Motorcycle News - The best of INTERMOT (and the Paris Motor Show)
https://ift.tt/2IGvQ0O
We’ve picked out four more important launches—plus a couple of leftfield machines that have just debuted at the Paris Motor Show. Let’s kick off with the one that created the biggest buzz: the new Suzuki Katana.
We reckon Suzuki has got its strategy right. This won’t be a class-leading hyperbike costing the earth, but a large-ish roadster sold at a mid-range price. Suzuki has wisely taken a leaf out of BMW Motorrad’s playbook. Just as the Germans repurposed an older Boxer engine for the hugely successful R nineT, the Katana engine can trace its roots back to the 2005-2008 GSX-R1000.
Key specs are 110kW (150PS), around 80 pound-feet of torque, a curb weight of 474 pounds (215 kilos), brakes by Fujico and Brembo, 17-inch wheels, LED lighting, an 825 mm (32.5 in) seat height and 3-mode traction control. There’s no word on pricing yet, but UK magazines are estimating it will be around £11,500—about a grand cheaper than the BMW R nineT. [More]
The ‘TT’ stands for Tutto Terreno—meaning ‘all terrain’—and the bike is a bridge between basic dual sports like the Kawasaki KLR650 and the techno juggernauts produced by BMW and KTM. The engine is new: an 850cc, air-cooled, transverse v-twin pumping out around 80 hp. But the styling takes cues from the old V65 and V75 Baja models, which ran in the Paris-Dakar.
We loved the multi-colored model shown in the original PR, and the steel blue/grey bike shown in this latest update looks good too. There’s no word on weight yet—a bit of a worry—but the steel tube frame (using the engine as a stressed member) is slender. Personally, I’ve always been immune to the charms of most ADV bikes, but this is one that could sway me. [More]
The two ride modes available on 1200 Triumphs—Road and Rain—have finally filtered down to the Street Twin, and there’s an updated dash. You also get new aluminum multi-spoke wheels and higher-spec cartridge forks, plus four-piston Brembo calipers for the front brakes.
This should keep the baby Bonneville at the top of the sales charts, with the Street Scrambler not too far behind—it’s getting a similar raft of changes too. [More]
Mahindra already owns the BSA and Jawa brands, and has just signalled Peugeot’s return to the motorcycle market after an absence of 70 years.
The two Peugeots are potential competitors to the smaller KTM Dukes, the BMW G310R, and the Honda CB300R. They’re aimed at the booming sub-400 cc European market, are slated to go on sale in 2020, and we reckon they’ll sell like gâteaux chauds.
With a new owner on board, production of the VR6 has restarted, and a new ‘Raw’ variant debuted at INTERMOT. Every component is finished in a shade of black, apart from the new (and super-bright) 7-inch LED instrument display.
That helps keep the weight of the self-styled ‘power cruiser’ down to 220 kg (485 pounds), but pushes the price up to a heady 35,500 EUR ($40,900). [More]
There are several good electric bikes on sale these days, so why is CAKE so significant? The striking design is a big part of it, because the Scandinavians have ditched the standard visual cues that most other electric makers adhere to. The specs are pretty impressive too: weight is a mere 69 kg (152 pounds) but power is 15 kW—equal to 20 hp. Couple that to gearing which maxes out at 75 kph (46 mph) and you are guaranteed rapid acceleration.
The CAKE goes on sale in February for 13,000 EUR or $13,000, and there’s free shipping worldwide. Is this the tipping point for light electric offroaders? We’d like to think so. [More] Motorcycles via Bike EXIF http://www.bikeexif.com October 6, 2018 at 12:05PM Leave a Reply. |
Categories
All
Archives
November 2020
|
10/6/2018
0 Comments