#2016

For 2016, the ground-up new Triumph Bonneville comes in two visually disparate color options: the T120 and T120 Black.  There are no performance differences between the two unless you consider back-in-black badassness to be a performance advantage. Both models begin with a base model price of $11,500, rising in $250 increments according to paint options.

To the surprise of no one, Jorge Lorenzo set the fast time in the first outing of the 2016 MotoGP season at Losail. Rossi was right behind with Iannone rounding out the top three. Maverick Viñales continues to show impressive speed in fifth, while the two factory Repsol Honda riders only managed 7th and 8th for Pedrosa and Marquez, respectively.

Anticipation is mounting for another spectacular confrontation at the opening round of the 2016 MotoGP season in Qatar. Last year, Valentino Rossi won under the floodlights. Marc Marquez crossed the finish line first in 2014 while Jorge Lorenzo won back-to-back openers in 2013 and 2012. So, the top three riders can all claim recent victories at Losail. In preseason testing, the Ducatis of Iannone and Dovizioso have been fast, while Maverick Viñales, on the GSX-RR, has been topping time sheets. Who do think will be victorious in Qatar when the checkered flag drops in 2016?

Having low expectations exceeded is always preferable to high expectations not being met. With all the hype surrounding Triumph’s Bonneville Thruxton reboot, I attended the press launch under the premise of the Thruxton being a stylized Bonneville racer lacking the performance for which it’s namesake implies. How surprised was I to discover that a traction-control system was the only thing keeping the fuel tank from smacking me in the chest when grabbing a fistful of throttle for the first time.

Although the fat lady hasn’t yet sung – she’ll take the stage Saturday at 1:00 pm in the form of the Daytona 200 – the 75th Daytona Bike Week has begun to wind down. When you actually sit back to think about it, the event is really quite something. If you attend it, you know that Bike Week is something else – in the best sense of the phrase.

Join defending World Superbike champion, Jonathan Rea and 2013 WSBK champ, Tom Sykes as they unveil the all-new WorldSBK-spec Ninja ZX-10R. The ZX-10R is a whole new model for 2016, and the anticipation of seeing its technical specification and new livery couldn’t be greater. The Barcelona presentation is closed to the public, so consider this a personal invite to an exclusive event.

The 16th Annual V-Twin Expo commenced on an uncommonly sunny February day at the Duke Energy Convention Center in the heart of downtown Cincinnati. Around 180 different exhibitors from Japan to Florence, Kentucky were doing business in the hustle and bustle of trade-show booths, demonstrations, and seminars. The future of the V-Twin motorcycle industry was being laid out and displayed in the 200,000 square feet of floor space and several annexed conference rooms.

An informal little get together last night at Roland Sands Design in Los Alamitos, California, is where the 2016 Spring collection of Roland Sands apparel was on display. Among the custom two-wheel fabrications and a taco stand hung the full-line variety of stylish biker wear. Punctuating the new offerings is an uptick in technical functionality, as well as an expanding variety of products.

Just two years into its new lease on life under the wing of KTM, Husqvarna has come a long way in a short time, shattering the brand’s global sales volume record two years in a row. Husky bid ‘Hej då’ to the record set during its Swedish heyday, with 16,000 units sold globally in 2014. That figure jumped another 20% in 2015, with 20,500 units sold; the U.S. market garnered 27% of those sales.

In a year that sees Harley-Davidson list a total of 38 motorcycle models, the Motor Company has decided to add two more muscular choices to the list. The 2016 Low Rider S enters the fray as the the most powerful non-CVO Dyna cruiser ever offered by Harley-Davidson. Similarly, the exclusive CVO line gets a new stylishly aggressive (or is that aggressively stylish) member in the form of the 2016 CVO Pro Street Breakout, delivering drag-bike performance to discriminating Harley customers.

MotoGP’s season finale at Valencia was a better nail-biting cliffhanger than Game of Thrones, albeit not quite as erotic. The he-said-he-said soap opera of 2015 ended when the season-long heroics from the sport’s golden boy (pictured above) came to no avail when the come-from-behind win failed to materialize. The 2015 championship is now in the record books, but the underlying drama of accusations, mistrust and treachery continue percolating below the surface, waiting to rear in 2016 given the opportunity.

Each year around this time the MO staff gathers to contemplate the new breed of tasty two-wheelers coming our way. This is also when each editor begins positioning himself for a particular press launch. Last year, Preemptive Editor, Troy Siahaan made it abundantly clear that only an act of God would keep him from the R1 launch. This year he’s communicated the same thing about the new Suzuki SV650, a bike that, democratically, didn’t even make this list (Ouch. -TS).

In the wake of autumn’s big motorcycle shows, we’ve got a clearer insight into what lies ahead in the moto world going into 2016. Using this year’s show season as the measuring stick, we think it’s safe to say that excitement has returned full-force to the motorcycle industry.

Like the NC750S, the Integra scooter is another Euro-only model from Honda not coming stateside for 2016. Displacing 745cc from its liquid-cooled DOHC parallel-Twin, the Integra is the largest displacement scooter in Honda’s line-up. Comparatively, the Silver Wing, last imported to the U.S. in 2013 was a 582cc Twin. If it were our choice, however, we’d preferably see Honda’s City Adventure concept scooter be imported here, as it looks to be a pretty badass scoot.

That’s all well and good, if only this model was coming stateside. U.S. consumers will have to make do with NC700X whose 2016 upgrades were announced in a press release last month.