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Honda Africa Twin “True Adventure” Prototype Revealed

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Honda doesn’t have any actual new bikes to show at the 2014 EICMA show, but it did bring two “prototypes” of the bikes we most eagerly wanted to see from Big Red.

We already posted about the Honda RC213V-S prototype street bike with MotoGP blood, and here we have what Honda isn’t calling an Africa Twin, just yet.

The long-rumored dual-sport looks quite similar to the renderings we have already seen, and Honda is using the working name “True Adventure” for now.

Expected to be based off the company’s Honda CRF450 Rally race bike, the prototype diverges with its parallel-twin engine, the headers for which can be seen in the photo above.

Like the RC213V-S, we hopefully will see the finished machine at the Tokyo Motor Show, later next month. Until then, chew on these photos from the Honda stand in Milan.

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Honda RC213V-S Street Bike Prototype Unveiled

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Perhaps the most highly anticipated machine at the EICMA show, Honda has finally debuted its road-going MotoGP bike, dubbed the Honda RC213V-S.

Still officially considered a prototype (along with the Honda Africa Twin off-road machine), the RC213V-s is essentially what you would imagine, an RC213V MotoGP bike with lights.

Brought onto the EICMA stage by Marc Marquez, the RC213V-S is a stunner in its pure carbon fairings, but we think the Japanese flag livery on the static machine takes the cake.

Honda isn’t talking specs at this time, and hopefully we will know more by the time the Tokyo Motor Show rolls around. So, we’ll just have to drool over these photos until then. Check them out, after the jump.

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2015 Ducati Multistrada 1200 – A New Face in ADV

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Confirming the news we broke last month, the Ducati Multistrada 1200 has been reworked for the 2015 model year, getting a major facelift, along with Ducati’s Testastretta DVT engine with variable valve timing.

The new Ducati Multistrada is also fitted with the Bosch MSC “cornering ABS” package, and thanks to its Intertial Measurement Unit (IMU), the Multistrada can brake more effectively and use cornering LED light (DCL) technology.

The IMU also help reduce wheelies, with the Ducati Wheelie Control (DWC) system. Like with the Ducati Traction Control (DTC) there are eight-levels of adjustability to the DWC parameters, helping riders dial-in how high they want the front wheel to loft.

Lastly, the IMU helps improve the function of the Ducati Skyhook Suspension (DSS). Our last acronym is ECC, for the electronic cruise control system, which has also been added to the 2015 Ducati Multistrada 1200.

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Ducati 1299 Panigale – 205hp, Across the Board

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As was rumored, Ducati’s flagship machine, the Panigale superbike, gets an update for the 2015 model year. Now called the Ducati 1299 Panigale, the number designation means different things for the base, S, and R models.

All three models will sport a class-leading 205 peak horsepower, have the “cornering ABS” thanks to the inertial measurement unit (IMU) that is installed, and have the new Ducati Quick Shift (DQS) system, with its up and down clutchless shifting.

All three models also have a revised chassis geometry, with the steering head angle set at 24° now, while the fork pivot is 4 mm lower — all in the name of more precise steering (a critique of the 1199 model).

For the Ducati 1299 Panigale and Ducati 1299 Panigale S trim models, the high-revving Superquadro motor gets a displacement increase to 1,285cc, via a larger bore size (116mm). The Ducati 1299 Panigale R will remain at the original 1,198cc displacement, in order to comply with World Superbike regulations.

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Here are the First Photos of the 2015 Yamaha YZF-R1

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The 2015 Yamaha YZF-R1 has leaked ahead of its EICMA debut today…with two images of the superbike hitting the interwebs just a few hours ago. The model shows obvious lines from the Yamaha MotoGP bike, the YZR-M1; and is expected to come in two trim levels, one for the street, and the other for racing purposes.

We should know more about the new R1 in a few hours, but until then, we will have to chew on these first photos. Accordingly, we’re not so sure about the headlights, though they look verrrry easy to remove, which might be a salient feature for them, on a homologation special.

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Bienville Legacy – From the Mind of JT Nesbitt

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The Confederate Wraith is perhaps one of our most favorite custom motorcycles ever produced, and it happens to be the product of JT Nesbitt’s supreme imagination.

Working now out of his own shop, Bienville Studios, Nesbitt has produced the first of his ultra-premium, tailor-made, American-born motorcycles, dubbed the Bienville Legacy.

Beyond the radical lines, there is the familiarity of things like the Wraith’s carbon fiber girder front-end style, the Motus MST’s V4 engine, and…that is about it.

The rest of the Bienville Legacy motorcycle is unlike anything else on the market, which should surprise no one considering its source (Nesbitt) and the fact that Bienville is setting out to make commissioned bespoke machines for its patrons.

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MV Agusta F4 RC Coming – A WSBK Homologation Special

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The new “EVO” style rules for the 2015 World Superbike Championship are having some interesting effects. Honda may or may not finally release its V4 superbike, Yamaha has two versions of its YZF-R1 set to unveil at EICMA, one a homologation special, Ducati has the new 1299 debuting, allegedly with Superleggera innards in the motor, and now we see something from MV Agusta.

A leaked powerpoint slide seems to outline a new model, the MV Agusta F4 RC, which will be the company’s racing platform in WSBK going forth; and unsurprisingly, the racing F4 has many engine modifications made to the “street bike” for homologation purposes (EVO rules don’t allow much engine tuning for WBSK race bikes from stock).

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CHP Study Finds Lane-Splitting No More Dangerous Than Just Riding a Motorcycle*

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The topic of lane-splitting is heating up in California, after the California Highway Patrol (CHP) posted guidelines for the legal practice to its website, and then was forced to remove them after a formal complaint that the posted recommendations constituted the CHP making legal regulations.

Now finishing a year-long study regarding the safety of motorcycles splitting lanes in The Golden State, the CHP has found that lane-splitting is no more dangerous than riding a motorcycle in general, provided a rider doesn’t exceed the flow of traffic by more than 10 mph.

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Officially Official: MV Agusta Brutale Dragster 800 RR

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We already brought you the first high-resolution photos of the MV Agusta Brutale Dragster 800 RR (say that three times fast!) yesterday, which were sent to us by our Bothan Spies. In response, MV Agusta has unveiled the Dragster RR and Brutale RR today, ahead of the EICMA show.

Like the updated Brutale 800 RR, the Brutale Dragster 800 RR features a revised 798cc three-cylinder engine, which makes 140hp at the 13,100 rpm, and a very peaky 63 lbs•ft of torque at 10,100 rpm.

Numerous visual cues have been changed, included red-anodized fork tubes, red-painted cylinder heads, and aluminum tubeless wire-spoked wheels. An eight-way adjustable steering damper continues the noticeable changes, to the 370 lbs machine (dry).

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MV Agusta Brutale 800 RR — 140hp & MVICS 2.0

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Along with the new Dragster RR, MV Agusta has debuted the Brutale RR, ahead of the EICMA show. Like its hot rod cousin, the MV Agusta Brutale 800 RR gets a 15hp increase, which makes for 140hp at the 13,100 rpm peak. A very peaky motor indeed, maximum torque arrives at 10,100 rpm at 63 lbs•ft.

The Brutale RR also features the MVICS 2.0 electronics package, which first debuted on the still unreleased MV Agusta Turismo Veloce. An update to the already robust MVICS package, the key feature in the 2.0 revision is the quickshift operation, both for upshifts and downshifts.

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Ducati Scrambler Will Be “Made in Thailand”

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Almost four years ago, we reported on Ducati opening a new assembly plant in Thailand. The move, which peeved Ducati’s factory workers, would see bikes destined for the Southeast Asian market assembled in the Thai plant, thus side-stepping many of the region’s aggressive tariffs on motorcycles.

Nearing the end of 2014 now, and our Bothan Spies report that the Ducati Scrambler models will be the first motorcycles assembled in Ducati’s Thai plant that will then be shipped to the world market (sans the European market, which will get bikes still from Bologna, according to Moto.it) — a move that comes right after Ducati reached a new contract with its workers and unions, which sees the factory employees working fewer hours at higher wages.

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