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Triumph Tiger 800 Gets Four More Variants

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Triumph seems set to debut four more variants of its Tiger 800, as CARB filings filings show a Tiger 800 XCA, Tiger 800 XCX, Tiger 800 XRT, and Tiger 800 XRX models for the 2015 model year. The news seems to show Triumph spreading out its middleweight ADV offering, giving on-road and off-road riders a bit more to choose from the British brand.

Helping us understand how Triumph sees the four added variants, Motorcycle.com has publish a chart (above), which Triumph sent to Tiger 800 owners as a part of its market research. That chart breaks down the various models’ spec, and which features that would come with as standard.

Noticeable across the board is that the three-cylinder gets a 15% MPG boost (the CARB document also show fewer hydrocarbon emissions), as well as ABS and traction control as standard features.

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“DVT” Ducati Valve Timing Announcement Coming Soon

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Ducati sent out a rather terse press mailer today, which you can see above. Simply stating that DVT is coming on October 15th, we would normally be scratching our heads over what the Italian manufacturer has in store.

However, since we broke the news yesterday about Ducati bringing variable valve timing to the market, first with its all-new Multistrada, one doesn’t have to be a rocket scientist to put two-and-two together to come up with “Ducati Valve Timing” as the teaser’s subject.

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Variable Valve Timing Coming to the Ducati Multistrada

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For the 2015 model year, Ducati is bringing a brand new Multistrada, which will debut at the upcoming EICMA show in Milan, Italy. Not much has been said about the new Multistrada, aside from A&R breaking the news about the new model a few weeks ago, so we thought we would update you further on it.

Designed to look very similar to the current Multistrada 1200, the new Multistrada will keep the basic profile and design of its predecessor, despite being an all-new machine. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the 2015 Ducati Multistrada though is the fact that Borgo Panigale has fitted variable valve timing (VVT) to the desmodromic valves of the Testastretta 11° engine.

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Is Ferrari Working on a Motorcycle?

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Lately we have seen a lot of car manufacturers taking an interest in the two-wheeled world — Audi bought Ducati from Investindustrial, and MV Agusta is expected to announce that Mecerdes-AMG is taking a minority stake in the Italian motorcycle company.

These collaborations and consolidations make a lot of sense from a business perspective: economies of scale, common four-stroke technology, shared R&D, and CAFE standard benefits, just to name a few.

So that’s why the latest news that Ferrari has filed a patent on a motorcycle engine doesn’t surprise us in concept. Nor does the press’ intensity of the subject.

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Watch the Kawasaki Ninja H2R Rip It Up on the Track

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We will be talking about the Kawasaki Ninja H2R for quite a while we suspect, even well after the dust has settled on the hyperbike’s launch. A supercharged 300hp track-only macine doesn’t come from one of the Japanese Four too often (read: ever), and what it means for the industry is still being assessed by pundits and enthusiasts alike.

For now, it has our ADD-like attention, just as Kawasaki begins teasing out its 200hp Ninja H2 street bike. So while we wait for the H2 to drop, here’s a video of the H2R doing its thing around the race track. For those of you wondering how 300hp is going to hook up in the tight and twisty, here is your answer.

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MV Agusta Dragster RR Teased in Video

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Two weeks ago we showed you the photo that MV Agusta was using to tease its latest model to debut at EICMA. The photo featured Kineo-spoked wheels, and the company’s three-piped exhaust can. This of course left us to speculate that the expensive tubeless wheelset would be attached to either a proper ADV bike from MV Agusta, or some sort of café racer.

A few days later, we found the trademark filings for a “Turismo Leggero” motorcycle, whose name similarity to the MV Agusta Turismo Veloce, made us think our first instincts about that teaser photo were right: this new model was some sort of adventure-touring machine. Well…add another theory to the mix.

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LEAKED: First Image of the Kawasaki Ninja H2 Street Bike

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Just last week the Kawasaki Ninja H2R, KHI’s supercharged track-only 300hp beast of a hyperbike, debuted at INTERMOT. The reception of the H2R was astounding, and Kawasaki has certainly laid down the gauntlet with the design, philosophy, and execution of its latest Ninja.

Kawasaki’s test riders are already reporting on social media speeds over 210 mph, and we eagerly await Kawasaki’s street-legal Ninja H2.

Set to debut at the AIMExpo in two weeks’ time, it seems the first image of the machine has leaked ahead of schedule. Caught in what looks like an early release of Kawasaki’s next teaser video, we can make out the lines of the Ninja H2 street bike.

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Motus Sets Two Land Speed Records at Bonneville

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This has not been a good year for speed freaks looking to set land speed records at Bonneville, as the Utah course has been subject to a series of storms, which have either left the salt flats flooded, or the salt conditions unsuitable for record-smashing.

That didn’t seem to stop Motus Motorcycles at the AMA-sanctioned 2014 Bonneville Speed Trials event, as the upstart motorcycle company walked away with two records, in the 1650cc P-PP  (165.81 mph) and (168.69 mph) 1650cc P-PG classes –set respectively by Motus founders Lee Conn and Brian Case.

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Suzuki GSX-S1000F Not Coming to the USA Until…2016?

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The big “new” model from Suzuki for 2015 is the Suzuki GSX-S1000, and its fully-faired cousin the Suzuki GSX-S1000F. Using the 2008 Suzuki GSX-R1000’s engine, retuned for street riding, the GSX-S1000 is Suzuki’s liter-bike streetfighter, while the GSX-S1000F is being billed as a very sporty sport-tourer…or a comfortable sport bike…however you want to slice that cake.

The good news is that the Suzuki GSX-S1000, Suzuki GSX-S1000F, Suzuki GSX-S1000F ABS have been confirmed by Suzuki Motor America as coming to the USA.

The bad news is that GSX-S1000 lineup will be 2016 models, not 2015. While Suzuki isn’t saying when the machines will arrive at dealers, it seems fair to infer that the 2016 model year designation means Summer 2015 at the earliest.

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2015 BMW R1200R Mega Gallery

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Though the addition of BMW’s water-cooled engine to the 2015 BMW R1200R was a move everyone saw coming down the pipe, the German company’s extensive style shift on the BMW R1200R was perhaps a move unexpected.

The classic looking roadster of before is now replaced with a more aggressive design — though perhaps not as aggressive as the BMW Roadster Concept that we saw earlier this year.

Still, the new BMW R1200R is a handsome machine that incorporates both mild-touring capability with a fun sporty ride. Since we had a tough time pulling images off BMW’s press site earlier this week, because of all the traffic from INTERMOT, here’s a “mega gallery” of 181 high-resolution images. Enjoy!

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2015 Suzuki GW250F — A Fully-Faired 250cc for the USA

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Suzuki has finally brought a full-faired small-displacement machine to the US market, announcing today the 2015 Suzuki GW250F. As the name implies, the Suzuki GW250F is really just the GW250, with full-fairing bodywork.

The move is perhaps the mother of necessity, as Suzuki doesn’t have a proper motorbike to go head-to-head with the Kawasaki Ninja 300, Honda CBR300R, or Yamaha YZF-R25.

With the small-displacement war well underway in the United States, Suzuki Motor America surely felt that something beyond just the Suzuki GW250 was needed, and hence the GW250F was born.

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