Practical Sportsbikes January 2023

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Mental health issues can affect anyone. The triggers can be relatively minor – we live in a high-pressure society, with constant exposure to all manner of negativity via the web. Worries creep in, coupled with mental fatigue that can be all it takes for internal battles to begin. I’ve been there, and I’ve seen friends and colleagues with outwardly happy, comfortable lives quickly derailed in this way. How does that fit with PS, you may wonder? The links are closer than you may realise. For a start, the 50-something-year-old, predominantly male, typical reader of PS is in a highly vulnerable group when it comes to mental health issues. It’s the time in life where divorce, bereavement, health issues, or even what is jokingly referred to as a mid-life crisis, can…

A German Bimota specialist has a brand-new V-Due 500 Trofeo up for grabs for a hefty 69,990 Euros – about £60,500. The Trofeo is the ultimate evolution of the promising yet flawed V-twin ’stroker that brought Bimota to its knees at the turn of the century. Carburettors replace the iffy fuel injection system, and a revised crank and seal arrangement counters air leaks. Claimed power was 105hp, and there was a short-lived one-make championship for them in Italy, for which this would have been built but never competed in. Seller Reparto Corse claims the bike has never been started, so it’s far from a going concern. Rare, yes, but worth so much? Highly debatable. We reckon not.…

Mental Health Motorbike is offering subsidised support to any motorcyclist wishing to train as a ‘mental health first aider’, offering peer-to-peer support. Set up in early 2020, the organisation has the greater wellbeing of the motorbike community at the heart of its mandate, with the ultimate aim of reducing suicide rates among UK bikers. To that end, it is building a free, countrywide network of trained Mental Health First Aiders drawn from the motorcycling community to support UK riders with mental health issues. Paul Oxborough, who was moved to establish the organisation after the suicide of one of his friends says, “Our aim is to ensure that people know they are not alone. Bikers are great at helping each other out and bikes are the glue that hold us together.…

British tyre brand Avon’s last UK plant will close at the end of 2023, with 350 jobs at risk. The Melksham plant will cease operations when the pre-planned production is completed. The firm is now owned by American giant Goodyear, who also own Dunlop. They have set up a ‘two-wheeled centre of excellence’ for tyre production in France. Previous owners Cooper Tire had already shifted production of some tyres for four-wheelers elsewhere in 2018, at the cost of 300 jobs and some of the plant’s viability. Worker consultations are ongoing, so exact losses are unknown. The impact on Avon’s range is also still a matter of internal debate, but The PS speculates that some of the firm’s more niche products may not survive the move. The classic bike racing fraternity…

GULL CRAFT DUCATI M900 Japanese modifiers Gull Craft made their name back in the early 1990s, knocking out bizarre, space age creations that bore little or no resemblance to the machines they once were. The firm’s ‘ID2000’ started life as a Suzuki RGV250 but ended up looking more like a Salvador Dali-inspired helicopter when unveiled at the 1992 Tokyo Show. Weird didn’t even come close… Gull Craft have since toned down their output, but in doing so have lost none of their obvious design flair, as highlighted by this Ducati M900 special, built as a nod towards the NCR racers of the ’70s and ’80s. The Japanese modshop make most of their yen designing, creating, and selling bolt-on aftermarket parts. And this Monster makeover is a prototype for a styling…