RiDE August 2017

SUMMER IS HERE – and even if the hottest day of the year was followed by thunderstorms, it doesn’t matter. Long sunny days signal the start of touring season and a bit of rain is all part of the experience. Though as I huddled in the Hawes petrol station, watching rain bounce off the floor, I wished it was as sunny as it had been at the start of the bank holiday weekend. You may get more chance of dry weather if your tour takes you overseas. For this issue we’ve been to France (p48) on a Harley and Germany (p16) on sports tourers (don’t worry – it rained on both trips), while David Stokes headed to Portugal (p38, totally dry). We’ve also reviewed our favourite bits of Spain (p14) and…

Matt Hull Technical editor As much as I like adventure bikes, tourers, nakeds, café racers and so on, it’s superbikes that still have my heart. Nothing matches the sheer thrills of a full-fat 1000 – and Suzuki’s all-new GSX-R1000R seems to blend madness with manners. PAGE 60 Kev Raymond Features writer I’ve been idly wondering whether to replace the BMW RS lurking in my garage with an R1200RT, especially as early ones are affordable. Having put together this month’s Used Buying Guide, now I know exactly what to look out for. PAGE 74 Caroline Barrett Editorial assistant I used to own a Yamaha R6, but the wristy riding position meant I never wanted to ride any kind of long distance on it. I’m really interested to see what our testers make of the new Ducati SuperSport and, after…

FESTIVAL SUCCESS MCN Festival of Motorcycling gets even bigger EVEN CHANGEABLE WEATHER couldn’t dampen the third Festival of Motorcycling, held at the East of England Showground, Peterborough. Nearly 20,000 visitors came, with more than 1000 test rides taken thanks to the largest multi-manufacturer test fleet in Europe. The flat track and speedway racing entertained the crowds throughout the day, while the Motorex classic bike fire-up paddock gave aural pleasure of yesteryear. And if people needed to relax there was plenty to see in the massive autojumble and at the club stands. Things didn’t quieten down in the evening, with campers enjoying the Yamaha Dark Side party with live bands. Andy Calton, editor of Motorcycle News told RiDE: “It was another fantastic event and to see an increase in attendance is encouraging. The feedback from…

RIDE TO WORK Why wait until the weekend to ride ? June 19-25 is Ride to Work week, promoted by the motorcycle industry to help encourage more of us to use our bikes every day. Commuting on your bike saves you money, saves time, it’s easier to find somewhere to park and it’s good fun. So, tell your colleagues, tell your friends and let’s make a difference. For more information, follow Ride to Work on Facebook. CCM SCRAMBLER REVEALED Following the success of the Spitfire special, of which only 150 are to be produced and are all sold, CCM launched this Scrambler at the Bike Shed’s Tobacco Dock show. Using the same 600cc, 55bhp single-cylinder Husqvarna engine as the Spitfire, the Scrambler has a hand-welded steel frame, twin exhausts, aluminium tank and slightly…

BANK HOLIDAY WEATHER… The end-of-May bank holiday looked promising for riding weather , with a scorching 30°C week leading up to it. But in the end the bank holiday Monday saw much of the country attacked by ferocious ‘supercellular’ thunderstorms , with over 60,000 lightning strikes reported by the Met office. RiDE’ s Editor got caught in it in Yorkshire: “It was proper wet! I saw a small man building a large boat, collecting pairs of animals…” LOCK IT OR LOSE IT The Metropolitan Police have released figures showing a shocking 44 per cent rise in motorcycle theft in London. The rest of the country hasn’t fared much better , with more bikes being stolen than sold new. Despite the recent high-profile raids by scooter gangs in the capital, most bikes are stolen…

NOW IN ITS ninth year, the Touratech Travel Event is so popular it’s likely to need to move to a bigger site in 2018. “We had 1800 people register, with another 200 or more turning up on spec. It was the best we’ve had, no question about it,” said Touratech’s boss Nick Plumb at the end of the event. The event, aimed at adventure riders, was held in Ystradgynlais, just north of Swansea. As well as the Touratech shop, the busy site had 15 trade stands from other brands. Triumph, BMW and Ducati were giving free ride-outs on some of their popular models – Ducati had brought 30 Multistrada 1200 Enduro adventure bikes all the way from Italy for the event. You could either ride them on the nearby road route…