Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2024 i BIKE

Contactus: bike@bikemagazine.co.uk or 01733 468000 facebook.com/bikemagazineUK twitter.com/BikeMagazine At the risk of blurting out something a bit silly and stating the flippin’ obvious, motorcycles are for riding. Fettling can be enjoyable, owning a flawless show-stopper can be rewarding; but getting out on your bike is what it’s all about (and means the ‘they’re for riding’ excuse I use when ribbed about my grubby bikes is entirely valid). So it’s what we’ve been doing plenty of this issue. Some friends and I toddled off to the north-west to explore an area I’m not familiar with – the West Pennines – and ride proper trail bikes. For a flailing green-lane novice like me it was a day of wonder and new experiences (wide-eyed joy is on p58). We’ve also had a works outing,…

Imagine if MotoGP organisers suddenly announced they were so hacked off with Ducati winning all the time that from next year all MotoGP bikes had to be built around production engines. It’s unthinkable, yet that’s exactly what’s happened in American flat track, and all because of the motorcycle you see here: the Indian FTR750. Since it arrived in 2017, the FTR has been a phenomenon, with 103 SuperTwins race wins from 137 starts and seven championship titles (ie, every one since it turned up). And that’s despite the rule makers coming up with no end of restrictions over the years to slow it down so the Harleys, Kawasakis and KTMs could keep up. So, how did the FTR stay on top? Bike asks the two key men behind the project:…

INDIAN HARLEY ON THE DYNO Testing notes: H-D’s smaller ‘Revolution’ twin is odd. It should be the tame little brother of the 1252 lump in the Sportster, but it feels revvy and ill-suited. Indian shows how it should be done. AT THE PROVING GROUND Testing notes: The free-revving Harley exploits its lower mass and better gearing to stick with the bigger Indian from a standing start – and most of the way to top speed. The H-D stops far better too (low C-of-G and weight really don’t help the Indian) and surprisingly has more top-gear roll-on flexibility as well.…

Nestled on the banks of the River Derwent, the village of Matlock Bath has been a thriving tourist destination for 300 years. It’s got curious curiosity shops, ice-cream-smothered kids, a cable car ride, and approximately 45 chip shops. Think seaside resort plonked in the Derbyshire hillside. It’s also been a destination for motorcyclists for many decades. I can remember going 30 years ago and the seafront – sorry, high street – being lined with every size and shape of bike. Nowt much has changed; on a toasty Sunday up to 3000 bikes fight over the free roadside parking. It’s like a fabulous time capsule of motorcycling culture. Which, obviously, makes it the perfect destination for our nineties-tastic works jolly. We love modern motorcycles; their capabilities, specification and value for money…

‘My dad was a trials rider and rode for Greeves, and as a youngster I spent a lot of time doing trials. I went circuit racing from my early teens, but I came back to off-road bikes in my thirties after working as a car mechanic on the World Rally Championship – I was lucky enough to work on the Dakar which reignited my passion for rally bikes and trail riding. I’ve travelled across Europe on trails, and it’s fantastic that the TET (Trans Euro Trail) is available to us all. I’ve been into Africa and ridden the deserts, too. ‘Your group is typical, with a cross-section of experience and background. Starting with our level one course, you can go from beginner and the bare-bones basics, and develop the core…

It’s been a while since I’ve interviewed Andrea Iannone. In fact, it’s been a while since anyone has interviewed Andrea Iannone. The Italian’s career seemed over when the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) hit him with a four-year ban for taking illegal anabolic steroids in 2019. He was already 30, so what were the chances of anyone signing him once he was free to ride again, especially when Italy and Spain have rider production lines that churn out talent like Heinz churns out baked beans? Finally he did get a deal for 2024, riding a Ducati Panigale V4 R for the Italian GoEleven World Superbike team, previously home to Chaz Davies, Eugene Laverty and Michael Ruben Rinaldi. Like most privateer WSB teams, GoEleven doesn’t have much money, so Iannone had to…

Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV Corsa £350-ish a pair pirelli.com » Ride a Yamaha R7 or Aprilia RS660? Want a serious high-performance trackday tyre? Buy these. Sitting between the Diablo Rosso IV and the full-on trackday Diablo Supercorsa V4 SP, they’re magic for the sportier riders among us. They have an excess of grip for even the briskest road action, are stable, warm up fast, and offer a plush ride. They’re decent in the wet and even last well. And a trackday doesn’t trouble them, thanks to a gloopy compound on the shoulders; in fact, you’ll be hard pushed to tell the difference to a Supercorsa (these don’t need warmers either). Happily ride to a track, drop the pressures and enjoy, then pump back up and you’re got one of the…

1 Jamie Turner Our tame professor of engines started his high-flying career at Norton. 30 years after a rotary last won BSB, he looks back the early days of the fire-spitting Brit sensation. Tech, page 20 2 Jim Moore When it comes to glorious specials and one-off exotica, no one has contacts quite like Jim. And he’s got the exclusive test of quite possibly the finest one ever. Just like Doohan’s, page 50 3 Mike Armitage The editor heads to the West Pennines (where he’s never been) to learn how to tackle a trail properly (because he can’t). Lovely tale of mates, bikes and dirty fun. Adventure, page 58 4 Greg Moss Photographer Greg has a knack for squeezing his way under velvet ropes and sneaking behind closed doors. This…

I’m very lucky to have been able to turn my hobby into employment (or vice versa). In 1987 I was a fresh-faced mechanical engineering student who just wanted to work in the auto industry. There was this thing called the ‘Milk Round’, when prospective employers went to universities enabling simple booking of interviews. I had two: Austin Rover and Jaguar. Imagine my horror when I didn’t get a second interview from the first, and Jag lost my paperwork; par for the course, I guess. I was going to graduate with a newly minted degree… and no job. I confess I wasn’t interested in bikes when I started uni (oh, the stupidity of youth) but a friend showed me things like the Ducati Paso and Bimota DB1 – and I was…

Bike, Media House, Lynch Wood, Peterborough, PE2 6EA Telephone: 01733 468000 Email: bike@bikemagazine.co.uk facebook.com/bikemagazineUK twitter.com/BikeMagazine [ BEEN THERE, GOT THE T-SHIRT ] ‘Flights, booze, gala evening… the whole shebang’ This is my T-shirt from the 1998 Isle of Man TT, which is still in occasional use. I was lucky enough to win an all-expenses paid trip to the TT that year in an employee competition via Honda UK Manufacturing. Flights, booze, gala evening… the whole shebang. Honda were celebrating their 50th anniversary and were desperate to win all the races, and would have achieved their goal if it wasn’t for Dave Morris aboard his BMW F650 winning the Singles race, beating Jim Moodie. Peter Jones IF YOU’VE GOT AN OLD T-SHIRT LIKE PETER’S AND FANCY SEEING IT IN BIKE, TAKE…

1990 Yamaha TDR250 Mike Armitage Owned for: 7 years » ‘Yes, it was launched in 1988, but mine’s 1990. And two-stroke 250s were a big part of the early ’90s. I’d seen TDRs in mags, then got buzzed by one on Hallamford Road on the way out of Shepshed – it wheelied off a bridge, zinged away leaving a delicious smell, and left me captivated. I bought one as my first ‘big’ bike and always regretted selling it, so snapped this one up during a momentary lapse in domestic supervision. I love how it feels fast at sensible speeds and carves back lanes.’ 1992 Honda CBR900RR FireBlade Chippy Wood Owned for: 22 years » ‘A friend of mine was best mates with Steve Spray, and Spray came round his house…

They make one or Two… »HEL make more than 500,000 brake lines every year. That’s 155 miles of brake hose. They machine their way through almost 100,000 metres of stainless steel bar (over 60 miles) – their 18 CNC machines run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and churn out over three million banjos, ferrules, bolts and various other fittings every year. That’s quite a few Same product no matter who These sliding-head CNC machines produce all the brake line fittings, including banjos, ferrules and bolts. The business started in 1999, initially making hoses for hydraulics on tractors. ‘I’ve always loved motorbikes, so I wanted to do something with bikes that was connected with hydraulics,’ says managing director Simon Lane. ‘I went for brake hoses. The company was…

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. Most un-Harley Harley Taiwanese firm Kymco have bought a share of LiveWire – Harley’s electric bike brand – for $100 million, and will build the forthcoming LiveWire S3. Splendid. More importantly, Kymco will use the existing S2 Del Mar as the basis for the wild SuperNEX concept they showed a short while back. We hope the honeycomb makes it to showrooms.…

The Snaefell Mountain course has long held fascination, and I got really invested when Ian Hutchinson won five TTs in a week in 2010. Ever since it’s been my intention to go. But two things have stopped me. Firstly, being organised is a prerequisite and you need to plan 18 months ahead, which I can’t. Secondly, my head is full of ‘what if?’ questions, so I decide the answer is the easier-access Manx GP – ‘TT Lite’ – with pals Gary and accident-prone Chris. Getting there’s a doddle, right? The 2.15am Steam Packet ferry from Liverpool, land at our Douglas accommodation first-thing Thursday. One day of practice, two days of racing. Return on the Sunday. Perfect. Then weather intervenes, and our crossing is cancelled. After frantic replanning. Chris and I…

Because of its £160,000 price tag, we suspected the AMB 001 Pro was designed as a piece of sculpture for squillionaires – something to be displayed in Aston-packed garages rather than ridden. But it turns out the new turbocharged V-twin is actually rather good. French journalist and racer David Dumain, who was Kevin Schwantz’s factory Suzuki teammate in the 2004 Bol d’Or, got the first independent test at the Ales circuit in southern France. Here’s what he reckoned: ‘The handling reminds me of Ducati’s Panigale V4; demanding. Once in a corner, the bike feels glued to the ground and incredibly precise, just waiting for you to dial the throttle back in. ‘Cornering stability is a strong point, and that confidence leads to ever-increasing lean angles [David wore holes in the…

The kettle had just boiled when the postie delivered my October issue. Coffee made, I had my customary flick through to see what delights awaited. Ah, B-roads, that’ll be good. It got better – the B1145, one of Norfolk’s finest. As I read Martin Brundle’s piece it dawned on me: why read about it when I could ride it? Leaving the coffee going cold, I joined the road at Reepham. Sunny Saturday morning, school holidays, yet no one about to disturb the enjoyment of those bends. A glorious ride west got me to another bendy B – the B1153. I’m sure it’s another route Martin would have enjoyed in his youth. Through Burnham Market, which was rammed because of a craft fair, and onto the coast at Holkham to enjoy…

Besides being cheap, the beauty of most ’90s bikes is that they’re old enough to be different, but still built to a standard. You can use them every day – ride them to work, do trackdays, go touring… And they have real-world performance. Yes, it’s nice to have 200bhp, but you don’t need it. Nineties bikes are quick enough. And as they’ve got the same size wheels as modern bikes, the latest tyres fit them. It’s amazing what a fork revalve and set of modern tyres can do. If you’re thinking of a ’90s bike, my advice is to get beyond 1998 R1s and early FireBlades. There are plenty of others that are a fraction of the price and just as good in the real world. And there are loads…

» Before trackdays, we got ‘clover leaf racing’ on the interchanges of crossing motorways in Belgium. At the height of the hype, some racers would turn up with their bikes in a van and tyre warmers. Some riders even got contracts out of it… Pieter Ryckaert » I ran a company called ET Training. It was dedicated to helping riders get their knee down. There’s a certain roundabout I used somewhere in North Lincolnshire that probably still has knee-slider DNA all over it. Glenn Le Santo » Riding roundabouts wasn’t unique to the ’90s. I used to do it in the late ’60s. I well remember sliding off my Ariel Golden Arrow while roundabout surfing… Tony Gillam » If only I had pictures of my slabbie Suzuki GSX-R, replete with iridium…

Pay for your 900 GT Pro Examples: CASH PRICE: £14,095 on the road (as tested) PCP: Deposit £2819, 36 monthly payments £165.41, optional final payment £8175, (4000 miles, 9.9% APR, total £16,948.76) HP: Deposit £2819, 37 months £352.41, total £15,868.17 (9.9% APR) How can you not be impressed by that?’ declares Jimmy, pointing at the Triumph Tiger 900 GT Pro, ticking away to itself in the afterglow of a feisty 20-mile romp. ‘It’s the lightest, most confidence-inspiring, and up-for-it of this trio. By far. A proper B-road blaster.’ Better still is that this is only part of the GT Pro’s charm. My colleague’s synopsis is bang on-point, but there’s much more to the Tiger than sweet handling, immense stopping power and a mischievous spirit. As an overall go-anywhere package this…

Unearths the whatsits and thingies of living with an XSR900 GP. Details why Honda’s E-Clutch is a thing you should want. Revels in the wonder of funny little codes stamped on Kwaks. Ponders over the brilliance of his first Manx GP visit. Explains why Franco is going faster than his bike went last year. Reveals how Triumph very nearly beat BMW to adventure bikes.…

Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 New naked based on Himalayan is attractive, fun, and undercuts its rivals What’s new? Enfield have taken the excellent Himalayan 450 adventurist, tweaked the frame and fitted road-focused running gear, and created a roadster to go wheel-to-wheel with the best-selling Triumph Speed 400. Actually, there’s a hint of the old 400cc Ducati Scrambler Sixty2. With an impressive level of finish, the Guerrilla comes with a couple of riding modes, a TFT dash, connectivity and a built-in satnav – yet costs just £4850. Bike’s opinion Light and a doddle to ride, the Guerrilla is breezy and easy in town, and works on open roads, too. The chassis is stable and inspiring, especially the front end with its 43mm Showa forks and super-sharp 21.8° head angle, and the…

There’s a thriving sub-culture of people who are only interested in date codes. It’s like a religion. Really. On a Z1 [Kawasaki’s first superbike, made from 1972-75 – Ed] virtually every single component was date coded so that if something broke, Kawasaki could tell which date range to investigate. The intrigue stems from all the differences in font, style and stamp depth – two bikes made in the same year might have different types of date code on apparently identical components. People read all sorts of significance into this, like it’s some sort of enigma code. But there’s a perfectly rational explanation. In the early ’7os Kawasaki were not geared up for the demand. With the Z1, they thought it would be a bit more successful than the H1 [the…

At Brands Hatch BSB in July last year, Andrew Irwin on the factory Honda Fireblade put in a fastest lap of 1m 26.9s. Riding that exact same bike this year at the same circuit in similar conditions, Rapid Honda’s Franco Bourne lapped at 1m 26.0s. So, how did Bike’s favourite band of plucky underdogs manage to drop almost a second on the factory team? ‘Two words: Tommy Bridewell,’ says Rapid Honda’s crew chief Dave Hewson. ‘Tommy [who’s currently leading the championship for Honda] is the main reason all the Fireblades are going better this year. Tommy is proving to every Honda rider that the bike is fast, so everyone has had to step up. We can’t complain about the swingarm or rear linkage or side grip because Tommy’s 2024 bike…