Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

If you don’t understand, we can’t explain it to you. But you know who you are. It’s not a universal rule, but for many, many motorcycle riders, it’s Harley or nothing. For many of them, the best Harley helmet has to continue the theme that often but not always includes the leather vest, the chained wallet and the tattoos. For even more Harley riders, a good helmet is a good helmet. In truth, everybody’s skull is basically the same shape, on the outside anyway, so the best motorcycle helmets for Harley riders are still great helmets no matter what you ride. But there are definitely variations that make some of them the best motorcycle helmets for Harley riders. And away we go…

As a kid, I remember my folks would take their shoes to the local shoe repair shop. I take it for granted now since I’ve been working from home long before it was cool, but there was a time when people not only had to go into an office, they also had to wear nice clothes, too! And the bit of that wardrobe that got the most punishment were the shoes. Those business shoes never looked comfortable, with their hard soles and weird patterns on the leather. But they lasted a long time, and if the soles ever wore out – which they did regularly with my folks – the local repair shop (I guess they were called cobblers even further back in time) could just put a new sole on and breathe new life into what would have been (re)tired shoes.

It’s this idea that old, and seemingly worn-out, goods don’t need to end up in the trash. “Repair, not replace,” is the popular adage these days, and it’s as true now as it has been since the early cobblers first set up their shops on cobblestone streets. Little did I know when I was a kid, but shoe repair shops would prove valuable to me and the greater motorcycling community as a whole. 

Motorcycles fall down. Usually with people on them. In doing so, the gear the rider or passenger is wearing gets scuffed or even torn. Assuming the jacket or suit (and sometimes even boots) are made from leather, guess who can often fix it? That’s right, a shoe repair store. When you think about it, the tools of the shoe repair trade – big sewing machines, big needles, adhesives, and uh… more leather – are also useful for other leather goods, including motorcycle gear. The thing is, not many shoe repair stores have thought about it. 

Anthony’s Leatherworks has. A small corner shop in the affluent Corona del Mar locale of Southern California, you’d expect Anthony’s to cater to repairing Prada bags and Balenciaga shoes, not Alpinestars leathers from some motorcycle journalist moonlighting as a wannabe racer. Well, when it comes to fixing leather goods, wherever they may be from, Anthony’s does it all. 

Tommyguns Roderick has left the building. Well, not like Elvis; he’s still alive and well. But he’s left the MO building. Not that we have one anymore. Ten years ago, though, TR was at Auto Club Speedway riding a pair of tasty KTM RC8 R sportbikes, which at the time were a small but interesting part of the Austrian lineup. At the time, electronic niceties like traction control and quickshifters were novelties; now they’re ubiquitous, and we’re all the safer for them. Or are we? As the great Donald Canet once observed, “rain tires simply allow you to crash at a higher rate of speed.” 

Oh hey, lookit that. There’s a new KTM RC 8C for 2022, and only $38,999!

When the DesertX prototype hit the scene at EICMA in 2019, it was portrayed as a Dakar-inspired Scrambler variant – that was the initial idea anyway. As you’re likely already aware, the production DesertX is anything but. Powered by the proven 937cc Testastretta 11° Desmo engine, the 2023 Ducati Desert X has been designed from the ground up as a purpose-built adventure machine.

Editor Score: 90.25%

Sure, the idea of keeping the Desert X within the Scrambler brand has its allure. Ducati could keep things simple, yet modern with either the air-cooled 803cc or 1079cc Desmo engine while keeping electronics to a minimum, giving the Desert X Scrambler an old school feel to match its ’90s Dakar-inspired styling. It seems, however, Ducati couldn’t help but ask itself, “But what if we didn’t?”

The DesertX is Ducati’s first modern adventure bike designed from the ground up with real off-road intentions – something the 21/18-inch wheel combo hints at. From the tubular steel frame to the KYB suspension, every component of the DesertX has been designed to be a Ducati adventure motorcycle. As a Ducati, it carries with it a level of fit, finish, and technological refinement that we have come to expect from the Bologna-based manufacturer in this age. And, as a new Ducati adventure bike, it has a few new tricks up its sleeves as well, when it comes to handling the dirt – more on that in a bit.

My latest stupid thing is rinsing the engine of my new used car with the hose. Not a pressure wash or even a full blast, I swear! Just a light drizzle to rinse off some degreaser in a couple nooks and crannies the morning after I brought the thing home. Before I did that, my new-to-me 2000 Jaguar XJR had been running like a 4-liter V-eight Jaguar with an Eaton supercharger on top of it. After it, the RESTRICTED PERFORMANCE lamp was lit and it would barely run. Dang. (I hope we can talk about cars here, too, can’t we? I was a car guy before I was a motorcycle guy, and the same concepts apply.)

Naturally, I fled in horror straight to the Facebook Jaguar XJR Lovers page and spilled my guts. The crowd pounced instantly. Never wash a Jaguar engine! The “you idiot” was at least left unsaid but strongly implied. The internet’s a nicer place now than it used to be, or maybe that’s just among people with a common love object. Come to think of it, nobody ever talks politics on my vehicle sites. They’re the only place you can escape.

It was Louis who talked me down: “It’s probably your knock sensors, located under the blower,” he wrote. “They may dry out in a few days and be fine. They also may be shorted out, which means removing the blower to get to them, kind of a big job, and installing expensive new ones.”

I plugged in the code reader.

GasGas is preparing to launch a new model called the RX 450F Replica that we believe will be based on the machine Sam Sunderland rode to victory in the 2022 Dakar Rally.

The RX 450F Replica model name appears on a recently updated list of vehicles approved by the Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt, Germany’s federal motor transport authority. The name is similar, though not a perfect match, for the RC 450F ridden by Sunderland and his teammate Daniel Sanders (who was no slouch himself in winning three stages) in the Dakar Rally.

Despite the variation in the name, we suspect the RX 450F Replica is indeed the rally bike because it is listed with similar information to KTM‘s own 450 Rally Replica, and the RC 450F race bike was essentially a rebadged version of the orange bike.

KTM has offered a rally replica for a few years now, as has Husqvarna, with its version dubbed the FR 450 Rally. With GasGas victorious at this year’s Dakar Rally, it seems logical that Pierer Mobility’s red brand would also get the replica treatment.

Heaping praise upon Yamaha’s naked bikes has become all too easy lately. Yes, the MT-07 did get dethroned in last year’s Middleweight Naked comparison, but not by much – and it took brand-new motorcycles from Aprilia and Triumph to do it. When it came time for the 900cc(ish) Nakeds last August, the newly revamped MT-09 surprised a couple people by taking the cake against KTM Duke 890 and five other very nice and mostly more expensive motorcycles. Sadly, when it was time for the Open Class Nakeds shootout last November, the MT-10 got left out. We thought it was too old, and couldn’t win. Plus, we knew the 2022 Yamaha MT-10 was on its way. Possibly to save the day.

Battle Royale: 7-Way Heavyweight Naked Bike Shootout

Editor Score: 94.25%

Now that they’ve dragged the MT-10 kicking and screaming into Euro 5 compliance, rather than reinventing the wheel, Yamaha applied much of the MT-09 treatment to the King of its Masters of Torque familia, including its dark energy design language.

Unlike the lesser MTs which get their own graceful vacuum-formed aluminum frames, the MT-10 shares its skeleton with the YZF-R1, but now you can see it better thanks to a rethink of the bodywork and a removal of a couple of modesty panels. This being the same frame Yamaha uses to contest the WSBK title, it’s quite the feat of engineering, tuned for high longitudinal rigidity as well as torsional and lateral flex.

Wow, 2012 doesn’t seem like such a long time ago, but nearly all the motorcycles we fawned, toadied, and shamelessly groveled all over are nearly all gone or usurped. And not even that missed, thanks to the machines that superseded them. The best of them are still around, though: Honda NC750X and PCX150, BMW K1600, and 1000RR, Tuono… Your best new tech, the Thin Film Transistor display on the new Ducati Diavel, has become ubiquitous. Sadly, the SOLFX Transitions faceshield introduced by Bell helmets, has not. Whirled without end, amen.

While magazine editors and track riders may wax poetic about the leaps in performance of the latest super-grippy sport and track tires, the vast majority of sport-focused street riders spend their money on sport-touring rubber. Why? Well, two reasons, actually. First, once you look beyond the arid Southwest where the bulk of the U.S. motorcycle industry resides, riders have to deal with rain, making the way tires handle in the wet of great importance. Then there’s the fact that sport-touring tires offer almost the same level of grip as their sportier siblings – at street temperatures – while offering significantly better longevity. (At lower temperatures, sport-touring tires can offer more real-world grip than even the stickiest of sporting rubber, which are designed to work their best at elevated temperatures.) With the release of the Michelin Road 6 sport-touring tires, Michelin claim an increase in both wet grip and wear characteristics when compared to their precursors, the Michelin Road 5.

The Recipe

The headlining claim in the announcement of the Road 6 tires was that they offer a 15% increase in wet grip. Michelin says this is the result of both updating the rubber compounds and refining the tread design. Silica has been known for its wet/cold weather grip for some time, but it hasn’t always played well with tire durability in dry, warm weather. The improvements in the durability of the silica compound comes from a combination of changes to the compound itself and the altered tread design. 

MO Tested: Michelin Road 5 Tire Review

When the Michelin Road 5 was released, its wet grip was credited to the development of its X-Sipe technology. Essentially, the smaller grooves in the tire open up to a wider space as you go deeper within the rubber compound, and as the tire wears, the widening of the grooves allow for the tread to displace similar amounts of water. (You can read an in-depth explanation of it here.) Next, dubbed Michelin Water Evergrip Technology, the void ratio, the ratio of grooving to the rubber on the tire’s tread, was optimized to improve wear in both wet and dry conditions. Michelin claims that this, when combined with the X-Sipe technology, is not only responsible for the increase in wet grip, but also for the consistent behavior of the tires even when worn.

Smartphones have integrated themselves into almost every aspect of modern life. So, it should come as no surprise that people want to make them more accessible while riding their motorcycles. A well-placed phone can make it easier to follow GPS directions or check to see who the incoming call is from to determine if you should answer on your Bluetooth communicator. This has lead to a burgeoning selection of phone mounts for securely placing your smartphone on your bike where it can be easily glanced at. Here, we’ve gathered a listing of what we think are a few of the best motorcycle phone mounts that we know of. If we’ve skipped your favorite, let us know in the comments.

Let’s clear the air right off the bat with this one: This is *not* a crash-tested review, though I can understand why you would think so after I wrote about my recent experiences tumbling down the road in the Forcite MK1 helmet and Alpinestars’ own GP Force Chaser entry-level suit. While it’s never a great time to crash a motorcycle, the timing of those experiences brings a great deal of context to the latest in safety innovation by Alpinestars: the Tech-Air 10 airbag system. 

Taken straight from the MotoGP paddock, Tech-Air is Alpinestars’ proprietary fully self-contained airbag system. Tech-Air 10 is the new flagship in the Tech-Air range which currently (as of this writing) includes the Tech-Air 5, which can be worn inside any appropriately fitting jacket or suit, and the Tech-Air 3 – an airbag vest that can be worn inside *or outside* a jacket – due for release in Fall 2022. For the dirt riders, Alpinestars is also developing the Tech-Air Off-Road, set for release in early 2023. Technically speaking, the Tech-Air Race, the first mass-produced airbag from Alpinestars, is still available but will be phased out in the coming seasons (but Alpinestars will still support it long after that). 

What separates the Tech-Air 10 from the others, including airbags from other companies, is its airbag coverage area now extends down to the hips – a feature I wish I had when I fell down in the GP Force Chaser suit. All other systems on the market currently only cover the upper body to varying degrees. All of the Tech-Air systems, including the Tech-Air 10 provide full airbag protection for the shoulders, collarbones, chest, and back. With the exception of the Tech-Air 3, an integrated CE Level 2 back protector is integrated into the system, giving both active (airbag) and passive protection for your back. 

How It Works

As you can see from these pictures, the entire thing looks like a bulked-up base layer. That’s the point. Strategic zips and stretch panels connect and integrate the physical airbag and back protector to the rest of the base layer. Being able to separate the base layer from the airbag components means you can hand wash the base layer – because, you know, riding around in a cow suit is hot and sweat stinks. This is a departure from other Tech-Air systems which are basically vests you wear over your existing base layer. They can’t be washed.

After teasing us in March, Bombardier Recreational Products officially revealed its first two Can-Am electric motorcycles, the Pulse roadster and the Origin dual-sport. Both models were presented as prototypes, meaning they are very close to what will eventually be the final product, which will enter production in the summer of 2024.

Full specs will be revealed next August, so the focus of this “soft reveal” is purely on the design of the first two-wheeled Can-Am models since 1987. Both models employ what BRP calls the Rotax E-Power powertrain. Specific numbers weren’t given, but BRP says it will yield “highway-worthy speeds with plenty of horsepower and torque.” The Rotax E-Power technology will eventually be employed across BRP product lines, not just motorcycles.



Like most electric motorcycles, the Pulse and Origin forgo a clutch or transmission, using just a simple twist-and-go throttle. Both models employ an on-board charger and work with Level 2 charging stations. BRP did not provide any information on the batteries, except to note that they are highlighted in the designs in Can-Am’s signature yellow.

Both models employ a single-sided swingarm with the final drive completely enclosed on the left side. Patent illustrations we previously uncovered suggest the swingarm houses a belt drive, though BRP notably refused to confirm when asked about it during its media presentation.

All we learn from history, goes the current cynical wisdom, is that we learn nothing from history. Then again, maybe we do? For instance, I just learned this morning that Yamaha is still stamping out the FJR1300ES 20 years after the original 2002 FJR1300 hit our shores. Well, they’re still selling them anyway. I remember FJ1100 very fondly, FJ1200 was the tool for inhaling great draughts of western landscape at ludicrous speed… all before this first liquid-cooled FJR blew our moldy sport-touring socks off. (Note Minime’s acting out by spelling three of four names wrong in only the first 2.5 lines of copy. Is there an Editor in the house?)

Last week, Ducati announced it would once again present its new product announcements in a series of online presentations. Just like in 2020 and 2021, the Ducati World Première 2023 series will take place over multiple episodes, with each part featuring a different product line.

For 2023, the series will span seven episodes, starting Sept. 2, ahead of the MotoGP round in San Marino, and running until Nov. 7, just ahead of EICMA. As has become custom, Ducati has given each episode a cryptic title offering a clue to the presentation’s topic. The episodes are:

Apart from the episode titles, Ducati has offered one more clue: the final episode will be a model that was previewed for visitors at World Ducati Week. Though Ducati has managed to prevent any photos of the WDW preview from going public, a report from Moto.it confirms the new model is the next-generation Ducati Scrambler.

As for the rest, we did a little digging and uncovered some clues about what to expect, including a new Panigale V4 R and a Ducati Monster SP.

Ducati’s racing homologated model, the Panigale V4 R, is an obvious fit for Episode 4. Introduced in 2019, the Panigale V4 R is powered by a 998cc engine, allowing it to compete in Superbike racing classes. With the 1103cc Panigale V4 and V4 S getting updated last year, it seems obvious that the V4 R is due for its own update.

A new Vehicle Identification Number decoder released by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration confirms that Kawasaki will be introducing a 399cc Inline-Four Ninja ZX-4R model for 2023. While the VIN decoder does not provide any clue to what the ZX-4R will look like, we expect it will be styled similar to the 249cc Ninja ZX-25R (pictured above) currently offered in Japan and other Asian markets.

We previously wrote about the existence of a ZX-4R a year ago, when we uncovered a Kawasaki patent for the fairing design that was adopted for the ZX-25R. The patent described how intakes built into the fairing would divert air towards the engine for additional cooling. While the design was used on the ZX-25R, the patent describes the invention as being “more preferably applied to a vehicle having four-cylinder 400 cc engine.”

Thanks to the VIN decoder, we now know the ZX-4R not only exists, but that it will be offered in the U.S. for 2023. The 2023 Kawasaki VIN decoder was dated March 22 and was an update on a previous version published last December. The changes include the listings below for two models with the codes ZX400PP and a ZX400SP. Per Kawasaki’s model code structure, the ZX codes designate its high-performance sportbike models like the ZX-10R, ZX-6R, and Ninja H2. The 400 indicates an approximate engine displacement, with the letter following indicating a specific model variant. The “P” at the end, as per industry standard, represents the 2023 model year. The name “Ninja ZX-4R” doesn’t actually appear in the VIN decoder, but the engine code leaves little doubt to its commercial name.