Rome Motodays: news on two wheels from all over the world

The tenth edition of the is fast approaching Rome Motodays. The 2018 event is from 8 to 11 March and all the houses will present themselves at the event with the main ones which, as always, can be tested with the Riding Experiences, a peculiar activity of Roma Motodays, which includes a journey outside the Fair, to test the performance, comfort and feeling of the vehicle of your dreams.

For a 360-degree view of the motorcycle world, it ranges from new products to specials customized by authentic customization artists, up to vintage motorbikes. The space reserved for special winks at design and industry, which in recent years has dedicated significant energy to satisfying the needs of the most creative customers. Space also for urban commuting, with the 2Wheels2Work area, created with the aim of informing and raising awareness among users towards greater and better use of two wheels and to move around the city in a more conscious, safe and sustainable way. Roma Motodays also takes into particular consideration the young people who travel the roads and this year too will organize days dedicated to school students and road safety education. Also confirmed performances and races in the external areas, which have always been a great attraction of Roma Motodays. The first confirmations from the official manufacturers that will be present at Rome Motodays concern the Japanese ones Honda e Suzuki, both with a world premiere, the Italian one MV Agusta, the Austrian KTM, the Americans Harley-Davidson e Indian and the Taiwanese Kymco.

Honda promises a show at Rome Motodays, with all the 2018 innovations - many of which are also being tested in the areas outside Fiera Roma - and a world premiere in the scooter segment which will be revealed on the inauguration day. Not just previews, but also the certainty of the complete Honda range, which ranges from super sports bikes to naked bikes, through adventure bikes and up to scooters, perfect vehicles for city commuting. Among the queens of the stand, the new one CRF1000L Africa Twin, the maxienduro par excellence which for 2018 receives numerous updates that make it even more refined and high-performance. This year the standard model is joined by the new Adventure Sports version, which shares all the updates. Designed for big raids and even more off-road oriented, it boasts a 24,2 liter tank which brings the autonomy to over 500 km, extended suspension travel, greater ground clearance, a raised driving position and very complete standard equipment , with more protective superstructures, 12V socket, heated grips, raised windshield, shockproof tubulars, flat profile saddle, steel luggage rack and oversized sump guard. The 'tricolour' livery celebrates the 30th anniversary of the birth of the Africa Twin. Among the new features, the CB1000R 2018, which now winks at modern ones cafe racer.

Among the protagonists at the Suzuki stand at Motodays, the café racer SV650X, with its details that evoke the racing motorbikes of the past. The rounded lines of its fairing find continuity in the side panels, in the box seat and in the tail, creating a bold silhouette, accentuated by the adoption of semi-handlebars. The tank is embellished with the classic Suzuki writing instead of the S in relief: it is a detail that stands out well against the two-tone grey-black colour, made even more aggressive by the adoption of black footrests. Furthermore, Rome will be the first fair where Suzuki will exhibit a special version created precisely on this basis. It will be called SV650X-TER and will be equipped with a handcrafted double pipe exhaust made by Fresco, mirrors and license plate holder customized by the specialist Valter Moto, LED indicators and thermal bandages on the exhaust manifolds.

The expected queen of the Varese company's stand in Rome will be Motodays' new one Dragster 800RR, which redefines the technical and stylistic boundaries of a model that has been able to establish itself for style, originality and emotion in driving. Deliberately over the top, totally outside the box, the Dragster 800 RR has made irreverence its distinctive feature. And now it confirms its exclusive characteristics with the 2018 Model Year, improved in many details and completely redesigned. The three-cylinder engine derives closely from the one developed for the Brutale 800 RR, the subject of numerous technical interventions that have allowed Euro 4 homologation and at the same time contributed to obtaining significant increases in reliability and performance. All this despite the fact that Euro 4 approval requires emissions to be reduced by 50% and noise levels to be reduced by 48% compared to Euro 3. The in-line three-cylinder is fixed to the chassis via a new anchor point: this modification has made it possible to increase rigidity flexural, to the advantage of the driving dynamics of the Dragster 800 RR.

At the KTM stand, the spotlight is on the new one 790 Duke, where the engine and chassis coexist in an ultra-compact unit ensuring the agility of a 600 combined with the thrust of an 800 which promises surgical precision in minimal weight. The aggressive design is futuristic and functional and the standard electronics package is particularly rich. The brand new LC8c twin-cylinder engine, thanks to its minimalist design, is the key element in achieving the low weight of 169 kg of dry weight, while the performance speaks of 105 hp at 9,000 rpm and 86 Nm of maximum torque at 8,000 rpm. The top-of-the-range twin-cylinder, the 1290 Super Duke R, unleashes 177 horsepower, while its chassis is designed to give its all when it comes to chasing corners. Traveling in the "middle ground" that combines asphalt and dirt, KTM will be present with the complete range of road Enduros ranging from agile and usable 1090 ADVENTURESto the imposing and performing one 1290 ADVENTURE R, capable of tackling any route, even desert dunes, thanks to the very powerful 160 HP engine.

The Italian branch of Harley Davidson will be present at Rome Motodays in two different points of the Show. The main stand will contain all the main product innovations that characterized Harley-Davidson 2017, a particularly rich year. All eyes on the new models of the family, therefore Softail 2018, with the powerful Fat Bob 114 (already a best seller) and versatile Sport Glide launched as a world premiere in EICMA last November to attract attention. All new Softails boast higher-performance suspension, a stiffer and lighter chassis and are equipped with the new Milwaukee-Eight engines. But there will obviously be the new Tourings characterized by refined connectivity technology and new liveries. Nor should the models be forgotten Sportster e Street Rod, protagonists of the range Dark Custom, a fundamental element of Harley-Davidson's offer aimed at the younger audience. The Harley-Davidson stand at Rome Motodays will also feature the Battle of the Kings 2018, the largest international customization competition promoted by Harley-Davidson, which reaches its fourth edition following an ever-increasing success. In fact, 12 will be displayed special finalists of the Italian contest created by Custom Kings of the dealerships in the national Harley network and the Italian winner will then be proclaimed. This bike will be competing for the global title in the final to be held next November at the EICMA show in Milan.