RiDE September 2018

IF NOT, WHY NOT? There’s so much great riding on our doorsteps and while summer’s here we should be enjoying it when the sun’s shining – not sacrificing free time in the best months of the year to barbecues, grass mowing and DIY at the weekends. It is a challenge, sometimes, fitting time on the bike in around domestic and family duties — but it can be done. Especially if there’s an incentive… This month I challenged the team to find time to go for a ride, just for pleasure — using the waypoints from the Great British Ride Out. See where we went on p102. You can join in with the Ride Out too (see p32) and if having a great ride isn’t enough of an incentive, sharing the route of…

Martin Fitz-Gibbons Deputy editor I spent most of 2007 riding Kawasaki’s then-new Versys 650. At first it was a mushroom-faced oddball; after 8000 miles it was one of the best do-everything bikes I’d ridden. They’re less than £2500 now – just make sure you know what to look for. PAGE 74 Kev Raymond Features writer I had a few issues with the sat nav on the group ride (p16). That was mostly my “love” of technology. Would I have been better with a smartphone navigation app? Second question: does a Nokia 3310 count as a smartphone? PAGE 84 Caroline Barrett Editorial assistant The final bikes for the RiDE fleet arrived this month – but before I could get hold of the keys for the Honda CB1000R I’ll be riding, it was whisked away for the…

It’s too early to know whether this tariff is here to stay, or is just a temporary gambit in trade negotiations. If it does stick around for the long haul, it could mean US-built bikes become priced-out of European showrooms. At the same time, the suggestion that US jobs might be lost to overseas outsourcing — especially at an American institution such as Harley — might damage President Trump’s domestic popularity. While Harley prices aren’t rising for now, this tariff could yet have far-wider-reaching knock-on consequences in a number of areas.…

MAKING AMERICA GRATE AGAIN American Revolution 31% import tax on US-made bikes but prices won’t increase for now HARLEY-DAVIDSON AND INDIAN have been hit by an extra 25% import tariff as part of the European Union’s response to US President Donald Trump’s trade policies. The increase, which sees the total tariff jump to 31% (from 6% previously), came into force on June 22. It applies to all US-made motorcycles with internal combustion engines imported into the EU — meaning Californian firm Zero’s electric bikes aren’t affected and neither are Harley’s EU-market Street 750 and Street Rod, which are built in India. What does this geopolitical posturing mean for UK riders? For now, not much. Harley has stated it “will not raise its manufacturer’s suggested retail prices… to cover the costs of the retaliatory tariffs.…

MULTISTRADA MARKETING This year’s Pikes Peak Hill Climb was won by Ducati rider Carlin Dunne, appropriately enough on a Multistrada 1260 Pikes Peak. It marks Ducati’s seventh victory at the event, and helpfully means they can carry on selling the Pikes Peak variant with their heads held high. KTM 790 Duke rider Chris Filmore had an equally impressive performance, finishing third, just five seconds behind Dunne. SUNBURN We know it’s summer and we don’t want to get swept up in the ‘heatwave’ nonsense, but it really was an abnormally and delightfully hot, dry June. Temperatures topped 30°C in several parts of the UK, while the south-east of England saw 13% of the expected monthly rainfall. “It’s hot enough to boil a monkey’s bum,” a Met Office spokesperson didn’t say.…

WET BATTERIES As of July 1 it’s illegal to buy a dry battery — one without acid already installed — unless you have an Explosives and Precursors and Poisons licence. It’s a consequence of sulphuric acid being reclassified as a regulated substance in response to the recent spike in acid attacks. Halfords has said all its wet batteries will be charged and ready to go. BIKES IN LONDON… AGAIN It just keeps getting worse for the capital’s bikers. London mayor Sadiq Khan has confirmed that the Ultra Low Emission Zone — due to begin in April 2019 — will be expanded as far as the North and South Circular roads by October 2021. And there’s still no exemption for motorcyclists, so anyone riding a non-Euro3 bike in the city pays £12.50 a day.…