Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2017 i BIKE

‘ The SV Scrambler gets a stubby fender and desperate brown seat’ DUCATI’S CURRENT SUCCESS owes much to the modest 1960s-inspired Scrambler. BMW’s R nineT has exploded from a single bike into a range, and Moto Guzzi are propped up by the V7. We love these simple, feel-good, stylish bikes – with chocker roads and demands on time, bikes like Triumph’s Bobber (see page 36) make sense. You can try too hard, mind. Suzuki’s UK dealers offer a kit to give their thoroughly modern SV650 a hint of scrambler, with faux-knobbly Dunlops, ’bar risers, headlight protector, fat pegs and curious bits stuck on the headers. And Suzuki France have gone further still – their official SV Scrambler gets aluminium parts including a stubby mudguard and a desperate brown seat. If…

Pocket a grand Suzuki GSX1250FA >> After two decades Suzuki’s Bandit – later the GSX – has dropped out of the range. They’ve been just over £8k on the road for yonks, but the smooth, grunty, comfy inline four is now £7495 at Robinsons of Rochdale (01706 408771) with full luggage and three-year warranty. Go pre-reg and some dealers are only asking £7k. £937 reduction Kawasaki ER-6n >> Kawasaki have just reinvented the evergreen ER-6 middleweight as the new Z650. Predictably this means purse-teasing deals on the ER. Toddle to bristolkawasaki.co.uk and they’ve got zero-mile 66-plate examples of the perky, friendly and unburstable parallel twin for £4999. Oh, and there’s 0% finance as well. Slashed by £800 Moto Guzzi V7 II >> Maybe the folk at In Moto (020 8689…

‘I learned to appreciate the spontaneity and unpredictability of our lives’ >> Where are you right now? We are currently in a cheap motel in a city called Bishop, California, USA. At the moment we are waiting for our bikes to arrive from Vladivostok into Los Angeles. >> So… what’s the big idea? We left London 14 August, 2016 from the Adventure Travel Film Festival. So far our journey has taken us across Europe, into Turkey, then Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia and South Korea. Now we are in the United States, probably the last country before we head home. We expect to be back in London January, 2017. We had tons of ‘big ideas’ for the trip, but most importantly it is about the people we…

I’M SUPER EXCITED about Moto P 2017, mainly because there have been changes we haven’t seen the like of in years. Chief among them has to be Jorge Lorenzo moving from Yamaha to Ducati. It’s going to be fascinating to see what he can do on that bike. Marc Marquez is obviously going to be in the mix but Honda should have taken more of a chance on their second rider, but they love Dani Pedrosa. Valentino Rossi will be desper te to secure a tenth world title but he’s got a very fast Maverick Vinales alongside him. There’s a chance these two could fall out, although Rossi doesn’t always fall out with his team-mates. It’s great to have KTM coming into the championship with Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro.…

>> 20-21 May The Reunion Monza. Italy The Reunion is a large outdoor custom beano at a genuine cathedral of speed. thereunion.it >> 10-11 June Café Racer Festival Monthléry, France One of the best shows in the world and the century old banking is a sight to behold. cafe-racer.fr >> 1-2 July Biker’s Classic Spa Francorchamps, Belgium One of the main dates on the classic racing calendar on the legendary circuit. bikersclassics.be >> 2-3 September Glemseck 101 Leonberg, Germany Glemseck was the first of the new breed events to mix sprint racing with customs. glemseck101.de…

Some of us are upset at the path taken by modern bike manufacturers. Here is a short explanation why: we don’t want an ungodly boat that weighs so much it cannot be picked up when dropped; that makes more horsepower than can possibly be used and therefore must have multiple, computer overrides to ensure that newbies only use 30bhp except for a few seven-second blasts per week; that has a 13-pound systems manual that no-one but the design team can fathom; that STILL manages to be built without an adjustable seat or mirrors that work. Furthermore… We don’t need a rear view camera if the mirrors work, do we? We don’t need gas mileage performance, fuel level countdowns, and trip-time-remaining stuff because we have a brain and an odometer. We…

>> ‘Superbike doesn’t mean what it used to. When the F1 750 race class turned into BSB we went to 1000cc four-cylinder bikes and they coined the use of the phrase ‘superbike’, but there’s no more exotica. A superbike is a Ducati Superleggera, Honda RC213V-S or BMW HP4 Race – in the same terms as a supercar. ‘The supercar market has matured, with breadth and depth. Koenigsegg, Pagani and Veyron weren’t there a period ago, but have come to market because of the growth. Demand for bikes like the Superleggera and RCV shows the same demand in motorcycling, and leads you to think there’ll be more growth. ‘We don’t have 1000 staff or a huge factory, aren’t interested in mainstream or competing with the Far East. Norton suits exclusive, hand-built…

1. How far can they go on a charge? >> Anywhere from 15 to 150 miles, depending on the bike and how it’s ridden. Where a petrol bike measures the amount of energy it can hold in litres of unleaded, an electric bike’s battery capacity is counted in kilowatt hours (kWh). The higher this is, the further the bike can go. Range is also massively affected by how fast you ride – stick to city speeds and you’ll get twice as far as you would riding on the motorway. A very rough rule of thumb is to multiply the kWh number by ten to give the maximum miles you could expect if you ride conservatively (think sub-40mph). Halve that number to get an estimated range at 70mph. 2. How long…

YOSHIMURA DYNASTY This is Yusaka Yoshimura, the grandson of Pops Yoshimura who started the company in 1954 in Japan. Yusaka runs the R&D department of the USA division (see right), which is now much bigger than the Japanese arm. Yoshimura US employs 120 people spread over three buildings on the outskirts of Los Angeles and the company have run Suzuki’s factory superbike team in the States for almost 40 years. ‘Designing a new exhaust is 70% experience and 30% science,’ says Yusaka. ENDCAN PRODUCTION Every part of a Yoshimura exhaust is made in house, which explains the scale of the facility – even those spring retainers you see on these half finished endcans are produced in the cavernous building by the 80 or so staff. Running down the spine of…

>> 650 miles (after run-in): change engine oil and oil filter, general function and safety checks. Cost: £74 >> 7500 miles: change oil and oil filter, check air filter and plugs (replace if required), strip/clean brake calipers, general function and safety checks. Cost: £269 >> 15,000 miles: same as 7500-mile service, plus check and adjust valve clearances, check and adjust cam belt tension/replace as necessary. Cost £542 >> Time-based: replace fork oil, coolant, and brake and clutch fluid every three years or 22,500 miles. Cost £137 Guide prices from Ducati Glasgow (ducatiglasgow.co.uk, 0141 333 0996). First service cost assumes the bike was purchased from Ducati Glasgow. Additional costs where parts need to be replaced (e.g plugs, belts).…

A2 LICENCE RESTRICTION 2014 bikes were offered with a free 35kW restrictor kit which could be removed once the owner passed their full Category A test. However, Euro4 regulations surrounding anti-tampering mean Yamaha are no longer allowed to supply the bike with a restrictor kit that can easily be removed, so there are now two separate models – the full power and the 35kW A2-licence version. The A2 licence version features modifications to the throttle bodies and ECU and could technically be desrestricted, but it would be prohibitively expensive to do so. HUGGERS The first thing we advise any new MT-07 owner to do is buy an aftermarket hugger (Powerbronze £85.50) and fit it straight away. We came to this conclusion after endless hours spent cleaning our demonstrator – the…

There are some old pre-war cases which place a high duty on leading riders and this has led to some strange advice and some odd prosecutions for motorcyclists riding in a group. There was one infamous case where the Crown Court upheld a Magistrates conviction whereby a lead rider, who could not be shown to be travelling at a speed greater than 83mph was sentenced on the basis of the fastest rider in the group, who was doing, apparently, 103mph to catch up. That case provides no authority or precedent. It does not, contrary to some reports, make new law. The case cannot be cited in a prosecution because it is not from a senior enough Court. There is a rather more sensible decision taken in a very sad case…

Husqvarna TX125 TYRES: Mitas C19/EF07 HOURS RIDDEN: 10 VALUE: £6199 CAN YOU SEE the light? Enduro by torchlight is like an old age competence and bravery test rolled into one – plus a stamina exam. The last round of the British Extreme Enduro Championship was a relatively easy blast (by extreme enduro standards) round some woods just north of Sheffield. Up and down banks, dropping in and out of streams, a few muddy ruts and the odd log to hop over were straightforward enough, like any Fast Eddy event is. Should be perfect for a fling on our Husqvarna TX125. If nothing else my few months running the little 125 have proved the old enduro mantra – more power gets you out of trouble – to be the load of…

MZ TS250/1 TYRES: Continental ContiGo! and K112 WORTH: £750 MILEAGE: 15,700 MPG: 55.5 WITHOUT WISHING TO throw open the door and offer fate a cosy seat by the fire, it seems my MZ isn’t an obstinate swine after all. In fact, I’d even say it’s keen, eager and, if it’s not pushing luck beyond its limit, as crisp as a bright and frosty winter morn. Wonders will never, as mother would say. We’ve developed a love/hate relationship. I show the former by checking and replacing parts, the TS the latter by reducing me to a sweaty, crumpled mess with extended bouts of fruitless kicking. Not a ring-a-ding in sight. When two months of neglect fail to teach it a lesson I remove the carb (again) and stare at its guts…

Honda NCZ50 Motocompo TYRES: Chen Shin C-177 WORTH: £2000 MILEAGE: n /a MPG: 101 BACK IN THE AUGUST 2016 ISSUE WE featured our 50cc scooters bombing around Rutland. It was my first time out on my new Compo. It smoked a bit, but pulled well. After twenty miles though it stalled and wouldn’t restart. It had run out of fuel – after only 20 miles? It should do 100+mpg. The problem turned out to be a patch of rust that had holed the tank near where the fuel tap attaches. It needed welding up because a new tank from Japan costs around £150, if you can find one. Tom, a friend of mine, runs the UK Motocompo fan page on Facebook and being the man he is sorted the welding.…

John Westlake Contributor >>I want an electric road bike that works – ie it’s brisk, light and can be thrashed for at least 100 miles without conking out. Martin Fitz-Gibbons Contributor >>A Wankel hybrid: a small rotary engine plus electric motor, engine braking energy is stored in an ultracapacitor as free power. Mike Armitage Deputy Editor >>An injected, clean, efficient, light 500cc two-stroke with adaptive ergonomics. The tech exists, but the world’s set up for four-strokes.…

>> BMW R1200RT? It’s a CFMoto. Based on the 650TR (a WK in the UK), the TR-G is a full tourer with luggage, fancy dash, huge screen and Germanic style. First released to China’s police and military, it’s now on sale to the public. Quianjiang (Benelli’s owners) are to release a bike under the QJiang name that goes further still, using Benelli’s 1130cc triple with BMW Paraleverstyle swingarm , USD forks, radial brakes and a firm hint of K1600. Like the CFMoto it’ll reach authorities first, before going on sale. Neither are planned for the UK... yet.…

1939 Matchless SS100 >> Owner: Les Phelps Story: the bike Matchless never made, an ohv 1000cc V-twin, built from parts from around the globe. Frame and forks from Australia, gearbox from America, engine pieces from the UK. >> HW opinion: love a period special. And an overhead valve 1000cc V-twin should deliver decent performance too. 1937 BSA B21 250 >> Owner: Matthew Jones Story: restored from badly rusted remains by a 19-year-old and his dad. And they’ve done almost all the work, including the engine build and making new bits for the gearbox, themselves. >> HW opinion: looks like a charming thing, and really good to see young ’uns getting involved in old bikes. 1946 Triumph 500 Speed Twin >> Owner: Alan Davis Story: starting with an incomplete pile of…

>> 21 March, 2017 Sam Manicom–Suffolk Advanced Motorcyclists Ipswich Suffolk IAM are hosting veteran world rider and author Sam Manicom. Sam will be talking about his ten year trip around the world. If you fancy doing some advanced research try one of his many books including Into Africa and Under Asian Skies. For more information to go… suffolk-advanced-motorcyclists.com suffolk-advancedmotorcyclists.com >> June 23-25, 2017 Horizons Unlimited Eniskillen, Northern Ireland Always a good knees-up, great food and a warm welcome guaranteed at this Irish get-together. All adventurers welcome from seasoned round the world veterans to complete novices. The exact event schedule will be posted on the website approximately one week before the event. horizonsunlimited.com/ events >> June 22-25, 2017 Touratech Rally, West Plain, Washington, USA Touratech USA’s adventure riding party on their…

THE THING ABOUT some custom bikes is the nagging doubt about them actually being, you know, ridden. How many of these money pits become battery-sapping dust magnets? Sultans of Sprint is a new pan-European sprint series that set out to mix custom style and drag race performance like never before and prove that even if chrome don’t get you home, candy paint can dominate. ‘We started Sultans of Sprint in 2016 because no existing class had rules fitting most of the contenders’ bikes,’ explains the mastermind behind the competition, Frenchman, Seb Lorentz. ‘Our competing bikes are twin-cylinder four-strokes with two or four-valve heads and are custom modified for sprint racing.’ The series attracted teams from across Europe and even Japan. ‘We would love to welcome some British teams for 2017,’…

HEADING UP A fuel-injected two-stroke revolution and arriving as a fully-fledged manufacturer seems to have been easy for start-up firm Vertigo. Having won the Scottish Six Days Trial twice already, the British Trials Championship and The Scott Trial and monowheeled a lap of the TT course, Vertigo’s credentials are proven. Innovation starts with the fuel-injected 250 and 300cc engines and Vertigo have taken that oh-so-important modern motorcycle mantra of mass centralisation to its core by putting the fuel tank under the ‘seat’*. In fact the airbox and fuel tank have changed places (by conventional standards) which feels both beneficial in terms of weight distribution and is much better in terms of where the engine sucks air from (higher up means less likely to suck water in). The Ice Hell, Combat…

>> 5 February Hawkstone International Motocross, Hawkstone Park, Salop More than a handful of international MX stars and GP teams mix with the best of British to kickstart their season on the historic sandy hills of Hawkstone. hawkstoneinternationalmx.com >> 5 February Phil King Trial, Pebmarsh, Essex February is a great month for traditional trials, it’s where the true sport thrives among the mud and frost. This British Championship round is for over-40s, 50s and 60s riders. castle-mcc.co.uk >> 4 March Super Enduro, Bilbao, Spain Northern Spanish city plays host to round three of the indoor Enduro World Championship. The international field is headed by American sensation Colton Haaker and his main rival, Britain’s red-hot Jonny Walker. superenduro.org…

LAST YEAR’S MAJOR technical overhaul – Michelin tyres and same-for-all Magneti Marelli rider aids – made history. Nine different riders and four different manufacturers won races, a first in a championship that began back in 1949. Will we see ten or more different winners in 2017? The new MotoGP season starts in Qatar on the 26 March, with the genuine prospect of an even better championship than 2016. Jorge Lorenzo switches to Ducati, Maverick Vinales to Yamaha and Andrea Iannone to Suzuki, while Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi stay at Honda and Yamaha. And Cal Crutchlow should be stronger than ever. ‘Incredibly, he was the only rider across all three MotoGP classes to score points at the first 15 races’ 1 Rider: Marc Marquez Team: Repsol Honda RC213V Winner: Argentine,…

>> ‘To see how the 1290R would cope against full-on race bikes, we entered a round of the Pro Twin Championship at Mugello. The bike had a stock engine – we changed the exhaust, seat unit and put on WP’s kit suspension. We were racing fully prepared sportsbikes (mostly Ducati Panigales) on a circuit with one of the longest straights I’ve ever raced on so we weren’t sure what would happen. But when we got within one second of pole position, we knew we were in with a chance. From that moment we understood that a naked bike could compete.’ In a wet race, McWilliams won, with fellow KTM test riders Chris Fillmore and Hannes Maier in second and third.…

 Rider Hugo Wilson Bike 1981 Moto Morini Camel Destination: Oliana, Spain Crossing: Portsmouth-St. Malo ‘On an exposed ridge there’s a huge stone slab rising at 45º and no other way but to ride up and over it. And we do’ >> High on a Pyrenean mountainside Mike and I are in discussion. He thinks that we’re about to find the marker that we’re looking for, I’m not convinced. Maps are unfurled and magnifying glasses utilized. There’s even a compass. Thomas, the third man in our team, looks on bemused. We haven’t seen anyone in hours. Just some cows, repeatedly, as we ride backwards and forwards trying to work out where we are. We continue to a mountain pasture just like the one that Julie Andrews skips across in…

PERFORMANCE TESTING >> Yes, the XDiavel does a datalogged 160mph, give or take. That’s a foot-forward ‘cruiser’ with a riding position like relaxing in a deck chair that’s as fast as a 959 Panigale. You don’t want to know what the air blasted up your trousers feels like. It’s just as fast off the line – turn the TC off and it batters to 60mph as quickly as KTM’s Super Duke R. And despite the raked front and low centre of gravity, the stopping distance is as good as a BMW S1000R. Impressive. POWER AND TORQUE >> Ducati claim 156bhp for the 1262cc V-twin. A real 147bhp is more than close enough. It’s only half the story, mind – look at the fat dollop of grunt at 4000rpm and the…

Moto Guzzi Audace Pros: serious presence, brand resonance, with fine finish, amazing refinement and real usability. Oh, and it’s handsome. Cons: nothing like the Ducati’s power or outright handling, bit heavy, unwieldy in your shed, sounds like a CX500. Price: £15,136 otr. PCP deal: £1500 deposit, £250 for 35 months, final payment £7639. Total £17,891. Yamaha VMAX Pros: famous name, mighty V4 with 179bhp, unique caricature styling. Not Euro 4 so likely to be last ones – grab a great deal. Cons: styling’s not everyone’s cuppa, appalling economy (32mpg), heavy and feels a bit ponderous after the XDiavel. Price: £15,886 otr. PCP deal: £3117 deposit, £221 for 36 months, final payment £7678. Total £17,800 (est only). Harley Davidson Night Rod Special Pros: surprisingly smooth, fast, engaging – most un-H-D-like. Good…

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. *BUILT BY THE GAFFER Ducati’s 1993 Supermono was made for singles racing. Singles vibrate and hate revs, so the 550cc 4-valve motor used a dummy conrod pivoting on a link in the cases. Effectively a 90˚ V-twin with a piston missing, this cut vibes and allowed 10,000rpm. It was designed by Claudio Domenicali – yes, Ducati’s current boss. * SUZUKAWASAKI…

Gilera Runner VXR180 TYRES: Pirelli Diablo VALUE: £1300 MILEAGE: 4237 MPG: soon find out AFTER LAST MONTH’S MINI-RANT/HISSY FIT about the self-tapping screw and Gilera’s business plan, here comes a massive retraction and grovelling apology... Against all probability and in defiance of rationality, the Gilera Runnner VXR180, dead to the world for a decade, fired up second prod on the starter with some fresh petrol and a new battery. After loosening the float bowl drain screw, in went some Shell V-Max Nitro (the most aggressive cleaner known to man), when it ran easily from the drain, I nipped up the screw, poured the rest of the gallon in and thumbed the starter. The rest is now history. Everything works and an MoT is imminent. However. Leafing through the manual to…

1981Morini 500 CamelMk1 TYRES: old and worn WORTH: £1500 MILEAGE: 34,000 MPG: none GLUTTON FOR PUNISHMENT? I’ll say. After blowing money, time and favours getting a 1981 Morini 500 Camel running in 2016 I want to revive another one this year. Two obscure and idiosyncratic Italian trail bikes? Same model, same year? Yes, I really am a tragic case, but we all have our crosses to bear. Camel no2 was bought sight unseen for too much money at auction in 2015. It was a non-runner with light accident damage. Since then I’ve had the front cylinder exhaust port thread repaired (northleicestermotorcycles.  com) and cleaned and rebuilt the carburettors (rebuild kits from dellorto.co.uk) but it’s still a non-runner with light accident damage. That needs to change if Wilson junior and I…

Triumph Thruxton R TYRES: Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa PCP: £104 monthly MILEAGE: 5843 MPG: 51.2 BY THIS STAGE OF WINTER, test bike reports usually involve the word corrosion followed by barely contained outrage that manufacturers still make motorcycles out of stuff that dissolves when ridden on cold roads. Given that the Thruxton has zero plastic to protect it from the worst that council gritters can dispense, I feared for it – especially as I’d foolishly forgotten to plaster the bike in the famous anti-rust potion ACF-50. But guess what? After 300 miles of salty commuting, the damage to the Thruxton R is precisely zero – after a 20 minute examination, the only speck of rust I can find is on the edges of the cylinder head bolts. But all the…

The MCN London Motorcycle Show is on 17-19 February and we’ve got three pairs of standard tickets to award to three Bike readers. Owing to tedious rules governing competitions and giveaways we’re not allowed to call this a competition or a giveaway. So it’s an award, OK? To enter, send an email to judge and jury, colleen.moore@  bauermedia.co.uk stating why you deserve to be awarded (yes awarded) these prestigious tickets. As well as the Classic Bike of the Year event, the show will feature all the new bikes for 2017, plus indoor flat-track racing with Chris Walker, John McGuinness and Neil Hodgson. >> Full show info at mcnmotorcycleshow.com >> Classic Bike of the Year info at classicbike.co.uk/cboty…

‘It’s possible for any rounded human being to do this…’ with Hugo Wilson Riding one leg of Ducati’s round the world Globetrotter journey was great, but left me wanting more. Time to quit work and do the whole journey? ON 16 DECEMBER, just over five months and 30,000km after its departure on 4 July, Ducati’s Globetrotter project Multistrada Enduro made it back to Bologna. The route went from Italy to Scandinavia, then Russia, Siberia and Japan. Across the USA then back to Europe. There were seven different riders, picked from 3000 applicants and each rider rode one leg of the journey. I was lucky enough to be one of them. The story of my rapid ride from Portugal to the Isle of Man was in the last issue of Bike…

>> Will there be nine winners this season, or even more? Probably not. Last season was weird because riders, teams and factories had to cope with a major technical shift – new tyres and electronics. Such changes usually deliver one of two results: either one factory hits the nail on the head and clears off into the distance (as did Ducati in 2007, the first year of the 800s), or no one gets it right and the racing is brilliantly topsy-turvy. As always, we won’t know who’s got it right until the first two or three races are done, but we can make some reasonable guesstimates, following the first winter tests at Valencia, Jerez and Sepang. Don’t be surprised if Jorge Lorenzo wins the first race in Qatar. The three-times…

WELCOME TO THE Triumph Street Triple v2.0. There’s a bigger, more powerful engine in an updated chassis. Looks are revised, finish is improved and it’s festooned with tech, from ride-by-wire and traction control to a colour dash and medley of modes. And there are three versions: an everyday S, the more focused R, and a hot trackday-ready RS. The fruity middleweight has been a bestselling model for Triumph since launched in 2007. Though basically a stripped-back Daytona sportsbike, the 675cc Street Triple’s affordable blend of performance, noise, ease of use and distinct style suited everyone, from cautious commuter to trackday terrorist. Crucially it also overflowed with something oh-so important: fun. The sort of sweet, enriching, undiluted fun you only get from a simple, light, engaging bike. Although the Street was…

>> You can get a tankbag and practical pieces, but official bolt-ons focus on looks and performance. Here’s the stuff we’d buy if we could afford it. TERMIGNONI SILENCERS One cheese grater exit on the left, one on the right, and more wallop at all revs. Made to order for a very salty £2027. ALUMINIUM FLANGE Machined pulley boss by that Roland Sands custom fella. £170 and made to order – could be days, but could be months. FANCY WHEELS   Forged and machined alloy wheels, lighter and better looking. £1494 a pair. No, not cheap, but less than the silencers. TANK FILLER PLUG   From Roland Sands, it swaps the locking cap for screw-out one. Handy with keyless system. £160 and supplied to order.…

Davida Speedster V3 Price: from £299 Info: davida.co.uk >> They say ‘Dual marked with ECER22-05 and DOT FMVSS No. 218, the new Speedster V3 retains all the features of the original Speedster helmet with the same low profile shell shape and traditional leather lined interior, which is now removable and interchangeable.’ We say ‘Loads of development work on shells and liners mean the Speedster V3 delivers safety with a sensible lining profile. Davida’s are really good quality too. I’ve had one for ten years, but maybe it’s time for a new one. Remember, visor studs need to be specified.’ HW Putoline Bike Wash Price: from £5.99-£8.98 Info: putoline.co.uk >> They say ‘Specialist bike wash cleaners including Rs1 Bike Wash Pro – fast-acting, biodegradable, protects against corrosion. Put Off…

>> Touring in Norway is about being blown away by landscapes. It’s about the scenery rather than the speed so adventure bikes, dedicated tourers or sports tourers are your perfect riding companion. You certainly don’t need horsepower, so an 800cc Tiger or GS will be fine. Every bend and corner is a photo opportunity. >> Stay off the E3 and E6 when travelling between Oslo and Trondheim and instead take route 27 that runs north between Folldal and Ringebu. It’s a single lane tarmac road that follows the eastern side of the Rondane National Park. Keep an eye out for wildlife, one eye on the road and a third on the sublime scenery. Look to the left for snow-capped mountains. >> The Atlantic Road in the north is a famous…