When riding off road, you want loose-fitting, breathable outer layers to allow airflow in the heat. However, a loose fit means armor can’t be attached to the outer layer as it would in more snugly-fitting street gear, because it will displace in a mishap and not protect as well. To get around this, riders have strapped armor to their elbows and arms and slipped into breastplates and back armor that look like they are designed for modern-day gladiators. The other option is to wear a lightweight-but-snug armored jacket that offers breathability and impact protection but little abrasion resistance under either a jersey or an abrasion protective shell. The REV’IT! Proteus Armored Jacket falls into the latter category.

Part of the REV’IT! Dirt Series of off-road/adventure gear, the Proteus Armored Jacket is designed to be worn under a jersey or a more street-worthy outer shell, both of which are part of the line. Made of an extremely stretchable mesh, the Proteus wraps snugly around the rider’s torso to prevent the armor from shifting in a crash. The places likely to receive more abrasion inside the outer shell, such as the elbows and shoulders, have a layer of densely woven Hicom mesh, while the inside of the sleeves are constructed of a fabric REV’IT! calls PWR|Stretch. The rider doesn’t need to think of all the names, but they will be aware that the jacket fits like one would expect a Spandex-like garment to. Thumb loops make sure the stretchy sleeves don’t ride up in a slide.

The armor itself is ample, with CE Level 2 back, elbow, and shoulder protection plus a two-piece Seesoft Level 1 impact protector on the chest. Since breathability is important, all the armor is perforated to allow airflow. An adjustable 4-in. kidney belt supports the rider’s low back while helping to hold the jacket in place. All of the armor is easily removable from the jacket’s chassis so it can be washed on a low-temperature delicate cycle and hung to drip dry.

Maybe I’ve been hanging out with Managing Editor Ryan Adams too much. After more than 30 years of riding almost exclusively on the street, I’ve been bitten by the off-road bug. (Having a 14 year-old daughter who asked me to teach her to ride dirt bikes played a big part, too.) However, I don’t want to just drive to the desert, do daylong dirt rides, load the bikes in the truck, and drive home. I want to travel, too. Adventure touring has tickled my fancy.

I started backpacking when I was a kid, spending time on the Appalachian Trail, the Sierra Crest, and even a trip horse packing in Montana. In my 20s, I took an Outward Bound course in North Carolina and, a few years later, packed my belongings on my first motorcycle for a three-month, 11,000 mile trip across the country. Except for the occasional car-camping weekend, most of that stuff stopped during the childrearing years. And now, I find myself up late at night looking at maps of Backcountry Discovery Routes, thinking that maybe I’m not too old to pursue solitude in the mountains even though my knees, after decades of running, are dropping hints that my dreams of hiking portions of the Pacific Crest Trail after I retire may be out of reach.

All of which brings me to the fact that a couple of weeks ago I found myself in the local Kawasaki dealership signing the paperwork to buy MO’s long-term KLX300. You see, I’ve got this crazy idea that I want to build a lightweight adventure touring bike. As an adventure touring motorcycle, the little KLX has a lot going against it: small tank, low top speed, and no creature comforts. On the other hand, it’s light, easy to pick up (I fall down a lot in the dirt), and it’s dead simple to ride in the dirt (something I need given my relative lack of experience off-roading). Also, there’s something really charming about the bike’s pluckiness. It took the abuse meted out on it as a test bike and came back for more.

Showdown: 2021 Honda CRF300L Vs 2021 Kawasaki KLX300

We were sailing along on Moonlight Bay, twenty years ago, betwixt the Twin Towers collapse, the Axis of Evil calling-out, and the going-after of Saddam Hussein. Before all that, you could traipse around the world on airplanes without the shoe removal and body cavity search. After, well, it’s a different world. In those days, my children, you could get a great new BMW R1150 RS naked bike for under $10k and not be too concerned about the polar ice caps. Now, you can still get an R1250R “roadster,” but it’s more like $15k, and your conscience wonders if you should go for the new CE O4 electric scooter instead?

Think Outside the Boxer

Lightning Motorcycles has filed designs for an electric adventure bike. The designs, filed with China’s intellectual property office, reveal a motorcycle with the typical ADV accoutrements, and an electric motor and swingarm design that look similar to those of Lightning’s Strike sportbike.

The design was filed Feb. 11, 2022, with the China National Intellectual Property Administration by Lightning, with its founder and Chief Executive Officer Richard Hatfield listed as the sole designer. Lightning has a factory in China, so it’s not entirely surprising the American company would register the design in that country’s IP office.

The filing included text (translated from Chinese) saying the design as being for an “off-road motorcycle”, along with “Dakar” written in English. Whether that’s what Lightning intends to call it, or if it was just a descriptor, is unclear. It’s highly unlikely the motorcycle is a full-on Dakar Rally racer (even before accounting for its potential range), but in the past, Lightning hasn’t shied away from headline-grabbing efforts like racing at Pikes Peak or attempting to set land speed records at the Bonneville Salt Flats.



The design shows a motorcycle with the usual ADV design elements such as a beak-style fender, tall windscreen, wire-spoke wheels, and off-road tires. The image juxtaposition above has the Strike and the new design approximately lined up on the motor. While we don’t know any exact dimensions, it’s clear the adventure bike has much more ground clearance. The swingarms appear to be nearly identical, but the adventure bike has the pivot point lined up with the center of the motor whereas the Strike has it offset to a lower position.

This isn’t quite Part 2 of the Earl Roloff saga, which we haven’t quite got around to yet. But it is an important digression – the story of the Kawasaki Ninja 1000 that won the first Formula USA championship in 1986, and still glowers at intruders from its glass enclosure at the Willow Springs International Raceway office. As told by Earl, Jr., himself. – John Burns

MO History: Early Roloff, Jr. Part 1

I promised a more in-depth story regarding Terminator and the 1986 F-USA Series, so here it is:

In 1986, we were focused on trying to win the first ever Formula USA Series at Willow Springs. Bill Huth, owner of the track, was the inventor of this interesting “no rules” format. Pretty much run anything you want, as long as it had two wheels. The purse money was good and if you were fortunate enough to win the Series, there was a new Toyota truck, a solid gold belt buckle, and more cash waiting at the end.

Late in 1985, my dad was trying to figure out what would be the best “weapon of choice” for the series. His decision (not mine) was the 1986 Ninja ZX1000R. His reasoning: It had about 106 rear wheel horsepower which at that time was pretty good. Agreed, but I mentioned the fact that the dry weight was about 525 pounds, and I thought the ground clearance might be an issue.

Many undies were twisted, bunched, and/or soiled after last week’s exciting Review First Ride of the new CFMOTO 700CL-X and 700CL-X Sport, which gave us a chance to discuss not just new motorcycles but also international relations. Always a crowd favorite on MO. That’s because these are completely built in China, a country which is either our mortal enemy or best trading partner depending on who you ask. Here on MO, we provide. You decide. This time we’re going to have a look at the other five bikes CFMOTO’s importing via its Plymouth, Minnesota, US HQ – in addition to all the highly regarded ATVs, UTVs, and side-by-sides they’ve been dealing for decades.

2022 CFMOTO 700CL-X / 700CL-X Sport Review – First Ride

Like we pointed out last time, though these motorcycles are new to the US, they’ve been for sale for a while in other parts of the world, and each one comes with a two-year warranty.

Start small

PAPIO

If you’ve seen a Honda Grom or Kawasaki Z125, then you know what this one’s all about. Powered by an air-cooled 126cc fuel-injected Single rated at 9.3 horsepower and routed through a 6-speed gearbox (the Z’s only got 4 and the Grom 5), the Papio’s really just like them for 10% off. The Papio retails for $2,999, the Z125 for $3,395, and the Grom for $3,495. 

[Friend-of-MO, Neale Bayly sends us this dispatch from the beginning of his journey through Ukraine. As he does with most of his humanitarian travels, Bayly seeks to raise awareness about – and money to help address – the plight of the people he encounters along the way. – EB]

It started with a phone call from award-winning photographer Kiran Ridley who was working in Lviv at the start of the war. Covering the refugee crisis from the saddle of an old Chinese motorcycle, he just needed to talk. It was cold, dangerous, and the whole city was on a knife-edge of uncertainty as they prepared for the possibility of a Russian attack.

Thousands of miles away in my soft, comfortable life, images of destroyed buildings, dead and injured civilians and outnumbered soldiers fighting for their country filled Internet news feeds and TV screens. It didn’t seem possible that in plain view of the world, Russia was targeting women and children with their bombs and missiles, seemingly intent on destroying every facet of Ukrainian life with this unprovoked attack.

I called Kiran back a couple of days later and asked how I could help. How could I come to Ukraine to tell stories and raise money, when he asked if it was possible to find a couple of motorcycles? Well, thanks to more than twenty years of working with BMW Motorrad, it only took a phone call and we had two BMW F850GS Adventures with full luggage and Navigation in Munich when we were ready.

Kawasaki surprised us all a year ago when it brought back the KLR650, resurrecting the venerable adventure bike with fuel injection, updated styling, and a new one-piece frame.

For the U.S., the third-generation KLR650 was available in a few different flavors, the base model, the Traveler model with a top case and the Adventure model with side cases, auxiliary lighting and engine guards, not to mention ABS versions of the base and Adventure models.

In Australia, Kawasaki offered just two versions for 2022, the base model and the KLR650 Adventure, both with ABS. For 2023, however, Kawasaki appears to be preparing a new, third option. The proof comes to us from a new update to Australian vehicle certifications for the KLR650. A June 16 update added a third marketing designation for KLR650S.

Reviewing a crash-tested piece of gear is up there on our least favorite things to do on this job, and when said piece of gear is a helmet, we’re especially annoyed – and that’s putting it mildly. However, the fact I’m here and able to write a review about a crashed helmet at all is a good sign, especially when the helmet comes from an up-and-coming company in the smart helmet space. 

Yes, you read that right. I crashed a smart helmet. A Forcite MK1, to be exact. You may not have heard of Forcite helmets before unless of course you’ve seen our Mega Helmet Shootout, which briefly featured the MK1. Based in Australia, Forcite’s big selling point is its integrated camera, speakers, and microphone that pair harmoniously with the proprietary Forcite app. This allows for turn-by-turn navigation without the need for a separate communicator. The app and map are optimized for Forcite’s home country of Australia, but we’re told it still works in the US, including in my Los Angeles locale. Similar to the Waze app, not only does it audibly give turn-by-turn directions, but it also will glow thin, colored LEDs at the top rim of the chin bar to also tell you which way to turn by way of your periphery. In addition, it’ll also alert you to cops or speed cameras up ahead.  

While handy and convenient, my main draw to the Forcite MK1 was the built-in camera in the chin bar. In case you weren’t aware, making review videos on Youtube has become as big a job around here as these written words you’re reading, and the built-in camera and microphone makes this process infinitely easier. 

Inflation, inshmation: A new Kawasaki ZX-14R is only $600 more than it was ten years ago, and a new Hayabusa, well, it’s $18,799 – which is $4500 more than in 2012. But if you wanted the fastest Kawasaki today, you’d need a supercharged one like the Ninja H2, which is more like $30k (and worth every penny). Which makes the new-for-’22 Hayabusa a comparative bargain. You deserve one. Ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for either one.

Welcome to the weekend, that magical collection of time where so much is possible, particularly if your favorite time indulging activity is exploring Ontario from your motorcycle seat. That said, Ontario is a big place and narrowing down all the weekend-worthy moto adventures is easier said than done. Well, you’re in luck; here are five routes worthy of your weekend, and all you have to do is get on your bike and ride.

The Lake Temiskaming Tour

Northeastern Ontario’s Lake Temiskaming Circle Tour is a two-for-one tour as it splits its length almost equally between Ontario and Quebec. Two provinces, languages, and cultures offer an abundance of natural, historical and cultural treasures to uncover along its length.

At 450 km, this is an easy two-day ride starting from North Bay. Coming from further afield, it is still possible to squeeze it into two longer days in the saddle or a more relaxing 3-day weekend.

Heading north, Highway 11 being one of the main passages through Ontario’s north, you will be sharing the road with other users, but the ride is no less enjoyable as it twists and turns between lakes, rocks and forest. Be sure to stop at Gramp’s Place General Store for some ice cream, take in the grand view from the Fire Tower in Temagami, learn about Cobalt’s mining history and grab a selfie with Ms. Claybelt the giant cow in New Liskeard.

UPDATED July 12, 2022: Amazon Prime Day is here! The sales started at midnight this morning and run through to midnight Pacific Time (3:01 am Eastern) on July 13. We’ll have the best motorcycle-related deals we can find right here as they become available.

Prime Day is finally here! We look forward to finding the best motorcycle deals out there in this consumer shopping spree. First launched in 2015, this sales event has become a huge bonanza for shoppers who don’t want to wait until Black Friday to buy things for themselves or others.

While, honestly, the number of motorcycle-specific deals pale in comparison to that of the general consumer products. We’ll be searching out the deals that might appeal to motorcyclists, like ourselves. Tools are one area that we expect to find some smoking deals – or Lightning Deals in Amazon parlance. These short-term price drops are usually a significant percentage. So, check back here often throughout the event. We’ll always have the newest deals at the top of the page.

Here’s what you need to know about Amazon Prime Day.

What is Amazon Prime Day?

Amazon Prime Day is an online shopping event offering exclusive deals and significant discounts for Amazon Prime members. According to Amazon, customers purchased more than 100 million products on Prime Day, setting a new sales record for online retailer (since surpassed by Cyber Monday last fall).

With just about every Chinese motorcycle I can remember riding, there’s nearly always A Problem. Sometimes they look great on paper, and sometimes they even look pretty good in the flesh. But then you hop on and start riding, and are met with a powerband that’s more a powerhole. Or an ADV bike with two inches of rear suspension travel, or cast iron components that weigh 60 pounds more than the competition. If it’s not one glaring thing, there’s usually a combination platter of weirdnesses that make you question whether the monetary savings are worth the sacrifice for any but the cheapest of contrarian skates – even if reliability isn’t much of a concern any more.

Editor Score: 93.5%

From where I sit, on an Airbus 319 on the way back from Minneapolis, CFMOTO seems to have changed that all up. Fresh off two days of riding six of their seven models, I experienced almost zero wonkiness – and the only glaring thing I uncovered was a case of too much performance rather than too little on one bike. For today, let’s look at the bikes I spent most of my time on, CF’s top of the line 700CL-X and 700CL-X Sport.

700CL-X

What’s going on here is kind of a combination of a Ducati Scrambler and a Kawasaki Versys 650. CF has been supplying major manufacturers with major components for decades, and if the DOHC parallel Twin in this bike isn’t the Versys one, I’ll eat my bamboo ballot. Except that this one’s been stroked by 4mm, to 83 x 64mm dimensions – a thing Kawasaki’s never had the decency to do. That takes it to 693 cubic centimeters, and a claimed output of 74 hp at 8,500 rpm and 48 lb-ft at 6,500 revs. It feels almost as fast as a Yamaha MT-07 blasting down the front straight at the race track CF took us to on day one of our little press junket.

We here at Motorcycle.com are huge fans of our hearing. We wear earplugs any time we ride, and Boss-man Evans has gone to the extreme of testing multiple different kinds of earplugs. He swears it’s for science. The rest of us think he likes taking pictures of his ears (fortunately for you, dear reader, we’ve blocked him from actually posting those pictures all but one time).

MO Tested: EarPeace Moto Pro Earplugs Review

Our earplugs of choice? The Moto Pro earplugs by EarPeace. And now we’ve partnered up with EarPeace to offer 10 lucky winners the opportunity to wear our favorite earplugs in their own ears! All that we ask in return is a little bit of information and that you not share pics of your ears in the comments section. Also, after you win EarPeace requests that you (not Evans) post pictures of your ears with their earplugs on social media, tagging them with @earpeaceearplugs. That’s fair, right?

What makes the Moto Pro earplugs so cool, in our opinion, is their oval shape, unlike the round shape used by so many others. This lets the Moto Pro fill your ear canal more comfortably as it is a better representation of the shape of your ear. Also, the Moto Pro has 24db filters so you can still hear the stuff you want to hear and tune out the things you don’t.

Triumph announced updated color options for its Bonneville “Modern Classics” range, as well as new names for the Street Scrambler and Street Twin.

The 2023 paint schemes are generally more vibrant than the 2022 colors, a change brought about in part from the popularity of last year’s Gold Line edition models.

Confirming the news we first reported in May, the Street Scrambler has been renamed the Scrambler 900, while the Street Twin will now be called the Speed Twin. Apart from the two new names and the colors, the entire range is otherwise unchanged from 2022.

Begin Press Release:

EXCITING NEW COLOURS AND NEW NAMES FOR TRIUMPH’S MODERN CLASSICS RANGE

Introducing for model year 2023, a new and exciting range of colour options for the entire Bonneville range, building on the great success of last year’s Gold Line Editions, which responded to customer requests for brighter, more distinctive, and more elegant colour options across the legendary Modern Classics line-up.