Moto News: MV's 5-Cylinder, Kawasaki W230, Voge DS800X Rally & More!

Welcome back everybody to another episode of our weekly Moto News Roundup, where this time we've got the full details of MV Agusta's brilliant looking new 5-cylinder engine, pricing for their stunning Brutale Ceri Auro, a new baby retro from Kawasaki, plus pricing on some of their new bikes as well, then some impressive sales figures from the Chinese brand Vogue, new products from Lightlock and Magna, some great news off the back of Eicma, a new Suzuki off-road experience, recalls at KTM and Husky, Yamaha confirm their V4 engine for next season, and we've also got rumours that CFMoto might be swooping into MotoGP as well. But before we get started, a quick reminder that our giveaway with ASV is still open and you can find the link down in the description below to get yourself entered. You can win a set of their excellent levers for your very own bike with loads of adjustability, there's a 4-inch range, 180 increments as well so you can get it perfectly dialed in, beautiful billet construction, and also this clever pivot mid-lever that means they should fold out if you drop your bike and prevent them from getting broken. Genuinely, I've been loving them on my Bonneville since I've fitted them, we're also throwing in a whole bunch of ASV merch, plus a $150 voucher for Quad Lock, which means you can get the perfect phone mount for your particular bike's cockpit to complement your brilliant new levers. On top of that though, we're also including a full set of base layers from Bowtex, which are a brilliant product for the winter coming up, they're basically a Dyneema base layer but also have armour built in, and so you can wear pretty much whatever you want over the top of them, be that casual commuting clothes or, you know, wet weather gear for the difficult conditions, and you can ride in the full confidence that they're AAA rated and also have level 2 armour in the elbows, shoulders, knees and hips, and you can also stick a back protector in as well. Like I say, there's a link down below to get yourself entered for this one, it really is a great bundle of prizes, but also, if you don't fancy your chances of winning, we've got a discount code as well, so do check that out, especially if you're ordering from outside the US, because it includes free international shipping, so you really could save yourself a significant sum. But let's crack on with the news, and we've got the full press release for one of the most exciting things that I think I spotted at the entirety of the EICMA show this year. MV Agusta had this new engine concept, a 5-cylinder, on their stand in a glass case, there's a bit of a teaser, they didn't include any information, there wasn't like a board next to it with all the specs, they just kind of put it there to generate a bit of conversation. This week though, they did send out a press release that has a little more insight, and I've got to say, it sounds every bit as good as it looked on the stand there. The key idea they say behind it is to create something super versatile, so they plan to use it in a supersport, in a naked, maybe a touring bike as well, and they say it's got a modular displacement, so it can go from 850cc right the way up to 1150. Now in that 1150cc spec, they're saying it can rev up to 16,000rpm to make a peak power figure of 240 horses, but also it's not just like a top-end revvy engine like you might get with an inline 4 or a V4, because it makes 135Nm of peak torque, which is already pretty healthy, but also makes it at 8,500rpm, so much lower in the rev range than that revvy peak power figure. What they're saying is the 5-cylinder layout here is absolutely key to give you that really usable spread of performance right across the rev range, and it does it all without the need for any extra complications like variable valve timing. Now from a practical perspective as well, they're saying it's going to be super smooth, with effectively like a triple up front, a twin at the rear, and a U-shaped crank to connect them together, and the result they say is something that's very sweetly balanced and very minimal in terms of vibes. On top of that, it's also very compact, it's shorter than a V4 of course, it's not as wide as an inline 4, you can see how those 5-cylinders slot neatly together, and it all comes in at under 60kg, which I think is pretty impressive for its power. One of the factors here could be the use of an electric water pump and an electric oil pump as well. And so look, it's got to be said, it definitely sounds like a very impressive engine, and the only thing you might be worrying is that it's just some fantastical high concept. They sign off though with the press release by saying that it will be coming to an MV bike at some point in the next few years, and in their exact words they say, in a highly Now my guess would be, it's going to be a replacement for the F4, I guess it won't be called an F4 though, it'll probably be an F5 this time, but let me know what you think it could be down in the comments below. On top of that, one of my favourite bikes as well from EICMA was the Brutale Ceri Auro, a limited run to launch this new Brutale 950 platform, they're just making 300 of this bike, and it sounds like it should actually make for a really good road bike, it's still got the punchy peak power figure, it's still got the MV looks, it's still got all the top spec chassis components as well, but the new 950 makes more torque, lower down so it should be a touch more usable, they've lengthened the wheelbase a touch for more stability, and also lifted the handlebars to make it a touch more comfortable. So for me, sounds like a winning combo, although we knew it wouldn't be cheap, and this week they've confirmed the UK pricing which comes in at £23,900, now that isn't their most expensive bike by any stretch of the imagination, but also it's got to be said, it is a significant cut above your average middleweight naked bike, so could it possibly be worth it, well again, let me know what you think down in the comments. Now coming just after EICMA though, I'm surprised they didn't launch this one at the show, but we've got a new announcement from Kawasaki, this time in the form of a budget friendly little single cylinder retro, this one's called the W230, it'll be in UK dealers from early 2026, and the key with a bike like this of course is making it very affordable, and it comes in at £4,654. Now for your money, you're getting a very light little bike at 143kg fully fuelled up, it's got a very manageable seat height at 745mm, and so I dare say this is going to be a very tempting starter bike, but also a nice little, you know, potentially second bike as well, it isn't super punchy with it being a 230 single, it's just shy of 20hp, just shy of 20Nm as well, but I think the other part of its appeal is the styling package which is perhaps a little more traditionally retro in that very classic looking kind of way than some of the other bikes on the market like the Honda GB350S or the Triumph Speed 400. Now, it's not the cheapest, the Honda undercuts it, the Enfield 350s as well, it's not going to be the fastest either, but maybe it's a nice balance of all those different factors, and so we'll look to get to the stand up motorcycle live in a couple of days to give you a full walk around and really get into the details. On top of that though, they've also announced some of their pricing for 2026, like the new ZX10R, back for the new model year with some new aero wings, and it's got to be said, the pricing on this one looks pretty impressive at £15,999. I think that makes it about £1,500 less than last time it was available, but also it undercuts pretty much all the sports bike competition like the new Gixxer that's just come out, the S1000RR, the Aprilia RSV4, it's a grand or two less than any of those, and yet it is a proven performer and so that could be, potentially, the best value litre sports bike on the market for 2026. Naturally, the more track focused ZX10RR comes in quite a lot more expensive at £24,799, but to be honest, the regular R is probably more than enough bike for most people. Now another update they announced in the last couple of weeks was the Z900RS Retro, the big change for this bike is the new electronic throttle which allows them to introduce some features like an up and down quick shifter and cruise control, hopefully it's sorted out a little bit of the snatchiness on the throttle as well, they've also fitted it with an IMU for lean sensitive rider aids, and this one, the standard bike, comes in at £11,499 which keeps it nice and competitive with the likes of Yamaha's XSR900 and also still undercuts some of the other sporty Retros like the Triumph Speed Twin 1200 and the BMW R12 9T. The only problem I guess is the CB1000F, the new Honda Retro, it's an inline 4 as well, it's got that sort of Japanese retro vibe, and that one is starting from £10,599 for 2026 so it's a really good price, but I will say the Kawasaki for me probably still edges it on looks and so perhaps the extra spend can be justified. There's also the Black Bull edition at £11,699, the SE with the Ohlins shock and the Brembo brakes at £12,949, and then lastly on the Kawasaki price in front we've also got the price for their KLA500, now this is a bike that caused quite a stir when it was announced about a month or so back, with potentially another good option on this booming mid capacity adventure bike market although I think it all pretty much hinged on the price. I've got to say they're at £5,999 for the standard bike, £6,599 for the SE version, well I think it's pretty decent and I reckon the benchmark for this sector will become the new BMW F450GS, but that starts at just under £7,000 with the more desirable finishes coming in at closer to £8,000 and so you've got to say, you're looking at about a grand or £1,500 less for the KLE, which I think is enough to make it look quite tempting, especially if you're on a bit of a stricter budget. Now speaking of value for money though, one of the most impressive bikes that I've seen in recent memory, we saw this at the ABR festival this year, is the new DS800X from the Chinese brand Vosge, you see you get a 94hp parallel twin, a 24 litre tank, tubeless spoke wheels on Pirelli tyres, KYB suspension, Nissin brakes, loads of ground clearance at 220mm and a whole suite of tech including a built in dash cam. Now the price though, at just £6,999 is phenomenal value for money and this week it turns out according to their press release that it's really had the desired effect because it's come out as the top selling 750-1000cc adventure bike in the UK's industry figures for October 2025 so certainly the price has caught the eye of the customer and so it's really got me wondering because we just shot a walk around with that bike as to whether it's actually any good on the road, I mean presumably some corners have to be cut to hit that sort of price point and so look, I've requested a press bike so I can test it out for myself so if you want to see more about that bike, hit subscribe if you're not already and keep your eyes peeled for that in the next month or so. Now if you were watching the channel last week you'll have seen we did a really enjoyable tour of Lightlocks headquarters in the UK, we actually got to cut a couple of locks as well, a standard unarmoured lock and then one of their flagship X3s and if you're not familiar with their products then I think you've got to see it for yourself to really appreciate just how good it is so definitely have a search for that video and check it out but also I wanted to include a new product that they've just announced this week as well called the X1 Plus. Now the regular X1 is a little like the X3 but a touch more affordable, a little more lightweight as well but this, the X1 Plus, basically gives you a little extra length which everyone appreciates and that gives it some extra versatility for a bunch of different use cases so perhaps you might want to lock your wheel through the fork leg in which case you can get both through now, you can also lock your helmet as well to the front wheel and if you park near one of those bike stands or a post or something like that potentially there's enough now to be able to lock the bike to something as well. So yeah if you've enjoyed their products so far but maybe just wanted a bit more manoeuvrability then definitely check out the links down in the description below and you'll also find down there a discount code which is good for their X1 and X3 as well and I think probably the rest of their products on their site so do use that if you want to get a little bit of a discount. Now another thing on the sort of accessories market that I saw this week was a new set of heated grips from Machner and I've got to say I maybe thought it was a little bit of tech too far when I read the headline that they now have Bluetooth built in. I've got to say that after reading up a bit I really do think this is a great idea because it's not only the grips that can connect to your phone but all of their other Bluetooth enabled kit as well so you can get a jacket, you can get leggings, you can get gloves, you can get the insoles as well and basically they all use your phone to connect together. The phone acts like the hub over Bluetooth and so that means you don't have to go looking for all the individual buttons to adjust the heat of each it can do it all from the phone. What I think is extra good though about the heated grips is they have buttons on them as well and so that means you can control your whole kit, everything from just this little button on the grips which is basically like adding a dedicated button on the switch gear. Now I've got to say with my own heated gear I do find it a little bit of a hassle to find the little adjuster thing that's normally hanging down from the side of my gear and so yeah I guess getting a full suite of this Machner kit probably isn't cheap but if you are doing a lot of touring through winter or commuting through colder conditions I can see why this might be very appealing. Now I would say there's been a lot of doom and gloom over the last year or so in the motorcycle industry certainly here in the UK but it seems like EICMA has been massively on the up or at least according to this year's attendance figures they sent out a press release that said that over 600,000 people visited the show across the six days which I think is super impressive and within that you had 43,000 professionals as well with it being part trade show and part you know a regular open public bike show. On top of that they say over 730 exhibitors from 50 countries with more than 2,000 brands represented and that since Covid visitors, exhibitors and floor space have literally doubled which is super impressive to say the least. Now I've got it in the calendar for next year of course we'll be there to bring you all the best bikes as usual and hopefully I'll see a few of you there as well. In the UK I've got to say we've got a great selection of off-road riding experiences to choose from. You've got Triumph in South Wales and BMW, you've got Honda in Devon, you've got Ducati in Wales as well, KTM just announced they're bringing theirs back too but on top of that Suzuki are also getting involved with a new setup in South Wales as well that gives you the chance to ride a mix of V-Strom 800s, V-Strom 1050s and also their new DR-Z4S. So another one on my list to try and get around to trying this year but also if you want to have a look at the courses they run then head to the SR75 off-road website, that's the race team that's running it for them and you'll get all the info as well as the ability to book through the site as well. Meanwhile there's a recall at KTM and Husqvarna that I thought I'd flag up. It affects the 125s, 250s, 390s and 990s plus the 125, 250 and 401 Husqvarnas where apparently a fuel filler cap seal can split and that means that fuel can actually sort of splash out or leak out of the top of the tank. I won't dwell on this one too much, I think you can probably see why that might become a problem but if you've got one of those bikes, I obviously recommend getting to your dealer where you can get the seal replaced. Big news though in MotoGP this week, just as I was scripting this particular video, Yamaha have confirmed that they'll be running their V4 engine for the 2026 season. You see they've been testing it for some months now in a bid to catch up in terms of performance with the rest of the field which is entirely made up of V4s now and they were the last manufacturer to be running an inline 4. So yeah it'll definitely be interesting to see how they do next year especially with some mixed reactions from the tests but on top of that you know Ducati started their V4 in MotoGP and now it makes up for pretty much all of their large capacity road bikes so it'll be very interesting to see if Yamaha follow the same trajectory as well. On top of that though I've also seen some rumours that CFMoto are looking to enter MotoGP and they could do it by basically purchasing KTM's racing program. It's no secret of course that KTM have had some severe financial difficulties over the past couple of years and now that Bajaja effectively running the company, well they've pretty publicly said that they'll be looking to cut some costs. It's not cheap one imagines to run a MotoGP program and so you gotta think they'd be looking at that. But it also seems like CFMoto who are partners of KTM or have been for the past few years could be the company to take their spot. Apparently they've visited the KTM racing facility in Austria to have a look in the past couple of months as well as reps from Dorna, the MotoGP owners, visit in China to meet with CFMoto as well as look at the track to see if they can bring back the Chinese round. Now from the looks of that superbike concept that CFMoto had on their stand at EICMA they certainly seem to have some serious capability in terms of engineering way beyond just knocking out budget friendly bikes and there was even a video of Claudio Domenicali the CEO of Ducati having a look at it at the stand at EICMA and he looked pretty impressed. So yeah I'd love to know what you think of this down in the comments. Would you be all for it or is it too much of a shame to see KTM drop out of top tier racing? As always as well I'd love to know what you think of the rest of the stories this week so do let us know and I'll put a playlist on the screen now of all of this week's videos in case you missed any. We've got the new custom Bear 650 by The Bike Shed, I had a good chat with Dutch about that. The video where we tried to cut the locks at Light Lock HQ. And also a round up of all the best bikes from EICMA if you want to see them all in one place. Do hit subscribe for more of the latest motorcycle news and reviews right here on Motobob. Also we've got all of our motorcycle live coverage coming this week. A massive thanks for watching today and we'll see you in the next video.