Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2025 i Fast Bikes

It's been one of the busiest starts to a year that I can remember, testing a real mixed bag of bikes all over the place. I've probably said it before, but launches are the icing on the cake, getting to clock miles for the first time, while taking in new sights, new circuits, and meeting some of the most interesting folk in the industry who you'd otherwise not meet. Quite often, you get to learn all kinds of things about the bikes heading our way and the thinking behind the different manufacturers. A brand's ethos is what makes and shapes its line-up and the reason why most manufacturers have their own slant on things. That being the case, a chat with a good friend at Yamaha recently hammered home that…

BMW has also given the M1000R a yery tiny going over and had some available for me to ride alongside the more heavily updated S1000R. The engine is now Euro 5 + kitten friendly spec, it gets the same quick-action throttle, and the same update to the electronic algorithms that the S1000R got – and that's it, so in real terms, not that much the write about. However, it is worth reminding ourselves that the M1000R is not an M1000RR without a fairing and fitted with the electronic suspension from the S1000R. It might not be pure M1000RR, but it is very different gravy to the S1000R. While it is a bit of a mongrel, it does have some M1000RR in it – only because the 2023 S1000RR does. You…

It is inevitable that with the passage of time and with a priority of winning races, sportsbikes in general have become more and more focused and extreme in their natures. Personally, I'm okay with that, as nowadays a modern sportsbike commands as much interest and respect for its ingenuity and engineering as it does for its performance. However, it is also a fact that as sportsbikes have become more loaded with technology and single-minded, they have also started carrying bigger price tags, which may or may not put some people off. So, it's a relief and comfort that in very recent times we've seen a couple of bikes emerge which can legitimately claim to be sportsbikes, but due to their origins are much softer and friendly with how they deliver…

By the end of the day, both of us were well and truly satisfied with our day's riding, having spent it buzzing around my local roads and messing about on a runway. Maybe we'd have felt differently if we'd thrown a trackday or evening in too, but we didn't, so we'll never know. That said, Bruce rode the XSR 900GP on track at its launch, and I rode the Speed Triple RR on track at its launch, and we both reported that they were perfectly adequate at scratching out the laps without any fuss. The question in my mind is whether these two bikes are the start of a new genre of bikes or if it's just two manufacturers taking full advantage of some existing platforms that are already in…

DUCATI TRICOLORE ITALIA They do like a ‘limited-edition special’ at the Ducati factory – and we like ‘em too. This is the Panigale V4 S Tricolore Italia, unveiled at the Italian ‘Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy’ by Ducati boss Claudio Domenicali and Ducati racing guru Gigi Dall'lgna, alongside the government minister Adolfo Urso. And it's a cracker. Limited to just 163 bikes, the paint scheme is a replica of the factory bike raced at Mugello last season, the ‘Azzuri’ blue celebrating the Italian national sports teams. The team scored a one-two on the podium at that race, and the 163 number refers to Pecco Bagnais's ‘1’ position and ‘63’ race number. A little clumsy, we say, but there ye go. They're essentially all sold out now anyway, apparently.…

We've gone a bit hipster for Addiction this month. The real bike race geeks often revel in the less mainstream classes. Any fool can give it the big chat about who's winning in MotoGP, BSB and WSBK, but when you get down into the feeder classes – like Moto2 – the knowledge becomes more esoteric. The Moto2 class replaced the old 250GP series in 2010, swapping out twin-cylinder two-stroke 250cc engines (booh) for a 600cc-class four-stroke control motor, with the idea that costs would be cut, since no one's got to spend millions developing their own engine. A flat power output would give a level playing field to develop talent and, more prosaically, the series would help promote real road-going motorbikes rather than irrelevant factory race engines. Initially, the engine…

I'm not gonna lie, the look of the XSR 900GP is right up my street, which shouldn't really come as a surprise given that the era of GPs on which the XSR's paint scheme is based on was when I grew up watching. I say watching, because back then there was no internet, and the only way to actually watch GPs was if you were really rich and could afford satellite television, or as in my case, you had a mate with rich parents and had Eurosport. Every now and then I'd be able to watch the likes of Lawson, Rainey, Cadalora, Kocinski and Abe doing the impossible on their YZR500 GP bikes, resplendent in Marlboro graphics, or – as was often the case – getting sent to the moon…

Many things make me feel old thesi days. My creaking knees. Reading about the 30th anniversary of the Ducati 916 being launched. Remembering that the year 2000 wasn't ‘about 15 years ago.’ And now I can add ‘interviewing Leon Haslam, veteran racer’ to that list. Because ‘Rocket’ Ron Haslam's son – who in my heae is probably just out of his teens – is actually now aged in his early 40s and one of the most experienced British bike racers out there. Haslam is returning to a Ducati for the first time since 2007, riding a Panigale V4R for the Moto Rapido team in BSB. And we spoke to him at the gala opening Of Ducati UK's latest dealership, Lind Ducati North London, in Watford. Looking relaxed and happy in…

STAR LETTER GONE FULL CIRCLE Hi guys, Back in ‘93 my friend took me to see practice at the Donnington Park 500 Grand Prix. On the way back we stopped at a petrol station, and I saw either an NC30 or RC30 dressed in a Rothmans colour scheme. From that moment on I knew I wanted a bike. Many years passed and I finally got my licence in 2001. First bike was a Bandit, then an SV650 (curvy), followed by an R6 (I wasn't ready), before going back to an SV650 (fuel injected). Next up was a ZX-636 (underseat exhaust), then a first gen Daytona, GSXR750 (first brand new bike for my 40th), another Daytona (second gen) another ZX6R 2019 (one of the best bikes I have ever ridden) and…

Well, hasn't it all picked up a bit since we last spoke! Flicking back to the last column, we were grumbling about the miserable weather, but now the sun's out, the roads are drying, and the bikes are back where they belong… tearing up the tarmac. So, where have I been? The MCN London Motorcycle Show, for starters. It was decent enough, even if it has been downsized to a single hall, which I thought was a bit of a kick in the teeth. Two hours and you're done! But apparently, it needed to be a success to secure its future, and from what I've heard, it was. So, fingers crossed well still have a show next year. That said, it's tough for these events to pull a crowd when…

Imagine if there was a bike that a bang-average fast group trackday rider could take to within 10% of a lap time set by that very bike's lead test rider. Not only that, but to do so at a track that our trackday rider has never seen before, and which is notoriously technical and difficult to learn… in just six 20 minute sessions compared to the test rider's hundreds of laps there over many years. Well, there's no need to imagine it, because the track was the Andalucia circuit, the test rider was Ducati's Allesandro Valia, the trackday rider was… me – and the bike is the 2025 Ducati Streetfighter V4S. The Andalucia circuit is 5Km long and has 19 turns, of which 10 are blind. Valia has led the…

For a manufacturer which has utterly dominated the sales charts and constantly set and reset the bar in terms of performance and tech for sportsbikes, the S1000R has never really captured the hearts and minds of the motorcycling community like the S1000RR has done. It's a strange thing that a bike which shares so much of its DNA with the RR hasn't taken off in the same way. It must be said that the reason I suspect this is the case is more to do with the priorities of the people who buy naked bikes – super or otherwise – rather than any performance shortcomings of the S1000R over the years. After all, when we did our Ultimate Supernakeds test a couple of years ago, the BMW smoked everything apart…

On the face of it, Kawasaki's first upgrade to its fearsome Ninja ZX-10R should have gone well. The original bike was so nearly on the money, delivering blistering performance with incredibly agile handling that saw it top the litre sportsbike tree and attract an army of fans who loved its brash and unashamedly aggressive attitude. All Kawasaki needed to do in its first update was smooth a few of the rough edges (mainly too harsh suspension and a lack of a steering damper) and then maybe give it a fresh look and a few more ponies. Sadly, it chose another path… Faced with tightening emission regulations, Kawasaki decided to follow the litre bike trend set by Honda and Yamaha and arm the second-generation Ninja ZX-10R (the D model to give…

As the yin to the Yamaha's yang, the Triumph Speed Triple RR plays the same game, but in a different way. Where the XSR 900GP is loud and unapologetically romantic, the Speed Triple RR is classy, understated, big on refinement, and fully loaded on spec. It's also significantly more powerful than the Yamaha thanks to packing 1160cc from three cylinders for a very handy 177bhp and 921b.ft of torque. It also comes with Ohlins semi-active, fully adjustable suspension front and rear, and Brembo Stylema brakes, all of which combined makes the T5450 difference in price between the two bikes perfectly reasonable. The Speed Triple RR is a brilliantly simple idea which probably wasn't simple to execute; in practice, but at the risk of dumbing down the work done by Triumph's…

After attending the launch event for the Ninja1100SX SE in Spain a few months back, I genuinely had this model at the top of my wish list as a potential Termer for this year. As soon as I received the email with a date it was to be ready from, I made sure I was available to collect that very same day, partly because I wanted to maximise my time with the SX and in no small part because I was as excited as a kid on Christmas Eve to be offered my first choice. As this is the SE model, it is priced at an extra £1750 above the standard model, so it does have a few additional premium features, like the Ohlins S46 rear shock, Brembo brake calipers…

If you've been a naughty biker, you need some decent legal advice, get it from mail@vuhitedalton.co.uk Q I got caught speeding while out on my GSX-R1000. I went past the Old Bill at 47mph in a 30mph limit. He wasn't in a speed van but was standing at the roadside with a laser gun on a tripod. I then got a Notice of Intended Prosecution in the post; I named myself as the rider. The issue is I already have nine points. However, all nine are about to fall off my licence, so a mate has told me to delay the court hearing so I can keep driving! What do you think? A Whoopsie. No judgment as this is easily done. Let's start from the beginning. The police need to…