#NakedBike

In his 2006 review of the BMW K1200R, former MO staffer and current MO contributor, Gabe Ets-Hokin called the Bavarian muscle bike a “Gorilla In A Tuxedo.” It’s an appropriate term, as the 1157cc inline-Four packs an approximately 140 hp and 80 lb-ft punch. Essentially a naked version of the K1200S, the lack of any substantial bodywork exposes the K bike’s funky styling and gives a better view of the Duolever front suspension. But as Gabe points out, the big takeaway from the K1200R is its refined approach to going blisteringly fast. Here’s Gabe to give you his complete take on the K1200R from eight years ago. Also, be sure to check out the photo gallery for three pages full of K1200R pictures.

For this holiday edition of our weekly Church feature, we turn to 2006, and a motorcycle many surely wanted Santa to bring them: the Ducati Monster S4Rs. By this point, Ducati had figured out that plucking the engine from their full-fledged superbikes and stuffing them into the Monster chassis was a recipe for success, and the S4Rs was no different. Though the 999 may not have been the 916 successor Ducati were hoping for, its engine was nonetheless a wickedly exciting thing, and its use in Monster trim would be no less thrilling. How thrilling? Once again, here’s Yossef Schvetz to tell you. And once you’re done reading the story, be sure to check out the photo gallery for more images.  

This week, we once again visit with Yossef Schvetz. His adventures this time involve him on Moto Guzzi’s new 1100 Breva almost a decade ago. A former Guzzi owner himself, Schvetz shows some restraint when presented with the Big Breva, but turns out to be pleasantly surprised after learning more about it and spending some time in the saddle. So without further ado, here’s Yossef to tell you all about the 2005 Moto Guzzi Breva 1100. Also, don’t forget to visit the 3-page photo gallery for heaps more pictures.

For a motorcycle built to suit the needs of American riders, it’s a shame the Kawasaki Z 750S, the topic of this week’s Church of MO, failed to resonate with American consumers. By all objective measures it was competent machine for someone looking for the modern day Universal Japanese Motorcycle. Maybe it was lost in the shadows of its bigger sibling, the Z1000. Here, we travel back to 2005, and the Z 750S press introduction. Our very own Gabe Ets-Hokin got to burn some miles with the naked bike, where he had this to say. Also, don’t forget to check out the three-page Z 750S photo gallery for more pictures.

For this week’s Church feature, we check back in with our pal Yossef Schvetz. The year is 2005 and his travels find him somewhere in Italy, pondering the ideal motorcycle for this particular adventure. A 450 Supermoto would be an ideal mount for the twisty pass he’s occupying, but the drone to get to this magical area would be torture. The remedy, he reckons, is Ducati’s Monster S2R. An interesting choice considering there are faster, more brutish Monsters in Ducati’s lineup. Well, Yossef has a reason behind his particular mount. Let’s have him take it from here. For more pictures, be sure to check out the original story’s photo gallery.

Admittedly, when I saw the title to this story, originally penned by relatively recent MO re-hire, John Burns, while digging through the archives, I was confused. The modus operandi has usually been to list the make, model and year of the bike. Intrigued, I clicked on “ Kawasaki Slips Into Something More Comfortable…” only to find ol Johnny Boy wonderfully rambling on about giving up his trusty ZRX1200 for a then-new Z1000. The year was 2003. I hadn’t yet made my way into the moto-journo biz yet, but I remember seeing the Z1000 for the first time in my local dealer and being awed by just how different it was to anything else. The 2014 Z1000 is equally as polarizing, so now, 11 years later, let’s take a look back at what Burns thought of that original Zed1k. Also, don’t forget to check out the original story’s full image gallery for more pictures.

In 2003 the streetfighter scene was just starting to pick up, with virtually every manufacturer bringing something to market to appeal to the younger, edgier, crowd. Those who wanted to go fast, but had no interest in the racetrack. Hell, streetfighters appealed to those with hardly a care about abiding by the law. Wheelies, attitude and street cred was where it was at. That’s why the BMW Rockster was such an anomaly. BMW, the company which, at the time, was building its reputation as your father’s motorcycle, saw a chance to hop on the streetfighter bandwagon and repurposed its existing R1150R to appeal to a younger crowd. Did it work? Let’s see what Jason Roberts thinks.

In this week’s Church feature, we look at the Yamaha BT1100 Bulldog. Not familiar to some of our American readers? That’s because it never came to this side of the Atlantic, possibly a contestant for a future list about bikes we never got in this country. Sharing the same V-Twin engine from the Virago (aka V-Star 1100) we did get here, this naked standard has hints of Buell Lightning and Ducati Monster written all over it. Let’s travel back to 2002 and get Yossef Schvetz’s take on this Euro-only category buster.

With Suzuki’s announcement at its annual dealer meeting this week that it was bringing the GSX-S750 to America next year, what better time to travel back to 2006, and Yossef Schvetz’s review of the 750 little brother, the Suzuki GSR 600. With design cues similar to the B-King, the GSR 600 wasn’t quite the monster the B-King was. Instead it was formidable competition for other middleweight naked standards of the time. Bikes like the Honda 599 Hornet, Yamaha Fazer 600, and even Suzuki’s own SV650. Where does the GSR stack up? Here’s Schvetz with the answer. Also be sure to check out this GSR 600 photo gallery for more pictures not posted here. 

While Ducati might get much of the glory for being the Italian brand with a mega naked-bike presence, one must not forget Cagiva. It’s easy to do, Cagiva being an obscure brand and all, but what it showed in the Raptor was a bike that was so close to hitting the mark. It was a looker, had the right components to make it a handler, and borrowed the Suzuki TL1000 V-Twin engine. Late in the year 2000, contributor Glenn Le Santo threw a leg over one, and now, 14 years later, we revisit it for this week’s Church of MO feature.

Oh, Buell. The red-headed stepchild of The Motor Company, it seemed like Erik Buell tried his best to make a sporting motorcycle with the scraps he was given. Lemonade out of lemons, if you will. However, despite being hampered in the, of all places, motor department, Buell churned out some rather interesting motorcycles. Not least of which is the 2003 XB9S Lightning, the subject of this week’s Church of MO feature. Penned by recent MO re-hire, John Burns, it’s nice to see Mr. Burns’ bike eval skills haven’t changed much over the years. Read on to see his thoughts on an early example of what we would now call a streetfighter (In fact, Buell gets some of the credit for creating that term)

In honor of our 2014 Super Streetfighter Smackdown, for this week’s Church of MO feature, we bring you a quick ride on the predecessor to our current Streetfighter king, the 2002 Aprilia Tuono. Penning this piece is none other than our returning duo of MO veterans, the lovable curmudgeon, John Burns and our new Editorial Director, Sean Alexander. Since first writing this piece, Burnsie and Alexander have been around the moto-journo industry. But they’re back now, and their wordsmanship is as sharp as it was all those many moons ago. Sean only got to spend a weekend aboard the Tuono, but it sounds like any longer and he likely would have killed himself from a lack of self-restraint and a nasty bout of pneumonia.  Thanks for making it back, boys!