Recently Reviewed Bikes
May/June 2007
Harley-Davidson FXDCI Dyna Super Glide® Custom
There's no telling what tomorrow's assignments will bring. We might be exploring a great new road up in the mountains, riding off to a rally or charity event, or leaving at sunrise on another tour that's likely to eat up a thousand miles or better. Our needs change from day to day and it's nice to have the key to Harley-Davidson's Dyna Super Glide®...
Kawasaki Vulcan® 900 Custom
Just mention Austin, Texas, and I'm ready to head that way. A vibrant, college-town atmosphere, great food, innumerable live music venues, and some great riding make the Lone Star State's capital one of the coolest towns around. So when I recently received an invite to come to Austin and join Kawasaki for a day of riding on their new Vulcan® 900...
March/April 2007
Maximum Flash
Tucked away at Harley-Davidson facilities is a small team of engineers and stylists that works as a separate unit under the acronym, CVO (Custom Vehicle Operations). Responsible for producing limited numbers of highly customized motorcycles since 1999, the group has four individual models to choose from in the lineup for 2007: a Softail Springer, a...
2007 Honda CBR600RR
For 2007, the 20th anniversary of the Honda Hurricane, Honda is dropping the venerable, street-focused CBR600F4i and returning to their "one 600cc sportbike for all occasions" formula....
KTM 950 Adventure
Ohio, the Spring of 2006. It was standing there, all dressed-up in day-glow orange, seeming to stare, as though daring me, through its double headlights. I thought, this is definitely not the bike you would buy for a Sunday outing to the next café, although it would certainly draw plenty of attention. No, this is a bike meant to be ridden hard...
Yamaha FZ1
A "Jack of All Trades" with handlebars, the Yamaha FZ1 has been handling daily commutes, touring away vacation time, and tearing up track days since 2001. And although it's been called the poster child for limited garage space, this ride is usually much too busy and definitely too much fun to be hanging around for long with the lawn equipment....
January/February 2007
2006 Aprilia Tuono 1000R
In recent years, the Aprilia product line has been stacked end-to-end with truly inspired bikes such as the Tuono, the Mille, and the no longer domestically available Futura, that dominated the top slots of many an enthusiast's "if money were no object" list. This was no small feat considering many far larger entities fail to produce even one bike...
Suzuki's Six-and-a-half
In the 1960s, when I first got interested in motorcycles, 650 was a number heavy with significance. It had special connotations of power and speed. Royal Enfield's oddball 692cc Constellation notwithstanding, a 650cc was the biggest, most powerful bike you could buy in England. Vincent had gone to the wall, the side-valve, 1000cc, sidecar haulers of...
2006 Triumph Scrambler
When you get away from all the facts, figures, and statistics, you have to admit that one of the most compelling reasons for riding a motorcycle is that it is just plain cool. Catering to this rationale, the new 2006 Triumph Scrambler is not going to win any performance contests or long-distance-riding awards, but it is without a doubt one of the coolest...
November/December 2006
Yamaha FJR1300A/AE
That is the question facing potential buyers interested in the 2006 edition of Yamaha’s exceedingly popular FJR1300. Laurel-resting certainly wasn’t on the year’s agenda over at Big Blue. And topping the list of cool refinements on the sport-touring world’s top dog is the novel option of escaping the clutches of the clutch....
