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2013 BMW F800GS Gets Modest Updates

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The dirt-going counterpart to the road-bound 2013 BMW F700GS, the 2013 BMW F800GS sees a modest update to its adventure/enduo platform for the next model-year. Unlike the F700GS, the new F800GS doesn’t get a power-boost, and sports the same 798cc four-valve parallel-twin liquid-coooled motor that we have all grown to know and love (and was the basis of the Husqvarna Nuda 900’s 900cc motor).

Making 85hp at 7,500 rpm, and 61 lbs•ft of torque at 5,750 rpm, the real changes to the 2013 BMW F800GS come to its updated gauges, controls, and bodywork — oh, and of course the now standard anti-locking brakes system that BMW is pushing across its entire model line-up.

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Bikes

2013 BMW F700GS Breaks Cover

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BMW has updated its 800cc GS line, starting with the new 2013 BMW F700GS. An adventure bike with the road more in mind, BMW is differentiating the 2012 BMW F700GS from the 2103 BMW F800GS by using lower-spec suspension, cast wheels, a 19″ front wheel, lower seat height, and lower horsepower output.

Using the same 798cc four-valve parallel-twin liquid-coooled motor, the BMW F700GS gets a modest power increase over the BMW F650GS it is replacing, as peak power has been pushed to 75hp, up from the 71hp the F650GS made. Peak torque has also been boosted to 56.8 lbs•ft, while the curb weight is 209 kg (460 lbs).

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Racing

How Do You Make a Superbike Look Like a Street Bike?

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With MotoGP adopting a CRT rule for the 2012 season, a provision that allows production motors to be used in a prototype chassis, the World Superbike Championship has been feeling its production-racing turf a bit infringed upon. Now whether or not the latest rule change from WSBK has anything to with what is going on between the two series is up for debate, but regardless for 2013 and onward, World Superbike teams will have to run faux-headlight decals on their race bikes — in some sort of attempt to link what is on the track to what is sitting on dealership showroom floors.

First to adopt the rule is the factory Kawasaki Racing Team, which has added the headlight decals to the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R race bikes that are being ridden by Tom Sykes and Loris Baz this weekend at Aragon, Spain. In addition to the headlight sticker rule, teams will have to run 17″ wheels starting in 2013, which is being pitched as a cost-savings measure, but is more likely grounded in the idea of further making the illusion that what is raced in WSBK is somehow remotely linked to what motorcyclists purchase.

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News

Video: Horex VR6 Gets Up and Running

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After seeing the production schedule of the Horex VR6 pushed back several times now (let’s not even mention the DOA-status of the supercharged version of the bike), it looks like the revival of the German brand is nearly ready for primetime, as Horex has released a video of the VR6 scooting about (sans its triple-pipe exhaust). The aptly named Horex VR6 features a 15° VR-shaped six-cylinder motor, which with its 1,218cc displacement produces a stout 161 bhp.

Built with classic roadster styling, Horex has been tight-lipped on the bike’s pricing, though we expect that it will be well north of $20,000 when it reaches American shores. While we’ve already heard the supercharged Horex testing on the company’s engine dyno, this is the first we’re heard from the naturally aspirated model. Check it out after the jump, and let us know if you think it was worth the wait.

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Bikes

Ducati Multistrada Biuta by Carlo Roscio

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It is hard to believe that the “Biuta” began life as Ducati Multistrada, as it really looks nothing like the air-cooled Terblanche-penned bike. Getting more of Streetfighter meets Monster look and feel than the lines of the Multi, the Biuta is one hot looking machine, no matter which flavor of Desmo you prefer. Made by Carlo Roscio and his brother, the two brothers from Pavia, Italy spent over two years getting the Biuta right — and get it right they did.

Not too ostentatious, and not too sublime, the reincarnated 2003 Ducati Multistrada 1000DS looks great in powder blue, and has a tasteful mix of parts that allures to both the form & function crowds. We particularly like the custom Zard exhaust and side-mounted radiator, though we would hate to have to be the one to make all those many, many perfect welds. The only thing we don’t like? The far-too-tiny photos found after the jump.

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Bikes

Up-Close with Ian Hutchinson’s Swan Yamaha R1 Superbike

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Ian Hutchinson may not be a household name here in the United States, but over on the Isle of Man, “Hutchy” is a pretty big deal. Winning five solo-class races in the 2010 season, the English rider’s hot-streak was cut short after a tragic closed circuit racing accident, which saw him sidelined for the 2011 TT fortnight.

Suffering another leg injury going into the 2012 racing season, Hutchinson was still physically not 100% as he headed to the TT, with the Swan Racing Team making obvious adjustments to his Yamaha YZF-R1 to accommodate Hutchy’s injured leg.

While Hutchinson would ride through the pain, he was noticeably off the pace during this last TT meeting.

While a large component of those results are surely products of his physical state, where were compound by the fact that his practice and racing schedule has been truncated, many also wondered about Hutchinson’s mental state as well.

Twice beaten, once shy, one Swan team member explained to me that when you looked into the his eyes as he got on board the bike, there was something there that didn’t exist before in Hutchy’s eyes. “Fear?” I asked. The team member wouldn’t comment further.

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