Church of MO: 2010 Triumph Rocket III Roadster Vs. 2010 Star VMax

Holy of moleys, the miracle isn’t that the VMax is still around, but that Yamaha wants to sell you one for $1501 less than in 2010 – a deflationary $17,999. The Triumph Rocket III of yore could’ve been yours for just $13,999. The reinvented 2020 Rocket 3 has much more kept up with inflation, but also with modern technology, and would no doubt give the old VMax an even rougher run for its money. Let he who is without 160 horsepower cast the first throne.

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Motorcycle Rental: Everything You Need to Know

So you’re thinking about renting a motorcycle? Maybe you’re planning a vacation to a far off land where transporting your own motorcycle would be cost-prohibitive or perhaps you’re looking to get some seat time on a potential purchase. Whatever the reason, motorcycle rental is a great way to try something new or add some riding potential to a vacation. There are dozens of motorcycle rental companies around the world, some big, some small, but usually the process is relatively similar when it comes to the rental experience. We’ve put together what we believe to be the major points you should consider when looking to rent a motorcycle. 

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The KTM Duke 200 Is Here

We’ll have to quit making little-bike jokes about the 390 Duke, because KTM just released details of its new 200 Duke naked. You know how much we all love the 390 (also the 390 Adventure), and we have no doubt the KTM 200 Duke will be just as much fun albeit at a less rapid pace. 

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Church of MO: 2010 Indian Chief Vintage Review

“This might be the best quality chrome on a production bike I’ve seen to date,” quipped Pete on the 2010 Indian Chief Vintage’s high-luster shiny stuff. Indeed, the future “looks bright,” as Indian focuses on top quality, sticks to its guns, and lets the top-of-the-range Chief Vintage lead the way toward continued pride in the company’s slogan: “America’s First Motorcycle.” Verily, it is always sunniest before the axe falls: One year later, Stellican folded its North Carolina wigwam and sold Indian to Polaris.

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How to Test Ride Practically Any Motorcycle

Unlike cars, it’s not as easy to walk in to your local motorcycle dealership and take a bike for a test ride. And what do you do if you’re looking at buying a used model you can’t easily find in dealerships? Well, wonder no more. Thanks to the internet and the share economy it has helped create, companies like Riders Share let you easily rent a wide variety of popular motorcycles with a few taps of your phone screen, allowing you to test drive til your heart’s content. Go ahead – give it a try! But once you’ve got the bike in your hands, what sort of things should you be paying attention to?

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5 Things You Need To Know About Lane-Sharing

With Motorcycle.com HQ based in sunny southern California, we know a thing or two about lane-sharing. Heck, for the first nine years that I lived in California, my only mode of transportation was motorcycles. It’s a much faster way to get around. Moving from the cornfields of Illinois with its single-lane highways and sparse traffic to the sprawling population-dense metropolis of Los Angeles was a culture shock to my 19-year old sensibilities and the idea of lane-sharing my way through it was daunting, to say the least. I was timid the first time. Fast forward 11 years and I now feel safer and more comfortable sharing lanes than I do sitting in the middle of them.

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Suzuki Burgman 400 Long-Term Wrap-Up

There’s really not that much to wrap, frankly. It’s been mostly drama-free. The Suzuki Burgman 400 entered my fleet in mid-March with just 70 miles on the clock, and now sits at 731. That’s not many miles, but you have to understand that Burgman trips mostly happen 4 or 5 miles at a time, the nature of the suburban scooter’s life. Unlike many scooters, though, the Burgman’s size and firepower mean you can take it on extended journeys when you feel like it, which we did at least once, and would’ve done more if the garage didn’t also contain a revolving fleet of bigger bikes that also needed “testing.” With a top speed over 90 mph and an excellent seat for rider and passenger, you really can go places on the Burgman. The linkage-type rear suspension is preload-adjustable, and helps the Burgie ride more like a motorcycle than a scooter.

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Harley or Indian? Which American Iron Icon is Right for You?

Two weeks ago we attempted:  Indian vs Harley, Five Ways to Pick the Motorcycle That’s Right For You, and that was kind of fun. But it didn’t really delve much into the psychology of the thing much more than to observe that the love of any motorcycle is a more subjective thing than most major purchases.

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2021 Honda ADV150 Review - First Ride

Adventure riding and adventure motorcycles are all the rage right now worldwide. While the idea of blending some of the off-road styling into scooters isn’t an entirely new idea, Honda has taken this approach to an entirely new level with the X-ADV, a 750cc Parallel Twin scooter with a dual-clutch transmission. Sadly, we won’t be seeing that model stateside any time soon thanks to US regulation of what constitutes a scooter versus a motorcycle (Honda says the X-ADV can’t be considered a scooter and without foot controls, it cannot be considered a motorcycle).

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Why You Need ABS On Your Next Motorcycle

It goes without saying that motorcycles are inherently more dangerous than cars, but that hasn’t stopped motorcycle manufacturers from trying to reduce the safety gap as much as possible. It’s often worth looking at the safety systems in the car world to get a glimpse into what might be coming down the pipeline for motorcycles.

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Now The MV Agusta Brutale And Dragster 800 Models Get The Smart Clutch System

Following in the footsteps of the Turismo Veloce 800 Lusso SCS, MV Agusta is adding the Brutale 800 RR SCS, Dragster 800 RR SCS and Dragster 800 RC SCS. In case you were wondering, SCS stands for the Smart Clutch System – essentially a clutch system that doesn’t require you to use the clutch at all, even at a stop. Dirt riders might be familiar with the technology as American company Rekluse has been offering clutchless options for ages.

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California Trials Invitational Presented by GASGAS

Trials is an incredible sport. What those competitors manage to do on two-wheels seems to disregard the laws of physics. I have to admit though, while I find the feats of trials riders’ gravity-defying moto acrobatics mind-boggling, I’ve maintained only a passing interest in trials that has rarely strayed further than spending more time than I should watching videos of Toni Bou, HRC’s 26-time world trials champion, on Instagram. That said, when the invite came through the MO inbox from GasGas to attend its inaugural California Trial Invitational in Murrieta, CA, I was more than willing to accept the assignment. 

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Ask MO Anything: Can I Use a Clip-Type Master Link on My R1 Chain?

Dear MOby,

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Harley-Davidson Provides Update on Rewire, New Hardwire Plan Coming in Q4

In its second quarter 2020 presentation, Harley-Davidson provided an update on its Rewire strategy, clarifying specific details about the plan, and offered a few hints about its follow-up, the newly-christened Hardwire plan which will carry the company through 2021 to 2025. Moving forward, Harley-Davidson plans to reduce its model lineup by 30%, will concentrate its focus on 50 markets, and will proceed to launch its first adventure-touring model in 2021.

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Indian Vs Harley: Five Ways to Pick the Motorcycle That's Right for You

It’s an age-old question in America – or it was, at least, until Indian threw in the towel in 1953. But now it’s back again, ever since Polaris bought Indian and started cranking out modern new versions in 2013 (based upon its nearly 20 years experience building Victory motorcycles). Either way, both Harley-Davidson and Indian are genuine USA royalty, right up there with Coca-Cola, Levis and the Trump Organization – and as such, both enjoy an authenticity that non-native brands can only envy when it comes to penetrating the American market. Here are some things to consider if you’ve decided to take the plunge.

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Skidmarks: Black Lives Motor

Last week, I read a Facebook post from noted moto-journalism gadfly Peter Jones who shared an ancient motorcycle safety film, Uneasy Rider starring Peter Fonda and Evel Knievel, of all people. As a former motorcycle safety instructor, I was intrigued and much impressed by the entertaining and friendly nature of the film (as well as the groovy ’70s dialog, man). In fact, I was so smitten by the film that when the credit for producer/director appeared at the end, I had to Google it to see what other films he had done.

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Electric Motorcycles: 5 Myths You Shouldn't Believe

As electric vehicles (EVs) become more mainstream thanks to the automotive industry, we see more and more information swirling around the internet. Unfortunately, not all of that information is up to date or correct at all. With battery tech improving drastically over the past decade, it can be hard to keep up with the current facts. Additionally, with so much information available, it can be hard to separate the wheat from the chaff to discern what’s true and what isn’t. 

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MO Interview: Joe Roberts' Dad!

If you’re a MotoGP fan, you probably weren’t able to escape the fact that Joe Roberts became the first American to win a pole position in ten years at this year’s season opener in Qatar (after he’d set a new lap record in practice). Okay, well, it was Moto2, granted, but that’s still a big deal, given that today’s Moto2 champs are tomorrow’s MotoGP ones – and also given that Joe’s the only American riding in any MotoGP class. Roberts went on to a fourth-place finish at Qatar, which is another big deal, given that there are 30 riders ding-dong battling it out in Moto2, and he even led for a lap or two. And suddenly the season was halted. What fresh hell is this?

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SoCal Distancing: The Central Coast

Something about California’s central coast never gets old. It’s not just a single something though, rather a whole lot of somethings. The color palette plays a part for me. The way the wind-swept Monterey Cypress’ deep green leaves contrast with its pale gray bark as it hangs hundreds of feet above jagged cliff faces. The ominous dark blue of the ocean that transitions to turquoise in the shallow waters where the Pacific meets the coast. And the coastline itself, a melange of Franciscan assemblage topped with golden coastal prairie scrub. 

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Lessons From A MOron: How To Use The Rear Brake

The rear brake is probably one of the most taboo subjects in motorcycling, second only to the black art that is motorcycle suspension. The truth is neither subject has to be any more intimidating than you make it to be, and the rear brake is actually very useful. Granted, the front brake(s) carry the majority of the workload when it comes to slowing down and stopping, but knowing how to use the rear brake effectively will serve you better when it comes to bike control rather than simply scrubbing speed.

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MotoGP: Tire Warmers On

Despite the fact that, virus-wise, the U.S. is starting to resemble Dante’s Inferno, over in Europe things appear to be trending well. MotoGP/Dorna has been itching, for obvious reasons, to get some kind of season started and in the books. The sheer amounts of money involved in canceling an entire MotoGP season are unimaginable. They need to get a 2020 season, this kind of MotoGP Lite thing, going, and soon.

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2020 Honda Africa Twin Quick Ride Review

Any motorcycle reviewer will tell you it takes a long ride and several miles to really understand how good – or bad – a motorcycle is. This is especially true when the motorcycle in question is a model refresh and not an entirely new machine. But this might be the first time I can remember where just riding from my house to the stop sign at the end of my street left an impression that would last my entire time with the bike. The updated, 2020 Honda Africa Twin is good. Really good.

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From "More Roads" to "Rewire" – Where Does Harley-Davidson Go From Here?

During its first quarter report in late April, Harley-Davidson announced it was changing course on its “More Roads” business plan, replacing it with the new “ Rewire” strategy. While Harley-Davidson has only described the new plan in broad strokes, we’re already seeing some signs of Rewire falling into place. As the Rewire plan continues to develop, we figured we’d look back at the previous plan to help us figure out where Harley-Davidson goes from here. (UPDATED: July 9, 2020: Harley-Davidson says it will provide more details about Rewire with its Q2 results later this month. Harley-Davidson also says Rewire “set the foundation for a new 2021-2025 strategic plan which is expected to be shared in Q4.”)

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2020 Polaris Slingshot SL Video Review

In the wake of our 2020 Polaris Slingshot SL Review, we present the latest Sean Matic production delivering moving pictures straight to your autocycle-loving eyes. It was an interesting experience, my few weeks with the Slingshot SL. Out of all of the expensive, exotic, and high-performance machines I’ve had the opportunity to scoot around on, none have elicited the inquisitive stares, hurried cell phone pictures, and general curiosity of the Slingshot. As a motorcyclist, it makes me kind of sad, but I get it, the thing looks like the Batmobile – at least from the front. The greater population can relate to this thing more than some red sportbike – even if that red sportbike is a Ducati Panigale V4 that’ll blow the doors off of most production vehicles you’re likely to find cruising the city streets.

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Reader's Ride: Beau's Honda RC51

Beau Horton is a self-confessed Honda RC51 lover, as are many folks out there. Here he regales us with his personal love affair with Honda’s direct challenge to Ducati – the RC51. 

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Reader's Ride: Kriss's 1981 BMW R80

This week’s exciting Reader’s Ride is in memory of our dearly departed Rocky Stonepebble, who I think claimed to be Scottish, didn’t he? When he wasn’t busy flinging poo through the bars to incite anarchy and hockey. Kriss and his BMW reside in the Scottish highlands.

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Walt Siegl Motorcycles

Has everybody but me already seen this guy’s work? I bumped into his latest, simply named the Adventure, when I was slurking around the web looking at Ducati ADV bikes. Not sure how this works, since the brand new Scrambler 1100 Sport PRO we just tested tipped our scales 457 pounds worth, with 4 gallons of gas. Walt claims his Adventure, also packing an 1100 Ducati motor, weighs 350 pounds. With 6.5 gallons of fuel. Light is right.

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Reader's Rides: Jablonski's Buell 1125R

Jacob Jablonski tells us the story so many of us already know by heart. This is Jablonski’s personal account of his relationship with his first motorcycle, a Buell 1125R:

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Church of MO: 2000 Laverdas

Laverda, in Italian, means “wash your hands,” and that’s what Piaggio did after it acquired the small Breganze brand circa 2000 – washed its hands of the entire brand. (Piaggio bought Moto Guzzi at the same time.) Seven years earlier, though, one Francesco Tognon had bought the brand and produced the bikes you see here, based around an updated 668cc version of a pre-existing parallel twin. Some brave people from Texas, Laverda USA!, brought some bikes to California for the motorcycle press to crash. Why not? They were expendable.

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Ask MO Anything: Should I Buy a Motorcycle With a Salvage Title?

Dear MOby,

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Reader's Rides: The Orange Bike

Terry Hopkins tells us the tale of “the orange bike” whose powerplant narrowly escaped a fate worse than death – slowly rotting away in a dark dank Florida shop corner – only then to be stuffed into an exhumed Honda CB frame. The resulting build is more impressive than you might think: 

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Church of MO: 2000 BMW F 650 GS Ride Report

A reading from the book of Schvetz: On this very day [almost exactly 20 years ago] I have been running errands in city traffic, cruising effortlessly on the highway, carving some canyons and trail riding on the same machine for you, the lazy mouse dragger, upon a strange yet captivating combination of curvaceous lines, purposeful looking parts and some really tacky details. Yea, and verily – BMW used to make some very nice big Singles.

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Then Again, Maybe It's Not All About the Money

The setting is a small Midwestern college, the type that pretty much constitutes its own dot on the map, with brick-paved streets downtown, hardwood shade in the park, and colonial architecture peppered about campus. At its periphery: the house where you are presently sleeping, nestled between manicured quads and second-growth forests, a pastoral acropolis and the amber cornfields beyond. This house is, in contrast, a structure most easily defined as a festering sore bandaged with aluminum siding. Its insulation, for instance, is shredded newspaper. Winter heat circulates via a fan suspended from coat hangers affixed to a stained drop-ceiling above a gas stove with broken igniters. The walls are so rampantly mouse-infested, you’ve resorted to putting an overturned pot with peanut butter on it in the center of the flooded kitchen sink each night – a system devised because it’s easier to run the floating rodents down the disposal than to empty a hundred traps every morning before class.

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Church of MO: 2000 Kawasaki ZX-6R First Ride

Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.” Which is interesting, because at the millennial, when Kawasaki updated its sweet ZX-6R, I was 66.6% as old as I am now. Coincidence?! I think not. I have to say, though motorcycles really have cometh a long way, everything else seems to be slipping backward. COVID 19, killer hornets, a springtime with no MotoGP… Washeth thine hands, friends, amen.

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Reader's Rides: 1999 Honda VTR1000F Firestorm - Part 1

When you think of a 1000cc Honda V-Twin sportbike from the start of the millennium, what comes to mind? Naturally, it’s the VTR1000F, right? Wait, what’s that? You’re thinking of the RC51? Well, Micky Garneau wasn’t. Granted he was looking for a street bike, but the time, effort, and money he’s put into his VTR1000F Firestorm, otherwise known as the Superhawk in the US, rivals that of many racebike builds we’ve seen. Here’s Part 1 of Micky’s bike build.

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Is Now the Time to Buy a New Motorcycle?

Yes! I mean No! The correct answer is maybe. It all depends on if you care about money at all, the love of which is the root of all evil. If you’re not worried about your income stream or getting the absolute best deal on a new bike, now is as good a time to buy as any and better than most since it’s springtime, and all the pretty new horses are out!

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2020 Ducati Streetfighter V4S Review - First Ride

I couldn’t take it anymore. My surroundings were whizzing past my eyeballs quicker than my brain could process. Instead of relenting and slowing down, I thought maybe an upshift would bring the engine speed lower and give me a moment to recalibrate. But before clicking up a gear I had to glance down at the tach to see how fast the engine was spinning. It was somewhere around 10-11,000 rpm. That’s pretty fast for most motorcycles, especially those displacing 1103 cc – but the Desmosedici Stradale inside the 2020 Ducati Streetfighter V4S I’m piloting shows an (indicated) redline of 14,500 rpm. I still had over 4,000 rpm left to melt my brain! Incredible.

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2020 KTM 890 Duke R - First Ride Review

Are you sick of us talking about KTM Dukes yet? And by “us” I primarily mean Evans. Anyone who’s followed this space knows he bought a 790 Duke and has modified it to his version of what an R model should be. The list is relatively short and sweet, and covers the primary weaknesses of the 790. So let’s go down the list:

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KTM 790 Duke Project: Building A 790 R

When I initiated this project with MO’s long-term 790 Duke, my goal was simple. I just wanted an excuse to keep the bike as long as possible before I would be required to give it back to KTM. However, even before I considered buying the 790 for myself, I hatched another plan. I was going to build my vision of what a 790 Duke R would look like. Now, KTM has let the cat out of the bag and proved that a 790 Duke R really was never planned, meaning that it decided on an 890 Duke R instead. While it is beyond my capabilities to bump up the engine’s displacement (and retune the counterbalancers or shorten the shifter throw, among other things), as I run down the list of changes I applied to my 790, I don’t think that, although I was just trying to craft my conception of the ideal naked middleweight Twin, I strayed very far from where KTM has taken the 890.

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MO Tested: AGV X3000 Review

The AGV X3000, if you hadn’t noticed, is AGV’s heritage-inspired line of full-face helmets. What sets the X3000 apart from others cashing in on the retro resurgence is the fact that this helmet is designed to replicate AGV’s first full-face helmet that donned the head of none other than the legendary motorcycle racer, Giacomo Agostini in 1969. The fact that Ago himself helped design the original helmet that the X3000 is based off gives this nostalgic lid a bit more street cred than your run of the mill vintage brain bucket.

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Kramer HKR-EVO2 Review

Motorcycling is a niche activity, with sportbikes comprising a small niche within it. Track-only sportbikes make up such a miniscule niche within a niche within a niche that they’re almost not worth talking about. Until one so cool comes along that we’re forced to pay attention. The Kramer HKR-EVO2R is such a machine. This is its story.

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Don Emde On Creating The Speed Kings

If you know only one thing about Don Emde, it is probably that, with his 1972 Daytona 200 victory, he became the first – and only – son of a Daytona 200 winner to duplicate the feat. Since those days, Emde has devoted his life to motorcycling. He was the publisher of Motorcycle Dealer News from 1985-1990. For the past 26 years, he has been Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of two magazines for LeMans Corp: Parts Magazine and Drag Specialties Magazine. Ten years ago, his portfolio was expanded to include a third title, Parts Europe Magazine, for its Trier, Germany-based warehouse.

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Readers' Rides: 1990 Honda NS144F

Robert Perkins tells us the tale of his hopped-up 1990 Honda NS144F:

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The Latest Vyrus is the Alyen 998

The spiritual heirs of the Bimota Tesi are still at work over there on the Adriatic coast, in Italy, creating their own Vyruses in spite of the corona one. This latest hub-steered creation, in the works for nine years, uses an all new HWSS (Hydraulic Wired Steering System) in yet another valiant effort to overcome the limitations of the telescopic fork. Ducati has supplied 20 special Superquadro 1299 engines, which we suppose means 20 Alyens will be built. The price, Vyrus says, is “not available.” I didn’t really need to be told.

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2020 Kawasaki Ninja 1000SX Second Look

Nope, this is not a First Ride review. Yes, I’m annoyed too. But hey, COVID-19 is affecting everyone in different ways. I won’t whine about not getting to ride new motorcycles for X number of weeks if you folks promise not to whine about, “Where’s the Ninja 1000 SX review!” I understand your anticipation, we feel the same way over here. When our comprehensive Ninja 1000 SX data dump (basically just a giant Kawasaki press release) was published last November during EICMA 2019, Kawasaki spilled all of the beans on the new model. Last week we had a “virtual press launch” which was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, there was no new information to publish since Kawi had already released it all.

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Bringing A 20 Year-Old Motorcycle Back To Life

I credit my early foundations in motorcycling to my beloved Suzuki SV650. Like with any sport, you need to learn the basics before you can progress to the more advanced stuff, and while my motorcycling career progressed on a number of different motorcycles over the years, my foundation was solidly built on my humble little SV.

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The Benefits Of Trail Braking

The internet is full of riding advice, isn’t it? Do this. Do that. Hang off. Knee down. Elbow out(!). You get the picture. Now, allow me to add my two cents to the armchair debate, on the subject that’s arguably the most controversial among internet rider coaches everywhere – whether or not to trail brake. The short answer is yes, you should be trailing the brakes. But we’ll get to the reasons why in just a moment.

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Whatever: Social Distancing Early Adopter

(WARNING! This is an opinion piece by MO’s Senior Content Editor and does not represent MO’s official position on anything at all.)

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The $16,500 Challenge: 2020 Ducati Panigale V2 Vs. 2019 Honda CBR1000RR

The title of this story pretty much sums it all, doesn’t it? Today’s flagship literbikes are getting increasingly expensive, putting them out of the realm of all but the most well off among us. So, let’s look at sportbikes at the lower end of the price scale, shall we? Mainly the Ducati Panigale V2. Ducati’s last V-Twin sportbike, the super-mid comes in at 955cc and $16,500 (well, $16,495 at the time I’m writing this). I had lots of good things to say about it when I got to sample it around the Jerez circuit at the end of 2019. Mainly, I was impressed with how easy it was to ride (a refreshing thing after hustling 200 hp beasts around lately. I know, I’m spoiled) and how well the electronics work. 

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How To Countersteer A Motorcycle

Part of the fun of riding motorcycles comes from the mastery of controlling an unstable machine. Without their riders, motorcycles can’t stand up by themselves at a stop. When it comes to riding motorcycles, being able to precisely place your motorcycle where you want it on the pavement comes from practice and understanding how motorcycles turn. That technique is countersteering.

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Social Distancing With Indian's New FTR1200 Rally

Way back in the old days of early March 2020, a huge crowd assembled among gathering clouds. The Supercross at Daytona ran on schedule to packed stands. It would be the last major motorcycle race for the foreseeable future, but we didn’t know that. The witnesses were mostly young and beautiful: These are the people who will carry the world forward when our boomer lungs fill with pus, and we utter our final, intubated gurgle. We saw the crazy reports of toilet paper hoarding circulated on social media. We weren’t blind. We knew something was coming. On this, our last night of innocence, we sat shoulder to shoulder blasting out throaty cheers to over-modulated rock music and watched Eli Tomac slowly reel in and then pass Ken Roczen to take the win. Then the shit hit the fan.

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What The Heck Is Rake and Trail?

Read enough motorcycle reviews and you’ll inevitably hear people like the MO staff talk about two things: Rake and Trail. It’s mentioned so much because rake and trail have a major role to play in the way your motorcycle handles, and the people who design these motorcycles are well aware of this when going from CAD drawing to real-life machine. 

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MO Tested: Sidi Crossfire 3 Review

The first pair of off-road boots I bought when I started riding dirtbikes were some entry-level Alpinestars Tech 3s. The low price and the relative flexibility compared to others on the market made them a great choice for a newbie. I remember how little I could feel in those when I started using them and how foreign the experience felt to me entirely.

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Church of MO: 2000 Kawasaki Vulcan 1500 Classic Fi

It was 20 years ago (almost) today, Sgt. Minime taught the band to play. We’ve been going in and out of style, but we were all guaranteed to raise a smile on this new Kawasaki junket in Daytona, including Tom Riles who captured all the excitement in stunning Velvia. Or was it Kodachrome? I’ll FedEx you the slides next week… While we were there, clattering around on Kawasaki’s new big cruiser and being 20 years more irresponsible, we also watched Mat Mladin beat Nicky Hayden’s brand-new RC51 to the line to win the Daytona 200. It was kind of a big deal. Those were the days, my friend. 

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Call For Submissions: Readers' Rides

“When the house is filled with dread, place the beds head to head. `Tis an old Armenian custom,” or so says Emma Dunn in the 1939 classic Son of Frankenstein – the awesome original film Mel Brooks built Young Frankenstein upon 35 years later – and let’s see… 46 years ago. If you haven’t seen both lately, now that you’re cooped up could be a good time to do so. 

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Seoul Survivor: How an International Coalition Helped Me Import Half of South Korea's Honda RC45 Supply

My greatest fear was of not taking the chance, of wimping out, of being that half-drunk guy at the bar, many years in the future, mumbling about the special whine of straight-cut gear-driven overhead cams, or staring at the floor in embarrassment, unable to pronounce “homologation” on the third try. Everyone who’s ever had a dream bike can tell you a story about it; most of them end with the words, “I wish I had it back.”

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MO Tested: 6D ATR-1 Review

Recently, while practicing my government-mandated social distancing in the middle of nowhere on dirtbikes, I noticed a friend of mine had a new 6D ATR-2, 6D’s latest dirtbike lid. I asked him what he thought of it, “Well, I haven’t worn it too much yet, but I thought I’d get the safest lid I could.” It would seem, for those in the know, that 6D has made a name for itself – within a relatively short time, with the company being founded in 2011 – with it’s Omni-Directional Suspension (ODS) technology making for a “safer” helmet. In what is becoming a sea of great offerings, 6D helmets started a revolution in terms of solutions to injuries from rotational impacts with its original ATR-1 off-road helmet. 

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SAT Testing: Slingshot Automatic Transmission

At Daytona, Polaris loaned me a Slingshot for a few hours and I’m not even sure the three-wheeled Slingshot should be in Motorcycle.com, but that’s Evans’ problem. I just do the typing. The 2020 Slingshot is mostly new from the brake pedal forward. The driving experience is 80% automotive, 20% ATV Quad, and 100% motorcycle when it rains. It’s going to take me more than a few hours to acclimate to the oddness of this gearbox and the three-wheeler’s handling characteristics.

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Church of MO: 1995 Suzuki GSX-R1100 First Ride

And the number of the beast was 493 pounds dry, claimethed Suzuki in 1995. If that was the case then fluids were waaay heavy 25 years ago, brethren: Filling the tank with 5.5 gallons of Ethyl, adding oil to the engine, fork tubes and rear shock, coolant to the radiator, five gallons of brake fluid, and lead acid to the battery had these things approaching the weight of Air Force One, fully Trumped out with gold fixtures. Guesseth what? Is it any coincidence that as these things have shrunk over the years to become ever racier, so have their sales? The GSX-R1100 was in fact a midrange-monstrous sport-tourer in a track suit – too big to fail! How I long for one today, but with cruise control… 

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Best Scrambler Motorcycles

Scramblers are one of my favorite genres of motorcycles these days. I’ve always been a fan of the retro off-road vibe these types of bikes are centered around. The original scramblers, of course, weren’t off-road machines at all, but rather small street bikes chopped down to the essentials for weight savings and altered for better off-road performance. In this most recent modern era of scramblers, we’ve gone through the same trends seeing “scrambler” styling with little intention of actual off-road use, and just like in the ‘60’s, we are now seeing manufacturers offering these machines with real off-road chops. 

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