Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2020 i BIKE

ZEF EISENBERG Racing mourns a Speed King Multiple bike speed record holder Zef Eisenberg died during a car record attempt The world of top speed motorcycle racing has been knocked sideways by the death of Zef Eisenberg, 47. The multiple British and world speed record holder was killed at Elvington airfield during a record attempt in a 1200bhp Porsche. Fellow competitor Mike Grainger sums up the feelings of the top speed community: ‘We are all gobsmacked by his death. He was very well respected in the paddock – he knew what he was doing and had a fantastic team around him. Zef was meticulous in everything he did. His death has hit home, there’s no doubt about that. ‘It’s even more of a shock because we were all up at…

2020 FIREBLADE 200BHP AND SUPERCAR DESTROYING PERFORMANCE FOR £249 A MONTH 2010 FIREBLADE FAST, USABLE AND BEAUTIFULLY MADE. AND JUST£5000 Two hundred horsepower. No, let’s be precise about this, a dyno’d 2o1.o3bhp at the rear wheel at a shrieking 14,000rpm. And Honda’s new-for-2020 CBR1000RR-R Fireblade feels as intense, overwhelming and special as these numbers suggest. The direct rush of top-end power as the 1000cc inline four passes 10,000rpm is so extreme your brain struggles to keep up. This is the most powerful and focused Fireblade yet. And it’s a change of direction. Honda have always used the ‘Total Control’ slogan for their range-topping sportsbike, right back to the revolutionary CBR900RR in 1992; the first Blade may have been lighter and sharper than anything before it, but Honda’s focus was acceleration,…

‘Evening trackdays attract a calmer crowd’ Attend evening trackdays » Make next summer the year you bag a few trackdays. Evening ones are perfect for the trackday novice - they tend to attract a calmer crowd, and after a couple of hours you’ll be knackered anyway. Some weekday evenings at Cadwell cost just £49 a pop - that’s a third of the price of a peak season day. And what a great way to leave the working day behind. Buy old model tyres » The latest tyres are better than last year’s models but in the real world most of us couldn’t tell. In fact, you’d struggle to spot the model before that unless you rode them back to back with the latest tyre and concentrated really hard. That means…

Let’s face it we all know how the exotic superbike test thing goes: the new Ducati Superleggera V4 will be lighter than a world superbike and lap Mugello almost as fast. It’ll accelerate like a wild thing and prompt gushing about how it corners… It’ll also be expensive and irrelevant to most of us. And for the few who’ll own one of the 500 made who’s really going to ride it as Ducati intended? It’s too quick for the road and on a trackday you’ll be a rolling target for R1 man. Of course, all of the above is true, but the £90,000 Superleggera V4 has another trick up its sleeve. It may look like it’s spoiling for a fight, brandishing four knife-like wings and it assaults the ears like…

Two years after those nice people at Prime Factors Racing ordered a ‘Gen 4’ (model name K67, as I recently discovered) BMW S1000RR for me to race, and now I am finally sat on a sopping wet, early October Brands Hatch grid. Ready to go… BMW production delays and the Covids have buggered-up the last couple of seasons, but I manage to squeeze in at the final round of the MRO Powerbike championship and treat the weekend as a test. In race trim the new RR works very differently to the old bike, so we’ve had help along the way from Alpha Racing, HM Racing and Crowe Performance. We’ve also worked some of it out for ourselves, but it’s been a slow process during three trackdays over the summer. When…

Racing Marquez’s bodged start » Japan, 2012, and Marc Marquez leaves his Moto2 bike in neutral on the grid. This video is on-board with Marc as he makes up for it with a truly bewildering first lap. See if you can count how many bikes he overtakes... youtube.com/watch?v=rrGVGrh9e1E Skills Riding properly in the rain » We could talk at length about how modern tyres are more capable in the coming winter gloom than you think. But a (moving) picture paints 1000 words, so watch this demonstration instead. CBR600RR, cold road-legal tyres, standing water, and yet full-lock cornering, 45° lean and a greedy right hand. youtube.com/watch?v=GvNqSXNrcYI Underdog Giant-slaying 250 » It’s the end-of-season 1989 Sunflower meeting on the scrappy Kirkistown circuit in Northern Ireland. Senior races are open, with big names…

Mick’s off-road tips » Whenever the going gets tough - slime, ruts, rocks, logs and the rest - Mick recommends putting both feet down and paddling through. ‘Even if you don’t hurt yourself, falling off is tiring and wastes time. I see lots of riders who can’t touch the floor with both feet - they need to lower their bike’s seat height.’ » ‘I see people charging into corners without knowing what’s round the other side. Better to go in slow, assess the obstacle, plan a route then go for it. Watch Graham Jarvis [multiple hard enduro champion] - he rides past loads of riders on climbs by doing this.’ » ‘In the Dakar you lose so much time falling off that it’s better not to take risks. We’ll cross…

The standard S1000RR has performance far beyond the capabilities of most road riders, (and track riders, come to think of it) so what’s the point of this M1000RR, which is even lighter and more powerful? The answer is racing. This bike is a homologation special - like Ducati’s V4R - that meets World Superbike rules and gives BMW increased race-tuning potential. It should, in theory, get BMW nearer the pointy end of WSB, BSB and World Superstock in 2021. Plus of course it will give bragging rights to the select few who can afford the £30,935 price. Although power increases by only 6bhp over the standard S1000RR to give a claimed peak of 209bhp, BMW made comprehensive engine changes - we presume many alterations were actually made to increase tuning…

Telephone 01733 468099 Email; bike@bikemagazine.co.uk facebook.com/bikemagazineUK twitter.com/BikeMagazine [BEEN THERE, GOT THE T-SHIRT] ‘Such was the welcome... we got stuck in’ We never made it to the circuit back in July ‘91. We stopped for a baguette at a bar in a small village close to Magny Cours and such was the welcome from the French to a group of nine Brits on sports bikes, we got stuck in with the locals, and stayed. I still have the image of three Frenchmen carrying a huge box television from a nearby house into the bar so we could watch the race we had advertised on our T-shirts. It’s probably my favourite of a series of shirts we had done over some 25 years. Age has pushed us onto adventure bikes now, but…

Miles ridden: 5283 Riders: Jordan Gibbons and John Westlake Tyres tried: Bridgestone A41 Fuel used: 103 gallons Carpark drops: 3 Suzuki are having a few issues at the moment. While rival manufacturers have conveyor belts delivering ground-breaking new bikes at regular intervals, Suzuki seem to rely on intermittently dressing up an old bike in retro clothes. First they put a brown seat on the SV650 and called it the SV650X, then they put some plastic on a GSX-S 1000 and called it Katana. When I first clapped eyes on the new V-Strom I feared Suzuki had pulled the same trick - retro cool bodywork from a time when they were true pioneers, and possibly not a lot else. But a closer look and a stiffer prod revealed that beneath the…

Electric bikes are mostly hideously expensive or off-puttingly cheap. If you want to spend £28,000, Harley-Davidson will happily oblige. Below £5000 there’s a growing range of Chinese scooters and 125 rivals. In between it’s slim pickings. There isn’t zero choice though: one choice is this Zero. This is the snappily-named ‘S’, the regular roadster in the Californian firm’s line-up. It starts at £10,045 on the road, though that buys the version with a titchy 6.3kWh battery. For £12,745 you get the bike tested here, with twice the battery. That 12.6kWh capacity is the same as Zero’s £20k flagships. So, given it costs several grand less, could the S be a bit of a bargain? Wait, give it a chance. Here’s some historic context. Bike first met the Zero S in…

EXPOSED ELECTRICS Battery, reg/rec and starter relay aren’t under the seat but tucked behind the sump guard. Cleaning and regreasing connectors to protect the harness from water and corrosion is important to prevent charging issues. A voltage test should show low-14s. KEEPING IT CRISP Both the 950 and 990 version are well made and more rugged than KTM’s current offerings. They still need to be kept on top of to prevent them getting shoddy, mind. Use ACF-50 anti-corrosion potion on bare alloy finishes, and use ceramic clear coat on the nickel- plated wheel spokes – it paints on, is invisible once dry, and protects spokes from grottiness for two years. SERVICING CLEANLINESS Minor services are at 4500 miles - it’s around £250 for oil, filter and a clean of the…

This isn’t a limp brochure-style round-up of all the bikes you can buy. No, your guide is far more useful as it only contains bikes that we have tested, with comparable on-the-road prices plus data, expert opinion and must-know detail gathered by fussy full-time testers. We do hundreds of thousands of miles, dyno, datalog, weigh and answer the big questions. Don’t buy a new bike without reading this first. Truly monstrous No, your eyes are not telling lies. Created by a company called Gemini back in 2006, this really is a Ducati Monster chopper. You could see the thinking: most choppers are V-twins, the steel trellis frame is ripe for some cut and shut, so why not offer something the Italian brand didn’t themselves? We suspect this picture answers that…

Arai RX7V Used for: over four years Price: £750 Info: whyarai.co.uk » Dear Mr Arai, I have always adored your RX-7V racing helmet. Its hand-made Japanese quality is clear from its lining, parts and paint. It makes me feel safe - and I’ve crashed in a few. Its impact-based SHARP rating is excellent. The venting works. The idiosyncratic visor removal process proves easy after practice. But at 1.6kg, it is a fifth heavier than my since-written-off Shoei X-Spirit3. The visor, identical in the height of available vision to the Shoei, has 10% less in the width. Neither are especially quiet but I wear earplugs. So Mr Arai, in this time of rising unemployment, the RX-7 is just too expensive. I remember swearing I’d never buy an Arai once they hit…

You’ve probably not heard of E. Foster Salsbury. The Californian founded Salsbury Motors, started selling scooters in 1936, and set the template for the modern step-through layout with the rider perched above an enclosed engine. Salsbury were the first to use constantly-variable transmission (CVT, which they attempted to sell to Piaggio). Best of all, they made the Model 85 Imperial Rocket. Though their tiny 1930s two-strokes were popular and attracted celebrity endorsers, the Second World War buggered Salsbury’s finances and made it difficult to source engines. Joining forces with an aircraft firm, they decided to develop the step-thru’ of the future, one as easy as possible to use in order to attract car drivers, youngsters and GIs in post-war USA. This meant a rubber-mounted four-stroke engine, automatic transmission, single-sided aircraft-style…

‘The True Cousins team have built the fastest-accelerating battery-powered vehicle of all time’ Heavier than a full-dress Honda Gold Wing, run by a team of amateur racers, and with what appears to be a baking tray providing token aerodynamics. And yet Silver Lightning is the quickest battery-powered device ever created. At Santa Pod’s Not the Euro Finals event in September, Danish rider Hans- Henrik Thomsen slung his whirring, whizzing creation down the quarter- mile drag strip in just 6.869 seconds at a heady i95.5mph. That’s quicker than all the radical ear-splitting Pro Stock ‘proper’ drag bikes. More importantly, Thomsen’s time beat the eight-year-old 6.94s record of Spiderman-costumed American racer Larry McBride. This means the True Cousins team have built not just the quickest electric bike in the world, but the…

‘In terms of riding, it is a big step ahead compared with the previous Tesi with Ducati engines’ This is the final production-ready form of Bimota’s Tesi H2, which bolts Kawasaki’s almighty 998cc supercharged motor to the Tesi’s traditional hub-centre front end. With the bike now on sale (a snip at £58,500), Bimota have revealed it will make the same power as a Kawasaki H2 - 228bhp - but weigh 24kg less. Bimota also told Bike how the Tesi H2 came about: ‘It was an idea of Hiroshi Ito [Kawasaki Executive Officer] and Pierluigi Marconi [Bimota MD and designer of the original Tesi] during the negotiations for the sale of the Bimota company,’ says Gianluca Galasso, Bimota’s marketing chief. The deal - which gave Kawasaki 49.9% of Bimota - was…

A bike that can’t fall over would go down a storm with nervous new riders and frailer older ones – both crucial markets for motorcycling. We’ve already seen three-wheelers such as the Yamaha Tricity and Niken try to win these sales, but they’re hampered by unconventional looks and extra weight. Self-balancing two-wheelers have the potential to deliver the benefits without the drawbacks, which is why manufacturers are trying all manner of ways to stay upright… Honda: mimic humans In 2017 Honda showed the NC750- based Riding Assist concept bike. Their take on the technology is ambitious as it attempts to mimic skilled human riders rather than use gyros. To balance while stationary, the forks are effectively disengaged from the bars and a servo works the steering to make tiny, almost…

There are various ways to look at what makes fine value. It could be a huge warranty, the guarantee of not suffering catastrophic depreciation, or having a bundle of extras thrown in for free. But nothing gives a greater sense of value than a solid old-fashioned bargain. And these four bikes all represent a staggering amount for your cash. With a huge discount, KTM’s 790 Duke has an unbeatable Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) offer. Royal Enfield’s Himalayan is amazingly affordable for those who prefer tried-and-tested Hire Purchase (HP), while if you’re fortunate enough to have folding stuffed in your pocket there’s no better place to put it than Triumph’s Speed Triple S. There’s superb preloved value from BMW’s R nineT too. So much choice, so much value… KTM 790 Duke…

The more we heard about Aprilia’s new RS 660 the more we hoped for an Italian Kawasaki Ninja 650 and £8000-9000 rung out at the till. However… At £10,150 Aprilia’s new RS 660 straddles the ten grand marker, and that puts people off - £9999 is always better than £10,001. But when you look at what you get for your money and start totting it up the RS 660 starts to look like a good thing. Especially when you consider that it is less than half the price of an RSV4 1100 V4 Factory, but it does exactly the same job on the road and it is comfier, and it is easy to manage. So, that’s a half-price superbike then… Well it’s certainly equipped like a superbike costing double the…

This is sidecar racing at Brands… 3-4 October, Brands Hatch and it’s the fourth round of the British Motorcycle Racing Club championship. Among the different classes are the F1 and F2 sidecars, battling it out in the very, very, wet. Here Jon Bicknell (driver) powers his 1000cc ZX-10R Kawasaki-powered F1 sidecar up Hailwood Hill while passenger Pete Ensor goes through his many contortions, here applying weight and pressure to the rear tyre. Jon started racing sidecars aged 50, having no previous experience racing motorcycles. ‘I went to the Le Mans 24-hour bike race,’ he says. ‘When the side car race ended and the riders/passengers took off their helmets I couldn’t believe how old most of them were. So I thought that’s something I could do. And so I did.’ F1s…

Impressed by the retro cool, modern refinement and quality of BMW’s new R18, but can’t afford 19 grand? Buy a California 1400. Guzzi’s flagship is a great mix of character and class; its 1380cc eight-valve V-twin makes the bike oscillate at tickover (like a proper Guzzi should) and it has a long, low, period feel, yet it’s silky and refined on the move. Manners, handling, brakes and tech are way above the blinkered view of a cruiser. With a substantial 89 lb.ft of stomp at a barely-awake 2750rpm, swift cross-country progress is effortless. The 1400 Custom was over £14k in 2013 (and the current Touring is £18k), but mint low-mile bikes start at just £6500. Mike Armitage…

To hell with style. Warm, dry hands are the difference between joy and misery in December. Tucano Urbano muffs (£63) are rigid so don’t foul hands/levers, and attach to bar ends. Windows let you see switchgear. Rucksacks strain shoulders and get soaked, so a Givi EA120 waterproof bag (£64) will stay attached to a Hitchcocks rack (£79). I can just pop in the day’s essentials and head off. Handy for collecting fish ‘n’ chips too. Deflecting blast is vital. I’ve got a Givi A210 universal screen (£79) which slots into headlight mounts… except Bullet lamps are in casings. What an imbecile. After failing to fabricate a mount, I need a model-specific one.…

Pick somewhere to ride in the Yorkshire Dales by sticking a pin in the map and riding there; it’s bound to be a great road, with lovely scenery and a fab café at the end of it, and the friendliest people in England. But one route sticks out more than most in my diminishing memory bank, but for good reason- and I like to think Bike magazine had a small part to play in making it popular: many years ago it was part of the Bike 440 test route where every month Bike’s group test rode the exact same 440-mile loop around Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. And the best bit? The 60-mile arc across the middle of the Dales, from Ripon to Hawes to Settle and 1 tagged along to photograph…