Bikes

They are calling it “The Scalpel” – a smaller, more nimble sibling to “The Beast”, aka the KTM 1290 Super Duke R. Debuting today at the EICMA show in Milan, we are talking about the new KTM 790 Duke streetfighter, which will be a 2018 model from the Austrian brand. Based around an all-new 799cc parallel-twin engine, the KTM 790 Duke makes 105hp / 63 lbs•ft of torque, while tipping the scales at only 418 lbs when at the curb, with a full tank of gas (373 lbs dry). KTM says this makes for the best power-to-weight ratio in the class. The 2018 KTM 790 Duke comes packed with features too. LED lights, a TFT dash, IMU-powered traction control, cornering ABS, launch control, and an up-and-down quickshifter are all standard on this “Ready to Race” machine.

Bikes

Honda Motor Europe is quickly making a name for itself when it comes to drool-worthy concept designs for Europe’s motorcycle shows, and this latest example at the 2017 EICMA show is proof of that statement. This is the Honda CB4 Interceptor concept, and it makes our Hormone Monster want to do dirty, dirty things to the computer screen. A continuation of Honda’s Neo Sports Café design aesthetic, which brought us Honda’s first CB4 concept back in 2015, this new edition focuses on a “Sport Endurance” idea from Big Red. Honda doesn’t say much else about the CB4 Interceptor concept, other than yes…that is a fan where the front headlight would go. It powers the touchscreen dash. Obviously.

MotoGP

The 2013 Australian Grand Prix – likely to be known henceforth as ‘The Debacle Down Under’ – taught us many things. It taught us that tire companies need to find ways to test at newly surfaced tracks, that pit stops in dry conditions are potentially dangerous when each stint is less than 10 laps, and that hurriedly changing rules and race lengths are far from ideal when trying to organize a MotoGP race. Those were the lessons that were immediately obvious to anyone watching. There were more subtle lessons from Phillip Island as well. Marc Marquez’s disqualification was not just a failure of either strategy or his ability to read a pit board, it was also a sign of growing tensions inside the Repsol Honda box.