#Top10

The long winter break from racing is almost over, as the 2016 World Superbike season will kick off in just over a week in Australia at the beautiful Phillip Island circuit. Jonathan Rea took the 2015 championship – his first world title – in convincing fashion, and with a new Kawasaki ZX-10R at his disposal, he looks to be a favorite to defend his title.

Last month we brought you the Top 10 Most Anticipated Bikes of 2016. For February, let’s take a look at the most affordable new bikes of 2016, because, well, a lot of the bikes in that other list are pricey: XDiavel, Brutale 800, Super Duke GT … you get the picture. There already exist a lot of motorcycles in the sub-$10k price category, and here’s 10 more new models joining that list. From retro to modernistic, cruiser to sportbike, on-road to off, there’s a little something for everyone in this list.

Every chance we get, we profess our love for KTM’s 1290 Super Duke R, MO’s 2014 Motorcycle of the Year. Aggressive styling matched with a monstrous engine, sophisticated electronics, sportbike-like handling, and reasonable comfort all combined to win our hearts that year. For 2016, KTM is adding to its impressive lineup with the SDR’s cousin, the 1290 Super Duke GT. Aimed for those wanting a Super Duke R but with all-day comfort and some storage space in the form of saddlebags, the SD-GT inspires big hopes in us. In fact, E-i-C Kevin Duke will be putting it through its paces at the bike’s launch in Spain during the beginning of March.

Winter in locales with real seasons is a tough time for motorcyclists. The weather doesn’t just force them to stop riding – which is a big enough loss. Riders also lose the time they spend with their motorcycle. While absence may make the heart grow fonder, forced moto-abstinence can lead to Parked Motorcycle Syndrome, causing all sorts of unpleasant behavior in the affected rider. Take our word on this.

It’s a good thing we MOrons get to ride all these swell new motorcycles for a living, because you can rest assured most of us are not bringing in the kind of cake it takes to purchase the latest electronically enhanced crop of wonderbikes. We feel your pain.

Each year around this time the MO staff gathers to contemplate the new breed of tasty two-wheelers coming our way. This is also when each editor begins positioning himself for a particular press launch. Last year, Preemptive Editor, Troy Siahaan made it abundantly clear that only an act of God would keep him from the R1 launch. This year he’s communicated the same thing about the new Suzuki SV650, a bike that, democratically, didn’t even make this list (Ouch. -TS).

We’re approaching the end of the year which means it’s time to look back at some of the top news stories in motorcycledom from 2015. The last 12 months saw a lot of ups and downs, and here’s to hoping there will be more of the former in 2016.

As I look forward to this holiday season I’m reminded that I have plenty to be thankful for, not least of which is the return of the Suzuki SV650 next Spring as a 2017 model. Short of telling you my life story, let’s just say the SV has a special place in my heart as it does for many other riders out there. So, as I rejoice about this good news from Suzuki, allow me to explain 10 reasons why the SV650 is such a great motorcycle.

Although we use it every time we ride, most riders rarely think about their bike’s clutch. Even though we may do the right thing by adjusting and lubricating the cable occasionally, or perhaps flushing the hydraulic fluid according to the factory maintenance schedule, do we ever consciously think about the daily abuses our clutch undergoes each time we pull away from a stop? Never. That is, until something starts to go wrong.

They say you don’t stop riding because you get old; you get old because you stop riding. Now that I’ve just had my first colonoscopy (a little late), I think there’s a lot of truth to that. At a few times along my trajectory, there were circumstances that conspired to get me to almost stop riding. Luckily, things or people always intervened to keep me from ever quite pulling the plug. Thank you, Jesus.

The AMA Pro Flat Track final was already scheduled for November 20 in Las Vegas, so veteran race promoter Steve McLaughlin had the brilliant idea – as he is wont to do – of promoting the first Superprestigio of the Americas the night after it. The SP’s been a big hit in Spain, so why not? None of your big MotoGP stars could be persuaded, but they did lure Tony Elias and Ant West to the boat, both of whom found themselves hard-pressed up against some surprising home-grown talent. The roadracers actually had their own “All-Stars” races, and the top three were then thrown in against the Flat Track professionals for the Superprestigio Main. Then there was the Hooligan race, sponsored and populated by Roland Sands and associates riding barely modified streetbikes. It was almost more thrilling than the Professionals. Okay not thrilling, more interesting maybe…

We’re entering the period of moto-hibernation, when, with a wag of her finger, Mother Nature says to many motorcyclists to put away their toys until Spring. And just when we most need a distraction to keep cabin fever at bay MotoGP, WSBK and pretty much all forms of motorcycle racing competed in their season finales. Seems that if someone were to begin some kind of winter racing series it’d be successful simply from a lack of competition.

The 2015 MotoGP season was one of the wildest ones to date. Both because of the intense on-track action, but maybe more so because of the shenanigans that happened away from it. I won’t bother explaining the drama, as you should already know what I’m talking about if you’re reading this (if you don’t, check out Bruce Allen’s season finale preview and his race recap to get caught up). Plus, the 2015 season is over, so there’s no point dwelling on the past. What we can do, however, is ramble about the future, and that’s the focus of this week’s Top 10. The antics that clouded the last couple races of 2015 will surely carry over into next season, but even without that, 2016 is bound to be an unpredictable MotoGP season. Here’s why.

All motorcycles come with suspension, and some of those components have settings that the riders themselves can adjust. That’s great if you know what you’re doing. Some bikes have a wide variety of settings for the rider to fiddle with. Again, if you know what you’re doing, the extra adjustments are a huge benefit. However, with the increase in adjustments available, the number of wrong combinations of settings also increases.

Oh, the drama! The controversy! And the opinions, opinions, opinions. At this point everyone’s reached their own personal conclusion regarding incidents at the Malaysian GP and expressed, via some social conduit, their two-cents-worth into the vast population of people who don’t give a f*&k.