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KTM Begins Teasing a New 1290 Super Duke R for EICMA

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We know it is coming, a new KTM 1290 Super Duke R for the 2020 model year, but just in case there was any doubt, the Austrians have begun teasing their new “Beast” ahead of its EICMA show debut.

The news comes from a short teaser video, which shows a number of KTM technicians building a motorcycle. With the title and hashtag “#GETDUKED” being shown, the possibilities for the model are quite small.

And, if we scrub through the frames, we can see numerous hints that the bike in question is a high-spec motorcycle, with a single-sided swingarm. The steel trellis frame looks exactly like the one spotted in spy photos of the new Super Duker R.

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Rumors

Hesketh is Working on a Three-Cylinder Supercharged Sport Bike

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Here is something to keep an eye out for as the 2020 model year comes closer to reality – it is an upcoming sport bike from British marque Hesketh, which has a supercharged 1,000cc three-cylinder engine.

Details beyond what I just said, and the concept sketch above, are non-existent, but the boutique brand is keen to make this motorcycle a reality in the next 365 days (if not sooner).

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WSBK

Leon Haslam Is Out of the Kawasaki WorldSBK Team

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Confirming rumors long held in the WorldSBK paddock, Leon Haslam will not be with the Kawasaki Racing Team in the WorldSBK paddock next year. Though it hasn’t been announced yet, Alex Lowes is expected to take Haslam’s seat.

Haslam’s role in the KRT squad came after his British Superbike Championship win in 2018, and while this year’s season showed mixed results for the British rider (including a win at the Suzuka 8-Hours), the opportunity to add another top Superbike talent alongside Jonathan Rea was too much of an allure for Team Green.

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Bikes

The Yamaha MT-03 Finally Comes to the USA as a 2020 Model

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In 2016, the Yamaha MT-03 debuted as the naked variant of the popular Yamaha YZF-R3 sport bike. And while the R3 came to American soil (with very positive results), its naked sibling never found its way across the pond.

Small and aggressive, the Yamaha MT-03 borrowed the R3’s twin-cylinder engine, and wrapped it in Yamaha’s “Dark Side of Japan” aesthetic. Like its full-fairing sibling, the Yamaha MT-03 was a strong offering for younger riders.

Now for the 2020 model year, the Yamaha MT-03 is finally coming to the United States, complete with a new aggressive look, with the hopes of offering new riders with an intriguing offer that won’t bust the bank.

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Rumors

Triumph Begins Teasing A New Street Triple RS

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It appears that Triumph has a new sport bike for us to drool over, and no I’m not talking about the recently debuted Triumph Daytona Moto2 765 supersport. 

But, today’s news does concern a 765cc three-cylinder motorcycle: the Triumph Street Triple RS.

We know this is the case because the British brand is hocking the new bike in a not-so-subtle way on social media right now (check the teaser video above).

We also know a few details about this upcoming machine, and that includes the new aesthetic to the iconic dual front headlights, which incorporates a DRL design.

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Bikes

The New Honda Africa Twin CRF1100L Finally Debuts for 2020

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The wait is finally over, as Big Red has finally taken the wraps off its revised version of the Honda Africa Twin for the Euro5 emission standard.

The result is a “CRF1100L” motorcycle, which tips the notion that this adventure-tourer has an 86cc displacement increase, as expected. This accounts for a 7% increase in peak power (101hp / 75 kW), along with a 6% increase in peak torque (77 lbs•ft / 105 Nm).

Despite all this, the 2020 Honda Africa Twin gets a modest weight reduction as well, to the tune of an extra 10 lbs (501 lbs at the curb, non-DCT model). But most importantly, the Japanese brand has brought some significant features to the fray, making the Africa Twin not only potent, but sophisticated.

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Rumors

Fully Faired Zero SR/F Model Caught Testing in the Wild

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One of our eagle-eyed readers sent us this image, which shows a fully-faired Zero SR/F electric motorcycle out in the wild, near the headquarters of Zero Motorcycles.

The photo is our first piece of concrete proof that a fully-faired model of the electric sport bike is coming, though there have been rumors of the machine since before the official debut of the SR/F itself.

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Rumors

Kawasaki Teases a New Supercharged “Z” Motorcycle Model

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The eggheads at Kawasaki have been busy readying themselves for the 2020 model year, and it seems that they have something special in the works. 

We say this because Team Green just dropped a teaser video for a new supercharged motorcycle – and we expect it to be sporty.

Details are pretty limited, but we know that the new bike will belong to Kawasaki’s “Z” family, which consists of its sport bike models. Could we see the supercharged version of the Z1000? We certainly hope so.

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Rumors

The All-New 2020 Honda CBR1000RR Will Debut in October

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There has been plenty said about the next generation of the Honda CBR1000RR, and lately the rumors have been heating up.

Solid news of an all-new machine for next first started in the WorldSBK paddock, where it was tipped that HRC would come back into the paddock with a factory team for the 2020 season – and on a new motorcycle.

Since then, we have seen some patents hinting at possible features of the new Fireblade, the most impressive of which is the idea that the 2020 Honda CBR1000RR could have active aerodynamics.

Now, we get word from our German colleagues at Speedweek that the new Honda Fireblade will debut sooner than we thought, making its arrival in October at the Tokyo Motor Show.

This means that we could see the 2020 Honda CBR1000RR as soon as October 23rd, instead of having to wait  several weeks longer to see the bike debut at the EICMA show in Milan.

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WSBK

Tom Sykes Signs On for Another Year with BMW in WorldSBK

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It doesn’t surprise us to hear that Tom Sykes and BMW Motorrad have committed themselves to another season together, racing the BMW S1000RR in the WorldSBK Championship.

While the 2019 has been a slow start for the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK team, Sykes and the S1000RR have seen continued progress. As such, we have seen Sykes on pole position at the British round, and also on the podium at Misano, Donington Park, and Laguna Seca.

With this forward progress, BMW Motorrad says that its aim is to be on the box in 2020, and surely that means on the top step on more than one occasion.

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