Tom Roderick

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2025 Yamaha YZF-R9

Putting the Fun Back Into Supersport The press briefing for the 2025 Yamaha YZF-R9 included constant reminders from the company brass that the newest R-model motorcycle is as much, if not more so, a high-performance street bike as it is a thoroughbred racer. It’s a conflicting sentiment, considering our

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2025 Husqvarna Vitpilen 801

A Duke of a Different Color Blame my Midwest upbringing, but whenever I hear of Husqvarna, I first think of chainsaws, then dirt bikes, and finally street bikes. While tinkering around on the Husqvarna website, I was surprised that the company produced its first street motorcycle 56 years before its

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2025 Yamaha YZF-R9 Breaks Cover

Utilizing the CP3 engine revealed at the Cologne motorcycle show in 2012 as a new three-cylinder engine, the YZF-R9 is more than a decade in the making. Sandwiched between its supersport brethren, the YZF-R1 ($18,999) and the YZF-R7 ($9,199), the fully-faired YZF-R9 fills the price and performance gap

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2025 Moto Morini Calibro 700 Bagger

Are you familiar with the phrase: “Any color the customer wants, as long as it’s black?” It’s a quote attributed to Henry Ford regarding the Model T, purportedly from 1909. Despite its 116-year age, Moto Morini saw fit to apply Ford’s paint job advice to its new-for-2025

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2024 Suzuki GSX-8R

Introducing the V-Strom 800DE in early 2023 was a giant step in the right direction for Suzuki. Most notably, it was the model chosen to unveil the company’s new 776cc parallel-twin DOHC engine with a 270-degree crankshaft configuration and Suzuki’s Cross Balancer technology. The follow-up, GSX-8S, increased the

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2023 Moto Morini X-Cape

The motorcycle was red, with a low handlebar and a chrome front fender. From a distance, it resembled a Yamaha RD400. As I got closer, I noticed its V-twin engine, then the Moto Morini nameplate on the fuel tank, and finally, the single digit “3” followed by the ½ fraction on

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2023 Zero DSR/X

My initial reaction was to scoff at the Zero DSR/X. An electric ADV bike… Seriously? How adventurous could the DSR/X be when half its battery capacity will be discharged during an 80-mph freeway ride across Southern California to get somewhere vaguely resembling adventure? Then I flew to rural

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2023 Yamaha XSR700

Curiosity, and maybe the feeling of perceived threat, compelled me to open the ChatGPT website. In the prompt field, I typed, “Write a 1,300-word first-person review of the 2023 Yamaha XSR700.” Within seconds, the artificial intelligence created a wordy compliment befitting the North Korean state news agency’s description

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Review: 2023 Suzuki GSX-8S

Having already struck a first-inning home run with the V-Strom 800DE earlier in the year, I was eagerly anticipating the street version of Suzuki’s new parallel-twin that powers both the Strom and the GSX-8S. Swinging a leg over the 8S, it was immediately apparent the motorcycle wasn’t going

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2023 Harley-Davidson Electra Glide Highway King

I’ve been reading the Little Golden Books to my daughter. In the story Tawny Scrawny Lion, the titular lion realizes that chasing rabbits is a fool’s errand, so he embraces the carrot stew the bunnies prepared and retires to a life of vegetarianism and leisure. When riding the

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2022 BMW F 900 R

It was late April when I sidestanded the 2022 BMW F 900 R in front of Crystal Lake Cafe in Azusa, CA. Large piles of snow were abundant but melting rapidly, remnants of the atmospheric river that defined the winter of 2022 in California. A fellow motorcyclist noticed the dealer

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Andreani USA Expands Its Offerings

Having just opened its U.S.-based operations in North Carolina at the beginning of this year, Andreani USA is already announcing an expansion of its product catalog. Joining the fold are MIVV Exhaust systems from Italy and suspension components from England’s Nitron Racing Systems. Designed, developed, and manufactured

Product Review

Review: Helite H-MOOV Backpack Airbag

I tip my hat to Helite’s innovative H-MOOV airbag [https://imp.i104546.net/WqyXWP]. It combines protective airbag technology with the storage functionality of a backpack. The stylish backpack incorporates Helite’s Turtle technology. The CE-certified airbag inflates fully in less than 0.094 seconds, protecting vital areas including

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2023 Kawasaki Vulcan S

Riding the 2023 Kawasaki Vulcan S home to Long Beach from the company’s headquarters in Foothill Ranch, I noticed many things. The 649cc parallel-twin powering the motorcycle is a peppy companion. The bike feels lighter than its 498-pound claimed curb weight suggests. Throttle response can be kind of light

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2023 Janus Halcyon 250

Awash in unending spectacle, it takes something special to command the attention of the average passerby in Venice Beach, the unofficial ogling capital of California. The Janus motorcycle I was riding had no problem drawing gazes, though. Maybe it was because two Janus models were puttering around the beach town

Product Review

Review: Arai Contour-X

Arai has a new helmet for 2023, aimed at the sport-touring crowd. The Contour-X [https://imp.i104546.net/KeoDay] promises increased comfort and less weight, all the while delivering a high level of protection. The helmet also features better venting, intercom accommodation, and easier ingress. Like the Regent-X, the Contour-X

Mar/Apr '23

Review: 2022 Harley-Davidson Low Rider El Diablo

With the Low Rider El Diablo, Harley-Davidson has leveled up the strange bedfellows of opulence and austerity. Parked on its side stand, the layered, faded, and pinstriped custom paint is breathtaking, highlighted by the textured black finishes of the valve covers and various other metal bits. Swinging a leg over

Jan/Feb '23

Review: 2023 Triumph Tiger 1200 GT Explorer

Triumph’s stable of Tiger 1200s includes five models—GT, GT Pro, GT Explorer, Rally Pro, and Rally Explorer. The three models with the GT tag are more pavement focused, rolling on 19-inch front and 18-inch rear cast aluminum wheels wearing Metzeler Tourance tires. The two Rally models are more

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2023 Suzuki GSX-8S: A New Street Fighter

Move over, Yamaha MT-07. Step aside, Kawasaki Z650. There’s a new parallel-twin Japanese naked in town and it’s ready to throw down. The 2023 Suzuki GSX-8S is a ground-up new model from the Hamamatsu-based manufacturer. The bike features an equally all-new parallel-twin DOHC engine with a 270-degree crankshaft

Roundtrip Tour Premium Content

Santa Maria Weekend Romp

In the summer of 2011, my then-girlfriend Maria and I took the then-new BMW K1600GTL for an evaluation ride to Yosemite National Park. It was her maiden voyage aboard a two-wheel tourer, as well as her first visit to the Sierra Nevada. The next year, my now-wife and I were

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LiveWire Del Mar Orders Electrify New York Stock Exchange

September 27 was a double-whammy kind of day for Harley-Davidson’s electrified counterpart, LiveWire. On the day, LiveWire began taking reservations for its forthcoming S2 Del Mar model, while also going live on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol LVWR. With its listing, LiveWire became the

Sep/Oct '22

Review: 2022 BMW K1600 Grand America

Having just ridden the new Indian Pursuit, I was eagerly anticipating the Bavarian interpretation of a heavyweight bagger with a backrest. One may quip that the opposed-twin of the R 18 Transcontinental may better represent that particular segment. But the R 18 B model with a backrest doesn’t have

Sep/Oct '22

Review: 2022 Indian Pursuit Limited

> The first thing I noticed upon straddling the 2022 Indian Pursuit Limited was that it’s built with size in mind. Endeavoring For Touring Supremacy With my derriere against the back of the seat, my arms were at full lock, gripping a handlebar that’s among the widest I’

May/Jun '22

Review: 2022 LiveWire ONE

> LiveWire, the one-time harbinger of Harley-Davidson’s electrified future, was relaunched last year as a standalone original equipment manufacturer (OEM) with the titular name of ONE gracing its only model offering. The financial repercussion of this seismic rebranding was an MSRP decrease of $7,800 from $29,799 to

Mar/Apr '22

Review: 2022 Ducati Multistrada V4 Pikes Peak

> The sun was dropping fast and taking the temperature with it, but we were at the bottom of Hwy 243, one of the best stretches of twisty pavement southern California has to offer. And just because none of the other journalists (except the Canadian, of course) bothered bringing heated