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The Honda Africa Twin Gets Rally Raid Ready

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When it comes to adventure-tourers that can actually go off-road, the Honda Africa Twin easily rises to the top of the list. Couple that to Honda’s pursuits in the Dakar Rally and other rally raid events, and its easy to see where the Honda Africa Twin Rally could be born.

A special model being built by Italy’s Honda importer that was unveiled at this year’s Motodays show, the Africa Twin Rally won’t be hitting other markets any time soon (read: never), though it shows a machine that many ADV riders have been clamoring for, since the first shots of the Honda CRF450 Rally hit the internet.

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Bikes

Walt Siegl’s Dakar Inspired Ducati Hypermotard

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This Dakar Rally inspired Ducati Hypermotard is the latest creation from Walt Siegl Motorcycles, and it comes with some very appropriate timing.

Not only are we full-swing into the 2017 Dakar Rally, but this 1980s-styled Ducati comes during a week where we have been talking about my not-so-secret love affair with the Ducati Hypermotard.

Again, we see the air-cooled version of this street-going supermoto being used as a platform for a unique work, though this time Walt Siegl has been commissioned to make a bike that rolled right off the sand dunes of Africa.

The exercise centers around mostly the restyling of the bodywork, to give us a little nostalgia for when the Dakar Rally was actually held in its namesake in Northern Africa.

More importantly though, we can see the continuation of the trend, where designers draw upon the awkward time period that is the 1980s. The mash-up of modern machine with a style from 30+ years ago is certainly captivating. We think you will enjoy it. 

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Bikes

You Want This BMW R1200GS Adventure Made of Legos

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Here we have a BMW R1200GS Adventure that finally everyone can afford. Teaming up with the great minds at Lego, BMW Motorrad has helped to create a Lego Technic model of the BMW R1200GS Adventure.

The set comes with 603 pieces, measures 18cm by 33cm by 10cm, and faithfully reproduces the venerable adventure-tourer, right down to its adjustable windscreen, Telelver front wheel suspension, rear wheel shaft drive, and moving boxer-twin engine.

Just in time for the holiday season, we imagine more adults than kids will be looking for this set of Legos.

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Bikes

The BMW R nineT Urban G/S Helps Us Remember When the Dakar Rally Still Raced to Dakar

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Our Bothan Spies came through once again this EICMA season, bringing us news that the BMW Lac Rose Concept would enter production as the 2017 BMW R nineT Urban G/S motorcycle.

As the name implies, the Urban G/S is based off the BMW R nineT platform, which means that it uses the iconic 1,170cc, 110hp, air-cooled, boxer-twin engine as its base, and then builds out from there.

As such, the chassis is the same modular frame that powers the rest of the R nineT line, complete with telescoping fork suspension at the front, along with a 19″ wheel wire-spoked wheel in the front, and a 17″ wire-spoked wheel in the rear.

All of this means that the BMW R nineT is mostly an aesthetic exercise – but it is quite the exercise, if you want our opinion.

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2017 BMW R1200GS Gets Upgrades, And a Little Rallye

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As expected, the BMW R1200GS is getting some updates for the 2017 model year. Beyond the anticipated engine refresh for Euro4 compliance – which sees the 2017 BMW R1200GS continuing to make 125hp at 7,750 rpm, thanks to a new catalytic converter and modified ECU settings – other improvements have also been made to this iconic machine.

The changes run the gamut, and include visual changes to the bodywork, mechanical updates for better operation, ergonomic refinements to the controls, and electronic upgrades to the standard and optional equipment.

BMW Motorrad has also made several model variations available of the 2017 BMW R1200GS, shown here is the very tasty BMW R1200GS Rallye, which shows an off-road focus with its rally seat, sport windshield, radiator and frame guards, wide enduro foot pegs, and spoked wheels with optional studded tires.

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2017 BMW G310GS Debuts with 300cc of ADV

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One of the four new motorcycles we were expecting to see from BMW at the 2016 EICMA show, the BMW G310GS adds a small-displacement model to the German brand’s already iconic adventure-touring line.

Based off the BMW G310R street bike, the 313cc single-cylinder platform has been reworked for dual-sport riding, offering not only a smaller ADV machine for adventure enthusiasts, but also an entry point into the BMW brand via one of its best-selling segments.

As such, the GS model gains some suspension travel (1.6″ in the front, 2″ in the rear) over its street bike sibling, the styling is obviously a nod towards the rest of the GS line, namely the best-selling R1200GS, and the ergonomics have been reworked for adventure-style riding.

Power is rated at just under 34hp, with a curb weight of 374 lbs.

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Bikes

Oh My! The Honda Africa Twin Enduro Sports Concept

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File the Honda Africa Twin Enduro Sports concept under things we like, as the adventure-bike concept takes perhaps the most off-road competent ADV bike on the market, and raises its dirt credit by another factor of ten.

Built off the Honda CRF1000L Africa Twin, the Enduro Sports concept is intended to expand the Africa Twin family, and to help the new adventure bike attract more riders into its Cult of Brap.

To do this, Honda’s R&D department came up with several lighter weight chassis components (Honda does say what specifically, of course), which were initially developed for the Honda CRF450 Rally race bike, which competes in the Dakar Rally.

The styling is aggressive, especially with the revised headlight assembly. The windscreen and fairings have been re-styled for a sportier look as well, and of course the Termignoni exhaust system is eye-catching, in utilitarian sort of way. Overall, the effect is quite stark.

Honda concept bikes have a funny way of becoming production models in a year or two’s time. As such, we wouldn’t mind have one in our garage. Would you?

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Dirt

Honda X-ADV, A Scooter You Didn’t Know You Wanted

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You have to admit, the idea of an ADV scooter is less than obvious. That hasn’t stopped Big Red from dreaming it, though.

Finally debuting at EICMA, we get the full monty on the Honda X-ADV, a step-through scooter design that’s designed to tackle more than just city traffic and potholed tarmac.

Based off the 745cc parallel-twin platform that powers the Honda Integra scooter and Honda NC750 progeny, the Honda X-ADV makes 54hp, features a dual-clutch transmission (DCT), and gets 65 miles per gallon in fuel consumption.

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Yamaha T7 Concept Hints at a 700cc Ténéré for 2018

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Part of Yamaha’s 2016 EICMA show program includes a nod to the future, teasing us today with the Yamaha T7 concept. Picking up the torch where the Yamaha XT600Z Ténéré left off, the Yamaha T7 concept uses the same 270° parallel-twin engine found in the Yamaha MT-07/FZ-07 street bike.

Yamaha has wrapped that stout twin-cylidner engine in a brand new chassis that is suited for dual-spot riding, and hopes to focus its efforts on offering a middleweight adventure-tourer that is high on off-road brapping, and low on electronic wizardry.

This should appease those who complain about ADV bikes being too road focused and sophisticated for true adventure riding, and Yamaha hopes to use the T7 concept to develop a bike that meets this ethos, and is suitable for production, but also capable of proper rally raid riding.

As such, the Yamaha T7 is a fully functional prototype, and it is being developed with help from the Official Rally Team in France, Yamaha R&D in Italy, and GK Design in The Netherlands.

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Honda CRF250L Rally Finally Debuts

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We have been waiting for the Honda CRF250L Rally to debut for a long time now.

It has been 20 months since Big Red first showed us the Honda CRF250 Rally concept in Japan, and today in at the EICMA show Italy, the 2017 Honda CRF250L Rally finally broke cover.

The idea behind the Dakar-inspired machine is pretty simple. Take the venerable Honda CRF250L platform, and add pieces to make it mimic the design for the Honda CRF450 Rally race bike.

The result is a lightweight adventure bike that appeases those riders who feel ADV machines are to big and heavy.

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Ducati Multistrada 950 – A “Baby” ADV Bike from Italy

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The Ducati Multistrada line is growing at this year’s EICMA show, with the debut of the 2017 Ducati Multistrada 950. This “baby” Multistrada uses the 937cc engine that is found in the Hypermotard 939 and Ducati SuperSport, which makes 113hp and 71 lbs•ft of peak torque.

The design borrows bits and pieces from the current Multistrada 1200 and Multistrada 1200 Enduro, and it is designed to be a more affordable ADV model that will appeal to a wider range of riders.

As such, the Ducati Multistrada 950 has some versatility with the fitting of a 19″ front wheel, as well as a double-sided swingarm, to its street-focused chassis.

This allows the Ducati Multistrada 950 to come in four flavors with its accessory packs: Sport, Enduro, Touring, and Urban. Each pack includes accessory items fitting that application, like knobby tires, engine guards, luggage racks, hard bags, and more.

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