Web Bike World

There’s something about watching superbikes in person that TV can’t match. You hear the bikes long before they come over the crest, and you finally get a sense of how fast the riders are going. Plenty of US tracks also let you go one step further and ride the circuit yourself on a track day. We picked nine American tracks with strong motorcycle racing credentials. All of them are among the 10 venues on the 2026 MotoAmerica calendar, and most open their gates to amateur riders the rest of the year.

Hardly anyone buys a kit all at once. You buy a jacket in the spring, gloves after the first cold morning and boots a year later, once the sneakers start to look like a bad idea on a 40 mph road. What you end up with is four pieces sitting at four different levels of protection, and usually one that never leaves the closet because it never fit right to begin with. Most of what you need to sort that out is already printed on labels sewn into the gear.

As the autumn show season kicks into gear, we have a rather congested list of two-wheeled teasers, MotoGP movement and more: BMW Motorrad has dropped a shadowy teaser with a countdown to an October 1 reveal. Liberty Media continues reshaping MotoGP’s front office, with new blood hailing from Formula 1, the NFL, Tottenham Hotspur, and the UFC. Kyle Wyman’s emotional KOTB victory has sparked rumors that Harley-Davidson may pivot toward satellite support and global cup racing.

Getting into dirt riding used to mean buying a proper dirt bike, and a proper dirt bike asks a lot of a beginner. The clutch will stall you in front of everyone at least once, and the seat is usually tall enough that shorter riders spend their first hour on tiptoe, praying they don’t have to stop on a slope. Plenty of people who just wanted to explore the gravel road behind the cabin looked at all that and bought a kayak instead. Mini bikes fixed a lot of this a long time ago.

By the end of 1976 you could have thrown a wrench across a Grand Prix paddock and hit an RG500. Suzuki’s two-stroke square four had gone from works prototype to the default premier-class machine in barely two seasons, filling 11 of the top 12 places in the World Championship, and the man out front was a wisecracking Londoner named Barry Sheene. He won two titles on the works bike, survived a crash that should have ended his career and turned a very fast motorcycle into a very famous one.

Today, we have a fresh lineup of paddock drama, film tours, custom builds, and trade floor check-ins to dig through as the riding season heads into its autumn stride: MotoGP bikes may still be circling their respective circuits, but KTM has locked in a Grand Prix win on home soil – and we chat about why that is such a massive deal right now. Around 2,000 bikes will cross the auction block as Mecum Auctions gears up for its 36th annual Las Vegas sale this coming February.

Today, we have a brilliant list of to-do’s as everybody continues toward the riding season’s slow-downs: Canada and the U.S. have locked horns in a fresh trade dispute, placing a 50% counter-tariff on American heavyweight bikes. Moto Guzzi’s historic Mandello del Lario headquarters has officially reopened after a comprehensive €50 million renovation.

There are motorcycles you remember because they were beautiful. Others stick with you because they were fast, or because they scared the hell out of you, or because somebody you knew had one and spent an unreasonable amount of time explaining why his was better than everybody else’s. The Yamaha RD350 somehow manages all three, which goes a long way toward explaining why a motorcycle Yamaha built to be affordable and practical has become such a desirable collector bike.

Nobody gets into motorcycles hoping to buy a pickup truck. You bought the bike because it was the cheap and interesting way to get around, and then at some point you need something that can carry the bike rather than be the bike. That purchase usually lands at a bad moment, right after you have spent real money on tires or a track day entry, which is the main argument for doing it cheaply.

This week, we have a great run-up of news to keep you busy: Harley-Davidson has approved a Q3 cash dividend of $0.1875 per share, leaving some riders wondering where the long-term R&D budget is headed. KTM has pulled the sheets off their brand new 2027 300 EXC HARDENDURO, complete with factory-grade armor, closed-cartridge WP forks, and the usual pure competition two-stroke grit.