North America was made for motorcycles. The continent's scale — the distances between cities, the emptiness between mountain ranges, the sheer variety of landscape within a single country — demands a machine that can cover ground while keeping the rider connected to what they are passing through. The retro motorcycle is ideally suited to this. It is not trying to get you there faster. It is trying to make sure you notice the getting there.
The retro bike movement in North America has deep roots — in the cafe racer culture of the 1960s, in the custom chopper scene of the 1970s, in the Harley-Davidson mythology that has shaped how the world imagines American motorcycling. But today's retro revival is something slightly different: it is international in influence, it draws from Japanese, British, European, and American traditions simultaneously, and it is populated by riders who want the experience of motorcycling more than the image of it.
This post is for those riders. The ones who want to know what is around the next bend, and have the right machine to find out.
16 Retro Bikes Available in North America
1. Royal Enfield Meteor 350 — ~$5,499 USD / ~$6,299 CAD
The most affordable entry into genuine retro cruising in North America. The 349cc single-cylinder is smooth, the ergonomics are relaxed, and the visual language — teardrop tank, round headlight, spoke wheels — is executed with conviction. A growing number of North American riders are discovering what Indian and South Asian riders have known for years: the Meteor is more bike than its price suggests.
2. Royal Enfield Classic 350 — ~$4,999 USD / ~$5,799 CAD
The iconic retro motorcycle of Asia has been making inroads in North America. The Classic 350's old-school silhouette, characterful single-cylinder engine, and accessible price point make it a strong alternative to the Japanese and European options at this end of the market. For the rider who wants to look different at the Sunday morning meetup.
3. Honda CB300R — ~$5,299 USD / ~$6,099 CAD
Honda's neo-retro entry. The CB300R's 286cc single is smooth and responsive, the minimal bodywork is genuinely clean, and the handling is sharp enough to make twisty roads genuinely fun. An excellent first retro bike for newer riders and a capable city machine for experienced ones.
4. Kawasaki Z400 — ~$5,799 USD / ~$6,699 CAD
The Z400's 399cc parallel-twin punches well above its displacement. Retro-influenced roadster styling, excellent suspension, and a power delivery that rewards both commuting and canyon carving. One of the best value propositions in the entry-level retro segment in North America.
5. Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 — ~$6,999 USD / ~$7,999 CAD
RE's most refined machine and arguably the best value cruiser in the North American market. The 648cc parallel-twin is smooth and torquey, the long-travel suspension absorbs the continent's less perfect roads gracefully, and the riding position is genuinely comfortable for all-day use. The Super Meteor is the retro cruiser that punches up against bikes costing twice the price.
6. Honda CB650R — ~$9,699 USD / ~$11,199 CAD
Neo-retro with an inline-four soul. The CB650R's 649cc four-cylinder is free-revving and characterful in a way that parallel-twins rarely match, the neo-sports café styling is striking, and the riding experience rewards riders who like to explore the upper half of the rev range. A sophisticated machine at a sensible price.
7. Kawasaki Z650RS — ~$8,999 USD / ~$10,399 CAD
Kawasaki's retro twin with 1970s Z-series DNA. The 649cc parallel-twin is punchy and characterful, the RS styling — round headlight, twin shocks, chrome highlights — faithfully evokes the original Z650, and the handling is modern enough to inspire confidence on technical roads. One of the strongest retro offerings in the mid-displacement class.
8. Triumph Street Twin — ~$9,995 USD / ~$11,495 CAD
The entry point into Triumph's Modern Classics family. 900cc parallel-twin, smooth torquey power delivery, and the Bonneville heritage without the price premium of the T120. The Street Twin is a genuinely complete motorcycle — comfortable enough for highway miles, engaging enough for mountain roads, and handsome enough to park anywhere.
9. Yamaha XSR900 — ~$10,499 USD / ~$11,999 CAD
Yamaha's retro sport with a CP3 triple engine borrowed from the MT-09. The XSR900's 889cc three-cylinder is one of the most characterful engines in production — linear below 6,000rpm, then alive and demanding above it. The retro sport styling is executed with real conviction. For riders who want the retro aesthetic and also want to be properly fast.
10. Ducati Scrambler Icon — ~$11,995 USD / ~$13,695 CAD
The scrambler revival in one machine. 803cc Desmodue L-twin, upright ergonomics, high-mounted exhaust option, and an adventurous character that suits the dirt roads and unpaved diversions that North America has in abundance. The Scrambler Icon is the bike for people who want Italian drama at a manageable price point.
11. Triumph Bonneville T120 — ~$13,495 USD / ~$15,495 CAD
The platonic ideal of the British retro motorcycle. 1200cc parallel-twin, torquey and characterful, and carrying six decades of cultural weight. The T120 is the bike that riders who have owned everything else eventually arrive at. Not the fastest machine on this list — possibly the most satisfying one to live with.
12. Kawasaki Z900RS — ~$12,399 USD / ~$14,299 CAD
The finest retro roadster currently in production — a strong claim that the Z900RS defends without difficulty. The 948cc inline-four is silky and muscular, the 1970s Z1 styling is impeccably executed, and the riding experience is as good as the looks. A bike that makes every road feel purpose-built for this machine.
13. Harley-Davidson Sportster S — ~$15,499 USD / ~$17,999 CAD
The Revolution Max 1250T engine transforms the Sportster legacy. More technically sophisticated than a classic Harley, more characterful than generic modern bikes, and wearing the Sportster name that has been a gateway into motorcycling for seventy years. The Sportster S is the contemporary expression of an American archetype.
14. Indian Scout — ~$11,999 USD / ~$13,799 CAD
The Scout carries a name that goes back to 1920 and a 1133cc V-twin that feels every bit as characterful as the heritage demands. Low slung, torquey, and with a presence on the road that is distinctly and proudly American. The Scout is the bike that makes strangers walk over and ask questions at every fuel stop.
15. BMW R nineT — ~$17,995 USD / ~$20,695 CAD
BMW's heritage roadster. The 1170cc air-cooled boxer twin is unmistakably Munich, the chassis is excellent, and the customisation ecosystem is enormous. The R nineT is the retro bike that serious collectors aspire to — and its combination of build quality, character, and riding experience justifies every dollar of the ask.
16. Triumph Rocket 3 — ~$21,495 USD / ~$24,695 CAD
The largest production motorcycle engine in history: 2,458cc inline-triple producing 221Nm of torque. The Rocket 3 is not a retro bike in the conventional sense — it is a monument. Riding it on Route 66 or the Pacific Coast Highway is an experience that resets your reference points for what a motorcycle can be. For the rider who has ridden everything else.
30 Roads and Destinations Across North America
USA — The West Coast and Pacific Routes
1. Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1), California
The definitive American motorcycle road. 656 miles from Dana Point to Leggett, hugging the California coast through Big Sur, past the Bixby Creek Bridge, through Carmel and Monterey, and north into the redwoods. The cliff-edge stretches of the Big Sur section, with the Pacific 300 metres below, are among the most dramatic motorcycle riding in the world.
2. Highway 1 through the Lost Coast, Humboldt County, California
North of Fort Bragg, Highway 1 climbs away from the coast into the King Range — the 'Lost Coast' that Highway 101 bypasses because the terrain was too difficult to build through. The roads here are narrow, forested, and quiet in a way that the rest of the California coast rarely is.
3. Columbia River Highway, Oregon
The Historic Columbia River Highway runs east of Portland through the Columbia River Gorge, past Multnomah Falls and Crown Point. Engineered in 1913 specifically for the scenic experience, it remains one of the most beautiful road engineering achievements in North America.
USA — The Southwest and Desert Routes
4. Route 66, Illinois to California
The Mother Road. 2,448 miles from Chicago to Santa Monica through the American heartland, the Ozarks, the Texas Panhandle, New Mexico, and the Mojave Desert. Route 66 is as much a cultural experience as a motorcycle route — the diners, the motels, the roadside attractions, and the mythology of the American road are all here, preserved in amber and still functioning.
5. Utah Highway 12
Consistently rated one of the most scenic roads in America. 123 miles between Panguitch and Torrey through Bryce Canyon country, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, and Capitol Reef National Park. The Hogback section — a narrow ridge with thousand-foot drop-offs on both sides — is one of the most extraordinary road experiences on the continent.
6. Monument Valley, Utah/Arizona Border
US-163 through Monument Valley is one of those roads that looks exactly like you imagined it would from films and photographs, and then turns out to be even better. The sandstone buttes, the long straight road, and the quality of light at dawn and dusk produce images that define the idea of the American West.
7. Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park, Montana
52 miles of mountain road through Glacier National Park, crossing the Continental Divide at Logan Pass (2,026m). Open only in summer (usually July to September), it is one of the most spectacular mountain roads in the world and one of the most sought-after motorcycle experiences in the American West.
8. Beartooth Highway, Montana/Wyoming
The road between Red Lodge, Montana and Cooke City, Wyoming via the Beartooth Pass (3,346m). Charles Kuralt called it the most beautiful road in America. The switchbacks climbing to the pass, the alpine plateau at the top, and the 360-degree views of the Beartooth Range are all extraordinary.
USA — The Southeast and Appalachian Routes
9. Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia/North Carolina
469 miles of Appalachian ridge road, no commercial vehicles, no traffic lights, and speed limits that enforce the scenic intent. The autumn colour season (mid-October) is one of the great motorcycle spectacles in North America — miles of hardwood forest turning red, orange, and gold around a road that exists purely for the pleasure of driving it.
10. Tail of the Dragon, US-129, Tennessee/North Carolina
11 miles, 318 curves, no intersections. The Tail of the Dragon is the benchmark American technical road — it demands full attention and rewards skilled riders with a sustained experience of rapid direction changes that is unlike any other road on the continent. Deals Gap has been a motorcycle destination for decades.
11. Cherohala Skyway, Tennessee/North Carolina
Less famous than the Tail of the Dragon but arguably more beautiful. 43 miles of mountain ridge road through the Cherokee and Nantahala National Forests, reaching nearly 1,800 metres at its highest point. Smooth, flowing, and with the kind of views that make riders pull over and stay longer than they planned.
12. Florida Keys — US-1 from Homestead to Key West
US-1 across the Florida Keys via the Overseas Highway, crossing 42 bridges over the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic. The Seven Mile Bridge is the centrepiece — a straight, flat road suspended over blue-green water that is one of the most unusual riding experiences in America.
USA — The Northern Routes and Great Plains
13. Sturgis to Deadwood, South Dakota
The Black Hills route from Sturgis (home of the world's largest motorcycle rally) through Iron Mountain Road with its famous pigtail bridges and tunnels framing Mount Rushmore, into the historic gold rush town of Deadwood. The Black Hills concentration of motorcycle roads is arguably the best in the central United States.
14. Iron Mountain Road, South Dakota
The road itself — US-16A between Keystone and Custer — was engineered by Peter Norbeck specifically to be driven slowly. Pigtail bridges, tunnels bored through granite ridges that frame Mount Rushmore, and a road that changes direction constantly to preserve the scenery. An extraordinary piece of road engineering that rewards unhurried riding.
15. Glacier to Yellowstone Route, Montana/Wyoming
The corridor from Glacier National Park south through the Bob Marshall Wilderness to Yellowstone and Grand Teton. Multi-day riding through some of the most wild and unpopulated terrain in the lower 48 states, with hot springs, geysers, and bison herds as roadside companions.
Canada — The West
16. Icefields Parkway, Alberta
232 kilometres from Lake Louise to Jasper through the Canadian Rockies. Glaciers visible from the road, turquoise glacial lakes, mountain goats on the verges, and a quality of landscape that makes the Beartooth Highway look like a warm-up act. The Icefields Parkway is, by many measures, the most beautiful road in North America.
17. Sea-to-Sky Highway, British Columbia
Highway 99 from Vancouver north through Squamish, past the Stawamus Chief granite monolith, to Whistler and beyond. Ocean fjords on one side, snow-capped peaks on the other, and a road surface smooth enough to reward any machine. The route to Pemberton and the Duffy Lake Road extension adds another two hours of exceptional riding.
18. Cassiar Highway, British Columbia
Highway 37 from the Yellowhead Highway north to the Alaska Highway — 733 kilometres of largely unpaved wilderness road through the Northern Rockies and Skeena Mountains. Remote, wild, and requiring proper preparation. For the rider who wants to understand what 'empty' actually means.
Canada — The East
19. Cabot Trail, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
The 298-kilometre loop around Cape Breton Highlands — the Celtic corner of Atlantic Canada. The northern section of the Cabot Trail climbs over the highlands with views of the Gulf of St. Lawrence from 400-metre cliff tops. Often compared to the NC500 in Scotland for the quality and drama of its coastal mountain riding.
20. Gaspésie Peninsula, Quebec
The circuit around the Gaspé Peninsula along the south shore of the St. Lawrence River — 1,300 kilometres of coastal and mountain roads through French-Canadian fishing villages, the Chic-Choc mountains, and the dramatic coastline of the Forillon Peninsula. A largely undiscovered motorcycle destination of genuine quality.
21. Trans-Canada Highway — Across the Prairies
The 1,000-kilometre crossing of the Saskatchewan and Manitoba prairies on the Trans-Canada — flat, straight, and vast in a way that is its own kind of drama. The quality of light, the scale of the sky, and the complete absence of topographical interruption create a riding experience that is meditative and strangely compelling.
Alaska and the North
22. Dalton Highway, Alaska
414 miles from Fairbanks to Deadhorse on the Arctic Ocean — largely gravel, extremely remote, and crossing the Brooks Range through Atigun Pass (1,440m). The Dalton is the pilgrimage road of North American motorcycle adventure: harsh, beautiful, and testing in every sense. Reaching the Arctic Ocean on a motorcycle is one of those experiences that marks a before and after.
23. Alaska Highway — Dawson Creek to Fairbanks
1,387 miles of the original WWII military road from Dawson Creek in British Columbia to Fairbanks, Alaska. The Alaska Highway passes through the Yukon wilderness, the Kluane National Park (with its vast icefields visible from the road), and the dramatic mountain scenery of the Alaska Range. The definitive North American long-distance motorcycle journey.
24. Denali Highway, Alaska
135 miles of largely unpaved road between Paxson and Cantwell, with Denali (6,190m — North America's highest peak) visible on clear days. One of the most remote and spectacular roads in Alaska — and therefore one of the most spectacular on the continent.
Mexico (Northern Routes)
25. Copper Canyon (Barranca del Cobre), Chihuahua
The network of canyons in the Sierra Tarahumara — larger and deeper than the Grand Canyon in aggregate. The roads through the canyon system are remote, demanding, and surrounded by landscapes that most North American riders never encounter. The town of Creel is the base for canyon exploration and one of the most distinctive riding destinations on the continent.
26. Baja California Peninsula, Mexico
The 1,250-kilometre finger of land between the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortez. Baja 1000 country — the world's most famous off-road race takes place here. The paved roads down the peninsula are excellent, the landscape shifts from Sonoran desert to Mediterranean to tropical, and the end point at Cabo San Lucas is one of the great motorcycle journey conclusions.
27. Oaxacan Sierra Juárez, Mexico
The mountain roads south of Oaxaca City through the Sierra Juárez. Indigenous Zapotec communities, cloud forest, and mountain roads with virtually no traffic. The combination of cultural richness and natural beauty makes this one of the most rewarding riding destinations in Mexico.
Iconic American Circuits
28. The Ozark Highlands Route, Missouri/Arkansas
The network of US Forest Service roads through the Ozark highlands — the oldest mountains in North America. Narrow, winding, and lined with oak and hickory forest. The Buffalo River corridor in Arkansas adds one of the continent's most beautiful river valleys to the route. An underappreciated riding region that rewards those who discover it.
29. Highway 550 — Million Dollar Highway, Colorado
US-550 between Durango and Ouray through the San Juan Mountains. The 'Million Dollar Highway' section between Silverton and Ouray includes steep cliff faces, no guardrails on sections of the route, and some of the most dramatic mountain scenery in the continental United States. The name came from the value of ore in the road fill — the riding experience is worth considerably more.
30. Pacific Coast to Death Valley Loop, California/Nevada
The circuit from the Pacific Coast Highway inland via the Angeles Crest Highway, across the Mojave to Death Valley (the lowest, hottest, and driest point in North America), and back via the Sierra Nevada foothills. This loop captures more of California's landscape variety than almost any other route — ocean, mountain, desert, and valley within 600 miles of riding.
Ride in the Right Kit
For the ones who ride to find out what is on the other side of the ridge.
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