Most exciting motorbikes for 2026

Weather-wise Christmas and the New Year may be a miserable time for actual motorcycling but it’s a perfect moment for looking forward to the new bikes coming in the year ahead. Not least for the fact we’re fresh off the back of the big motorcycling shows at EICMA in Milan and MCL at the dear old NEC where most of 2026’s new bikes have been unveiled.
But what were they exactly? What did they have, how much will they cost and which look the most exciting? Autotrader was there at both events to find out, and even without having ridden any of them (yet!) we reckon there are some that really stand out. Here’s our top 10, in ascending order of price…

BSA is on a roll, thanks in no small part to the investment of automotive giant Mahindra and strong products like the Goldstar 650, the Scrambler built off the back of it and the reborn Bantam 350 single. Developed out of the latter, there’s this new Thunderbolt adventure bike. Sure, the name might be over-promising somewhat given it’s just a 29 horsepower single but it’s bang on the money for smaller capacity adventure bikes like the Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 and has already attracted a lot of attention. Pricing is yet to be confirmed but expect it to undercut the Enfield by a chunk!

A slightly leftfield one, but the arrival of the WR125R is big news in our book. The learner 125 class has been starved of trail options in recent years given there are no longer options from Suzuki, Honda, Kawasaki or even KTM where once all had popular bikes of this type. That’s exactly what the WR is: a straightforward, attractive, four-stroke, A1-class trailie by a brand with a rich history in such machines. Better still, it’s reasonably priced, at £4,500, or a full £1,000 less than Yamaha’s sports YZFR-125. If, still, a fraction more than a 125 Duke.

Another ‘returnee’ generating lots of public excitement is Kawasaki’s all-new, mid-range adventure bike, the KLE500. The original KLE was launched in 1991 as an oddball, street supermoto based on the GPZ500S twin and won plenty of friends before being dropped in 1998. It was facelifted and revived briefly in 2005, this time less successfully, before being dropped again in 2007. While the name remains and the engine is still a parallel-twin (this time derived from the 45 horsepower unit in the Z500 roadster and 500 Eliminator) the KLE is a more genuine off-roader/adventure bike a bit like a smaller capacity Yamaha Ténéré 700. Best of all, though, at a starting price of just £5,999 it significantly undercuts not just the Ténéré but Honda’s NX500 and should be a big hit.

Everyone knows middleweight adventure bike all-rounders are hugely popular at the moment, whether they be off-road capable ones like the Yamaha Ténéré or more street-focused options like the Tracer 7, the many and various alternatives from China also flooding the market now. If the price is right, though, the Suzuki SV-7GX should win lots of friends, clunky name notwithstanding. There’s a clue to its breeding therein, though, given this bike essentially a revived, facelifted, updated V-Strom 650 based on Suzuki’s classic, brilliant SV650 V-twin. It looks good, has a smart TFT dash, adjustable screen and should be affordable. If it pulls that off it should be a hit!

Talking of price, the new breed of Chinese bikes continues to offer phenomenal value, kit and performance, QJMotor’s SRK921RR the most exciting example. If the styling has shades of the MV Agusta F3 that’s no coincidence, given both were designed by Brit Adrian Morton. Performance isn’t quite at that level. Nor is it as prestigious or high quality as the MV. But in every other respect, with Brembo brakes, adjustable suspension, TFT dash and suchlike the QJ’s got an awful lot going for it, especially as it costs just £8,999.

The lovechild of Triumph’s recently updated Trident 660 with the enlarged engine from last year’s Tiger Sport 800 the result should have Triumph’s traditional fine handling, a brilliant blend of oomph and triple character plus, as revealed at Motorcycle Live, a tempting £9,195 price. That puts the new Trident 800 in the same performance bracket as Yamaha’s more expensive MT-09, is also cheaper than Suzuki’s cute but less powerful GSX-8T and also far cheaper than Ducati’s upcoming new Monster. On that basis it sounds like you will be able to have your cake and eat it with the new Trident.

Of all the bikes shown in 2025 the ones we know the least about thus far are the new Nortons, comprising thus far the Manx superbike and mid-range Atlas adventure bike. We’ll park the Manx for the moment for the fact it will likely be very expensive. But the Atlas lands in a more competitive class with its 585cc twin, likely middling power output and combination of TFT screen, rider aids and all the rest. For all that the Atlas’s spec is more real-world, with ByBre rather than Brembo brakes. True Norton or Indian-built pastiche? If it works well and the price is under £10K perhaps it doesn’t matter which. It’ll be exciting to find out!

A favourite on the Autotrader team, the CB1000F is basically a retro twist on the already brilliant CB1000 Hornet. That was already a contender for best bike of 2025 with its combination of performance and value, looks perhaps its only weakness. The F addresses that by combining the same foundations with retro, 70s-inspired styling, a slightly more upright riding position and a dusting of premium finishing kit all for just £1,500 more. For those of a certain age, who have memories of Freddie Spencer’s AMA Superbike and suchlike, that makes the F almost irresistible…

A new Ducati Monster is always big news, even when it launched alongside a new Hypermotard V2 and Diavel RS. This fifth-generation version gets the new, lightweight 890cc V-twin engine debuted the V2 versions of the Streetfighter and Panigale in place of the previous 937cc equivalent. Power is 11hp, there’s VVT, a new chassis, uprated electronics and more. We’ve already sampled (and been blown away) by the similarly powered Streetfighter V2 S. On the strength of that the cheaper Monster should be a stonking street steal.

Not any electric bike – this is a HUGELY significant one. The WN7 is the first full-sized production electric bike by the world’s No. 1 motorcycle manufacturer. Honda, better than anyone arguably, knows how to make things work and when it offers an electric bike you can have confidence it will be good. But there’s more than that, too. Look at the specifications. Its claimed 50kW equates to a credible 67 horsepower, the 217.5kg weight is in no way excessive and the £12,999 price looks reasonable against the money charged for previous electric bikes like the Zero DSR or Livewire. Maybe electric motorcycles will finally make sense…