Time for my semi-annual appearance on the Highside/Lowside motorcycle podcast. Just like last year, I recently joined hosts Spurgeon Dunbar and Zack Courts to talk about this year’s crop of interesting new motorcycles.
My colleagues and I have already ridden a few of the noteworthy new models, including the most outlandish of them all, the limited-edition $110,000 Harley-Davidson CVO Road Glide RR. Ari Henning was one of three writers who got to test that bike on the track and he also got to ride the highly anticipated and long-awaited Yamaha YZF-R9 sport bike, the latest move toward performance bikes that can work on the street and not just be single-minded race replicas, like the old R6. Zack got to test the new Ducati Panigale V2, an interesting and rare case of Ducati deciding to make a new model lighter and less powerful than its predecessor, instead of the incessant drive to add more power. And while there isn’t much new about the 50th Anniversary Honda Gold Wing, I was happy to get a two-day test ride on it to fully understand and appreciate Honda’s excellent DCT automatic transmission and to give due credit to the rare accomplishment of a motorcycle model lasting half a century.
Those are just a few of the models we discussed as we worked through various categories, from sport and sport-touring to cruisers and standards and adventure bikes and even electric motorcycles. As usual, I feel a little embarrassed that the discussion topped two hours, though my participation only involved the main part of that. I always feel that in the balance between trying to be thorough and respecting listeners’ time, we usually err on the long-winded side.
But, people seem to like the podcast. Its popularity hasn’t waned. Spurgeon and Zack get the majority of the credit for that, of course, but I’m happy to contribute what I can twice a year.
If you want to listen, the podcast is available on all the major podcast platforms or you can watch the YouTube version below and see visuals of the many motorcycles we discuss.
