Each manufacturer makes their own call when they introduce an uprated “R” model. KTM has taken it fairly seriously and built a 990 Super Duke with a healthy margin of performance above the standard model. Often considered for a track day special, the R-model offered here could be show or go ride. 2008 KTM 990…
If simply going fast is your thing, you probably don’t spend much time on this site. You went out and bought a Suzuki GSX-R1000, threw some sticky rubber, rearsets, and a Power Commander on it, then went out to dominate road and track, with stone axe reliability and off-the-shelf parts availability. But in a sea…
For years, Bimota was a byword for high-performance motorcycles that provided ultimate speed and handling. But recent offerings like this DB6R have seemed strangely… practical. This shift even carries over to the exotic Tesi that is available with a set of handlebars, instead of the expected clip-ons. Recent Bimota offerings have showed a clear shift…
Slightly ahead of its time, the NT650 Hawk was an interesting mix of solid powerplant, sportbike architecture, perimeter frame, and lack of a fairing or for that matter much pizazz. But its features were appreciated by some racers and congnoscenti, and though their run ended in 1991, the bikes maintain a fan base to this…
Relisted from last November, with a 20% price reduction – Martin In the early 1990s, Moto Guzzi was trying to revitalize their staid image and appeal to a younger, more sporting audience. Famous Guzzi tuners Ghezzi and Brian were brought in to style the new top-shelf sportbike, and the result was a machine uncharacteristically elegant…
Styled to resemble the RS250RF race bikes, the Honda NSR250 used a gorgeous aluminum twin-spar frame, triple disc brakes, and a whole host of lightweight, mass-centralizing tricks you’d normally expect to find on bikes with a much larger displacement. The NSR250 was motivated by a liquid-cooled two-stroke v-twin with two carburetors and Honda’s ATAC “automatic torque…
Bimota’s successful line of Ducati-powered bikes seems a bit unconventional for the brand, considering they’d always been about creating machines that fused powerful, well-engineered Japanese engines with lightweight, race-bred frames to create bikes that were more than the sum of their parts. But machines like this DB4 seemed to be more about just distilling a…
I’m really shocked there are any Honda Hawk GTs running around still so few miles on them at this point. After all, that’s kind of why you generally buy a Honda, right? So you can ride the hell out of it, without worrying about failing voltage regulators, expensive and frequent valve-adjustments, expensive parts… The bike…