This story is part of our end-of-year series This Year in Gear, rounding up the most notable releases of 2022. For more stories like this, click here.
Change is coming to the motorcycle world, though perhaps not as quickly as the car industry. We hopped on all sorts of bikes from electric adventure motos to accessible rides equipped with a (gasp!) dual-clutch automatic transmission. We also sampled some of the best helmets on the market and our first full-length leather race suit.
Here are our favorite new motorcycles and motorcycle gear items from 2020.
2022 Harley-Davidson Low Rider ST
Harley historians will tell you that the ST's style emerged from Southern California, where FXRs, Dynas and Softails get customized into dazzling machines that don't skimp on performance, thanks to powerful engines, raised suspension for better cornering and tall bars for... okay, yeah, those are mostly for looks.
That vibe carries over to the streamlined Low Rider S, a naked bike with a profile not that different from the Low Riders of yore. But it is also present in the ST, a more road trip-friendly option owing largely to an aerodynamic frame-mounted fairing and nifty removable saddlebags.
2022 Honda Rebel 1100
This Rebel 1100 presents many of the same upsides as its smaller older brother, but in a super-powered form. One thing that stands out about the 1100 is that it's the only Rebel available with a little something called Automatic DCT. That stands for dual-clutch transmission, which means you can ride the bike without manually shifting.
READ OUR REVIEW
Rev'it Trench GTX
Finding the right safety gear for riding is hard. On the one hand, you have gear that keeps you safe but makes you look like a traffic cone. On the other hand, you have stuff that maybe looks better but offers you protection on par with a pair of cargo shorts & flip-flops.
What’s great about the Rev’it Trench GTX is that it manages to strike a balance between the two while offering adaptability across riding seasons.
Read our full review.
2022 Cake Osa+
"Practical" is not a word that comes to mind often when thinking about motorcycles. For the most part, they're just play-things built to go fast through corners, rack up highway miles or kick up a bunch of dirt. The Osa+ from Swedish electric motorcycle maker Cake doesn't fit that traditional mold — which is part of what makes it so damn interesting.
READ OUR REVIEW
Dainese Laguna Seca One-Piece Leather Suit
Anyone who's caught a snippet of Moto GP or MotoAmerica can picture it: a virtually skin-tight bodysuit armored with shoulder, elbow and knee pads, and shaped in such a way that it only looks somewhat normal when you are actually crouched on a bike.
Read our full review
2022 Indian Scout Rogue
Maybe it's the nostalgia speaking or merely the hope for a better future, but the Scout Rogue actually felt different (and not, at the same time). Vaguely familiar but with distinctly dissimilar features, like a thinner profile Metzeler Cruisetec front tire wrapped around a plus-sized 19-inch black cast wheel, mini-ape hangers, plus optional "sport style" solo seat, adjustable piggyback rear shocks and quarter fairing.
2022 Yamaha YZF-R7
The new R7 has a different focus: it’s a $1,300 step-up from Yamaha’s $7,700 MT-07 Hyper Naked Motorcycle — and a more cuddly successor to the brand’s legendary R6, a fantastic race-ready bike that’s rather uncomfortable on the streets. Shooting the gap between those two models, the R7 aims to be a fun, flexible street bike that can tear up the track without tearing up your wallet.
READ OUR REVIEW
2023 Zero DSR/X
For 15 years, the California-based electric motorcycle manufacturer has rolled out bike after bike that shatters molds and expectations of what an electric vehicle is capable of. Today, Zero continues the march of progression with its latest release: the DSR/X adventure motorcycle.
2022 Harley-Davidson Nightster
The Harley-Davidson Nightster, a pared-down evolution of the Sportster S, proves that a bike with a smaller engine and less horsepower can still punch above its weight when paired with a sporty chassis.
Livewire S2 Del Mar
A few years back, Harley-Davidson launched its first electric bike, the LiveWire. Then they branched LiveWire out into a separate brand with the admittedly-not-so-originally-named LiveWire One. LiveWire launched its second electric motorcycle — and no, it's not called the LiveWire Two. LiveWire's newest bike is called the S2 Del Mar, and it will be a lot cheaper than its sibling
Bell Race Star Flex DLX
The Bell Race Star Flex is the ultimate commuter helmet. It’s safe, it’s insanely comfy over short or long rides, and it has the most innovative liner of any lid we’ve tested. And it works great with a Cardo Packtalk.
Read our full review
AGV K6
The AGV K6 is right for you, no matter what you ride, and that’s in part because AGV’s got my back. They studied their helmet in the wind tunnel, measuring performance in every riding position from hyper Moto GP tucked to fully upright to make sure it rocked all the angles.
Read our full review.
