Which Type of Motorcycle Should You Buy?

All motorcycles are good motorcycles in my opinion, but having the right type can massively increase the enjoyment you'll get from the style of riding that you most like to do. Honestly, choosing the right one is one of the most important buying decisions you'll make, and so how do you know which one's right for you? Ideally, mate, we'd have one of each type of bike and we'd ride them all back to back to back to back to back, but are we going to get all those bikes in the same place on the same day? I'm just not sure that's possible. Only joking, of course. You probably knew that from the thumbnail of this video, but the good people at Honda have hooked us up with one of each. A 750 Hornet Naked, their Transalp Adventure Bike, the CBR650R Sports Bike, their NC750X Tourer or Commuter, a Maxi Scooter called the XADV, and rounding things off, the Rebel 1100 Cruiser. So look, if you're new to biking and you're wondering which one to go for, or if you already have a bike but you're wondering if you bought the right one, then stick around and we'll go through each of these bikes and tell you exactly who they're right for, and also, at the end, give you our personal picks. So let's kick off with the Naked bike, which should be a versatile all-rounder. This one is the CB750 Hornet, a great example of a good value Naked, with excellent performance and features, especially considering the competitive starting price of £7,449. The key with this one is to have, you know, a good chassis and a decent engine for fun riding dynamics, but also a comfortable and versatile riding position. This one gets a parallel twin, a 750, which makes a respectable 90 horsepower peak, and you've got 17-inch wheels, which should be nice and agile. You've got fairly grippy sports touring-type tyres, good brakes, good suspension, and so it should be a good bit of fun out on the road. At the same time, though, you've got these flat handlebars, which are typical of the Naked genre, and so it gives you a riding position that you should be able to sustain all day. It leaves you fairly sat up, so you're looking at the traffic ahead, which makes it easy to ride, but also that open back angle means you're not stretching down to the bars, and so you should be able to ride in comfort, even if you wanted to do a little bit of touring as well. The great thing about Naked bikes is that they're super easy to ride, like this one being, you know, nice and low in the seat at 795 mil, and also very light as well. I think it comes in at about 190 kilos, and that's fairly typical for Nakeds, and so it's generally super easy to get on with at lower speeds, and also nice and agile when the speed does pick up. In fact, it's got quite a narrow rear tyre on this bike at 160, and that just helps with this agility. I think anyone who's relatively new to biking will find this an absolute doddle. I think Honda have unfairly got a bit of a reputation for playing it safe sometimes, but that's absolutely not the case with this one. It's one of the more lively bikes in the Naked category around this price point, with that 90 horsepower twin having loads of pep, and a nice lively delivery on the throttle. So yeah, new riders will enjoy it, but I think also there's enough there to have a bloody good time, even if you've been riding for some time. For most people, I think the Naked bike should probably be the starting point, and potentially the genre of bike that you should demo first. It may not excel in any one specific area, but what it will allow you to do is a little bit of everything, and so if that sounds like the sort of riding you'll do where you might commute, where you might throw some bags on and do a couple of nights away, where you might do a track day, then there aren't many options better than a Naked. The only kind of rider that might find it a little bit uncomfortable perhaps is anyone who's particularly tall, but for pretty much everybody else, I think this is a great benchmark to start from. From there, it's with these other categories of bike that we can start to specialise a bit. So let's take a look at the sports bike, which is built to go faster than a Naked. This one is the CBR650R, starting at £8,629 in the UK, and it's a good example of a sports bike that's still built with road riding in mind, not just the track. Now there are a couple of key differences with a sports bike versus a Naked, and we'll start with the riding position, which is predominantly defined, I think, by the handlebars and pegs. You see, the seat typically will be a little bit taller. This is 810mm, but the rest of the rider triangle is sort of canted forward around the seat with lower bars, like these sort of semi clip-on style handlebars and pegs that are a little further back and higher up. Now this CBR650R is on the milder side of the sports bike spectrum. The bars still come up a little bit above the forks. If you went for a thoroughbred super sport, they really can be very low and aggressive. This is built for a little bit of road riding in mind, but all the same versus a Naked, your hands are narrower and also you're further down and further forward. And so yeah, it's that trade-off between performance and comfort. Then the other factor that distinguishes the sports bike has to be the fairing. And naturally, if you're traveling at higher speeds, then it is good to have something like this, a little windscreen to tuck in behind because the wind blast can get pretty severe on a Naked bike. Not only does that make it more appropriate for track days and stuff like that, but it has to be said, it also does add to the aesthetics with a bit of that sort of baby Fireblade image. Now, unfortunately, we couldn't ride this one as it was prepped to go to a press event the next day, but I've got loads of experience of riding bikes like this. The riding position does mean you feel more engaged with the handling, with more weight over the front and generally the geometry of the bike will be more responsive, so it'll feel like it'll turn quicker. But the trade-off is that if you are stuck in traffic or cruising at a constant speed, then there'll be far less comfortable than a Naked with more weight on your wrists and less room for your legs to stretch out. So to sum this one up, if you're riding twisty roads and back roads and you never really go on the motorway, or if you want to do a little bit of track work, then this sort of riding position is much more suited to that sort of stuff. And also with the looks, if you like your sports bike, if you like watching the TT and MotoGP and superbikes and stuff like that, then visually I think this is going to be a bit more appealing as well. Of course, there is the caveat that if you're going to commute, if you're going to go touring, then there are better choices, but if you do want to go quick, then this is really the only one to go for. If you are looking for something more practical and comfortable though, then the Adventure bike is certainly worth a look. This one is the XL750 Transalp looking particularly good in this 2025 paint scheme, and one of these will set you back £9,899 in the UK, which seems like decent bang for your buck. Now the defining features of the Adventure bike genre are the long travel suspension, like you'll see with this fork, a big oversized front wheel, this is a 21-inch on the Transalp, and also some semi-knobbly tyres that should give you a bit more grip on loose surfaces. Naturally, bigger wheels, more suspension travel, more ground clearance, mean that if you do want to take it off-road, you've got a better chance of navigating some lumpy surfaces and obstacles. The trade-off though is of course that you're going to have a taller bike, and this one is quite a lot more lofty than the Hornet, for example, at 850mm, so that's a massive step up from 795mm. For smaller riders, you might want to look at the accessories catalogue and see if you can get a lower seat, but on the flip side, if you're a taller rider who does find a naked bike a little bit too small, then this is absolutely ideal. There's loads of room down to the pegs, and also you generally get these high-set bars that sit quite wide in order to facilitate standing up on the pegs, which gives you a bit more control when you're riding off-road. The other thing I guess as well is that, you know, adventure bikes are built to go to fairly remote places over decent distances, and so some of the things like a larger fuel tank and a windscreen and potentially some hand guards and stuff like that can actually make them really quite decent in terms of practicality. You've got good wind protection, good range, and so you might also consider them fit for purpose for stuff like commuting and touring or adventure touring. Now, before we get on the road on this one, a massive thanks to Rebelhorn for supporting the channel and sponsoring this video. If you're looking for safe, protective riding gear, but you want something that still looks good and also doesn't break the bank, then Rebelhorn have a great selection of jackets, trousers and gloves that we've been using over the past couple of years. In this particular video, I'm wearing their Hunter 2 leather jacket, which has really nailed the classic look, but then I've paired it with some of their Vandal jeans for a bit more of a contemporary vibe. Both have loads of features like armor, vents and pockets, and I've topped it all off with their Thug 2 leather gloves, which I think go down very well with this style of jacket. So if you're looking for this sort of gear, especially at a very decent price point, then do check out the links down in the description below. And once again, a massive thanks to Rebelhorn for their support and for making free-to-view videos like this one possible. You know, I think it's important to stress though with adventure bikes that you really do have quite a wide spectrum in terms of off-road bias. You've got stuff that's very much road-focused. It might get cast wheels or smaller wheels, but then also these really tall, rally-inspired bikes with the knobbly tires and the big wheels and loads of suspension travel. So I think it's really worth doing your research and making sure you get something that's fairly balanced, especially if you are a majority riding on the road and are looking for an adventure bike, mainly for its comfort and touring capabilities. That's one of the things I really like about the Transalp. It's very nicely balanced. It's good enough for most of us, I'd say, in terms of its off-road capabilities, if not being the most off-road biased. But with that same 750 twin as the Hornet with 90 horsepower peak, it is still really entertaining to ride on the road. It'll happily rev up and spin up nicely. And they've also obviously done a lot of work on the handling to make sure it's still a good ride on tarmac as well as off. In fact, it is a surprising amount of fun, this bike. And so, yeah, in my opinion, another excellent all-rounder. I think it goes without saying that if you do want to do a little bit of off-road and on, then adventure bikes are the answer to all your problems. But also consider them if you are a bit taller and you want a bike that's fairly roomy. Then if you spec them up with the right accessories, they can make for great touring bikes as well. And so it's kind of easy to see why they've become so popular over the last few years. Can anything beat the commuter or tourer though in terms of practicality? This category of bike is generally built for eating up miles in plenty of comfort and potentially carrying some luggage or a passenger or both. This NC750X is a good example of lots of features for your money at £8,399 and yet with plenty of comfortable convenience. With this one, you've got road-sized wheels, you've got decent brakes, you've got a low slung chassis, you've got a moderate seat height and so it all really biases towards decent handling and usability on the road. But with the riding position, well, you've got some of that adventure bike spaciousness. It doesn't sit as tall in the seat but you do get these very swept up bars. In fact, they might sweep up even more than the Transalp and again, the low set foot pegs which give you plenty of leg room and so this is definitely a bike that you could comfortably eat up miles on. The biggest convenience on this bike though has to be the frunk which opens up and gives you enough space, I believe, with a twist of a key to store a full-size helmet. So if you do want to use it to commute and you don't want to take your helmet into the office because it's all stinky and sweaty, you can just stick it in here and you don't have to upset any of your colleagues. Equally, you could put a pretty big lock in there as well for when you're riding to work and so yeah, that is a brilliant feature. It's not something you'll find on a lot of bikes but generally in the commuter and tourer class, there does tend to be a good selection of storage and luggage configurations that should mean it's easy enough to carry a bit of stuff. Now with that frunk taking up the spot where the fuel would normally go, the fuel's actually stored under the seat on this bike and that's one of the factors along with a very canted forward engine that means the centre of mass on this bike is really quite low. Then you've got a very long wheelbase, just looking at this bike, you can see that and so it's a really stable bike that's reassuring to ride and because it's holding its weight so low, it never feels top heavy and so on open roads like this, it's pleasant but especially at lower speeds, it just feels like a doddle to ride. Then with this bike, you've also got the DCT or dual clutch transmission which is effectively an automatic, so there's no foot shifter or clutch to operate, it's just twist and go and you can either put it in automatic or put it in manual and choose your own gears with the left-hand switch gear. So yeah, this is becoming increasingly common from other manufacturers as well with their automatic manual transmissions, people like KTM, BMW, Yamaha, all starting to offer this kind of tech and so it's another feature that helps to make these touring style bikes that little bit more convenient. So look, if you're wanting to do a bit of distance work and some motorway riding and stuff like that but you don't need the off-road capabilities of an adventure bike, then I'd definitely recommend looking at something like this with the more road-biased chassis and lower slung stance, you'll get some of the comfort and some of the wind protection but with better riding dynamics on the road which should make it more enjoyable. Then there's also the height thing, if you are shorter in the leg but you want some adventure bike practicality then something like this would do the job and I also think this could be the ultimate commuter bike, they sell bucket loads of them, I believe and it is easy to see why, with the storage, with the DCT, with the easy to ride geometry, it all combines for something that I think I would, if I had to get in and out of town every day, probably choose over any other bike here. Next up, we've got the Maxi Scooter which I'd say is a fairly similar vibe but just really leans heavily into the practicalities. This one is the X-ADV 750 and although it does have a bit of adventure bike styling, well underneath you've got a fairly typical Maxi Scooter setup. Basically with Maxi Scooters, you're getting big bike performance, this one has the same parallel twin 750 as the NC 750X and so it's totally comfortable cruising at motorway speeds and doing, you know, 70 mile an hour overtakes. Then you've got good brakes, you've got good suspension, you've got plenty of tech and a fairly spacious riding position that is similar in terms of roominess to a full-size motorcycle. The key difference though, of course, is the floorboards for your legs which gives you a lot of, you know, room to maneuver your feet and that means you can vary your sort of knee angle and then all this extra weather protection that you get from the front end which means your feet won't get sprayed with water from the front wheel if you are out riding in the wet. The other thing that makes them a bit scooter-y as well is the wheel sizes. I mean this is a little bit unusual, the X-ADV, because it's slightly adventure inspired so it does get a 17-inch front but it's a 15 at the rear and a 15 on the front is very common as well for the rest of the Maxi Scooter genre. That gives you that scooter-esque, agile flickability which is perfect for picking your way through town traffic although perhaps not quite as stable especially at speed as a full-size motorcycle. This is certainly the most different of the bunch to ride in terms of the riding dynamics and of course the ergonomics. I mean the bar position is somewhat familiar but the way that you sit in, the sort of contours of the seat, the floorboards as well, it kind of makes me feel like I'm sitting on a chair. Now that could be a good thing if you're thinking about it from a comfort perspective because a chair on wheels, of course, sounds quite pleasant but in terms of, you know, getting stuck into the ride, feeling connected to the bike, being able to weight the pegs and stuff like that, it does feel a little bit passive I guess. Still, being a Maxi Scooter, it ain't short of grunt. Don't look at it and think just because it has some of the scooter image, it's going to be a bit underwhelming. If you shift down a gear or two, give it some throttle and it'll get a bit of a lick on. You know what? I am still having plenty of fun on this bike. It's just, you know, not as fun as like a Hornet. So look, for the sports bike aficionado, it's not going to be the most engaging ride. The riding position is a little bit too sat back. It, you know, has the small wheels. The chassis isn't set up for like really fast riding but that's just one of the trade-offs that you get for so much practicality. I think the key thing is that weather protection. If I was riding in very wet weather, this would be the bike I'd pick out of the bunch all day, every day. And then the great thing about Maxi Scooters is if you do want to commute from out of town with a bit of a road or motorway, it can still do that as well and you could even, you know, do a little bit of touring too. You could, however, forget all the practicalities and just go for something good looking like a cruiser or retro bike. I've grouped these two together because they both kind of snub optimal performance and convenience all in the name of style. This one is the CMX 1100 Rebel starting at £9,999 which has the typical cruiser stance whereas a good example of a retro bike would be my own Bonneville T120. So what is it that makes these categories of bike less dynamic to ride than some of the others? Well, one of them is an oversized front wheel which is super common, of course, for cruisers but also you'll find that with stuff like the Bonney and then you typically get a fairly raked out geometry that does prioritise stability and ease of use over quickness of turning. Single discs up front and less powerful brakes are much more common and also suspension can be a little bit more simple as well. Then you've got the extra weight with stuff like a steel frame with twin shocks and, you know, some of the extra visual features they do tend to tip the scales a bit heavier and more often than not you'll find a more relaxed riding position where more of your weight is over the saddle and over the back as opposed to being over the front in that more aggressive stance. Now, to be fair to Honda this Rebel 1100 is probably on the more modern and capable end of the spectrum for the cruiser market. It's not too heavy, it's got decent suspension it's got decent brakes and also as you can see with the TFT dash now for this 2025 version you know, it feels pretty modern in the cockpit. That said, if you are considering this category of bike that's probably not going to be the case for the majority of bikes from the other manufacturers. If you're thinking Triumph, Bobber or one of the Harleys or the Indians largely they do come in quite a bit simpler in terms of the chassis spec in terms of the tech and that's partly because of the looks it fits the more heritage-inspired aesthetic and partly, I guess, to give you that more authentic riding experience to give you a bike that does handle in a way of the bikes they reference with the Retros or that does handle like a cruiser which ultimately is a bike that's built to go in a straight line in a comfortable way. Like it or not though you know a big part of riding motorcycles for some people is the way they look or the way that it makes you feel or the way that you look when you're riding it and so for a lot of people it's worth the trade-off for something that they really love and I don't resent that at all in fact, like I say I've got a Bonnie myself and a huge part of what I like about that bike is that timeless styling. Definitely consider a cruiser or Retro if you're not that bothered about riding fast but you want something that you're really proud of the way it looks you might also find a bit more heritage character in the engine configuration and the way it rides and I'd also say potentially for shorter riders this is a good field of bikes to look at as well with the cruisers especially being super low in the saddle but also you'll generally find that Retros do sit a little bit lower as well. Right, Tim's been here helping me shoot this today and he's ridden all the bikes as well so what's your pick of the bunch? If I was choosing one it would be the Transalp because it's just the most versatile and fun and that engine is absolutely... it screams, it's great. You know what? I'm gonna go the same as Tim here the Adventure bike is so versatile you could do anything on it and the Transalp's a really good example of it. As always though I'd love to know which bike you pick so do let me know down in the comments below and if you want to see some of the other best new Hondas for 2025 then I'll stick our roundup on the screen now so you can give it a click and give it a watch if you haven't already. Do hit subscribe for more of the latest motorcycle news and reviews right here on Motobob. A massive thanks for watching today and I'll catch you in the next video.