Inhoudsopgave van July 2018 - Performance Bikes

Yes, it tells you where to go. But in a bid to tempt you to their version of an outwardly simple product, the new Garmin Zumo 396 also has functions for free traffic updates and automatic re-routing, control of Bluetooth-connected phones and music, WiFi connectivity (so you can update/download routes anywhere with a connection, without a computer) and options for creating routes on decent backroads. It can also notify a contact automatically in a crash, and your movement can be tracked live (great for nosey spouses). It costs £349.99 with all the whistles, £299.99 in base spec. www.garmin.com/zumo…

‘EVERYONE JUMPED IN THE HOT TUB WITH A COLD BEER. THEN KENNY ROBERTS PEED IN IT...’ I’M WRITING THIS as I head out to race at the North West 200. It’s by far the best event in the road race calendar, and when you get an opportunity to race at it, it’s impossible to turn it down. I’m no road racer and I never thought it would be something I’d get into after MotoGP, but I’ve become addicted to it. Many years ago, I raced in Macau and although I won the first leg on a YZR500, I didn’t return as I needed to concentrate on trying to make it in GPs. Maybe if the GP career had stalled I might have stuck at road racing; with a bit of…

James Harpham from K-Tech says: “The forks are really soft as standard, but it’s a damping issue – sag was 28mm as standard, so I left that alone. Compression was closed up from six clicks from full as standard to two clicks, and rebound damping was increased from 10 clicks to two clicks from fully in. “The shock was much closer – I added three-quarters of a turn of preload to reduce it from 15mm of static sag to 13mm. Two full turns of compression took it to 1.5 turns from closed, and I reduced rebound damping a little – it came set on 11 clicks, and we finished at 13. In the long run, you might find the forks’ limits as they age; they’re softly damped and the ideal…

‘HOLD ON HARDER AND YOU’LL TIRE YOURSELF OUT. RIDE WITHIN YOUR FITNESS LEVEL’ General fitness “Recommending one-size-fits-all training for track riding is actually really difficult because you need to know a rider’s basic fitness level,” says Haslam. “A keen runner will have a different program to someone who doesn’t do a scrap of exercise. It’s always best to be as fit as possible, so a steady amount of general training will help. Frequent cardio is always better than hitting it hard once every week or so, if you do a little bit each day it will help you in the long run when it comes to riding on track as you’ll be fitter. That little bit can be whatever you want: general training, activities, sports or whatever you like to…

UNSURPRISINGLY, TESTING is a big deal at any suspension company. But more so if the company in question has asserted dominance in most international racing classes. Öhlins has brought home more than 300 world championships in everything from snowcross to endurance (both car and bike) and on occasion has supported all three champions of the same year in the MotoGP classes. But, lately, the competition has been pushing back. While having close to a monopoly in MotoGP, with the top riders all having their own personal Öhlins technichan, the market has become tougher, especially in Moto2. When meeting with one of the Swedish firm's top engineers at the Mugello GP, it was clear that this class was taking on a new focus. So, to support this offensive, the testing department…

claiming dry weight, but will quietly admit to a kerb weight), that’s either exactly what they say it is, or two kilos less, in fact. No lies: kudos. That’s also the lightest full-size four-stroke we’ve stuck on the scales for a while: though it’s only 3kg lighter than the Street Triple RS with an extra cylinder and more substantial kit, so the construction itself isn’t especially pared-down: there’s just not much of it. Power: 99bhp (four shy of their claim), and 62lb.ft of torque (just two less than claimed, too). This press bike was fresh from a caring, gentle running-in 500 miles by a KTM employee – with some more miles we’d expect triple-figure power and torque to creep up to the claimed figure. It’s about time manufacturers stopped pulling…

Keep your workspace clean I’ve always insisted on a clean work space, a discipline I instilled in any apprentices that started with me. There is no need to work in a dirty or messy environment – even in a truck workshop. Record everything When restoring a bike, make sure you record everything. Digital pictures are free, so photograph everything from every angle; it will save you so much time and aggravation when you put it back together again. Research is key Before you start a project, put in the research so you buy the correct bike. There is no point buying a tired hack, and some generations or models are worth more than others, so are worth investing extra money in. Choose your path There are two schools of thought…

Ben Rea 75kg, 5ft 10in, road racer Ben Rea is not only a retailer of tyres, he’s also an accomplished road racer: he won a Newcomer’s Manx GP on his first outing, and to date his best lap on the IoM is 117mph, set on a burly XR69 no less. He’s new to back-to-back tyre testing, so he brings a fresh mind to the test without any preconceptions or expectations. With plenty of feel and ability to call upon, he’ll provide stacks of first-rate feedback. John McAvoy 100kg, 6ft 4in, rapid road rider In contrast, Johnny is a veteran of tyre tests, and has tested and rated every single new sports tyre for PB in the last five years. He’s so attuned to the process of assessing what’s beneath him…

ALEC TAGUE BATHAMS RACING BRITISH SUPERSTOCK/ROAD RACING OULTON PARK WAS Michael’s first DNF since March 2016. It’s a bit of a shame because we pride ourselves on finishing every race. But on this occasion, matters were taken out of our hands by some electrical gremlins... All went well in free practice, where we tried a few differerent setttings to help us with the North West 200, mainly with suspension. Michael actually did his fastest ever lap of Oulton during qualifying, despite us having some issues with the heat. He said the bike felt a bit soft. It was 40°C track temperature at the circuit, and that has an effect on the viscosity of oil in the rear shock, the forks, the steering damper and so on. Either way, he was…

‘I’ve gone the right way, capitalising on what the standard one offered – teenage kicks’ 2017 YAMAHA MT-09 MARK WHITE IT’S VERY OBVIOUS that I’ve made more than a few changes to the MT-09 since collecting it from Yamaha. But what might not smack you as hard in the face as seeing the bike now is the change it has made to me. It’s all about attitude now, both the bike’s and mine. When I first rode a standard MT-09 way back when, as part of a nakeds group test, it was by far the most fun among its rivals and just encouraged a certain type of behaviour. A joie de vivre if you will. I’ve been honing that spirit with the work done to this particular MT-09, and have…

‘Semi-active suspension transforms shitty post-winter roads into perfectly acceptable surfaces for taking the piss’ 2018 BMW S1000RR SPORT JOHN McAVOY UNLESS YOU HAVE been living under a rock for the last eight years, you will be well aware that in all three of its variants so far, the BMW S1000RR has been sitting at the top of the superbike food chain. No one has been able to come close to it for performance, equipment, technology, quality, reliability and value. For eight years, it hasn’t mattered what measure you choose, the S1000RR has been that card in the Top Trumps pack that wins regardless. As astonishing as the actual hardware of the Beemer is, and how easy it is to ride, I’ve always found it more remarkable that it took so…

CHRIS NEWBIGGING EDITOR chris@pbmag.co.uk All-inclusive week in Spain. Lives on beer, tapas and pillow mints AUSTIN SMITH ART EDITOR austin@pbmag.co.uk 10 days of kids club purgatory in Devon MICHAEL RUTTER TRACK TESTER editorial@pbmag.co.uk Five star hotel in Dubai: economy flights with eight connections MARK WHITE TECHNICIAN editorial@pbmag.co.uk Off-grid radical environmentalist camping. Ejected for tagging location on Instagram JOHN McAVOY ROAD TESTER editorial@pbmag.co.uk Butlins... but as a redcoat JEREMY McWILLIAMS COLUMNIST editorial@pbmag.co.uk Roberts’ Ranch. No hot tub visits... JOHN BENNETT VLOGGER www.youtube.com/lambchoprides Fictional bike launch, fabricated by online catfish. Missing, presumed tied up KAR LEE FORUM EDITOR editorial@pbmag.co.uk Five days in Murcia, Spain. Oh look, a race track... CAROLINE BARRETT EDITORIAL ASSISTANT caz@pbmag.co.uk Club 18-30 (forged passport)…

Looking for some shiny upgrades you’re unlikely to see elsewhere? Spider Racing’s rearset kits, engine covers, brake lever guards and other machined alloy good stuff are made at the heart of Italy’s motorsport belt in Bologna, and available for many sportsbikes. They’re not approved for road use, but you can look out for yourself. Shown are S1000RR rearsets, starting at £475 with folding/fixed peg options, colour choices and road or race shift. www.kippax-moto.co.uk…

LOVED THE legendary bumper tyre test you did a few years back – any plans for anything like that again? I’m really keen to see how the new track/road tyres from Dunlop (Sportsmart TT) and Pirelli (Rosso Corsa 2) compare with their more sporting relations; GP Racer, Supercorsa and Racetec K3, etc. I’m a less committed rider (less time, less cash) but when I do ride am typically at the slow end of the fast group on a 50,000mile 5VY R1. I have raced (albeit five years ago) and whilst far from the fastest bloke am still quick enough to feel the difference between tyres, so do feel I would appreciate what a good tyre could offer, rather than just putting on an S21 or something similar. I’d love to…

‘STICK WITH LIGHT FOOD RATHER THAN SOMETHING STODGY LIKE A BURGER FROM THE CANTEEN’ Don’t eat yourself into the gravel trap “Trackdays are draining and a lot of people rock up and have their full English breakfast in the morning, drink loads of coffee through the day, eat chocolate bars and crisps and maybe they’ll have one bottle of water,” observes Ellison. “That’s fine, but by 3pm they find they are knackered and are wondering why they don’t have the energy to do the last session of the day. “You see a lot of crashes happen on trackdays because people get physically tired, so there’s a lot to be said about the nutritional side of it. You’d always put the right fuel in your bike, so why not put the…

DURING OUR visit to Öhlins HQ, PB hooked up with one of the company's most experienced test riders, Anders Andersson (one of the most Swedish names ever, second only to Sven Svensson), who has been around since it all began in 1982 when the company started testing. Usually, the test department works at Karlskoga, Sweden, during the summer and Calafat in Spain in the winter. Both have suitable race tracks and plenty of country roads nearby. “Testing is a lot about repetition; it is good to drive over the same problem several times,” says Andersson. “Therefore, a short loop is usually better. Sometimes we get asked why we do not ride at places like the Nürburgring, but it would have been impossible to get the number of laps in to…

WAS IT SOMETHING we said? KTM’s lightweight, sharpstyled, 100bhp Duke 790 piqued our interest when it was revealed: the genes of the lithe single-cylinder Duke models, but with twin-cylinder poke not unlike the Super Duke. Typical KTM promo material with skids, wheelies and bikes leaning for Austria had us all ready for the launch. And we weren’t invited. ‘You’re not the target demographic’, we were told. Kneedown, skids and wheelies? No, that’s never been PB... Still, the world kept turning for PB, wh ile others flew out to some Spanish island and fawned over it. You’d think the Messiah had returned, backing it in from the top of fifth gear before getting his elbow down. But launches are idealised testing opportunities: manufacturers spend many thousands of hours and Euros pitching…

MAKING A GOOD road sports tyre isn’t easy – they have one of the most varied jobs of any tyre, and they’re also very popular, so every manufacturer puts a lot of effort in. They need to work on cold roads, yet withstand the searing heat of a summer trackday, and also stand up to endless motorway hours on a summer Euro road trip. You want good steering, yet stability in hand for unpredictable road conditions and 190bhp, 200kg road bikes looking for an excuse to kick off. If you can think of a skill a tyre can have, sports tyres need to have it. But the rewards are great: this tyre category is popular not only with owners of sportsbikes, but also of supernakeds, all-rounders and even sports-adventure bikes…

2008 HONDA FIREBLADE CHRIS NEWBIGGING IT’S NOT THAT hard to find a full system for a popular, 10-year-old sportsbike. At least it isn’t if you’re not picky... I wanted a full-length side-mount (good for breathing and passing noise tests). I wanted titanium. And, for the sake of testing, I wanted to try an exhaust we’re not that familiar with. That made it more difficult. But I found one. A Spark titanium system was found, but weeks after the order landed with the Italian factory, it still hadn’t arrived, and attempts at communication failed. Meanwhile, further progress was hampered. Without the exhaust, the rad couldn’t go on, as well as other parts that need to be finalised before the loom can be trimmed and neatened. In the end, we admitted defeat,…

2017 YAMAHA YZF-R3 HARRIS BEECH BRITISH SUPERSPORT 300 IT SEEMS A while back now, but my last Junior Supersport meeting was at Brands Hatch. I learned a lot but also had my first crash of the season... I’d never been to Brands before, so I did one slow practice session to learn the track. The only knowledge I had of the circuit was what I had learnt off the Xbox, but going round Paddock Hill for the first time was a bit of a surprise; that felt immense. I went out in qualifying and got 16th on the grid, which I was pretty happy with, seeing as I didn’t know the track before I got there. It was a bit irrelevant by the time it got to race one on…

2017 YAMAHA YZF-R6 KAR LEE “WHY DON’T WE replace the white with chrome?” asks Luca Cabano, head honcho at Bossdog wraps. I wince a little at the suggestion. Bikers are a conservative lot at heart, and I’m not that different. When I think of chrome-wrapped bikes, I see stretched Busas, ZZ-R1400s, silver Ducatis... and they all have one thing in common: they look gash. I wince some more and decide that, nah, it should be a modernised red/white RD500LC-inspired affair with my own 21st-century touches on it. I change my mind a week later. I send Luca a JPEG of my Photoshop vision and the white mid-section is replaced with chrome, it’s a vinyl wrap after all, not a permanent paintjob; we could go back to the understated and underwhelming…

2018 KTM 1290 SUPER DUKE R CHRIS NEWBIGGING ONE STANDOUT, but easily solved, criticism of the 1290 Super Duke is the ground clearance. Now trackday season is here, there's no way I was going to get caught short with stock footpegs: the toe slider consumption would eclipse the fuel use. The KTM is a tall, roomy lump of naked fun, so raising the footpegs away from the ground doesn’t mean your heels are tucked up high enough to feel farts whistling by. I tested this generation at its launch, and the bikes fitted with KTM’s own rearsets were no less comfortable than stock, but kept toes and peg-ends off the floor and let you use the standard chassis’ full potential. Aftermarket options were considered, but these KTM items were developed…

‘We’re after bikes with proper time, thought and graft put into them, not just a shock and an end can...’ GOT A TRICK, road-legal special? Reckon it can take on all-comers? Time to prove it: we’re on the hunt for other heavily-modded machinery to measure up against the PB Project Fireblade (when it’s finished). We’re pretty confident our lightweight machine will have the measure of anything offered out of a showroom, so we’re opening up the challenge to like-minded specials builders to take on our Honda, as well as the best of the world’s standard superbikes. We’re after bikes with proper time, thought and graft put into them: bikes with a little more than a shock and an end can. They need to be taxed, MoTd (full head and tail…

ADVERTISING Phone 01733 468000 Group commercial director Gareth Ashman Group commercial manager Rhonda Janes Key accounts Shaun Collin Account Manager – Phil Martin Senior Telesales – Sarah Frisby Telesales Exec – Jessie Hutchings MARKETING Phone 01733 468845 Marketing manager Sarah Norman Marketing executive Angela Humphrey Head of newstrade marketing Leon Benoiton Newstrade marketing Joe Deboo PRODUCTION Phone 01733 468341 Production controller Carl Lawrence Advertising production Kerry Beasley Printed by Wyndeham Peterborough Distributed by Frontline THE BOSSES Managing director motorcycling Rob Aherne Group managing director Rob Munro-Hall Editorial director June Smith-Sheppard Finance director Lisa Hayden Group finance & strategy director Sarah Vickery CEO Paul Keenan…

K-Tech’s James Harper reckons: “The forks are set a little bit deep – two full turns of front preload reduces the static sag from 32mm to 30mm. The damping settings aren’t far off, though – I arrived at 12 clicks from maximum, only four more than standard. The rebound damping only needed two extra clicks, bringing it to four out from fully closed. “The rear needed a touch more sag, as it was sitting a little high at 11mm, so a small reduction in preload got to 13mm. I closed the compression from 10 clicks to six clicks from full. I then increased the rebound from 11 to six clicks from maximum, too.”…

FITNESS BY LEON HASLAM The JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider is one of the fittest riders on the BSB grid. He’ll undergo daily training sessions, and instructs at the Ron Haslam Race School and Leon Haslam MSV Track Days. He’s more than familiar with what you’re facing, and how to apply his training. NUTRITION BY JAMES ELLISON Fifteen-times BSB race winner Ellison has worked with nutritionist Brad Howell for 10 years to become one of the most food-conscious riders on the grid. Before ordering that full English and a cuppa with eight sugars, it’s worth listening to what he has to say.…

“It’s incredibly easy to swap animal products out of your meal prep and follow-up nutrition, plus you’ll avoid the harmful aspects such as the acidic and inflammatory animal protein, saturated fats and cholesterol. Combine beans like chickpeas, black beans and lentils with rice or, even better, quinoa for complete proteins or add some marinated soy products like tofu for an all-in-one hit of muscle repair and generation. Healthy fats from avocado are a bonus because of fibre content lacking in meat-heavy diets, and will keep you fuller for longer.”…

Power 99.59bhp @ 9500rpm Torque 62.27lb.ft @ 7500rpm Weight 187kg (wet, measured) Price £8499 ENGINE Type Liquid-cooled, ohc, four-stroke parallel twin Capacity 799cc Bore x stroke 88mm x 65.7mm Fuelling Electronic fuel injection Power 99.59bhp @ 9500rpm (measured) Torque 62.27lb.ft @ 7500rpm (measured) CHASSIS Frame Tubular steel double cradle Front suspension WP 43mm USD telescopic forks, no adjustment Rear suspension WP monoshock, preload adjustment Front brakes 2 x 300mm discs, four-piston radial calipers Rear brakes 250mm disc, sliding single-piston caliper DIMENSIONS Wheelbase 1475mm Rake/trail 24°/NA Weight 187kg (wet, measured) Seat height 825mm Fuel capacity 14 litres TECHNOLOGY Adjustable traction control, switchable cornering ABS, engine braking control, up/down quickshifter, ride modes BUYING Price £8499 Contact www.ktm.com…

1 Prodder “I don’t know what this is, where I got it from or even when I acquired it, but it is brilliant and I would be lost without it. I call it my prodder as it does just that – prods things. I use it for scratching things off, pushing bits and most recently I used it to tap out the part that holds the floats on the Indian’s carb. It’s one of those tools that is so simple it is ridiculous but it sits in pride of place on my tool board. A brilliant bit of kit.” 2 Compression tester “This little hand-held compression tester is from back in the day when I was a teenager working for the dairy. It’s nothing that special, and isn’t man enough…

THE CHASSIS DARREN WNUKOSKI MCT Suspension Darren lives and breaths suspension. He is one of the UK’s most respected experts in his field. If you want an ill-handling road bike transformed into a sweet chariot, Darren is your man. He also helped Dave Wood (right) to win races on his KTM… www.mctsuspension.co.uk THE ENGINE DAVE WOOD Dave Wood Racing Dave is a KTM expert who knows all about getting the most from the 1290 Super Duke. Not only does he spend his days dyno testing and servicing various KTMs, but he also won the 2008 Super Duke Cup before taking the 2009 RC8 Cup title as well. www.davewoodracing.com THE BOLT-ONS JOHN MCAVOY PB road tester In 2015, John ran a 1290 Super Duke R long-term test bike, completing thousands of…

The test As in previous years’ tyre tests, we invited all the manufacturers who supplied tyres to take part in the test, based on our request for an all-round tyre that would be assessed on the road subjectively, with the riders completely blind to the tyre underneath them. Next month, they’ll also be rated on track, as well as being measured against the stopwatch. Pressures were set to PB’s favoured 36/36psi combination: a good all-round pressure for solo sporty riding that’ll account for varying conditions – just like the tyres themselves. In the interests of transparency, every manufacturer was also invited to attend. The bike The Suzuki GSX-R1000R is a bike with a chassis architecture which is fundamentally quick-turning, with good feel, and will highlight a tyre’s handling characteristics, both…

PRICE PER PAIR £248 www.fwr.co.uk VERDICT Both riders noted their stability and high levels of grip, and how well suited the GSX-R they are. Strong individual and overall scores see the S21s post a great improvement over older Bridgestones. OVERALL SCORE OUT OF 100…

‘A 15-year-old bike that had been under-serviced and laid up was a risk...’ 2003 MV AGUSTA BRUTALE 750 CHRIS NEWBIGGING MY FIRST THOUGHT when I rode my MV for the first time was, ‘This is good... but it needs work.’ It was a mostly sound bike in nice condition, but a combination of age, disuse and inherent design shortfalls did affect the ride on my first slice of Italian exotica. One year on, the gripes (and some new issues) are sorted. It doesn’t look different, but it feels it. In my mind, it’s still a relatively inexpensive piece of exclusive Italian naked fun. But to make it feel this sorted, it’s had a fair bit of work done. I paid £3200 for the bike, which seemed cheap. Time to add…

Furygan Blast Jacket & Cold Master trousers HOW LONG SIX MONTHS COST JACKET £249.99, TROUSERS £239.99 CONTACT WWW.FURYGAN.COM LET’S FACE IT, winter 2017/18 was pretty miserable and one of the most persistent in cold temperatures I can remember. I wore this suit throughout. There a two connecting zips (one short and one full) mounted on an elastic belt. The trousers are a simple design with just one outer pocket on the right leg which suits my no fuss approach. It has a water-repellent zip which is big enough to get a good hold of. The pocket itself does leak, but to be fair I keep any essentials in my rucksack. The zips on the leg flaps are a bit flimsy, so I modified them with toggles that I nicked from…

Bossdog are well established and have been running for a decade now. Prices for motorcycle wraps start at £500. This chrome wrap would be around £1000 due to the high £75 per square metre cost of the chrome film. The typical lifespan of a Bossdog vinyl wrap is five years, though I’ve seen some stuff from other companies start peeling after 12 months. “That’s due to poor quality filmÓ, explains Luca. “We have a few customers who’ve opted for the cheapest quote, then come to us to rectify it when it goes wrong, so they end up paying twice. The truth is, you get what you pay for.Ó…

2017 SUZUKI GSX-R1000R AUSTIN SMITH OUR GSX-R IS on its second aftermarket silencer to test. The first (Yoshimura USA) added power but was a bit loud for day-to-day use. Those Yanks do like their noise... It’s now wearing a cheaper, but crucially, longer, British-made Pipewerx R11 titanium slip-on. It ran just fine on the same ECU mapping BSD had tailored to the Yoshi, but out of curiosity we decided to send it back across Peterborough to see if the different silencer design had affected power. Something certainly had: from its previous best of 185bhp, it was now making... 160bhp, and incredibly rich fuelling. What? This discovery was some weeks ago now: the tail end of the never-ending winter. Chris had used it for winter commuting before passing it to me,…

WHEELS Originals take a 120/180 pairing: any sort of tyre you wish, basically. But ZX-6R G/J model wheels are a fairly easy fit, look correct and are much lighter: they’re used by racers who can’t afford posh wheels. BIG-BORE Going big-bore is the easiest path to decent power for road/trackday use: strong, light, modern pistons make bigger bangs with no need for edgy cams or expensive head work. A ZX-9RB lump fits, with small mods, but is heavier and loses a bit of that 750 balance. SUSPENSION Generally speaking, lifting and canting the ZXR on its nose is the way forward: upper chain run is the limit at the rear, but CTT racers cut and gusset the arm... Maxton work on a lot of the contenders. WHAT TO PAY MINT:…