ZXMoto’s 500RR just cleared EU Whole Vehicle Type Approval, opening the door for legal sale of the 470cc inline-four sportbike across European Union markets.
The Chinese manufacturer launched the bike in China last year and says it has already delivered the first 100 units to customers. Now Europe gets a turn, while American riders are left waiting.
Continue reading “What ZXMoto’s 500RR Means for Small Sportbikes”Gear doesn’t come with an expiration date stamped on the side. That’s part of the problem. Most riders have no idea when their stuff stopped actually protecting them. It still looks fine, so it must still work. That’s not always how it goes.
Here’s a category-by-category breakdown of what to look for.
Continue reading “How to Tell When Motorcycle Gear Needs to Be Replaced”Stark Future announced it will send its factory World Supercross team to contest the full 2026 Boost Mobile AUSX Supercross Championship in Australia starting in October.
The Barcelona-based electric manufacturer becomes the first all-electric brand to take the start gate in the series, racing its VARG machines in both SX1 and SX2 classes across all five rounds.
Continue reading “Stark Future’s Electric VARG Bikes Enter Australian Supercross”For 2027, KTM is doing something unusual with its 450 SMR competition supermoto bike. The company is backing it with a four-year manufacturer warranty.
The engine and chassis carry over from last year. But the warranty move tells a bigger story about KTM trying to repair buyer confidence after a difficult stretch.
Continue reading “Why KTM’s 450 SMR Warranty Matters Beyond Supermoto”Starting September 8, Canadian riders shopping for a new Harley-Davidson or Indian will face a completely different price landscape. Canada’s government has announced a 50 percent tariff on U.S.-origin motorcycles with internal combustion engines larger than 800cc.
The tariff is part of a broader $27.6 billion package of countermeasures ranging from 15 to 50 percent on American imports. It comes after trade negotiations between the two countries fell apart, with Ottawa saying it deliberately targeted products tied to specific U.S. states ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Continue reading “What Canada’s 50% Tariff Means for Harley and Indian”Yamaha picked India for the global debut of its all-new YZF-R2, and the spec sheet hides a few surprises that go well beyond displacement.
The 204cc single-cylinder DOHC engine uses a finger-follower valvetrain with Diamond-Like Carbon coating, the same friction-reducing technology borrowed from Yamaha’s flagship R1.
Continue reading “Yamaha’s YZF-R2 Brings R1 Valve Tech to the 200cc Class”Ducati introduced the Hypermotard 1100 in 2007 as a supermoto-style machine with a 1078cc air-cooled Desmo V-twin. Pierre Terblanche designed it to combine supermoto agility with a heavier, torquey V-twin character.
The 1100S was the up-spec version with improved suspension, brakes, and forged Marchesini wheels. MCN described the original as having a “pathological penchant for wheelies.”
Marc Wilmington, a UK builder who has owned more than 30 motorcycles since a teenage Suzuki TS50X, chose a 2009 Hypermotard 1100S for his first full custom build. He wanted something that looked like a manufacturer concept before the boardroom watered it down.
Zero Motorcycles has confirmed that Level 3 DC fast charging is coming to its Street and Dual Sport lineup in late 2027. The bigger news is that the CCS port and charging module will also be retrofittable on models dating back to 2022.
That means thousands of existing Zero owners could upgrade their bikes rather than buying new ones to get faster charging. The system targets a 20 to 80 percent charge in under 30 minutes, a meaningful jump from the current Rapid Charge System’s 45-minute window.
Continue reading “Zero Motorcycles Adds DC Fast Charging to Bikes Back to 2022”Royal Enfield is bringing back a simpler kind of adventure bike. The Himalayan 440 launches in India on September 4, 2026, filling the gap left when the original 411 went out of production in 2023.
It uses the same 443cc air- and oil-cooled single-cylinder engine from the Scram 440. Output is 25.4 horsepower at 6,250 rpm and 34 Nm of torque at 4,000 rpm.
Continue reading “Could Royal Enfield’s Himalayan 440 Fill the 411’s Shoes?”Saddlebags are not very big. That constraint, which seems like a problem at first, turns out to be one of the more useful things motorcycle travel hands you.
The first time most people pack for a motorcycle trip, they overpack. They bring everything they’d bring for a car trip and then discover that none of it fits. The second time, they start editing. By the third trip, they’ve usually figured out most of what felt essential the first time wasn’t.
Saddlebags are not very big. That constraint, which seems like a problem at first, turns out to be one of the more useful things motorcycle travel hands you.
Continue reading “What Motorcycle Travel Teaches You About Packing Light”
