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Valentino Rossi Defeats Motobot…For Now

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Back in 2015, Yamaha Motors set out with an ambitious objective: to create a robot that is capable of beating around the race track one of the greatest motorcycle riders of all time, Valentino Rossi.

Along the way, the Japanese manufacturer would learn a limitless amount of information about how motorcycle racers achieve the lap times that do, and Yamaha would then be able to quantify one of the great mysteries in how to make a motorcycle go faster.

With the Motobot project born to achieve all these goals, Yamaha now two years later has pit its creation against their factory-back MotoGP racer, and the results are very interesting.

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Bikes

The Honda Neo Sports Café Concept Is Quite the Looker

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After much teasing, Honda quietly debuted its Neo Sports Café concept at the Tokyo Motor Show today. Releasing nary a detail about the simple but modern motorcycle design, we are left to draw our own conclusions about the machine.

We had hoped that the Honda Neo Sports Café would lead to a retro-styled version of the Honda CB1000R, much in the same vein that the new Kawasaki Z900S is a hipsterfied version of the popular Z900 street bike.

It’s not clear if Honda intends to produce the Neo Sports Café concept, but its design is intriguing, especially when you consider the now ancient four-cylinder engine that resides in its chassis, which is of course derived from the previous generation Honda CBR1000RR.

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Bikes

Retro-Styled Kawasaki Z900RS Debuts in Tokyo

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As expected, at this year’s Tokyo Motor Show, Kawasaki unveiled a new retro-syled model based off its popular Z900 street bike, thus creating the 2018 Kawasaki Z900RS.

As the core of the bike is the same four-cylinder, water-cooled, 900cc engine that is found on the Kawasaki Z900, but Team Green has completely revamped the styling to have a more heritage look and feel to the “RS” model.

Peppy motorcycle meets trendy aesthetics, the Kawasaki Z900RS truly lives up to its “Retro Sport” moniker. Equipment includes LED lighting, new spoke-looking wheels, and a revised exhaust design.

The paint scheme is meant to mimic the design found on the 1972 Kawasaki Z1, one of the Japanese brand’s more classic motorcycles, while appealing to the features that modern motorcyclists rely upon.

Set for sure for the European market, it will be interesting to see if Kawasaki brings the Z900RS to the USA. We would expect so, but stay tuned for more information.

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Bikes

No It’s Not April, But Yes This Is the New Yamaha Niken

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Those bastards at Yamaha actually did it, they actually did it…the Yamaha MWT-9 leaning trike concept has been made into a production model. As such, say hello to the new 2018 Yamaha Niken.

Powered by the familiar 900cc three-cylinder engine found on the Yamaha FZ-09, that is all that is familiar about Yamaha Niken, as this isn’t your ordinary motorcycle.

This is because the Niken is based on a leaning-chassis design with three wheels, as it explores a different type of motorcycling fun.

Yamaha isn’t saying too much about the model, though it does appear to be coming to the United States. What the tuning fork brand has relayed to us is that the Yamaha Niken will use 15″ wheels up front, with dual-tube upside down forks.

The Niken is long too, just a touch over 7 ft. long (2,150mm), while staying just under 3 ft. wide (885mm). Debuting today at the Tokyo Motor Show, we expect more details on the 2018 Yamaha Niken to emerge at the EICMA show in Milan, in two weeks’ time.

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Bikes

The Sixth Generation Honda Gold Wing Is Finally Here

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Enthusiasts of the Honda Gold Wing motorcycle have waited a long time for this day, and now it is finally here, as Honda has finally brought a new Gold Wing to market – the sixth generation of this iconic motorcycle.

The 2018 model comes in two flavors, a bagger version which Big Red is calling the Honda Gold Wing, and a touring version, which is aptly named the Honda Gold Wing Tour.

Both of the 2018 models are all-new motorcycle designs, with virtually no part of the machines being shared with the previous generation bike, and both built around a brand new six-cylinder engine.

Focused around a more compact design, the 2018 Honda Gold Wing is staggeringly lighter than before, with roughly 90 lbs of bulk removed from its mass.

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Dirt

Suzuki Shockingly Ends Its MXGP & All Japan MX Racing

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In a shocking announcement, Suzuki Motor Corp. announced the withdrawal of its factory-supported teams from the Motocross World Championship (MXGP) and All Japan Motocross Championship – two high-profile series for Suzuki’s off-road racing efforts.

Suzuki says that the move comes after evaluating its motorcycle operations, as it plans to focus on its core business function, and it also restructures its motorcycle business. The result, as we have now seen, is the Japanese brand reducing its MX commitments.

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Bikes

Kawasaki Ninja 400 Coming to the USA for 2018

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It looks like Kawasaki’s small-displacement family is about to grow, as Team Green is set to add another model to its Ninja lineup. Spotted in the California Air Resources Board (CARB) filings by the eagle eyes at Motorcycle.com, the 2018 Kawasaki Ninja 400 is surely coming to US soil.

The model was first spotted during shooting for a advertisement, by a local TV station in Milwaukee. With Kawasaki already having a 300cc version of the Ninja for the American market, it’s not clear how a 400cc model will fit into the Japanese company’s scheme.

Either the 2018 Kawasaki Ninja 400 will replace the popular Ninja 300 for the US market, or both bikes will be offered to American riders. Both options are hard to fathom however.

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Bikes

Is Honda’s Neo-Sport Café a New Retro-Styled CB1000R?

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If we had to guess at a unifying theme for this year’s new bike launches, it would have to be “what is old is new again” as several brands are working on modern-engineered retro-styled motorcycles for the Tokyo and Milan expos.

Big Red is throwing its hat into the ring for this game as well, teasing what it calls the “Neo-Sport Café” on its YouTube channel. The videos center around Honda’s design and engineering team working on a new motorcycle, which will debut next month at the EICMA show in Milan.

In the teaser videos, we see a retro-looking motorcycle, with modern flares, such as an LED headlight, single-sided swingarm, and bazooka shaped exhaust can.

And then of course, there is the name” Neo-Sport Café and Honda’s description that it is true to “the spirt of the café racer.

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