Motos and Friends from Ultimate Motorcycle magazine

This week Editor Don Williams and Associate Editor Jonathan Handler take you to the South of France where Jonathan got to ride the local roads on the all-new, redesigned Triumph Rocket 3 . The Rocket comes in two flavors: the Storm R model, and the Storm GT version. The two-and-a-half liter engine puts out a claimed 180 horsepower and a tarmac-shredding 166 ft/lbs of torque. Jonathan talks to us a...

Hello everyone and welcome to Motos and Friends, brought to you by the Editors at Ultimate Motorcycling.  My name is Arthur Coldwells. This week’s first segment is the 2024 Yamaha MT-09 , one of the highest performing naked upright sportbikes out there. Senior Editor Nic de Sena recently returned from the launch of the all-new three-cylinder Yamaha, and it seems he was impressed. Motos and Friends...

This week’s first segment is brought to you by editors Don Williams and Nic de Sena. Don recently returned from Spain where he rode the new 2024 Husqvarna Svartpilen 801 . Performance comes in many forms, and certainly the Svartpilen has a unique take on things while delivering amazing speed. It’s a premium motorcycle with lots of high-end features and a unique, almost steampunk look to it that ma...

With its punchline “Ready to Race” you have to take KTM seriously in the performance world, and so this week, Editors Don Williams and Nic de Sena discuss the new KTM 990 Duke . Although in engine capacity terms it’s almost a liter-bike, actually the 990 Duke is classed as a middleweight. But, having thrashed this beauty around the roads of southern Spain, Nic chats with Don and gives his reason w...

This week, Editors Don Williams and Nic de Sena discuss the new 2024 Aprilia RS 457 . This is Aprilia’s newest entry into the highly competitive lightweight sportbike class. The smallest RS has it all, including a parallel-twin motor, full electronics suite, and an excellent handling chassis. What’s not to like? Nic shares his thoughts on the Aprilia, where he rode it on track in Italy, sharing th...

This week, Editors Don Williams and Nic de Sena discuss the 2025 Triumph Daytona 660 . The all-new middleweight triple stands out amongst the well-established parallel twins in the class—and it does it for an exceptional price.  In the second segment this week I chat with the three founders of Moto-Cyco Touring Adventures . Pat Campbell, Greg Mason, and Scott Urwick want to share their passion for...

This week, Editors Don Williams and Nic de Sena discuss the latest addition to the Harley Icons Collection, the 2024 Harley-Davidson Hydraglide Revival . This beautiful new softail commemorates the 75th anniversary of the hydraulic telescopic fork debuting on a Harley-Davidson. Don rode the Hydraglide Revival with his usual enthusiasm for all of these Icons Collection bikes, and of course he answe...

This week, Editors Don Williams and Nic de Sena discuss the new Moto Guzzi Stelvio . It has been around eight years since Moto Guzzi updated the Stelvio, and so expectations were quite high when Nic went to the launch in Spain. Don chats with Nic about his experiences with the new Stelvio, and whether this new version is now a credible ADV bike.   Motos and Friends is brought to you by Arai helmet...

Hello everyone and welcome once again to Motos and Friends, brought to you by the Editors at Ultimate Motorcycling magazine.  I’m Arthur Coldwells. This week, Editors Don Williams and Nic de Sena discuss the 2024 Harley-Davidson Street Glide . The new Street Glide has had a total revamp, from the new fairing and lights, to the engine and chassis, the Street Glide is now an even more serious bagger...

This week, Editors Don Williams and Nic de Sena discuss the new Triumph Scrambler . This model uses the 1200 twin engine from the Bonneville range, and it in two distinct flavors, the X and the XE. Previous versions of the Scrambler were not very off-road focused, however Triumph has changed all that, and Nic had the opportunity to do a lot of pretty hard-core desert riding in his quest to find ou...

This week, Senior Editor Nic de Sena brings us his thoughts on the new Suzuki GSX-8R . This is the fully faired, slightly more sporting version of the excellent GSX-8S upright middleweight that came out last year. The 8R uses the same new, highly acclaimed, super-smooth parallel-twin engine seen on several models, and clearly putting it into a really sporting-style motorcycle makes sense. Nic spen...

Whether you define the new Royal Enfield Shotgun as a cruiser or a bobber, it is certainly an awesome-looking retro-styled motorcycle. Kelly Callan recently spent a couple of weeks with the new version of the 650-twin, and she gives us her thoughts.   In our second segment this week, Teejay Adams chats with the one-time USA coast-to-coast speed record holder, Andrew Pieper, about the trials and tr...

Triumph’s revamped Tiger 900 lineup looks like a high-end, highly capable ADV styled motorcycle. Senior Editor Nic de Sena recently visited Malaga, Spain to ride the Rally and GT Pro versions. Nic gives us his thoughts on what has changed with the new Tiger, and a comparison between the two variations.    In our second segment this week, Teejay Adams chats with Aussie motorcycle racer Tayla Relph....

This week’s first segment features Senior Editor Nic de Sena, freshly returned from India, where he rode the all new Royal Enfield Himalayan ADV bike. The Himalayan has gone through a generational upgrade, with a bigger, more powerful motor and the addition of Showa suspension just to start with. Royal Enfield is clearly upping its game, and Nic gives us his thoughts on the new machine and where i...

This week’s first segment is brought to you by Editor Don Williams who recently rode the new 2024 Yamaha Tenere 700 . Although the Tenere has been around for some time now, unusually, Don never quite managed to get the chance to ride one. So he looks at the Tenere and it’s updates for 2024 from a fresh perspective. The big question is whether the Tenere is getting too long in the tooth to maintain...

Freshly returned from the intro of the Suzuki GSX-S1000GX+, Senior Editor Nic de Sena gives us his thoughts on the new crossover bike from the big S. This is another sport-touring variant on the fantastic inline-four GSX-S1000 upright naked model, and although Suzuki have the really great GT+ in the lineup, this new GX+ now comes with semi-active electronic suspension and a comfortable riding posi...

In the first segment this week, Editor Don Williams on the new Benelli Imperiale 400.  This hyper-retro machine has styling that makes it look it comes straight from the 1940’s or possibly 1950’s. On paper, the Benelli is truly unimpressive, but always one to keep an open mind, Don takes to the urban streets curious to see who exactly might enjoy this motorcycle. There’s a chance that Benelli with...

In our first segment this week, Senior Editor Nic de Sena gives us his take on the Kramer EVO2-690SP . This is a KTM powered turnkey race or track only motorcycle available to all enthusiasts of speed. The Kramer’s amazing light weight and impeccable handling were to much temptation for Nic who decided to race it in the recent AHRMA round at the Barber Motorsports Park vintage festival. He did wel...

In the first segment this week, Senior Editor Nic de Sena chats with Arthur Coldwells about Ducati’s new Diavel V4 . As the name implies, the savage new engine from the new MotoGP World Champions slots nicely into the Diavel chassis. The big question of course is whether this is too much motor for this style of bike?   In our second segment this week, Arthur chats with Ryan Smith of CarbonSmith ....

In the first segment this week, Senior Editor Nic de Sena chats with Arthur Coldwells about KTM’s latest Super Duke 1290 GT . That’s the sport-touring version of the Super Duke R. The question is whether KTM overly detuned its fierce superbike, or whether even in touring mode, the heart of The Beast is still just as savage. In our second segment this week, Editor-at-Large Neale Bayly talks with ma...

In the first segment this week, Associate Editor Jess McKinley—freshly returned from the launch in Spain—gives us the low down on BMW’s all-new 1300 GS . This highly anticipated new version of the quintessential ADV bike that arguably invented the category, has now been radically changed. Jess tells us what the remarkable new GS is like to actually ride, both on- and off-road. This week’s Snippet...

Welcome once again to Motos and Friends, the weekly podcast from the editorial team at Ultimate Motorcycling. My name is Arthur Coldwells. Honda’s much anticipated XL750 Transalp was launched last year at the international EICMA show. Editor Don Williams was rather hoping Honda would bring it to the US, and it seems he’s got his wish. After attending the US launch a few weeks ago, Don gives us his...

In this week’s first segment, Editor Don Williams takes us through the new 2023 Kawasaki KLR650 S . This simple machine has been around—in various iterations—for over 30 years, and could arguably be called the “original” ADV bike. Of course it has its pluses and a couple of minuses too, depending on what you use it for. This new S model has a reduced seat height which will certainly appeal to many...

In our first segment this week, Nic de Sena tells about his recent comparison test between the Kawasaki’s all-new ZX-4RR and Yamaha’s brilliant YZF-R7 . He rode both bikes at the Streets of Willow Springs and although they’re actually very similar in some ways, they are of course very different machines in other ways. In our product Snippet this week, I chat with Teejay Adams about the new Cortech...

In this week’s episode we hear about the Honda CRF300LS from Associate Editor Kelly Callan . It’s a dual-sport bike that is likely to interest entry-level or novice riders. However, it’s also capable enough that it may also appeal to intermediate and even experts who want to have some inexpensive fun. In our product Snippet this week, Arthur Coldwells introduces you to the recently launched Cortec...