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Movistar Yamaha 2014 MotoGP Livery Revealed

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After locking down Movistar with a five-year title sponsor contract, Yamaha has had to go back and re-shoot its 2014 MotoGP livery. That’s just fine by us, as we love any excuse to get high-resolution photos of GP bikes. The changes to the paint on the 2014 Yamaha YZR-M1 isn’t as dramatic as we thought it would be though, with Yamaha fitting the Movistar logos into its already existing layout.

At least this time around we get some professional looking photos for your viewing pleasure (the ones from Indonesia look like they were shot in a utility closet), though there must have been a rush to get them out as the color correction is a bit off, and you can spot some Photoshop artifacts in a couple photos. Still, with the 2014 MotoGP Championship about get underway in day’s time, we aren’t complaining…too much.

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Bikes

Yamaha FZ-07 Coming to Canada, Et Tu USA?

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Our friends to the north are reporting that the Yamaha MT-07, the two-cylinder compatriot to the Yamaha MT-09 triple, is headed to Canada. Canada Moto Guide is reporting that the now called Yamaha FZ-07 will be available in Canada come the spring time, and will sport a $7,299 MSRP (CAD).

Like the FZ-09, the FZ-07 is a real value motorcycle from Yamaha. 74hp and 50 lbs•ft of torque, the Yamaha FZ-07 features a 270-degree crank, on a 689cc parallel-twin lump, and tips the scales at 395 lbs wet weight, with 3.69 gallon fuel tank.

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Yamaha YZF-R3 and More to Debut Next Week?

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Yamaha has setup a teaser website, complete with countdown clock, for a new motorcycle(s) that should break cover next week. With just over eight days on the clock, at the time of this writing, we won’t have to wait long as we speculate to what Yamaha is brewing for us.

The general consensus so far is that we will see the Yamaha YZF-R25 and Yamaha YZF-R3 twin-cylinder sport bikes, which should come in either 250cc or 300cc formats, depending on which country we are talking about. Yamaha teased us with the YZR-R25 concept at the Tokyo Motor Show, and recent trademark filings in the United States and Europe have tipped off the YZF-R3 model.

From Yamaha’s teaser video we get a quick line drawing and head-on render of a sport bike, which looks very close to the R25 model we saw in Tokyo, which helps fuel the small-displacement sport bike fire further. Also seen in the video is some sort of urban maxi-scooter, along with its presumably accompanying engine. More details as we get it.

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Bikes

Ducati VR|46 Concept by Steven Galpin

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One of the more compelling designs we have seen grace our pixels lately, today’s concept sketch is by young automotive designer Steven Galpin, and harkens back to when MotoGP racer Valentino Rossi was still a part of Ducati Corse’s GP program.

Imagining a special edition version of the Ducati 1199 Panigale, a bike whose “frameless” monocoque chassis is based off the Ducati Desmosedici race bike, Galpin has smoothed out the lines of the Italian superbike, creating something entirely different, though clearly related to the Panigale.

A quick glance at Galpin’s drawings, and you may be wondering where the Ducati’s underslung exhaust has gone (it’s a noticeable hole on the bike’s clean lines). We suggest you train your eye onto the concept’s swingarm, as an integrated exhaust has been added to the single-sided swingarm.

Galpin’s work is intriguing, and should satiate some of the issues that people have had with the Panigale’s busy bodywork; however, the Ducati VR|46 brings its own criticisms as well (we’re not so sure about its 2018 delivery date either). Overall though, we like what Galpin has done here — sometimes less is more. Thanks for the tip Nik!

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Honda V4 Superbike Engine Outed in Patent Photos

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Honda’s road-going V4 superbike project has seemingly stalled, for the umptenth time in the past decade. While the bike has been rumored for years, the project just a year and a half ago was confirmed by Honda CEO Takanobu Ito.

Since that confirmation, the project’s delivery time has been pushed back, thought the Japanese motorcycle manufacturer has committed itself to building the MotoGP-inspired road bike.

With reports speculating on a possible price tag well into the six-figure range, the rumormill is on the rev limiter regarding this superbike, so if there is one thing we actually know about the machine, it is that we don’t actually know much about it.

A 1,000cc displacement is of course expected, along with a four-cylinder v-angle cylinder configuration. If we can presume a setup similar to what is found on the Honda RC213V MotoGP race bike, then make that a 90° cylinder head arrangement.

If we had really been on the ball though, we likely could have told you all this, six months ahead of Ito’s confirmation, as patent documents discovered by Spanish magazine SoloMoto shows the V4 superbike engine in line-drawing form, from as early as March 2012.

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2014 Ducati Desmosedici GP14 Debuts in Germany

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It’s been a weird year for factory MotoGP bike debuts. With Ducati now a part of Audi AG, the Italian team’s Wrooom! debut event was nixed, as it was jointly hosted with Ferrari.

Meanwhile in Indonesia, Yamaha Racing debuted in what looked like a basement service closet, though thankfully Movistar has come on-board as a title sponsor, creating the need to retake the team’s livery photos — hopefully with a little post-processing this time.

Just two weeks away from the opening round of the MotoGP season, in Qatar, Ducati Corse has now officially debuted its racing machine, the 2014 Ducati Desmosedici GP14.

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MotoGP

Ducati Corse’s 2014 MotoGP Livery

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Ducati Corse has finally debuted its 2014 MotoGP team, with Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso showing off the team colors with the Ducati Desmosedici GP14. The reunited teammates have their work cutout for them this year, honing Ducati’s GP machine.

Under the guidance of Gigi Dall’Igna, Ducati will compete under the Open Category, though Dorna has now made Ducati’s entry a “Factory 2” option, in an attempt to appease the complaints of Honda and Yamaha.

Regardless of what you want to call it, Ducati is free to develop the Desmosedici GP14’s engine, for the modest concession of using the spec-ECU software. Hopefully this means Cal and Dovi will be more competitive as the season wears on this year.

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Updated 2014 Yamaha Super Ténéré Coming to the USA

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After months of speculation and rumors that the United States might not get the newest version of Yamaha’s best-selling adventure bike, the company has announced that the 2014 Super Ténéré will be available stateside.

Yamaha is offering the 1,199cc parallel twin in two different trim levels, the Super Ténéré and the Super Ténéré ES. Notable improvements to the 2014 models include an updated multi-function display, traction contro,l and a redesigned windscreen that is now adjustable.

The most impressive improvement comes to the Super Ténéré ES however, which receives adjustable electronic suspension.

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Honda CB300F Single-Cylinder Spotted in Trademark Docs?

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Just last week, Yamaha’s US trademark filings tipped off a possible three-cylinder sport-tourer from the Japanese OEM, and in that article we noted how intellectual property filings are becoming an important element in spotting new models from motorcycle manufacturers.

The irony of course is that patents and trademarks are designed to protect the intellectual property of applicants; but in our case, they often give notice to things OEMs would like to keep secret. Such is the case with what we believe is the Honda CB300F, a single-cylinder naked bike that is based off the Honda CBR300R small-displacement sport bike.

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Bottpower’s BOTT XC1 Cafe Racer Rendered

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Earlier this year, we announced to you that Bottpower was working on a café racer version of its XR1 street-tracker motorcycle. Using a Buell XB as a donor bike, the Bottpower XC1 Cafe Racer kit transforms the big-displacement American twin into something a little bit more hipster.

Though we are not big on the café racer scene (you wouldn’t know it, looking at our posts lately though) we have been enchanted with the work done by Bottpower on this project so far. We imagine the finished result will be coming forth shortly; until then though, we’ll just have to drool over these nearly finalized renders.

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Ducati Elite II Café Racer by Moto Puro

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The Ducati 1199 Panigale is perhaps the pinnacle of technology for sport bikes from Bologna, Italy. With 195 horses of fury, and a positively anorexic dry weight of 367 lbs, the spec-sheet racing for the Panigale is intriguing, if getting around a race track the absolutely fastest way possible is your primary goal.

But what if you enjoy the finer things in your Ducati life as well? In that case, the brains at Moto Puro might have just the thing for your Desmo addiction: the Ducati Elite II.

To build the Elite II, the Dutch builders of Moto Puro took a Ducati 1199 Panigale S, and stripped the machine down to its Superquadro engine and electrical components. From there, those crazy Dutchmen built a café racer style motorcycle, complete with tubeless wire-laced wheels on single-sided swingarm.

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