A few minor upgrades make for a better small-displacement adventure-tourer

Billing yourself as a boutique manufacturer of motorcycle art invites intense scrutiny and whether fair or unfair, a cosmetic blemish or performance shortcoming when found is profoundly magnified.

It was a sad day in southern Spain, not to mention a long way to travel, to be peering out from the garage as intensifying rain dashed any hopes of

Not since the heady days of the 600cc sportbike wars have we witnessed competition between manufacturers as fierce as it currently is between Aprilia’s

It’s been a good run. In early 1990 I began my powersports career selling motorcycles at a small Honda shop on California’s Central Coast. Twenty-seven years later and I’m bidding adieu to full-time motojournalism. The period between beginning and end has been a tragicomedy chain of events, a frayed yarn of two-wheel adventures, and an experience I can’t imagine having lived differently.

My six years as a MO editor will certainly be some of the fondest, as my friendships with most of the staff date back prior to my official hiring in 2011. In addition to forming fond memories, my time at MO provided me the opportunity to check off some remaining items from my personal moto-bucketlist, as well as partake in some very cool extracurricular activities. The following are 10 highlights during my time at MO, but hopefully I can make an occasional cameo to fill an extra seat during the next multi-bike shootout.

For those still lamenting the loss of former MO editor Troy Siahaan, say hello to Ryan Adams, Troy’s younger, more attractive replacement. Here to better represent the youthful side of motorcycling, Ryan comes complete with tattoos, stretched-out earlobes, a metrosexual personality, but no beard. Ryan’s resume already has a history in the powersports industry, and he owns some respectable motorcycling skills. In fact, he was just telling me how he recently crashed his KTM 1190 Adventure… but I digress. As for me, I’ve been told I’m irreplaceable.

This master display of motorcycle tightrope riding is the poster child for balance and skill

Top 1 Ack Attack is set to travel to Salar de Uyuni salt flats in Bolivia this August for an attempt at breaking the land speed record for motorcycles

Starting from pole position with the fastest time among the fastest riders in the world is certainly a psychological edge, but pole position doesn’t guarantee the winner of a MotoGP race, largely because the span of time separating P1 from P6 is less than a second. If starting from pole position were indicative of a race’s outcome, Valentino Rossi’s win record would nearly be halved because he has almost double the amount of MotoGP/500cc race wins as he does MotoGP/500cc pole positions.

Statistically, pole-position records are interesting because they show who among the famous racers were actually fastest. Take for instance Kevin Schwantz and Wayne Rainey. In the early ’90s Schwantz and Rainey went at each other tooth and nail, and while Rainey won three 500cc championship titles to Schwantz’s one, Schwantz – who hasn’t raced in the series for more than two decades – is among the top-10 pole-position record holders, whereas Rainey is not. Schwantz was fast, Rainey was consistent. Fast wins pole positions; consistency wins championships.

If the sound and fury of a V-Four is what you’re after, look no further than Aprilia and its RSV4 in RR or RF versions, or the Tuono in RR and Factory versions

Ahead of our upcoming 600-class naked motorcycle shootout, we review the only inline-Four entry: the 2017 Benelli TnT600 Tornado.