Top 10 Must Have Bikes For 2014
BEST CRUISER BIKE: MOTO GUZZI CALIFORNIA 1400 CUSTOM
We thought the Ducati Diavel had a lock on Best Cruiser. But then the new Motor Guzzi California 1400 Custom loped into our lives. And this Italian gets under your skin in a good way, its air-cooled 1380cc V-Twin winning us over with torque and the starring role it plays in the Art Deco looks of the bike. Though classically styled, the California is modern, with three levels of power delivery and traction control, plus ABS and cruise, none of which detracts from the bike’s mechanically satisfying nature.
DUAL-SPORT/ENDURE BIKE: KTM 500 EXC
It may be a while before another dual-sport machine knocks the 500 EXC off our list. There has never been a street-legal off-roader as capable as this KTM. The 500 is essentially a full-blown racebike with lights, mirrors and turnsignals. It’s fully able to line up at the start of a cross-country or desert race and compete in stock form. With heaps of power, the big EXC makes sand and loam seem like hardpack, and it turns any asphalt into a dragstrip. Want the best way to connect some trails? This is it.
STANDARD BIKE: HONDA CB1100
What better bike to name Best Standard than a re-interpretation of the one that launched a thousand container ships across the Pacific? Honda’s modern take on its original ’69 CB750 isn’t incredibly fast, terribly sporty or amazingly cutting-edge, but that’s what makes it a Standard: The new CB’s a bike you just hop on like you used to do, especially when you’ve got no particular place to go. Nostalgic it might be and a feast for some eyes, but it’s also a super-functional, easy-to-ride and cheap-to-keep motorcycle.
OPEN-CLASS STREET BIKE: KAWASAKI ZX-14R
Never before has there been such a potent, sport-oriented streetbike that’s as well-rounded as the ZX-14R. Few pure sportbikes can match its level of comfort, poise and excellent ride quality. Throw on some soft luggage and it easily performs sport-touring duty, too. But the 14R’s strong suit remains this: going ridiculously fast. A 192-hp engine catapults the 14R through the quarter in 9.47 seconds, with 60 mph arriving in just 2.6 sec. This big Ninja proves that civility isn’t sacrificed for performance.
SPORT-TOURING BIKE: BMW K1600GT
Staking a claim as the ultimate sport-touring bike since its 2011 debut, BMW’s K1600GT has yet to see a serious challenge. The 1649cc inline-Six combines ultra-smooth, massively strong output with a solid-handling chassis exhibiting agility that defies the GT’s 755-pound fully fueled weight—plus a suite of luxury features it shares in common with its GTL sibling. What will it take to unseat the GT? A light supersport with high bars, low pegs, tall screen and detachable saddlebags?
MOTOCROSS BIKE: KAWASAKI KX450F
How quickly things change in the MX world; one year you’re hot and the next you’re knocked to second spot.Suzuki’s RM-Z450 held onto the trophy for two years, but refinements and upgrades to Kawasaki’s KX450F have vaulted it into the hot seat for 2013. Key to its improved performance is Kayaba’s Pneumatic Spring Fork (PSF), which allows the unit to be adjusted by simply adding or bleeding air. With a new piston, intake cam and revised ECU, the KX450F has become a holeshot machine.
TOURING BIKE: BMW K1600GTL
Though the GTL has been the touring bike champ now for three years in a row, we have not yet run out of accolades to heap upon the Bavarian six-banger. Really doesn’t matter, since the ESA version will allow you to easily adjust to whatever you heap on. Haul ass? This one hauls two asses, luxuriously, with plenty of room for their junk in the (removable) trunk and bags. It hangs with sportbikes in the curves, runs low 11s in the quarter-mile—and our long-termer averaged 38 mpg.
MIDDLEWEIGHT STREETBIKE: DUCATI 848 STREETFIGHTER
The middleweight category has never been more diverse. Our current definition allows up to 899cc of displacement and all types of road-legal bikes of the cruiser, adventurer, standard and supersport persuasions. With such a wealth of models to consider, it’s no wonder we have once again chosen a bike that continues to blur the distinctions among genres: Ducati’s 848 Streetfighter, which continues to rule the roost as a super sporty naked that’s hugely entertaining and everyday rideable.
SUPERBIKE: BMW HP4
It’s both a tire-torching track bike that will help you set the lap time of your life and one of the most street-useful racetrack refugees ever offered to us mortals. Dynamic Damping Control tunes itself to suit your riding mood, changing from plush to precise in an instant. It’s got a dyno-melting 179 horses at the wheel, yet idles along in top gear with nary a hiccup, plus it’s got the best quick-shifter ever. All for a base MSRP of $20,525. Is there a German version of Godzilla? There is now.
ADVENTURE BIKE: BMW R1200GS
The all-new version of the motorcycle that defined the ADV genre reclaims its Ten Best crown with an all-new chassis, a liquid-cooled Boxer Twin with “vertical-flow” heads and ride-by-wire electronics featuring five modes that influence throttle response, power delivery, ABS, stability control and BMW’s semi-active suspension. While traditionalists may scoff at the added technical complication, much of it is “set and forget” tuning that makes this explorer more capable than ever.
