Cycle World Honors Ten Best Bikes of 2021

Cycle world's top picks of 2021 in ten categories!!

Our fundamental joy in motorcycling is primal, universal, and unchanging. As individuals, we may take that joy from different aspects of riding, as we come at riding from different directions. But at the heart of it, riders are unified in their pursuit of adventure, of movement, of the simple dynamic satisfaction motorcycling brings us all. Our experience over more than four decades of celebrating Ten Best Bikes amply demonstrates both our diversity of taste and shifts in the riding landscape.

Ultimately, however, the scope and breadth of the bikes we choose simply emphasizes the continued progression of motorcycling excellence. That’s what keeps us looking for that next machine, a bike to help us seek greater experience, which in turn enhances our lives and our well-being.

As much as anything else, though, motorcycles make us smile. Whether it’s a scrappy little dual sport, a big-bore V-twin tourer, or a high-priced exotic sportbike, the smile is the thing. So, yes, we spent another year devoting ourselves to carefully and painstakingly testing all kinds of motorcycles, running everything we could get on our in-house dyno, sending load after load of testbikes to our performance-testing facility. But more than anything, we simply rode them.

We hope you’re smiling too.

Harley-Davidson’s 2018 announcement that it was going to produce an adventure motorcycle was met with a multitude of responses, ranging from excitement to disappointment to skepticism. The very idea was such an ambitious departure from H-D business as usual that all these responses were valid, and here at Cycle World we felt every one of them. But after our first ride in 2021, our earlier feelings gave way to amazement.

Since then, the Pan America 1250 Special bested BMW’s R 1250 GS and Ducati’s Multistrada V4 S in our 2021 Adventure Bike Comparison, and our amazement matured into simple admiration.

In its debut year on the market, The Motor Company’s first adventure motorcycle has outperformed the competition both in our testing and on the sales floor, becoming the bestselling adventure bike in the USA for 2021. That’s not a surprise considering its stellar 60-degree DOHC Revolution Max 1250 V-twin produces 128 hp and 81 pound-feet of torque while bolted into a chassis that’s comfortable and quick on the road and highly capable in the dirt.

Like any big-bore adventure bike worth its salt, the Pan America 1250 Special features a full complement of electronic aids, such as ride modes, lean-sensitive traction control and ABS, and semi-active suspension. It also has one absolute game-changing card in its electronic deck: Adaptive Ride Height, which lets the Pan America lower itself up to 2 inches when coming to a stop. This opens up the PA to adventure riders of all sizes, especially those who worry about the reach down to terra firma.

Innovative but rational, spectacular but user friendly; exactly what an adventure bike should be. Harley-David­son’s Pan America 1250 Special has not just entered motorcycling’s most hotly contested category, but jumped straight to the top of the field to become Cycle World’s Best Adventure Bike for 2021. That’s as amazing as it is admirable. —Justin Dawes

It’s not every day that a motorcycle manufacturer takes a legendary platform like the Tuono 1100 V4, slices it in half, and gets a result even a fraction as good as the original. But that’s what Aprilia has done with the all-new Tuono 660. Simply put: It’s freakin’ awesome.

Aprilia has managed to embody the wicked entertainment factor and pure soul of its flagship (and four-time CW Ten Best award-winning) streetbike in an approachable and versatile package designed to entice all levels of riders. Yes, there are still wheelies, lots of them. Plus, around 7,000 rpm, the 659cc parallel-twin engine belts out an exhaust note that’s eerily similar to that of the bigger V4 screaming toward its redline. The twin’s surprisingly aggressive performance is tamed only by its superbike-derived electronics package. Knife-edge handling and OE-fitted Pirelli Diablo Rosso II rubber drive home the message: The Tuono is built for two-wheeled hammering.

But sheer performance only means so much in the middleweight streetbike class, and the Tuono 660 is elevated to class leader by its balance of raw performance and everyday versatility. The attack-style riding position is aggressive, yet manageable for the daily commute. And when settling into a cruise, its engine will happily provide a mellow ride with less chance of a run-in with the law than its big brother. Not to mention the $10,499 MSRP is $5,000 less than the 1100′s.

The Tuono 660 is an incredible machine that makes a hoot out of any route, especially—but not only—when the front wheel is pointed skyward. —Michael Gilbert

The ties binding the Superleggera V4 to the Ducati Corse racing department run deep. Yet the Superleggera is far beyond a production superbike or homologation-special racing machine. It’s a no-expense-spared attempt to reach racetrack perfection, unrestricted by racing regulations. And it’s dripping in the until-now-unobtanium technical know-how that’s made Ducati’s MotoGP project so successful.

The spec sheet numbers are damned impressive, but they touch only lightly on the Superleggera’s potential. A claimed 234 hp in racing-kit trim paired with a 336-pound dry weight (drained of necessary fluids and sans battery) make for a power-to-weight ratio unlike anything on the market. But this motorcycle’s overall refinement and rideability are what makes it so special. It’s a beast on the verge of chaos, tamed only by Ducati’s race-spec technol­ogy. Take its biplane aerodynamic winglets and “predictive” Ducati Traction Control Evo 2 system, for example. Both are directly derived from the Desmosedici grand prix machines; both add unparalleled performance, plus a degree of control over a truly beastly machine that you may have not thought possible.

All of this translates to a remarkable riding experience that’s closer to modern-day MotoGP-level performance than anything else publicly available. The difference is, 500 lucky buyers have the opportunity to actually purchase this capability. So even you can own the Superleggera V4, provided you bring the $100,000.

Dreamers can dream. But the Superleggera brings us closer to our grand prix fantasies than ever before. —Michael Gilbert

Leave it to Honda to offer a dual sport bike that wins a Ten Best category with “streetbike” in the name. The “nicest people” motor company has always been good at making its off-road-only models easy to hop on and get used to, but the CRF300L’s comfort goes beyond that, bringing that easy-going attitude to both pavement and mild dirt riding.

Considering the size of the fuel-injected liquid-cooled DOHC four-stroke single-cylinder 286cc engine, and the intended segment of the bike it’s in, low-to-midrange torque is impressive. This makes stop-and-go city riding less of a hassle, and accelerating out of corners on twisty roads is fairly easy as long as you’re in the correct gear. Thankfully, the six-speed transmission is more than willing to shift and is complemented by a nearly effortless cable clutch pull.

A nonadjustable Showa 43mm inverted fork and a Showa shock adjustable for spring preload, each with 10.2 inches of travel, are more than up to the task of soaking up potholes, broken asphalt, and fire road imperfections. Handling is quick yet predictable, ergonomics are agreeable, wet weight is reasonable at 309 pounds, seat height is relatively low at 34.7 inches, and the dashboard is refined and plenty informative.

With a suggested retail price of $5,249, the revamped CRF300L offers a lot of bang for your buck, especially considering its infrequent maintenance requirements and its sheer practicality. You can think of the CRF300L as an ultraversatile, ultrafun commuter. But you should also think of it as an excellent motorcycle for all riders, regardless of the experience under their belts or the surface beneath their tires. —Andrew Oldar

The Suzuki Hayabusa has been around long enough that it’s become easy to take its existence for granted. This wasn’t always that case. At its introduction as a 1999 model, it was instantly striking; never had a motorcycle had more gravity. Yes, at the time it looked weird, and its specs made a lot of promises. But it took exactly one record-setting quarter-mile to realize that the whole motorcycle planet had changed. From that moment to this, nothing else has quite carried the same force as the Hayabusa.

The new version builds on the bike’s past success, if perhaps shifting it slightly toward GT territory. True, spreadsheet fanatics were disappointed by the reduced peak claimed output numbers. But we are here to tell you that the 168 hp and 102 pound-feet of torque recorded on the Cycle World dyno remain intergalactically satisfying. Power has always been a ‘Busa forte, but the beauty here is found in how the bike carries its powerful self. Comfortable enough for sport-touring, dynamic enough for trackdays; none of the big road-burners has ever truly toppled the king of the class in terms of overall balance.

As a 2022 model that’s been available for months, and with plenty of time for testing and competing for Ten Best this year, this heavily reworked machine gets a full suite of rider aids (including, of course, launch control), tightened and tautened styling, and updated suspension and brakes. So the big bike’s look is crisper, its stock performance more accessible, and thanks to a pile of engine reinforcements and other changes, it can take more aftermarket horsepower mods than ever. Therefore the Hayabusa is better for all on the street and meaner than ever under boost. It’s a great privilege to take all that for granted. —Mark Hoyer

Following in the footsteps of Yamaha’s flagship motocrosser makes for a great path, even for an enduro model like the WR450F, which typically enjoys updates similar or identical to the YZ450F the following year.

But the WR450F isn’t just a motocross bike with a headlight. Its wide-ratio five-speed transmission, ECU tuning, spark arrestor-equipped muffler, suspension setting, and engine mount combination are all aimed at making the bike easy to manage on the trail yet capable of hauling the mail.

Clean, smooth power delivery with quick throttle response makes the WR450F a joy to ride, especially in technical terrain. Gear ratios allow for everything from trials-bike-like crawling to eye-watering speeds across the desert. While it’s more controllable, the WR450F engine’s maximum output isn’t dramatically less than the YZ450F. It spins 48.9 hp and 31.8 pound-feet of torque on the Cycle World dyno, meaning the enduro’s peak figures are only 4.2 hp less and 0.9 pound-feet down from the motocrosser.

Yamaha’s KYB Speed Sensitive System (SSS) 48mm coil-spring fork and KYB shock are, simply put, the best stock dirt bike suspension components. Settings are under­standably soft for enduro, but plushness is outstanding, especially when hitting obstacles. Chassis comfort is high and aids the phenomenal suspension in soaking up impacts.

So perhaps the WR450F is indeed a motocross bike with a headlight. At least, in the sense of offering a majority of the YZ450F’s performance while being capable of tackling just about any terrain you put in front of it. —Andrew Oldar

There’s something to be said for refinement. Take the Triumph Trident 660; it may be an all-new model for 2021, but it represents decades of Triumph’s technical know-how and performance distilled into a package that’s as approachable for beginners as it is engaging for seasoned veterans.

The heart of the Trident is a DOHC 659cc inline-triple, fundamentally a destroked version of the legendary Street Triple 675 that’s been domesticated into a more versatile and amiable streetbike companion. But its modest Cycle World-measured 72.1 hp and 42.9 pound-feet of torque don’t do it justice: While the direct throttle response inspires rider confidence with its gentle delivery, the bike also flat out rips toward redline. If you aren’t the one on the Triumph, you’ll want to be the one right behind it so you can bask in its deep exhaust note.

A light clutch pull, a nimble chassis, and a relatively low 32.2-inch seat height add to the bike’s user-friendliness. Triumph has decked it out with plenty of desirable modern features, including ride-by-wire technology, traction control, ABS, and a TFT display with Bluetooth smartphone connectivity. And it’s beautifully finished, as you would expect from a manufacturer that’s been building premium motorcycles for more than a century. Given all that, the Trident’s price tag comes as a genuine surprise: Asking only $8,195 for this much motorcycle is refinement indeed. —Michael Gilbert

High technology and outright performance do not define the best cruiser. Motorcycle sales in America have shown that for a long time. Lighter, higher-revving motorcycles with deeper lean angles have helped push cruisers forward, but the core of this genre remains rooted in tradition, style, and heritage. The Harley-Davidson Heritage Softail has housed three generations of V-twin engine; since 2017, it’s been the Heritage Classic 114. So why is it just now, four years later, winning Ten Best? Because this year, Indian and BMW both used their extensive resources to make a better cruiser—and neither could.

The 2021 debut of BMW’s R 18 platform and Indian’s new Chief line meant the heavyweight cruiser segment saw more competition than it had in years. In separate comparisons, we paired each new platform against a 2021 Softail: the R 18 First Edition against a Softail Slim and the Super Chief Limited against a Heritage Classic 114. Not only did the Softails beat their competitors on the spec sheets, but the feel and rider connection of the Harleys are unmatched.

So while the Slim is an excellent example of a stripped-down cruiser, the Heritage Classic represents Harley’s past and present in truly unique fashion. Simply look at this model and you’ll see the 1986 Willie G. Davidson-designed Heritage Softail. Squint a little and you can see a soft-bagged Knucklehead. While there are motorcycles in this genre that might outperform the Heritage in specific categories, none of them better embody what a cruiser should be. —Morgan Gales

Honda’s Gold Wing is a perennial winner of Best Touring Bike in Cycle World’s Ten Best. Even in the years it hasn’t taken the top honor, it’s been in the discussion. Which is usually as heated, if not as cozy, as the seats and grips on the 2021 Gold Wing Tour DCT model. True, arguing the best of any segment in Ten Best can get uncomfortable, but what is inarguably not uncomfortable is the Gold Wing’s passenger experience.

Are we getting a little goofy? Perhaps. To be fair, touring bikes can seem kinda goofy, all their comforts at right angles to what many see as the raw, elemental experience of riding. But believe us, we take their casual continent-crossing capabilities very seriously—as does Honda, who focused on co-pilot comfort with the 2021 Gold Wing. That’s a serious concern, as most people in the new touring motorcycle market need the rear seat resident to sign off on the purchase.

A more relaxed backrest angle of 24.5 degrees (increased from 17 degrees) reduces pressure on passenger hips. The backrest is also 30mm taller, and 5mm of foam has been added under the faux-suede seat cover. During the press ride of the 2021 model, my wife found the new space so comfortable and relaxing that she nearly nodded off.

With that taller backrest comes a larger top trunk with 11 liters more storage than before, meaning it now fits two XL full-face helmets or, in our official estimation, up to two additional regulation-size souvenir jackalopes. Audio system power has been bumped up to 55W; Android Auto is now standard, along with Apple CarPlay.

Touring capability that tops the class, handling that belies its mass, and one of the sweetest engines Honda has ever built; it’s easily enough to keep the Gold Wing in the running. Now, with its added passenger comfort, refined sound system, and more storage, it’s an easy pick. Excuse us while we set the navigation over the horizon—and pick out some upbeat music to keep our passenger awake. —Justin Dawes

Finding an ideal balance for a 450 motocross bike is no easy task. Making such a powerful engine work in harmony with the suspension and chassis is the name of the game. That’s the KX450′s paramount quality, and it’s what makes Kawasaki’s flagship motocrosser so great.

Since its 2019 overhaul, the KX450 has impressed with quick yet pleasant power delivery, plush Showa suspension setup, and a chassis that carves a corner at a moment’s notice while maintaining composure at speed regardless of terrain. Add in class-leading ergonomics thanks to slim radiator shrouds, a flat seat, and a rider triangle that fits and pleases riders of all sizes, and you have one impressive package.

A new coned-disc-spring hydraulic clutch for 2021 makes the already effortless lever pull even smoother than before. A switch to Renthal’s Fatbar 839-bend handlebar, which is 6mm lower and has 11mm less rise and 2mm less sweep than the outgoing Renthal 971-bend, results in an even better-proportioned riding position.

Taking on a motocross track’s challenging terrain requires courage, determination, and a certain sense of optimism. Any of these virtues can be enhanced or diminished in proportion to a rider’s confidence in their machine, especially when the machine is a 450. With the KX450, Kawasaki has a machine that caters to the masses and AMA pro racers alike. A tip of the visor to Team Green on scoring a hat trick in this highly competitive segment of Cycle World’s Ten Best. —Andrew Oldar

Article Credits: Cycle World

Join SingaporeBikes on Telegram for the the latest news, special offers, reviews of motorcycles, and more!