Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2021 i BIKE

Enfield are already kings of unglamourous big-sellers. The 410cc Himalayan took the company’s European sales from 3400 to 6300 in 2018, then the 650cc Interceptor and Continental raised the bar to 11,000 sales in 2019. And now it’s the turn of the Meteor, an all-new 350cc single-cylinder cruiser with built-in Google- powered sat nav and the same impressive build quality as the big-selling 650 twins. Enfield’s head of product development Simon Warburton tells Bike why we should be excited. » Who is this aimed at in the UK? We think it will appeal to plenty of people, especially in urban areas. But it is a toe in the water. We’ve been surprised before though – we thought the Himalayan might be a bit underpowered for European and North American customers…

From the wonderful to the weird, Bike’s pick of this month’s stories from the motorcycling world… Going into the season I didn’t have any thoughts about winning the championship,’ says Tony Serra, sounding much like any other racer reminiscing about his club championship win. The difference is that when Tony won that title in 2013, he was 74 years old. He still holds the world record for the oldest motorcycling class champion. Now aged 81, Tony has decided it’s time to call it a day. ‘My racing coach Ed Sorbo had been needling me,’ he tells Bike from his home in California, ‘saying I was getting too old, that if I crashed I was going to get really hurt. And in the past year that has been in the back…

It’s 1980 folks and it’s the first visit to the mythical Isle of Man with my now wife Gail and my mate Mick and his girlfriend. Camping gear on the back and it’s off to Liverpool for the boat – I’d just written off my new Yamaha XS500 so I borrowed my mate Doug’s 1973 Suzuki GT380 for the trip. What an eye opener: 20mpg, no brakes, interesting handling especially when loaded up. Mick was on his new Honda CB550 f1 all shiny and nice. An unforgettable trip and a nice shirt depicting Mike The Bike on his Sports Motorcycles Ducati from the previous year’s winning performance. Happy days indeed. Steve and Gail Milne, email IF YOU’VE GOT AN OLD T-SHIRT LIKE STEVE’S AND FANCY SEEING IT IN BIKE, TAKE…

Blazing the trail Redbull KTM’s Toby Price glances down at his roadbook and navigation instruments while laying first tracks across the Saudi Arabian sands. By day’s end nearly 300 race vehicles will have followed in his path. Yet, Price’s fight for a third Dakar title was to come to an abrupt end during Stage 9, when he crashed out and injured his shoulder. He was running in second place, just a minute off the lead. That Covid thing Honda’s Kevin Benavides prepares to leave the bivouac at first light, with his buff acting as his Covid facemask. The race was only able to go ahead thanks to strict virus protocols and flights into Saudi Arabia chartered by the organisation team after the country closed its borders to commercial flights days…

‘If you know your onions you can take liberties and this Trident won’t shake, wallow, weave or ground-out’ There are few bikes this side of 10 grand that handle as well as the new Triumph Trident 660 and there are precisely none that skip through corners with this kind of elegance at the Trident’s lowly £7195 ticket price. It sits on pretty good Showa suspension and Michelin Road 5 tyres, but the real magic comes from more than just the sum of its chassis parts, instead it’s all about clever R&D. There’s no such thing as a bad handling Triumph nowadays; the Daytona 765 and Street Triple are razor sharp, but even their cartoon-shaped Rockets, big-wheel Bobbers and Tonka Toy adventurers nip sublimely through bends in a way they really…

Miles ridden: 1070 Rider: Mike Armitage Tyres tried: Pirelli Diablo Rosso III Fuel used: 25 gallons Number of accidental wheelies: many Supercharged. There isn’t a more trouser-stirring feature on any bike than an impeller spinning at 100,000rpm and ramming charge down an engine’s throat. And Kawasaki’s new-for-2020 supercharged Z H2 lives up to the mind-bending promise. The forced-induction 998cc inline four wowed on its launch at the start of last year, and made even Ducati’s wild Streetfighter V4 seem a tad less special during last summer’s group test. The Z H2 didn’t win that comparison test, though. In an assembly of supernakeds the Kawasaki hasn’t the outright handling, aggression or skinny build to stand wheel-to-wheel with track-ready loons. Being a flexible, accommodating road bike is a different fishy kettle, though…

‘Pristine plastics are like rocking horse teeth’ 1989–1992 KAWASAKI KR-1S Engine 249cc, liquid-cooled, two-stroke parallel-twin Power 55bhp Torque 29 lb.ft Top speed 139mph Rake/trail 24˚/90mm Wheelbase 1365mm Dry weight 131kg Seat height 755mm Tank size 16 litres Economy 35mpg Bike verdict Fragile and bothersome? Undoubtedly. But the KR-1S makes for a great project, whether you want something to tinker with or a full-blown rebuild. Or just buy a minter and giggle on every single ride. Bike rating 8/10…

£8395 Ducati 998 If you scribbled out your dream garage list there’s a pretty strong chance the words ‘Ducati’ and ‘916’ would appear. 27 years after it was first available the V-twin still makes grown adults quiver, but owning one might be a bit… shall we say predictable? Yes, let’s say that. So buy this 998 instead. Introduced in 2002 it looks, sounds and feels like a 916, but has greater performance from its Testastretta engine and almost a decades-worth of refinement. This example is from Japan (no salt = no corrosion) and has done under 20,000 miles. And it’s yellow, so it’s cool. £3995 KTM 620 Duke KTM have gone from being a dirt bike firm that road riders ignored to an established creator of hugely capable road bikes.…

I‘d been planning, well okay, dreaming about this ever since I first clocked the limited run, $38,000-plus, postapocalypse stylee Ronins in 2014. And having sold my last custom-build, the CB400N ‘tracker laboriously chronicled here in 2018 and bought a brand-spanking SWM Gran Milano in the bankrupt importer’s fire-sale, I figured I finally had the wherewithal to create a poor man’s version of that brutalist, Buell-engined streetfighter. However careful consideration – rather an alien concept hereabouts – revealed why custom builders generally choose decades-old donor bikes with carburettors rather than fuel injection and none of the emissions gubbins that strangle performance and cause aesthetic grief. Which un-coincidentally is why Triumph, Guzzi, CCM etc. offer so-called ‘factory customs’. Yep, the Milano has fuel injection, ABS and catalytic converters and although its Chinese-sourced,…

The Peak District is one of the UK’s most popular National Parks, and it’s the oldest, officially designated in 1951. Located centrally between Leeds, Sheffield, Derby, Nottingham and Birmingham, it’s conveniently positioned which is good, but also means it’s busy. Particularly in the school holidays, and summer months. But there are quieter times – spring and autumn are the best or a late summer evening blast, and this is when the Peak District should be high on every rider’s hit list. The Peaks are criss-crossed by fantastic roads. Some of their names will be familiar to many, whether you have ventured in their direction or not: the A537 (or Cat and Fiddle, as it’s better known) is a legendary strip of tarmac rising up and over a line of hills…

‘Almost 40kg less than the 950 Multistrada… it’s going to feel frisky’ Ducati have redesigned their biggest- selling bike ever to try and capture a younger, more style-conscious market. The new Monster (sales since 1993 launch: 350,000) loses the traditional trellis frame and hunched fuel tank, and in return gets a Panigale-style monocoque frame and a tank that looks like the MV Brutale’s (as does the Monster’s new headlight come to think of it). ‘The new look and new mechanical package has been done to attract younger customers,’ Ducati’s design director Andrea Ferraresi tells Bike. ‘The new customers were probably not even born when the first Monster was conceived by Miguel Galuzzi in 1992. Of course we hope to keep the old Monster customers, but we wanted to broaden the…

‘Guzzi must look at sales and despair’ Moto Guzzi must look at Triumph T100 Bonnevilles sales and Royal Enfield Interceptors and despair. Their old V7 was as charming and capable as its rivals, yet only 538 people have bought one in the UK since the Mk3 arrived in 2017. By comparison Royal Enfield sold 2470 Interceptors since the 2019 launch and Triumph shifted 1318 of the latest T100. Which brings us to the new V7 – Guzzi’s attempt to remedy matters by fitting a detuned version of the 850cc V-twin from the V85 adventure bike, plus a raft of updates ranging from new suspension to different graphics. Power is now up from 52bhp to a more sprightly 65. Torque is increased too, up from 44 lb.ft to 54, and it’s…

John McGuinness was justifiably chuffed to be awarded an MBE in the New Years’ Honours list in recognition of his 23-times TT wins and, probably, his ability to give hilariously candid press conferences (type his name and ‘foreskin interview’ into YouTube). ‘I’m humbled to receive an MBE. When I started racing never in a million years did I think I’d go on to achieve the success that I have let alone be recognised and honoured by the Queen,’ said McGuinness. He joins an elite crew of fellow motorcycling MBEers including Barry Sheene, Mike Hailwood, Carl Fogarty, Jonathan Rea and Phil Read. One step up from an MBE (Member of the British Empire) is the OBE (Officer of the British Empire) where you’ll find Joey Dunlop and John Bloor and one…

Moto Guzzi’s V85 TT drips in quirky charm and suave confidence. It’s something you feel on every ride – something every bit as special as a GS’s sophistication, a Ténéré’s greater green-lane skills or a KTM’s acceleration. The V85 isn’t trying to be the fastest adventure bike, nor the lightest, the smartest or the muckiest. As a result, it’s perhaps the coolest. But the laid-back character that sets the V85 aside from the rest of the adventure-world appears to have rubbed off a little too much on the folk behind this new ‘Travel’ version. This isn’t a big-tanked touring update, nor a crash-bars-and-knobblies off-road relative. Instead, it’s simply a V85 TT with a list of bits from Guzzi’s accessories catalogue and a one-off paintscheme. Let’s charitably call it a chilled-out…

Let’s be honest, the first thing that attracts most of us to any motorbike is how it looks. Unfortunately boring stuff like comfort and usability are close seconds, which is why few of us buy supermotos despite their sharp, edgy, attractive style. Looks can be deceiving, mind. Aprilia’s Dorsoduro 750 might look like it wants to flip over backwards or highside you into A&E, but it’s actually something of a friendly all-rounder. The V-twin delivers solid, predictable drive, its chassis has steadfast composure, and ergonomics are more adventure bike than recycled enduro. They don’t break down, either. Bikes start at around £2500.…

‘That badly welded frame loop from my sahara adventures can stay, it’s part of the historical document’ Let the haters hate but I am not restoring this classic 43-year-old Yamaha XT500. I admire those who do – Germans mostly, it seems – but there are two reasons it isn’t for me. First, the bike and I have an awful lot of history (bought in the late seventies, ridden to Australia, badly ‘restored’, left unloved, sold, left unloved again and then bought back nine years later in a bout of lover’s remorse). Second, I’m neither interested in, nor careful enough, to build a show pony. So kill me now. The objective is simple; build her back up so she’s a reliable ride. That badly welded frame loop from my Sahara adventures…

‘Amazing archive footage and interviews with riders and tuners’ Dirt: 50 years of Harley’s XR750 A half hour film about Harley’s all conquering XR750 flat-track race bike, using amazing archive footage and interviews with some of the riders and tuners that kept the bike winning for so long. The script is by Bike contributor and American oval racing fetishist Gary Inman. youtube.com/watch?v=363HRmYPfCQ Roads: TT course tuition with Milky Quayle Produced for 2020’s online version on Motorcycle Live, this is a lap of the TT on board with Peter Hickman, but broken down into sections, and with commentary by excitable TT Course Liaison Officer Milky Quayle; he’s the guy who coaches Isle of Man newcomers. The level of detail required to lap the Mountain Course at speed is amazing. youtube.com/watch?v=RM9FA2CDnwO&feature=emb_logo Adventure:…

Common opinion is Yamaha are the most innovative bike brand. They gave us variable timing with two-stroke YPVS (Yamaha Powervalve System), made four-strokes with five-valve heads, built a hub-steered tourer and now sell bikes with an extra front wheel. Back in the early 1980s it was Honda who really pushed boundaries, though. They built leaning three-wheelers, V3 two-strokes, mopeds that folded to slot inside a car boot, slapped turbos on middleweight V-twins and used gear-driven camshafts. Oh, and they made the funky FC50 Beat, which surely sets a record for most ‘firsts’ on a two-wheeler. Going on sale in December 1983, the Beat was the world’s first sports- scooter, the first to use twin halogen lights, and the first two-wheeler with a lightweight maintenance-free battery. It had the first liquid-…

If you’re worried that motorcycling has all become a bit too serious, take a gander at the Aprilia Tuono 660. Based on the excellent RS660 sportsbike (first comprehensive UK test on page 32) and styled like its rowdy V4 big brother, the new Tuono stuffs a perky short- geared twin in a lightweight chassis, with a riding position designed for tomfoolery. And, despite dripping with tech it’s an affordable £9700. Think RD350LC for the modern era… To create the Tuono, Aprilia have done what Triumph did to make the original Street Triple, ie by taking their sportsbike and tweaking it into a roadster for greater control, comfort, usability and hilarity. It’s the same die-cast aluminium frame and basic package as the RS, but fitted with a higher, wider handlebar rather…

This fantastic splicing of Honda and Ducati DNA is definitely no show pony, especially when the ignition gets flicked. The customer didn’t want to be embarrassed when he took the bike on track, so the 1980 CB900 engine has been tuned to make 130bhp at the back wheel. That’s around 45bhp more than the modern Ducati 1100 Evo that donated its wheels, single-sided swingarm, rear shock and rear brake to the project. ‘Building the engine took time,’ says David Widmann, who runs NCT Motorcycles in Austria. ‘We milled the head to accept bigger valves, there’s a new racing camshaft and a new lightweight crank. It’s bored out to 980cc and we used forged pistons and con rods. There are Keihin smoothbore carburettors too. Everything is new inside – there’s over…

If you’re entering 2021 with a rosy bank balance and a space in the garage, how about this: Casey Stoner’s 2008 Desmosedici. It won five MotoGPs that year (including Donington) and was the bike he rode in that scintillating battle with Rossi at Laguna Seca – the one where Rossi went off-roading at the Corkscrew to overtake Stoner, who then broke the lap record trying to catch up. Given that it’s for sale at £406,000 (€449,000) we presume it will end up in a collection, but with 265bhp and weighing only 150kg it would make a perfectly acceptable trackday bike. Might be a bit loud though. Buy it at motorrad-speer.de.…

The innovations that are transforming our ride It’s been a decade since Honda first introduced seamless shift transmission on the RC212V MotoGP bike, and finally the technology is making its way towards road-going production bikes. Brought to the track with the final iteration of Honda’s 800cc V4 GP challenger in 2011, the seamless box helped Casey Stoner and his RC212V have a dominant year – he won 13 of the year’s 17 races and cruised to the title. His seamless shift box had two advantages: a) no time was lost changing gear, and b) because power was constant throughout the change Casey could shift up and down midcorner in a way that was impossible with the standard gearbox. Why is it coming to road bikes? Because manufacturers want to use…

Most of us owned or knew someone who had a Honda CBR600F in the 1990s. Fast yet friendly, accurate but accommodating, the CBR was the everyman (and everywoman) sportsbike; a desirable and of-the-moment machine as happy scything to the Spanish Grand Prix with stuffed throwovers as it was teaching kneedown on the local roundabout or merrily trundling to work. Aprilia’s all-new RS660 promises to be the CBR for our modern world. Sexy, high-tech, fast, sweet handling, and yet designed for road usability and normal folk. At £10,150 the twin sits perfectly between traditional demanding supersport bikes such as the Yamaha R6 and mildly underwhelming ‘soft’ sports like the Kawasaki Ninja 650 and CBR650R, both on price and claimed figures. With performance and practicality, the RS660 could be the bike to…

The achievements of Peter Williams as a motorcycle engineer are remarkable; he was instrumental in the development and adoption of disc brakes, alloy wheels, tubeless tyres and the twin-spar frame, breaking new ground with independent and innovative thinking. But as a rider he was equally outstanding; there was a British Championship, a TT win, two North West 200 wins, a Grand Prix win and top British rider at the 1973 Transatlantic Trophy. But the second places are telling too; he was seven times a runner up on the Isle of Man at a time when the sport was dominated by Mike Hailwood and Giacomo Agostini on multicylinder MV Agustas and Hondas. In truth his two outstanding talents were interwoven; it was the quest for competitive advantage that inspired his engineering,…

What had we let ourselves in for? Staring out of our hotel room in Bogota, the capital of Colombia, there’s a sea of motorcycles buzzing around the honking cars and smoke belching school buses. A walk to a nearby pedestrian bridge doesn’t help our anxiety levels as we absorb the chaos below. Turns out there’s method to the madness of Bogota traffic. At this point I should confess that my riding experience of a fully loaded motorcycle is minimal, on or off asphalt. Yet, here I am about to set out on a journey on a heavily laden 1996 Suzuki DR650 through countries known for their lack of recognisable roads. Husband Kelvin has more off-road experience, but he doesn’t have any experience of navigating on dirt. And so with our…

‘I’ve been working in this shed for forty years, we’ve built a load of bikes in here’ I’ve got that many projects on the go that I’ve actually got three workshops to house them all, which means I need three of every tool. At home I’ve got my trials bikes and scramblers, a few 125 and 250cc two-stroke motocross bikes from the 1970s and 1980s, and then here at my mum’s house I’ve got my race bike workshop. I’ve been working in this shed for forty odd years, and we’ve built and rebuilt a load of bikes in here, starting with a Ducati 250 race bike, which was a long time ago. There’s more bikes at the workshop at work. Last winter I built up a Tigcraft framed KTM race…

** Claimed * Estimated Good evening Wembley! The speedway world championship works like any bike race series, with riders gathering points over the year to decide the champion. But up until 1994 speedway used qualifying events in different zones and continents, with the top riders from around the world going to a one-night World Final shootout at Wembley. This is 1975. Just look at that crowd... ‘I said speed up…’ Pretty, isn’t it? This is the new Honda H’ness CB350 (really). Recently launched in India to take on the dominant Enfield Bullet 350, the air-cooled single might look traditional but it’s loaded with tech, including HSVCS – Honda Smartphone Voice Control System. It uses an app and Bluetooth to control calls, navigation, music and the like just by ranting. Fancy…

Sealskinz socks Used for: 3 months Price: £42 Info: sealskinz.com The budget technique for making leaky boots waterproof are plastic carrier bags, worn inside or outside the boot, depending on circumstance. By comparison with which, a pair of £42 (that’s FORTY TWO POUNDS) Sealskinz socks look like very poor value. However, the smug feeling I got when first putting my Sealskinz shod foot into damp and squelchy footwear was worth the entry fee. And my digits stayed dry and warm for the remaining 120 miles that I rode that afternoon, turning cold toed misery into a joyous experience. If the waterproof membrane in your boots has bust, this is cheaper than new boots, but not nearly as cheap as plastic bags. Keep toenails trimmed to avoid puncturing the breathable waterproof…