8 Thrilling Motorcycle Rumors
There are lots of exciting new motorcycles rumored for release later this year, and so here are my 8 picks of the best.
350 ADV
First up, from Honda, we’ve got this somewhat familiar-looking 350 single-cylinder mini adventure bike that’s being copyrighted with these designs, and so we could expect it to hit the market sometime in the next year or two.
It looks to be based upon their 348 cc air-cooled single cylinder, which currently powers their CB 350 and CB 350 RS.
Now, these bikes aren’t currently available in the UK as they’re specifically produced for the Asian markets, but it has to be said, they’re really quite nice-looking little retros.
But it seems like Honda have been inspired by the success of the Royal Enfield Himalayan, with these designs showing the same engine put to use in a form factor that looks extremely similar.
In fact, we talked about this one on the podcast recently, and it’s perhaps a bit surprising that Honda would be so brazen about it with some of the shapes and styling looking almost like a like for like copy.
But the thing is, to be fair to them, the Himalayan is a huge seller, and you could say a bit of a cult bike.
So it really does make business sense to try and produce something somewhat similar.
Now, those other 350 bikes that Honda already make aren’t particularly performance-orientated, with about 20 horsepower peak and tipping the scales at around 180 kilograms.
But look, that would put a bike like this right in in Inline with the air-cooled 411 Himalayan, which really are about simplicity and robustness more than face-melting acceleration.
Classic 650
Meanwhile, over at Enfield, it looks like a classic version of their 650 Parallel Twin could be on the way with a test bike having been spotted out on the road in recent weeks.
At the moment, there’s already a classic 350 in the lineup, and what you get with a classic is a little more chrome and historical influence in the design, and so I’d expect very much the same here.
Now, currently, we’ve got the Interceptor 650, which is a good all-rounder retro bike, the Continental GT Cafe Racer, the SuperMetea Cruiser, and most recently, the Shotgun 650, which is a little more custom style.
So you can see there is room in the lineup for something a bit more additional look in, and the 650 engine would offer more than twice as much power as the 350 Classic at 47 horsepower.
And so for me, that would make it a much more tempting proposition. Now, Enfield openly admitted they’re planning lots of new bikes over the next few years.
And so this one looks pretty much nailed on, as well as a rumored scrambler version of the 650, which I also think looks pretty tasty.
In fact, this approach of rolling out several versions of a specific engine or platform is super common as it allows manufacturers to cover several genres of bike without having to invest too heavily in R&D.
Scram 450
And so it should come as no surprise that they’re looking to do the same with the new Liquid Cooled single that powers the Himalayan 450 that was announced last year.
Both a scrambler version and a roaster version have been spotted out testing.
And although we’re yet to ride the new 450 Himalayan, on paper, it really does look pretty good with much more power than the air-cooled equivalent, as well as a big advancement in tech with a neatly designed TFT display.
Now, the Himalayan is firmly adventure and off-road focused with that big 21-inch front wheel and relatively tall stance.
And so what I think these bikes would allow them to do is go toe to toe with the Triumph Scrambler 400X in the Scrambler market and the Triumph Speed 400 in the Roadster market, both of which have been super popular since they were announced at the back-end of last year.
Thing is, though, it looks like they won’t have it all their own way much longer.
And then feel produce some of the best bikes in this capacity range and styling genre, as well as being generally super competitive on price. And so these are certainly ones to watch.
Retro 457
Now, also looking to get involved in this market, it looks as though Motogutsi are working on a smaller capacity retro, with this test bike being spotted a few times out on the road.
It’s unmistakably a Motogutsi, given the shape of the tail lights and the fuel tank.
But actually, the engine appears to come from their sister company, Aprilia, with the covers and contours being pretty much exactly the same as the parallel twin that powers their RS457 sports bike.
In fact, a lot of the chassis looks pretty similar to that bike, too, but they’ve just adapted it with their typical moto gutsy styling.
And so while I wouldn’t expect it to feel particularly authentically retro in terms of the riding experience, it should be a fun bike to ride.
And also a parallel twin with a 270-degree crank should offer a bit of a point of differentiation in a market that’s largely made up of singles.
Stornello
Now, in addition to that bike, it also appears that Motogutsi are potentially bringing back some scrambler into their lineup with an application to review their copyright in the US of their Stornello name.
This was most recently put to use on the 2016 V7 Stornello Srambler, which it has to be said, is a fantastic looking bike, and so I’d very much hope that they’re going to bring something similar back to life.
I guess the other possibility is that they could use it on a more rugged version of the 457 that we were just looking at.
But either way, this one looks very lightly, as although a lot of manufacturers renew their copyrights periodically just to hang on to their names for potential later use, cyclewell report that the US Patent and Trademark Office generally have stricter requirements around having to actually use the name on a product.
And so hopefully this one will be in dealers in the not too distant future.
Extra 400s
Now, we just mentioned the Triumph 400s, which, like I said, have been super popular.
it looks like they’re due to roll out even more variations on this format in partnership with Indian manufacturer, Bajaj.
Now, they’re responsible for making all the 400 bikes so far. And their MD, Rajeev Bajaj, recently came out with the following.
I stand by the statement that you refer to that every year there should be at least one, not just one, new distinct new Triumph motorcycle centered around the 400 cc displacement engine.
And for sure, it will be there. We expect a new motorcycle this year, and indeed, for the next three years at least, there are several products in development right now.
Now, a half-fed, cafe racer-style bike has been spotted out testing, so perhaps a baby Thruxton on the way, but it would also make total sense if Triumph wanted to get on that Himalayan-style game with maybe a Mini Tiger.
In fact, there are quite a few bikes rumored from Triumph this year, so we’ll rattle through them now.
Tiger Sport
And one is the Tiger Sports 660, which was launched a year or two back, but has already been spotted out testing with a few new components.
You see, they recently launched the Dayton 660, which is a sports bike interpretation of the platform, and it came with a few key upgrades, including radially mounted break calipers and a boost in peak power.
This updated Tiger Sports 660 appears to have the same upgraded brakes, and so that had me wondering whether they’re planning a mid-cycle update that brings in some of these features, hopefully with the increased power as well to the Tiger Sports 660.
And that in itself begs the question, will they also be rolled out as a mid-cycle update to the Trident 660 naked?
Both the Tiger Sport and Trident are already fantastic bikes to ride, but better brakes and a bit more punch is always going to be a welcome addition.
Tiger Rally 660
Now, on top of that, Triumph also expected at some point to release a more off-road and adventure-based version of their 660 bikes, with Tiger Rally 660 being the name that’s been floated most frequently so far.
And it would be no huge surprise with many mainstream manufacturers having adventure versions of their middleweight bikes, like the hugely successful Yamaha Tenerate 700, the Suzuki V-Strom 800 DE, the Honda Transalp XL 750, and the Aprilia Tuareg 660.
You see, currently, the smallest capacity, most affordable off-road biased adventure bike that they offer is the Tiger 900 Rally Pro at £14,500.