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Jensen Beeler

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2017 Yamaha YZF-R6 Hinted for INTERMOT Debut

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For a couple months now, we’ve had some indications that Yamaha was getting ready to release a new sport bike. With the Yamaha YZF-R1 coming up on two-years-old, the timing suggested that Yamaha was ready for a follow-up to that hit. That is to say, it is time for a new Yamaha YZF-R6.

Yamaha seems to agree, today posting a teaser video to its website and social media accounts. The video is sanitized from giving away too much information, with us only seeing a rider going around a race track. The sound though, is a strong giveaway.

The video’s soundtrack is filled with the screaming of a multi-cylinder machine. Our ear hears a four-cylinder engine, with a flat-plane crankshaft, that is revving to the stratosphere.

This give us a strong indication that a supersport bike is just around the corner, and the video ends with the promise of showing more on October 4th, the first press day of the INTERMOT trade show in Cologne, Germany.

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Bikes

Honda X-ADV Adventure Scooter Will Debut at EICMA

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The folks at Big Red have just sent word that the Honda X-ADV adventure scooter is headed into production.

The crossover model, which is based closely off the Honda City Adventure concept, takes your typical maxi-scooter design, and adds some off-roading capability.

Honda says the scooter has long-travel suspension, a five-stage adjustable windscreen, and storage space for an off-road helmet.

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Bikes

New Four-Cylinder MV Agusta Brutale Debuting at EICMA

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You know the new-bike season is just around the corner, because we’re starting to get glimpses of what the motorcycle OEMs will debut at shows like INTERMOT and EICMA.

We’ve already had a glimpse of the 2017 Honda CBR1000RR, as well as the 2017 BMW S1000R, and if the folks at Italian motorcycle magazine Motociclismo are correct, the following is a concept sketch of the four-cylinder 2017 MV Agusta Brutale.

The new Brutale is one of two new bikes that MV Agusta will launch at the EICMA show, with the other machine pegged as a special edition three-cylinder model.

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Bikes

Spotted: The Subtly Changed 2017 BMW S1000R

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Yesterday, we were the first publication to bring you photos of the 2017 Honda CBR1000RR, and today, we are the first to show you the 2017 BMW S1000R.

Thanks to our loyal readers, we were pointed in the direction of some photos of what looks like a pre-production version of the upcoming 2017 BMW S1000R streetfighter (one of the machines we tipped for an update this coming model year).

It appears that the new BMW S1000R  is going to get a bevy of changes already found on the current BMW S1000RR superbike, both visually and mechanically.

Caught at the Oschersleben track in Germany, we can’t imagine how many people walked by this parked motorcycle, without realizing what it was.

We can’t blame them though, because the updates coming to the 2017 BMW S1000R are subtle, and you’d really have to know what you’re looking at, in order to see the changes. Thankfully, that’s what A&R is here for.

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Podcast

Two Enthusiasts Podcast #32 – Kinda Corny

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Summer is coming to an end in Two Enthusiasts Podcast land, and as such Episode 32 starts with some talk of the final track days of the season, before we head off into a discussion about the American Motorcyclist Association.

The prompt for this discussion is the recent kerfuffle over four-gallon minimum fill-ups from blended nozzles (if you don’t know what that means; don’t worry, we get you up to speed on it in the show), and the AMA’s response to this recent business recommendation from the corn lobby.

We examine this issue, and then turn to talk about the AMA as an organization, and whether it is representing the best interests of mainstream motorcyclists.

It’s a pretty interesting conversation, which quite frankly, every motorcycle-owner should examine for themselves, and decide where they fall in terms of how this industry should be lead in the coming years.

As always, 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. Enjoy the show!

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Bikes

More of the Sexiness That Is the KTM Moto2 Race Bike

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KTM’s Moto2 project officially debuted today, with Aki Ajo managing the team that will consist of riders Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira. Like KTM’s MotoGP project, with the KTM RC16 race bike, the Moto2 project uses some intriguing elements.

Namely, the frame is of a steel trellis design, the suspension is provided for by WP, and of course the engine is a lightly tuned Honda CBR600RR lump.

If looks could win races, the WP KTM Moto2 machine would already be a contender. That being said, we have high expectations for the racing program in next year’s Moto2 Championship.

Until then tough, we’ll let you drool over the high-resolution images we have waiting for you, after the jump.

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News

Report: Traffic Fatalities Increased in 2015

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National crash statistics for 2015 have just been released, and overall, the news is not good. After decades of seeing road fatalities drop, 2015 saw an 7.2% increase in fatalities across all vehicles.

The increase comes primarily from an increase in miles driven by Americans, but the data also shows an increase in the number of crashes per mile driven, suggesting that the trend isn’t just from drivers being on the road more.

For motorcyclists, 2015 was especially bad, with motorcycle crash fatalities increasing by 8.3%, though motorcycle crash injuries were down 4.3% last year.

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Bikes

Hi, Are You the 2017 Honda CBR1000RR?

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If you were hoping that the 2017 Honda CBR1000RR would be a completely new machine for sport bike enthusiasts, the following might disappoint you.

This is because photos published on Twitter seem to suggest that the 2017 Honda Fireblade will get mostly cosmetic changes for the upcoming model year.

As you can see after the jump, what looks like the new CBR1000RR was caught lapping for what appears to be a PR video spot for the Japanese OEM.

While it is clear from these shots that the pictured Honda CBR1000RR has a radically new fairing design, a closer comparison to the chassis (see above) suggests that the machine is simply the current generation machine, with new clothing.

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Products

Wazer, A Mass Market Water Jet Cutter

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I know more than a few Asphalt & Rubber readers are do-it-yourselfers, so this news about the Wazer mass market water jet cutter should be of particular interest.

The $6,000 desktop water jet cutter by Wazer offers a key technology that previously was only available to larger fabrication outfits, with typical water jet cutters costing up to $50,000 for standard units, and north of $100,000 for industrial-level cutters.

Suitable for cutting metal, rock, composites, and other materials, water jut cutters are what the big boys bring out for cutting jobs, when laser cutter can’t…umm…cut it, making this of particular note to builders and creative-types who previously could not afford the technology.

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Bikes

BMW C Evolution Electric Scooter Finally Coming to the USA

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Here is some more BMW news for your Monday, as BMW Motorrad USA has confirmed that the BMW C Evolution electric scooter will finally make its way to the USA.

The news marks an important moment for electric two-wheelers, with BMW Motorrad being one of the few major motorcycle OEMs to offer an electric vehicle to consumers in the United States.

The news is good timing too, because BMW Motorrad just announced an update for the BMW C Evolution scooter, with a long-range version (100 miles on a charge) model being offered alongside the standard model, which still has a 60-mile range.

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Bikes

Two New BMW Models Debuting a INTERMOT

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Every other year, the motorcycle industry gathers in Cologne, Germany in October, for the INTERMOT trade expo. The show provides a good alternative for the Germanic brands to launch new machines, with BMW and KTM often showcasing new models at the show. This year will be no different.

To that end, BMW Motorrad is already getting its hype machine warmed up, telling us that several models will debut updates in Cologne. More importantly, zie Germans tell us that two new motorcycles will also debut at the INTERMOT show.

What those models will be is certainly the conjecture du jour, since there are several possibilities that BMW Motorrad could be working on.

Adding to the mystery is the fact that BMW often leaves something interesting for the yearly EICMA show in Milan, Italy, which happens a month later, in the first week of November. This might make decoding BMW’s game plan all but impossible, but we can still give it a try.

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