2022’s Best Motorcycles: Our Top 5 Selections

Let’s be honest: Between pandemic-induced supply shortages and outrageous customer demand, 2021 was just not your year if you were in the market for a new bike.

The good news is that 2022 is shaping up to be one of the best new model years to date, and there’s an absolute deluge of new bikes to get excited about. It was tough work, but we managed to whittle down the new motorcycles of 2022 to just 5 standout models we’re absolutely champing at the bit to throw a leg over: 

• 2022 Indian FTR Carbon R: Best Naked Bike
• 2022 Ducati DesertX: Best Adventure-Touring Bike
• 2022 Buell Hammerhead: Best Sportbike
• 2022 Triumph Street Triple 1200 RR: Best Weekend Trackday Bike
• 2022 Yamaha XSR900: Best Retro-Inspired Sportbike

When Indian introduced the FTR back in 2019, it was a milestone for American motorcycles. A powerful modern V-twin engine, a well-composed sporting chassis, and tough flat track styling built for the street.

Their latest top-spec model, the 2022 Indian FTR Carbon R, brings back everything we love from the original, but digs its heels into its sporting prowess with upgraded Ohlins suspension, 17-inch wheels front and rear, properly sticky Metzler Sportec tires, and updated fuel mapping for smoother throttle response and improved manners for cold starts. 

Ducati may have arrived fashionably late to the off-road adventure bike segment, but the all-new 2022 Ducati DesertX appears to be worth the wait.

While its retro Dakar looks are outrageously cool, the Desert X is much more than a mere exercise in style. With proper 21/18-inch wire wheels, Pirelli Scorpion Rally tires, oodles of fuel capacity, and 110 horsepower on tap, this is a long-distance off-roader that means business.

Here are our top 7 dual-sport motorcycles.

American fan favorite Buell Motorcycles is scheduled to make their much-anticipated comeback in 2022, and although Mr. Erik Buell is no longer at the helm, the 2022 Buell Hammerhead is the first truly exciting American sportbike we’ve seen since… Well… The last Buell 1190RX.

While much about the Hammerhead’s spec and design is carried over from the original 1190RX reviewed here by motorcycles.com, the 2022 Buell Hammerhead gets updated styling and an impressive spec sheet to match.

With 185 ponies and 102 ft-lbs of torque from its 1190cc liquid-cooled V-twin engine, the latest Buell will not disappoint, and yes, it’ll still carry all the quirky Buell features we love like a fuel-in-frame design, an 8-piston front caliper, and a massive 386mm single perimeter front rotor. 

Triumph has a knack for listening to their loyal fanbase, and the 2022 Triumph Street Triple 1200RR is the sport-focused big triple we’ve been begging for.

The RR builds upon the same beloved 1,1600cc inline triple and aluminum twin-spar frame that make the original Street Triple such a joy to ride, but adds on a neo-retro cafe fairing, clip-on handlebars, more aggressive rearsets, and even semi-active Ohlins suspension to make it one of the most anticipated new motorcycles of 2022.

It’s a thoroughly British take on the everyman’s weekend trackday weapon, and we’re looking forward to putting a few laps on one ourselves in 2022.

Yamaha’s XSR900 has been the retro sportbike of choice for discerning riders for years, a serious wolf in sheep’s clothing for anyone craving sportbike performance without the sportbike style or riding position. The 2022 model gets a complete restyling, and also gets the latest version of Yamaha’s riotous 890cc CP3 inline-triple powerplant.

Essentially everything about the 2022 Yamaha XSR900 is redesigned from the ground up with an all-new frame, lightweight spinforged wheels, and even a factory quickshifter specced as standard equipment!