Motorcycle Review

A collection of 40 posts

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2022 Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 Special

The first impression is always the most important, whether you’re visiting your potential mother-in-law for the first time, going to a job interview, or seeing a brand-new bike at a motorcycle show. The Harley-Davidson Pan America sure made an impression when it stood undisguised and naked in a glass

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2024 Honda Shadow Phantom

Honda is celebrating yet another anniversary in the company’s rich and influential history in motorcycling. It was 40 years ago in 1983 when the Japanese manufacturer introduced the Shadow, a motorcycle specifically targeting America's mid-sized V-twin cruiser market. Over the years, the Shadow has become legendary, with design cues

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2023 BMW R 1250 RT

Are you curious about what the “RT” stands for in the name of the 2023 BMW R 1250 RT? Well, the “R”  is for “Reise,” translating from German as “journey, trip, or voyage,” while the “T” means “Touring.” For the past 20 years, the RT has routinely been one of

Motorcycle Review

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 Kawasaki Z650RS

Bike manufacturers are building more and more modern retro motorcycles striving to capture a bygone era—one in which Kawasaki figured prominently. Now, that Japanese company has crafted an exemplary return to the stylings that attracted an entire generation to two wheels. The 2023 Z650RS possesses the design cues and

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2023 Suzuki V-Strom 800 DE

When Suzuki introduced the V-Strom in 2004, its name was derived from a combination of its V-twin engine and the German word “strom,” which translates to stream or power. The V-Strom is still with us, having proven itself a formidable machine in the street/adventure realm. In fact, the bike’

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2023 QJ Motor SRT750X

The wind carries over my chest and shoulders like trustworthy, affirming hands. The engine glides me at 80 mph down the freeway on a sunny day, where the road bleeds into the blue sky. It suddenly occurs to me—I’m riding a motorcycle. Everything is good. I’ve ridden

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

Jul/Aug '23

Review: 2023 Can-Am Spyder RT Sea-to-Sky

Can-Am has always marched to the beat of its own drum. A subsidiary of Bombardier (the Canadian business jet manufacturer), the company invented both the Ski-Doo snowmobile and the Sea-Doo watercraft. When it rolled out the innovative three-wheeled Spyder in 2007, many of us in the motorcycle community didn’t

Jul/Aug '23

Review: 2023 Husqvarna Norden 901 Expedition—An Explorer in South Africa

Expedition implies a long journey. It’s curiosity put into action. The pursuit of wonder, mystery, and the unknown. It’s something that comes naturally to motorcyclists. That’s part of the magic of riding, right? Husqvarna thinks so, too. Just over a year after releasing the Norden 901, the

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2023 Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 Special

Harley-Davidson made a decidedly bold gambit in 2020 with the introduction of the Pan America. After all, America’s stalwart heavy V-twin cruiser company—the 800-pound (quite literally) gorilla in the OEM room—was entering the ADV world, a realm already dominated by capable machines from a number of manufacturers.

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

Motorcycle Review

Review: Royal Enfield Hunter 350

Royal Enfield has come on very strong these past few years, tapping into the generational emergence of young people buying into active lifestyles, specifically motorcycling. The company (the oldest motorcycle manufacturer in the world) has managed to capture the fancy of newbies with a range of accessible, unintimidating smaller displacement

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2023 Suzuki Boulevard C50T

Since rebranding its cruiser lineup in 2005 as Boulevard, Suzuki has earned its share of fans for its metro cruiser—and for good reason. The Boulevard line currently features the C50, C50T, and M109R B.O.S.S. While the 109 sports the largest displacement in the group, the concept

Motorcycle Review

Review: Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650

Riding motorcycles in India is a unique experience for those habituated to the relative predictability of American, Japanese, and European roads. For one thing, there are a lot more cows—and they tend to be on the road. That’s just daily life for the millions of riders aboard the

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

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2023 KTM 890 Adventure

KTM chose Portugal as the place to show off the 2023 base model of the 890 Adventure. It couldn’t have been more suitable. The country’s winding paved roads, interlaced with various off-road sections, run the gamut from skittish hard-pack to lush loam, from deep sand to tree-lined rock-strewn

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2023 Ducati Multistrada V4 Rally

Ducati has redesigned the Multistrada to create the Rally model, a premium adventure bike to travel faster, farther, and more comfortably, even off-road and with a passenger. I took the bike for my first ride in Sardinia, Italy. With the Rally, Ducati goes one step further than the previous Multistradas

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2023 Aprilia Tuareg

Many things have been said and written about the off-road qualities of the Aprilia Tuareg. But while private and semi-official teams kept lining up at the starting gates of ADV raids and European off-road races with the Yamaha Ténéré 700 bikes, Aprilia still hadn’t seen the opportunities that the

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

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2023 Janus Halcyon 450

There’s something odd about this picture. I’m motoring along the backstreets of Venice, CA, on a motorcycle that is somewhat deficient in terms of power. There’s engine vibration ebbing up through the chassis into the handlebar and a pronounced sound of chain lash and road noise. Yet,

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2019 Royal Enfield INT650

I like the seating position on a Universal Japanese Motorcycle (UJM) and on classic British iron. I also like their looks. When I was a kid, my mom suggested I try building a model airplane. At the time, I was so young—probably around 7—that I didn’t know

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2023 Vespa GTS 300

Oh, to be 19 in Rome. That’s the age Vespa turns officially with its newest incarnation of the GTS scooter, given that the Granturismo line was born in 2003. It gives poetic significance to Ernest Hemingway’s famous adage: “One doesn’t grow old in Rome, but they grow

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2023 Royal Enfield Scram 411

Motorcycles and motorcycling, as well as the people who ride them, are changing. Over the past decade, among many enthusiasts, there has been a noticeable swing away from focusing on raw power, performance, and top speed in favor of more simplistic riding experiences. A large segment of the motorcycle community—