Latest Posts:
Asphalt & Rubber
Tag

adventure-touring

Browsing
Bikes

Honda Africa Twin Supermoto Concept by Nicolas Petit

By 31 Comments

The Honda Africa Twin doesn’t lend itself naturally to a supermoto format, though it is one of the most capable off-road adventure bikes on the market, but you have to admit that this photoshop render by French designer Nicolas Petit is very intriguing.

Maybe it’s our obvious bias towards anything supermoto that is talking, or maybe it’s that there is something to the idea of taking the Africa Twin, adding 17” wheels, and lowering it just enough that riders can actually flat-foot the machine while sitting on it.

Add in some styling cues that scream “supermotard” and you have a very handsome machine that is ready to conquer anything the urban environment can throw at it. Hell, it’s probably just a scary clown costume away from a good time on a gravel road. Right??!

We doubt Honda has any eyes on offering a more on-road version of the CRF1000L, though if they did, and it looked like this, we might be intrigued. Just leave the DCT off of it.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

More Photos of the New Ducati Multistrada 939

By 20 Comments

For the 2017 model year, Ducati will release a smaller version of its popular adventure-tourer, dubbed the Ducati Multistrada 939. As the name suggests, this new Multistrada will use the 937cc v-twin engine that is found on the current Ducati Hypermotard, and recently released Ducati SuperSport.

Photos reveal that the 2017 Ducati Multistrada 939 will have a double-sided swingarm, helping to distinguish it from the Multistrada 1200, which uses a single-sided swingarm.

What is harder to glean from the photos though is that Ducati is said to have made the Multistrada 939 physically smaller than the Multistrada 1200, offering a lower seat height and overall lower riding height than its larger sibling.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

BMW Lac Rose Concept Going into Production for 2017

By 21 Comments

In addition to updating the BMW R1200GS for the 2017 model year, our sources tell us that the BMW Lac Rose concept will debut as a production model at the EICMA show next month in Milan, Italy.

Based off the BMW R nineT platform, the Lac Rose (not the name that BMW will use once it debuts) will serve as the Bavarian brand’s heritage ADV bike, keeping its obvious themes to the Dakar Rally in place, with the proper amount of nostalgia for the category.

This should give O.G. airheads a proper air-cooled throwback ADV bike option (say that three times fast), which will serve as a counterpoint to the updates we can expect from the 2017 BMW R1200GS and the revisions we have already seen for the 2017 BMW S1000XR.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

BMW R1200GS Getting Updated for 2017

By 24 Comments

We call our inside sources in the industry “Bothan Spies” because they work tirelessly to provide us with good information, and today is no different. As such, Asphalt & Rubber can confirm that BMW Motorrad will update its best-selling motorcycle at the EICMA show in Milan, the BMW R1200GS.

Our sources tell us that the 2017 BMW R1200GS will see a host of improvements over its predecessor. The most notable changes will be the revised bodywork, though changes have also been made to the suspension and electronics as well.

What remains to be seen though is whether BMW massages in some more power to the boxer-twin on the R1200GS, to help it keep up with the more powerful offerings coming from other manufacturers.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

BMW G310GS Spied, Again

By 22 Comments

BMW Motorrad’s pint-sized adventure, the BMW G310GS, has been spied again, this time in motion on a public road. Looking ready in production trim, we surely will see the small-displacement model debut next month at the EICMA show in Milan, Italy.

This is the second time that the 2017 BMW G310GS has been spied in recent days, giving us a good idea of what to expect from this ~300cc ADV machine.

The styling takes a strong resemblance to the BMW R1200GS, likely to help forge a relation between the iconic adventure bike with its new smaller sibling.

At the core of course is the same 313cc single-cylinder engine that powers the BMW G310R street bike. This should give the BMW G310GS roughly 34hp at the crank, and a mass that is around the 350 lbs mark, wet and fully fueled.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

Up-Close with the KTM 1290 Adventure S

By 11 Comments

It doesn’t look like 2017 KTM 1290 Adventure S is coming to the USA, but our European readers will enjoy the street-focused ADV bike, as it straddles somewhere between the touring-focused KTM 1290 Adventure T and the off-road shredding KTM 1290 Adventure R.

The KTM 1290 Adventure S offers a turnkey street bike with ample power (158hp), while the 19″/17″ dual-sport cast aluminum wheels give added off-road abilities.

KTM has also added semi-active suspension from WP, as well as traction control (with an off-road setting) and the Bosch cornering ABS package.

In reality, the 2017 KTM 1290 Adventure S helps the Austrian brand keep a strong hand on the 19-inch wheel portion of the adventure-touring segment, helping keep at bay bikes like the potent Ducati Multistrada 1200 Enduro and the BMW R1200GS.

With a revised look for the 2017 model year, and all the promise the previous model years have shown, we expect sales to be strong for the KTM 1290 Adventure S.

For our American readers, the photos after the jump may be as close as we get to this machine. Many thanks to our friends at MotoFire for sharing them with us.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

KTM 1090 Adventure R – A Milder Insane ADV Bike

By 9 Comments

If the KTM 1290 Super Adventure R is too much beast for you ADVness, then might we suggest the milder 2017 KTM 1090 Adventure R for your overlanding needs?

With KTM retiring the 1190 Adventure line, in favor of a dual-pronged attack with the 1090 and 1290 models, it makes sense then to see that the KTM 1090 Adventure will get an “R” badge for next year.

Typical for the Austrian brand, the KTM 1090 Adventure R makes its “R” distinction by being more off-road capable. That means 21″/18″ tubeless wire-spoke wheels, shod with Continental TKC 80 tires, along with other dirt-focused goodies.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

Behold, The KTM 1290 Super Adventure R

By 26 Comments

We like it when OEMs go big with their ideas, and that’s exactly what the Austrians have done with the 2017 KTM 1290 Adventure R.

The more svelte and off-road focused cousin to the KTM 1290 Super Adventure, this R model is meant to defend KTM’s domain in the ADV world against would-be competitors…like perhaps, Ducati.

The plan here is pretty simple, take the base model KTM 1290 Super Adventure, but add in crash protection, tubeless wire-spoked wheels (21″ in the front, 18″ in the back), and even more travel in the WP suspension pieces (22omm, front and back).

2017 also sees the Super Adventure line getting a makeover, which you will either love or hate, as KTM’s lineup continues to read like a Spy vs. Spy comic.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

A Pint-Sized ADV Bike Spotted, The BMW G310GS

By 16 Comments

When the BMW G310R debuted, we knew that the Germans would use its small-displacement machine as a platform for other models.

There have been hints that one of those models could be a 300cc-ish adventure bike, and now we get out first glimpse of the so-called BMW G310GS, thanks to Italian magazine Motociclismo.

It’s not clear if we’ll see the 2017 BMW G310GS at this week’s INTERMOT show, or if BMW Motorrad will save the bike for November’s EICMA show, in Italy. Either scenario is equally plausible, and this is something we’ve already covered here at Asphalt & Rubber.

Keep Reading
By
Dirt

Sidi Crossfire 3 SRS Boots Set to Debut

By 8 Comments

There might be no finer off-road boot than the Sidi Crossfire 2 SRS, which boasts superb design, riding versatility, and modular parts. And yet, the Italian company endeavors to improve upon that design, teasing this weekend the debut of the Sidi Crossfire 3 SRS.

I am not sure if the debut of an off-road boot needs to be drawn out over several teaser videos — I can hardly stand it when the same is applied for a new motorcycle launch — but we might forgive such a marketing scheme for such a worthy piece of kit.

To that end, the Sidi Crossfire 3 SRS continues the trend of the Italian brand, with replacement parts and pieces readily available for owners. This makes repairs from heavy spills an easy affair, it also makes the SRS line of boot highly adaptable for different types of riding.

This is because like its predecessor, the Sidi Crossfire 3 SRS has a variety of replacement soles available, which can be easily installed for riding motocross, enduro, adventure-touring, and supermoto.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

A Baby Version of the Ducati Multistrada Cometh?

By 21 Comments

The above photo was sent to the Italian website Moto.it by one of its readers, and it is supposedly a photo of an upcoming new version of the Ducati Multistrada, which is physically smaller than the current 1200cc model.

Presumably, this would make the machine in question then the Ducati Multistrada 939, thus adding to the Euro4 compliant engine’s call to action for the 2017 model year.

We say this all hypothetically however, because it is hard to verify anything from this photo…beyond the very obvious double-sided swingarm setup.

Keep Reading
By