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Benelli Leoncino Makes Its Return at EICMA

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Benelli piqued our interest when it said that a legend was returning, and now we know what machine the Italian brand was referring to: the Benelli Leoncino. A historic name for Benelli, the Leoncino (Italian for “lion cub”) was the model that defined the Italian company after World War II.

Like many motorcycles during that time period, the Leoncino offered Italians an affordable way to get around town, when many families could not afford a car, nor could the Italian infrastructure support four-wheeled mass transport.

As a result, many of Italy’s iconic names go their start in this manner (the same can be said of Japan’s motorcycle brands), so the hyper is certainly worthy of a legend’s return. The model teased of course, is a different story.

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Moto Guzzi V9 Gets the Teaser Treatment

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The joke might be that Moto Guzzi riders are a little “touched” in the head, but we think anyone who isn’t that concerned about getting from Point A to Point B in the fastest manner possible can appreciate the Italian brand’s latest model.

Getting teased ahead of the EICMA show, this looks to be the first photo of the Moto Guzzi V9 – a stylish retro-cruiser type of machine. The photo comes not from some leaked source, but instead from Moto Guzzi’s own website, where the teaser is displaying prominently (shown above, and enhanced after the jump).

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Bimota Impeto “Hyper-Naked” Debuting at EICMA

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In addition to the Bimota Tesi 3D RaceCafe that will debut at the EICMA show in Milan next week, the boutique Italian brand has another new model for our two-wheeled consumption, the Bimota Impeto.

Bimota is calling the Impeto a “hyper-naked” model, which we take to mean a nasty-fast streetfighter machine, which will take over from the Bimota DB9. We say this because sometimes things get lost in translation when it comes to Bimota press releases.

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Bimota Tesi 3D RaceCafe – Hub-Center Steering Café Racer

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Bimota has a number of things to debut at next week’s EICMA show, the biggest being the company’s latest model: the Bimota Tesi 3D RaceCafe.

The concept seems pretty simple, take the hub-center steering design of the Bimota Tesi 3D, and style it to look like the café racer of the future – if that oxymoron makes sense to you.

The above image is the teaser for the Bimota Tesi 3D RaceCafe, which shows a more traditional headlamp on the futuristic machine. Other changes include the use of Ducati’s air-cooled 803cc v-twin engine, which is currently powering the Ducati Scrambler line.

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A New “MT” from Yamaha, But What Is It?

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Yamaha is teasing a new model to its MT family (that’s the FZ family, for American readers), but the teaser doesn’t tell us much beyond that a new model is coming. Yamaha’s video says that the new model is a “Ray of Darkness” which continues Yamaha’s “Dark Side of Japan” tagline from previous years for the MT line.

What model Yamaha has up its sleeve is an interesting thought exercise, as the Iwata brand has already debuted a 125cc and 250cc single-cylinder models, a 689cc two-cylinder model, and a 847cc three-cylinder model under the MT name. In the North American markets, the FZ-01 rounds out the FZ family with its 1,000cc four-cylinder engine.

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Ducati Teases Its New “X” Cruiser

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Ducati has nine new models to show us at EICMA, one of which is surely a feet-forward cruiser design that’s based off the Ducati Diavel. The teaser campaign for this new model has been going on for quite some time now, but we have been ignoring it since there was absolutely no substance to what Ducati was showing…until now.

Finally giving us a glimpse of what the hell the Italian brand has been saying with its “This is…” tagline, Ducati isn’t exactly showing the full monty, but it’s enough for us to recognize the belt-driven cruiser model that we’ve seen in spy photos.

We are not sure how such a model is going to be received by hardcore Ducatisti, but clearly Ducati is looking to expand its reach of new customers, and is looking to take a little bit of Harley-Davidson and Victory’s action.

Time will tell if it pays off – expect to see this new Ducati unveiled in one week’s time at the EICMA show in Milan.

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Here are the First Photos of the 2016 Honda CB500F

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Here is your first look at the 2016 Honda CB500F, which like its other Honda brethren, will get a bit of makeover for next year. American Honda is teasing the new model now, but says it won’t release more information until the EICMA show in Milan, on November 17th.

We don’t think Honda will stray too far from the current Honda CB500F, with most of the modifications being cosmetic refinements that enhance the street-standard’s appeal to riders.

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Benelli Teases the Return of a “Legend” – A Scrambler?

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Benelli is very much the forgotten Italian marque in the motorcycle industry, with Ducati, MV Agusta, and Aprilia (in that order, perhaps) taking most of the attention when it comes to motorcycle that hail from a country shaped like a boot.

The brand has made some fantastic modern models, like the Tornado, TnT, and Tre, and of course Benelli is steeped in a rich history that has some classic motorcycles. Those are the elements that have always attracted us to the brand, and what keeps us longing for more from Benelli.

However, ownership under the Qianjiang Group has proved difficult for motorcycle enthusiasts, with the company’s sexy Italian-designed motorcycles giving way to practical simple people movers. The Benelli TnT25 proves that point.

It seems though that things are slowly coming around for Benelli and its Chinese owners though, with the Italian-born brand sending the above teaser with the message “The Legend is back…” So we dug a little deeper.

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Modest Changes Come for the 2016 Honda NC700X

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Modesty might be the name of the game so far for Honda’s 2016 lineup, as Big Red announces its lesser models for next year, ahead of the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show, where we expect to see some interesting machines.

One of those models getting a modest refresh for the upcoming model year is the Honda NC700X, Honda’s other road-hobbled adventure-touring machine. The big change for 2016 will be “exciting new styling”, though other changes are afoot as well.

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The MV Agusta Lewis Hamilton Dragster RR is Coming to a Burnout Near You

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You remember the MV Agusta Dragster RR right? The Brutale 800 without a tail section? Of course you do…it was pretty bold design from MV Agusta, which is probably saying something, considering that the Varese brand tends to lead with design, rather than follow.

It turns out that Lewis Hamilton is a bit of a fan of the machines from MV Agusta – it also helps that AMG has a 20% interest in the Italian brand, and Hamiliton is the team’s star F1 driver, at least when teammate Nico Rosberg isn’t around – so, in true MV Agusta fashion, a special limited edition machine must be produced, right?

Behold, the Lewis Hamilton Dragster RR: a collaboration between the F1 World Champion and the Italian motorcycle marque. MV Agusta hasn’t quite revealed the machine yet, but this teaser video does a pretty good job of getting the point across. We took some stills, just in case the edits were too much for you.

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Watch the Husqvarna 701 Supermoto Do Its Thang

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Maybe it’s because my supermoto season officially ended this weekend (without me, I should add), with our last scheduled sumo session at the go-kart track here in Portland passing by this weekend, or maybe it’s because we just want the Swedish brand to deliver the Husqvarna 701 Supermoto already…either way, consider our appetite whetted by this last video from Husky.

Finally giving us a showing of the 701 Supermoto on a proper race track — not that the ice course with spiked tires wasn’t cool (no pun intended) — we get to see the 701 at home in its natural element: hitting apexes, sliding tires, and crushing lean angles.

We imagine that the nearly as powerful, and considerably lighter Husqvarna FS 450 supermoto would be the better weapon on the track, but the 690cc power plant on the Husqvarna 701 Supermoto is certainly the better choice for a machine that will roll a tire on public roads…and that’s sorta the point of the machine.

We’ll be eager to see this Husqvarna hit showrooms in Europe this November, and thus being the long wait for it to come to the USA in February 2016. Could the Husqvarna 701 Supermoto be the ultimate city hooligan bike? Time will tell…we’re certainly eager to find out, though.

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