WORDS: Mathieu Day-Gillett
PHOTOS: Supplied
COMING IN HOT
With the world’s largest motorcycle show now in our rearview, we put on our thinking
helmets to pull out the best of the bunch from EICMA 2018 - where the world’s motorcycle
manufacturers didn’t disappoint when it came to new metal for us to drool over.
APRILIA BMW
With no bike in the middleweight sports
segment, Aprilia threw the covers off this
baby – the RS660 concept. Yes, it's a concept
for now, but we've got our fingers crossed
it'll happen as Aprilia has said it'll be for the
European, US and Asian markets.
It's a parallel twin but based on the two
forward cylinders of the RSV4 and Tuono
1100 V4. More compact and less expensive
to manufacture than a v-twin, a parallel twin
is normally lighter too. With some clever
firing order spacing it could be made to feel
like a v-twin anyway, so here's hoping. The
figures quoted are 105hp and 160kg, which
has our attention. Headlining the massive BMW Motorrad
stand was the drastically revised S1000RR
superbike. While the bike originally
reinvigorated the Superbike class when it
debuted in 2010 as a full-scale production
model, one thing you could never call it
was pretty. Thankfully, for 2019, BMW
has dropped the controversial asymetric
styling that has been a cornerstone of the
BMW design ethos for years, and given
the S1000RR a fresh new look - and it's
gorgeous.
But that’s not the biggest improvement
to the BMW superbike, with the engine
following the same path as the new 1250cc
boxers which debuted earlier in the year
at Intermot. Yep, that means that the new
S1000RR has joined the variable valve timing
crowd. Look out Suzuki GSX-R1000.
RS660
16 KIWI RIDER
S1000RR