Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2020 i BIKE

In many ways the 851 is a more important Ducati than the sultry 916. Not only did it feature Ducati’s first watercooled engine and their first 4-valve desmodromic head, it was also the first performance motorcycle to use fuel injection. And in SP form – like the one here – the 851 brought race suspension to the road. It’s an extraordinary motorcycle, even before you add in the slew of World Superbike victories. So, if you’re a connoisseur of all things V-twin and fast, you just have to own an 851, ideally a minter. Which is where this bike comes in. Having done just 135 miles – yep, 135 – since it left the Ducati factory in June 1989, and having lived most of its life in storage, it was…

It’s hard to look at Norton with anything other than scepticism. But new owners TVS have chosen Norton’s interim CEO carefully – John Russell has run Harley-Davidson’s European operations and been a director of Land Rover and the London Taxi Company. In terms of industry credibility, the 74-year-old is about as far from Stuart Garner as it’s possible to get. Bike asks him the crucial questions… » What do you think of Norton? I grew up with Norton as the sexy brand. Their bikes looked better and handled better – there was a mystical quality to them. Triumph were good, but didn’t have the pizazz of Norton. If we can recreate that and offer a competitive range of bikes, we’ll be among the best in the world. » What state…

» There was a spate of thefts from dealerships as the lockdown wound down, and police are warning us to double check our bike security as thieves switch back from targeting dealerships to ordinary motorcyclists. Speaking just before dealerships re-opened, ex-detective and vehicle crime consultant Dr Ken German saidW ‘It looks like the [bike theft] gangs are panicking now they can see lockdown will end and are hitting dealerships before they open up again.’ One Twenty Motorsports in Hampshire had all their motocross stock stolen and DRD Motorcycles in Norfolk had three bikes stolen in the space of a week. The thefts come after five bikes were stolen from training schools in Dorset and – most dramatically of all – a £3R,000 Panigale was stolen when thieves smashed a hole…

Buy it’s grand I was interested to read Mike Armitage’s article on £1000 bikes ( Bike , June). Well mine is a 1997 Honda CBR600F. Like the one in the article it had just over 20,000 miles on the clock. It had also been well cared for and came with heated grips, a Scottoiler, a new end can and had just been serviced. I got it for a very happy £900 after seeing it on a local sales website. The guy was asking £1295 and it was no more than five minutes walk from me. So, I swallowed my tea, shot round there and fifteen minutes later it was in my garage. I absolutely love it and am considering selling my 2019 Triumph Bonneville 900 and just having the CB…

Getting back out on a bike after the COVID-19 lockdown is a great feeling. So why not get that feeling every day? The need to social distance is likely to be with us for some time, and as the country gets back up to speed and people head back to work the idea of public transport may well make you feel itchy. So now is the time for that two-wheeled commuter. You get all the usual advantages – slicing through queues, easy parking, minimal running costs – plus the benefits of being suitably distanced on every journey and arriving invigorated, not paranoid. Boris should be riding round the country in a red, white and blue helmet and promoting bikes as virus-beating transport. He’s not, of course. So here’s our own…

ON A FULL TANK RCONNV was the first MotoGP bike to carry some of its fuel below the seat. This improved mass centralisation and made the bike handle better on a full tank. POWER SLIDES VR engine had a very flat torque curve, which made power slides easier to control. SWINGARM Swingarm is much deeper than NSR’s, again for maximum longitudinal stiffness and reduced torsional stiffness. STIFFNESS RCONNV’s engine hangers are much longer than NSR’s. This gives maximum longitudinal stiffness, for braking, and less torsional stiffness, for cornering. Honda made everyone else look stupid at the start of the four-stroke MotoGP era. While Suzuki and Yamaha built 990cc four-stroke engines and crammed them into revised 500 chassis, HRC designed an entirely new motorcycle. No wonder they won 29 of the…

The town of Ithaca is 200 miles south of the Canadian border on the Great Lakes and 125 miles north west of Detroit. The Michigan winters are long and there’s not much happening around there except for high school football and farming. In 1950 the town’s population was 2377, one of whom was a young Elon Jack Potter. Period photographs show a kid with thick specs, a crew cut and oily hands. And sometimes limbs in plaster cast too. As a teenager EJ (even his mother stopped calling him Elon) had to make his own entertainment, much of which revolved around the internal combustion engine. With money saved from working on the family farm he bought motorcycles. He must have worked hard, one of them was a Vincent Black Shadow.…

The Armenian super highway Fast tracks mix with rutted and steep sections that seem to go on forever – Armenia is an enduro paradise with incredible mountain scenery. Armenia’s mountains are also gentler than Georgia’s and the vegetation less challenging, so there are many more route options. We (that’s Jussi and his riding buddy for this trip Juho Karvo, a Finnish trucker from the Arctic) rode many sections off piste. South-Eastern Armenia Approaching the Iranian border the grassy mountain plateaus of central Armenia give way to a very different landscape. The vegetation is denser, sometimes reaching as high as the handlebar. There’s also a maze of derelict military roads, while regular rockfalls and landslides necessitate high concentration levels. It’s all a bit Erzberg Rodeo and rises to a peak altitude…

» Traditional-style bikes don’t come more traditional than Kawasaki’s parallel twin W800. Moto Guzzi’s VT is convincingly retro and Triumph’s very many Bonnevilles are pleasing things – but it’s the Kwak that’d fool the most people if you slapped on a black-and-white plate and wheeled it into a classic bike show. ‘Ooh, look at the bevel-drive cam,’ they’d all coo. This means old-fashioned performance, too. But if you’re going retro, isn’t that the point? In a time when we crave ‘authenticity’ the thrumming motor, jiggly ride and slim-tyred agility are as old-school as it gets without resorting to an Enfield Bullet. Used bikes from £3250? Sold.…

‘Everything on an old bike is a hurdle – wiring that’s black, not copper, fuel tanks brimming with rust’ A great workshop, time on my hands because I’m not commuting and a couple of lovely projects have made lockdown far more enjoyable than I expected. A late-in-the-day epiphany helps. Owning a Honda SP2 – the marvellous vee, not the spicy 2017 Fireblade – demands weight loss (me and the bike) and over the years Arrow pipes, Harris clip-ons, lithium battery, LED tail lamp and an undertray would make a Weight Watcher proud. It was, however, always going to be about the wheels. They’re pretty light as standard but I was struck by comments from British SP2 expert Jay Mounteney, whom I’d met at a Jerez track event. He swore a…

‘You could build an entire biking holiday around just riding the Atlantic Way’ The Atlantic Way, or the A39 as it’s known on maps, is a nearly 200 mile-long A-road running from Bath down to Falmouth in Cornwall. But the interesting bit for us riders is the 140-mile stretch from Bridgwater, Somerset, across the coastline of Exmoor overlooking the Bristol Channel into Devon. Then following the coast down through Barnstaple and Bideford, into Cornwall, through Wadebridge and meeting up with the A30 on the far side of Bodmin. Sounds complicated, but it’s not. Although the first few miles between Minehead and Bridgwater can be busy, once into the historic village of Porlock the traffic disappears and you’re left to your own devices. After a cream tea for fortification compose yourself…

Technically I’m running in Bike’s new 1290R, but it feels like the other way round. The KTM has more torque at 4500rpm than a Panigale V4 has at 10,000, and is mind-boggling fast even if you stick to the 6500rpm running-in limit. After nine weeks on my lockdown sofa the first ride on the Super Duke is alternately hilarious and unsettling. I remember the days when running in a bike involved 600 miles of tedium but I suspect a decent rider could win the fast group at Cadwell on this without breaching KTM’s break-in rules. The way it drives off a part throttle is intoxicating, picking up smoothly – delicately almost – before an avalanche of thrust propels you forward. And that’s running in. It’s a remarkably civilised engine too…

‘You could argue the Engrich’s 1200cc parallel twin is more extraordinary than Britten’s V-twin’ FRAME It’s a hollow backbone machined from solid aluminium that loops over the engine. It took 900 hours to design and make – more than most award-winning custom bikes. ANCILLARY COMPONENTS Designing and machining all the brackets, covers, fasteners etc took 2500 hours. Yes, 2500. TANK This is CNC machined from solid and has a 2.4mm wall thickness. Time to design and build: 700 hours. AIRBOX This is 3D printed, along with tank styling cowls and rear body work. SWINgARM This is from a 2016 Triumph Speed Triple, as is the saddle. The gearbox and clutch are from a ZZ-R1100. CRANKSHAFT Made from a 65kg billet of Assab 718 steel. SPECIFICATION Price: TBA Engine: oil and…

The old 701 Svartpilen was a decent motorcycle hindered by a preposterously high price – £9349 for a 693cc single?! – and the existence of a cooler, more aggressive and cheaper café racer style option in the Vitpilen 701. With this new twin-cylinder version, Husqvarna evidently want to broaden out their Svartpilen’s appeal. The engine is the 894cc parallel twin from the 890 Duke R (tested on page 44), which makes 119bhp and 73 lb.ft of torque – a significant step-up on the 701’s 70bhp. More importantly, the 890 is in a different galaxy when it comes to relaxed motorcycling. The 693cc single is an extraordinary device, but it’s as soothing and motorway-friendly as a hedge trimmer. The chassis and swingarm appear to have come from the 890 Duke too,…

With showrooms open for the first time in months, manufacturers are fighting for sales like never before. Deals range from 0% interest and £O000 off the list price for O0N9 Fireblades, to £N000 of free kit with every Ducati Multistrada NOS0. If you’ve survived lockdown with your bank balance intact, now is a fine time to buy a new motorcycle. Our table shows two of the juiciest deals from each major manufacturer. All the finance is over 3S months unless stated, and – as ever – make sure you take into account that on PCP deals you might not be left with any deposit to roll over into your next bike. The monthly payments for the few HP deals here look relatively high, but don’t forget the bike will be…

Just thought I’d write in to say how much I enjoyed the Mat Oxley interview with Guy Coulon ( Bike, June). The photo of Coulon at the 1984 Bol d’Or brought a host of memories flooding back. Memories of trips to Le Mans and the Bol in the mid-80s with friends who I still ride with now on occasion. Our 1984 trip to the Circuit Paul Ricard for the Bol was particularly memorable as we rented a villa near Bandol for the weeks either side of the race, it slept six but we squeezed in ten to spread the cost. We then practised the run up and down to the circuit from Le Beausset so we could beat the non-local French on their home turf. Those were the days when,…

During his 20 seasons in the 500cc and MotoGP classes Valentino Rossi has won seven world titles and a record 89 races. He spent four years with Honda, taking 13 victories in two seasons with the NSR500 and another 20 in the next two seasons with the RC211V, plus three titles. He has enjoyed by far the most success in his 14 years with the YZR-M1: 56 race wins and four titles. The NSR, RCV and M1 perfectly track the development curve of grand prix motorcycles over the past two decades, as engineers increased their knowledge of power delivery, chassis behaviour and electronic rider controls. And this is how it all happened……

LESS POWER An inline-four is shorter than a V4, which allows optimised centre of mass for better turning and handling, but an inlinefour makes less power. MORE LONGITUDINAL STIFFNESS Note long and super-slim engine hanger – Yamaha were also seeking more longitudinal stiffness and less torsional stiffness. ELECTRONICS Yamaha saved the YZR-MN in O008 with cutting-edge vehicle dynamics software that featured predictive traction control, anti-wheelie and so on. When Rossi joined Yamaha the factory’s race department was in crisis. The M1 hadn’t scored a single victory during 2003, while the RC211V took 15 wins and 39 podiums. This was the scale of the challenge facing Rossi, crew chief Jeremy Burgess and Yamaha’s racing chief Masao Furusawa. In fact they fixed most of the bike’s problems during Rossi’s first test in…

The Solvang collection Elings’ collection is broad, but the focus is definitely on racing. His museum is open N0am to 4pm Saturday and Sunday, and by appointment during the week. AN0 and you’re in for a look around. Bike closest to the camera is a five-cylinder rotary engined Megola. Moto Guzzi V8 The collection contains several replica bikes such as this Moto Guzzi R00cc V-8. It is one of several built from a mixture of original and modern parts about O0 years ago by ex-factory employees. Only six complete V8s, plus six motors, were constructed back in the N9R0s. Now that’s a big project This is Canadian Dan Smith’s recreation of the N939 Velocette Roarer – a R00cc supercharged longitudinal twin with two counter-rotating crankshafts. The original, restored, bike (only…

Rukka Coriace R Used for: one month Price: £N8S9.99 Info: tranam.co.uk » Crash protection of leather, weather protection of textile. There’s a Corium+ laminate glued directly to the leather, just like swish textiles, to keep out water and wind. Like textiles a coating stops the material soaking up water, and perforation means anything absorbed dries quickly. The suit’s a tad weightier than regular leathers but you soon get used to it, and it’s as good as any textiles – waterproof, snug in the cold, comfy in the sun. Ace. Unfortunately the jacket is £1000, the trousers are £870. That’s no pricier than leathers for summer and textiles for winter, and the top-quality Rukkas have a six-year warranty. But as a tight-arse I’d probably buy normal leathers and a flappy oversuit.…

Everything about the Münch Mammoth is over the top. When these German built behemoths first appeared in 1966 they were the fastest, heaviest, most expensive and most outrageous bikes you could buy. They were constructed by bolting the four-cylinder 1172cc engine from an NSU Prinz car into a specially made, Norton Featherbed inspired, tubular frame. If this makes it sound like the Münch was some kind of backyard lash up, then think again. Friedl Münch was an experienced and fastidious engineer with Luftwaffe and motorcycle race shop pedigree. The Mammoth featured lots of specially made, high-quality cast aluminium components; the huge front drum brake, the rear wheel, the primary drive and gearbox casing and the integrated rear-mudguard/seat unit/subframe. Some bikes also had a fantastic cast alloy twin headlamp binnacle too.…

ELECTRICS All new, all Motogadget. Loom is based around an M unit, with Motoscope pro digital instruments. WHEELS These are from an R8R0RT police bike. Tyres are Bridgestone Adventurecross AX4NS. TAIL UNIT This was made on a 3D printer and houses Motogadget Blaze lights. SUBFRAME AND SHOCK Adam made the subframe and fitted a YSS shock that’s designed for the later KNN00. The K100’s engine layout is one of the most peculiar, looking, as it does, like the motor fell on its side during production and BMW built a bike round it anyway. But in Adam Kostka’s build, it looks intriguing and stylish, with a dash of brutalist elegance. The bike is based on a 1990 K100RS – the faired version of BM’s ‘flying brick’ – and aside from the…

‘In other companies you’d have a lot of marketing specialists and arse kissers to get through’ REAR END All new, with ample room for a pillion, provided they’re a squirrel. EXHAUST All new titanium job handmade by SC Project. The heat shield is carbon fibre. HEADLIGHT The LED unit is all new, with cornering lights in a CNCmachined alloy housing. The rear cover is carbon fibre. ENGINE The same as the Brutale 1000RR’s, but with different mapping to suit the new exhaust. Radial valves, titanium con-rods, eight injectors and a ride by wire throttle. SUSPENSION Öhlins semi-active at both ends. ENCLOSED REAR WHEEL A carbon cover hides the forged alloy rear for a drag strip look. SPECIFICATIONS Price: £32,000 (est) Engine: 998cc 16-valve transverse four cyl Power: 208bhp @ 13,000rpm…

» Manufacturers are in a tricky position when it comes to selling bike kit. The obvious solution is to flog it online, but then their dealers miss out on footfall and cash, which is why – until now – only Ducati have bitten the bullet with a comprehensive online store. Even accessory-tastic Harley-Davidson have baulked at the idea. But Triumph have now decided there’s no point trying to resist the inevitable, and have gone for it. Triumph’s entire motorcycle clothing collection is available at triumphmotorcycles .co.uk/shop with free delivery and a S0-day return policy.…

The company who just bought Norton are close to launching their first hybrid motorcycle. The TVS Zeppelin is a 220cc cruiser that uses a beefed-up starter motor/ generator to add torque when needed – you press a button to get the boost. It’s an interesting idea, so why aren’t there dozens of hybrid bikes on the market? The technology, after all, is old hat. It’s 23 years since the first Toyota Prius brought hybrids to the mainstream and now most car firms are dedicated to the idea. Bike manufacturers haven’t completely ignored hybrids – Piaggio launched the three-wheeled MP3 Hybrid in 2009, combining a 125cc single with a 2.6kW electric motor and a lithium battery that could be recharged either by plugging into the mains or using the petrol engine…

N999 when, arguably, Chris walker was at the top of his game. He came second (again!) in the BsB championship to a Mr Troy Bayliss. i think my mate Geoff and I attended most of the BSB rounds that particular year and the following year. In 2000 we were standing at Redgate corner when Chris’s Suzuki blew up going down the start/finish straight, handing the title to Neil hodgson. Chris was in tears as he walked along the fence line and the whole of Redgate Corner fell silent as he passed. We really felt his disappointment. Very emotional. Robin Gazzard, email IFYOU’VE GOTANOLDT-SHIRT LIKE ROBIN’S AND FANCY SEEING IT IN BIKE , TAKE A PIC AND EMAIL IT IN. IF WE PUBLISH IT HERE IN ‘LETTERS’ WE’LL SEND YOU A…

You wouldn’t have thought a simple-looking roadster like this would handle better than just about any road bike you can buy, exotic superbikes included. But it does. Then again the new KTM 890 Duke R is light (166kg dry) and makes 119bhp, which is the perfect amount of power for its chassis. It also comes with some of the finest suspension, brakes and tyres around, all polished to perfection by KTM test rider Jeremy McWilliams. If you get beaten in the bends riding this thing you’ve only got yourself to blame. But lots of bikes come with flashy cycle parts, think Yamaha MT-09SP and Triumph Street Triple RS for starters. But none will lean with such confidence, have so much front-end grip or offer such a sophisticated ride. Spec aside…

THE WINNINg-EST The NSRR00 is the most successful premier-class GP bike of all time, with N3O GP victories between N984 and O00N. SINGLE OR TWIN NSR’s greatest strength was its single-crank engine (the Yamaha and Suzuki used twin cranks) which gave more peak power and more controllable power. NO ELECTRONICS The R00s were the last GP bikes to run without electronic rider controls. This made them super-cool. It also made them injure many, many riders. WE ALL LIKE A GOOD WELD There are few prettier things in racing than a perfectly welded two-stroke expansion chamber. Sad we don’t see them anymore. Valentino Rossi last raced an NSR500 in November 2001, but he still rates the 500cc V4 as the best motorcycle he’s ever ridden. ‘No bike in the world can…

TYRE STRUGGLE Yamaha had their worst-ever struggles when MotoGP switched to Michelin in O0NS, causing corner-entry, rear-grip and tyre-life woes. TECH TROUBLE Yamaha also struggled with MotoGP’s spec software, because they didn’t hire Magneti Marelli technicians like their rivals, until last year. TYRE TEMPERATURES Reducing rear-tyre temperature is an ongoing challenge for Yamaha – note slotted rear-wheel hugger to help in this respect. HANGERS Compare the MN’s O004 and later engine hangers. The later items are wider with ultra-thin walls, once again for improved mid-corner flex. When, in 2013, Rossi returned to Yamaha after his Ducati disaster the M1 wasn’t much different from the 2010 bike, except MotoGP had switched to 1000cc engines. Honda were now the major threat, largely thanks to new signing Marc Marquez. Also, their RC213V had…

The Ténéré 700 was one of the most eagerly awaited bikes of recent years. And Yamaha certainly made us wait; Bike rode a prototype in our September 2017 issue billing it as ‘2018’s best adventure bike’. Some hope. The production bikes didn’t arrive in the UK until mid-way through 2019 and the first of these were pre-ordered online at £8545 – their wheels barely touched dealer floors before they were whisked away by impatient customers. Price for the second batch was £8845, and it’s currently listed at £9145. Our long term test bike arrived in December, having already been used for demos at Motorcycle Live at the NEC in November. It’s since been subjected to a winter’s worth of road salt and competed in January’s Exeter Trial; inevitably that means…

ALMOST AN ARMCHAIR The Tuono’s riding position is a good mix: it’s aggressive without straining your wrists, and relaxed without pushing too much weight down vertically through your arse. The 999cc versions suffer with quite an uncomfortable seat, though – this was fixed with a plusher design on the 1100 model, and the later part is a straight replacement. Yours for around £90 brand new. STAYING IN CHARGE Some early 999cc examples wouldn’t charge. ,t was because of a blown stator, caused by an iffy bundle of generators that were used on bikes assembled early in the Tuono’s production schedule. Aprilia cured the problem by simply fitting these bikes with a new uprated stator (made in China, as it happens). They’ve used the later part ever since and the bikes…

Serious business » Arsenius Butscher was a German racer who was quite handy with a sidecar. He raced BMW outfits in GPs from ’58 to ’71 with a best overall position of third in his final season, at the age of 43. He was third at the TT that year, too. Butscher also had a pet monkey that he took to race meetings. Here it is warming up the Boxer outfit in the Spa paddock in 1966. Pre-personalisation » Official accessories and bikes that are ‘designed for personalisation’ are all the rage. It’s nothing new, mind. Honda used to offer custom kits for their small-capacity bikes, like this go-faster C90. Parts included ‘high-jacket pipes, rally tanks, colour jobs that are positively psychedelic’, from a company that had ‘more fresh ideas…

‘Mr Spencer, proving why he was Fast Freddie’ Madness Drag racing on scooters » Ever watched scooter drag racing? Me neither but I bring you 27 minutes of some of the fastest and maddest looking mopeds you have ever seen. Nipping down the shops on one if these would knock minutes off your weekly shop record. PL youtube.com/watch?v=O5kmShufZUQ Racing Freddie Spencer, Daytona, 1985 » Mr Spencer, proving why he was Fast Freddie in a field of 80 superbikes – yes, eighty – and whupping the likes of Ron Haslam, Wes Cooley and Dave Aldana on a Honda VF750. Banked corners, skinny tyres, over-the-top commentary, men with lots of hair and some thick southern accents. Excellent. MA youtube.com/watch?v=PzTaNDGZPHg EJ Potter’s last stand » An audio visual accompaniment to…