RiDE April 2017

IF YOU’RE THINKING, “That’s not the usual bloke”, you’re right. After nearly ten years at the helm, editor Colin Overland has left RiDE and I’m taking over. Don’t worry – I’ll ensure your favourite magazine continues to hunt out the best bargains in biking and delivers product tests, road tests, buying advice, touring tips and more of your stories every month. This issue is a little different to a standard one, though, as there were so many new bikes being launched. There are machines of all types, from huge tourers to naked bikes of every flavour and, of course, BMW’s latest R1200GS and Honda’s all-new Fireblade. These are exciting times to be riding bikes, with manufacturers doing more than ever to make machines to suit all tastes. Here at RiDE, our…

Matt Hull Technical editor Having built my own cafe racer, I’m interested to see what a factory effort looks like, so I’ll be comparing notes with Kev after he went on the Triumph Street Cup launch. Mind you, I like the look of the Street Scrambler, too. Kev Raymond Features writer I had a lot of enthusiastic owners contact me as I prepared the Used Buying Guide on the Triumph Tiger 800 for this issue. And Simon and Matt had plenty of other Tiger riders contact them too, so I’m keen to hear their stories. Caroline Barrett Editorial assistant After riding an Indian Scout Sixty for a year, I’ve got a bit of a taste for cruisers. If I could ride one anywhere, it would have to be in America – but where? The RiDE…

VICTORY Victory are calling it a day, having effectively conceded defeat in their 18-year attempt to provide a serious alternative to Harley-Davidson. Parent company Polaris say owners will be looked after, with parts and servicing provided for at least 10 years via Indian dealers; in the UK, all Victory dealers are also Indian dealers. HABITUAL SPEEDERS New guidelines on fines for speeding have been announced, which could see massive increases for big speeds. The current upper limit is a week’s wages, to a maximum of £2500 on a motorway or £1000 anywhere else. That will be raised to 150 per cent of a week’ s pay, though the maximum won’t change. Of course, that shouldn’t trouble law-abiding RiDE readers……

STAR PICTURE COUNTY GALWAY Me and my Honda Crosstourer on my first 1000-mile road trip. This picture was taken at Dog’s Bay in Galway, which is part of Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way coastal route – John Wallace Highlands On my trip to the Highlands, with snow on Ben Nevis. This is my BMW R1100GS at the Spean Bridge Commando Memorial – Barry Richardson GREECE The 25-mile-long Sparta to Kalamata Langada Pass, which climbs some 1400m through the Taygetos mountain range in Greece. It’s a very challenging road but rewards the rider with some fine views. I was on a 2009 Harley-Davidson Sportster XR1200X with V&H pipes – Peter Moran NORMANDY This is me and my brother Brian in Arromanches. We were on a trip to Normandy to visit war graves. This was some welcome sun after heavy…

“This is great! Where’s everybody else?” EVERY WINTER, TWO things will happen, sooner or later. One is that I’ll be riding along and it will start snowing, and I’ll wail “Why oh why do we do this?” or something to that effect. The other thing that happens, on a different day, is that I’m riding along and I realise I’m really enjoying myself, that the weather really isn’t too bad and I say to myself: “This is great! Where’s everybody else?” After decades of getting it wrong, or of ploughing on regardless through lack of choice, I think I’m finally getting the hang of spotting the difference between non-riding days, commuting with gritted teeth days, and days when it’s not only possible to go for a ride but also actually pleasurable to…

After a couple of busy weeks and a couple of thousand miles on the Suzuki GSX-S1000F, the immense irony finally dawned on me. It turned out that I was researching a story about short trips on what has to be the most comfortable bike I’ve ever lived with. Of course, what’s comfortable for me may not be comfortable for you, but I do nonetheless think it’s worth emphasising just how remarkably comfortable I found it. It creeps up on you. By its very nature, it’s not a sudden realisation. It’s an absence of strains and aches and tiredness, and then a continued absence. It’s the bike riding equivallent of standing on a moor and suddenly realising you can’t hear any traffic - and it’s equally welcome and unusual. It’s a lot…