#Honda

Motorcycle blogs across the internet are buzzing about a recently-filed design patent for what looks to be a new Honda Monkey bike powered by the Grom‘s 125cc engine. Though we would love to be wrong on this, we’re not as bullish on this patent resulting in a production model. Here’s why.

If Motorland Aragon were located roughly 50 miles west of its current location, it would sit in the exact middle of nowhere. In 2010, the dusty outlier was to be a temporary emergency replacement for the ill-fated Hungarian GP track at Balatonring, which never got finished. It has since become a fixture on the calendar, dreaded by journalists, a fourth Spanish round seeming to be exactly what the sport, with its international ambitions, doesn’t need, what with so many countries and venues banging on the door to get in. Nonetheless, here we, or they, actually, are.

The most important thing about the upgrades Honda gave its NC700X for 2016 is that it provided me the excuse to borrow one in order to evaluate them. And you can’t really ascertain whether a bigger windscreen, sharp new bodywork and muffler, and a bigger storage compartment are really what they’re purported to be without some long-term testing, can you? (Unfortunately, we can’t speak to the improvements in the Dual Clutch Transmission since we got the 6-speed manual; maybe we need to borrow a DCT when this one goes back for purely scientific purposes?)

Honda released a video teasing a new sportbike which we expect to be the 2017 CBR1000RR recently spotted by spy photographer.

Former World Champion Nicky Hayden is returning to MotoGP for at least one more race, riding for the injured Jack Miller for the Team Estrella Galicia Marc VDS team at this weekend’s race at Aragon. Hayden last raced in MotoGP last season before moving over to the Ten Kate  Honda World Superbike team this year. His return, at least for the upcoming round, returns a much-missed American presence to the MotoGP grid.

It’s been a rather diverse week as far as content is concerned at Motorcycle.com this week. Sportbikes, cruisers, adventure bikes, and even adventure scooters were published on these virtual pages over the past seven days. All of those bikes are great for letting its rider escape the pressure and stress the everyday world can bring. Instead of escaping the everyday however, today’s Church feature is going to look at a machine that allows you to take on the everyday with a bit more ease and comfort: the 2002 Honda Reflex 250 scooter. A great everyday runabout, the 250cc scoot came with plenty of space and comfortable ergos to keep you fresh on the way to work. Here’s the 2001 MO staff with their take on the Honda. 

Honda’s CBR1000RR/Fireblade has stood patiently by the wayside all these years while its contemporaries in the fiercely competitive liter-class sportbike category have bulked themselves up, delivering levels of performance and technology not seen anywhere but the MotoGP and World Superbike paddocks.

Helen Musselman would never believe in her wildest dreams that Musselman’s Honda, one of the first Honda dealers in America in 1959, would still be around today. But the commitment she and her husband have to the brand – and the brand to them – is one of the reasons Musselman’s Honda is still going strong in its original Tucson, Arizona location.

After teasing us with a couple of videos, Honda announced its adventure-styled scooter will enter production bearing the name “X-ADV” ( which we were the first to report). The X-ADV was first previewed by the City Adventure concep t at last year’s EICMA show so it’s no surprise that the production model will make its debut at this year’s show in Milan.

It was all the way back in 2008 when the CBR1000RR got its last full overhaul, but new photographs from the Grobnik racetrack in Croatia reveal a heavily revised CBR apparently ready to launch at this fall’s motorcycle shows.

The picturesque Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli welcomes the 2016 round at a critical point in the season. Repsol Honda phenom Marc Marquez sits on the cusp of clinching his third premier class title, with the Movistar Yamahas of Vale Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo in desperate pursuit. Four non-Aliens have won the last four rounds. Parity has set in. The Suzuki, factory Ducati and LCR Honda teams are legit. The Aliens finally have company – the premier class is no longer just their sandbox.

A red flag on Lap 1 lead to a 19-lap race on Sunday in the British midlands. For the first time since 2007, a Suzuki won a premier class race, Maverick Vinales ending his day standing on the top step of the podium. He was joined there by Cal Crutchlow, who kept another streak alive, and a desperate Valentino Rossi, who fought Marc Marquez tooth and nail for the final podium spot. Despite this, Marquez leaves Britain leading the season by 50 points, having gotten some angry juju out of his system.

Honda has released a new video teasing its upcoming adventure scooter. The new video is longer and offers a better look at the scooter, which we expect to be sold under the name “ X-ADV,” than the first teaser video released last month. The latest teaser shows the scooter tackling some off-road terrain on the island of Sardinia before heading into an urban area.

Kawasaki announced it is working on an artificial intelligence system that would allow a motorcycle to communicate with, and adapt to its rider. The AI would be able to converse with a rider and, using cloud computing and a motorcycle’s electronics, adapt the bike’s settings to the rider’s needs and skills.

With three wet/dry races in the last four rounds, MotoGP fans should be getting accustomed to strange results. Aussie Jack Miller came out of nowhere to win at Assen on his satellite Honda. Marc Marquez held serve at The Sachsenring, but was joined on the podium by Cal Crutchlow and Ducati pilot Andrea Dovizioso. Today, the abrasive #CalCulator won his first ever premier class race ahead of Yamaha icon Valentino Rossi and Marquez. Cosmic justice prevailed – the biggest day in modern British racing history had virtually no impact on the 2016 season series.