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MotoGP Silly Season Update: 2017 Grid Nearly Complete

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MotoGP Silly Season is nearly at an end. With the confirmation that both Jack Miller and Cal Crutchlow will be staying in their seats for 2017, the list of possibly vacant grid slots grew much shorter.

Those that remain empty are growing ever closer to being filled, leaving only three seats open, and one seat still completely free. So, it is time to take a look at the current state of play.

With the announcement that Aleix Espargaro would be joining Aprilia for two years, the last of the factory seats was filled. The factory rides filled up quickly in 2016, starting with Valentino Rossi and Bradley Smith at Qatar, and culminating eight races later at Assen with the signing of Espargaro.

The timing of the Aleix Espargaro/Aprilia announcement was peculiar to say the least. Making a major announcement that a rider had been signed to a factory rider – a signing everyone already knew about – on the Sunday night after one of the most remarkable MotoGP races in recent memory was guaranteed to achieve the absolute minimum of media coverage.

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Bikes

KTM Is Working on an 800cc Parallel-Twin ADV Bike

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“If your quarry goes to ground, leave no ground to go to” seems to be KTM’s marching orders right now, as the Austrian brand is pushing into seemingly every segment and market with its motorcycle lineup.

KTM already has a robust off-road lineup, which they have used to launch themselves into the ADV category with great success. As such, the KTM 1190 Adventure series already sees strong sales success with adventure-touring riders, but KTM isn’t resting on those laurels.

Set to debut a 800cc parallel-twin platform later this year, KTM CEO Stefan Pierer has revealed, while talking to MCN, that his company will soon have a rival for the Honda Africa Twin.

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Bikes

The 2017 Can-Am Spyder F3-S Becomes Almost Fun

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Can-Am is finally letting riders get the rear-wheel loose, as the 2017 Can-Am Spyder F3-S gets a “sport mode” for the next model year, which allows riders to drift the three-wheeler around turns.

This is a feature that we saw Can-Am tease on its turbocharged Spyder F3 concept, and we have to say that it is a welcomed addition to the line.

We are still miffed that the 115 three-cylinder engine remains, instead of the 150hp tire-shredder we saw debut at Daytona, but this news is a step in the right direction for the Canadian outfit.

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Racing

Indian Motorcycle Returns to Flat Track Racing

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AMA Pro Flat Track is heating up. First, it was Harley-Davidson announcing its first flat track race bike in 44 years, the Harley-Davidson XG750R. And now, we get word that Indian Motorcycle is set to compete as well, debuting today a purpose-built v-twin engine for the job.

The Indian Scout FTR v-twin engine is a 750cc liquid-cooled four-valve lump that is specifically designed for flat track racing. Using a specially built chassis, Indian aims to compete in AMA Pro Flat Track, with Jared Mees serving for now as the company’s test rider.

Indian says it will compete at a single 2016 event, which is still to be announced, before going after the 2017 AMA Pro Flat Track title in full. Presumably Mees will headline that effort as well, which if the case, should make Indian’s entry a very potent one.

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Bikes

Updates Coming for the 2017 KTM 390 Duke

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One of the hottest bikes on the market since its 2013 debut, the KTM 390 Duke is seemingly set for a model refresh, with cosmetic updates and other minor technical changes coming our way.

This photo above shows the 2017 KTM 390 Duke with its new headlight, and in it you can also see some of the styling changes to the fairings and fuel tank, along with the updated switchgear and dash design.

Designed in Austria, but built in India, it doesn’t surprise us to see this photo leak coming from the Bajaj factory near Pune, India – where production has surely already started in anticipation for the next model year.

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Bikes

2017 Yamaha SCR950 – Bolting into a Scrambler

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We knew last year at the 2015 EICMA show that scrambler and other post-authentic models would finally be coming from the major manufacturers, especially as the Japanese OEMs caught up to the trend du jour.

At the time, the worry was that this marked motorcycling’s “jumping the shark” moment when it came to these throw-back machines, with the mainstream pushing out the fringe adopters, who would move on to their next counter-culture statement.

Today, we see the first of that momentum, with the 2017 Yamaha SCR950 – a scrambler-type model, which is based off the Yamaha Bolt cruiser platform.

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Bikes

Here’s Your First Look at the 2017 Yamaha FZ-10

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The news is official now, the radical looking Yamaha MT-10 will be coming to the USA as the Yamaha FZ-10 street bike. Originally debuting at the 2015 EICMA show in Milan, the streetfighter model takes the current generation Yamaha YZF-R1 superbike, and turns it into a 160hp asphalt-eating street machine.

Since it has race track DNA, the Yamaha FZ-10 tips the scales at paltry 463 lbs, when fully fueled and ready to ride. The FZ-10 comes with a four-level traction control system, different throttle modes, and cruise control – because sometimes you want to be a law-abidding citizen.

Priced at $12,999 MSRP and available in “Armor Grey” or “Matte Raven Black” color schemes, American motorcyclists can expect to see the 2017 Yamaha FZ-10 at their location Yamaha dealership later this month.

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Bikes

Say Goodbye to the Kawasaki W800

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Kawasaki announced today that 2017 will be the last model year for the Kawasaki W800, as the retro-classic machine is going the way of the dodo, thanks largely to the advent of Euro4 emission standards.

Any hope of a model refresh down the line seems to have been squashed, as Kawasaki says that this is “the end of the iconic W series of four-stroke vertical twin motorcycles” and that the “W800 ‘Final Edition’ marks the end of an era” in its press release.

That’s an interesting move from Team Green, considering the popularity of post-authentic machines right now – bikes like the Triumph Bonneville and Ducati Scrambler.

This is as much of the death of a motorcycle line, as it is a shift of focus by one of the largest motorcycle OEMs.

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Bikes

Could a New Yamaha YZF-R6 Be Coming for 2017?

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It makes sense that Yamaha would be readying a new version of the venerable R6 supersport for us…finally. The current iteration has been essentially the same bike that originally debuted in 2008, though it saw mild updates in 2010 that sacrificed top-end for midrange power.

The Japanese OEMs are slowly getting back to their old selves though, when it comes to product design and new model debuts, and last year saw the Yamaha YZF-R1 get a major overhaul. It’s time for its 600cc sibling to do that same.

And, that seems to be the case, as rumors out of Japan and Europe are swirling about an all-new Yamaha YZF-R6 debuting later this year, as a 2017 model year machine.

The bulk of the rumors come from Japanese magazine Young Machine, which is famous for the new model concept renders that it publishes, but not so famous for their accuracy.

A&R has heard plenty of chatter about this bike outside of other reports though, so where there’s smoke…

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Bikes

Updates Are Coming to the KTM 1290 Super Duke R

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It looks like updates are coming to the KTM 1290 Super Duke R for the 2017 model year, if our spies can be believed. The changes appear to be mostly cosemetic, with the 2017 KTM 1290 Super Duke R sporting a new split headlight design and more cowling over the radiator.

One can expect changes to occur under the skin of the updated KTM 1290 Super Duke R. We would guess an upgrade to the brakes package, with the Bosch MSC “cornering ABS” coming to the Super Duke R, as it is already on the new Super Duke GT.

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MotoGP

Ducati Picks Dovizioso Over Iannone for MotoGP Team

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The pre-event announcements for the Italian GP seem to keep rolling in. First, it was Dani Pedrosa re-signing with Repsol Honda for two years; then, we got word that Maverick Viñales had done the same with the Movistar Yamaha team.

Now, we get news from Ducati Corse that Andrea Dovizioso will be with the Italian team for the next two years, with Andrea Iannone making his departure from Ducati, as well.

With this news, good money in the MotoGP Silly Season betting pool would place Iannone in the ECSTAR Suzuki garage for the foreseeable future, but time will tell on that speculation.

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