Best of 2023: Bikes

It’s been a great year in motorcycles – more speed, more adventure, more electric, more retro – more, more, more! I don’t know about you but I did not get enough hours of moto riding because life. But I did manage to squeeze in a two-week motorcycle adventure to Mongolia so that sufficiently filled my cup and the rest of it.. as I’m sure you can appreciate, we have to steal the hours where we can. I plan on changing that for 2024… you should to.

Below are some of the highlights from my year writing for Torquecafe.

KTM 890 SMT

It’s back! The KTM SMT – Supermoto Tourer. It’s confusing but brilliant. All the pros of an adventure bike but with all the sporty street feel of a Supermoto. It serves up 890cc producing a potent 105hp and this thing is a beast.

Comfortably tour with a pillion or send it sideways on your favourite twisty. They have even incorporated a ’slide mode’, an ABS option that allows you to slide the rear. These Supermoto slides are a “prerequisite for committed Supermoto riding” according to KTM. Gosh they’re a fun bunch.

Click here to read Kate’s KTM 890 SMT review.

MV Agusta Dragster

It’s freak on the street with the look and feel of a galactic warship boasting 140hp which could quite comfortably send you into outer space if you give it some. Featuring the game changing SCS (Smart Clutch System), this means you no longer need to pull the clutch in after you’ve clicked into first gear. No clutch at lights or roundabouts – it’s a mind warp.

People will be climbing over traffic to get closer to this bike, expect a gaggle of admirers to be swarming when you return from grabbing a coffee. It is a dream to ride and priced accordingly, starting at $27,295. I’d expect nothing less from the Ferrari of motorcycles.

Read Kate’s review of the stunning MV Agusta Dragster here.

Honda CL500

This new lil’ learner approved urban street beast is an absolute joy to ride. Zipping through traffic is a pleasure with beautiful power delivery in the lower gears. And such a gorgeous retro nod to the 1962 CL72. It’s stylish, comfortable and minimalist. No technology to send you circles, parts are accessible, and you can be on your Ls riding away with a price point of $10,200 .

Gotta love the colour options too – Candy Caribbean Blue Sea (what a name), Candy Energy Orange (also.. what a name), Matte Laurel Green and Matte Gunpowder Black. I wonder what they translate to in Japanese.

Want to know more? Read Kate’s Honda CL500 review.

Ducati Lamborghini and Bentley specials

Unsurprisingly, with less than a handful collectively purchased in Australia, I was unable to go for a burn on either of these super limited magical beasts – the Ducati Lamborghini Street Fighter and the Ducati Diavel for Bentley – but they needed to be mentioned.

The wildest collab for Ducati, the Lamborghini Streetfighter V4 mashup. The ‘Citrea Green’ and “Dac Orange’ livery is inspired by the Lamborghini Huracan STO, the rampaging bull’s highest performing Huracan. The super sports car meets this hyper exclusive Streetfighter and the results are stunning, dripping with premium parts including carbon-fibre body work. It sits around a tidy $68,000.

The Diavel collab is inspired by the Batur, Bentley’s most powerful (W12, 729hp – solid) and expensive ($2.1million – yikes) set of wheels. Like the Batur, the Diavel is designed for maximum style, touring comfort and output. With a flick of a wrist this beast unleashes its 1,158cc V4 Grandturismo engine and 168hp. In Scarab Green, you can ride away $94,800, a price I would hope includes said gold plated ancient Egyptian dung beetle.

Royal Enfield Himayalan 450

I did not get to the picturesque Manali Valley in the Himalayas for the launch of the new 2024 Himayalan but I managed a two-week moto trip to the region in 2019 on an older model and I was joyously surprised at how much I fell in love with this forgiving, sturdy work horse that is easy on the eye, could cart me to safety on the wackiest of roads and ergonomically catered for our entire group; from 5ft nothing to 6ft something.

The beefed up, new and improved 450 version of the Himalayan is now liquid cooled with decent power gains (40Nm up from 32Nm). It now has electronic fuel injection, ride-by-wire throttle, slip-and-assist clutch, a USB port and is far more capable of highway riding, a key requirement in Australia. It’s nice to know you don’t need to spend a fortune ($8990 ride away) on a big adventure bike to comfortably tour the country, on road and off.