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Victory Ignition Concept Is A Very Sporty Cruiser

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It had been widely rumored that Victory Motorcycle would launch a sportier offering, using the 60° water-cooled 1,200cc engine that powered the Project 156 race bike almost to the top of Pikes Peak.

The new model is a tectonic shift for Victory, which also this year debuted its first electric model – though the Empulse TT is really just a rebadged Brammo Empulse R.

Debuting the Ignition concept at the 2015 EICMA show today though, it’s clear that Victory Motorcycle is becoming more than a modern alternative to Harley-Davidson and the metric cruisers from Japan.

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2016 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R “Winter Test Edition”

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The folks at Kawasaki are really enjoying their 2015 World Superbike Championship victory – and honestly, can you blame them? Jonathan Rea lit up the WSBK field, and dominated the series on his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R race bike.

For 2016, you can already get the race-inspired Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R KRT Edition, but for our European riding brethren, another model might tickle your fancy. Behold, the 2016 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R “Winter Test Edition” street bike.

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2016 Moto Guzzi MGX-21 Flying Fortress

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We fell in love with the Moto Guzzi MGX-21 prototype at last year’s EICMA show, so it is good news to hear that the Italian brand has tapped the model for the 2016 model year.

In case you didn’t know, the 2016 Moto Guzzi MGX-21 Flying Fortress is a 1,400cc bagger, that like all bikes of the brand, includes a 90° transverse V-twin engine.

The model is built around the American motorcycle lifestyle, with the idea of bombing down Route 66 with the wind on your face. We just like its wealth of carbon fiber.

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The Venerable Suzuki SV650 Returns for 2017

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The Suzuki SV650 is easily becoming an iconic model in the Japanese brand’s history, with new and experienced riders enjoy what the 650cc v-twin sport bike has to offer.

An ideal starter machine for learning motorcycles, the Suzuki SV650 is also a popular choice with track day enthusiasts and racer. It’s just a versatile, cheap, and fun motorcycle to ride.

For the 2017 model year (available early/mid-2016), Suzuki is bringing the SV650 back to its lineup, with both an ABS and non-ABS model. Getting some updates along the way as well, the 2017 Suzuki SV650 should continue to be a popular model for Suzuki.

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Bimota Impeto, Supercharger Optional

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The Bimota range has a long history of Ducati-powered machines, as the Italian brand has been used the most out of all the motorcycle manufacturers to power Bimota’s street and race bikes.

The Bimota Impeto adds another Ducati-powered model to the slew of others, but it differentiates itself as the only 162hp streetfighter in the lineup. If the Impeto looks familiar to the Bimota DB8, there’s good reason, as the two bikes share the Ducati Diavel’s Testastretta 11° DS engine.

As such, the chromoly steel chassis share a number of components, leaving most of the differences down to styling choices between the two liquid-cooled models. Our personal favorites are the exhaust and seat, which mirror each other with a rising flair.

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Honda CBSix50 Is a Scrambler for the Rest of Us

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The Honda Six50 concept continues where the Honda CB4 concept left-off in exploring what other machines could be created from the Honda CBR650F platform. Instead of a café racer though, the Honda CBSix50 is more of a modern-take on the popular scrambler genre.

To that vein, it works well with the Honda CB4 concept, as both machines attempt to tackle popular hipster tropes currently in the two-wheeled space, but with decisively modern and unique approaches.

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Things We Like, Part 1: Honda CB4 Concept

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Honda isn’t saying too much about its CB4 concept, and we are not sure they need to – the motorcycle speaks for itself. Just in case you can’t hear it, the retro-style standard is an appealing machine, which draws a distinct line to the Hondas of a couple generations ago.

The Honda CB4 concept seems to be built off the Honda CBR650F platform, though the concept is certainly as far as you can get from the CBR650F in terms of feeling and inspiration.

To that end, a single-sided swingarm has been added, the exhaust routed stylishly and polished, and we are a big fan of the solid iron front brake discs with radially mounted Tokico calipers, in red…naturally.

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Husqvarna Vitpilen 701 Concept Helps Define the Future

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Ever since Stefan Pierer bought the Husqvarna brand, we have been curious to see how “Husky” would fit within the KTM family.

As of late, Husqvarna models have been little more than recycled KTM motorcycles, with a few minor changes and some cosmetic tweaks seemingly being the only thing that separates the Swedish brand from its Austrian owner.

Part of this is a necessary evil, as it takes time to design and build new models, with the current overlap at least serving to update the Husqvarna line until actual new models can be released.

In 2017, we will see the first truly new Husqvarna models come to market, the Husqvarna 401 Vitpilen & Husqvarna 401 Svartpilen. Now we can see a third model, which further defines how we will understand Husqvarna in the future, its called the Husqvarna Vitpilen 701 concept.

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KTM 1290 Super Duke GT – The Be(a)st Sport-Tourer?

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I recently was pleased to get the chance to ride the KTM 1290 Super Duke R – machine that truly lives up to the name “The Beast”, yet shows enough comfort to be a potent touring machine, if you could mount bags and a windscreen to it.

That thought is exactly what drove KTM with its latest model, the KTM 1290 Super Duke GT, which takes the 173hp streetfighter, and gives its bags, more fairing, and a windshield — all for 502 lbs, ready to ride.

Unless the Austrian massively botched this relatively easy task, this could mean that the KTM 1290 Super Duke GT is the best sport-tourer on the market.

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XXX: 2016 MV Agusta Dragster RR Lewis Hamilton

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In addition to the 2016 MV Agusta Brutale 800, the other big new model release from the Varese brand is the MV Agusta Dragster RR Lewis Hamilton, a bike that pays homage to the reigning Formula 1 World Champion.

The concept is pretty simple, take MV Agusta’s already attractive Dragster RR model, and let Mr. LH44 go wild on it. The idea is to create another collectable MV Agusta model, so things stay pretty much the same for the Dragster RR’s 140hp motor and steel trellis frame.

The rest of the bike though, gets a solid going-over, by Lewis Hamilton himself, if you can believe the MV Agusta press release.

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2016 MV Agusta Brutale 800 – Comes with Less Power, More Weight, & A Different Look Thanks to Euro4

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For the 2016 model year, the MV Agusta Brutale 800 gets an obvious makeover, with changes coming to the tail section, fuel tank, exhaust, taillight, and LED headlight.

What is less obvious though, are the effects of having to be Euro4 emissions compliant, which drop the Brutale 800’s peak power from 125hp to 116hp, though there is an increase in peak torque, from 59 lbs•ft to 61 lbs•ft.

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