Features

The modern aftermarket tuning industry is facing a quiet crisis of substance, driven by the algorithmic demands of social media.

Go to any motorcycle forum, and you might see riders debating the golden question of performance modifications: Should I buy an off-the-shelf street tune, or take my bike to a local shop for a custom dyno tune?

When it comes to surviving strict Euro 5+ and EPA emissions barriers, not all engine configurations are created equal. High-revving, multi-cylinder inline-Fours face a steep uphill battle compared to large-displacement V-twins.

Local motorcycle racing legend, iconic journalist, and Yamaha Champions Riding School founder Nick Ienatsch joins us for Episode 30 of the Bore & Stoke podcast.

If you have recently purchased a pristine, high-revving European sportbike in the United States, you might have noticed a strange paradox: the bike feels lazy in the lower gears, suffers from a massive dead spot in the mid-range, and falls flat on its face right before redline.

When automotive tuners transition into the motorcycle industry, they can experience culture shock. That was exactly the case for Shiv Pathak, who spent years building cars for Car and Driver shootouts and competing in the grueling One Lap of America before buying his first bike, an Aprilia RS50.

Every master of a craft has a defining "mad scientist" phase. For Shiv Pathak, that phase began in 1997 with a Mazda Miata, a crude assortment of ignition boxes, and a daily commute into the heart of New York City. He tells us all about it in episode six of the Bore and Stoke podcast.

Even after reaching the absolute pinnacle of motorsports by winning the MotoGP World Championship, the late Nicky Hayden never stopped looking for ways to become a faster, more efficient motorcycle rider. During his time as an instructor at the Freddy Spencer Riding School, coach Ken Hill witnessed firsthand the relentless work ethic and humility that defined Hayden’s legendary status.

The debate surrounding electronic rider aids, such as traction control, slide control, and anti-lock braking systems, often splits riders into two camps consisting of those who rely on technology as a safety net and purists who prefer pure analog feedback.

How much of what you read and watch about new motorcycles is actually true, and how much is just corporate marketing hype?

The motorcycle industry frequently markets riding as a casual, lifestyle-driven hobby, but in episode four of the Bore and Stoke  podcast, Ken Hill argues that this casual mindset is precisely what cuts many riding journeys short.

Natural talent can only take a motorcycle racer so far in a high-consequence environment. Over decades of training top level competitors like MotoAmerica champions JD Beach and Hayden Gillim, coach Ken Hill has developed a strict mental checklist to determine whether a rider truly has the capacity to reach the pinnacle of the sport.

Many professional motorcycle racers spend their toddler years on two wheels, cutting their teeth on dirt tracks before they can even read. Rider coach Ken Hill took a starkly different path, choosing not to buy his first motorcycle or even obtain his license until he was 30 years old.

I have a little soft spot for the Honda CX500. There used to be one that often parked across the street from our Toronto office, and its two twisted cylinder heads pointing up from below the fuel tank always caught my eye.

When computer-aided design (CAD) software and digital 3D modeling began replacing manual drafting tables and clay modeling studios in the late 1990s, many purists feared that industrial design would lose its human element. It was argued that computers would yield sterile, generic shapes devoid of artistic nuance.

We thought last week's Suzuki Boulevard C50T with a sidecar was rare, until we came across this listing on IndianMotorcycles.net for a 2016 Roadmaster trike conversion, with a color-matched trailer for sale.

In the early 1990s, Ducati was staring into a financial abyss. The iconic Italian brand was heavily in debt and desperately needed a commercial miracle. That miracle didn’t arrive wrapped in aerodynamic, high-tech racing fairings. Instead, it came entirely stripped naked.

We've got something a little different for today's featured motorcycle listing: a 2008 Suzuki Boulevard C50T with a sidecar.

In the upper echelons of international rally racing, factory riders enjoy a substantial infrastructure network. When a rider like Ricky Brabec rolls into the Dakar bivouac after an exhausting ten-hour day in the saddle, a dedicated team of HRC mechanics immediately strips down the bike, engineers analyze data, and cooks prepare nutritional meals while the athlete heads off to media interviews and physical therapy. But that’s not how every competitor’s day looks, as Brabec told us in episode 26 of the Bore & Stoke podcast.

What does a two-time Dakar Rally champion do when he isn't navigating the remote sand dunes of Saudi Arabia? If you are Ricky Brabec, as he explained to us in episode 26 of the Bore & Stoke Podcast, you construct a luxury powersports event center on the banks of the Colorado River, fill it with rescued donkeys, and bring the authentic Dakar "bivouac experience" directly to North American premium brands.

During his debut at the Dakar Rally in 2016, Ricky Brabec lined up at the start line with safety equipment that would look terrifying to a modern competitor. As he explained to us in episode 26 of the Bore & Stoke Podcast, he wore basic standard motocross gear, and a pair of foam, slide-on elbow pads from the 1990s given to him by team manager Johnny Campbell.

To look at Ricky Brabec today — a lean, commanding athlete capable of enduring thousands of miles of brutal off-road racing — it is difficult to picture him any other way. But, as Brabec revealed in episode 26 of Motorcycle.com’s Bore & Stoke podcast, the two-time Dakar Rally winner is remarkably candid about his past, openly discussing a time when his life was heading down a destructive path.

The old-school philosophy of the Dakar Rally was simple: survive, pace yourself, navigate accurately, and let the race come to you. But as stated by two-time champion Ricky Brabec in episode 26 of the Bore & Stoke podcast, that era is officially dead. Modern rally racing has evolved into a hyper-competitive, 15-day maximum-effort sprint where strategy has taken a backseat to raw velocity.

Today's featured classifieds listing comes to us from a member of K-Bikes.com in Vermont selling a 2012 BMW K 1300 S.

Happy 100th Birthday to Ducati! To celebrate the crew at Borgo Panigale hitting the century mark, Episode 27 of the Motorcycle.com Bore & Stoke podcast is dedicated to "The Century Club" — the motorcycle manufacturers building bikes today, in 2026, with beginnings going back at least 100 years (even if there are some gaps in between).

Harley-Davidson announced its first quarter of 2026 results, with yet another revenue decline, and a year-over-year decrease in Q1 net income from $133.1 million to $24.8 million.

We're switching things up a little bit with this episode of the podcast. In this one, Ryan, Dennis, and Troy have a discussion about AI and motorcycles. Artificial Intelligence is the big topic in nearly every industry, and ours is no different. So we're going to talk about it.

In this episode of Bore and Stoke, we sit down with longtime motorcycle designer Michael Uhlarik to talk about his career shaping bikes across the globe, his latest project developing an electric motorcycle for military use, and why we’re looking at the wrong metrics when it comes to the future of this sport.

What does Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, OH and the Daytona 200 have in common? Hurry up then wait, ups and downs, and all the adrenaline a person could ask for. As a true Ohioan, this reference is the best way to describe my time as a crew member with MP13 Racing for the 2026 Daytona 200. Follow along as I take you through the chaos that is Daytona and how a handful of inspiring women, Melissa Paris and Ella Dreher, are proving to the motorcycle community that they belong in the big leagues in a male-dominated sport. 

In this episode of Bore & Stoke, we dive into a packed news cycle: Honda brings E-Clutch to the Transalp in the U.S., KTM and Husqvarna shake up the industry with a 4-year warranty, and Ducati teases a new Superleggera V4 Centenario. Not to be outdone, Aprilia has launched the X 250th — a very special edition motorcycle.

For the longest time, Alpinestars had complete motorcycle protection — for everything except your head. For the dirt crowd, that changed in 2018 when the Supertech M10 was introduced. Street riders, and track riders in particular, had to wait five more years for the introduction of the flagship Supertech R10. It was clear the SR10 was a racing helmet first and foremost, developed with input from MotoGP riders and subjected to years of wind-tunnel and track testing. It’s a great helmet, but one with a clear bent towards racing. And it’s also over $1000. Nonetheless, for Alpinestars’ first real foray into street helmets (it produced a scooter helmet years ago, but we don’t really count that one), it makes sense to enter the scene with a halo product. In that regard, the SR10 delivers.

On Episode 22 of the Bore and Stoke Podcast, we sit down with none other than Kayla Yaakov — the first woman to stand on the podium at the Daytona 200.

When I landed in Stockholm, I was fresh off of a trip from sampling another Swedish company's (by way of Austria these days) offerings high in the mountains of Portugal. Going from sweat-drenched trailside stops to recoup energy after spicy trail sections to the crisp, calm autumnal vibe of Södermalm just south of the old city center of Gamla Stan, the overall contrast was just as jarring as the frigid air blowing in off of the Baltic sea.

On Episode 21 of Motorcycle.com’s Bore & Stoke Podcast, we’ve got a packed show covering breaking racing news, major recalls, industry shakeups, gear talk, and a stacked First Ride roundup.

On Episode 20 of the Bore and Stoke podcast, Troy sits down with Ari Henning and Zack Courts — two household names in motojournalism and simply two-wheeled entertainment. From their early days building their loyal following, Ari and Zack have helped redefine how motorcycles are reviewed, tested, and talked about in the YouTube era.

Harley-Davidson reported its fourth quarter and 2025 year-end financial figures, and the results, as expected, were not great. Harley-Davidson has been on a downward trend for a long while now, and the October through December fiscal period is traditionally poor, from a combination of the closing riding season and the switchover to a new model year.

In this, episode 19 of the Bore and Stoke Podcast, we break down the news of the month — including, yes, more KTM news. Plus we talk about a flurry of first looks and leaks, before capping things off with reviews of the bikes we've ridden so far. A lot’s happened — and that's just in January!

The Bore and Stoke crew is back with a packed Episode 17 — the first of 2026! — covering major industry news, leaked reveals, and a long list of first-ride reviews.