Road Tests

    I saw him from the distance, as he walked toward me at the port of Los Angeles. He looked like some kind of Anime character dressed in a long black leather trench coat over bright layers, shirt and scarf, black leather chaps and black boots. I noticed the mud splattered up the back […]

After spitting a rod through the engine cases of my 5-Ball racing, 1000cc Ninja, Land Speed race bike, (at 187 mph, at the Mojave Mile, a race venue in the high California desert), I have found myself bikeless for some time. A nasty state of affairs for someone who has owned over 70 bikes, and

  NEW DELHI, India — The Royal Enfield Bullet, often described as the oldest continuously produced motorcycle in the world, is a cult product for enthusiasts who love it for its vintage feel as much as for the thrum of its engine.   Muscular and pliant, the Bullet — an Indian-made avatar of an old

On a beautiful Southern California day, three Bikernet staffers darted across town to San Bernardino to the Big Bear Choppers headquarters at the base of the mountain, which was the previous home of Big Bear Choppers, Big Bear. You’ve all read and watched the BBC history, their struggles, the economy, the devastation, the market failures,

The American cruiser market has just gotten more competitive and interesting.   Mike Wolfe from History Channel’s American Pickers and the magic elves at Indian Motorcycle show off the three new models for 2014. As motojournalists, we often find ourselves wading through massive amounts of information and technical data produced by a manufacturer as it prepares

Editor’s Note: As of this posting, Motor Trike just released its conversion of the 2012 Gold Wing, a newly redesigned Gold Wing. Motor Trike’s current Gold Wing conversion, the Adventure, is based on the 2010 model, the current Gold Wing model up to this point. This what is tested here. Look for a review on

There is only one serious production chopper manufacturer on planet earth right now and their road to survival has had many twists and turns. Big Bear Choppers AKA Ragehard Choppers makes the biggest baddest production chopper in the world, The Redemption. I rode the Redemption for several weeks and several nasty observations became extremely clear.

Indian Motorcycle, the original American motorcycle company, just announced its power-packed schedule of events for Daytona Bike Week 2013, which takes place March 9-16, 2013 in Daytona Beach, Florida. Daytona Beach Bike Week will prove to be a pivotal moment in the history of Indian Motorcycle and a historic milestone in motorcycling. The long-awaited, completely

“A pre-2006 Fat Boy with spoke wheels.” “Another parts bin special masquerading as a hot new model.” “Less is more when it comes to price with this bike.” “Overpriced for what you get.” These are several of the comments that guys have made to me while discussing the Softail Slim. The Motor Company, on the

Well it has been five years now that has seen me put 20,000 miles on what was once the latest and greatest Street Glide produced. The 2012 is what I would term the third generation while the 2007 would be the second generation, as it came fitted with some very major mechanical changes like a

So ya wanna Chopper but 38K for an Orange County Chopper is way out of your economically reassessed budget. Well Step right up boys’n’ girls and be amazed because for around 13K this baby can be yours. Bang for the buck the 2012 Fury from Honda is awesome. Honda was smart not to badge up

This is an odd one. The Sheriff from Sweden swept into the country and rode a factory bike to Sturgis and around the west, but it was a 2012 model, and not newsworthy for European publications. He needed the latest and the greatest. He returned the touring model just as a handful of 2013 models

Aptly Named after the 1969 Pontiac GTO, “Judge.” This American motorcycle delivers on its promise. I couldn’t pop a wheelie but at least burned some rubber. The Judge has lots of torque and power via the Freedom 106. The company claims 113 lb-ft of torque from the 106ci (1731cc) Twin. A 140mm rear tire and

2012 Harley-Davidson FLHTK Electra Glide Ultra Limited Riding motorcycles has been a regular part of my life as far back as I can remember, even farther back than I care to brag about. My dad used to look like all the guys in Easyriders circa 1979 and I thought he was the coolest man on

We recently had the pleasure to road test another 250 ATK model. This is the bare model GT250. It’s not a cruiser, nor the sport bike model. It’s sorta the low-buck Buell replacement. Since 2009 when Erik and his brand left Harley-Davidson, dealerships were stuck with nothing even close to an entry-level model, nothing to

Stripped-Down, Narrow Styling with Less Chrome and Retro Details Pare down a Harley-Davidson Softail motorcycle to its essential elements and you have the Slim. From its trimmed front fender to its narrow rear end, Slim is a no-nonsense, back-to-basics motorcycle. Call it stripped. Call it old school. Call it lean and mean. What’s left is

The Harley-Davidson Seventy-Two motorcycle is a metal flakedream machine, a Sportster on a trip back to the days when the cool kids rode aSting-Ray and the big boys parked choppers in a row on the curb. Thosemotorcycles were long and lean; candy-apple color and gleaming chromeshimmering in hazy summer sunlight. From its Hard Candy Big

The Irbit Motorcycles Factory celebrates 70th birthday and offers an anniversary model M70   Editor’s Note: We publish here for our readers a copy of the Ural Monthly Newsletter. We thought it’s an interesting read and hope you will enjoy it.   On 19th of November 1941 the first echelons with the manufacturing equipment pulled

Here’s a look at Indian Motorcycles’ 2012 Press Kit and new model lineup. Click on each page to view it larger. Hit the ‘esc’ button on your computer to resume normal page viewing.    

Editor’s Note: This was a helluva Victory test with three Victorys screaming across the south to the East Coast. This article is made up of actual reports from various riders, including an active Army Colonel, Prince Najar; Commander Edge the boss of the Smoke Out, Paul Aiken, of Aeromach, and me, the Bikernet janitor. You’ll

    The Harley Softail ® debuted in 1984… and seemed destined for a historic run. For the first time, H-D aficionados could have the rigid look without the rigid feel…or so it was advertised. As we all know, Harley has built countless models off of this product line and has made as much money

This is an interesting one for Bikernet. A guy, Frank White, the boss of ATK motorcycles, mostly dirt bikes, recently called and told me about his new line of cruisers built with Korean components and assembled stateside. I didn’t know much about ATK. Throughout its history, ATK has enjoyed a tremendous winning tradition. From desert

  2011 Harley-Davidson Fat Bob   With forward-mounted foot controls, drag-style handlebar and a sleek, two-up seat, the Fat Bob® motorcycle creates an aggressive riding position that commands respect from the road. Truly fat from start to finish, the Fat Bob features a 130 mm wide front tire with a gnarly, robust tread pattern, emphasizing

    Vanishing Point By Johnny White   Republic Harley Davidson in Stafford, Texas, asked me to document a few of their special projects for the world to see. I have been privileged enough to be one of the only civilians allowed to test ride one of their Police-ready motorcycles, available to any officer who