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After a motorcycle crash, the bike usually gets most of the attention. It is easy to look at broken fairings, bent bars, scraped cases, or a twisted front end and assume the motorcycle tells the whole story. It does not. The helmet, jacket, gloves, boots, pants, armor, camera footage, road marks, debris field, and damage pattern on the bike can all help explain what actually happened. For riders, that matters because motorcycle crashes are often misunderstood.

Buying your first motorcycle usually comes with a list. Helmet, gloves, jacket, maybe a battery tender, a cover and a box of tools you don’t know how to use yet. What usually doesn’t make the list is anything for the pickup that brings the motorcycle home. That changes quickly on pickup day. For many riders, a half-ton pickup like the Ford F-150 becomes part of the motorcycle ownership experience.

Ranking dirt is harder than ranking pavement. A great paved road is a great paved road for everyone, but off-road riding splits by terrain, skill and machine before you ever look at a map. A rider chasing Utah slickrock and a family hauling trail bikes to a private park in Michigan are planning two different vacations. So this list is organized by the kind of riding you’re after, and the unit here is the destination, not the individual trail. Nobody trailers a bike across four states for one loop.

In December 1956, Soichiro Honda and his sales chief Takeo Fujisawa flew to Europe looking for their next big idea. They came back convinced that neither a moped nor a scooter would do. What they needed was something new entirely, built for a country where only one road in ten was paved and where the person riding to work might be wearing a business suit or a kimono. Two years later, that idea became the Honda Super Cub.

This week, we have quite a bit of Italian fun in the roster, as well as a considerable record: For the 22nd time, Ducati has won the Manufacturer’s Title in WorldSBK, begging the query as to why Ducati keeps on winning. Suzuki has released their 2027 Hayabusa – and, in true Suzuki form, everything we like is still there under a fresh coat of paint.

In 1936, Harley-Davidson bet its future on an engine nobody had asked for. The country was still climbing out of the worst motorcycle sales slump in American history, and the company’s big twins were still running on decades-old flathead technology. Into that uncertain moment, Harley introduced the 61 OHV, complete with a new frame, a new fork and an entirely new overhead-valve V-twin. Nobody called it the Knucklehead yet. That name was still a decade away.

This week, we have some industry news and a slew of new bikes: Dwayne Johnson’s partnering with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s label in a new stunt drama called “Free Byrd,” where the former wrestler plays a Las Vegas biker diagnosed with dementia. Harley-Davidson is officially reversing its overseas production shift and bringing the liquid-cooled Revolution Max platform back to American shores.

Nobody agrees on the best motorcycle road in America, which is half the fun of arguing about it. The country has 3.9 million miles of pavement and the overwhelming majority of it exists to move grain trucks and commuters. What’s left over, the roads that feel like they were built for riders even though none of them were, is what this list is about. Twelve routes, grouped by region. Some you already know. A couple you probably don’t, and those might be the ones worth planning a trip around.

(Contributed post for North American readers) Are you planning a road trip on your motorbike or in your car? Sure you must be feeling the adrenaline rush! However to live up to your expectations and to make your trip a memorable one, there are certain things that you need to prepare for. Before you set off on a trip, it is suggested that you prepare your car or motorbike for the journey so you don’t hit any snags while driving on the road.

This week, we have a rather insane dump of goodies to the ol’ docket: Volkswagen’s tightening finances and obsession with EV means their advisors are recommending Ducati Motor Holding be sold. BMW Motorrad’s CEO, Markus Flasch, has just landed the role of President of ACEM – and the new board seat means BMW Motorrad could be ahead of the game in their predictions for upcoming emissions and decarb rules.