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A Better Look at the Upcoming Kawasaki Z900RS

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For the 2018 model year, Kawasaki is working on a modern motorcycle, dressed like a vintage standard. As such, the 2018 Kawasaki Z900RS takes the popular and potent Z900 streetfighter, and gives it a visual work-over for a whole new demographic.

You don’t have to wear skinny jeans and a man-bun to like it though, the Kawasaki Z900RS looks like a stunner, and we know this because Team Green has been giving us something close to the full monty, with its teaser video series.

Expected to debut later this month (just after Honda debuts its new Gold Wing motorcycles), and ahead of November’s EICMA show, the 2018 Kawasaki Z900RS helps build out Kawasaki’s heritage lineup, of which it has exactly zero models – unless you count the Vulcan Classic cruiser.

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Honda Keeps Teasing New Gold Wing Launch

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It’s the worst-kept secret in the motorcycle industry right now, as a new Honda Gold Wing is set to debut in a couple weeks’ time.

One of the most iconic machines in Big Red’s lineup, the Honda Gold Wing looks to be set for a serious upgrade for 2018 and onward, after photos of the motorcycle leaked online three weeks ago.

The new Honda Gold Wing features a forkless front end, which looks to be a Hossack fork design. A dual-clutch transmission (DCT) appear to be an option, and the changes seem to be coming for both the touring-focused Honda Gold Wing, as well as its bagger counterpart, the Honda Gold Wing F6B.

While there was some wiggle-room in Honda’s previous teaser, now there can be no doubt that we will see a new Gold Wing motorcycle from Honda, later this month, with Honda sharing many of its past Gold Wing models in the attached video.

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Kawasaki Begins Teasing New Supercharged Motorcycle

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It appears that the rumors are true, and that Kawasaki is set to debut another supercharged motorcycle at the upcoming EICMA show.

We have reported already that Kawasaki is rumored to have a sport-touring model of the supercharged Ninja H2, and it seems that rumor is close to the mark.

Releasing a teaser video today, the new Kawasaki model appears to be less about outright performance, and more about enhancing the journey. In short, it sounds a lot like a sport-touring model is nigh.

Whether or not this new supercharged model, the third in Kawasaki’s lineup, is based off the H2 platform remains to be seen, however.

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New Triumph Bonneville Speedmaster Teased for 2018

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Are you ready for another flavor of Triumph Bonneville? We hope so, because the British marque is teasing a new model: the Triumph Bonneville Speedmaster.

Set to debut on October 3rd, Triumph’s social media channels are boasting that the new Speedmaster will have “classic custom style” and “class leading capability” – along with “British attitude” which either means a stiff upper lip, or passive-aggressive social graces…we can’t be sure.

In seriousness though, we can assume from the name and attributes that the new Speadmaster will be getting the same liquid-cooled upgrades that we have seen come to the Bonneville line in past few model years, following in the footsteps of the Thruxton and Bobber.

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Big Motorcycle Debut for Honda Coming in October

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Honda is teasing a big global unveiling later next month. What it is, no one knows – outside of Honda, of course. To help tease us into the debut though, Honda has set up a five-part video series, with the tagline “What Lies Beyond” and a focus on what brings motorcycles to the open road.

We have a little over a month to speculate about what new big 2018 model Honda has up its sleeve for us. Maybe it’s a production version of the Honda Neowing hybrid three-wheeler. Maybe it’s the electric version of the Honda Super Cub…

Or maybe, it’s an all-new Honda Gold Wing, which is what my colleagure Adam Waheed from Riders Domain thinks it could be. Either way, we’ll see soon enough. Hopefully it wheelies, and comes in red.

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Is the Kawasaki Z900 Turning into the Next Hipster Bike?

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No, the beard and skinny jeans crowd aren’t abandoning their broken down Honda CB’s and flocking to the crazy looks of the Kawasaki Z900, but Team Green does seem to have a heritage-inspired version of their four-cylinder street bike coming down the pipe.

Teasing the Kawasaki Z900RS in a short YouTube video, it seems that the Japanese brand is taking the stout Z900 and styling it for the mercurial tastes of younger riders.

This could be an interesting move for Kawasaki, and while the Z900 isn’t the bike that immediately comes to our minds as being appropriate for this venture, one has to remember the success that Yamaha has seen doing a similar maneuver with the FZ-09, turning it into the XSR900.

Using motorcycle designs as platforms for multiple machines is nothing new, but we have seen the Japanese brands using this strategy with growing success each year.

As such, the upcoming Kawasaki Z900RS could be a very intriguing machine to see, once it drops. Stay tuned.

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Ducati’s New V4 Engine Named “Desmosedici Stradale”

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In one week’s time, Ducati will unveil its new V4 engine, which will power the next-generation of the Italian company’s superbikes and other high-powered motorcycles.

Set to debut the Thursday before the San Marino GP round for MotoGP, Ducati has begun teasing us some information, the first of which is the new motor’s name, the Desmosedici Stradale.

True to Ducati naming conventions, the name of the engine literally means what it is, a road-going version of the Desmosedici engine that powers Bologna’s MotoGP project.

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Yamaha Begins Teasing T7 Adventure Bike

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Yamaha Motor Europe has begun its teaser campaign for what we expect to be a new adventure bike in the company’s lineup.

Debuting the Yamaha T7 Concept at the 2016 EIMCA Show, the 689cc, twin-cylinder, ADV motorcycle is the prime suspect for the unseen motorcycle in this teaser video.

Yamaha hasn’t been bashful about the T7 Concept either, with prototype versions of the bike being caught out testing, and even loaned out the bike for a special photo shoot with Italian publication DueRoute.

Even in Milan, it was widely known that the concept on stage would be headed into production. So, here we are.

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Ducati V4 Superbike to Debut in September?

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Italian media is reporting an invitation to a Ducati event at the Misano World Circuit, the Thursday before the MotoGP race weekend held on the Adriatic Coast.

The event has surely something to do with Ducati’s new V4 superbike, with Ducati claiming it will be “the sound of a new era” for the Italian manufacturer.

That sound surely will be of the new V4 powerplant, which will not only replace the company’s iconic v-twin superbike lineup, but also power future large-displacement sport bikes from Ducati – something Claudio Domenicali told Asphalt & Rubber at the Ducati 1299 Panigale R Final Edition launch.

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The End Is Nigh for the Ducati 1299 Panigale

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That Ducati is about to debut a V4 superbike is perhaps the worst-kept secret right now in the motorcycle industry, and when we saw the Ducati 1299 Panigale S Anniversario late last year, we were sure this would be last “new” Panigale from its namesake, Borgo Panigale.

Getting ready to send the v-twin superbike on its final farewell, it seems Ducati still has a few surprises up its sleeve, as the Italian brand has released a teaser video for an event on July 7th, with the tagline “When the End Tells the Whole Story.”

Filled with quick-takes on a Panigale superbike, in the red/white Corse livery (just like on the Ducati 1299 Superleggera), the video is surely a nod to the end-of-the-line for this big-displacement v-twin superbike. The words “Panigale Final Edition” in the video title are a tip-off too.

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MV Agusta Debuts Its First “RVS” Motorcycle Concept

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The intrigue is finally over in regards to MV Agusta’s new “Reparto Veicoli Speciali” or “RVS” program, with the Italian marque debuting its first creation from this special vehicle development unit.

An intersection between the designers and engineers at MV Agusta’s Castiglioni Research Centre, RVS is what happens when you let designers be free with their imaginations, and you let engineers create those ideas unfettered – at least, so says MV Agusta.

The result for this fist iteration is a very unique looking MV Agusta Brutale 800, which has a bevy of custom pieces on it that make it look like a café racer / scrambler type of machine.

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