#preview

We were hoping to learn more about Triumph‘s new Speed Triple 1200 RR after the British brand dropped a teaser for the faired roadster last week. Instead, we’ve received teaser images for a different new Triumph model we’ve been anticipating: the Triumph Tiger Sport 660.

At long last, Aprilia has finally taken the wraps off the highly-anticipated RS660. The first model on a platform intended to be used for years to come, not unlike the RSV4, the RS660 clearly takes some cues from its superbike sibling. The thing is, in its presentation to the media recently, Aprilia representatives were quick to point out that, unlike the RSV4, the RS660 is not a track-focused weapon but rather a streetable sportbike. This is a motorcycle you can live with on track and on the street, says lead designer Miguel Galluzzi. 

Lightning Motorcycles has finally taken the wraps off its eagerly-awaited Strike, and if the specs – and the price – are anything to go off of, Lightning’s latest creation promises to be hugely impressive.

Fresh off his convincing win in Jerez, Repsol Honda mighty mite Dani Pedrosa has been reinstated in The Alien Club, looking relaxed, comfortable and fast on his RC213V. For the first time in five years, his name is coming up in conversations about who might take the 2017 title. Given his age, his panoply of surgical scars and generally lousy karma, I make him a longshot for the championship. But other than a few Americans with pathologically long memories, there are a number of fans who wouldn’t mind seeing Dani Pedrosa win a premier class title.

But soft! What shiny LED headlight through yonder video doth break? It is the Beast – the new 2017 KTM Super Duke R – and Juliet Brasfield is at EICMA to tell us all about the new stuff that makes our 2014 Motorcycle of the Year even more fair than he, including more power, updated suspension, and the welcome upgrade of color TFT instrumentation. 

Technically, the Kawasaki Z900 made its debut at Intermot, but information was still preliminary at the time, with the caveat that final details would be released at EICMA 2016. Well, EICMA 2016 has arrived and, as far as we can tell after reading Kawasaki’s press materials, the Z900 hasn’t changed since its debut in Germany – save for a seat height that’s changed by one whole millimeter.

To no one’s surprise, Triumph has developed a Scrambler version of its enviable Bonneville platform, unveiled today at EICMA in Italy. It uses the 900cc parallel-Twin motor as previously seen in the Street Twin, Street Cup and Bonneville T100, not the 1200cc motor from the Thruxton and T120.

While KTM’s updated 1290 Super Duke R and 790 Duke may be the talk of the Austrian town at EICMA 2016, the newly revised 2017 390 Duke also debuted in Milan and is shaping up to be the undisputed class king in the sub-400cc category. Right off the bat, the first notable change between new and old is the updated styling, with sharper, more angular lines providing a meaner, aggressive stance. Like the rest of the Duke line, the 390 also gets the split LED headlight with LED daytime running lights, while at the back the little Duke receives a new, bolt-on subframe colored in contrast to the main steel trellis frame for a striking appearance.

Today at EICMA 2016 Zero Motorcycles unveiled its 2017 lineup of electric motorcycles. Although the company didn’t announce any new models, per se, there are some spinoffs of existing models to better suit price points – a request from customers that Zero paid attention to. We’ll cover the model improvements and spinoffs in a moment, but first we’ll start with big news that affects the entire 2017 line.

Just announced at EICMA 2016 is this, the Aprilia Dorsoduro 900. For 2017, Aprilia’s maxi-motard will enter the new year packed with even more muscle thanks to a generous displacement bump of its V-Twin engine from 750cc to 900cc (well, 896cc to be exact). Aprilia’s goal was to provide the Dorso with a healthy increase in bottom-end and midrange power, doing so by taking the old 750cc engine and increasing the stroke from 56.4mm to 67.4mm while keeping the bore the same at 92mm.

Aprilia’s Shiver first hit the scene in 2007 as a 750cc middleweight naked, but it struggled to gain much attention in the marketplace. A decade on and Aprilia has finally seen it fit to give the Shiver some love, and it’s done so in the best way possible: giving it more power. Introducing the Aprilia Shiver 900, unveiled today at EICMA 2016.

Ducati, being a historic Italian brand, always saves up the reveals of its new bikes for the EICMA show in Milan, and this year is no different. We saw no less than six new models from the Borgo Panigale firm, including two new bikes from the Scrambler series; the Cafe Racer and Desert Sled, a smaller-sized Multistrada called the Multistrada 950, two new Monsters; the Monster 797 and Monster 1200S and the most exotic Ducati streetbike ever, the 1299 Superleggera with carbon fiber frame, subframe, swingarm and wheels.

At EICMA 2016, Yamaha unveiled the T7 concept; a prototype for a future adventure model we believe will slot beneath the Super Ténéré. Inspired by the XT600Z Ténéré, launched 33 years ago at the Paris Show, the T7 concept looks to draw on many of the attributes that helped Yamaha sell over 61,000 units of the XT600Z between 1984 and 1994 – mainly its simplicity and race-bred pedigree.

In stark contrast to the all-asphalt Scrambler Cafe Racer introduced by Ducati today at EICMA 2016, comes this, the Scrambler Desert Sled. Taking its roots from the Scrambler Urban Enduro – which is discontinued for model year 2017 – the Desert Sled is perfect for those who wish they were Malcolm Smith and rate On Any Sunday as their favorite movie of all time.

Just announced at EICMA 2016 is the 2017 Ducati Scrambler Cafe Racer, Bologna’s interpretation of the genre created by the British. Unlike the original Scrambler, the Cafe Racer is all about pavement pounding and racing from one coffee shop to the next, just as the Ton Up Boys would have done 50 years ago. With that in mind, the Cafe Racer ditches the 18-inch front wheel of its other Scrambler cousins and replaces it with a 17-inch hoop to match the rear. The Pirelli Scorpion tires are also tossed in favor of the road-oriented Diablo Rosso II – a 120/70-17 sits up front, and a 180/55-17 in the rear – for proper corner-carving abilities.