RiDE October 2019

OVER THE LAST 20 years there’s been a sea change in motorcycling. Two decades ago, the roads were clogged with sportsbikes. But now, it’s all a bit more diverse and one of the growth areas is adventure bikes, with swathes of former sportsbike riders heading for something more high and mighty. I’m one of them myself — and the benefits were obvious straight away, thanks to the riding position, the B-road handling and the ease with which they chew up distance. But there is another great benefit which many of us just don’t exploit — having an adventure. In this issue, we sent Tim Thompson off to The Peaks on a KTM but I had my own, smaller adventure too. With some dual-purpose tyres on my Multistrada, we tackled our first greenlanes…

Martin Fitz-Gibbons Contributor A lid lasts five to seven years, so you’ll spend around 600 hours with your head inside it. Put like that, £300 isn’t much for something so vital — just 50p for each hour of cranial comfort and protection. This month’s group test reveals which is best. PAGE 64 Jim Blackstock Product editor I’ve fallen in love with the long-term BMW R1250R I’ve been riding for the past few months. So too did Shaun with his 2016 R1200R, so I really want to know what he thinks of the newer model and how it compares with its predecessor. PAGE 72 Simon Hargreaves Contributor We all know looks are important... but how important? The RiDE Road Test asks if Suzuki’s Katana and Honda’s ‘Neo Sports Café’ CB1000R+ offer anything more than a premium-priced 15 year-old sportsbike…

IF THERE ARE three things you can rely on life, it’s that politicians lie, footballers dive and prices rise. You only have to walk into a bike dealership these days, pick a model you fancy, add the bits you want and you’re presented with an astronomical bill. Surely it wasn’t always like this was it? Well, no, but it’s not quite as straight cut as you might imagine. Using the Retail Price Index, which tracks the cost of a huge range of products, prices generally have risen by 73% in the last 20 years. But what does that mean in practice? While some things are much more expensive, such as houses which have gone up by 300%, other items are cheaper than they were 20 years ago. In the same period,…

‘There are still bargains out there’ “There are still deals to be had, but all-year commuting gets pricey. 10,000 miles means two sets of tyres, chain and sprockets and two services.” Richard Bentham ‘I can’t justify the money for what I want’ “I keep looking at the new Triumph Tiger 1200 and I just can’t justify that money or those payments for it. The price of sportsbikes is now a joke, and it’s so easy to find yourself doing silly speeds and risking your licence. I have no doubt that bikes today are the best we have ever seen but I think it’s gone a step too far now for the average factory worker to be able to afford.” Dave Gill ‘Decent bike gear is cheaper’ “I think good riding kit has become cheaper, but…

IN A BUMPER month for Triumph, the British manufacturer has confirmed that a Moto2-inspired Daytona 765 is in the works, as well as two brand new Rocket 3s (see right). The new supersport machine will come in two flavours; one for Europe and Asia, the other the US and Canada, and will arrive as a limited-edition model in spring 2020. Each market is limited to just 765 bikes, and only a fraction of that number will be available in the UK, meaning demand is likely to be very high. Some dealers are claiming to have sold out already. At the core of the new Daytona is the 765cc engine that started life in the Street Triple RS, before being further developed and supplied to the Moto2 championship as the control engine…

THERE’S A NEW Africa Twin on the way and Honda has all but confirmed it by asking people to register their interest for a new ‘True Adventure’ model to be unveiled later this year. With Euro5 just around the corner, the new machine is expected to get a revised engine to bump capacity up to 1084cc and power to just over 100bhp. The standard model is also expected to get the larger fuel tank and screen from the Adventure Sports. It’s also believed that Honda will introduce a new version of its Dual Clutch Transmission, perhaps with a view to smoothing out low-speed performance, or even adding a seventh gear. It’s also expected that Honda will include a full-colour TFT dash as well as improved connectivity, like the current BMW…