Motorcycles

All this talk of new motorcycles at EICMA with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay and displays as big as tablets and taglines like "future of mobility," and none of those bikes stand a chance against the three motorcycles we’ve dug out for you.

Norton's resurgence began with the Manx and the Manx R superbikes and was followed by the Atlas and Atlas GT middleweights. Now, the next step is further down the displacement class … and it comes in the form of a 450cc naked, called the 450 Urban.

Triumph’s halo ADV bike doesn't just get more power with the new generation, but also adds automatic suspension and an even bigger suite of radar-based rider aids. It's not all just additions, though, as there are a few subtractions from the package.

Every time I've covered an AR helmet, I’ve seen comments like “Do we really need any more distractions on a motorcycle?” Aegis Rider doesn’t think that way. Its Vision helmet features a head-up display in the form of a pair of drop-down glasses.

After the likes of BMW, Norton, Harley-Davidson, and Triumph, the small-bore manifesto seems to have reached Italian shores. Moto Guzzi, a motorcycle brand almost synonymous with the 90-degree V-twin, has just revealed a brand new 500-class roadster.

Hardly a year since Kawasaki revived the KLE nameplate with the KLE500, it has introduced a brand-new model to its lineup: the KLE650. It’s a proper flagship middleweight built around long-distance touring comfort as opposed to brute off-road prowess.

The (RED) 800 is a Ducati-powered custom that looks less like a conventional superbike and more like a futuristic sculpture carved from metal. Its flowing, hand-shaped aluminum bodywork transitions from racing-red into exposed, brushed metal finish.

The Italians know a thing or two about motorcycles. Now, a startup called Positive Motorcycles has popped up with an electric motorcycle of its own. It carries a fair share of Italian flair alongside a rather surprising “potential” price tag.

The Coopop Bobber is an electric two-wheeler that borrows the visual swagger of a custom bobber and pairs it with the decidedly more modest performance of a European electric moped.

Many concept bikes look futuristic or hit impressive bench figures, but they are often just designer exercises with little real-world utility. This one, however, takes aim at one of the biggest hurdles facing modern electric motorcycles: weight.

Honda has just thrown a big surprise our way in the form of the CBR500R FOUR. It’s a middleweight alright, but it produces some serious numbers from a very high-revving 502cc four-cylinder engine revving all the way to 12,500 rpm.

Small motorcycles equal big business, and it seems like moto companies are finally acknowledging that. The latest move comes from BMW Motorrad, which has now launched a third model on its new 450cc platform in the form of the F 450 RR sports bike.

Dainese's just made what's arguably the smallest and lightest motorcycle airbag vest on the market. It's pulled this off by ditching the bulky battery that every other vest comes with, and runs off power from your phone instead.

It seems Honda didn’t want to sit back and wait for EICMA. It’s gone ahead and revealed a motorcycle few saw coming at the CIMA motorcycle trade show in Chongqing, China. It's called the CB250SS, and it’s essentially a neo-retro scrambler.

The electric motorcycle world has never been short on ambitious promises, but a $50,000 price tag for a bike that tops out at 75 mph (120 km/h) is enough to make even a well-heeled biker do a double take.