Our favorite motorcycles of 2025

Is there such a thing as a best motorcycle? Maybe one that's best for you, and a different one that's best for someone else. Or two that together are the best combination to cover the kinds of riding you do.

Whether there's a best, it's undeniable is that we all have favorites.

That means it's time for the Common Tread crew to take a look at our favorite motorcycles this year. These are our purely subjective choices of ones that we thought were particularly significant or interesting or we simply liked personally. On to the picks.

Zack Courts: A little hair of the dog

Being that I crashed myself into a few pieces in the middle of October, I guess this synopsis will cover my favorite bikes of the first three quarters of 2025. Close enough, right? I am tempted to pick one of a couple of absurdly fast machines I rode this year, namely Kawasaki's H2 SX SE or the alpha Racing M 1000 RR. Or maybe one of the amazingly luxurious and expensive bikes I rode, like the Harley-Davidson CVO Road Glide ST or Honda Gold Wing Tour.

At least an honorable mention has to go to the Honda CB750 Hornet, which is atop the Daily Rider Leaderboard and with good reason. A terrific engine combined with well designed electronics and a lovable chassis is worth a nod. But, y'know, I think after all of 2025 I'm going to say that my favorite bike was KTM's new 990 RC R. At the time of writing this, the last bike I rode.

Zack riding the orange KTM RC R on a curving country road in Spain — This might be one of the best do-it-all street bikes in the world, dressed up with devil-may-care winglets and bodywork — so that people who don’t think they want to do it all will still like it. Photo by Sebas Romero.

I don't think it's just recency bias that makes me say it, though. Mostly it gets my vote for what it represents. In fact, I almost picked Ducati's Panigale V2 for the same reason; a machine that's being designed for what riders need rather than selling people on race replicas that they think they want. The new Pani V2 is just a little too pricey for my taste and, yes, while Yamaha’s new YZF-R9 follows a similar recipe, I think it's the least comfortable of this new crop of street-bike-powered premium sport bikes.

KTM's 990 RC R has power and poise on the track, sensible features for street riding, loads of adjustability, long service intervals, and a sub-$15,000 price tag. It might be the best version of an inspiring new breed of sport bike and that makes me happy. I just wish I hadn't crashed it so hard.

Ari Henning: The friendly, welcoming Rebel 300 gets even easier

Every time I see a small-bore Honda Rebel, I think "Ah, a new rider!" For 40 years now, Honda's little cruiser has ushered fresh, often frightened motorcyclists down the road to two-wheeled confidence and competence. That's significant.

a young rider on a Honda Rebel 300 in the city — The Honda Rebel 300 has provided a friendly introduction to motorcycling for many riders, and it's about to get even more user-friendly. Honda photo.

Now, Honda is poised to launch an E-Clutch version of the Rebel 300, which will make the iconic beginner bike even more appealing and more significant. I know, I know, the auto-clutch Rebel is a 2026 model so some might say it's not technically eligible for this article, but both E-Clutch and the Rebel 300 have been around for years, so I'm shoehorning it in.

E-Clutch is amazing, and since it doesn't eliminate the clutch lever or shift lever, it's a great way for new riders to grow into fully manual operation, or at least experiment with it without having to fully commit to a manual. It's the best of both worlds, and it's sure to make one of the most approachable beginner bikes that much more appealing to new riders.

Dustin Wheelen: Triumph Tiger Sport 800

I crossed a few items off my bucket list this year. I clung to a V4 Ducati around the Andalucia Circuit. I lived with Yamaha's XSR900 GP for a week in Tokyo. Those memories will last a lifetime. Yet, neither bike ranks as my favorite motorcycle of 2025. That title belongs to Triumph's Tiger Sport 800.

Dustin riding the yellow Triumph Tiger Sport 800 in Spain — Its mix of fun and practicality landed the Triumph Tiger Sport 800 on our list twice. Triumph photo.

Upright sport-tourer. Crossover. Parts-bin special. Several labels apply, but if the Tiger Sport is nothing else, it's a sleeper. Its styling is far from fashionable. Its accommodations are far from lavish. Its tech suite is basic. Still, the Tiger 800 excites. It does so with a 798 cc triple that is engaging yet practical, with 113 horsepower (at 10,750 rpm) and 10,000-mile service intervals to its name. It's powerful yet predictable, with accurate fueling throughout its linear powerband. No wonder Triumph already repurposed the middleweight triple for its Trident 800. In other words, there's already a frontrunner for my favorite motorcycle of 2026.

Spurgeon Dunbar: A second vote for the Triumph

One of the bikes I did actually buy this year (albeit for the ‘Zilla garage, not my own) was a 2025 Triumph Street Triple RS in Cosmic Yellow. And with an MSRP at just over $13K (2026 MSRP is $13,845), the Street Triple RS is a steal. Amazing engine, some of the best brakes money can buy, a killer suspension, and overall just a hell of a bike to ride. My only issue with it is that it's a bit tricky to stack a bunch of luggage on it for weekend getaways (but we'll see if we can’t solve that in the new year).

That being said, the Street Triple wasn't exactly new for 2025. So if I want to play by the rules and find something that's a bit easier to tour on, off the showroom floor, I need look no further than Triumph's own lineup with the new Tiger Sport 800. It reminds me of a cross between the older Triumph Sprint ST 1050 and a Tiger 1050, and what's not to like about that?

two Triumph Tiger Sport 800s in yellow, one with a full set of matching luggage — Spurgeon is a sucker for a yellow motorcycle. And somewhat partial to Triumphs. And likes a good sport-tourer. Add it up and it starts to seem inevitable. Triumph photo.

As Dustin pointed out in his soggy first ride review, the bike makes more power, has a better suspension, and better brakes than the smaller Tiger Sport 660 while offering similar touring amenities like cruise control, cornering ABS, lean-sensitive traction control, and a quickshifter. And while it might lack some of the over-the-top componentry of the Street Triple RS that I just added to our company stable, it does come in Cosmic Yellow with color-matched luggage to boot!

Lance Oliver: Honda CB750 Hornet

My riding season was bookended by multi-day rides on two big, comfortable, sophisticated motorcycles costing around $30,000. The 50th Anniversary Honda Gold Wing Tour I rode in the spring and the BMW R 1300 RT I rode for more than 2,000 miles in the fall are both so well equipped they can carry half my worldly possessions across vast distances while not even requiring me to shift gears (neither has a clutch lever). But my heart (which likes to keep things simple) and my head (which is irredeemably frugal) were captured by a different bike.

Lance riding a white Honda CB750 Hornet in central California — The Honda CB750 Hornet is the one motorcycle in 2025 that was most likely to make other motorcycles look like they weren't giving you enough for your money. Align Media photo.

Cheap as I am, I love feeling like I'm getting more than my money's worth, and that's just what the Honda CB750 Hornet delivers. With ABS, traction control, three preset ride modes and two customizable modes, plus an adjustable quickshifter, it has all the tech I need. It's light, sweet-handling, and plenty powerful enough for real-world riding without making me feel like I might kill myself if I turned off traction control. And, best of all, MSRP is just $7,999.

That creates some uncomfortable price comparisons for many other new motorcycles this year and makes me feel like I'm getting away with something by paying that little. That makes the Hornet my favorite motorcycle of 2025.