From the Editor
FROM THE EDITOR
IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A MOTORCYCLIST. JUST LOOK AT the variety of bikes on our cover. BMW’s new water-cooled R1200GS has earned the primary spot; as the latest iteration of the motorcycle that essentially created the adventure-touring genre in 1980, it carries a heavy burden—improving upon a bike with legendary, almost cult-like status among two-wheel adventurers worldwide. And, by all accounts, the new GS, arriving at dealers just as this 2013 Cycle World Buyer’s Guide hits newsstands, succeeds. With its robust steel frame, added power and comprehensive suite of easily programmed electronics, the new GS shines as an everyday bike, a substantial improvement over the air-/oil-cooled model that will continue to be available in 2013.
And for those of us who came of motorcycling age in the 1970s, the new Honda CB1100 provides a reason to smile. It’s the Universal Japanese Motorcycle revisited, boasting twice the displacement of an old CB550-Four but very much the same, simple spirit. To that end, it’s fitted with a wide seat, an exposed, air-cooled inline-Four (with throttle-body injectors looking like carbs), acres of chrome and a handsome 4-into-1 exhaust that’s practically begging for a Kerker. Also sharing space on the lower part of our cover are the sporty but affordable $4799 Kawasaki Ninja 300 (what a difference 47cc can make!) and the NC700X, a super fuel-efficient (73 mpg!) standard that Honda has built to bring more people into the riding fray with its easy, upright, riding position, generous onboard storage and available dual-clutch transmission with a full-automatic mode. This bike, along with trio of affordable new 500 Twins—the CB500F naked, the CBR500R sportbike
and the CB500X adventure—is part of Honda’s grand plan to grow the market with bikes that are affordable, efficient and not so specialized as to be threatening.
Which brings us to the new Honda CTX700, a pair of 2014 models that arrived too late to make it into our regular lineup of bikes in this issue. What do you think: Is the world ready for an easy-to-ride cruiser (or naked CTX700N) powered by the mildly tuned 700cc parallel-Twin of the NC700X and available with a DCT? Will function and fuel economy lure a raft of new buyers in, as Honda suggests? We’ll know the answers by this time next year.
In the meantime, enjoy our individual model write-ups, written by the experienced staffers of America’s leading motorcycle magazine. And, as always, enjoy the ride.
Andrew Bornhop
