These Are The 10 Motorcycles Every Enthusiast Should Own (2024)

We are not short of options when it comes to high-quality motorcycles, with a different model being launched seemingly every week, there really is something for every type of rider.

As much as we would love to, we will never be able to ride every bike out there. There are a select few bikes out there that everyone should ride at least once though, and just maybe own if the price is right. All the innovative bikes on this list are still pretty affordable (relatively speaking), and if you are a biker you need to own at least one of them.

10 Suzuki GSX-R750

When Suzuki launched the first Gixxer way back in 1985 they gave the world the first track bike for the road that anyone could actually afford.

It was a stroke of genius taking their title-winning bike and making it road legal, and although by today's lofty standards, it is far less powerful than newer bikes, it is still just as terrifying.

9 Honda CBR900RR Fireblade

In recent years it has become a legend, original examples with undamaged fairings are also getting terribly expensive, but a few scratches here and there keep them affordable.

By departing from the established 600/750/1000 classes they brought about a new era of literbikes that now needed to handle like a 600 yet still produce as much power as the literbikes, at the time nobody had an answer for the 900 that weighed just a few pounds more than the CBR600 yet made almost as much power as the CBR1000F.

8 Yamaha YZF-R1

Yamaha were losing sales to the other brands by the late 90s and needed an answer, so they took what the 900cc Honda successfully brought to the mainstream and added a few cc’s.

At the time the 1000cc class was widely regarded as unwieldy and only really good for straight-line speed; the R1 was a window into the future, a completely extraordinary accomplishment.

Related:10 Best Sports Bikes To Buy For Less Than $10,000

7 Harley-Davidson WLA

With so many of these machines made for the war effort, prices are still on the edge of reasonable and are still attainable classics, especially if they have been modified, which is both the most common and least desirable (for collectors).

Post-war it became the staple motorcycle for every motorcycle club in the US. It is still a common sight on the roads, with most fans choosing to ride these machines until they, or the machine, dies of natural causes.

6 Yamaha Tenere 700

You would be hard-pressed to find a better value for money motorcycle, let alone an Adventure bike. It is the Swiss army knife of the motorcycle world, able to wear pretty much any hat you need it to.

What makes it so special is how it can do all the things bigger bikes do, often better. It has the tractable parallel twin that makes buckets of torque, long rides are not a problem as comfort is reasonable both on and off-road and the lightweight chassis rounds off one of the most complete motorcycles ever.

Related:We Detail Why The Yamaha Tenere 700 Is The Best Enduro Motorcycle

5 Honda XR 650

If you are after a cheap bike that is great off-road and can go on it (a little bit) then look no further than the XR.

If you really want you could even buy one new, which goes to show just how long the product life has been, as you would benefit more from an older used bike.

4 Yamaha YZ250

Everyone should own a dirt bike at some point, even if it isn’t “your thing” it will upskill you as a rider.

You could sub in any dedicated modern dirt bike but the YZ offers unrivaled value, the engine was good enough to stay unchanged around 20 years, it is arguably one of the best two-stroke bikes ever made, and they are still very cheap used.

Related:Everything You Need To Know Before Buying A Yamaha Dirt Bike

3 Honda CB750

Before the CB, large displacement four-stroke bikes were known for being unreliable and expensive to run.

Honda gave us something that wasn’t the most advanced, nor was it the very best at anything in particular, but was just so competent, unbreakable, and almost irresistibly affordable. Even today they are relatively affordable to run, reliable, and affordable.

2 Ducati M900 Monster

It is one of, if not the most accessible used Ducati. It never quite made it to the modern classic status the 916 sportbike almost immediately got.

It has a design that has stood the test of time though, modern Monsters still have a lot in common with the original machine.

1 Suzuki Hayabusa GSX1300R

When it first came out it pretty much invented a new class of motorcycle. Today it's a bit fat and soft with some outdated suspension components, and looks that only a mother could love (it was designed to make a statement).

20 years later, it is still one of the fastest bikes in a straight line. It is one of those bucket list bikes, when something is this crazy, its looks are the last thing you care about.

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