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Retro/Vintage Motorcycle Reviews

2018 CSC San Gabriel Café Racer | First Look Review

CSC Motorcycles has announced the release of its latest model, the 2018 San Gabriel, a café racer with an air-cooled, 16.1-horsepower (claimed), 250cc, single-cylinder engine,...

Retrospective: 1961-1968 Harley-Davidson 250 Sprint

As Milwaukee settled into a long, cold winter late in 1959, the Harley suits were worried. Honda had just introduced half-a-dozen small bikes, ranging from...

2018 Kawasaki Z900RS Cafe Now Available in the U.S.

The masses asked, and Kawasaki listened; after unveiling it at EICMA last fall, then disappointing us by saying it wouldn't be available in the...

Retrospective: 1989-1993 Buell RS1200

Talk about making a silk purse out of a sow’s ear—that’s what Erik Buell managed to do back in the late 1980s. Now, nothing...

2018 Ducati Scrambler 1100 Special | First Ride Review

In 2015, Ducati rolled out its new Scrambler “lifestyle brand” that began with four 803cc models—Icon, Classic, Urban Enduro and Full Throttle. The model...

Retrospective: 1984-1985 Kawasaki ZX750-E Turbo

"If intent is enough to convict, anyone purchasing Kawasaki’s 750 Turbo should have his driver’s license revoked,” wrote one moto-journalist in 1984. This Kawasaki was...

1971-1979 Bultaco Alpina 250 | Retrospective Review

Señor Bulto had a simple plan when he started up the Bultaco brand in 1958: build great competition motorcycles. And he did. In the...

1985-1992 BMW K100RS | Retro Review

A burger and fries is a great meal once in a while, but you wouldn’t want to make a steady diet of it. BMW...

2018 Triumph Bonneville Speedmaster | First Ride Review

When the Bonneville America and Speedmaster cruisers disappeared from Triumph’s lineup for 2017, we knew something was afoot. The Bonneville line was in the...

1965-1968 Honda CL77 Scrambler 305 | Retro Review

Here we have the last of Honda’s 305 models, which began with the dry-sump CA76 in 1959, moving on to the wet-sump CA77 Dream...

Man on a VanVan Without a Plan

Life begins at 70 mpg... Sitting at the end of my driveway, the VanVan’s headlight jiggling in time to the gentle thumping of the bike’s...

Retrospective: 1979-1992 Yamaha QT50 Yamahopper

Looking in Cycle magazine’s “1980 Buyers Guide,” the Motorized Bicycles section has more than 20 bikes listed. Most of them are a hair under...

2018 Kawasaki Z900RS | First Ride Review

These days retro bikes are everywhere you look. Instagram is full of millennials with tattoos and trucker hats showing off their old Honda CB-turned-café...

2018 Triumph Bonneville Bobber Black | First Ride Review

The 2017 Triumph Bonneville Bobber was one of the most highly anticipated new models to be released last year, an instant hit that quickly...

Indian Scout Bobber vs. Moto Guzzi V9 Bobber vs. Triumph Bonneville Bobber | Comparo Review

Today’s bobbers, as a style, could be described as less than sensible. They prize form over function, emotion and feel over pure logic. If...

Retrospective: 1998-2001 Honda VFR800Fi Interceptor

This is the so-called fifth generation of the VFR—and it was essentially a new machine. The most obvious change was the slightly bigger V4...

2018 Kawasaki Z900RS | First Look Review

After weeks of teasing and hinting followed by a global unveil at the EICMA show in Italy earlier this month, U.S. motorcycle enthusiasts will...

2018 Yamaha XSR700 | First Ride Review

When Yamaha’s 2014 FZ-09 triple was announced, anticipation of its arrival was so high that eager buyers lined up to put deposits down on...

A Look Back: 1991-2002 Honda ST1100

When Honda introduced the V45 Sabre in 1982, everyone thought the V-4 revolution was at hand. Everyone at Honda, that is. With a few...

Moto Guzzi Unveils Concept 85 Adventure Bike, Teases New V7 III Models

As Moto Guzzi approaches its 100th anniversary in 2021, like an aging favorite uncle it's showing more and more willingness to let its character...

2018 Royal Enfield Continental GT and Interceptor | First Look Review

Royal Enfield is in the midst of a revival. It never really died (read the story here), but like most manufacturers it’s had its...

New 2018 Kawasaki Models Unveiled at EICMA

Under the broad promise of "True Commitment"--to adventure, sport and life in general--Kawasaki unveiled several new models at the EICMA show in Milan, Italy,...

2018 Ducati Scrambler 1100 | First Look Review

It was only a matter of time until Ducati introduced us to the big brother in the Scrambler family. Meet the 2018 Scrambler 1100,...

Retrospective: 1964-1965 BSA Beagle/Starlite

Cute name, BSA Beagle. Dog names for motorcycles were not unusual in England, as with the Triumph Terrier of the early 1950s. But when...

2018 Triumph Bonneville Bobber Black | First Look Review

When Triumph unveiled the Bonneville Bobber in October 2016, I fell into immediate lust with the “brutal beauty.” Like a twitterpated teenager, I forgave...

Retrospective: 1999-2000 Excelsior-Henderson Super X

Back in the early 1990s the Hanlon brothers, of Belle Plaine, Minnesota, looked at the Harley market and saw that the boom in sales...

2018 Yamaha XSR700 | First Look Review

On the opening day of the American International Motorcycle Expo (AIMExpo) in Columbus, Ohio, Yamaha announced a new addition to its 2018 Sport Heritage...

2017 BMW R nineT Racer vs. Triumph Thruxton | Comparison Review

Motorcycles allow us to indulge our appetite for nostalgia like few other vehicles. Riding a motorcycle can transport us back to younger, more carefree...

2018 BMW R nineT Urban G/S | Road Test Review

It seems there are two general approaches to new motorcycle design: modern/futuristic and retro/old school. The head-turning R nineT, which BMW launched in 2014...

Retrospective: 1988-1997 Suzuki RGV250

When one is looking at the specs for a motorcycle, weight, power, wheelbase, etc., it is all somewhat instructive, but not terribly exciting. Until...

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