#spy

During the dark of night, these photos appeared in the MO inbox, and we’re trying to make sense of them. From the number of wires, cables, and data equipment visible, the shots appear to be of a Triumph Tiger in the very early stages of development, and from the details we can make out, we think it lies somewhere between the Tiger 800 and the Tiger 1200. Since Triumph appears to be targeting the Honda Africa Twin, we predict a displacement between 900cc and 1000cc, with the lower end being a bit more likely.

Few things give the MO staff collective chills like the sound of a V-4 engine at full song. When that V-4 is reputed to be emanating from the new Ducati V-4 as it rockets around the Misano circuit in Italy, then you’ve really got our attention. From the sound of this low-quality video showing little more than a black blob circulating through a familiar section of track, we surmise that this may be some early testing of the WSBK Ducati V-4. Clearly, no silencers are being run so the racy sound isn’t much of a surprise. Also, its gearbox seems to be extremely quick and well tuned. We’ve also noticed how much this bike sounds like a Ducati GP bike, but that shouldn’t really come as a surprise since Ducati said their new V-4 would be “derived from extensive experience in MotoGP.” So, we expect the family traits of the 90-degree vee angle and desmodromic valve actuation, both of which would contribute to the distinctive sound.

Milwaukee NBC affiliate, WTMJ-TV, may have just spoiled  Kawasaki‘s surprise for the 2018 model year by filming what appears to be a restyled Ninja 400. The previous generation 400, although not available in the U.S., was a downsized Ninja 650 and styled in the same vein with an under-engine exhaust. The higher-mounted muffler and swoopier bodywork seen here points to this being a stylistically revised model, though the narrowness of the bikes hints at the continued use of a parallel-Twin engine.

The mid-displacement sportbike category is hotting up, with recent introductions of Triumph’s all-new Street Triple and Yamaha’s updated FZ-09. And then there’s the 800cc Brutale from MV Agusta, too.

What we’re seeing here is a middleweight Ténéré based on the FZ-07 parallel-Twin engine. The obvious giveaway being the sexy little S-bend of the header pipes betraying its family origins, here shielded by an aluminum bash plate. Launching a mid-size ADV bike fills a hole in Yamaha’s current model lineup and should offer stout competition for the likes of Suzuki’s V-Strom 650XT, Triumph’s Tiger 800s and BMW’s F800GS.