Indian Motorcycle has launched the fourth season of its FORGED custom build series. Focusing on the new-for-2025 Indian Chieftain PowerPlus, three builders were invited to fabricate one-of-a-kind custom bikes that deliver a unique combination of performance and style.
This week’s installation is the first “Reveal” episode, showcasing the bike that Jeremy “Twitch” Stenberg built for his buddy and pro skater Ryan Sheckler. Twitch’s build is specifically personalized to Sheckler’s personality and style. The next two videos in the series will be final reveals of bikes built by Kyle Bertsch from Forever Rad and Satya Kraus of Kraus Moto. –Ed.
Ryan Sheckler is a name synonymous with skateboarding greatness – a prodigy turned icon, celebrated globally for his gravity-defying tricks and headline-grabbing career. But behind the fame lies a lesser-known passion and desire to hit the open road on two wheels.
Participating in Indian Motorcycle’s FORGED custom build program, Sheckler was the recipient of an all-new, custom 2025 Indian Chieftain PowerPlus, built and designed by his good friend and freestyle motocross icon, Jeremy “Twitch” Stenberg.
Ryan Sheckler checks out his new Indian Chieftain.
With a friendship dating back to when Ryan was just a pre-teen, Twitch has witnessed nearly every chapter of the pro skater’s life. That deep connection made Twitch the perfect person to design Sheckler’s custom Chieftain PowerPlus, as intricate detailing and personalized aesthetics were tailored specifically for Sheckler.
Twitch (left) and Ryan Sheckler (right) go for a ride to test out Sheckler’s new bike.
Understanding Sheckler’s style preference, Twitch opted for a black-on-black paint scheme with elaborate detailing. A moto-style gold chain pops, while ghosted rose lace graphics accent from front to back. Nicknamed “Knight Rider,” Sheckler’s new custom Chieftain PowerPlus features Baja Designs LP6 headlight and flood lights, blacked-out Arlen Ness wheels, a new blacked-out Two Brothers Racing 2-into-1 exhaust, and premium carbon fiber components, including saddlebags and rear fender. With Sheckler’s moto background, Twitch opted for moto-inspired ergonomics, pulling the bars back and moving the seat up, enhancing control and comfort for Sheckler. Putting fatherhood front and center, Sheckler’s custom Chieftain PowerPlus dash is adorned with his daughters’ names, carefully painted right into the design.
The bike’s black-on-black paint scheme includes much more detail than you’ll notice on first glance.
Indian Motorcycle’s FORGED program is a six-part video series highlighting three unique interpretations of the all-new 2025 Chieftain PowerPlus. While each design and development video has been published, final reveals will continue to roll out throughout July.
The names of Sheckler’s daughters are painted on the dash.
With the all-new Chieftain PowerPlus, Indian Motorcycle has redefined the American V-Twin bagger market. Designed with distinctive American style, the Chieftain PowerPlus features rider-assist technologies never before offered in an American V-Twin motorcycle and is powered by Indian Motorcycle’s championship-winning PowerPlus 112 engine.
Twitch customized Sheckler’s Chieftain PowerPlus based on his friend’s personal sense of style.
The 2026 Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RX limited-edition model features more aggressive ergonomics, an Öhlins steering damper, an Akrapovič muffler, and carbon-fiber bodywork, as well as a unique color and graphics scheme.
Limited to only 1,200 units worldwide and available to order now, the new 2026 Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RX takes the updated 2025 Speed Triple 1200 RS to the next level with a more aggressive riding position, premium technology, and top-notch components.
An integrated Öhlins SD EC steering damper is added to the RX.
The RX’s riding position offers more focused ergonomics. The clip-ons are 2.71 inches lower and 2.04 inches farther forward than on the RS, while the footpegs are 0.57 inch higher and 1 inch farther rearward.
The front fender is carbon fiber.
Complementing the RS’s new Öhlins SmartEC3 semi-active electronic suspension, the RX receives an integrated Öhlins SD EC steering damper, which is adjusted via the Öhlins Objective Based Tuning Interface in the TFT menu.
The lightweight Akrapovič muffler features a titanium outer wrap and a carbon-fiber cover. Also notice the Triumph Performance Yellow accent on the rear wheel.
The RX also received a new Akrapovič muffler with a titanium outer wrap and mounting bracket and a carbon fiber endcap and exhaust valve cover, finished with a laser-etched Akrapovič logo. The upgraded performance seat features an embossed RX logo.
RX graphics are easily visible from the cockpit.
This limited-edition model also features unique styling with a Triumph Performance Yellow and Granite graphic scheme and white RX accents. It includes carbon fiber for the front fender and tank bodywork, and the rear wheel features Triumph Performance Yellow accents.
Special RX details are included.
All other components are carried over from the 2025 Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RS, which is the most powerful and high-tech model in Triumph’s lineup. The updated model includes a boost in horsepower and torque thanks to a freer-flowing exhaust, resulting in 180.5 hp at 10,750 rpm and 94.4 lb-ft at 8,750 rpm. The advanced spool-valve technology in the Öhlins SmartEC3 semi-active suspension provides instant and highly sophisticated suspension adjustment and is only available on a few high-end sportbikes. New IMU-supported electronics include adjustable front wheel lift control, engine braking control, and brake slide assist, and lighter wheels and a new lithium-ion battery results in a lighter 439-lb wet weight.
The upgraded performance seat includes an embossed RX logo.
Find full details and riding impressions of the RS in our 2025 Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RS review, for which we traveled to Portugal to test the bike on the road and at the Algarve International Circuit MotoGP track.
The headlights are carried over from the updated 2025 Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RS, the most powerful model in Triumph’s lineup.
The 2026 Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RX has an MSRP of $21,495 (+$1,500 compared to the RS), and delivery is expected in June 2025. Visit the Triumph website for more information.
Young and travel-hungry: My early days at Rider Magazine taught me that on the right motorcycle there are no limits.
The following story is excerpted from 50th Anniversary Gold Wing, a book released this year by American Honda. It will be provided as a gift to customers who purchase a 2025 50th Anniversary Edition Gold Wing and will be available online and through Honda powersports dealers.
What is a motorcycle, if not a companion? You can love a car, sure, but do you ever feel a part of it? On a motorcycle, your physical connection is not unlike what a rider feels on a horse. Your slightest movement impacts the machine, your line of sight guides it. As shared adventures accumulate, that connection can only deepen into something even more profound. A bond.
Ask me about Honda’s Gold Wing and I’ll tell you the model has been a great friend to me during my nearly 40-year career as a motorcycle journalist, testing and traveling on the full range of brands and bikes.
Honda’s legendary Gold Wing and I got along right from the start, me a 20-year-old associate editor at Rider trying out a fully dressed tourer for the first time, a 1986 blue-on-blue GL1200 Aspencade. It was by far the largest motorcycle I’d ever ridden, and I remember feeling so nervous, my heart pounding as I throttled away, expecting an unruly ride.
But the Gold Wing immediately did what I now know it always does, its weight evaporating like some magic trick, revealing a machine that is agile and easy to ride. I was done for, my growing appetite for two-wheel travel now matched with a machine that could take me farther and in a glorious amount of comfort. And what about that plush pillion behind me? It presented an opportunity to share the magic of motorcycle touring.
Shortly after that first ride, I packed an extra set of gear and motored away from Southern California on that Aspencade, grabbing up my big sister, who had never been on a motorcycle, from the San Francisco Bay Area, and away we went on a weeklong tour of Oregon. Again, the Gold Wing wowed me with its ability to maintain its composure, now carrying two girls, trunk and saddlebag lids straining to contain all our cute outfits and hair curlers.
Oh, how very young and free we were, barely into our 20s, our long, blonde braids in the wind as we dipped and dove our way up Oregon’s winding Pacific Coast Highway. And what a sight, two-up, in a time when women riding motorcycles was a rarity. All these years later, I can’t remember a time when we had more fun together, a situation where we felt closer, all thanks to that Gold Wing Aspencade and all the possibilities a beautifully designed touring bike presents.
In 1987, I was tasked with comparing the budget-minded GL1200 Interstate with another tourer, and I chose the backdrop of Tombstone, Arizona. The other editor I invited on the tour, Brent Ross, had been a professional roadracer, and dicing with him in the twisties on those big tourers took my love for the Gold Wing to the next level. Not only was the bike agreeable in everyday situations, it was up for a mad dash, keeling over predictably and roaring off each apex like it was born for the chase.
From there, my relationship with Honda’s GLs only deepened, each year the bikes becoming more refined, more exciting to ride, right in step with my improving skills and ever-expanding horizons.
Back in 1986, my sister was my first passenger on a two-up tour – a weeklong adventure we still revisit with smiles.
In 1988, the long-awaited GL1500 “Super Wing’’ hit the scene, the ferocious growl of its flat-six resonating as much in my chest as in my ears. As soon as we got our hands on one, Rider’s then tech editor, Mark Tuttle, and I headed off toward Arizona’s Superstition Mountains, not on two bikes but two-up on the Wing, switching rider and passenger duties along the way.
This was my first time riding pillion for long stints on a Gold Wing, and I remember thinking at the time how on a machine this luxurious, the passenger might enjoy a tour even more than the pilot.
When I left Rider later that year to begin a 12-year stint freelancing for a variety of motorcycle publications, the Gold Wing was always there, popping in and out of my life like a favorite friend. I interviewed Nancy Wright, a transport pilot during World War II, who at 82 no longer flew planes but said riding her 1992 GL1500 around the country was just as exciting.
A 1987 GL1200 Interstate test to Tombstone, chasing curves and discovering just how spirited a tourer could be.
A Gold Wing of any vintage is a dream to ride on the Cherohala Skyway. While testing a GL1500 SE in the late ’90s, I rode into a monstrous sandstorm near Death Valley that was blowing sand sideways so hard you couldn’t see three feet ahead. When I emerged on the other side nearly an hour later, I found the Gold Wing’s pretty Pearl Glacier White paint had been stripped clean off the left side, but thanks to the tourer’s steady nature, I was unscathed.
Rallies celebrating the Gold Wing were attended, factory tours were enjoyed, and all the while the bike kept improving. I like to think I was evolving right alongside it, now married and the mother of a young daughter, a circumstance that didn’t keep me from riding but did make me appreciate the stability and emerging rider aids on this legendary tourer even more.
In the early aughts and now approaching 40, I created a magazine called Motorcycle Escape, the physical manifestation of my long-time passion for road travel. It was about motorcycles, but even more so about the places they could take you.
The 2012 Gold Wing held its crown in a showdown with BMW’s then-new GTL.
By now, the Gold Wing had been reborn as the kingly GL1800, the definition of a super-tourer that came with a boatload of innovations, including a nice stereo with CD changer, optional ABS, and a much-welcomed stiffer aluminum frame. GL1800 test units loaned to the magazine became my secret weapon, carrying me as far and wide and as fast as I cared, allowing me to grab up stories from all over the continent in comfort, style, and with plenty of room for camping and camera equipment.
One GL1800, a fully loaded 25th Anniversary Edition, carried me so many thousands of miles it earned a nickname: Zeus, an endearment that came to me just after I’d passed a couple of young guys on sportbikes on the outside of a fast corner on the way to Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado, a shower of sparks adding to their surprise. I remember laughing out loud in my helmet and reveling in how connected I felt to that machine.
I put more than 6,000 miles on that bike in just 10 days, reporting on world-class roads and travel destinations in Arizona, Utah, and Colorado, including exploring high-elevation dirt and gravel passes like Cinnamon and Engineer. Over the many years of testing Gold Wings, I’d come to understand there is nothing it won’t do well, including light off-road use, as the bike’s tractor-like torque, low center of gravity, and supple suspension work together to glide you across every imaginable landscape.
A tour along the Pacific coast two-up with my daughter on a Gold Wing nicknamed Zeus became another treasured memory.
It was always so amusing to me to pull up at a scenic overlook of a high-altitude dirt pass on a machine that looked so completely inappropriate for the conditions. I remember one older man getting out of a Jeep and asking, “Did you ride that thing up here all by yourself?”
After Colorado, I pointed Zeus northwest, where I met up with long-distance riding legend and Ayres Adventures founder, Ron Ayres, for a SaddleSore 1000 (1,000 miles in 24 hours) from Seattle, Washington, to Hyder, Alaska. Since my bum was already pretty famous for being iron-clad, I thought it would be a piece of cake, but we started extremely late, so most of that 1,000-plus miles was spent in the dark, dodging elk and moose on torn-up Canadian high-country backroads. I’m not sure there was ever a time I was more relieved to be on a Gold Wing, hurtling so precariously through that cold, ink-black night.
Watching Hannah, then 13, smiling in her helmet and developing her own signature wave, I knew I’d chosen the perfect bike to grow her love for motorcycling.
The next day kicked off an interesting event in town, the Hyder Seek Rally, which used to be the culmination of an annual Iron Butt Association-sanctioned run called a “48 Plus” where riders had to pass into 48 states plus Alaska in just 10 days. Reaching Hyder, the closest pinch of U.S. soil from the lower 48, was the only possible means to complete the challenge. And what bike were the majority of the 25 finishers riding? Gold Wings, of course. I immediately felt at home in the company of these men and women, riders who understood the hypnotic pull of a long-distance ride, as well as the powerful advantage of choosing the right bike for the job.
Running late on my return to Southern California, with a magazine needing to be shipped to the printer, my long-term test Wing was parked at the Seattle airport for a few weeks as I flew home to work. When I returned to retrieve it, I brought along an eager passenger, the epitome of precious cargo, my then 13-year-old daughter, Hannah.
Hannah immediately took to the Gold Wing with its cushy seat and backrest, pillion speakers and floorboards. She had ridden behind me many times, though mostly on short spins on the back of my sportbikes, so luxury-touring was entirely new. We had helmet comms for that ride and had the most wonderful talks, gliding along the edge of the Pacific, Hannah so chatty I knew she was having the best time, me so grateful to the Gold Wing for its gift of great memories.
As we crossed the Astoria-Megler trestle bridge, a majestic steel stitch that binds Washington state to Oregon, one of those Gold Wing-gained memories surfaced and stirred a strong wave of emotion. For a moment, I was 20 again, riding across that same bridge with my 25-year-old sister as passenger on that 1986 Aspencade. We had thought the bridge was so cool we had ridden across it and back, marking the apex of our weeklong tour of Oregon.
Boy, the Gold Wing and I had come a long way since then. It, awash in cutting-edge innovations and me, at the height of my career, at the time editor-in-chief of two national motorcycle magazines. The kinship I felt with the Gold Wing was further cemented on that four-day trip as I watched my daughter in the rearview mirrors, dialing in her own signature wave to other riders, the two of us singing girl pop over the intercom.
The Astoria-Megler Bridge connects Oregon and Washington state. It also became a link between my carefree youth and the responsibilities of parenthood.
In 2012 I was 47, the Gold Wing, 37. That year, the bike came with some updates, things like new saddlebags and fairing, stereo and nav system, though the core machine hadn’t seen an overhaul in more than a decade. Motorcyclist magazine had hired me to compare the updated Honda to BMW’s 2012 K 1600 GTL, a bike that was brand-new from the ground up and bristling with state-of-the-art technology.
The comparison took place in Tennessee over the course of three days, and it had been preordained that I would ride the winning machine back to California. I went in feeling a sense of dread for my favorite luxury-tourer, a bike I shared so much important history with, since it felt all but certain the GTL would knock the Wing off its long-held luxury-tourer throne.
Well, to everyone’s surprise, the king held onto its crown. BMW’s GTL was sportier in those days, yes, but it was also top heavy and not nearly as luxurious or comfortable to ride. I was more than happy to settle into the Honda’s familiar bucket seat for the long ride home to California, the bike’s silky-smooth flat-six humming a song about the open road.
At a rally in Hyder, Alaska, the majority of finishers of the Iron Butt 48 Plus (48 states plus Alaska in 10 days) arrived aboard Gold Wings.
As I was crossing Missouri on that Gold Wing, a crazy thing happened. It had been pouring rain all day, but the Wing has always been a calm machine, and I felt very comfortable riding it in extreme conditions. I was cruising along, singing in my helmet, when a speeding car slowed beside me, its passenger pointing to the sky. I gave a thumbs up and thought, yes, I know it’s storming and I appear crazy, but it is not as hard as it looks.
But when I glanced down at the weather overlay on the Gold Wing’s navigation screen a moment later, I saw something I’d never seen before, a dot of purple within the red mass that was heavy rain. I swiveled around to assess the whole of the sky, and there it was, a tornado.
I sped toward the nearest exit, wind howling, and quickly pulled up to the office of a hotel, its manager yelling for me to get inside then ushering me toward the center of the first floor by the elevators where all the hotel’s guests were already gathered along with mattresses taken from nearby rooms. It was an absolutely wild experience, by far the most dramatic moment I have ever had on a motorcycle tour.
When the sporty GL1800 came on the scene in 2018, it felt like a stranger, but at its core, I found the same magic.
The tornado eviscerated nearby buildings and plucked trees from the ground by their roots. I had never seen such a thing, and I couldn’t stop thinking about the close call as I rolled toward home, me now requiring Advil and Red Bull to put in the long miles while the GL felt as vital as ever.
As the next decade rushed by, the Gold Wing and I underwent dramatic transformations, me becoming an aging empty nester in stretchy pants, while the GL1800 went full Benjamin Button for 2018, becoming sleeker, lighter, and far more athletic than ever before. I didn’t even recognize that sixth-generation Gold Wing when I first saw it, the sharp lines of a shark where once lived a friendly bear.
At the model’s press introduction in Texas Hill Country, I eagerly jumped onto the next-gen GL expecting to find an old friend once underway, but instead, I was met by a stranger. No longer sitting “in” the big touring bike I knew so well, I was perched atop a modern sport-tourer, gazing at a clean, concise cockpit.
An IBA Bun Burner (1,500 miles in 36 hours) to Key West helped forge a fresh bond with the new-gen Wing.
The bike performed brilliantly, of course, though I admit I was pining for the last gen’s plane-like cockpit, so busy with buttons, the bolstered captain’s chair, and that Cadillac-esque cush.
I left the press ride happy for Honda and the new generation of riders this bike would attract but also a bit sad for myself. The arrival of such a different Gold Wing felt like a hard stop to a beloved series of chapters in my life’s story, or so I thought.
That same year, I spent the entire summer riding around America in search of its 50 greatest roads. I used several different test bikes for this 16,000-mile expedition, the last one a Candy Red 2018 Gold Wing Tour DCT I collected in upstate New York a day and a half before my 53rd birthday.
It’s difficult to choose which generation of Gold Wing is my favorite, each having become a part of my life story in its own unique way.
As preferred, I had no expectations for my birthday other than to wake up somewhere memorable. I pulled the Gold Wing to a stop on the edge of an I-95 onramp to ponder options when a wild idea struck: Why not ride to Key West? I tapped the destination into the Wing’s nav system, and it told me it was a dumb idea. It was already noon and Key West was 1,502 miles away, but if I throttled onto the interstate immediately, I could arrive just after midnight on the morning of my birthday.
For better or worse, wild hairs always win with me, so, yes, I rode the new, ultra-sporty Wing right into that fast-flowing river of traffic and swam south for a day and a half, stopping only to refuel, slam gas-station snacks, and grab a terrible night’s sleep at a cheap motel. I know most riders hate the interstates, but I’ve always found a long ride on a straight road leads to a therapeutic level of introspection, a deep cleaning of sorts.
As happens later in life, and especially around birthdays, there was an audit of time. How quickly it slides by later in life, but also an accounting of time passed versus time left. Did I spend it well? How do I make the most of what is left? Ever since I had swung my leg over that first Gold Wing in 1986, the bike had become a kind of touchstone, and here it was, punctuating the story of my life with another profound memory.
Though the cockpit has changed over the decades, I’ve always found the view from the seat of a Gold Wing to be the most satisfying.
By the time the bike’s tire crunched onto the white, crushed-shell driveway of my Key West hotel, the new Gold Wing was no longer a stranger. Instead, I’d made a new friend: youthful, smart, powerful, and more than happy to share its abundant grace with a pilot who was now growing older, my essence dimming slightly each year as the Gold Wing’s only grew brighter. (For the full story, see “The Long Ride” in the February 2022 issue or on our website here.)
That sharing of power and fluidity was a gift I would prize more than ever over the next two weeks as I explored some of the country’s finest motorcycle roads in Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia, the Gold Wing proving itself, as ever, to be an ideal travel companion. Over the course of my long-shared history with this wonderful motorcycle, it has been so much more than the perfect tool for two-wheel travel. The Gold Wing has become a cherished friend, ever-evolving and ready for a ride, even when it is just a trip down memory lane.
Contributing to the 50th Anniversary Gold Wing book has been a major highlight of my 40-year career as a motorcycle journalist. Led by Lee Edmunds and edited by Matthew Miles, the project resulted in a gorgeous tribute, packed with details and backstories about the machine beloved by so many.
We review the Cardo Packtalk Edge motorcycle helmet communicator on a 4,200-mile ride from California to Texas.
When my buddy Eric and I planned our trip to Texas last year, which covered 4,200 miles and four states over nine days, we needed a way to communicate with each other. We’d be burning hundreds of miles on interstates and backroads, and we’d be stopping frequently to shoot photos. Hand signals just wouldn’t cut it.
We installed Cardo Packtalk Edge communicators in our modular helmets (an HJC RPHA 91 and a Shoei Neotec 3). The box comes with everything you need to install the communicators in either a full-face or modular helmet, including wired and boom microphones, and the installation process was easy.
We had the Duo package that comes with two units that are pre-paired, but the pairing process is straightforward. Cardo’s patented magnetic Air Mount cradle is slick – just position the unit near the cradle and it sucks itself into place. The attachment is secure, and pressing down on the leading edge of the mount allows the unit to be removed for charging. The units are also waterproof, and they endured an hourlong deluge with no problems.
The Packtalk Edge uses Cardo’s Dynamic Mesh 2.0 intercom system, which allows up to 15 riders to be connected and offers “auto healing” when members leave and re-join the group. Cardo says the Packtalk Edge will also seamlessly connect with other major-brand communicators. Cardo claims a range of up to one mile, but that’s under ideal conditions with a clear line of sight. Winding through canyons would disconnect us occasionally, but we’d reconnect when we closed the gap.
Cardo’s Natural Voice Operation allows you to control the unit using voice commands. Just say, “Hey Cardo,” followed by “music on,” “next track,” “volume up,” “battery status,” and so on. It even allows “Hey Siri” and “Okay Google” commands to your phone. You can also use the buttons and controls on the unit itself. Pairing the unit with the Cardo Connect app allows advanced features such as music sharing as well as over-the-air software updates.
Eric and I had our Packtalk units paired with our phones so we could listen to music, and the music paused automatically when either of us would start speaking. The Sound by JBL speakers delivered good sound quality even when we were riding at 80 mph. The only challenge we had was with battery life. Cardo claims up to 13 hours of talk time. Even though we charged our units every night, both of us would get low battery warnings after 8-10 hours, which limited our ability to communicate at the end of long days.
The Cardo Packtalk Edge motorcycle helmet communicator is available as a single unit for $399.95 or in a Duo package with two units for $729.95, and it comes with a three-year warranty.
This year, the Honda Gold Wing will celebrate its 50th anniversary. Since 1975, Rider has tested every Gold Wing model – from the GL1000 to the current GL1800 – multiple times. Over the past 50 years, the Gold Wing has been on our cover 29 times, we’ve selected it as Motorcycle of the Year twice (2001 and 2018), and we’ve included it in comparison tests, travel stories, product reviews, and other features.
Later this year, we expect Honda to announce a special 50th anniversary edition of the Gold Wing to commemorate its golden jubilee. In the meantime, there are tens of thousands of Wings on the road, and they all need tires.
Michelin has developed a new sport-touring tire aimed specifically at the Gold Wing called the Road W GT. Gold Wings and their riders place high demands on tires. For the current-model GL1800, the standard Gold Wing bagger has a curb weight of 807 lb while the fully loaded, trunk-equipped Gold Wing Tour Airbag DCT tips the scales at 855 lb. Add a rider, passenger, and luggage, and it’s easy to approach the maximum weight capacity of 1,272 lb.
The sixth-generation Gold Wing, which was introduced in 2018, is the sportiest and most technologically advanced GL ever produced. Thanks to its low center of gravity, aluminum frame, and double-wishbone front suspension, it handles remarkably well for its size. Hustling more than half-a-ton of bike and cargo down a winding road with 106 lb-ft of torque at the rear wheel puts a lot of stress on the tires’ rubber, carcass, and sidewalls.
Michelin’s objectives in designing the Road W GT tires were to deliver extended mileage, good wear resistance, and reliable wet-weather performance. It brought some of its proprietary technologies to bear, including:
Radial X-Evo: reinforced three-layer plys that enhance stability by preventing tire deformation during cornering.
Aramid Shield: high-density aramid reinforcement in the casing to reduce the number of punctures.
Silica: added to rubber compounds to improve grip in wet/cold conditions.
Water Sipe: patented tread grooves that enhance water evacuation.
I’ve been testing the Road W GT tires on a 2024 Honda Gold Wing Tour DCT. They have provided a smooth, quiet ride on interstate highways, city streets, and winding backroads. I’ve pushed the Wing hard on numerous canyon roads with surfaces ranging from freshly paved to bumpy, cracked, and patched, and the tires provide confident grip, neutral handling, and fluid side-to-side transitions.
After two wet winters here in California, we’ve cycled to a La Niña climate pattern that produces warm, dry conditions. We’ve only had a few bouts of brief, light rain – enough to bring months of accumulated oil and dirt to the surface but too little to wash it away. Even on wet, slick roads, the Michelins continued to deliver dependable grip during cornering and hard braking.
Michelin Road W GT tires are excellent replacement tires for your Gold Wing. They’re available now in one front size (130/70-R18, MSRP $279.95) and two rear sizes (180/60-R16, $367.95; 200/55-R16, $376.95).
Harley’s best-selling models include the Street Glide (center), the Road Glide (left), and the Road King Special (right).
Harley-Davidson has revealed motorcycles in its 2025 lineup, with new colorways for several returning models, plus its new Factory Custom Paint & Graphics program which adds eye-catching paint-and-graphics schemes.
Bigger news from H-D will arrive on January 23 when new models will be announced along with the latest Custom Vehicle Operation (CVO) collection of bikes.
This program offers premium paint-and-graphics schemes on select motorcycle models. Customers receive a motorcycle with exclusive paint and graphics without the expense or downtime associated with custom paint applied by a third party, and it’s backed by a full factory warranty.
For 2025, three Harley-Davidson Factory Custom Paint & Graphics offerings will be available on select models. Each paint set features a special black tank medallion with chrome accents and a mother-of-pearl textured background in either purple or orange.
Mystic Shift offers a dramatic hue shift which travels from a dark gunmetal to purple to blue to almost orange and is especially apparent in full sunlight when walking around the motorcycle.
The Firestorm option is available in two colorways, responding to the trend for flame details in paint. They feature a “ghost fade” or inner-fade effect, in which the fade color is slightly brighter than the basecoat. In certain angles, the flames pop dramatically but are subtle in others.
The Street Glide is back in black for 2025, here in its Midnight Firestorm colorway with ghost-flame accents from Harley’s Factory Custom Paint & Graphics options.
The Midnight Firestorm features ghosted flames over a Vivid Black base with a charcoal inner glow. Whiskey Firestorm features an added mid-coat for a deeper orange shade with Ember Sunglo ghost flames and a brighter orange inner glow.
The Grand American Touring platform comprises Harley’s best-selling models, including the Street Glide, Road Glide, and Road King Special, from “the company that invented the cross-country experience.” New colors are available for each model, with prices starting at $25,749.
The 2025 Road King Special can be had in this rich Whiskey Fire colorway.
Harley-Davidson Trike models offer an option for anyone who appreciates the confidence of a three-wheel platform. Returning models include the Road Glide 3, Freewheeler, and Tri Glide Ultra motorcycles.
Trike models returning for 2025 include the Tri Glide Ultra (center), the Freewheeler (left), and the Road Glide 3 (right).
These bikes are now available at Harley-Davidson dealerships globally. More info at H-D.com.
The Freewheeler is the most affordable trike option in Harley’s lineup, with prices starting at $31,999.
The 1976 Honda GL1000 Gold Wing K0 in Sulfur Yellow ridden by the author is a restored barn find. It’s owned by Joel Samick, who runs Pennsylvania-based RetroTours. (Photos by Kel Edge)
Honda stunned the two-wheeled world at the 1968 Tokyo Show by revealing its inline 4-cylinder CB750, the first series production superbike of the modern era. But six years later, the Japanese company unveiled something completely different at the 1974 Cologne Show – the GL1000 Gold Wing. It was the first in a family of bikes which continues in production today, albeit in flat-Six 1,833cc guise vs. the original flat-Four 999cc model. Now, 50 years and 650,000-plus motorcycles later, the Wing continues to be a cornerstone of Honda’s range (see “50 Years of the Honda Gold Wing” in Rider’s December 2024 issue). At its peak, the GWRRA global owners club boasted 80,000 members in 53 countries, split into around 800 chapters.
The Honda GL1000 Gold Wing debuted as a 1975 model, available in Candy Blue or Candy Red.
Yet initial sales of the GL1000 were underwhelming, with less than 5,000 bikes sold to American owners in 1975, far fewer than hoped for in the model’s debut year. As much as anything, it was because nobody at Honda appeared to really know who the bike was aimed at. It offered a step up in performance compared to the CB750, which was already suffering by comparison to the 903cc Kawasaki Z1 launched in 1972. The 999cc Wing trumped that as the largest-capacity Japanese motorcycle yet built. But at that time, motorcycle touring as we know it today was in its infancy. Except for shaft-drive BMW Boxers, the available bikes weren’t especially practical for covering thousands of miles at a stretch.
An early Gold Wing concept sketch.
But then a funny thing happened: Customers started purchasing the GL1000 in increasing numbers and taking it for long rides – and as the rides became longer and longer, more and more people started copying their neighbor or friend or guys they met in a cafe by purchasing a GL1000 and clocking up miles themselves. Suddenly Honda had a hit on its hands, thanks to this customer-led repositioning of the Wing in the marketplace. It had almost accidentally invented a whole new long-range luxury touring sector – much as the BMW GS would do with adventure touring a few years later.
In December 1972, Honda had assembled a team of its top designers led by Shoichiro Irimajiri, who’d headed up creation of Honda’s GP roadracing engines of the 1960s. This team was tasked by upper management with developing the so-called “King of Motorcycles,” by which the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world could flaunt its technical prowess. The M1 prototype was born of an ambition to impress, not as the result of focus groups or marketing studies. It was to be a fast, comfortable GT model, superior to all other motorcycles in terms of smoothness, performance, and quality.
The six-cylinder M1 prototype.
To explore extremes, the top-secret M1 prototype featured a liquid-cooled 1,470cc flat-Six engine with shaft final drive, features that would adorn the Gold Wing line in years to come. The official goals called for a compact and light machine with extremely high performance by the standards of those days. It was to weigh 210 kg (463 lb) with power targeted at 61 hp at 7,500 rpm and maximum torque produced high up at 5,500 rpm. Most telling of all was the quarter-mile performance goal of 12.4 seconds – quicker than Honda’s CB750.
The Gold Wing was the first Japanese motorcycle with shaft final drive.
Once the M1 was created to general in-house acclaim – remember, this was a top-secret project – Honda decided to produce a customer model based on this concept. Mr. Honda himself, close to retirement from the company he had built, still favored air cooling for its simplicity and believed that engines larger than 750cc might be rejected by the public as too big, especially with six cylinders. The M1’s liquid cooling was a radical idea back then, but Honda’s engineers knew the operating temperature of air-cooled engines fluctuated with air temperature, and excess heat was deemed unacceptable. With liquid cooling, the GL would be able to be unaffected and reliable through the hottest weather and at the highest speeds and loads.
Because of the M1 engine’s exceptionally low center of gravity, the prototype felt lighter than its true weight. Although a by-product of the layout, this trait was so well-liked by testers it became a focus of the whole design because it made carrying greater weight practical. The engine designers weren’t bound by traditional two-wheel thinking and quickly revised their design to position the transmission under the engine instead of behind it. This innovation permitted the controls comfortably within reach while allowing the flat-Six engine to clear a rider’s shins. Such innovative thinking also led to the GL’s 5-gallon underseat fuel tank.
With perfect primary balance, the Honda GL1000 Gold Wing K0’s 999cc flat-Four engine is the epitome of smoothness.
For the future of motorcycling, the M1 opened the way to the universal acceptance of largely maintenance-free, liquid-cooled powerplants in bikes of every kind. Before it could do that, though, it had to pass muster at the highest level. According to in-house legend, Oya-ji (the Old Man, Soichiro Honda himself) appeared unannounced at the Honda R&D Test Center late one evening. When he saw what his engineers had created, he said with his characteristic directness that it “looked like a bat,” with its two blocks of horizontally opposed cylinders. He hopped on the big machine and rode out into the darkness. In due course, he returned safely, parked the bike, remarked that it was “pretty good,” and went home!
In all, the gestation period for the original flat-Four GL1000 spanned just two years from concept to production due to lessons learned from the M1 project. But when it was introduced at the 1974 Cologne Show, few who first saw the bike fully understood what it was – or what it might become. Its straight-line performance was second only to the Kawasaki Z1, the premier superbike of the day, and the GL’s power peaked high in the powerband. But it was judged too heavy, too long, and too bulky to rank as an out-and-out performance model.
A pair of 2-piston front calipers pinching 276mm rotors provide barely adequate stopping power.
Despite a slow start in showroom sales, the GL’s stellar qualities gradually became apparent to long-distance riders who’d tried the alternatives and found them wanting. Owners learned the new Gold Wing would carry all the luggage they needed on longer trips, plus a passenger, all in comfort, and Honda’s already well-established reputation for reliability meant they wouldn’t be stranded far from home.
The Honda GL1000 Gold Wing K0’s liquid-cooled flat-Four motor with two valves per cylinder had perfect primary balance, with the contrarotating alternator counteracting the torque reaction of the 180-degree longitudinal crankshaft when the throttle was opened. The single overhead camshaft for each bank of cylinders was driven by silent-running toothed belts, like the Moto Morini 3½, which had pioneered this format on two wheels in 1973.
In its original naked form, few realized the Gold Wing would eventually become the gold standard in luxury touring.
Running a 9.2:1 compression ratio, the engine measured 72 x 61.4mm for 999cc, and in production form delivered 78 hp at 7,500 rpm at the crankshaft, a figure comparable to the 81 hp of the Kawasaki Z1. The GL’s peak torque of 61.2 lb-ft at 5,500 rpm handily beat the 54.2 lb-ft from the Kawasaki. A quartet of downdraft 32mm Keihin CV carbs fed the cylinders – fuel injection had been considered but rejected for the time being as needing further development for motorcycle use. The 5-speed gearbox was located beneath the engine, with shaft final drive for the first time on any Japanese motorcycle.
This engine was housed in a tubular-steel duplex cradle frame, with a 37mm Showa fork offering 4.8 inches of travel carried at a 28-degree rake, with 4.7 inches of trail. The 19-inch front wire wheel and 17-inch rear delivered a reasonable 60.8-inch wheelbase while offering good space for a passenger, with twin rear shocks giving 3.3 inches of travel, which on the first series K0 model provided poor damping and were often replaced by aftermarket items, usually Konis.
Soichiro Honda thought the Gold Wing’s horizontally opposed cylinders resembled a bat.
The twin front 276mm Nissin steel discs with twin-piston calipers were adequate in the dry but judged to be dangerous in the wet – so much so that an owners’ petition was organized to persuade Honda to do something about it! The rear 294mm disc with its single-piston caliper was larger than the front discs, in recognition that most American riders back then favored using the rear stopper over the front ones. At a claimed 584 lb dry, the Honda GL1000 Gold Wing K0 was no featherweight, but with the weight low down, it was much less noticeable and favored high-speed handling.
Despite Honda’s engineers favoring a torquey midrange performance tune, the first-generation GL1000 Gold Wing was capable of scintillating performance for the day, with 1975 magazine tests showing it ran the quarter-mile in 12.9 seconds from a standing start (though only a couple of times before the clutch burned out!) – second only to the Kawasaki Z1 but not by much – and a trap speed of 104.5 mph. Top speed was 129 mph. Still, the new model had made its mark.
A low center of gravity contributes to the Honda GL1000 Gold Wing K0’s good handling.
Finding an original-spec early Honda GL1000 Gold Wing K0 to ride was surprisingly difficult; the model took time to catch on, so the early versions are relatively rare. So it was a surprise to find one that today earns its keep in southeastern Pennsylvania as part of a fleet of street classics, mostly Twins, available for rent from RetroTours for rides of up to seven days around the northeast U.S. and Atlantic seaboard, with company founder, Joel Samick.
“My friend Jeff Cordisco decided that an early Gold Wing might be fun,” Samick told me. “He enjoys the hunt, and this one took him to upstate New York, where this one-owner bike with just 8,000 miles on the clock was hiding in an old warehouse between some tractors and stuff, behind a boat on a trailer with two flat tires!
A smooth, reliable engine and a comfortable seating position made the Honda GL1000 Gold Wing K0 an ideal tourer. Owners added fairings, luggage, and passengers.
“The bike had sat idle in unheated storage for over 30 years, so it was a real time capsule. Just getting it out into the daylight was a challenge, and it was totally covered with what we call farkles, an acronym for Fancy Accessory, Really Kool, and Likely Expensive! This guy had got addicted to accessorizing his Gold Wing, so it had a full Windjammer fairing, a radio, saddlebags, a top box, crash bars, an extra light rail round the back, extra mirrors, and all kinds of stuff on it. This was common back in the day, but it’s ironic in a way as Honda never intended the GL1000 to be a dresser. It was more of an answer to the Kawasaki Z1 – a smoother, more comfortable, and more sophisticated superbike. It was only after American riders festooned their Gold Wings with touring accessories, spawning a lucrative new decked-out touring-bike market, that Honda decided to go after that.
“Jeff paid $1,000 for it and brought it home. After stripping off the accessories, a box-stock, low-mileage, second-year Gold Wing was revealed. Of course, it needed a bit of work to get it back on the road.” In fact, everything needed attention: the carbs, valves, head gasket, water pump, fuel tank, brakes, tires, tubes, and more.
During restoration, accessories were removed to return this 1976 Honda GL1000 Gold Wing K0 to mostly stock form.
“Once we had it running, we agreed that it would be prudent to replace the cambelts, which had been sitting in one position for over 30 years! Jeff spent $2,000 refurbishing it, and finally the 8,000-mile Honda was fit for use again, looking rather fine in canary yellow.
“Apparently, once the hunt is over, the prey loses its appeal. Once the Honda was brought back to life, Jeff was ready to move on to the next project. So after all that work, I gave Jeff back the money he’d paid me for repairs, plus some. I had come to love this bike, and I had to have it in the RetroTours fleet. Variety is the spice of life!
Under the seat is a 5-gallon fuel tank.
“Riding this bike is like taking a magic carpet ride: It defines smoothness. We literally balanced a nickel on edge on the crankcase and revved the engine. The nickel never moved. With the Koni rear shocks, the suspension is comfortable and competent enough for all but the most spirited street riding. The triple-disc brakes are excellent for 20th-century hardware – more than up to the task, except in the rain where you gotta take care. The bike weighs 600 lb wet but never feels heavy. My wife, Lynn, and I have done a couple of trips on it, one to North Carolina to visit some friends. It was a long highway trip because we only had a short timeframe, so we couldn’t take all the backroads. The GL1000 of course excels at that kind of thing – 70 or 80 mph all day, piled high with baggage – and it was great. The ride is enjoyable in the extreme: Honda quality has a way of doing that. You need to ride this bike to discover the bare essential roots of the modern touring motorcycle.”
So I did.
The only flat-Four 4-stroke motorcycle I’d ridden before was a 1938 Zündapp K800, and like that bike, the GL1000 Gold Wing’s engine was indeed completely devoid of vibration. The magic carpet ride cliche is completely applicable, since even by today’s standards it’s smooth and effortlessly efficient to ride. Fifty years ago, the GL must have seemed a motorcycle from another planet compared to the parallel-Twins which then ruled the big-bike marketplace before the takeover of the Japanese Fours and Laverda and BSA/Triumph Triples. Thumb the starter button, and the flat-Four immediately catches alight, settling to a 1,200-rpm idle speed that’s dead smooth.
Before the profusions of buttons on later models, the Honda GL1000 Gold Wing K0 had a simple cockpit.
The left-foot one-down gear change is smoother and crisper than any other shaft-drive motorcycle of the era (i.e. BMWs or Guzzis) that I recall ever riding, and the light clutch action makes using the Wing in traffic untiring. It picks up smoothly from 2,000 revs, and the torquey response gives more than acceptable performance by the standards of 50 years ago. Apparently, the motor will rev safely to 8,500 rpm, but there’s honestly no point – instead, just ride the torque curve peaking at 5,500 rpm, and enjoy that magic carpet ride. Cruising at 60 mph sees just 3,700 rpm on the clearly visible tach with a temperature gauge at the bottom, while 75 mph comes at 4,600 revs. The Gold Wing feels completely unstressed at these sorts of speeds, and a brief dash up to 7,000 rpm revealed total stability cruising at 100 mph, without getting too blown about despite the lack of a screen.
The riding position is relatively relaxed, though I found the U.S.-market handlebar with its pulled-back grips a little higher than I prefer. It delivers an upright posture which wasn’t tiring during my 120-mile day, and the seat was pretty comfy too. The dummy fuel tank, with its flip-out panels on the left and on top collectively housing the electrics, air filter, coolant tank, and the storage space for the emergency kickstart lever in case you’ve flattened the battery, is one of the many innovative features of this bike. Like the constant beep when you activate the turnsignals until you turn them off. Why don’t we have these today? Plus the big mirrors give a good view behind and don’t vibrate in the slightest.
Opening the false fuel tank panels reveals a storage compartment, the fuel filler, and more.
While the GL’s long wheelbase dulls its agility, the Honda flicked from side to side through a series of hillside bends really well – its low center of gravity was certainly a factor here. And presumably thanks to the contrarotating alternator, I honestly forgot I was riding a bike with a lengthways crank – though it does pay to remember you’ve got a shaft final drive, even if it doesn’t rise and fall on the suspension as some European bikes of the era did. The Bridgestone BT46 tires Joel had fitted gave enough grip for me to deck the hero tabs on the flip-up footrests, but ground clearance was never an issue.
Joel had fitted Koni shocks immediately upon acquiring the 8,000-mile bike, and with 19,284 miles now on the clock, the shocks still functioned well despite the restricted wheel travel over some of the less than ideally surfaced Pennsylvania roads we came across. The nonadjustable Showa fork worked okay but felt a little stiff – it didn’t like successive bumps, as if the rebound setting was excessive. Suspension is one thing that’s advanced by leaps and bounds in the past 50 years since this bike was built, and the same goes for the brakes, although to be fair, these were decent in the dry conditions I rode the Honda in and stopped it well from high speed – the big rear disc was especially effective. When in America…
The Honda GL1000 Gold Wing K0 stands the test of time.
Derided by many as a “two-wheeled car,” the Honda Gold Wing has divided opinion for half a century. But I challenge anyone who wouldn’t be seen dead on a Gold Wing to ride a first-generation GL1000 like this one. Dismiss your prejudices, and you may just appreciate what an innovative and impressive motorcycle this first Gold Wing was – and still is.
Alan Cathcart is a true mid-Atlantic man. Though born and based in Britain, he’s a regular visitor to the USA and has visited 46 states so far. A Daytona race-winner, he combines track-testing racebikes old and new with clocking up the miles on the highways of the world.
The Triumph Icon Editions collection for 2025 includes seven Modern Classic motorcycles featuring a Triumph logo that dates back to 1907, along with special color schemes and hand-painted details. These limited-edition models will only be available for the 2025 model year, making them collectable models for true Triumph fans.
2025 Triumph Bonneville Bobber Icon Edition
The Triumph logo has changed many times throughout the company’s history. The first was a shield in 1902, followed by a script logo in 1907, which was used for seven years. The design added “Motors” to the logo in 1915, followed by the return of the shield from 1902 but in color during the 1920s. In 1932, the logo changed by an oval globe. In 1934, the logo returned to the word “Triumph,” and it has evolved since. It’s the 1907 script logo that the company brings back for the 2025 Triumph Icon Editions collection.
2025 Triumph Bonneville T100 Icon Edition
The seven Modern Classic models in this collection feature different two-tone color splits of Sapphire Black and Aluminum Silver, with side panels finished to match the fuel tanks. Hand-painted coach lining traces the color-split lines in either black or gold. Each model also features the 1907 Triumph script logo in gold, along with exclusive Icon Edition model graphics.
The Triumph Bonneville T100 Icon Edition ($11,745) features an Aluminum silver finish with Sapphire Black accents on the tank and side panels, with black coach lining. The Bonneville T120 Icon Edition ($13,695) has a Sapphire Black tank with silver accents and gold detailing.
2025 Triumph Scrambler 900 Icon Edition
In the Scrambler family, the Scrambler 900 Icon Edition ($12,245) has both black and silver on the tank separated by black coach lining, along with Sapphire Black fenders. The Scrambler 1200 X Icon Edition ($14,395) has an Aluminum Silver tank with black kneepads and two black tank stripes. The Scrambler 1200 XE Icon Edition ($16,095) has Phantom Black wrapped around both sides of the silver tank, along with gold lining to match the gold-anodized fork.
The Bonneville Bobber Icon Edition ($14,795) retains its minimalist style with a predominantly black color scheme, with silver hand-painted accents. The last model in the collection is the Bonneville Speedmaster Icon Edition ($14,795), with silver finish on the tank and fenders, along with a central Sapphire Black stripe on the tank.
The Hayabusa has been burning up roadways for a quarter century and has become a sportbike icon. Speed comes easy for the Busa, so whether your destination is the end of a dragstrip or another state, it can get there quicker than almost anything else on wheels. (Photos by Kevin Wing and courtesy Suzuki.)
There are countless excellent motorcycles in the world, but there are just a few veritable icons. Of all the Japanese bikes launched in the last 25 years, the Suzuki Hayabusa is perhaps most worthy of icon status.
The Hayabusa is globally renowned for major-league power, seen here in its third generation.
The sportbike paradigm shifted in 1999 when Suzuki introduced the GSX1300R Hayabusa. It had the most powerful engine in a production motorcycle and aerodynamic bodywork that looked like nothing else on the road.
The Suzuki Hayabusa celebrates 25 years with a special-edition 25th Anniversary Edition model.
For a quarter century, the Hayabusa has defined what an ultra-fast motorcycle should be. More than 200,000 Busas have found their way into the hands of speed-addled enthusiasts, from lightning-quick dragracers to sport-touring mavens who strap on luggage and blaze highways at blurring speeds.
Fast Design | Suzuki Hayabusa
There’s always been a need for speed, and velocities ramped up in 1990 with the introduction of Kawasaki’s ZX-11, which could exceed 170 mph. Honda retaliated in 1996 with its CBR1100XX Super Blackbird, which could hit 174 mph.
An early design sketch shows more conventional styling than the bulbous bodywork and stacked headlights that became Suzuki Hayabusa hallmarks.
Suzuki wanted in on this high-speed action and began developing a monumental motorcycle, with the goal of being “the most powerful production bike in the world, but at the same time have usable, rider-friendly performance.” We weren’t quite prepared for the groundbreaking machine that emerged from Suzuki’s drawing boards.
Over three model generations, wind-tunnel testing has ensured the Busa is as slippery as possible.
Big speed requires keen attention to aerodynamics, so Suzuki’s new flagship would need to slip cleanly through the air to become the king of speed. The fastest animal in the world is the peregrine falcon, a bird renowned for its ability to hit 200 mph during a steep dive.
Suzuki drew inspiration for the Hayabusa’s design from the peregrine falcon, the fastest animal on earth.
The Japanese word for the falcon is “hayabusa,” and the kanji character for the word was emblazoned on the bike. Peregrine falcons sometimes eat blackbirds for lunch, and so would the motorcycle that shares its Japanese name.
At the bike’s launch in 1999, Suzuki proclaimed class-leading aero. The Busa’s bullet-shaped nose featured a stacked headlight arrangement to narrow the bike’s frontal area. The front turnsignals were integrated into the nose to help funnel air to the pressurized airbox to boost power at high speeds.
With sculpted bodywork, integrated front turnsignals, and stacked headlights, the Hayabusa’s styling broke new ground.
The Busa’s chassis was more conventional: a twin-spar aluminum frame with an inverted fork and a monoshock, both fully adjustable. Offsetting the bike’s 550-lb curb weight was a 24.2-degree rake (the steepest in the category) and a mere 3.9 inches of trail. A 58.5-inch wheelbase and a steering damper helped provide high-speed stability. The front brakes featured 6-piston Tokico calipers biting on 320mm discs.
The kanji character on the bodywork is the Busa’s calling card.
Fast and Furious | Suzuki Hayabusa
Suzuki used lessons learned in developing its GSX-R motors, using 81mm forged-aluminum pistons reciprocating over a 63mm stroke to yield 1,299cc. The Busa also featured fuel injection, a novelty in that era, and an air injection system minimized emissions without hurting performance. A 4-2-1-2 exhaust included a catalytic converter to keep it EPA-legal. A gear-driven counterbalancer reduced vibration.
In 2003, a limited-edition Suzuki Hayabusa with metallic orange paint and special badging celebrated the 40th anniversary of American Suzuki.
Suzuki blew us away with an unprecedented 173 crankshaft horsepower. That number dwarfed the GSX-R1100W’s output by 20 horses and easily outgunned Honda’s Blackbird. Put it all together, and the Busa was able to reach an astounding 194 mph when tested by Cycle World.
The Hayabusa’s engine architecture has stayed essentially the same for 25 years. Displacement increased from 1,299cc to 1,340cc in its second generation.
I got my first crack at the Busa in 1999 and was thrust into hyperspace. “It’s mind-bendingly fast,” I wrote, “and the explosions inside the engine feel like little sticks of dynamite are being fed through the intake valves, igniting the mixture with greater force than what had been considered possible from a production streetbike.”
The three model generations – Gen 1 on the left, Gen 2 on the right, and Gen 3 in the middle – show the evolution of styling yet all are unmistakably Hayabusas.
During dyno testing, the motor piled on at least 20 hp every 1,000 rpm from 2,500 to 7,500 rpm! Additionally, it generated 73 lb-ft at just 2,500 rpm, the same torque as Yamaha’s 1999 YZF-R1 made at its peak. Describing the Busa as “fast” is like calling the Sistine Chapel “pretty.”
Also impressive was the bike’s finish quality, which exceeded most other Suzukis of the era. Its 10-disc back-torque limiting slipper clutch was stout, and its 6-speed gearbox shifted precisely.
The three model generations – Gen 1 on the left, Gen 2 on the right, and Gen 3 in the middle – show the evolution of styling yet all are unmistakably Hayabusas.
Fast Limit | Suzuki Hayabusa
Kawasaki didn’t like Suzuki stealing the top-speed throne and retaliated in 2000 with the 178-hp ZX-12R. Surprisingly, it could only reach a top speed of 186 mph. That’s when we learned that manufacturers had voluntarily agreed to an arbitrary speed limit of 300 kph (186 mph) to avoid potential regulations on sportbikes. The top-speed wars ended by unofficial decree.
The Hayabusa graced the cover of Rider’s March 2008 issue when we compared it to Kawasaki’s Ninja ZX-14.
The Hayabusa again graced our cover in September 2021 with the launch of the third generation.
Meanwhile, the Hayabusa kept on rolling as the poster child for motorcycle excess. Wild custom paint jobs covered the Busa’s distinctive bodywork, turbos and nitrous kits were added, and extended swingarms with fat tires became all the rage.
But it wasn’t just sportbike jockeys who appreciated the Hayabusa’s effortless speed. Travelers who needed to get to faraway places in a hurry often chose Busas as sport-touring rigs, creating the hypersport-touring niche.
Outfitted with a tankbag and a tailbag, the Hayabusa becomes a hypersport-tourer.
The Busa’s rivals were vastly overshadowed by its massive impact on this market – more than 115,000 Gen 1s were sold. The Blackbird’s run ended in 2002. Kawasaki revamped its 1,198cc ZX-12R in 2002, but it wasn’t able to elbow its way into the Busa’s dominance among speed freaks.
Fast Reignition: Gen 2 | Suzuki Hayabusa
Kawasaki killed off the 12R and replaced it in 2006 with the ZX-14. It was a worthy challenger but lacked the Busa’s rowdiness and street cred. The slugfest escalated in 2008 when Kawasaki introduced the ZX-14R and Suzuki gave the Busa its first significant makeover.
The engine’s displacement was bumped to 1,340cc by increasing its stroke 2mm. Lighter and stronger forged pistons bumped compression up to 12.5:1, and a forged crank spun chromoly rods shot-peened for extra strength. Up top were 16 titanium valves, and new camshafts offered greater lift and revised timing. Cam-chain tension was switched over to a hydraulic system.
Suzuki claimed a 12% improvement in horsepower, stretching to 194 hp at the crankshaft, a 21-horse boost. Torque was bumped 8.5% to 114 lb-ft. Harnessing the bigger power was a revised clutch that offered better feedback and employed the Suzuki Clutch Assist System.
The ultimate speedy commuter.
Modest chassis tweaks included fork sliders with a DLC coating to minimize stiction, a stiffer swingarm, and upgraded Brembo 4-piston radial calipers. Refreshed bodywork featured smoother body panel joints with hidden fasteners and a tailsection with integrated turnsignals that were said to evoke a jet-engine exhaust.
The bike looked sharper and more modern without losing its distinctive appearance, but it was saddled with a pair of ungainly triangular mufflers – a product of new emissions standards. Curb weight went up by 7 lb, and so did sales of aftermarket exhaust systems.
Ergonomic tweaks consisted of a lower fuel tank so riders could better tuck behind the taller windscreen and a lowered rear subframe with a plusher rear seat. The tailsection included attachment points for securing luggage, and the area under the solo-seat hump offered additional storage.
The revised Busa was faster, handled better, and stopped with more authority, and it offered steering that was more neutral and direct than the formidable ZX-14R. As usual, the Busa impressed with its effortless power output. In Rider’s 2008 comparison test, Bill Stermer quipped: “Being in a dither about whether they make more power is like wondering if Jennifer Lopez would be more attractive if she parted her hair differently.”
Fast Money | Suzuki Hayabusa
Motorcycle sales had been on an unprecedented upward surge during the 2000s. Hayabusas were soaring off showroom floors, and aftermarket support was robust.
The Hayabusa’s fluid curves and shapes not only enhance aerodynamics but also convey a sense of speed.
But then the Great Recession hit, and motorcycle sales dropped by more than half almost overnight. The battles for hyperbike supremacy took a hiatus until 2012 when Kawi unveiled a new ZX-14R, which packed 1,441cc of heat that trumped the Busa on the dyno by 17 hp. But the Suzuki was 11 lb lighter and was able to give its rival a run for the money. I logged a blistering 9.8-second E.T. on the Busa at the dragstrip, just a tenth behind the Kawi.
As recessionary forces continued to depress the moto market, the colorful hyperbike scene faded.
Fast Gen 3 | Suzuki Hayabusa
The Busa’s third generation was introduced in May 2021 and labeled “The Refined Beast.” Billed as a 2022 model, it received a styling update yet was unmistakably a Hayabusa. Suzuki slathered its new hyperbike with the latest technology and priced it at $18,599.
The Hayabusa entered its third generation with the 2022 model.
Never before could you get a Busa with TFT instrumentation, cruise control, a bi-directional quickshifter, or traction control, but those all became standard equipment. Brakes got an upgrade with the addition of Brembo’s vaunted Stylema calipers paired with 320mm discs and cornering ABS. The Busa’s IMU-based electronics package includes six riding modes and adjustable traction control, engine braking, and wheelie control, along with launch control and hill-hold control.
In homage to the original, the new Busa’s instrument panel includes analog gauges that, as in 1999, use stepper motors to ratchet up the needles to their max values when the ignition is switched on. A small TFT display sits in the center.
Analog gauges are augmented by a central TFT panel.
The engine architecture and displacement carried over into Gen 3, but most internal components were lightened, strengthened, or refined for less friction. Cam profiles were revised to reduce valve lift overlap and help achieve Euro 5 emissions standards. A new exhaust system shaved 4.5 lb, bringing the bike’s curb weight to 582 lb.
Suzuki rates the 1,340cc inline-Four at 188 hp, down 6 ponies from previous but with additional low- and midrange power. When we tested the Busa on Jett Tuning’s dyno, it generated a vigorous 173 hp and 106 lb-ft of torque at its rear tire.
Fast 25 | Suzuki Hayabusa
It’s exceedingly rare when a motorcycle model endures for a quarter century, so Suzuki celebrated the milestone with a special 25th Anniversary Edition Hayabusa in 2024. It features a special Glass Blaze Orange / Glass Sparkle Black paint scheme, a 25th-anniversary emblem atop the fuel tank, and anniversary logos etched on each muffler.
The Hayabusa’s third generation debuted in 2021 as “The Refined Beast,” updated with IMU-based electronics, a TFT instrument display, and cruise control.
I had the honor of putting some miles on one and revisiting the majesty of the venerable Busa. As usual, the engine is so omnipotent that it makes the numbers on the speedo seem like they’re in kilometers per hour rather than mph. Traveling at 100 mph is absolutely effortless, so riders need to keep a watchful eye on the speedo or risk running afoul of speed limits. First gear alone will take you to 85 mph.
The 25th Anniversary Edition’s color scheme harkens back to a Gen 2 favorite.
The bike exhibits confident and stable handling, and the stiff chassis responds immediately without any flex. The KYB suspension is well-dialed, and the 31.5-inch seat retains the cushiness of previous Busas, but there’s not much room between the saddle and the high footpegs. The reach for the bars is relatively long, but the fairing offers excellent wind protection for a sportbike. Its 5.3-gallon tank offers a touring-worthy 200 miles of range.
The mufflers are etched with the anniversary logo.
Fast Legacy | Suzuki Hayabusa
The Hayabusa’s 25-year run proves that nothing exceeds like excess. The Busa’s legendary lump of an engine continues to thrill riders today, and it has proven to be almost unkillable – some owners have racked up six-figure mileage on the odometer.
But the Busa is more than just one of the fastest earth-bound missiles ever created. Its bulbous and smooth styling, which previously looked almost cartoonish, has become a staple of sportbike design and continues to impress passersby. While the Hayabusa is overkill for tight twisty roads, its cocktail of speed and style makes for high levels of excitement on wide-open asphalt from coast to coast.
We are wary of using the term “icon” to describe a motorcycle, but the word certainly fits when it comes to Suzuki’s incredible Hayabusa. The king still reigns.
The kanji character on the side fairings is set off with a red graphic.
Off-roading among Joshua trees in the Mojave Desert.
EagleRider, the world’s largest motorcycle rental and tour company, in partnership with Yamaha, announces a new and exclusive 3-Day Mojave Desert Adventure tour this October.
This limited-availability adventure invites riders to “Conquer the Mojave” riding Yamaha Ténéré 700 motorcycles and Yamaha UTVs. Taking place from October 27-29, 2024, this quick escape offers both an unparalleled taste of freedom and group excitement just beyond the neon lights of Las Vegas.
Yamaha Ténéré 700 (Photo by Joseph Agustin)
The Perfect Blend of Thrill and Accessibility
This carefully curated tour is designed to showcase the wild side of Sin City, combining the allure of Las Vegas with the raw beauty of the Nevada desert. It’s ideal for:
Adventurers eager to experience the thrill of multi-day motorcycle and UTV adventures
Riders seeking a quick escape to conquer the Mojave Desert’s rugged terrain
Anyone looking to bond with fellow adventure-seekers in an epic group ride
Enthusiasts wanting to test the limits of Yamaha’s cutting-edge ADV bikes and UTVs
“We’ve crafted this EagleRider Exclusive to deliver an adrenaline-pumping tour experience that reveals the untamed beauty surrounding Las Vegas,” says EagleRider CEO Sebastian Schoepe. “Riders will conquer the Mojave on the latest Yamaha Ténéré 700, experiencing the perfect mix of on-road touring and off-road thrills. On Day 3 they will have the opportunity to cross the desert in state-of-the-art Yamaha UTVs – an unforgettable fun ride checking off the bucket list.”
Tour Highlights:
Riders will cover 450-500 total miles, including approximately 100 miles of exhilarating dirt trails:
Day 1: Venture into the heart of the Mojave, exploring enigmatic sites like Devils Hole and the Area 51 Alien Center before resting at The Ranch Death Valley
Day 2: Push your limits through the otherworldly landscapes of Artists Palette and Dante’s Peak, ending in Pahrump.
Day 3: Cap off your conquest with an adrenaline-fueled UTV tour starting at the historic Pioneer Saloon, possibly followed by visits to the surreal Seven Magic Mountains and the iconic Las Vegas Welcome Sign.
Exclusive Off-Road UTV Experience:
The adventure culminates with an off-road UTV experience that lets riders:
Master the latest Yamaha side-by-side UTVs
Communicate with their team using high-tech helmet systems featuring fresh air supply
Encounter the wildlife of the Mojave Desert up close
Booking Information
Spaces for this wild desert conquest are limited to 15.
Cost: $1,676 plus taxes per person for 1 Yamaha Ténéré 700 rental and 1 hotel room for 2 nights.
Tour Map
Can’t join our exclusive Yamaha tour? No problem!
EagleRider provides year-round off-road side-by-side UTV experiences, allowing adventure seekers to explore the stunning Mojave Desert on their own schedule. Ideal for those who can’t join the 3-day tour or don’t hold a motorcycle license, these UTV rides offer a thrilling way to discover the desert’s rugged beauty. Visit this UTV Tour booking link to learn more.
For more information please reach out to the EagleRider Press Team:
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