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Any Excuse to Post Photos of the 2022 KTM RC16 MotoGP Race Bike…

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Any excuse to see some high-resolution photos of the KTM RC16 in its Tech3 livery – amiright???

The start of the 2022 MotoGP Championship season is rapidly approaching us, which means that the various grand prix teams are launching their racing efforts for the year.

My colleague David Emmett called the team launches glorified dog and pony shows, and that is largely because the bikes we see aren’t really the 2022-spec machines, and most of what is said at these events are platitudes written for sponsors.

I will retort though, that high-res images of some of the finest motorcycles on the planet never gets old, and the satellite Tech3 livery on the KTM RC16 is certainly a stunning combination that adds to the motolust.

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Absurdly Ultra High-Resolution Photos of the KTM RC 8C

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It is the end of the week, and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the weekend than to ogle some ultra high-resolution photos of the KTM RC 8C.

Zie Austrians uploaded these to their media site well after the fanfare of the track-only bike had settled, so I don’t think they have really been seen until now – the fact it sold out in less than 5 minutes probably didn’t help that fact either.

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Updates Come to the MV Agusta Rush 1000 for the 2021 Model Year

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2021 MV Agusta Rush 1000

I will level with you…the following is a thinly veiled excuse to ogle over the latest iteration of the MV Agusta Rush 1000.

Sure, the headline news might be that this ostentatious four-cylinder streetfighter is getting some updates for the 2021 model year, thanks largely to the Euro5 emissions requirements, but this post is mostly an offering of fap-fodder, for the next time you are alone in your garage.

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So Many Photos of the MV Agusta Superveloce 800

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Fresh with its new livery design, MV Agusta sent us these photos of the Superveloce 800, which is just now starting to make its way out of the Italian company’s factory in Varese.

While the basics of the motorcycle center around MV Agusta’s modern 145hp, 800cc, three-cylinder platform, the exterior of the Superveloce 800 is what is grabbing headlines, as the retro-modern look of the sport bike is quite the head-turner.

Therefore it should go without saying that we needed little convincing in order to publish the 98 high-resolution phots of this machine.

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XXX: Too Many Hi-Res Photos of the Ducati Superleggera V4

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In just over two weeks’ time, Asphalt & Rubber will be swinging a leg over the Ducati Superleggera V4, giving this $100,000 bike a run for its money at the iconic Laguna Seca race track in sunny California. It’s a hard life.

Only 500 models of this mean machine will be produced in Borgo Panigale (the production run is currently underway), making the Superleggera V4 a fairly exclusive affair – and that’s before you factor in the MotoGP and WorldSBK track experience packages, which are basically unobtainium opportunities.

At the end of the day, the Superleggera V4 is a 233hp (174 kW) fire-breather when the race exhaust is installed, and Ducati quotes a dry weight of 335.5 lbs (152.2 kg).

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Even More Photos of the Ducati Streetfighter V4

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The crown jewel of Ducati’s 2020 model unveiling event was easily the new Streetfighter V4. The superbike with no fairings is ready to shred the street with its 205hp (153 kW), and its 90 lbs•ft of peak torque.

Complete with all the electronics found on the Panigale V4 superbike, the 2020 Ducati Streetfighter V4 even has winglets to help with high-speed stability.

Of course, none of this class-leading performance is going to be cheap, with European pricing set at €19,990 for the base model machine, while the Ducati Streetfighter V4 S will cost a stout €22,990 MSRP. Still, the bike is surely goin to turn heads.

Since Ducati’s press site was having issues during the press launch, we have put together this special gallery of high-resolution photos of the 2020 Ducati Streetfighter V4 for you to drool on. Enjoy!

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XXX: So Many Hi-Res Photos of the Royal Enfield KX Concept

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If you are like us, you probably just finished drooling over the Royal Enfield KX concept, and were bummed that there weren’t any more hi-res photos to drool over and scrutinize from EICMA.

We feel your pain…that is why we have got close to 100 more photos for you. Booyakasha!

The bulk of the photos attached in the photo gallery concern the design process of creating the KX concept, which are interesting to see, though a little to “marketing focused” for our taste.

But, the real value comes as you scroll down and see the Royal Enfield KX concept in detail.

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XXX: MV Agusta Releases 2019 Version of Its Delicious “RC” Models

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By now, true motorcycle enthusiasts should be familiar with MV Agusta’s lineup of “RC” models from its sport bike lineup. These race inspired machines are limited in quantity, feature a unique race-inspired livery, and arrive with extra go fast parts that come in a special wood box.

The RC models are strong sellers for MV Agusta, so it is not surprising to see that the concept has permeated from the company’s superbike offering to virtually every machine in the Italian company’s lineup. For the 2019 model year, this idea is no different.

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What Does the Yamaha NIKEN Look Like Naked?

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It has to be the weirdest motorcycle yet, if you can even call it that (some don’t), but it is also luridly intriguing. we are of course talking about the Yamaha NIKEN (read the ride review here, by the way).

A mullet of machines, the NIKEN is business in the front, and party in the back, with its dual 15-inch front wheels mated to a grand total of four conventional fork tubes, via an elaborate parallelogram linkage, while the 17-inch rear wheel spins from a more conventional swingarm design.

This is because from behind the headstock, things get a bit more familiar, with a chassis that is built mostly from steel tube, and a swingarm that comes from cast aluminum. The motor is a revised version of the three-cylidner engine that is found in the Yamaha MT-09.

Available in any color you want, so long as it’s blue, Yamaha has wrapped up the NIKEN in some…interesting…fairing designs, but it is what is under the plastic that is the most intriguing.

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XXX: The Ducati Panigale V4 with Its Clothes Off

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While on the exterior, there might seem to be a great deal of similarities between the Ducati Panigale V4 and its predecessor the Ducati 1299 Panigale, stripping away the bodywork shows that the relation is mostly skin deep.

Yes, the “frameless” chassis design remains, and yes the exhaust routing for the four-cylinder machine mimics that on the twin-cylinder bike, but there are noticeable, even critical differences between Ducati’s superbikes, which should translate to meaningful differences on the race track.

The most obvious is how raked back the Desmosedici Stradale engine sits within the Panigale V4 chassis, which measures at 42° from parallel – the same as the Italian company’s V4-powered MotoGP race bike. No coincidence there.

This allows for the “front frame” to become a much longer lever, and attach to the motorcycle in more conventional mounting points. Both of these factors can contribute to making the Panigale V4 handle better on the race track, and provide better rider feedback – a common complaint of the old design.

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XXX: 2017 KTM RC16 MotoGP Race Bike

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KTM is the new kid on the block, for the 2017 MotoGP season – and it is clear from the test times at Phillip Island that the Austrian brand has some work left to do on its V4-powered race bike.

The 2017 KTM RC16 is notably slower than its competitors, though shows a great deal of promise – especially as just a newcomer to the series.

KTM’s riders, Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro, will be looking to tame KTM’s monstrously powerful engine into something that can put the power to the tarmac, and they will also be looking to refine the steel-tube chassis into a proper scalpel on two wheels.

In other words, the 2017 season will be a development season.

Though a rookie season it will be, KTM’s partnership with Red Bull means that the squad is no stranger when it comes to marketing and presentation.

So we should not be surprised that with the team’s official livery unveiling today, that we also get a bevy of artsy high-quality (and high-resolution) photos of the team and the RC16.

Of course, no pixel was spared to bring you these gorgeous photos. We hope your bandwidth is up to the task.

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