The Yamaha YZ125X is a new addition to the tuning-fork brand’s lineup for 2020. This off-road-only motorcycle shares many of its major components with the YZ125 motocrosser, but features noteworthy changes to the engine and chassis that make it more suitable for cross-country riding. The KYB Speed-Sensitive System (SSS) coil-spring fork and KYB shock, for example, are relatively softly sprung and lightly damped, but they can be easily adjusted to suit a 160-pound intermediate-plus rider.

Tester Allan Brown was thoroughly impressed with the YZ125X as a whole and, in particular, its powerplant. “The engine runs clean and is one of the smoothest 125s I have ever ridden,” he wrote. “It builds power well from the midrange all the way to very high rpm. While it is normal to shift gears more often on a 125cc two-stroke, with this engine and its six-speed close-ratio gearbox, the YZ125X required much less shifting than I expected.”

In fact, with its tried-and-true chassis and responsive engine, the YZ125X is an exceptionally easy bike to ride, and its light weight makes it ridiculously easy to steer around trees and other obstacles on a tight single-track trail.

Some say the 600cc supersport class is dead, that it has left the station never to return. Detractors argue modern-day motorcyclists don’t want racy ergonomics, a top-end-focused powerband, or anything less than 150 hp measured at the rear wheel. Well, perhaps they should ride the latest-generation Yamaha YZF-R6 to remember why middleweight sportbikes were—and remain—so special. And why the R6 owns a big chunk of the trackday pie.

Unlike many smaller-displacement sportbikes that have an air of soft-edge civility, the R6 is pure race replica with trick bits to match. The engine boasts titanium valves, ceramic-composite-plated cylinder bores, and magnesium cases. With a 16,500-rpm redline, the R6’s key components need to be strong, slippery, and light. There is, as a matter of fact, a replacement for displacement: light weight.

To that end, the R6 also has a magnesium subframe, a titanium muffler, and an aluminum fuel tank. The electronics package features six-level traction control, including “off,” and three-way-adjustable throttle response. A slipper clutch and variable-length intakes further evince the single-minded pursuit of middleweight performance. The Yamaha YZF-R6, significantly updated three years ago, is a quintessential example of the breed.

Putting aside for a moment the GSX-F range produced from the late-1980s to the mid-2000s, the 2020 Suzuki Katana is a four-cylinder Metallic Mystic Silver (Solid Black is also available) tribute to its namesake drawn some 40 years ago by ex-BMW stylist Hans Muth. While that sleek, bikini-faired machine still knocks motorcyclists of a certain age on their heels, the current version is a thoroughly modern sporting standard powered by an earlier-generation GSX-R1000 engine with chassis underpinnings served up by the GSX-S1000. Translation? Smooth, traction-controlled liter-class acceleration and an aluminum frame and swingarm complemented by adjustable Kayaba suspension and antilock-equipped triple-disc Brembo/Nissin brakes.

Thanks to the relatively upright rider triangle afforded by a wide handlebar and moderately rearset footpegs, this is a motorcycle you could ride all day—or night, thanks to full LED lighting—on all types of tarmac if it weren’t for the near-complete absence of protection from the elements and smallish fuel tank. Those realities, however, won’t dissuade fans of the Japanese brand from swooning over the traditional bright red block lettering on said tank or grinning with the speed and ease with which the Katana covers ground.