Motorcycles

The messy rebirth of Norton Motorcycles seems back on track under the company's new ownership, India's TVS, and the V4SV superbike is now ready to get its pants off. The V4CR cafe racer stands ready to join the super-naked class as a street weapon.

One of the world’s leading motorcycle manufacturers of the 1950s and 60s, BSA is set to resume operations almost half a century after it went bankrupt, funded by its new owner, India’s Mahindra & Mahindra, and with a new factory under construction in England.

At the EICMA 2021 expo in Milan, Taiwanese e-mobility firm the Ottobike Group celebrated the launch of a new e-moto brand with a gorgeous cafe racer concept, as well as a new ebike brand with an e-MTB, a city ebike and a BMX-style ride for the kids.

EICMA Milan: it's motorcyclese for Christmas, when the factory elves bring forth a bounty of gifts for the coming year – and we stand in cold, cynical judgement on their labors. Here are the bikes that have caught our attention thus far.

Sweden's Cake has updated the work-focused Ösa electric utility motorcycle and given jobs to other models in its line to form the new Cake :work series. Each new family member has been optimized for extra power, reach, efficiency and capacity.

Zero's 2022 SR/F and SR/S electric motorcycle lineup gets a sneaky boost in battery capacity for 2022, as well as a new, cheaper SR model. But the news isn't all good – some of these bikes' features will be locked behind a new pay-to-upgrade system.

The extraordinary Crighton CR700W extracts an incredible 220 hp from a 690cc twin-rotor Wankel engine, and weighs just 129.5 kg (285.5 lb) dry for a MotoGP-level power-to-weight ratio. Its maker believes it could be the final word in combustion bikes.

A near-perfect 2016 Honda RC213V-S MotoGP replica with just 161 kilometers on the odometer has sold for US$237,700, eclipsing the previous record held by a rare 1968 Honda CB750 prototype to become the most valuable Japanese motorcycle in auction history.

Honda has turned its Africa Twin adventure machine into a sports tourer, in the most Honda way possible. The NT1100 looks quick, capable, comfortable and reliable, but does perfect engineering come at the cost of excitement?

Aegis Rider, a spinoff from ETH Zurich, is developing an AI-enhanced augmented reality head-up display for motorcyclists. It identifies and highlights road hazards, and shows you the optimal line to take through corners based on mapping data.

Back in January, Sweden's Cake joined with the Southern African Wildlife College and Goal Zero to develop a special electric motorcycle to aid anti-poaching measures in the African bush. Now the bikes have been delivered and are in use by rangers.

When we last encountered custom motorcycle builder Bandit9, it was creating a shiny sci-fi scrambler that started out as a 1967 Honda Supersport. The company's new Supermarine drops the retro angle entirely – this bike is definitely from the future.