Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2020 i BIKE

‘Tony was a hugely successful racer who will be best remembered for his association with the TT2 Ducatis’ Tony Rutter passed away in March, 35 years after his last TT win Tony Rutter’s racing career spanned over 25 years and a huge variety of machinery. Modern race fans might know him as Michael Rutter’s dad, but Tony was a hugely successful racer who will be best remembered for his association with the 600cc TT2 Ducatis that netted four of his seven TT wins, and four World Championships on road circuits. At the 1981 F2 TT he raced a Ducati Pantah entered by Sports Motorcycles and built up from a written-off road bike. He won the race and for the Ulster GP round of the two-race championship Ducati provided a factory…

‘I want to see riders’ faces when they get off. I think riding it will be a “wow” moment. It’s that good’ TRIUMPH BEWARE The Triumph Street Triple RS is clearly in KTM’s sights, and the 121bhp power figure suggests the parallel twin has the potential to score a direct hit. RIDING POSITION You’re positioned higher and more over the front thanks to an increase in seat height and bars that are lower and further forward. Footpegs are higher and further back. ELECTRONICS All the usual, plus a Track mode with nine levels of customisation for traction, anti-wheelie and throttle response. BRAKES Brembo Stylema monoblocks coupled with 320mm discs. Aluminium disc carriers save half a kilo per disc over the 790 ’s kit. Cornering ABS was set-up by McWilliams: ‘You’ve…

The last mass-made, high-performance two-stroke motorcycles disappeared from production the best part of 20 years ago, defeated by emissions legislation. But the two-stroke cycle could be the key that gives the internal combustion engine a new lease of life. In January the man in charge of Formula 1 surprised many by suggesting the top tier of car racing was considering turning to two-strokes. Pat Symonds, F1’s chief technical officer, told the Motorsports Industry Association that F1 is considering its next generation of engine rules, saying: ‘I’m very keen on it being a two-stroke. Much more efficient, great sound from the exhaust, and a lot of the problems with the old two-strokes are just not relevant anymore.’ While the idea of two-strokes is intrinsically linked with great clouds of fragrant blue…

When it’s all over When we are able to get out and about again I would also recommend Tenerife, like Mr Neeves did in May’s issue, as a great place to ride. Last summer I hired a Kawasaki Z750 while there, which was nimble enough for the turns on the TF-38 up to El Teide volcano, and fast enough for the TF-1 coastal dual carriageway. The bit I enjoyed the most was the TF-346 switchbacks which take you around the Los Gigantes cliffs to Las Casas and the lighthouse at Faro de Teno. Dr Chris Allen, email Things to do on furlough I’ve been cruising YouTube while on furlough where I found a short documentary film about AMA Superbike racing. It focuses on a 1980 race at Laguna Seca with…

‘If a sports-tourer should be able to make a flippin’ good fist of everything then it’s the Ninja 1000SX – just’ We like the Suzuki GSX-S1000F. It steers sweetly, handles, there’s great connection from the nuzzled-in riding position, and that GSX-Rderived inline four makes you wonder why we’ve all migrated to big twins and triples. It’s not got heated bits, colour whatsits or take-your-pick settings, but there’s nothing actually wrong with the dash or controls – and it’s why the GSX-S is £1500 cheaper than the Kawasaki. Its problem is image – the whole bike feels like it could have been made when its K5 engine first appeared. We all love the Yamaha Niken GT. Brilliant and confidence-boosting to ride, dynamically great, entertaining to look at, and actually a really…

My mate Ed’s wonderful and gloriously standard 1997 VFR750, all 47,000 miles of it, was a sacrificial lamb ahead of his wedding. He’d stopped riding and it sat off an East London street for so long that in the tiny gap between it and a fence to which it was chained could be found a human turd, a new broom and a unicycle. A buff and a lot of pictures taken just a few feet off the ground – minus the turd - make the machine look good. On his behalf, I opt to auction it to see how much it will get. The answer is barely north of a grand, some £500-800 below what I hoped for. It’s an inbetweener bike, not old enough to be a classic, not…

Optimate 3 Used for: 7 years Price: £48.34 Info: sportsbikeshop.co.uk » In theory you should be able to leave a bike for at least a month without the battery discharging significantly, but trackers or alarms can change that, plus the battery may be a bit old and duff in the first place. So, now more than ever, a trickle charger is a useful device to own. My Optimate 3 is seven years old, has been dropped repeatedly and still works perfectly. Besides continuously topping up the battery, it also has a useful recovery mode which can bring a flat sulphated battery back to life – and it does so automatically. Newer versions do this faster, but I’m happy with my 3. It doesn’t work on lithium batteries though.…

Spy shots of the new Multistrada show it not has the mighty V4 engine, but features self-adjusting radar cruise control too. One of the photographs – taken outside the Bologna factory just before the Italian lock-down – shows a box between the headlights that appears to be the radar unit needed for adaptive cruise control. Ducati have been talking about this Advanced Rider Assistance System setup (ARAS) since 2018, and until recently the company stated it was going to debut in 2020 (they still do on their website). The system would adjust the bike’s speed to keep a constant distance from the car in front, and use haptic feedback (vibrations through the bar and saddle) to warn the rider of cars in blindspots and any impending collisions. However, it’s thought…

As the loft starts to empty of parts I bought on the internet to replace on my ongoing project, I am starting to believe I might actually finish this bike. And what will I do then ? Ride it… On my 16th birthday we set off with a load of sausage rolls, cans of pop and pockets full of petrol money to ride from Newcastle to Scotland, my mate on his TY50 and me on my ER50. We got as far as Cresswell and met some lasses and ended up camping there. As I now live in Scotland and expecting to be made redundant after this corona virus I’m taking this bike up North to put some miles on it. Every cloud has a silver lining, all be it 36…

First race of the year (and maybe the last) Forty MX2 riders race to the first corner at Matterley Basin, Hampshire on 1 March. This is the first race of the season (and, all things considered, maybe the last) in the FIM Motocross World championship, which includes MXGP, MX2, WMX and EMX. The championship is made up of 20 rounds which, in normal circumstances, run across the globe at tracks as far afield as Russia and Argentina. The MX2 series is for riders from 16 up to 23 on 100-125cc two-strokes or 175cc-250cc four- strokes. Teams in all shapes and sizes The paddock is crammed with team marquees, motorhomes, makeshift garages and lorries bursting with kit, spare parts, tools and willing bodies. It’s an event in itself. There’s a wide…

In the late 1990s, as a nation, we completely got the sports-tourer’s seemingly perfect blend of performance, ease of use and rideit-to-the-Bol tourability. And if you didn’t own a VFR or know someone who did then it was one of the other bikes balancing speed and comfort: Triumph Sprint ST, Kawasaki ZZ-R, Ducati ST… You’d be forgiven for thinking such versatile machinery has been forgotten in favour of high-rise adventure, but Kawasaki’s Z1000SX has been their best-selling bike in the UK for almost a decade. They obviously see a bright sports-touring future too, as it’s now evolved into the slicker, smarter Ninja 1000SX. Then there’s BMW’s R1250RS Exclusive which couldn’t be more sports-tourer if it tried, while Suzuki’s GSX-S1000F follows the old-school route of making a sportsbike more mature. And…

Yes, the Niken GT is a tricycle. But we’re not talking the back half of a VW Beetle with bent GS1000 forks welded to the front. The Niken responds, leans, reacts and feels like a bike, and you need a two-wheel licence to ride it. So it’s welcome. In fact, part of that statement is a porky. Sometimes the way the Niken reacts and feels is better than humdrum two-wheelers. The grip and impression of safety from its two front tyres and solid-yet-eerily-easy control mean feet-up, full-lock U-turns in slimy car parks. Nothing gives as much confidence on a wet roundabout or is so secure romping down the rippled and knotted back lanes between Buckminster and Waltham, north of Melton Mowbray (a chassis test if ever there was one). And…

Royal Enfield Classic » Price: £4699 » Engine: 499cc single-cylinder » Power: 28bhp » Final payment: £1775.38 APR: 6.9% Not aretro but an actual old bike – it may have fuel-injection and disc brakes, but everything else is like it used to be in the ‘50s. Minus the oil leak. There’s a new version due next year, so it could be your last chance for a ‘true’ Enfield. Royal Enfield Continental GT » Price: £5889 » Engine: 648cc parallel twin » Power: 47bhp » Final payment: £2189.75 APR: 6.9% Enfield’s excellent and best-selling Interceptor in period café racer get-up, with clip-on ’bars and pillion seat hump. The twin-cylinder power unit is surprisingly willing, the slim-tyre chassis handles well, and finish is more than acceptable. Royal Enfield Interceptor » Price: £5699…

remember what you’re buying Prices for Mk1 Speed Triples (900cc, 1994-1996) are climbing thanks to demand for ‘modern classics’, but later twin round headlight bikes are great value: very clean T509 (1997-2001) and 955i (2000-2004) models can be had for two grand or less, while honest 1050cc bikes (2005-on) start at under £4k. Lots of Speeds have been ‘enhanced’ with bolt-on accessories, typically loud pipes, new rear shocks, handlebars and levers. Remember that even if an owner has piled £3000-worth of parts onto their T509, it’s still a 20-year-old T509 – the value of the bike hasn’t soared just because of the extras. light not-quite-fantastic Headlights that looked like spots that’d been robbed off a Mk2 Ford Escort gave Triumph the stripped-back streetfighter look they were after when converting the…

‘We’ve no idea if the Classic will happen, but we’ve got to get on building…’ This is a strange ‘do’ isn’t it. I sent off my entry for September’s Classic TT three weeks ago, and almost immediately after that the country went into lockdown and the TT (in June) got cancelled. We’ve no idea if the Classic will happen, but we’ve got to get on with building up the bike on the assumption that it will. As well as running in three classes in the Classic TT I’d decided to build a single cylinder racer to ride in the Ultra Lightweight Manx GP the same week (see Bike, Feb 2020). My original plan was to build a 690 KTM starting with a standard frame that I’d bought on ebay for…

‘A-roads are best avoided because of the claggy tourist traffic and few overtaking opportunities’ Suffolk isn’t famous for tall mountains and sweeping views across valleys and lakes, and I’d wager a significant number couldn’t point to it on a map. However, this historic East Anglian county offers plenty of great riding – exploring its leafy back lanes and wandering B-roads is worth it. For this job you can leave the GS at home and get out the Triumph Bobber, Husky Vitpilen, or similar. As I don’t own a Bobber, Husky or similar my choice is a Honda XR650R. Because? It’s just a different kind of riding. From Haverhill in the far west of the county you can choose any of network of Bs to guide you through rolling open farmland,…

Yes. The engine is inside the front wheel. Also be aware that it has five cylinders, that the crankshaft turns faster than the cylinders, that it has no gearbox and no clutch, and the brakes are, at best, marginal. This is a Megola, made in Germany between 1921 and 1924, and not exclusively as some kind of elaborate joke. Even by the standards of 1921, when most motorcycle makers had accepted that singles and V-twins were a logical means of propulsion and that clutches, gearboxes and drive chains were desirable, the Megola was eccentric, but there was a smattering of logic to the idea. Rotary engine technology developed quickly during WW1 as participants in the emerging sport of aerial combat fought for supremacy in the skies over Europe. It’s a…

» rumours of a middleweight africa twin have been swirling round the internet since it was re-introduced in 2016, but the success of Yamaha’s ténéré 700 and the big africa twin’s capacity hike to 1100cc seems to have focused honda minds on the empty niche. Kenji morita, project leader for the africa twin said: ‘when we speak about adventure, we don’t have a wide line-up. So we are thinking of a half-way model to attract younger people.’ he’s not kidding about the limited line up: at the moment there’s fresh air between the 450cc off-road CrFs and the 1100cc africa twin. the new bike is likely to be an evolution of the nC series, with a perked up version of the flexible parallel twin and more capable suspension. the ténéré…

Back in the blissful, crazy early nineties I was introduced to European bike trips and started hurtling across Europe with a group of mates, on sports bikes, for the annual madness that was the 24hrs of Le Mans. We went for years and had great times. Loony campsite, loony locals and amazing racing. But, the weather was generally horrible. After a particularly wet and cold 2000 we headed to the Le Mans GP in May 2001. We discovered the sun and rather liked it. We then rode to the Catalan GP the following year and haven’t missed one since. I still visit Le Mans for the odd track day and it’ll always have a special place in my heart. And the T shirt still fits. Vive la France! John hughes,…

Imagine a Ducati Panigale V4 S superbike with straight ’bars and nothing taken away except the fairing. With 205bhp pushing 199kg, fuelled, you’d expect scariness. And, yes, the new Streetfighter V4 S can provoke palpitations. But, unless you’re really brutal, it’s surprisingly docile. In fact, even with all its electronic assistance turned off it doesn’t become the psycho you’d expect. This is nothing to do with the bi-plane wings sticking out of the sides – their magic powers don’t kick in until you’re going really fast. Instead, the Streetfighter’s stability comes from a wheelbase that’s nudged along by 16mm compared with the Panigale, and from its MotoGP engine cunning. In most bikes the crank rotates in the same direction as the wheels, in Ducati’s 1103cc V4 the crank spins backwards…

Looks, stance, screen with cut-outs and height adjustment tab, noise, midrange whoosh and Eighties-tastic wheel adjusters. Yes, it’s all reassuringly SX. A sprinkling of new electronic thingummies aside, there are really just two changes to Kawasaki’s much-loved sports-tourer. First there’s no Z in its name, which makes no difference to anything. Second, it no longer steers like the wheel is axle-deep in golden syrup, which makes lots of difference. No longer does the 1000SX need ironman-like effort on the inside handlebar in low-speed corners. It nips from lean-to-lean without the steering weightily complaining or trying to flop the other way. There’s newfound accuracy at pace, which makes this sports-tourer so much sweeter on the open, flowing B664 from Market Harborough to Uppingham. It’s a massive (and long overdue) improvement. Handling…

Love the riding position, the poise on the bike and its compact, taut, agile feel. Low-speed balance is great, the handling intuitive and easy. And it sounds great, with a brilliant raspy mix of exhaust and induction as it pulls and pulls from almost nothing to 10,000rpm with blurring acceleration. And it’s easy to ride smoothly, as you don’t need to change gears.’ It’s easy to dismiss Suzuki’s GSX-S1000F. No phone connectivity? Sounds like something Fiona Bruce should be showcasing on a Sunday evening. Yet as Hugo’s excited comments clearly show there’s plenty to get enthused about with the Suzuki because they’ve got the essential bits – engine, chassis, rider connection – pretty well nailed. The GSX-S feels and sounds more like a high-barred GSX-R1000 than a wishy-washy sports-tourer which…

Bike’s annual 100 bike extravaganza of temptation comes at a weird time. The coronavirus shut down is having a massive effect on our finances, dealers are closed and we can’t ride bikes during the lock-down anyway (curses!). But it’s good to have something to look forward to when this is over, and daydreaming about the bike you’ll be riding later this summer, under blue skies and on warm tarmac, will help keep you sane while in isolation. While we wait we can amuse ourselves by teasing the configurator function on manufacturer websites – now, which accessory options and colours shall I choose today? There are lots of ways to finance your next motorcycle and different schemes will suit different people, but it’s no wonder that PCP is such a popular…

» After befuddling us with the MT-01, Yamaha ramped up ‘Master of Torque’ capers in 2006 with the MT-03. It was light, classy and dynamically ace, but at the time its combination of one piston and a hefty price tag made as much sense as alcohol-free ale. Clogged, crumbling, camera-covered roads and an increasing appreciation of ‘premium’ bikes mean an 03 makes sense today. Its XT660 motor has 45bhp and charismatic thud, a nimble chassis uses quality suspension, there’s apocalypse-proof reliability and build quality is fabulous. And it’s fun. Clean bikes start at just £2000.…

Ducati quids-in » Last year Ducati sold 53,183 bikes which includes the most Multistradas since the line was launched in 2003 and piles of Panigales. With an average new Ducati price around the world of £12,500, turnover increased by 2.4% and led to an operating profit of – wait for it – over £48,000,000. They can probably afford to throw those accessory pipes in for free. Is it always this easy...? » It’s the 250 GP at Laguna Seca in 1988 with Kocinski (80), Sarron (4), Cadalora (7)... and home hero Jim Filice (65). He’d been a top-ten runner in AMA Superbike but was returning to flat track in ’88, when Erv Kanemoto asked if he’d be a stand-in on their Honda NSR250. Filice had never raced in a GP…

‘Assorted Frenchies with six-foot swingarms and nails poking out the tyres’ Racing French Hillclimb Championship » So utterly mad you’ll struggle to contain fits of hysterical giggles. The footage is from last year’s Impossible Hillclimb and features assorted Frenchies on nitrous off-road bikes fitted with six-foot swingarms and nails poking out the tyres attempting to ride up a cliff. They all fail. JW www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x678Pwpk6A Riding Hands free bike U-turns » There’s loads of ‘How To’ riding skills videos on the web, and lots of them are rubbish. Confusing, badly presented or just plain wrong. I quite like this guy, partly because he’s called AutoPiloteDeLigneDroite and partly because the translation from French isn’t great, so you actually have to think about it. HW www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgtmuS8WFLU Racing 250 GP, Donington…