Category: Motorcycle Tests

Which motorcycles and products we’ve tested, and exactly what we think of them.

BMW F800GS – A Small Adventure

Brapppppp! In the far lane a rider on a R1200GS Adventure (GSA) has just sailed through an opening in rush hour’s waning traffic. Well played sir, but BMW’s F800GS isn’t so easily tossed aside. The GSA may have more guts, but it also has more mass, and the F800GS is proving epee precise and saber effective at slicing its way through the automotive throng.

Irrational Adoration: Best Western and Harley-Davidson Press Tour

I throw the Harley-Davidson Sportster Nightster into the corner, hard and fast enough that it wobbles on Quebec’s pavement chop. This will pass, but sometimes a little active intervention helps – we throttle on out of the apex to a scrape of the peg. A long straight and the little Sportster’s needle brushes 160kph, this Harley-Davidson/Best Western press tour hasn’t been going to plan, but thundering down the straight and setting up for the next corner I can’t help but crack a smile.

Ducati 848: As Prada to Vuitton

The parking lot encircling the hotel was packed, despite it being a weekday. Among a sea of rental fleet specials, a leviathan tractor trailer was parked, taking up four parking slots and the adjacent lane. The Ducati Corse livery, bright rosso paint and the anticipation of what lay within, triggered salivation like a Kobe steakhouse….

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2008 Honda CBF1000 – Sense Appeal

lubricious |loō bri sh əs| (also lubricous | loōbrikəs|) adjective 1 offensively displaying or intended to arouse sexual desire. 2 smooth and slippery with oil or a similar substance. A mobile contradiction in terms the Honda CBF1000 is at once lubricious and not. Designed in Germany, this upright standard’s looks teeter between friendly and bland…

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2008 KTM 950 Super Enduro R – The Cure for Common Sense

Periodically in a review I dance around the topic of whether a bike “spoke” to me or not. This is not one of those reviews. Let’s cut a swath of broken daisies through the meadow and directly to the point; the KTM 950 Super Enduro R is pure delightful lunacy.

Kawasaki Ninja 250R

“What displacement is that?” The ice cream truck driver has ditched his station and crossed the street. “That’s a quarter litre.” “Quarter Litre?” Labeled that way the Kawasaki Ninja 250R sounds much more intimidating, in keeping with the new 249cc entry-market wonder’s looks.

2008 Triumph Speed Triple

I’m doing something I absolutely shouldn’t; riding in jeans, t-shirt, gloves and a helmet.  I’ve just walked through the heart of Toronto to pick up our 2008 Triumph Speed Triple test bike from Rev Cycle’s General Manager Kevin Davis.  He’s warned me, the Speed Triple’s been into the shop since I rode it earlier in…

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2008 Honda Varadero Review – Zen-Tourer

Meet the brand new 2008 Honda Varadero… Except it’s not. Honda introduced the Varadero to the European market in 1999, the bike arriving at the Adventure Touring party well before the hosts put out the plastic cups. Indeed, Canada gets the second generation of the 996cc v-twin adventure bike, which received smoother-styling, fuel-injection and a…

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2008 Suzuki B-King – Brute King

Third gear, mid-sweeper, dead stable, planted to the point of over confidence, and engine still pulling – these are the pertinent facts of the 2008 Suzuki B-King, a 181hp, 108 lb-ft of torque sci-fi cannonball to which I’m currently clinging. The biggest question? Do I upshift? Or back off?

2009 Monster 696 – Monsters’ Inc Reborn

In the tunnel a mid-90’s blue Cavalier pulls along side. Glancing to the right, through the glass, I see the driver mouthing the words, “Is that the new Monster?” I nod. He gives me a thumbs up, and with a roll on of the throttle the tunnel fills with the 2009 Monster 696’s twin under-seat…

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2008 BMW F650GS – Exceeded Expectations

Worldwide BMW has engineered a moto-media furor over the upcoming F800GS, a bike that is flying off virtual showroom floors with a popularity matching air, or water, or coffee. In that hubbub the F800GS’s sibling, the F650GS, has been all but forgotten in the media’s glare. The thing is this unpretentious offering could be BMW’s main event.