Handlebars

I rode the Can-Am Spyder when it was first introduced almost two years ago, and one of the thoughts that crossed my mind was that this would be a good platform for a touring machine. Evidently I wasn’t the only one who had this idea, and now Can-Am has come out with a touring model, the Can-Am Spyder RT Roadster. Full story »

Rolling west on the Rocket III around the Highway 95 exit on I-40, I pulled alongside a Honda Fit automobile. On Triumph’s behemoth triple, I felt I could simply bump that little car out of the way, like in the Spy Hunter video game, without disturbing the Rocket III’s pounding progress down the road. I sneered inwardly at the tiny people in their tiny car, rolling on tiny wheels. The Rocket is taller, faster, and has more torque than the Fit. And it only felt heavier in parking lots. Full story »

Streetfighter. We’re not talking Fight Club here, but Ducati’s hottest naked offering. If the first streetfighters were bloody-knuckled Geico cavemen, this Duc is Roy Jones Jr. in a silk Armani wife-beater tee. Full story »

I never turn down an opportunity to ride a new bike, so when Ross Walls, owner of Rising Sun Cycles in Harriman, asked if I would like try out the new Hyosung cruiser, of course I said yes. Rising Sun has been an official Hyosung dealer since last December, but this was the first time I had seen their product. Hyosung has only been in the U.S. market as its own manufacturer since 2005. Full story »

Full disclosure: the 2009 Harley-Davidson Fat Bob is the first Harley I’ve ridden. And a woman (Angie Cole, who rides a Fat Bob and saw me struggling through the window at Smoky Mountain Harley-Davidson in Maryville) had to show me how to start it. So there. I don’t get my testosterone from the dealer. Full story »

It’s getting harder and harder for a new motorcycle to make a splash. To get noticed, a new bike has got to have new technology, or new looks, or something going for it that gives it some personality. Here’s an experiment to think about: If you took every current sport bike, covered the names, and painted them black, how many people could tell you which was which? I’ll bet you could pick out the Buell. Full story »

Scooters are strange machines. Some have soul and mystique, attracting attention for miles, while others look small, awkward, and get frequent laughs. Genuine’s Stella is definitely the former. In fact, it’s the last of a dying breed. At 150 cc, it is the largest two-stroke powered scooter or motorcycle that anyone can buy new in the USA (well, in 49 states, at least). Full story »

If the Italian matinee idol Marcello Mastroianni was in his prime these days, and inclined toward two-wheeling, no doubt he’d have multiple motocicli. For photo shoots and red carpet events, he’d probably have something like a Ducati 900 SS from the ’70s, transported by trailer. But to get himself from il caffè to the photo shoot, he’d ride his Aprilia. Without a helmet, silk jacket fastened with one button, casually holding a French cigarette behind the right-side mirror in such a way that the breeze blew no ashes onto him or his beskirted and sunglassed passenger, riding sidesaddle behind. Full story »

The grass is always greener. People long for what they can’t have. American riders know this all too well, and pine for Japanese- and European-market bikes that magazines parade before us on their pages, before crushing our desires with the phrase, “Not for the U.S. Market.” The marketing gurus at Harley-Davidson turned this scenario on its ear by launching in Europe a genuine American-made Harley Sportster that we couldn’t get here. Brilliant! Full story »

When I was stationed in Hawaii 25 years ago, I had a car to bop around in. But motorcycles were my primary mode of weekend transportation. A bunch of my friends were divers or surfers who owned only motorcycles. So come Saturday we’d swap wheels. And now it seems that most of those friends had really big bikes. Full story »