Table of contents for 11 May 2016 in MCN

This is the new Chieftain Dark Horse; a de-chromed and blacked-out version of the monster bagger first launched in 2014. The formula for this new version of the 1811cc water-cooled V-twin follows that of the Chief Dark Horse, where almost all of the chromed parts are kept black for a meaner look. On this occasion, the bike has the hard bags of the existing Chieftain model. The new Chieftain Dark Horse comes as standard with a single seat and short, tinted power windscreen, keeps the remote-locking hard bags, ABS, electronic cruise control, tyre pressure monitoring system, audio with AM/FM, bluetooth and a smartphone input and a remote key fob with key-less ignition. The dark parts include the mudguards, fairing, fuel tank and bags, the Indian Motorcycle headdress, fork, mirrors, handlebars,…

Time for bikers to bite back? The coming referendum gives motorcyclists’ an opportunity to consider whether we stay in the EU. Historically Brussels has been a source of lots of anti-biker legislation and has kept bikers’ rights organisations busy. Now is the time to choose. N Bence-Jones, Suffolk A moving argument to stay in EU It was good to see a balanced piece on the referendum. However, in comparison to the calm and reasoned explanation from Roger Willis, the only scaremongering was from the Leave campaign MP Steve Baker. I’m a regular traveller, and for politicians to claim all would be sweetness and light while denying the impact on health insurance and other costs is wishful thinking. No wonder the bookies are showing a more level-headed response, and putting the…

Natural ability counts for a lot, but these days, success in sport at the highest level rarely comes from God-given talent alone. Trouble is, there are a lot of people in the world and even if one percent of the estimated 7.5 billion people currently alive on this planet is gifted, that still makes excelling at swimming, or running or racing a motorbike tough. What separates the really good from the great may not be sheer ability. It may be willpower, or fitness or experience. At the risk of exciting the anti-golfists, nine-times Major champion Gary Player once said: “The harder I practice, the luckier I get.” The best never rest. As they search for that tiny advantage – mental or physical – they obsess about every detail. This week,…

2015 KTM 1290 Super Duke R £13,000 Ad says: Reluctant sale of my bike. Too many extras to mention, 1800 miles. MCN says: Current king of the super-naked castle, save £3000 on the price of a new bike 2014 BMW S1000R £8999 Ad says: 3500 miles, still has BMW warranty until June 2016, full BMW service history, DDC suspension and a larger screen. MCN says: Dripping in full sportsbike tech, this is a current model bike at an amazing price. 2013 Aprilia Tuono V4R £7995 Ad says: 5000 miles, oozes cool, and sounds just like a MotoGP bike. Amazingly fast. MCN says: The seller doesn’t mention condition, but it’s a great price for a slice of exotica. 2014 Kawasaki Z1000 £7695 Ad says: 2546 miles, super-aggressive styling really sets this…

BMW The lofty pillion perch feels precarious around town, but airflow around the big screen provides additional support on the open road. HONDA Although the Honda has the most comfortable seat, it feels cramped as there’s little room for big boots between panniers and rider. YAMAHA The lower seat of the FJR1300 means you have to peer around the rider to see, but the sportier position makes for a more involving ride. KAWASAKI The GTR places the passenger high above the rider, giving the best view forward. The downside is uncomfortable wind buffeting. WHAT HAVE THEY GOT?…

Yamaha MT-01 Low-mile 2007 model described by its owner as “cherished”. It’s covered just 8000 miles in nine years and is at the bottom of the price range. It’s in Ireland, but has a partial UK history. Yamaha MT-03 It’s easy to forget how distinctive the old single-cylinder MT-03 was – especially in this orange paint. This 2007 model is a dealer sale so there’s the extra peace of mind of some comeback if things go wrong. Yamaha MT-09 Showing 6770 miles on the clock, this bike is used, yes, but it's the full-fat triple for less than the price of a new parallel twin MT-07. Good standard condition. Yamaha MT-07 Year-old bike still has warranty left and has had a selection of upgrades including crash bobbins, exhaust can, new…

‘Yamaha was the brand I turned to most frequently as a spotty teenager in search of cheap thrills’ YAMAHA XSR900 £7849 FUEL 14ltr @ 45mpg = 138 miles WEIGHT 195kg (fully fuelled) SEAT 830mm POWER 113bhp TORQUE 64.5ftlb ANDY CALTON RIDING Two-stroke upbringing, through to 600cc sportsbikes HEIGHT 6ft WEIGHT 95kg andy.calton@motorcyclenews.com Sometimes a bike just resonates. The colour, the look, the sound… whatever it is, it reaches out and talks to you. Coming from a misspent youth of smoke-belching two-strokes, Yamaha was the brand I turned to most frequently as a spotty teenager in search of cheap thrills. An RD200, led to a 350 Powervalve which led to an RD500. So when the first proper pictures of the new XSR900 hit the desks at MCN, my jaw dropped. The…

HARLEY-DAVIDSON STREET 750 £5795 FUEL 13.1 litres @ 49mpg = 142 miles WEIGHT 223kg SEAT 710mm POWER Not available TORQUE43ftlb RIDER Alison Silcox, experienced rider with 12 years on the front and over 20 as pillion I spent the morning at our local dealer, Sycamore Harley-Davidson, while they went through the 32-point first service checklist. It took four hours and cost £225, which I think is rather expensive for a first service after less than a thousand miles on the road. When the work was done I did raise one niggle – that I had been finding it tricky to select neutral at a standstill, but sometimes it would drop into neutral when I was trying to shift up from first to second. The guys at Sycamore said I wasn’t…

1 Mammoth Original Disc Lock £9.99 Light and easy to carry, this will deter the casual thief thanks to its hardened steel pin, which comes in 6mm or 10mm to suit different discs. Both sizes cost the same. 2 ABUS Detecto 7000 RS1 - Pixel Yellow £121.99 One of the toughest disc locks around. It can be operated with one hand, has a hardened steel body and is alarmed so anyone who messes with your bike will get earache. 3 Xena XX10 Alarmed Disc Lock £64.99 Has a double-locking 10mm hardened steel pin, and a stainless one-piece body that is freeze-proof. The alarm emits a piercing 120dB. 4 Gear Gremlin Tempest £29.99 Simple, budget disc lock that’s made from a steel alloy lockbody with a 10mm locking pin. Has its…

Lee Johnston “Guy did British championship racing so why doesn’t it benefit him? If Alastair Seeley went to the Ulster Grand Prix he would win races. Fast people are fast.” Peter Hickman “It probably does give circuit racers an advantage. Road racing is a very different style of riding. Road racers don’t generally brake late and deep going into corners, they tend to let go of the brakes earlier and run through the corners. You can’t really do that at the North West, not at the chicanes anyway – that definitely means that short circuit experience can help you a lot. Obviously that’s one of the reasons why Alastair Seeley is so successful around there. It’s still a circuit at the end of the day though and it doesn’t mean…

Sam Lowes has once again come away from a race weekend showing just how much he has matured in recent months, by bagging a result and reducing the damage to his title aspirations after a tough weekend. Struggling from the beginning of the Le Mans weekend to find the right feeling from his Federal Oil Kalex to allow him to push, he was nonetheless able to take a steady result of sixth, despite the trying circumstances. “In the final stages of the race I pushed really hard to try to grab fourth place, but actually I was not able to be fast. I was struggling with the front end and to make the bike turn on corner entry, but we must look at the positives: in a race where we…

Honda boss calls for in-season engine development Speaking to MCN after the race, Honda boss Livio Suppo has admitted that while Honda’s current problem is one of their own making, he believes that the rules restricting in-season development need to be reconsidered for the future. Currently, teams are restricted to seven identical engines, presented at the beginning of the season in Qatar to technical stewards and immediately sealed shut. Originally introduced as a cost-saving measure to limit the amount of development work undertaken by the factories, Suppo told MCN in Le Mans that he believes that some sort of concession needs to be made to keep racing close. “Nowadays there are not so many days of testing. We introduced a new engine this year, but we just didn’t have enough…

• Moto2 front-runner Jonas Folger will step up to MotoGP for 2016, after finally announcing his much-anticipated move to the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha team to replace Bradley Smith. Announcing the move at the team’s home round, his team-mate is yet to be confirmed. • The future of winglets is still to be decided, despite a number of meetings in recent rounds between rulemaking body the Grand Prix Commission, teams’ representative IRTA and manufacturers’ body MSMA. However, it’s believed that a proposal is currently being negotiated that could limit or restrict them in 2017. • The weekend saw a significant increase in crowds from last year, with nearly 200,000 people attending the entire weekend and a record 95,000 on race day. • Reigning Moto2 world champion Johann Zarco will get…

Finding your next bike has just got a whole lot easier! MCN has launched the MCN Bikes For Sale app, an exciting and innovative way of browsing and searching thousands of new and used classified bike ads. Available for iPhone and iPad, the app is free to download, easily configurable, features saveable searches and you can even browse by bike type. If you see something you like you can save it and come back to it later, even if you haven’t got a signal. Once you’ve found the bike you’re interested in, making contact is effortless too, you can call or contact the seller straight from the app with no fuss or hassle – that means no more fumbling around while you try to write down phone numbers or contact…

Herald Vagabond £3500 Herald’s take on a café racer comes in black with a sporty seat, semi-drop bars and reverse cone exhaust. While its Avon Roadrider tyres make the bike handle far better than the Rambler, the flat bars are angled downwards at their tips and the seat is very hard, making the riding position uncomfortable, but you can request it with the comfier bars from the Nomad. Herald Nomad £3500 Aimed at urban riders, the Nomad comes with a flat bench seat, matt black details, high bars and a megaphone-style exhaust. While its Avon Distanzia tyres have the fashion-pleasing chunky tread pattern, they don’t play havoc with the bike’s handling. The riding position is nice and relaxed and although the seat isn’t the most padded, it is fairly comfortable…

‘A certain racer who lives near Heysham is always the last person to book’ The TT enabler WAYNE LISY Age 37 Lives Castletown, Isle of Man Job Shore Operations Manager For most TT goers, their first experience each year in the Isle of Man pilgrimage is via the Steam Packet ferry. The company transports almost three quarters of all bikes and visitors that cross the Irish Sea each year. The TT is a magnet for more than 36,000 visitors, with over 14,000 bikes and 4500 cars and vans expected this year. That represents a huge surge in traffic, double the number of passengers and cars in a normal week when there wouldn’t be even a fraction of that number of bikes on board. The responsibility for making sure everything goes…

Luca Cadalora The shy Italian won the 1986 125 world title for Garelli, then won 250 GPs for Yamaha. He won the 250 title for Rothmans Honda in 1991 and 1992, and later won eight 500 GPs with Honda and Yamaha. Wilco Zeelenberg The Dutchman had his greatest day in May 1990 when he won the West German 250 GP. After retirement he guided Cal Crutchlow to the 2009 World Supersport title, then started working with Jorge Lorenzo. Randy Mamola One of the USA’s earliest racing prodigies, Mamola won 13 500 GPs between 1980 and 1987 on factory Suzukis, Hondas and Yamahas. He was runner-up in the 500 world championship on four occasions. John Laverty The middle brother of the Laverty family was a regular top 10 BSB finisher in…

The Honda finishes last - it was a good bike 15 years ago, and still is – but it can’t match the newer competition. The Kawasaki is the cheapest here, and it’s hard to see where Kawasaki have saved their money – you won’t ever feel disappointed owning it. The Yamaha is impressive, and has clever rider modes and suspension without being over complicated. It’s smoother than the BMW, has more power and torque, and the handling has a nice balance to it. But the BMW is the ultimate tourer, and our first choice here. It has very clever rider modes which interact with the semi-active suspension, and is the most comfortable and best appointed on test. It’s close at the top, but that’s where you’ll find the BMW. 1st…

‘The XR is proving to be a bike of many talents’ BMW S1000XR SPORT SE £17,289 FUEL 20 litres @ 43mpg = 189 miles POWER 160bhp TORQUE 82ftlb WEIGHT 228kg SEAT 840mm ANDY DOWNES Experienced road rider who loves a long continental trip HEIGHT 5ft 9in WEIGHT 80kg andy.downes@motorcyclenews.com The BMW S1000XR has been in my life for just a few weeks now and thankfully the thing I was dreading most of all – fearsome high-frequency vibration – hasn’t become a reality. Search the internet for info about the S1000XR and the subject of vibration will quickly surface, but it does seem to be an inconsistent theme. What some owners and those on test rides have perceived as unacceptable vibration, others have said t there is nothing to worry about.…

‘I’m bored to the back teeth! Riding around chicanes just bores me’GUY MARTIN, NW200 2015 Guy Martin will be conspicuous by his absence at this year’s North West 200. It will be the first of the international road races that the Tyco BMW star will miss following his decision to train and race in June’s Tour Divide cycle race in America. But whether or not the Lincolnshire man was going to race at Portrush in 2016 following his controversial outburst at last year’s event would’ve been open to debate, anyway. Perhaps fuelled in part by his frustration at lagging behind his Tyco teammates, Alastair Seeley and William Dunlop, on the practice board, Martin let fly to television and radio reporters. During his extraordinary rant, the 34-year-old slammed the North West’s…

‘I’m feeling good right now; I’m on a bit of a high. For now, we’re strong’BRAD BINDER Just five rounds into the 2016 season, South African Brad Binder has firmly established himself as the Moto3 championship favourite, after backing up his incredible last-to-first win in Jerez with another accomplished victory at Le Mans. Battling for the entire race with Romano Fenati, Aron Canet and Jorge Navarro, the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider showed on the final lap the kind of race craft that has catapulted him into the position of bookies’ favourite. Trading the lead for much of the race, a well-executed pass on the penultimate lap combined with an impressive display of defensive riding at the end of an epic battle handed him the win – a victory he…

‘Even with a load of misfortune, we still had a little bit of luck on our side’EUGENE LAVERTY You’d have got good odds on Eugene Laverty being in the top 10 and ahead of Cal Crutchlow, Bradley Smith and Scott Redding in the title standings, but that’s exactly what the 29-year-old Irishman has achieved after the opening five rounds of the season. Laverty was lucky to become one of the few points-scorers in Sunday’s high attrition MotoGP race at Le Mans, after an engine problem halfway through the race left him nursing his Aspar Ducati home to 11th place. Originally running with top 10 men Danilo Petrucci and Hector Barbera, the as-yet-unidentified problem with the GP14.2 machine meant that he was forced to opt for damage limitation in the closing…

Reigning Moto3 world champion Danny Kent had yet another weekend to forget in the Moto2 class, after a lack of front feeling from Dunlop’s new tyres left him down in 19th. He said: “It’s been a very tough weekend for me and the team, we’ve lost a lot of confidence in the front end. This is not where we want to be finishing – we need to figure out where we’re going wrong and we’ll go to Mugello starting from zero. We’ll work in a different way to try and get closer to the front.”…

Cal Crutchlow has hit out at fans on social media, after his crash out of Sunday’s race once prompted a torrent of Twitter and Facebook abuse. Suffering from the same problems as Marc Marquez, Crutchlow admits that he’s been overriding the RCV213 all season. And, with a fine line between finding optimum performance and the gravel trap, the Isle of Man resident has come off worse rather than better, crashing out of three of the season’s five races so far. Suffering a seemingly constant stream of abuse in recent weeks, a complete change in fortune from the days when he was by far the series’ most popular British rider, he is nonetheless adamant that the abuse doesn’t affect how he goes about his racing. “I’m not stupid; I don’t need…

Not many men have faced the dilemma currently presented to Viñales. In one hand he has a proven winner and in the other he has a machine with the potential to make his own. Valentino Rossi has had similar options during his illustrious career and in fact made the switch not once but twice, firstly with great success from Honda to Yamaha and then with disastrous consequences when he left Yamaha to ride for Ducati. And with that in mind, MCN asked him a simple question: what would you do in Viñales’ shoes? “For me, and I speak without knowing the contracts and the money, it’s an interesting decision. In the Suzuki there is something more romantic. He can remain on Suzuki on a bike with a good potential, and…

‘Before this race Marquez had not made a mistake, now we start from zero’JORGE LORENZO Jorge Lorenzo heaped praise on Michelin after his stunning start-to-finish win at Le Mans on Sunday. His unprecedented compliments were in stark contrast to his hard hitting complaints about his tyres two weeks ago at Jerez, with the Spaniard now saying that while MotoGP’s new control tyres are far from perfect, they’re making huge steps forwards. Leading from flag to flag in what was somewhat of a stereotypical performance for the three-time MotoGP champion, Lorenzo never faltered at the front of the field as chaos reigned behind him. And while small issues in performance exacerbated by the bumpy surface of Le Mans left him with some issues, he was quick to praise not only the…

‘It creates a sense of urgency for all three riders - none more so than Rossi’ Sunday looked like a MotoGP race taken straight from 2015. Jorge Lorenzo cleared off at the front, leading from start to finish like he did for all seven of his wins last year. Behind him, Valentino Rossi was able to capitalise on others’ misfortunes to take a strong finish despite lacking his team-mate’s outright speed. However, the result of this high-speed game of chess was something very different to what we saw last year, as the conclusion of a series of difficult races for the three title favourites means that points are almost reset back to zero now. Coming out of the French round last year, Valentino Rossi held a 15-point lead over rival…

The astonishing list of bikes includes: 1969 Honda RC115 50cc Replica 1963 Factory Bianchi 498cc 2014 MotoGP DR Moto Mkl2 2012 MotoGP DR Moto 2012 FTR Moto2 (the Blusens 600 campaigned by Julian Simon in 2012) 1996 Yamaha YZR 500 1972 Suzuki TR750 1972 Yamaha TZ700 1970 Benelli 500cc 4cyl 1969 factory original Hannah-Paton 500cc 1963 Factory Bianchi 498cc Twin Honda RC162 250cc 4cyl replica Honda RC 163 250cc 4cyl replica 1973 Rob North Triumph Triple 1976 Suzuki RG500 1994 Honda NSR ex-Factory Team Castrol 1992 Honda RS250 1972 Seeley Norton 750 2009 Ex-Cameron Donald TAS Suzuki Supersport GSX-R600 2009 Ex-Alistair Seeley TAS Suzuki GSX-R1000…

Yamaha MT-10 Released just this weekend, turn over to read our verdict. If you’re still interested, you can dive in for just £130.80 per month after a £2027 deposit. BMW S1000R Sport It’s the bike Yamaha had in their sights to beat with the MT-10, and you can get your hands on one for a measly £119 per month after a £2617.24 deposit. That’s a lot of bike for the money. KTM Super Duke R SE If you really want to push the performance boat over the waterfall, this is the bike. £166pm after £4438.50 up front. Triumph Speed Triple R The new-for-16 STR is a proper belter, and British doncha know? Yours for £129 per month after a £2736.50 deposit. See the new MCN Garage…

TRIUMPH SPEED TRIPLE S £10,200 (£11,500 R model), 138bhp, 192kg (dry) Triumph can be credited with starting the whole super-naked thing with the original Speed Triple. It’s been updated this year with detail changes, including a smaller fuel tank. KAWASAKI Z1000 £9899, 140bhp, 220kg Kawasaki’s big Zed is a dedicated super-naked, not a stripped-down ZX-10R. It’s a little on the heavy side, cramped for bigger riders and has overly short gearing, but it’s powerful, fun and handles well. SUZUKI GSX-S1000 ABS £9599, 144bhp, 207kg It’s the naked GSX-R1000 K5 we all hoped it would be when it was launched last year. It’s fast, fun, agile and although the throttle is snatchy at low speeds, that long-stroke engine is still the peach it was when it propelled the K5 superbike all…

Tim Thompson’s Top Three Super-nakeds 1 BMW K1300R 2 KTM 1290 Super Duke R (or 990 Super Duke) 3 BMW S1000R Sport ...and the worst: “Honda CB1000 Big One – it was big, slow and bland.” Michael Neeves’ Top Three Super-nakeds 1 Aprilia Tuono V4 1100 2 BMW S1000R Sport 3 Ducati Streetfighter ...and the worst: “Any generic Japanese super-naked, because they always disappoint.” Michael Neeves: My favourite super-naked is Aprilia’s Tuono 1100 because – and this is my definition of a super-naked – it has true superbike performance but with a practical riding position. It has sportsbike brakes, steering, agility and stability – for me, that’s one thing the ‘soft’ nakeds, like the Z1000 and CB1000, haven’t got. A Z1000 isn’t a naked ZX-10R, the FZ1 wasn’t a naked…

Most Isle of Man regulars will have arrived on the Isle of Man aboard the Ben-my-Chree, which sails from Heysham to Douglas in a leisurely 3 hours 30 minutes, carrying a devilish 666 passengers and crew on each capacity sailing. More recently the Manannan cat sailing from Liverpool has taken over as the prime route for motorcycles, and can nail the crossing in 2 hours 45 minutes, carrying 850 passengers. Fact file BEN-MY-CHREE Year built: 1998 Length overall: 125.2 metres Breadth: 23.4 metres Passengers and crew: 666 Vehicles: 275 Main engines: 2 x MAK Propulsion power: 2 x 4320kW MANANNAN Year Built: 1998 Length overall: 96 metres Breadth: 26 metres Passengers and crew: 850 Vehicles: 200 Main engines: 4 x Caterpillar 3618 marine diesel engines Propulsion power: 28,800kW @ 1050rpm…

‘If I was on a budget, I’d be looking out for one with a silver frame so I could save a bit of money’ In the early days we had a run of Tigers that needed steering head bearings adjusting and greasing, or replacing. Be especially careful to check for notchy steering on used bikes. I’ve not seen one like it for a while, but there could still be some out there that need work. There’s a tendency for some chain adjuster bolts to seize in the swingarm as they weren’t all greased properly. It’s a bolt with a 13mm head on it and it’s worth slackening off the locknut and checking it turns. If they’re seized, some can be drilled out, but sometimes it’s not possible and that means…

HONDA AFRICA TWIN £10,499 FUEL 18.8 litres @ 48mpg = 199 miles WEIGHT 232kg SEAT 870mm POWER 93bhp TORQUE 72ftlb MICHAEL GUY Former short circuit racer with a love of adventure riding HEIGHT 5ft 10in WEIGHT 72kg michael.guy@motorcyclenews.com Honda claim 93.8bhp from their new 998cc flagship Africa Twin. Compared to its 1200cc, 150bhp-plus adventure bike rivals it’s clearly down on capacity and power, so we wanted to find out if the Africa Twin really has enough grunt in the real world of fully-loaded and two-up riding. After 2500 miles of life with the Africa Twin the overwhelming majority of my riding has been solo, with just a topbox containing a 5kg laptop bag. In this guise the Africa Twin has totally acceptable levels of power. It’s an engaging ride, accelerates…

Rev’it Neptune Gore-Tex jacket and trousers £369.99 & £279.99 Tester Alison Silcox Time tested Six months What’s good? It’s been a damp start to the year so I’ve worn this kit for my daily commute plus a couple of trips away. So far I’ve not had any issue with the zips and poppers, which are all sealing tightly. Both the jacket and trousers fit well – I’m tall and sometimes struggle with the length of kit but find both pieces comfortable. When zipped together the jacket doesn’t feel short and pull at the neck to throttle me, nor do the trousers ride up to bare my ankles when sat on the bike, as other kit has in the past. I love the way the sleeves can be undone from cuff…

Q Can I ride my bike on a British beach? I’m thinking of buying a trail bike to take on holiday with me and ride on the beach. Are you allowed to just ride on any beaches or are there certain beaches that it’s allowed on? If so, how do I find out if and where I can ride on the sand? N Morris, email The “beach” is also known in legal terms as the “foreshore” and riding on one is covered by Section 34 (1) Road Traffic Act 1988. Under Section 34 (1) you are guilty of an offence if you ride or drive “on to or upon any common land, moorland or land of any other description, not being land forming part of a road”. The vast majority…

Lee Johnston “The only one I suffer with is Mather’s. You are doing 180mph going in there and if you miss your braking marker by a metre or two you aren’t getting stopped. Look at what happened to Gary Johnson and Conor Cummins there (they collided in 2012 after Johnson missed his braking point). All the other chicanes don’t bother me. But that’s life, no matter what you do you will f**k somebody off. Even if we are pissed off we still go and we want to race.” Peter Hickman “It’s a shame they have had to put so many in, but obviously the organisers have had to look at safety and the bikes are very fast nowadays. They could maybe have done them slightly better in places, as they…

John McPhee suffered another bitterly disappointing weekend at Le Mans, having been left fighting gearbox issues on the Saxoprint Peugeot machine - a problem that has plagued the French-branded Mahindra since the start of the season. Combined with a water leak in the second half of the race, the Scotsman battled with team-mate Alex Masbou at the team’s home round, eventually finishing 20th. “We managed to improve the bike’s setting and the overall feeling, and to be honest, I’m quite happy about that. But we had too many technical issues today like the gearbox coming out of gear again, and losing water from the halfway point of the race. That covered my visor, and it was difficult to know how safe the bike was as well, so it ended up…

Scott Redding believes an engine problem on his Pramac Ducati robbed him of a chance of a top six finish, after a significant breakthrough ahead of Sunday’s race finally gave him the confidence he’s been searching for in the GP15 machine. His suffered his second mechanical failure of the season and was forced to retire after only four laps. Redding said: “When I tried to go onto the back straight the power felt really aggressive – then it just stopped altogether. “I was just settling into the race, and I think we’ve found something positive to go forward with.”…

‘It would be better to have at least one engine upgrade during the season’HONDA BOSS LIVIO SUPPO ‘Riding like this for 28 laps means it’s easy to make a mistake’MARC MARQUEZ The Le Mans round of the 2016 MotoGP championship was, for the second year in a row, an absolute disaster for Honda. The race saw only two of their five RCV213V machines finish. Dani Pedrosa came home in a solid fourth while Marc Marquez remounted after crashing out and limped home 13th. Struggling since last season with a lack of speed and acceleration, Repsol Honda rider Marc Marquez was conclusive in blaming the problem for not only his crash out of fourth place but also the crashes for the firm’s other riders Cal Crutchlow, Jack Miller and Tito Rabat.…

‘When a rider takes so long to decide... we are doing a very good job’SUZUKI BOSS DAVIDE BRIVIO Maverick Viñales has admitted that he faces ‘the hardest decision of his life’ in the coming days, as he decides whether his MotoGP future remains with the factory Suzuki team or in a switch to the all-conquering Movistar Yamaha squad. And after an incredible first podium at Le Mans this weekend, behind a Yamaha one-two, it’s an increasingly tough decision for the 21-year-old. “It is so difficult. I have two things, one that gave me the trust when I was in Moto2, and another team that is already there and winning. It’s so hard to make the decision. “I’m thinking about it all the time, but I’m lucky that when I actually…

‘I haven’t even ridden my scooter since the crash, apart from two sessions in Qatar’DANILO PETRUCCI Danilo Petrucci made an incredible return at Le Mans from the disabling hand injury he suffered during testing at Phillip Island back in February, taking a strong seventh place finish. Riding for only the second time since the crash that left him with 20 pieces of metalwork inserted into his right hand, the Italian was wary all weekend of over-stressing the fragile recovery process, after severely aggravating the injury during an abortive return in Qatar. But Petrucci defied logic and was fast from the start and was able to ride a sensible race to take his first points of the season. “I was a little bit lucky, because it was a very difficult day…

It’s good to have a look around some of the latest machinery but there’s nothing quite like actually slinging a leg over something and taking it for a spin. At the MCN Festival’s TomTom Adventure Zone there are plenty of opportunities to get your hands dirty. Festival-goers can learn some low-speed riding skills aboard a choice of five Triumphs. Choose from the Tiger 800 XCX, Tiger 800 XCX Low, Tiger Explorer XCX Low and Tiger Explorer XCA. Riding kit is supplied, so all you have to do is turn up and enjoy! If you fancy upping the pace, head to the Yamaha AMCA MX Experience. Here, you can test your skills on a mini motocross track using 2015 WR250Fs. It’s a great way to get a feel for the sport…