Twenty-five years ago, Yamaha had an 849 cc liquid-cooled 270-degree cranked parallel Twin in a steel birdcage frame, but the TRX850 faded from view before it even made it to America. Today, 270-degree parallel Twins and trellis frames are all the rage. All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.

For many riders, putting gas in their bike is as simple as rolling up to your nearest gas station, putting a credit card in the slot, and filling up the tank. For the majority of riders, that’s all they need to know, other than what to do when it comes time to put their bike in storage.

“It’s actually not that bad,” is my most-repeated phrase as I flit from flower to flower on this new Benelli TRK 502 X. We try to give Chinese motorcycles equal opportunity on MO when we can, but it’s frankly not usually a pleasant experience for us or the Chinese motorcycle.

As a long-time truck guy, I fell into that trap as a sort of default to convention. When you hang around motorcyclists long enough, and when the job calls for transporting multiple bikes at a time, you get a truck. The two go hand in hand. Pretty quickly, however, you realize some of the downsides to truck ownership when it comes to hauling bikes: high load heights, and having your stuff exposed to the elements – and prying eyes when you’re not around. In my particular case, I had drilled my truck bed to accept a chock system specifically for securely loading and strapping two motorcycles without having to thread a strap through the other bike’s front wheel.

If you feel like you’ve seen the 2022 Zero FXE somewhere before, there’s a good chance that you have – or at least something similar. In 2019, Zero teamed up with industrial design firm, Huge Design to create the Zero SM concept for the Portland-based One Moto Show. While Huge Design is mostly known for consumer product design, they had been collaborating with Zero at the component level for some time prior. 

I thought it best to make a trip back east for this story and the ones to follow. Putting down 3,000 quick and dirty miles on the way back to my roots sounded a lot more worthwhile than just flying in to ride for only a few days before flying back out. I wanted to ride thousands of miles traversing this country – one that contains so many different landscapes and cultures all bubbling over in a big ol’ melting pot of freedom. Also, I needed the forced introspection.

I wangled a ride down the California coast from San Francisco a couple months ago on a brand-new 2021 Ducati SuperSport 950 S. Happily, my old friend Jimbo lives halfway home toward my digs 425 miles southward – 212.5 miles being the ideal amount per day on a sporty Ducati SS. Not only has he become a tri-tip gourmand who cooks by feel and needs no meat thermometer, Jimbo’s excellent partner, Cristina, set me up in the lavishly appointed octagonal Jefferson Suite.

By now you might have forgotten about Part 1 of the Lightfighter electric superbike saga. That’s our bad for taking so long getting this second video edited and released, but the world’s been a crazy place lately. While we certainly encourage you to click the link to catch yourself up on Part 1, the quick recap goes a little something like this: after being asked to ride and help develop version 1 of the Lightfighter LFR19 electric superbike, Brian Wismann and Ely Schless built version 2 based on my feedback. We had plenty of hopes, dreams, and intentions for the bike, but a little thing called Covid-19 threw a giant monkey wrench into those plans.

Founded in 2010, Shorai was one of the earliest manufacturers of lithium powersports batteries. Shorai has since established itself as a major player thanks to its proprietary lithium-iron phosphate (LiFePO4) cells. MO first tested Shorai’s LFX in 2011, and it impressed us enough to give it an honorable mention for that year’s MOBO awards for the Best New Product category.

In March, 2001, little did we know our pleasant little applecart was about to be rudely upset. That’s right, the www was gaining traction and MO was becoming a going concern. Six months later came the little matter of 911, which upended how we lived, or didn’t anymore, and set the world on fire – literally at first and figuratively later. Of all the air-cooled motorcycles we loved before, when ignorance was bliss and global warming was still theoretical, the big Suzuki Bandit 1200 might be the one we still miss the most. A reading from the Book of Minime and Calvin, photos by the apostle Tom of Velvia.

by Christian Brix

Now that we’ve all been uncooped up for the last year-and-a-half (those of us who ride at least) it’s time to recoop in large crowds again to ogle the vehicles we’ve been riding around on and in for the past century. It only stands to reason. And what better place to do that than the late Bob Petersen’s namesake automotive museum on the corner of Wilshire and Fairfax in LA? ADV: Overland Exhibit’s got adventure bikes ranging from a 1903 California to the Triumph that won the 1966 Baja 1000, futuristic concepts, 23 adventure-touring motorcycles and race vehicles from 1930 to the present, and sci-fi and NASA off-world exploration vehicles.

I heard about the Big Bear Run a few years ago. It was just before the 25th annual event and I was bummed to realize that my schedule wouldn’t allow me to attend. Maybe next year, I thought. Well, the 26th event came and went, and I found myself muttering those same three words. One thing was for sure though, the only way I was going to attend the event was to attempt the infamous “Hard Way.” For perspective, this year only 57% of riders who attempted the hard route actually finished, and those brave souls were awarded a finisher’s plaque for the feat afterward. 

The whole point of an action camera is to put the viewer in your seat. In our case, it’s to bring the viewer along for a ride with us and to see all the things we see in the moment. From close passes to stunning scenery, recording your ride allows you to relive those special moments over and over again. Not to mention it gives you proof when your friends say video or it didn’t happen.

Did you hear that great cry of happiness that went up through the land? No, it wasn’t the cheers associated with the change of the MotoGP of the Americas from provisional status to active on the schedule– though we are sure that many American motorcycle racing fans are quite pleased. Instead, it was most likely the cheers of three loyal MOrons who are the winners of our MotoGP giveaway. As a quick reminder, these three lucky people  gave us their contact information in exchange for a chance to win a prize package worth $868 and including: 

Earlier this week, Harley-Davidson teased a new Revolution Max-powered model that will be revealed July 13. The announcement called it a new model for the “sport segment,” and included a glimpse of the bike, which bears a striking resemblance to the Custom 1250 concept first shown in 2018.

Since its 2012 release, Honda has sold more than 35,000 of its quarter-liter CRF dual-sport variants. In addition to some other choice updates, the CRF250L and CRF250L Rally have been stroked out to 300s for 2021. The last time we dyno’d the CBR300R, it spat out 26.2 hp at 8500 rpm and 17.4 lb-ft of torque at 6800 rpm. That was an increase of four horses and two pound-feet from the previous 250cc mill. An updated transmission with tighter gear ratios and an updated slipper clutch also help the new CRF300s mesh on the trail or the street. 

While we were waiting for a V-Four superbike to emerge from across the Pacific, Aprilia launched a sneak attack from across the other pond, in 2009. In 2010 and again in 2012, Max Biaggi and the RSV4 brought World Superbike Championships home to Noale. Ten years ago, as we entered the electronic era, our man Tor Sagen rode the latest and greatest version around Jerez. 

Fun fact: Metzeler, the company we now know for its motorcycle tires, used to be in the business of making sausage casings. Yeah, sausages. Like the things we stick between buns and eat at baseball games. This was just one of the many different business ventures under the Metzeler umbrella during its 158-year history.

Last month, Harley-Davidson announced it was launching LiveWire as a separate brand dedicated to electric motorcycles, with the first LiveWire-branded model to be revealed July 8. Now that we’re about halfway there, we thought we’d take a look at recent developments from the LiveWire brand, and what we can expect at next month’s launch.

Don’t think there’s any plan for a 2021 “600 Shootout,” as the only two left are the Kawasaki and Suzuki. Sad, really. With modern quickshifters and things, these bikes might’ve evolved into something great. The Ninja 636 H2 should be along any minute now… While you’re waiting, here’s the track portion of the Supersport Shootout from a decade ago, complete with Fonzie video, starring the evergreen Troy “Trizzle” Siahaan, the Dukester himself, and Pete Brissette.

Another cool deal about getting old is you’re allowed to forget things, which can be really convenient. In the present case, I knew there was a new Triumph Trident for 2021, but I didn’t really remember any of the details when I hopped on it in Ryan Adams’ driveway one morning. Immediately, it felt really light and small, a lot like the Ducati Monster we just reviewed last month. And what size is the 3-cylinder engine in this one? It definitely feels revvier than the one in the Tiger 850 GT we rode a couple months ago, but not much slower at all…

We’re big fans of motorcycle airbag technology here at MO, especially our own Troy Siahaan who learned first hand how effectively an airbag can protect a rider in a crash.

The internet might have leaked photos of the new 2022 Yamaha YZF-R7 last week, but we now have official information regarding Yamaha’s new successor to the beloved YZF-R6. As the photos gave away, the YZF-R7 is basically an MT-07 with clothes – but is that such a bad thing? 

Ever since the, “You meet the nicest people on a Honda” campaign, Big Red has been positioning itself as an ambassador for motorcycling. Not only by offering a range of motorcycles to attract new riders throughout the years, but also by promoting responsible recreation. Since the early 1970’s, Honda has been producing dual-sport motorcycles. Through the years, the popular XL line was offered in a wide range of displacements – many of which stayed in production into the late ‘80s. 

It didn’t take long after Honda debuted the CRF1000L Africa Twin in 2015 before we started wondering when Honda would produce a mid-sized version. Fast forward several years including one model update to make it a CRF1100L, and we still don’t have a true mid-sized adventure bike from Honda.

Spring is springing like an underdamped shock absorber, and the heart of the riding season – with its long days and warm nights – is just around the next corner. So, why not make 2021 the year you do something epically MOronic? Grab a riding buddy, or two, and experience the Iron Butt Association‘s Saddlesore 1000, the gateway drug to long-distance motorcycle riding. Even if you only do it once, you’ll be able to regale your friends with stories from the time you rode your motorcycle 1000 miles in less than 24 hours. (Or maybe you were really feeling your oats and cranked out a Bun Burner 1500.

Founded in 1872 by Giovanni Battista Pirelli, the company we now know for its expansive range of tires got its humble beginnings in a different industry: telecomms. Back then several new technologies and industries were emerging, including energy and telecommunications. Throughout Europe, kilometers upon kilometers of power cables and phone lines were being put into the ground and into the ocean. All of them needed protection. Enter Pirelli and his expertise in another emerging field: rubber. Pirelli founded a limited partnership, “G.B. Pirelli & C.”, in Milan to produce elastic rubber items – primarily sheathing to protect all these wires buried in the ground. According to Pirelli’s corporate history website, by 1873, only a year after its foundation, Pirelli already had a plant in Milan. Production of carriage bands (they weren’t exactly tires) started in 1885, and by 1894 the first velocipede tire was born.

Human beings are predisposed to collect pictures of their exploits. From back in the time of cave dwellers with their wall art to oil painting to the camera obscura to film to today with our digital cameras, we have an innate desire to create physical manifestations of our memories, and while we now carry important photos in phones instead of our wallets, this need to capture moments and try to relive them later seems to be undergoing a heretofore unseen level of growth. 

The chin bar. Quite literally, it’s what defines a full-face helmet. However, in the case of the Arai Defiant-X that we have here, it’s a bit of a departure from the rest of Arai’s full-face lineup. We’ll get into the specifics in a minute, but let’s take a step back and look at where the Defiant falls into line. 

In addition to being the largest tire manufacturer in the world, Michelin is also one of, if not the oldest tire maker, with a brand that’s known worldwide for much more than tires, and a mascot, Bib, who’s also instantly recognizable (even though he quit smoking cigars some years ago). Michelin’s road maps, travel itineraries, and hotel and restaurant guides have told people where to go ever since the miracle of internal combustion made it possible for them to go there. The fine dining industry lives and dies by the Michelin stars its Red Guide awards to restaurants for their haute cuisine. In fact it may have been Michelin that coined the phrase so many motorcycle riders have taken to heart: “Eat to ride, ride to eat.”

In crowded metropolises around the world, two-wheeled motorists flow through city streets packed to the brim with four-wheeled unfortunates impatiently waiting as traffic slows to a crawl en route to their destination. For those who haven’t come to terms with spending hours on end in their cages only to cover meager distances, traffic can be an incredibly frustrating experience. I’m getting myself worked up about it just typing this! 

Polaris Industries reported a strong start to 2021, with double-digit growth in each of its core segments including a 31% increase in sales revenue from its motorcycle operations.

Our full-length 2021 Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 Special review spanned more than 4,000 words to fully describe Harley’s new adventure bike. That’s a lot of words, but there is a lot to cover with a brand new motorcycle in a hot category like the adventure segment – and even moreso when a manufacturer, whose entire line exists of cruisers, builds a bike outside its wheelhouse. 

Every motorcycling parent dreams of their child expressing interest in the sport. For me it started with a request to be taken for rides on the back of my bike, but then one magnificent day, she asked, “Can I learn to ride?” I’ve always wanted my kids to be interested in riding, but I was not going to pressure them. I’ve supported them in their interests (from ballet for my oldest to competitive gymnastics for my youngest) and tried to avoid pushing them into mine. So, when my 13 year old asked me, I sprung into action. What I didn’t know is that I would end up learning almost as much about myself and my daughter as she did about riding motorcycles. 

Motorcycling and eye protection go hand in hand. Heck, even most states without helmet laws require eye protection. When riding off-road, good goggles are an absolute necessity. Everything from bugs and sticks, to roost and rocks are coming toward you at warp speed just hoping to put your eye out. Sure, goggles are first and foremost about protecting your eyes, but as technology has advanced, so have the features of modern day off-road motorcycle goggles. There are now options such as: the best tint for the terrain or time of day you’ll be riding, dozens of anti-fogging solutions, and flashy colors with equally flashy reflective lenses.

The 2022 Suzuki GSX-S1000 has undergone a thorough restyling and is said to boast engine changes that deliver more broad range torque in the low- to mid-range where the GSX-S had been criticized in prior tests. These updates also bring the GSX-S up to Euro 5 standards. When we compared the last GSX to its predecessor, it had gained smoothness at the throttle but lost horsepower and torque in the process. Hopefully, this trend hasn’t continued with the 2022 model, but only time will tell.

Motorcyclists come in all shapes, sizes, races, genders, and orientations. So, it’s only natural for us to also have a wide variety of computing platforms represented within our ranks. From Android to Chrome to iOS to Linux to MacOS to Windows, the web has you covered for content delivery, but sometimes it’s nice to have a central location for when you want to sit down with your favorite beverage and read the news in all its variations. As someone who is thoroughly ensconced in the Apple ecosystem, I’ve spent a lot of time curating my Apple News feed to give me access to all my favorite kinds of reading, but there was one notable absence, Motorcycle.com. This bugged me more than a little. 

John Smith was cleaning yet another reusable air filter one day, when he noticed that after shaking it out, it still held a lot of water. As anyone would, he started throwing it in the air, spinning it as fast as he could to remove more water. That worked well, and then came the brainstorm: “So I walked into my garage and found my hand-held rotary seed/fertilizer spreader. My dog (Prince) had already chewed up the top, so I finished the job and cut the rest off. I duct taped the filter to the spinning part and started spinning the crank: The faster it spun, the more water came off.  So, I started working on a design that would automate the whole process.”

Best commuter motorcycles? It all depends where you’re commuting really, and how far you have to travel every day. If you’re in a congested part of the world that allows lane-sharing, you want something on the narrow side. If you’re in Texas, you might as well go big. If you’re covering 100 miles or more round-trip, you want something reasonably comfortable and with enough power to not get rear-ended. And if it’s going to be chilly, you want some wind protection. Since filling your tank every day gets old, more fuel capacity is better, and so is more mpg. Or electric.

The hot topic in motorcycle performance these days is flashing your ECU. You hear the term “flashing” brought up all the time – and no, we’re not talking about spring break antics, either. But while the term is gaining in popularity, and is often associated with big gains, we wanted to know – what the heck is ECU flashing, anyway? For that, let’s start with a little back story.

Triumph’s Street Scrambler is just what the name implies. If you want to blaze a two-wheeled path to freedom off-road, there are Scrambler 1200s XC and XE. But the more approachable (and affordable) Street Scrambler is for more urbane adventures, with Triumph’s less powerful, 900 cc twin, less suspension travel, and a lower seat height that’s accessible to nearly everybody. For 2022, just like the upscale Scramblers, the SS is now Euro 5 compliant, and along with that come a few subtle yet tasty upgrades. 

Like many motorcycle brands, KTM had a challenging 2020, with sales shrinking in the face of COVID-19 and the economic toll it exacted. The Austrian brand sold 212,713 motorcycles through the year, a 9.3% decrease from the pre-pandemic world of 2019.

Waking your bike from its long winter’s nap is one of those good news/bad news moments. The good news is that, if you prepared your bike for the winter, getting back out on the road is pretty darn simple. The bad news is that, if you didn’t, you could be in for a bit of work (or more) before your motorcycle is ready to ride. While it may seem counter-intuitive, leaving your bike idle without preparing it is actually quite stressful on it. The volatile components in gasoline will separate and evaporate. The chemicals used to store electricity in the battery self-discharge. The air in the half-empty gas tank forms a microclimate in which any moisture has a chance to work its oxidizing magic on the exposed metal in the air pocket. Any corrosive materials left on a dirty bike get to gnaw away at it unchecked. Ozone will age the rubber parts. All of these are bad things.

Following on the heels of the recently updated Superveloce range for 2021, MV Agusta has now announced a refresh for the Turismo Veloce family, which includes the Turismo Veloce Lusso, Lusso SCS, RC SCS, and Rosso. MV’s take on a sport-touring motorcycle, the updated 2021 range is more of an evolution of the family rather than a revolution – spurred primarily by the need to keep up with Euro 5 emission standards.

If it ain’t broke don’t fix it, so Triumph didn’t. They’ve sold over 10,000 modern Scramblers since the XC and XE were new in 2018, and Scrambler 1200 XC even won MO’s revered Best Standard Motorcycle award last year. But they did have to make the bikes Euro 5-compliant for 2022, and with that came a few tweaks and the gaining of a few pounds – about 13 of them in fact. But hey look! There’s a new Steve McQueen Limited Edition! 

Jan Brady was a middle sibling in the `70s sit-com The Brady Bunch, who got no respect as a result of her Coke-bottle glasses, lack of acting skills, and that none of the three Brady sisters on the show could hold a candle to the beauty of Alice the housekeeper. Which is kind of the situation the Honda XR250R found itself in 25 years ago – smaller-pistoned and therefore less desirable than the XR400 and XR650. Anyway, all those air-cooled beasts were unkillable when you could get them to (kick)start, and Honda will still sell you a brand-new XR650 if you desire one as Alice desired Sam the butcher.

MV Agusta today announced an updated range for the Superveloce family. What started as a limited-edition motorcycle with eye-catching styling inspired by MVs from the past has received so much fanfare that MV has pumped it into full production. So, what does a new year bring? Not much, except for one major improvement.

Congratulations! You’ve decided to do your first track day. Welcome to what will likely be your next addiction. Riding on the racetrack is a ton of fun and allows you to explore your limits in a much safer environment than the street. Your friends and riding buddies have probably told you this before, and we’re guessing it’s why you’ve decided to sign up for your first outing. You’re understandably excited, and probably nervous, too. Don’t worry, your friendly MO staff are here to help.

Everybody wants to win the heritage war, including Royal Enfield, who claim they’re the oldest motorcycle marque out there in continuous production – since 1901. Does it matter that about half those years were in India? I guess it shouldn’t. Do car manufacturers battle it out to be the oldest?

From the brand that has brought you some of the most innovative aftermarket accessories for your motorcycle, Rizoma has done it again. Taking inspiration from the world of aeronautics and merging it with its massive racing experience, Rizoma has created a supersport mirror unlike any other – the Stealth.

The first thing you need to know is that we are not trained professionals. The second thing you need to know is that we’re not trained medical professionals either. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, we wanted to put together a basic overview of what a macro look at motorcycle-specific first aid and best safety practices might entail. We won’t be touching topics like, how to clean wounds, how to splint a leg, or how to reattach an appendage. I mean, yea, we’ve seen Frankenstien, we could probably stitch someone back together. Seems easy enough, but we’ll leave that to the pros and mad scientists. 

Being the resident sportbike guy at MO didn’t just happen overnight. I’ve been fortunate enough to have some good mentors in my early days of riding that prevented me from riding myself straight off a cliff. Then, through the perks that come with a job like this, I’ve been extremely lucky to receive the coaching of some of the best riders – and teachers – this sport has to offer.

The Aprilia Tuono 660 is a bike that I’ve been eager to ride since I first laid eyes on the pretty production-ready looking concept at EICMA 2019. Even through what was left of my tired red occhi, dried from so many hours of planes, trains, and automobiles (what I would give for that now!), I was digging the “naked” version of the RS660 more than the sportybike itself.

The 2021 Kawasaki KLX300SM might be the best new beginner motorcycle on the market. Did that get you fired up? Lemme ‘splain. It’s obvious that the new KLX300SM can be a lot of fun for riders of all levels, but there are some clear advantages of a supermoto-style motorcycle for the uninitiated. 

So you want to drag your knee, huh? We get it. Scraping your knee puck on the ground looks cool, and if you’re in the business of looking cool on motorcycles like we are, then it helps provide a little bit of job security. But putting your knee on the ground is not just a way to get more likes on the ‘gram, it can also be a useful tool to gauge how far over you’re leaning your motorcycle. In this tutorial, I’ll tell you how.

In recent years, motorcycles like the 2021 Kawasaki KLX300 have become increasingly more popular, not only due to its small displacement, but also because it gives riders the versatility of having a mount that’s street legal while being able to handle duties in the dirt without being too intimidating. The KLX update couldn’t come at a better time for folks interested in dual-sport motorcycles. In a world ravaged by COVID-induced change, motorcycling – particularly the off-road segment – has enjoyed a welcome surge of interest for those looking for a new way to fill their time while still maintaining a safe distance from their fellow humans. 

Triumph has managed to squeak by without much fanfare regarding its TE-1 electric motorcycle prototype for the past two years, partially because it has distracted us with rollouts of so many new or updated models, all with internal combustion engines. Triumph also pulled it off by releasing a press release in 2019 stating its TE-1 project… then staying virtually silent about it all this time later. The onset of a global pandemic also helped steer people’s minds away from the project, but today Triumph has announced it has completed phase 2 of its TE-1 electric motorcycle project, and the details, while still a little vague, already look very promising. It should, considering the talent behind the project. 

You have to be careful what you say in meetings. We were yukking it up over unlikely Top 10 ideas the other day, when I threw out “Most Revolutionary Harleys.” A few weeks later, here we are. The joke’s on me. After a little investigation and contemplation, it turns out a bunch of Harleys were pretty revolutionary, in the context of Harley-Davidson at least. And when you start bagging on Harley for being a bit hidebound, you also need to step back and try to remember the last time Honda ventured outside its box? Or Suzuki? The bigger and older the company, the more things stay the same – mostly because that’s how the customer likes it. But not so much these ten things:

The Multistrada has always been an exciting machine. It showcases Ducati’s sporting heritage in an upright touring-focused package that has been an absolute weapon in the canyons for some time thanks to its sporty V-Twin and 17-inch wheel combo. The latter, however, is exactly why the big Ducati could never quite hang with its ADV rivals when the pavement ran out. In addition to the stonking Granturismo V4, which has been specifically designed for adventure touring, the `21 Multi now features a 19/17-inch wheel combo that makes all the difference when the road runs out.