Whether it's focus or fun, 250 or 45, Trey Canard has found equilibrium. It's nothing new for a Lites rider to jump onto a 450 and race the premier class at rounds that are not in their series, but it is a bit rare for them to become an instant success and a podium mainstay.

Like any of us who’ve been around for a while, Honda’s VFR has changed. Meet one on the street and you’d never guess it was once the VF750F that tossed the sportbike world on its collective head in 1983. There’s no hint of Fred Merkel’s ’85 AMA Superbike Championship, Wayne Rainey’s five-straight wins in ’86, or the 190-mph RC45 that won eight of 10 races under Miguel DuHamel in ’95. Look closely and you can catch a glint of the broadband ’98 VFR800. But beyond that three-letter prefix and its basic engine configuration, this VFR bears no resemblance to its illustrious ance

In an effort to keep pace in the hotly contested 250 four-stroke motocross racing class, Big Red continues to enhance its 2012 Honda CRF250R dirt bike. Like its big brother (’12 CRF450R), it gets a host of intelligent refinements making it a better overall platform to campaign on the racetrack or trail, as demonstrated at Southern California’s Piru Motocross Park.

What a difference a year makes. Honda’s biggest news in 2009 was the Fury chopper—a stretched-and slammed symbol of aughts-era conspicuous consumption, the two-wheeled equivalent of a Hummer on 28s. This year, the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturer did an about face. The era of blinged-out butt jewelry is over, so American Honda representatives tell us. Our nation is hungry for economical, practical motorcycles. Enter the NT700V—just the bike for our post-recession age.

After nearly two decades of being a sleek thoroughbred with racing bloodlines, for 2002 uninspired styling and unnecessary gadgetry (VTEC) transformed the Honda VFR800 Interceptor into Rocinante, Don Quixote's ungainly steed.