Motorcycle Blog on 2040Motos

2024 Aprilia RS457 Review – First Ride

A refreshing gateway drug into the world of Aprilia Photos: Alex Photo Picture it: you’re a new or newer sport rider who aspires to own an Aprilia. You could go with the RSV4, which you ultimately want to graduate to eventually, but it’s a terrible idea to get one right off the bat. The RS660 could be a decent choice, depending on your abilities, comfort level, and talent.

2024 Royal Enfield Shotgun 650 Review – Second Ride

A mid-size cruiser with a steadfast engine and elevated technology upgrades Photos by Royal Enfield Taking a giant leap into creating a motorcycle platform with customization in mind, the Shotgun 650 is, at its heart, the quintessential mid-sized cruiser, wrapped in sleek and simple bobber style cladding, and adorned with the latest technology upgrades. Standing squarely in the present, the Shotgun 650 takes the time tested Royal Enfield 650 twin-cylinder engine and provides it with the sleek shape and style of a completely modern cruiser. While standard bikes are the lifeblood of this brand, the cruiser-esque Shotgun 650 stands out in the lineup as a breath of fresh air to the retro-styled Royal Enfields of the previous decades.

2024 KTM 390 Duke Review – First Ride

Premium treatment for the baby Duke Photos by: Francesc Montero, Sebas Romero Like many things in life, perspective is everything. Here in the US, KTM’s 390 Duke has been the smallest member of the Duke family (although that’s no longer true as the 250 and 200 Dukes cross the ocean, too). As the baby Duke in America, we generally look at it with kid gloves, a cute learner bike for someone to start with before coming up through the ranks.

2025 Triumph Daytona 660 Review – First Ride

Good things come in threes Photos: Triumph There’s a reason why Trader Joe’s is beloved by so many when it comes to their grocery shopping. It boils down to a phenomenon known as decision paralysis. At your typical grocery store, for any particular item, you have dozens upon dozens of choices.

2024 Ducati DesertX Rally Review – First Ride

Rallying the troops for a rip through Morocco Photos by Alex Photo. Not having children of my own, nor many in my close circle for that matter, I forget how seeing the unadulterated enthusiasm and joy from a child can brighten up one’s entire day. Of course, when it’s due to a group of motorcycles roaring through their small town in the desert outside Marrakech, that joy makes an incredible experience that much more memorable.

2024 Moto Guzzi V85 TT, TT Travel and Strada Review – First Ride

Three new flavors for Guzzi's retro ADV Questions about suspension internals, why there’s a sideways motor pushing a shaft drive on a sub-liter bike, and why I keep forgetting how to navigate a menu I’ve already gone through dozens of times all faded away, as I felt the traction control let the rear wheel step out just the right amount on the twisty Spanish road. 2024 Moto Guzzi V85 For 2024, Moto Guzzi’s V85 family now has three bikes; the Strada, TT, and TT Travel. While each version has its own unique features, all three share the distinction of being the only shaft-driven air-cooled motorcycles in the middleweight adventure class.

2024 KTM 1390 Super Duke R EVO Review – First Ride

We’ve officially entered into the world of the ridiculous Photos by Francesc Montero and Sebas Romero There’s only so much you can learn about a motorcycle after getting about four laps on a racetrack you haven’t seen in a decade. Factor in the cold conditions, a brand new, race-compound rear tire, and no tire warmers, and you can basically throw away any sort of authoritative impressions about the bike. Oh, and did I mention the bike in question is the 2024 KTM 1390 Super Duke R EVO and the racetrack was the ultra-tricky Almeria circuit?

2024 KTM 990 Duke Review – First Ride

The middle Duke is giving off big brother vibes Photos: Francesc Montero, Sebas Romero It’s no secret that we at Motorcycle.com love KTM’s 790 and 890 Duke (and really love the 890 Duke R). Long-time readers will know this already, but if you’re new here, our history with the middle Duke family runs deep. Type in either 790 or 890 Duke in our search bar and you’ll see the myriad of stories and tests we’ve done with those bikes.

2024 Triumph Speed 400 & Scrambler 400 X Review – First Ride

Two new lightweights that deliver vastly different experiences The folks in Hinckley have been busy in recent years bolstering Triumph’s reputation as a two-wheeled powerhouse of tech and performance. In the past six months or so, however, it’s also been releasing new models across its product line and entering highly competitive segments that are new to the British marque in the modern era. Now, with its new 398cc liquid-cooled, four-valve Single, the company is poised to attack the lightweight/entry-level class.

2024 Moto Guzzi Stelvio Review – First Ride

Mid-way through what felt like the 100th tight curve for the day in southern Spain was when the thought occurred, “This thing is a blast to ride, why was this bike discontinued?” Named after one of the most famous Alpine motorcycle roads in the world, the Stelvio was first introduced in 2007. After quickly gaining a following in Europe as a versatile, all-around touring machine, the Stelvio continued as a mainstay of the Italian brand until it ceased production in 2016. Now, in 2024, the Stelvio has been re-introduced as a modern adventure touring bike.

2024 Harley-Davidson Road Glide and Street Glide Review – First Ride

New and improved and yet still the same. Everything’s going to plan. Photos: Brian J.

Where In The World: A Week In Spain Testing Hypermotards and Dukes

Trizzle’s week-long Spanish residency testing five different bikes from two manufacturers As moto-journos, we get into this job to ride new bikes in far off locations. For 2024 anyway, that means Spain. Nearly every new model intro is being held in Spain this year, one literally right after the other.

Small Adventure Bike, Big Adventure Dreams

The long-term KTM 390 ADV Project Photos by Joe Jackson If you’ve had a pulse the last five years or so, you’ve noticed the urge to take two wheels into the dirt has swept through the motorcycle community like a rogue wave. Riders across age ranges, experience levels and even financial demographics have turned to off-road, not instead of, but in addition to any and all riding they were previously doing. So it’s no surprise to see small-sized ADV bikes plodding along behind the surge like the sure-footed mules that they are.

2024 Ducati Hypermotard 698 Mono Review – First Ride

Watch out KTM – Ducati’s coming for you Photo: Alex Photo KTM, consider yourself on watch because Ducati is coming for you, and it’s coming for you with this: the 2024 Hypermotard 698 Mono. One look and you can tell the Hyper Mono is aimed squarely at the KTM 690 SMC R, the supermoto inspiration is obvious to all, and now there’s suddenly an arms race in a category that’s been one-sided for years. Sure, the street-legal supermoto scene may be a small niche, but we all know it’s a recipe for getting your license taken away in no time – all with a giant smile on your face.

Seat Time: Falling on Your Face

Photography by: Matthew McNulty and Justin Coffey After scrolling through endless lists of famous quotes looking for something which really suits my condition, I landed on this: “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” —Paulo Coelho It’s not the most profound of the options. Nor the most touching or even poignant. But how I interpret the meaning was the most encouraging.

2024 Harley-Davidson CVO Road Glide ST Review – First Ride

When racing improves the breed Photos by Brian J. Nelson You know the Harley CVO story by now. It starts with the highest-performing production bike The Motor Company can make, and then we see bits and pieces make their way down the standard production line in the years to come.

2024 Triumph Scrambler 1200 Review – First Ride

Minor revisions for the XE with a big step forward in approachability for the X Photos Courtesy of Triumph Motorcycles Triumph is, arguably, the manufacturer who brought scrambler styling back into the limelight nearly 20 years ago now. For many of those years, it was just that, a styling exercise to capitalize on the classic cool that scramblers imbue. It wasn’t until the end of 2018 that Triumph stepped up its scrambler game in a way that truly harkened back to what the desert sleds of yore were used for – scramblin’ off the beaten path.

2024 Royal Enfield Shotgun 650 Review – First Ride

Born of creative chaos Photos by Royal Enfield Motorcycles In the past six years since Royal Enfield launched its first 650cc twin-cylinder bikes of the modern era in the 2018 model year, the well-developed, well-built and well-priced Interceptor and Continental GT have catapulted the Indian manufacturer into a leading role in the global middleweight motorcycle market. These two debut models were joined a year ago by the Super Meteor, the first of what was billed as a series of Custom versions on the same twin-cylinder platform. This has, if anything, been even more of a global hit than its two predecessors, despite holdups in supplies to various markets of these, the three most costly and most powerful models in Royal Enfield’s range, which its CEO Siddhartha Lal says he expected at the outset would have greatest appeal to export customers.

2024 Triumph Tiger 900 Review – First Ride

Upgrades for All Since its launch in 2020, Triumph’s Tiger 900 platform has been impossible to keep out of the middleweight ADV conversation. With 45,000 sold to date, Triumph clearly didn’t need to reinvent the wheel with its 2024 models, but there are a few key revisions across both the Tiger 900 GT and Rally Pro models that really make them shine even brighter on and off road. After arriving in Malaga, Spain, Triumph sat us down for a brief presentation to tell us all about the new updates for 2024.

2024 Aprilia RS 660 Extrema Review

Track trickster Photos by Aprilia Aprilia’s measured but inexorable rise to the front of the MotoGP pack in recent months, with two victories in three races plus a Sprint race win, all inside the space of 30 days, has reaffirmed the Piaggio-owned brand’s sporting credentials at the highest level. [Unfortunately for them, this was the extent of Aprilia’s race wins for the year -TS] It’s also served as a parting testimony to the late Roberto Colaninno, Chairman/CEO of Piaggio who passed away on August 19, just days after his 80th birthday and a fortnight after Aleix Espargaró’s Silverstone race victory saw Aprilia turn the tables on its Ducati rivals. For stock market wheeler-dealer Colaninno deserves credit for taking his eye off the balance sheet long enough to give Aprilia’s race team sufficient budget to elbow aside big spenders Ducati and KTM in a successful drive for MotoGP glory.

2024 Suzuki GSX-S1000GX+ Review – First Ride

A tech-laden, long-legged addition to the K5 family Photography by: Ula Serra, Amylee Photography Suzuki has produced more than 180,000 of its K5 999 cc Inline Four cylinder engine in the last 18 years, and now we’re seeing that engine tasked with powering a tall sport touring bike that Suzuki calls the “supreme sport crossover," sitting between the sport-touring GSX-S1000GT that the GX is heavily based on, and adventure tourers like that of Suzuki’s V-Strom line. Leggy sport tourers, or crossovers, aren’t exactly a new thing, and since bikes like the Kawasaki Versys, Yamaha Tracer 9 GT, and BMW S 1000 XR exist, there is already some healthy competition for Hamamatsu to contend with. Suzuki tells us this is its most technologically advanced motorcycle yet, making the GSX-S1000GX a sort of flagship product for the brand.

2023 Triumph Street Triple 765RS: 5 Things You Need To Know

The definition of a sleeper, know these 5 things about it before you buy Being the sole engine supplier to a race series has its benefits. The big one being able to incorporate changes into the harshest environment possible and get feedback from 30 of the best test riders in the world. And when you get a general consensus that whatever you’ve done was a step in the right direction, it’s easy enough to incorporate those changes (or versions of it) into the motorcycles you and I can buy at the dealership.

2024 Kawasaki KLX300/KLX300SM Review – First Ride

A winning formula gets even more… winning-er Photos: Kevin Wing Kawasaki’s media guy Brad Puetz (pronounced like the actor, though this Brad is not nearly as good looking or famous) said something that stuck with me. “Between the Versys 650 and this, these are the two bikes journalists tend to buy most from us.” As a previous Versys 650 owner – purchased from MO’s former Editorial Director Sean Alexander, and then passed down after me to another former MO staffer Tom Roderick, we can certainly attest to the first part. 2024 Kawasaki KLX300/KLX300SM Kawasaki has an unexpected success with the KLX300 and KLX300SM, so instead of massive changes for what's essentially an entry-level motorcycle, Kawasaki decided to make it look better.

2023 MV Agusta Brutale 800RR: 5 Things You Need To Know

Exotica has its quirks It’s hard not to stop and stare at the MV Agusta Brutale 800RR. Its minimalist design leaves plenty of white space for the eyes to imagine what could be, while the space that is filled leaves the eyes admiring the lovely forms and sharp edges. There’s no doubt the Brutale 800RR is an attractive motorcycle to look at, but how does it fare against its contemporaries?

2023 Ducati Streetfighter V2: 5 Things You Need To Know

Don’t sleep on the baby Streetfighter – here are 5 important details about it When Ducati first introduced its original Streetfighter with the 1098 engine in 2009… I hated it. Other than being nice to look at, the riding characteristics were horrible. Oddly enough, when the 848 version was introduced, somehow it was a little more enjoyable to ride.

2024 Yamaha Ténéré 700 First Ride

Small updates keep the T7 fresh, but we're still missing out on the European variants Photos by Yamaha/Joseph Agustin Photo Yamaha’s popular Ténéré 700 “T7” adventure bike returns for 2024, and while it would be easy to say it is “largely unchanged” from the 2023 model, there have been some notable changes made in response to feedback from many North American riders. One wish still unrealized: the U.S. dealers won’t be getting the up-spec World Raid and numerous other versions of the T7 the EU enjoys - at least not this year.

2023 KTM 890 Duke R: 5 Things You Need To Know

We say goodbye to an instant classic with five things we love about it It’s hard to say goodbye to the ones you love, but that’s exactly what we have to do with the KTM 890 Duke R. One of our favorite bikes since its introduction, the 890 Duke R is leaving the KTM lineup to make way for the incoming 990 Duke (and the re-introduced 790 Duke). But before we bid it farewell, we put it up against some of its European contemporaries in a good old fashioned MO shootout.

2024 BMW R 1300 GS Review – First Ride

Smaller, faster, more complex An R 1300 GS has never existed until now. An obvious statement, but truly, this is a new motorcycle that, while carrying with it the spirit of what the BMW GS name embodies, is delivered in a completely new way. The 1300 GS is like no motorcycle that has come before it wearing the storied moniker.

2023 BMW R 1250 R – First Look

Full LED lighting and lean-sensitive electronics now standard equipment BMW announced minor updates to its R 1250 R, giving the Boxer-engined roadster a full LED headlight, and making some previously optional electronics standard, all while keeping the price unchanged at $14,995. Visually, the 2023 BMW R 1250 R looks similar to the previous model. The most noticeable change is the new LED headlight, which can be upgraded to an optional adaptive turning light.

2024 Honda Transalp Review – First Ride

A European staple comes to America Photos by Align Media/Honda Adventure bikes weren’t really a thing in 1989, at least not in the United States. Even BMW’s venerable GS was nothing more than a misunderstood, oversized dual-purpose machine with ties to the Paris-Dakar rally, which itself was only a little more than a decade old at the time. At the back of the dealership where I worked in 1991, parked next to the tire rack, languished a 1989 Honda XL600V Transalp.