Why We Picked It:

The Suzuki SV650 is a motorcycle with an earned reputation as one of the greatest sport bikes of all time. It is extremely forgiving, very beginner friendly, enormously comfortable, powerful for its size with very linear power delivery, and when cruising on a freeway, it sips gas. It will also carve corners on the weekends, and has been known to show up at a track day or two for some high speed fun.

It is honestly all down to the by-now-legendary 645cc V-twin that is the beating heart of the SV650. 75 HP and 47 lbs-ft of torque on a torque curve that was drawn with a ruler, it is so linear. There are no sudden jumps or bursts of power, but there is also more than enough torque to get the bike moving in fine style.

While it classifies as a sport naked, it honestly deserves a class of its own: Sport All-Rounder. It is simply one of the greatest motorcycles of the past two decades, and you can expect to get "the wave" from almost any other rider that recognizes what a superb bike you have chosen to commute on.

Why We Picked It:

If you need to have a big chunk of American Iron as your daily steed, the Indian Scout Sixty definitely deserves your consideration. Amongst the hundreds or even thousands of cruisers to choose from, it has two party tricks that make it one of the better commuters.

The first is that it's probably one of the most comfortable cruisers out there. As one of Indian's most sold models, the Scout line is renowned for its easy riding position, extremely plush saddle, and easy handling despite its middleweight classification.

The other, and in today's day and age probably more important party trick is that when it's cruising at 70 MPH, it is a sipper. Consider this: The Scout Sixty has a 3.3 gallon tank, and on average gets over 150 miles per said tank. That's damned near 50 MPG, which is almost unheard of outside of dedicated continental touring cruisers.

It doesn't hurt that it is a gorgeous motorcycle as well!

Why We Picked It:

In a world where bikes are becoming ever more high tech and complex, there is something about a simple motorcycle that makes it endearing. The Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 (INT650 in the USA) is about as simple as you can get, yet is still a very good, very capable bike.

It is also a bike that was originally designed, way back in the 1960s, to be a British motorway roadster. Using a 648cc parallel twin that is air and oil cooled, it puts out 47 HP and 38 lbs-ft of torque. That may seem kind of small, but it's the way that the Interceptor puts that power to the road that is a joy to experience. It has a little lull at the very low revs, then a linear surge of torque arrives and you're up to 70 MPH in 6th, riding along the freeway with a grin under your helmet.

It also makes a great noise as it uses a 270-degree crank, giving it a distinctive and unmistakable bark from its exhaust. Apart from the engine being moderately high tech with direct fuel injection and the bike having ABS, everything else about it is just pure motorcycling. It has a comfortable bench seat, the handlebars are easily reached, and it just works. No 17 ride modes, no 12 steps of suspension adjustment, just sit on bike, turn key, thumb ignition, twist wrist, enjoy the ride.

Why We Picked It:

Without beating around the bush, the KTM 390 Duke, while "small," is about as tame as a feral, rabid cat when you twist on a little more right wrist. It is the definition of entry-level hoon machine, but that doesn't discount it from also being a very capable commuter.

Sharing its gutsy 373cc four stroke single with the RC390 sportbike, it pushes out 44 HP and 27 lbs-ft of torque, while weighing in at just shy of 330 lbs soaking wet with a couple of bricks tied to the seat. It is extremely agile and loves to wag its tail out if you dump enough wrist into it, but when you are more conservative with the wrist action, the bike calms down too.

While KTM's are famous for having seats that are about as comfortable to sit on as a plank of wood with rusty nails sticking up out of it, the 390 Duke's seat is relatively plush. It isn't going to do your tailbone any favors if you ride it all day, but for a 10 to 40 minute commute, it's perfectly acceptable.

Also, if you do get bored on the ride back from work and see an open parking lot, all you need to is flick it into supermoto mode and get a little hooning in before you resume the trip home!

Why We Picked It:

The BMW F900 XR is a bike of two worlds. It combines the fun and excitement of a sport bike, with the long distance comfort and capabilities of an adventure tourer.

As a sport adventure bike, the entire reason for the F900 XR's existence is to travel long distances at freeway and/or highway speeds. Put on top of that BMW's attention to detail, a hugely comfortable seat, and about as standard a riding position as you can get, it does double duty as a commuter without any issues.

It carries a 895cc parallel twin that happily thrums out 99 HP and 67.9 lbs-ft of torque. It can also easily handle being ridden two-up with BMW's adjustable suspension coming as standard.

It also comes with all of BMW's excellent rider aids, including dual-zone ABS, stability control, traction control, and the like. Optionally you can have it come with grip heaters as well, for the colder rides. It's not as bonkers fast as the S1000 XR, but that's part of the charm of the F900 XR... it's meant to be a sensible, comfortable, long-distance sport adventure bike, and it finds commuting to be one of the easier duties you might ask it to do.

Why We Picked It:

When you think of sport touring, almost everyone will think of a Kawasaki Ninja 650. That is how prevalent and associated with the entire sub-segment of sport touring the bike is, and with good reason.

One of the biggest things about the Ninja 650 is that Kawasaki has a tendency to jam as many features as possible into a motorcycle, and then put in on sale at a budget price. Consider that it comes with dual zone ABS, anti-wheelie, traction control, stability control, dual electronically activated throttle valves, a high quality TFT dash screen, and many other features, but the Ninja 650 is priced at $7,999.

On top of that, the Ninja 650 is very comfortable to ride, with a surprisingly comfortable seat, raised touring handlebars, a decently large fuel tank at just about 4 gallons, and more than enough power at 70 HP and 47.2 lbs-ft from its 649cc parallel twin. It is very easy to ride, quite agile, and won't shatter your spine or wrists every time you hit a bump in the road.

The Ninja 650 is definitely a sport tourer that can commute during the week, and go have some cornering fun on the weekends, making it a great choice.

Why We Picked It:

The Rebel 500 is one of five models from Honda that shares the bulletproof 471cc parallel twin that makes up the entire middle-displacement lineup. With 45.9 HP and 29.9 lbs-ft of torque, it is a gutsy little engine that works in almost any application.

What makes the Rebel 500 our pick of all of the 500's from Honda is that it is perhaps the most comfortable of them all. While it does classify as a sport cruiser, what the Rebel 500 actually is is a pure, raw, uncomplicated motorcycle. It has a direct and pure intent of communicating all the right information to the rider, without them being distracted by gizmos and gadgets that are, in all honesty, not needed.

It is also near the top of every recommended beginner bike list, as well as being on pretty much every middleweight cruiser list. When you have a bike that is both friendly and forgiving for a beginner, but respected immensely by cruiser veterans, you have one of those rare bikes that can be a lifelong part of your riding career, and is usable for both commuting and fun cruising as needed.

Why We Picked It:

We're willing to bet you didn't expect to see a Ducati on this list, but they do, in fact, make a couple of bikes that are quite capable commuters! One of those is the Scrambler Icon, a particularly fun and rowdy little bike that nonetheless packs a mighty punch and is as at home commuting as it is howling through the twisties on the weekend.

At the heart of the bike, a decently large 803cc V-twin thumps out 73 HP and 48.1 lbs-ft of torque, motivating a bike that weighs 375 lbs. As you can imagine, if you open up the right wrist a little, it goes like it's been shot. However, unlike many of its bigger supersport and superbike cousins, it doesn't have a swtichover point from "okay some torque" to "ALL THE TORQUE NOW." Instead, it's quite linear and is more than enough to get you out of any situation you might find yourself in.

It becomes an excellent commuter because despite being a relatively small motorcycle in dimensions, it still has a very comfortable seat and is small enough to be able to dart around the side streets to get to the freeway or major roads without much worry. Then add the fact that it's a Ducati at under $11k, and what's not to love?

Why We Picked It:

As you may have noticed, there is a distinct lack of supersports and superbikes on this list. While they may be perfectly acceptable as commuters, they aren't the best bikes for commuting. More often than not, they are sprung for hard cornering and track-level use, making them very rigid and uncomfortable even over the most minor of cracks on the road.

However, if you absolutely must ride a supersport while commuting, the Yamaha YZF-R3 should be on your shortlist. It is a junior supersport at 321cc for its parallel twin engine, but it will still pump out around 42 HP and 21.8 lbs-ft of torque. It has handlebars that are a mix between clip-ons and raised touring bars, so you aren't placing quite as much pressure on your wrists as you would with other bikes.

It will still give you a hefty kick up the tailbone if you hit a large enough bump, but for the most part, the R3's suspension rides that fine line between being aggressively sporting while also being designed to handle the real world roads the bike might be ridden on. It wouldn't be our first pick for a commuting bike if the ride is anything over 30 minutes, but within that timeframe, it would be about the only supersport we'd personally ride.

Why We Picked It:

The DR-Z400SM is one of those bikes that you can see surviving an apocalyptic nuclear war without any issue whatsoever. Suzuki has taken a "if it's not broken, don't fix it" approach to the 398cc four stroke single that is the thumping heart of the bike, so much so that it's one of the few engines out there that still use a carburetor.

Nonetheless, the SuperMoto version of the legendary dual-sport is definitely intended to be an urban warrior. It is narrow, shockingly lightweight at 322 lbs, and grunty as all hell with 39 HP and 29 lbs-ft of torque. Yet, it has a very comfortable bench seat, easily reached handlebars, and is about as eager to get up on its tires and ride as any sport bike ever is.

Because it is a single cylinder bike, it is also massively fuel efficient if you ride it with care. Any bike will gulp down fuel if you pin it the entire time, but with a gentle wrist, you could probably ride a couple of weeks worth of commutes before needing to top off the tank.

Once the work week is over, you can also take it to a short track and get the rear wheel sliding out and take the corners sideways to get rid of all that stress with some good ol' fashioned supermotor riding.