#ChurchOfMo

A little touch of Italian exotica we never saw in this country, the Derbi Mulhacen is likely a bike many American readers have never heard of. Italian styling mixed with a Yamaha Single, the on/off road piece of art gives our European Correspondent, Yossef Schvetz some apprehension. Would the bike be a beauty piece that doesn’t perform? How would the XT660 mate with the rest of the components? What if Yossef ends up hating the thing? All those answers and more are found below in this week’s Church feature. And for more pictures of the Derbi Mulhacen, check out the photo gallery here. 

During the middle years of the start of the new millennium the Supermotard craze made a resurgence, and no company jumped on the craze more so than KTM. Ducati may have brought the Hypermotard to market, but KTM brought a whole host of SM models to the masses, including the outlandish 950 Supermoto. In 2006, Gabe Ets-Hokin  wanted to see what the mega-moto craze was all about. Here, he takes the 950 for a quick spin to see just how much trouble he can get himself into. He somehow manages not to land himself in jail, and all the while he extols the virtues of riding a big motard. The gist? They are insanely fun, but a big threat to your driver’s license. See what he has to say below, and be sure to look at the photo gallery for more 950 Supermoto images.

Next week your intrepid MO crew is embarking on an epic Adventure-Touring ride with nine – yes, nine – of the biggest and baddest A-T bikes in the segment. Over the next six days the nine bikes and riders will cover 2000 miles over various terrain. Each bike will be put to the test in what will be one of MO’s largest-ever comparison tests. We won’t give away all the bikes taking part in the test just yet, but you can likely guess some of the obvious choices. One of them being the BMW R1200GS. So for this Church feature, we look back at the 2006 BMW R1200GS Adventure. Lending his words is former MOron, Pete Brissette, who will be joining the MO crew as a special guest tester for next week’s epic ride. Lastly, be sure to check out the photo gallery for even more pics of the 2006 GS Adventure. Take it away, Pete…

Recently, we pit the Star Bolt C-Spec against the Suzuki Boulevard M50, in a comparison test. That test was really more an examination of two extremes of cruiserdom rather than a true head-to-head comparison. I bring this up because, as I type this, the Suzuki is currently resting at my abode. I thought nothing of it until I started digging for this week’s Church feature. As you can see from the headline, today’s retrospective is… the 2005 Suzuki M50 Boulevard! So, what has Suzuki done to the M50 in the decade since we first rode one? Not a whole lot, really. Other than a price hike from $6749 to $8599 (which is still pretty affordable, in our opinion), the Suzuki mid-size “muscle” cruiser is pretty much the same. And with that, here’s Gabe Ets-Hokin to describe exactly what that means. Also, don’t forget to visit the photo gallery for even more pics of Gabe and the pocket-size Suzuki.

Ten years ago, Kawasaki had a touring cruiser priced at $13,000. It had a 1552cc V-Twin with plenty of accouterments and power to take its rider to voyages unknown. It was called the  Vulcan Nomad 1600, and even ten years later we still think it’s a good bike. However, let’s go back to its introduction in 2005 and Sean Alexander’s first impressions of a cruiser that is more than simply an old model with a bigger engine. As Kawasaki proved, a simple refresh can have a big impact. Now, don’t forget to check out the photo gallery for even more images of the Nomad 1600.

If the vast open road is calling, many bikes are well suited to take you to destinations far away. One of the bikes well suited to this task, but maybe lost in the sea of touring bikes is the V-Max-powered  2005 Yamaha Royal Star Tour Deluxe – the subject of this week’s Church of MO feature. Yamaha clearly knew it had something special in the V-Max, but it would be a shame to keep that engine from those seeking something other than a maniacal boulevard bruiser. Some people prefer the cruising lifestyle, but want the braun to let out their inner hooligan every now and again. As our own Sean Alexander discovered in 2005, the RSTD is capable of combining both worlds. Read on to see what Sean thought of the Royal Star Tour Deluxe, and don’t forget to visit the photo gallery for even more pictures.

Yamaha’s original V-Max was wild, bombastic, and an absolute shock to the senses when it was first introduced to the masses 30 years ago. Nearly 20 years later the V-Max was still in Yamaha’s lineup, still delivering mind-numbing straight-line performance. You’d think that two decades would be enough time for the competition to narrow the performance gap, but that was never the case. So, for this Church of MO feature, Eric Bass revisits the original V-Max. The year is 2004, but that doesn’t really matter, as the V-Max is one of those rare bikes that will leave people breathless no matter what year it is. Also, be sure to visit the photo gallery to see even more pictures of this iconic motorcycle. 

The theme of ridiculous cruisers continues for this week’s Church feature. Last week we brought you the mildly outlandish, but wonderfully brutish Kawasaki Vulcan 2000. Its ridiculousness lie in its monstrous V-Twin engine. This time, we bring you the 2004 Big Dog Ridgeback, which is a reminder to the crazy (and concurrent with the big-engine fad at the time) trend of utterly impractical, yet wildly designed choppers of a decade ago. What did the 2004 MO crew think about it? Considering Sean thinks you’re an idiot if you fell for the chopper fad, that should set the tone for this story.  

The early years of the new millennium saw the rise of the big-bore battles amongst many manufacturers. However, we’re not talking sportbikes in this case. Far from it. The big-bore war was waged in the cruiser battlefield, and one of the combatants in this fight was the Kawasaki Vulcan 2000. For this week’s Church feature, we go back to 2004, and the MO staff review of this surly beast of a motorcycle. Is bigger really better? Here’s what the old MO staff has to say about that.

Remember the previous generation Moto Guzzi California? The Italian take on an all-American genre of motorcycling didn’t quite lure the typical cruiser set away from Harley-Davidson, Victory or even Japanese cruisers in the way the company had hoped. But that didn’t stop Guzzi from trying (and doing a much better job with the current iteration of the California). In this week’s Church feature, we go back to 2003 and Jason Roberts review of the Moto Guzzi California Titanium. Long story short: he wasn’t a big fan. However, that didn’t stop him from noticing its appeal. Read Jason’s thoughts below, and be sure to visit the photo gallery for more hi-res pics.

Over 12 years ago, John Simpson penned this piece for us, comparing and contrasting his own personal Yamaha Royal Star and Excelsior-Henderson. One is a Japanese take on an all-American motorcycling category, while the other comes with the name of a storied American company, trying to resurrect itself from the ashes (they ultimately failed). For this week’s Church feature, let Simpson tell you what it’s like to own a Royal Star and Excelsior. Included are snippets from Eric Bass and MO’s current Editorial Director, Sean Alexander. 

This week’s Church feature takes us back to 2002 and the introduction of the Victory Vegas. The latest model from the “other” American motorcycle manufacturer, the Vegas is the result of new-age design and engineering. Designed from the ground up via computer programming, tweaks, changes and modifications could quickly be implemented before production began. The result? Well, here’s Calvin Kim to tell you how he got on with it.

In last week’s Church feature, we showcased the competent, if not boring, Kawasaki Vulcan 800 classic. This week, we turn our attention to Suzuki’s interpretation of a middleweight cruiser: the Intruder Volusia 800. While occupying a similar space in the cruiser landscape as the Kawasaki, according to Brent Avis, who penned the story, the Suzuki goes about its business in an entirely more entertaining fashion. Jump ahead 13 years to present day, and it almost seems strange to call Kawasaki the tame OEM and Suzuki the exciting one. But such were the days back then. Check out Avis’ review of the Volusia 800 below and transport yourself back to 2002.

There likely won’t be any arguments if I said the 2002 Kawasaki Vulcan 800 Classic won’t win any beauty contests. However, it’s also hard to deny that the little Vulcan is an agreeable, comfortable cruiser to ride. In this week’s Church feature, we take a look back at the ol Vulc 800, through the eyes of none other than our own John Burns. Here, he makes arguments about why the Vulc is a good motorcycle, if you can stomach the fact that riding one also means you have to be seen on it. 

In preparation of our upcoming 2015 Superbike Shootout we came across this similar gem posted a decade ago. From then to now we find similarities in the entrants as well as the editors, such as Yamaha’s R1 and Sean Alexander. In terms of performance, things have, of course, progressed far beyond what these four machines possessed – mostly in the realm of electronics. “You don’t have a 6-axis gyro, TC, slide, lift and launch control,” asks the 2015 of its predecessor.