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Husqvarna to Unveil New Prototype Motorcycle at EICMA

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The future of Husqvarna is an interesting one to mull over right now as we gear-up for the EICMA show in Milan, Italy next week. Recently acquired by KTM’s Stefan Pierer, through is Pierer Industrie AG company, Husqvarna finds itself now merged into Husaberg, as KTM has consolidated its splintered dirt bike brands back into one cohesive effort.

That move alone in an interesting one, as Husqvarna had begun tackling the on-road world while still under the stewardship of BMW Motorrad — releasing models like the Husqvarna Nuda 900 and concepts like the Husqvarna Moab. The brand now seems destined to stay in the dirt though, but that isn’t keeping Husqvarna away from releasing prototypes and concepts at EICMA, as it seems to do every year.

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Bikes

First Photos & Video of the MV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800

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The 2013 EICMA show is just a couple days away, and the first OEM on the docket to reveal its new models is MV Agusta. We already know what MV Agusta’s big reveal is the MV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800, which will be a high-sitting sport-touring machine, complete with hard-bags, that features the company’s 800cc three-cylinder engine.

Teasing the new model now in a video, we can get our first glimpse at what MV Agusta has been cooking up back in Varese. Fusing the three-pipe exhaust of the MV Agusta F3 with the squared-off exhaust tips of the MV Agusta F4, MV Agusta has taken many design elements from its other models to make the MV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800 — note the Rivale handguards and signals, for instance.

We’ll let the video and screen grabs do the rest of the talking, but a couple features of note are the full-LED headlight, Sachs semi-active suspension, and what looks like some sort of Bluetooth / cellphone connection system. We like what we see, and we like what we hear…Monday can’t come soon enough.

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Bikes

Ducati Scrambler Spotted Again

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The Ducati Scrambler work horse has made its way onto the internet again, this time with Italian site Insella.it getting a glimpse of the prototype on the outskirts of Bologna.

While the machine hasn’t developed much further than from the last time it broke cover, we do at least get a better view of the Scrambler’s early lines, and can clearly spot the bike’s air-cooled v-twin engine.

Also visible is the Ducati Scrambler’s elongated tank and flat-ish seat, key elements to the scrambler aesthetic. Absent however is a high-mounted level exhaust, though Ducati’s unit here seems to be anything but finalized.

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Bikes

First Photos of the KTM RC125 & KTM RC200

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If it is connected by a series of tubes, we will find it; and thus here are photos of the still unreleased KTM RC125 & KTM RC200 street bikes — the kid-siblings to the recently leaked KTM RC390. Like the RC390, the RC125 & RC200 are visually similar, and share a common vein in their Made-in-India single-cylinder engines.

No word on specs, but we foresee the 125cc and 200cc iterations sharing similar technical listings as their Duke counterparts. We should know more at EICMA, where all three of these street bikes are expect to debut. More photos after the jump.

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Banter

Are You the 2014 BMW S1000R Streetfighter? Nope.

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Is this an image of the much anticipated BMW S1000R – the streetfightered version of BMW’s popular S1000RR superbike? Nope, it’s not…but, it is a spot-on approximation of what we expect to see from BMW Motorrad early next month at the EICMA motorcycle show in Milan, Italy. Italian site DueRuote commissioned this render from the folks at MotoRendering.com, and we have to say it is some damn fine work.

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Bikes

Get Ready for the MV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800

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Those Italians in Varese are getting their EICMA machine ready, and have sent the international press invitations to see the new MV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800. As the name implies, the machine is a sport-tourer, likely based off the still unreleased MV Agusta Rivale 800 platform and its 800cc three-cylinder engine.

Details beyond this are unknown, though the Turismo Veloce 800 is likely to look like sex on two wheels, as all MV machines tend to do. We hope that the MV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800 looks like the MV Agusta Tricruiser concept we saw back in 2011. Photos of that rolling piece of art are after the jump.

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News

Pierobon’s Trellis Frame for the Ducati 1199 Panigale – Ducatisti Purists, Your Prayers Have Been Answered

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We have featured the work of Peirobon on Asphalt & Rubber before, as the boutique firm from Bologna makes some intriguing air-cooled Ducati-powered sport bikes for discerning buyers, among other things.

Pierobon is also one of the companies we are looking forward to seeing at this year’s EICMA show, as the firm has something special this year for its booth display: a trellis frame kit for the Ducati 1199 Panigale.

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Bikes

Leaked: Photos of BMW’s 90th Anniversary Café Racer

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It looks like BMW’s new air-cooled café racer has made an early, albeit brief, appearance on the internet. Photos of what we have been calling the BMW NineT appeared today on Italian news site La Repubblica, though the writers there called the machine the BMW R Nine. Unfortunately (for us) however, the article has since been taken down by the Italian publication.

With the NineT set to debut later today in Munich, these photos seem to be of the soon-to-be-released production model, and appear to be still shots for the machine’s upcoming press kit.

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Bikes

Leaked: Ducati 1199 Panigale R Superleggera Detail Photos

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The leaks from Ducati keep coming in, and now we have our first photos of the Ducati 1199 Panigale R Superleggera and its tasty details. Stripped of its carbon fiber fairings, we can see where all those magnesium, titanium, and carbon pieces reside on the Superleggera’s rolling chassis.

Asphalt & Rubber has gotten its hands on 16 detail photos of the new Ducati Superleggera, and they are waiting for you after the jump. Our apologies in advance for the insane watermarks, but some people just don’t understand the internet. Other publications should feel free to use our photos, provided they cite their source and link back to Asphalt & Rubber — easy, right?

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Bikes

More Video Goodness of the Ducati Superleggera

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Sure to be the talk of EICMA, the Ducati 1199 Panigale R Superleggera is slowly leaking out from Borgo Panigale. We already broke the news about the Superleggera’s 220hp crank horsepower, and the “superlight” superbike’s insane weight trimmings. Looking at the special parts that comprise the Superleggera, it is not hard to see how Ducati dropped 40 lbs from the bike’s mass.

A magnesium frame/headstock, a carbon fiber rear subframe, magnesium wheels, titanium bolts, tungsten inserts on the lightened crankshaft, titanium/carbon fiber exhaust cans…we could go on with our pairings of motorcycle parts and elements from the periodic table.

Ducati hopes to whet our appetites with this machine with a proscribed trickling of information and media. We don’t like that idea too much, so here are eight unreleased teaser videos of the Ducati 1199 Panigale R Superleggera from Ducati’s invite-only microsite. Don’t ask how we got them.

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