It’s that time of the year again. Boney M and Mariah Carey Christmas hits fill the halls of bustling malls, while the last-minute Christmas shopping rush rapidly approaches fever pitch.
If you’re wondering what to get us for Christmas, look no further than this list. We’ve looked back on 2022 and picked five bikes that we’d love to park in our garage. Each one meets a specific need, and each one piqued our interest when it hit the scene this year.
Read on, and let us know what you’d like to find under the tree this festive season.
For cruising: The Harley-Davidson Low Rider El Diablo
We’re kicking off our list with a motorcycle that only comes in one very festive colour. It’s the Harley-Davidson Low Rider El Diablo, and it’s extremely rad.
El Diablo is a limited edition, we’re-only-going-to-build-it-once Harley Softail. It’s limited to 1,500 numbered units, and only comes in this totally insane livery, inspired by the 1983 Harley-Davidson FXRT. Layered with bright red, ‘sunglo’ red, dark red, dark red pearl and gold striping, each El Diablo is hand-painted by the same shop that does Harley’s CVO models.
Sure, El Diablo is effectively a Harley-Davidson Low Rider ST with a fancy paint job (and a Rockford Fosgate sound system)… but so what? The Low Rider ST is a pretty sweet bike itself, powered by Harley’s Milwaukee Eight power plant. And this isn’t the 104 ci or 114 ci variant either—the Low Rider ST and El Diablo get the monstrous 117 ci version of this modern V-twin.
It’s a retina-searing homage to the 1980s So Cal custom scene, and one of the best-looking cruisers on the market. Add to that an extra hit of performance, and what’s not to love?
For adventure: The Honda CB500X
It’s an excellent time to be an adventure rider. The scene is jam-packed with full-sized, full-spec adventure bikes for munching miles over any sort of terrain. But it’s the mid-sized market that really has us excited right now.
Mid-sized dual sports make a whole ton of sense. They’re cheaper to buy and less intimidating to ride than big rigs—but in most cases, just as much fun. And our pick of the middleweight crop right now is the Honda CB500X.
The Honda CB500X has been out for a couple of years now, but Honda have just treated it to a significant refresh. And, for the first time, it’s now available in South Africa.
The CB500X will currently set you back a paltry R119,999—less than half the price of the current Africa Twin, which is why it’s affectionately known as the ‘Halfrica Twin.’ That gets you an adequate amount of suspension, an adequate ride height, adequately large wheels and an adequate amount of power from the 471 cc parallel-twin engine.
So while it’s not going to set the street (or trails) ablaze, it ticks a lot of boxes. Which is why we’re willing to bet that ours isn’t the only Christmas list it’s on.
For twisties: The Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RR
Imagine your favourite mountain pass. Now imagine traversing it on a 177.5 hp triple that not only sounds and looks great but handles sublimely.
On paper, the Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RR is a bit like the answer to a question no one asked. The Speed Triple 1200 RS that it’s based on is already more than capable—and arguably a whole lot more comfortable. Why would you add clip-ons and a pseudo-café racer-style fairing to it?
Get it out on the road though, and the Speed Triple 1200 RR starts to make a whole lotta sense. While its sportbike-like riding position might rule it out as a long-distance machine or daily runner for most riders, it’s an undeniably brilliant corner slayer.
Before you’ve finished plotting the next corner’s approach and exit, the 1200 RR has already pitched into it, gripped an invisible set of tracks and railed its way through. It helps that the RR’s equipped with a semi-active electronically adjustable Öhlins suspension package, of course.
Supermotard enthusiasts will bellow that nothing beats a motard in corners, while superbikers will champion their preferred make and model of superbike as the ultimate tool for twisties… and neither of them is technically wrong. But once you’ve ridden the Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RR, it dawns on you that there’s nothing else quite like it.
For touring: The BMW R 1250 RS
You heard it here first: sports tourers are the future. They offer a measure of the fun of superbikes, but without the back pains. And they can cover great distances with ease, sans the bulk of ‘pure’ touring bikes.
Our pick of the bunch is the BMW R 1250 RS. Slap a pair of hard cases on it, and we’d happily take it around the country… twice. It’s quick, stable, comfortable as heck, and handles great.
In fact, it’s one of the most underrated bikes around. The ‘ShiftCam’ boxer motor spools up enthusiastically, with ample torque and power on hand throughout the rev range. That’s why the R 1250 RS only received mild updates this year, mostly with its electronics package. Yes, it’s that good.
It hides a neat little trick in its cockpit too. As an aftermarket accessory, BMW offers a kit to swap the clip-ons for street bike bars with a little more rise. Good news for those of us that aren’t as spritely as we used to be.
For bread and milk runs: The Italjet Dragster
Nothing beats a scooter for running errands. And no scooter is quite as attention-grabbing as the Italjet Dragster.
Admittedly, the Dragster is hardly the ideal grocery-getter. The passenger seat is laughable, the under-seat storage holds little more than your phone and wallet, and there’s no convenient shopping bag hook up front. But we’ll compensate with a backpack because the Dragster looks completely bonkers.
It wears less bodywork than most scooters, putting its elegant trellis frame and aluminium junctions on full display. Its quirky ‘independent steering system’ not only looks radical but reportedly performs well too. And its 12” front and 13” rear wheels look like they were modelled after an Italian sports car.
The 125 cc version of the Italjet Dragster lacks a little poke, but there’s a 200 cc (technically 181 cc) version out now that’ll do just fine. Weighing just 125 kilos, it’s good for 17.5 hp and 15.5 Nm, with a claimed top speed of 125 km/h. So it’s zippy enough to get up to mischief on.
We’ll take it in red and white (in the spirit of Christmas, of course), thank you very much.
