The 2006 Suzuki GSX-R 600’s engine howls like a horde of banshees in the throws of heat as we blow by the parked “unmarked” police cruiser. I’m pushing my luck this third time past the same dark blue sedan. The first two times I made a pretense of being legal, but both the cop and…
Category: Motorcycle Tests
Which motorcycles and products we’ve tested, and exactly what we think of them.
2006 Suzuki V-Strom DL 1000: Dubious Styling, Valiant Spirit
Last time we saw a visage such as this it was likely being chased by villagers brandishing pitchforks and torches. Yes, the V-Strom 1000 is an ugly Frankenstein’s creation of components, but it’s powerful, surprisingly agile, and underneath its dubious styling is a valiant spirit capable of carrying you to the some of the more…
2005 Ducati 999 Monoposto: A Life Less Ordinary
This morning, it seems, someone swapped my regular of dose of Raisin Bran with a big bowl of stupid. The scrape of the knee-puck is official notice; I’m being an idiot and my actions are heroic only in the bench-racing retellings. This is November, above the fog layer it is clear and cold, and the…
2005 Suzuki Boulevard C90T: The Chrome Giant
Kicked back in the chair of a Whistler coffee shop with its trademarked mermaid logo, she and I look on across the parking lot at the 2005 Suzuki Boulevard C90T. The bike handily filling a majority of the parking stall, it stands out glaringly, and even now men stop to point and watch – you…
2005 Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – Monumental Hedonistic Throttle Twisting Debauchery
“Speed, it seems to me, provides the one genuinely modern pleasure.” – Aldous Leonard Huxley (1894 – 1963) It’s clear now Suzuki could have saved a lot of weight on the 2005 GSX-R 1000. At 203kp/h the bike is gently and repeatedly kissing the rev limiter; the intake howl and engine sound wondrous, like a…
Ducati SS1000 – Soul of the Track
Kevin Davis from Ducati Canada is waxing poetic about the Supersport 1000 DS, “It’s a really good track bike. I was doing 240kp/h down the front straight, that’s more than enough.” Not being conversant with Race City’s track, and even less so with Ducati’s Supersport series I nodded, then got on with analyzing the vague…
BMW HP2 – True Grit
All the hype about this new big dirt bike from BMW, the HP2, has the adventure biker set all worked up. I try not to get too excited about new bikes because I just can’t afford to, but I was really looking forward to riding the HP2. Especially since the weather was going to be…
2006 GV650 Aquila – Hyosung’s Stirring Sport-Cruiser
The first thing that will strike you about the Hyosung GV 650 Aquila, before you sit on it, before you fire it up, is the look. The styling is tautly fluid like a droplet shaped by surface tension with flowing curves. It instantly invokes thoughts of a “V-Rod light”, but with a hint of Yamaha…
R1200ST – “Andersenian” Identity
By reason of looks alone, BMW’s R1200ST is utterly memorable. In a world of Back-Street-Boy-sportbikes clamoring to all look alike, the R1200ST’s looks are challenging. OWD uses this phrase for lack of anything stronger. The design disrupts the notion of tourer, sport-tourer and sport all in one go. The side profile is strong, the rearview…
2004 Ducati ST3 – Used Review
The Termignoni burble menacingly to themselves, the dry clutch issues its rattle, and while others hear a cacophony, a Ducatista hears a very special opus. That sentence in itself could be used to describe any number of bikes in the Ducati line, but this is special. First it’s a used Ducati ST3 with a mere…
2006 Hyosung GT650 – Subtle Machinations
Nipping through the corners of the Autodrome St-Eustache, reminds me of how effectively wide naked bike bars can push a ride down into a corner. The Hyosung GT650 complies promptly to such ministrations, making it an easier and quicker ride than the company’s fully faired offerings, which OWD sampled during our marathon track session. The…
2005 Suzuki Bandit 650 S ABS – Unconditional Positive Regard
This is special in an odd way nostalgic; the Suzuki Bandit 650 S ABS has guided me down memory lane like reminiscences with old friends. Every one has a first bike, and then a real first bike. The Bandit ‘96 600 S was my first real bike and it’s here on the road to Port…
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