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EICMA 2026: The Changing Balance of Power in the Motorcycle Industry
The 83rd EICMA motorcycle show in Milan, the largest in the event’s history, revealed more than an impressive collection of new motorcycles. Beneath the product announcements, this year’s show exposed a major shift in the global motorcycle industry. Japanese manufacturers continue to dominate production volume, profitability, and engineering, while European brands are increasingly challenged by the rapid growth of Chinese motorcycle manufacturers. As Uhlarik, author of the original article observes, “A show tells you less about what was unveiled than about who is chasing whom.” The emerging competition is forcing established companies to reconsider their strategies, pricing, and position in the marketplace.
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Maeving RM1S: English Electric
“It’s an electric bike, which is exactly why you should ride it,” Rob said.
Road Dirt Motorcycle Media’s owner, editor-in-chief and head bottle washer Rob Brooks knows me. He knows I love the smell of gasoline, loud exhausts and have more carburetors on one bike than kids. Personalities of old motorcycles and the feel of ancient cars feed my soul. When British electric motorcycle manufacturer Maeving offered up their RM1S to Road Dirt for a long term test, I questioned Rob assigning it to me.
An electric motorcycle? Are you sure about this, boss? Shouldn’t you give this test to someone who was born with a cell phone in their hand instead of lawn darts?
Honda NT1100 Sport Test
Fall’s colors explode all round this time of year. The air is chill with summer’s demise, cattle meander in their autumn brown fields while leaves take their time falling from branches onto the road before me. The world is perfect, but beneath me is Honda’s NT1100, a bike that I wish was sexier, and faster. It sure doesn’t feel fast. I look down at my speedometer.
No way. That can’t be right.
Legendary Bikes: Yamaha TW200
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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Introduction: Honda NT1100 DCT
With the departure of the wonderful Rebel 1100, Honda decided to fill the vacancy in Road Dirt’s Pacific Northwest Headquarters with their sport touring offering, the NT1100. The curious bit is that the NT1100 and the Rebel 1100 share the same parallel twin engine and DCT transmission but their purposes are polar opposites. Whereas the Rebel is the inviting cruiser, the NT1100 is the tall, high seat ride with touring intent and sporty features designed to make you thirst for the horizon.
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Western Odyssey, Part 2
The pilgrimage to the Great American Southwest restarts with a stop. Battling unyielding desert winds and homogenized souvenir shops pervasive from Kingman through Sedona and into Gallup, it was time to give man and machine a break. Three days visiting close friends in Santa Fe and out of the saddle was the tonic I needed. It was hard to leave; it felt good to be back on the road.
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Garmin Zumo XT3 Motorcycle Navigator
It would take a lot to convince me to ditch the maps, go digital and add yet one more thing to the cluttered dash of my bike, until Garmin sent me their newest motorcycle focused GPS system, the Zumo XT3 motorcycle specific navigator, abounding with features like smartphone connection, trip planning, lean angle sensor, group ride tracking and drag race timer. Drag times? Hmmm…
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First Impressions: Moto Morini Seiemezzo SCR 650
“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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2026 Honda Rebel 1100 DCT SE: Final Impressions
I remember how it felt the first time. At nine years old I threw a leg over a Honda Trail 90 and basked in the discovery of power, speed, wind and freedom, like God was pedaling my Schwinn Stingray, thrusting me forward with each twist of my mighty right wrist. I explored fields, streets and Pacific Northwest mountains just outside my back door with my smelly metal missile that opened up the world. Any motorcycle that recaptures that feeling of youth, the reason why we ride in the first place, is worth every cent. I never thought I would find it in a Honda Rebel.
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