We already had a pretty good idea what to expect from the 2022 KTM RC390, but that perhaps only whet our appetite for the pint-sized road bike.
Getting the full monty today, we can see explicitly what changes the Austrians have brought to the KTM RC390, which will debut in the United States in March 2022.
For the 2021 model year, Kawasaki is making an interesting introduction to its lineup – a supermoto model. Based off the new KLX300 dual-sport, we see the 2021 Kawasaki KLX300SM debuting as the other side fo the coin, for the street.
The BMW G310R sees an update for the 2021 model year, namely in the hopes of refining this entry-level machine with some of the German brand’s upmarket knowledge.
The most obvious changes are on the exterior, where we see new body panels and a new headlight assembly. Rest assured though, the same 313cc single-cylinder engine and chassis remains on this pint-sized street bike.
By the end of this year, Aprilia will finally bring its new two-cylinder platform to reality, putting the Aprilia RS660 (pictured above) on dealership floors.
This full-faired sport bike will be joined in early 2021 by the Aprilia Tuono 660, and from there we can expect at least one more model from this parallel-twin platform.
But what about something on the smaller end of the scale? There is an obvious hole in Aprilia’s lineup when it comes to the 300cc/400cc segment. That might be set to change, however.
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.
It feels like the longest rumored machine in KTM’s future lineup. We are of course talking about the KTM 390 Adventure.
The missing link in the Austrian brand’s adventure-touring model range, which we have talked, rumored, and speculated about for well…quite a long time.
About a year ago though, Bajaj SVP and KTM India boss Amit Nandi tipped that we would see the KTM 390 Adventure in 2019. Well, that time is now, and rumors are once again heating up about this small-displacement ADV.
It was just a few weeks ago that we told you how Pirelli was making purpose-built tires for the 300cc racing category, and now we get word that Dunlop is doing the same.
Creating the all-new KR448 front tire, and KR451 rear tire in sizes and compounds for bikes in the 300cc to 400cc range, Dunlop its making sure that it has a firm grip on the small-displacement categories that are filling grids on race tracks around the world, but especially in the United States.
It seemed like it would be only a matter of time before we saw a tire manufacturer catering to the rise of small-displacement racing machines.
So, it doesn’t surprise us too much to see Pirelli is leading the charge, and releasing a set of superbike slicks that are designed for the new 300cc class of sport bikes.
It looks like the Yamaha YZF-R3 will get a refresh for the 2019 model year, as photos of the bike – complete with a facelift – have surfaced in Indonesia.
The new design brings the R3 closer into the rest of Yamaha’s supersport family, particularly with an intake shape that looks inspired by the Yamaha YZR-M1 MotoGP bike.
There is a split on rumors as to whether the rest of the machine will get an update as well, specifically the frame and engine, though we can expect some some minor refinements to the overall package, no matter what the case may be on that front.
LED headlights and lighting all around have been tipped, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see an updated dash as well.
Is Ducati thinking about making a 300cc sport bike? Is it going to do so in India? With Hero MotoCorp? That is the talk of the motorcycle industry today, though this isn’t the first time that this idea has been floated in the two-wheeled rumor mill.
The reason this rumor keeps coming around is that Ducati seems to be one of the last motorcycle brands really to adopt the small-displacement motorcycle strategy.
Motorcycle manufacturers are continuously investing in motorcycle models that would sell well with entry-level riders or in developing nations. This has lead to a boom in motorcycles that that are under 400cc – most of which are produced in Asia, though also sold in the western markets.
Despite Ducati’s continued commitment to staying out of the 300cc displacement category (it does have the 400cc Scrambler Sixty2 though), rumors continue to speculate on this future for the Italian brand, this time with Hero MotoCorp in the picture.
We have known for some time that Yamaha planned on making its leaning multi-wheel vehicle technology into a family of bike and car analogs.
The Japanese brand has invested heavily into the chassis technology to make these unique machines, and Yamaha is not content to just leave the marketplace with the Tricity scooter and NIKEN sport bike.
To that notion, Yamaha has already tipped a mid-sized leaning multi-wheeler to us, with Yamaha CEO/President Yoshihiro Hidaka showing a slide in February of this year that had a blurred out LMW sitting between the Tricity and NIKEN models.
Now, we get word from Europe that a 300cc version of the NIKEN is set to drop later this year.