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Honda Begins Teasing the 2017 Honda CBR1000RR

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Honda launched a dedicated website for its arriving 2017 model year motorcycles today, giving us a glimpse into what Big Red has in store for us at INTERMOT, EICMA, and the IMS Show in Long Beach, and the first machine they’re teasing seems to be the 2017 Honda CBR1000RR.

While the current teaser is set in the United States, at Thunderhill Raceway Park, we first caught glimpse of the new Honda CBR1000RR while shooting at a similar promo video in Croatia, strangely enough.

From those photos, we know that the 2017 Honda CBR1000RR (that’s the 2017 Honda Fireblade to our European readers) is based off the current model’s design, with the two machines sharing a chassis, and likely many engine parts.

Obviously, Honda has wrapped the 2017 CBR1000RR in very different fairings, and updated the superbike for Euro4 emissions.

Logic also dictates that Honda’s updated superbike will have ride-by-wire, traction control, and other electronic aids, and we can likely expect the engine to get a little bit more pep as well, just to keep us from moaning too loudly that the aged platform is seeing yet another year of service.

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MotoGP

Nicky Hayden Will Fill-In for Jack Miller at the Aragon GP

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The MotoGP paddock will see the return of Nicky Hayden, albeit only for a solitary round, as the American will substitute at the Aragon GP for the still recovering Jack Miller.

Some fans may be surprised to learn that Hayden almost replaced at the British GP at Silverstone, with the World Superbike rider instructed to bring his leathers to England, just in case Jack Miller was deemed unfit to ride.

That chance ultimately didn’t materialize for Hayden, but with Miller sitting out the San Marino GP, again to nurture his hand injury, there again is a need for Hayden to pack his leathers, and head to the MotoGP paddock.

Releasing a press release today, the Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Racing team has confirmed Nicky Hayden as replacing Jack Miller for the Spanish round at Motorland Aragon.

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Bikes

2017 Montesa Trials Bikes Available in the USA

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American Honda will once again be importing a range of Honda-powered Montesa trials bikes into the USA, which is music to our ears. As such, both the  and the 2017 2017 Montesa Cota 300RR will be available for order at Honda dealerships.

For the 2017 model year, the Montesa Cota 4RT260 gets mostly bold new graphics, though it does have a longer kickstarter lever, for easier starts. The Montesa Cota 300RR (above), however, gets more substantial changes for this coming model year

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Bikes

Honda X-ADV Adventure Scooter Will Debut at EICMA

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The folks at Big Red have just sent word that the Honda X-ADV adventure scooter is headed into production.

The crossover model, which is based closely off the Honda City Adventure concept, takes your typical maxi-scooter design, and adds some off-roading capability.

Honda says the scooter has long-travel suspension, a five-stage adjustable windscreen, and storage space for an off-road helmet.

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Bikes

Hi, Are You the 2017 Honda CBR1000RR?

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If you were hoping that the 2017 Honda CBR1000RR would be a completely new machine for sport bike enthusiasts, the following might disappoint you.

This is because photos published on Twitter seem to suggest that the 2017 Honda Fireblade will get mostly cosmetic changes for the upcoming model year.

As you can see after the jump, what looks like the new CBR1000RR was caught lapping for what appears to be a PR video spot for the Japanese OEM.

While it is clear from these shots that the pictured Honda CBR1000RR has a radically new fairing design, a closer comparison to the chassis (see above) suggests that the machine is simply the current generation machine, with new clothing.

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Bikes

Oh Yes, Honda’s ADV Scooter is Coming

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Remember how Honda teased with a 21-part video series for the Africa Twin adventure-tourer? Get ready for the same treatment again, this time for Big Red’s ADV Scooter, which so far we only know as the “Honda City Adventure” concept.

This off-roading feet-forward scooter is coming to Europe, and likely North America as well, which should be an interesting test for this crossover model.

The latest teaser video gives us a pretty good glimpse of the machine, which doesn’t stray too far from its trade show concept, complete with wire wheels and dual-sport tires.

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Bikes

Honda CB1100R Concept by Oberdan Bezzi

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We’ve got air-cooled bikes on the brain today, so it seemed appropriate to share one of Oberdan Bezzi’s latest work. The Honda CB1100R concept imagines an air-cooled inline-four engin, wrapped in the bodywork of a sport bike that harkens back to the Honda RC30.

Two classic bikes from Honda’s lineup that make for odd bedfellows, Bezzi’s concept strikes a chord though – especially with more veteran riders who remember when 100hp was more than any street rider could hope for.

Despite the advent of Euro4 emission regulations and crack-downs by the EPA, air-cooled motorcycles are finding their second wind. Free from having to achieve outright performance figures,  less powerful air-cooled motorcycles are filling a niche where more simple and affordable bikes are the most alluring.

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News

Honda’s Kumamoto Factory Back to Normal Production for Large-Displacement Motorcycles

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Honda’s flagship factory, in the Kumamoto Prefecture, is now back to normal production levels, after its slow recovery from earthquake damage sustained earlier this year.

For those who don’t remember, Honda took the Kumamoto factory offline on April 14th, resumed minor operations on May 6th, and resumed production of key models on June 6th.

Honda says that its large motorcycle production lines are now ready to go back to work, meaning the production at the Kumamoto factory is now back to its normal levels, though mini-vehicle parts production has been transferred to Honda’s Suzuka factory.

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Recall

Honda CBR300R & CB300F Recalled for Faulty Crankshafts

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Honda has issued a sizable recall for 11,424 motorcycles, which pertains to the Honda CBR300R and Honda CB300F motorcycles for the 2015 and 2016 model years. The recall stems from a the bikes’ crankshafts, which may have been machined improperly, and as a result could cause the rod bearing to fail.

Since a rod bearing failure could potentially stall the engine, a recall was filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

So far, Honda has only found 41 affected motorcycles, with zero injuries reported. Honda dealers were notified in July to stop sales of the CBR300R & CB300F until recall work could be completed.

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MotoGP

2016 MotoGP Mid-Season Review: Dani Pedrosa

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Before the start of the 2016 season, many insiders, including several MotoGP riders, were telling anyone who would listen to look out for Dani Pedrosa.

The new Michelin tires played perfectly into his hands. The extra grip of the powerful Michelin rear gave him the grip he had been missing with the Bridgestones, and his smoothness with the throttle was helping to overcome the limitations of the spec-electronics.

Pedrosa was the unanimous outside tip for the championship.

Once the 2016 season started, any hope of a Pedrosa title has flown. A mediocre Qatar got the season off to a weak start, but Pedrosa’s troubles started in earnest once Michelin changed their rear tire in the wake of Scott Redding’s delaminated tire in Argentina.

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MotoGP

2016 MotoGP Mid-Season Review: Aerodynamics

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One factor which could be having an effect on tires is the aerodynamics war which has seen wings sprouting from every forward surface of the fairing.

The outbreak of strake cancer has seen the winglets massively increase in size and surface area, making the latest version on the Ducati Desmosedici GP resemble Baron von Richthofen’s Fokker Dr.I triplane.

Ducati was the first to understand and seize on the potential of the aerodynamic winglets, debuting them at Qatar last season. There were met with some skepticism for most of last year, until Yamaha suddenly rolled out their own version of them at Aragon.

In 2016, the winglet craze has infected the entire paddock, with the bikes of all five manufacturers now sporting some form of aerodynamic device.

Why did Ducati start fitting winglets? Because they work. One engineer who has seen the data told me that the effect was visible in it. The bike wheelies less when it has wings fitted compared to not having winglets.

That reduction in wheelie means that wheelie doesn’t have to be managed using the electronics to reduce power and torque. That, in turn, means the bike can accelerate harder out of the corner, reaching higher top speeds at the end of the straight.

The other manufacturers have all come to the same conclusion, hence the outbreak of winglets.

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