Up until the latest bubble burst, nearly everyone was extolling the virtues of behemoth motorcycles, often to the near exclusion of smaller machines. Back then, with some form of "size matters" splattered on nearly every bike magazine cover, it seemed like everybody was taking out equity loans on their houses and buying big, heavy, expensive large-displacement motorcycles.So, perhaps one positive aspect of our economy tanking, if there is one, has been the newfound interest in smaller-displaceme

In the cruiser world, bikes often fall into one of two categories. Either they are staid and mature icons of comfort and style, or they're raucous, straight-line bruisers creating drawn curtains and the frantic summoning of children. Is it asking too much for a taste of both?

On March 9, 1862, the first "modern" naval battle took place off Sewell's Point, Virginia, between the ironclads USS Merrimack and CSS Virginia. On the previous day, the Virginia had pummeled the wooden-hulled ships of the Union fleet until the Merrimack arrived to defend them. The confrontation eventually proved inconclusive because neither ship's guns could penetrate the other's iron-plated wooden hull. The Merrimack and Virginia were two of the first in a class of warships that were to become known as "cruisers."

In the 1960s, when I first got interested in motorcycles, 650 was a number heavy with significance. It had special connotations of power and speed. Royal Enfield's oddball 692cc Constellation notwithstanding, a 650cc was the biggest, most powerful bike you could buy in England. Vincent had gone to the wall, the side-valve, 1000cc, sidecar haulers of pre-WWII days were extinct, and while there may have been some big Harley imports, I'd certainly never seen one on the road.

There's something fascinating about the lore and lure of San Francisco. Think Steve McQueen catching air in his '68 Mustang and Dirty Harry demanding to know if luck is in the offing...Well, is it? And let's not forget about Alcatraz, Lombard Street, Chinatown, Haight-Asbury, and Coit Tower. Very few places truly exemplify the rigors of urbanity more than the vertiginous City by the Bay. Maybe that's why Suzuki chose a flat site, Fisherman's Wharf, as the meeting place for a bunch of journalists ready to take a little scooter ride.