One day shortly after I had gotten my license to ride on the street, I hopped on my brother’s Honda CB400F, rode to the end of the driveway and turned right. At the first intersection, I turned left. Then right, left, and so on. My only goal for the ride was to keep to that pattern and see where it led me. This was in the days well before cell phones and GPS, but I wasn’t too worried about getting lost. My hometown in the corner of southwestern Ontario, Canada, is pretty much surrounded by the Great Lakes; I wouldn’t get too far before hitting water, and then it would be a simple matter of following the coastline to somewhere familiar.

Since their invention in the latter part of the 19th Century, motorcycles have spawned a virtual plethora of racing disciplines. Whether it be pursuit of straight line top speed on the salt flats or a low E.T. in the quarter-mile, racing a closed course over dirt or pavement, climbing a mountain, navigating a section of terrain more suitable for a mountain goat, or pitching it sideways on dirt ovals, racing on two wheels has taken on many shapes and forms over the past hundred-odd years. And within that canon of motorcycle competition are a host of disciplines that either prospered or faded into oblivion.

While the 2013 World Superbike and MotoGP championship seasons are barely underway, there has already been plenty of activity in both series with regards to 2014 and beyond as both championships continue their quests to reduce costs and improve parity among the teams. Both series will be significantly different from their current forms in the medium-term future, but World Superbike especially could be altered dramatically as soon as next year.

AMA Pro Racing’s volatile nature is not something that the media has overlooked in recent years. Many members of the press have been accused of being too brash when writing about the latest AMA regimes in fact. Too critical. Too pessimistic. The list goes on. The current establishment has given us less to harp on and the racing has thankfully improved, but as dyed-in-the-wool enthusiasts we still hesitate to say that American roadracing is back in its prime. Among the problems that currently plague the AMA paddock is the number of hurdles that lowly sponsored teams must jump in order to go—or continue—racing. One of the teams that looks to have found a way around these obstacles for the time being is Evan Steel Performance, which recently completed its third year of on/off superbike racing and is sporting a few more notches in its belt than most equally supported teams.

We’ve all had some cold rides. But a recent street ride to film one of our “On Two Wheels” video episodes on the Motor Trend YouTube channel to document our middleweight naked bike comparison in this issue reminded me of how riding during the winter can turn from beautiful to treacherous in the span of a day.

The history of MotoGP can be linked to one person: Valentino Rossi. Rossi is not only the only current MotoGP rider who’s been with the class since its inception in 2002, he’s by far the most prolific. He has more poles (45), he’s won more MotoGP races (66), and he has more MotoGP World Championships (six) than any other rider.

“Our customers have been asking questions: What has happened to Yamaha? Why are they not making exciting models?” says Kunihiko Miwa, Yamaha’s Senior Executive Officer. For a Japanese manufacturer to stand in front of the world at the Cologne Motorcycle Show and say such a statement is a remarkable moment, but it demonstrates that as well as recognizing that they are in trouble, Yamaha are about to do something about it…

Television broadcasting of motorcycle racing in America has encountered some rough waters as of late, with AMA Pro Road Racing, WSBK, and the MotoGP World Championship series finding themselves TV orphans at the conclusion of their respective 2012 seasons. We shouldn't be surprised. In recent years motorcycle roadracing was systematically relegated to misfit status on Speed TV in order to make room for various four-wheel coverage. The most recent slap in the face was when a final round of the 2012 WSBK title chase was abruptly dropped from the schedule in favor of a NASCAR race. But the real zinger — remembered fondly by roadracing aficionados as the equivalent to the day the music died — was several years back when Speed arbitrarily cut into a MotoGP round mid-race to cover NASCAR qualifying. Not a NASCAR race. Qualifying. I knew then the marriage was over. It was merely a matter of waiting for the other shoe to drop.

The world was a different place in late 1992. Bill Clinton had just been elected president. The eastern seaboard was still reeling from Hurricane Andrew while Los Angeles recovered from massive rioting. A gallon of gasoline cost just over a dollar. The World Wide Web was definitely not (worldwide). In motorcycling, Honda stunned everyone with the CBR900RR and Ducati released an interesting naked bike called the Monster. The USA continued its world racing dominance with Doug Polen as World Superbike Champion and Wayne Rainey as 500cc Grand Prix World Champion.

The MotoGP World Championship celebrates the end of its first decade in the midst of profound change. The free-spending high tech days of the past are gone, replaced by more prudent use of limited resources and mandated technology. The evolution is pitting the factories against Dorna, the series organizers, who want to bring costs down while enhancing the championship’s entertainment value. Now, with the announcement that Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta will oversee both MotoGP and World Superbike, the line between the two series will be more sharply drawn and MotoGP will evolve in a way unheard of only a year ago. To understand where MotoGP is now, it’s instructive to look at how it got here. The answer, inevitably, points to Honda. Unlike the other Japanese manufacturers, Honda never embraced two-stroke road bikes. Four-strokes have been in the company’s blood since Soichiro Honda was born. Certainly it won 500cc World Championships from 1983, with Freddie Spencer, though 2001, with Valentino Rossi. And in between came championships delivered by the great Mick Doohan, his countryman Wayne Gardner, Eddie Lawson, and the quiet Spaniard Alex Criville.

While it is really just one single page of the magazine, the front cover garners the most attention (and hours of work!) every issue and is the most important page. Whether you are a subscriber or purchase your copy at a newsstand, the cover is the first glimpse you have of the magazine and sets the tone for each issue. To that end, the editor agonizes over the short blurbs promoting each article inside; staffers make repeated passes for the camera to obtain just the right image in the perfect light; and the art department puts it all together to be as eye-catching as possible. Once complete, copies are distributed up the company hierarchy for approval, and only then is the cover released to the printer. Then we all hold the collective editorial breath and wait anxiously to see what you — our harshest critics — have to say. Here, in chronological order, are our favorites from the past 20 years.

Searching through the Sport Rider archives for this year’s 20th anniversary section brought back a lot of memories for me. What struck me most as I flipped through each issue was that for almost every road test, comparison or feature that I’ve written for the magazine over the past 14 years, there is a whole other story that goes along with it. A lot of work goes into every article in the magazine, but sometimes it turns into what can only be described as a full-fledged adventure.

Great Britten!

In my column back in the August 2010 issue of Sport Rider, I bemoaned the fact that despite rapid advances in design and manufacturing technology, the basic structural design of helmets has remained the same for more than 50 years. Sure, there’s been plenty of innovations such as internal venting, anti-fogging faceshields, and better aerodynamics. But the helmet’s basic architecture — an expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam liner encased in a polycarbonate or fiberglass-based hard outer shell — hasn’t really changed much since the crash helmet’s inception back in the ‘50s. Add to that safety standards that have either remained the same one-size-fits-all or until recently followed an arbitrary raise-the-pass-level strategy every handful of years, and you have a product design that has become quite stagnant.

1994 Ducati 916

Traditionally my aim with this column is to create something entertaining which, if not insightful opinion, then perhaps an attempt to be humorous or mildly philosophical. However, for this go round, I have a far different tone. My best friend of forty years, Scott Johnson, recently passed away after a long, brave battle with melanoma. In the end the cancer got him, but it didn't have an easy go of it. Scott's nature as a fierce competitor was in evidence right up till the end.

Motorcycle legend Kenny Roberts circled the Yamaha YZR-M1 of Jorge Lorenzo, one of the most technologically advanced motorcycles in the world. The dash was more sophisticated than any he'd ever seen. The handlebar switches could change the character of the engine on the run. There were wires and sensors running to every corner of the motorcycle. Was this a racing motorcycle or a video game? "Where's the joystick?" he asked with typical Roberts sarcasm.

If you were following AMA Pro Roadracing in 2012-specifically the Daytona SportBike class for middleweight bikes-it was hard not to notice a particular Yamaha consistently at the front in the final half of the season. After fracturing his kneecap in three places-ouch-in a scooter accident at home following his impressive third-place finish in the season-opening Daytona 200 (forcing him out of three of the next four races on the AMA schedule), Cameron Beaubier mounted an impressive comeback that resulted in the northern Californian winning seven out of the final 11 races on the calendar. Unfortunately those missed races proved vital in the title chase, keeping Beaubier out of the championship picture despite his dominant close to the season.

Paris, Intermot, EICMAIts a steady stream of new-model information at these motorcycle trade shows, and now that they are complete for another year we can bring you our fifth annual Sportbike Buyers Guide. As usual, weve compiled pictures, brief specifications and a summary of every sportbike model offered for 2013, from the beautiful and high tech Aprilia RSV4 Factory APRC to the new-rider-friendly (and much more pocketbook-friendly!) Yamaha FZ6R. Its a sign of the rebounding economy that we have 15-plus more models included than in last years guide; that in itself is good news, but perhaps even better is the increased selection available. If your riding tastes favor something sportbike related, whether its at the sport-touring end of the spectrum or the adventure-touring end, weve got you covered.

At the recent Intermot show in Germany, Yamaha introduced a concept model with a three-cylinder engine using the crossplane concept from the YZF-R1 and YZR-M1. It wasn’t actually a complete motorcycle, but rather an engine suspended between two wheels. A YZF-R1 engine was suspended above and a YZR-M1 MotoGP engine behind, intended to indicate the three-cylinder’s design roots. According to the press material, “This new concept model represents an important and significant development with regard to Yamaha’s plans for the company’s future direction in the motorcycle marketplace. Yamaha firmly believe that this new engine concept will open up new horizons in riding enjoyment.” The implication is, of course, that this new engine will be used extensively in the company’s model lineup — perhaps including sportbikes.

One of the problems with social media is how misinformation can spread like wildfire once a single rumor is ignited. On November 5, 2012, American Suzuki Motor Corp announced it would be filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in order to reorganize its operations as it prepares to discontinue sales of automobiles in the U.S. Social media networks immediately erupted in cries of “Suzuki going under” and “no more Gixxers/Busas”. My email inbox was soon groaning under the load of dozens of messages asking if the rumor was true.

If you’ve skimmed through this issue already, you’ll have seen Kent’s First Ride piece on the Kawasaki Ninja 300, which replaces the Ninja 250 for ‘13. I find it interesting that Kawasaki updated the 250/300 this year, just five years after its last update. That may seem like a long time in sportbike years, but when you consider that the little Ninja went unchanged for 20 years before that, five years is a relatively quick turnaround. The introduction of the Honda CBR250R two years ago is likely what prompted Kawasaki to update its 250 this year, and this is just one upshot of what is an apparent increase in activity in the small-bike category.

Former 500cc Grand Prix world champion Kevin Schwantz had his name in the news back in September of 2012, but certainly not in a way he’d prefer. Schwantz was forced to file suit against the Circuit of the Americas (the new sprawling racetrack facility built near Austin with the intention of bringing Formula One auto racing to Texas) and its president Steve Sexton, charging that Sexton and COTA “through tortious interference and fraud…encouraged Dorna to breach and purportedly terminate” the contract that Schwantz had to promote the MotoGP race that had been planned for 2013 at the facility.

Aaron Yates’ world changed in an instant on the morning of March 28, 2010.

Longtime Sport Rider readers may recognize the name Sam Wheeler. Way back in 1996 when I first took over the reins to this magazine, I interviewed Wheeler for a feature story we ran in my first issue as editor-in-chief (“Hooked on Speed”, April ’97). A long-time veteran of motorcycle land speed racing — starting with a Bultaco 125-powered streamliner he built himself in 1963 — Wheeler was intending in ‘96 to break the longtime motorcycle speed record of 322.150 mph (held by the nitro-fueled, twin-engine-Harley-powered streamliner of Dave Campos) with his own self-designed, Kawasaki-sponsored streamliner powered by a normally aspirated Kawasaki ZX-11 engine.