Table of contents for 12 October 2016 in MCN

This knockout machine has been built by Italian company Segoni and is called the Oro due to the fact its frame is plated in 24-karat gold! Powered by a Kawasaki Z800 engine, the Oro not only has a hand-built frame plated in gold, it also comes with OZ Racing wheels, a Marzocchi fork, a handmade swingarm, Brembo brakes, an aluminium tank, Arrow exhaust system and Bitubo twin shocks - meaning this made-in-Milan machine is (nearly) an all-Italian affair. Neat touches include the battery located in the swingarm and extensive carbon fibre. Segoni will only be building 20 Oro machines, and each one is built to order, takes three months to arrive, and costs 58,000 Euros.…

At last week’s Intermot show, MCN grabbed Tsuyoshi Shibata, Kawasaki Motors Europe Product Planning Manager, about Kawasaki’s future plans, supersport sales and superchargers. MCN: Kawasaki now have production supercharged models, will there be more? TS: Last year we showed the Soul Charger and Spirit Charger at the Tokyo Show and EICMA and while we didn’t speak about capacity, the H2 was always a pinnacle machine. The H2 showed how far we could go in terms of performance, but we now need to hit a balance between economy, usability and power. MCN: So are more affordable supercharged bikes coming? TS: Yes, that is our dream, to offer supercharged bikes to normal riders. Only Kawasaki can offer supercharger technology thanks to our dedicated technology within the company. We would like to offer…

American motorcycle company UM Motorcycles have started to import their range of small capacity bikes into Europe. While the firm is based in Miami, Florida, the bikes are built in India and China. With an 11-bike range consisting of cruisers, nakeds, sports and adventure bikes all using the same 125cc engine, UM are looking at expanding even further in the future. According to UM, next year the line up will include a 300cc cruiser and adventure bike aimed at the European market. UM’s full range will be imported into the UK by Lexmoto, with prices starting in the £2500 area and increasing to around £4000.…

Cutting edge Blade? Honda had the chance to come up with something really radical, innovative and sexy, to make up for many years of the same old dull-looking Blade. So what did they do? They created another dull-as-dishwater, ordinary looking bike. Sure, it’ll do what all Hondas do, which is everything well, but as for looks, the born again Blade is more like a yawn again Blade. Thankfully two pages later, I spotted the Ducati SuperSport, which looks so much more pleasing to the eye and serves as a lesson to Mr Honda on how to create a visual masterpiece! Chris Pearce, Essex Ed: You may not like the looks but you can't argue with the spec, especially the SP and SP2 versions. They are going to be very special…

VFR750R (RC30) 748cc 90° V4, gear-driven cams for high rpm timing accuracy, titanium pistons, two piston rings (one oil, one compression) for lower friction. 360° crank with 90°-270°-90°-270° firing interval for ‘big-bang’ drone. Stock rear wheel power is 93bhp @ 12,500rpm, top speed 160mph. NR750 (RC40) 747cc 90° V4, four oval pistons sharing two conrods and combustion chambers, with 32 valves in total; effectively a V8. Derived from NR500 Grand Prix bike, hand-built to showoff Honda’s technical might. Rear wheel power is 112bhp @ 14,500rpm, top speed is 160mph. RVF750 RC45 749cc 90° V4 is an evolution of RC30, designed by different engineering team. Cam drive gears move to side of engine, wider bores and shorter stroke for more revs, fuel injection added. Same firing interval as RC30. Power is…

2000 Honda FireBlade RR-1 Colours Red, yellow, black Dealer £2500 Private good £2200 Private average £2000 This one With 34,000 miles on its clocks, this £2200 Blade has been well used, which explains why the wheels have been freshly powder coated. 2001 Honda FireBlade RR-1 Colours Red, yellow, silver, black Dealer £2800 Private good £2500 Private average £2100 This one At £2495 this 2001 Blade carries 29,835 miles, but the dealer claims it has a good service history, which is reassuring. 2002 Honda FireBlade RR-2 Colours Red, yellow, white Dealer £3300 Private good £2900 Private average £2600 This one Privately for sale for £3000, this 954 FireBlade is very clean with only 20,845 miles on its clocks and good extras. 2003 Honda FireBlade RR-3 Colours Red, yellow, blue Dealer £3700…

HONDA AFRICA TWIN £10,499 FUEL 18.8 litres @ 48mpg = 198 miles WEIGHT 232kg SEAT 870mm POWER 93bhp TORQUE72.2ftlb MICHAEL GUY Former short circuit racer with a love of off-road racing and adventure riding HEIGHT 5ft 10in WEIGHT 72kg ‘From the slide to the moment of impact seemed to take an eternity’ It’s a question I was hoping I wouldn’t be in a position to answer, but on my way home from the Silverstone MotoGP round my ambition outweighed my talent and I crashed my Africa Twin in the wet after hitting a raised white line. From the initial slide to the moment of impact seemed to take an eternity. Despite using the wide bars to try to counter-steer the slide, and initially feeling confident that things were under control,…

The 2017 MCE British Superbike grid is far from complete, with much hanging on the fate of the GB Moto-run JG Speedfit Kawasaki team. With it now looking like team boss Mark-Smith Halvorsen will call it a day, title challenger Leon Haslam has been forced to look elsewhere. With Haslam on the move and Josh Brookes and Sylvain Guintoli looking to return from the world stage, it won’t be until these riders fall in to place that the grid starts to take shape. • KAWASAKI are desperate to keep Haslam despite GBmoto’s departure. The former WSB race winner wants to stay on a ZX-10R after building a strong relationship with the marque. • TYCO BMW need to secure a big-named rider after missing out on the Showdow. MCN understands they’ve…

“The first emphasis of a retro bike is always its looks, but the performance has to match this visual impression,” says Mitsunobu Imada, Project Leader for the CB1100EX and CB1100RS. “It isn’t about top-end power, it is about how the bike behaves and feels. I see manufacturers such as BMW and Ducati have used their retro bikes as platform models and I see the CB1100 being used in a similar fashion. We will always have the CB1100EX as the main gene, but we now have the sportier RS, which Europe demands, and it is possible to think about other derivatives. People keep asking be about the CB1100R concept bike that we showed a few years ago. This project is frozen for the mean time, but if the demand comes we…

‘By developing the GSX-R, I no longer had to keep MotoGP secrets in my head’ ‘Our GSX-R 1000 engi ne matches the competition’s power figures and makes more torque,” says Shinichi Sahara, Chief Engineer for the new Suzuki GSX-R1000 models. The quietly spoken engineering guru has been Project Leader and Technical Manager for the MotoGP team – mainly in the V4 era – but also at beginning of the inline-four project, and knows what was needed to get the GSX-R back to the top of the superbike class. MCN: Last year the GSX-R1000 was shown as a prototype, now it is the final production version what has changed? SS: “Almost every part has been upgraded or optimised. The main work has been within the engine to meet performance expectations, but…

Mash – named in honour of the classic TV show, not spuds – may be French, but the firm certainly love the Brit bike style. The Black Seven, which comes in Velocette/AJS black/gold, is the latest 125 to pay homage. Unlike its 400cc big brother, this is no café racer, with its upright riding position and lack of fairing. It has the gaitered forks and spoked wheels you’d expect, but also a new 14-litre tank which sets it apart from other Mash 125s. It’s also the first Mash 125 to arrive meeting Euro4, which means the carburettor is junked in favour of Delphi fuel injection. It has linked disc brakes – together these help explain the £2299 price tag. Fuel injection hasn’t transformed the performance, but with 11.6bhp at 8750rpm…

This test would not have been possible without the generosity of Kevin Wood, Ciaran Perrin and Bjarne Jensen. The RC30, RC45 and NR750 are all for sale. Contact: extremetrading@aol.com ‘A V4 FireBlade? Not this year, but in a few years? I’d put money on it’ What next? Standing back and taking a broad view of Honda and the V4 motor, two things are obvious. The first is there’s no way Honda will let the V4 design stagnate. Their current line-up contains the VFR1200 Crosstourer and VFR800X Crossrunner, the VFR1200 and VFR800F sports tourers, the ST1300 and CTX1300, and, technically, the RC213V-S. That’s the highest number of V4 models Honda have ever built at the same time. The VFR1200 motor even contains lots of new V4 tech, with a 76°…

Like me, you must have blinked at the prices some bikes sell for on eBay. Private sale used bikes sometimes go for more than you’d pay a dealer for them; sometimes even close to discounted new prices. Yes, you can get a bidding frenzy. What also happens is that, to be sure of not being pipped at the post, people will put in an over-high bid. Say you want to pay £2400, but are willing to be flexible and you don’t want to lose it for the sake of a few quid. So you bid £3000. People don’t consider what might happen if somebody else has the same idea. When two of these bidders collide, you have a seller whooping for joy. I’m convinced this happened with a 400 Four…

‘Everything is designed to last and is really easily accessible’ “I’ve lost count of the number I have worked on, however one thing remains constant with a FireBlade, they very seldom require major mechanical work – the vast majority of my time is spent on the basics such as oil, filters, bearings, etc, which tells you all you need to know about the Blade. “I really enjoy working on older Blade models and the 954 is the last of what I would call the older style. Thanks to their high level of build quality, you aren’t continually fighting rounded nuts or bolts, everything is designed to last and is really easily accessible, unlike on a modern sportsbike. “When buying a used 954 Blade the main worry is for the general…

£2495 Honda Varadero This 2002 bike at a dealer in the north of England has 12 months MoT and a full service history. It’s done 32,158 miles and useful extras include a Scottoiler, braided brake lines and an adjustable MRA screen. £4250 Buell XB12XT Ulysses This Buell has done 9270 miles since it was registered in 2008. It’s on sale at a dealer and accessories include hard luggage, a touring screen and heated grips. £2699 Aprilia Caponord 1000 A Lancashire dealer has this 35,000-mile 2003 Aprilia. It comes with official hard luggage, a Scottoiler and four keys. There’s an MoT until July. £6999 Benelli Amazonas Powered by Benelli’s characterful triple, the bike has just one mile on the clock, so there’s no need to worry about previous owners, service history…

BMW R1200RT LE £17,445 FUEL 25l @51.7mpg = 284miles WEIGHT 274kg SEAT 805 POWER 123bhp TORQUE 92ftlb ADAM CHID Experienced road tester who occasionally races HEIGHT 5’6 WEIGHT 80kg ‘The heated grips are almost too hot to hold on their maximum setting’ All those tell-tale signs are starting to creep in; the kids are all back at school, conkers are falling from the trees, you have to switch the lights on in the morning before you walk the dog and, for me, the light has almost gone by the time I get home from work. I’ve already seen some single figure temperatures on my morning commute. Winter isn’t that far away. Sorry. Around this time of year, I’d normally be heading into the loft to dig out some warmer kit,…

RIVAL Bell Qualifier DLX helmet £179.99 ‘The visor becomes darker as the day gets brighter, unfortunately most of the budget for this lid went on the visor. It’s heavy and not as plush as some.’ MCN, September 2016 www.bellhelmets.co.uk FASTENER Micrometric design is easy to use but doesn’t feel as secure as a double D system VISOR MECHANISM Made from cheap flexible plastic, it feels on the edge of breaking every time it’s used SUN VISOR The best I’ve used, offering good coverage and doesn’t bang my specs Suomy Halo helmet £129.99 Tester Liam Marsden Time used Five months/600 miles What’s good? I used to really like Suomy helmets and for as long as they were being brought into the UK they were my helmet of choice – they fitted…

‘Everyone can see I’m not comfortable on the bike and that it isn’t competitive’ Josh Brookes looks set to make a return to the MCE British Superbike Championship next year after a challenging season in World Superbikes with the Milwaukee BMW team. Stepping up to the world stage with his championship-winning BSB team, Brookes had high hopes of pushing towards the front in 2016 but the reality couldn’t have been more different as he and the Shaun Muir Racing outfit struggled to make headway with BMW’s notoriously challenging S1000RR. With Muir having signed a new deal to become WSB’s factory-supported Aprilia team with Eugene Laverty and Lorenzo Savadori for 2017, Brookes was left out in the cold and now faces a return to the British Championship. “This year clearly hasn’t…

‘Shakey doesn’t really like to mix it and he’s not been strong at passing’LEON HASLAM ‘If he goes 18 or 20 laps hard, he’ll destroy his rear tyre. He can’t do a race full gas, and he knows it!’SHANE BYRNE There will be no love lost between Shakey Byrne and Leon Haslam this weekend at Brands Hatch as the 2016 MCE British Superbike Showdown reaches a nail-biting climax. Right now Byrne holds the upper hand with a 17-point advantage – but with three races and 75 points remaining, nothing is decided. It’s not enough for Haslam to win all three outings because if Shakey finishes second behind him each time he will be assured of his fifth BSB crown. But, as we’ve seen all year, Haslam will do whatever…

‘If I had listened to the first surgeon I saw, my season would be over’BRADLEY SMITH ‘It’s been three hours physio, two hours gym, and an hour in the pool’ Bradley Smith will make his return to the 2016 MotoGP championship this weekend at the Japanese Grand Prix in Motegi only two months after sustaining what could have been a season-ending injury while competing as a wildcard in the Oschersleben 8 Hour World Endurance race. Smith has missed out on the last three MotoGP races after sustaining a torn anterior cruciate ligament when a following rider’s foot peg struck him in the back of the knee and sliced the connective tissue responsible for controlling lower leg movement. It’s an injury that should technically take months to heal; Smith underwent corrective…

‘The R nineT family has been extended and another model will be at Milan’ BMW are setting themselves some ambitious targets. By 2020, the firm want to be selling 200,000 units a year – a substantial increase on the 116,000 machines they currently produce. “September to September we are up on last year, which we hope will continue or lift with the release of the new Scrambler and G310R in the final three months,” explained Stephan Schaller, President of BMW Motorrad. “The overall motorcycle market is flat, however we hope to lift our numbers compared to last year and show growth.” So where will this level of continued growth come from? “You need to launch new models to gain growth, if you stop you will fall back immediately. This year…

As Honda unveiled their stunning new Fireblade SP and SP2 in Cologne last week, MCN grabbed Masatoshi Sato, Project Leader for the revitalised superbike, to get under the skin of the bike’s development. MCN: Why was now the right time to totally overhaul the Fireblade? MS: “From 2008 we have been making steady progress through a series of regular upgrades. However after its last update in 2014 we needed to think how to bring it up to the next level and what we actually wanted to do with the next generation of Fireblade. On the race track our results weren’t where we wanted them to be and so we knew we needed a radical evolution to bring it up to the next stage of performance.” MCN: Traditionally the Blade has…

Italian motorcycle manufacturer Mondial is back in business, albeit producing small capacity bikes built in China. While the Mondial name is still owned by the Boselli family, the rights to use it have been licensed to Italian company Pelpi International. And now they are set to launch a whole new The Mondial HPS 125 Hipster should appeal to beard wearers across Europe range of small capacity bikes in Europe – although they said the same last year, and nothing happened. Built by Piaggio in China, the new Mondials are effectively Piaggio engines with Mondial’s own higher specification design of chassis and styling. Initially only available in 125cc form, the firm is confident it will be able to expand into new segments. “We are starting off with the café racer…

Opportunities like this don’t come along very often. MCN have teamed up with Triumph UK to offer 50 readers the chance to win a pair of tickets each to an exclusive world launch party on October 19. The event is being held at Surrey Quays, London from 7pm to 11pm on October 19 – and guests will need to be inside before 8pm, when the doors will be closed to the outside world ahead of the big new model reveal. Triumph are hosting the event for the global launch of a brand new 2017 model – meaning that as the rest of the biking world are seeing pictures on their social media feeds, you could actually be there in the flesh, along with assorted celebrities and racers – including Carl…

There is room on the road for everyone. Well, there is as long as everyone uses the road with consideration for others. I’ve moaned about lorry drivers who take an age to overtake each other on a dual carriageway leaving a trail of angry motorists fuming in their wake before, but it’s not the Yorkie-munchers that have caused my blood to boil recently. It’s cyclists who insist on riding two-abreast down country roads even when there’s a queue of cars or motorcycles waiting to get past. On small country roads, even on a motorcycle you have to be careful not to stray on to the opposite side of the road. I’m all up for cycling and do a fair bit myself but I just don’t understand why they insist on…

Why is a V4 so special? A V4 is uncommon in bikes because it’s complex and expensive, exhaust and intake space is limited, and it’s heavy. But because a V4 is compact and mass-centralised, it influences handling differently compared to an inline four or V-twin. Spatially, it allows a conventional wheelbase with a relatively long swingarm for better suspension control, and also permits a ‘natural’ steering feel; you can turn a ‘short’ 90° V4 faster than a ‘long’ 90° V-twin. V4s steer from the knees. A V4 also has a special power delivery. It’s two V-twins on a common crank and, in a 90° V4, in primary and secondary balance. So it’s smooth. But it has a distinctive combustion vibration; a 180° V4 crank (VFR750 and 800, RSV4) fires with…

HARLEY-DAVIDSON STREET 750 £5795 FUEL 13.1 litres @ 66mpg = 190 miles WEIGHT 223kg Seat 710mm POWER 57bhp Torque 43ftlb ALISON SILCOX alison.silcox@ motorcyclenews.com Been riding for 12 years and over 20 as pillion. HEIGHT 5ft 10in WEIGHT 72kg ‘With baffles removed from my Remus can, the Street 750 added its own little bit of Thunder’ We’ve turned off the main road onto the single-track lane to Lochindorb and, glancing over my left shoulder, I see an astounding procession of bikes. Now I understand where the rally’s name originates, the rumble of our Harleys must be heard for miles around as we course through the rugged Scottish Highlands. I’d arrived in Aviemore late on Thursday afternoon, having made the 500-mile journey north from Peterborough. The Street 750 had run…

YAMAHA XSR900 £7849 FUEL 14 litres at 46.9mpg = 146 miles WEIGHT 195kg SEAT 830mm POWER 115bhp TORQUE 64ftlb at 8500rpm ANDY CALTON Brought up on two-strokes but currently moving up through the capacity and power levels. HEIGHT 6ft WEIGHT 95kg The XSR is churning through the miles now and settling into its new role as a stylish café racer. So much so, a place on the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride beckoned. And the XSR fitted right in with its drop bars and silver seat cowl. As the ride progressed though, it all felt a bit of a fraud. While other café racers dripped oil and misfired, the XSR snarled and barked its way through broken down and recuperating machinery. Despite its look, it’s really a modern naked at heart. It…

MCN Subscription, £50 Never be without your favourite read! With a year’s subscription to MCN up for grabs you’ll be kept up to date with all the latest news and views in motorcycling if you win this prize. Enter until: October 31 SportsBikeShop Gift Voucher, £50 Every month the generous chaps at SportsBikeShop give £50 to one lucky MCN reader to spend online. The firm are the UK’s number one online retailer of motorcycle helmets, clothing, parts and accessories with more than 18,000 products in stock from more than 100 different brands. Enter until: October 31 Adventure Calendar, £13 The annual Adventure Motorcycle Calendar is back for 2017, celebrating more of the overland travels of globe-trotting couple Alberto Lara and Naomi Tweddle. Exploring the world on two wheels offers matchless…

The smart money is on a move back to Yamaha, the manufacturer with whom he won the 2015 British title, but it is not yet clear in which team this would be. Recent rumours suggest Bennetts Suzuki boss Martin Halsall is in talks to run two R1s in 2017 after announcing a move away from the Suzuki machinery they have campaigned for the last two seasons. Should this come off, MCN understands Brookes is Halsall’s first choice to partner Tommy Bridewell but it’s by no means a done deal. Naturally, the Aussie isn’t limiting his options and is also thought to have been in conversation with Philip Neill about a potential return to the Tycobacked TAS Racing team, while he’s also believed to be in talks with Hawk Racing’s Stuart…

Britain’s Bradley Smith has been full of praise for the job done by his replacement Alex Lowes over the past three rounds. Scoring an impressive 13th at Silverstone, Lowes then crashed out of the Misano race and was forced to sit out his final chance at Aragon after damaging his ankle. “Alex has thrown my bike down the road too many times! I told him not to! But joking aside, he’s come in at the hardest weekends of the year. With the tyre situation, a lot of people have been making mistakes. Cold and tricky weather conditions at Silverstone, a tough Misano with brand new tyres that no one was praising, and then Aragon just the same. “It’s hard to come in when you don’t know all the tricks of…

‘The noise was deeper, gruffer and rougher than normal’ It’s no secret that this year’s Honda RC213V MotoGP machine has been hard work for its riders. The new universal control software drastically reduced the amount of electronic influence Honda could exert on their engine, which meant that changes needed to be made to calm down the aggressive engine response mechanically rather than by complex software. Over the course of the year Honda’s understanding of the new system has improved dramatically. But as a winning factory team, Honda’s engine development, alongside Yamaha and Ducati, is frozen before the start of the season meaning that there is no way engineers could adapt the engine in line with what they have learned with the new electronics. In 2015 Honda used an ultra-light, forward…