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Watch the Panigale V4 Go Full Beast-Mode at Mugello

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The reactions to the new Ducati Panigale V4 debuting at the EICMA show seem to be split, with some Ducatisti excited to see what the new V4 platform can bring to the table, while others are less-enthused about the movement away from Ducati’s v-twin tradition, and the V4’s very similar aesthetic to its predecessor.

Wherever you fall on that spectrum, the Panigale V4 looks the business on paper in terms of power, weight, and electronics. Helping whet our superbike appetites further, Ducati has posted a video of the company’s test riders flogging the 1,103cc machine around the Mugello circuit.

Get ready for the ripping and the tearing, because this is what 214 horses of desmodromic power looks like when its shredding Pirelli tires at speed (we can’t even fathom what 226hp looks like). Love it or hate, this looks like an epic bike to ride.

Oh, we through in some ultra high-resolution shots of the 2018 Ducati Panigale V4 S too, just for good measure. You’re welcome.

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Bikes

A Closer Look at the Ducati Multistrada 1260 S Pikes Peak

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For the 2018 model year, we see one of our favorite bikes in the Ducati lineup getting the 1260 update. We are of course talking about the 2018 Ducati Multistrada 1260 S Pikes Peak.

The Ducati Multistrada 1260 S Pikes Peak takes its name from one of America’s oldest racing venues, and as a result it is the sportiest version of Ducati’s adventure-touring machines.

Now fitted with Ducati’s Testastretta DVT 1262 engine, the Multistrada 1260 S Pikes Peak makes 85% of its torque below 3,500 rpm on the v-twin engine. That is a good thing, because Ducati says the bulk of Multistrada owners rarely get above 6,000 rpm on their machines.

This makes the 1,262cc engine the perfect candidate for low-revving excursions, like the ones you would take down a dusty fire road. For the sports-focused Pikes Peak model, the choice is a little bit more curious, but we won’t scuff at the 158hp on tap.

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Bikes

BMW F850GS Teased for EICMA Debut

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BMW Motorrad is set to debut four new motorcycles at this year’s EICMA show, and surely one of those news machines will be the BMW F850GS.

How do we know this? Well, BMW was pretty obvious about the new model in its latest teaser video (watch it, after the jump). It also helps that the revised middleweight ADV bike has been caught numerous times by spy photographer.

Also helping this conjecture is the fact that the BMW F800GS was last updated for the 2013 model year, with a visual refresh for the 2016 model year. As such, the model is due for an overhaul. 

Expected to have a bit more punch than the outgoing F800GS, the 2018 BMW F850GS should provide a bit more stratification in BMW’s adventure-touring range, which gets a bit confusing when you get to the models below the venerable BMW R1200GS.

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Motus Working on a V4 Streetfighter, And It Sounds Goood!

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Motus Motorcycles looks to be working on its second motorcycle model, as a naked prototype of the Motus MST has been making appearances on the American brand’s social media channels, including a very tasty video of the bike testing a 4-2-1 Akrapovic exhaust on the dyno (watch it, after the jump).

We reached out to Motus about its latest project, and the company confirmed its interest in making a naked version of the Motus MST sport-tourer, though it is waiting to see the feedback from other Motus owners and potential customers before committing to make the machine.

Still, Motus is teasing some very intriguing performance specs and design elements, which is more than whetting our appetite.

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Bikes

More Details About Yamaha’s AI-Powered MOTOROiD

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Artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR)…these are the three bid buzzwords of Silicon Valley right now. So, it shouldn’t surprise us to see the motorcycle industry blindly latching onto them, in order to keep some sort of relevance in the space.

From the manufacturers, we have seen more than a few mentions of how the motorcycles of the future will use artificial intelligence to improve the two-wheeled experience, though with virtually none of the brands talking about how an AI-powered motorcycle would be better…or even work.

Yamaha has finally made the jump though with its MOTOROiD concept, taking AI and viewing the technology through the company’s long-term focus with “kando” – the Japanese word for the simultaneous feelings of deep satisfaction and intense excitement that we experience when we encounter something of exceptional value.

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Bikes

Triumph Teases New Tiger for EICMA Debut

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Triumph looks set to update its ADV range, as the British marque is teasing a new Tiger adventure bike in its latest YouTube video.

Touting that the three-cylinder platform has been “transformed” and is packed with more “technology”, Triumph’s teaser is deliciously vague.

What we do know is that Triumph has fallen behind greatly with its modern motorcycles, with the Hinckley brand hyper-focused on its heritage lineup of Bonneville variants.

As such, the Triumph Tiger 800 has remained largely the same, since its 2010 debut, though was updated in 2015 with an improved engine, ride-by-wire, and traction control. The Tiger Explorer 1200 on the other hand was released in 2012, and given modest updates for the 2016 model year.

Both machines however have been overcome by continued pressure from other brands in the middleweight and heavyweight ADV categories, with BMW, Ducati, and KTM all releasing competing models that have been refreshed since the Tigers’ inception date.

Hopefully this teaser video signals that we will see Triumph’s entire lineup overhauled for the 2018 model year. It desperately needs it.

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This Is Surely the Suzuki SV650X, A Café Racer

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We are pretty confident that Suzuki has some interesting motorcycles for us at this year’s EICMA show. This is not one of them.

Part of the “me too” movement that the Japanese manufacturers are going through in order to have heritage motorcycles in their lineup, the 2018 Suzuki SV650X is exactly what you think it is: the company’s popular street bike, dressed in a vintage aesthetic.

There isn’t anything wrong with that, per se, as we have seen some great builds using the same formula, like the Yamaha XSR900 and more recently the Kawasaki Z900RS and Honda Neo Sports Café concept.

However, we know exactly what we are getting with the Suzuki SV650X, and it’s not pretty. With the concept already getting unveiled at the Tokyo Motor, we expect its debut for the Western markets to happen in Milan, Italy. Look for it next week.

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Valentino Rossi Defeats Motobot…For Now

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Back in 2015, Yamaha Motors set out with an ambitious objective: to create a robot that is capable of beating around the race track one of the greatest motorcycle riders of all time, Valentino Rossi.

Along the way, the Japanese manufacturer would learn a limitless amount of information about how motorcycle racers achieve the lap times that do, and Yamaha would then be able to quantify one of the great mysteries in how to make a motorcycle go faster.

With the Motobot project born to achieve all these goals, Yamaha now two years later has pit its creation against their factory-back MotoGP racer, and the results are very interesting.

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No It’s Not April, But Yes This Is the New Yamaha Niken

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Those bastards at Yamaha actually did it, they actually did it…the Yamaha MWT-9 leaning trike concept has been made into a production model. As such, say hello to the new 2018 Yamaha Niken.

Powered by the familiar 900cc three-cylinder engine found on the Yamaha FZ-09, that is all that is familiar about Yamaha Niken, as this isn’t your ordinary motorcycle.

This is because the Niken is based on a leaning-chassis design with three wheels, as it explores a different type of motorcycling fun.

Yamaha isn’t saying too much about the model, though it does appear to be coming to the United States. What the tuning fork brand has relayed to us is that the Yamaha Niken will use 15″ wheels up front, with dual-tube upside down forks.

The Niken is long too, just a touch over 7 ft. long (2,150mm), while staying just under 3 ft. wide (885mm). Debuting today at the Tokyo Motor Show, we expect more details on the 2018 Yamaha Niken to emerge at the EICMA show in Milan, in two weeks’ time.

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Is Honda’s Neo-Sport Café a New Retro-Styled CB1000R?

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If we had to guess at a unifying theme for this year’s new bike launches, it would have to be “what is old is new again” as several brands are working on modern-engineered retro-styled motorcycles for the Tokyo and Milan expos.

Big Red is throwing its hat into the ring for this game as well, teasing what it calls the “Neo-Sport Café” on its YouTube channel. The videos center around Honda’s design and engineering team working on a new motorcycle, which will debut next month at the EICMA show in Milan.

In the teaser videos, we see a retro-looking motorcycle, with modern flares, such as an LED headlight, single-sided swingarm, and bazooka shaped exhaust can.

And then of course, there is the name” Neo-Sport Café and Honda’s description that it is true to “the spirt of the café racer.

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News

Classified Moto Announces RESTRICTED Series

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Want a better reality TV option than the Discovery Channel’s reboot of American Chopper?

How about something that follows the in-shop antics of a group of people who are actually talented at making custom motorcycles? How about a show that follows people who are funny and entertaining in normal life, and aren’t just TV’s base caricature of the lowest common denominator?

If that sounds like something that would appeal to you, then we think you will like a new RESTRICTED series from the folks at Classified Moto.

The show launches on November 8th on YouTube, and we are eager to see the antics and builds that it reveals.

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