12 Best New Updated Naked Motorcycles For 2026

Now there are plenty of new and exciting naked motorcycles on the market for 2026 and so in this video we'll go through my pick of the best of them in price order ascending. Kawasaki's Z650 has long been a staple of the affordable middleweight naked market and while it might not be the most exhilarating bike to ride you've got to say it's a proven performer and a solid little bike. It's really easy to get on with so it's been a strong seller over the years with the newer riders as well as a decent little workhorse for you know the more experienced. But for 2026 Kawasaki have tried to jazz it up a little bit to broaden its appeal with a new S model. Now the engine is the same 650 parallel twin as the you know the base bike so it still gets around 67 horsepower peak. The fairly basic chassis as well is pretty much the same but they have made tweaks to the ergonomics with a 30 millimeter wider handlebar. A new foot peg position as well and also more padding in both the rider and passenger's saddles so that lifts the seat height by 20 mil and they say it should make for a much more comfortable ride all round. Then you've got some slightly sharper lines to the bodywork the tft dash has been updated it's got multiple layouts now it's got a day and night mode it's got some connectivity features and so while i'd say there are more exciting bikes in this sort of you know more affordable part of the market you've got to say the Z650 is pretty much always the cheapest of the bunch and it should be a touch more comfy for 2026. One of the best options though in my opinion is the CB750 Hornet from Honda with a cracking 90 horsepower 750 parallel twin that's way more boisterous than you might expect from a Honda with this sort of capacity. On top of that it gets a 270 degree crank as well for a bit more v-twin growl than the 180 crank of the Kawasaki for example and also you've got to say the rest of the bike is pretty good too it weighs in at a fairly slender weight the chassis components with the upside down fork the radial brake calipers they're pretty good too so it's a nice handling bike very flickable and agile and also you've got to say the tech package is pretty up to spec too. Thing is though for 2026 it has a new point of differentiation versus you know a fairly extensive list of competitors in this market with their e-clutch technology now being fitted as standard to this bike at least in the UK anyway it's the only version that will be available. It is pretty good though e-clutch it basically means you can ride it as a twist and go so there's an electronic actuator on the clutch it pulls the clutch in on your behalf when you come to a standstill and then starts to gradually let it out as you start to apply the throttle you do still have the manual clutch lever available you can use it to override the e-clutch and slip the clutch if you're riding in slow moving traffic for example or those tricky maneuvers like a u-turn but ultimately you know you could ride it without ever having to touch the clutch the only real competitor i suppose in this you know particular category is the yamaha mto7 which is now available with their y amt technology that allows you to run it as a full automatic so not only does it have an electronic actuator on the clutch but also one on the gearbox and so it doesn't have a foot shifter you've just got the up and down buttons on the switch gear if you want to choose the gears manually or you can just set it to the automatic mode and that truly is twist and go you don't even have to do the gears yourself perhaps though the hornet is like a good compromise it gives you some of the convenience of the clutch but also gives you the satisfaction of choosing your own gears and so i think for a lot of people it'll be a nice halfway house you've got to say though in this sort of area where you're sub 10 grand there are a heck of a lot of parallel twins and so occasionally it's nice to have something a little bit different there is the triumph trident of course with its 660 triple which is a great choice honda have their own cb650r in line four but it also looks like they might have another option at some point in 2026 with the new cb500 super four now this one's a smaller 500cc inline four and so while it's expected to make similar power to some of these 650 700 twins they say it's going to be around 70 horsepower peak well you do have to wind it up and rev it a bit in order to hit those sorts of figures typically to be honest though i think that's going to be part of the fun for a lot of riders and also it's wrapped up in this really cool looking semi-retro design which i think will only increase the appeal so here's hoping it comes to the uk the u.s europe and everywhere else that our viewers watch from in 2026 with it so far only having been confirmed for china with it being shown at a trade show there and also it's built there by one of honda's partners but also it's been reported by some motorcycle media that honda have trademarked the name cb500 super four in many other markets so here's hoping there's a global release soon one of the most exciting announcements though for me this year is the new triumph trident 800 the 660 version is a bike i've owned and i really love the way it blends that sweet sweet 660 triple that i've already mentioned brilliant handling as we've come to expect from triumph and also some very mildly retro inspired looks but they just give it a little bit of a you know unique flavor versus the very angular designs that are typical of the japanese bikes now at 80 horsepower peak i will say i think it's you know enough for the majority of day-to-day road riding but what if you want something that is properly quick well this new 800 promises to do just that with the same 798 cc triple as their tiger sport 800 which was released in 2025 that means you're looking at more like 113 horsepower peak which is a significant step up from the 660 and having ridden the tiger sport last year for a couple of weeks i can confirm that this new 800 is certainly going to be a lot brisker when it comes to riding out on the road on top of that though they've given it a better spec in terms of the brakes with some radial calipers up front the suspensions adjustable too and also they've beefed up the looks which i think you know although it goes along roughly the same lines as the 660 trident just make it look a bit more aggressive and therefore a lot more desirable too now with that extra performance extra finish some extra spec on the chassis you might be expecting a big price hike but in my opinion it really doesn't look bad at all a 660 for example will set you back just under eight thousand pounds whereas the 800 is just over nine so definitely want to check out if you're on a you know a reasonable budget but you do want something that has that desirability and also can get a bit of a lick on i guess another option could be the new z1100 from kawasaki though although you could argue that this one isn't all that new you see the majority of the bike is almost identical to their z1000 which they discontinued a few years back owing to stricter emissions regulations although you might have observed from the name of the new bike that they've used the bigger version of their inline 4 that you'll also find in the versus 1100 and the ninja 1100 sx sports tourer now i think for 11 grand ish you've got to say it looks like a pretty decent bike you get almost 135 horsepower peak good suspension good brakes plenty of tech including cruise control and lean sensitive rider rates and also for another 1600 quid you can upgrade to the se version with the brembo brakes the ohlins rear shock and also a slightly fancier paint job which i will say looks significantly better not bad i'd say but the only real problem is the competition i think the honda cb1000 hornet last year reset the benchmark for something that's affordable and fast especially the sp version which also gets brembo brakes and an ohlins shock and a few other little fancy bits and yet it comes in at closer to 10 grand so a significant price difference versus this new z1100 it has to be said though on the hornet there's no imu there's no cruise control perhaps the kawasaki looks a little bit better finished too and so i still think the z1100 is going to be worth a demo before you pull the trigger on a bike like the cb1000 now a name that we're not used to seeing in this middle part of the pricing spectrum is probably mv augusta but for 2026 they've knocked out a more affordable version of their brilliant brutale 800 and so this one is certainly a little bit of food for thought they've only announced pricing for italy so far but at 12 600 euros that means it could come in around 11 and a half grand in the uk and that would be a you know decent amount less than previous iterations of this bike now the spec and finish of course has had to be pared back a little bit in order to hit a lower price point but you've got to say you've still got the overall mv augusta lines which are certainly quite dramatic and you've also got their revi inline triple that makes 113 horsepower peak at 11 000 rpm they're lively bikes to look at lively bikes to ride as well and so perhaps an exotic alternative to consider versus some of the established middleweight nakeds now a bike that i'm really really looking forward to riding this year though is the new ducati monster which now gets their excellent new v2 engine at the heart of it it might not look that different versus the previous generation monster but having ridden other bikes on this new v2 platform i am expecting it to be quite a bit better to ride when it comes to you know proper road riding i've ridden the panigale v2 the street fighter v2 the multistrada v2 and the engine in all of those felt perfectly set up for brisk road riding with the variable intake timing giving it plenty of torque in the lower revs but then also it's got this playful free revving nature that means you can hang on to the gears a bit and have a bit of fun on top of that the new v2 is significantly lighter than the testa stretta engine that it replaces so that means this new monster comes in four kilos lighter than the previous generation and so it's definitely towards the top of the list of my bikes to review once my leg injury my achilles injury has healed up and i'm back on the bikes in a few months time now triumphs street triple i think it's fair to say has long been one of the benchmark naked bikes for both road and track riding but for 2026 there's a couple of new variants of the street triple that i think are going to make it even more suited to riding at your local track day the rx model for example gets new clip-on style bars for a more aggressive riding position there's an upgraded ohlins fork at the front as well for more quality and control and also i think it looks a bit special too with the red wheels and the dedicated rx paint job so definitely want to look at if you want something a touch more focused than the current rs if you want something really special though then there's the limited edition moto 2 bike which gets all the same technical improvements as the rx but also an even more elevated level of finish to celebrate triumph's position as the engine provider for the moto 2 championship there's triumph performance yellow paint work which i really like i saw this in the flesh at motorcycle life lashings of carbon fiber with lots of bits all over the bodywork a moto 2 startup screen on the dash and also your bike's limited run number etched into the top yoke which is a very nice finishing touch back to ducati there also on the new v2 platform we've got the hypermotard v2 and hypermotards have a bit of a reputation for being a bit wild so maybe have a look at this one if you like the idea of the monster but maybe want something a little more in your face a lot of it will be similar the new v2 engine for example with pretty much the same power there's some shared electronics too but i think the big difference is going to be the supermoto stance with a really tall seat height at 880 mil as opposed to the 815 mil of the monster that's partly as a result of the increased suspension travel that's really typical of this genre of bike with for example 170 mil of travel on the fork as opposed to the 130 of the monster then you've got a supermoto inspired styling package it's a bit more slender you've got that long thin seat with the trellis subframe a really nice looking under seat exhaust a supermoto style beacon also with the sp version a really nice finish in a sort of white gray and red that i think makes it look a little bit more exciting perhaps than the standard bike in the regular ducati red on top of that the sp version gets upgraded brakes olin suspension front and rear lightweight forged aluminium wheels for quicker handling and also more track specific tires so definitely the one to go for if you want the top spec hypermotard now although i will say at over 17 grand it is quite a big step up in price from the 13 and a half grand of the standard hypermotard v2 now i mentioned that the brutale 800 from mv augusta you know i think it prefers to be revved a bit and i will say that's often the case with a lot of their engines but perhaps they found a bit of a different focus now with their new 950 triple this engine was first used in their enduro veloce adventure bike a genre of motorcycle of course that needs a bit of bottom end and a bit of usable mid-range but for 2026 it's now being carried over to their brutale naked format and i'm expecting something that's much more pleasant and usable on the open road it's a theme that continues to the rest of the bike as well it's got a longer wheelbase with a more stable geometry they've chilled out the riding position as well they've cantered it back a little bit and so you might be asking well does this represent a start of a more sensible direction for mv augusta on the one hand yes surely this is going to be a slightly more relaxed riding experience but i will say it's still got the looks with that phenomenal styling package and that phenomenal level of detail which could only come from mv and i think it's fair to say they haven't exactly chilled out the price in either this one comes in at 23 900 pounds in the uk to be fair though this is the seri oro edition it's a limited run that they always do to kind of launch a new platform or series of bikes and so maybe if you like the look of this one but it's just a touch out of budget then if you hold on for a year or so they normally follow up with a you know regular non-serial road production bike also expected to be in roughly the same ballpark though we've got the new manx from norton which is a prime example of the new direction that norton are heading in with a new brand identity a new logo that's much more modern and simple you can see that reflected in the lines of this bike too is very clean when you compare it to the winglets and appendages that you see on a lot of super nakeds now although i will say on the technical side it's anything but simple there's a new v4 engine for example which promises dollops of mid-rangey torque with a primary focus they say on road riding and a completely up-to-date tech package with a beautifully designed dash and also their own bespoke switchgear to control it all it really does give it this luxurious feel in the cockpit in fact some of the features in the tech package i've never seen before like the cornering cruise control which compensates for the smaller circumference of the tire when it's at lean in order to maintain the set speed that you've got through the cruise control system the only thing i'd mark it down for is it's maybe not quite as good looking as the manx r fully fared version for me that bike is almost design perfection but realistically i think the flat bars on the manx are going to make it a much more comfortable ride and it's still a bike that i'll be desperate to ride in 2026 despite that expected high price tag though i don't think it'll quite match the super premium levels achieved by ktm and brabus this 1400r is the latest in a run of collaborations over the past few years in which brabus who are mainly known for you know customizing and modifying cars take the range topping super duke and give it their own brabusy treatment for 2026 they've based it upon the latest and greatest 1390 super duke r evo which gets a ridiculous peak power figure of almost 190 horses as well as the best of the best in terms of chassis components with their semi-active electronic suspension package from wp so yeah pretty much the same rudiments underneath but brabus have made it look a lot more stealthy and blacked out with their own in-house bodywork their own in-house lighting design and also plenty of bare carbon fiber on show too so it really is quite a mean looking bike there are a few technical tweaks as well they've upgraded the brakes to the latest brembo high pure calipers which are the top spec brembos now they've fitted their own very cool looking underseat exhaust as well and also there's a version of their monoblock three-spoke wheel design which gives it a little bit of a signature brabus look a very cool bike i think you'll agree but do let me know your pick of the bunch down in the comments below and also i'll put a playlist on the screen now with our full videos of these bikes from various motorcycle shows so you can see a little bit more detail on the ones that have really caught your eye do hit subscribe for more of the latest motorcycle news and reviews like this right here on moto bob a massive thanks for watching today and we'll see you in the next video