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Ride Review: BMW S1000XR

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Attending BMW Motorrad’s launch of the 2016 BMW S1000XR, our friends from Testmotor.nl have been kind enough to share their thoughts and a short review on BMW’s new “Adventure-Sport” motorcycle. – Jensen

BMW Motorrad admits that the S1000XR is a combination of the S1000RR and the R1200GS…a pedigree to be proud of, but also one that creates a lot of expectations.

The German company would like to join the party of all-road focused adventure bikes, which has conquered the market these last couple of years.

BMW calls this the “adventure-sport” segment and hopes to steal some sales from bikes like the Ducati Mutistrada, Suzuki V-strom, Honda Crosstourer and Kawasaki Versys.

In turn, BMW is trying to avoid in-house competition with its own GS, by giving the S1000RR more sportive looks and less rugged, more vulnerable construction.

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Bikes

Even More Photos of the Honda Africa Twin

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After a few grayscale photos of the new Africa Twin hit the internet from Honda’s Australian patent filing, now even more photos have emerged, which show the adventure-tourer from every angle…literally.

The Honda CRF1000L, as it is designated, will features a 1,000cc parallel-twin engine, an option dual-clutch transmission that has been tuned for road use, and a setup very similar to Honda’s Dakar stage-winning bike.

If the hype is to be believed, the Africa Twin is going to be a very capable off-road ADV bike, something that the machine’s 21-inch front wheel hints at with a purpose.

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Bikes

Honda Africa Twin Revealed in Photos

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After Honda first released heavily cropped and vignetted photos of the 2016 Honda Africa Twin, we have been wanting to know more about the 1,000cc ADV bike.

It helps that a video leaked of the Africa Twin out playing in the dirt, but of course we know that the CRF1000L (as Honda designates it) will be very similar to the True Adventure prototype that Honda brought to EICMA.

But like the spoiled children we the media are, we want to open all our Christmas presents right now, so we go digging through the interwebs for every little clue.

Luckily, patent applications for the Honda Africa Twin’s design show the new off-roader in all its glory, sans color unfortunately. Still, this is our first glimpse at the final design of the Africa Twin, which will be in US dealers early next year.

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Bikes

Honda Africa Twin Confirmed – CRF1000L Coming for 2016

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American Honda dropped a bombshell today, confirming that the teased “True Adventure” ADV model will enter production, and be named the “Africa Twin”, as expected.

Officially designated at the Honda CRF1000L, the Africa Twin will be a 2016 model (in dealerships early next year), and best of all, it will be coming to the USA.

The 2016 Honda Africa Twin draws upon a legacy of rugged off-road race-proven machines that also wore its name, a sign that Honda intends the CRF1000L to be very capable off-road, and thus not follow the road-going adventure-sport trend.

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Bikes

BMW S1000XR Mega Gallery

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One of the highlights of the 2014 EICMA show, the BMW S1000XR is Germany’s direct assault on the Ducati Multistrada 1200 et al. That move is an interesting one, considering bikes like the Multistrada 1200 were in response to the popularity of the BMW R1200GS — thus making the adventure-touring-sport segment one big dog chasing its tail, but we digress.

The S1000XR officially splits the adventure segment in two, making a clear distinction between adventure-touring motorcycles like the BMW R1200GS(A) and KTM 1190 Adventure, and the adventure-sport segment, which includes the Ducati Multistrada 1200 and MV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800.

Built for speed and long-distance travel, the adventure-sport machines mimic the sport-tourers that they are replacing in sales, with their added offer of longer suspension travel and at least some gravel-road competency (whether you’d take any of these machines off-tarmac is another debate entirely).

All of this means that the BMW S1000XR is an important machine for the Bavarian brand, as well as the motorcycle industry — we are already seen other manufacturers respond to this new segment.

The S1000XR is also on A&R’s short list of new bikes to try this year, and it looks like BMW is finally close to granting us that wish. After rumors of production delays, the 2015 BMW S1000XR finally seems ready for showtime. As such, we have a mega gallery of 302 hi-res photos for you, after the jump.

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Dirt

2016 Dakar Rally Route: Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina

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After the news that Chilé would be dropped from the 2016 Dakar Rally because of extensive flooding near the course area, the iconic race and its organizers had to go back to the drawing board to find a challenging alternative for The Dakar’s 8th race in South America.

The ASO believes they have done just that, announcing that the 2016 Dakar Rally will go through Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina, with stages in the Andes Mountains being the highlight of rally raid competition.

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Bikes

Honda Bulldog Concept Lets the Dogs Out in Osaka

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After first showing us the Honda SFA and Honda CRF250 Rally concepts, Big Red made good on its promise for another motorcycle concept premiere at the Osaka Motorcycle Show, debuting the Honda Bulldog concept.

With the face of a Ruckus, and built to “leisurely” take-on the great outdoors in an unassuming manor, the Honda Bulldog is a stout off-roader that adds a new slant to the term adventure-bike.

With wide 15″ knobby tires, a 28″ seat height, and 400cc parallel-twin engine mated to a six-speed gearbox, the Bulldog certainly isn’t what you expect to see bombing down the trails, yet it sorta makes sense.

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Bikes

Honda CRF250 Rally Concept Breaks Cover in Japan

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Adventure riders, you prayers have been answered. Honda is set to debut a new off-road model at the Osaka Motorcycle Show, the Honda CRF250 Rally.

Based off the Honda CRF250L platform, the Rally concept is basically the CRF250L with rally-styled bodywork.

The Honda CRF250 Rally concept will get its worldwide debut alongside the Honda True Adventure concept, which we first saw at last year’s EICMA show.

This makes for an interesting dichotomy, as the CRF250 Rally is set to look like the CRF450 Rally race bike, while the True Adventure (cough, Africa Twin, cough) borrows heavily from the race bike’s technology package.

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Bikes

Moto Guzzi X-Rally 1200 Concept by Oberdan Bezzi

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Moto Guzzi would do well to add a scrambler model to its current lineup, and build off the hype generated by the Ducati Scrambler’s launch, not to mention the “post-authentic” movement (whatever that means) that seems to pull models out of the 1960’s and thrust them into the modern conversation.

Helping us imagine such a machine is Oberdan Bezzi, with his Moto Guzzi X-Rally 1200 concept. Maybe too heavy to appeal to die-hard off-roaders (I can hear the moans already in the comments section), but the X-Rally 1200 certainly fills the need for a brutish enduro with classic cues — not to mention, a break from the beaked-ADV status quo that the Stelvio tries so hard to chase.

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News

ICON Launches Raiden Clothing Line for ADV Riders

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Your favorite squid-biking / StuntLife apparel brand is expanding from its hooligan roots into the adventure-touring market, as ICON announced its Raiden line of clothing this past weekend at Portland’ One Motorcycle Show.

The Raiden brand extension is just the latest expansion from ICON, which has already pushed into the café hipster crowd with its ICON 1000 line of clothing, with much success.

While the Raiden line’s bright colors and designs will likely attract a younger demographic, it is just one of many steps that ICON is going through in order to breakaway from its “squid gear” reputation and cast a wider net on the two-wheeled demographic.

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