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The New Harley-Davidson Milwaukee-Eight Engine Debuts

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What you are looking at above is Harley-Davidson’s ninth iteration of its “Big Twin” engines. It’s called the Milwaukee-Eight, named after Harley-Davidson’s home town and the fact that the engine head design employs a very modern eight valves in total (four per cylinder head).

Time will tell if the Milwaukee-Eight becomes as iconic as Harley-Davidson’s other designs, like the Flathead, Knucklehead, Panhead, etc. But, we do know that the Milwaukee-Eight marks a more modern approach to engine design from the Bar & Shield brand.

To this end, Harley-Davidson says that the new power plant offers a quicker throttle response, more passing power, purer sound (whatever that means), and a smoother ride (read: less vibrations).

The Milwaukee-Eight will first be used on Harley-Davidson’s touring and trike lines, though we can expect the engine design to permeate through Harley-Davidson’s lineup.

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MotoGP

Why Eugene Laverty Picked WorldSBK Over MotoGP

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The final piece of the MotoGP puzzle has finally dropped. Eugene Laverty has decided that he will be switching back to WorldSBK, where he will ride a factory-backed Aprilia RSV4-RF with the Milwaukee Racing SMR squad.

The departure of Laverty means that Yonny Hernandez will get to keep his place in the Pull & Bear Aspar Ducati team, filling the final empty slot on the MotoGP grid.

It may seem strange for Laverty to abandon MotoGP, just as his star has been rising in the class. Since Aspar switched from Honda’s RC213V-RS Open Class machine to the Ducati Desmosedici GP14.2, the older Ducati working very well with the Michelin tires, more rear grip helping to reduce the understeer the GP14.2 suffers from.

He is currently eleventh in the championship, and has a fourth and a sixth as best finishes, Laverty being annoyed that early traffic cost him the chance of a podium at Brno. It took the factory Ducatis on their brand new GP16s six races to get ahead of the Irishman in the championship standings.

So why has Laverty decided to abandon MotoGP in favor of WorldSBK? There are a number of reasons, but all of them boil down to a single issue: Eugene Laverty is a winner, and he likes to win.

On two-year-old machinery, in a private team (though with good factory support, unlike other satellite set ups), Laverty’s only chance to win in MotoGP would come when the weather acts as the great neutralizer.

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Rumors

Ducati Monster 939 Almost Certainly Coming for 2017

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With the spotting of a new air-cooled Ducati Monster motorcycle for the 2017 model year, we can make some logical assumptions about what the Italian marque is up to for next year. One of those assumptions is the new Ducati Monster 939.

A 2017 Ducati Monster 939 was almost a certainty the second we saw the Ducati Hypermotard 821 getting bored out with a 937cc upgrade. Since the Monster 821 and the Hypermotard 821 share the same engine, it only makes sense for the two models to eventually share the 937cc power plant.

What adds fodder to this notion though is Ducati’s move to add a cheap and basic Monster model to its roster, in the form of the air-cooled two-valve model that we spotted earlier today.

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Bikes

Air-Cooled Engines Returning to the Ducati Monster Line

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Ducati’s 2017 line seems to be getting the full monty this week, with yet again more spy photos emerging of the Italian company’s upcoming motorcycles. Today’s installment sees us looking at the Ducati Monster line, which appears to be getting a third variant for 2017.

As you can see from the photo above, the Ducati Monster lineup will see the addition of an air-cooled model, likely one that shares the same 803cc lump that is found in the Ducati Scrambler.

This so-called Ducati Monster 803 will slot in below the other Monster models, which will likely include a Ducati Monster 939 and an updated Ducati Monster 1200.

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Bikes

Another Ducati Scrambler Is Coming

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The Scrambler Ducati models started out as a bid to capture the budding crop of millennial riders, who eschew from the current crop of values and segments that prop-up the motorcycle industry.

The Scrambler has become more for Ducati though, as it has given the Italian brand two things: 1) a pathway to sell more classic and affordable motorcycles, and 2) a pathway from being a pure on-street brand. This makes the Scrambler line very important to Bologna.

For the past few months now, we have been hearing about the next model(s) to come for the Scrambler Ducati line (you can hear more about it on this episode of the Two Enthusiasts Podcast, by the way), and now we are seeing our first glimpse of those machines.

Recent spy shots have been circling the internet this week, and they give us our best glimpse of what to expect from Ducati at the upcoming motorcycle trade shows.

I’m talking about the “Scrambler 1100 Enduro” – as the press is calling it – which will slot in above the Ducati Scrambler “800” bike, and offer more off-road prowess to the Scrambler name.

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Rumors

Is This the 2017 Yamaha YZF-R6?…Nope

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Someone is trying to pass off the above photo as the eagerly awaited 2017 Yamaha YZF-R6 – unfortunately, it’s a fake. I’m actually surprised this piece of photoshop has some legs, and is making its way around the internet, considering how obvious the forgery.

To verify its authenticity, all one would have to do is to compare the above photo with photos of the current generation Yamaha YZF-R1. Contrasting the two, it’s clear that the chassis and exposed parts of the engine are right off the Yamaha YZF-R1 (it’s easiest to see on the swingarm).

The real smoking gun though is that the forger used a Yamaha press photo as their base. I was able to find the base photo (after the jump), which clearly shows that the five-spoke wheels on the alleged R6 are in the exact same ones from a R1 press photo – even the holes on the front brake discs and rear sprocket line-up.

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Bikes

Indian Scout FTR750 Flat Track Race Bike Debuts

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Two months ago, we showed you Indian’s very purpose-built v-twin engine, which the American company would use to go flat track racing. Today, we can show you the completed machine, the Indian Scout FTR750.

Back the to the Indian Scout FTR750 though, the bike features an all-new high-reving race-built v-twin engine. The chassis is a bespoke tubular steel frame, with a focus on keeping a short wheelbase, centrally locating the large airbox, and using carbon fiber bodywork.

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WSBK

Confirmed: Marco Melandri Will Race with Ducati in WSBK

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Just two days ago we told you that Marco Melandri would be headed to the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati World Superbike team, replacing fellow Italian Davide Giugliano. That news has been publicly confirmed today, with Melandri set to join Chaz Davies on the factory WSBK team.

The move is a surprising return for Marco Melandri back into motorcycle racing, as the Italian took a hiatus during the 2016 season, after a less-than-amicable departure from the struggling Aprilia MotoGP team last year.

Melandri’s reputation as a racer, and perhaps his desperation to come back to motorcycle racing, comes with a price though, as the former 250GP World Champion is said to be forgoing a salary from Ducati Corse. Instead, Melandri is bringing his own money to the team, and likely has a performance-based pay schedule.

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Bikes

2017 Honda CRF450R Caught in the Wild

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A reader asked me recently what I knew about the upcoming 2017 Honda CRF450R dirt bike, and admittedly I had to say “not much” – it’s called Asphalt & Rubber after all.

For the past year though, even my radar has picked up sighting of Akira Narita (one of the greatest Japanese MX racers of all time) showing up to events in Japan with a race bike that looked pretty advanced from what was currently on dealership floors.

This is nothing new in the world of Honda though, with next year’s models often ending up at events on the other side of the Pacific…usually in Narita-san’s very capable hands.

But today, we can answer more accurately what Big Red is up to with the 2017 Honda CRF450R, as the folks at VitalMX caught the new motocrosser spinning laps at an MX track in Southern California (read their expert breakdown of the new bike, here).

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Bikes

First Images of the 2017 Honda CBR250RR

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The rumor was that we would see the 2017 Honda CBR250RR debut this week, and that news didn’t disappoint.

Getting our first glimpse of the machine today, the Honda CBR250RR is finally breaking cover, and we can bring you the first images and technical specs of the quarter-liter sport bike.

As we already knew, the Honda CBR250RR will use a 250cc twin-cylinder, DOHC, eight-valve, liquid-cooled engine that revs to a 14,000 rpm redline. There’s no word yet on power, but we would expect it to surpass the other 250cc offerings from the Japanese manufacturers.

We also expect a 350cc version for markets like North America and Europe, though there’s no official word on that, just yet.

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Bikes

2017 Montesa Cota 4RT260 Gets “BNG” – Still Awesome

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Normally, we would roast a brand for bringing a “bold new graphics” model to market, but in the case of the 2017 Montesa Cota 4RT260, we will give the Spanish firm a pass…purely because we think trials riding is AWESOME.

So, yup…for the 2017 model year, Montessa is brining basically the same machine to market, with the big changes being the red, white, and blue HRC-inspired color scheme, along with the chromed fork tubes that have black-painted lowers.

If it counts as a technical change, the kickstarter lever has been made longer than on what is found on the 2016 model, and of course there is a “race replica” version, which drips in carbon fiber, Showa suspension pieces, and has the traditional Repsol livery.

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