Future Meets Past in Pollution-Free Hog Story by Jay LaRossa and Mike SeatePhotos by Mike Seate and Jose Gallina We’d been eagerly awaiting the chance to plant our leathers on Harley-Davidson’s LiveWire electric street­bike since its 2021 premiere. Switch­ing from the fabled push­rod-operated V-twin powertrain to a platform that’s powered only by batteries was the…

Plush Performance Personified Story by Mike Seate and Jay LaRossaPhotos by Jose Gallina and Mike Seate Sportbikes, with their back-breakingly low clip-on bars and excruciating riding positions, are dead, goes the theory. They’ve been replaced, for all but dedicated racers and track-day junkies, by high-performance naked bikes that offer slightly more forgiving ergonomics and similar…

Jay has just stepped off the 660cc Triumph Trident after a spirited 45-mile ride through the foothills of Southern California’s Santa Monica Mountains. It’s nearing dusk and even though the temperature is unusually cool for this time of year, he encountered several other quick motorcycle riders with intimate knowledge of these twisty, high desert roads….

Like any moto journalist, I jump at the chance to test ride new motorcycles. This generally involves free travel, meals and accommodation in some faraway, sunny locale, and plentiful time aboard a factory-fresh machine. However, when said invite entails riding a small-displacement commuter bike, one’s expectations are somewhat diminished. Single-cylinder 350s are not expected to…

With the emergence of the Chinese streetbike market (see Open Mike Pg.6), and both Triumph and Royal En- field launching all-new beginner-friendly machines, 2023 is looking like an optimum time to be a newbie rider. Nearly every motorcycle showroom is stocked with easy-to-master machines engineered with rider-friendly hardware specifically targeted to learners. Amenities like slip-assist clutches, low…

Story by Mike Seate, with Chris Abel and Nick Coumos Photos by Mike Seate/Ducati North America Change is controversial, especially in the high-stakes realm of performance streetbikes. In few 2021 models is this more apparent than with Ducati’s radically revamped Monster 950. The machine has boldly done away with much of what made the Monster…

Story: Alonzo Bodden, Jay LaRossa and Mike Seate “I wish I was 5’8” tall and had younger knees. Then I’d buy this bike and just do track days all the time!” That was comedian-turned motorcycle test jockey Alonzo Bodden’s enthused take after a few quick miles aboard MV Augusta’s scintillating Brutale Dragster triple. The strippeddown…

Story: Linda Wilsmore Photos: Simon Everett Over the past fifty years, Tony Francis aka ‘Ace Rocker’, from Leeds, UK, has owned around thirty motorcycles, including Triumph, BSA, Panther, Matchless, Norton, Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, and currently also has a 1955 Triton. Well known on the biking and rock n’ roll scene, he runs the Northern Rockers…

We’d been collectively itching to get our mitts on Kawasaki’s new W800 since spotting one on the Team Green display stand at last January’s International Motorcycle Show. Fans of retro cafe racers have long lamented to loss of Kawasaki’s original W650 from the lineup, but after some 17 years the very British-feeling air-cooled parallel twin…