#Naked

KTM North America announced it is bringing the updated 390 Duke and 250 Duke to the U.S. and Canada, bolstering its naked lineup for these markets. Both Singles were announced in other markets over the summer, along with an updated 125 Duke, but it’s now official that the 390 and 250 will be coming to North America.

Stirring up a Hornets’ nest

We’re still wrapping our heads around Ninja 7 Hybrid, and now, Kawasaki has announced its second hybrid model, with a new Z version with the brand’s Sugomi naked styling.

Mere days after announcing an updated MT-09, Yamaha has revealed a revised MT-09 SP. The 2024 Yamaha MT-09 SP receives a number of upgrades in addition to the changes made to the regular model. This includes the 2024 MT-09’s new styling and the more aggressive ergonomics, which you can read more about in our First Look post, but also updated brakes and suspension.

Ten years ago, Yamaha revealed the MT-09, a naked motorcycle powered by its then-new 847cc CP3 three-cylinder engine. In the following decade, the MT-09 received several updates, including a larger 890cc Triple and, for North America, a rebranding from its original market-specific name of FZ-09. For 2024, Yamaha announced an updated MT-09, with a new tank, sportier ergonomics, and revised electronics.

In this time of loss, we (his friends, family, colleagues, and the motorcycle industry as a whole) have created a support fund to help with any pressing financial needs, as well as those unforeseen needs coming out of such a tragic situation. In addition, Karin has a dream of using any surplus funds to develop a more formal motorcycling initiative - in keeping with Evans’ lifelong passion of motorcycling and motorcycle safety, and honor his undeniable legacy.

Kawasaki Europe officially announced full specifications and details about its first electric motorcycles, the Ninja e-1 sportbike and the naked Z e-1. Both models are classified as 125cc-class motorcycles and will be available soon in European markets, but we expect they will be offered in other markets, including Australia, Japan, and America.

Bombardier Recreational Products provided a brief update on its upcoming Can-Am electric motorcycles, the Pulse roadster and Origin dual-sport. Both models are still undergoing testing while construction is underway for a new plant in Querétaro, Mexico, which will produce the electric bikes. Can-Am is aiming to launch Origin and Pulse "before the end of 2024", with final specs and pre-orders expected next summer. Until then, here are some fresh new photos of the prototypes.

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For the previous week, I’d anxiously checked the weather reports for updates. Sandwiched in between swaths of little sun icons were two little black clouds spewing raindrops. Naturally, those were the scheduled dates for the US press to ride the 2024 Triumph Street Triple 765 R and RS on the Andalusian backroads and the famed Circuito de Jerez Angel Nieto in southern Spain. 

It’s pretty simple. If I find a vintage Speed Triple story, I’m going to republish it. Now, 20 years later – 20 years! – we bring back to you MO’s First Ride aboard the 2002 Triumph Speed Triple. So many people have memories with this bike. A lot of them are good, but these early years of the Speed Triple also brought with it a few reliability problems. Let’s not focus too much on that for now and instead appreciate Triumph’s beloved three-cylinder naked bike that basically ushered in the category of naked sportbike.

Nothing succeeds like excess – and by concocting the 2023 M 1000 R (or “MR” as they’d like us to call it), BMW is doing its best to confirm the truth of that axiom in a two-wheeled context.

Allow me to say it before you do: this is cheating. I know. The Ducati Streetfighter V4 SP is bonkers. And while it technically meets our rules of being available for purchase by the time of posting, it also kinda doesn’t because each of these were spoken for within a week of its release. Sorry.

BMW announced minor updates to its R 1250 R, giving the Boxer-engined roadster a full LED headlight, and making some previously optional electronics standard, all while keeping the price unchanged at $14,995.

Did we really need the Ducati Streetfighter V4 to be even trickier and more refined than the one that won last year’s Open Nakeds Shootout with ease? The one that out-horsepowered even the mighty Kawasaki Z H2 – 177 rear-wheel horses to 163? Actually there was room for improvement, as the mighty V4 S finished third in the Track portion of that seven-bike slugfest. But hey, if it’s a track bike you want, maybe you should just go ahead and get the Panigale. Nay, the Streetfighter is the stripped-down street version, and as such we were all bowled over by not just its scintillating performance, but maybe even more by its unexpected boulevard civility. Like having your cake and riding it too.