CW Garage: American Bikes - First Look

USA! USA! USA! Maybe we didn't invent the motorcycle, but it's hard to think of another country that has influenced the look and culture of motorcycling as much as America. And more than any other country, our landscape has dictated the shape, size and other characteristics of the bikes made here. They're long, low and have big, loping engines with signature V-Twin exhaust notes.

But what makes an "American" bike? There are few large manufacturers of motorcycles in the USA. Of course, Harley-Davidson is the name we all think of, cranking out more than 300,000 bikes a year. But there is also Victory, made by snowmobile-and-ATV-builder Polaris, as well as a slew of custom builders. Where is the "American Sportbike," Harley-owned Buell? We decided to put them in the Sportbike section: These bikes are built as performance machines.