Fuel savings

I’ll state the obvious. Gas is on the rise. It isn’t showing signs of falling anytime soon, either. Luckily, fuel economy is one major advantage of riding a motorcycle. There are exceptions, of course. Flagship superbikes, big-bore cruisers, and anything V-four-powered probably aren’t returning favorable mpg figures. Those who drive a hybrid vehicle, PHEV, or EV likely stand to benefit even less. But if none of those conditions apply, chances are your bike can give you a break at the pump. 

Summer weather

It isn’t June 21 yet, but summer weather is well on its way. Aside from a few pockets of the country, daytime highs are creeping up throughout the States. That means ideal conditions for riding your motorcycle. With spring showers receding and summer heat waves at bay (for now), there’s hardly a better time to log miles on the bike. Why not do so by going for a ride during RTW? 

Mental benefits

Countless motorcyclists see riding as a form of therapy. I’m no medical professional. I can’t legitimize such claims. What I can say is that riding is an effective outlet. Riding a motorcycle demands your full concentration. Little attention can be paid to the stressors of life. That includes pressure at the workplace. Starting and ending your day on the bike can help relieve those pressures.

Community

If you work at an office of any considerable size, you’re probably not the only motorcyclist among your colleagues. Opting for the bike on RTW can help introduce you to your riding coworkers. Many workplaces have designated parking spots for motorcycles. Sometimes, that’s all it takes to strike up a conversation between riders. You never know which one of your fellow employees is also fellow motorcyclist, be it a Hog-owning CFO or a Gixxer-riding janitor. You just might meet such workmates if you ride on RTW.

Honda has confirmed that its retro CB1000F, with a paint job that’s faithful to the look of the CB750F Freddie Spencer rode in the early days of U.S. Superbike racing, is now arriving at U.S. dealerships.

The CB1000F concept was on display last year at the Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Race in nearly street-legal form, raising hopes that Honda would put it into production. It has already come out in Europe and is now available in the United States. MSRP is $10, 599 with a $775 destination charge.

Much of the CB1000F is the same as the CB1000 Hornet SP I test rode last year, but anyone who prefers early 1980s Superbike style over today’s looks now has an option. The CB1000F is even closer to the base Hornet sold in Europe, but that model is not available in the United States, where we only get the SP. For U.S. consumers, then, the differences between the CB1000F and the Hornet SP are mainly a Showa rear shock instead of an Öhlins unit and Nissin front brake calipers instead of Brembos.

The other major difference between the CB1000F and the Hornet is that Honda has made some changes to the engine and transmission to fit the personality of the retro bike. The Hornet comes alive above 6,000 rpm, but the CB1000F is tuned to push the power lower in the rev range. The intakes are longer and narrower and cam profiles are different. The first and second gears have a lower ratio than the Hornet while the rest have a higher ratio for more relaxed engine speeds at cruising velocities, in keeping with the nature of the engine.

And of course the most obvious difference from the Hornet is the looks. That’s the CB1000F’s true unique selling proposition.

The CB1000F won’t make you ride like it’s the early 1980s, however. It’s equipped with a five-inch TFT display and offers the same five ride modes as the Hornet, including two customizable User modes that allow you to set your preferred levels of power delivery, engine braking, and traction control. An inertial measurement unit enables cornering ABS, as well as informing the traction control.

Having ridden the Hornet, I personally suspect those tuning changes will be good for the new retro model and would be an improvement, in many riders’ opinions, on the Hornet, too. If there’s anything to be disappointed about, it’s that Honda isn’t offering the small fairing it showed on some of the concept bikes at Suzuka last year. I guess if you really want to go full-1980s-retro, you could always bolt a #19 number plate to the front and really look like Fast Freddie.

2026 Honda CB1000F
Price (MSRP)	$10,599
Engine	1,000 cc, liquid-cooled, 16-valve, inline four-cylinder
Transmission, final drive	Six-speed, chain
Claimed horsepower	N/A
Claimed torque	N/A
Frame	Steel twin-spar
Front suspension	41 mm Showa Separate Function Fork Big Piston (SFF-BP), adjustable for preload, compression, and rebound damping; 5.1 inches of travel
Rear suspension	Showa shock, adjustable for preload and rebound damping; 5.5 inches of travel
Front brake	Dual radial-mount Nissin four-piston calipers, 310 mm discs, with ABS
Rear brake	Single Nissin one-piston caliper, 240 mm disc, with ABS
Rake, trail	25 degrees, 3.9 inches
Wheelbase	57.2 inches
Seat height	31.3 inches
Fuel capacity	4.2 gallons
Tires	120/70R17 front, 180/55R17 rear
Claimed weight	472 pounds wet
Available	Now
Warranty	12 months
More info	powersports.honda.com

Women riders are more visible than ever

We’ve reached a point where women on motorcycles are more visible than ever, and still, somehow, unexpected.

The 20th anniversary of International Female Ride Day, coming up Saturday, brings this paradox into focus. For me, it also draws attention to the times when I experience riding as something universal, and feel like just any other rider, and others when my being a woman shapes the experience in distinct ways.

Recently, while on an afternoon ride, I noticed a red-and-black sport bike following our group of four. That’s not unusual, since riders sometimes tag along for a bit before peeling off. This one didn’t. Instead, the rider followed us onto the small dead-end street by the lake where we’d planned to stop for photos and pulled up behind me.

Vicki Gray of Motoress created International Female Ride Day in 2007 to encourage more women to ride while celebrating those who already do. This year’s theme, “Women Accelerate,” will play out across the world through independent, loosely organized rides sometimes tied to local causes.

I’ve taken part in several women’s motorcycling events over the years: a Women’s International Motorcycle Association rally, an all-women training session at the Eternal City Motorcycle Show in Rome, and International Women’s Day rides and seminars in both the United States and Italy. Each one, in its own way, has linked me to a longer lineage of women riders, women like the Van Buren sisters, who crossed the United States in 1916, and Louise Scherbyn, who founded WIMA in 1950. These women traversed many of the same routes in New York I ride today.

Women riders still make up only about 15% to 25% of the American motorcycling population, depending on the study. In that context, women-only events offer something tangible: community, support, and a temporary release from the quiet scrutiny of men.

I’ll admit it. I get irritated when men feel the need to “teach” me. The mansplainers arrive right on cue every spring, pointing out a “leaky fork seal” I didn’t ask about or questioning if I can handle a liter bike. Not the guys I actually ride with, but the ones I run into at a gas station, an early-season event, or online.

When I ride with women, the tone changes. We still talk bikes, maybe even more than when I ride with men, but there’s less scrutiny and more ease. At the last IFRD ride, we swapped notes on what we love about our machines, complimented each other’s gear, and compared classes we’ve taken. There were funny stories, a few disaster stories, and yes, some lighthearted teasing about men who ride with us.

But there’s an unintended side effect of women’s events. The more space we carve out for women riders, the easier it becomes to contain us there and treat us as a niche or an exception to the assumed male rider.

You can hear it in the phrasing. “Best motorcycles for women” often really means beginner bikes or options for shorter riders. I’m neither. Ask me about the best modifications “for women,” and I don’t have a useful answer because good modifications are personal, shaped by ergonomics, riding style, and preference, not gender.

Even gear reflects this tension. Add pink to a jacket, and it signals “woman rider,” but only for those who want that signal. I like pink for my ballet shoes. On a motorcycle, I’m not interested in announcing my gender to everyone I pass.

That’s the ongoing dilemma. I can’t speak for all women riders, since we come in all shapes and from different backgrounds, with our own ideas about riding.

But women riders also shape this tension. Separate spaces can, over time, become comfortable enough that you stop leaving them. The intention matters. Are these groups helping women riders break into male-dominated spaces, or building something that doesn’t need that validation? And either way, are they changing the culture or just reshaping familiar patterns?

I’ve seen a strong show of support among women riders, especially for those just starting out. There’s more freedom to make mistakes, to ride a little slower, or a lot faster. (Once, in Texas, I rode harder than I ever had with a group of women I’d just met.) Just as important, there’s room to ask questions without feeling exposed or judged. That kind of environment can make all the difference in building confidence, including to ride comfortably in mixed-gender groups.

At the same time, I’ve watched new hierarchies take shape within women-only spaces, such as cliques forming or the occasional “mean girls” dynamic emerging. Riding with women isn’t a guaranteed sisterhood. That may be part of why both informal groups and more structured clubs develop. They give riders a way to find their people and settle into a common language of motorcycling.

I don’t have a simple answer to the question of why it’s special to ride with women. Most of the time, I think of myself simply as a rider. Still, I value the occasional all-women event and moments when another woman joins a ride and it feels entirely normal.

Perhaps that’s part of what IFRD makes possible: a chance to reflect on what riding means to us individually and to women’s motorcycling communities. And maybe it invites something simple from men, too, not to overlook it because it’s about women riders, and to think about what they can do to encourage more women to accelerate.

2026 Ducati Hypermotard V2 SP

Bologna Italy is famously famous (as the saying goes) for the three Ts: torri, tortellini, and tette (for the towers, the foods, and the nymphs on the statues). Additionally, it has the oldest university in Europe (established 1088), has exquisite examples of medieval architecture, and its unfinished cathedral has a solar calendar built into the floor which channels a sunbeam from the ceiling to a line on the floor that illuminates the date.

Four miles west is Borgo Panigale, which is famous for its radio capacitor and office equipment manufacturer that turned to motorcycles: Ducati. Borgo Panigale translates to “the village where millet/panic grass grows.”

Ducati is celebrating its 100-year anniversary this year, the Hypermotard is now turning 20! Introduced as a mighty 1100 cc before morphing through 821 cc and 950 cc versions, we are now on the fourth version at 890 cc.

The 2026 Hypermotard V2 SP is a whopping 31 pounds lighter than the 950 model. The V2 engine is the lightest twin-cylinder engine Ducati has ever built and is 6.42 kilograms (14.2 pounds) lighter than the previous “Testastretta” engine. The aluminum monocoque frame reduces weight by 4.6 kilograms (10.1 pounds) over its predecessor and is not shared with other V Due models.

Taking the Hypermotard V2 SP to the track

The Hypermotard is a joyful motorcycle. There are faster track bikes, there are more stylish street bikes, and there are more comfortable touring bikes, but there is nothing else that is quite as light and punchy. You can rock this form factor on the chewed-up back roads and potholed city streets that we have, not the billiard-table-smooth pavement of our dreams. The low footpegs and high handlebar make the seating position pretty comfortable and the narrow seat, which would become intrusive on a long ride, is rendered moot by the range limits of a 3.3-gallon gas tank.

The bike would be a natural fit for the cobblestones of downtown Bologna as well as the exquisite Apennine mountain roads just to the south, like the Passo della Futa. However, increased police presence on the local mountain roads encouraged Ducati to rent the race track for us instead of having to help us navigate the Amanda Knox version of Italian traffic enforcement.

The Autodromo di Modena is a tight track with mostly second-gear turns arranged into a series of three omegas with lots of decreasing-radius exits and small camber changes. On paper, the Hypermotard has conservative, pro-stability steering geometry, but with its light weight, wide handlebar, and forged rims, the SP was so nimble that I had to relax a little on my corner entries. It could change direction so quickly that I had to steer a little to stay off the inside curbing. That quick steering would be ideal for dodging small wildlife on country roads.

On the track, the downside of the comfortably low footpegs is they become the limiting factor. Enter a turn on your knee and keep turning until the peg grinds. The Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV Corsa tires and Öhlins suspension generated so much mechanical grip that even the peg hits didn’t really upset the bike. They just served as a heuristic warning of physical limitations. On a street ride, I seriously doubt I would touch down the pegs.

The circuit surface was smooth by U.S. standards and rough by European standards. The Öhlins fork and shock would cross all the ridges, cracks, and holes with nary a bobble. The Brembo brakes fore and aft are all very high specification and, given the bike’s light weight, were more than up to the task. This being a Hypermotard, the ABS can be configured to disable the rear ABS entirely (the most fun but hardest on rear tires) or the rider-assist mode that allows you to lock the rear but the ABS will take over brake modulation again if the bike incurs too much yaw or leans over past 35 degrees. Burn-outs will fault the traction control and ABS system but, in the interest of science, I did test that the bike will allow them.

On the new Hypermotard V2, Ducati has installed a sophisticated six-axis Inertial Monitoring Unit (IMU) which is a digital gyro that tracks roll, pitch, and yaw in real time. The IMU and wheel-speed sensors combine with all rest of the data flowing over the motorcycle’s CANBUS network to conduct a symphony of electronic aids.

The Hypermotard is equipped with four riding modes (Race, Sport, Road, and Wet) but each can be customized to adjust traction control, wheelie control, ABS, and engine braking. Since we were on the track, I usually ran the bike in “Race” mode with full power, a bit of traction control, no wheelie control, limited engine braking, and rear ABS disabled. Most of the time I was only using the rear brake slides to peacock and I let the slipper clutch and electronic back torque limiter handle the rear wheel at corner entrance if I was trying to turn a quick lap. For those of us who still want to act a fool, the “Slide by Brake” function in the Level 2 ABS setting acts like a digital coach, helping you back it into corners like a Supermotard pro without the highside trip to the ER.

Wheelie control settings can either keep the front wheel on the tarmac or allow about 14 inches of lift, or it can be turned off entirely. With the wheelie control off, the bike’s torquey engine, light weight, and high handlebar encourage power lifts at every opportunity.

All this wizardry is funneled through a high-res five-inch TFT dash that ditches the clutter for three distinct “Info Modes.” And, if you opt for the SP, you get the full “factory racer” starter pack, which includes the Pit Limiter and Power Launch, straight out of the crate.

The V2 engine is smooth and though the play in the rubber-mounted handlebar is just barely discernable, there was basically no vibration in the grips or footpegs, even with the rubber inserts removed from the pegs to expose the higher grip, and welcome, peg teeth.

I was not the only one in our test group to have a few glitches with the quickshifter on the Hypermotard V2 SP. I would periodically have momentary abrupt power loss after shifts which felt like hitting the rev limiter, except I wasn’t anywhere near the redline. It was disconcerting. The Ducati uses an internal transmission sensor for its quickshifter while most bikes use a linear potentiometer in the shift linkage. The shift lever has a bulky design, which could result in unintentional boot contact, so maybe it was me hitting the lever slightly causing the power loss (which is a design flaw either way), but I was far from the only rider having the power interruption issue that day. I didn’t have a CANBUS data recorder on the bike but maybe it was happening more if I was at 95% throttle instead of 100% throttle, or maybe it was better if I rolled the throttle open rather than staying at 100%, but the unpredictability took some of the joy out of a lap and certainly made me reluctant to ride close to anyone else. A similar issue was noted in Melissa Berkoff’s review of the 2026 Ducati Monster+, so maybe there is an ECU mapping issue that could use a little attention. The other 99.9% of the time, the engine fueling was spot on and, particularly, the first touch of the throttle, in second gear, with the footpeg scratching the pavement, was smooth and confidence-inspiring.

A deeper dive inside the V2 engine

When I was first learning about tuning motorcycle engines, I imagined that air flowed in through the intake and out the exhaust, and that was kind of the whole thing. The first time I was in a dyno room watching a Yamaha FZR400 be revved to 14,000 rpm without the air box lid on, I saw a massive cumulus cloud of vaporized gasoline form over the motorcycle at various RPMs, and then subsequently disappear!

Back then, we had these magical texts that held the secrets of the universe. They were called “books.” And one of the best ones was “Tuning For Speed” by Phil Irving. He was the genius Australian engine designer behind the Vincent Black Lightning, and he wrote down all his tuning numbers in the book. Since the speed of sound is still holding steady (I mean, depending on altitude and density of medium, but you get my point) his book is still a great read.

What we learned is that in performance motorcycle engines, you have all these energy waves bouncing around in the exhaust and intake tracts. These move at the speed of sound and are triggered by things like port size changes, valves opening and closing, and the ends of velocity stacks or exhaust pipes. Most broad-range-rpm motorcycle engines are going to go through two resonant periods where the energy waves are in or out of phase. In bikes with carburetors, when the wave is out of phase the air moves backwards through the carburetor, enriching it again and forming a cloud of gasoline over the bike if you are in a dyno room. Then the piston pulls that air back through the carb a third time, giving you the dreaded triple enrichment. Fuel injection allows us to control for triple carburation, but the energy waves remain, and, with good engineering, they are the fun part of motorcycle engines.

Remember, everything in the engine takes time, and at high rpm you have less time for things to happen like “combustion” or “filling the cylinder with a fuel-air mixture.” For high performance, you really want the intake valves opening while the exhaust valve is still open so the departing exhaust gases pull the intake gas into the cylinder and then start flowing out the exhaust port, which is called “cam overlap.” You want the energy wave in the exhaust pipe to come back to the exhaust port at just the right time to push that intake gas back into the cylinder, giving you more fuel in the combustion chamber for the next pulse.

The problem with all this is that you have to choose what rpm you want for your power and, for every, say, 3% at peak, you give up 7% down low, where things are all lumpy and out of phase. Enter variable length intake tracts and, most relevantly to this Hypermotard, variable intake valve timing.

To get that sweet, sweet cam overlap, you really want to open and close the valves as fast as possible. The problem with that is the whole “materials failure limits” and other tradeoffs. With a traditional cam, the valve has to follow the profile of the cam lobe. The valve spring needs to be strong enough not to let the valve “float” off the ramp of the cam (particularly at high rpm) or, worse, bounce on the valve seat when it lands (like lots of downshifts and dumping the clutch). And, to make matters worse, the stiffer the valve springs, the more internal friction you have in the engine.

Ducati famously used desmodromics for their valve trains, which incorporates mechanical cams to both open and close the valves. Eliminating valve springs allows for very aggressive cam profiles, lots of overlap, and low internal friction. Life was good… until you had to change the cam belts or reshim the clearances, or the rocker arm hard coating delaminated.

But then there was this whole EU thing, Italy lost a lot of its independence, and the Italians had to fight with Brussels about wood-fired pizza ovens, and formaggio con i vermi, and the EU passed Euro 5 and then Euro 5+ emission standards. Those regulations so dramatically reduced the acceptable unburnt hydrocarbon emissions that it forced a lot of engine designers to ease back on the cam overlap to keep the unburnt fuel out of the pipe. Less overlap means less aggressive cam profiles which means desmodromic complexity becomes less justified.

Hypermotard V2 versus V2 SP

The primary differences between the Hypermotard V2 and the Hypermotard V2 SP lie in their chassis components and handling hardware. While the standard V2 is equipped with a 46 mm Kayaba front fork and an adjustable Kayaba rear shock, the SP model features a premium, fully adjustable 48 mm Öhlins fork and an Öhlins rear shock absorber. The SP is upgraded with Brembo Monobloc M50 four-piston calipers, offering higher performance than the Brembo Monobloc M4.32 calipers found on the standard model. The wheels and tires are also upgraded on the SP; it utilizes forged aluminum wheels instead of the base model’s cast light alloy wheels and is fitted with track-focused Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV Corsa tires rather than the standard Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV rubber.

Cast rims are made from poured molten aluminum which results in a more random metal grain. Casting requires more material to achieve strength, so they are heavier, but less expensive. Forging involves hot metal blanks smushed in a giant press. This aligns the grain in a uniform fashion so you can use less metal and get a lighter rim. It’s a more complicated process so the forged rims are more expensive.

Lighter rims solve so many handling issues! A better sprung-to-unsprung-weight ratio (weight over the springs versus weight below the springs) means better bump tracking, but the big difference is that lighter rims mean less centrifugal effect. When you push on the handgrip one way your front rotating mass tries to push back the other way at 90 degrees, but the lighter the rims, the less force you need to overcome. At higher speeds, more inertia is involved, so while on the street it’s not a big deal, on the track it’s noticeable. I usually just ask myself, on my death bed, surrounded by my loved ones, will I be thinking, “I’m glad I bought the cheaper rims.”

By incorporating forged wheels, a lithium-ion battery, and a carbon fiber front mudguard, the SP reduces its wet weight (without fuel) to 390 pounds (177 kilograms), which is seven pounds lighter than the standard V2.

Both bikes share the same core engine performance, but the SP comes standard with Ducati Power Launch (DPL) and a Pit Limiter, features that the standard V2 is “ready for” but does not include out of the box.

U.S. MSRP on the standard V2 is $16,995 and the SP model is $20,995.

2026 Ducati Hypermotard V2 SP
Price (MSRP)	$20,995
Engine	890 cc, liquid-cooled, eight-valve, V-twin
Transmission, final drive	Six-speed, chain
Claimed horsepower	120.4 @ 10,750 rpm
Claimed torque	69 foot-pounds @ 8,250 rpm
Frame	Monocoque aluminum
Front suspension	Öhlins 48 mm fork, adjustable for preload, rebound and compression damping; 6.7 inches of travel
Rear suspension	Öhlins shock, adjustable for preload, rebound and compression damping; 6.3 inches of travel
Front brake	Brembo Monobloc M50 four-piston calipers, dual 320 mm discs, with ABS
Rear brake	Two-piston caliper, 245 mm disc with ABS
Rake, trail	26 degrees, 4.3 inches
Wheelbase	59.6 inches
Seat height	34.6 inches
Fuel capacity	3.3 gallons
Tires	Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV Corsa, 120/70ZR17 front, 190/50ZR17 rear
Claimed weight	390 pounds (no fuel)
Available	Now
Warranty	24 months
More info	ducati.com

The Italian ADV job

First up is an Italian adventure-touring motorcycle with all the features. And it’s not a Ducati DesertX.

In the Enduro Veloce, MV Agusta outfits its 931 cc, 12-valve, inline-triple engine, making a claimed 124 horsepower at the crankshaft, for adventure duty. That means 8.27 inches of suspension travel at both ends, a 33.46-inch seat height, and a weight of 528.45 pounds in running order but without any fuel or the aluminum panniers. None of that likely surprises you, but the list of electronic features might. It’s a long list:

Four ride modes, one of them custom; a six-axis inertial measurement unit enables cornering anti-lock brakes; eight-level traction control that can also be turned off; quickshifter; three-level throttle sensitivity adjustment; three-level torque mapping; cruise control; adjustable engine braking; front lift control; two configurations, one for street tires and one for off-road-focused tires. The Enduro also comes equipped with aluminum panniers, protection bars, fog lights, and a center stand.

MV Agusta takes a swipe at its competition (two European brands that go by three-letter abbreviations come to mind) by noting that while the Enduro Veloce is not cheap, the price you see includes everything. “Many competitors promote attractive entry MSRPs based on minimally equipped base models,” MV Agusta points out, but the customer ends up paying more for optional packages or to unlock some features. Not so with the Enduro Veloce. “Every key feature is fully integrated and factory-installed from day one. No software unlocks. No electronic activation charges.”

MSRP on the Enduro Veloce is $15,998 in the United States, it comes with a five-year warranty, and it’s available in three color combinations: Bianco Perlato RC/Blu Nordico (white and blue), Nero Intenso/Grigio Antracite (black and gray), and Rosso Ago/Argento Ago (red and gray).

Triumph Daytona 660 goes three clicks sportier

Over the years, Triumph has used the Daytona name on a variety of motorcycles, including the Daytona 675, which was the most hard-edged version of all those models. When Triumph revived the name in 2024, it followed the current sport bike trend and created a middleweight that was less focused on track performance and more usable on the street, built around the company’s 660 cc, 12-valve triple. For 2026, the Daytona doesn’t get a change of personality, but it does get a few changes to make it a touch sportier.

The Daytona now gets an inverted Showa Separate Function Fork – Big Piston front suspension, which allows rebound and compression damping adjustment, instead of the previous non-adjustable Showa fork. The Triumph Shift Assist quickshifter is now standard equipment, allowing clutchless upshifts and downshifts. And lighter wheels are fitted with Metzeler Sportec M9 RR tires.

In the standard color, Sapphire Black, the 2026 Triumph Daytona 660 starts at $9,395, just $200 more than the 2025 MSRP, which is a pretty good price for adjustable suspension and a quickshifter. Two premium colors, the Cosmic Yellow and Sapphire black and the Icon Edition Aluminum Silver seen in the photos above add $150. See more at the Triumph web site. And if the Daytona is still not sporty enough for you and you really want to live at the track, read on.

KTM preps your track-day bike for you

When you highside yourself into a Spanish hospital and still come away saying the motorcycle is a good choice for a day at the track, that, my friends, is a positive review. So if you read Zack’s review of the KTM 990 RC R and want to turn some laps yourself — but you’re not interested in taking it on the street, where Zack thought it was a bit uncomfortable — then KTM has the model for you.

The KTM 990 RC R Track is already prepped for your next track day — or the six-round race series KTM is running in Europe for customers who pick up one of these track-only sport bikes. Gone are cruise control and ABS, as well as unnecessary bits such as lights and mirrors, but everything you need for the track is there. It rolls on Michelin Power Slick tires and the plastics are a blank canvas for your sponsors’ decals. Tweaks throughout are aimed at track riding, from revised gear ratios to a higher seat and footpegs coupled with lower clip-ons to stiffer settings on the WP APEX fully adjustable front suspension. The massive digital display on the street model is replaced by a simpler, smaller unit focused on your lap times. The rider can adjust half a dozen parameters with the three customizable track riding modes.

The 990 RC R Track will be available in the coming months and the U.S. price is yet to be announced.

Chrome makes a comeback?

When I was a young rider, one of the sayings the old guys would pronounce while attempting to nod sagely was “Chrome don’t get ya home.” The point was that it was fine for us inexperienced whippersnappers to be polishing our exhausts and trying to look good, but it was the “go” and not the “show” that we relied on in the end. In recent years, with Harley-Davidson offering several models in the buyer’s choice of chrome trim or blacked-out engine and exhaust parts, it seemed that old saying would need an addendum: “Black won’t necessarily get you back.”

Has black peaked and now the pendulum is swinging back to time-honored gleam? Harley-Davidson thinks so.

The company announced chrome trim options for the Low Rider S and Road Glide 3 trike and said it was “a direct response to increasing customer preference migrating from dark to bright chrome finishes, a recent style trend seen globally. The chrome option features brilliant chrome on the powertrain and exhaust and other trim details, and bright machined details on the cast aluminum wheels.”

So which is it, cruiser fans? Is blacked-out now worn out and we’re going back to polishing our exhausts to make them rolling mirrors? What’s your preference?