Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2022 i BIKE

We all know that motorcycling is potentially dangerous but our pre-road test risk assessment failed to consider the possibility of frostbite when we decided to camp on the moor beside the Tan Hill Inn in late April. It was blowing a gale and almost freezing on the tops. Still, nice to have done our first overnighter of the season. We’ve now thawed out and hope for more clement camping conditions in The Peak District in a couple of weeks time. Ain’t it great to be back out on a bike. There’s an amazing mix of new metal in this issue and the excuse for the Tan Hill excursion was to test the ability of a mixed bag of bikes to transport chilly campers to the highs and lows of the…

‘Balance was the most important thing when creating the bike, the balance between its ability on road and off road. That was key. But also for us to “stretch the blanket” [an Italian reference to widening the bike’s appeal and ability across various disciplines]. We also wanted to be as true to the concept bike we showed at the 2019 EICMA Show, and also to the 1980s and ’90s Dakar bikes that inspired the concept and this new bike. I think we’ve achieved that. ‘The DesertX was born in the dirt – 80% of the bike’s development was done riding and assessing it off-road. We focused on the ergonomics to find that balance between off-road control and long-distance comfort. ‘We worked hard to develop specific parts for this bike, not…

‘Both have so much firepower you rarely delve deep into their offerings, even at speeds that’d make you blush in front of mother’ A-roads Good? It’s chuffin’ brilliant. We’re gambolling along uncluttered, switching, clean A-roads in mild late-spring weather, and Triumph’s Tiger 1200 is deeply impressive. For a towering bike that weighs a quarter of a ton and has a Harley-like wheelbase, the ease and accuracy with which it turns are remarkable. Especially as this is the Rally Pro version with high-rise, long-travel suspension and a Ferris wheel at the front. It has that signature Triumph trait of being agile yet cast-in-concrete secure, and the 1160cc three-cylinder engine is packed with accessible thrust. ‘I’ve ridden a Tiger 900 before and kind of had to learn how to love it,’ says…

Triumph Tiger Sport 660 Take your best seller, whack on a fairing and niceties to create an all-rounder, price keenly. Sounds like a recipe for giant-slaying success… Get up on your tippy-toes, strain your neck, maybe take a step to one side… ah yes, there it is, hidden behind many hundredweight of German touring lavishness. The new Tiger Sport 660 is the smallest bike in this group, but it’s only when nestled in among the whoppers that you realise there’s much more to it than engine displacement. It’s a bantam in a coop of extravagant roosters. It should have been expected, given the Tiger is the simplistic three-cylinder Trident – Triumph’s entry bike and their best seller last year – in upright do-anything form. They’ve copied what Yamaha did in…

If horse racing bosses decided the Grand National was to be contested by hippopotamuses, would you watch? Of course. That’s the appeal of bagger racing, where tourers with panniers (or ‘bags’ in Americanese) are thrashed by elite racers around America’s premier circuits. And this bike is an indirect result of that brilliant insanity. It’s not a race replica in the usual sense, instead the Low Rider ST takes inspiration from the styling of Harley’s championship-winning bikes and has the jacked up suspension needed to allow you to lean it over in the corners. In the States, lots of owners had been making these mods to their machines lately anyway, so all Harley have done is make a production version to save others the bother. Lots of it works really well.…

» Yamaha’s current Ténéré 700 made a massive impact on the sales chart, which is why its price has risen by £1500 since summer 2019. This means super-strong used values too – in fact, buying a used 700 won’t even save you a grand over what one cost new when launched almost three years ago. So if you’re on an adventure budget buy the XT660Z Ténéré (2008-2015) instead. Based on the legendary single-cylinder XT, you get convincing Dakar style, a proper trail-ready chassis pushed by a perky yet easy-to-master motor, and the feel of a bike that’ll slog on regardless of terrain, weather or the presence of engine oil. The fuel tank’s a useful 22 litres giving a 250-mile range, and though the finish isn’t quite to Honda’s standard there…

Furygan Higgins £103 furygan.com » I got these because I thought naming a race glove after a snooker legend was a bold move. But it turns out they’re nothing to do with Alex Hurricane Higgins, though Furygan couldn’t tell me where the name came from. Anyway, the gloves are good and look almost new after one summer’s heavy use, with no fraying seams or wear on the palm. The goat leather feels tough and takes some wearing in (especially across the knuckles where the plastic protector sits), but they’ve ended up extremely comfy. Solid glove. RST TracTech EVO 4 £99.99 rst-moto.com » Soon as I slip them on it feels like I am ready to weld or welcome a bird of prey. The double cuff and wrist strap secures me…

The honey-stone village of Uppingham in Rutland is quiet in the mornings – apart from the occasional thundery rumble of a Harley heading to the dealership beside the petrol station. This favourite 65-mile ride loops into Leicestershire before returning to England’s smallest county and lapping Rutland Water. The ride heads down the B664, complete with a hairpin, high-hedged chicanes and then a glorious rolling run over a series of epic crests. Turning right by the church in Medbourne, it heads to Hallaton – two villages that still engage in an annual bottle-kicking competition that’s hundreds of years old. This rollercoaster back road leads to a brief stretch of the A47 through Tugby, where cyclists’ favourite Café Ventoux does an excellent coffee. Picking up the B6047 through Tilton on the Hill,…

[RACING] Britain’s rising Moto3 star 18-year-old Scott Ogden is thriving in the Moto3 shark pool and could go far. Remember the name… With no UK riders in MotoGP this year and only Sam Lowes and Jake Dixon fighting the Spanish hoards in Moto2, it’s easy to feel despondent about Brits and GP racing. But there has been one sparkling glimmer of hope in 2022: Scott Ogden. The 18-year-old is in his first season of grand prix Moto3 and has already been scoring points for the VisionTrack Honda team, finishing three races just outside the top ten. For a rookie thrown into the lunatic world of Moto3 that’s deeply impressive. Part of the success is down to Scott rapidly working out what it takes to survive. ‘In Moto3 if you’re not…

What a ride it’s been so far. What a ride. Since leaving my home in Longmont, Colorado on 10 December, 2021 – just one day before a sizable snow storm rolled in and blanketed nearly every major artery in the state – I have covered 14,828 miles. Of those miles approximately 400 were on the Interstate and 14,428 spent exploring some of the United States’ and Mexico’s finest two lane backroads. The journey has taken me as far south as Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, back north to Arkansas, west to Kansas, back to Arkansas, back south again to Terlingua, Texas then West to Tucson, Phoenix, Yucca Valley and Los Angeles. From LA I began working my way north, up the Pacific Coast Highway until I reached the end of the road…

Tool of the month Old plastic door cards (and the like) I’m forever emptying my wallet of out of date plastic cards. Those with bank details on should be cut up small and disposed of sensibly, but the others I now throw into my tool box so that they can be re-used as scrapers. They’re stiff enough to bother old gaskets and grime, but flexible enough so’s not to damage fragile surfaces. Need a pokey item? Cut the card to the shape that you want with a craft knife and poke at those crevices with satisfaction. yoursforfree.com…

‘The R7 is pure, unadulterated fun (until your neck aches)’ The daffs are a yellow blur either side of the R7 as it streaks down the B660 while I squish myself nearer the tank in a futile attempt to be less of an aerodynamic catastrophe. Up ahead there’s a peculiar S-bend obscured by tall hedgerows that normally gives me the willies because it’s always tighter than I remember. Not today though. I’m out for my final ride on the R7, doing the same loop I took on my R1M long term test bike 18 months ago. Normally that amount of time difference would render any comparison meaningless – I’m not big on remembering things – but the R1M had a way of etching memories into my very soul in the…

Go to Spa The Endurance World Championship returns to the legendary Spa Francorchamps circuit (3 hours from Ostend) with a 24 hour race on 4-5 June. Team Bike is racing in the four hour classic race on the evening 4 June (5pm start). It should be quite a party. 24hspamotos.com…

‘It’s where those old GP shots of Sheene and Roberts wheelieing over train lines were taken’ AMCA Motocross All over the place, every weekend » My first bike racing memories are of watching a Coalville Motocross Club ‘scramble’ at Coleorton with my dad. They were – and still are – part of the Amateur Motorcycle Association, who have exciting, cheap to watch events all over the UK. In fact they run more than 900 events every year. There’ll be one near you. amca.uk.com Gurston Down Hillclimb Salisbury, 18-19 June » Having competed here myself (third in the road bike class, no less) I can vouch for the pleasing scenery, frantic riding and bewildering mixture of machinery. It’s £12.50 for the weekend and the viewing is smack next to the narrow…

Fit is everything » Getting the buggers to fit is key, whether disposable foam jobs or expensive moulded affairs. With foam, try a few different types – I find the straight shape of Honeywell’s Laser Lite a more effective and comfortable fit than their more popular bell-shaped Max plugs. Some firms do different sizes too. Find what suits best – comfort is top of the priorities. Push me pull you » Standard method: roll the plug to make it thin, open the ear canal by pulling on the top of the ear, slip it in. But everyone’s ears are different (see left) and you may find pulling your lobe down a better way of opening your hearing hole. Hold in place while they expand – manufacturers recommend around 40 seconds.…

I have no idea where I’m going. The only indication that I’m still heading in the right direction is the hazy mist of dust hanging in the air in front of me. And I’m locked onto it. Ducati’s test rider is somewhere up ahead there, drifting into blind turns and jumping over crests, leading us ever deeper into Sardinia’s ruggedness. His trail of powdery airborne dirt is our pathfinder through thick forests, deep valleys and eventually to the next stretch of twisting tarmac. The bike I’m lost-ish on is Ducati’s new DesertX, Bologna’s first Rally Raid adventure machine. I’m in Enduro mode (one of six rider settings, two of which are off-road specific) which is filling in the many blanks in my trail riding ability. The level of ABS intervention…

It’s almost ten years since my first spin on an electric bike. It was an early Zero S and it was disappointing. But that was a decade ago and this latest Zero SR/S Premium has turned my head in a different way, because… it’s very good indeed. Introduced last year, the SR/S is a classy sports tourer. Think Kawasaki Ninja 1000SX with whirring rev ‘n’ go power. Actually, no – imagine the SX with the performance of its blown H2 stablemates. Zero’s newest motor has 110bhp and a vast 140 lb.ft of torque. This is 65% more grunt than Harley’s rival LiveWire and 29 pound-feet more than Suzuki’s starship Hayabusa, and so the SR/S is properly fast. The way it leaps off the line is startling, but it’s how it…

BIG TWIN, SMALL WORRY KTM’s eight-valve V-twin has solid reliability. Originally 1148cc, it grew to 1195cc for the RC8R in 2009 (2mm wider bore) and also got longer-duration cams and titanium valves. For 2011 there were twin-spark heads, revised cams, a heavier flywheel for improved low-speed feel and fresh maps. On earlier RC8s service intervals are 4500 miles (oil and filter) and 9000 miles (includes valve clearance check), but as the unit became proven KTM extended the intervals to 6214 and 12,428 miles. Which means later bikes are more powerful and cheaper to maintain. SHARP OR SMOOTH? Like all KTMs of the early 2000s, the throttle response is either fabulously crisp or snappily harsh depending on your tastes. Folk who bought an RC8R in 2009 got a free upgrade with…

£125,000 FN Four » When was the first four-cylinder bike engine? 1950s maybe? Er, no. Belgian arms manufacturer Fabrique Nationale (FN) launched its multi at the 1905 Paris Motorcycle Show. That’s 117 years ago. Exported to over 40 countries, the 362cc motor gave a 40mph top speed and made the FN a huge hit. This example is from 1912 with later improvements that include a 498cc, 5bhp motor, in-built fuel filter and a Bosch magneto. This one has the optional clutch and two-speed gearbox and is registered and ready to ride. £70,500 Henderson KJ » Ducati are best known for V-twins and Triumph’s signature is the triple. But if a brand is really attached to a configuration it’s American firm Henderson, who built nothing but inline fours from 1912 until…

ACCOMMODATING Passengers get a large pillion seat and a solid handle. ‘It’s comfy and better on the back than most bikes, ’ reckons teenage son Ed, ‘but the grab handle isn’t as easy to hold onto as you’d think.’ Pop the perch off and there’s enough stashing space for a tightly-packed oversuit. RUDDY ’ECK, PROPER BITS For younger readers: this was known as a ‘bungee hook’ and used to be fitted to motorbikes to allow riders to use strap-on luggage. The Busa also has them on the grab rail, and with that sizeable pillion seat it’s a doddle to secure throwovers, tailpacks or crates of beer. SURPRISING LONGEVITY According to interweb know-it-alls the Suzuki will consume a rear tyre every ten minutes. But our OE Bridgestone S22 has done almost…

Last month I signed off by saying that we were hoping for regular top six places for our rider Franco Bourne in this year’s Junior Superstock race series. Last year he finished the championship in tenth place, with a best finish of fifth, but he’s starting this season with a year’s worth of experience in the championship and with the bike, plus we as a team have got more experience of helping him with set-up, motivation and race craft too. Coming into the season with a plan in place helps too and we’d already done some test days before the first race. Franco’s now being looked after at the races by Marvel HCL Motorsport so there’s less for me to do, and the Kawasaki ZX-6R is being prepared by Dave…

Referring to Honda’s two-stroke 500 as successful is like saying ten pints of Fuggin’s Old Basher gets you a bit tipsy. The NSR ruled Grand Prix racing from the late ’80s until the four-stroke MotoGP regulations arrived in 2002. In 1997 the Honda won every race, and during ’99 reached 22 consecutive victories. Sure, granite-hard rider Mick Doohan played his part, but the NSR500 was a head, shoulders and most of its torso above rivals. This must have been a relief for Honda’s suits, as their very first NSR was a wonderful failure. They’d returned to GPs in the late ’70s after a decade away, boldly tackling the dominant two strokes with a four stroke. Or trying to. Despite Spam-shaped pistons and wild revs their NR500 was rubbish, so for…