Practical Sportsbikes November 2022

Practical Sportsbikes magazine is about buying, fixing, restoring and riding sportsbikes from the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s. Every issue of PS – the magazine home of new-wave Japanese and Italian classics – is packed with: - The most inspiring and ingenious reader restorations - The most in-depth road tests and buyers’ guides - Unmissable workshop tips and how-to features Practical Sportsbikes gets under the skin of the bikes that really matter to our readers and explains how best to maintain, rebuild and enjoy them. So if you’re in to sportsbikes from the 1970-1990s, PS is essential reading.

£3.35

in this issue

Editorial

Welcome

ISSUE 145 NOVEMBER 2022 SUBSCRIBE TO GET YOUR FIX OF PS EVERY MONTH See page 6 You can’t beat a good road trip. We were well overdue one, so Alan and I packed our tents, and headed to Circuit Paul Ricard for one of the toughest bike races you’ll ever see: the 100th Bol d’Or 24-Hour. More than 2500 miles on one of the fastest circuits in Europe, all under the Mediterranean sun with 80,000 French motards up for a party (and busy grenading a few old GS500s at 3am). Couldn’t be better, could it? Well, yes. We took a pair of GSX-Rs to make it even more memorable – the first one, and what we learnt is likely to be the last one sold here too. Sad in a…

2 min

PS WORLD

COMING OF AGE IN ’23

20 years: it’s the accepted tipping point for bikes to transition from being obsolete to classic. 2023 will almost be here in the time this mag is on sale, so we’re highlighting some of the best metal from 2003 reaching maturity in the new year... Ducati 999: The most daring Ducati since the Paso took a while to win the public over. But once the initial shock wore off (and Ducati introduced revisions as well as higher-spec S/R models), it did. A triple WSB Championship winner (Hodgson, Toseland, Bayliss) before it was replaced by the 1098 in 2007. Prices vary greatly by year and spec; better-equipped models and post-2005 revised bikes are more sought after (only two intakes in the nose cone rather than four, plus an underbraced rather than…

1 min

PS WORLD

CLOCK WINNA TIME! (OR WILL IT BE? OR WAS IT?)

The PS is prouder than punch to announce the winner of the Rothmans wrist clock competition in last month’s issue (PS, October 2022). And the winner is Ian MacFarlane out of Clarkston, Glasgow, Scotland. Ian correctly answered the perplexing multiple choice question of Who Invented Time?The answer was, indeed still is, and always will be (C) Time does not exist. This was a tricky competition. The hardest yet, by some margin. So, it was no surprise that a mere 12 entrants, out of hundreds gagging for the timepiece, got the answer right. Many of you opted for answer (F) The Egyptians, believing it was our old friends on the banks of The Nile who ‘invented’ time. Certainly, they broke down sunrise to sunset into a graspable 12 parts. And they also…

1 min

PS WORLD

MINT ONE OWNER LC UP FOR GRABS

If ever there was an LC worth the premium money they now command, this is it. PS reader Dave Bradley is parting with his 1985-registered 350 that he bought brand new, and has owned ever since. Yep: one owner. It’s just short of 23,000 miles, and in great nick: only Maxton suspension front and rear and a set of Samco hoses deviate from standard. The rest is lovingly-maintained factory correct. The onset of arthiritis for poor old Dave sadly prevents him riding it any more, so it’s up for sale for £12k. Contact us if interested, and we’ll put you in touch.…

1 min

PS WORLD

Special we like

HONDA RC36 RVF REPLICA We’ve showcased Mark Reeve’s work before in PS; his outstanding Rothmans replica NSR900RR FireBlade featured in these pages as a very Special Brew. Unfortunately, he had to let the Blade go during lockdown, but he’s since been busy building another amazing Honda. Mark’s latest creation is an RVF750 replica based around an RC36 VFR750F, and his ability to turn an average bike into something truly eye-popping looks to have gone up several notches even beyond his brilliant Blade. The detailing on this V4 build is on another level, and Mark has achieved spec updates that even world respected companies like Öhlins told him couldn’t be done (see Suspension box-out). And the further you get behind the exquisite bodywork, the better this once humble sports tourer gets.…

3 min

PS WORLD

Ps Mail

It’s all about ticking boxes Your FireBlade At 30 and Restore A ZX-9R features (PS, September 2022) got me thinking: What would be the best entry-level 900-1100cc ’90s to ’00s sportsbike for someone like me, and others like me? I’m 64 and have been riding since 1974. But I’ve never owned a sportsbike. I got out of bikes around 1992, for the usual reasons, and got back into them twelve years later. So, I missed out on three bike genres: (a) race rep 250s (b) supermonos (c) sportsbikes. I have hundreds of thousands of miles two-wheeled experience, including racing fast two-strokes of the ’70s and ’80s, and seven years as a motorcycle despatch rider in London in the ’80s. Since I got back into bikes it’s mainly been big nakeds,…

6 min