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Photos: The 2013 Aprilia RSV4 R ABS in Matte Black Hi-Res

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We already told you last month that the 2013 Aprilia RSV4 would get a bevy of revisions, not to mention the inclusion of ABS brakes…yet for some reason we had to wait until today to tell you that information again. Yes, it is completely bizarre yet completely normal situation to encounter when dealing with Italians, and especially so with the Noale company. Honestly, it is just one of the perks of working in the motorcycle industry, or not in it, as American Honda seems to think.

What is perhaps more newsworthy than these thinly veiled rants are these first photos of the Aprilia RSV4 R ABS in matte black, which is drop dead sexy in any language. Aprilia is keen to remind us that the RSV4 topped many of the superbike shootouts this year, besting machines like the Ducati 1199 Panigale and BMW S1000RR (we’d be keen to try an RSV4 Factory against the new BMW HP4 though).

Selling the RSV4 has never been a problem of product for Aprilia. The RSV4 is superb, and in its second year of racing, Max Biaggi took it to win the World Superbike Championship. The Roman Emperor repeated that feat again this year, though we doubt it will move that many more units in North America for Aprilia, which sells RSV4’s by the hundreds, not the thousands, in the largest sport bike market worldwide.

If there was ever a brand you wanted to see get its act together, Aprilia, and the Piaggio Group as whole, has to be it. Until that happens though, we will have to view the photos after the jump with a taste of foreboding. Like Eve’s apple, Pandora’s box, and Lindsay Lohan’s driving, the treat is tantalizing, though the headache is probably not worth it. Le sigh.

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Bikes

2013 Bimota DB9 Brivido Italia – Now with an Italian Flag

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The middle child to the Bimota DB8 and Bimota DB11, we showed you the Bimota DB9 Brivido last year with the superlative that it was the best looking Ducati Diavel we had ever seen. Of course, that statement was a bit tongue-in-cheek, but the Bimota DB9 does share the Testastretta 11° motor with the Ducati, and Bimota hopes the DB9 Brivido will be a sportster variant to this very crowded area of the company’s model line-up.

Honestly, we don’t know why Bimota didn’t stop with the DB8 and move on, instead of building two more motorcycles off the same motor and chassis (god only knows how many variations stem from the DB8, DB9 DB11, and DB12 combined).

It’s not that we don’t like the Bimota DB9 Brivido (though, the headlights do offend us in an elbows-on-the-table sort of way), it is just that we hate to see the boutique Italian brand run this design for everything it is worth..even if they throw a supercharger on it.

Trotting the Bimota DB9 Brivido back out to EICMA for a second year in a row, the Italian brand calls this 2013 Bimota DB9 Brivido Italia. You know, because they put the Tricolore on it. Beautiful and boring at the same time, there is a reason we have buried this article today in the middle of the brand’s other more intriguing offerings from EICMA.

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Bikes

XXX: 2013 Bimota DB8 Italia

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Do you like carbon fiber? Do you like steel trellis frames? Do you like 160hp motorcycles that weigh 390 lbs dry? Well then, we have just the thing for you: 2013 Bimota DB8 Italia.

Pretty much the Bimota DB8 with some “Italian” themed paint, we won’t go into too much detail since the DB8, DB9, & DB11 share pretty much everything except the bodywork…which is probably the only criticism you can lobby at any of those machines.

Bimota sent us these up-close high-resolution photos of the Bimota DB8 Italia from EICMA, and we thought we’d share them with our loyal readers. Enjoy.

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Bikes

2013 KTM 690 Duke R – Please Come to America

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Considering that the base model KTM 690 Duke didn’t come to the USA, we don’t have high hopes for the higher-spec KTM 690 Duke R making it out our way…but that doesn’t keep us from dreaming. Breaking cover today at the EICMA show, the KTM 690 Duke R defines its with fully adjustable WP suspension pieces, which includes a four-way adjustable rear shock.

Brembo M50 monoblocs also make their way onto the KTM 690 Duke R, as the new more rigid calipers are 6% lighter than the previous top-spec Brembos. KTM has added a dual-channel Bosch ABS system, which has an anti-roll over mode (read: a Max Biaggi setting) for those who let their wheelies get away from them. The ABS system also has a “supermoto” mode, which lets a rider lock-up the rear wheel. Yeah, we thought you’d like that.

Other changes include an Akrapovic exhaust, new footpegs, handlebars, crash bars, and various orange colored pieces. At 69hp and 330lbs at the curb (without fuel), the 2013 KTM 690 Duke R is on our short-list for reasons why we should move to Europe…just behind Scandinavian women (and maybe the KTM 1290 Super Duke R Prototype). Photos after the jump.

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Racing

First Look at the Honda CBR500R Race Bike

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With the debut of the 2013 Honda CBR500R street bike, Honda has somehow managed to get the 500cc parallel twin budget bike to be the weapon of choice in the European Junior Cup — displacing the KTM 690 Duke from its racing duty. A grooming series for World Superbike Racing, the EJC series is a cost-effective way to get young future stars on bikes and in front of the people that could make or break their careers.

Hoping to give the CBR500R a bit more performance cred, something the 47hp machine might need to appeal to new riders who have to adhere to the A2 License requirements, but still want a proper “sport bike” for their first ride. As such, the Honda CBR500R race bike was debuted at EICMA today, and even got a little star power from one Jonathan Rea. Photos and video after the jump.

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Bikes

2013 Bimota DB11 – The Bitter to Know the Sweet

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If you were as blown away over the supercharged 2013 Bimota DB11 VLX as we were, you might have not realized that we forgot even to introduce the Bimota DB11 to you in the first place. A fully faired sport bike with a 1198cc Ducati Testastretta 11° engine held in its beautiful steel trellis and aluminum-plate frame, the DB11 puts out a reasonable 160hp and less reasonable 97 lbs•ft of torque.

At 385 lbs dry, the 2013 Bimota DB11 makes a good argument for being a robust sport bike, even if most of them will sit in the garages of collectors. Using the same frame design as the Bimota DB9 Brivido, we must admit that the design aesthetic here is also getting some mileage, which sort of detracts from the “my pants are fitting oddly” problem that Bimotas generally generate.

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2013 Bimota Tesi 3D Naked – Hub-Center Steering for Two

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In my list of the Top 10 motorcycles ever, I think the Bimota Tesi 3D would make a strong showing. A truly unique machine, the lack of fairings only serves to showcase the hub-center steering mechanism, making the Tesi 3D an intriguing work of both art and science.

Separating the braking forces from the suspension travel, on paper motorcycle’s with hub-center steering have a significant mechanical advantage over their traditional counterparts, in reality though they have failed to live up to the hype on the track.

A product of either riders who are groomed to expect the workings of traditional linear fork suspension systems, or simply a answer to question that wasn’t asked, hub-center steering hasn’t exactly taken off…yet.

The Bimota Tesi 3D perseveres though, and for the new model year, Bimota has made my Tesi 3D obsession more conducive to my social agenda with motorcycles. This is all the excuse I need to share the photos after the jump with you. Enjoy.

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More Photos of the Suzuki V-Strom Concept

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Suzuki is remaining fairly tight-lipped about its V-Strom Concept it is showing at EICMA in Italy, which first broke cover last month at the INTERMOT show in Germany. Simply saying that the model will eventually be built (in 2014?), it is not clear how close what we see here is to the production version.

A much needed revamp to its adventure bike offering, the real question for the Japanese company will be whether the new Suzuki V-Strom will be too little too late. Photos after the jump.

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Bikes

2013 Aprilia Caponord 1200 with Aprilia Dynamic Damping

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Leaked well ahead of the EICMA show, we can now officially talk to you about the 2013 Aprilia Caponord 1200, Noale’s adventure-tourer. Using the chassis from the Aprilia Dorsoduro 1200 as its basis, Aprilia says it has modified the “robust” chassis to suit the Caponord 1200’s raison d’être, though you would be hard pressed to get a weight figure from the company.

Inside that presumably hefty chassis is a 128hp 1197cc v-twin motor with 85 lbs•ft of peak torque, which isn’t going to blow the doors off on any spec sheet comparisons. Instead, Aprilia is hoping to entice would-be Caponord 1200 owners with the bike’s bevy of electronics.

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Bikes

KTM 1290 Super Duke R Prototype Concept Bike

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As we said before in our EICMA coverage, the teased machine under the orange sheet was not a production model, but in fact a concept bike of the KTM 1290 Super Duke R Prototype. The first fully functional concept bike that KTM has ever shown, the KTM 1290 Superduke R Prototype makes an estimated 180hp and looks bat shit crazy, in a good way.

Based on the new KTM Super Duke, the KTM 1290 Superduke R Prototype  uses the same pavement kicking LC8 motor as the KTM 1190 RC8 R, though with an extra 100cc of skin in the game. Radical in just about every way, our favorite aspect has to be the custom Akrapovic exhaust, which is simply delicious. The boys and girls at Kiska really out did themselves on this one.

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