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Jensen Beeler

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Go Farther on the new Husqvarna 701 Enduro LR

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If there is a complaint to be made about the Husqvarna 701 Enduro, it likely has to do with the bike’s 3.4 gallon (13-liter) fuel tank.

The size of the tank isn’t unreasonable, mind you, especially since the Huqvarna 701 Enduro does pretty well at sipping fuel, despite its big single-cylinder engine, but if you really want to explore where the trail ends, there just isn’t enough go-juice on the bike…until now.

Say hello to the Husqvarna 701 Enduro LR, and as you can probably figure out for yourself, the two-letter designation stands for “long range”.

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A&R Pro

What the Aprilia Tuono 660 Concept Tells Us of the Future

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We always knew that the Aprilia Tuono 660 was coming, ever since last year when the Noale brand took the covers off its RS 660 concept, and started teasing us with the idea of a high-horsepower middleweight twin motorcycle.

From there, it was quick to understand that Aprilia would need to make its “half an RSV4” into a platform, with other models soon to come. The most obvious next step then was a naked “Tuono” model.

That brings us to today, where not only do we see the Aprilia Tuono 660 concept looking basically ready for production at EICMA, but the Italian brand is also coyly showing us its plans for its next middleweight model, the Aprilia Tuareg 660.

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Dirt

Aprilia Very Quietly Teases the New Tuareg 660 at EICMA

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No press releases. No social media hype-posts. No big fancy displays. In fact, it was very easy to miss that Aprilia was giving us a glimpse at its next middleweight motorcycle at EICMA at all. But, it was there if you were careful to look at your surroundings.

Now granted, it is very hard to tell what is going on with the Aprilia Tuareg 660, since…well, the Italians covered it in shrubbery. Such is the state of their display at the Milan trade show, as they try to tease us with this ADV model.

But, we can pick out some details between the vines, bushes, and leafs…and they are intriguing.

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Bikes

Aprilia RS 250 SP Aims to Get Young Riders on the Track

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A welcomed late-surprise at the EICMA show in Milan, two Italian names in small-displacement racing have come together to get young riders on the race track.

I am of course talking about Aprilia and Ohvale, which have collaborated to build the Aprilia RS 250 SP race bike.

A purpose built racing machine, the Aprilia RS 250 SP is like a bigger Ohvale in its presentation, complete with 17″ wheels, and all the high-performance parts you would expect to see on a proper racing machine.

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Bikes

Don’t Say Streetfighter, Harley-Davidson Bronx Gets Better Defined

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We have been giving Harley-Davidson a hard time about calling its new 950cc roadster model a “streetfighter” when the bike obviously not up to the task, and it seems the American brand has been listening.

Renaming the Streetfighter model now the Harley-Davidson Bronx, this 975cc street bike seems more suited to its name, especially now that the Bar & Shield brand is willing to talk more about details.

While still expected to be a (late) 2020 model motorcycle (so 2021?), it is surprising that Harley-Davidson didn’t debut the production-ready Bronx at EICMA (or any of the other trade shows this season). And with less than a year from its release, we have only a handful of specifics about this bike, many of which Harley-Davidson just sent out.

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Bikes

LEAKED: Supercharged Bimota TesiH2 Wows Before EICMA Debut

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Is there a more iconic motorcycle brand from Italy than Bimota? I think you could make some arguments to the contrary, but you would be hard-pressed to deny that the brainchild of Valerio Bianchi, Giuseppe Morri, and Massimo Tamburini hasn’t produced some of the most impactful and drool-worthy motorcycles in the past 50 years.

Sadly, the story of Bimota is not always a happy one, and after a failed restart by Swiss investors Marco Chiancianesi and Daniele Longoni, the Italian brand seemed like it was finally set for the deadpool. But then, something interesting happened.

About six weeks ago, news started circulating that Bimota was to be reborn again…and that Kawasaki had purchased the now defunct Italian marque. Well, we have good news for Bimota fans and motorcyclists alike. Bimota is back!

And to get things started right, we have been leaked images of the company’s first new creation, the Bimota TesiH2, and it looks very, very good.

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Bikes

More of a Good Thing, the KTM 890 Duke R Debuts

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This is a story we broke a eight months ago finally coming true. The 790 engine platform from KTM has finally grown into the 890 platform that is ready for the Euro 5 emissions requirements.

And if you will allow us to toot our own horn just a little bit more, our predictions of an up-spec middleweight Duke have turned out true as well.

Now, while we may be patting ourselves on the back here, the real winners are all the sport bike enthusiasts out there, because the best middleweight naked on the market just got better, in just about every way. Say hello to the KTM 890 Duke R.

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Bikes

The KTM 390 Adventure Is Finally, Finally Here

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It has taken a long time to wrangle this bike into existence, but the KTM 390 Adventure is officially a thing now and coming in 2020.

I could look back through the pages of Asphalt & Rubber, and see when we first started talking about this small-sized ADV bike, but it would be downright depressing for the Austrian brand. It has been…a while in the making, let’s just say that.

The good news though is that the KTM 390 Adventure arrives with an exclamation point, and it is certain to dominate in markets where the  373cc engine is considered quite large and peppy. It should be fun in the western markets too.

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Bikes

The Husqvarna Norden 901 Concept Is Ready for Adventure

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Every year, for the past five years, Husqvarna has worked like clockwork at the EIMCA show in Milan. This is because the Swedish variant from KTM has been steady in its approach of releasing one new street bike in Milan, and one new concept model for possible future production. For 2019, this trend continues.

Behold the Husqvarna Norden 901 concept, a uniquely styled adventure-tourer, with an 899cc parallel-twin engine, and plenty of styling cues to keep your pouring over the high-resolution photos below.

As the name suggests, the Norden 901 gets the upgraded “890” engine from the KTM 890 Duke R, but fit into a package that is similar to the KTM 790 Adventure platform.

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Bikes

The Beast Gets Upgraded with the 2020 KTM 1290 Super Duke R

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They call it The Beast, and for good reason, because the KTM 1290 Super Duke is a v-twin monster for the street, and now for the 2020 model year, it is getting even more beastly as it just debuted at EICMA.

Instead of giving the KTM 1290 Super Duke R a ridiculous top power figure (peak horsepwoer remains at 177hp (132 kW), the Austrians focused on coaxing more tire-shredding torque from the Super Duke R. As such, a whopping 103 lbs•ft (140 Nm) of torque is on tap at 8,000 rpm.

The changes for 2020 don’t stop there though, as a new chassis has been thrown into the mix, which is closely based off what was seen on the KTM RC8 superbike. The Beast even loses weight in the process, with a claimed 416 lbs (189kg) when dry.

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Bikes

Aprilia Tuono 660 Concept Teases Us at EICMA

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How do you follow up a class-killing motorcycle like the Aprilia RS 660? You turn around and do it again, in a different category. That is what the Aprilia Tuono 660 aims to do next year, with the concept of the machine debuting today at EICMA.

Based off the same parallel-twin engine design, the Aprilia Tuono 660 makes 95hp – only a 5hp difference to its 100hp full-fairing sibling.

It is strange that Aprilia is talking power figures so soon, but we suspect it is to whet our appetites on the new Tuono 660. The Italian brand has signaled too that a 46hp (34 kW) A2 license compliant model will also be available next year. 

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