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Armotia Due R – An Electric 2WD Supermoto

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The electric side of the motorcycle industry is slowly showing life again, as we first got the flash in the pan, and now we are getting the sizzle. Some of that sizzle is coming from projects that have been in the works for quite some time, like the Alta Motors Redshift.

However, some of that sizzle is coming from new players, like Armotia. The Italian-based outfit has two interesting offerings to show us, the Armotia Due R and the Armotia Due X.

The Due R is Armotia’s electric supermoto, while the Due X is the company’s electric enduro model. Both bikes feature a two-wheel drive setup that makes 15hp, 5.1 kWh battery pack, and a smartphone dash.

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Bikes

2017 Gas Gas TXT Racing 300 Shows Proof of Life

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Gas Gas has been saved from what seemed like certain death, and to give us a proof of life, the Spanish off-road company is showing off the 2017 Gas Gas TXT Racing 300 trials model.

Production on the 2017 Gas Gas TXT Racing 300 will start in March, with units arriving at dealers later in the year. And yes, the 2017 Gas Gas TXT Racing 300 will be coming to US soil, for all you two-stroke trials fans.

Visually and technically not much has changed for the 2017 model, but given how highly regarded the TXT Racing 300 is in the trials community, that’s perhaps not that surprising.

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Dirt

Warp 9 Racing Offers Tubeless Forged Supermoto Wheels

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Maybe it’s because my poor Yamaha YZF-R1 track bike gets left in the garage way more often that my Husqvarna SMR 511 does, but I’ve had supermotos on the brain lately. It’s easy to see why, supermoto racing is a cheap and fun way to get your doctor prescribed dosage of braaap.

So, it is a bit of a mystery why supermoto racing isn’t more popular in the USA. Thankfully we’ve got a series starting up in the Pacific Northwest this year, and it looks like with the AMA involved again that supermoto might get second coming on this side of the pond.

If you haven’t tried riding a supermoto yet, you should. It doesn’t take much, really just a dirt bike that you are willing to shod with 17″ wheels, which brings us to the story at hand, as one of the better places to get some cheap quality supermoto wheels has been Warp 9 Racing, a company based right here in the USA (Salt Lake City).

Warp 9’s spoked wheelsets might not be the lightest on the market, but they do offer great bang for the buck for racers and enthusiasts alike, and what has us really excited today is the debut of Warp 9 Racing’s new forged aluminum wheelsets for supermoto bikes.

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Bikes

Euro4 Claims Its First Victim – No Two-Stroke 125cc Enduros from KTM & Husqvarna for 2017

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It looks like Europe’s new Euro4 emissions standard has claimed its first victim (if you don’t count the exhaust pipe on the Ducati 959 Panigale), as neither KTM nor Husqvarna will be producing their 125cc two-stroke enduro models for 2017, and the foreseeable future afterwards.

The move is a euros and cents decision, and a slightly complicated one at that, but it boils down to the fact that making the small-displacement smokers meet the more stringent Euro4 emissions requirements was financially prohibitive.

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Dirt

Take a Moment to Escape to Baja California

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It seems that over the past few weeks, I’ve had a barrage of conversations about riding in Baja California. One of those conversations happened with A&R super-friend Carlin Dunne, who just happened to make the ride down to Mexico with filmmaker Dana Brown in tow. Yeah, this Dana Brown.

In addition to an epic journey for the four riders, we the viewers are treated a short video that makes us want to dust off our dirt bikes, grab our gear, and head south to Mexico. The route looks tough, but don’t worry…there will be tacos.

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Dirt

Gas Gas Rescued by Spanish Firm Torrot

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In case you missed the initial reports, those in the off-road world will be especially happy to hear that Spanish motorcycle maker Gas Gas has been saved from the deadpool. Infusing €13 million into the failing motorcycle brand, Torrot is our unlikely hero, the Spanish firm a producer of electric bicycles and urban mobile two-wheelers.

The cash infusion will come into Gas Gas over the next three years, with a focus on updating the company’s product lineup. This will include bringing Gas Gas back to the trials market in a big way, as well as developing new enduro models. Even electric models in the works.

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Bikes

Tip: Don’t Break Your ADV Bike in Your Teaser Video

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For reasons we haven’t fully been able to understand, there has been a lot buzz lately about the new Himalayan model from Royal Enfield, the Indian company’s foray into the ADV market.

The premise might seem obvious enough, a small-displacement (410cc) adventure-tourer that is supposed to be cheap, rugged, and easy to work on.

There has always been a trade-off to make in buying a Royal Enfield though, with the “unique” charm of owning a motorcycle from the historic brand having to be balanced against its less than stellar reputation for quality and reliability.

While the idea of a simpler and easier adventure-tourer is certainly appealing to a demographic that is like to have to make repairs on the side of some single-track trail, it just seems you are just as likely to be making those repairs because something on the bike broke for no good reason. There’s a chicken and the egg thing going on somewhere here with this logic.

That being said, if you’re a brand that is try to tackle that very problem, it would probably be best not to show your rough and tumble ADV bike breaking when it is used on a modest of jump. Skip to 1:51 in the video, after the jump, and look for the right footpeg coming off during landing. Hrrm.

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Dirt

2016 AMA Supermoto Championship Calendar Released

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Now in its third year of racing, since its revival, the AMA has released the 2016 AMA Supermoto Championship calendar.

For this year’s racing, American supermoto racers will have six events to test their mettle, most of which take place in the Western half of the United States, though there is one round in Quebec City, to keep the Canucks at bay.

Perhaps most importantly though, the AMA Supermoto Championship will return to television, as the series has inked a TV package with MAVTV Motorsports Networks. The TV package includes six episodes, with 12 airings, which will be produced by Greg White.

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Dirt

KTM Made Over €1 Billion in Revenue in 2015

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To put it succinctly, KTM is crushing it. In 2015, the Austrian company posted another banner year, which is nothing terribly new from a European motorcycle brand; but in just a few five short years, KTM has addd over 100,000 motorcycles to its volume of production.

As such, the Austrians sold 180,801 KTM and Husqvarna motorcycles in 2015, making €1.02 billion in the process. This is a 14% increase over KTM’s sales in 2014, a 18% increase in revenue, and a 26% in income (€95 million, EBIT).

This also makes 2015 the first time that KTM has exceeded a billion euros in revenue, and the fifth year in a row that KTM sales have increased.

According to KTM, this makes them the fastest growing motorcycle company in the world.

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Dirt

The Dakar Rally, The Hardest Motorcycle Race in the World

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The 2016 Dakar Rally is done, and as always, the toughest motorcycle race on the planet was full of action.

If you think that this edition of the rally-raid was “easier” than its predecessors, try saying that to several of the top riders in the world who failed to make it to the final leg to Rosario.

The reality of course is that every year many of The Dakar’s competitors don’t find the final finish line, having to throw in the towel after a bout with one of the race’s many tests. Accordingly, of the 136 motorcycle racers who entered the 2016 Dakar Rally, only 84 finished.

One of those non-finishers this year was Chris Cork, whose rally tragically ended on Stage 10 (along with 12 other riders). This was the Brit’s second attempt at the Dakar Rally. As you watch the video after the jump, understand that these are the closing moments for a man who has had over a week of hard racing.

You should also know that before last year’s edition, Cork sold his house in order to raise the funds to compete, only to have his hard work end in a brutal crash on Stage 4.

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Dirt

2016 Dakar Rally – Stage 13: Toby Price Triumphs

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They call it the hardest motorcycle race in the world, and for good reason. The 13-day trial that is the Dakar Rally sees competitors racing against each other, racing against the clock, racing against the terrain, the rain, the heat, and even racing against themselves, as they test the limits of their bodies.

It shouldn’t surprise us then to see the number of top-level competitors whose 2016 Dakar Rally ended before the finish line in Rosario, and it also shouldn’t surprise us that even those who finished the race considered today a victory, no matter where they landed on the results sheet.

That being said, no one is celebrating harder than KTM’s Toby Price, who clinched his first Dakar Rally win today, on only his second Dakar participation.

“Winning in my second participation is awesome, but being the first Australian to win the Dakar is just insane. I would’ve never imagined this two years ago. Finishing the rally is already a triumph. Winning it is amazing! I tackled the race in true Aussie style,” said Price.

“I attacked when I had to, when the time was right, and I kept an eye on my bike during the all-important marathon stages. I also navigated quite well. I hope this is just the start, to win again. It won’t be easy, so I’ve got to savour this victory.”

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