You won’t often find me talking about my deep desires for a Buell motorcycle in my garge – any long-time Asphalt & Rubber reader should surely know this by now. But, what you are looking at here might be the only Buell I lust after – in Claudia Schiffer sort of way.
The bike I am referring to is the BOTT XR1R Pikes Peak race bike, which finished 4th in the exhibition class in 2017. You won’t see it at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb this year though, unfortunately because of sponsorship reasons.
But, this doesn’t have to be the final chapter of the BOTT XR1R Pikes Peak race bike however, and in fact, you could be writing its future story. This is because Bottpower is selling its race bike, and let me tell you, it is one tasty piece of two-wheeled machinery.
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.
What you are looking at here is the BMW Motorrad Concept 9Cento. It is a middleweight adventure-sport motorcycle concept that BMW showed off this past weekend in Lake Como, Italy – at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este.
The 9Cento Concept is an interesting look into BMW Motorrad’s mindset, with the German brand showing a new platform for its parallel-twin engines. The bike is sporty in nature, and focuses on providing a motorcycle that can do it all: fast canyon-carving, long-distance touring, and urban riding.
The adventure-sport is a crossover concept that BMW has latched onto already with its S1000XR model, and now it seems that the folks in Berlin are looking to add to that lineup even further, with chatter that the 9Cento is likely to become a production model in the near-ish future.
“Ride the Revolution.” That’s Yamaha’s tag line for its latest sci-fi powersport creation— the three-wheel equipped NIKEN.
But the NIKEN is more than just a Transformer-esque motorcycle equipped with an extra wheel, instead, its engineered specifically to increase cornering grip, while maintaining an authentic leaning experience that only a motorcycle can provide.
Easier said than done, right? Well, after spending a day riding high in the Austrian Alps, we can see merit in Yamaha’s latest production concept.
It was only a couple days ago that we were talking about how limited edition models have been a cash-making boon for motorcycle manufacturers, and now today we see MV Agusta proving the point, releasing a Lewis Hamilton edition of the Brutale 800 RR.
The MV Agusta Brutale 800 RR LH44, as it is known, takes the venerable street bike, and gives it the styling touches designed by the Formula One champion. The look isn’t all that different from the Dragster 800 RR LH44 that debuted three years ago, and the F4 LH44 superbike that debuted late last year.
The design of course was created in collaboration with the Castiglioni Research Center (CRC), and only 144 examples will be made available around the world.
It has been a long-time coming, but Honda has finally has a road-legal 450cc dirt bike back in its lineup. As such, say hello to the 2019 Honda CRF450L.
Taking its DNA from Honda’s 450cc MX bike (which is also updated for 2019), the Honda CRF450L offers mirrors, LED lighting, an electric starter, and even a place to stick a license plate, giving you the ability to on-road, between trailheads.
Other features include a wide-ratio six-speed transmission, 18″ rear wheel, a two-gallon titanium fuel tank, Showa suspension front and back, and more crank mass than the Honda CRF450R MX bike. The curb weight is claimed at 289 lbs, topped up with fuel and ready to ride.
Honda says that the CRF450L will be available in September 2018, with pricing set for now at $10,399.