Ten Best Bikes of the Future
TEN BEST BIKES OF THE FUTURE
A fanciful look at some potential winners in 2015 and beyond
Mark Hoyer
BMW HP6:
Think of it as a K1600 Roadster model but with the full might of BMW’s High Performance brain trust behind it. Make it light, let it rev, and give it a tubular handlebar. Accessory pipes must have six megaphone-style outlets and let that mad, six-cylinder sizzle out into the world unhindered to inspire us all to greatness. The Concept 6 showbike proves you took a swing at it.
KAWASAKI W800:
Look, you already make this one, Kawasaki. While your sporty lineup gets all green and pointy and delivers great performance, your cruiser line looks like the 1990s crashed into a transport truck full of rattle-can primer. Meanwhile, in other parts of the world, the fantastic parallel-twin W800 retro bike inspires the younger neo-custom café crowd and makes a great counterpoint to all the Triumph Bonnevilles that have been given the pipe-wrap treatment.
HONDA RCV1000:
Where have you gone, Big Red? We need a MotoGP-inspired, V-4-powered sportbike with gear-driven cams, production seamless gearbox, 200 rear-wheel hp, and all the electronic might we know you are capable of throwing at this thing. And make it 375 pounds. You can do it. You’re Honda. The entry bikes are great, but put “enthusiast” back in your vocabulary and connect the product we buy with the dominant machines in MotoGP. Three letters for you: H. R. C.
FZ-07 TÉNÉRÉ EDITION:
We first were pining for an 847cc-triple-powered middleweight adventure bike based around the FZ-09, but now that the lighter and lithe-er FZ-07 twin is here, we think you should start with that one. Do us a favor and make it with 21and 18-inch wheels so we can put proper tires on it. And we’ll see you in Alaska.
INDIAN SCOUT ADVENTURE:
Oh, we are pretty sure there will be a Harley-Davidson Sportster fighter on the way from Indian any minute now. But you’re missing an opportunity with the “Scout” name if you don’t build an adventure bike that carries this badge. Think of a 130-horse liquid-cooled V-twin in a stout aluminum chassis. Keep its styling all-American with a touch of military-bike utility influence, and make the USA a player in one of the most exciting market segments today.
HONDA CRF500L:
We’re saying “Honda,” but we really mean “Japan,” with the Big Four hardly playing in the dual-sport arena. We dig the fun and cheap CRF250L, but please apply a similar bargain-based formula to a 500CC single, give it decent suspension, and set us free with at least 35 hp and tractable torque. Target 300 pounds, 55 mpg, and give it a 3.7-gallon fuel tank. Better yet, make a full-on enduro racebike with lights, too, and throw some roost in the Austrians’ sandbox!
POLARIS GDI800 SPORT:
Clean two-stroke technology exists, and Polaris has it. Everybody’s stoked you’ve flexed all that engineering expertise on 800-pound cruisers with sub-5,000-rpm redlines (no, really, they are awesome cruisers), but it is so frustrating to watch these 150-hp two-stroke snowmobiles have all the light-and-powerful fun. Give us a liquid-cooled, direct-injected, 800cc parallel-twin engine with 150 horses and build it into a modern sportbike chassis. Should be easy to hit 350 pounds dry, right? Call it a Victory or Indian, if you must, but set us two-stroke lovers free!
SUZUKI “HIGHER” ’BUSA:
Take a cue from your mega-high-performance fans and pump up your flagship “Ultimate Sport” machine with a factory turbo. Go 1,480cc with launch control, traction control, and electronic suspension with “Drag” mode that automatically lowers the front end and sets up the shock for a perfect launch. Give it push-button upshifts, or at least a quickshifter, and watch the 1/4-mile records fall with the first eight-second production bike. Paint it copper metallic like our ’99 long-termer was, and forget the top-speed-limiting “gentleman’s agreement.” Reign supreme.
HARLEY-DAVIDSON LUCIFER’S HAMMER:
Harley, you have built an empire on chrome, paint, and lifestyle, all orbiting around the gravitational pull of your historic 45-degree V-twin, tuned and engineered to deliver a sound and feeling that touches the souls of more motorcycle buyers in the US than any other maker by far. Electric what-ifs are interesting, but we need a Mark Brelsford/Jay Springsteen-inspired sportbike with liquid cooling, light weight, and killer performance. Think KTM 1290 Super Duke R meets Ducati Sport Classic meets American ingenuity.
TRIUMPH BONNEVILLE MULE EDITION:
The tooling is paid for, and sales just keep trucking along on the Bonnie and its variants. So why not have a bit more fun with your retro air-cooled twin and hire Richard Pollock of Mule Motorcycles—builder of the finest street-tracker customs in the land—to whip up the perfectly proportioned production Mile Replica?
