Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2022 i BIKE

I have promised Mrs W. that I’ll be paring down my fleet this year. It’s fair enough, she’s tripping over motorcycles in the backyard and the garden shed, and there’s no way I can keep seven bikes in decent fettle. Downsizing to a more manageable five isn’t too great a hardship. And then we start working on this issue, a celebration of the wonders and surprises of the secondhand bike market, and my strength of mind is put under unreasonable strain. Fewer bikes? But look at what’s out there for entirely reasonable amounts of money. I was very taken with this Aprilia Tuono (featured on page 40) at £4250 but there is loads of other temptation too, many of them bikes that I rode when they were new and loved,…

Most for the money Kawasaki H2 SX SE Tourer » Coming in smack on budget, Kwak’s latest hyper-tourer has it all: supple ride, panniers, radar, every electronic, classy finish... oh, and amazing supercharged power. There are faster, comfier and finer handling bikes. But with its blower and tech, it’s the most fizz per quid. Evocative modern classic Norton F1 » No, it wasn’t faster in road trim than a normal 600, but the F1 holds so much appeal. Its chassis has Spondon magic. The rotary motor is genius and, man, that noise. Then there are memories of watching Spray, Haslam, Hislop, of the ‘Son of a Bitch’ adverts. Goosebumps. Going the whole hog Harley Ultra Limited » If you’re doing the whole Harley thing, do it properly. The Ultra has…

Because motorcycle engineering is beautiful Jamie Turner is Professor of Engines at KAUST. He owns a BMW K1200S and loves two-strokes. Cylinder count-wise, engines get really interesting at six. Boxers and Wankels excluded it’s where you can have ‘perfect’ balance. Engine folk obsess about four different types of balance, which comprise forces and couples arising from crankshaft rotation in real time (primary) and twice real time (secondary). Force is pretty self-explanatory and ‘couple’ is a fancy word for forces rotating at a distance from the centroid – like feet on a bicycle crank, causing it to swing from side to side. Since they are set up by piston motion these effectively act in the plane of the cylinders. For any engine you can balance primaries with an engine-speed balancer, but…

» You don’t need to mess with a late 750 too much to get it really singing. It was pretty much bang on out of the box, but if you did need to fiddle, the few improvements it needed cost pennies: a 4mm washer under the top shock mount to raise the rear for quicker steering, and a one-tooth smaller front sprocket for more oomph out of corners. Granted, the latter is at the expense of some top speed, but an L1 has plenty to give away: I rode Pirelli’s used and abused GSX-R750 tyre-testing mule at the eight-mile Nardo speed bowl in 2011 and it blasted to a GPS-verified 181mph. For serious track work, replacing the standard rear shock (with its almost impossible to access preload collar) with a…

WK Scrambler 50 £1999 Solid build quality with decent chassis components and styling that looks cool in the college bike park. There’s a neat digital dash and a handy 128mpg fuel economy too. Lexmoto Echo 50 £1549 Regularly the UK’s bestselling moped, the rev ‘n’ rip Echo disappeared from Lexmoto’s range in 2021, replaced by an electric bike. It quickly returned in Euro5 guise and took up where it left off. Ooh look, a rack. Mash Flat Track £2149 Basically the same 49cc single as the WK. Has a tiny LED headlamp tucked in the front numberboard, digital display and swingarm mounted numberplate. Available in black or white, but surely this gold is best. Sunra Miku Max £2199 New to the UK but well known in China, the Sunra isn’t…

Adam Smallman Ténéré owner Journalist buys bike, and the bits to make it even better. Chippy Wood Enthusiast Riding to the corners of the UK in search of photo locations. Mike Armitage Deal sniffer Wasting hours seeking used sportsbikes online. John Westlake Used bike dabbler Organising tool storage in his newly built workshop. Simon Hewitt Rally rider Back from the Dakar, and now doing his day job at Off-road Skills. Andrew Dalton Biking lawyer Making sure that we provide just enough information.…

» We hadn’t noticed anything much wrong with Michelin’s excellent Pilot Road 5, but the French rubber giant have now announced a new version of their old favourite, claiming 15% more wet grip and 10% longer life. How? ‘It’s evolution not revolution,’ says Michelin’s Paul Cordle. ‘Small advances in rubber technology and tread pattern design that just add a bit more performance and durability. The advance this time is a revised sipe design that helps cut through water film.’ The new tyres are available in six front and eight rear sizes, including a 19 inch front, and a GT version in one front and three rear sizes to suit bigger, touring machines. Price shouldn’t be significantly higher than the Road 5 which will continue to be available.…

Clarke wall storage rack Used for: three months Price: £47.98 Info: machinemart.co.uk » If you have the wall space you can create a 1.1m by 0.6 m array of tool loveliness with this rack, but the gaps between my shed windows meant I had to split it up into one section of three panels (above) and one of two. Besides this flexibility, the main selling point is the thickness of the steel – it’s sturdy enough to hang hammers, torque wrenches etc without the whole thing flexing enough to cause kit to fall off. My previous eBay cheapy was a nightmare for that. You also get a good selection of hanging fixtures so more kit can be promoted from dingy toolbox to handy wall hanger. None of it has the…

» Jeez, we’ll really miss Valentino Rossi. Despite being more wily, self-focussed, business-minded and hard working than any other rider he’s also more charming, interesting and engaging than anyone else in the paddock, let alone the grid. Graham Bensinger is a clean cut, well groomed American who’s interviewed Rossi (plus his girlfriend) at his Tavulia hometown, at length… There’s a touch of the ‘celebrity at home’ to the whole thing, but the behind the scenes footage from the VR46 academy and team are interesting, and when Vale opens up about strategy, superstition and Simoncelli, about fear, rituals and rivals it’s great. He’s always been good on camera, but in retirement mode he’s funnier, chattier and swearier than ever. Some of the insight is fascinating. I might even start following GT…

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£300 saving Benelli TRK502 » They love Benelli’s parallel twin in Europe, especially in Italy. List price for the cast-wheel version of the 47bhp adventure bike is £5299 here in Blighty, but at The Potteries (01782 969730) they’ve got £300 sliced off the price of remaining 2020 stock. Which is fine – it’s identical to the current bike apart from a few more nasties coming out the back. It means the TRK, complete with adjustable suspension, light-up switchgear and more, is £1350 cheaper than a Honda CB500X. £1200 saving Suzuki SV650X » Newer rivals might look more modern, have a fancier spec or offer a smidge more punch. But there’s no denying that Suzuki’s venerable SV650 is still a ruddy bargain at £6599, or just £6999 for the on-trend X…

Telephone 01733 468099 Email: bike@bikemagazine.co.uk facebook.com/bikemagazineUK twitter.com/BikeMagazine [ BEEN THERE. GOT THE T-SHIRT ] ‘I can remember winning a chilli challenge’ With news that the 24 Hours of Liege Endurance race is back on in 2022 it’s time to blow the dust off the old T-shirts and prepare for no sleep and sore heads. Again! 1995 saw our annual ‘Team Disaster’ Euro tour take in Spa with six bikes. Seemed like the entire Belgium police force had been assigned to the circuit that year, probably to prevent a repeat of the carnage of ‘92 Le Mans (nine deaths, 55 injured). With Stéphane Mertens and Honda taking the race win I can remember winning a chilli challenge at a kebab stall, not realising it would be like putting Redex in my…

Scary? Not really £2500 Suzuki TL1000S Remember the broohah about the TL1000S V-twin when it appeared in 1997? First the ‘Ducati beater’ hype, and then the ‘widow maker’ controversy that was resolved with a steering damper. 25 years later the TL1000S is still a frisky ride with 110bhp and suspension that needs careful set-up, but its also super engaging, always gets respect at Squires Cafe and is a bit of a bargain. Tidy used bikes with 20.000 miles and non-standard cans can be had for £2500, but walk away from abused and bodged examples. The animal of the class £4000 2004-05 Kawasaki ZX-10R The ZX-1 OR was revered as the animal of the superbike class of 2004-5 and it summed up the decadence of the mid-noughties sportsbike. A claimed 180bhp…

Scotland, in time for supper… £5000 Honda VFR1200F » Honda misjudged the market with this one, introducing a hefty and gizmo free sports tourer in 2010, just as the world went crazy for gadget laden adventure bikes. I don’t care, this is one of the greatest mile-eaters ever made, plus, it looks amazing and has shaft drive. I’m thinking Durham for breakfast, Edinburgh for lunch and The Highlands for supper. Look carefully and act fast, and £5000 should get you a 20,000 mile bike with a standard can and a service history. Maybe a tad more for luggage and DCT. A summer of silliness £3000 KTM 990 Super Duke » Blimey. Just three grand for an average-mile Super Duke with full KTM history? Feels like daylight robbery. After swooning over…

£9950 Yam FZR400RR SP Yamaha needed a ‘road-legal racer’. The AllJapan TT F3 race class for production-based models had a huge influence on sales, so they launched the FZR400 in 1986 with an aluminium beam frame, revvy 16v four and new low-profile radial tyres. After rapid evolution the FZR peaked with the RR-SP in 1990, with high-quality multi-adjustable suspension, close-ratio gearbox and much sexiness. Dave Leach won the Supersport 400 TT on a virtual stocker. It was a proper tool. This one’s done 19,725 miles and is described as ‘stunning’. I’m as in lust now as I was 32 years ago. £12,495 Honda NS400R The most authentic large-capacity GP replica? Yamaha’s RD and Suzuki’s RG may have been actual 500s, but the Honda makes a strong case. Designed as a…

Move over Beemer... » UK new bike sales were up by 9.3% last year, and registrations were up across Europe by 21% (Lithuania bought 54% more bikes than in 2020). Honda was the best-selling brand, BMW and Ducati recorded best-ever figures... but it’s Benelli who are booming. Sales were up 56%, and in Italy the TRK502X outsold the R1250GS by 2500 units. That’s very lots. Brand commitment » In recent research carried out for no particular reason, it’s been discovered that Harley is the third most tattoo’d brand in the world. Not just of automotive brands, but of everything. Using the renowned statistic-gathering method of counting Instagram hashtags (ask yer nipper), there’s more people with inky H-D body art than any other bike or car name. Proper proddie racer »…

Paddock Hill bend, Brands Hatch brandshatch.co.uk. » There’s no welcome back to trackday riding quite like Paddock Hill. It’s like ending dry January by necking half a pint of flaming sambuca. Ye gods what a corner; my heart’s pounding just writing about it. It has everything the trackday connoisseur requires: tackle-shrivelling approach speed; a tip-in point so late that some riders take years to find it (that’ll be me), and a massive drop at the apex (which is blind) to squeeze out any remaining adrenalin. The feeling when you get this one even close to right is immense. Bring it on. Coppice, Donington Park donington-park.co.uk » Remember the old spectator banking on the outside of Coppice? You could see pretty much from Hollywood to the Esses. I’ve got vivid memories…

John Westlake Blinking heck, the most versatile man in bike journalism knows how to spot a story. In this case the extraordinary nine minutes that some racers can go without, er, blinking. Why MotoGP racers don’t blink on page 23 Jamie Turner Jamie knows an awful lot about engines. Which is just as well because he’s an actual professor of the things. And he very much approves of those with six cylinders. 2 x 3 = balance on page 28 Mat Oxley Written on deadline day, and mailed from the airport before getting back from Sepang, where he was one of the few journalists allowed in pitlane for MotoGP testing. MotoGP preview on page 60 4 Mike Armitage Riding mopeds in Rutland, compiling used bike stories and riding a T595…

New bikes versus our dyno, scales and datalogger ON THE DYNO Curves are the same shape as the donorAfrica Twin with no sign of the reworking – in fact the ‘softer’ NT is fitter all the way from 3000rpm to the rev limiter. It’s even got a couple of hundred extra revs to play with at the top end too. Bizarre. AT THE PROVING GROUND 0-60MPH 3.64s Random fact #46: this is identical to Yamaha’s Tracer 9, to a hundredth of a second. NT is easy to launch, though. ¼ MILE 11.9s For context, as quick as an old Hornet 600, a few tenths quicker than an RC30. And so brisk enough for an all-rounder. 70-0 MPH 54.7m Given the NT’s weight, eager ABS and its friendly demeanour, this is…

It’s lucky we’re not all as old fashioned as Tim Abrams (Bike Letters, March). The only thing that’ll ensure the long term future of the motorcycle industry is embracing new technology the way the car industry finally has. Part of the reason bikers get ignored by transport policy is that too many treat motorcycles as noisy, polluting playthings. Even the language of this magazine often slips into the trap of proclaiming louder and faster is better. Politicians and the general public probably don’t agree. Motorcycling will live on because it’s wonderful and electric drivetrains don’t change that. And we can’t live in Suzuki Bandit fantasy-land forever. The end of petrol is inevitable and desirable. The switch to electric in the car industry has been rapid and the same change is…

I’d have a... £4000 Buell XB9R Firebolt » Exotic doesn’t have to mean Italian. All Buells are interesting but the XB9R is the highlight. Shoving a pushrod Harley twin in a radical chassis (21 ’ head angle, 84mm trail, 1340mm wheelbase) was unusual enough, but with its rim-mounted disc, fuel in the frame and under-slung pipe the XB9R is properly exotic. And it works. Sure, it’s an acquired taste and yes there were drivebelt and wheel bearing issues. But nowt goes from upright to full lean as rapidly as a Firebolt. Prices start at £3500, but £4k gets a minter with niggles ironed out Who doesn’t want an MV? £5000 MV Agusta Brutale » For me the MV Brutale is one if the best looking bikes ever made, I mean,…

1998-2003 Kawasaki ZX-9R » I’d seen pictures in magazines, read the launch reports, and thought it looked the real deal. Then a glimmering blue C-model ZX-9R prowled past long-defunct Russells Kawasaki on Leicester Road in Loughborough – and that was it, I was in lust. Sure, the new Yamaha R1 was sharper, but the way the Kawasaki blended performance with usability in a brutal-yet-elegant package did it for me. Still does, especially as the 130bhp, 170mph real-roads missile can be had in top nick for £1500. Finish can be so-so but the engine is reliable. The biggest issue is the gearbox’s habit of losing gears, so take a test ride and try every ratio. Later twin-lamp models are finest, but earlier bikes are nicer to look at. Blue every time.…

On the proviso you buy your insurance as a consumer, or largely as a consumer – so if you have a trade policy this does not apply to you – the law is contained in the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012. Before you drift of into slumber, this stuff applies to you across the board for insurance – whether health, motorcycle, travel, car or just about any other risk insured after April 2013. It tilts the balance of disclosure away from the old law, largely governed by a 1906 Act which placed upon the insured the duty to place all material facts before the insurer with utmost good faith, whether asked or not. Do you know what underwriting risks and material facts are? No? Join the club. This…

And just like that, Dakar 2022 has been and gone. My focus was on little else for two years and for the four years before that it was on Dakar 2020. To now have the coveted finishers medal in my hands feels surreal. Safe to say it was hard-won. The Dakar has a reputation for visiting drama and problems on its competitors. While the drama makes for great stories down the line, when you’re there and in it all you want is a clean run, to keep the problems to a minimum and get that finisher’s medal. Everything you do in preparation for the event is geared towards that outcome, drawing from as much experience as you can and, fortunately, I gained a lot of experience in a very short…

Keeping dry Bike waterproofs are better than they used to be. But try a discount outdoor shop. On the sale rail you’ll find waterproof, breathable, lightly-insulated, robust jackets and trousers designed to deal with force-ten hillside gales for less cash than flappy bike kit. I’ve happily used Sprayway stuff through several winters. Staying snug Neckers, buffs, snoods. Everyone needs a decent neck warmer. Bike stuff is fine and dandy, but think about other sports. Anglers spend days freezing on blustery riverbanks and need top kit, so I use a fleece neck warmer from a fishing brand, complete with rubberised wind-beating bib. Not found better in 20 years. Scented or unscented? You come back late from a summer ride, lob the bike in the shed and forget about it. Next time…