The 2016-2017 Progressive International Motorcycle Show series kicked off Friday, November 18 in Long Beach, California, with a media day, and several motorcycle manufacturers took advantage of the occasion to debut new 2017 models and make some 2017 racing announcements ahead of the show opening to the public.
Harley-Davidson started off the Media Day by going over what was new with its 2017 lineup, including showing cut-away versions of its new Milwaukee Eight engines. The “eight” in Milwaukee Eight represents the eight valves in the cylinder heads of the V-Twins.
Indian Motorcycles then introduced their new factory American Flat Track rider, 2016 AMA Flat Track Champion Bryan Smith, and the Indian Scout FTR racebike he will be riding.
KTM North America introduced several new models, including the 1290 Super Duke GT sport tourer and the 1290 Super Duke R, which the company refers to as “The Beast.”
Yamaha had several of its new 2017 models on display, including its updated YZF-R6 and FZ-09, and the company also took the opportunity to announce it had re-signed riders JD Beach and Garrett Gerloff to its factory MotoAmerica Supersport team. Yamaha also announced that its bLU cRU racing contingency program was going global and that the bLU cRU program in America is expanding to $4.6 million in posted contingency for 2017.
BMW Motorad USA introduced the media to several of its newest machines, including the R nineT Scrambler, the G 310 R and the G 310 GS. BMW said the G 310 R would have a MSRP of $4750 with a reduced destination charge of $245 instead of the regular $495 destination charge. The German company also explained some of the updates to returning models like the S1000RR and S1000R.
Suzuki Motor of America, Inc. was up next and surprised some by unveiling its new 2018 GSX250R Katana, which is expected to go on sale in April 2017. The GSX250R is a twin-cylinder, fully-faired sportbike based on an updated version of the Suzuki GW250 naked bike.
American Honda went over some of the many advancements added to the four – yes, four – different versions of the CBR1000RR (CBR1000RR, CBR1000RR ABS, CBR1000RR SP and CBR1000RR SP2) that will be available in 2017. The company also had a separate display for its new Rebel 300 and Rebel 500 cruisers, which are based upon the existing CB300F and CB500F.
Kawasaki spent a lot of time with the media, and that’s because the company has 10 new models and five updated models for 2017. New models include the Ninja H2 Carbon Limited Edition, Ninja ZX-10RR, Ninja 1000, Ninja 650, Z900, Z650 and Versys-X 300, and updated models include the H2 and H2R. Kawasaki also announced that it is expanding its Team Green road racing contingency program to over $2 million for 2017.
EBR Motorcycles has a relatively small display at the show, but that didn’t stop Erik Buell’s unveiling of the new Black Lightning from drawing a lot of attention. Buell said to look for more new EBR Motorcycles models early in 2017.
The media day closed with Ducati North America making the North American debut of several of its new models, including the Supersport S, the Monster 1200 R, the Scrambler Desert Sled and the 215-horsepower, $80,000 1299 Superleggera.
The Progressive International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach, California, is open today until 8:00 p.m. local time and is open again on Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. local time. For more information, go to www.motorcycleshows.com/longbeach .