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The KTM 390 Adventure Is Finally, Finally Here

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It has taken a long time to wrangle this bike into existence, but the KTM 390 Adventure is officially a thing now and coming in 2020.

I could look back through the pages of Asphalt & Rubber, and see when we first started talking about this small-sized ADV bike, but it would be downright depressing for the Austrian brand. It has been…a while in the making, let’s just say that.

The good news though is that the KTM 390 Adventure arrives with an exclamation point, and it is certain to dominate in markets where the  373cc engine is considered quite large and peppy. It should be fun in the western markets too.

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Bikes

The Husqvarna Norden 901 Concept Is Ready for Adventure

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Every year, for the past five years, Husqvarna has worked like clockwork at the EIMCA show in Milan. This is because the Swedish variant from KTM has been steady in its approach of releasing one new street bike in Milan, and one new concept model for possible future production. For 2019, this trend continues.

Behold the Husqvarna Norden 901 concept, a uniquely styled adventure-tourer, with an 899cc parallel-twin engine, and plenty of styling cues to keep your pouring over the high-resolution photos below.

As the name suggests, the Norden 901 gets the upgraded “890” engine from the KTM 890 Duke R, but fit into a package that is similar to the KTM 790 Adventure platform.

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Bikes

The All New BMW S1000XR Debuts at EICMA – More Power, Less Weight

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A bike that we knew we would see at the 2019 EICMA show, it didn’t surprise us when the BMW S1000XR rolled onto the stage in Milan, but we are certainly glad that we saw it.

Based off the new BMW S1000RR platform, the 2020 BMW S1000XR takes that superbike DNA, and puts it into an adventure-sport format.

This means long-travel suspension, plenty of wind protection, all the damn farkles, and the horsepower to get it all there with a smile on your face.

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Bikes

Ducati Teases Two Intriguing Scrambler Concepts Ahead of EICMA

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While the Ducati Streetfighter V4 was the crown jewel of the Ducati unveiling event in Rimini last week, the items that everyone seems to be still talking about after the media launch are something else, they are the two concept bikes for the Scrambler range.

For those that didn’t watch the live stream, Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali presented two different Scrambler models that have the potential to go into production, an ADV bike and a supermoto.

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Rumors

This Is Our First Good Look at the New Suzuki V-Strom

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For the past many weeks, we have been talking about Suzuki’s plans to bring back the DR Big name – a moniker that has deep ties to Suzuki’s off-roading prowess, and draw links to the iconic Dakar Rally.

Then, we saw spy photos of a new Suzuki V-Strom 1000, which looked better-suited for the dirty trails, and showed a number of updates to this venerable line of adventure bikes.

Now, we get our first solid look at the 2020 Suzuki V-Strom 1000, as the Japanese brand gears up for next week’s EICMA show in Milan.

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Bikes

Here is the Cadillac of Multistradas, the 2020 Ducati Multistrada 1260 S Grand Tour

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The v-twin Multistrada is doing a bit of a swan song this year, as we ready ourselves for the 2021 Ducati Multistrada V4.

Now, we don’t expect the two-cylinder bike to completely disappear, but it would seem the road-focused Multistradas are destined to get two more cylinders in their engine package.

As such, Borgo Panigale is giving this popular motorcycle one last model year hurrah, with this “Cadillac” version dubbed the Ducati Multistrada 1260 S Grand Tour.

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Rumors

Moto Morini Teases New Adventure Bike for EICMA

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A brand we often don’t hear too much about, Moto Morini is showing some interesting prospects that are set to debut at the upcoming EICMA show in Milan.

The biggest comes in the form of this teaser concept sketch (see above), which outlines the lines of an adventure-touring model from the Italian brand.

Now under Chinese ownership, Moto Morini is actually looking like it will have robust set of bikes debuting for the 2020 model year, with this ADV machine joined by both a scrambler and naked model.

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Dirt

Dunlop Finally Steps Up Its ADV Tire Game

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It has always surprised me that while Dunlop is a huge player in the US motorcycle tire market, the American brand hasn’t really latched onto one of its domestic market’s biggest trends on two wheels: adventure-touring.

I am sure that if you asked the tire gurus at Dunlop if they had an ADV tire in their arsenal, they would reply with several models to choose from. The graphic near the bottom of this story seems to support this notion.

But, diving deeper into Dunlop’s lineup shows really a strong showing of DOT-legal dirt bikes tire, but with plenty of white space on the board when it comes to the sizes and expectations common with today’s big ADV bikes.

Well, that needle is moving a bit today, with Dunlop’s latest news in the adventure-touring space. This is because Dunlop has two big announcement for its ADV tire offerings.

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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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News

Ducati Confirms the Multistrada V4 for the 2021 Model Year

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In an unusual move, Ducati has confirmed in a press release that the Italian brand will be brining the much-rumored Multistrada V4 not for next year, but instead for the 2021 model year.

In its announcement, Ducati said that the V4 machine will be available alongside the 1260 and 950 v-twin models, which adds some more intrigue to what form-factor the Ducati Multistrada V4 could take, and where it could slot into Ducati’s lineup.

This tidbit comes on the news that Ducati has just built its 100,000th Multistrada, in preparation for the 2020 model year.

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