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?

Who the Tiger Sport 660 is for and what’s new

The Tiger Sport 660 remains Triumph’s entry into the Tiger range, and for many, it’ll be their first big bike. It bridges the gap between sub-50-horsepower motorcycles and the ones that can help you lose your license without ever leaving first gear. But the Tiger Sport 660 is also meant for riders who use their bike every day think twisties, touring, and commuting combined.

If you stopped reading now, the most important takeaway is that the Tiger Sport’s 660 cc 12-valve inline-triple engine received a 17% power boost for 2026, bringing its peak power up to 94 horsepower at 11,250 rpm. Torque is up too, hitting 50.2 foot-pounds at 8,250 rpm. I delve into exactly how Triumph achieves this power boost and what engine components had to change in my Trident 660 review, as both bikes use the same powerplant.

What you’ll actually notice on the road is a rev ceiling that’s 20% higher than before, touching 12,650 rpm, and that 80% of the engine’s torque is available between 3,000 rpm and 12,000 rpm. If you’ve ridden the previous model, you’ll also likely notice improved fueling and responsiveness, thanks to the use of three 44 mm throttle bodies versus the single 38 mm one used on the 2025 Tiger Sport 660.

Most of the systems involved in laying the power down were also revised to account for the power increase. That means the three-way Traction Control system, ABS, Shift Assist, riding modes — Rain, Road, and Sport — and gear ratios have all been updated. The traction control is linked to the riding mode you choose, but they don’t have to stay linked. So if you want the least-intrusive Sport TC in Rain mode, you can have it. (I don’t advise this.)

You can still turn off TC altogether and pull great big wheelies on closed roads. Just remember, if you switch off the ignition, the bike will remember what riding mode you were in, but it won’t remember that you switched TC off something to be aware of if you don’t want your friends laughing at your wheelie attempts. Mine laugh at me regardless of my TC setting, so no issue there.

“What’s the point in buying the newest model if no one knows it’s the latest?” I hear you proclaim. Don’t worry, Triumph hears you and made the front of the Tiger Sport’s bodywork more substantial. To ensure the Tiger Sport doesn’t just look heavier, Triumph has given the new fairing panels sharper lines, too. The more sizable and aggressive appearance matches the power bump nicely. The bike also features new side radiator cowls, which are meant to improve airflow management and weather protection, thus increasing the bike’s mile-munching credentials.

The larger front end probably also has something to do with the fact Triumph increased the Tiger Sport’s fuel capacity by 8%, meaning it no longer has the smallest tank in its class and can now hold 4.9 gallons. There are two new color schemes this year in the form of Interstellar Blue & Mineral Grey and Silver Ice & Intense Orange.

All other specs are essentially the same as the 2025 model, meaning you get sliding two-pot Nissin calipers biting into twin 310 mm discs, Showa 41 mm USD separate-function cartridge fork with 150 mm (5.9 inches) of travel and a Showa monoshock at the rear with 150 mm (5.9 inches) of travel and a remote hydraulic preload adjuster. But, given this was my first time on a Tiger Sport, everything was new to me.

Riding the Tiger Sport 660

Settling on the Tiger Sport 660’s seat, my right foot resting on the peg, I felt a lot more stretch in my knee than I’m used to these days. It’s the kind of roomy position that wouldn’t make you think twice about setting off on a long journey, but without feeling disengaged from the bike. It’s worth noting here that I’m six feet tall and could flat-foot the bike fairly easily. When my hands met the grips, I knew Triumph would need to really mess this bike up to make it tough to ride in a city. The Hinckley brand hadn’t messed up.

A light pull on the slip-and-assist clutch, followed by reassuring feedback from the gear shifter, and the first quarter mile passed almost without thought. I was in third gear before I knew it. My first time clocking miles on a Tiger Sport 660 and I was at home out of the gate. When we rode out of the suburbs and into the city, the Tiger Sport continued to grow on me.

That upright riding position and light clutch action that made pulling away a doddle married well with the 660’s velvet-smooth low-end power delivery to make the Tiger Sport a breeze around town. The rear brake has the right amount of force and feedback to dig into and help navigate lane splitting where legal, of course. Even at low speeds, there’s an ease to the bike’s nimbleness. But, once I spun up over 3,000 rpm, a peppy response let me know it’d happily be an urban menace. Around the city, the bike has a sense of refinement and an engine note that doesn’t make it feel like I am simply getting from A to B.

I was relaxed as we left the city, but before long, my body became tense. The pace quickened but we hadn’t hit any twisties yet, so the cold got me, and I had only straight lines and steady rpm ahead. Damn. Then, I remembered Triumph fitted the optional heated grips to my unit, which brought dexterity back to my fingers rapidly. Once I had feeling in my hands again, almost like an impulse, I reached forward and slid up the seven-way manually adjustable screen. It was effortless.

Now that the stream of cold air was off my neck, I realized just how much calm air the screen was providing my midsection in its lowest position. The revised bodywork in general showed its worth; from my knees hiding under the larger, more aggressive side panels to my neck sitting in almost dead air, I knew the harshest of the weather was deflected. Unfortunately, the Tiger Sport suffers from the same issue that plagues most tall-rounders: buffeting. The sustained beating I was taking from the wind was getting to me, so as the temperature rose, I slid the screen down to its lowest position, where it stayed for the rest of the ride.

Now, with the interim roads between city and twisties in my rearview, I’d arrived at the kind of pavement that makes you think about moving house (read “country”). The route was almost perfectly suited to exploit this level of power, and I didn’t hesitate. I spent enough time enjoying the 660’s mellow low-end power delivery. When I spun it up, the revs progressed just as smoothly as before, but now served the hit I was waiting for.

By 6,000 rpm, the bike lets you know it’s made for more than meandering through the country hills, and at around 8,000 rpm, the powerplant delivered its punch. The top third of the rev range, between peak torque at 8,250 rpm and peak power at 11,250 rpm, is where the Tiger Sport earns the “Sport” in its moniker. By this point, it was howling similarly to the Street Triple 675 the engine draws lineage to, and inside, so was I. There were no unexpected wheelies under hard acceleration, but as I’d yet to add any preload to the rear shock, I wouldn’t discount the possibility. But all the extra power as part of the update isn’t just to make degenerates like me echo the triple’s howl. It’s to make the Tiger Sport a more competent tourer.

If I was covering a few hundred miles per day, I wouldn’t be doing it all in the manner I just described. I’d short-shift and live in the Tiger Sport 660’s delectable mid-range, where there’s still a strong enough pull to play through the twisties without feeling like things are getting frantic. Thanks to the added power for 2026, embracing the short-shift pull should still be an option if you’re two-up with loaded panniers, although I didn’t get to test this theory. Triumph claims the Tiger Sport makes 80% of maximum torque between 3,000 to 12,000 rpm, and I’m inclined to believe that. But knowing there’s more power up top for overtakes and general shenanigans makes this bike a very viable option for those wanting to do it all.

I only spent around 50 miles in the saddle before switching over to the Trident, but between trying to hang off it in the twisties and make an armchair out of it on dull straights, I couldn’t fault the Tiger Sport 660’s comfort. It doesn’t have all the fancy gizmos we’re used to on top-spec sport-touring or tall-rounder motorcycles, but the whole package works together in a way that makes those features nice-to-haves instead of necessities. The suspension is on the soft side of plush, the seat comfy, the riding position roomy, and the power smooth, yet ample. It’s a budget tourer that doesn’t feel particularly budget.

The comfort provided by the relatively simple suspension comes with a price when pushing through the twisties. The Tiger Sport is a flop around the bends; it just prefers a gentler, flowy ride and well-thought-out corner entries. At first, I applied the Nissin brakes with force, the suspension dove far more than I expected, and I tried to remain calm while reducing the force to achieve the right level of trail into the corner. In reality, this is how I take a corner on basically every motorcycle — albeit usually without the “trying to remain calm” part but the softness of the long-travel suspension meant that it felt like a more drawn-out process on the Tiger Sport.

The new Tiger Sport has the same rake, trail, and wheelbase as the 2025 model, which means it’s nimble enough to chuck into corner after corner and engaging enough that you feel like turning around and doing it all again. I added eight more clicks of preload, out of a possible 32, to the rear shock via the remote adjuster to try to gain some more composure while keeping up with the Trident 660s in the group. The added preload and saying “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast” in my head helped keep my 187-pound body from making the bike act like a pogo stick.

That less aggressive riding style also suited the front two-pot Nissin calipers, which were too weak for my liking. The bike now weighs around 10 pounds more than when it was first introduced and has an added 14 horsepower, but the brakes remain the same as when it launched in 2022. The issue I have with the brakes isn’t just that they’re soft. It’s the conflict between the fact that they’re aimed at a newer-rider audience on one hand and the fact some other users will ride this bike two-up with luggage. It’ll be interesting to find out if this issue can be remedied by simply swapping the pads out for more aggressive ones. Although I’d like more stopping power, the feel through the lever was good.

Even with my more Zen-like approach to riding, I still caused the lean-sensitive traction control to kick in twice. I was in Road mode and the Road TC setting, and I have nothing to complain about; the system stepped in when it should have and not a moment before, considering the riding mode. Similarly, the lean-sensitive ABS wasn’t overly intrusive for the type of riding the Tiger Sport is made to do.

One thing I appreciated on the Tiger Sport, as on the Trident, is that the power delivery in Sport mode wasn’t overly aggressive, as it is on quite a few modern bikes. That said, I spent approximately 70% of the ride in Road mode and was happiest there. I didn’t get to use the one-touch cruise control on the Tiger Sport, but it’s the same as the one on the Trident, which I used. It works simply and effectively.

The Tiger Sport has all the toys a newer rider needs to enjoy themselves on a good road day after day. Triumph nailed the package in terms of what features come as standard. Something that transcends the technology aimed at newer riders is Triumph’s Shift Assist bi-directional quickshifter, which is a stand-out feature regardless of how long you’ve been riding. The reassuring, reliable snip from each movement of the gear shifter made playing between the engine’s torque-laden midrange and somewhat peaky top end more addictive. The Shift Assist can change down while you accelerate or up while you decelerate, which is quickly becoming a gold-standard feature of quickshifters.

I spent the majority of my time chasing Trident 660s on roads more suited to that bike. The Tiger Sport kept up but required more work. I realize now that, somewhere in my mind, I wanted to be on the Trident because these roads were so amazing — that’s the headspace I referred to in my intro and that led me to underappreciate the Tiger Sport at the time. But thinking back, in the time since I rode the two bikes in Spain, my appreciation for the Tiger Sport has changed.

How the Tiger Sport 660 stacks up to the competition

During the ride, I couldn’t see the forest for the trees. If I was given the chance to ride home and keep one of those bikes that day, I’d have chosen the Trident, influenced by the roads that I’m still obsessing over as I type this. Now, however, with the benefit of time and a calmer mind, I wouldn’t make the same choice.

When I stop looking through the lens that this bike is made to be the most powerful A2-restrictable model in the category, it stops looking like a great entry-level tall-rounder and starts looking like a bloody competent do-it-all motorcycle for anyone. Except, it benefits from entry-level pricing with an MSRP of just $10,445.

For that price you get a motorcycle that rides engagingly on any stretch of twisty blacktop, commutes like one of the best in the business, and is ready for a two-up tour, although you’ll need to add some luggage. (Triumph’s accessory panniers cost $805; add $165 if you want the color-matched infill panels.) I didn’t appreciate enough what Triumph did to the Tiger Sport 660 at the time, but adding more torque and so much more horsepower puts this bike into a class of its own, far more than it does with the Trident 660.

The Tiger Sport 660 now has a good 20 to 30 horsepower advantage over its direct competitors, and that’s so far ahead it’s almost not even in the same category. But it’s still 10 to 25 horsepower and around 20 foot-pounds of torque short of the next level of tall-rounders, like the BMW F 900 XR and Yamaha Tracer 9.

In the middleweight tall-rounder category, the Tiger Sport 660’s standard features and category-destroying horsepower number make it great value, even as one of the more expensive options. When compared to the models a half-step above it, it’s still great value because, although less powerful and feature-laden, you’re saving anywhere between $1,500 to $4,800. That’s enough to add Triumph panniers, an aftermarket windscreen, upgrade the brake pads, and keep enough change to buy gas for your first adventure.

No matter what way you look at it, the Tiger Sport is priced attractively and should capture newer riders as they continue their two-wheeled journey.

I’d wager the Tiger Sport will also appeal to seasoned riders, likely ones who’ve lived through their ridiculous-horsepower era already, don’t need to arrive home after an adrenaline dump that leaves them silently grateful to be alive, and appreciate the engagement a more moderately powered motorcycle has to offer.

	2026 Triumph Tiger Sport 660
Price (MSRP)	$10,445
Engine	660 cc, liquid-cooled, 12-valve, inline triple
Transmission, final drive	Six-speed, chain
Claimed horsepower	94 @ 11,250 rpm
Claimed torque	50.2 foot-pounds @ 8,250 rpm
Frame	Steel tubular perimeter
Front suspension	Showa 41 mm fork; 5.9 inches of travel
Rear suspension	Showa monoshock, adjustable for spring preload; 5.9 inches of travel
Front brake	Dual two-piston calipers, 310 mm discs with ABS
Rear brake	Single-piston caliper, 255 mm disc with ABS
Rake, trail	23.1 degrees, 3.82 inches
Wheelbase	55.83 inches
Seat height	32.9 inches
Fuel capacity	4.9 gallons
Tires	Michelin Road 5, 120/70R17 front, 180/55R17 rear
Claimed weight	465.2 pounds
Available	Now
Warranty	24 months
More info	triumphmotorcycles.com

2026 Ducati Formula 73 first look

Proven formula

This isn’t the first time the Bologna brand has drawn from the 750 Imola Desmo/Super Sport Desmo well. The Paul Smart 1000 SportClassic from 20 years ago is the most prominent example. Like that bike, the Formula 73 adopts café racer styling (albeit in a modern fashion) with a sleek bubble fairing, an aqua-green trellis frame, a seat cowl, and clip-on handlebars.

The devil is in the details, too, with Ducati imitating the unpainted strip on the Imola Desmo’s gas tank (used to measure the fuel level) with a gold vertical stripe on the Formula 73’s tank. The bar-end mirrors and a Rizoma fuel cap come standard. The brake lever, clutch lever, and footpegs are billet aluminum. Even the exhaust receives the premium treatment, finished with a color-matched Termignoni silencer.

A familiar platform underlies all that café racer styling, too. Ducati doesn’t advertise the Formula 73 as such, but it’s basically a Scrambler variant. From the 73-horsepower, 803 cc L-twin to the steel tubular frame, from the KYB suspension to the 4.3-inch TFT display, the limited-edition model is a Scrambler dressed up in a fancy fairing. 

It’s worth noting that the Scrambler range starts at $10,295 (Icon Dark) and climbs up to $15,000 (10 Anniversario Rizoma Edition). The Formula 73 easily eclipses its stablemates with a $19,995 MSRP. Of course, much of that price tag is owed to the bike’s exclusive nature. That’s why interested customers should check their Ducati dealer when the Formula 73 arrives in summer 2026.

2026 Ducati Formula 73
Price (MSRP)	$19,995
Engine	803 cc, air-cooled, four-valve, L-twin
Transmission, final drive	Six-speed, chain
Claimed horsepower	73 @ 8,250 rpm
Claimed torque	48 foot-pounds @ 7,000 rpm
Frame	Steel tubular
Front suspension	KYB 41 mm fork; 5.9 inches of travel
Rear suspension	KYB shock, adjustable for spring preload; 5.9 inches of travel
Front brake	Brembo four-piston caliper, 330 mm disc with ABS
Rear brake	Brembo single-piston caliper, 245 mm disc specify ABS
Rake, trail	22.0 degrees, 3.6 inches
Wheelbase	56.5 inches
Seat height	31.8 inches
Fuel capacity	3.8 gallons
Tires	Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV, 120/70R17 front, 180/55R17 rear
Claimed weight	403 pounds (no fuel)
Available	Summer 2026
Warranty	24 months
More info	ducati.com

Indian Motorcycle announced that the sale of a majority stake in the company officially closed today, marking just the latest twist in a 125-year-old story that has seen the highest highs and some low lows.

Last fall, parent company Polaris announced it was selling a majority stake in Indian to Carolwood LP, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm. Polaris has also sold other lines of business in recent years, such as its Transamerican Auto Parts division, to focus on its core businesses in four-wheel off-road vehicles, boats, and snowmobiles. Indian accounted for just 7.0% of Polaris’ revenues over the 12-month period ending June 30, 2025, according to the company. Having shut down the Victory brand of motorcycles in 2017, Polaris now ends its nearly 20-year involvement in motorcycles (though it continues to produce the Slingshot three-wheeler, which is legally a motorcycle in some jurisdictions).

Indian now begins a new and uncertain era with industry veteran Mike Kennedy as CEO. He is a former CEO at both RumbleOn, the nation’s largest powersports dealership group, and Vance & Hines, the aftermarket parts and accessories manufacturer, as well as a long-time employee at Harley-Davidson.

“Kennedy and Carolwood are committed to a long-term strategy centered on delivering an even better ownership experience for riders and stronger, more focused support for the dealer network,” said a company statement. Kennedy added, “We will achieve our vision through a deeper level of differentiation, leaning in on what makes our brand unique, and with products that possess a style, craftsmanship, and performance quality that is uniquely justified by our historic legacy and spirit of innovation.”

With the country marking its 250th year and Indian marking the 125th anniversary of its founding, it’s sobering to note that Indian has been around for half of U.S. history. And it has been a turbulent history for Indian. As noted in the Motorcycle Trivia Challenge episode of the Highside/Lowside podcast three years ago, Polaris’ ownership of the Indian brand was the 18th time the trademark had changed hands since it was first registered by George Hendee in the late 1800s for the bicycles he was building. So the sale of a majority stake to Carolwood is the 19th time that ownership of the Indian name has changed hands.

Clearly, the Polaris years were the most stable period for the brand since the original company, based in Springfield, Massachusetts, went out of business in the 1950s. In the early 20th century, Indian was the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world for a time, but after the original company stopped production, the name changed hands numerous times and the brand was slapped on products that had nothing to do with the original products, such as cheap, imported scooters. For a while, before Polaris acquired the brand, Indian’s ownership built Chief and Scout models in California, using aftermarket frames and engines based on Harley-Davidson designs.

About 900 employees are part of the shift in ownership and production will continue to take place in plants in Spirt Lake, Iowa, and Monticello, Minnesota. The sale also includes design centers in Burgdorf, Switzerland, and Wyoming, Minnesota. Another plant in Osceola, Wisconsin, which manufactured engines for Indians and for Polaris snowmobiles, was closed by Polaris as the company said it would no longer be necessary after the Indian spin-off.

“America’s first motorcycle company will put America first,” said Kennedy. “Our brand and business will be grounded in our American identity and more importantly, American manufacturing. ‘Built in America’ is not a slogan. It’s a competitive advantage, and we intend to use it.”