Scooter on Steroids
This touring maxi-scooter is comfortable, practical and, most of all, fun.
“Bob, what are doing riding this scooter?” I asked my friend in Victoria, B.C., in 2006. At 65, Bob said that the arthritis in his clutch hand made it uncomfortable to ride his nice big Harley more than an hour because of the shifting. In fact, Bob told me he rode his 650 cc Suzuki Burgman all the way to Baja, Calif., Mexico and back with no problems. His obvious passion for the bike stuck in my mind.
After returning to Nova Scotia and having some hip arthritis myself, I found my regular Kawasaki Vulcan uncomfortable even for short jaunts. In 2007, I test drove a Honda Silver Wing 600 from Pro-Cycle at the end of November on a cold dry day. I was amazed at the comfort and protection with the aerodynamic fairing. The next spring, in 2008, I visited Pro-Cycle again to see if I could buy a used 2006 delta blue Silver Wing, and ended up leaving with a brand-new 2006 Silver Wing. My wife loved the seating, and with the 2008 recession starting, the salesman gave me a discount on the bike and threw in a helmet for my wife.
PLENTY OF STORAGE
I have put almost 80,000 km on my Silver Wing over the past 16 years, and have never tired of the bike. It brings a smile to my face every time I twist the throttle. With almost 107 litres of storage (22L tunnel bag, 55L under seat and 30L in the top case), I can shop, camp, or carry a compact set of luggage for both my wife and I under the seat while riding two up.
Maintenance has been minor, with…
When style meets protection.
Back when I started riding, there weren’t a lot of options available for protection. ATGATT wasn’t yet an invented acronym, or at least it wasn’t in my neck of the woods. Other than a scratched helmet with a dubious history that you could scrounge from a friend, it was commonplace to see younger riders wearing jean jackets, work boots and work gloves as their basic protection against everything motorcycles could throw at you. I know, I was one of them, and the above-mentioned riding gear was what I could afford at the time.
While leather still offers the most wear-resistant protection against road rash, these days there are many other viable, safe options for a motorcyclist’s protection against Mother Nature, as well as from the harsher reality of unforgiving tarmac.
Many riders also want to look cool, and that’s fair, but looking cool doesn’t always translate to wearing safer riding gear. But what if you could look cool and wear a jacket that offers superior protection at the same time? This is where Roadskin Motorcycle Wear comes into play.
Roadskin manufactures a wide range of protective riding gear that includes amoured jeans and a variety of armoured jackets that are not only functional but are good-looking and pretty cool at the same time. The subject of this review is the company’s Munro motorcycle shirt, as the company calls it. But it’s much more than just a shirt in the traditional sense of the word.
The Munro Shirt offers AA-rated protection and is constructed of an outer shell of heavy but comfortable 200 gsm cotton fabric. Digging deeper into the garment, below the cotton outer fabric is a high-performance Kevlar lining for protection against abrasion; next is CE Level 2 elbow, shoulder and back armour, which fit into their respective internal pockets and finally, a vented lining for internal ventilation and comfort — it, too, offers another level of protection in case of an accident.
The Munro is a substantial piece of kit that is stylishly good-looking, comfortable to wear and not at all cumbersome to spend a day in.
There are two YKK zippered chest vents above the small chest pockets and a full width YKK zippered back vent for cooling. At speed, wind is kept at bay by the main substantial-weight YKK zipper, and the addition of an over flap with snap closures helps keep cold air from creeping through the zipper. Below the chest vents are two patch pockets with snap closures. These pockets measure just 11 x 13 cm, so they are useful for small items — although these items do not include hands. Two inside pockets — one zippered and the other with a Velcro closure — will hold a phone, wallet or something similar in size. That rounds out the storage options.
I’d like to see zippered side pockets to hold my keys, but in saying that, keep in mind that this is a day ride-type “shirt” — and how many shirts have side pockets?
The wrist cuffs are adjustable with two snaps and a gusseted zipper. The quilted shoulder yoke is a nice design touch and all main seams are double stitched for durability.
Overall, this is a pretty decent piece of protective yet stylish clothing that will fit well into anyone’s riding gear closet. It has become my jacket of choice for a day ride or a quick trip to the store, and judging by the number of five-star online reviews, I am apparently not the only one who feels that this is an ideal riding jacket.
The Munro shirt retails for CDN$252, which I’d consider to be a very fair price for what you get. It comes in black or stone (a kind of light grey colour). Check the Munro shirt and other casual, protective riding gear out at roadskin.co.uk.
As we all know, travelling these days can be stressful when taking into account delays, cancellations and the dreaded lost luggage that happens all too often.
Recently that lost luggage happened, never to be seen again, to Emily Roberts, as she mentioned in her column (“Baggage, Bye-Bye,” Jan/Feb 2025). I hope someone is enjoying a lovely brand new Ogio suitcase and her full riding gear, wherever it ended up.
So, I will call this Take II for a review of the Ogio ONU-26 luggage.
Ogio has been our go-to bag brand for motorcycle travel since we started Motorcycle Mojo almost 25 years ago. Typically, I’ve used, abused and eventually retired and donated my Ogio gear bag and replaced it with another Ogio. You simply can’t go wrong with the brand.
Ogio began in 1987 as a locker bag which was designed to, yes, you guessed it, fit into a locker to keep things organized. Golf was the second category that Ogio expanded to include. Then the founder, Michael J. Pratt, realized there wasn’t a suitable off-road gear bag, so he developed the Rig 9800, a bag that is tough as nails — but a bit on the heavy side.
Today, Ogio is now owned by Callaway and continues to manufacturer bags for almost any sport.
With so many travel delays and the occasional lost luggage we learned to travel with our helmets in a separate bag that can be carried on the plane with us, and our suitcase carries the bulky riding gear, boots and any travel clothes required for our adventure. If your suitcase does not arrive at your location (ever), you at least have your helmet, which is expensive and chosen by you to fit and protect your most important body part. It’s not easy to borrow the proper size helmet, but you can usually locate a jacket, pants, gloves and hopefully boots that somewhat fit if needed in a pinch when you arrive without a suitcase.
Made of durable Cordura, the ONU-26 is designed mainly in a black and grey colour called Dark Static. It’s a reasonably sized 70-litre bag with an expanded dimension of 66 cm high x 38 cm wide x 30 cm deep that weighs only 5.3 kg.
The bag itself is typical of most luggage. When opened up, it features one side that fits my riding gear; pants, jacket, gloves, boots, shoes and a few extras such as quick-dry riding clothes, and is then secured nicely with a compression strap.
The other side of the suitcase contains two zippered pockets that fit all the clothing and travel essentials I need for a 2–3-week trip leaving a bit of extra space if you pack correctly to bring home a few things that you’ve purchased along the way.
When packing I look for good quality, wicking, quick dry items that can be rinsed and usually dry by morning, depending on where you are travelling. I also tend to throw in a warm sweater or two (my first choice is now a Pearly’s Hugger as it looks nice but is also practical as you really don’t need to wash it) and a light rain jacket for checking out places of interest on non-riding days. As you can see, I did not have to use the expansion gusset and my bag, once packed, weighed 16 kg.
The bag itself has a 5 cm zippered expansion gusset, which will allow you to squeeze in a few more last-minute must-haves or to bring a few extra items home. There are also five handles — one on top, two on the front, one on the side, and one on the bottom — which are a must when lifting the bag into your vehicle or grabbing it off the luggage conveyer upon arrival.
On the outside of the bag is a small zippered top pocket, which is useful to hold some small items that you may need quickly such as a raincoat, a hat, or perhaps a corkscrew after that long strenuous flight, and the larger pocket on the front is great for any essentials that you throw in last minute — typically an extra pair of socks, a book or smaller items that you may need quickly once you get to your accommodations.
The rugged wheels and extendable handle are an integral part of what makes this a great suitcase for travel.
The Ogio ONU-26 bag comes with a limited lifetime warranty against manufacturers defects and is available at Motovan.com and retails for $438.95.
Being a fan of Ogio bags, I chose the company’s Excelsior backpack for my travel carry on.
It has several pockets for quick and easy access during travel. My laptop or iPad is safely tucked away in the padded pocket with additional sleeves. I am also able to stash a few essentials when needed. There is room for a couple favourite magazines, phone charger, medications, passport, snacks, pens and extra glasses. It’s like having my office on my back.
The straps are padded so they’re easy on my shoulders when all loaded up. There is an adjustable sternum strap which is essential for weight distribution when you have slightly overpacked your backpack, as well as a padded handle on the top if you wish to give your shoulders a rest. The two mesh side pockets are great for storing a water bottle or extra snacks and the luggage pass-through handle on the back of the bag easily slips over my Ogio suitcase’s extended pull handle when rushing to drop off my luggage or exiting the airport after picking up my suitcase, hopefully, from the carrousel.
The featherlight, 39.3-litre Excelsior backpack weighs less than one kilogram and is approximately 49.5 cm x 34 cm x 23 cm deep when fully packed. It comes with a limited lifetime warranty and is available at Motovan.com. It retails for $93.95.
Carving the hill country of Arkansas and Missouri.
They had ridden their sport-touring machines from all over the southwest to gather in Hot Springs, AR. It was a semi-annual tradition among friends, and I could see why. This is where the Ozark Mountains began their northward march to fill a quarter of the state before spilling over into Missouri, so it is the perfect staging area. But as a National Park, it is also a destination itself, with kilometres of hiking trails, mountain views, amazing geology, and of course, ancient thermal springs — all in the middle of town.
I had arrived mid-afternoon at the stately Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa where, after chatting with my new acquaintances, I decided to explore Bathhouse Row. Managed by the Park Service, this was a series of upscale spas built in the early 1900s when it was widely believed that the steamy hot water from local springs held the cure for what ailed you. Among the day’s socialites, it was also the place to be seen.
Horse racing began about the same time, and today, Oaklawn is one of the premier thoroughbred racetracks in the country. Crowds clog the city annually for the $1.25-million Arkansas Derby, which is often a gateway to the Triple Crown.
GOOD RIDING
Perhaps the most well-known of the Ozark twisties is Highway 7, a National Forest Byway that led me from Hot Springs through Ouachita National Forest. When a sign appeared, reading “VERY CROOKED AND STEEP,” like most riders, I took it first as an attraction (“Come Ride the Coaster”), and only secondarily as a warning.
I had pieced together a tour of the Ozarks from an Arkansas Motorcycle Guide (arkansas.com/motorcycling) that offered several suggested loops. By combining them, I could get the best of most routes and still make progress across the state. And so, at Havana, I turned north on AR-309 — Mount Magazine Scenic Byway — winding through Ozark National Forest up the highest mountain in the state (839 metres). Switchbacks led to the peak and, from a cliff, I drank in vistas that opened onto the Petit Jean River Valley and distant Blue Mountain Lake.
After snaking down the other side, the route swept wide through farmland and, without a vehicle in sight, I opened the throttle on my Suzuki GSX-S1000 GX. In Devil’s Den State Park, the pavement grew narrower, and the shoulders fell away as I descended into the gorge. Hairpins were tight and eminently photo-worthy — if only I could pull over. You’ll have to take my word.
Country road 265 soon brought me to Fayetteville, the beautiful home of Arkansas State University with its distinctive mascot: a charging Razorback hog. And when I blew through the tiny hamlet of Hogeye, I thought, “How strange to name a town after an animal body part.” But then I remembered Moose Jaw. “Mustn’t judge!”
MOTORCYCLE COUNTRY
Barely in time for dinner, I rolled into Eureka Springs, a town of hotels, restaurants, and trendy shops. Because…
Most modern systems are a distraction to the two- and four-wheeled vehicle’s operator
Once upon a time, motorcycles had the simplest of instruments, providing a rider with only pertinent information, the most important being road speed. There’s some other important data a rider needs, like an indication of when the bike is in neutral and if the high beam is on, a trip meter to keep track of fuel, and a record of the bike’s accumulated mileage. But aside from those things, anything else being displayed is a bonus.
Old-school speedometers were mechanical devices. A geared drive unit mounted at one of the wheel axles rotated a wire inside a cable housing, which led to the speedometer. Then through a series of gears and a spinning magnet, that rotating motion was converted into the movement of a dial to indicate speed. It also turned the gears of the odometer that counted mileage. But we’ve come a long, long way.
The simple mechanical speedometer is long gone, replaced by electronic gauges. While some of these gauges still resemble old-school analogue speedometers with dials, they are actually digital instruments that convert an electronic signal into the movement of a dial. The signal is generated by a Hall effect sensor mounted either to one of the wheels or to a transmission shaft, and utilizes a magnetic pickup to send a digital signal to the instrument. The instrument then processes the pulsating signal to display speed and record mileage. But even that is disappearing, replaced by fully digital gauges.
Many modern instrument clusters have become integral parts of a motorcycle’s operating system. They have transformed into multifunctional information and control centres, the most advanced ones providing high-resolution images on interactive touchscreens, with fancy startup graphics and configurable layouts. Road speed has become but a minuscule part of what type of information they provide and what functions they can perform. They are no longer fed by a simple pulsating signal from a Hall sensor, but are instead connected to the bike’s ECU, which provides data from a multitude of parameters, including on the most advanced systems, lean, pitch and yaw angle information.
A lot of the information they provide is useful: Ride mode and suspension settings; navigational information; fuel consumption data; plus simpler info like gear position, time and ambient temperature. Some of the things they display are gadgety: Live lean angle; G-force level; brake pressure, etc., though that information can be useful on a supersport machine while lapping.
While the influx of information can be very useful, the way the new instrument panels operate can be quite distracting, too. This is why manufacturers are constantly trying to improve the human-machine interface, or HMI. HMI is the hardware and software a rider uses to navigate the multiple functions of a complex instrument panel. Lots can be done through HMI, including selecting ride modes and suspension settings, connecting smart phones (yes, that’s a thing, too), and operating entertainment and communications systems enabled by the smart phone connection. Usually, the screen is operated via a joystick type controller, a four-way switch, or in BMW’s case a thumbwheel, on the left handlebar switch assembly. Several manufacturers are now offering a touchscreen, which is probably the most practical HMI solution since it provides a direct link to screen menus rather than a scroll-and-select procedure.
It has all become very complex, and it can be very distracting, which, if you read Clinton Smout’s column earlier in this issue, you’ll know is probably the last thing you want to be on a motorcycle. Navigating several layers of menus to perform various tasks takes your attention away from the road. For this reason, many functions are disabled as soon as a bike gets rolling, though many are still active, like grip heat, ride mode selection, suspension adjustment, audio system, and others. The more steps required to make a change on the fly, the more time you must focus on the screen, which takes your eyes off the road. Some manufacturers enable voice commands through a connected smart phone to reduce the time a rider spends looking at a screen.
Harley and Honda now incorporate Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to allow riders to use several smart phone apps through the bike’s operating system; Indian has Apple CarPlay on some of its models. All three manufacturers use handlebar controls or voice commands via a paired headset to operate various functions of your phone; Harley and Honda have touchscreens on some of their models. The advantage of mirroring, at least partially, your smart phone on the motorcycle’s instrument screen is that you can use your phone’s navigation system instead of an embedded GPS system or an add-on GPS unit.
I recently had a chance to ride a 2025 Honda Gold Wing on which I paired my phone so that I could use Apple CarPlay to enable the navigation system. The experience reaffirmed my preference for basic motorcycle instrumentation, but I’ll tell you about that in a future issue.
I should’ve carried a four-leaf clover, knocked on wood, or at least had my lucky rabbit’s foot with me on my enduro ride just after writing “Zen and the Art of Bailing” in the May issue of Motorcycle Mojo. In typical Emily fashion, I found a way to forget all my own advice while riding the Kove 450 Rally on slick-rock in spectacular Utah. My fall happened on a series of small steps leading up a rock face, which resulted in breaking a small bone in my hand and dislocating another.
It happened in a split-second: I thought I was fine, but adrenaline and embarrassment took over and I quickly picked up the bike and continued riding, I could instantly feel the tingles in my hand, and the slight feeling of nausea took over as my nerves told me that I had messed up.
It took all of 10 minutes for me to finally speak up to the group and let them know that I needed to make my way back to the truck because the pain had worsened. My friend offered to help me and we split off from the group to find the quickest and easiest route back. Riding down each rock face and ledge offered a new level of pain.
The crash was completely my fault. And I don’t think it was because I didn’t perform the skill needed to stay upright effectively. No, I overthought it. I had watched others go up, and I even had one successful run up the rock face before I took a second go at it.
I circled at the bottom looking at the steps, waiting for others to go until I was the only rider left. I was so focused on how to get up the daunting feature that I had lost focus on every other aspect of riding: the uphill approach, the speed I was going, my body position and what my engine was doing. I overthought it to my detriment.
When I arrived home from the trip, I went to the hospital and was given a splint for my hand, limiting my ability to move the broken bone and preventing me from riding for a few weeks. I was angry with myself. After all, my riding and training throughout the winter preparing for the spring trials competitions had been completely ruined by overthinking.
The mental recovery can be tougher than the physical recovery after an accident. The mental impact of an accident can also haunt you for years. For me, the incidents that have haunted me have been twice hitting deer while riding. Now, every time I spot a deer near the road while riding, I tense up, stare and try to analyze what the deer might do. I inevitably always lose focus on riding. It’s not just a physical injury that’s caused when you crash — often, it’s more of a mental scar that can affect you long after your body has healed.
I made a conscious decision to do the best I could to heal up. I ate healthier, went to the gym every day — well, almost every day — and took Sofi on numerous dog walks. Staying healthy and having increased blood flow can help speed up your recovery time. Even minor injuries can cause big setbacks if they’re not treated right.
I’ll admit I’m well-trained in the field of searching Google for my ailments, but I’ve learned the hard way that Google doesn’t often know what’s best. It’s always worthwhile to see a doctor or physiotherapist if you’re looking for guidance on how to heal quickly.
One thing I didn’t account for was how much my social life is now directly connected to riding bikes. Without the ability to ride, I found new struggles in trying to stay social. I realized how important it was to communicate with my friends even though normally we’d catch up while on the bikes, so I attended one of the trials events, not to ride and compete but to see everyone and watch them ride.
After five weeks, I’m back on the bike at a mellow pace with a wrist splint, but at least I’m riding. If you find yourself injured this riding season, remember to take care of yourself inside and out. Eat healthy, keep a positive mindset, and stretch and exercise if you can. I always find it valuable to check in on yourself. Is the pain any different? Is your movement or mobility improving? These are especially useful once riding again, take a mental note if you have any strain or pain, and see if adjusting your position helps at all. Lastly, remember to take small steps getting back on the bike, take it easy, and enjoy just being back at back on two wheels.
A few days before I wrote this column in late May, Honda announced it had built its 500 millionth motorcycle. Yes, half a billion bikes. That’s five followed by eight zeros, with a bunch of commas in between. On an annual basis, that means Honda sells about five times as many powered two-wheelers as it does cars. Do some more basic math, and all those zeros work out to more than 6.5 million bikes sold each and every year since the company’s seminal Dream was introduced in 1949.
But that still doesn’t do Honda’s incredible journey justice. For instance, it took the company almost 20 years (until 1968) to sell its first 10 million bikes; 30 more (1997) to hit its first 100 million and then just 10 more (until 2008) to double that. Since then, it’s added another 100 million or more units every five or six years. By the company’s own reckoning, it sells more than 40 per cent of motorcycles sold worldwide annually.
Now, by “motorcycle,” the company means anything with two wheels and some form of engine or motor. The 500 millionth bike, for instance, was a scooter. Ditto the 100 millionth bike, unsurprisingly a Super Cub — with the slogan of “you meet the nicest people on a Honda” — that, well, put a whole heckuva lot of nice people on Hondas.
The 300 millionth of one of its production lines, on the other hand, was a Gold Wing. Honda’s emphasis in 2014 on grown-up large-displacement motorcycles as the company looked to the West for market expansion. But, in a true Back to the Future moment, the recent 500 millionth is, again, a scooter, signalling a return to the company’s small-displacement roots.
That scooter, a 125-cc Activa, was just one of more than six million motorcycles Honda Motor Company manufacturers in India. Honda sells 2.5 million Activas alone in India and expects the country’s sales to grow to 50 million units in the next five years, making the country the world’s largest motorcycle market.
In fact, the subcontinent — again, with India as a focal point — is also the company’s focal point for two-wheeled electrification. Honda Canada recently suffered all manner of negative headlines over its recent decision to pause development on the Ontario plant scheduled to become its largest EV hub in North America. Contrast that with India, where the government’s continuing push for electrification — with an emphasis, unlike here, on bikes as much as cars — the company is opening a large-capacity manufacturing plant dedicated to electrified two-wheelers.
Honda has also taken the wraps off numerous electric scooters, most notably the CUV e and Active e, both with the company’s novel interchangeable power units that allow quick-as-a-bunny battery swaps. Compare that with the dearth of all-new large-
displacement motorcycles in our market and lament how little 800-cc and larger bikes matter to the decision makers back in Japan.
Nor is Honda the only one. Suzuki, as I’ve contended before, is focussed mostly on Asian markets and their seemingly unquenchable appetite for scooters and small-displacement motorcycles. It, too, is opening a new plant in India with a production capacity of 750,000. By Suzuki’s own reckoning, large displacement motorcycles are a miniscule part of its business.
In 2021, for instance, the Hayabusa’s global sales were around 2,000 units. Ditto for the Katana 1100. The company, on the other hand, moved almost half a million Access 125 scooters, which, you guessed it, isn’t sold in North America.
Yamaha, the world’s third-largest motorcycle maker, no longer makes a 1,000-cc superbike, though, for some reason, it continues to campaign its R1 in WSBK. Kawasaki, the outlier amongst Japanese manufacturers, continues to develop novel large motorcycles — witness the hydrogen-fuelled H2 HySE and the Ninja 7 Hybrid. But its sales are down and it sells fewer than 500,000 bikes a year. Add it all up and the Japanese motorcycle industry’s future would seem to lie elsewhere than in large displacement motorcycles.
The big question — or, at least the biggest question for a North American motorcycle magazine — is whether we can embrace this tectonic shift in focus by the Japanese manufacturers. On one hand, some biking futurists claim that the electric revolution that is resulting in an increase in smaller, battery-powered motocross lookalikes is a sign that we North Americans are looking beyond the touring behemoths and monster-motored superbikes that sustained us during the Boomer years. On the other, they may be just enjoying a moment in the sun because they are, in many jurisdictions, available to those under 16 and are allowed on many of the same paths previously exclusive to bicycles and foot traffic.
More important still is the fact that, in the countries where scooter sales are booming — as I mentioned, many in Southeast Asia but also in South America and Africa — scooters and small-displacement bikes are a market unto themselves. Their need for cheap personal transportation means that scooters and other smaller-displacement motorcycles are, for many, their only choice for getting around.
There is virtually no such market here. In North America, a scooter’s primary purpose is a precursor to a larger, more profitable motorcycle. If, as many have claimed, Gen Y and Z have less interest in motorcycling than we did as youth, then that entry-level market — be they a scooter, a small-displacement motorcycle or, as in my day, some Tecumseh-motored abomination with big, fat ATV-like tires — is probably a non-starter here in North America.
Honda, for its part, says that, by 2031, it wants 50 per cent of the global motorcycle market. The vast majority of those, I suspect, will be scooters. The world’s largest motorcycle manufacturer would seem to be returning to its roots.
Spending time in Colombia changed the views of the country for this writer.
Somehow “Colombia” almost had a negative connotation for me. Cocaine and cartel-related crime instantly sprung to mind, before reason could remind me that there must be more to this country where thousands of people live their lives. I knew the only remedy would be to have a look for myself, so I was super excited to finally touch down in Bogota. My partner, Aidan, and I were on a motorcycle journey from Canada to Argentina, but since we couldn’t ride across the Darien Gap (a stretch of just over 100 km of deepest jungle), we had to fly from Panama to Colombia, and the bikes would follow.
With time to spare, we explored the capital and its tempting street food. Having seen pigs’ heads stare back at us from heated glass vitrines, we just had to try lechona. It’s a mix of slow-cooked pork, spiced rice and sweetcorn, stuffed into the roasted skin of the pig. Each portion is served with some maize arepas (a type of corn flatbread) and a piece of the crunchy crackling. It’s a very filling meal, and we decided to walk it off, heading from hip Chapinero to La Candelaria, the old, colonial part of Bogota.
In the cobblestone alleyways behind Plaza de Bolivar, brightly coloured buildings house art shops, trinket sellers and restaurants. A little further up the hill, a triangle of narrow alleys is lined with small, mural-covered buildings, hippie shops and funky bars.
Reunited with the Bikes
A couple of days later, we retrieved the bikes from the shippers and headed west across the mountains. My partner on his powerful BMW F650 GS didn’t notice, but the higher we climbed, the more my loaded little Honda NX250 struggled. At the time I put it down to the effects of the altitude on the carburetor and switched to a lower gear, plodding along as the late afternoon sun dreamily lit up grassy slopes and leafy treetops.
By evening, the farmlands gave way to a wild melee of short and tall grasses strewn with mossy boulders. We pitched our tent as cool mist encroached and tucked into dinner watching the hazy sunset.
We knew our bikes weren’t in great shape and had planned a bit of a TLC stay at Donkey Sunrise — an ADV moto hostel amidst the sugar cane fields and vineyards near La Union. Even with the bikes out of action for maintenance, there was lots to keep us entertained, from a stand-off between a cat and a snake that resulted in the snake hiding in someone’s shoe, to a tour of the winery in town. When my parcel…
Taking on all other engine configurations, Italian-Style.
Twins, goes traditional lore, are torque monsters of motorcycling. Four-cylinder bikes, meanwhile, rev to the moon. Never mind that many a Ducati Desmo twin and Yamaha’s long-gone and much-missed FJ1200 made a mockery of such broad-based assumptions, the choice between two and four pistons has been, with rare exception, the duality that most motorcyclists must choose from.
The middle-ground, triples, has never made much of an impression. Oh, Triumph’s original Trident — and its slightly-modified sister, BSA’s Rocket III — briefly challenged Honda’s seminal CB750 for superbike relevance. And, for a (very) brief time, Laverda’s 1000-cc Jota was the fastest two-wheeler on the planet. Nevertheless, the triple has worked largely in obscurity. Triumph’s latest Rocket III, a fatuous beast of a cruiser, sells but in the dozens and, while Yamaha’s MT-09 is appealing, it feels like yet another anonymous UJM; it could be powered by a twin, a four or even a single for all the personality the engine adds to the equation. Triumph makes an excellent effort with its Speed Triple, but truth be told, it’s been a long time since it felt truly British.
Triple Excellence
Then there’s MV Agusta. Unmistakeably Italian, MV’s triples rip, snort and, raise all sorts of hell. More importantly, if my sampling of the latest version is any indication — that powering the all-new Enduro Veloce — the Italian inline three makes an excellent argument for two-wheeled perfection. Essentially a bored and stroked — 81.0 mm by 60.2 mm — version of the Turismo’s 798-cc triple, this, the largest version of the Varese triple, displaces a meaty 931 cc. Maximum urge is a likewise healthy 124-horsepower at 10,000 rpm backed up by 75 pound-feet of torque at 7,000 and it’s all redlined at 11 grand.
A few thoughts on those numbers. First, 124 horses are always impressive, even more so when they only have to move the Enduro Veloce’s 235 kilograms. In the real world, in other words, there’s plenty of “giddy” to the MV’s “up.” You will not be left behind no matter how “super” your riding partner’s bike may be, and even litre-plus adventure tourers won’t leave you in their wake. More top-end power the Enduro Veloce does not need.
Peak torque, meanwhile, is at 7,000 rpm. Along with max. horsepower at 10,000, it suggests a peaky powerband. Nothing could be further from the truth. MV’s 931-triple is, in fact, one of the most “linear” engines in motorcycling, twisting the throttle akin to turning a perfectly calibrated rheostat.
Torque Down Low
Though it’s not quite as torquey as a big-inch twin down low, it does start pulling decently around 3,000 — when, MV claims, it’s producing 85 per cent of its maximum torque — and is perfectly happy to spin until it hits the rev limiter, which means that you can hold third gear on pretty much any twisty road and fourth will take you from an urban crawl all the way to jail in pretty much any country not…
What you see is what you get, and then some.
At first glance, the 2025 Harley-Davidson Street Bob test bike I’m about to mount really piques my interest. Adorned in a bright yellow finish (which Harley calls Centerline), it features a lot of styling cues that recall simpler times: A single round speedometer sits between the shoulder-height handlebar; the fork tubes are protected by rubber gaiters; it rolls on spoke wheels (which are attractively finished with black rims); it has a bobbed rear fender that seemingly has no taillight (it’s incorporated into the turn signals); and the trim is very nicely balanced with black and chrome, giving it a smart, slightly sinister appearance. It’s also Harley’s most affordable Big Twin, starting at $20,299. All of that seems quite appealing — at first glance…
Updated Powerplant
Harley has made a number of improvements to the new Street Bob, most of them unseen. One of the important upgrades is a new engine. Last year’s Street Bob was powered by a Milwaukee-Eight 114 engine that claimed a not-too-shabby 94 horsepower and 118 lb.-ft. of torque. Harley has done away with this engine in all Softail models this year, upgrading them to the Milwaukee-Eight 117, albeit in different states of tune.
The Street Bob utilizes the Milwaukee-Eight 117 Classic engine that produces 98 horsepower and 120 lb.-ft. of torque, and it does so despite now complying with the latest Euro 5+ emissions standards. Like before, the engine delivers that power through a six-speed transmission and a belt drive.
The engine has new four-valve heads with some elements borrowed from last year’s touring bikes and CVO models, including reshaped combustion chambers, oval intake ports and low-profile intake valve seats. These heads feature an air-and-oil cooling system that is lighter than the liquid-cooled CVO and touring bike heads, and they don’t require coolant replacement, since cooling is by engine oil. The engine breathes through a larger 58-mm throttle body (up from 55 mm), and a new two-into-one exhaust replaces the former dual-muffler setup.
More Important Upgrades
The other upgrade, also invisible but even more important than the bigger engine, is the addition of an inertial measurement unit (IMU), which has enabled a number of safety-enhancing rider aids. Now standard are lean-sensitive ABS, traction control and drag-torque slip control (the third one reduces engine braking to mitigate wheel slip when chopping the throttle or downshifting). Also standard is a tire-pressure monitor. All Softail models now include selectable ride modes; the Street Bob has three: Rain, Road and Sport. LED lighting is also standard, and there’s a USB-C port located on the left side of the frame, just ahead of the fuel tank.
Shorter Riders Rejoice
Another appealing Street Bob feature that shorter riders will appreciate is the super-low, 680-mm seat height. Even…
Harley-Davidson’s VL line arguably rescued the Motor Company from the wrath of the Great Depression.
Everything’s relative. Right now, Harley-Davidson is fighting to sustain its share of today’s fast-changing global marketplace, with its 2023 overall sales declining by five per cent year-on-year to 168,050 motorcycles, against the 329,776 machines that the Motor Company’s dealers shifted worldwide in 2014. Back then, few people either inside the company or out could have imagined that, 10 years later, Harley sales would have declined by half — one of the most dismal records of the world’s top 20 manufacturers.
By contrast, H-D’s leading rival for the crown of the world’s No.1 luxury motorcycle manufacturer, BMW, increased its deliveries from 115,215 bikes and maxi-scooters in 2013 to 208,528 units in 2023. No wonder the Harley-Davidson stock price has all but halved in value from its all-time high 10 years ago of $58.23 on April 30, 2014 to $34.69 as of May 10, 2024.
But disappointing as those stats must be to any investors holding Harley stock, America’s No.1 isn’t currently facing an existential threat. At some stage things will stabilize long enough for the Motor Company to become an appealing takeover target for some company with the resources to turn this iconic brand around. That’s quite unlike Harley’s previous dance with death in the early 1930s, during the Great Depression, which followed the Wall Street Crash on October 29, 1929, when its very survival was genuinely at risk.
For with the devastating effects of the Depression reaching cataclysmic proportions in the U.S., where by mid-1932 one-third of the workforce — around 15 million people — was unemployed, 5,000 banks had failed, countless small businesses were closing down every day, and mass starvation was a genuine threat with soup queues a fact of everyday life, it’s a wonder that any motorcycle production took place at all. With Cleveland going out of business late in 1929, and owner Ignaz Schwinn announcing the immediate end of Excelsior-Henderson production in March 1931 with the famous statement that “Boys, today we quit,” this left just two remaining motorcycle manufacturers in the United States: Indian and Harley.
Indian Production Slump
But even after Indian’s guardian angel E. Paul DuPont took over the company in 1929, and set about rebuilding it, total Indian production for 1933 at its Springfield, Mass., plant was a paltry 1,657 motorcycles, compared to an average of 8,000 bikes per year manufactured by Indian alone all through the Roaring ’20s.
Annual production had declined to just 4,635 bikes built in 1929, after the depredations of the previous management, under whose misdirection the once-profitable Indian firm was bled dry to support loss-making diversification into non-bike related companies…