Road Tests

Latest Road Tests

KTM 350 XC-F - Road Test

KTM 350 XC-F – Road TestAn off-road racebike that doesn’t play by the usual rules.

If you didn’t see this one coming, you haven’t been paying attention. After winning the 2010 MX1 World Motocross Championship against 450cc machines with its 350 SX-F, KTM was sure to announce an off-road version of the same bike. This is, after all, what KTM does so well: get as [...]

2011 Ducati 848 EVO: World Exclusive First Test – VideoDucati’s new 2011 848 EVO is track-ready and street savvy—we’ve dyno and full road test numbers to prove it.

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2011 Ducati 848 EVO - World Exclusive First Test

2011 Ducati 848 EVO – World Exclusive First TestDucati’s new 2011 848 EVO is track-ready and street savvy—we’ve dyno and full road test numbers to prove it.

Italian passion for motorsport is synonymous with the stunning performance, soul-stirring sound and seductive, liquid-red styling inherent to a long bloodline of championship-winning Ducati sportbikes. Yesterday’s triumph, however, is just that, and the bigger the trophy, the more dust it tends to attract. Ongoing product evolution is what maintains a [...]

Ducati Multistrada 1200S Touring - Road Test

Ducati Multistrada 1200S Touring – Road TestA ferocious, high-tech, multi-surface, all-day touring machine.

All motorcyclists have a fantasy collection assembled in the dream garage that lives in their heads. Mine would include a 1000cc sportbike, a 250cc four-stroke MXer, a 450cc dual-sport, a 300cc two-stroke enduro and something with bags that can be ridden two-up all day. Unfortunately, this isn’t possible for most [...]

2010 Honda VFR1200F – VideoHonda’s new V-Four sport-tourer.

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2010 Suzuki RMX450Z – Road Test

2010 Suzuki RMX450Z – Road TestSuzuki’s fuel-injected RMX450Z offers solid, predictable handling with a good balance between agility and high-speed stability.

Suzuki hasn’t had a serious off-road bike since the RMX250 two-stroke, last offered in 1998. But the company’s days of selling only mild-mannered off-roaders are over, as there is nothing soft about the new-for-2010 RMX450Z. It rocks to the same beat as the fuel-injected RM-Z450 motocrosser from which it was [...]

2010 Honda VFR1200F - Road Test

2010 Honda VFR1200F – Road TestThis manual-shift VFR1200F is an exceptionally good performing, highly refined sporting motorcycle.

It was an odd thing to have cross my mind the first time I thumbed the starter button on this2010 VFR1200F, the long-awaited follow-up to theprevious Interceptor. But as the lightly syncopated combustion rhythm of the 76-degree V-Four with 28-degree-offset crankpins made its flat, almost-360-degree-crank sound—a droning, distant echo of [...]

2010 Brammo Enertia - Road Test

2010 Brammo Enertia – Road TestWind in your face, lure of the open road…and the hum of an electric motor?

Electric vehicles are a polarizing subject, rife with environmental, political and technical whoop-de-doos. Advocates insist electricity is the wave of the future for transportation, claiming enhanced performance, reduced emissions and lower maintenance. Opponents argue that EVs are costly, short on range and will require a new refueling infrastructure. To this [...]

2010 Kawasaki Z1000 - Road Test

2010 Kawasaki Z1000 – Road TestOn the road, Kawasaki’s all-new Z1000 bike feels aggressive, raw and supersport-inspired while maintaining a civil nature.

“Not anothernaked.” That was the first response from Kawasaki’s U.S. product-planning department when the Japanese home office asked how many Z1000s the American market could absorb. Lack of sales success with previous standards meant Kawasaki over here wasn’t sure it wanted anything to do with the new bike, especially in [...]

2010 Husqvarna TE 250 - Road Test

2010 Husqvarna TE 250 – Road TestHusqvarna’s all-new street-legal 250 enduro: small but mighty.

Once upon a time, Husqvarna was a big-time player in the dirtbike market. But most of that glory came before the company was sold to Cagiva in Italy, before Japanese dirtbikes took center stage, before four-stroke engines replaced two-strokes as the primary means of propulsion for off-road motorcycles—and long before [...]