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BMW Concept 90 Motorcycle debuts at Villa d'Este

The Concept 90 is one of two new vehicles BMW is showing off at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este on the tony shores of Lake Como in Italy. This year is the 90th anniversary of BMW Motorrad and the 40th anniversary of the R 90 S (inset) - the first production motorcycle to come with a front fairing - and BMW has worked with custom bike builder Roland Sands Design to craft a homage to the Daytona Orange boxer from the Seventies.
While following the line of its forbearer, obviously the Concept 90 has been sexed and sleeked up. The bodywork is of hand-worked aluminum, the giant halogen lamp of the 1975 model (which is when Daytona Orange was introduced) has gone LED, and the front engine cover, valve covers, exhaust and wheels have been made with a contrast-cut milling process.
For a finer description of the Concept 90 check out the press release below, or skip the words and go straight to the high-res images above.

BMW brings first diesel 7 Series to US with $82,500* 740Ld xDrive

After almost 40 years on the market, there are probably few things the BMW 7 Series hasn't offered, but when it comes to the US market, one of those things just happens to be a diesel engine. That is all about to change, however, as BMW announced that it will unveil the 2014 740Ld xDrive at the Chicago Auto Show before sales commence later in the spring.
Offered only on long-wheelbase models with standard all-wheel drive, the new diesel 7 is powered by BMW's 3.0-liter inline-six producing 255 horsepower and a stout 413 pound-feet of torque peaking between 1,500 and 3,000 rpm. While BMW has yet to release any type of fuel economy figures, it did say that its diesel technology is usually good for an improvement of 25 to 30 percent over the gas models - just for fun, that means that the 740 Ld xDrive could get as much as 24.7 miles per gallon in the city and 36.4 mpg on the highway, but that's just doing the math and there is nothing official behind those numbers. Acceleration will take a little longer than in the 740Li xDrive (shown above) with BMW stating 6.1 seconds from 0-60 compared to 5.4 seconds for the gas model.
Another small increase over the gas version will be in price, with the 740Ld xDrive getting a starting MSRP of $82,500 (*not including $925 for destination), which is just a $1,500 bump over the 740Li xDrive. For comparison, the Audi A8L TDI starts at $78,800, while the previous-gen Mercedes S350 Bluetec was priced at $93,000. Scroll down for more info on the new diesel-powered 7 Series, and stay tuned to our live coverage from Chicago in a couple weeks as we'll have live images and hopefully more info.

Cafe racer motorbikes storm Japan

Japan may be best known, at least among motorcycle enthusiasts, for its sport bikes. But as we found at the Tokyo Motor Show this year, Japanese motorcycle manufacturers are capable of producing all kinds of motorbikes. And to our delight, that includes cafe racers.
Along with the myriad electric bikes, dirt bikes, crotch rockets and scooters, the halls of Tokyo's Big Site convention center this year were full of the retro-infused rides we love. Chief among them was the Bolt (shown above) which Yamaha exhibited alongside their various electric two-wheelers, sporting a delicious metallic blue paintjob, inverted handlebars and hanging mirrors, machined metal bits, blacked-out trim and saddle brown leatherwork.
Honda was also on hand with a new EX version of its '70s-style CB1100 retro roadster in sinister and low-key matte black. And this was our first chance to check out BMW Motorrad's new birthday present to its 90-year-old self, the R NineT, a model recently unveiled at the EICMA motorcycle show in Milan. But one of the most amusing retro rides we came across was the Honda Monkey Limited, a mini bike that makes the new 125cc Grom (which was displayed alongside it) look positively gigantic.