Bad news from San Francisco today, as we learn that Alta Motors has ceased business operations, effective immediately, sending the company’s staff home as the electric motorcycle manufacturer looks for future funding.
Talking to an anonymous source, Asphalt & Rubber has been told that Alta Motors is in the midst of a strategic wind down, as it looks for an outside acquisition or investment.
Spy shots from Europe suggest that the KTM 1090 Adventure is getting some updates. The changes appear to be a mix of cosmetic and functional, with the biggest difference on the new model being its front bodywork design.
While giving the KTM 1090 Adventure a bit of a makeover for what we assume will be the 2019 model year, this refresh also seems to include a new fuel tank design, borrowed from the soon-to-be-released KTM 790 Adventure R.
This means that low-slung side-mounted fuel tanks are coming to the KTM 1090 Adventure, which should dramatically help handling and lower the center of gravity on this big ADV bike.
One of the bikes we are most looking forward to seeing debut this new bike season is the Ducati Panigale V4 R. This weekend, we got part of that hope fulfilled, as the race version of the Panigale V4 R debut at the British Superbike round at Brands Hatch.
On the machine was Ducati MotoGP test rider, Michele Pirro, who undoubtedly has been helping hone the superbike for its true racing debut next season, in the World Superbike Championship.
We heard rumors of this tire at the beginning of the year, and finally we can talk about the new Bridgestone Battlax Adventurecross AX41 tire. A knobby dual-sport tire made for adventure-touring machines, the AX41 means that Bridgestone finally has an offering for ADV riders.
It is surprising to think that the Japanese brand has been without a tire for such an important market segment for so long, but that is water under the bridge now, with the Battlax Adventurecross AX41 tire debuting at INTERMOT and coming to American dealers at the start of next year.
It looks like our Bothan spies were right once again, as Ducati has unveiled its latest model for the 2019 model year, the Multistrada 1260 Enduro.
As the name implies, the big feature with the new Enduro is the Testastretta DVT 1262 that makes its way from the XDiavel into the Multistrada lineup.
This means a power bump to 156hp and 94 lbs•ft of torque from the v-twin engine with variable valve timing. Like its counterpart in Multistrada 1260, the Ducati Multistrada 1260 Enduro makes 85% of its torque below 3,500 rpm.
The World Superbike Championship needs to do something different, to give fans something unique and different from the other motorcycle racing championships…or so the thinking goes.
Many ideas have been put forward, some more crazy than others, so it doesn’t surprise us to hear that WorldSBK will be making the bold move of going to a three-race format for its race weekends.
Keeping the first race on Saturday, and another full race on Sunday, the World Superbike Championship will now add a sprint race to the Sunday schedule.
In a few hours, the 2019 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R is going to debut at the AIMExpo in Las Vegas…so of course here are some photos and details on this “new” supersport, a bit early.
While there was much anticipation for this new machine before the trade show, it looks like Team Green is giving the 2019 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R more of a modest refreshing, rather than an all-new treatment.
For American readers this news will be a bit of a yawn, but for our friends across the pond, this means that Kawasaki is re-entering the supersport market in Europe, which is of course welcomed news.
It has been over a year since we had to report the passing of Nicky Hayden. Struck by a car outside of the Misano circuit, while he was training on his bicycle, Hayden’s death was felt around the world.
Though always in our hearts, the motorcycle industry has begun to move on from the loss of its beloved world champion, but the legal proceedings in Italy have nevertheless been toiling away.
There are two matters before the Italian courts. One, the criminal proceedings for the unnamed driver of the car that struck and killed Hayden; and two, a civil suit by the Hayden family against the car’s driver.
Now, the initial criminal proceedings of the incident have concluded, with the Italian court finding the driver of the car guilty of homicide.
I had to check our coverage of the Moto Guzzi V85 TT, to see how many words we managed to use when talking about this new adventure-tourer – 398 words, if you wanted to know – which is pretty astonishing considering the complete lack of actual information coming from Piaggio on this new motorcycle.
Little more was revealed at INTERMOT as well, beyond what we could see physically on the machine. We know that the V85 TT will make 80hp from its 850cc v-twin engine. We know that it will have ABS, cruise control, LED lights, and a TFT dash (which looks great, by the way). Beyond that…well…it’s a very bright motorcycle.
What do you call a group of unrleased BMW S1000RR superbikes? A gaggle? A pride? A teutonic trio? The latter sounds more like a porn thing, but then again catching the 2019 BMW S1000RR out in the wild before its debut is very erotic to our two-wheeled minds.
That is exactly what we have for you today, as Germany’s new liter bike has been spotted by a BMW dealer in Spain. Actually, not just one bike can be seen, but several S1000RR superbikes can been seen in nondescript solid-color liveries, which gives us all the tingles.
While we were busy running around Cologne, Germany for the INTERMOT show, Honda Motor Europe was busy in France, for the Paris Motor Show. Debuting there another “Neo Café” concept model, the Japanese brand seems set to release a middleweight version of this popular trope.
Based off the Honda CB650F, the latest Honda Neo Café concept promises a 650cc inline-four engine package in a retro-modern style, similar to what Big Red has done with the Honda CB300R and Honda CB1000R. As such, we are very likely looking at an early version of the Honda CB650R.