As a lifelong supporter of the underdog and a proponent of keeping things cheap and stupid simple, I was a big fan of the Suzuki GSX-S1000 right from the start. Basically, we’re talking 2005 GSX-R1000 with much improved ergonomics, more supple suspension, EFI, and other conveniences of modern life that make deploying 144 screaming inline-Four horsepower a kinder, gentler and more comfortable experience every time you leave the house.

For a company priding itself on racing and performance, there’s an irony in the fact that, since its introduction in 2014, the Scrambler has been Ducati’s best selling model. Eschewing performance in favor of simplicity and riding enjoyment, the Scrambler charts a different path for Ducati, and the folks in Borgo Panigale have embraced this concept wholeheartedly.

As the rain made its way between my mismatched waterproof motorcycle gear and we climbed in elevation through southern Spain’s pristine backroads, I thought to myself, there still isn’t anywhere I would rather be at this moment than atop the 2018 Yamaha MT-07 in the Spanish countryside.

Er, well, BMW’s first made-in-India motorcycle is actually a perfectly nice little piece. Should anybody be surprised? The Bavarians have now beaten the rest of the world (or tied it) in just about every moto category (including bagger with its K1600B); why should inexpensive entry level be any different?

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 spinning another lap around the Circuito de Almeria. With only a single session under our belts, and that one merely a familiarization one at best, there was nothing left to do except get wet on the ride back to the hotel.

As we expected, Harley-Davidson is expanding its Sportster lineup with the introduction of the new Iron 1200 and Forty-Eight Special. The two models join the Forty-Eight, 1200 Custom and Roadster in using Harley-Davidson’s 1202cc Evolution V-Twin Sportster engine.

Alpinestars has released its Spring 2018 collection, which emphasizes lightweight and breathable gear as well as technical apparel. We are also now beginning to see more Tech-Air compatible garments for the street with a focus on touring jackets for use in all weather conditions. 

Energica made e-bike waves in 2013 when it let us ride the prototype of its Ego electric superbike that reached production in 2014, the year we tested a production version of the Ego. Boasting 136 hp and 144 lb-ft. of torque with a claimed 150-mph top speed, the Italian-designed Ego was fast and thrilling, to be sure. But its claimed 584-lb weight made it really heavy for a superbike, and its $34,000 MSRP destined it only for spots in the well-stocked garages of well-heeled enthusiasts. It fitted into a niche within a niche.

Somehow I forgot to take this one back to Suzuki after we tested it in late July. Whoops. I bonded with this cute little Suzuki immediately – little being what we’ve come to completely inappropriately think of as a 750cc motorcycle now that we’ve been so spoiled by 1000cc naked bikes.

Racer’s newest short-cuff glove is the Racer Sprint, a well-ventilated summer glove that should offer plenty of protection to keep your digits comfortable and safe. We received the Sprint glove mid-September of this year, and they have been my go-to hand protection ever since. Being that California has relatively warm temperatures, I have had no issue using these gloves during press launches, shootouts, and personal rides.

The only thing unpredictable about that announcement is that there’s no word on the Z900RS Cafe. Oh well. The Z900RS has drawn tons of interest ever since its leakage right before the big EICMA show last month, and now it’ll be North American buyers’ chance to put their money where their retro-loving mouths are – on the order of $10,999.

Every once in awhile we get opened-end motorcycle loan agreements from manufacturers. What does that mean for you? It means we have a chance to really put a motorcycle through the ringer. We have the time to schedule overnight, long rides. We have the time to schedule track days. We have the time to really live with a motorcycle and give our best interpretation of what it would be like for a potential owner to, well, actually own the thing.

Whoever said, “you can buy fashion but you can’t buy style” has obviously never seen or ridden Yamaha’s all new 2018 XSR700 Sport Heritage. While this statement usually pertains to clothes, I don’t think it’s far off the mark when it comes to Yamaha’s new middleweight. The threads you wear and motorcycles you ride don’t have a lot in common, but one thing they do share is that they both allow you to express yourself and make a statement. Just about anything retro is “cool”, or in fashion these days, but what the wearer (or rider in this case) does with it ultimately evokes their style. The XSR700 makes it easy to do so on both fronts. Allow me to explain…

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.

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.

Husqvarna presented the production version of its Vitpilen 701 at EICMA alongside a concept version of its sibling, the Svartpilen 701. We’ll have more on the flat track-inspired Svartpilen 701 in a separate post, but here’s what we know about the “White Arrow” Vitpilen.

Hot on the heels of the new Kawasaki Z900RS comes a café racer variant sporting a bikini fairing and drop-style handlebars.

In the fall of 1992 Ducati introduced its first ever Monster, the M900. It was a bike aimed outside of the company’s typical sportbike targets, a simple roadster that blended the frame from an 851 superbike with the air-cooled 904cc motor from the Super Sport series.

I asked around at the launch of the Dorsoduro (and Shiver) 900, why was this bike named “Dorsoduro”? I know what the Dorsoduro is and have visited the district in the Italian city of Venice on two separate occasions, but I was looking for an answer full of emotion and history which I have come to expect from Italian manufacturers (and their marketing departments). To my surprise, everyone began to tell me what the name was rather than why it was named as such. Well, after having ridden the 2018 Aprilia Dorsoduro 900, it is clear to me why the Italian manufacturer would look to one of Italy’s most iconic cities and why they would choose the sestieri of Dorsoduro as its namesake.

When Aprilia invited Motorcycle.com to the press introduction for the 2018 Shiver 900 first ride, I thought, hadn’t that model been announced at EICMA 2016 as an upcoming 2017 model? If so, the model had been selling for a while already, right? It had. But as is typical, those lucky Europeans got it first and we had to wait. After the bikes made their journey across the ocean, braving Hurricane Harvey, and worse yet, meeting homologation, the new 900s arrived state-side. A few weeks later, the introduction of the new 2018 Aprilia Shiver 900 would commence.

Tuesday I wrote about the CBR650F; today it’s the new 2018 CB650F. It loses an “R,” its fairing and clip-on handlebars – and gains a nice aluminum handlebar and abbreviated bodywork to make it a naked bike. The end!

We were intrigued when Honda introduced its Grom for the 2014 model year, as the little 125cc street-legal playbike looked to be a fun and accessible way to ride a motorbike around town. It proved to be one of Honda’s best-sellers in its street lineup. It was lightly updated for 2016, which inspired a ridiculously fun shootout between new competitors from Kawasaki (Z125), Kymco (K-Pipe 125), and the SSR Razkull.

After being available since 2016 in Europe, the Yamaha XSR700 is finally making its way to the U.S. and Canada. This new XSR uses the platform of the well-loved FZ-07 to create a retro-vibed roadster that slots into Yamaha’s Sport Heritage line.

Kawasaki has an impressive stable of naked Z bikes (including our MOBO Best Standard winner, the Z900) but not everyone’s a fan of the line’s aesthetic. Sure, some people might like the Michael Bay Transformers look, but some people want their Bumblebee to look more like a classic VW Beetle than a modern Camaro.

I’m not much of a cruiser guy, but this past July Motorcycle.com sent me to my first media launch for the 2018 Indian Scout Bobber ( which ended up being pretty rad). As I have mentioned in previous articles, I am a gear nerd and have amassed plenty of jackets, pants, boots, helmets, etc., over the past 10 years since I began riding. With all of that gear I still found myself without a subtle jacket that one might classify as a cruiser jacket. The folks here at MO tasked me with finding a jacket that might fit the bill and suggested I look at the new line-up from Rev’it!.

After 50 years of production, an Italian classic much like Joe Pesci and Spaghetti O’s, the Moto Guzzi V7 Stone is now onto its third iteration of Guzzi’s most popular bike. Doses of change have come alongside the new roman numeral for this entry-level classic that remains a quality and affordable standard.

Here’s our weekly guide to the upcoming motorcycle events and rides that are happening within the next thirty days.

Being the international man of mystery that you are, you must be in need of an exquisitely designed and meticulously crafted melding of leather and metal that transcends transportation to get you from that hilltop villa overlooking the French Riviera, to your luxury yacht waiting below to take you and your supermodel “friends” out to sail the Côte d’Azur.

Here’s our weekly guide to the upcoming motorcycle events and rides that are happening over the next several weeks.

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 and KTM’s super streetfighters. With the arrival of the Super Duke R in 2014, the monstrously torquey V-Twin-powered hooligan has been in a lock step dogfight with the Tuono and its rip-roaring V-Four. So enamored were we with the SDR it won both Streetfighter and Bike of the Year awards in 2014. For 2015 the SDR retained its streetfighter of the year title over the Tuono, but in 2016 an updated Tuono took away the SDR’s streetfighter crown by virtue of offering a nearly equally equipped but more affordable RR model alongside its top-of-line Factory version. The Tuono duo also claimed honorable mention for motorcycle of the year in 2016.

Here’s our weekly guide to the upcoming motorcycle events and rides that are happening over the next several weeks.

In 2016 the revised Aprilia Tuono 1100 rightfully earned its place as the winner of our Streetfighter category and runner-up for Motorcycle of the Year. Fast forward to 2017 and what we thought was already an incredible motorcycle just got better. Aprilia invited Motorcycle.com to the Circuit of the Americas to sample these upgrades in Texas.

Here’s our weekly guide to the upcoming motorcycle events and rides that are happening over the next several weeks.

One of the most famous taglines in motorcycle history is “You meet the nicest people on a Honda.” And when it comes to nice motorcycles, Honda most often exemplifies this description. The retro-themed CB1100, first offered on our shores in 2013, made a nice case for nice, and so does this nicely updated version, the CB1100EX.

Touring Europe on a motorcycle can be a trip of a lifetime, but how do you know where best to go? Well, here’s a thorough and easy to digest European motorcycle trip itinerary that will offer an unforgettable ride through five countries spanning two weeks. Many people wait for the perfect time in their lives to take a life-changing trip like the one below, but sometimes life gets in the way and it never happens. You may not have the time or you may not have the money. In my experience, sometimes you just have to go for it. Comparethemarket.com has compiled the hard part for you, bringing you one step closer to a trip never to be forgotten.

Blessed with beautiful weather year round, weekend mornings at the Rock Store of southern California can rival the best bike shows around the globe. Eclectic characters come out of the woodwork every weekend to enjoy riding through some of the tightest, twistiest, off-camber, up- and downhill roads motorcyclists dream of. Their owners are pretty interesting, too. It’s not uncommon to see Jay Leno on one of his bizarre and rare machines or other celebrity motorcyclists such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Matt LeBlanc or Laurence Fishburne.

BMW announced its initial batch of models returning for 2018 with new colors and optional equipment. We’ve already written about the two most notable changes, a new ex works customization program called BMW Motorrad Spezial for RnineT and touring models, plus a new optional Bluetooth-connected 6.5-inch TFT display for the R1200GS and R1200GS Adventure, called the “Connectivity Option.” Several models also receive Emergency Call feature, though this will only be available in Europe. The rest of the announcement includes cosmetic changes and revisions to BMW’s various optional packages

With a consistently heavy volume of new stories and news items appearing daily on the Motorcycle.com homepage, it can become difficult to catch everything you’re interested in. MO‘s newsletter helps to solve that issue by delivering a digest of the latest bike reviews, comparison tests, and motorcycle news straight to your inbox every couple of days.

Father’s Day is looming on the horizon, and those of you who have motorcycle loving fathers are (hopefully) looking for a way to tell Dad how much you appreciate all he’s done for you and the family over the previous year. If he’s like most fathers, dad has probably avoided buying or doing things that he wanted to, just because the needs of the family outweighed his own desires. For families like that, you already know what to get him – just order that thing he decided not to get for himself. However, if Dad’s moto-needs are a mystery to you, take heart. We’ve put together a listing of stuff that’s bound to make your riding father quite happy. The prices range quite a bit here, so you’re sure to find something within the range of greenbacks contained in your wallet.

Asheville, North Carolina has been the scene of several Kymco product launches, and why not? It’s an oddball little city deep in the heart of Dixie that boasts world-class food, fun and roads. It’s kind of an underdog, just like the 54-year-old Taiwanese motor company. Kymco is known (when it is known) for durable, workmanlike products that deliver reliability and value… but not necessarily leading-edge style or wacky arrest-me fun. That changes with this here Spade 150, and Kymco let me ride and abuse the new model so I could lay a brief riding impression on ya’ll (the North Carolina is sticking).

Hemlines and exhausts go up and down, radiators come and go, but the Monster hasn’t really ever gone out of fashion since it hit the runway, dang, has it really been 23 years ago? 1994 brought us Miguel Galluzzi’s original naked bike, and there’s been a veritable plethora of Monsters over the years ever since. Also Monsterinos, as Ducati likes to call the smaller-displacement ones.

As a lifelong rooter for the underdog, I really wanted to like this one. Almost three years ago, I was a big fan of the original Street 750, which wasn’t so easy because it did have a couple of glaring shortcomings. But it was such a friendly little approachable motorcycle I liked it anyway – then H-D gave it a better front brake and cured its main malfunction. But the critics still panned its lack of cornering clearance, its mundane parts manifest and its frankly sloppy fit and finish. All legit complaints, but I always liked the little Harley’s potential. The cut of its jib.

Suck it up all you Harley haters, and behold the new Street Rod – pretty much what we wished the original Street 750 could’ve been in 2014.

The last time Triumph conducted a major revamp of its Street Triple family was 2013. At that press launch Triumph didn’t feel it necessary to include any track time because even the uptown R model remained predominantly a street bike. Four years on and Triumph has reshuffled the Street Triple deck and expanded the portfolio to three models (S, R, RS), each with a specific focus including the new performance leader RS model we just finished testing in Spain. While still largely a street bike, the RS features enough go-fast performance Triumph felt compelled to showcase the bike’s wherewithal around one of the most famous Spanish racetracks, Catalunya.

So far, we’ve had a hit-or-miss relationship when it comes to Chinese-built motorcycles. We were pleasantly surprised by the mini Ducati Monst…errr… SSR Razkull 125 when we rode it alone and amongst its peers in our 125cc Ankle Biters Shootout. The little playbike seemed to be put together moderately well and delivered impressive performance in the class, all for less than two-grand. For a price that low, we excused much of its shortcomings, especially compared to the almighty, but costly at $3,200, Honda Grom.

Ducati and fashion brand Diesel are collaborating once again, this time with a limited edition Diavel model. Ducati will produce only 666 units featuring a Mad Max-style post-apocalyptic look jointly created by Diesel Creative Director Andrea Rosso and the Ducati Design Center.

For anyone who held out purchasing a Triumph Street Triple on a hunch the current model was being replaced by a newer, faster, better, more powerful version, you were right to do so. Today Triumph launched three new versions of the popular mid-displacement Triple, and by the looks of it, the new model appears poised to dominate a niche occupied by only the MV Agusta Brutale 800 and Yamaha FZ-09.

You’ve read the Review, now see the video! Heart-stopping wheelies, lurid smoldering burnouts and an awesome display of moto-skill. Okay, well, none of that, sadly, but there is some nice action footage of Triumph’s latest, greatest all-new Bonneville variant through the rolling countryside outside Madrid, Espana. And, about two minutes of me channeling Walter Cronkite as I lay out the new bike’s salient points in living color.

Triumph has released a video teasing what looks to be a new Street Triple. The video, titled “The Street Will Never Be The Same Again,” offers a few tantalizing glimpses of the new bike along with this description: “Once in a generation, a motorcycle comes along that changes everything, that sets a new benchmark in power, weight, handling, looks and completely tears up the rule book.”

If you’re wondering how important the small-displacement segment is to BMW, here’s a figure to chew on: Edgar Heinrich, BMW Motorrad’s Head of Design, estimates, on a global scale, its current model lineup, excluding the G310R, appeals to approximately one million motorcycle shoppers. This means motorcycle consumers are buying bikes in segments BMW currently is present in. That includes everything from the G650GS on the low end, all the way to the K1600GTL at the other extreme.

Triumph’s updated Speed Triple, specifically the “S” base model, already impressed us tremendously once this year, when it finished second to the all-conquering Aprilia Tuono Factory in our little six-bike comparo jaunt up the coast of California in August. You could argue the Triumph won that one, really, since the Tuono’s $17K price tag has it really in a different category than the $13,200 Triumph (though the Speed Triple also came out on top of the $16,395 Ducati Monster 1200 S).

Here’s a number to consider: 382. Kawasaki says that’s the percentage the naked motorcycle market has increased since 2011. For comparison, the sportbike market has stayed relatively stagnant during the same time period. With that kind of popularity in a particular segment, it’s no wonder motorcycle manufacturers like Kawasaki are trying to grab a piece of that pie.

EICMA and Intermot have come and gone and the question on most American consumers’ minds is which of the wonderful new models will be making their way to the U.S.? Today, Kawasaki answered their part of the question, confirming the ZX-10RR, Ninja 1000, Ninja 650, Z900, Z650 and the Versys-X 300 for the U.S. market.

You can thank Honda for reigniting the mini bike craze with the release of the Honda Grom back in 2014. The little 125cc runabout is a refreshing throwback to the days you could grab your board, ride out to the ocean, hit the waves, then jet around town in search of the best carne asada burrito – while maybe sneaking into a skate park for a quick blast. In short, the Grom inspires fun rides at a slower pace.

Kawasaki tipped its cap at Intermot last month about its upcoming Z650 and Z900 nakeds. It was an odd strategy, releasing a couple of images and what looks to be an early draft of its EICMA press release. Well, now the Milan show is finally here and Kawasaki has officially confirmed the two models.

Husqvarna’s new Vitpilen 401 is focused on “providing a pure riding experience.” Using a 373cc Single borrowed from KTM’s 390 Duke housed in a stripped-down layout with clip-on bars, Husky says it will appeal to “an entirely new generation of riders looking for an honest and highly accessible machine.”

With a pocketful of spy shots as proof, we sleuthy MOrons proudly scooped the news a few months ago that Ducati was planning to produce a new air-cooled Monster ( 2017 Ducati Monster 800 Spy Shots). Today at EICMA, Ducati presented the production version. The 2017 Monster 797 borrows the air-cooled 803cc L-Twin from Ducati’s Scrambler models and repackages it for use in its newest naked.

In case you haven’t heard, the 125cc class of streetbikes is hot. The Honda Grom kicked off the latest craze, which was followed this year by Kawasaki’s Z125 Pro, as well as a few entries from China. However, all but one of the entries have teenie 12-inch wheels, making the bikes feel a little less than full-grown.

Two obvious questions spring to mind when talking about the SSR Razkull 125. First, who the hell is SSR? And second, how soon will Ducati’s legal department come knocking on its door? Because let’s face it, the Razkull looks like a miniature version of a Ducati Monster.

It’s impossible to be an editor of a moto publication without being a humongous fan of motorbikes. As such, I derive great pleasure from riding every new motorcycle that presents itself to me, and that attitude holds true even for non-new motorcycles, ones that I’ve never before thrown a leg over.