Travel Motorcycle reviews

Suzuki unveiled its new V-Strom 1050 line at the 2019 Milan show with an aggressive new look and expanded capabilities meant to make it easier to range hither and yon over a variety of surfaces. In addition to the new rally-style look, updated electronics and upgraded engine performance are part of the package for MY2020. The V-Strom 1050 serves as the platform for the top-shelf “XT” models but even the stock base model comes packed with upgraded electronics and net-new tech to make it attractive and competitive within the adventure bike market.

At the 2019 EICMA show in Milan, the Bar & Shield brand pulled the curtains off their brand-new, strategically developed machines that will bring them a new bunch of riders, ones who’ve never looked inside its shops before. Behold the “Bronx” and the “Pan-America.”

Paving the company into the Streetfighter and the ADV touring category, the Bronx and the Pan-America are the first babies of Harley’s “More Roads to Harley-Davidson” growth plan through 2022, though it all started with the launch of its first electric, no-clutch “twist and go” LiveWire.

These new motorcycles will be powered by the company’s new 60-degree V-twin Revolution Max engine that is supposed to be like nothing seen on a Harley before. The Milwaukee brand hasn’t divulged much information, but enough to just keep us excited through to their launch sometime towards the end of 2020. We’ve gathered them around here for a pre-production review of the Pan-America 1250 Adventure Tourer.

Indian Motorcycle brushed up its Chieftain line for 2020 with a lean, slammed look, and a choice between its proven Thunder Stroke 111 and the new, more powerful Thunder Stroke 116. As always, the Chieftain brings classic bagger style to the table, and of course, Indian’s top-shelf infotainment system comes stock to keep it competitive against the other top baggers around the world. No matter which engine you choose, you can count on 100-plus pounds of grunt that make the Chieftains perform as well as they look.

Indian Motorcycle carried over its popular Chieftain Dark Horse into MY2020 with much the same custom panache, but repowered it with the new Thunder Stroke 116 engine. Classic historical touches abound on this ride for a healthy dose of nostalgia, but of course, it rocks all of the factory’s electronic fandanglery to make it a thoroughly modern machine. Whether you want to do some light touring or just do some boulevard cruising, the 2020 Chieftain Dark Horse brings something to the table for you.

Indian Motorcycle spruced up its Chieftain Limited ahead of MY2020 with a new color palette and abundant chrome treatment. It ain’t all about the aesthetics, though. The factory powers its revamped Chieftain Limited with the new Thunder Stroke 116 engine with over 120 pound-feet of torque on tap. Custom touches abound on this top-shelf bagger with the usual smattering of historical references to tie in with the factory’s storied past along with a modern electronics suite to round out the package.

Yamaha took a little hiatus from the full-dresser market to the tune of almost a half-decade, but the Tuning Fork Company broke its fast in 2018 with the release of the all-new Star Venture. This ride clearly comes geared to take on Harley-Davidson’s touring line in general, and the Road Glide Ultra specifically. Ambitious? You betcha, but Yamaha did its homework and put together a machine that brings a torquey, big-inch, V-twin to the U.S. market in a rather tour-tastic package with over 35 gallons of dry storage across the two hard bags and trunk box on the base model with additional storage available as part of the “Transcontinental Option Package.” The very name speaks volumes.

Indian Motorcycle made a number of changes to its touring lineup ahead of MY2020 including a new powerplant for its full-dress Roadmaster. The base-model Roadmaster hits important historical high notes and maintains the full-size front fairing, but the real news here is the addition of the new Thunder Stroke 116 engine that toes the family line and pumps out over 120 pounds of stump-pulling torque. Comfort and luxury for the every-rider are the hallmarks of the Roadmaster, and it delivers with its usual style and aplomb.

Based on the success of its Chieftain Dark Horse, Indian Motorcycle expands its Dark Horse lineup for 2020 with the new Roadmaster Dark Horse that brings blackout treatment to the table along with Indian’s newest technological treats. Touring amenities and comfort features join with the Ride Command electronics and 200-Watt sound system for your riding enjoyment. If you’re into power, then the Roadmaster Dark Horse has you covered with Indian’s brand new Thunder Stroke 116 engine that churns out the most torque of any production American engine with over 120 pound-feet of grunt on tap.

Indian Motorcycle rolls into the 2020 model year with a host of new features, and the new Chieftain Elite serves as the flagship bagger model, delivering some of the best gear the factory has to offer. Hand-painted sheet metal in a distinct color combination heralds the coming of this aptly-named elite machine. Not only does it rock with a premium sound system, it rolls with a new engine that boosts displacement up to a total of 116 cubic-inches. Indian also upgraded the Ride Command system with a new quad-core processor and Indian’s new Connected Services feature that further improves an already top-shelf system. It all comes with the usual bad-itude that has always come stock on Indian’s baggers.

Harley-Davidson kicked its Road Glide Ultra to the curb from its touring lineup ahead of MY2020 in favor of its new FLTRK Road Glide Limited. The Road Glide Limited takes touring comfort and safety up a notch with a host of new electronic features to go with its already-fabulous Infotainment system, and it all comes wrapped in a premium paint along with special bits of bling to finish off the package. Best of all, Harley powers the Road Glide Limited with its second largest production engine, the 1,868 cc Milwaukee-Eight 114 that brings over 100 pounds o’ grunt to the table for your touring enjoyment.

The biggest sport-tourer in Yamaha’s lineup are better than ever. In 2016, the FJR1300A and its stablemate the FJR1300ES saw some evolutionary changes that brought just enough tweaks to make them smoother, more comfortable rides. Probably the biggest change in that update was in the transmission with the addition of a sixth gear and adding a slipper clutch to reduce hand fatigue at the clutch lever. Both of these tourers run a 1,298 cc liquid-cooled four-banger and come on a sportbike frame for a bit more thrill than just a tourbike.

The Harley-Davidson Motor Company beefed up its fixed-fairing Road Glide Ultra ahead of MY2019 with new electronic features along with a larger, more powerful Milwaukee-Eight powerplant. Built for long-distance work, the “Ultra” pulls from the top shelf for its touring tenacity with plenty of lockable dry storage and cushy appointments that let you share the fun with a friend in style and comfort. The factory adds the contemporary fairing to classic Harley looks to make the new Ultra a truly modern ride, but with the deep roots we expect from the MoCo.

Indian Motorcycle spruced up its Springfield Dark Horse ahead of MY2019 with some aesthetic tweaks that set it apart from the previous versions, but the factory didn’t stop there. It added some all-new electronic tech in the form of a few ride-enhancement features that turn this antique design into an entirely modern machine. Indian’s deep roots are on full display with this one to make it a tribute piece of sorts, and if you’re into designs from around World War II, then the Dark Horse has a lot to offer.

Harley-Davidson Motor Company rolled out a mid-year release with a new addition to its touring line, the Electra Glide Standard. This new model strikes a balance between comfort and fandanglery with all the essentials you need for cruising/touring and none of the fluff. It rocks the relatively new Milwaukee-Eight 107 powerplant and all the ride-quality controls associated with the revamped touring line, but leaves the Infotainment gear on the shelf to deliver a refined-yet-raw riding experience.

The Bavarian motorcycle manufacturer has been the market leader in the adventure scene with their promising GS motorcycles running the show for more than 35 years. Topping this chart is their flagship workhorse, the R 1200 GS series and its flat-twin boxer engine that is undoubtedly the best companion for exploring the unexplored.

Currently, this machine runs on a 1170cc flat-twin boxer engine and is all set to receive some major updates for the 2019 year along with some high-tech features coming in as standard. The new mill is going to make it specked to Euro-V norms and also make more power without losing on any fuel efficiency. What’s the trick? It’s called the BMW ShiftCam technology.

The Dark Horse showcases the menacing character of the epoch Chieftain with the subtle yet dark cosmetic changes that give it a stealth outlook while blacking out just about everything.

For 2019, the Springfield manufacturer will equip the Chieftain Dark Horse with a fresh sleaze of aggressive styling and technology under its belt that enhances riding experience to an all new level. New restyled fairings and saddlebags and Ride-Enhancing Technology like ride modes, rear cylinder de-activation, and enhanced audio systems improve appeal, performance, comfort, and audio quality.

The Bavarian motorcycle manufacturer has been the market leader in the adventure scene with their promising GS motorcycles running the show for more than 35 years. Topping this chart is their flagship workhorse, the R 1200 GS Adventure and it’s flat-twin boxer engine that is undoubtedly the best companion for exploring the unexplored.

For 2018, you can take the 1200 GS Adventure even further to the remotest corners with the facelift measures in the BMW Motorrad program. Starting with the optional TFT instrumentation, Emergency Call, and the new paintjob, the new edition of the Adventure showcases modern tech bits with a reminiscent of the first generation GS moniker.

After their Bonneville range, it’s the Tiger models that give the British brand their numbers. As regularly updating their line-ups go, Triumph is giving their 2018 Tiger range a host of bells and whistles that will boast of having it ’Transformed,’ with a ’New Tiger Triple Engine’ and ’New Tiger Technology.’ Apart from this, the bodywork also gets mild updates to look fresh for 2018.

Triumph loves them so much that it feels no inhibitions with having six different models each for 1215 cc and 800 cc engine mods for 2018. Both the 1200 and 800 have four road variants (XR, XRx, XRx low, and range-topping XRT), and two off-road ones (XCx and a top-spec XCA). Guess we’ll take the best of them and spread it out for you nice and easy.

That is the Triumph Tiger 1200 XC range. Drumrolls please. The first thing you notice is that name. Previously all the Tigers running on the 1215cc motor had the ‘Explorer’ badging on them. But for 2018, Triumph has made things easier by just sticking to the 1200 branding.

Ducati made a surprising move when it unveiled the Multistrada for the first time in 2010. They were basically introduced to satiate the thirst of those motorcycling aficionados, who love traversing new territories with pace, but naturally, find the supersport motorcycles too hardcore for the job. The Multistrada proved to be a successful amalgamation of the traits of both Superbike and sports tourers, easily giving it the title of the most practical motorcycle Ducati ever made.

Taking that practicality to new levels, Ducati has expanded its Multistrada family with the new Multistrada 1260, Multistrada 1260 S, Multistrada 1260 S D|Air (with airbag system) and Multistrada 1260 Pikes Peak. They come equipped with a bigger 1262cc engine, advanced electronic package, new chassis and more touring capability.

Until 2014, MV Agusta only built motorcycles that would eat apexes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Machines built to just simply look and go fast and handle like a stealth ninja. Then, the company decided to enter a whole new dimension with the launch of the Turismo Veloce, a touring motorcycle that was NOT made with the inspirations of the marquee’s 75 world titles or racetrack pedigree like the rest of the stablemates.

But that notion too has changed, for since 2018, MV has released a limited-production RC (Reparto Corse) edition of the Turismo. It is a legitimate celebration of this MV Agusta’s superior qualities created by the honchos at the racing department, Jules Cluzel and Lorenzo Zanetti.

For 2018, the bike also receives mild updates with its powertrain, electronics, and chassis to keep their mark on the ever-improving sportsbike market. They also get new colors and graphics to mirror the race bikes running hot on tracks around the world.

It is basically all possible "adjectives" that describes exactly those things. This right here is the cream of the crop of Indian motorcycles and is heading to raise the bar for comfort, convenience, power, style, infotainment, craftsmanship and most important of all - confidence. It is everything the Roadmasterstood for, and this time, this Elite rises higher with the industry-leading Ride Command system, a 300-watt premium audio system, chrome front and rear bumpers, passenger armrests and stylish pinnacle mirrors.

For the year 2018, this American oldest brand will give the world a brand new lineage of motorcycles that are sophisticated and technologically packed while keeping the core values of its predecessors intact of being the vintage charmers. One of them will be this Indian Roadmaster Elite which is the most ultra-premium of all Indians and the only one to get real 23K gold leaf badging on the tank. Real Gold.