The Ten Rest
THE TEN REST
UP FRONT
EDITOR'S LETTER
BECAUSE THERE'S TOO MUCH GOOD STUFF
We've spent another year hard at work (ha!) grinding out the miles on all kinds of machines to nail down Ten Best Bikes. While the best of the best can be found on page 42, it is my annual pleasure to pick 10 other notable machines that should have a moment in the sun, dubious or otherwise.
SBest Oddball Ural Gear-Up Sidecars are an acquired taste, but one ride on the two-wheel-drive Gear-Up gets you addicted to the oddity. I picked a one-wheeldrive Ural last year for Ten Rest, but the Gear-Up’s driven sidecar wheel really does expand your horizons. The weirdest fun you’ll ever have on three wheels.
Best Stealth Commuter Bike: Zero S Last year, the Zero electrics were recognized here for their big leap forward. They’ve done it again. Yep, it’s still too expensive at $15,995 and 70-mile range is still limited but, holy crap, the S—with 11.4-kWh battery and 54 horsepower/68 foot-pounds of torque—is fast, fun and nearly silent.
Best Revival: Indian Motorcycles By the time you read this, all-new, Polarisbuilt Indian Chiefs should be wandering the roads of America, and the world will be a better place. We’ve heard this beautiful engine run and it sounds great. Think Polaris will make a bet this big and not build a competitive bike? No way. Look out, Harley.
Best Not-Entry-Level Entry-Level Bike: Yamaha WR250R Around since 2008, the WR is wicked quick and has real suspension, making it the entry-level dual-sport with the most performance “headroom.” At $6990, it's pricey, but it makes no apologies for this. Might be a hard sell next to the $7990 FZ-09, though! Bring back 2008 pricing...
Best Way to See The Sky: Ducati Hypermotard SP Think of this bike as an 848 Streetfighter with its finger in a light socket. Yeow! Climb aboard this motard-inspired sport standard and the first thing you feel is perched on its high seat and tall-feeling suspension. By the shift to third gear, you’re in love with its amazing dynamic capabilities.
Best Way to Blow Your Eardrums: Harley-Davidson CVO Road Glide “Loud Harleys” have quite the rep out there, but the CVO Road Glide gets the tip here for having the crankin’est, bitchin’est stereo of any motorcycle we’ve ever tried. And we loved the song-loaded iPod H-D provided us. Yeah, 400 watts of Styx, baby...
Best Traditional Superbike: Suzuki GSX-R750 We all thought that the last of the 750CC superbikes was going to disappear when the 2001GSX-R1000 was introduced. But the GSX-R750 has continued to flourish and remains one of the great all-around sportbikes.
Best Retro to Get Espresso on: Moto Guzzi Griso 8V SE All due respect to Guzzi’s killer new California 1400 (see Ten Best Bikes), but if you want miles of style that can run at an up-tempo backroad pace, the Griso 8V is as sweet as it gets. Every ride feels like a scene in a movie where the director is trying to show you how cool the main character is.
Best Perennial Favorite: Triumph Street Triple R Just one of the most fun and flexible motorcycles on the market. With a little more power and a bit less harshness from the suspension, this redone-for-2013 model might have bumped the Ducati 848 Streetfighter out of its Best Middleweight spot.
Best Sense-of-Humor Bike: Honda Grom It’s a 2014 model, sure, but it’s the coolest little thing to come along in decades. A $2999 125CC Single with fresh styling, EFI, cute little wheels and the most charming small-bike stance since the original CT70 of 1969. Just saying “Grom” makes us smile. Like puppies, the only thing more fun than one will be two.
MARK HOYER
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
THIS MO NT HS STATS
MILESIPUTONOUR YAMAHA WR250R TESTBIKE LAST MONTH
5
TIMES PER DAY EXPLAINING THE URAL IS NOT VINTAGE
35
NUMBER OF BIKES WE HAD IN OUR GARAGE AT ONE TIME FORTEN BEST TESTING
