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Suzuki’s SV650X Brings Heritage to a Line that Has None

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You would have to be living under a rock not to notice the heritage theme that has taken the motorcycle industry by storm.

That being said, Suzuki’s hibernation, as we like to call the company’s complete withdrawal from the two-wheeled space during the recession, is a lot like living under a rock.

Finally seeing the daylight, the Japanese brand is a bit late to the post-authentic retro game, and finds itself having to scramble to stay relevant. That is to say, this is how we read the fact that Suzuki has only one new machine for 2018: the SV650X.

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Kawasaki Ninja Z900RS Cafe Brings Modern to Retro

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Kawasaki made an impression at this year’s Tokyo Motor Show, debuting the new Z900RS standard. The premise was simple there: take the potent Kawasaki Z900 street bike, and dress it in retro clothing.

The effect was something that looked incredibly like the Kawasaki Zephyr of old, but with modern brakes, suspension, traction control, and even a slipper-assist clutch. Now we see that Team Green plans on already expanding the line, debuting today the 2018 Kawasaki Ninja Z900RS Cafe.

Basically the Z900RS with a bikini fairing, this modern café racer should be a perfect fit for those riders that want an older looking motorcycle that doesn’t run like an older looking motorcycle.

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Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R SE Debuts with Track Goodies

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For the 2018 model year, Kawasaki continues to develop its superbike package. As such, the 2018 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R SE brings some special new features, to earn those extra letters after its name.

The big addition is the new Showa electronic suspension, which is the only semi-active suspension system on motorcycles that includes built-in stroke sensors.

These stroke sensors are able to measure the movement of the fork and shock internals, allowing Showa’s suspension to measure and change its damping settings on the fly, as you ride.

The Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R SE also gets the forged aluminum wheels found on Kawasaki’s homologation-spec superbike, the Ninja ZX-10RR, which should help the Ninja ZX-10R SE feel more nimble on the race track, despite its 459 lbs wet weight.

Peak horsepower remains at a quoted 197hp, disappointingly, though shifting through the gears should be easier, as another item for the SE model, taken straight off the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR, is Kawasaki’s up-and-down quickshifter.

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So Many Photos of the New KTM 790 Duke to Drool Over

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We are rapidly coming to the conclusion that the new KTM 790 Duke is the bike of this year’s EICMA show.

Making a potent 105hp from its 799cc parallel-twin engine, packed into a 418 lbs (wet)steel trellis body, the 2018 KTM 790 Duke brings a host of features to the middleweight sport bike category.

In typical KTM fashion, the 790 Duke left no angle behind in its high school honors geometry course, and the LED headlight builds upon the common design features that KTM has been putting together on its street-going machines.

Not quite the vision that was the KTM 790 Duke prototype, the production model still evokes the same emotions, and is handsome in its own right – allaying our fears when seeing spy shots of the machine.

Adding a TFT dash, IMU-powered traction control, cornering ABS, launch control, and an up-and-down quickshifter are all strong moves from the “Ready to Race” brand, making the KTM 790 Duke have not only the best power-to-weight ratio in its class, but it is also one of the most feature-packed.

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Mega Gallery: Husqvarna Vitpilen 701

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We have had to wait two years to see it come into production, but the Husqvarna Vitpilen 701 will finally be available to motorcyclists in March 2018. As an added bonus, the street-going machine stays true to its concept design, which wowed the crowd at last year’s EICMA show.

This year in Milan, the Husqvarna Vitpilen 701 is all the talk of EICMA, and while “Best in Show” at EICMA almost exclusively goes to an Italian marque, the real winners are surely coming from Austria, as both the Husqvarna Vitpilen 701 and KTM 790 Duke look like winners.

A duality from Mattighofen, KTM and Husqvarna approach motorcycles from two opposite spectrums. KTM lives in the extreme, with an edgy focus on its “Ready to Race” mentality. Conversely, Husqvarna is subtle and sophisticated…maybe even understated.

It is that understatement that has been the driving force behind the success of the brand’s Vitpilen and Svartpilen motorcycles, with both the “white” and “black” arrows showing unique design languages.

For the Husqvarna Vitpilen 701, the 690cc single-cylinder engine is wrapped in a modern take on an old design. As such, this neo café racer makes 75hp, 53 lbs•ft of torque, and is made tame by a traction control system.

Still, this new Husky must be an odd duck around the office, as Husqvarna is very terse on its basic specs and features, instead focusing on the design of this café racer. Such is the state of a bike that sells on emotion and lifestyle, rather than outright performance.

We imagine then that if you’re here, you can to ogle some photos. We have kept the 90+ photos attached to post in such an annoying large format that we will probably have to pay Amazon quite a bite extra this month for all the bandwidth.

If you want to help foot the bill, might we suggest an A&R Pro account?

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Aprilia RSV4 Comes with Winglets for 2018, Yup…Winglets

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The Aprilia Factory Works program has always been an impressive part of the Noale company’s lineup, and it offers the 250hp Aprilia RSV4 R FW-GP to any mere mortal who can afford such a thing.

For those of us who have to work for a living, perhaps the Superstock version of the Aprilia RSV4 RF factory works bike is enough to suffice for our track and racing needs. It makes 215hp at the crank, is totally race legal, is hand-built by factory race technicians in Italy, and oh…IT COMES WITH WINGLETS.

Aprilia prefers the term “aerodynamic appendages” in its press release, but we all know what they are talking about. Developed by Aprilia Racing as part of the Aprilia RS-GP MotoGP bike program, now you too can benefit from GP-level aerodynamics.

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Behold, The KTM 790 Duke – AKA “The Scalpel”

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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.

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Supercharged Kawasaki Ninja H2 SX with 200hp on Tap

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Kawasaki has made a significant investment in supercharging technology for motorcycles, and the Japanese brand is intent on using its forced-induction prowess on as many models as possible. As such, say hello to Team Green’s third supercharged model, the 2018 Kawasaki Ninja H2 SX.

Built to be a sport-tourer, with extra “sport” under the hood, the newest Ninja comes in two flavors: the Kawasaki Ninja H2 SX (black paint) and the Kawasaki Ninja H2 SX SE (green paint). The latter boatss Kawasaki’s first TFT color dash, as well as cornering lights, launch control, and a quickshifter.

The rest of the specs? How does 201hp strike you from the 998cc four-cylinder engine? All the while giving strong fuel consumption savings, on par with the Kawasaki Versys 1000.

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BMW K1600 Grand America – Touring, The American Way

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Determined not to let the new Honda Gold Wing have all the fun in the modern tourer category, BMW Motorrad too wants a piece of the American two-wheeled lifestyle, debuting today at the EICMA show the new 2018 BMW K1600 Grand America.

The production version of the K1600B bagger that we saw last year, the K1600 Grand America has grown a bit in a year’s time, and truthfully looks very similar to the BMW K1600 GTL, which already fills the German brand’s need for a full-on dresser motorcycle.

Still, BMW Motorrad says that the Grand America is built for cruising down the highway, and the German brand hopes that the more sweeping lines found on the BMW K1600 Grand America entice riders away from the offerings of other makers.

To our eye, the changes to the Grand America are incredibly subtle, though we prefer the new model to the others in BMW’s six-cylinder lineup.

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Triumph Tiger 1200 Gets Much-Needed Overhaul for 2018

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The name of the game for Triumph’s 2018 ADV bikes is subtlety, but effective updates for the upcoming model year. As such, we have already seen at the EICMA show in Milan that the Triumph Tiger 800 gets modest updates for the 2018 model year.

The 2018 Triumph Tiger 1200 too gets a much needed overhaul, though like the Tiger 800, the changes are hard to spot on the full-size adventure-tourer in the British brand’s ADV lineup.

Triumph is quoting a 22 lbs weight reduction for the new Tiger 1200 though (note the name change too, by the way), along with over 100 other improvements found on the adventure bike.

The biggest improvement comes to the 1,215cc three-cylinder engine, which makes just shy of 140hp in its shaft-drive format – just as it did in 2017.

Hoping to make a splash with adventure riders with its 2018 edition however, Triumph has been sure to pack the Tiger 1200 with a bevy of premium features, starting with WP Suspension’s semi-active suspension pieces.

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2018 Triumph Tiger 800 Breaks Cover with Changes

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The Triumph Tiger 800 gets a refresh for the 2018 model year – 200 of them, if you believe the British brand, though they are hard to spot with the naked eye.

While not a completely new ADV bike, the 2018 Triumph Tiger 800 does get meaningful upgrades to a variety of its core systems, helping it maintain its status as the benchmark in the middleweight ADV category.

Triumph tells us that the 800cc three-cylinder engine has been made more responsive, while peak power remains at 95hp. The Brits have also shortened 1st gear, for better low-speed character. The exhaust has been worked over, as has the new five-position windscreen.

Of course, the feature you will be really happy to hear about is the new “Off Road Pro” mode (XC models only), which lets one turn off the various rider aids, which is ideal for off-road riding, especially if you are a pro. So…that name makes a bit of sense.

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