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Leaked: Photos and Details of the 2019 BMW R1250GS Adventure

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EICMA might be next week, but the 2019 BMW R1250GS Adventure is hitting the internet right meow. Leaking ahead of the trade show in Milan, an Italian YouTube channel has the scoop on the venerable ADV bike, giving us our first look at the new ShiftCam powered BMW R1250GS Adventure.

As you would expect, the new BMW R1250GS Adventure shares a motor with the rest of the water-cooled boxer lineup, which means a 1,254cc displacement for the boxer-twin engine, which makes 134hp (100 kW) and 92 lbs•ft of torque, with help from its variable valve timing setup.

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Rumors

This Week’s Honda CBR1000RR Rumor, The 2020 Edition

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Another week, another rumor about a new Honda CBR1000RR. You can almost set your clock to the rumors that surround Big Red’s future superbike offering, and there are several factors for this.

First, the Honda CBR1000RR is a woefully old machine, even in its “all-new” guise, the current model can trace its lineage back to the 2008 model year. Second, the Honda CBR1000RR is obviously underpowered when you make spec sheet comparisons, by a palpable 20hp/10% margin.

The Honda makes up for this by being one of the lightest superbikes on the market, and it is easily the best handling of the bunch. But even still, in our tests, we found it to be a second a lap slower than the rest of the superbike class…and the stopwatch decides all in this segment.

Despite all this, the real reason that we keep seeing rumors about a new CBR1000RR likely stems from one simple reason: Honda is working on a new machine. Will that new bike debut for 2019? 2020? 2021? Well, that’s the debate, and even a broken clock is correct twice a day, so…

Here we are, another week, and another rumor about a new Honda CBR1000RR.

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News

Harley-Davidson Livewire Will Make European Debut at EICMA

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The Harley-Davidson Livewire will show at EICMA, says an awkward press release to the European and Canadian markets. Our sources confirm that news though, and as such the Livewire will make an official public debut, at the trade show in Milan next week.

The Harley-Davidson Livewire is expected to make a late-2019 arrival, likely as a 2020 model year machine. This makes this debut announcement an interesting one from the Bar & Shield brand, which has seemed over-eager lately to explain and show its future plans, though we can’t imagine why.

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Bikes

Ducati Electric Mountain Bike Will Debut at EICMA

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A new type of Ducati will be taking center stage on Sunday, when the Italian brand begins its EICMA reveals. While we expect a number of new motorcycles from Borgo Panigale, like a new Hypermotard, the Panigale V4 R, and another Scrambler model, one machine we didn’t expect was an electric bicycle.

This is where the Ducati MIG-RR electric mountain bike comes in, with the Italian motorcycle brand partnering with the Italian e-bike maker Thok. Ducati is no stranger to branded bicycles, partnering with other brands in the past to bring Ducati bikes to market.

The Ducati MIG-RR is special though, as it marks Ducati’s first foray into the e-bike space, which is booming in Europe and just starting to gain traction in the United States.

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Recall

Harley-Davidson Recalling Over 177,00 Motorcycles for Faulty Clutch

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If you recently bought a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, then it is very likely that your new motorcycle is part of a massive recall from the Bar & Shield brand, as 177,636 machines are affected by an issue with their hydraulic clutch.

Specifically, the issue affects the Brembo secondary clutch actuator cylinder, which may leak fluid internally. If this leak continues for an extended period, the clutch master cylinder reservoir could lose enough fluid to expose the hydraulic clutch circuit to air, which may cause the clutch master cylinder to lose the ability to generate enough lift to disengage the clutch.

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Rumors

Specs of the 2019 BMW S1000RR Leak: 204hp, 434 lbs Wet, ShiftCam Variable Valves

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Some of the technical details of the 2019 BMW S1000RR have been leaked to Facebook, which show the upcoming superbike to make some considerable gains over its predecessor. We first saw the leak from US tuner Alpha SBK, which posted a photo of the basic specs on its Facebook page.

The goods? 204hp (152 kW) at the crank, with 83 lbs•ft of torque, which is aided by the new ShiftCam valve train that debuted on the BMW R1250GS and other “R” models from BMW Motorrad.

Curb weight is 434 lbs, when 4.35 gallons of fuel is in the bike. That weight can be reduced to 427 lbs, when the option “M Package” is installed, which includes a bevy of carbon fiber pieces and forged wheels.

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Rumors

Triumph Speed Twin Leaks Ahead of EICMA Debut

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Triumph has several new motorcycles to debut at the EICMA show in Milan, but ahead of that debut, a Triumph dealer has spoiled the fun, posting photos of the 2019 Triumph Speed Twin to social media.

Spotted first by our friends at NieuwsMotor.nl, the photos come from Triumph’s yearly dealer conference, where the new machines were first shown to the public. Since then, the Triumph Scrambler 1200 has formally debuted, and now we see the Speed Twin that will go alongside it.

The Triumph Speed Twin picks up where the Triumph Street Twin left off, and supposedly shares its 1,200cc parallel-twin engine with the Triumph Thruxton platform. This means a 97hp peak power figure, with 83 lbs•ft of torque.

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News

Harley-Davidson’s Q3 US Sales Down Another 13%

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Another sales quarter, and another report of dwindling sales from Harley-Davidson. The details of the news are the same as well, as sales in the United States continue to disappear, while sales abroad improve modestly.

As such, Harley-Davidson is reporting a 13.3% sales drop on motorcycle retail sales in the United States (36,220 units), with international sales up 2.6% (23,006 units), both compared to Q3 2017. This means that Harley-Davidson’s total sales are down 7.8% for Q3 2018, with 59,226 units sold.

Comparatively, the relative market for Harley-Davidson (bikes 601cc or more in displacement) were down in sales for Q3 2018, to the tune of 9.8% – though we should note that the Bar & Shield brand accounts for roughly half of this relevant market.

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Bikes

Triumph Scrambler 1200 Debuts in Two Flavors

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We have been waiting for the 2019 Triumph Scrambler 1200 for some time now, and the day is finally here that we get to see this heavyweight dual-sport.

The Triumph Scrambler 1200 comes in two flavors: the XC model (below) is more street-focused in its design, while the XE model (above) offers a more off-road oriented package for riders, along with more premium features.

Both bikes are based around the Bonneville’s “high power” 1,200cc parallel-twin engine, which means that the Triumph Scrambler 1200 makes 89hp and 81 lbs•ft of torque.

The Scrambler 1200 XC tips the scales at 452 lbs (dry), while the Scrambler 1200 XE model is four pounds heavier, at 456 lbs (dry) – making both bikes quite heavy for their stated purpose.

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Reviews

Gone Riding: KTM 790 Duke

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Hello from sunny SoCal, where we are about to go ride the new KTM 790 Duke, which is finally coming to the United States as an early 2019 model.

The first of KTM’s parallel-twin middleweights, the new Duke packs a lot of features into an affordable body, with promises of being a potent streetfighter.

To test that theory, the Austrian brand has brought us near its base of operations in the United States, and today we will tackle the roads along the Oceanside coast, and then head up to the famous Palomar mountain for some twisty fun.

The KTM 790 Duke has been on our short-list of bikes we have wanted to swing a leg over, ever since we saw the concept for the machine debut two years ago at EICMA.

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Bikes

MV Agusta F4 Claudio, The Final Superbike

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MV Agusta is set to retire the MV Agusta F4 superbike, but not before one last farewell. A final homage to the venerable machine, and a nod to the man who helped create it, the MV Agusta F4 Claudio is the supreme example of the Varesini company’s focus on performance and art. As such, only 100 examples will be produced.

The special edition model is based off the MV Agusta F4 RC platform, which means a 212hp inline-four engine when the dual-tipped race exhaust from SC-Project is installed. Peak torque hits 85 lbs•ft at 9,300 rpm, with a redline that reaches to 14,200 rpm. The bike still manages 205hp in street-legal trim.

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