BIKE

hello

As you’ll see, this is a very special issue of ‘The Magazine That Invented Biking’. Not my words, y’understand, I’m far too modest. By complete chance I had to visit Messrs. Harglo, purveyors of MV, Guzzi, Malaguti and now SWM spares in Aberystwyth yesterday to get a fuel pump for the Gran Milano I’ve been customising. It transpired that Harglo’s genial boss, Adrian Roberts, is a lifetime reader who embarrassed me into signing one of my early Running Out Of Road columns and eulogized the mag and its impact on his life and Harglo’s earlier fortunes as a Beta importer and Bike advertiser. The 61 mile ride to Aber involves the magnificently scenic A44 and bestride my elderly K75S and despite knotted traffic I managed my best ever time of…

team bike

1 Mark Williams 50 years after he launched this magazine, he’s still riding, still customising and still writing about bikes. That’s impressive. And we wouldn’t be here without him, so thankyou. Sprinkings of MW on pages 24, 46, 136 2 Mat Oxley ‘My brother and I used to get all the magazines, but the one I really remember was July 1978, with the story of the drag racing bank robbers. I wonder where they are now?’ Ducati in MotoGP on page 104 3 John Westlake ‘The first issue I saw was September 1980, which my dad bought, that had an L-plated RD250LC on the cover. Which was very appealing to a 13-year-old.’ Bimota Tesi H2 tested on page 112 4 Mike Armitage ‘First issue, July 1988, bought at a newsagent on Criccieth High Street. The Ducati 851 test, and a…

5 bikes that really matter this month

[ENDURANCE RACING] GSX-R1000 x 24-hour This Suzuki has just won the Le Mans 24-hour race by a whacking eight laps. One of the winning riders – you’ve probably never heard of him – explains why it’s so special, and how it’s done… Gregg Black is the fastest Englishman you’ve never heard of. He won the World Endurance Championship last year and has just won the Le Mans 24-hour (with Sylvain Guintoli and Kazuki Watanabe), but because he’s spent his life in France we don’t hear much about him. Gregg tells Bike about his factory GSX-R1000, and what it takes to win endurance races… » This is the best race bike I’ve ever ridden It’s got full factory Öhlins suspension – the same as they use in WSB – a full factory Yoshimura swingarm with all…

braking news

[RACING] TT revolution When the TT returns it’ll have seriously upped its game: more races, safer, and there’ll be affordable live TV coverage The pandemic has been terrible for so many people and businesses, but for us it’s been a real benefit,’ TT boss Paul Phillips tells Bike. ‘The time we were gifted allowed us to do a full root and branch review of the TT. We put egos to one side and challenged everything.’ And what they came up with looks pretty radical with live coverage, safety improvements and a fan park in 2022, and extra Supertwins and Superstock races, and a change in schedule for 2023. Here are the highlights according to Paul… »The racing will be live ‘We’ll have our own channel and there will be lots of free content all year…

if it were my money...

For true custom potential Royal Enfield Interceptor » Customising a brand new bike has its appeal but also its challenges, not least simplifying (or hiding) the Euro 5 legalities. But as well as looking the part and riding well, Enfield’s bargain middleweight makes it a practical proposition. Pass the spanners. For the daily grind Piaggio MP3 500 Sport » I’ve owned a few scooters for my bouts of urban trekkery and now rather fancy the idea of a three wheeler that’s also capable of getting there comfortably from the shires. The Piaggio has the grunt, the price and, get this, a reverse gear! For mud-pluggery Honda CRF300L » My serious enduro days are over, but based in rural Wales off-road temptation remains and the nimble Honda is a far better proposition than a monster adventure-trailie.…

deals on wheels

0% finance Suzuki Katana » We suspect that the reborn Katana has been less of a hit than Suzuki hoped, but don’t let its slight lack of appreciation put you off. A modern, supple, road-focused, GSX-R-powered supernaked with the style of a 1980s icon? What’s not to like? Suzuki are offering 0% APR on their PCP finance, meaning the 150bhp, 150mph retrotastic £11,650 inline four is yours for around £138 a month over three years, with a £2500 deposit. Definitely go for silver and not black, though. Free posh bits Aprilia Tuono 660 » While the new and splendid Tuono 600 is obviously the ace RS660 with flat ’bars, there are a few other changes. The most disappointing is that Aprilia don’t fit the sportsbike’s IMU (inertial measurement unit), so it doesn’t have…