Bikes & Gear
Evaluations & Recommendations
Small Bore Mania: Grom Swapping
This year at the SMSBR I found a lot of people were doing a swap with the Honda CB300R engine into the most popular of the 125 Hondas, the Grom. I was camped at the rally next to a man who had done three of these conversions, and he explained to me the how and why of what he had done. These included the modifying of the frame to allow for the stock 300 intake, to the upgrade of the suspension, and 13 inch wheels.
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Harley-Davidson Revives The Super Glide
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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Introduction: 2026 Honda Rebel 1100 DCT SE
Honda must read Road Dirt and, unlike me in high school chemistry, actually listen and take notes. For 2026 they addressed the Rebel’s riding position, revised the dash with a new TFT display, smartphone connectivity and introduced a factory custom SE trim. The net effect of a series of small tweaks on a motorcycle can sometimes exceed their sum. Do the Rebel’s small tweaks improve the package? If so, how much? Would it be worth it to upgrade from the older model?
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1200 Miles on a Harley-Davidson Street Glide
“Oh yeah, I remember this well.”
Such was my reaction upon taking the 2025 Harley-Davidson Street Glide out for a check ride, once I got it back home. On loan from our friends at EAGLERIDER, the 2025 Street Glide would be my steed for our trip to the spring Thunder Beach Motorcycle Rally in Panama City Beach, Florida. Having ridden the 2024 model down at Daytona Bike Week back in 2024, I felt instantly familiar with Harley’s popular touring motorcycle.
Good thing too, evidenced by how our trip began the following morning.
First Impressions: 2026 Royal Enfield Classic 650
Pulling into our church parking lot Sunday morning, no sooner had I found a space and pulled off my helmet, when an elder gentleman (pony tail, braided beard- clearly a fellow biker) and his wife chatted me up. “That’s a beautiful old Triumph you’ve got there… oh wait, that’s not a Triumph!” he exclaimed. “A Royal Enfield! I haven’t seen one of those in years! What year is that?” I replied, “A 2026, if you can believe it.” It led to a pleasant conversation into the church building, about the beauty and nostalgia of so many motorcycles in Royal Enfield’s lineup, and particularly this gorgeous new Classic 650.
We’ve only had this motorbike for a week now, and it has elicited this kind of response everywhere we’ve ridden and parked it.
Freshen Up Your Riding Gear
Spring is definitely here. You know how I know? My morning rides are cold enough for a jacket and by the afternoon I’m cracking my visor at every stoplight just to breathe. It’s that awkward in-between where my winter gear suddenly feels like overkill, and my summer stuff still feels a little too optimistic. So how about some spring cleaning?
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Beautiful Bikes: Aprilia X 250th
Aprilia is actually producing a limited run of commemorative motorbikes, mostly for the American market, but a few to be offered worldwide. The Aprilia X 250th is a drop-dead gorgeous facsimile of the GP machines the Trackhouse Racing team are rolling, and for a cool $150K you can own one yourself. Of course, it’s not street legal, running a V4 65°, 1099cc mill with SBK racing specifications. It’s clearly meant to make the same technology developed in racing available to those who intend to compete at top levels in factory derivative series, or for those who want to own an RSV4 or Tuono V4 with top tier performance.
And who want to shout “‘Merica!” every time and everywhere they ride or display it.
First Look: Royal Enfield Classic 650
Studying up on this new machine, and talking with a few of my fellow moto journalist friends who attended, it seems that this outstanding powerplant has been refined even more, and placed within a beautiful, very traditional looking package in this Classic 650 model. The Royal Enfield R&D folks know better than to leave well-enough alone, fortunately.
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Life Saving Helmet Tech
Back in January, Fox 10 Phoenix covered a serious motorcycle crash in Arizona where a rider went down on a rural road and was completely hidden from view. He may not have been found in time if not for an automatic emergency alert triggered at the moment of impact. That same incident has since been featured in People Magazine, bringing national attention to how modern safety technology can step in when riders are compromised in a collision and can’t call for help themselves.
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