2015 Yamaha YZF-R1
17 years since its inception and first public appearance in Milan, Yamaha released the all-new R1 in the same city. It was the opposite end of the spectrum from Ducati’s theatre launch. Yamaha chose a warehouse, albeit a Gucci one to debut the 2015 range. After sifting through the supporting acts, it was the […]
Milan special: 2015 Aprilia RSV4 RR/RF
Fresh from clinching the World Superbike championship with Sylvain Guintoli and his RSV4, Aprilia unleashed a heavily revised road-going model in Milan – or, rather, two new RSV4s. The RR, for me, was the bike of the show: resplendent on the stand in its new guise, and packing some serious gizmos. It’s amazing what a […]
Milan special: Ducati 1299 Panigale
Just after landing in Milan’s Linate airport, we jumped straight into a taxi and fled to Ducati’s exquisite 2015 model launch, held at a theatre in central Milano. Claudio Domenicali, Ducati CEO, hosted the launch that was streamed live to millions worldwide. There was banging dubstep, some beautiful, scantily-clad lady dancers, some GP superstars past […]
Milan special: Kawasaki H2
Straight after Honda’s shindig, it was Kawasaki’s crack at releasing some more wiz-bang for public consumption. The ‘track-only’ H2R and its supercharged howitzer was unveiled at Cologne last month and the target power output was 300bhp. Kawasaki, apparently, has exceeded those expectations with 306bhp – its slogan, ‘Built Beyond Belief’ isn’t too far fetched. Superchargers […]
