Best Naked Motorcycle of 2025

Question: What makes naked bikes so appealing? Surely, their comfortable, yet athletic, riding positions should be added to any list of benefits. Of course, most of the naked bikes on the market are up to snuff with their fully faired counterparts (if they have them) when it comes to performance on the street or racetrack. Those who enjoy a whiff of 91 octane on a crisp Sunday morning will certainly perk up at that prospect, and we are certainly spoiled for choice. Important as those elements may be, a good naked bike takes all those sport-minded aspects and marries them to a single overriding concept: fun. It’s why we started riding motorcycles in the first place, so when it came time to crown this year’s champion, it was tough to see any other alternative than the 2025 Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RS.

Triumph launched the iconic Speed Triple range way back in 1994. These were simpler times, when the internet was in its infancy and the same year Motorcycle.com hit digital presses. The story surrounding the Speed Triple’s inception is murky, one usually presented with a few wry smiles by staffers, but it goes something like this: A fully faired Daytona 900 inexplicably lost its bodywork, which gave engineers the opportunity to borrow some ideas from the growing streetfighter trends seen out in the wild. After slapping a round headlight on it, the first production streetfighter was born. The rest, as they say, is history.

It’s fitting that the original hooligan is this year’s Best Naked Motorcycle of 2025 because this year’s update is all about one thing: fun. The 1,160cc Inline-Triple engine is one of a kind in this segment, offering a healthy 180.5 horsepower at 10,750 rpm and 94.4 lb-ft at 8,750 rpm. These aren’t class-leading numbers by any stretch of the imagination, as Ducati’s Streetfighter V4 S and BMW M 1000 R have entered the exclusive 200-horsepower club.

Never mind peak figures for the moment, and let’s discuss the eminently street-friendly torque on tap, which builds predictably to a zinging top-end rush that’s put to use at the track. The three-pot mill sings an incredible tune while held wide open, with a slick six-speed gearbox and equally sorted quickshifter helping the cause. Gentlemanly and refined, sure, but make no mistake, it’s ready to roll its sleeves up for a good trashing, boyo.

The aluminum twin-spar frame, single-sided swingarm and latest-generation Öhlins Smart EC3 suspenders work their magic. With all the electronic suspension adjustment you could hope for at your disposal via the 5-inch TFT display, there isn’t a road-going situation in this scribe’s mind that the Speed Triple 1200 RS wouldn’t be able to rapidly adapt to handle. Tossed on the edge of its grippy Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa SP V3 rubber, the big Speedy delivers excellent around-town manners while also keeping things in shape when charging into the hard-charging Turn 1 at Autódromo Internacional do Algarve — in the wet, we might add.

Comfortable? Sure. The upright riding position isn’t as taxing on riders’ joints, and that’s always a plus. Naturally, all of what we’ve described sounds “fun” in its own right, but then again, plenty of other bikes happen to be equipped with great engines and excellent handling. Well, the Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RS offers something so certifiably hooligan that it’s hard to argue it isn’t embracing the class at its core: a four-level wheelie control that’s more accurately described as a wheelie assist. Seriously.

Yes, the six-axis IMU allows all the various nannies to be refined — quite refined. That’s fine, but pop the Speed Triple 1200 RS into its least restrictive WC setting, whack it wide open, and it’ll modulate the ride-by-wire throttle for you to keep it from going ass over teakettle. It turns Senior Editor Nic de Sena from a guy who doesn’t usually do wheelies into one who can hork a respectable one up for the ’gram, as the kids say. That’s just good, clean fun!

In a class that is becoming increasingly performance-focused, where naked bikes are edging closer to the racetrack leanings of their faired siblings, it’s a refreshing take. Make no mistake, this is a serious motorcycle on every front, but one that understands that we don’t need to enjoy what matters, and that’s having fun on two wheels.

Honorable Mentions

The Motorcycle.com staffers rode quite a few naked bikes this season. Of those motorcycles in the buff, two moved to the front of the pack: the Ducati Streetfighter V4 S and Honda Hornet CB1000 SP. Both captured our attention for radically different reasons.

Make no mistake: the Ducati Streetfighter V4 S is easily the most performance-focused machine in this class now, and when grading by those metrics, it’s tough to see anything stepping up to the Streetfighter. It, more so than anything else, is a “superbike with handlebars.” Loaded with the potent 1,110cc Desmosedici Stradale engine, we see a frankly silly 205 horsepower at 12,650 rpm and 88.3 lb-ft of torque at 11,500 rpm listed on the spec sheet. Taming all that insanity is a bevy of electronics borrowed directly from the Panigale V4 superbike platform, not to mention aerodynamics and a counter-rotating crankshaft that speaks to a singular purpose: make a naked bike go as fast as it possibly can. Exhilarating, titillating and easily the top of the heap when it comes to scuffing knee pucks, it’s an undeniably serious machine. Fun? Sure, but a different type of fun, most definitely.

The Honda Hornet CB1000 SP is an incredible value and one that’s worth a second look from any sportbike aficionado. For a paltry $10,999, the CB1000 SP is equipped with premium Öhlins suspension and Brembo brakes to sweeten what’s already a good deal for a liter-class naked sportbike. Looking deeper, the 2017-2020 CBR1000RR donates its perky 998cc Inline-Four powerplant, producing a claimed 149.6 horsepower at 11,000 rpm and 76.7 lb-ft at 9,000 rpm. Unfortunately, it suffers from the dreaded noise emissions slump that many motorcycles face in the United States — nothing an ECU flash won’t fix. Regardless, Honda stuffed all those attributes into a capable twin-spar aluminum chassis, and you’ve got yourself a whole lot of bang for the buck.