Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2025 i BIKE

When Kawasaki decided to hand over its World Superbike team slot to Bimota (which it owns), there was much befuddlement. Why would Kawasaki take such a risk? We now have the answers: a) because the new Bimota KB998 is seriously fast, and b) because WSB success could sell KB998s in a way it never did for ZX-10Rs. The KB998 you see here is the road-going version of the race bike – Bimota must build 500 of them to be eligible for World Supers. In road trim it’s essentially a standard 197bhp ZX-10R engine bolted into Bimota’s handmade steel trellis frame adorned with high-end components and cloaked in the world’s tastiest carbon fibre. The race bike has an identical frame, but a race-tuned engine. ‘When Bimota riders Alex Lowes and Axel…

It’s easy to forget what an off-road powerhouse CCM used to be. Back in 1977, for example, a couple of CCMs led the British motocross GP, keeping swarms of Japanese factory bikes behind them. They didn’t ultimately win it, but the episode was enough to scare Honda Racing Corporation (HRC), who bought a CCM and took it back to Japan to forensically examine. And now the Bolton firm are heading back towards dirt with this, the Project X. As with all recent CCMs, it’s Spitfire based, with the same 600cc single-cylinder engine and TIG-welded steel frame as the popular road bike range. But thanks to a bigger fuel tank, long-travel suspension and new wheel sizes, Project X has become a serious off-road tool according to CCM. ‘The Spitfire range has…

Oxford Canyon MS Boots WHAT IS IT? We’ve all seen casual or even trainer-style bike boots. You’ve probably got a pair. And now you can get a pair that look like walking boots. Protection has the higher CE 2 certification for abrasion, impact and rigidity, they’re waterproof, and there’s a deeply treaded grippy sole in case you need to climb a hillside. WHAT DO WE LIKE? Good protection, and they’re waterproof, so that’s the essentials sorted. The classic lace-up fastening will mean a nice, snug fit, and they don’t look bikey at all – if that matters to you. If they actually work as walking boots, imagine how much better trudging around Silverstone will be. HOW MUCH AND WHERE FROM? £129.99 oxfordriderwear.com Merlin Curborough heated glove WHAT IS IT? Made…

Where do you start? Since Coventry-based Excelsior first screwed together a ‘motor-bicycle’ in 1896 there’s been a list of British manufacturers as long as a long person’s arm. Many are lost to time – you won’t have sat on the latest model from Campion, Martinsyde or Grindlay Peerless at the NEC this year – but others have legendary status. They were responsible for making Britain the capital of the motorcycle world. Some are still at it. The two-wheel conveyances they’ve created have dominated sales, ruled racing, touched hearts and shaped biking. (And, admittedly, some of them have been awful, but rough with the smooth and all that.) We assembled a gaggle of journalists, authors, road testers and hangers-on to try to decide which machine represents the British peak. Not easy.…

Fifteen years ago, BMW did something that would have been inconceivable a few years earlier. The firm with a reputation for stout mile-swallowing motorcycles wheeled out a rip-snorting, fire-breathing, pant-straining sportsbike. Packing benchmark horsepower and unprecedented levels of electronic wizardry, the impact made by the 2010 S1000RR was ginormous. Not on the racetrack – BMW’s official entry in World Superbikes has often been there or thereabouts, but never been the preferred mount. Yes, the German factory won the 2024 title, but that was with the bells-and-whistles M1000RR and thanks in no small amount to the bewildering talents of Toprak Razgatlioglu – just look where the rest of the BMWs finished. But not being at the front in World or British Superbikes hasn’t affected sales. The S1000RR has consistently been the…

No matter how astounding they sound at the time, most of the ideas coming out of a group of motorcycle-riding blokes sitting around a pub table on a winter’s evening aren’t genuinely that good. But this was one of those rare occasions where the light bulb still looked bright when we’d sobered up. The pub is The Admiral Wells in Holme, Cambridgeshire, which has the claim of being the lowest-altitude pub in the UK. Amazing food and beer aside, it’ll be a terrible place to hide out when the glaciers melt. And this starts to steer our lubricated conversation. ‘People ride from here to the highest-altitude pub on pushbikes, did you know?’ proclaims Yorkshire Dan Howden, wearing a T-shirt with a Honda C90 on (this particular evening two of our…

‘Yes, it resembles a 1990s GP hero, but it’s a sportsbike for the modern age’ Things that happen when you spend three months with the XSR900 GP, #1: you spend a disproportionate amount of time gazing at it. I never tire of lingering in the shed after each ride, savouring the fact that right there between my lawn mower and some tins of paint is Wayne Rainey’s YZR500. Or maybe Eddie Lawson’s. Or Niall Mackenzie’s – depends which daydream I’m having. Obviously it doesn’t look, sound or smell like a YZR, but the trigger is there – I’ve never had such a warm nostalgic glow from a mass‑produced bike. But look closely at it, and there are enough neat touches to make you believe the designers are just as smitten…

Twenty years ago 600cc sportsbikes sold like air fryers and the Supersport class thrived. Grids were packed with 140bhp R6s, CBR600RRs, ZX-6Rs and GSX-R600s, and the likes of Cal Crutchlow, Chaz Davies and Leon Camier used it as a springboard to greater things. But after the 2008 credit crunch, 600 sales waned and Supersport became a technical dead end. Great riders still won it, but there was no strength in depth. Now things are changing. For 2025 the class will use New Generation Supersport rules, which means the bikes will have their power balanced to create a level playing field. That means the latest Honda CBR600RR (599cc four-cylinder) can race Yamaha’s new R9 (890cc triple), Ducati’s new Panigale V2 (890cc V-twin), Triumph’s Street Triple 765 (765cc triple), Kawasaki’s ZX-6R (636cc…

Yes it’s essentially an R12 nineT in a 1970s frock, but what a frock. The simple addition of a nose fairing and some Daytona Orange paint has turned the confusingly-named naked into one of the coolest new bikes of 2025. It’s a clever trick because it doesn’t actually look much like the bike it’s paying homage to. The 1973 R90S was famous for its svelte, delicate styling and two-tone paint that misted together to create a unique custom-esque look. By comparison, the new R12S looks bigger, denser and way more imposing. And yet… ‘Defining design elements include the handlebar-mounted cockpit fairing with the tinted windshield,’ says BMW Design head Alexander Buckan, ‘plus the seat with contrast stitching, and the Lava Orange metallic paint finish as a nod to the R90S…

My first bike was a Honda CBR125R, which I rode for four months. After that I tested Honda’s CBR650F, CBR600RR and CB1000, and a Triumph Speed Triple. I’m only 5ft 3in so found many bikes too tall and heavy. I then went to my local Triumph dealer and tested a Street Triple 675 – and loved it. I could touch the floor, and it was light enough to give me confidence. I bought it there and then. ‘After two years, I bought a 2017 Street Triple 765 RS. Wow. What a difference. The one thing I didn’t like on the 675 was the snatchy throttle. Thinking back, it was probably inexperience, but with the 765 the throttle was fly-by-wire and so much smoother. There was more power, too… ‘My RS…

Leicester, rush hour. The city centre streets buzz with commuters desperate to get home. Beeping horns, overly loud car stereos, and the din of big diesel engines provide the soundtrack to this semi-controlled chaos. But amid the hustle and bustle I’m having a blast, because I’m on the Triumph Speed 400. The little Triumph’s deft agility is my weapon against this sea of slow-moving traffic. Darting in and out of gaps between cars, vans and buses becomes the game – a challenge this small yet perfectly formed 400 executes with aplomb. Every set of lights offers another chance to charge off the line, snick through the butter-smooth gearbox, dive on the brakes and weave through the next inevitable queue to do it all again. Making light work of city traffic…

After 20 years of sportsbike worship, British biking got its biggest shake-up in a generation in the early 2000s. We went adventure bike crazy. Now, another 20 years on, we’re on the cusp of the next shape-shifting change. Large, go-anywhere bikes stay big business – BMW don’t struggle to shift GS models – but smaller, more affordable, less complicated bikes have been stamping their authority for the past few years. Topping sales figures, bikes like these are now where it’s at. Surprisingly, given their pedigree and the fact the Himalayan is so good, Royal Enfield’s Guerrilla 450 doesn’t quite hit the mark. Sure, there are positives. The engine’s great – the best of this trio, in fact. It offers the roomiest ergonomics. It’s solidly built. And it’s enjoyable to ride.…

Triumph Speed Twin RS Imagine an eye-poking supernaked in a smart tweed suit… What’s new? It’s the very fine Speed Twin 1200 with blingy chassis parts, five extra horses, a quickshifter, lean-aware traction control, and a more modern display replacing the twin dials. With lighter wheels and shorter pipes, ready-to-frolic weight is down to 216kg. Bike’s opinion Sure, the new RS is kind-of hefty next to a full-on modern supernaked and the chassis is set up for on-road stability. However, with its firmer suspension, increased rear ride height and sporty tyres, the Triumph is a joy to thread through a series of turns. It’s retained just enough road-bike plushness, too. The extra oomph of the 1200cc twin brings even more wallop and excitement, while still being soft and cuddly when…

This magazine is to blame for this purchase. Rewind back to 1998 and Bike’s glitzy ‘Bike of the Year’ photoshoot. At the time I was the 17-year-old work experience kid (what an education) and was laughing at the Deauville. Why? At that time I believed that sportsbikes were everything. Bike has always brilliantly championed the diverse and eclectic machines available, and so I was quickly educated about the Honda. And they let me ride it into the huge barn being used for the photoshoot, making it the first road bike over 125cc that I’d ever ridden. You don’t forget your first… Age and experience have since taught me rather a lot, and that reliability and functionality have their place. Bring on the centrestand and panniers. Immaturity means I’m still always…

You can trace the early gestation of the electric motorcycle back to the late 19th century, should you care to. Bike prefers to major on the first electric motorcycle offered for sale: the 1975 Corbin-Gentry XLP-1. The XLP-1 was of its time. The 1973 Yom Kippur War between Israel and Arab coalition forces resulted in a huge oil price spike, with US gasoline rising from 39 to 53 cents a gallon by 1974. People were desperate to drop fossil fuels for something else – anything else. Mike Corbin – totally the right man in just about the right place at almost the right time – had the expertise, the funds, and the vision to provide an alternative. Corbin had left the US Navy in 1964 as an electrician and set…

Chinese companies rightfully get stick when they buy the rights of a famous motorbike brand, claim they love the heritage and then plonk a rip-off CB500 or ER-6 engine into the most famous model. So hats off to Znen – owners of Moto Morini – for developing a 350cc V-twin to power the new Morini 3½. In a world of 400cc parallel twins and singles, the 3½ looks -and will probably sound – pleasingly different. The new motor shares little with the old 1974 job aside from the V, though even that is a different angle – now 60 degrees rather than the original’s 72. There’s also water-cooling instead of air, double overhead cams instead of single, and a higher compression ratio. Despite all that – and 50 years of…

ON THE DYNO Testing notes: BMW’s fuelling is more refined, and in the lower half of the revs – the bit you use most – it has the edge. Voge’s top-end advantage countered by the bike’s weight and tall gears. AT THE PROVING GROUND Testing notes: The Voge’s extra weight, drag and higher gearing punish it everywhere; the BMW might be the ‘soft’ version of the engine, but it’s livelier to ride. Surprisingly, the heavier Chinese bike stops in less distance – more weight is transferred by longer suspension, helps the tyre grip, and stops the ABS joining in.…

Which helmet is the UK’s favourite? What race meeting has the biggest crowd, and which place for food, tea and bike-based banter is the most popular? To try to find the best by any sort of credible yardstick, we’ve applied some ‘science’ and, where not available, asked the experts in their field and referred to suitable polls to find out the best-sellers and biggest award winners. Here are the most popular of all in 10 of the most popular motorcycling categories… Used dealer: Superbike Factory Phil Martin, manager for MCN’s dealer team sales: ‘They’ll never win an overall Dealer of the Year award because they only deal with second-hand bikes and a few new 125s. But I would say they’re the biggest dealer in terms of used bikes – and…

There’s a bullish swagger to the Guerrilla. Or at least to how Royal Enfield see their new model’s impact on the naked roadster class. The Indian marque’s account of this 450 single reads like a lesson in barely concealed contempt for the competition. ‘Modern roadsters look generic, sound synthetic and feel plastic,’ asserts the barbed marketing guff, before stepping in for the killer blow. ‘The Guerrilla 450 is a declaration of independence from this mind-numbing conformity. In an age where automation has dulled sensation, algorithms have stifled imaginations, and feature sets have replaced soul – the Guerrilla stands defiantly apart.’ Fighting talk aside, we should be in little doubt that the Guerrilla is a stripped-back, no-nonsense roadster. Less is more, if you will. But watching Bruce – a fella usually…

Blink and you'll miss 'em Alex Hope and Bertrand Maurice fire off the line on their Pro Stock bikes at this year’s event. How does 190mph in seven seconds grab you? The series has loads of bike classes, including Super Street, Super Twin and – hairiest of them all – Top Fuel. There’s even a Junior Drag Bike Cup for the next generation, too. ‘The series has loads of bike classes… there’s even a Junior Drag Bike Cup for the next generation’ The Beast awakens Per Bengtsson fires up his Super Twin bike, aka The Beast. ‘I’ve won the championship four times before in the past,’ he says. ‘The engine is my own design completely, it’s actually a very old design – I created it in 1992. It’s running 90…

When I hear the phrase ‘famous British bike engine’, the first thing that pops into my mind is a parallel twin. Our famous industry was built on the things. Long-time readers of my stuff may recall I’ve never got too hot and bothered about such layouts (except two-strokes, ahem) and so I must confess a bit of a blind spot. Of course, a bit more thinking makes one realise that other layouts were enthusiastically followed, and then you remember that the good old British bike industry was from a time so long ago that mass production of engines with more than two cylinders really hadn’t yet begun – until the Japanese killed our industry with the things. Accepting this, there are only a few ways to dispose two cylinders, and…

TOKEN GESTURE Conveniently, Suzuki have provided somewhere to place a passenger, and they even get a grab whatsit. The seat-to-peg bit is okay, but the perch itself is just that. Teenage son Ed struggled with the strap and had a sore arse after an hour. Three hours and he’d really had enough. ESSENTIALS ONLY My fat-bummed GSX-R750 SRAD has enough room under the seat hump for a sack of spuds. The thin, lithe, modern GSX-8R doesn’t. You need to decide if your wallet, phone or teddy bear are most important. Even my Oxford disc lock only fits with a bit of jiggling. NICE AND SIMPLE No subframe bungee points; instead, there are two fabric straps that can be unfurled from under the pillion pad. They’re handy, but it’d be better…

When the Himmy was released, there wasn’t anything like it. It was a mountain goat rather than a gazelle – it wasn’t graceful or beautiful, but it could do anything and was greater than the sum of its parts. It cost £4199 – back then you could spend more than that on a scooter that had about the same fuel economy. You could ride it as a commuter, you could do gentle trails, you could treat it like a classic and go for a potter round – that long-stroke engine is just lovely. Having owned, sold, customised [after falling in love with Enfields, Ian started Cooperb, selling and modifying them] and of course ridden plenty, I know those early Himalayans are really special. ‘Mountain goat rather than gazelle’ There were…

Riding a sidecar round corners is not a dark art – it’s just different. And once you get your head round it you can have some really good fun – I’ve heard so many riders say they wished they tried it years ago. The problem motorcyclists have is that because a sidecar has all the controls in the same place as a bike, they think it will behave the same. Which it doesn’t. The main thing is to realise you have to steer in the direction you want to go. Lots of motorcyclists who hop on a sidecar go straight on at the first corner because they instinctively try to countersteer and lean, neither of which will work. Left-handers are more difficult than right-handers for a couple of reasons. Firstly,…