Gear Patrol

You might think a banshee is just some scary poltergeist, but Irish and Scottish legend said they were female spirits that warned of imminent danger. That’s the inspiration behind the Screaming Banshee ($100), a new way to ‘roid out your motorcycle’s stock horn. Instead of just having a Road Runner-esque “beep” to warn unaware cars…

Given the chance to ride motorcycles in the winter, a sane rider might politely decline, but what’s life without a few two three-wheeled thrills? On a recent invitation by Ural Motorcycles we did just that, responding “yes, please” (pronto) while simultaneously reaching for our bags, and multiple changes of underwear. Next stop, cold and soggy…

Triumph Tridays is a huge motorcycle event taking place every year in Neukirchen, Austria. The all-grass 400-meter scramble means you’ve got to have traction, stability and robust but manageable power. This year, you’ll see the Triumph Tridays Rumbler have a go at it. On the technical side, Jochen Schmitz-Linkweiler (say that ten times) of LSL…

The BMW F800R is a phenomenal bike in its own right. Nimble, responsive and powerful, the F800R is a rider favorite due to its great naked bike looks and fantastic performance. So, how do you make it better? You send it to Russian tuner, Vilner and let them have at it. The stunning result is…

We can all agree that the morning commute is broken for many. With no fix in sight, mechanical engineer Chris Hoffman of Ryno Motors has proposed a solution that turns more heads than it does wheels. Meet the Ryno Single Wheeled Electric Scooter. Looking like Segway’s one-legged cousin, this self-balancing electric scooter offers riders even…

The dystopian Neo Tokyo of 2019 described and depicted by Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira may be as likely as our Mayan predicted destruction, but that didn’t stop the team at Japan’s Znug Design from having a crack at building Tetsuo Shima’s bike. The ZecOO ($70,000 projected) is easily one of the best looking, and possibly priciest…

When you think hybrid or electric, the environmental mindset overtakes all else. But what if electric power happened to be the best choice from a design and power perspective? The minds at motorcycle startup firm, BRD, took that very angle with their revolutionary BRD Redshift motorcross bike. Aside from the beautiful tri-color paint scheme, the…

Plenty of amazing vintage vehicles are bludgeoned through restoration. Making them “new again” does not always equate to making them better. The original BMW R100RS, built in the late 1970s, remains a classic bike whose looks will stand the test of time, but we’ve seen our fair share of restoration nightmares on this model to…

Twisting the throttle for a two wheeled commute used to mean going incommunicado and possibly missing out on some morning vitals. Now you can stay in the loop at any lean angle. Backed by over 90 years of research and development, Schuberth GmbH has created the new Schuberth S2 ($699). The S2 is the first…

Let’s make this clear. Gas is expensive and mopeds are emasculating. Tiny wheels the size of a cookie do not a man make, but filling up your car for $80 a week isn’t exactly the best option, either. Introducing the Yamaha Y125 Moegi Concept. We can’t tell you how to pronounce it, but we can…

Like 40 year-old Highland Park single malt, a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO and the stunning Raquel Welch, sometimes what has graced us in the past will always stand apart from whatever newfangled version comes our way. So it is with the 1974 Ducati 750SS Corsa, owned by former bike racer, Carlo Saltarelli. Going up for…

Ducati is doing quite well these days. With a huge rise in market sales in 2011, the momentum is overwhelming, and that’s good for the rest of us because it means more designs and, frankly, more phenomenal bikes by the Italian motorcycle company. Following on the heels of the versatile Multistrada and the beastly Diavel…

Shaw Speed & Custom churns out some pretty sweet bikes. But what about for the budget conscious? We can’t all throw down tens of thousands for the bike of our dreams. Their most recent custom job, the XL1200R made use of a 2006 Harley Sportster XLR1200R they had in stock as the “guinea hog.” The…

Talk about a match made in motoring heaven. Merc and Ducati have partnered to create a worthy collaboration of two and four wheeled beauties. The Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG and Ducati Streetfighter 848 adorned in ‘Streetfighter Yellow’ showcase performance in a rare color that MB might just bring to their line of cars if enough…

The Milwaukee Golf Caddie is a specialized accessory that combines a certain subset of men’s two greatest passions — a.k.a. golf and their Harley (apologies ladies). If you’re the proud owner of 1995 to Current Road King, Road Glide, Tour Glide, Street Glide or Electra Glide, then the Golf Caddie’s current offerings will fit on…

For those of you young’uns who know nothing about the man, just know that Steve McQueen was more than just a debonair, masculine Hollywood star. He loved adventure and loved racing. His real life embodied the kind of cool we all respect. Triumph has recently pulled the covers off its homage bike, the Triumph Steve…

The Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle series has been around for decades, and there’s no sign of stopping anytime soon. They’ve just released their nutified 2012 Kawasaki ZX-14R ($14,889), touted to be the world’s fastest accelerating motorcycle (translation: empty your bladder before you ride). Aside from its appropriate nuclear green paint scheme, the all-new bike is powered…

MV Agusta is not a name your hear often stateside, but the Italian motorcycle maker has had a premier racing reputation since 1945, with the founding goal to emerge in the forefront of the Grand Prix of European motorcycling. They succeeded back then and continue to produce some of the finest bikes made. Their newly…

Conventional wisdom erroneously perceives that most Harley riders are over 40, beefy, peppered with tattoos and leather, with a preponderance of facial hair. Though a fair share of riders fall into that category, it’s also absolutely true that the pre-WWI motorcycle manufacturer has made serious inroads to the younger, hipper crowd. In case you didn’t…

BMW Motorcycles are refined performance machines, no question about it. What happens when you torque it up to brutal? You get the BMW Slugger, a 200 horsepower two-wheeled juggernaut of a bike that’s propelled by a monster turbo-charged six-cylinder boxer engine. Swedish bike builder Stellan Egeland, who previously bestowed the steampunkish “Harrier” bike upon the…

With enough room for you, a companion and your ride, the Tenere Expedition Tent ($399) is easily one of the best motorcycle adventure tent solutions we’ve come across. Developed by the minimalist two-wheeled trekkers at Redverz, the Tenere offers designs specific to motorcycle expeditions. Consisting of two vestibules along with a separate inner-tent, the main…

Typically, riding a scooter as a full-fledged male has the ability to take you down a few notches on the coolness scale. Well, BMW hopes to change some of that, as they try to edge in on the ubiquitous scooter market with the introduction of the BMW Concept C motor scooter. Using a high displacement…

In 2001, the the Harley-Davidson V-Rod was introduced as a new kind of muscle bike to compete with the other heavy-hitters on the market. It met with great success, using the Revolution engine, a 60 degree V-twin that was a joint effort between the Milwaukee-based manufacturer and Porsche and utilized liquid cooling, an HD first….

Every once in a while something comes along so crazy, so unearthly cool, we have to shout it from the rooftops. Today just happens to be that once in a while, so feast your eyes on the BMW boxer engine powered Hoverbike. Framed around an 1,170cc 4-stroke BMW boxer engine that powers the twin rotors,…

There are custom motorcycles everywhere these days. Some stand apart from the rest, not just because of their design but because heritage and history are the framework of the overall design. Falcon Motorcycles Black Falcon is the ultimate example of just that. This two-wheeled work of art was recently uncloaked in California at The Quail…

Denmark’s Wrenchmonkees puts out some seriously menacing designs and the Monkee #20 embodies both classic and apocalyptic themes that make their motorcycles so appealing. Straight out of their shop in Copenhagen, these guys always have some unique designs up for sale and regularly take on custom projects. Built up from some seriously good bones and…

When you think of German automobiles, BMWs are probably the first to emerge in your mind as being the best. For the cognoscenti, BMW also makes some of the best bikes around. Case in point, the new 2012 BMW K 1600 GT and K 1600 GTL, utilizing an engine most often found in their cars,…

When you’re the maker of pre-WW2 motorcycles, you want to maintain a certain mystique while forging ahead into the 21st century. Well, Renard has done just that with their Grand Tourer GT, built on a carbon fiber with reinforced Kevlar moncoque that weighs in at a svelte 24 pounds. This monocoque design leads to incredible…

The iPad 2 release from the minds at Apple may put you to sleep when you see what else has been unveiled in Cupertino, CA. The Ducati Multistrada 1200 S Pikes Peak Special Edition is easily more fun than a flock of angry birds (app or real). Created to celebrate motorcyclist Greg Tracy’s victorious class…

American motorcycles and British wristwatches. Not an engineering combination you’d think of right off the bat. But now, thanks to Harley-Davidson and Bell & Ross, the two great tastes show that they can indeed taste great together. Leading UK dealer, Shaw Harley-Davidson (the current champs of modified Hogs) approached Bell & Ross watches with the…