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Motorcycle News


16 Years and Counting Get ready for an adventure. KTM set the dates for its U.S. Adventure Rider Rally and the Canadian rally. The motorcycle company has hosted this event for 15 years, and it does so at various locations around the world. The 2019 rally will take place in Breckenridge, Colorado. If you don’t have …

Another Player to the EV Market Add Druid Motorcycles to the list of companies that make electric bikes. Well, Druid makes an electric bike and a hybrid one. Other than some seriously obnoxious branding and the fact that the company is way too proud of its name, I’m pretty pumped about these bikes. There are …

Test Aprilia Motorcycles On the Track Get ready for some fun. Aprilia is now offering what it’s calling Aprilia Racer Days. Basically, it’s seven track-day events where enthusiasts can come out and ride the latest Aprilia bikes in the environment they were built for. Aprilia says it wants to offer an experience with no stop …

Get Ready for Harley’s Next Efforts Harley-Davidson needs to innovate to change its fortune. Currently, the motorcycle manufacturer isn’t doing so hot. It hopes that new bikes will entice a whole new group of buyers. Recently, filings with the European Union Intellectual Property Office showed details about three of the company’s upcoming bikes.  The Streetfighter, Custom 1250, …

Just Flip It Around In a recent patent filing, Suzuki decided it would take the standard motorcycle engine placement and flip it on end. The company filed a patent for a bike with an engine that’s essentially flipped around with the cylinder heads of what appears to be a single-cylinder engine positioned almost horizontally and …

The Smart Helmet Confirmed At the last CES, NS West and Shoei teamed up to bring a unique smart helmet with a head-up display (HUD) called the IT-HT. Shoei just confirmed it. Japan Today reported that the helmet manufacturer will produce the IT-HT and begin selling it in Spring of 2020.  Shoei is well-known in …

Alpinestars Isn’t Backing Down We reported that the court ruling that Alpinestars infringed on Daixnese’s patent for its D-Air gear recently. That court ruling states that Alpinestars can’t continue to sell its Air-Tech gear in Germany and has to compensate Dainese for the infringement and recall all the gear it sold there that infringes on …

It’s a Bit More Upright If you were worried that the Lightning Motorcycles Strike was going to have the same super-hunched riding position that the superbike has, then you can breathe easy. It will have a more upright riding position than the company’s LS-218. This is good news. While the LS-218’s riding position is right for …

Some Proper Racing Tires for Your Small Bike We’re not the only one noticing a major shift in the motorcycle industry towards smaller bikes. Pirelli will add some new sizes for its Diablo Superbike tire lineup so that entry-level sized sportbikes can have some legit racing slicks to add to their bike.  According to a …

Pedals and Electric Power Mopeds were popular machines in the 1970s and 80s, but over time the bicycle/motorcycle bike fell out of style. Now, they’re quite uncommon. You see either scooters or motorcycles, but the pedal moped is a rarity on the road. That may change in the future thanks to ONYX Motorbikes. ONYX Motorbikes …

The Return of the Daytona The 765 engine first appeared on Triumph’s Street Triple, and now it looks like a new Daytona will get that engine as well. The motorcycle spies over at Motorcycle News spotted the new bike riding around. The images of the return of the Daytona with that new engine were shot in …

A Good-Looking Line of Lids NEXX Helmets has a good lineup of helmets for 2019 that will appeal to riders of all sorts from touring riders to racers. The collection is mostly full-face lids with one modular design. In a press release, the company said all of its helmets are pursuing the “wow” factor, whatever that …

The Claim Was More Than Just Hot Air According to a Dainese press release, a Munich Court of Appeals came to the conclusion after a long judicial battle that Alpinestar’s Tech-Air Street airbag Vest designed for road use and Tech-Air Racing airbag Vest designed for track use both infringe on the European patent EP 2 412 257 B1 issued …

It Looks Like a Robot and Acts Like One, Too Yamaha won an iF Design Award 2019 for its concept motorcycle called the MOTOROiD. The iF Design Awards are awarded to excellent designs selected by top designers in the industry. The MOTOROiD’s blend of unique technology, innovative ideas, and superb execution is what qualified it for …

Get Ready to Ride Orange KTM announced its new schedule for its Ride Orange Street Demo program on its website. The event schedule shows the places and times that the demos will take place. The street demos will begin in Murrieta, CA, and continue around the nation as 2019 moves forwards. KTM is holding the first …

Your Lid Can’t Protect You If It Doesn’t Stay On According to a new survey performed by the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL), around 25 percent of motorcyclists wear the wrong size helmet. The survey also revealed that around 20 percent of riders said their helmet almost came off in a crash. The video below shows how …

Bigger Could Be Better It seems that Honda may debut a bigger version of the Africa Twin for the 2020 model year. Various reports, including one from Bennets, suggest that Honda will beef up the Africa Twin. While Honda hasn’t officially said this is true, folks seem pretty confident it is. For the 2020 model year, the …

High-Speed Racer? Yes Please Do you know what your life is missing? An Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1100. Why? Because its 1100cc engine can make 217 HP at a screaming 13,200 rpm. That’s really all you need to know about it. That should be enough to get you to want to buy one, though there are many, …

Two Awesome Bikes One Difficult Choice KTM recently announced the release of the KTM 690 Enduro R and the 690 SMC R for the North American market this spring. The bikes add to the company’s already stellar lineup of road bikes. Both bikes are similar in many respects but offer some different equipment that sets …

Another Teaser Gives Allows for Performance Speculation Zero Motorcycles will give all the juicy details of its new SR/F model come February 25, but the company keeps the teasers coming in the meantime. The most recent teaser is the video below. It’s a series of close up shots of the bike that gives you a …

It’s Ready to Race According to a new report on Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme’s (FIM) website, the Bell Pro Star ECE is the first helmet from the manufacturer to pass the racing federation’s tests. FIM Helmet Standard FRHPhe-01 is supposed to be the toughest to pass. That means the Pro Star ECE is one of the safest helmets …

The MIC Takes a Look at Who’s Really Riding The Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) recently did a survey that looked at the demographics of motorcycle riders across the country. It showed interesting data that suggests the typical type of person who rides a motorcycle is undergoing a shift. MIC President and CEO Tim Buche said the …

Rumors Suggest It Is So Suzuki looks like it could soon be battling in the upper-middle-class adventure segment of the market. The bikemaker could revive the DR Big name with a bike based on the V-Strom 1000. According to DriveMag Riders, word on the street is that the model will come with 100 hp and be …

Get Your Pocketbook Ready The iconic motorcycle marque MV Agusta has some of the most amazing bikes ever to be built. At the Retromobile Show in Paris, France, one of the largest known collections of MV Agusta motorcycles will go up for auction on Saturday, February 9, 2019.  The collection of motorcycles was brought to …

Techy Updates Keep the Wing Current With Honda’s Gold Wing being so new, you wouldn’t expect many new updates coming in 2019 or for the 2020 model year, and you’d be right. However, according to a recent press release, Honda will issue updates to the Gold Wing’s onboard computer system that will help the models stay …

All the News Stories You Need to Know This is the roundup of news from the last couple of days ending today February 2, 2019. We had a ton of interesting motorcycle news over the last couple weeks and rather than round up every single one, we thought it smart to just pick the biggest …

A Naked Italian Stallion While Ducati hasn’t made any announcements about a production version of a naked Panigale V4, there’s a good chance it will build one and soon. When it does, let’s hope it looks this good. Officine GP Design built a unique naked version of the bike called the V4 Penta. It’s available for …

Another Funky Electric Motorcycle Electric motorcycle startup RMK showed off renderings of a future bike back in the summer of 2018. Now the company has a real-deal prototype that it will show off at the 2019 MP19 Motorcycle Show in Helsinki. The E2 prototype looks just as bonkers as the renderings, and the company listed some specs …

Need an Awesome Helmet? Arai Has You Covered Arai announced new graphics for three helmets and a new anti-fog shield that should be a helpful addition to the XD-4 helmet. The graphics provide a unique, new look for the VX-Pro4, Quantum-X, and Defiant-X lids. Each one is dramatically different from the other, giving riders plenty of options. …

Looking for an Expensive Adventure? You get what you pay for. KTM recently announced pricing for its 790 Adventure and 790 Adventure R. The bikes hit $12,499 for the 790 Adventure and $13,499 for the 790 Adventure R. That’s without a destination, dealer fees or any options. For a high-quality adventure bike, that’s a fair but …

Bigger Engine, More Adventure The Royal Enfield Himalayan currently comes with a 411cc single-cylinder air-cooled engine. While that’s sufficient for many riders around the world, rumor is Royal Enfield is thinking of a 650 Himalayan. According to MoreBikes, a 650cc variant could be right around the corner.  It makes sense, really. The one complaint I saw …

The Swedish Electric Invasion Begins Get ready for a shocking new bike from Swedish company Cake. Okay, it’s not really all that shocking, but it is a fully electric motorcycle. Cake announced a street legal motorcycle that it will sell in Europe and the U.S. The bike is based on the Kalk OR, which is …

The First Motorsport in the Olympics? Thanks to the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM) the 2024 Summer Olympics might include Trial-E as a sport. The 2024 Olympics will be held in Paris, France, and if successful, the FIM would have solidified the first motorsport officially recognized in the Olympics, according to Motorcycle.com. The publication reported that Jacques Bolle, FIM …

Flip It, But Why? Most motorcycles try to get the weight low so it’s easy to manage, but the Italian motorcycle company Nembo says mass centralization is more important than getting that weight low. According to the company, by flipping the engine upside down, it can package most the weight closer together. This unique idea …

The Kind of Response Every Motorcycle Company Wants Jawa recently released two new models. The one-time Czech company, now owned by Classic Legends Private Limited, a subsidiary of Mahindra and Mahindra, seems to have struck motorcycle gold. Its two new models sold out until November without the company even rolling one motorcycle off the assembly line.  The …

Hard Knock Life for Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson’s earnings per share dried up due to the tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump. According to Bloomberg, the earnings per share were zero. Before factoring in tariff and restructuring costs, the company managed 17 cents per share in profits, which came in below analyst estimates of 29 cents. In …

A Different Kind of Ducati I used to think Ducati and mountain bikes didn’t go together, but like many other times in my life, I’ve been proven wrong. Apparently, you can buy a Ducati electric mountain bike. The company calls its new pedal and battery-powered bike the MIG-RR E-mtb. You can buy it for a …

Back From the Dead? If you don’t recognize the name Meguro, don’t worry. It hasn’t really been a thing since the 1960s. It was a motorcycle gearbox company in the 1950s, then a motorcycle company, and then Kawasaki acquired the company and continued to use the name for a bit on a bike. Eventually, the Meguro …

Harley Looking Ahead Harley-Davidson made a big effort towards the future with its new LiveWire. However, that bike hasn’t been very well received. Most people aren’t impressed with the range or price. Basically, $30k is a lot to ask for a motorcycle that only goes about 100 miles per charge. Harley showed off two other …

A Scrapyard Full of Treasures After Rick Jensen passed away, one of the best collections of Indian motorcycles and memorabilia was found at his business, RJ&C Metal Fabricators in Phoenix, AZ. Jensen locked the collection in a shed behind some other much less interesting and valuable items. The collection included 15 motorcycles, several bicycles from the …