Monday 10th October 2016

Intermot 2016 - the PH2 follow up!

PH2 mops up after the Cologne bike show, not least after someone spilled something they shouldn't have...

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We covered the main press days at Cologne's Intermot show last week but, as it turned out, there were more PH2-worthy stories to come. And not all of them were meant to be public...

First up, Norton. The firm may not have been represented in Cologne, but that didn't stop it stealing a few post-Cologne headlines with a video teaser of a new V4 road bike. Details are thin on the ground, but it is believed to be powered by a 1,200cc V4, designed and built by Norton and not just a re-badged Aprilia motor. That said, it will use much of the data gained from the firm's TT bike, which was powered by an Aprilia housed in a Norton chassis. The bike will be officially launched at this year's NEC show on November 19. PH2 will bring you more details as and when they appear.

Back at Cologne Kawasaki had hinted at two new Z-models due to be shown in Milan next month. Sadly not everyone got this memo and the Z900 and Z650 were leaked into the public domain, forcing Kawasaki to issue official images. So here they are.

The new Z650 is, as the name suggests, essentially a naked version of the new Ninja 650 and basically takes over from the ER-6n in Kawasaki's range. The Z650 uses the same parallel-twin motor as the Ninja, as well as the same tubular steel chassis, and will almost certainly produce the same power and torque, not that Kawasaki has actually released these figures yet for either bike. The faired bike tips the scales at 193kg with ABS, so expect the naked one to be in the high-180kg area.

The Z900 is a bit more exciting and, instead of a big-bored Z800 motor, it actually uses a sleeved down Z1000 engine, which is considerably more sprightly. Again, details are thin on the ground but we are looking at 948cc in-line four with 125hp, housed in a trellis chassis to keep costs down but still featuring inverted forks.

Over on Yamaha's stand and the new YZF-R6 was teased with another video of an in-line four screaming its head off. According to the video the bike will officially be unveiled later this week. And that wasn't the only video shown in Cologne...

Triumph has just released a video called Brutal Beauty with a launch date of October 19. What could this be? The bike in the video has fork gaiters, low footpegs and a slash-cut exhaust that is also set very low. This hints at the bobber-style machine spotted testing with a 1,200cc Bonneville/Thruxton engine and chassis; if you look at the spy images that have been circulating, it all looks very familiar. But which version of the engine? The Bonnie's high torque or the Thruxton's high power version? We know which one we want, but all will be revealed later this month.

[anonymous-user]

Norton. Take my money I want one.

[Dakkon]

I will reserve judgement until I see one in the flesh.

[Marwood79]

That Norton my word. (Where could I affix L-plates?)

[sandysinclair]

I would forget about the Norton v4, he has been talking about this since 2009/2010. Utter and total waste of time. Maybe he should sort out his customers warranty claims in Germany and Switzerland first before messing about with a v4. Twice as many parts to go wrong on that .

[donteatpeople]

Boo hoo, it's taken a while for a start up company to develop an all new bike. I'd give them at least until the NEC bike show before declaring it a waste of time (date referenced in the teaser vid).

[marpjckmen]

yahaaa. thanks for letting me know more interesting things

[Richyboy]

With the difficulty of getting a licence these days I'm glad manufacturers keep on bringing new bikes out. If I had a huge garage I'd have a bike from every brand.