Rumors and New Releases

To celebrate its newfound grit in 2015 Supersport (the support series in the FIM Superbike World Championship), MV Agusta has developed the new limited-edition F4 Reparto Corse. Only 250 of these hand-assembled F4 RCs will be built. MV Agusta says they weigh 15 lb. less than the F4 RR. Besides carrying the paint scheme from Leon Camier’s racer, the production F4 RC boasts lots of high-tech components. The 4-cylinder engine, which produces a claimed 212 horsepower at 13,600 rpm, is equipped...

Take an RC390 and drop the displacement to 250CC, change the gear ratios and lower the price. Enter the RC250. Now, do the same thing to the Duke 390 and you have the Duke 250. Designed with the European, Japanese and Indian markets in mind these bikes could be a huge seller in other markets...  but we may not see them there. We also probably won’t see these beauties in the US of A either, but we aren't sure just yet. Introduced at the Tokyo Motor Show [correction: the Tokyo Motorcycle...

Legends and Heroes Tour Press Release: AMA Hall of Famer Jeff Emig will be honored by the Legends And Heroes tour at his “hometown” Supercross race in St. Louis this Saturday. A multi-time champion on the bike, Emig has settled into life after racing as the color commentator for the sport of Supercross, making this weekend’s honors doubly deserved! During the 1990s, Jeff Emig became one of the top personalities on the AMA Motocross and Supercross scene. Always a trendsetter, Emig helped...

There are cars and there are motorcycles, and the differences between them are pretty clear: you sit in a car with four wheels and a steering wheel, but you sit on a motorcycle with two wheels and handlebars. Those lines, however, are being blurred by a new category of "autocycles," and the government is going to need new regulations in order to determine where they fit in.   That is, at least, the substance of the bill being proposed by Senator David Vitter. The ranking member on the...

Pandya, Indian’s PR rep, keeps coming up with ideas to save this preproduction machine from the inevitable crusher, and he most recently converted Elnora into a land-speed machine that shot across the El Mirage dry lake in Southern California at 130.227 mph. Although that’s not an SCTA class record, it’s the fastest a Spirit Lake Indian has ever been ridden. In this transformation to land-speed machine, Pandya switched Elnora back to stock fenders, but he cut off the back half of the front...

1-    Is the new Caponord 1200 Rally the adventure version of Aprilia’s upright sport-tourer? It is. And there’s much new equipment to underscore the point. Standard features on this newest Caponord include spoked wheels (19-x-3-inch front, 17-x-4.5 rear), large 33-liter panniers, tubular side guards, an engine guard, auxiliary LED lighting, and a larger manually adjustable windscreen. 2-    Not so easy to see is the altered front-end geometry. Thanks to altered offset on the triple clamps...

Bike Nite in the Daylite, now in its sixth year, returns again to Daytona Bike Week for 2015. The event will be held from 11:00am – 4:00pm, and show entrants have the opportunity to win prizes from a number of event sponsors. Kawasaki owners and enthusiasts are invited to hang out in the Kawasaki display area at Daytona International Speedway.   You can enter your own Kawasaki motorcycle into the bike show or enjoy event activities including charity raffles, and complimentary beverages...

A new trademark application for a “Royal Enfield Himalayan” popped up on the European Union’s Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market today, suggesting a new model from the Indian manufacturer. As is the case with most trademark filings, few specific details are available, but with a name like “Himalayan,” it’d be difficult to envision anything but an adventure bike. Indian site Bikeportal.in initially posted a report in October that Royal Enfield was working an adventure-tourer,...

The Kawasaki Concours 14 is a world-class sport-tourer, while the track-focused ZX-10R wears the world superbike crown. Filling a middle ground between these mission-specific models, the Ninja 1000 offers real-world sporting prowess and excellent light sport-touring capability. After 10 months piling miles on our green machine, we have a saddle-savvy appreciation for its superb reliability and versatility. We determined early on that the fuel-injected inline-four possesses superb fueling...

Malcom Smith Racing Press Release: The legacy lives on! Named after legendary off-road racer, Malcolm Smith, MSR is proud to announce the signing of the next generation of off-road riding legends as KTM Red Bull International off-road rider Jonny Walker joins the brand for the next two years. The blend seems perfect as Jonny Walker shot out of the gates to take the Superpole and Prestige class wins in his MSR gear debut at the SuperEnduro in Germany this weekend. “Today marks a journey and...