A newbie from Noale arrives, and steals everybody’s thunder.
By Bill Heald

It seemed at first glance like any other stylish, Italian urban-sports motorcycle. True, the headlight and front mini-fairing did give it an aspect almost as sinister as H. R. Giger’s alien,but I had no reason to think this would be anything other than just another fine release from Aprilia. This means I expected a typical representative of the brand: a sweet-handling, refined, and well-behaved bike that would do everything it’s designed to do flawlessly. I believed all of this right up to the point where I climbed aboard and hefted the tall machine off its side stand. Then, I punched the starter button and everything changed. My God, what hath Aprilia wrought? Has a Balrog from Middle-earth crawled out of the high, shapely tailpipes mounted under the seat and used this auditory earthquake to preview the fire and violence to follow?

Such was my reaction to the Dorsoduro 1200’s delicious exhaust note, and it was a mere appetizer for the fun I was about to have with this incredibly ripped engine. I’ve ridden many V-twins from America, Italy, Austria, and elsewhere, and none have ever delivered the booming, baritone blast this bike does. According to Aprilia’s spec sheet, it produces “only” 130 horsepower and 85 foot-pounds of torque, but somebody forgot to tell the motorcycle. Even with the threemode engine mapping (adjustable on the fly, by the way) set on Touring, there is a boatload of brawn available from the basement to redline with no flat spots to speak of. Thanks to the perfect primary balance of the 90-degree cylinder configuration, vibration is never punishing, and what’s there lets you share in the thundering throb of those big pistons.

The upright, dual-sport riding position (and lofty ride height) aids maneuverability in tight quarters, whether you’re negotiating around an errant taxi or avoiding a felled tree on the road courtesy of an atmospheric blowhard called Irene. A compliant, easily adjustable suspension handles potholes and bumpy, high-speed corners with equal grace, and the hybrid frame design is both strong and light. Top it off with some of the finest in Brembo brakes, and you have a balanced package that can deal with almost anything the road can throw at you.

And then there’s that amazing V-twin. I mentioned the Touring mode is my setting of choice, but there’s also a Rain mode that helps you maintain traction in the wet, and a Sport mode. I found this last selection to be overkill, especially since the Dorsoduro had more than enough thrust in the more docile Touring setting. Sport mode will only help deplete your fuel too quickly, for feeding this beast’s puny 3.96-gallon tank is like handing a Bud in a shot glass to a thirsty lumberjack. I vote for a larger tank, for nothing must stop that exquisitely deep, rumbly motor music from frightening children and small animals every time you twist the throttle.

You could certainly argue that all Harleys are special, because despite competition from some of the best manufacturers in the world, there’s still no motorcycle that has the look, sound, and feel of what the faithful call the genuine article. But if you want something truly unique that’s still 100 percent a product of the company’s factories, you need to look at Harley’s Custom Vehicle Operations (CVOs). These low-production, in-house custom machines are furnished with Harley’s latest, greatest performance, appearance, and tour-oriented accessories. Here are our two favorites from the quartet of 2012 CVOs.

CVO Softail Convertible
You might think all motorcycles are “convertibles” since they go topless all the time. But in the two-wheeled world, “convertible” means a bike you can reconfigure for either touring or cruising in mere minutes. The Softail Convertible is as at home trolling down your own personal mean streets as it is loaded down for a trip to the opposite coast. The CVO Edition boasts Harley’s huge Screamin’ Eagle Twin Cam 110B granite powdercoated engine, which possesses 105 foot-pounds of ground-pounding torque, and is bolted solidly in the frame yet internally counterbalanced for smoothness. Cruise control is standard, as is a big windshield and lockable leather saddlebags that (like the passenger pillion) are easily removed when you don’t need them. Standard Garmin 660 Navigation module, ABS brakes, and a boatload of chrome accessories tastefully applied by CVO specialists are supplemented by a choice of three stunning paint schemes (even hotter than Harley’s usual excellent finishes).

CVO Ultra Classic Electra Glide
Perhaps you’re not into the more minimalist aspects of Harley’s glorious V-twin architecture, and prefer your first-class iron to be armed with all the trimmings. The Ultra Classic Electra Glide is the company’s flagship two-wheeled long-haul traveler, and when given the CVO treatment it’s even more than the sum of its small warehouse full of well polished parts. The Screamin’ Eagle Twin Cam 110 is rubber-mounted into the frame, but not counterbalanced like the Softail’s mill, so it feels like a more traditional Harley tour bike (lots of V-twin character, but still smooth enough for long, punishment-free days on the road). In addition to the full-fairing, sumptuous seating, and a roomy, well-finished Tour-Pak trunk and saddlebags, there are BOOM! Audio High Performance components, including 40 watts per channel front and rear speakers to go with the Harman/Kardon Advanced sound system. Naturally, the seats are heated, and a power-locking system secures the luggage and ignition with the push of a key fob. But as great as this premium kit is (and I’ve barely scratched the surface on all the features of this bike), nothing can prepare you for the superb attention to every last detail that makes a Custom Vehicle Operation Harley such a rare, glorious ride. Production numbers are small, so get one before they’re gone.

Buell may have closed its doors in Milwaukee, but a new American sport bike is revving up to take on the world.
By Bill Heald

EVEN MORE SO THAN CARS,
street motorcycles tend to have a national identity that’s visible from far away. These days most major makes build bikes that could be mistaken for other popular machines, but for decades the Italians were best-known for superb-handling sport bikes; the Germans for stout, long-haul touring mounts; the British for stylish, street-worthy bikes with a touch of sporting character; and the Japanese for bulletproof, affordable all-rounders. Here in the States, the signature machine has been the long, low V-twin cruiser, and with the exception of Harley-Davidson’s now defunct Buell division, there hasn’t been a serious American presence in the sport-bike genre.

Motus is planning to change that situation in a big way. The Birmingham, Alabama, company is building its own sport-touring motorcycle, which is dedicated to the concept of what a real-world sport bike should be. This is not just a stylish mount that will get your blood pumping when you twist the throttle; its design philosophy is to satisfy the needs of the true sport riding enthusiast by delivering as much comfort and practicality as performance. This idea and the company around it were spawned in an environment that all serious mile-munching riders can appreciate: a post-ride discussion about what the ideal motorcycle would look like. What literally started with a list of objectives scribbled on the back of a napkin in 2007 (including pleas for a bike with better performance, more comfort, longer range, better wind protection, lighter weight, and a sensible seat height) has become an obsession for Motus President Lee Conn and Vice President and Design Director Brian Case. “We didn’t set out to make a sport tourer initially,” explains Conn. “It wasn’t until after the dust settled from brainstorming about our ultimate dream bike that we realized the concept had all the ingredients of what is generally known as a sport tourer.”

The result is the Motus MST, a motorcycle that was created from the ground up to address all the design concerns while incorporating the company’s passion for riding in an all-new American machine. The name Motus comes from a Latin term meaning “movement of the mind and soul,” and naturally to move both together (at a good clip on a curvy back road, with luggage and your favorite passenger), you need a 1,645-cc, 160-horsepower 90-degree V-4, with direct fuel injection. A sixspeed transmission, lightweight trellis frame, fully adjustable suspension, and a generous fuel capacity all point to an extremely well-thought out machine, and as of this writing, prototypes are out all over the United States undergoing exten sive road testing. Production is scheduled to start in late 2011, and once a network is established through existing motorcycle dealerships, these carefully chosen outlets will start selling the MST as a 2012 model.

This is not just a whole new kind of American motorcycle, as welcome as that would be. The Motus may just be the dream machine many of us have been waiting for.

HARLEY-DAVIDSON BLACKLINE
Earlier this year, Harley invited us to Don Hill’s club in Manhattan’s stylish Soho district for the unveiling of the latest addition to their Dark Custom movement. It turns out the long, low cruiser in question is a very important bike for Harley, because the FXS Blackline blends the minimalist design roots that the Dark Custom design ethos is all about with contemporary technology to create the perfect twenty-first-century hog. “The prettiest motorcycles in the world,” commented the Motor Company’s senior vice president and chief styling officer Willie G. Davidson, “are racing motorcycles, in my eye, because they’re just wheels and an engine. This is a less-is-more motorcycle, and I think it’s the perfect time for it, as we’re getting simple in these really crazy times.” After riding one in Daytona, it was clear Davidson wasn’t just selling us on a concept. There’s nothing on this bike but the basics, or so you think when you walk around and admire its elegant, classy simplicity. But this Softail is armed with Harley’s Twin Cam 96B V-twin, which is not only wonderfully muscular (especially when you crack open the throttle at low revs), but counterbalanced in such a way that you get the feel of a Big Twin without excessive vibrations. A feet-forward riding position makes Harley’s Blackline the perfect laid-back city ride, yet it works well on the highway, too, and the big motor’s relaxed cadence makes all-day cruising a breeze. Further modern technology you might not expect includes optional ABS brakes and a digital trip display (located in the simple speedometer on the handlebars), with multiple modes you can cycle through, thanks to a switch near the left grip. The combination of old and new is very impressive on this bike, and will no doubt appeal to a broad variety of riders.

TRIUMPH TIGER 800
They used to be called dual sports, meaning they could handle most on- and off-road riding chores with a high degree of competence, whether you’re into tooling down some obscure logging road in the bush or navigating your way to work in a crowded urban environment. Now we have adventure bikes, which are basically the same thing tweaked for longer trips, more accessories, and, ultimately, adventure. How do you build such a motorcycle? If you’re Triumph, you start with a stout, smooth 799-cc inline triple and build a chassis around it that’s tough enough for unpaved roads, yet has terrific street manners (and is a blast to flick around in congested Daytona traffic). Our Tiger 800 was accessorized with Triumph’s tank and tail packs that take seconds to put on and remove, and easily hold your rain gear (a good thing when you get caught in a thunderstorm riding back from dinner). The riding position is upright and comfortable for all-day exploring, and unlike dual-sport motorcycles of the past, this bike doesn’t have a seat height so lofty that it’ll give you a nosebleed (in the pursuit of ground clearance when you’re in the bush). Instead, there’s plenty of clearance to help keep you and the bike off rocks and other obstacles, yet a lower saddle height than most bikes in this genre makes straddling the bike at stoplights easier. That said, you can raise the seat about one inch if you desire to view the landscape from a higher perch (or have a long inseam and want more legroom). Overall, the feeling is more like you’re sitting in the bike than on top of it, like other adventure rides, and there’s never a feeling of top-heaviness, even when you’ve got it cranked over in turns. A generous number of accessories can tailor your Tiger to whatever type of riding you want to do (and how far you want to go). And with a base price just under $10K, Triumph serves notice that you don’t have to score a pile of grant money to start your own expedition.

HONDA CBR 250R
If there’s a sleeper among this notable group of new rides, it is the least expensive, least intimidating, and least polished machine here. This motorcycle has “entry level” written all over it, for it has a small, user friendly 249-cc single in the engine room and a wispy 357-pound curb weight. Experienced riders would see such specifications and want to just skip to the next bike, but that would be a big mistake. This is a jewel of a machine, and while it’s not going to rip your arms out of your sockets when you open up the throttle, it has attributes that both beginning and experienced riders can appreciate. These include a brilliant chassis, crisp throttle response, and impressive attention to detail (which includes some styling cues from others in the CBR family, as well as the new VFR 1200). The modest size of the engine means the single piston is turning around 7,000 rpms at 65 mph, yet vibration isn’t a problem, thanks to a counterbalancing shaft and engine tuning that helps smooth out power delivery. The six-speed transmission uses available power to the fullest, and helps the bike deliver insanely good fuel economy. As light as this CBR is (Kawasaki’s Vaquero, right, weighs more than twice as much), it’s stable at highway speeds and feels quite substantial even in windy situations. The icing on the cake is the handling, though, for not only is this baby CBR nimble in traffic, it can be thrown into corners at silly speeds without bothering with braking. The combination of lightweight, sporty riding position and stable steering geometry keeps you comfortable and in control even at extreme lean angles. A blast down a twisty back road will drive home what Honda has accomplished here, and when you do need to use the brakes, you’ll find that they’re excellent (and ABS is available).

KAWASAKI VULCAN VAQUERO
The name Vulcan is normally associated with the epic Star Trek sci-fi franchise, and refers to the stoic, pointy-eared citizens of the planet Vulcan, who mate only every seven years or so. Bummer. But in motorcycle circles, Vulcan refers to Kawasaki’s big cruisers, and the Vaquero is a tightly integrated cruising tourer designed to take the laid-back long-haul experience to a whole new level. It starts with a veritable locomotive of an engine, which delivers great acceleration across the board, especially in the 50 to 70 mph range (perfect for passing slower traffic). A riding position more upright than most cruisers spares your back on long journeys, much as the standard cruise control spares your right wrist from fatigue. This big motorcycle handles its weight well, and is surprisingly nimble at low speeds while rock-stable when you crank it up on the open road. The elegantly sculpted rear saddlebags provide a substantial amount of luggage capacity, so your partner can bring her favorite nightwear, and the rear shocks are air-adjustable in case she packs her martial-arts gear as well. In the event you find yourself on a boring stretch of highway, the dual-speaker audio system includes AM/FM/weather band and XM satellite capabilities, and there’s even a handy foam-lined pocket in the left fairing so you can plug in your iPod or other electronic device for accessing your personal road music.

It may seem hard to believe, given the success Ducati has had at almost every track in the world, but the Italian marque has never before made it to the top of the podium in the Daytona 200. It’s been close, yet something (some have thought witchcraft) has always prevented the company from winning at the famous Florida venue. But rider Jason DiSalvo and his Latus Motors Ducati 848EVO finally managed to do the deed on the high banks, on a track that was resurfaced for the first time in decades last fall and therefore generated some seriously quick lap times. Unlike the past couple of years, the big race was moved from under the lights on Friday night to a Saturday afternoon that turned out to be a picture perfect day for racing. This historic win was not without drama, though, as a problem with front tires after a little more than 20 laps caused AMA officials to red-flag the race to force the entire field to change to a different compound tire. This was done in the interest of safety, as a couple of riders had gone down due to suspect fronts that were wearing prematurely. DiSalvo’s Ducati was having engine problems, so his crew took a big gamble and frantically grabbed the engine from his backup bike and installed it in his chassis just in time to make the restart (perfectly legal, as long as the original frame that started the race is used). The rest of the contest was shortened to a 15-lap sprint to the finish, and a dramatic fight at the front eventually resulted in a perfect last-lap drafting pass by DiSalvo to snag the win, with Cory West on his Suzuki GSX-R 600 trailing by a scant .029 seconds, and the Yamaha YZF-R6 of Jake Zemke in third place. It was a very unusual Daytona 200, but in the end it delivered a long-overdue victory that brought joy to the Ducati faithful around the world.

This muscular, advanced V-twin stands out in a sea of inline fours.
By Bill Heald

When it comes to a great all-around sport bike, it’s hard to beat the middleweight class. Years ago you really needed at least 1,000 ccs of displacement to deliver serious muscle to the pavement, but enormous strides in technology mean engines of much smaller size (and lighter weight) are now delivering the horsepower that used to be found only with the big boys. This class of lithe, dynamic motor cycles has been dominated for years by 600-cc inline fours, which are incredibly intoxicating but have a very similar feel to one another and can be on the buzzy side at higher speeds.

Enter the Aprilia 750 Shiver. This beautiful naked sport bike is not only loaded with as much (or more) high tech engineering as the competition, at its heart it has a different type of engine that gives it a unique personality that separates it from the pack. Instead of a high-spinning quartet of pistons, the Shiver has a 90-degree V-twin that delivers the acceleration and torque you need to haul ass down your favorite canyon blacktop, yet has a more relaxed cadence and a wonderfully charismatic exhaust note. Instead of shrieking like a banshee at full song like the fours, this mill has a deeper, more thunderous presence that gets under your skin in the best possible way. This particular V-twin is as contemporary as a motorcycle engine gets, with liquid cooling, four valve heads, and a feature that is truly cutting-edge: multi-map integral Ride by Wire technology (engineered via the experience gleaned through the development of Aprilia’s worldchampion RSV4 superbike).

By multi-map, we’re talking about three rider-selected performance settings: Sport, Touring, and Rain. Touring is pretty much an ideal mode for all-around riding, whereas Sport gives you more abrupt power delivery, and Rain flattens out the power curve to help prevent excessive wheel spin on wet pavement. Regardless of setting, the Shiver has abundant low-end grunt and is one of those rare bikes that is satisfying for experienced riders, yet user-friendly for novices. The vibration is low in frequency and never a bother around town, but the engine does make its presence felt in the bars and pegs at speeds of 70 miles per hour and above.

The chassis of the Shiver starts with a meticulously engineered hybrid frame, using both tube-trellis and stamped-aluminum-plate elements to fortify rigidity yet keep weight to a minimum. This—in combination with a tight wheelbase and taut suspension —delivers really quick steering (ideal in urban environments), yet highspeed stability is exemplary over fast, bump-strewn curves.

Finally, the feature that truly brings everything together is the Aprilia’s brilliant ergonomics. The pegs are high enough for a sporting crouch, but the bars are close enough to keep the weight off your wrists and the saddle is unusually accommodating. The soulful V-twin is enough to make the Shiver impressive, but it’s the whole package that makes it shine in an already stellar class.

Will wonders never cease? Probably not, though you may have thought you’d seen it all. Case in point: Even though you believed hell had frozen over when a pragmatic, technologically focused motorcycle company like BMW decided to build a style-oriented cruiser a few years ago, hell has clearly thawed out enough to freeze over again. Ducati is famous for creating some of the most successful sport bikes in the world, with a legacy of road-racing world championships to show for its efforts. And while the company has always infused its hardware with plenty of Italian style, its primary concern has been performance. Indeed, when Ducati intro duced its Monster series of bikes, it created a genre with “naked” styling and street-friendly ergonomics, but these were and are solid sport bikes underneath. The idea of Ducati building a style-focused heavy-metal cruiser was ridiculous, though that group is the biggest seller in the U.S.A.

But here’s the thing: Over the past few years we’ve seen a new animal emerge, the “performance cruiser,” with a healthy dose of horse power (and characterized by bikes like Harley-Davidson’s V-Rod and Star Motorcycle’s VMAX). Ducati apparently saw this as a way to enter the market by placing a special version of its powerful Testastretta V-twin Superbike engine in a long, low chassis with an absolutely huge 240-series rear tire, even if, as Ducati explains it, “the image would send a seismic shock through the industry.” They also de cided that this bike had to handle and perform like a big sport bike, and thus easily dispatch any of the competition on a challenging stretch of pavement.

The result is the Diavel, a 162-horsepower rolling nemesis of a motorcycle that will cut a wide swath through the big boys in this category, especially since it sets performance standards the others can’t touch. According to Ducati, the name arose when “one person looking from the rear of the bike saw its silhouette and exclaimed in Bolognese dia lect, ‘Ignurànt comm’ al diavel!’” Translation: “Evil, just like the devil!”

The big, fat cruiser styling might indeed freak out the Ducati faithful, but the closer you look, the slicker this pitchfork-packin’ ride becomes. Side-mounted radiators and Ducati’s signature single-sided rear swingarm reveal some of the latest tech, along with multimode engine tuning, trac tion control, and ABS brakes. Amazingly, as massive as the bike looks, it’s considerably lighter than most cruisers (the Carbon version even more so, thanks to carbonfiber bodywork), and even with the low profile there’s more than ample cornering clear ance. Most interesting of all, the Diavel’s riding position is more up right than the genre typically dictates, allowing for easier body movement when riding in a devilish manner on wickedly twisty tarmac. With performance like this, Ducati’s Prince of Darkness may please its master, but it’s likely to scare the hell out of the competition.

When you’re in a hurry to change your surroundings, nothing lets you exploit the freedom of the open road like a motorcycle. Had a big fight with your significant other? One surefire remedy is to put the problem in your bike’s mirrors and make it as small as possible. But don’t think using one of the most compact conveyances on the road means your great escape needs to be a crude, minimalist experience. In fact, with BMW’s rather extraordinary K 1600 GTL, you can have all the comforts of the finest sports sedan, while still enjoying the physical interaction with the traveling experience that only a motorcycle can provide.

How is this possible, you ask? Simple. BMW has been diligent at making its motorcycles excellent long-haul companions since the company’s inception, and it builds models for long-distance escapes whether the roads are paved or utter crap. When the K 1200 LT was introduced in 1999, it marked BMW’s entrance into the überluxury-mega-touring class that had been dominated for ages by the Honda Gold Wing. The Beemer offered the same kind of amenities as the Honda but was a sportier mount, and great fun to hustle down twisty back roads, despite its considerable size. Having spent a fair amount of time in the saddle of this motorcycle on long trips, it was hard for me to fathom what improvements the bike really needed.

But I’m not BMW. Its new flagship is a clean-sheet creation; a motorcycle with the same number of wheels as the old LT but re-created in every other aspect. Where once an inline four lay flat in the engine room, now we have an inline six that is upright and mounted transversely, where it pumps out 160 horsepower. Even at 1,600 ccs, this is a surprisingly compact mill, and tuning can be altered at the push of a button (with Rain, Road, and Dynamic modes). Also adjustable via a switch on the handlebar is the suspension setting, when the Electronic Suspension Adjustment (called ESA II) system is selected as a factory option. This is a brilliant solution to fine-tuning the ride dynamics to the road conditions, while also addressing the widely varying loads that big tour bikes face (especially if you suddenly decide to bring a companion with you).

Speaking of bringing things with you, a wealth of luggage space is available, thanks to two big pannier cases, plus a capacious topcase. You can get a model without the topcase (the K 1600 GT), but trust me, it’s the most versatile cargo container on any tour bike. ABS brakes, heated grips and seat, adjustable windscreen, cruise control, an onboard computer, and Bluetooth-integrated sound system are all standard, and additional options include an adaptive headlight that compensates for the bike leaning in turns, a navigation system, and Dynamic Traction Control. Power, handling, capacity, and luxury are all blended together like in no other big bike out there, making this stellar BMW the ultimate getaway ride.

Many in the motorcycle community have long suffered from an image problem. The conundrum is this: A lot of riders want to send a message that they are rebellious, unique, and true lone wolves. To achieve this, they end up buying a motorcycle that is pretty much exactly like every rebellious, unique, and true-lone-wolf motorcycle out there. It can be tough to be a nonconformist when you wear the same nonconformist threads and ride the same nonconformist motorcycle as everybody else on the run to Daytona. What’s a frustrated rebel to do?

The solution is to never underestimate the power of creative/rebellious thinking. Confederate Motor Company (founded in 1991 in Louisiana) has a real he-man credo in its mission statement: “The core of our passion is rugged individualism.” Indeed. It continues, “Our foundational mantra is therefore a triumph of the principles of individualism. Romantic zeal through self expression is sought. Matters which concern short-term financial gain are not prioritized because this goal is driven by collective expression which is organically mediocre. American rebellion is adopted as fundamental to the pursuit of personal empowerment. We remain forever determined to challenge the establishmentarian view of what honest ‘new world’ American industrial and mechanical design can be.”

How does all this lofty dialogue get expressed in a motorcycle? Behold the Confederate P120 Fighter Combat, which comes in both Natural (silver) and Black Flag (black). As is the case with most custom motorcycles, the engine is the center of the universe and the builders made sure that (a) there’s an amazing V-twin mill to display as its heart, and (b) the chassis is as minimal as possible.

The Fighter, a genuine handmade hoss, is striking in execution, with a Monocoque-style backbone composed of the finest in aviation-grade aluminum. This muscular, artistic structure links everything together, but never steals the show from an engine that lays down a claimed 160 horsepower at the rear wheel.

What’s integral to the bike’s singular persona is an approach that says what isn’t there is as critical as what’s visible, for this is a creation in which anything that wouldn’t fit into a purist designer’s doctrine has been minimized.

That said, one exception to the less-is-more philosophy is a very stylish (and unusual) double A-arm front suspension that takes the place of conventional forks. Otherwise, such things as the seat, mirrors, instrument cluster, headlights—pretty much anything that isn’t directly linked to getting you down the road quickly—has been reduced so it almost disappears.

What else will disappear completely is the rest of the machine, and not just when the light turns green. Confederate is keeping production numbers very low to ensure exclusivity (you really will be unique among your peers). With only 50 total Fighters being built (13 of which are the Black Flag version), this is a seriously rare, wonderfully rebellious, and highly collectible motorcycle.