Gear Patrol

Short on space in the garage? Gear Patrol’s new series, “Want This, Get This”, moves into a whole new vein this week, presenting a lust-worthy sportbike along with a more affordable alternative that scratches the same itch. Read on for the dream screamer and its reality-based substitute.

While smartphones and google calendar might have replaced much of the functional need for a physical calendar these days, we’re still nostalgic for the analog. Following in the tradition of our Grandfather’s garage, our pick for 2013′s planner is the Custom Motorcycle Calendar from Bike Exif. What it lacks in Bettie Page pinup curves it…

The ventilation found in most motorcycle helmets these days is about as cooling as having an asthmatic wheeze on you. Try to tame the tail of the dragon on a hot day, and you’ll soon learn how mom’s limp veggies feel before they land on the Thanksgiving Day table. To keep you cool, dry, safe…

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…

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…

We have just witnessed the birth of a new class of vehicle, and it’s a doozy. Presenting the PAL-V ONE Personal Air and Land Vehicle, a two seat hybrid car and gyroplane. On the road, the 3-wheeled PAL-V ONE can reach speeds up to 112 mph and go from 0 to 60 in about 8…

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…

Motorcycles are already far more efficient than their automotive petrol-hog brethren. Now that electric varieties have popped on the scene, you’ll start to see manufacturers emerge with new exhaust-free bikes and eventually go mainstream. The new and beefy Brutus 2.0 certainly doesn’t look like an electric bike hippies would fawn over, thanks to its sinister…

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…

It’s Better in the Wind follows a similar theme to the short film Machine we shared a few weeks back. Creator Scott Toepfer spent the last two years working on the project, capturing photos and video footage on each of his rides around the Western United States using a Canon 5dMkII and Minolta Super 8mm….

Chronicling the relationship between men and their motorcycles certainly isn’t a new idea in the world of film. Still, Matt Herrington’s Machine manages to hit all of the right notes started by films like Easy Rider, while avoiding the cliches of Wild Hogs or John Woo — in just over three minutes time.

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…

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…

We don’t subscribe to the belief that everything purported as “green” is actually worth your time and money — no matter how hard Oprah stares us down. Still, the new Zero XU electric motorcycle makes our good book for a host of reasons. Thanks to aircraft grade aluminum construction, the bike is lightweight and as…

Turbo. All-wheel drive. Diesel. Motorcycle. Virtually all of these words get our attention all by themselves. Combine them in the form of the chiseled two-wheeler above, and you have the (conceptual) Kickboxer Diesel, designed by Ian McElroy. Powered by a compact, fuel-efficient Japanese diesel engine, the Kickboxer capitalized on McElroy’s previous Subaru WRX gas-powered engine…

What’s the only thing cooler than a motorcycle that flies? Trick question, nothing is cooler than a flying motorcycle. Since it may be awhile before that’s a reality though, the Confederate P120 Fighter comes in at a very close second. Made by hand, and crafted almost entirely of air craft grade aluminum, the P120 takes…

Appearing originally back in 1914 within the company’s Brooks Book for Motor Cyclists, Brooks recently decided to bring back this classic and classy motorcycle accoutrement with a modern twist. Made of stout leather that is vegetable tanned in Europe, bikers can choose from three color options shown above including: brown, black, and honey. The kit…

Mechanically identical to the award winning standard 2009 Daytona 675, this race-bred sport bike was built to turn heads thanks to new Pearl White body paneling and distinctive Sparkle Blue paint detailing on the swing arm and frame. With the lightest and narrowest chassis in its class (its frame weighs a mere 19lbs), this beast…

Here at Gear Patrol, we love the latest and greatest tech. We’re easily wowed by newfangled gizmos with innovative functions and aesthetics. However, we hold in the highest esteem brands and products that have stood the test of time. Such items have endeared themselves to individuals and to popular culture alike; the classic American motorcycle…

Last month, Gear Patrol’s Jon Gaffney was able to attend the SurferCross event in California, sponsored by Toyota. Since his return, he’s been pretty psyched up. And not just about the