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Triumph Street Triple Rx Coming to the USA

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Take your standard 675cc three-cylinder Triumph Street Triple, put a Daytona 675 sport bike tail and subframe on it, and you’ve got the basic premise of the Triumph Street Triple Rx special edition figured out.

Of course, that’s not all you get, as the Street Triple Rx comes with special decals and paint, “Diablo” red wheels, a quickshifter for your $11,199 MSRP.

That’s right, the 2015 Triumph Street Triple Rx  is coming to the USA as a new model, available February 2015 — that’s good news, if it tickles your fancy.

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Columns

Destination Malaysia – Day One: Frequent Flier

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I’m off to Malaysia for the next week, to watch the Malaysian GP at Sepang International Circuit, and generally take in the touristy parts of Kuala Lumpur and the archipelago of Langkawi.

As close as I can get to paid vacation in this line of work, I will be the guest of the Malaysian government, which as far as I can gather, wants to make the Malaysian GP a sort of destination vacation for two-wheeled fans — a “come for the GP, stay for the beaches” kind of thing.

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Bikes

Officially Official: MV Agusta Brutale Dragster 800 RR

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We already brought you the first high-resolution photos of the MV Agusta Brutale Dragster 800 RR (say that three times fast!) yesterday, which were sent to us by our Bothan Spies. In response, MV Agusta has unveiled the Dragster RR and Brutale RR today, ahead of the EICMA show.

Like the updated Brutale 800 RR, the Brutale Dragster 800 RR features a revised 798cc three-cylinder engine, which makes 140hp at the 13,100 rpm, and a very peaky 63 lbs•ft of torque at 10,100 rpm.

Numerous visual cues have been changed, included red-anodized fork tubes, red-painted cylinder heads, and aluminum tubeless wire-spoked wheels. An eight-way adjustable steering damper continues the noticeable changes, to the 370 lbs machine (dry).

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Bikes

MV Agusta Brutale 800 RR — 140hp & MVICS 2.0

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Along with the new Dragster RR, MV Agusta has debuted the Brutale RR, ahead of the EICMA show. Like its hot rod cousin, the MV Agusta Brutale 800 RR gets a 15hp increase, which makes for 140hp at the 13,100 rpm peak. A very peaky motor indeed, maximum torque arrives at 10,100 rpm at 63 lbs•ft.

The Brutale RR also features the MVICS 2.0 electronics package, which first debuted on the still unreleased MV Agusta Turismo Veloce. An update to the already robust MVICS package, the key feature in the 2.0 revision is the quickshift operation, both for upshifts and downshifts.

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Bikes

Video: MV Agusta Brutale Dragster 800 RR in Motion

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It looks like since the MV Agusta Brutale Dragster 800 RR (its full name) has blown cover, thanks to our Bothan spies, MV Agusta has gone ahead and released a few photos and this video to the press. A longer version of the drag strip video we brought you two weeks ago, this time around we see the Dragster RR in full.

Some seem to love this bike, while others hate it. We certainly agree it looks better in the black variation, than the white, but MV Agusta has no shortage of design prowess — expect this machine to be a stunner in person, when it debuts officially at EICMA.

With upgraded wheels and vibrant paint, how does this 140hp three-cylinder hot rod strike your fancy? Let us know in the comments.

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News

Ducati Scrambler Will Be “Made in Thailand”

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Almost four years ago, we reported on Ducati opening a new assembly plant in Thailand. The move, which peeved Ducati’s factory workers, would see bikes destined for the Southeast Asian market assembled in the Thai plant, thus side-stepping many of the region’s aggressive tariffs on motorcycles.

Nearing the end of 2014 now, and our Bothan Spies report that the Ducati Scrambler models will be the first motorcycles assembled in Ducati’s Thai plant that will then be shipped to the world market (sans the European market, which will get bikes still from Bologna, according to Moto.it) — a move that comes right after Ducati reached a new contract with its workers and unions, which sees the factory employees working fewer hours at higher wages.

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Bikes

LEAKED: First Photos of the MV Agusta Dragster RR

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MV Agusta had us guessing as to what the Varese company would be debuting at the upcoming EICMA show, though the latest video from the company seems to clearly show that a Dragster RR will be coming.

A built up version of the Dragster 800, the MV Agusta Dragster RR features Kineo wheels, new paint, and we presume some sort of launch control mechanism.

We expect the MV Agusta Brutale Dragster RR to officially debut a day before EICMA starts, as MV Agusta usually holds a press event on the Monday before the show.

You don’t have to wait that long though, as we have 18 high-resolution photos sent to us by our Bothan Spies, who seem to be busy little Bothans, as our friends at Nieuwsmotor also appear to have received these shots (some different, some the same).

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Bikes

Up-Close with the Yamaha YZF-R3

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This week we not only go a chance to see the 2015 Yamaha YZF-R3 unveiled at the AIMExpo, but also we had the chance to see the R3 up-close in the flesh. The budget-minded sport bike shows the obvious signs of more cost-effecient construction and fitted components, yet retains the fit-and-finish you would expect from a Yamaha motorcycle.

This makes the R3 a prime candidate for aspirational riders, who want an affordable first motorcycle that looks the part of a proper sport bike. Track enthusiasts and veteran riders though will be disappointed with the Yamaha YZF-R3’s non-adjustable KYB suspension, box swingarm design, and bulky chassis — this is still a 368lbs (wet) motorcycle.

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Bikes

Video: Kawasaki Ninja H2R’s Electronic Controls

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With great power, comes great responsibility…I’m fairly certain I read that in a comic book somewhere. The adage carries over to the Kawasaki Ninja H2R though, as any 300hp supercharged machine needs some snappy electronics to keep all that power in line. It’s something we talked about yesterday, when we got up-close with the H2R at the AIMExpo.

Seemingly reading our thoughts on that matter, Kawasaki has released a terse video on the H2R’s electronic controls. The video essentially confirms that the Kawasaki Ninja H2R, and presumably the Kawasaki Ninja H2 street bike, will come with anti-locking brakes (KIBS), traction control (KTRC), launch control (KLCM), quick shifter (KQS), engine braking control (KEBC), and an electronic steering damper (ESD).

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