Not to be outdone by Ducati’s upcoming Streetfighter V4, the folks in Austria are gearing up to revise their highly acclaimed KTM 1290 Super Duke R.
As before, “Beast 2.0” gets teased to us with a variety of quick-cuts in a video, though each of them gives us a glimpse of what is to come from Mattighofen.
What we don’t see though is the spec-sheet, and that is where the new battle in the streetfighter segment is going to be waged.
We know it is coming, a new KTM 1290 Super Duke R for the 2020 model year, but just in case there was any doubt, the Austrians have begun teasing their new “Beast” ahead of its EICMA show debut.
The news comes from a short teaser video, which shows a number of KTM technicians building a motorcycle. With the title and hashtag “#GETDUKED” being shown, the possibilities for the model are quite small.
And, if we scrub through the frames, we can see numerous hints that the bike in question is a high-spec motorcycle, with a single-sided swingarm. The steel trellis frame looks exactly like the one spotted in spy photos of the new Super Duker R.
Here it is, after a bit of teasing, the new Triumph Street Triple RS 765 is out, and the model refresh sees a combination of updated looks and mechanical upgrades.
As was rumored, the bike shares a motor with the recently unveiled Triumph Daytona Moto2 765, which means its Euro5-compliant 765cc engine pumps out 121hp and 58 lbs•ft of torque.
Now that we have the arrival of the new BMW S1000RR superbike in 2019, our gaze looks deeper into BMW Motorrad’s lineup for the 2020 model year.
Specifically, our attention is on the company’s inline-four sport bike lineup, which always takes its cues from the Bavarian brand’s superbike offering.
As such, a new S1000RR superbike necessitates a new S1000R streetfighter and S1000XR adventure-sport – at least, this is how it has worked in the past.
If you listened to the rumors coming ahead of this year’s new bike season, then we surely are about to see a new BMW S1000XR debuting at the EICMA show in Milan this November. But, what about an updated BMW S1000R? Not so much, it seems.
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.
The Suzuki Katana isn’t even officially out yet for the US market, and already there are rumors of an up-spec version of the classic-inspired sport bike coming from Japan.
The news centers around Suzuki wanting the Katana to compete better with the high-performance naked models already on the market, namely the Aprilia Tuono V4 1100, Ducati Streetfighter V4, KTM 1290 Super Duke R, et al.
The move then is an “R” spec machine, rumored to see its 999cc four-cylinder engine bumped out to 1,135cc. Other go-fast parts are likely to be included (read: brakes, suspension, wheels, etc), and perhaps some updates to the styling to make it more aggressive looking.
Just last month, Harley-Davidson was busy at the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). We know this because the Bar & Shield brand registered the name “Bareknuckle” with the USPTO, for use on motorcycles and structural parts.
While it is hard to say what Harley-Davidson plans to do with the “Bareknuckle” name, we do have a pretty good guess since the American company plans on debuting a streetfighter motorcycle in the next model year.
When men name their motorcycles, it is usually with a feminine name. This is a tradition that dates back to early mariners, who were often away from their loved ones for incredibly long periods of time, and remembered their wives and girlfriends by naming ships after them.
It is an interesting tradition we do now though – this naming of motorcycles – especially as the horsepower figures have climbed higher and higher and the curb weight measurements have dwindled lower and lower.
Names like “Heartsbane” or “Widow’s Wail” would seem more appropriate for modern motorcycles, especially if you feel the night is dark and full of terrors.
So, when you consider the hours that Michael “Woolie” Woolaway has spent in his workshop slaving over the next iteration of his Pikes Peak race bike away from his loved ones while creates the ultimate motorcycle for the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, the name “Beastie” seems far more appropriate than something like “Samantha” – our apologies to the Samantha’s in the crowd, of course.
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.
All the rumors and speculation can now stop. Here it is. Here is the Ducati Streetfighter V4 prototype that will be racing at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.
Record-holder Carlin Dunne will pilot the Streetfighter V4 prototype for Ducati, in a bid to set a new outright motorcycle record on the Mountain.
In the announcement, Ducati acknowledges that we will see the Streetfighter V4 properly debut at the EICMA show later this November, and that the production model will be in dealerships by March 2020.
We have already told you as much as this headline conveys, so apologies to our more loyal readers if this story seems redundant, but we wanted to definitively tell you that the Ducati Streetfighter V4 will debut later this month, at Pikes Peak.
The news comes fresh after a teaser that Ducati posted, which says to us that “the gloves come off at Pikes Peak” and then gives the date June 13th, which is the day of the motorcycle tire test for the historic hill climb.
“The gloves” is surely a nod to the “Streetfighter” name, though we have seen more than a few hints from Ducati and its CEO that we should expect such a model before the year’s end.