Moving the soul

Can I just say that so-called “superbikes” do nothing for me. Yes, I know that speeding along at 260 km per hour is supposed to get your blood moving, but that’s not all biking should be about. I mean, the look of a standard superbike does absolutely nothing for me. But lets go to their cousins, the cruisers, adventure bikes classics and choppers (not so much the latter, but the first three).

Just take a look at the Triumph Bonneville T100 for instance. They have a new one coming out in 2007, in a category called “Modern Classics”. Now that’s the sort of bike that draws my attention. What I like about it, is the classic styling, nothing flashy, it just says “come for an easy ride” and it just looks solid. The Thruxton 900 has a more sporty look and is only slightly more powerful than the T100. But again, a clean classic look. Then the Triumph Scrambler. Immediately the twin exhausts catch the eye, giving you a challenging stare. Then there’s the Ural Wolf, a bike I did not know existed, but immediately fell in love with for its rugged “biker club” look. It’s a Russian make, and they have been doing it since the 1970’s.

If we look at cruisers, Truimph again has some beautiful products, of which the Rocket III and the Rocket III Classic, will look especially nice in my garage. Yamaha also has a great looking cruiser in their “Star” series. Also for 2007, they have the XVS1300A Midnight Star. Very sleek, with a lot of low speed torque. If you are want a really classic look then check out Royal Enfield. Their Bullet Electra and Euro Classic hits the bulls-eye for classic styling. It makes you want to go out on the open road in the country, and just eat up the miles to no-where. Even the superbike kings, Ducati, knows that not all people would want a speeding bullet, so, in 2007, they are bringing out the SportClassic GT 1000. A very rugged looking adventure bike. But, lets be honest, there is no other adventure bike that the BMW GS 1200 Adventure. It does its name so much justice! It has been said by many enthusiasts that its “there is no better endurance bike…”. That says it all.

Lastly, lets not forget the Harleys. They have a “Sportster” called the XL 1200 L Sportster Low, which is similar to the modern classics mentioned earlier. The next is the “Dyna” series, in particular the FXDB Dyna Street Bob. And I cannot forget the Softail Fatboy! In the VRSC series, there is the VRSCDX Night Rod Special, that makes the blood run faster. It’s a liquid-cooled 1300cc beauty, you just want to wear leather when you look at it! I am not mentioning the Touring range, because they’re too big in my opinion. I’ll end off with this quote – its so true: “Four wheels move the body. Two wheels move the soul.”