Motorcycle reviews

Honda’s humble little Super Cub maintains its position as the most prolific motorcycle in the world with yet another generation for MY2022. Reduced overall heft makes the new engine even more efficient than before for a net improvement in performance. Classic bodywork keeps it all under wraps while paying the appropriate amount of homage to the original design.

Triumph beefs up its globetrotting Tiger family with an addition to the mid-range displacement bracket in the new Tiger 850 Sport. The “Sport” borrows from its big brother — the Tiger 900 — and brings its own blend of on- and off-road capabilities to the table to set it apart from its siblings. Though capable all-around, the Sport comes built with a street-centric bias that will be more useful on urban/civilized roads, thus making it a viable tourbike/commuter/grocery-getter.

Indian expands its top-shelf touring lineup for MY22 with a total of two distinct models, each with two trim levels for a net gain of four motorcycles. Built primarily for performance-minded touring riders, the Pursuit Limited and Pursuit Dark Horse also serve admirably as grocery getters, cruisers, and boulevard bruisers. Power comes from Indian’s PowerPlus engine with over 120 horsepower on tap.

Kawasaki maintains the momentum it garnered in 2018 by rolling its popular Z900RS CAFE straight over into MY2022. And, why not? It’s hard to argue with success, and the retro-tastic looks and modern performance make excellent bedfellows, especially with the Seventies-fabulous graphics as the icing on the proverbial cake. The “CAFE” falls at the southern edge of liter-bike territory, which could potentially be dangerous for a new rider, but it carries all the requisite safety equipment needed to keep it dirty-side down.

KTM reimagined its 790 Adventure for model-year ’21 with a host of improvements across the board to bring us the 890 Adventure. Upgraded suspension components turn in better handling for this street-centric machine with improved electronics and a gruntier powerplant to sweeten the deal. Built with a road bias, this base-model 890 Adventure nevertheless maintains some off-road capabilities for travel on gravel and other loose materials.

Suzuki adds to its streetwise GSX-S saga with another chapter in its 2022 GSX-S1000. This is the base-model that serves as a platform for a handful of units, and is a good candidate as someone’s first road-use literbike with tractable power and baked-in safety features as part of its upgraded package.

The BMW K 1600 Grand America carries a number of upgrades worthy of the de facto family ambassador into the ’22 model year. Improvements in the lighting, power delivery, and the addition of standard features that were once optional, or not available at all. Next-generation electronic suspension and a high-vis TFT display round out the new goodies.

It seems like when God said “Let there be light,” Yamaha was already making the XT250. Okay, maybe not that long ago, but it has been since 1980 and I’ll bet a lot of folks reading this weren’t born yet. In 1982, Rambo rode one inFirst Blood. If it was mean enough to carry Sylvester Stallone, you know it was pretty awesome. With a wide-ratio five-speed and an air-cooled 250 cc engine, the XT250 is a proper little dual-sport machine and with a little more attention to two-up riding than you might expect in an off-road-capable bike.

Yamaha expands its “Faster Sons” footprint in 2022 with the new XSR900 naked/roadster model. This sled has the distinction of relying on ’80s design inspiration for its looks, while under the hood, its performance chops are respectable with plenty of modern amenities and electronics to make it a thoroughly contemporary ride.

Honda expands its adventure-bike range downward into the scooter category with the early release of its 2021 ADV150. Subtle off-road touches join fairly robust rider-protection features to make this bike viable as both an urban commuter and a backroads explorer. Long-stroke suspension and ABS protection to supports those different modes of travel. All of this comes with the usual twist-and-go operation and a price tag under $5k.

If you’re a carburetor fan, you’re still in luck for a 250 cc commuter bike with the V Star 250 from Yamaha. Simple, classic-cruiser good looks and scooter-like fuel economy make the V Star 250 a no-nonsense choice for a budget-minded or entry-level rider.

Indian Motorcycle steers its Scout platform into decidedly darker territory with the new Rogue and Rogue Sixty models. Not so much because of the blackout treatment, but because of what I’m going to call a West Coast clubber’s bike. No matter if you call it a club or gangstah, the look remains the same and these two bikes start out well down the custom-club path. Plus, they come with plenty of accessories that let you make your own mark and set it even further apart from its ilk. Just think of this pair as Scouts with street cred, or as the factory terms it, a “rogue spirit.”

Triumph rolls into MY2022 with a new High-Power Bonneville Twin for its multi-surface Scrambler 1200 XE. The “XE” maintains its design as a proper crossover model melding turf- and tarmac-capability with a homespun look that brings to mind the earliest scrambler models built on UJM platforms, or in this case, most likely some old Bonneville model. Spartan in its appointments but rich in power with top-shelf suspension and electronic ride-quality features, the XE is a real sleeper that should prove to punch above its weight.

The biggest sport-tourer in Yamaha’s lineup is better than ever. In 2016, the FJR1300A and its stablemate the FJR1300ES saw some evolutionary changes that brought just enough tweaks to make them smoother, more comfortable rides. Probably the biggest change in that update was in the transmission with the addition of a sixth gear and adding a slipper clutch to reduce hand fatigue at the clutch lever. Both of these tourers run a 1,298 cc liquid-cooled four-banger and come on a sportbike frame for a bit more thrill than just a tourbike.

BMW beat its K 1600 tourbike platform mercilessly with the buffhammer for the ’22 model year, and the result is a marked improvement over the previous generation for its bagger-tastic “B” variant. Updated electronics and out-of-this-world graphics join a souped-up engine and specialized LED lighting to make this a significant upgrade worthy of the “new” tag. This model is clearly aimed at the U.S. market, or at least at riders interested in a proper Boulevard Bruiser with strong, American-style touring capabilities.

Yamaha beefs up its MT-07 ahead of 2021 with a handful of improvements and updates on the menu. This marks the first major update for the Master of Torque since it was renamed from the FZ tag it carried for so long in the U.S. market. Engine tuning, design updates, safety equipment adjustments, and ergonomic tweaks all made it onto this newest iteration of the hyper-naked MT-07.

It’s out with the old and in with the new for Yamaha’s Tracer model that saw a ground-up rebuild ahead of MY2021. That’s right, Yamaha went for the trifecta with an all-new engine and upgraded electronics, all in a spankin’-new frame. This newest Tracer replaces the previous version, the Tracer 900 GT, and represents a natural evolution of Yamaha’s sport-touring design philosophy.

Honda goes a bit beyond the cursory “Bold New Graphics” package that frequently heralds a new model-year with new bodywork and a blackout paint package on the Honda CB1000R that sets it well apart from the previous version to make it the “Black Edition.” Improved electronics join with the new looks for some under-the-hood improvements increasing its utility as a commuter, and a fun one at that. The punchy four-banger reprises its role as the beating heart with throttle-by-wire and riding modes on board to help with engine management.

The Bolt from Yamaha’s Star cruiser line is a cool little bobber-style bike with its high tank, short wheelbase, and solo seat. It’s a nice around town bike — lightweight and agile — and naked with real-steel sheet metal, so it just begs you to customize it. What could be better? Enter the Bolt’s siblings, the dressier Bolt R-Spec and the café racer Bolt C-Spec. The Spec duo are every bit as snappy and fun to ride as the Bolt, but with some upgrades, both hardware and cosmetic. Powered by the air-cooled 942 cc V-twin engine, the Specs are in the same size slot as the Bolt: not too small that you’ll outgrow it right away and not so big to be overwhelming for new riders. At just a few bills more than the Bolt, they’re worth a look.

Yamaha tweaks its Zuma 125 scooter platform ahead of MY2022 with a handful of improvements across the board. Fuel-efficient power comes from a new “Blue Core” engine sporting some pretty fancy fandanglery in the valvetrain. Rugged new bodywork and a re-imagined headlight area seal the deal to further separate this newest-generation adventure scooter from its predecessors and peers.

Yamaha brought the XMAX to the U.S. market with a 27.6-horsepower mill that promises enough speed to be safe, even comfortable, at highway velocities, and that’s muy importante in the American market. This performance comes bundled with a decidedly modern and mature look that just screams metro-commuter.

Honda carries its CBR1000RR superbike, a.k.a. ’Fireblade’, into 2022 with little in the way of changes. That’s hardly surprising given the scope and scale of the revisions done prior to MY17 that brought us the newest gen of Honda’s Total Control initiative with a host of electronic goodies to help keep the 189-horsepower engine (10 more ponies than the previous gen) under control. It’s Honda’s first inline four-banger to run a throttle-by-wire induction control, and the factory piled on with Riding Modes, Wheelie Control, and more to make the ’Blade serve as a model flagship for the affordable-supersport sector with plenty of influence from the racing department for the ’everyrider’.

Yamaha’s Ténéré line expanded down into the mid-range with the all-new-in-2021 Ténéré 700 (XTZ700). The “700” brings solid dual-sport capability to the adventure-touring range with an off-road bent that definitely favors soft terrain. Yamaha’s CP2 engine delivers the goods with a transmission and chassis tuned specifically for trips off the beaten path, much more so than its bigger brothers in the Super Ténéré family. After a race to the top, this model marks a new front in the battle for market supremacy as the factory seeks to fill in under the 1,200 cc units.