10 Bikes That Deliver Luxury Without Looking Flashy

Luxury products have always been designed to attract the attention of the public, and this is a marketing ploy. If Ferraris didn’t look good, you wouldn’t be able to generate enough interest to sell Ferrari t-shirts and caps – or more Ferraris! It’s the same with pretty much all luxury items, including motorcycles. Look deeper, though, and you’ll find a class of customers that don’t like to shout about their ability. This is the luxury that prefers to keep it quiet. It is not flashy, it is not loud, but it gives you every possible thing that you’d expect from luxury, other than attention. Here are ten such motorcycles that deliver luxury without looking flashy, and they do it without letting anything detract from the experience.

Yamaha Tracer 9

Price: $12,599

The Tracer 9 is a middleweight motorcycle, but if you look at the features list globally, it reads like anything but a middleweight. The US gets a very sporty bent of mind, coupled with one of the great drivelines of its time. There is a six-axis IMU, a seven-inch TFT display, standard lockable saddlebags, making it perfect for made for real-world touring conditions. The Tracer 9 might not have a flashy badge on the tank, but it definitely has the credentials for luxury in its segment.

Suzuki V-Strom 1050

Price: $15,499

Today, when you say luxury, you assume that it means many different electronic features. But in this case, Suzuki has stuck to a twin-spar aluminum frame and a 90-degree V-twin engine for its adventure motorcycle. There are good reasons why others have moved away from this, cost being one of them. That in itself makes the V-Strom 1050 a luxury motorcycle. Price-wise, the base model is available for under $16,000, and you get alloy wheels and tubeless tires on it. The DE variant adds longer travel suspension and spoke wheels. Both are equipped with a TFT instrument display and a six-axis IMU as standard.

Triumph Tiger 1200 GT Pro

Price: $22,095

The Tiger is a very respected brand. Even by those standards, the Tiger 1200 GT Pro stands out. The engine is an inline triple with the T-plane odd-firing crank, and Triumph has given it a shaft drive, so the driveline really has the ability to cross continents without fuss. But it also has electronic suspension from Showa, Brembo Stylema brake calipers, and a Magura span-adjustable brake master cylinder, all of which make the weather feel irrelevant. And being able to ride a motorcycle no matter the weather, some would say that is true luxury.

2024 Yamaha FJR1300ES

Price: $18,299

Yamaha’s FJR1300ES is one of the old-school sport tourers. It has a large-displacement inline four-cylinder engine, a true sport tourer rider triangle, and an ability honed over the decades to cross continents at the drop of a hat. It doesn’t have the kind of electronic assistance we’ve come to expect from a modern motorcycle, but it does have ABS, unified brakes, and electronic suspension. You don’t have to bother with chain maintenance because it has a shaft drive. Being a mature platform, you will not have to worry about reliability either.

Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports ES DCT

Price: $18,599

The Africa Twin exists in a no man’s land between the premium middleweight adventure tourers and the full-size adventure bikes. What works against it is its relatively low 100-horsepower output, but Honda has realized that luxury means giving the customer whatever is needed to get the confidence to ride more. As a result, the Adventure Sports has electronic suspension and an automatic gearbox, and it gets everything almost perfect. You also get a large TFT touchscreen, and even if that was on the blink, you still have an LCD at the bottom. Oh, did we mention that the automatic gearbox has various modes for different moods that you might be in?

Suzuki GSX-S1000GX

Price: $18,749

The GSX-S1000GX offers a combination of a really great power figure, excellent reliability because of its mature platform, and a whole bunch of features at this price. You see, there’s no need to add options to the GX because it has electronic suspension, smart cruise control, a six-axis IMU, and a big 6.5-inch TFT display with Bluetooth and navigation. All its good points might get lost in the fact that it is just a Suzuki, but don’t let that fool you into believing that this isn’t a luxury motorcycle. This is a motorcycle that quietly leads its segment.

Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 Special

Price: $19,999

The Pan America was a huge risk for Harley-Davidson, but to its credit, it didn’t make it with any half measures. It has a wholly liquid-cooled engine with variable valve timing on all the valves. Its tubeless spoke rims and electronic suspension make it quite capable off-road or on. This was the first model to get suspension that lowered at walking speeds to make it easier to ride in the city. It also has a great base price, but it might just make more sense to pick one up used now that it is more than a few years old.

Harley-Davidson Heritage Classic

Price: $19,999

The Heritage Classic is one of those few models that looks like it belongs in a museum, in a good way. However, it has a thoroughly modern motorcycle underneath the retro looks. It has soft luggage, a bolt-on windshield, and Harley’s trademark three-headlamp front. It now has a base price of less than $20,00, but you need to dip into the options list to get the two-tone paint and spoke rims. It is a Softail cruiser that can also do some light touring, so there is a full safety suite, a six-axis IMU, and the Milwaukee-Eight engine doing duty, meaning this could be a lifetime motorcycle.

Indian Roadmaster

Price: $32,499

The Roadmaster isn’t just a model; it is now pretty much a range in Indian’s portfolio, judging by the options that you have for it. You can choose between three engines. The PowerPlus 108 is a wholly liquid-cooled engine and has the lowest base price at $32,499, but to get the authentic American V-twin experience, you must upgrade to the Thunderstroke 116 for $1,000 extra. You could also upgrade to the PowerPlus 112, which is the largest liquid-cooled V-twin in an American production motorcycle. They all get a very impressive standard set of features, such as a seven-inch TFT instrument cluster, adaptive headlamp, electrically adjustable windscreen, heated seats and grips, and an audio system. The options list is impressively long as well, and for all its old-timey looks, the Roadmaster is the kind of motorcycle that is one of the best for a cross-country trip.

Honda Gold Wing

Price: $26,500

The full-dress Gold Wing Tour usually grabs the headlines with its motorcycle airbag and other unique features, but the bagger version flies under the radar. It has the exact same driveline and the option of the same seven-speed DCT gearbox that includes a walk mode and a reverse gear to help maneuver it in a parking lot. It also gets the sat-nav system that works without GPS if required. Of course, you get whatever else you’d expect from Honda’s flagship motorcycle, including a TFT display with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a six-axis IMU, a by-wire throttle with ride modes, and linked brakes. No matter which one you pick, a 500-mile day will be comfortable and easy simply because the Gold Wing is so refined and stable.

Sources: Honda Powersports, Harley-Davidson USA