#FantasyCharacters

All good things must come to an end, my fellow MOrons, and it’s with a heavy heart that I tell you all that my time at Motorcycle.com is officially over. In fact, as these Top 10 lists are usually posted on Thursdays, my actual last day was yesterday. Nevertheless, it’s been a fantastic six-year run getting to ride motorcycles and telling you about it. I’ve enjoyed meeting readers and viewers, and am always humbled when someone says they’ve enjoyed a story I’ve written or a video I’ve been in. It truly is a gratifying experience, and one I never take for granted.

KTM fans in the U.S. might not be familiar with the Austrian brand’s electric motorcycles, but KTM has a line of electric off-road machines – the Freeride E-SM, E-SX, E-XC – available in other markets. KTM claims the performance of its e-bikes is similar to internal-combustion competitors.

Here at Motorcycle.com we get to ride all of the newest, latest, and greatest motorcycles on the planet. However, more often than not, our time with each bike spans the course of weeks, maybe months (but definitely not years), as new bikes are constantly flowing through our proverbial garages, waiting to get tested. This means we have reviews of almost every motorcycle on the market, but it also means that we lack firsthand experience learning about long-term durability and maintenance. So, when our readers ask about the reliability of a certain make or model, it’s a difficult question to answer, as reliability testing requires ownership for several years – something we simply aren’t in a position to provide.

Here’s a quick reminder of what was going on in the world in 2006:

As far as 2017 is concerned, this might be the year we remember as the one that saw the entire liter-class field go electric. No, I don’t mean like that. I mean electronic rider aids – every major player in the field has them now. Honda and Suzuki, with their CBR1000RR and GSX-R1000, respectively, had held out on introducing riding aids (beyond differing power modes in the Suzuki’s case) until this year. Meanwhile, the rest of the competition has leap-frogged ahead, introducing highly advanced traction control, wheelie control, launch control, slide control, and all kinds of other controls previously only seen on MotoGP machines.

By now you probably know that I really like the 2017 Ducati Supersport and Supersport S. The comfortable sporty-bike that’s equally at home on the racetrack or on a weekend roadtrip, the Supersport combines good looks, sporting chops, and the ergos to stay in the saddle for a while. The best thing about the Supersport is its versatility. Whether it’s playing in the canyons, cutting laps, or simply commuting to and from the office, the Supersport is the kind of bike you might want if you could only have one bike in the garage to do everything.

There’s an old saying that aptly describes the Hyosung GD250R: A day late and a dollar short. The 250cc beginner bike market went strong for years without much of an update, as the Kawasaki EX/Ninja 250, and later the Honda CBR250, practically owned the category for nearly three decades. Hyosung wasn’t absent in the market, since it persisted with its GT250R (and the naked GT250, no R).

In 2015 I wrote a column about how Sportbikes Are Terrible. In short, I felt (and still do) that production sportbikes have become so focused on the racetrack that riding them on the street anywhere other than a curvy road is borderline torture. Take either of the Ducati Panigale variants, for example. Rolling works of art, on a track they are some of the most fun you can have on two wheels. But would I want to ride one a few hours to the track, do a trackday, then ride home?

Motorcycle.com is on the ground at the 2017 Ducati Supersport and Supersport S intro in Seville, Spain, where Troy “Trizzle” Siahaan will get to ride Ducati’s latest creation both on the street and on the Circuito Monteblanco. Expect Troy’s review in a few day’s time, but while you’re waiting, here are seven things you didn’t know about Ducati’s Not-Quite-A-Panigale sporty-bike.

As you probably know, taking pictures on motorcycles is part of the job as a moto-journalist. Being the narcissistic type we are, we moto-reviewers typically like getting photos of ourselves on motorcycles as it’s our time to ham it up for the camera – pulling wheelies, dragging a knee, smoky burnouts, whatever the situation may present. The best time for photos, however, is a small window roughly 60 minutes before sunset (or roughly 60 minutes after sunrise if you’re an early bird), often called the “Golden Hour.”

By the time you read this, the world famous Mecum motorcycle auction will already be underway in Las Vegas, Nevada. Having started yesterday, January 25, Mecum bills the event as the largest vintage and antique motorcycle event not just in the country, but in the world. It’s so big, with over 1,000 motorcycles and memorabilia up for grabs, that the auction is being televised on NBCSN. If you’ve got a large wad of cash just burning a hole in your wallet, there’s still time to act, since the auction continues through the 28th.

So far, we’ve had a hit-or-miss relationship when it comes to Chinese-built motorcycles. We were pleasantly surprised by the mini Ducati Monst…errr… SSR Razkull 125 when we rode it alone and amongst its peers in our 125cc Ankle Biters Shootout. The little playbike seemed to be put together moderately well and delivered impressive performance in the class, all for less than two-grand. For a price that low, we excused much of its shortcomings, especially compared to the almighty, but costly at $3,200, Honda Grom.

In just a few days 2017 will be here, which means there will be a metric crap-ton of new bikes to ride! This clearly gets us very excited, and so we’re taking the opportunity with this, the last Top 10 list of 2016, to point out the 10 new motorcycles we’re most looking forward to riding in the coming year.

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then SSR most really be trying to suck up to the Italians. First it was the Razkull 125, the miniature playbike that looks like someone stuck a Ducati Monster 796 in the dryer for too long. Now it’s this, the SSR Buccaneer Cafe, which resembles another Italian: the Moto Guzzi V7 II Stornello.

Just in time for the holidays, Aprilia has announced it will be making its most advanced version of the RSV4 – the RSV4 R FW-GP – available to a select few (read: the uber-wealthy). In continuing with the Factory Works program Aprilia Racing launched last year to provide deep-pocketed customers with race-worthy RSV4s in both Superstock and Superbike trims to conform to national and international race organizations, the FW-GP represents the ultimate in Aprilia Racing technology that’s currently available to the public.