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Jorge Lorenzo: “This Will Be My Last Race in MotoGP”

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When it was announced that Jorge Lorenzo would be holding a special press conference at 3pm, the Thursday before the start of the Valencia round for MotoGP, and that Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta would be talking at the media event as well, the news could only mean one thing: Jorge Lorenzo was about to announce his retirement from the MotoGP Championship.

It is true what they say about smoke and fire, and today the smoke cleared for an announcement from the man himself, telling a packed press conference room that “this will be my last race in MotoGP” and his last race-weekend as a professional rider.

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Bikes

Up-Close with the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP

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One of the most anticipated superbikes of the 2020 model year, the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade (say that three times fast) is a true all-new motorcycle from the Japanese brand.

With 215hp on tap from its 999cc inline-four engine, the new Fireblade is posting big numbers, from a small (443 lbs) package.

Though we won’t see the base model in the United States (the current generation CBR1000RR will remain for the price-sensitive), we will see the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP in June 2020, as a 2021 model year machine.

That is a long time to wait, for what promises to be a class-leading machine in the liter-bike space.

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Bikes

Kawasaki Has Been Secretly Working on an Electric Sport Bike

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It was teased at the EICMA show in Milan, with the Japanese brand saying nary a word about the electric motorcycle chassis it had on display near the back of its booth.

Just one of the many surprises that were quietly shown to the public, this electric motorcycle showed a green steel tube frame, a modest battery pack, and what appeared to be mock engine cases.

Beyond those details, and the fact that this bike existed, there was not much else to say about the prototype, until now.

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Bikes

The BMW F900XR Is Set to Take on the Middleweight Adventure-Sport Market

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One of BMW Motorrad’s big reveals for the 2019 EICMA show in Milan, the BMW F900XR brings two big announcements with it.

First, there is the obvious middleweight addition to the XR “adventure-sport” lineup, and second that the German’s 270° parallel-twin will see a 895cc displacement for the Euro5 homologation.

Riffing on the BMW 9cento concept that we saw a year-and-a-half ago, the 2020 BMW F900XR keeps many of the concept’s lines, while infusing more of its bigger sibling into the design as well.

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Racing

This KTM Moto3 Bike Is Having an Identity Crisis

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Do not adjust your computer monitors, you are not seeing things incorrectly. This KTM Moto3 bike is having a bit of an identity crisis, as it is now known as the Husqvarna FR 250 GP. Yes, the Swedish brand is making its re-entry in the grand prix racing next year.

Set to be campaigned by Max Racing, which is the team name of former world champion Max Biaggi, Husqvarna’s push back into the Moto3 series is sure to make waves, and that’s before we tell you that the named riders are Romano Fenati and Alonso Lopez.

As you can imagine then, the news made waves when it was announced at the EICMA show in Milan, though perhaps there is some hope that Biaggi’s veteran status can ease the rough edges found on Fenati.

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Bikes

Up-Close with the Ducati Scrambler Desert X Concept

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While the Streetfighter V4 S was center stage at the Ducati stand at EICMA, our eye drifted over towards the Scrambler setup, where the Italian brand was showcasing two concept bikes for the Milan show.

At the Ducati launch event in Rimini, the Ducati Scrambler Desert X concept was the big tease, with the Italians saying very little about the bike.

Really, all that was revealed (beyond a couple sketches) was that the motorcycle would use the brand’s 1,079cc air-cooled engine, and instead Ducati encouraged fans to see the bike at the EICMA booth, if they wanted more than a rendering. So, we obliged.

For us, the Ducati Scrambler Desert X concept was the star of the Ducati EICMA experience, perhaps because we knew so far in advance that the Streetfighter V4 was coming, and had a pretty good idea about what this 205hp street-shredding machine would look like.

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Bikes

The Harley-Davidson Pan America Will Make 145hp / 90 lbs•ft from Its 1,250cc Engine

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Continuing their glacially slow trickling of information, Harley-Davidson has sprinkled a couple more details to us about its upcoming Pan America motorcycle.

Expected now in late-2020, the Harley-Davidson is an American v-twin adventure-tourer, which the Bar & Shield brand hopes will attract new blood into its cult of two wheels.

At the core the machine, is a 60° liquid-cooled v-twin engine, which Harley-Davidson is giving some specs about at EICMA.

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Dirt

Aprilia Very Quietly Teases the New Tuareg 660 at EICMA

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No press releases. No social media hype-posts. No big fancy displays. In fact, it was very easy to miss that Aprilia was giving us a glimpse at its next middleweight motorcycle at EICMA at all. But, it was there if you were careful to look at your surroundings.

Now granted, it is very hard to tell what is going on with the Aprilia Tuareg 660, since…well, the Italians covered it in shrubbery. Such is the state of their display at the Milan trade show, as they try to tease us with this ADV model.

But, we can pick out some details between the vines, bushes, and leafs…and they are intriguing.

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Bikes

Don’t Say Streetfighter, Harley-Davidson Bronx Gets Better Defined

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We have been giving Harley-Davidson a hard time about calling its new 950cc roadster model a “streetfighter” when the bike obviously not up to the task, and it seems the American brand has been listening.

Renaming the Streetfighter model now the Harley-Davidson Bronx, this 975cc street bike seems more suited to its name, especially now that the Bar & Shield brand is willing to talk more about details.

While still expected to be a (late) 2020 model motorcycle (so 2021?), it is surprising that Harley-Davidson didn’t debut the production-ready Bronx at EICMA (or any of the other trade shows this season). And with less than a year from its release, we have only a handful of specifics about this bike, many of which Harley-Davidson just sent out.

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Bikes

LEAKED: Supercharged Bimota TesiH2 Wows Before EICMA Debut

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Is there a more iconic motorcycle brand from Italy than Bimota? I think you could make some arguments to the contrary, but you would be hard-pressed to deny that the brainchild of Valerio Bianchi, Giuseppe Morri, and Massimo Tamburini hasn’t produced some of the most impactful and drool-worthy motorcycles in the past 50 years.

Sadly, the story of Bimota is not always a happy one, and after a failed restart by Swiss investors Marco Chiancianesi and Daniele Longoni, the Italian brand seemed like it was finally set for the deadpool. But then, something interesting happened.

About six weeks ago, news started circulating that Bimota was to be reborn again…and that Kawasaki had purchased the now defunct Italian marque. Well, we have good news for Bimota fans and motorcyclists alike. Bimota is back!

And to get things started right, we have been leaked images of the company’s first new creation, the Bimota TesiH2, and it looks very, very good.

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Bikes

More of a Good Thing, the KTM 890 Duke R Debuts

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This is a story we broke a eight months ago finally coming true. The 790 engine platform from KTM has finally grown into the 890 platform that is ready for the Euro 5 emissions requirements.

And if you will allow us to toot our own horn just a little bit more, our predictions of an up-spec middleweight Duke have turned out true as well.

Now, while we may be patting ourselves on the back here, the real winners are all the sport bike enthusiasts out there, because the best middleweight naked on the market just got better, in just about every way. Say hello to the KTM 890 Duke R.

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