The new NC700X from Honda, introduced last year at the EICMA show and available in the USA as a 2012 model, strikes me as an important motorcycle. With just 50 horsepower and weighing 472 pounds it’s certainly not a sportbike, but the ideas behind it could have an impact on the company’s sportbikes in the future, and even the whole motorcycling industry.

The 2012 MotoGP World Championship officially kicked off under the desert lights in Qatar. But the season actually began two months earlier when the 2012 testing season began under the sweltering Malaysia sun in Sepang. It was there — over three long humid days — that a sense of what the evolving championship would look like developed.

In February of this year, the WSMC (Willow Springs Motorcycle Club) — the club roadracing organization responsible for events held at Southern California’s long-standing racing circuit, Willow Springs International Raceway — was abruptly shut down by circuit owner Bill Huth. Huth stated that declining club revenues (i.e., lack of entries) were putting the WSMC further and further into the red, and he decided to stem the bleeding. Willow Springs will reportedly run track-day events on those weekends formerly reserved for WSMC until further notice.

Ever since cables first connected twistgrips to carburetors, riders have been searching for better throttle response — the connection between input at the handlebar and power delivered to the rear wheel. Torque-by-wire throttle, an increasingly used buzzword that is likely to show up in new-model press material before too long, offers an interesting solution and may even change what we consider the throttle’s job to be.

It’s spelled Wrooom yet pronounced “vroom”, but mostly what it is is the epitome of “la dolce vita,” the Italian phrase which literally translates as ‘the sweet life.’

My inclination toward this column frequently has me meandering through some storied recollection from my past. However, for this issue, I simply had to relate a story borrowed from my older brother’s treasure trove of two-wheeled memories, told to me this past Thanksgiving. After the traditional turkey dinner our family repaired to the living room with requisite tryptophan-induced laziness. My older brother Barry and I got to reminiscing about the good ole days of our carefree youth–which were monopolized by motorized obsessions that spawned a plethora of memorable experiences. After five decades as siblings I thought I’d heard all of his stories. I was wrong. The first thing you need to realize is that my brother is a master storyteller, not content to merely toss out some vagaries and loose facts to recount an event. He revels in painting pictures, creating exacting detail for his listeners. His recollection of a particular incident from his teens was so poignant I just had to share it.

While riding home from work the other night on one of the latest test bikes, I found that the headlight’s low beam wasn’t aimed up high enough. Although the beam’s pattern and brightness were excellent, the amount of pavement that was lit up was insufficient to really be safe, so I made a mental note to adjust them when I got home and had some spare time.

The last round of the 2011 MotoGP series, held at Valencia in Spain, also marked the end of the 800cc era, a five-year span that many fans and people in the paddock are happy to see finished. New rules for 2012, intended to reduce costs and attract more entries, allow 1000cc displacement with a maximum bore of 81mm (and an accordingly minimum stroke to cap rpm). The addition of the Claiming Rule Team clause opens up the grid to more entries, but has also generated mixed reactions — again, among both fans and many in the paddock.

The 2012 MotoGP World Championship marks a seismic shift, with Claiming Rule Team (CRT) machines sharing the grid with MotoGP prototypes in what series rights-holders Dorna hopes will be a permanent shift to less factory-dependent machinery. Not since two-strokes largely gave way to four-strokes in 2002 has there been such a radical change in the makeup of the grid.

I read a story once about a near-sighted writer who, after having been engrossed in his writing for hours, took a break to rest his eyes. He slipped his glasses off and went to the window of his apartment for a breath of fresh air. When he looked down on the street below he saw a line of penguins getting into a banana. After retrieving his glasses he realized it was, in fact, a group of nuns getting onto a school bus. He decided he preferred the penguins getting into the banana a lot more. The lesson, I suppose; things aren’t always what they seem–and sometimes are more enthralling when left to their unanswered mysteries.

I was riding my usual route into work today, thinking that the subject of this month’s column was all wrapped up and ready to write. Traffic was somewhat light as I rode in the number one (fast) lane on a winding three-lane highway at a casual pace. It was one of those situations where your mind can wander because the motorcycle and pavement aren’t demanding much out of you, and the automobiles on the road with you are seemingly far enough away that they can’t swerve into your space or cause you harm.

It’s that time of year again. With all the new models unveiled and manufacturers’ lineups released, we’ve put together our fourth annual roundup of sportbikes. Savvy readers will notice that we’re an issue later than usual; the manufacturers are becoming increasingly cagey with new-model information, releasing little until it’s publicly available. Delaying the guide for a month allows us to include accurate information as far as pricing and specifications for more models.

While researching this issue’s buyer’s guide, I realized that there is no Interceptor in Honda’s lineup for 2012. Yes, I know I’m a couple of years late and the Interceptor name fell by the wayside with the VFR800’s transformation into the VFR1200F. I must have known that, but it struck me that the Interceptor is a big part of Honda’s heritage and it’s a bit sad that — at least for now — the model is gone. The Interceptors have always been special for me because I owned one of the originals, the 1983 VF750F “Interrupter” as I and many others fondly called it.

The day after Ducati unveiled its new flagship Panigale at a theatre in Milan, it was on display for all to see at EICMA, and the Ducati brass was out in full force. We caught up with Ducati Corse CEO Claudio Domenicali for a quick chat on what was in store for the Panigale in 2012.

In this modern age of racing, we often take it for granted that despite all the safety improvements in riding gear, machinery, and racetracks over the years, motorcycle roadracing is still very dangerous. Grand Prix circuits now are relatively safe compared to decades ago, with plenty of runoff and any potentially threatening walls and other stationary objects moved from harm’s way. Technological advances in manufacturing, materials, and miniaturization have produced racing leathers with inflatable airbag systems in addition to superior impact-absorbing components; those same impact protection advances have made their way into gloves and boots as well. Despite power levels that push the limits of metallurgy and design, even machinery failures resulting in injury have become rare events.

If you’ve ever thought about riding on a genuine racetrack, now is the time to turn your curiosity into reality. And it’s never been easier: There are more than 60 clubs and riding schools that operate hundreds of track days on almost 70 road courses throughout North America. Contrary to conventional wisdom, track days aren’t scary. The racetracks are wide and grippy, everyone goes in the same direction, no cops, no cars, no ego-fueled racers or trophies.

Amateur roadracing clubs in America have been the backbone of a healthy and productive professional and international representation of U.S. racers throughout our history. From small grassroots clubs to bona fide giants like WERA, CCS, WSMC and AFM, the American club racing organizations have been a strong influence on the overall national and world racing scene. Virtually every top racer from the USA to grace the international racing scene started in a local racing club, developing the skills and talents to climb up the ranks to the professional arena.

“Wanna beer?” It’s not the first question you’d expect from the owner of a motorcycle riding school, but this was no ordinary riding school—and this was no ordinary owner.

If you think you’ve been to a big motorcycle show, you haven’t. EICMA, the annual collection of all things motorcycle on the outskirts of Milan, Italy, is so large and so comprehensive that you can spend days there and never see everything. You’ll find motorcycles (and scooters, which are especially popular in southern Europe) from every brand known to man. There are bikes, helmets, leathers and gloves from companies you’ve never heard of. There are race bikes and sometimes racers; Kevin Schwantz and Giacomo Agostini were there at the start of the week, Ben Spies at the end of the week. And one of Spies’ Yamaha YZR-M1 show bikes was there in the Yamaha display. How many Valentino Rossi Ducati Marlboro Desmosedicis were at various displays? Hard to say…they seemed to multiply.

When San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Marco Simoncelli was killed in a freak racing accident on the second lap of the Malaysian Grand Prix at the Sepang circuit in October, it unfortunately cut short the rapid rise of a growing star in MotoGP. The hard-riding Italian had his share of on-track controversies and disagreements with other riders over the course of his career, but his honest demeanor and accessible character off the track won him a growing legion of fans around the world. In an increasingly sterile world of shielded riders emitting press release sound bites, Simoncelli’s sincerity — perceptible even through his limited English — was a breath of fresh air. His amiable personality and strong family ties endeared him to the Gresini team as well, making the 24-year-old’s loss all the more tougher on them, including team owner Fausto Gresini, himself a two-time 125cc World Champion.

Video: Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi discuss the upcoming season at the opening press conference.

People acquainted with me know that I tend to be slow at acquiring newfangled electronic gadgets. Proof of this is the fact that I have a four-year-old cell phone and only recently started dabbling in social media. Although this could easily be explained away merely as stubbornness or laziness I prefer to think that I’m acting out of sentimentality, fearful that in adopting new technologies we risk losing some of the charms of the simple life. One such device I am having a love/hate relationship with is GPS. This technology, amazing as it is, threatens to abolish one of the time-honored traditions of motorcycling; getting lost.

Monster Energy Graves Yamaha’s Josh Hayes won his second AMA Superbike title by playing to his strengths and minimizing his mistakes. Hayes was consistently strong, he didn’t crash during the races, and he was faster in qualifying than anyone had been since Mat Mladin. He won every pole position but one, and scored a host of points by leading the most laps, even in races he didn’t win. Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Blake Young won seven races to three for Hayes, but the AMA points structure is such that Hayes was able to deliver Yamaha its second Superbike title in a row; the final points were 363 to 358. Under the FIM points system, Young would have won 264 to 261.

Ducati owes a big thank you to Carlos Checa, as well as to Team Althea owner Genesio Bevilacqua, and his crew of mechanics, for making its controversial strategy to axe its factory Superbike team this season appear to work. Checa gave a new lease of life to the obsolescent 1098R model which had seemingly reached its sell-by date, and put Ducati back at the top of the World Superbike category by winning its fourteenth World Superbike Riders title. The chance to ride the Checa Ducati at Misano in early September, as Carlos mapped out his final push towards clinching the World title, gave me an opportunity to evaluate how he and the Team Althea men had achieved this. Well, with just a little help from the Ducati factory, whose bevy of engineers were in constant attendance at every race. Ducati Superbike boss Ernesto Marinelli insists that Checa’s victory was achieved with a motorcycle which anyone could buy for the princely sum of €135,000 (approximately $190,000) plus tax — the cost of an RS11 customer version 1098R superbike.

As each new sportbike debuts with some sort of electronic rider aid system, a rather vocal minority sounds their displeasure through internet forums and comment sections on website stories at the march of technology sweeping over motorcycling. They decry the electronic rider aids as defeating one of the popular mantras of motorcycling — that the rider truly makes the difference in how a particular bike performs. Another fear is that riders brought up on electronic rider aids will become dependent on them. Others reject the aspect of what they see as an electronic nanny that will always be there to spoil the fun. “Next thing you know, the motorcycle will be riding itself,” they bemoan.