Deep in Yamaha’s motorcycle lineup, in the dark corners of the brand’s “warehouse”, there resides an anomaly, a time capsule that was never buried, an old workhorse that has never been put out to pasture. Few motorcycles, of any brand, have endured as long as this bike, mostly unchanged. In fact, 2027 will mark the 40th birthday of the TW200, a relic from the past that somehow remains a staple in Yamaha’s pantheon of legendary motorcycles.
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The 2026 MotoAmerica season brought another year of thrilling American motorcycle road racing, with eight national championship classes producing their own storylines, title fights and standout performances. The season was particularly significant because MotoAmerica celebrated the 50th anniversary of Superbike racing in America, and the premier Quad Lock Superbike Championship went down to the final race of the year at New Jersey Motorsports Park. Several championships were settled before the weekend finale, while others required every available point before champions could be crowned.
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“Ah, ze Moto Morini! I have not zeen one of zese motorbikes for many years!” So began a brief conversation with an older gent who approached me at a gas station outside Cleveland, Georgia over the weekend. Out riding the Seiemezzo SCR 650 with my friend Harrison Vaughan of Kingdom Adventure Tours (he was on a Honda Africa Twin), I rightly guessed this elder gent was originally from Italy, which also explained his familiarity with the Italian motorcycle brand.
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We recently received a press release from the AMA about their August hill climb races. The sight of stretched swingarms, crazy knobby tires digging and slinging rooster tails of dirt, and the steep hills these bikes and riders were attempting to ascend as fast as possible, just arrested our attention. Motorcycle hill climbing is as wild as it looks.
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I’m developing a serious problem with this new Triumph Tracker 400 motorcycle.
Only a few weeks in, and I’m already addicted to this bike. When I first got it back to the shop, before anything else, I threw my gear on and took it for a spin. What was only supposed to be a 15 minute check ride turned into a bit over an hour. Then the next morning after the wife left for work, I hurriedly scarfed down some breakfast, threw the gear back on and lit out again. “Research,” I told myself.
It happens so often with this motorcycle, it’s become predictable. I’m in a parking lot with the Royal Enfield Classic 650, when this elder gent pulls up beside me in a late 80s Cadillac Eldorado. No apologies, no introductions, no initial acknowledgments of my presence, he just pulls up, stares agape at the bike, and declares, “That has to be about the prettiest motorcycle I’ve seen in years. What is it?” I give my reply, and when he learns it’s not an antique but in fact is a 2026 model, his look of astonishment and admiration only grows. He then regales me with tales of old motorbikes from his bygone years of riding, everything from Hondas to Harleys, Triumph Thunderbirds to Kawasaki KZs. Over and over he chimes, “I can’t get over how pretty that bike is. Just beautiful.” Phil arrives for a day ride we had planned, so my new old friend says goodbye and bids us safe riding.
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The year was 2005, and my aging father had caught the biker bug again. Having ridden motorcycles since he was about 14, through my own childhood years, it had been a few decades since Dad had owned a street bike himself. He had always wanted to own a Harley, so he visited a nearby dealership. He rode out with a beautiful 2005 candy apple red Dyna Super Glide that day.
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I briefly spoke with motorcycle racer Kayla Yaakov last year, in the Rahal Ducati Racing paddock area at Road Atlanta. She was cheerful, chatty, smiling ear to ear, diminutive in stature, but 10 feet tall in passion and drive. If you didn’t know she was a professional motorcycle racer, and a very successful one at that, you would be forgiven for merely mistaking her for an enthusiastic teenager. Her wide-eyed wonder, combined with her laser-focused skills on a race bike, have propelled her to stardom in the MotoAmerica road racing series, and she deservedly has become the talk of the track.
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As a kid, I loved watching the coverage of the annual Bonneville Speed Trials, whenever one of the networks would feature it. The sight of all kinds of speed machines, from motorcycles to rocket cars, going flat out as fast as possible down the miles of flat salt, just captured my imagination. I dreamed of pinning the throttle on a long, low, two-wheeled, fire breathing beast, roaring through the speed traps, head down, tucked in behind a small fairing, the finish line faint in the distance ahead, breaking 200+ mph while hanging on for dear life.
Yeah, Bonneville captured my imagination.
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