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Harley-Davidson’s Electric Flat Track Gets a New Look

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When Harley-Davidson showed its design concepts for its future electric motorcycles, we were struck by the Bar & Shield’s plans for a road-going flat track bike…for two reasons.

For starters, the design and vehicle format seemed promising. In fact, it was surprising that it took an electric powertrain to get Harley-Davidson hip to its flat track roots and then apply them to the company’s street-bike offerings.

The second reason our interests were piqued was because of the bike’s very obvious use of Alta’s EV powertrain components, which made sense at the time since Harley-Davidson was a major investor in the electric motorcycle startup.

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Bikes

Ducati Monster “Braida” Concept by Tex Motorbike

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A little something to get the week headed in the right direction, here is the “Braida” Ducati Monster concept by Paolo Tesio at Tex Motorbike.

The machine exists only as a digital render (for now), but it has some interesting ideas for a futuristic take on this classic motorcycle name.

We especially like the front fairing design, which just blends right into the front wheel and is fitted with a set of perimeter discs.

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Bikes

This Video of the Segway Apex Does More Harm than Good

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It would be incorrect to say that we are eagerly awaiting the Segway Apex, an electric motorcycle from the recognizable urban transport brand. While the bike looks intriguing, we are skeptical of its actual abilities.

Set to debut at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas on the second week of January, one the motorcycle items of note is this electric motorcycle concept from Segway.

The Chinese-owned brand has been teasing its Apex for a couple weeks now, though details are still light on this potential future model. All we know right now is that parent company Ninebot says that the Segway Apex will do 125 mph / 0-60 in 2.9 seconds.

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Segway Apex Electric Motorcycle Concept Debuts Ahead of CES

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Known better for its self-balancing standing two-wheeled vehicles, Segway is brand to watch in the electric mobility space righ now, as it continues to push into more establish mobility sectors.

For instance, the brand had a convincing electric mountain bike / moped on display at EICMA, and now as we get ready for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January, Segway has another model designed to get our attention: the Apex concept.

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Pierre Terblanche’s Electric BST HyperTEK Is Just…Wow

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When I walked by the BST booth at the EICMA show, I wasn’t that surprised to see an electric motorcycle concept parked in the carbon fiber parts maker’s stall – it seemed like every booth at the Milan show had one, in some sort of attempt for attention.

With a small crowd around what I would learn was called the BST HyperTEK, I wasn’t that astonished that this particular concept was gaining attention. The bike was…lurid.

Built with crazy shapes, an impossibly small battery pack, and eye-catching colors, you would have had to been blind not to be struck by the electric concept.

“Mission Accomplished” I thought to myself, as the South African brand had clearly achieved its objective of bringing passersby (including myself) into their booth, though the carbon wheels on display would have done the trick just as easily.

It wasn’t until later that night though that I would learn that the BST HyperTEK was the work of renowned motorcycle designer Pierre Terblanche, which is of course when everything started to make sense.

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Up-Close with the Ducati Scrambler Desert X Concept

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While the Streetfighter V4 S was center stage at the Ducati stand at EICMA, our eye drifted over towards the Scrambler setup, where the Italian brand was showcasing two concept bikes for the Milan show.

At the Ducati launch event in Rimini, the Ducati Scrambler Desert X concept was the big tease, with the Italians saying very little about the bike.

Really, all that was revealed (beyond a couple sketches) was that the motorcycle would use the brand’s 1,079cc air-cooled engine, and instead Ducati encouraged fans to see the bike at the EICMA booth, if they wanted more than a rendering. So, we obliged.

For us, the Ducati Scrambler Desert X concept was the star of the Ducati EICMA experience, perhaps because we knew so far in advance that the Streetfighter V4 was coming, and had a pretty good idea about what this 205hp street-shredding machine would look like.

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A&R Pro

What the Aprilia Tuono 660 Concept Tells Us of the Future

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We always knew that the Aprilia Tuono 660 was coming, ever since last year when the Noale brand took the covers off its RS 660 concept, and started teasing us with the idea of a high-horsepower middleweight twin motorcycle.

From there, it was quick to understand that Aprilia would need to make its “half an RSV4” into a platform, with other models soon to come. The most obvious next step then was a naked “Tuono” model.

That brings us to today, where not only do we see the Aprilia Tuono 660 concept looking basically ready for production at EICMA, but the Italian brand is also coyly showing us its plans for its next middleweight model, the Aprilia Tuareg 660.

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The Husqvarna Norden 901 Concept Is Ready for Adventure

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Every year, for the past five years, Husqvarna has worked like clockwork at the EIMCA show in Milan. This is because the Swedish variant from KTM has been steady in its approach of releasing one new street bike in Milan, and one new concept model for possible future production. For 2019, this trend continues.

Behold the Husqvarna Norden 901 concept, a uniquely styled adventure-tourer, with an 899cc parallel-twin engine, and plenty of styling cues to keep your pouring over the high-resolution photos below.

As the name suggests, the Norden 901 gets the upgraded “890” engine from the KTM 890 Duke R, but fit into a package that is similar to the KTM 790 Adventure platform.

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Aprilia Tuono 660 Concept Teases Us at EICMA

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How do you follow up a class-killing motorcycle like the Aprilia RS 660? You turn around and do it again, in a different category. That is what the Aprilia Tuono 660 aims to do next year, with the concept of the machine debuting today at EICMA.

Based off the same parallel-twin engine design, the Aprilia Tuono 660 makes 95hp – only a 5hp difference to its 100hp full-fairing sibling.

It is strange that Aprilia is talking power figures so soon, but we suspect it is to whet our appetites on the new Tuono 660. The Italian brand has signaled too that a 46hp (34 kW) A2 license compliant model will also be available next year. 

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The Honda CB4X Concept Is Drop Dead Dead Sexy

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Every year at EICMA, we can look forward to some intriguing concepts from Honda’s design team in Europe.

Now in its fifth year of showcasing work, there are two things that we can say about Honda’s Rome R&D work: the concepts will likely be dead sexy, and they will likely be based off the venerable Honda CBR650 platform.

Today is no different, as we can see from the striking lines of this light blue crossover, which is complete with the iconic sweeping four-pipe CB header.

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Ducati Teases Two Intriguing Scrambler Concepts Ahead of EICMA

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While the Ducati Streetfighter V4 was the crown jewel of the Ducati unveiling event in Rimini last week, the items that everyone seems to be still talking about after the media launch are something else, they are the two concept bikes for the Scrambler range.

For those that didn’t watch the live stream, Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali presented two different Scrambler models that have the potential to go into production, an ADV bike and a supermoto.

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