Table of contents for 11 March 2020 in MCN

With all that’s going on at the moment –or, more to the point, not going on –it’d be easy to get down in the dumps. We’ve waited all winter for the biking season to get going again only for part of it to be placed on hold while countries get a grip on the coronavirus outbreak. That said, I think us bikers don’t really have that much to worry about. Look at it this way, we’re naturally self-isolating as we only travel solo or with a maximum of one close friend; we’re usually wearing gloves (more than likely soaked in bug-killing petrol); we can use our bikes to commute to work so we don’t have to run the gauntlet of public transport; and our mouths are generally covered up (if…

‘Thousands owed to the local authority’ ‘Former director may try to rescue Norton’ Evidence has emerged of yet more debts at Norton with news that Norton Motorcycles owe thousands in unpaid business rates. Norton fell into administration on January 29, amid reports of unpaid suppliers and customers who had not received their bikes despite paying in full; in some cases more than £44,000. The latest blow comes from North West Leicestershire District Council who say £31,180 is still owed by Norton Motorcycles (for the period up to the end of March, 2020). And the Priest House Hotel, which has also gone into administration, although is being run as a going concern by Legacy Hotels and Resorts, also has an outstanding debt of £63,952. Stuart Garner is a director of both.…

For many members of the #ride5000miles Facebook group biking isn’t a solitary pursuit, it’s an activity far better shared, as Honda NC750-riding, Michele Busby, 43, told MCN. “My husband tends to work on Saturdays, so Sunday is our riding day.” But it’s not just hubby Steven, 53 and son Ryan, 12, who joins as a pillion, Michele also goes riding with mum Pauline, dad Stephen and uncle Greg. The trio also plan to ride to Assen BSB in Holland this September with Stephen and Greg, alongside more cousins, who are riding up from Cornwall. Michele added. “We’ve all got intercoms and we all talk. We get back from a ride and we’ll all be sharing stories with each other.” Another rider racking up the mileage with family is 46-year-old Yamaha…

One giant braiding loom… The world’s largest carbon braider, staff refer to this giant and revolutionary loom as The Stargate. The weave You won’t see a seam or a join around each wheel’s woven rim. There are around 3000 metres of fibres in each wheel! Joining together The carbon fibre threads are braided together and tensioned precisely to make a tight strong weave. Get your own The firm have two styles of wheels from £2990, www.thyssenkrupp-carboncomponents.com Bobbins Fibres are aerospace spec. The loom has 288 bobbins grouped in fours rotating within the rim of the wheel feeding the hub of the loom. Carbon fibre has been around a long time and wheels made out of this exotic material are nothing new – GP bikes ran carbon rims in the 1980s,…

•250-MILE ROAD TEST • THE BEST BIKES • EVERY WEEK Sometimes all it takes to buck a trend is a bit of bravery and a good product. Which is exactly what Kawasaki proved when the Z1000SX was launched in 2010. Unveiled at a time when the sports-touring class looked to be on the skids, the SX was a surprise hit and has since gone from strength-to-strength. The SX has delivered sportsbike performance in a comfortable package with a (relatively) budget price tag and while the spec has steadily increased over the years, the cost had barely followed. For 2020 the fourth-generation of SX has received a name change, to bring it into the Ninja family, and had a range electronic assists added. Will these help it topple the class-defining, but…

KAWASAKI The Ninja has Kawasaki’s new 4.3in TFT dash, with phone connectivity. The display is clear, with a large speed display, gear indicator and fuel gauge. Its background can be inverted to white on black from black on white. A clear and intuitive dash. The RS uses BMW’s default 6.5in TFT display that also has phone connectivity. It’s clear and hard to fault with the top display scrolled through via the switchgear menu button to swap between trip, fuel range/gauge. The toggle wheel accesses additional sub-menus. KAWASAKI SWITCHGEAR Big, basic and clearly marked. Hard to fault, but the heated grips’ controls are annoying as you need to count the flashes to discover the heat setting. BMW BMW SWITCHGEAR The RS’s switchgear is standard BMW fair and simple to use. All…

‘Petronas didn’t care about race success. Just as well...’ To say that Nigel Bosworth has packed a fair bit into his 56 years is something of an understatement. As well as racing and winning in British and European 250GP series, he’s managed teams in WSB and BSB, tested for Kenny Roberts, been a talent coach for MotoGP and WSB stars and now works for Dainese. Not only that, he even built the famous yellow taxi in Blade Ru n ner while working as a model maker. But bikes have always been central in his life. “When I was 17 I did the usual RD250LC thing, but after being caught wheelieing down Hinckley High Street I was banned, so I took it to a trackday at Mallory,” he remembers. “A guy…

STAGE 1 Anchorage, Alaska to Tuktoyaktuk, Canada. 1800km This road stage will give Sjaak time to get used to the climate and bike and make any modifications. STAGE 2 Tuktoyaktuk to Ward Hunt Island. 2300km The route depends on the ice as Sjaak will need to avoid pressure ridges, which are piled up ice fragments that can be as high as a house! If there’s no way around, Sjaak will have to winch his bike and equipment over. He’ll also need to find a local guide who knows the land, climate and ice for this run. STAGE3 Ward Hunt Island to North Pole. 800km+ Stretches of open water are seriously dangerous and need to be avoided at all costs. Sjaak will be riding over polar ice and…

THE STUDENT Tim Littler, 49, Orpington R1200GS rider Tim learnt to ride on a council scheme when he was 16 and has since been trained to IAM and RoSPA standard. Tim’s riding problem Having seen how effortlessly some people look through S-bends, I feel like I’m always fighting the bike. Can you help? THE TUTOR Ryan Decarteret, Rapid Training Police trained Ryan is a former surveillance rider, who now coaches others to become more accurate, smoother and safer riders. Ryan’s action plan The key to being smooth is all about making minor inputs and using no more effort than the situation requires. Here’s how… THE LESSON 1 Let the bike do the work Use countersteering to positive effect by pushing the inside ’bar (or pulling the outer) to initiate…

The Owner Richard Bentham, 54, Bristol IAM Observer Richard has been riding for just shy of 40 years and has an ownership CV that extends from two-stroke mopeds to full-on sportsbikes We’re all looking for the best possible deal when it comes to a new bike and MCN reader Richard Bentham had plenty of experience to call on when it came to his latest ride. “My first bike was a Honda SS50,” says Richard, “but that ended up in the front of a Mini!” Thankfully Richard bounced straight back and bought himself an MZ50, which he rode until he was 17. “My dad kindly gave me his MZ125,” he says, “but it was an awful clunky thing. As soon as I had the money I got a Yamaha RD200.” Big…

As Covid-19 continues to dominate headlines, the World Superbike championship is the latest sporting contest to be affected. Even before Italy’s Lombardy region was placed into lockdown, a WSB press release explained that this weekend’s Qatar round had been postponed. The communiqué stressed the importance of Italian participation and, with sole tyre supplier Pirelli hailing from Milan and with key personnel having already travelled home from Australia, travel to the Doha track has now become an impossibility. Even more so because Italy is significantly represented in WSB, especially when you consider the number of Italian teams both in Superbike and Supersport. ‘Talk of both MotoGP and WSB going to Qatar at the same time’ The Qatar round had been placed on consecutive weekends with MotoGP in order to let resurfacing…

Jake Dixon escaped a last corner collision with early race leader Luca Marini to secure two points on his debut for the Petronas Sprinta Racing team. Marini had dropped off dramatically from the lead after suffering serious tyre problems and clashed with Dixon at the final corner. As Dixon went to overtake Valentino Rossi’s half-brother, the Brit’s foot reportedly caught the Italian’s front brake lever, causing the crash. That incident aside it was a positive debut for Dixon, who showed determination and strong race long pace after a tough start. ‘If you’d told me I’d finish 14th I’d have chewed your arm off’ “I nearly got taken out on the first lap by Ramirez,” Dixon said. “I went off the track and lost a good two seconds and my groove.…

Years of experience played a key part in Qatar as John McPhee opened his 2020 Moto3 account with a strong second place result. The Scot was unable to prevent Albert Arenas from clinching his first victory since Thailand, and KTM’s 100th in Grand Prix racing, but was more than happy to take 20 points from a typically chaotic opening race. Now entering his ninth year in Moto3 – and with the same bike and squad as last season – McPhee knows all too well what can happen in the opening laps, which is why he stuck to his conservative game plan early on. “I told the team that for the first five laps I want to try and get through the corners cleanly because in last year’s race I qualified…

Five pupils from The Park School, Yeovil, are hoping to clinch a lap record this year, when they enter their Kawasaki ZXR400 into a club racing event at Silverstone in early April. Entering the Formula 400 series with the British Motorcycle Racing Club, the team will compete at the circuit between April 4-5 with the bike likely to be piloted by Head of Physics, Andrew Gill, who oversees the project and is a former series champion. “I love bikes and I race, but I also love physics,” the 47-year-old told MCN. “Plus, I love the fact that every time I’m teaching, it can then be applied to working on the bike.” Known as ‘Engine Club’, the project was founded by Andrew in 2017 and now selects five students every year…

This Fireblade-powered, ‘funny-front-end’ superbike has become one of the very first to have its bodywork and other components produced by 3D printing technology. Dubbed the Morlaco, it’s the latest project from Bottpower, a small, high-tech motorsport engineering firm in Valencia. Now nearing completion, it has just been fitted with a tank, seat unit, front mudguard and more all made using 3D printing. Use of the process, which builds up material ranging from polymers to titanium into complex shapes and until now largely the preserve of rapid prototyping, could revolutionise short-run bike design and manufacture. ‘You send the file and then, in four days you have the parts’DAVID SANCHEZ, BOTTPOWER A key part of the project, Bottpower’s David Sanchez says, was to use as advanced technology as possible, which is why…

The InSpireRide returns in May for a third time looking to raise more funds for the International Bomber Command Centre, and raise awareness of the huge sacrifices made by the men and women of Bomber Command. The event involves a ride-in to the IBCC centre, Lincoln, from both the Humber Bridge North carpark, and Sleaford Rugby Club. Over 600 bikes took part last year, helping to raise more than £6400. This year the organisers are hoping to double the number of bikes taking part, as well as more than doubling the money raised. ‘Over 600 bikes took part last year raising £6400-plus’ A pass for a bike is £10 (there are also VIP tickets from £50). All money raised goes to charities supported by InSpireRIde, the vast majority going to…

WSB from Phillip Island was about as good as racing gets, with riders piloting several manufacturers’ bikes passing and repassing lap after lap until they crossed the line fractions of a second apart. Three races over the weekend and three different winners on two different makes of bike. Brilliant! No doubt, my erroneous perspective arises because I still haven’t learned that MotoGP (THE Premier Class, after all) is better and, actually, WSB is a vastly inferior sport with second-rate riders on crappy proddie bikes. So, maybe what I watched wasn’t nearly as good as I thought, but hey-ho, I still liked it. After those three races from Oz I’m as happy as a pig in poop! Fred, email MCN Star letter Write something that spikes our interest, and you…

‘I enjoyed the RS, but I was won over by the Kawasaki’ It’s Britain’s best road test route. A tough 250-mile mix of A and B- roads, a stretch of motorway, plus plenty of towns, villages, blind corners, ballistic straights, and a huge range of grippy to slippy tarmac. There are two cafés, an off-road section for adventure and trail bikes, track time at for sportsbikes when needed, the test strip at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground and the dyno for hard and fast data. You want answers? We’ve got ’em. WEATHER WATCH 1 Ticking all the boxes The SX comes with a two-way quickshifter, TFT dash with connectivity, four rider modes, cornering ABS and angle-sensitive TC, while the BMW requires extras to match this. The RS Exclusive adds cruise control,…

The run from Stratford towards Stow-on-the-Wold can be a hit and miss affair. However, on the Ninja 1000SX and R1250RS it was a total delight. This road is tight, twisty and fairly uneven, meaning it takes total concentration to navigate at a decent pace, especially after Storm Dennis had dumped dirt and standing water onto the surface. Both bikes excelled in this section thanks to their strong midrange stomp, and also their chassis’ sporting ability and electronic aids. On the SX I could use its sharper brakes and lighter handling to flip-flop through the bends, leaning on the superb traction control to power out of corners, especially in damp sections. With cornering ABS providing a comforting safety net, it was great fun to challenge myself to read the road’s grip…

These are the 10 new-for-2020 models that will be joining this year’s MCN long-term test fleet. From retros to nakeds, superbikes to adventure machines, our team of highly experienced riders will be taking them on road, track and dirt – both at home and abroad – to cut through the marketing hype and find out just how well each one performs. Along the way we’ll be testing tyres, kit and hard-parts, speaking to experts and owners, logging every tank of fuel and enjoying each and every mile in order to bring you the most thorough review possible. And if you own one of these models, please get in touch with us and we’ll compare notes. ‘We’ll see how they cope with thousands of real-world miles’ Honda Fireblade CBR1000RR-R SP ●…

1. SCAN AND PLOT When you’ve identified an S-bend scan for position, because the sooner you can see through the first turn, the better. 2. LOCK ON Get into position, adjust speed, selecting the correct gear to keep the engine spinning, as you lock on to that perfect line. 3. PRESS Make a clean, positive steering input to lean the bike – keep it clinical and don’t use any more effort than is required. 4. VANTAGE POINT You’re aware of a second change in direction so, as you stand the bike up, position to increase your view through it. 5. SAFETY ZONE Ride to what you can reasonably expect to happen. Give yourself time and space to take avoiding action if necessary. 6. DON’T FIGHT IT Track your line through…

The Isle of Man government has released a statement regarding the status of this year’s TT following the coronavirus outbreak. “While the threat to the public in the Isle of Man remains low, a number of future contingency scenarios are being considered,” the statement reads. “This is usual practice and is in line with the WHO advice for preparations in case of a pandemic. The risk is low and preparations for this year’s TT remain on schedule.” On Monday Prime Minister Boris Johnson chaired an emergency meeting to discuss the virus but as yet there has been no decision taken to restrict gatherings of people at sporting and other events.…

Tetsuta Nagashima’s victory in Qatar was an emotional one, coming a decade after the late Shoya Tomizawa won the inaugural Moto2 race at the circuit. Nagashima and Tomizawa were close friends and raced together during their teenage years. It was a tearful cooling down lap and appearance in parc ferme for Nagashima, who gave it his all to ensure he won the race. “I forgot everything and pushed to win or crash,” Nagashima said. “Shoya is like a brother to me because when I first started racing, we were always together. He is my hero and he taught me a lot, I knew him and his family really well. I remember when he won this race, so I can’t believe my first victory is at the same place – it’s…

GPs behind closed doors also under consideration ‘The aim is to maintain the championship’ Racing behind closed doors and competing right up to Christmas are two of the drastic measures being considered as MotoGP tries to counter coronavirus. The series has been pitched into an ‘unprecedented crisis’ by the outbreak with potentially the worst disruption since the championship began in 1949. The 2020 season opened in Qatar on Sunday without a MotoGP race after Europe’s biggest outbreak in Italy barred Valentino Rossi, Andrea Dovizioso and dozens of MotoGP staff from flying to Doha. The postponement of the next round in Thailand along with the expected cancellation of April’s races in North and South America saw emergency summits in Doha between Dorna, FIM, IRTA (International Race Teams Association) and MSMA (Motorcycle…

Indian have released a smaller-capacity version of their Scout Bobber, making that cool blacked-out styling available to those on a tighter budget. This is Indian’s second ‘Sixty’ model, so named because of its 60 cubic inch engine, after the original Scout Sixty. Just like the Scout Sixty, the new Bobber Sixty is powered by a 999cc V-twin, which makes a respectable, if not earth-shattering, 78bhp. As well as making the Indian easier to ride, it also makes the it eligible for A2 licence holders, who can have the motor restricted to 47bhp. It should also be a blast to ride with a thumping 65ftlb of torque on tap, although it will only be blessed with five gears. Styling is also carried over from the full-sized machine with the ‘bobbed’ rear…

Metropolitan police commissioner, Cressida Dick, has used the progress made by Operation Venice in tackling moped crime in London as a shining example of police tech during a speech given at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies. “Last night, I spoke to one of my sergeants who works on the Venice team,” she said during her keynote speech. “The Venice team have reduced moped-enabled crime in London from over 19,000 in 2017 to just over 4000 in the last year. “I asked how and he said: ‘We’ve created a hostile environment for the people who use mopeds to rob. We’ve layered out tactics and we’ve made the best use of the technology we’ve got.’” One of the other reasons that moped-enabled crime has been reduced is…

Michael Dunlop signing to ride the Ducati is brilliant news, and I know how good that bike is having ridden it at Macau. I enjoyed every millisecond on it and working with a good, strong experienced team. They’ve got a year under their belt with the bike and they are BSB champions – the reasons to ride that bike just go on and on. ‘THE REASONS TO RIDE THAT BIKE JUST GO ON AND ON’ Great team, great bike and now a great rider. He’s the next one down on the list to me in terms of TT wins and he’s still a young, hungry fella. And it’s Michael, so you just never know. I don’t know the ins and outs of the deal, but it’s interesting because you’ve got…

1982 Yamaha RD250LC “I hadn’t even paid my first finance installment when I wheelied down the High Street in Hinckley in front of a cop, earning myself a six-month ban…” 1986 Yamaha TZ250S “I remember it arriving in a crate. It was beautiful, a work of art. It could win British races out of the crate against the likes of Niall Mackenzie.” Proton KRV3 “It was like my TZ but with double the power, a simply beautiful bike that lacked the brutality of the V4 and lived for corner speed.” Foggy Petronas “The motor was half a Ferrari F1 engine and wasn’t suitable for a bike as it was too top-endy and unreliable. In fact, we did 13 engine changes at Monza. It was good for one clear lap in…

‘It’s been my dream for 20 years, and I’m finally one year away’ I’m going to ride a modified Yamaha YZF-R1 to the North Pole across the polar ice-cap. It’s been my dream for the last 20 years and I’m finally now just one year away from starting Stage One. It hasn’t been easy getting here, it’s taken years of preparation, planning and practice runs, but now I’m almost ready. The mission The plan is to ride a motorcycle from mainland America to the North Pole without any assistance, apart from a support dog sled or skidoo carrying fuel. I’m aiming to make the ride in three stages, eventually ending up at the true North Pole, not the magnetic North Pole like they did on Top Gear, but the point…

Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 ● 648cc ● 47bhp ● 202kg ● 804mm Rider Gareth Evans, MCN Online Editor, 36, 6ft Gareth.evans@motorcyclenews.com Riding six months, likes commuting and rural runs Mission As a new-ish rider, the modest 47bhp the Interceptor boasts carries big appeal – I want to learn to get the best from it, rather than spend 2020 simply holding on for dear life. But it also speaks to my love of classic machinery, style and engineering too, with the simplicity of an old-school design and retro aesthetics married to the home comforts of modern running gear and, hopefully, reliability. Here’s hoping for long summer evenings rumbling along my favourite country lanes, and maybe some admiring glances from like-minded classic fans. Honda Africa Twin AS ES Plus ● 1084cc ●…

Nothing kick-starts the day like getting to work on a bike. Adding to the usual attractions of riding with the benefits of slicing through choked-up traffic and far less running costs than a car or public transport, you arrive bouyed, alert and, most importantly, in a great mood. Any bike is great for day-today use, of course, but investing in something specifically for the purpose means you get the most out of every morning. £2950 HONDA NC700X 670cc |218kg |51bhp |830mm seat height • Dealer up to £4000 • Private up to £3500 • This one 1998, 24,000 miles Predictable? Don’t care. The NC700X is brilliant. Its parallel-twin engine has lowdown thump for darting across town and does 75mpg without trying, meaning 210 miles between fill-ups of the underseat…

1 Meet the crank There are many different layouts and designs of crank, but the simplest is inside the single-cylinder two-stroke. Often taken for granted, these cranks can rotate at in excess of 14,000rpm so understandably need care and attention from time to time. This crank has been removed from a motocross engine, after being contaminated with debris from a failed piston. 2 Free stuck mains Often when a crank is removed from the cases one or both of the main bearings remain on the shaft and need to be removed using a puller. If the bearing has failed, leaving the inner race in situ, it can be removed by heating the puller and quickly grabbing the race. The heat momentarily reduces the race’s grip on the shaft…

‘I’m not scared of battling with Johnny. I believe in myself a lot’ ‘It felt good to get one up on him early in the season’ Alex Lowes had a Kawasaki debut to remember at Phillip Island ten days ago after beating teammate Jonathan Rea in a head-to-head battle to secure victory and take the lead of the WSB championship. The way Lowes secured his first win since Brno in 2018 makes it particularly satisfying for the 29-year-old Brit as he was able to do something that Tom Sykes and Leon Haslam struggled to achieve - beat Rea on equal machinery. “PI is a different kind of track, but I can’t remember Johnny being beaten in a direct battle like that,” Lowes told MCN. “I’ve got it out of the…

Despite his best efforts to compete in Qatar, Sam Lowes was ruled out of the race through injury. Lowes is still recovering from a serious shoulder injury sustained at the Jerez test last month and, despite riding on Friday, decided to end his weekend early. “The feeling was okay, but I still had some pain,” Lowes said. “Maybe it would have been possible to do more laps, but it would have been difficult to do the full race distance. It was a big risk and I still have damaged tendons, so another crash would have meant surgery. I’m fully focused on being fit for round two.”…

Austin GP now looking increasingly unlikely ‘Huge losses in TV & sponsor revenue’ With the 2020 MotoGP season thrown into disarray due to coronavirus, MCN tackles the big questions about the cancellation of the first MotoGP and the extraordinary predicament the series finds itself in. Has any paddock member tested positive for Covid-19? No. Romano Fenati complained of a sore throat during the recent Moto2 test, was examined and given the all-clear. A special isolation area was set-up next to the medical centre for anyone showing symptoms who’d then be immediately transferred by ambulance to a Doha hospital. Was a charter flight to get Italian nationals into Doha a serious option? Yes. Dorna investigated running a charter flight from Nice for almost 200 people, with the caveat that all passengers…

Cal Crutchlow says the uncertainty about when his 10th season in MotoGP will finally get underway is proving one of the strangest experiences in his long racing career. The British LCR Honda rider and his MotoGP rivals have been left in limbo by the global outbreak of coronavirus, with 2020’s first two races in Qatar and Thailand scrapped and further chaos to the calendar seeming inevitable as the Covid-19 crisis worsens. Crutchlow confirmed to MCN that every MotoGP rider had been told about the Qatar cancellation in a personal phone call from Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta. The 34-year-old was notified just hours before he was due to fly to Doha for the season opener. Now, with no sign of any imminent racing action, the three-time MotoGP winner had has flown…