’s future plans, Piaggio CEO Roberto Colaninno announced that the Italian manufacturer is aiming to make a return to the MotoGP class as a factory entry in 2016.

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