#GabeEts-hokin

What’s the least fun thing to spend money on? Insurance. It costs a bunch of money, and then you don’t really get anything for it… until you need it. But then, you really need it. So yes, it’s no fun, but you should have it anyway. Here are some basics if you are new to this very-not-fun, yet very-necessary product.

Thelush sceneryverdant woodlandsurban bustlecomplete lack of atmosphereofMalibu, CaliforniaCartagena, SpainBogota, Colombiathe Sea of Tranquilitywas the perfect setting forHonda MotorcyclesSuzuki MotorcyclesDucati Motorcyclesour Alien overlordsto introduce the new-for-this-yearredesign of the CBR1000RRBNG edition GSX-R600slightly different Scramblershape-shifting hoverbike. There’s been a lot of buzz surrounding this bike since it was introduced at last year’s Milan show – will it measure up to the hype when we ride it on real roads?

But deluded people don’t realize that their own mind is the Buddha. They keep searching outside

Crowdsourcing. It’s one of the hottest new ways to design and launch consumer goods, with dozens of successes, including a watermelon carrier, a pancake griddle that embosses  pirates on your pancakes, and an all-pug production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Surely, since the modern motorcycle industry has failed us all so completely, the combined wisdom of the general populace can be harnessed to design the ultimate motorcycle. Or can it?

I always say shopping is cheaper than a psychiatrist.

BMW Motorrad raised some eyebrows when it introduced a new middleweight scooter at the 2017 EICMA show in Milan on November 7th. The new scoot, the C400X, is designed to stand apart from its competition with interesting features, higher build quality and high-fashion styling.

Sometimes OEMs just like to show off how cool they are, and this year, Honda featured the work of its R&D facility in Rome. The featured project was this tasty-looking CB4 ‘Interceptor’ Concept.

Moto Guzzi expanded its entry-level lineup with three new variants of the V7 III: the Milano, Carbon and Rough. The new models offer more choices to account for personal style, with the same practical, fun and friendly character of the other V7’s, the basic Stone, swanky Special and café-styled Racer. Think of the V7 line as Barbies (or GI Joes if you have inflexible gender roles) that you can use to dress up according to your mood.

Mostly known for off-road machines, Husqvarna ginned up more interest in its burgeoning street line by displaying its Svartpilen 701 scrambler concept at the Milan EICMA show on November 7th, 2017. It’s still just a concept, but it’s eye-catching and exciting for fans of edgy, simple, fun-to-ride street-biased  thumpers.

Update: Following details of its new 648cc Twin, Royal Enfield unveiled two models that will use the new powerplant, the 2018 Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650.

Where were you on November 5th, 2013? I can’t remember, but if you’re an NC700X fan, like many of us here at MO, you may remember it as the day the European market got an upgraded bike – but those of us here in the USA didn’t. Well, better late than never, because American Honda announced the NC750X as a USA model, with all the improvements and new features of the Euro-bike.

You aren’t sure if you’re making the right decision – about anything, ever. 

I must have a prodigious amount of mind; it takes me as much as a week, sometimes, to make it up!

“It is sometimes an appropriate response to reality to go insane.”

If this has been a hard year for scooters (sales are down in the category and there were but a few new models), it’s a harder year for me, the sole self-proclaimed scooter expert here at MO. I’ve ridden a lot of scooters – maybe too many – but if you ask me what’s the best scooter on the market, I’m going to try to find a gap in the conversation so I can slink unnoticed from the room. Editor Duke tried to spear me by demanding a direct answer – I responded with some wishy-washy gibberish about how great a job the Taiwanese scooter industry is doing in this market, so they should all get the prize, but he wants one specific scooter. This job was fun until it got hard.