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BMW Teases an 1,800cc Air-Cooled Boxer Engine Design

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BMW Motorrad is very quietly teasing a new motorcycle platform, one that is centered around an 1,800cc boxer design.

BMW teased this new engine in a unique way, having Yuichi Yoshizawa and Yoshikazu Ueda of Custom Works Zon build a show bike around the boxer-twin, which we are showing here in the story.

With its vintage style, it is easy to disregard the prototype engine from BMW as being something from the German company’s past, and perhaps that is the point. The engine uses a push-rod design, and its cooling fins tip-off its air/oil-cooling mechanism.

Specifics  beyond this are non-existent, however, with BMW Motorrad simply saying that “further details about the engine and its possible future use will be communicated at a later point in time.”

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More Details and Photos of the Honda CRF450L Rally Concept

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Yesterday, we brought you photos of the Honda CRF450L Rally concept – a machine that Big Red was quietly debuting at the EICMA show in Milan.

And now today, thanks to our friends at American Honda, we have not only a bunch of new high-resolution photos for you to drool over, as well as a few details on this machine.

Before we get to it though, we want to make an above-the-fold plea to anyone who might be reading in Honda factory back in Japan…

Please Honda, please pretty please, make this motorcycle a production model. Don’t change a thing. Just build it. Thank you.

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Honda CRF450L Rally Concept Quietly Debuts in Italy

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When the Honda CRF450 Rally debuted for rally raid competitors in 2012, there was a cry for a production model of this Dakar-ready dirt bike. It took a while, but Big Red finally answer…sort of.

The Honda CRF250L Rally wasn’t exactly the bike that we expect to see in 2015, and it took over a year (and many, many teasings) for the concept to become a reality for the 2017 model year.

The 250cc platform was an interesting choice for Honda to make for its race-replica dirt bike, especially with the underwhelming debut of the CRF250L model, and thus the want for a 450cc version continued.

Now with the potent CRF450L on the market, it looks like that idea is starting to take shape…though, you would hardly know it from the Japanese brand’s actions at EICMA.

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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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The Honda CB125X Concept Makes Us Think Dirty Thoughts

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We are not sure how big the market is for a 125cc adventure-tourer, especially in the European Union. Close to zero, perhaps? Yet, we are very excited about the Honda CB125X concept (along with its fraternal twin, the Honda CB124M concept).

Maybe the Honda CB125R platform is the wrong starting point for this project, but we like where the Honda Motor Europe R&D team finished with this build.

The CB125X is a clean and attractive motorcycle, and we would romp through every river crossing we could find on this small-displacement thumper.

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Honda CB125M Concept Makes Mini-Motos Great Again

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What you are looking at is a Honda CB125R…well, it was the retro-modern 125cc street bike, until Honda Europe R&D got their dirty little mitts on it. Rethinking the pint-sized machine, Honda has created a very fetching concept motorcycle, which it calls the Honda CB125M.

Honda pitches the CB125M as a supermoto, which makes sense with the bike’s 17″ wheels front and bike, but we think the format lends itself more to a mini-moto machine (we were actually surprised to learn that the Honda Grom was not the basis for this concept).

Either way you look at it, the Honda CB125M Concept is pure sex. It’s one of our favorite machines shown at EICMA this year. There is a growing movement in the small-displacement space, sub-300cc, and Honda is all over it (be sure to look at the Honda CB125X concept too).

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The Royal Enfield KX Concept Puts This Indian Brand on Our Radar

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When it comes to the Royal Enfield brand, I wouldn’t say that it is exactly on our radar. Filling a niche within a niche, Royal Enfield’s offerings seem quaint, but impractical to us…despite their affordable price tags. We just don’t have enough mechanical masochism to want one in our garage.

That all being said, our ears perked up this year at the EICMA show, with the debut of the Royal Enfield KX concept. Finally, there is something from this Indian company that appeals to our senses, and I personally hope they build it for production.

A retro-looking bobber with modern finishes, the Royal Enfield KX concept takes the perfect mixture of new and old that pleases us in a very specific way. 

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How Do We Feel About the Husqvarna Vitpilen 701 Aero Concept?

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Every year at EICMA, Husqvarna teases us with a concept model that could become a future motorcycle. This is how the Vitpilen and Svartpilen models got their start, and now we see the second “Aero” model from the Swedish brand.

Last year we saw the Husqvarna Vitpilen 401 Aero concept, and now this year we see the 701 variant of the design. As such, the Husqvarna Vitpilen 701 Aero concept continues some of the design trends that we have seen before, with of course a bigger motor in its belly.

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The Aprilia RS 660 Concept Is a Premium Supersport with Active Aerodynamics

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We first broke the news about the Aprilia RS 660 a few months ago, tipping that the 600cc class parallel-twin would debut soon, but even we didn’t know what we were in for until the Noale brand took the covers off this amazing machine at EICMA today.

True to rumor, the bike is basically powered by half of an Tuono 1100 / RSV4 1100 engine, with the forward bank of cylinders making the engine platform. Building from there, Aprilia has begun to play with an active aerodynamic system as well, taking the current trend in the two-wheeled space to the next level.

Called Aprilia Active Aerodynamics (A3), the name pretty much tells the story. As such, the Aprilia RS 660 concept explores using aerodynamic forces in new ways, which sees the machine capable of changing its front aerodynamic profile, as well as how much downforce it creates.

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MV Agusta Superveloce 800 Concept Shows Off a Retro-Modern Supersport That’s Soon to Come

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After seeing the gorgeous MV Agusta Brutale 1000 Serie Oro, we thought we were done with the Varesini brand, but MV Agusta continues to surprise us at EICMA, showing off a new concept model it calls the Superveloce 800.

Giving a glimpse of a model yet to come in the second-half of 2019, the MV Agusta Superveloce 800 takes the F3 800 supersport, and builds a truly unique motorcycle from it that pays homage to the Italian brand’s racing history.

MV Agusta starts the Superveloce 800 concept by taking an F3 800 chassis and engine, and then wraps it in a set of carbon fiber bodywork that takes its cues from the 1970s.

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Honda Teases a 650cc Retro-Modern Concept Model

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While we were busy running around Cologne, Germany for the INTERMOT show, Honda Motor Europe was busy in France, for the Paris Motor Show. Debuting there another “Neo Café” concept model, the Japanese brand seems set to release a middleweight version of this popular trope.

Based off the Honda CB650F, the latest Honda Neo Café concept promises a 650cc inline-four engine package in a retro-modern style, similar to what Big Red has done with the Honda CB300R and Honda CB1000R. As such, we are very likely looking at an early version of the Honda CB650R.

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