Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2020 i BIKE

NEW REAR SUBFRAME This is aluminium, which will help offset the increased weight of new electronics. NEW SWINGARM This appears to be significantly larger than the old model’s, presumably to increase stiffness. TWO OPTIONS The ‘R’ has conventional suspension and the ‘S’ gets electronic. Both will have a 21in front and 18in rear. The must-have gizmo for 2021 looks like being radar-controlled cruise control, with KTM joining Ducati and BMW in the race to launch the first bike with it fitted. The above spyshot shows KTM’s progress – the new 1290 Super Adventure will come with two radar snouts poking out either side of the headlight. All three manufacturers are using Bosch radar hardware, which should allow the bikes to smoothly accelerate and decelerate with traffic when you switch on…

From the wonderful to the weird, Bike’s pick of this month’s stories from the motorcycling world… When the lockdown started, motorcycle industry experts were justifiably terrified that many dealers wouldn’t survive a summer of lost sales. But dealers have bounced back remarkably quickly. In fact, motorcycling could come out of the COVID crisis stronger, according to the chief executive of the Motorcycle Industry Association (MCIA), Tony Campbell. ‘We expected bike sales in June to be 20-30% down on last year,’ he says, ‘but they’re 15% up. The feedback I’m getting from our members [manufacturers, importers, and insurers] is very positive. It’s the same with retailers - one told me he hadn’t been this busy for 25 years. ‘Because the market has been flat for a few years I think the…

[BEEN THERE, GOT THE T-SHIRT] ‘The highlight of the trip was the British GP’ I live in New Zealand and in June 1988 was diagnosed with cancer. As treatment didn’t start for six weeks, and l’d never been outside Australasia, I headed to the travel agents and blew my life savings on a trip to Britain. The highlight of that trip was the British motorcycle Grand Prix, Donington Park. All the stars l’d only read about doing battle on screaming 500s. My hero Kevin Schwantz binned it early on and Wayne Rainey took his maiden win. Then I went home to a year of chemotherapy. Wore this shirt in hospital a lot hence its poor condition. Happy memories helped keep me going. Andy Price, email The wisdom of youth Flicking…

Being prepared & other matters 52.1miles: Home to Boston Bikes, berks and a brisk beach breeze gently wafting the sweet scent of fish and chips are the ingredients for this year’s Bike Summer adventure. The forecast says sun, blue skies and 30 degree temperatures which makes me very happy. It’s been ages since I’ve had a decent bike ride. The glamorous seaside town of Mablethorpe is where we are aiming for on our socially distanced works outing, and 1 am ready to go. I was a Scout and I like to be prepared, so the BMW F900XR has a full tank, lubed chain, plump tyres and I have an empty bladder. Let’s go. And then my phone vibrates: ‘Minor problem, but I’m fixing it with a beer can and a…

 If your heart loves a superbike but your head and body are less keen it’s time to think supernaked. And while a supernaked’s performance will still blow your brains into the next county your poor back will love you tor its posture. And a supernaked is as happy cruising to the shops as it is demolishing a B-road. The supernaked class of 2020 has shifted up a gear: Ducati have their new 205bhp Streetfighter V4 S - basically a stripped- bare Panigale, Kawasaki have wedged their sensational 197bhp supercharged motor in a trellis frame to create the Z H2, and KTM have given their 1290 Super Duke R a significant overhaul. To figure out which supernaked is pole position to cure the COVID blues we’ve spent two weeks riding them…

Tarran Mackenzie, Rider » When the teams line up on the grid at Donington on 8 August most of the riders won’t have raced for nine months. ‘We’ll have done two days testing, and I’ve done a couple of trackdays on a road bike, so riding wise we shouldn’t be too far away, reckons Tarran Mackenzie. ‘But race starts will be a bit rusty. ‘We’ve basically got a new bike. The problem for the last couple of years has been trying to control the wheelies. With the new bike the power delivery is different and when we tested at Jerez it seemed to be better. But Jerez is smooth, so we don’t really know what will happen at Oulton or Brands. After a big gap we just want to get…

GET ONE FROM 2014-ON There was an updated for the 2014 model, and it got a new LCD dash with gear position indication, trips, fuel level and assorted electronics information. Extra switchgear controls were added too, meaning you can play with the dash without letting go of the bar, which is always good. These later bikes also let you adjust the (optional) heated grips from the switchgear. CRUSTY WHEELS Although they’re nickel-plated the spokes can corrode quickly - some bikes were looking unsatisfactory after just 600 miles from new. Not ideal if you’re feeling brave and plan to leap about on your Super Ténéré. Yamaha will replace the spokes of any bikes still in warranty. Owners often replace them with stainless-steel parts; nice touch, but don’t get sucked into paying…

THE BIT UNDER YOUR BUTT A recent 210-mile, five-hour ride proved the seat is really comfy. I’m a pathetic 5ft 7in and I can touch the ground with the standard 770mm seat… just. There are loads of lower and taller seat options available, I’d go lower. Not much room underneath the perch, but there is a toolkit. THE TWIDDLY BITS ON THE BARS At first I thought a Skype call to Elon Musk was in order to explain the way the myriad buttons and scroll wheels worked the instrument panel. Daunting at first but with practice (and the unmanly thing of reading the instructions) it makes sense and it’s easy on the move… ish. THE BOINGY SPRINGY BIT The Exclusive version has the Dynamic ESA suspension which means I can…

It’s been a year and half of waiting - thanks pandemic - but I finally got to ride my Prime Factors BMW S1000RR, at Brands Hatch last month. What started as a box-fresh road bike when it arrived 12 months late in December, is now a 215bhp beast with K-Tech suspension, Akrapovic exhaust, SBS brake pads, OZ forged ali wheels, Pirelli Superbike slicks and Alpha Racing bodywork, rearsets, levers…the list goes on. Crucially it now runs BMW’s new Race Calibration Kit, comprising of a whole new wiring loom, ECU and Motec dash. Dave Carnell from HM Racing was on hand to walk me through the new electronics, including its split throttle bodies - a staple of MotoGP and superbikes for years. They work as a normal bank of four on…

MotoGP Live on BT Sport, and don’t forget that Moto2 and Moto3 races often serve the most entertainment. 19 July Spanish GP, Jerez 26 July Andalucia GP, Jerez 9 August Czech GP, Brno 16 August Austrian GP, Red Bull Ring 23 August Styrian GP, Red Bull Ring 13 September Rimini GP, Misano 20 September Emilia Romagna GP, Misano 27 September Catalunya GP, Catalunya 11 October French GP, Le Mans 18 October Aragon GP, Aragon 25 October Tereul GP, Aragon 8 November European GP, Valencia 15 November Valencia GP, Valencia British Superbikes All are triple headers, one race Saturday, two races Sunday Live on Eurosport, highlights on Quest and ITV4. 8-9 August Donington Park 22-23 August Snetterton 5-6 September Silverstone 19-20 September Oulton Park 3-4 October Donington Park 17-18 October Brands…

‘The paintjob harks back to an era when motorcyclists raced with their bones in more pieces than is medically recommended’ Yamaha have mined their rallying back catalogue to create this, the new Ténéré 700 Rally Edition. Though it’s fundamentally a standard Ténéré with a saucy 1980s Paris-Dakar paintjob and some rufty-tufty bolt-ons from Yamaha’s accessory division, the overall effect is dramatic, and makes a GS Adventure look rather flaccid. Because the original Ténéré 700 is already a decent off-roader, Yamaha haven’t changed the basics - suspension, engine and geometry remain the same. But there are some useful additions should you wish to take on the odd byway or wadi. A 4mm thick aluminium bashplate now encloses the engine and lower frame tubes and provides a mounting point for a toolkit…

Aston Martin Executive Vice President Marek Reichman has told Bike he wants to see a road version of the Aston-Brough AMB001 superbike. The 180bhp turbo V-twin that was recently seen testing is currently a track-only machine. ‘It would be relatively simple to convert it to a road bike,’ says Reichman, who is also Aston’s Chief Creative Officer and led the design of the AMB. ‘Whenever Aston Martin enters into a relationship, I don’t want it to be for just one project. Brough have invested a lot into the engine, gearbox and chassis - why end [the relationship] with just one bike?’ The engine is Brough’s 997CC 88° V-twin used in their current models, fitted with a variable geometry turbo and an intercooler. Brough will manufacture the bike, with Aston leading…

» Harley’s latest patent illustrates the direction new boss Jochen Zeitz is taking: it’s a powerful gyroscope fitted inside an Electraglide topbox that could keep the bike upright up to about 3mph, at which point it disengages and the bike can lean as usual. The only downsides are the extra weight and cost, plus loss of topbox space. Aimed at older riders to help keep them using their hefty Harley tourers the new device could also assist wobbly new riders. The gyro fits neatly with Zeitz’s plan to focus on Harley’s ageing hardcore rather than chasing new riders. Meanwhile, Harley have chopped 140 production jobs, are looking for a $150m loan, and there have been mass pay-cuts during lock-down……

If you enjoy crazy performance, partake in plenty of trackdays, enjoy polishing and ogling as much as you do riding, and have a few quid in your pocket, the Ducati Streetfighter V4 S is exceptional. It’s the most luxuriously finished and equipped, yet doesn’t mind pottering about when it’s called for. But just like the Panigale V4 it’s based on, the Streetfighter is the most serious and extreme bike in its class - and so it won’t be for everyone. Anything with a supercharged 197bhp motor is serious too, but Kawasaki have made the Z H2 remarkably easy to manage and a delight to swing about on. It’s almost more of a naked hyper-cruiser than stripped-bare superbike, but that’s fine by us. And what it lacks in corners it makes…

Ranged against the radical Ducati and chirping Kawasaki it’s easy to overlook KTM’s supernaked contender. It also doesn’t help that the new 1290 Super Duke R looks similar to the previous model. However, the truth is the big V-twin has undergone a transformation for 2020 including a new frame and significant changes to the engine, electronics and suspension. And because of this little lot the Super Duke R has come of age. The revised 1301CC V-twin has a fraction more power, at a claimed 177bhp, which hardly seems worth the bother when compared with the Ducati and Kawasaki, at 205bhp and 197bhp respectively. However, we aren’t playing Top Trumps here, and out on the road the Super Duke is utterly thrilling because its engine delivers its good stuff at far…

It’s all coming together nicely Fuel tanks, R1 engines, bodywork - wherever you look in the Raceways Motorcycles workshop you can see everything coming together as they prepare for the delayed 2020 season. In true race team fashion, you could call it organised chaos. ‘The bikes haven’t been ridden since March, but the’ve been rebuilt as they would be between any test or race’ Stripped and rebuilt The bikes haven’t been ridden since March, but the’ve been stripped and rebuilt as they would be between any test or race. Since the last test, the bikes have only been run on the dyno for development work so in the weeks running up to the final tests, the team are building the R1s back up to race - ready superbikes for Tarran…

»With one piston the Duke would always struggle. It was easy to imagine lumpy, slow, obstinate singles of the past and wince at the list price. But the 690 is one of the great motors of recent times. Free-revving, punchy, the 70bhp lump is as fast as rival twins, super-smooth thanks to cunning twin balancers, and averages 60mpg (over 80 if you’re steady). It’s in a light, accurate, high-quality chassis, and has old-school KTM build quality. The Duke used to cost over £8000 new-but you can now get the childish shenanigans of a Husky 701 SM, the practicality of an MT-07 and the economy of CB500 for £4k used. Go on, be different.…

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. ** Claimed * Estimated PR perfection » Linking famous folk to your product is the go-to marketing technique these days. But while Freddie Spencer promoting Triumph makes no sense, sometimes things line-up perfectly. This is rock-pop beat-combo The Monkees at the Honda factory during their 1968 tour of Japan, and-you guessed it-they’re riding Monkey bikes. Splendid hats, too. RC45: just like…

Shad SH58X expanding topbox Used for; 6800 miles Price: £260 Info: shad.co.uk » This topbox should come with a warning, like the stickers on petrol tanks that tell you not to crash into things. It should say: ‘Important! Use of this topbox will cause you to love expanding topboxes. Failure to stop talking about it may cause loss of friends.’ Besides being a high quality box (good lock, strong latch, secure, thick plastics, waterproof), the 58X can transform from something not much bigger than a large briefcase into a cavern that a Deliveroo scooterist would be proud of – easily big enough for two full-face lids. Unclip two handles inside the box and it quickly transforms from one extreme to the other, so you can ride round with an unobtrusive…

The North Pennines, sandwiched between Cumbria and the M6 to the west and Durham and the A68 to the east, are less popular with holiday-makers than neighbours, the Yorkshire Dales and Lake District. This means there’s less traffic choking up the region’s crisscrossing tarmac which scrambles over high and spectacular moorland, making it relatively safer and better for motorcyclists looking to get away from it all, for a day or something longer. The North Pennines also feature one of the most famous biking roads in the north of England. The A686 packs a day’s worth of corners into one short 20-mile run. It starts off at the A66 roundabout just outside Penrith, rolls across fields and dives through woodland before opening out between the villages of Langwathby and Melmerby -…

The feet first motorcycle concept was promoted by Royce Creasey in Bike in the 1970s and early 1980s but, while the benefit of low centre-of-gravity and reduced front area make sense, it’s never threatened the dominance of the conventional motorcycle layout. Every once in a while there’s another try. Dan Gurney’s effort got further than most. He built 36 Alligators, mostly using tuned Honda XL600 engines. Gurney was a legendary American racing driver (four GP wins) and manufacturer (three Indy 500 wins) with a passion for motorcycles. The Alligator was a side-project for his racing car business. Bike rode one in February 2003. The Alligator has a wheelbase of 1525mm, the rider’s backside is just 460mm above the floor, sitting over the main fuel tank with the engine between his…

IT WON THE NW200 TOO In 1976 the famous Triumph test rider and racer Percy Tait joined Suzuki’s factory team. He won that year’s North West 200 on this bike. TOUGH LIFE This XR11 is proof that top level road racing is incredibly hard on bikes. The stone chips, dents and hurriedly fashioned fixes all tell a story. AMERICAN HISTORY This isa 1975 bike-the final incarnation of the XR11 -and was first used by Suzuki works teams in America before being shipped to the UK. HOW TO BUY IT The Bonhams auction is a cross between a normal one and eBay. An auctioneer will be live at his rostrum, but the hall will be empty and bids will come in online, by phone or via an absentee bid. ‘The 750cc…

There’s nothing to it,’ says Allen Millyard when Bike ask how he turned a four-cylinder ZIB into a six-cylinder machine so perfect it looks like some never-before-seen prototype from Kawasaki’s museum. More incredibly Allen transformed the ZIB in his shed. ‘People get so hung up on what you can’t do, rather than what you can. I get it all the time on Facebook – people saying “you can’t cut crankshafts in half, they’re made in special factories under extreme tolerances”.’ Yes, but they are. ‘Maybe, but if something has been made, you can unmake it. The ZI crankshaft is pressed together like a two-stroke one, so you can get it apart with a bit of thinking and a lot of force. And then you can extend it and rebalance it…

» Indian have revealed a new saddle that chills your arse in hot weather. Unlike air-conditioned seats in cars, the Indian system does not rely on pumping cold air through holes in the seat, but uses graphene instead. When an electrical charge is passed across the semi-conductor, one side heats up and the other side cools. Reverse the charge and the opposite happens, so it can act as a heated saddle too. Indian claim it’s powerful enough to feel cool to the touch. Interesting graphene fact: it’s possible to generate electricity by using the temperature differential between the two sides, which in theory means those of us with a sufficiently hot arse could charge the battery.…

The promise of autonomous vehicles is that they will prevent 90% of all crashes by removing driving error – so no more SMIDSY (Sorry Mate I Didn’t See You) horrors. But a study of 5000 crashes suggests self-driving cars will only stop 30% of accidents and implies SMIDSYs could still happen. The logic behind the 90% figure is that self-driving cars will only crash because of events beyond their control such as blow-outs – ie, they won’t make any human blunders. America’s Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) looked at accident data and found this was true for 30% of crashes, where the silly old human was distracted or incapacitated. But for all the others, the IIHS researchers were sceptical a computer could do much better unless it was programmed…

Subscribe today and… » Never miss an issue » Get free UK delivery to your door or instant download to your digital device » Save money on shop prices » Get an Alpha XA14 alarm from Oxford Alpha XA14 facts » Comes with three keys » Toughened attack proof lock cylinder » High tech pick-resistant locking system » Powered by a long-life lithium CR2 battery » Loud 110dB alarm siren - motion activated » Forged stainless steel construction » Unique design includes minder cable attachment eye » 14mm diameter T-locking pin anchors that lock together » Twin spar lock chassis for double strength & cut resistance You can’t have too much bike security. Take out a subscription to Bike this month and you’ll get an Oxford XA14 disc lock as…

Where to start? That it is based on the Panigale V4 gives the clearest of introductions to Ducati’s new Streetfighter V4 S. This motorcycle is a serious motorcycle. The 1103CC, 205bhp V4 engine is stuffed with MotoGP :ech including a counter-rotating crankshaft, twin-pulse firing interval and 14,500rpm redline. And it bristles with electronics that prevent wheelies, control skids, manage rear-end slides and tweak the suspension. Then there are those impossible to miss biplane wings. But along with the bulging specification comes an equally bulging price tag of £19,941, on the road, making this the most expensive bike here. Yet despite its strutting performance the Streetfighter is friendlyish. It’s spacious for starters, with a seat that’s more padded than the Panigale’s, the ride is plush in Street mode and the clutch,…

Aclaimed 158bhp from a retuned version of a five-year- old R1 engine really isn’t a good start in this company. Neither is the fact it doesn’t have a supercharger or a crank that spins the wrong way. Yet Yamaha’s MT-10SP’s engine is a thing of wonder. Yamaha’s brilliant 9980c crossplane-crank inline manages to be both gruff and vibe-free. It’s like the unification of a V-twin and V4 in the midrange, which explodes like a screaming four up top. It’s responsive, flexible and always willing, and the racket it makes at full throttle is like having your head in a super-club bass bin, with just a chainsaw for company. This belter of an engine separates the MT-10 from more humdrum four-cylinder alternatives such as Suzuki’s GSX-S1000, Honda’s CB1000R and Kawasaki’s Z1000;…

Steve Rodgers, Team Principal »‘It’s been difficult,’ admits McAms team boss Steve Rodgers of the COVID-19 enforced delay to the start of the racing season. ‘We came back from testing in Spain in March and it was hunky dory. There were a few issues to resolve, but we were in a good place. Then we had lockdown, and that was that for four months. ‘Now (mid-July) the mechanics have been back for a few weeks and the riders have done a couple of trackdays on road bikes and we’ll be doing two days testing at Croft and Knockhill before Donington in August. I can’t wait.’ The revised calendar means 18 races over six weekends in just two-and-a-half months. How’s that going to work? ‘I like a triple header weekend,’ says…

Miles ridden: 2178 Rider: Mike Armitage Tyres tried: Pirelli Diablo Rosso II Fuel used: 214 litres Broken down: twice It’s all V4 this and V4 that at Ducati. Their MotoGP racer, Panigale sportsbike and new Streetfighter all use the engine layout, and it looks like the Multistrada will be a V4 next year too. Smashing. But my inner traditionalist thinks it’s twice as many cylinders as a booming Ducati needs. V-twins have shaped Ducati from 900SS and Fi 750 to 851, 916 and 1199; it’s their signature. So it was pleasing to see the ‘junior’ Panigale 959 refreshed and rebadged as the V2 for this year. Ducati clearly recognise its importance to misty-eyed stick-in-the-muds like me, and on its track launch we were wowed by its usable performance. So does…

A part from the weak brakes front and rear, weeping fork seals, rock-hard Nitron shock, cracked flyscreen (the pigeon came off worse), and fifth gear pop-outs, there’s nothing wrong with my, new to me, Speed Triple. I took the fact the shift light was set to just 3500rpm as a hint of how the previous owner rode the thing: like an electric mobility scooter. There would also be no need for functioning brakes if your top speed is 12mph and the pedestrian would come off worse in an impact. I am, however, not the previous owner. I nab a full set of EBC Double H sintered brake pads from Andy at Transit Motorcycles in York. It’s still mid-lockdown, so he hangs the goodies on the outside of the shop door…

‘If you get befuddled just let go of the joysticks and the drone hovers’ Flying is a doddle Having watched Airwolf as a child I was under the impression that flying requires skill. Turns out it doesn’t. To take off, you press a button and the drone hovers 1m off the ground. Then you use the joysticks to thrash about the sky like a crow. It’s a low pressure experience because if you get befuddled you just let go of the joysticks and the drone hovers. And if you lose it (see Easy mistakes) you press a button and it returns and lands exactly where it took off. Taking this photo That’s me riding the KTM, and I also took the photo. Well, sort of. First I flew the drone…