Author

Jensen Beeler

Browsing

In early 2016, I was fortunate enough to ride the revamped and Euro4 version of the MV Agusta Brutale 800. On paper, the Brutale 800 lost power and gained weight, but the reality is that MV Agusta improved upon already one of its best-selling machines, in subtle and clever ways.

Now a year-and-a-half later, the 2017 MV Agusta Brutale 800 is finally available in the United States, and I have been reunited with one of the best street bikes on the market.

Spending almost all of last month with this motorcycle again, it is clear that not much has changed from a rider’s perspective, though internally improvements have been made to some of the weaker elements of the design, like the sprag clutch and valve train.

While not much has changed with this year’s edition of the MV Agusta Brutale 800, I am mostly fine with that.

I say mostly, because the MV Agusta Brutale 800 could benefit from some changes, with those handful of refinements, the MV Agusta Brutale 800 could be the best street bike on the market…and I don’t say those words lightly.

Honda is teasing a big global unveiling later next month. What it is, no one knows – outside of Honda, of course. To help tease us into the debut though, Honda has set up a five-part video series, with the tagline “What Lies Beyond” and a focus on what brings motorcycles to the open road.

We have a little over a month to speculate about what new big 2018 model Honda has up its sleeve for us. Maybe it’s a production version of the Honda Neowing hybrid three-wheeler. Maybe it’s the electric version of the Honda Super Cub

Or maybe, it’s an all-new Honda Gold Wing, which is what my colleagure Adam Waheed from Riders Domain thinks it could be. Either way, we’ll see soon enough. Hopefully it wheelies, and comes in red.

Just two weeks ago, it seemed that Canada Moto Guide was set to close its doors, but the Canadian motorcycle news site will live on, after finding a new owner.

Announcing the news this weekend, Canada Moto Guide has been purchased by autoTRADER.ca, which is one of Canada’s largest automotive websites.

“I’m very happy, and I know that Rob would also be happy and proud to know that CMG is now in the care of autoTRADER,” said Courtney Hay, the former owner of Canada Moto Guide and wife to the late Rob Harris, who founded of the site. “Canada Moto Guide has a great future ahead of it.”

Episode 61 of the Two Enthusiasts Podcast is out, and in it we talk about riding some motorcycles…and driving some motorcycles. We also talk about new motorcycles, recalled motorcycles, and how to fuel motorcycles in our coming Mad Max future.

For the past month, we have been riding the 2017 MV Agusta Brutale 800, so we rant and rave about how great that bike is, and how I think it might be the best street bike on the market.

We also discuss my recent trip to SoCal to drive the Polaris Slingshot, and how Polaris has created the autocycle category in 40 states now.

Our attention then turns to Harley-Davidson’s new batch of motorcycles, and discuss where the American brand is headed. We also talk about BMW Motorrad’s plethora of recalls in the recent weeks.

The show ends with us talking about Bosch’s synthetic fuel strategy, which could have interesting implications…especially if fuel prices increase over the coming years.

There’s a little something for everyone in this show. We think you’ll like it.

You can listen to the show via the embedded SoundCloud player, after the jump, or you can find the show on iTunes (please leave a review) or this RSS feed. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well.

Triumph wants you to know that it’s getting ready for the 2019 Moto2 Championship, where the British company’s three-cylinder engine will power the intermediate grand prix racing class.

Testing the engine, Triumph has mated the 765cc lump to its supersport machine, making it a Triumph Daytona 765. Getting some help from Moto2 rider Julian Simon, Triumph has been testing at Aragon, looking to evaluate the performance and durability of its middleweight engine.

“At this stage of the development program we are in a good place,” said Steve Sargent, Chief Product Officer for Triumph Motorcycles.

“We are very pleased with the pace that Julian is showing with the latest engine and his feedback has been very positive. We have confidence that we will deliver an engine that the teams will enjoy racing with and a spectacle and sound that will excite the fans.”

While the launch of the Ducati’s Desmosedici Stradale V4 engine and leaked photos of the Ducati Panigale V4 dominated the news on Thursday, Aprilia Racing was quietly changing the sport of motorcycle racing, as it debuted an augmented reality helmet that its mechanics will wear in MotoGP.

Aprilia has partnered with DAQRI and Realmore to make the augmented reality helmet come to fruition – DARQI is making the hardware, while Realmore is responsible for the software.

As followers of augmented reality (AR) tech may already have guessed, Aprilia Racing’s AR helmet will allow its mechanics to visualize and share information, overlaid on what is occurring in the pit box.

No, the beard and skinny jeans crowd aren’t abandoning their broken down Honda CB’s and flocking to the crazy looks of the Kawasaki Z900, but Team Green does seem to have a heritage-inspired version of their four-cylinder street bike coming down the pipe.

Teasing the Kawasaki Z900RS in a short YouTube video, it seems that the Japanese brand is taking the stout Z900 and styling it for the mercurial tastes of younger riders.

This could be an interesting move for Kawasaki, and while the Z900 isn’t the bike that immediately comes to our minds as being appropriate for this venture, one has to remember the success that Yamaha has seen doing a similar maneuver with the FZ-09, turning it into the XSR900.

Using motorcycle designs as platforms for multiple machines is nothing new, but we have seen the Japanese brands using this strategy with growing success each year.

As such, the upcoming Kawasaki Z900RS could be a very intriguing machine to see, once it drops. Stay tuned.