Pierer Mobility has offered class-leading performance, adjustability, and technical features in the lightweight category for years with the KTM RC 390—a 2022 Cycle World Ten Best winner—and 390 Duke. Meanwhile its Husqvarna Vitpilen 401 and Svartpilen 401 counterparts have fallen behind since their inception in 2018. But after years of being static, Husqvarna offers an all-new Svartpilen 401 and...

Racebikes are just different.Everything they do is informed by leanness and purpose, and the best ones exude the thought, development, and preparation that went into them.Like this 1972 BMW R 75/5 built in the spirit of the early Butler Smith 750cc superbikes constructed at the dawn of the class. Everybody knows the R 90 S of Reg Pridmore, but...

Here’s something to ponder: Would Tesla be today’s leading EV manufacturer if it waited for major automakers to popularize electric cars before investing in the category? What if Honda, Toyota, Ford, BMW, or any other large-scale manufacturer had gone all-in earlier, taking early EV adopters with them? Would we still see throngs of Teslas at every red light, or...

The 2025 Ducati Panigale V4 is the most forward-looking mass-production superbike of the modern sportbike era, but I can’t help but look to past versions as I throw a leg over the new bike. The last Panigale V4 I rode was a 2023 V4 SP2 during Cycle World’s superbike shootout. It was stunning, fast, and had an obvious electronic...

BMW’s decade-old R nineT has been upgraded heavily for 2024, but instead of leaving it’s quirky name alone, those crazy kids in Berlin just slapped a “12″ smack in the middle of the model’s name: R 12 nineT. The “nineT” moniker was to celebrate the 90th anniversary of BMW’s motorcycle production when the model was first introduced in 2014....

The automatic transmission has been around since the 1940s, and while the vast majority of automobiles are now equipped with one, motorcycles largely retain manual gearboxes. We are in an era where most new drivers have never operated a car with a manual transmission, so the concept of using the clutch and shifting a “standard transmission” on a motorcycle...

Like most motorcyclists, I have a bucket list of two-wheeled pilgrimages: the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello, the TT fortnight at the Isle of Man, the North West 200, the Barber Vintage Festival, to name a few. Holy places all. But not every holy place in the motorcycle world is my kind of place. The first to come to...

When a brand like Royal Enfield—one that is known for retro cool and affordable prices—moves away from its tried-and-true formula that has brought it much success, the stakes are high. Last year when it introduced the liquid-cooled DOHC 452cc 2024 Himalayan as a replacement for its much loved 411cc air-cooled model, it was well received by the press and...

If you wondered where the inspiration for the modern performance cruiser came from, take a look in the mirror. OK, maybe the inspiration didn’t come from you specifically, but bikes like the Harley-Davidson Low Rider S and Indian Sport Chief weren’t born by chance. They exist because an overwhelming majority of riders proved there was a market for tall,...

Performance cruisers became popular in the aftermarket scene when riders began customizing their bikes for improved power, handling, and cornering clearance with an emphasis on style. Most of the bikes emerging from this cruiser subculture have been Harley-Davidsons. So much so, The Motor Company started making club-style performance cruisers such as the Low Rider S and Low Rider ST. Recognizing...

Yamaha’s YZF-R7 stands alone in the Blu Cru middleweight sportbike lineup. Originally released as a 2022 model, the R7 is based on the MT-07 platform with the same basic chassis and CP2 engine. This is the same 689cc parallel twin featured in the Ténéré 700 and XSR700. Utilizing one engine platform across a range of different models is something Yamaha...

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Harley-Davidson’s Low Rider S is a performance cruiser with West Coast club styling. Originally introduced to the Dyna platform in 2016, the Low Rider S moved to the Softail platform in 2020. Shortly after, the Low Rider S was updated in 2022, receiving the larger Milwaukee-Eight 117ci engine..embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; }...

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