Motorcycles

If you had to bet money on which motorcycle companies posted the biggest sales increases of the past two years, you probably wouldn’t back a Russian sidecar manufacturer. You’d be wrong not to, though, because two consecutive years of growth in 2010 and 2011 culminated in a 30 percent upswing ...    Read more

While it’s easy for motorcyclists to fall into the trap of believing that car drivers are out to get them, it’s important to remember that four-wheelers seem equally intent on self-destruction. Why else would they demand more and more attention-stealing gadgets in new cars––touch-screen controls, Bluetooth connectivity, the ability to ...    Read more

They might call it World Superbike, but here’s a special-edition SBK model you can get only in the U.S. and Canada. In honor of the 2012 World Superbike Championship Aprilia RSV4, Aprilia USA is offering this 2013 RSV4 Factory APRC ABS SBK Special Edition exclusively to the North American market. The ...    Read more

Well  before the start of the 2013 Dakar Rally, it seemed like there was no point in actually running the race. The fans and press were touting Frenchman Cyril Despres as the likely winner, mostly because his KTM teammate Marc Coma had dropped out of the rally with shoulder problems ...    Read more

“Moto Guzzi isn’t about getting there the fastest,” explains Melissa MacCaull, Vice President of Piaggio Group Americas, the U.S. distributor of Moto Guzzi motorcycles. “It’s about enjoying the ride, and getting back to what true motorcycling is really about. Moto Guzzi is approachable, it’s stylish, and it’s accessible to anyone. ...    Read more

If you think it’s hard to talk a salesman down on the price of a motorcycle you want, try competing with a room full of people who are willing to pay more than you are for the same bike. That’s what you’d have been up against on January 10 at ...    Read more

Honda recently updated their Red Rider Rewards program for 2013, adding Southern California’s Chuckwalla Valley Motorcycle Association (CVMA), M1 Grand Prix (M1GP), and Western Easter Roadracing Association's (WERA) Western branch to a lengthy list of roadrace clubs eligible for a generous purse. Honda says that any ...    Read more

MC: So, Kenny Roberts, Wayne Rainey, Eddie Lawson: There has been a lot of American success in GP racing, but right now there's sort of a lull. There's Ben has enjoyed some longevity, but now all the talk is Bradley Smith and Danny Kent. What do you make of ...    Read more

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Even though the term “economic growth” was an oxymoron for most people last year, the folks at BMW are feeling pretty good about 2012. That’s because the Motorrad set new sales records, delivering 106,358 motorcycles and maxi-scooters worldwide, a 2 percent increase over 2011. Additionally, in December 2012 BMW delivered ...    Read more

England and India haven’t always enjoyed the best of relations, but Triumph is hoping all is forgiven as it makes plans to open a factory to build 250cc twins on the subcontinent. The proposed facility in Narasapur, near the city of Bangalore, is set to be up and running by ...    Read more

It seems like just yesterday that the video guys clipped a mic to my leathers, pointed a pair of cameras at me, and demanded some intelligent words. Totally unprepared for a presentation, I was literally at a loss for words. I formed some eventually, but they were hardly worthy of ...    Read more

The new 2013 BMW R1200GS is coming. Nothing can stop that now, not even the thousands of bleeding hearts of current GS owners who think it’s fine the way it is. All we can do now is try to prepare. Here at MC, we decided the best way to prepare ...    Read more

Photo: OXYmoron Photography 2012 was a bad year for club-level roadracers in the Southwest United States. Early in the year, Willow Springs Motorcycle Club (WSMC) dropped a bombshell: After decades of hosting near-monthly meets, the club was closing up shop. At the same time, other race organizations condensed their schedules due ...    Read more

WORDS: Annette Carrion PHOTOS: Cali Photography When I heard the Ninja 300 was being delivered to Motorcyclist magazine’s headquarters, I couldn’t wait to throw a leg over it. I had been secretly lusting over the white one, so when a green one was delivered I was a little disappointed. However, I quickly ...    Read more

The 2013 Dakar Rally is only days away, and while most teams are putting the finishing touches on their bikes, perennial favorite KTM is scrambling after one of its two top riders, three-time Dakar winner Marc Coma, was injured during the Rally of Morocco. “We worked really hard with the doctors ...    Read more

To a lot of American workers, “outsourcing” is a dirty word. But sometimes companies have to open factories overseas just to be competitive with products built in that market. At least that’s what Harley-Davidson is hoping its flag-waving, made-in-America customer base will take into consideration when The Motor Company introduces ...    Read more

Our epic four-day, 2200-mile sport-touring comparison test took us from SoCal to Albuquerque through some of the most gorgeous and demanding roads California, Arizona, and New Mexico could throw at us. It was cold. Real cold, including an overnight low of 17 degrees in Albuquerque and persistent ...    Read more

Ducati press release: Subscription opens for highly anticipated Ducati Riding Experience 2013 *   Ducati prepares for tenth edition of prestigious riding school *   Twelve dates at four different venues confirmed for 2013 *   Troy Bayliss to continue “Academy” with race kit 1199 Panigale S Superbikes Borgo Panigale (Bologna, Italy) 18 December, 2012 – Ten years ...    Read more

Which is the top sport-tourer of 2013? Will the newly refreshed Yamaha FJR1300A and new-from-the-ground-up Triumph Trophy unseat our perennial favorite sporty mile-eater, the Kawasaki Concours 14? And what about BMW’s stupendous, six-cylinder K1600GT? Our readers want answers, dammit—and we do, too! That’s why the day after the first Triumph Trophy ...    Read more

PHOTOS: Andrea Wilson, Ari Henning Just as nature slowly restores itself after a cataclysmic event, our little corner of the motorsports landscape has green shoots inching up through the dark forest floor. Haven’t seen them? I have, most recently at the International Motorcycle Show that just rolled through Long Beach, CA. ...    Read more

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American Suzuki racing fans will look forward to Suzuki's return to MotoGP. At the end of the 2011 MotoGP season, Suzuki packed up its one-bike team, turned off the garage lights, and pulled out of the series, citing the worldwide economy’s accelerating spiral down the drain as the reason. The factory ...    Read more

KTM's booth from the EICMA show last month in Milan. Photo by Michael Lichter. Wherever you live, odds are that some time between early November and late February you’ll hear about or see advertising for the International Motorcycle Show. IMS shows are held across the U.S., offering ...    Read more

Electric motorcycles are "cleaner" than gas bikes, we're told. Safer, lower maintenance, and more accessible for novice riders, too. That's all well and good-noble, even. But what about those of us who only care about going fast? Not only are electric racebikes much slower than gas-fired counterparts, they also weigh ...    Read more

Perhaps slightly jealous of Harley-Davidson’s habit of cranking out “anniversary” models at the drop of a beanie helmet, BMW has declared its intention to produce a new anniversary model of its own. Speaking at the EICMA international motorcycle show in Milan, BMW Motorrad President Stephan Schaller said his company will ...    Read more

In my last post, I asked a question of myself: Was I uninspired by the V Star 250 because it's essentially uninspiring or because I dislike cruisers in general? I admitted that I missed horsepower, but all else being equal the little Star offers pretty much everything any other low-slung ...    Read more