10 Great Bikes That Offer A Back

Sep 16, 2023

Motorcycles are getting bigger, faster, more complex - but is it necessarily better?

Motorcycle manufacturers seem enamored with bigger, better, faster, safer products. They’re on to a good thing; if you’ve ever been on a slippery road with 1000cc at your disposal, you know you’ve been glad for all the nanny systems. However, once upon a time motorcycling wasn’t about these things. Riders were rebels because they chose the wind, rain, and sun over air-conditioned comfort because they wanted to be part of the experience. Motorcycles are all about minimizing things: consumption, space, and the trail you leave behind. If you’re one of those who is looking for a simple two-wheeler that is fun yet minimizes the complexity of owning a high-tech machine, what options do you have? Your reasons could be one of many: you could be starting out as a rider, you could want a hassle-free ownership experience (the less there is, the less there is to go wrong), you could be taking your first steps as an at-home mechanic, or you could simply be someone who doesn’t have the physical ability to manage a 300 pound leviathan in the city. Whatever your reasons, here are 10 motorcycles that will give you a great back-to-basics experience.

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You weren’t expecting us to begin with a premium European brand, were you? BMW’s biggest sellers have been their large adventure tourers, the R 1250 GS and GS Adventure. However, for a lot of the world that can only be a dream, so the brand decided to get more accessible with a small displacement model co-developed and produced by TVS in India. Enter the G 310 R, with its single cylinder 313cc water cooled motor that produces 34 horsepower and 20.6 lb-ft of torque. It has ABS that isn’t switchable, with a 300mm front disc fitted with a 4 piston fixed front caliper. Suspension adjustment involves rear preload only. It does have a few modern features like inverted front forks, a tubular space frame, all-LED lighting, adjustable levers and a completely digital cluster, but it remains a surprisingly low-tech addition to the Motorrad range.

Suzuki’s entry to the 250cc sportbike segment is this, the GSX250R. Eagle-eyed fans of Suzuki will have noticed that the twin cylinder engine’s specifications seem to be very similar to that of the GW250 ‘Inazuma’ – and that is because it is. The GSX250R is an updated, restyled form of that machine, and that’s no bad thing for a beginner or someone who is only a casual rider. This motor is the polar opposite of the frantic Ninja 250’s motor; it develops most of its poke at the bottom of and in the middle of the rev range. It sports some great GSX-inspired styling and instrument cluster, but the rest is decidedly low-tech. Regular front forks, non-switchable ABS – unlike the BMW, Suzuki doesn’t mention a slipper clutch. What you will get with the GSX250R is reliability in droves and ease of maintenance at a low price.

The DR-Z400 is a legendary brand, and has been in production for over two decades now. The DR-Z400S is the name of the current version. The kind of tech it sports is limited to water cooling and fuel injection. A look at the instrument cluster will show that it is all digital, but with the orange backlighting and LCD fonts that would make old Casio wristwatches proud. There is a Supermoto version available called the ‘SM’, should you want street tires on this capable chassis. Especially in the bright yellow paint scheme, with the square headlamp, it still looks like it is straight out of the 90s. Click on the gallery on the official Suzuki website, and you’ll get all of two images of the entire motorcycle and nothing else – it doesn’t get much more back-to-basics than this!

Related: 10 Things We Love about the Suzuki DR-Z400S

Royal Enfield had to be on this list because they occupy the ‘back to basics’ end of motorcycling, with products that are excellent value for money. Any of their products could be on this list, but we’ve selected the Scram 411 because the other products all fit into particular categories and appeal to a single type or class of rider, but the Scram 411 attempts to appeal to a broad audience. However, it doesn’t lose sight of what it is; the most complicated thing on it is the (separate) color display that can double up as the display for directions for the sat nav system. It runs a 17-inch front rim to the Himalayan’s 21-inch rim, the motorcycle which it is based on, to lower the seat height and make it more accessible to short riders. It also loses the switchable rear ABS that the Himalayan possesses, despite it making a claim to be off-road worthy.

The other Royal Enfield that we simply couldn’t leave off this list is the Interceptor. When it first launched, it raised eyebrows with its sheer value for money – it was unheard of for a 650cc twin cylinder motorcycle to be available at around the $6,000 mark. It didn’t do this by sharing components (or the entire motorcycle) like the Scram 411 does with the Himalayan; this was an all-new platform and engine when launched. It did it by keeping things simple; an air cooled motor, no electronics except for fuel injection and ABS that wasn’t switchable, and even a headlamp whose light source was a good old-fashioned filament bulb and not an LED unit. Its twin-pod instrument cluster is predominantly analog, and unlike more modern clusters, the digital part will only show you only the fuel level and one other parameter - odometer/trip meter - at the same time.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that there couldn’t be more than one 650 in this list, but surprise, surprise! This one is a single, though, so the base price of nearly $7000 looks expensive in comparison to the Royal Enfield. A bit of history is relevant here: the KLR650 was launched in 1987 and has been in continuous production since then. Since then, the updates have included water cooling, dual counterbalancers, and a DOHC setup in 2007, and ABS and fuel injection in 2022. The gearbox retains five speeds. Of course, there have been cosmetic updates like an all-digital instrument cluster, but what this means for you is reliability learned through decades of user feedback. If you want something simple enough to repair anywhere in the world yet capable of tackling anything with a decent amount of performance, there is no other.

Related: Kawasaki KLR650: From Humble Beginnings to Today's Leading Dual-Sport

The Honda Monkey and Grom are essentially the same motorcycle with a few differences. The Grom is the better city runabout, while the Monkey has aspirations beyond tarmac, with its high front fender, high-slung exhaust muffler, more dirt-oriented rubber, and the twin shock rear. The Monkey also has a slightly better rider triangle for taller riders, widening its appeal. The small 125cc air cooled engine makes a mighty 9.7 horsepower, but it weighs just 231 lbs wet with a full tank of fuel, so performance is adequate for city streets. A new five speed gearbox now allows short forays onto the freeway, although you might be better served by asking for a lift from a friendly pickup truck! ABS is present, as is a surprisingly fetching all-digital instrument cluster.

We’re aware that EVs aren’t back-to-basics motorcycles because of the complexity that is necessary to make them viable, but if you had to pick one (and they must be represented!), we’d pick the Onyx RCR. It has the most simplistic styling here, and you can have it with street or off-road biased tires. There is a backlit LCD instrument cluster that offers no Bluetooth. There is no app, and no nav ability. It does have modes, but if you run out of juice, just… pedal. Charging the battery involves taking the battery cover off, which isn’t ideal. It needs to be registered as a moped in some states, which can be troublesome. But we love it for its different take on the EV segment, and making it look desirable in a retro way while looking to the future.

The Honda Cub is to motorcycles what the Beetle is to cars, or ants to living beings. Its range surpassed 100 million in sales back in 2017, and it has been in production for 65 years now. The ‘You meet the nicest people on a Honda’ campaign was for the Cub, and it is what made Honda a household name in the US. It is an underbone chassis, but if you prefer to get a more motorcycle-type Cub, there is the Trail 125 that has more off-road capability. The Super Cub runs the same engine as the Monkey, a 125cc air cooled, 9.7 horsepower unit, but it has a centrifugal clutch, meaning no lever for the hand on the left, but you do have to shift manually. Also like the Monkey, it has a surprisingly modern looking instrument cluster for the digital component.

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The other globetrotter on this list other than the KLR, the Yamaha TW200 has a lot of similarities with it. It was also launched in 1987, has been in continuous production, and the list of changes is even shorter than the Kawasaki’s: in 2001, an electric start and a front disc brake was added. There is no water cooling, there is no fuel injection, and there certainly isn’t any digital instrument cluster. No, really – at least the Interceptor 650 has a digital component; the Trail Way still has little individual digits for the odometer that scroll up and are ever so slightly misaligned as you ride along. This doesn’t make it any less capable, though: the TW200 has been to the North Pole. Provided you are focused on getting there rather than getting there quickly, the TW200 is all the motorcycle you will ever need.

Charles has been an automotive journalist for a decade and a half, with experience across cars and bikes. He has worked with brands such as Autocar India, Overdrive Magazine, Motoring World (A Delhi Press publication), PowerDrift, and India's biggest online automotive research destinations, CarWale and BikeWale. He has also worked at the client end with brands such as TVS, Ford India, MG Motor, Jeep India, and Group Landmark. Along the way he has ridden and driven a wealth of cars and motorcycles in numerous locations, which gives him the experience and perspective necessary to make him an expert on the subject.