Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2025 i BIKE

Defining ‘best’ can be bothersome. One person's idea of the finest music will be different to another's. You might say that a sliver of something artisan, hand-pressed, pan-seared and sprinkled with unicorn tears is superior dining, but I'd argue seaside fish and chips are better (and of course I'd be right). We've crowned a Bike of the Year pretty much every year since Bike was founded way back in 1971. At times it's been quite serious – at one point we used complex equations to pick the best bike, based on values for performance, handling, comfort, innovation and the like. But we had a light-bulb moment a few years ago. We had assembled a collection of that year's new tackle for a front cover photoshoot, and were discussing the various…

With a 998cc capacity, 195kg weight and a wheelbase of 1473mm, the specs of this Series ‘A’ Vincent-HRD Rapide V‑twin are strikingly similar to modern superbikes. Okay, so the Rapide's 110mph top speed is down a bit, but it was a revelation back in 1937 – it was the fastest production vehicle ever made and capable of twice the speed most traffic could manage. Think Ducati V4 R and then some. And this Rapide, up for auction in Bonhams’ autumn sale, is a cracker. It's the 13th of 78 Series A Rapides ever built, and one of only a handful known to retain its original frame, engine, gearbox and registration number. The reason it looks so immaculate is down to Colin Jenner, a lifelong Vincent obsessive who ran a specialist…

THE BIG PROBLEM Ducati don't make the 955cc V2 anymore so teams are scrambling for bikes and spares. ‘We're lucky,’ says Leigh, ‘because we bought two brand-new bikes last season, knowing this was going to happen.’ ENGINE The old 955cc V-twin Superquadro motor with Desmodromic valves, high-flow injectors and huge intakes. Too powerful for World Supersport rules, so heavily restricted. Ducati will release a racing kit for the new non-Desmo V2 in 2027, but until then, this is the engine to have. LOOM Custom-made so the team can move components about – the battery, for example, is up front because the TT-spec petrol tank now runs under the seat. SUSPENSION The forks get Öhlins FGR kits (the stanchions are standard) and there's an Öhlins rear shock. Dunlop uses the standard…

Iarrive at Pramac Yamaha's paddock hospitality a few minutes early for my one-on-one with Jack Miller. (Important note: don't be late for interviews with MotoGP riders because they'll never forgive you.) As I'm walking up the stairs to the first floor, Miller is on his way down, in a hurry. ‘Sorry, mate,’ he says. ‘I need to go for a shit.’ Miller returns ten minutes later, laughing. ‘I couldn't even sit down on the centre of the scooter on my way to the motorhome – I was about to shit myself and I ain't kidding.’ You can take the Aussie out of Australia, but you can't take Australia out of the Aussie. This is the 30-year-old's 11th season as MotoGP's Aussie out of Australia. During that time he has signed…

Identity is a difficult and sometimes contentious thing. When I lived in Wales, for example, it came up a lot in conversations. ‘What does it mean to be Welsh?’ people seemed to ask themselves. ‘And how can I prove that being Welsh makes me better than the English?’ Ducati's new XDiavel V4 is a motorcycle going through its own identity crisis. Ducati calls the feet-forward machine a cruiser, but… ah… well, there's the contentious bit. They're wrong. Or, at the very least, they're confused. Another Italian of confused identity was Napoleon Bonaparte. So, on a stretch of road in southern France that honours him, I'm spending some time trying to figure out what the XDiavel V4 is and isn't. ‘Wait,’ I hear you say. ‘I know American schools are not…

Oliver's, but not as you know it Legendary track Oliver's Mount in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. For the British Supermoto Championship the track is modified, with jumps, off-road sections and seriously tight twisting chicanes. On paper it's a strange combination of bikes, riding styles and track conditions – but it makes for some engrossing racing. Slipping ‘n’ sliding Alex Mullaney, 17, slides into the main straight on his Italian-built TM 450 SMK – the 449cc, 115kg bike model that's won multiple World Supermoto titles. Despite his age Mullaney is one of the quickest riders. ‘I won the academy championship in my second year, then I won it in 2019. Now I'm under-21 British Supermoto champion.’ Mullaney sees it as a stepping stone into the world of road racing. ‘It's a good…

R&G single-sided stand £155 This stand holds my bikes securely and upright for a start, which is not the case with many stands for Pro-Arm bikes. It's easy to get different pins (£25-£50, depending on fitment) so it's propped up a Honda, KTM, Triumph and Ducati. The larger ones are nylon-overed with a cut-out for the hub nut securing clip so they slide in easily, though the small-diameter alloy pins need a squirt of dry lube. This one is 11 years old but you wouldn't know it, paint chips aside. It'll never get sold with a bike… rg-racing.com…

I've always liked unusual bikes – my previous ride was a Buell Ulysses and I used to have a Gilera RC600 – but when the V85 first came out in 2019 I couldn't afford one. Then in 2021 they released the centenary version in green and grey with the brown saddle and I really liked that – it was classy. I did think about a GS, but they're massive and expensive – I couldn't justify one for the casual riding I do. So I bought a new pre-registered V85 in 2022. It was a 2021-plate with 120 miles on it – all my previous bikes have been used but I wanted to keep my hands clean for a few years so I splashed out. I've done several UK trips on…

Enjoy the ample power, smooth running and enchanting soundtrack of your contemporary Triumph triple or Yamaha MT-09? You have Messrs Doug Hele and Bert Hopwood of the BSA-Triumph group to thank. As early as 1963 the pair had sketched out a three-cylinder engine that could be built relatively cheaply by using componentry from the Triumph 5TA 500cc twin. By fabricating a new middle crankcase section, casting a new cylinder and head, and forging a crankshaft, a 740cc triple was on the cards. Naturally enough for the time, no one wielding executive power paid a blind bit of notice to this invention and the plans were stuffed into a drawer and forgotten about. Until it dawned on management that perhaps they needed something other than superannuated twins to keep a toehold…

Bike: The voice of motorcycling since 1971 It's a scorching June day at Washbrook Farm motocross track. This is the culmination of a week-long group test pitching Ducati's new Multistrada 1200 S against BMW's R1200GS and Yamaha's long-awaited Super Ténéré 1200. We're sweating buckets in our two-piece leathers – even affable antipodean, Dakar Rally veteran and long-time Bike collaborator Simon Pavey, who we've convinced to don some second-hand Spidis. We have this track to ourselves, reasoning that it would let two dirt novices (Mike Armitage and me) wobble round without anyone laughing while Pavey could do some spectacular skids for the cover. We had no idea how spectacular things would get… It was a transitional year for Ducati, British motorcycling, and Bike. Sportsbike sales were plummeting, yet the GS's popularity…

‘Your brain is working so hard to process all the visual information that time stops and you exist in a mesmeric bubble of pure concentration’ At 9.42pm on a drizzly April evening I'm waved away by the cheery start team of Britain's longest long-distance trial. Ahead lie 16 gnarly trials sections and 243 miles of trails and lanes that wriggle from Bridgwater in Somerset to Redruth in Cornwall. It's a 16-hour test of skill, endurance and navigation. And by 9.43pm I'm lost. I somehow miss the exit and tour Bridgwater Rugby Club car park wondering where everyone's gone until a sniggering attendant waves me out onto the main road. This idiocy is, as I fear, a sign of things to come. In fact, there's been a healthy dollop of idiocy…

» 2015 Ducati had launched the Diavel in 2011, a hypernaked-cruiser thing with a swollen V-twin and caricature looks. Yet despite its huge rear tyre, the Diavel handled – editor Armitage recalls being on a GSX-R and being thrashed by one (admittedly ridden by James Haydon). Four years later, Ducati show the new XDiavel at EICMA. Driven by a 1262cc Testastretta DVT V-twin engine, it's a more foot-forward and cruiser-like variant promising ‘low-speed excitement’. A mood board showing inspiration for the bike contains no cruisers. » 2016 XDiavel arrives. In our September 2016 issue, Armitage describes it thus: ‘Overwhelming engine output and a track-ready chassis while in the body position of an arse-dragging water-skier.’ An S version is soon revealed, promising a handful of blingy upgrades. » 2018 The XDiavel…

With their rim-mounted single front disc, frame that doubles as a fuel tank and, er, unique looks, there's no mistaking a Buell. The company that started in 1983 making naked bikes powered by Harley-Davidson's Sportster engines but then, under Harley's ownership, diversified into sportsbikes with a liquid-cooled V-twin have always forged their own design path. But reliability issues and changes of ownership have made for a perilous existence. Now, with yet another hand at the helm, Buell Motorcycles are back and the first of a new range have landed in the UK – a £23,720 1190SX naked and this £24,670 Hammerhead 1190 sportsbike. Third time lucky? Is founder Erik Buell still involved? No. Erik's last dealings with the company came when he formed Erik Buell Racing (EBR) out of the…

As a graphic designer, my life is all about making things look appealing, so I had immediate problems with the RE. Each time I clapped eyes on it I desperately wanted to feel some tingling of lust, some smidgeon of pride, something, anything except mild disgust… However, after 5500 miles it's won me over. I still wish it looked prettier, but I do now want one in my garage. My conversion to V-Stromery started with the engine. The parallel twin is a lesson in midrange shunt and has the lazy roll-on friendliness of some larger bikes. The throttle response is velvety and accurate, the top end is fizzy enough for me to keep up with my mates, and it has just enough vibration to remind me I'm on a motorcycle,…

All the gear, no idea. Or not much of one, at least. Our BMW S1000R long-term test bike is an exceptional device, but I've been trundling along feeling like I'm doing just that – trundling. It's not a speed thing – the Beemer supernaked has more firepower than a particularly tooled-up A-Team. It's more to do with confidence. I think I've contracted lean angle fear. To remedy this, I'm at Mallory Park in Leicestershire for the BMW Performance Academy. Obviously, it's track-based, but I'm hoping a bit of guidance and tuition can do wonders for my confidence and let me better gel with the rabid S1000R. It's not a regular trackday. Headed by former National Superstock champion Taylor Mackenzie, there's a host of big-name riders supplying instruction for a remarkably…

‘Doesn't slavishly replicate an old model, but nods in its general direction’ SEAT This is apparently a new flatter design. Looks exactly like the one on the GSX-8S to us… TANK New 16.5-litre fuel tank is a useful 2.5 litres up on the GSX-S and R. It blends into the new radiator-masking shrouds. ENGINE Unchanged from the GSX-8R and S: 776cc parallel twin with 270° crankshaft and a balancer shaft. It makes 82bhp at 8500rpm and 58 lb.ft at 6800rpm. FAIRING Squint and there's a bit of GS1000S about it. The round LED headlight with a horizontal strip across it is new too. Kawasaki Z900RS, Yamaha XSR900GP, BMW R12 nineT, Honda GB350S, Triumph Bonneville… the demand for retros seems insatiable. So it's no surprise that Suzuki have hopped on the…

THIS COULD HELP THE ENVIRONMENT Petrol hasn't always been made using dead dinosaurs – it used to be biofuel. And it's possible that future fuels – and the internal combustion engine – could actually help reduce CO2 emissions. Now there's a thought. Because motorcycle engineering is beautiful The thing about fuel is that we just take it for granted. It's like it has always been there, at the pumps, available to fill our bikes and let us go about our business with the minimum of fuss. In reality, though, there has been a symbiotic relationship between the auto and fuel industries for a very long time, and the two technology streams have improved in tandem with each other. But which came first, the chicken or the egg, and what do…

Your test of the Tracer 9 GT, with mentions of ‘grinding pegs’ and ‘showers of sparks’, triggered an old memory… It's the end of a summer day in 1981. I'm on my Honda H100A at a junction in a Sussex village, waiting as a bike comes towards me. It's a water buffalo (Suzuki GT750) being ridden two-up at a good pace, and the rider is signalling left. He slows, swings into the turn… and realises that the turn is sharper than he expected, with an uphill gradient and adverse camber. He leans the bike way over to the left, and everything grounds: pegs, stands, maybe the exhaust as well. Clattering, grinding, scraping, sparks all over the place. With a mighty heave on the bars he gets it upright again. But…

And then there were three. Yamaha's R9, Triumph's Tiger Sport 800 and Honda's CB1000 Hornet SP. After totting up the votes, this trio stand proudly atop our ranking. But which is our winner, earning a spot in history as 2025's Bike of the Year? With the scores so close, we need further investigation to decide the final podium positions. An award this important can't be handed out on the basis of mere mathematics, the vagaries of personal predilections, or whoever's voice shouts loudest in the Bike office. No, this calls for motorcycling's most forensic analytical arena: a ride somewhere nice. The scene was set. We'd round up the rostrum rivals and pitch them head-to-head-to-head over a 250-mile trip to the Peak District, the UK's original national park. These are the…

Brilliant. Just as some of us are getting older and calming down a bit, here's BMW with a sports tourer they say ‘offers an even sportier riding experience than its predecessor’. All we wanted was more tank range and a comfier seat. But the new R1300RS is a step up in spec over the 1250, with more performance from the same 1300cc flat twin in the R1300GS, RT and naked R, sportier ergonomics, and new optional gadgets like radar-assisted cruise control, semi-automatic transmission and improved semi-active suspension thanks to the world's first variable spring rate. But does more sportiness and technology make the new RS a better sports tourer? Our bike is the SE ASA Triple Black model with Comfort (heated grips and seat) and Dynamic (semi-active suspension, extra rider…

Another month, another Chinese bike that looks like it could be a stoating bargain. But before we get to that, let's tackle a more fundamental question: who are Zontes? Well, they're owned by the Guangdong Tayo Motorcycle Technology Company, a Chinese manufacturer that's been knocking out mini cars and sub-300cc bikes for more than 20 years. Zontes is the firm's European motorcycle brand. Last year they announced their entry into the middleweight market with a range of bikes powered by an all-new 699cc triple – the first of which is this, the ZT703-F. A sportsbike is following very soon, too. With a price of £6999 (plus on the road costs), a three-pot motor that makes it unique in the sub-100bhp adventure world, a hefty spec sheet and plenty of dealers,…

When I started to think about moving up from my Lexmoto Hunter 50 to a 125, the first words that came to mind were ‘two’ and ‘stroke’. Obviously, being 17, I want the raciest thing possible, so spent many hours on Facebook Marketplace looking for an Aprilia RS125 or Honda NSR125. There was more to it than smoky performance. I was looking for a bike that appeared bigger than a 125 – at 6ft tall, I didn't want it to look like a pit bike. There were a few cheap RSs, but it soon became apparent that half-decent old two-strokes are fetching a lot of money; I wanted the pre-2006 RS125 with the GP-style curvy bodywork, and minty ones can fetch £5000. Knowing they can be finicky and require careful…