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Honda CRF450L Rally Concept Quietly Debuts in Italy

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When the Honda CRF450 Rally debuted for rally raid competitors in 2012, there was a cry for a production model of this Dakar-ready dirt bike. It took a while, but Big Red finally answer…sort of.

The Honda CRF250L Rally wasn’t exactly the bike that we expect to see in 2015, and it took over a year (and many, many teasings) for the concept to become a reality for the 2017 model year.

The 250cc platform was an interesting choice for Honda to make for its race-replica dirt bike, especially with the underwhelming debut of the CRF250L model, and thus the want for a 450cc version continued.

Now with the potent CRF450L on the market, it looks like that idea is starting to take shape…though, you would hardly know it from the Japanese brand’s actions at EICMA.

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Ducati Panigale V4 RS19 Is Ready for Racing Duty

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In case you missed the launch of the Ducati Panigale V4 R superbike, the 998cc fire-breathing 217hp (162 kW) beast of a motorcycle, Ducati Corse is dead serious about returning to winning form in production superbike racing. In other words, the Bologna brand is all-in when it comes to WorldSBK next year.

Helping them to that object is the Ducati Panigale V4 RS19, a bike that is available only to the racing customers of Ducati Corse.

Dripping in carbon fiber, this track-only weapon is what Chaz Davies and Alvaro Bautista will use next season, as they aim to unseat Jonathan Rea and Kawasaki from their superbike dominance.

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A Better Look at the Pierobon X85R Superbike

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We teased the Pierobon X85R ahead of this year’s EICMA show, and now we have more photos and details of this amazing motorcycle.

Built to be a chassis kit for Ducati owners with an extra Superquadro engine laying around (899/959/1199/1299), the Pierobon X85R takes this potent street bike and makes it into a track weapon.

The concept starts with a steel alloy (25CrMo4) trellis frame, which includes aluminum alloy blocks (EN AW-6082 T6) that have been CNC shaped into lateral plates. The resulting frame can be built out with either a single-sided or double-sided swingarm.

For those interested, the base kit includes the frame, airbox, air ducts, rear subframe, foot pegs, and lateral electronic holders.

That should be enough to get most builders started, though Pierobon also offers its own fuel tank and swingarm designs (the stock units work with the kit though). The result is a truly unique motorcycle with one of the best v-twin engines ever produced.

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The Honda CB125X Concept Makes Us Think Dirty Thoughts

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We are not sure how big the market is for a 125cc adventure-tourer, especially in the European Union. Close to zero, perhaps? Yet, we are very excited about the Honda CB125X concept (along with its fraternal twin, the Honda CB124M concept).

Maybe the Honda CB125R platform is the wrong starting point for this project, but we like where the Honda Motor Europe R&D team finished with this build.

The CB125X is a clean and attractive motorcycle, and we would romp through every river crossing we could find on this small-displacement thumper.

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Honda CB125M Concept Makes Mini-Motos Great Again

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What you are looking at is a Honda CB125R…well, it was the retro-modern 125cc street bike, until Honda Europe R&D got their dirty little mitts on it. Rethinking the pint-sized machine, Honda has created a very fetching concept motorcycle, which it calls the Honda CB125M.

Honda pitches the CB125M as a supermoto, which makes sense with the bike’s 17″ wheels front and bike, but we think the format lends itself more to a mini-moto machine (we were actually surprised to learn that the Honda Grom was not the basis for this concept).

Either way you look at it, the Honda CB125M Concept is pure sex. It’s one of our favorite machines shown at EICMA this year. There is a growing movement in the small-displacement space, sub-300cc, and Honda is all over it (be sure to look at the Honda CB125X concept too).

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The Royal Enfield KX Concept Puts This Indian Brand on Our Radar

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When it comes to the Royal Enfield brand, I wouldn’t say that it is exactly on our radar. Filling a niche within a niche, Royal Enfield’s offerings seem quaint, but impractical to us…despite their affordable price tags. We just don’t have enough mechanical masochism to want one in our garage.

That all being said, our ears perked up this year at the EICMA show, with the debut of the Royal Enfield KX concept. Finally, there is something from this Indian company that appeals to our senses, and I personally hope they build it for production.

A retro-looking bobber with modern finishes, the Royal Enfield KX concept takes the perfect mixture of new and old that pleases us in a very specific way. 

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How Do We Feel About the Husqvarna Vitpilen 701 Aero Concept?

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Every year at EICMA, Husqvarna teases us with a concept model that could become a future motorcycle. This is how the Vitpilen and Svartpilen models got their start, and now we see the second “Aero” model from the Swedish brand.

Last year we saw the Husqvarna Vitpilen 401 Aero concept, and now this year we see the 701 variant of the design. As such, the Husqvarna Vitpilen 701 Aero concept continues some of the design trends that we have seen before, with of course a bigger motor in its belly.

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This Is the Kymco SuperNEX…You Weren’t Expecting It

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It is hard to catch us off guard, but that is exactly how we would describe our experience with the Kymco SuperNEX. We didn’t see it coming.

The Taiwanese brand is known better for its scooter offerings, and EICMA is the type of event where Kymco often gets pushed aside for more lurid unveilings. Not this year, however.

What you are looking at is the Kymco SuperNEX, an electric superbike. It is attractive, it has a six-speed gearbox, and it has a top speed of 155 mph (250 km/h), which it reaches in 10.9 seconds…and that is about all we really know about it.

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KTM 790 Adventure Debuts in Two Flavors of ADV

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After a year of waiting, we finally see the production version of the 2019 KTM 790 Adventure and the 2019 KTM 790 Adventure R motorcycles. Two flavors of ADV bike, the 790 Adventure series is KTM’s way of owning the dual-sport space.

In addition to the revised KTM 690 Enduro R for the 2019 model year, KTM has created a path from 250cc to 1301cc for adventure and dual-sport riders, with the KTM 790 Adventure being a critical bike in that lineup.

Much has been said about this machine already, so here are the basics to cutdown on the chatter: 94hp (70 kW), 65 lbs•ft (88 Nm) of torque, 5.3 gallons (20 liters) of fuel, 448 lbs wet with fuel.

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The Aprilia RS 660 Concept Is a Premium Supersport with Active Aerodynamics

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We first broke the news about the Aprilia RS 660 a few months ago, tipping that the 600cc class parallel-twin would debut soon, but even we didn’t know what we were in for until the Noale brand took the covers off this amazing machine at EICMA today.

True to rumor, the bike is basically powered by half of an Tuono 1100 / RSV4 1100 engine, with the forward bank of cylinders making the engine platform. Building from there, Aprilia has begun to play with an active aerodynamic system as well, taking the current trend in the two-wheeled space to the next level.

Called Aprilia Active Aerodynamics (A3), the name pretty much tells the story. As such, the Aprilia RS 660 concept explores using aerodynamic forces in new ways, which sees the machine capable of changing its front aerodynamic profile, as well as how much downforce it creates.

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