The New Year brings resolutions, hopes, dreams, happiness and sadness – and new motorcycles! And 2016 will be no different. This year we’ll again be seeing a deluge of new models coming from Europe and Japan, and we’ve distilled them down to our favorite five that we’ll be testing and bringing to you at cyclenews.com and in our digital magazine.
So without further ado…
Ducati XDiavel
Has there ever been a sexier powercruiser?! Ducati knocked it so far out of the park with the new XDiavel, which will stand alongside the standard Diavel (and probably outshine it substantially) next year. 1262cc of desmodromic, Ducati Valve Timing (DVT) Italian style and speed, the XDiavel is as much a visual statement as a performance one. The engine is the visual centerpiece in the XDiavel – there’s no visible water hoses anywhere – and the slash-cut exhaust mufflers, agrresive wheel design and beautiful chassis gives the XDiavel a seriously rocking style.
It’s going to a one pimping ride, oh yes…
Kawasaki ZX-10R
This is one we’ve been waiting five years for. The 2016 Kawasaki ZX-10R will be graced with an all-new engine with top to bottom changes including a new crank, pistons, rods, valves, cams and cylinder head, plus there’s the completely revised chassis that includes Showa’s WorldSBK-derived Balance Free Fork features an external damping valve chamber, just like the Öhlins TTX/FGR range. And there’s enough electronic firepower to bring it right up to the tech giants like Yamaha’s YZF-R1 and the Ducati 1299 Panigale with traction and launch control and the Bosch IMU with cornering ABS.
Will Kawasaki bring its game to the superbike table next year? We’re riding it late January in Malaysia so stay tuned…
KTM 1290 Super Duke Grand Touring
We love our 1290 Super Duke R. Love it, love it, love it. It does everything a big streetbike should – it’s fast, handles beautifully and looks mean as hell – but KTM thinks it needs a brother, so they’ve thrown some bags on it and called it a GT. The Super Duke Grand Touring also gets a 28 percent larger gas tank, all the electronics of the standard Super Duke with the addition of Hill Hold Control (stops the bike rolling back on a hill before you take off), and wild orange and silver graphics. The Grand Touring will complete the 1301cc V-twin circle that also includes the Super Adventure, and we can’t wait to throw a leg over this bad boy and head for the hills with no particular place to go.
Triumph Thruxton R
Modern retro. That’s an oxymoron if ever we’ve head one. But if anyone can pull it of, it’s Triumph with the beautiful Thruxton R. This British bruiser will be loaded with a massive 1200cc parallel-twin with 62 percent more torque than the old 865cc model; there’s gorgeous gold Showa forks, Brembo monobloc brakes and twin Öhlins shocks, but the main talking point with the Thruxton R is just how well Triumph has retained their old school looks while making this machine a model for the future.
Triumph has also manufactured a massive array of aftermarket accessories for the Thruxton R to make customizing easier. This was an initiative taken at the very early stages of prototyping with the Thruxton R, and will surely house the marque and model in good stead for years to come.
Café racing may never be more fun!
Husqvarna 701 Supermoto
“Oh lord! Have mercy on this poor fool’s license, for this man is weak, he has seen the dark side, and this lurid machine has stolen his soul in exchange for abundant wheelies and back-it-in slides!”
We can just hear it now.
Yep. If ever there was a bike that Cycle News frothed over, it’s the Husqvarna 701 Supermoto. No one needs a 690cc single-cylinder dirt bike with road wheels on it. But Husqvarna thinks you do, so you should thank whatever god you pray to that they’ve built it! This is going to be one maniac of a machine, and hopefully it’ll encourage other manufacturers to build something equally as insane and awesome in sheer brutal retaliation. Husqvarna can’t be alone in the crazy stakes…
And on the seventh day, he went sliding!
Honda Africa Twin
We couldn’t leave this one off the list! The Africa Twin promises to be one of the hottest machines ever to come from Honda and is absolutely suited to the rigors of American off-roading. This is a real adventure bike in the truest sense of the expression. It’ll go OK on the road, but the dirt is where its heart lies – and that’s something we love. The DCT (Dual Clutch Transmission) version (pictured) of the 998cc parallel-twin promises to warp many people’s perception of what an essentially automatic motorcycle can really do, and with less weight than the competition (despite a one of the smallest engines in the big bore ADV class), there is no doubt the Honda Africa Twin will be the bike to watch in 2016.
Six Motorcycles We"re Busting To Ride in 2016
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