Recently Reviewed Bikes
September/October 2008
2008 BMW R 1200 GS & R 1200 GS Adventure
What is it that makes a motorcycle great? Is it all-around ability, or sharply focused functionality in a specific area? For the R 1200 GS series, a hot item for BMW aficionados with over 75,000 of them already sold worldwide, it may be both....
2008 Victory Vision Touring
Before I laid eyes on it and spent four days touring with it, the Victory Vision wasn’t on my short list of “must rides.” But all of the preconceptions I had – that the bike’s styling was too futuristic, it wouldn’t handle well in curves and the V-twin motor would produce too much vibration for comfortable long-distance touring – proved...
July/August 2008
2008 Buell Ulysses XB12XT
The introduction of the Ulysses XB12X in 2006 marked an obvious departure from the Buell Motorcycle Company’s high-performance, track-bred roots. They put aside their knee pucks, toe sliders, and pristine pavement for dual-sport boots, hand guards, and the oft-graveled (or worse) road less traveled. For 2008, the departure theme has struck again for...
2008 BMW R 1200 RT vs. 2008 Moto Guzzi Norge
Each of these machines is powered by a twin-cylinder engine of similar displacement, and a quick perusal of the spec sheets indicates how very similar these sport-tourers are in other respects too. Both machines are built in the shadow of the Alps: Munich to the east and Mandello del Lario to the south. And both were built with the same task in mind—to...
Suzuki Boulevard C109/C109RT
On March 9, 1862, the first "modern" naval battle took place off Sewell's Point, Virginia, between the ironclads USS Merrimack and CSS Virginia. On the previous day, the Virginia had pummeled the wooden-hulled ships of the Union fleet until the Merrimack arrived to defend them. The confrontation eventually proved inconclusive because neither ship's...
May/June 2008
2008 Honda VTX 1300T vs. 2008 Yahama V-Star 1300 Tourer
At first blush, we expected these machines to ride and feel nearly the same, but after hundreds of test miles, their separate identities began to emerge more clearly. A multi-day trip up the California coast to scenic Morro Bay, with a diversion inland on snow-lined mountain roads, steep, twisty canyons, woodlands, broad plains and even hours of steady...
Kawasaki Ninja ZX14
Apprehension and sheer curiosity were the sensations rattling around inside my head the first time I thumbed the starter on the Kawasaki ZX14 Ninja. Though we ride bikes of all different stripes, I was uncharacteristically anxious about this particular model. After all, this is a machine capable of sub 10-second quarter miles and a top speed electronically...
March/April 2008
2007 Triumph Tiger 1050
Since its founding in 1883, the Triumph marque has seen good times, bad times, and many of its UK neighbors, such as Norton and BSA, unceremoniously ushered off into the shadowy abyss of moto-history by the auctioneer's gavel. Without getting too misty-eyed over recent developments, it really does cheer one's spirits to see Triumph delivering a series...
BMW's New Enduros
BMW Motorrad starts out what promises to be an exciting year by unveiling a new range of enduro bikes in various classes for different purposes....
Honda ST1300
Being able to have the best of both worlds is a tough proposition when you're out on the road in unfamiliar territory. Two cases in point: the difficulty of finding clean, comfortable rooms for reasonable sums or restaurants that still serve tasty and wholesome fare. Sometimes you don't have any control over situations. However, the bike used is all...
