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Leaked: Photos and Details of the 2019 BMW R1250GS Adventure

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EICMA might be next week, but the 2019 BMW R1250GS Adventure is hitting the internet right meow. Leaking ahead of the trade show in Milan, an Italian YouTube channel has the scoop on the venerable ADV bike, giving us our first look at the new ShiftCam powered BMW R1250GS Adventure.

As you would expect, the new BMW R1250GS Adventure shares a motor with the rest of the water-cooled boxer lineup, which means a 1,254cc displacement for the boxer-twin engine, which makes 134hp (100 kW) and 92 lbs•ft of torque, with help from its variable valve timing setup.

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Rumors

This Week’s Honda CBR1000RR Rumor, The 2020 Edition

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Another week, another rumor about a new Honda CBR1000RR. You can almost set your clock to the rumors that surround Big Red’s future superbike offering, and there are several factors for this.

First, the Honda CBR1000RR is a woefully old machine, even in its “all-new” guise, the current model can trace its lineage back to the 2008 model year. Second, the Honda CBR1000RR is obviously underpowered when you make spec sheet comparisons, by a palpable 20hp/10% margin.

The Honda makes up for this by being one of the lightest superbikes on the market, and it is easily the best handling of the bunch. But even still, in our tests, we found it to be a second a lap slower than the rest of the superbike class…and the stopwatch decides all in this segment.

Despite all this, the real reason that we keep seeing rumors about a new CBR1000RR likely stems from one simple reason: Honda is working on a new machine. Will that new bike debut for 2019? 2020? 2021? Well, that’s the debate, and even a broken clock is correct twice a day, so…

Here we are, another week, and another rumor about a new Honda CBR1000RR.

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News

Harley-Davidson Livewire Will Make European Debut at EICMA

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The Harley-Davidson Livewire will show at EICMA, says an awkward press release to the European and Canadian markets. Our sources confirm that news though, and as such the Livewire will make an official public debut, at the trade show in Milan next week.

The Harley-Davidson Livewire is expected to make a late-2019 arrival, likely as a 2020 model year machine. This makes this debut announcement an interesting one from the Bar & Shield brand, which has seemed over-eager lately to explain and show its future plans, though we can’t imagine why.

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WSBK

Tom Sykes Signs with Shaun Muir Racing, Will Race WorldSBK on a BMW S1000RR

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Our Paddock Pass Podcast colleague Neil Morrison is reporting on Crash.net that Tom Sykes has signed with the Shaun Muir Racing team for the 2019 World Superbike season, and that the team is set to switch machinery from Aprilia to BMW.

Markus Reiterberger will join Sykes on the factory-backed BMW team, as he has the correct passport to appease the German brand.

Of course, all of this came as a surprise to Eugene Laverty, who talked about his surprise at the news, which is set to be announced at next week’s EICMA show in Milan.

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Bikes

Ducati Electric Mountain Bike Will Debut at EICMA

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A new type of Ducati will be taking center stage on Sunday, when the Italian brand begins its EICMA reveals. While we expect a number of new motorcycles from Borgo Panigale, like a new Hypermotard, the Panigale V4 R, and another Scrambler model, one machine we didn’t expect was an electric bicycle.

This is where the Ducati MIG-RR electric mountain bike comes in, with the Italian motorcycle brand partnering with the Italian e-bike maker Thok. Ducati is no stranger to branded bicycles, partnering with other brands in the past to bring Ducati bikes to market.

The Ducati MIG-RR is special though, as it marks Ducati’s first foray into the e-bike space, which is booming in Europe and just starting to gain traction in the United States.

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Recall

Harley-Davidson Recalling Over 177,00 Motorcycles for Faulty Clutch

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If you recently bought a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, then it is very likely that your new motorcycle is part of a massive recall from the Bar & Shield brand, as 177,636 machines are affected by an issue with their hydraulic clutch.

Specifically, the issue affects the Brembo secondary clutch actuator cylinder, which may leak fluid internally. If this leak continues for an extended period, the clutch master cylinder reservoir could lose enough fluid to expose the hydraulic clutch circuit to air, which may cause the clutch master cylinder to lose the ability to generate enough lift to disengage the clutch.

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Rumors

Specs of the 2019 BMW S1000RR Leak: 204hp, 434 lbs Wet, ShiftCam Variable Valves

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Some of the technical details of the 2019 BMW S1000RR have been leaked to Facebook, which show the upcoming superbike to make some considerable gains over its predecessor. We first saw the leak from US tuner Alpha SBK, which posted a photo of the basic specs on its Facebook page.

The goods? 204hp (152 kW) at the crank, with 83 lbs•ft of torque, which is aided by the new ShiftCam valve train that debuted on the BMW R1250GS and other “R” models from BMW Motorrad.

Curb weight is 434 lbs, when 4.35 gallons of fuel is in the bike. That weight can be reduced to 427 lbs, when the option “M Package” is installed, which includes a bevy of carbon fiber pieces and forged wheels.

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Rumors

Triumph Speed Twin Leaks Ahead of EICMA Debut

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Triumph has several new motorcycles to debut at the EICMA show in Milan, but ahead of that debut, a Triumph dealer has spoiled the fun, posting photos of the 2019 Triumph Speed Twin to social media.

Spotted first by our friends at NieuwsMotor.nl, the photos come from Triumph’s yearly dealer conference, where the new machines were first shown to the public. Since then, the Triumph Scrambler 1200 has formally debuted, and now we see the Speed Twin that will go alongside it.

The Triumph Speed Twin picks up where the Triumph Street Twin left off, and supposedly shares its 1,200cc parallel-twin engine with the Triumph Thruxton platform. This means a 97hp peak power figure, with 83 lbs•ft of torque.

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News

European Motorcycle Registrations Continue to Grow in 2018

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While the motorcycle market in the United States continues to struggle in 2018 (despite gains in consumer spending), things across the pond are doing substantially better.

This news comes from the European Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers (ACEM), which is reporting an 8.2% increase in motorcycle registrations in Europe during the first nine months of 2018. This trend was additionally buoyed by the third-quarter registration results from 2018, which are up 10.4% over Q3 2017 figures.

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Recall

Yamaha Super Ténéré Recalled for Critical Electrical Issue

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The final recall from this week, and in addition to the recall for the Yamaha SR400, Yamaha Motor USA is recalling the Yamaha Super Ténéré for issues with its electrical system.

The issue stems from the fact that over time a gap may develop in the protective sealant where the lead wires of the accelerator position sensor (APS) and throttle position sensor (TPS) connect to the electronic control unit (ECU).

This gap may cause corrosion to the wires, and thus change the resistance of the wires, which would send an incorrect signal to the ECU.

Because of this, the corrosion might prevent the engine from returning to idle after the throttle is released, and thus poses a potential safety hazard.

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