With industry trade shows like EICMA and INTERMOT having to cancel their 2020 plans because of coronavirus concerns, motorcycle brands are having to get creative on how they are debuting their 2021 wares.
To that end, Ducati has just released its plan, and it involves over a month of stealing headlines with its new model year releases.
Almost two-and-a-half years ago, Asphalt & Rubber broke the story that Aprilia was working on a twin-cylinder sport bike, which would be a more affordable and approachable option than the company’s flagship RSV4 superbike offering.
After teasing us at EICMA with the prototype in 2018, and then with the production model a year later, we were set for the Aprilia RS 660 to debut as a 2020 model…but then, the coronavirus outbreak changed all that.
With Italy no longer under lockdown, this bike is finally ready to take the stage, and of course the 2021 Aprilia RS 660 is headed stateside, with the first examples of it landing at dealerships in time for Christmas (and what a present that would be under the tree).
It has been a long wait for this eagerly anticipated motorcycle, and last week the American motorcycle press got their first miles on this middleweight-twin.
Riding the canyon roads near Santa Barbara, we put the Aprilia RS 660 through its paces on some of the best roads California has to offer (in this author’s opinion, at least), to see how this unique creation from Noale stacked up.
Would it live up to the hype? Is this the new twins class killer? Does Aprilia have another opus on its hands? That is what we aim to explain to you in this review.
We get word from our friends at Bike EXIF that the popular online motorcycle publication has been acquired by print publication Iron & Air.
Details of the transaction have not been disclosed, other than the deal concluded in September 2020, but we do know that Chris Hunter will continue on as the Editor-in-Chief of Bike EXIF.
BMW Motorrad is beginning the release of its new motorcycles for the 2021 model year, and first up is the new BMW R18 Classic.
Calling this air-cooled 1,800cc cruiser a “new” model might be a stretch, since the bike is heavily based off the BMW R18 that is just now getting to dealerships.
Episode 170 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this one comes to us from the MotoGP paddock in Motorland Aragon.
On the mics, we have our usual grand prix duo, David Emmett and Neil Morrison, and joining them on this show is MotoGP photographer Cormac Ryan-Meenan.
The guys dive into the results of the Spanish round, which showed the promise of Alex Marquez, and vaulted Joan Mir to the top of the MotoGP Championship standings.
Another bike on our list of “must-rides” for 2020, we are about to swing a leg over the Aprilia RS 660. This middleweight-twin has been a long time coming, especially in its full-fairing aesthetic.
On the spec sheet, the Aprilia RS 660 looks set to upend the segment, but of course the proof is in the pudding on how this parallel-twin motor runs, how its twin-spar aluminum chassis handles, and how refined its APRC electronics package truly is on the open road.
Today’s test takes us to the curvy pavement near Santa Barbara, California, where our 200-mile route through canyons and highways promises to give us a glimpse at this bike’s potential.
Episode 169 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this one is a WorldSBK show, which means that this one sees Steve English and Gordon Ritchie on the mics.
Our WorldSBK duo comes to us from Estoril, where the 2020 season culminated and finally crowned a champion during Saturday’s race. That man is now six-time WorldSBK champion Jonathan Rea.
Cameron Beaubier is finally leaving MotoAmerica for the world stage, with reports putting the American in the Moto2 paddock, with the aptly named American Racing team.
Roadracing World was the first to report the news, and our own sources have confirmed Beaubier’s move from the US championship to grand prix racing.
The level of competition continues to increase in each season of the WorldSBK Championship, but each year Jonathan Rea rises to the occasion, with Kawasaki rider making it six titles in-a-row with the 2020 season.
For this year, the battle for the title came down to the final round of the season, with WorldSBK returning to the Estoril circuit in Portugal because of the coronavirus restrictions.
The new track on the calendar didn’t phase Rea though, as he took the championship easily during Saturday’s race.
When the KTM 890 Adventure R and Rally motorcycles debuted two weeks ago, our Bothan spies not only brought us the first pricing information for these two bikes, but they also told us that a third model was set to debut.
Our spies told us that bike would be a more affordable base model of the KTM 890 Adventure family (and similarly named).
Well now today, we get to see what that bike looks like, as KTM USA has officially confirmed that the KTM 890 Adventure is coming as a 2021 model.
Next week, we will be in Santa Barbara, riding the new Aprilia RS 660 on the street.
We have been waiting a long time to ride this Italian middleweight twin, as it promises to bring a great deal of sophistication to a segment of motorcycling that has primarily been stagnant.