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Jensen Beeler

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The upcoming Ducati 1199 Superleggera continues to leak onto the internet in photo form, though this time we’re getting a little help from Ducati Chile, with the distributor listing some key figures along with its images: 205+ hp in racing trim & 166 kg at the curb. Confirming what we saw in a previous photo, the Superleggera will come decked out in a very “Desmosedici” red and white Ducati Corse livery.

In addition to these studio-quality photos, we also dug up what looks to be the SuperLeggera’s weight reductions (after the jump), listed by part and in comparison to the Ducati 1199 Panigale R. In total, the figures show the Supperleggera tipping the scales at 342 lbs dry, roughly 22 lbs less than the Panigale R.

Depending on whether Ducati Chile’s 166 kg curb weight figure is with or without fuel, the Superleggera could be a far cry from the 40 lbs we heard earlier this month (not to mention a lower horsepower figure than we were told). Still, Ducati’s new dream machine lives up its name, and is super light when compared to its homologation-ready cousin. More photos are waiting for you after the jump.

Another year has gone by at our tiny motorcycle blog here, as Asphalt & Rubber turns five years old today. The thing is though, the site isn’t that tiny anymore — one million visitors will come to A&R in October alone.

In the past four years, when I have written these birthday posts, I write the same thing about how I look back on the past 365 days with a bit of astonishment, and then list all the great things that we have done in that time.

At the five-year mark though, I find myself looking all the way back to the beginning of A&R, a time when this site wasn’t really anything at all. With that retrospect, I see how Asphalt & Rubber has come into what it is now — if I had to go back, and try to decipher today from the fog of time, it would all feel like an impossible reality, if I am honest.

Those Italians in Varese are getting their EICMA machine ready, and have sent the international press invitations to see the new MV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800. As the name implies, the machine is a sport-tourer, likely based off the still unreleased MV Agusta Rivale 800 platform and its 800cc three-cylinder engine.

Details beyond this are unknown, though the Turismo Veloce 800 is likely to look like sex on two wheels, as all MV machines tend to do. We hope that the MV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800 looks like the MV Agusta Tricruiser concept we saw back in 2011. Photos of that rolling piece of art are after the jump.

Not content to have only the Honda CBR250R as its small-displacement offering, Honda Motor Corp. announced at the China International Motorcycle Trade Exhibition in Chongqing yesterday that the 2014 Honda CBR300R would be its latest “world model” motorcycle, with production set to start at Honda’s Thailand factory.

Details on the small-displacement motorcycle are next-to-nonexistent, with Seiji Kuraishi, Chief Operating Officer for Honda China simply stating that “Honda is exhibiting the world premiere of the CBR300R, a global motorcycle model for which Honda is planning to begin production in Thailand in the future. The market introduction of this model in China will be discussed in the future.”

We have featured the work of Peirobon on Asphalt & Rubber before, as the boutique firm from Bologna makes some intriguing air-cooled Ducati-powered sport bikes for discerning buyers, among other things.

Pierobon is also one of the companies we are looking forward to seeing at this year’s EICMA show, as the firm has something special this year for its booth display: a trellis frame kit for the Ducati 1199 Panigale.