#2016

Carrying the banner of the Bonneville’s racing heritage, Triumph looked to the Thruxton, appropriately taken from the 500-mile racing series that first helped garner the Bonnie’s racing cred. While, as with all the new Bonnevilles, the authentic appearance is important, the primary emphasis with the 2016 Triumph Thruxton and the R was on power and handling.

UPDATE: Triumph has announced U.S. pricing for its 2016 Bonneville lineup. The Bonneville T120 and T120 Black are available in Jet Black for $11,500. The Cinder Red Bonneville T120 is priced at $11,750 while the two-tone Cranberry Red/Aluminum Silver and Jet Black/Pure White options will be sold for $12,000. The Bonneville T120 Black will also be available in matte Graphite for $11,750.

UPDATE: Triumph has announced U.S. pricing for its 2016 Bonneville lineup. The Street Twin will be available in Jet Black for $8,700 while the Aluminum Silver, Cranberry Red, Matt Black and Phantom Black paint options are priced at $8,950.

Suppose you ran a motorcycle manufacturer lucky enough to have produced one of the most iconic motorcycle lines of an era. For the past 15 years your factories had assembled a popular family of motorcycles based on that previous generation to steady increase in sales, ultimately totaling 20% of the company’s international purchases. Still, progress marches onward, global emissions laws change, and the time is ripe for refreshing and broadening the model line. Having stewardship over an icon carries a special weight, making any revision fraught with risk. However, where there is risk, often there is great opportunity nearby. Triumph Motorcycles found itself in just that position with the Bonneville and set about the task of updating and broadening the family to meet today’s motorcycling while remaining true to its heritage.

Already popular in Europe, the Honda VFR1200X receives important updates for 2016 and will now be available to American customers, joining the previously announced 2016 CRF1000L Africa Twin. Honda also announced that the NC700X and CB500X receive aggressive new styling for 2016, and that the U.S. debut for all four 2016 Honda adventure models will be at the November 20–22 International Motorcycle Shows stop in Long Beach, California.

Do you get the feeling that the financial crisis and its aftermath signaled nap time for  the supersport division of Honda’s CBR engineering department? Since the last two major revamps – 2008 for the 1000RR, and 2009 for the 600RR – things have been pretty quiet other than mild massaging to the existing CBR supersport models (there was the SP model, but…). On the other hand, maybe it was the redirection of Honda brass to broaden the CBR spectrum by introducing the less performance but more affordable CBR300R, CBR500R and CBR650F.

Sportsters have always been the rawest, most bare-knuckled of Harley-Davidson’s motorcycle models, delivering an ultra-minimalist rendition of the famous marque. Every one, save the 1200 Custom with its dual saddle and the Superlow 1200T (dual saddle, saddlebags, and windshield), are essentially an Evolution engine, a basic, often abbreviated chassis, and a solo saddle. Call it back-to-basics motorcycling that’s been a force for pulling both newbies and experienced riders into the H-D fold.

If you’re lucky, you’ve got at least one friend like this guy. You know, the one who’s always the ring leader, the one with the mad glint in his eye, always the center of attention, talking a little bit louder – OK, a lot louder – than everyone else, but unlike some people who behave the same way and seem obnoxious, this guy pulls it off. It’s the gravitational pull of his personality. Everybody gets along with him and goes along with him and, every so often, gets in trouble with him (though not as frequently as they did 10 years ago). Still, when it’s all over but for the storytelling, he wraps the narrative around all the participants, making the tale – and by extension, everyone involved – larger than life.

Suzuki brought the tribe together this morning in the spacious Joint performance space in the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel to unveil the 2015 Suzuki models. The biggest news is the introduction of the new 2015 GSX-S750 and the 2016 GSX-S1000 (yes, 2016) models we covered in separate articles, but that doesn’t mean the Suzuki news is over. With approximately 300 dealers in attendance, Suzuki Motor of America reps stepped on the stage to give a pep talk about where the company stands 549 days after its restructuring and to wow the crowd by taking the wraps off the 2015 model line.