Índex per June 2016 a RiDE

MILLAU VIADUCT Four of us did 2500 miles on two Triumph Tigers and a Honda Crossrunner. We landed in Santander, crossed Spain below the Pyrenees using the amazing N260, then worked our way back via France, Italy, France (again), Switzerland and Germany before heading back to the Chunnel via the Vosges. Here we are by the Millau bridge as we crossed France – Paul Noone STIRLING My Honda Hornet 600 at the foot of Stirling Castle. It was my first ride since passing my test – Liam Wood ANGLESEY Taking my Suzuki SV650 for its first ride after passing my test, around the coastal roads of Holyhead and up to South Stack, with a nice view of the Snowdonia mountain range in the background – Mike Williams STAR PICTURE WALES…

“Tyres, trousers and as much currywurst as you can eat” LAST YEAR WE encouraged RiDE readers to visit the open weekend held at Touratech UK’s HQ in Wales. That’s happening again this spring on May 6-8, and should be well worth going to once more. But this year, why not head east to the German parent company’s huge international gathering in the Black Forest on June 10-12? It might sound extreme, riding all the way to Germany for a camping weekend hosted by an accessory maker, but this is no ordinary event. Touratech was founded in the early ’90s by experienced motorcycle adventurers Herbert Schwarz and Jochen Schanz. Within a decade, it was well on its way to becoming one of the biggest accessory-makers in the world. The Touratech factory…

KAWASAKI Z800e £99.00 a month Cash price £7435 Deposit £1714.00 36 x £99.00 Optional final £2929.00 APR 5.9% Annual mileage 5000 Detuned version of the funky four-cylinder streetfighter can be restricted to 47bhp for A2-licence holders – and then, after two years, the full 94bhp can be unleashed. Kawasaki’s K-Options PCP deal current has a competitive APR, so a reasonable-sized deposit can easily get the monthly payments down to just £99. Total amount payable, if you choose to buy it, is £8207.00. KAWASAKI ER-6n £79.00 a month Cash price £5935 Deposit £1324.00 36 x £79.00 Optional final £2392.00 APR 5.9% Annual mileage 5000 Popular middleweight is enticing value. Very easy to ride and smartly styled, the ER is also low and slim, giving shorter riders plenty of confidence. As with…

Spain is packed with famous cities, but as great as Barcelona, Pamplona, Madrid and Granada are, there are plenty of other fascinating places to visit that are more off the beaten track. Here are our five favourites - with great riding around them. See www.ride.co.uk/spain for downloadable routes. REUS Just south of Barcelona are the smaller cities of Reus and Tarragona. The hills that rise behind them are crammed with amazing roads. CUENCA This fabulously preserved city in central Spain is famed for its hanging houses. For us, the big draw is the twisty routes through the nearby sierras. RONDA A tourist hotspot in the high hills of Andalucia, Ronda’s a popular destination for press launches, as the roads in this area makes every bike look pretty awesome. LA POBLA…

Down there, you probably think that up here in Sweden it does nothing but snow. Well, it’s true that in the winter it gets a bit cold and icy. But when the snow does thaw, Swedish bikers love to migrate south, to feel the heat and, well, to see what all the fuss is about. When you live up here, everywhere’s a long way away, though, and so it’s not that unusual for Swedish bikers taking their summer vacations to clock up quite a few thousands of miles in just a couple of weeks. But here’s the thing; on their trips these guys expect to wear exactly the same gear that they do during the rest of the year. Which might just explain why we at Halvarssons have produced jackets…

“Straight-line performance is as immense as ever” ULTIMATE MULTI Changes designed to give the Ducati better off-road ability also make it in some ways better for the road. Bring on the group test with its adventure rivals. HIGH AND MIGHTY Enduro has more suspension travel, more ground clearance and a higher seat. It’s not adjustable, but higher and lower alternatives are available. GET A GRIP Our test bike was fitted with Scorpion Rally tyres for the dirt and less knobbly Trail II for the road. Meanwhile, in the real world, owners will need to find the compromise that best suits their likely use. DESPITE DUCATI’S TALK of four bikes in one, the original Multi, with its 17in front wheel and distinct lack of crash protection, was not really built for…

VICTORY DIDN’T HOLD back when introducing their latest and most sporty V-twin, talking it up as a modern American musclebike with power to burn. Hence an inevitable sense of disappointment when the Octane was revealed looking distinctly like sister brand Indian’s Scout, which Indian describe as an entry-level model. But the Octane is feeling pretty aggressive as I perform a smoky burn-out at the Daytona Beach dragstrip. When I let out the clutch with the revs near the 8000rpm maximum, the Octane leaves a black line with its rear tyre as it trundles down the strip, hitting 107mph a quarter of a mile and just over 12 seconds later. Those dragstrip runs are part of parent company Polaris’s attempt to position Victory as the sporty American brand, leaving the nostalgia…

1 BRAKES A surprising number of complaints about the brakes. Seems they feel strong, but they’re inclined to fade quickly under hard use, whether on track or descending mountains two-up. You can fit the improved calipers and discs from the 2008-10 model to the earlier versions. Some owners recommend upgrading to later ZZR1400 calipers, but others reckon you just need to ditch the standard hoses and pads in favour of braided lines and HH-grade pads, with SBS, EBC and Carbone Lorraine’s new XBK5 compound being popular. You also need to keep on top of cleaning, as dust builds up on the caliper pistons and stops them moving freely. 2 VIBRATION It’s a bit of a vibey engine, especially in the ’04 and ’05 models. Careful throttle-body balancing helps a lot,…

“No matter what you ride your bum is going to get a little sore” RUNNING REPAIRS Both fork seals were replaced (after 30,000 and 35,000 miles respectively), the chain’s been replaced four times and there have been five sets of new tyres. WORLD-BEATER It may not have been designed for long distances, but Steph’s plucky little 250 has taken her to six continents and counting. BIKERS LOVE RIDING bikes, just like dogs like to hang out of car windows with their tongues flapping. We are free when we get on two wheels. Beyond that fundamental agreement, there are many areas where bikers disagree – not least big bike vs small bike, which seems to strike a raw nerve with a lot of people. As far as I’m concerned, the only…

“The RoadSmart III should outlast its rivals” THE POPULARITY OF sports touring tyres has been increasing since the 1980s, and with hypersports tyre sales on the decline this is the new battlefield for the manufacturers. Recent all-round tyres include Metzeler’s Roadtec 01, Michelin’s Pilot Road 4, Bridgestone’s T30 Evo and Pirelli’s Angel GT – Dunlop agree there isn’t a bad tyre out there, making their job even more difficult. “Tyre manufacturing is like baking a cake,” explains Dunlop technical guru Mark Sears. “The ingredients are similar for all the main manufacturers, but how you mix them, how you add them, the quality and the amount decides whether your tyre has a quick warm-up, lots of wet grip, good stability, excellent ride quality, good side grip, or longevity – and of…

The KTM’s menu system is operated by four buttons on the left-hand bar, with the options displayed on the LCD screen beside the clocks. The view defaults to the Favourites, which work as shortcuts to the required settings. The first thing I did when getting the bike was to set my preferred favourites. Right at the top is Heating, followed by Drive Mode and Damping Mode as the functions I’ll use most often. At the bottom I have Trip 1 and Range, which are the two bits of information I find most useful (apart from road speed and revs, of course). Now I can get instantly to the heated grips - just keep pressing the set button without taking my eyes off the road. It’s only a glance to select…

BMW R80 This fine-looking BMW is the work of Rasio Motorcycles, customisers based in Reigate in Surrey. They like to be thorough in their builds, but they also like the end results to be clean, focused and very usable. This R80-based one-off has been rebuilt from the ground up. Changes includes Hagon suspension components, hidden wiring, a lowered tank and a whole bunch of minimalism. The finished bike harks back to the ’30s but also ties in with BMW’s current R nineT family. Neat. Rasio is Welsh for race, by the way. Norton café racer Various bits from Norton’s heyday have been assembled in an entirely fresh way by Wiltshire’s Burnout Bikes. The frame is a Norton Featherbed, the forks are based on the Norton Roadholder and the engine is…

THE WILD ATLANTIC WAY, IRELAND A PERFECT DAY’S ride needs three ingredients: great weather, great scenery, great roads… and Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way can serve them up, with a garnish of great coffee stops and friendly people. From Duff in the north, to Cork in the south, it’s the better part of 1500 miles of amazing coastal riding. True, the roads vary in size from the broad and smooth to the narrow and bumpy, but they’re always in the most beautiful countryside. While the weather is never guaranteed – the words ‘wild’ and ‘Atlantic’ are a clue – in summer you stand a good chance of riding on days like this: warm, sunny and spectacular. The real beauty of the Wild Atlantic Way is that it takes in everything from…

“This is a ride that has all sorts of roads” HEREFORD HAS A lot going for it. Not least as a town from which to explore a lot of great riding country. The Malvern Hills, the Cotswolds, the Brecon Beacons, the Forest of Dean – all are within easy reach. This one-day ride heads into Wales, through the spectacular Elan Valley, to grab lunch at Devil’s Bridge – a popular biking venue. The return leg takes in the amazing A483 from Newtown down to the equally popular biking coffee stop in Crossgates. This is a ride that has all sorts of roads – wide and sweeping, narrow and demanding, most are smooth, a few bumpy. What they all have in common is that they’re set in the most glorious scenery…

Garmin Zumo 595/395/345 £550/£400/£310 Garmin’s Zumo range of bike-specific sat navs has been updated. The main difference between the outgoing 340, 390 and 590 and the new 345, 395 and 595 is the addition of Garmin Adventurous Routing. This promises to let the rider “select the level of twist and hills on every journey”. There are other new features as well, including advanced warning of sharp turns, red lights, level crossings and other hazards. All the models will pair with a smartphone via Bluetooth, allowing riders to make or receive calls as well as control music on the phone using the sat nav screen. The range-topping 595 also gains the ability to stream music from Spotify, if you’re young enough to use that service. www.garmin.com TomTom Rider 410 £320 It’s…

“I just did what the Explorer says on it tank – and I loved it” IS THERE A biking nirvana a cheap flight away from Luton? I wanted a mixture of excellent riding, colour and culture, I wanted to feel the warm sun on my back – and I wanted to shake the moths out of my mesh kit. Could that biking nirvana be located in Andalucia? I will let you be the judge, but here’s a spoiler: I’ll be going back. I parked my bike outside the air traffic control building at a cold and misty Luton Airport. I was a bit chilly, as I’d ridden there in my mesh kit, in March, through the Chilterns. But my cockles were warmed by the fact that I was heading to…

I THINK IT’S CLEAR I’m not really a biker. I mean, I love riding – but in terms of skill and experience, forget it. In Mongolia’s Gobi Desert, my Honda VFR750 is too heavy for me to pick up and has the deep-sand manoeuvrability of a drunk, angry toddler. Three months before, when I left home in Bristol with a wobbly red line across my maps, ending in Ulaanbaatar, nay-sayers had instilled such big brown smears of doubt in my mind it seemed impudent to expect to get this far. Though why anyone would think riding a 20-year-old Honda across Russia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia in yellow leathers and a blonde wig, with no GPS, might not be the best idea ever was confusing to me and remains so. Despite a…

“A hard judge might find that the collision was entirely down to you” Andrew Dalton’s legal Q&A Andrew Dalton, ex-dispatch rider, now a solicitor-advocate and barrister with 20 years’ experience with bikers, gives the inside track on what the biker needs to know to stay on the right side of the law. Q I WAS knocked off my bike while riding up the inside of a line of traffic. A driver pulled into my path, out of a side road to my left, having been flashed out by a van driver who was a little bit ahead of me. I didn’t see him until he had blocked my path and he did not see me until we collided. My insurers want to settle our cases at 50/50. Luckily, I was…

ROOM FOR TWO? The Thruxton R is sold as a single-seat bike. However, a dual seat and pillion footrests will be available as an optional accessory. IF THE NEW Triumph T120 (page 60) is the spiritual successor to a long line of classic Bonnevilles, then the Thruxton is heir to a tradition of taking that basic package and making it leaner, meaner, faster and better handling. But this even posher Thruxton R takes that and adds suspension and brakes that wouldn’t look out of place on a modern superbike. Fully adjustable Öhlins rear shocks are joined by Showa Big Piston fully adjustable forks and Brembo radial brakes. The result is one of the most natural-feeling pure road sportsbikes I’ve ridden in years. It starts with the riding position. Where the…

“The ride is dominated by the engine – there’s a real dynamic shove” V9 ROAMER Going for something of a 1970s flavour, with a skinnier and taller 19-inch front wheel and higher handlebars. V9 BOBBER Fatter 130-section, 16-inch front wheel, balloon tyres and straight bars give the Bobber a slight US post-war vibe. HERITAGE HAS BECOME big business. That should be good for Moto Guzzi, gathering the world’s press in the Mandello del Lario factory on the company’s 95th birthday. We’re not here to look back but to look forward, with the launch of an entirely new line of bikes from the Italian company, built around an all-new engine. The V9 family arrives with two models: the Roamer and the Bobber. Of course, there is a strong whiff of heritage…

INDIAN HAVE WORKED fast to create a family of large-capacity V-twins since the famous old marque’s rebirth under Polaris ownership less than three years ago. The initial Chief Classic cruiser was launched alongside the screen-and-saddlebags Vintage and half-faired Chieftain, and has already been joined by the Roadmaster tourer and blacked-out Chief Dark Horse. Now I’m riding through the old Florida city of St Augustine on the next of the family: the Springfield. The sun is gleaming off its chromed headlamp nacelle; an air-cooled V-twin engine beats lazily below a broad red gas tank with Indian’s curly logo on its sides. Right now the Springfield is a simple naked cruiser – but earlier this morning it was a tourer: rumbling north from Daytona Beach with its windscreen keeping off the breeze,…

“There’s plenty of choice of aftermarket bits” Service schedule The service schedule is based on 4000-mile interim services – really just visual checks and fluid level checks, so not really worthy of paid workshop time, although some owners opt to change the oil at this service as well. The normal main service is at 7500 miles, with oil and filter change, throttle balancing and spark plugs replaced. The main valve clearance service comes at 15,000 miles. The ZX-10R is a pretty conventional bike, so no complicated diagnostics or electrical pitfalls, but access is tight for top-end servicing, especially changing the plugs – although it’s not as difficult as the manual makes out, once you know what you’re doing. New and used parts prices Genuine service parts aren’t too bad –…

MOMENTUM Once you adjust to working the small engine hard all the time, the CRF250L is surprisingly enjoyable on the road. I HAD A 100-mile journey to make, on a single-cylinder trail bike making just 23bhp. “This,” I thought, “probably won’t be much fun.” I set off expecting the CRF250L to be overwhelmed by every other road user. Yet two hours later, I arrived home with a big grin on my face. It had turned out to be not just capable and sensible, but good fun and at times rather rewarding. It’s speedy enough to mix it with traffic far more readily than you’d expect. Of course, its low power restricts your pace, but the smooth, free-revving motor gets you ahead of the majority of cars in town quite comfortably.…

White bikes show the dirt. And spoked wheels are fiddly. I’m spending more time than ever with a sponge in my hands - so thank goodness for SDoc100, my cleaner of choice. Spray it on, let it loosen the grime, then hose it off, maybe wiping with a sponge as you go. Simple - and just the job for the bodywork and engine. There’s a fuss-free chain cleaner that sprays on and hoses off, too. I still use a bucket of car shampoo and a brush to really get into the spokes (I already miss easier-to-clean cast wheels), before gleaming the rims with WD-40. Then I give the bodywork a squirt of polish, the metal a mist of anti-corrosion spray and douse the chain with fresh lube.…

AFTER A FEW years in a self-imposed exile from excitement, Honda are back. Everything they’ve done lately has been a step in the right direction – and there are plenty more exciting looking bikes in the pipeline, judging from these concepts, prototypes and special editions displayed at the recent Osaka and Tokyo shows. How many of these will actually make it into production in this form, and then be imported into the UK, is far from certain, but these all look pretty much ready to roll. CB1300 Super Bol d’Or Special Edition The CB1300 is no longer a UK model, so don’t hold your breath for this understated new colour scheme. We also won’t be getting the 400 version. So no need to scratch your head over what on earth…

Ducati Scrambler Icon £7486 803cc V-twin 74bhp 186kg £89 a month on PCP Yamaha XSR700 £6385 689cc parallel twin 74bhp 186kg £99 a month on PCP KTM 690 Duke £7699 693cc single 72bhp 163kg (est) £105 a month on PCP “It’s perfect for a 690 Duke: tight turns and little traffic” AS A WISE man once said: “A bargain is only a bargain if it’s something you want.” Unfortunately, being a man it only took five minutes before he then thought, “Sod it,” and hit the Buy It Now button anyway. But his intentions were good, and worth considering when it comes to bikes. Right now showrooms and adverts are awash with apparent bargains, thanks in part to one mysterious acronym: PCP. This increasingly popular finance scheme promises to put…

1 THE ROADS From Almeria on the south coast to Zarautz on the north coast, Spain is packed with brilliant roads. Not good ones – mind-blowing, never-look-at-my-local-favourite-the-same-way, brilliant ones. In every region of the country, you can find mile after mile of wide, well-surfaced tarmac, with corners that will put a smile on your face. Exactly what kind of corners they are, of course, can vary. There’s no shortage of hairpins in the many mountainous sierras. The lower hills have rolling, flowing roads. There are even long, straight roads like the highways of the American West in some places. There are wide roads, narrow roads, unpaved roads… whatever kind of roads you like, you’ll find them in Spain. That’s not what makes the Spanish roads great, though. It’s how quiet…

BASHED PLATE The flimsy plastic covering got more than it bargained for on an unexpected trip up a couple of Spanish steps. Whoops. THERE ARE WORSE places to be. A balmy Valencian sun is awake and climbing high in a vast, cloudless sky. It’s an early start outside the tiny, whitewashed hotel, and fallen leaves lie scattered between tables and chairs outside like yesterday’s sweet wrappers. Aprilia’s Caponord 1200 Rally glows autumnal orange as fingers of warmth spread through still air. The bike looks every inch a long-distance home-from-home, as any self-respecting, fully loaded adventure bike should. With side panniers stuffed to the max, an intricate bungee web snaring a massive rucksack to the pillion seat, and sat nav and heated kit wired in (there’s no 12v socket, but the…

COMPLETED IN 1927, the home of German GP racing until 1976, a legendary testing track since it opened and still one of the most respect circuits in the world… there’s no mistaking the Nordschliefe (or ‘north loop’). Part of the Nürburgring racing complex, which also includes a – much smaller - modern GP circuit, this 73-bend piece of tarmac runs for 12.95 miles through the dark forests of the Rhineland. Famously nicknamed the Green Hell by Jackie Stewart (“I was always afraid” he’d later say of the course, despite winning some significant victories there) it’s essentially a public toll road that draws vehicles of all kinds to its curves, resulting in a specific kind of chaos that’s both white-knuckle-terrifying and utterly life-affirming. Dave Roffe, of middlerhinetours.com, has done 300-400 laps.…

PEASHOOTER PIPES T120 uses a different exhaust to the Thruxton, with narrower twin-skinned downpipes and peashooter silencers. Chrome on the T120, matt on the Black. HIDDEN HOSES Radiator is well disguised, being black and tucked between the frame tubes. Water pump and hoses are almost undetectable. SANDWICHED BETWEEN THE 900cc Street Twin and the café racer Thruxtons sit the classically styled T120 and this, its matt-finished stablemate, the T120 Black. As the name suggests this version ditches the chrome and polish of the standard T120 and replaces them with matt black and grey finishes to footrests, exhausts, engine covers – well, pretty much everything. It may look like a development of the old T100 Bonneville, but the T120 doesn’t share a single major component with the old bike. The main…

THE 2016 NC750X delivers on the promises made by the 2012 NC700 and the 750 launched in 2014. It’s still practical, frugal, easy to live with and cheap to run – and is now much more fun to ride than before. The changes are modest and some have been made because of the need to conform to Euro 4 emissions regulations. The new exhaust is shorter and internally revised with a new catalyser, without changing the engine’s power and torque output. The exhaust sounds fruitier, too. The economical engine used to be a little clinical and uninvolving, with an unusually low rev limit that (on the manual version) could mean jerky progress. Now it has more natural power delivery, giving a more conventional and rewarding ride. The NC has also…

Well, you don’t get any gadgets. No riding modes, no ABS, no traction control, no anti-wheelie, just lots of power, lots of brakes, lots of attitude. The first model from 2004 is the simplest, in some ways crudest, and in some ways the most fun to ride, so long as you’re in the mood for raw acceleration and wheelies. The 2006-2007 underseat-piped version is more refined, with slightly plusher suspension (although all things are relative) and smoother power delivery, as well as an Öhlins steering damper. The 2008-2010 versions are still more user friendly, but just as basic in terms of electronics. Most used bikes will have aftermarket cans by now, and it’s worth paying extra for evidence the fuelling has been set to suit - that means not just…

2004-2005 ZX-10R C1H/C2H First of the breed. Short, light, brutal power delivery. Full titanium exhaust with side exit. Black, blue and green for 2004; silver replaces blue for 2005. £3500-£4800 2006-2007 ZX-10R D6F/D7F Easy to identify, thanks to short-lived twin underseat exhaust design. Shorter swingarm, Öhlins steering damper, projector headlights. Black or green. Titanium finish for 2006 only. £3800-£5200 2008-2009 ZX-10R E8F/E9F Back to side-exit exhaust (with odd flared can), completely revised bodywork and chassis. Claimed 185bhp. Öhlins steering damper on top yoke. Green, black, orange, blue (’08), white/black (’09 only). £5200-£6750 2010 ZX-10R FAF Only a light update, but improved gearbox, slight changes to bodywork, and a posher Öhlins steering damper. Black, green. £6200-£7500…

“A lot of riders prefer their power neat, not watered down” ON THE FACE of it, the Kawasaki ZX-10R is a pure headbanger’s sportsbike - uncompromising, stiff, brutally powerful and only suitable for trackdays, wheelies and roundabout surfing. But in the real world plenty of owners use them as daily transport and, as we’ve seen, even fully loaded two-up touring. In fact standard suspension on earlier bikes actually works better two-up. As an all-round road bike, the later the model, the more civilized they get (and the 2011-on models are better still). But a lot of riders prefer to take their power neat, not watered down with electronic rider aids. The consensus among ZX-10R afficionados is that of the early models, the 2008-on bikes are the best all-rounders, the ’06/’07…

#10 BMW R90S Where did it come from? Back in the early 1970s BMW suffered from a staid, sensible, beardy touring image. The R90S was a deliberate move to change that perception. Based on the R75/5 and styled by Hans Muth, the R90S was the flagship of the /6 range, with the engine bored out to 898cc and making 67bhp at 7000rpm, with a new-for-1973 five-speed gearbox. It was the first BMW with twin discs, had a unique bikini fairing and weighed just 200kg. Flat out, with the rider tucked behind that fairing, the R90S could top 125mph. It was a real alternative to the superb Honda CB750 – although it cost a lot more then the Japanese bike. What changed? Very little, in the three years the R90S was…

“It’s exclusive and luxurious – like a super yacht” MY WIFE LIKES KTMs. Let me stress, she doesn’t ride, has no view on their mechanical or ergonomic prowess. She just likes the way the ones I’ve taken home in the past have looked: big, angular, orange… From the 690 Duke to the 990 SM-T to the 950 Adventure and the original 990 Super Duke, they’ve all got the thumbs up. But they all, I must stress, have been orange. “Oh. It’s white,” she said, on seeing the 1290 Super Adventure for the first time, sounding somewhere between surprised and disappointed. I explained that KTM’s flagship is white because it’s exclusive and luxurious – like a super yacht. “I just thought it’d be orange,” she said. I mention this because the…

IN OUR JUNE 2004 issue we pieced together a test of 34 sporty bikes of 1000cc or above. The aim of RiDE’s biggest ever test was to put those bikes through a series of tests and end up with an overall winner. The bikes were initially divided into five categories: four-cylinder superbikes, V-twin superbikes, sports friendly (that’s a label that didn’t catch on, isn’t it?), naked sportsbikes and sports tourers. They were all judged by testers Tim Skilton, Jim Moore and Kev Smith on their value, usability, comfort, availability and pillion-friendliness. The five group winners were then further assessed by a set of three readers, to bring the perspective of non-professional testers. That final group consisted of the Honda Fireblade, Aprilia RSV Factory, Yamaha Fazer 1000, Kawasaki Z1000 and Honda…