Motorcycle Road Tests
American-made and all-brand motorcycle road tests and comparisons from the editors of Rider and American Rider magazines. This section includes everything about motorcycles including retro and vintage motorcycles as well as full road tests complete with dyno runs, motorcycle gas mileage and hands-on field-testing.
Cruiser + Touring Motorcycle Reviews
2013 Middleweight Metric Cruiser Comparo
My favorite comfort foods, heart-warming and artery-clogging classics like mac-and-cheese, buttermilk biscuits and pulled-pork barbecue, are straightforward and uncomplicated,... read story
Like Kawasaki’s Vulcan line, Honda has had Shadow cruisers in its lineup since the early 1980s. Over the past three decades,... Read more »
2013 Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Classic Review
In Roman times, Vulcan was the god of fire. In the 1960s, Vulcan came to be known as the home planet of Spock on Star Trek.... Read more »
Of the four motorcycles in this comparison, the Star V Star 950 has the most distinctive look. Ever since Yamaha created... Read more »
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Sport + Sport Touring Motorcycle Reviews
2014 Yamaha FZ-09 – First Look
Last fall, at the Intermot show in Cologne, Germany, Yamaha unveiled the Crossplane Concept in-line triple, promising that, “with its clean torque output, this advanced... read story
2013 Ducati Hyperstrada – First Ride
Three new-for-2013 Ducatis have strada, the Italian word for “road,” in their model names, each offering a different... Read more »
Earlier this century, when BMW Motorrad decided to shed its gray-haired, pipe-and-slippers image for good, rather than abandon... Read more »
Five Fast Fellows: 2013 Sport-Touring Shootout
Sport touring, a hybrid category that blends the performance of sportbikes with the comfort of touring bikes, takes many... Read more »
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Sport Standard + Standard Motorcycle Reviews
Quick, Lean & Low: A Fast Foursome of Easily Straddled Middleweights
Whether you’re a novice rider who’s a bit unsteady at stops, or just a little vertically challenged, when you’re holding up a motorcycle at a standstill there’s nothing... read story
2013 Triumph Bonneville: Ridden & Rated
When our Imperial Purple/Fusion White Triumph Bonneville was delivered, I was sure it was a mistake, certain that the bike... Read more »
2013 Ducati Monster 696 ABS: Ridden & Rated
All of these bikes have at least some claim to icon status, in terms of both styling and longevity. The first Triumph Bonneville... Read more »
2013 Moto Guzzi V7 Stone: Ridden & Rated
The trio of V7s in Moto Guzzi’s 2013 lineup starts with the low-priced Stone, a gutsy name choice meant to convey the bike’s... Read more »
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Dual-Sport + Adventure Motorcycle Reviews
BMW F 800 GS Adventure – First Look
Adventure touring’s rapidly expanding universe can be traced back to a Big Bang moment: BMW’s introduction of the R80G/S in 1980. Gelände/Strasse—Off-road/Road in German,... read story
Comparison Test: 2013 BMW C 650 GT vs. 2013 Honda NC700X
We aren’t normally a shiftless bunch except for an hour or two after lunch, but we recently spent the last two weeks swapping... Read more »
2014 KTM 1190 Adventure–First Ride
Roaring out of the fourth tight, uphill corner, one of hundreds in our aggressive ascent from sea level to the lava fields... Read more »
Rider Comparo: 2013 Honda CRF250L vs. 2013 Kawasaki KLX250S vs. 2013 Yamaha WR250R
The last time Rider corralled a herd of 250 dual-sports (April 2008), we chose the thriftiest models available in the face... Read more »
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Retro + Vintage Motorcycle Reviews
Retrospective: Harley-Davidson Sportster with Boat-Tail Option: 1970-1971
In the rarified world of new motorcycle models, at least back in 1969, there were two aspects to be considered. One dealt with performance, the other with styling. And in... read story
The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club track in San Diego, California, has serious history with the motorcycle community. It was long... Read more »
Retrospective: Ducati Sport Desmo 500: 1977-1982
The moral of this story is simple: Do not let non-motorcycling bureaucrats run a motorcycle company. Ducati had a pretty... Read more »
26th Annual All-British Motorcycle Weekend, San Jose, California
You have to give those Brit-bike lovers a big hand; they are an incredibly enthusiastic bunch of enthusiasts, putting up... Read more »
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Sidecar + Scooter + Trike Motorcycle Reviews
2014 Kymco MyRoad 700i – First Ride
The Kwang Yang Motor Company, better known as Kymco, is a Taiwan-based manufacturer of small-displacement engines, scooters, motorcycles and ATVs. Now it its 50th year, such... read story
Comparison Test: 2013 BMW C 650 GT vs. 2013 Honda NC700X
We aren’t normally a shiftless bunch except for an hour or two after lunch, but we recently spent the last two weeks swapping... Read more »
The 2012 Ural Limited Edition: The Ural Yamal
IMZ-Ural, the Siberian manufacturer of motorcycles with sidecars, has introduced the 2012 limited edition Ural Yamal—the... Read more »
Ridden & Rated: 2012 Motor Trike Victory Vortex
Heavyweight touring bikes such as the Victory Cross Country and Cross Roads easily lend themselves to the additional stability,... Read more »
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