Riders Preferred Membership
Shop by Vehicle
Track Order
Contact Us
When we started producing Daily Rider videos in 2020, we knew the idea of having a leaderboard was going to be a problem.
If you’re not familiar with the show, the concept is simple: Clip a GoPro and microphone to my helmet and give a basic, unfiltered review of a motorcycle as I ride to work. Then I rank each machine in terms of how it performs, and that’s the part I’m here to talk about today.
Ranking all of the motorcycles in order was always going to be tricky. Partially because it meant I would have to decide a pecking order for every bike I rode, and I’m not famous for quick decisions, but also because eventually we would run out of room. “That sounds like a 2021 problem,” we laughed, and just kept on making videos. Now it's 2022, there are 36 episodes of Daily Rider, and the leaderboard is full, which means we need a new plan for where we’re going and owe you, the viewer, an explanation of how we got here.
Committed fans will remember that the leaderboard originally had a ranking system as well as a chart broken into four quadrants, with the X axis ranking how cool or dorky the bike was and the Y axis showing price. It was a fun idea, but ultimately it added an amount of complication and time to the video that didn’t feel sustainable. A lower impact solution was eventually added — little emoji stamps on the board signify if a bike is expensive (dollar sign), fast (fire), or we simply love it (heart) — and you'll see that reflected on the table below. For those of you that are still incredulous or simply peeved over the loss of the chart, we are sorry and hope you will come to forgive us.
Frankly, judging and ranking the bikes on the board is stressful enough. I take into account my experience with the bike, of course, and that plays a big part in how high up the list any one bike lands. But, I also do my level best to be honest about the limitations of each machine and try to think about how other people might interact with it. At the end of the day, I don’t know the physical stature, riding experience, bank balance, or location of any one viewer, so I generalize and hope the review makes enough sense that you can make your own decisions. You might remember that we made a video in the midst of COVID lockdown explaining some of this in more detail.
In any case, we’ve gotten a number of requests over the past year or so to put the Daily Rider leaderboard in a place where it can be viewed and analyzed and digested, and that’s the main reason for this article. As of 2022, we will clear the leaderboard and compile all of the bikes seen here onto an archive board that will live next to the main section, so that every bike we’ve tested is available to reference but each calendar year will offer a clean Daily Rider slate. Below is a ranking of all of the Daily Rider subjects as of December 31, 2021, with a link to each video as well as additional written content covering the bikes.
Last of all, I need to be extra clear why I’ve been using the term “we” this whole time. It’s simple, really: I have a lot of help. Our CTXP producer and editor extraordinaire, Spenser Robert, has been crucially involved with the structure, delivery, and general creative brainstorming that has made Daily Rider what it is today, as well as editing the first dozen or so episodes. About a year ago, our West-Coast colleague Stephen Gregory took over editing duties and remains responsible for keeping Daily Rider as tidy and information-packed as possible — not always easy considering how much I tend to talk.
Add to all of this our team members in Philadelphia who put the final polish on episodes before they’re released to the unforgiving jaws of the internet. I haven’t checked with each of them individually, but I think I speak for everyone when I say we appreciate all of the clicks that Daily Rider receives on YouTube and the engagement on our social media that allows me to answer specific questions people have about each bike. We assume you agree wholeheartedly with every single critique and ranking of each bike, so thanks in advance for that. Here’s to another year of riding to work.
Image Gallery
