#SmallDisplacementMotorcycles

What does adventure mean to you? Wait, let me narrow that down: What does adventure motorcycling mean to you? Maybe your idea of adventure on a motorcycle is setting out, destination unknown with nothing but a paper map and the Blue Highways to guide you. Or maybe, to you, adventure means setting out across the American southwest with a few friends in tow, using trails and highways to connect yourself to our vast array of spectacular national parks. Perhaps your sense of adventure riding involves knobby tires, an ever-changing trail system of sand washes and fish tacos as you make your way down the Baja peninsula.

An Italian is joining the small-displacement fun with the other kids, bringing to the U.S. market the 2018 Benelli 302R. The 302R carries the same inline two-cylinder motor as the previously seen in the Tornado 302, an Italian-designed, Chinese-manufactured naked bike from Benelli.

New for the 2018 model year, Suzuki has released its quarter-liter sportbike, the GSX250R. Some may say Suzuki is a bit late to the game and ask: Why not a 300? In fact, everywhere I have ridden the GSX250R, fellow motorcycle enthusiasts have asked that question. Suzuki reps tiptoed around that elephant in the room and were quick to mention performance isn’t the main selling point with 250cc motorcycles, even to the point of not providing horsepower or torque numbers. They insisted price, style, practicality, and ease of ownership are where customers are making decisions when purchasing these bikes.