RiDE June 2019

ISN’T IT BLOODY great to be biking again? Now it’s warm and spring-like, there is no excuse for not being out on your bike. But as I realised on my first sunny, warm ride of the year, as experienced bikers it sometimes seems we can end up going around in circles, heading to the same places, riding the same roads for years and years. This issue of RiDE is here to help with that — in it are 100 amazing roads that are all worth taking a ride-out to, with info garnered from our team of road testers and our mile-piling readers. It’s easy to forget, but we’re blessed by some stunning roads and most are an easy (ish) ride away. All you need to do is head to one. I’ve found…

Martin Fitz-Gibbons Deputy editor I recently let a stranger tape some microphones to my ears – p96 explains why. Having learned just how vulnerable riders are to suffering hearing damage, I’m now curious to read this month’s product test so I can see how my current ear plugs fare. PAGE 61 Jim Blackstock Product editor I’m only ever likely to have enough space/time/money/ matrimonial tolerance for one bike. So for me, it should do everything, from daily commuting to weekend scratching to summer touring. Is the KTM 1290 Super Duke GT it? Let’s see... PAGE 26 Caroline Barrett Editorial assistant I’m lucky enough to have ridden several of the 100 best roads that feature in this issue. This month though, the roads calling me are the A1 and the M25, to take me to Heathrow for the next…

TRANSPORT FOR LONDON (TfL) wants to cut pollution levels by encouraging (or forcing, depending on your viewpoint) as many people as possible to use public transport. So in 2003, it introduced the Congestion Charge for private vehicles in Central London, followed by restrictions/charges for large commercials and buses in the whole of greater London. It then introduced the T-Charge for central London in 2017, based on the emissions categories of the vehicle. Now that’s being replaced by the ULEZ scheme, which sets stricter emissions limits on vehicles entering the City. The big news for us is that bikes are no longer exempt. 1 Where, when and how much? Central London, in an area bounded by the A501 to the north, the A4202 in the west, A3204 and A201 in the south and…

London’s bikers offer a mixed response to the new scheme. Some are happy to have used it as an excuse to get a newer bike, while others have the new bike, but not the happy attitude, like Biff Tanner: “I researched it and bought a new bike as a result. Annoying, expensive, unfair and massively, wilfully ill-informed and ignorant to impose it on bikers.” Some are grateful to have managed to get exemptions for their older bikes, including Mark Lauder’s 2005 Triumph Sprint and Paul Scott’s 2006 Blackbird (“I’d already bought a new bike as well – win/win!”). Ian Aherne has simply resigned himself to changing his riding habits: “Luckily I’m outside the zone, but I used to ride in purely for pleasure. Now I won’t be able to do that…

NOWADAYS IT IS almost impossible to go for a ride and not see an adventure-style bike on the road. From the ubiquitous BMW GS to its many competitors, long-travel suspension is in and the popularity of race-reps is on the wane. But just how large is this shift? A recent trawl of insurance quotes by The Bike Insurer has revealed that from 2008 to 2018, the company recorded a 118% increase in adventure-bike quotes. And this figure ties in nicely with the Motorcycle Industry Association’s (MCIA) records for new-bike sales. In 2008, a total of 94,899 motorcycles were registered, of which 10,538 (11%) were adventure bikes and 18,965 (20%) sportsbikes. Fast-forward to 2018 and the tables have turned as of the 99,751 new motorcycles registered, 17,857 (18%) were adventure and 8412 (8%)…

YAMAHA HAS OPENED an online ordering system for its new Ténéré 700, with bikes secured via this portal arriving in the UK first and at a discounted rate. By heading to tenere700. yamaha-motor.eu potential buyers get a reservation number and they then have 14 days to go to a Yamaha dealer and confirm their purchase. The system is open to all European buyers with a set number of bikes being built in June for July delivery. If you register before July 31 but miss the first production run, Yamaha will honour the £8542 price, which is a £300 discount.…