Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2022 i BIKE

[ BRITISH SUCCESS ] CCM to crack Europe Runaway sales have attracted investment capital, which means CCM can now look to Europe and beyond. But, they’re not going to get ahead of themselves… CCM boss Austin Clews has told Bike the company will use a ‘significant pot’ of investment money to get the Spitfire through Euro5 emission tests so it can be sold in Europe. He also revealed he’s stepping down from managing CCM and handing the reins to Paul Kirkman from the investment company. ‘I’m still a shareholder and I’m here if the guys need advice,’ said Austin, the son of CCM founder Alan Clews. ‘I’m not retired, but now there’s a good team of people in management around the company and in the past it was generally just…

£3500 saving Honda Fireblade SP » Toddle along to Sheffield and visit Via-Moto (0114 321 4328) and you can get a CBR1000RR-R SP for £19,999. So that’s the blingy version with semi-active Öhlins suspension and slick quickshifter for exactly the same price as the common or garden Fireblade. You get something extra with the SP too. Both versions of the Blade are firm, revvy and demanding, but the exquisite SP has the whiff of HRC about it; there’s the air of homologation bikes like the RC45 or Yam’s OW-01. Special thing. £903 saving Yamaha XSR900 » There’s an updated Yamaha XSR900 coming along next year, based on the latest MT-09 and so featuring the new frame and beefier engine. It’ll be smashing. But it won’t be as smashing as the…

Because motorcycle engineering is beautiful Jamie Turner is Professor of Engines at KAUST. He owns a BMW K1200S and loves two-strokes. Do engines need to be successful to be droolworthy? Not for the engine-addicted 2-stroke enthusiast. To be fair, Bimota’s 500 GP bike with the Tesi chassis was also achingly beautiful, and so was the road bike; in my dream house there’s one of those on my study wall. But there’s nothing unusual about a beautiful Bimota. What was unusual about the V-Due when it appeared in 1998 was its engine. From an engine specialist’s point of view there are several neat things about the V-Due. First is the semi-direct injection fuel system with the injectors just above the transfer ports. This was a good idea, stopping fuel short-circuiting to…

We all love a retro party, getting on down with the sounds and styles of the seventies and eighties, including pretty much all motorcycle makers it seems. Surprisingly, the Japanese manufacturers, despite a glorious back catalogue of chrome and candy painted inspiration to draw on, tend to miss the retro bullseye more often than they hit it. One has recently managed to buck this trend – Kawasaki. The Z900RS, launched in 2018, has been a huge seller. This is mainly thanks to a blend of classic Zed styling and up-to-date performance/handling. No surprise that Kawasaki are looking to follow the success of the 900 with the Z650RS. The new model is a middleweight retro with a tempting price tag and serious attention to detail. Looks and inspiration are taken from…

Why do we ride? You can list all the usual reasons such as freedom, escapism, the rush of acceleration and the act of balancing through a turn. They’re all valid. But a massive part of the biking buzz comes from the sensations and feelings that make your nerve ends tingle and belly do backflips. There’s nowt like a connection to two wheels. With twin-cylinder vibes, direct feel and the wind up your trouser leg, sensations don’t get any richer than those served up by traditional laid-back thrummers. Embracing welcome end-of-year sun, we’re taking Honda’s new CMX1100 Rebel (£9099 on the road) to clash bar-ends with the UK’s favourite bob-job, the Triumph Bonneville Bobber (£12,100). And to shake things up let’s throw in the best-selling cruiser, Kawasaki’s Vulcan S (£6850)… Triumph…

Most bikes have at least one fastener or fitting that’s a knuckle scraping, finger crushing, expletive provoking, time wasting fiddle. You know the one? The perfect tool makes the job easy, so make your own. Spanner too fat? Get out an angle grinder and remove metal until it slides perfectly into place. Impossible to access bolt? Bend the spanner until it can be used. Or in this case (Morini rocker cover) an allen key can’t spin through 360°. Cut 50mm off the handle so it can (but use a standard key to nip the screw tight). Effective, and strangely satisfying. HW…

Honda’s CBR1100XX was (and is) silly fast, silky smooth, high quality and a bit of a legend. The naked version was a complete flop. We British bikers were still sports obsessed in 1999 and the big, soft X-11 dribbled out of showrooms. But here in grown-up 2021 the full-size inline four is a cunning used buy. Proportions, weather protection from clever-shaped clocks and a vast 22-litre tank make it comfy and practical. Suspension makes up for in ride quality what it lacks in outright (and irrelevant) handling, and the torque-rich 1137cc motor is a whoosing delight. The X-11 also has exemplary build quality and won’t break. Prices from £2500. Mike Armitage…

From Peter Hickman on his lap record-setting Smiths Racing BMW S1000RR bike to you on your Yamasaki Desmo, or whatever you ride (dirt bikes included), everyone on two wheels knows the Isle of Man is the centre of the motorcycling universe during the TT. No biking life is complete without a visit to the island during that magical summer fortnight. What a lot of us don’t know until arrival on the Island is it’s a wonderful place to ride a bike outside TT time – when the tens of thousands of race fans have flooded back to the mainland, the TT circus has packed up and left Douglas, and life for the islanders has returned to some sort of normality. Then, the Isle of Man can be seen for what…

It’s fair to say German engineer Friedel Münch had previous with whacky tackle. Building and tuning bikes from the late 1940s, he created many prototypes and competition bikes but is best known for his Münch TT road bike. Launched in 1966, this extravagant device used the four-cylinder 996cc engine from an NSU Prinz car and was the fastest, most powerful bike of its time. And the most expensive. Friedel couldn’t use his desired Mammut (Mammoth) tag for his wild ride due to copyright, but the TT quickly adopted the name unofficially. And it was fitting, the bike rapidly evolving into the 1177cc TTS which needed a special cast rear wheel to stop it ripping spokes out and ate a rear tyre in under 1000 miles. Despite using magnesium for the…

‘In an ideal world all these bikes will be presented by blokes in brown smocks with Brylcreem barnets and soggy roll-ups’ » We’ve all been told by watery-eyed old boys about how the British motorcycle industry used to dominate the globe. How the annual Earl’s Court show would be rammed full of home-grown, world-beating machinery. Well, it’s time to squeeze into your Union Flag boxers and pop on a bowler hat again… Toddle along to the NEC at Birmingham from 4-12 December and you’ll be treated to the most British bike brands since black and white times. The list of exhibitors contains no less than a dozen, with machinery on show from Ariel, Norton, CCM, Dot, Herald, Lexmoto, Royal Alloy, Triumph, Royal Enfield (yes, they’re made in India, but the…

SEE THE NORDEN AT THE NEC SHOW HALL 3A STAND 3E20 Husqvarna are playing on their Scandinavian history with the Norden 901. They say the new adventure-tourer is ‘a capable all-terrain travel machine with the same rugged appeal that defines the north’. Which is all very lovely. But the Norden is actually Austrian. The historic Swedish brand has been owned by KTM since 2013 with Husqvarnas made alongside orange bikes, and the 901 is based on the KTM 890 Adventure. Yet somehow the Norden 901 has the air of being different. It’s nothing to do with Husky’s snow-capped marketing, but about the style and character of the bike. We’ve experienced it before on Bike. Husqvarna’s 701 Supermoto has more class and appeal than the KTM 690 SMC R that it’s…

Mat is a TT winner, endurance racer, author and MotoGP paddock insider Few MotoGP mechanics have had careers like Alex Briggs, the Australian spanner spinner who started out working on buses at the local bus depot in New South Wales. Briggs raced motocross for fun until he swapped riding bikes for working on bikes. In 1992 he got a call from a mate who worked in roadrace grands prix, wondering if he fancied a job as an HRC mechanic in Europe. Daft question… The following year Briggs fettled the Rothmans Honda NSR500s of Aussie rookie Daryl Beattie and in 1994 was moved to Mick Doohan’s team. He won five consecutive 500cc world titles with Doohan, who was forced out of racing by injury in 1999. His next rider was another…

Steer it. Steer. STEER!’ We come to a halt a few feet from a brick wall. I’m sat still but dripping with sweat. This is quite simply the hardest thing I’ve done with a bike since I first learned. I’m in Portugal, at the Ural Experience Centre trying to get my head around riding Ural’s latest off-road capable outfit: the Ranger. The centre is run by Rob MacDonald and his wife Zayne. Rob taught people how to drive speedboats in the marines, so surely he can teach a fool like me how to do this. After an hour I just about manage a straight line. Why is it so difficult? Riding an outfit is completely different to riding a conventional motorcycle. On a twowheeler you counter steer, so once you’re…

Surprisingly fragile » Your helmet’s visor uses strong material yet is still delicate – even forecourt paper cloth can cause scratches. Don’t try to remove flies with your glove. Carry specific cleaning kit like a V-Sponge (£7.50 for two) for on-the-ride wiping and clean microfibre cloth for buffing at home. Never wipe a dirty visor without wetting it. Dealing with weather » Rain-repellent spray is fine but household polish is as good. Apply from a cloth, as some propellants are harmful to visor plastic. If your helmet has adjustable visor mounts then try tweaking to ensure a good seal and keep drips out. Use silicone on the seal itself (there was probably a little bottle in the box with your lid). Modern fripperies » Pinlock inserts are ace for stopping…

‘… now with new electronics, more mpg and a two-way quickshifter’ [ YAMAHA MT-10 ] Don’t touch that engine! The MT-10 gets its first major update in five years and Yamaha wisely keep their paws off that glorious motor In Bike’s supernaked Giant Test last month we asked Yamaha to make sure the brilliant MT-10 stays unchanged apart from a better dash, up and down quickshifter and improved fuel economy. And this month they reveal the 2022 bike… with exactly that. Actually there’s a bit more going on, but essentially the 2022 MT-10 is the same outstanding combination of snorting midrange, sportsbike handling and decent comfort, but now with new electronics, more mpg and a two-way quickshifter. » Better noise The oily, metally bits of the engine remain unchanged, but…

SEE THIS BIKE AT THE NEC SHOW HALL 3A STAND 3F20 There’s a gap in the a market. Or so Honda think. In a world overrun by adventure-style bikes, they see one that meets modern demands for performance, handling, distance ability and technology, but without the image or proportions of an adventurer. ‘A straightforward touring machine, but one with a rich specification and a sporty edge,’ say Honda. ‘The sort of bike that deals with the weekday commute and is also ready for an extended tour, fully loaded.’ If this makes you think ‘new VFR’ then you’re not alone. However, the designers of their new NT1100 were influenced more by the popularity of the old Pan European and Deauville. Pure tourers. And despite the ‘new breed’ marketing the NT is…

Enter stage right the all-new Tuareg 660. Aprilia’s stab at reviving a 1980s rally-raid icon, this is a significant bike for the Italian brand, going knobbly-to-knobbly with the capable and oh-so popular Yamaha Ténéré 700. And on the strength of a day’s riding on the launch the Aprilia is a worthy alternative. Staring at £10,600, it costs £1100 more than the benchmark Yamaha but boasts a higher level of equipment. Comprehensive electronics include four different riding modes, with preset Urban and Explore and user-adjustable Individual and Off-road. The latter allow you to choose from four levels of traction control, three levels of engine braking and three engine maps, and to adjust the ABS. It’s all controlled on a five-inch TFT dash, and cruise control is standard too. It’s a far…

Chargers, or the lack of them, is one of THE compelling arguments against electric bikes. Especially outside big cities and towns, because it means you can’t really go anywhere. Except that is now officially cobblers, as ex-racer Curt Langan has just proved. He rode a standard 46bhp Zero S around the coast of Britain, using minor roads and even 70 miles of green lanes to make sure he hugged the coast. The trip was 5005 miles, there was no back-up crew, and the 62-year-old, who terrorised the Yamaha Pro-Am race series for RD350LCs in the 1980s, didn’t run out of power once. It feels like a tipping point, a moment when one of the reasons not to get an electric bike has melted away. As Curt told Bike: ‘If you’re…

RELIABLE ROTAX Tagged as the ‘V990’, Aprilia’s twin-plug 60 V-twin was created by Rotax. It’s dependable and rugged, though does need to have its throttle bodies balanced during servicing – and as this requires special tools it’s sometimes skipped. Telltale is a snatchy throttle, especially at low revs. Oil in the airbox will be from the oil tank (it’s a dry sump motor) being overfilled. Dicky starting will be from the lame starter solenoid, cured by fitting the 150amp part from later (2004-on) RSV1000s. Bikes from 2001 onwards have bigger valves and make a bit more power. STANDING AROUND Aprilia’s delicious aluminium twin-spar chassis and swingarm don’t cause problems, but the sidestand does. It’s not the best design, and depending on the bike’s suspension set-up (and what day of the…