Moto News: New Aprilia, New Z650RS, Super Four Comeback & Nortons Canned!

Welcome to a new episode of our weekly review of the latest Moto news. This time, we're going to take a look at the new Moto derived from the MotoGP d'Arilia. Norton has canceled its current range. Kawasaki has announced new colors for its retro and cruiser models. And there is a strong rumor that Honda could bring back the Super 4. Then, there are very interesting sales figures from India. BSA claims that the new Benton has been a huge success. Yamaha's friends have released this exciting special edition. Honda continues to teaser its new naked electric motorcycle. Stark explains how it will beat the road bikes with gasoline. She could get a big investment. And we'll end up leaning on a car. But let's start with the new limited and spectacular edition of the RSV4 XGP d'Arilia, which is the fifth X model they have launched. And the general idea is to offer a slice of performance and MotoGP technology to the general public, although at an exorbitant price. This latest version, they say, is a aerodynamic marvel with a large part of the body borrowed from their current Moto MotoGP, and you will see all kinds of appendages hanging from it. However, I would say that it is a rather pretty thing, and that it should also be quite fast. It develops an incredible power of 238 horsepower and weighs only 165 kg. Now, as you can imagine, the wheelbase is absolutely high-end. You have forged magnesium-coated Marassini wheels wrapped in Slick Spirelli tires. The best calipers and Brembo GP4 Mega Siemens on 330mm T-brake discs and calipers contribute to the suspension with a pressurized FKR fork and a TTX Piggyback shock absorber. So, a very clever machine, but we absolutely hope so because the price is 90,000 pounds, which is equivalent to about 78,000 pounds plus VAT. Only 30 of them will be made in the world. So, if you hope to buy one, you'd better save money quickly. At Nortono, we learned this week that they had just finished the production of their existing range of motorcycles. So it's not just the Sport V4 SV and the V4 CR Naked bike, which we knew would soon be stopped since they had already announced the successor to the SV, but also to the current generation of the 961 Commando. Some motorcycles are still in the process of delivery. Some are still in dealerships and sold, but in terms of production, well, none will leave their factory just at the top of the road in Soleil. What is the next step? Well, as I said, we know that a new sport bike is coming because we published the spy photos a few weeks ago. It's the successor to the V4 SV. It looks a bit more like a Ducati from the front, it must be said, but this one is expected at IKEA in Milan in November. And then they should also launch a new range of 450cc motorcycles that will be made by their TV owners using the same parallel twin-cylinder as the long-awaited new BMW F450GS. The thing is, there's absolutely nothing to say about the Commando. They don't say what they're going to give after that. And there seems to be a change in orientation of Norton, which is no longer a purely retro brand inspired by heritage, but rather a competition with the established modern competition. However, for me, Commando seems to be a model name too important to be abandoned. You know, in itself and with the recognition it has, it seems to be worth a lot. And so, what do you think? Are they going to completely stop it? Bring it back in 450 or offer a new platform to replace the 961? Kawasaki continues to update its colors, which they have distributed to the drop account over the past two months, with a new paint this week for the Z650 Rupi Retro and the Cruiser Vulcan and Eliminator. The Z650 Rupi, oh, is it a beautiful bike or what? And I think they really gave it their all with these three new colors for 2026. The ebony with red touches seems pretty nice to me. The emerald green of Bonbon gives you a bit of the classic Kawasaki look. But my choice among the three must go to this metallic ocean blue with golden touches and golden wheels that simply seem magnificent to me. As for the Cruiser, they are a little less inspiring, a little more sober. The Vulcan S, which uses the same 650 twin-cylinder as the Z650 Rupi, well, this one is available in gray or black. And then you also have the 500 twin-cylinder engine eliminators which are also available in black or gray. Although they also presented a new red version which, to be honest, looks pretty good. Let's move on to Honda, we had rumors this week that they could be working on a renaissance of the CB400 Super 4. I saw this one for the first time in the Japanese magazine Young Machine or rather on their website, but they are generally quite reliable when it comes to this kind of thing. And there is also a follow-up on Cycleworld with a little more detail. I didn't really appreciate that this bike in particular, known under the name CB400SF, is still on sale until 2022 in Japan, where it is particularly popular due to the SUB400 licenses. The reason why it should be back in the coming months is that they recently filed brand names for two new sports bikes. The CBR400R4 and the CBR500R4 should be their response to Kawasaki's ZX4 RR, as well as the mid-size four-cylinder engine of major Chinese brands such as CFMOTO, QJMOTOR and KOV. The 400 version would be intended for the Japanese market, where it is a kind of licensed product. The 500 should be intended for the rest of the world. A naked version would therefore not require much imagination, but Honda has also filed a new brand request in Japan for the CB400 Super 4. This suggests that they are preparing to use it again. I always thought it was a really cool bike, especially for a smaller-cylinder machine. So I hope this one will come true. Speaking of medium-sized cylinder machines, well, this article on Rushlane really caught my attention this week with some monthly sales figures for India for the 350 to 450cc motorcycle segment. You will certainly recognize many motorcycles on this list which are also very popular here in the United Kingdom, such as the Triumph 400, which are among their best sales. The Honda CB350, which are basically the same as the GB350S, which sold exceptionally well here this year, and others like the KTM 390, the Arilia 457 and the Husky 401. But what really struck me was the absolute domination of Royal Enfield. If you only look at the first four motorcycles, namely the Classic 350, the Hunter 350, the Bullitt 350 and the Meteor 350, if you add up the market share in the right column for these motorcycles, it represents more than 80%, which is simply breathtaking. I mean, I knew they were popular in India, but that really reminds us. Can anyone rival them? Well, BS has certainly done its best with its new Benton 350, and according to MCN, it sells like hot cakes, at least here in the United Kingdom. You see, Luke Gregory, General Director of their British distributor, has stated that they had already registered 600 orders since their launch a little over four weeks ago, which, according to him, is unprecedented for the brand since its relatively recent renaissance. He continues by saying that one of their concessionaires, Ediz Moto Attack Caster, has stated that one of their recent demonstration days at the BSA was the busiest day they have ever had in the store. It is therefore clear that they have attracted the attention of the public on the British motorcycle, and rightly so, according to Tim, who covered the launch of the Benton 350 because I was lazy on vacation. So look, I will put a link to his opinion in the description below so that you can know exactly what he liked so much. Meanwhile, Yamaha France has just announced this special edition with the awesome look called M07 Grand Prix de France. The color palette is supposed to pay tribute to Fabio Quattaro who was wearing a similar book during his national race of the MotoGP calendar recently, and who, to be honest, did particularly well by qualifying in pole position with a lap record. Although he finished 4th in the sprint, I think he also fell in the first laps of the main race. In addition to the sophisticated stickers on this M07, you also get a windshield and a rear support. But this one, as you may have guessed, is unfortunately only available in France. Now, to be honest, it may be a little too French to appeal to other markets. But it makes you want something like the M07, which has a somewhat tacky personality anyway, that it may have been made for other countries or that they simply made the standard paintings a little bolder. Then, Honda continued to present its EV background, which it should launch in the coming months, which will be their first leisure electric motorcycle, unlike those that focus more on urban mobility. These last images show it being tested on the road in Europe, although it is still wrapped in a test camouflage. And although none of the most important facts and figures have yet been released, such as price, autonomy, weight, etc. Well, it seems to be taking shape and we shouldn't be far from it. But what will it look like once produced? Well, it's hard to say from these particular photos. They did a pretty thorough job with the camouflage, but these design models went missing a few weeks ago. They appeared on Motorcycle.com and they show us the general shape of the motorcycle with the headlight, the indicators, the mirrors, the registration plate and all the rest. Look, I searched this in Google Gemini to color it and I found that which seems to me to be a fairly reasonable and quite typical approximation of Honda in terms of fairly sober color choices. But as always, I would like to know what you think in the comments. Stark, the all-terrain electric motorcycle manufacturer, recently publicly stated that he was also working on a road bike. And that's not all, he thinks it will be better than the internal combustion engine competition, and that's why he thinks it will be a success. I think most of us would be quite skeptical about this. But this week, their CEO was interviewed and gave a little more information about the kind of figure he is expecting. Cycleworld therefore interviewed Anton Vass, CEO of Stark, and he stated that he was working on something equivalent to an internal combustion motorcycle of 800cc, because he thinks that this is where most of the demand on the market is currently. He continues by saying that he thinks that a range of 300 km would be possible, yes, with only 10 minutes of fast charging. It seems much more acceptable to me than the autonomy and charging times we currently have. However, he did not specify whether this autonomy was in the city, on the highway or combined, which is the main way in which electric bicycle manufacturers generally classify autonomy. He also stated that it would take about two years. So I guess we'll have to wait a little to find out. Meanwhile, the British brand Maven focuses more, I would say, on bicycles suitable for the city. Very beautiful models as well. And it seems that you will soon be able to see more of them on the roads, especially if you live outside the United Kingdom. You see, Vizoran reports that it has just received 8 million investments from various investors, and that part of this amount will be devoted to R&D and new models, but that a good part will also be used to increase their marketing budget, especially abroad. To finish, we have here some new Mini prototypes, which I thought we would address because they were built in collaboration with the personalized motorcycle brand DSX Machina. This is at least how they started, by manufacturing personalized motorcycles, but they then launched themselves into surfing, clothing and also in clubhouse-type places, which are numerous all over the world. Now, it seems that they are quite close, because the BMW group has recently released a personalized Veyron 290, then this week, this pair of mini-sur-mesure which look quite striking. I guess they are quite relevant because one of them runs on gasoline and would be inspired by certain manufacturing techniques used in the world of personalized motorcycles. So you will see a part of the material, a part of the interior, things like the mirrors which are perhaps a little more robust and which seem to be handmade. And it is intentional to refer to this chapter, let's say, of the history of DEIS. The other, a mini-electric, is more inspired by surfing with elements like a glass fiber spoiler and inside, neoprene bucket seats. Super cool in my opinion, even if I am perhaps a little partial towards the mini, but I hope that there will soon be other DEA motorcycles. Anyway, as always, I would like to know what you think of the history of this week. So, do not hesitate to let me know in the comments below. And if you missed our recent test of the brilliant BMW R 1300 Rupeesport Touré, I will put it on the screen now so that you can watch it. Do not hesitate to subscribe to receive the latest news and reviews of motorcycles right here on Motobob. A big thank you for watching today and see you next time.