One of several press launches that has been canceled because of the coronavirus outbreak, we won’t get to ride the KTM 890 Duke R before it hits US soil in limited numbers this year, but the Austrians are trying to do the next best thing.
This means that we will see another motorcycle manufacturer hosting a “virtual press launch” of a motorcycle this month, with KTM set to take the wraps off the new Duke at 8am Pacific Time.
Want some good news to start your weekend? Thank your favorite Austrian motorcycle brand, because the KTM 890 Duke R is not only coming to America, but it will be here (in limited numbers) very, very soon.
This is because KTM North America has been able to import a small number of KTM 890 Duke R motorcycles into the United States, which will be ready for purchase in Spring 2020, instead of Fall 2020 (as 2021 model year bikes) as was originally planned.
It didn’t arrive to the biggest fanfare, but the 2020 Triumph Street Triple R has the potential to upend the middleweight sport bike market with its arrival, as the British marque has packed a lot of value into this three-cylindered machine.
On the spec-sheet, not too much has changed – the Triumph Street Triple R still makes 116hp and 57 lbs•ft of torque, but the real talking point is the $10,500 MSRP, which is $100 less than 2019’s best-in-class KTM 790 Duke.
If you think it is a coincidence that the Triumph has price the Street Triple R just under the KTM, you would be sorely mistaken, and the Brits are hoping that a fewer dollars, a robust feature package, and a unique triple should get riders’ attention.
It seems Zero Motorcycles is gearing up to bring us another machine for the 2020 model year, as the electric vehicle company is teasing the release of its Zero SR/S.
Officially, the company isn’t saying more than a February 24th release date, but by connecting some obvious dots and a bit of inside information from our Bothan spies, we are pretty certain of what to expect in a month’s time.
Ever since Pierer Mobility (the holding company for KTM and Husqvarna) took control of GasGas, we have been wondering what was to come of the Spanish dirt bike brand.
But, thanks to the investor document that the Austrian brand published this week, we can see what is in store for GasGas in the near future, and it is certainly interesting.
It has been four years since the Ducati 959 Panigale replaced the 899 as the Italian brand’s “middleweight” superbike, and 26 years since the Ducati 748 Superbike first hit the streets, and started this smaller Italian v-twin adventure.
In that two-decades-plus, we have seen this middleweight offering from Ducati outgrow the Supersport Championship rules, and it now approaches near liter-bike capacities – an inch-by-inch search for more power and performance.
Updated once again for the 2020 model year, it will be the Ducati Panigale V2 keeping those v-twin hopes alive for Ducatisti around the world, as the Italian brand continues to offer this curious motorcycle.
Of course, better minds will know that the Ducati Panigale V2 is not a middleweight, as Ducati so often calls it (though to be fair, the term “super-mid” is starting to be used), but the oddly displaced machine is an excellent track bike, especially for those who have grown tired of chasing absolute horsepower, and instead want to make their lap times with actual on-bike talent.
Finding ourselves at the demanding Jerez circuit in Spain, this tight and technical track proved not only to be a good testing ground for the Ducati Panigale V2, but also a testament into how much fun a superbike like this v-twin can be for those who aren’t swept up in the industry marketing and who aren’t hand-bound by racing rules.
Our Dutch friends at Nieuwsmotor just sent us these images, which show two of Harley-Davidson’s new street model prototypes. The bikes are the adventure-touring focused Harley-Davidson Pan America model, as well as the sport-aspired Harley-Davidson Streetfighter.
Both bikes are shown on what seems to be a trade show display booth, designed to highlight the aftermarket parts available from Harley-Davidson for the models. But, the reality is that this is the first time that these models have been seen in the flesh, free from their (photoshopped) press photos.
What do you do when six cylinders just isn’t enough? And, why should the Boss Hoss get all the V8 fun when it comes to motorcycles? Haven’t we all secretly desired an eight-cylinder motorcycle in our garage – if not for just a fleeting moment?
I’m not sure that I would have an affirmative answer to any of these questions, but that doesn’t mean that I think the PGMV8 is any less of an awesome motorcycle.
The brainchild of Paul G. Maloney in Australia, there is a certain amount of crazy that comes hand-in-hand in making a 2.0-liter V8 motorcycles with 334hp and 158 lbs•ft of torque, and it’s the kind of crazy this world needs more of. This is exactly the kind of crazy that the PGMV8 is selling.
I don’t think it is a coincidence that on the day that Ducati shows us its Streetfighter V4 prototype at Pikes Peak, that we see our first spy photos of the updated KTM 1290 Super Duke R (for bonus points, MV Agusta has gotten in on the action, releasing pricing on its Brutale 1000 sport bike as well).
Rumors of an updated Super Duke have been hitting our eardrums for a while now, though the details on the machine have been sparse. In fact, we were simply told “everything is better about it.”
That’s a little light on details for our tastes, but it does bode well for the street fighting machine, as the current KTM 1290 Super Duke R ranks as one of our favorite motorcycles right now.
The message from MV Agsuta was short and sweet on social media, “We feed your desire. The MV Agusta Superveloce. Coming 2020.” Three terse sentences, and with that we have confirmation that the MV Agusta Superveloce 800 will be a 2020 model year bike for the Italian brand.
It makes sense, though, as the Superveloce got a huge response on its debut last year at EICMA – almost eclipsing the company’s new production model, the MV Agusta Brutale 1000 Serie Oro, which we have heard very little about since the Italian trade show, and still doesn’t show up on the brand’s website.
Back to the Superveloce 800 though, the machine is a neo-retro take on the MV Agusta F3 800 sport bike, which it shares a platform with. This makes the MV Agusta Superveloce 800 mostly a styling exercise…but it is quite the design, if we do say so.
Summer might be upon us, but the new bike launches are still in full swing. This time around, we have a two-fer, as Honda has invited us out to try its new CBR650R and CB650R street bikes.
Built around the same 650cc four-cylinder engine, the two models offer a fully faired and naked version of the same basic idea, but what is really important about the two machines is the last letter in their names.
That new “R” means that Honda has added some more pep to the lineup, with more power, more torque, more aggressive bodywork, more aggressive riding position, well…just about more of everything.
To test these changes, and to see if the unassuming sport bikes blow our hair back, we are riding out in the Palm Desert of California.
Unfortunately, yours truly had a previous engagement in Sweden (more on that soon) and couldn’t attend this launch, so we sent racer Shelina Moreda out to sunny SoCal to tell us all about the bikes, since she’s cut from that same “call it how you see it” cloth that we so greatly enjoy here as Asphalt & Rubber.