Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2022 i BIKE

‘As long as there’s one sportsbike customer left, Ducati will build them a bike’ These are the first photos of the new Panigale V4 SP2, Ducati’s track- focused weapon that’s actually faster than the more extreme V4R because the SP2 doesn’t have to worry about WSB homologation rules and is easier to ride. Compared with last year’s SP, the new version has a smidge more power and new electronics - it gets all the modifications from this year’s standard V4 which lift power from 214 to 215.5bhp while keeping torque the same at 91 lb.ft. The key engine changes are an increase in the exhaust outlet diameter to 38mm to reduce back pressure, a more efficient oil pump and some gear ratio alterations. The gearing changes hint at Ducati’s changing…

Old bikes in their original crates occasionally come up for sale when traditional dealers clear out their storerooms. Padgetts in West Yorkshire are famous for unearthing 1990s classics they didn’t even uncrate. But this 1991 ZXR750K2 – which has just sold for $69,978 (£52,000) in America – was bought by an ordinary customer. ‘It came from a gentleman in Arkansas,’ says Abhinay Eswarappa, the boss of Iconic Motorbikes, who ran the auction. ‘He bought two of these when new – one to ride and one to keep in the crate. Unfortunately he passed away recently and the crated bike came to us from his estate. The ‘rider’ had already been sold and I don’t know what happened to that.’ As any 1990s sportsbike addict will tell you, the K-model was…

Few motorcycle racing events have caught the imagination of British bikers quite like the UK versus USA Transatlantic Match Races, which ran on and off between 1971 and 1991. Most significantly, the Easter meeting, which had its heyday from the late 1970s into the late 1980s, introduced America’s greatest bike racing heroes to Europe. Legends like ‘King’ Kenny Roberts, Freddie Spencer, Kevin Schwantz all crossed the Atlantic for the first time to race in the US team in a frenzied programme that started at Brands Hatch on Easter Friday, then to Mallory Park on Easter Sunday and Oulton Park on Easter Monday. Practice, then two Transatlantic races at each track, plus a full programme of support races. How on earth did they do it? The action wasn’t only frenzied, it…

15 miles in 119 years Triumph’s first bike, powered by a 211cc Minerva engine is little more than a motorised bicycle, but it started the brand that now makes 72,000 bikes a year. The Hinckley factory is just up the road from the firm’s original base in Coventry. The factory museum features a timeline of the company’s greatest hits, with the ground breaking twins, made from 1937, heavily featured. Owners, dealers, customisers The displays aren’t just about bike history. There are also tributes to the owners, dealers, racers and customisers who’ve helped shape the brand. Green tanked bike is the TFC-1 Bobber, which was the winner of the 2014 Factory Custom competition, and influenced the creation of the production Bobber. ‘The displays aren’t just about bike history. There are also…

When it comes to choosing and buying an adventure motorcycle there are many, many options. Whether you’re a new convert or a seasoned off-road round the world-er there is a bike for you. The adventure bike’s big sell is that it can, rider talent permitting, deal with all situations. Twisty mountain road, yes. Three hour slog home from Snowdonia, yes. Trackday, in some cases that is a ‘yes’ too. Mid-capacity adventure bikes (big ’uns and little ’uns are available too) seek to further lure you from the comfort of Tarmac with their lighter weight and added off-road ability. The Darien Gap is yours for the taking. However, coming up with a bike that keeps ex-enduro hooligans happy yet looks after the road rider taking their first (deliberate) foray off-piste is…

YOU GET EXEMPLARY ENGINEERING Honda’s 1237cc V4 is clever, using offset crank pins to overcome a lack of balance from the compact 76° V-angle. A reversed layout (outer cylinders facing forward, inner cylinders both facing back) eliminates the rotating couple caused by the webs, with utter smoothness ensured by having the two pistons in each bank at BDC and TDC at the same time. And this means the firing interval (104-256-104-256°) is closer to an RVF750 racer than a VFR800. Also using motocross-style Unicam heads (four valves per cylinder but a single overhead cam) to further aid compactness, the 1200 is thin at its waist meaning plenty of knee and leg space. DEPENDABLE POWERHOUSE Stress-free high-mile reliability? Buy a VFR. There was a recall on early bikes after traces of…

This month it isn’t the ‘Last Ride’ for our CFMOTO long-term test bike, but ‘Last Rides’. To start I’m running my eldest Ed to college on the back, then heading several miles in the wrong direction to do ‘essential’ errands. This evening will involve taking youngest Lyle to his drum lesson, before which I’m hoping that Mrs A will realise we’ve run out of milk or bread (or beer) and send me back out. And if she doesn’t I’ll dart off anyway for a sunny blast in that lovely early-afternoon quiet time, after all the lunchtime meal-deal hunters and before roads get clogged with school-run traffic. If we’re honest, we all have times when taking the car might seem easier. Those short journeys and quick outings where climbing into riding…

The B6318 and B709 are the UK’s longest B-roads - the 18 is the longest at just over 60 miles and runs east-to-west from Heddon-on-the-Wall, west of Newcastle, to Langholm in Dumfries and Galloway. But for the most part it follows alongside Hadrian’s Wall - and the Romans probably had a hand in constructing the B6318 because it’s mostly straight and fairly uneventful. The B709, which starts in Langholm and ends up just under 60 miles later bumping into the A7, a few miles outside Edinburgh, is a different matter... It wiggles and it swings past a variety of landscapes and landmarks. But first it starts a few miles out of Langholm when, between the dry-stone walls and fields, a big gold Buddha appears floating on a pond. It’s the…

In standard form, the Moto Guzzi 1100 Sport weighs a chunky 232kg. This one weighs just 179kg with fuel, oil and a battery – that’s 10kg less than a Ducati 1299 Panigale and 9kg lighter than a Yamaha R7. The bike is the result of Simon Thackeray and his friend Chris Horton getting a smidge carried away. After fitting a Ghezzi-Brian body kit Simon wanted modern brake calipers, and to get those he needed modern forks to mount them on: ‘I went to Chris, who’s got a CNC shop, and asked if he could bore out the yokes to take bigger forks. He says, “no, I’m not doing that. We’ll make new yokes”.’ And so it began. ‘Finding the forks wasn’t easy because the Guzzi’s geometry is totally stupid -…

Having visited the US a number of times I am fortunate to have this shirt as a reminder of a great circuit and an incredible race. The temperature on race day was high as was the pressure on ‘The Doctor’ who had to get points if he was to win the 2006 championship. However, it was not to be his day as he was forced to retire due to engine problems. A true turning point for ‘The Kentucky Kid’, Nicky Hayden who won the race and went on to become the new MotoGP World Champion. I love the shirt and still wear it regularly, the four riders shown are 69 Hayden, 5 Edwards, 46 Rossi and 21 Hopkins. Andy Hopkins, email IF YOU’VE GOT AN OLD T-SHIRT LIKE ANDY’S AND…

The Pundit Who’ll win? MCN’s Josh Close has the inside line… » Everywhere you look in BSB there’s an intriguing storyline, a fierce rivalry, and riders capable of winning races. Firstly, there’s defending champion Tarran Mackenzie and McAMS Yamaha teammate Jason O’Halloran, who dominated last year. For me, they are the benchmark and will be tough to beat. Mackenzie wants a WorldSBK ride, while O’Halloran is gunning for revenge after being cruelly denied by the Showdown. Surely Josh Brookes won’t have another tough year. A rider of his calibre won’t let that happen and on his day he is unstoppable. Tommy Bridewell will be a threat, while I cannot ignore the likes of 2021 race winners Danny Buchan and Christian Iddon. The latter is out to prove a point on…

Advice, guidance and things to do with bikes This hex (or Allen) key set was, I think, a Bike subscription gift yonks ago. It has seven sizes from 2.5 to 8mm and is so much more useful - and nicer to handle - than regular keys. The T-handle driver has a short arm with a normal hex for applying torque to stubborn fasteners, while the long arm has a ball-point end to sneak in at angles. Proper handy. The tray has a removable lid and clicks into Teng toolboxes, too. List is £64.68 but they’re real quality - and you’ll find ’em under £40 tengtools.com…

» CFMoto have taken huge strides since their Kwak ER-6-derived 649cc twins first arrived 10 years ago. Their GT isn’t quite as perky as a Tracer 7 and hasn’t the outright handling of a Tiger Sport 660, but it rides really well with eager power, easy handling, comfort and composure. Bristles with modernity too: you get modes, backlit switchgear, LED running lights, colour dash and two power sockets. And all for £6350 on the road – £2100 less than a Tiger – with a four year warranty. But it’s used examples of the GT that really make bargain daily riders: two-year-old bikes with chuff-all miles and panniers start at £3500. Tempted, aren’t you?…

British Superbikes Silverstone, Northants 15-17 April » The first round of any championship is always fascinating because no-one has any idea what’s going to happen. That’s especially true in BSB this year with World Superbike geezers Leon Haslam and Tom Sykes returning to show the youngsters a thing or two. The BSB field is so strong though, they mightn’t be able to. britishsuperbike.com Kempton Park Autojumble Kempton, Middlesex 2 April » Even if you don’t need a tricky-to-find drive side bush for your Francis-Barnett, the huge Kempton autojumble is a life-affirming event – it’s joyous mingling with thousands of blokes (and they nearly all are blokes) who’ve got it much, much worse than you. kemptonautojumble.co.uk Festival of Power Santapod, Bedfordshire 15-17 April » If you haven’t seen a Top Fuel…

Legend has it that Massimo Tamburini sketched this 100bhp supermoto – complete with Bimota V Due engine – while working for Cagiva, but the design never left his drawing board. Twenty-odd years later, British engineer and Cagiva fanatic Gavin Robertson has managed to finish the maestro’s work. The bike is a phenomenal effort, taking a few clues about what Ducati 916-designer Tamburini intended and turning them into a fully functioning machine powered by Bimota’s ill-fated but frisky two-stroke twin. ‘1 was doing some business with Bimota,’ Gavin tells Bike, ‘and heard a rumour that years ago the chief engineer – Marconi – had sent a V Due engine to Tamburini [who used to be Marconi’s mentor before moving to Cagiva]. ‘It’s alleged that Tamburini had penned an outsized Super City…

[ROYAL ENFIELD] Hit by a Meteor As UK Meteor sales continue to soar, Royal Enfield’s European chief explains how they did it.. Royal Enfield’s Meteor is a sales phenomenon - at the end of last year in the UK it was selling more than Kawasaki’s entire range and if it had been launched a few months earlier it could have toppled BMW’s R1250GS at the top of the sales charts. So how did an Indian-made 350CC single become such a market disrupter? Enfield’s European boss Arun Gopal explains... » How did you come up with the idea for the Meteor? The midsized segment is grossly underserved and there is a huge opportunity for us to create motorcycles that are easy and fun to ride, evocative to look at - a…

Sports-tourer is never the most inspiring of terms. At best it suggests a motorcycle that’s a bit nowt-nor-summat, and at worst conjures thoughts of old-hat sportsbikes that have been put out to pasture. So let’s call them all-rounders. We could even use the old UJM term – universal Japanese motorcycle. It’s actually a far better way of classifying them. The latest do-it-all bikes manage to make a damn impressive fist of almost anything you ask of them, and seemingly without compromise. They’re bikes that can transport two people and a weekend’s worth of clobber in calm comfort just as well as they can make you whoop while misbehaving with like-minded fools on a tangled B-road. Kawasaki’s Ninja 1000SX (née S1000SX) has been the UK’s favourite all-rounder since the Jurassic period,…

It’s never had the pub-bragging power figures or graceful looks of its European super naked rivals, but the Yamaha MT-10 has always been more exciting and simpler to ride. It still is, but what the 2022 model gives you is a monstrous amount more drama in the midrange, which makes it even more exciting, especially with the extra induction roar bellowing in your ears. Better still are the new electronics that can be switched off when you want to enjoy the MT’s fruits to the full. The MT-10 has always been more than just a stripped down R1 with straight bars. Ever since its release in 2016 it’s been the only naked from Japan that can compete on equal terms with the best from Europe in the smile stakes, while…

You can’t rush a Royal Enfield Classic 350. Acceleration is sedate and coaxing the speedo needle past 70 takes commitment. Chasing down the A1 with the old school analogue dial reading 75mph we did battle with a grey haired lady in a metallic bronze Honda Jazz. It looked like we’d bested the Honda/OAP pairing until a hill, that I’d barely noticed on more powerful bikes, knocked 10mph off the Enfield’s top speed and the Honda eased ahead. I’d like to say that we were magnanimous in defeat, but when we caught and passed our rival on the approach to the roundabout at Buckden I cheered inside my helmet. To be fair, this bike certainly isn’t meant for a dual carriageway thrash. Royal Enfields are more about leaving the ratrace than…

» As you may have noticed from some of the photos in this magazine, we’re big fans of ignoring fashion. This is especially true when it comes to tyres, and a case in point is Bridgestone’s sporty S22 which comes as standard on Yamaha’s new R7. The S22 arrived in 2019, making it moderately old hat in tyre tech terms, but riding the R7 for almost 1000 miles has reminded me what a superb tyre it is. The outright wet grip probably can’t compete with new stuff such as Michelin’s Road 6, but it’s still pretty bloody good. And the performance in the dry is hilarious – there’s so much grip at the rear I doubt the R7’s 75bhp could ever unstick it. Prices haven’t dropped much, but they aren’t…

PILLIONS NOT ADVISED If you are married to a squirrel or - at a push - a small marmoset, then the pillion accommodation is acceptable. If not, then what we have here is a handy padded area on which to tie luggage, with a convenient strap to attach bungees. But, hey, it’s a sportsbike. GENERAL PRACTICALITY IS OK On the plus side, the screen stops plenty of buffeting while being reasonably quiet, and the mirrors are vibe free and just long enough to see round elbows contained in bulky winter kit. The biggest irritation is the lack of luggage hooks, forcing you to use the numberplate hanger. BUILD QUALITY IS SOUND Removing the saddles and top fairing to wire in my Garmin was a painless affair thanks to quality fasteners…

1948 Matchless 350 » Winter project? Don’t make me laugh. This piece of history has been in bits since 2017. Front fork overhaul, led to brake overhaul, led to speedometer drive overhaul, led to speedo overhaul. Then, for want of something better to do and because black is a dull colour for motorcycles, I decided to paint the fuel tank. And, since getting a professional job would look like being too precious, I brush painted it. Old paint was sanded back with wet and dry paper. Then undercoat applied. Then sanded back again. Then more undercoat. Eventually gloss yellow tractor enamel (John Deere wheel colour, if you need a match) was applied. Repeatedly. Here’s what I learnt from this protracted process... » Work in a warm, dust free environment. »…

Litelok Core Moto (125) Used for: 2 months Price: £149.99 Info: litelok.com »The Litelok promises the performance of a decent chain (with claims about clever construction and Sold Secure endorsement to back that up), but without the heft. This version weighs 2.9kg and the manufacturer claims it’s 50% lighter than an equivalent chain, so it’s light enough to be carted around on the bike, allowing you to lock the bike to something, or lock your helmet to the bike. Snap shutting and neoprene protective sheath are useful too. It’s still too bulky for ultimate convenience - I can’t get it to roll up smaller than a 33cm circle - so needs to be strapped to the bike rather than carried in a backpack. But it’s much more reassuring than a…

Is there anyone who doesn’t like Honda’s dinky Z50 Monkey bike? Surely no other machine is as universally appreciated. It helps that there have been very many versions over the last 60 years, giving the 49cc four-stroke even wider appeal. Following on from the original 1961 amusement park bike (designed to get kids interested in riding), there have been chrome-plated Monkeys, a Freddie Spencer replica, off-road versions and a shimmering gold example. And in 1987 there was even a sporty Monkey R with a twin-spar beam frame and clip-on ’bars. But surely the coolest Z50 of all is the dual-purpose Baja. Launched in 1991 and only available in Japan, the chunky Monkey was inspired by the firm’s Africa Twin and so featured dirt-style bodywork, twin headlamps, brush guards and fabulously…