Table of contents for 17 May 2017 in MCN

Shed heaven The Bike Shed Motorcycle Club have been granted permission to stay open until midnight, despite opposition from locals. The BSMC has been open since 2015 and has become a popular London venue for bikers and non-bikers alike. Vintage treasure Belstaff are selling a collection of rare jackets from their archive. They have teamed up with Vestiaire Collective to sell the items from the 1960s and ’70s, with prices ranging from £800 to £1650 for a rare red model. Ouch. For more info visit: tinyurl.com/ktdpg2m Tragic accident Nürburgring legend Brendan Keirle was killed at the weekend, reportedly while trying to warn others of oil on the track. Until recently he ran the nearby Sliders Guesthouse. Keirle was known for tearing up the track on his R1, and will be…

REV’IT SAND URBAN JACKET £399.99 The Sand Urban jacket takes many of the features of the Sand adventure jacket – but restyled for the concrete jungle. Waterproof, with CE armour and thermal liner included. www.revitsport.com BOWTEX KEVLAR SHIRT £149 Falling off is no laughing matter and Bowtex have produced Kevlar leggings that go under your favourite jeans for some time. The shirt is ideal to put under a casual riding jacket. www.bowtex.com BUILT MAGAZINE £4.99 Built is the new magazine all about handcrafted, customised motorcycles and the lifestyle that surrounds them. It’s for riders who like being different. Issue 5 is out now, order yours at: www.builtmag.co.uk…

 Completed in 1930, the Scwarzwaldhochstrasse, or Black Forest High Road to you and me, is a legendary ribbon of tarmac that runs from Baden-Baden at the northwest edge of the Black Forest down through the mountains to Freudenstadt. It’s 37.2-miles long, but the middle 25 is where it all happens. On a map it looks just like a racetrack and to ride it you’d think it had been conceived as one. ‘On a map the B500 looks just like a racetrack’ From the first hairpin it climbs dramatically through dense forest, a two-lane asphalt serpent that twists relentlessly between sensational switchbacks and ever tightening turns. It’s smooth and wide with a positive camber and superb surface that offers tremendous grip through its devlish bends. At the mountain-top restaurant the view…

MICHAEL DUNLOP Road Racer RRP £20 A truly insightful look at 13-time TT winner Michael Dunlop’s childhood, life and racing success. It goes a long way to explaining his relentless and uncompromising drive to win and what it’s truly like to be a road-racing Dunlop. FREDDIE SPENCER Feel RRP £20 A fascinating and highly personal account of the life of arguably the world’s most gifted motorcycle racer. From humble beginnings to being crowned 500cc and 250cc World Champion in 1985 – a historic achievement which has never been repeated. IAN HUTCHINSON Miracle Man RRP £18.99 The gritty tale of the 11-time TT winner’s life and career that spans not only his huge successes at the TT, but also how he fought his way back to the top step of the…

There’s something about riding in Scotland that makes those of us from other parts of Britain fall in love – and this ride is one of our absolute favourites. The classic route is to hug Loch Ness on the A82 to Inverness, but the A87 cuts west at Invergarry and takes riders off the beaten path and on to a waltz of delight. The A87 is an A-road the like of which England can only dream. It’s smooth, flows and provides almost 90 miles to enjoy the ride without worrying about your next turn. It rubs alongside Lochs Garry, Loyne and Cluanie before shimmying up to Loch Druich for its final run towards Dornie and Eilan Donan Castle. Six miles later, turn right on to the A890 for a pine-scented…

‘There are old pilots and bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots’ RIDING EXPERT Mark Edwards Retired police motorcyclist, now Class One instructor for Rapid Training Ever heard the saying: ‘There are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots’? This could just have easily have been written with motorcyclists in mind as a careful approach is key to keeping out of trouble on today’s overcrowded roads. How do you know what to expect? In short, you don’t. Expect the unexpected. When enjoying the hot, sticky summer Tarmac of your favourite bends are you assuming the road ahead is clear? However familiar you are with the geography, never take an empty road for granted. Is there a man pushing a wheelbarrow across…

‘You can still enjoy the character-filled twin’s punchy torque on the twisties’ ‘I was praying I didn’t get it in that ghastly yellow colour but it’s grown on me’ Price £7899 Fuel 20 litres @ 51.9mpg = 228 miles Power 71bhp Torque 45.7ftlb Weight 216kg Seat 830mm OLI RUSHBY BSB reporter and long distance commuter Height 5ft 8in Weight 85kg Having spent almost a month with Suzuki’s 2017 V-Strom 650XT, I’ve jumped right in to my #ride5000miles challenge and clocked up 1500 already. I think Suzuki were quite shocked when I rocked up looking for my 600-mile service just a week after they’d delivered it! I like a bike to strike a nice balance between practicality for long distance riding, including my 138-mile commute, and providing the ‘fun factor’ that…

‘No 11 is something I think the 954 does need, a gear shaft support’ Price £3500 Fuel 18 litres @ 39mpg = 155 miles Power 149bhp Torque 78ftlb Weight 168kg Seat 815mm PED BAKER Enjoys tinkering nearly as much as riding Height 6ft 4in Weight 95kg One of the benefits of owning an older bike is that is there is already a group of people who’ve tried all the bolt-ons, done all the miles and made all the errors. With a popular sportsbike like the FireBlade, opinions can vary – owners will range from trackday addict to the occasional Sunday morning bimbler and everything in between. It’s a matter of picking out the advice and mods that match your needs, and avoiding looking like you’ve covered the bike in glue…

Suomy SR Sport £369.99 Tester Liam Marsden Time tested Two months/600 miles What’s good? Suomy helmets generally fit my head almost perfectly, and although this one took quite a while to bed in due to the slightly small sizing it’s now fits comfortably. Suomy’s unique visor changing mechanism, which requires the small covers to be removed is simple and quick to use. The vents (one on the chin and one on the brow) are among the best I’ve used. It’s genuinely like turning the air con on when you open them, unlike vents on some other helmets which seem to do little. What’s not? It took a lot longer to bed in than I expected, and for the first few days it put a lot of pressure on my head,…

‘The helmet was a gift from a friend – I had no idea it wasn’t UK legal’ Q Is my Spanish helmet covered? I have a question about the helmet I was wearing when I had an accident in April. The helmet was a gift which a friend bought in Spain. I had no idea it was not road-legal – the police say it had no BSI Kitemark. When I came off I knocked my head and have since had migraines, dizzy spells and a slight twitch. A neurologist has linked these symptoms to my accident but the solicitors for the driver who hit me say I can’t claim compensation due to my illegal helmet. Is this correct? Justin, Cardiff A All helmets worn on UK roads must either: •…

‘Get yourself a new bike for less’ Personal Contract Purchase now finances 20-30% of all new bikes sold in the UK, and it’s a method of ownership that is growing fast. But it might not be right for you, so make sure you understand the ins and outs. You can have the new bikes on these pages for less than you might have ever imagined – and what’s more you can have another new one in three years’ time, probably without increasing your monthly outlay or having to find a fresh deposit. This is how it works… • Work out what you can afford as a deposit and in monthly repayments for the duration of the contract. • You can get PCP on any amount from £1500 upwards. • Choose…

 Reigning British Supersport champion Tarran Mackenzie will take on a new challenge his weekend, when he steps up to the Moto2 world championship with the Kiefer Racing team to replace former Moto3 world champion Danny Kent. ‘It all happened a bit suddenly but I couldn’t turn down the opportunity’TARRAN MACKENZIE The son of former 500cc GP podium finisher Niall Mackenzie, Tarran has been completely dominant in the 2017 British Supersport championship after taking six wins from the opening six rounds and enjoying nearly double the points tally of his closest rival David Allingham in the race to take a second championship. But he’ll leave his championship campaign and the McAMS Yamaha squad behind to instead make his Grand Prix racing debut with the German Kiefer squad and their new Suter…

 Eugene Laverty somehow managed to walk away from a spectacular crash and subsequent fireball in the opening race at Imola on Saturday. The Milwaukee Aprilia rider got tangled with Pata Yamaha man Alex Lowes on the frighteningly fast plummet towards Rivazza corner on the historic Italian circuit. ‘It was not intentional at all, just a liuttle bit clumsy’EUGENE LAVERTY As Lowes went inside on the fast right curve Laverty felt he was pushed wide and as they both lined up to make the final approach to the corner entry they touched. Laverty’s front mudguard and front brake line were ripped off in the collision meaning that the Irishman was now heading off-track rapidly with no way of slowing down. In a split second decision that ultimately meant he avoided serious…

 Alex Lowes was the other half of the fireball incident at Imola, and had a different viewpoint from Laverty after their high-profile contact and aftermath. “It is a difficult one with Eugene,” said Lowes after a day thinking about it and having finished race one eighth and gone sixth on day two. “Obviously I went to see him after the first race to get his opinion. I passed him and I felt like he should have seen me because I was more than a full bike length in front of him, so obviously he could see me. The main thing is that he is OK and we will sort it out between us. There is no need for this or that. It was such a nasty crash, I am happy…

While none of the paddock like to admit it, even some inside the official Ducati team feel that Jonathan Rea has been riding with something in hand so far in 2017. But at Imola, Rea put it all on the line – even over the cement dust lines at the multiple points of spillage – in his efforts to win at least one race. His pass on Xavi Fores, around the outside at the Rivazza entry in race two, would have been breathtaking at the best of times, doing it across the cement dust that others were too scared to cross showed his utter determination to stay in contention. In the first race Rea knew his number was up in terms of trying to claw back the advantage Davies had…

As one of the world’s four international road race meetings, the North West 200 attracts the best between-the-hedges exponents to its 200mph straights, twisting coast road and controversial chicanes each May. Set on Northern Ireland’s north coast, the 8.9-mile circuit that links the sea-side towns of Portrush, Portstewart and Coleraine has become a week-long festival of road racing drama. TUESDAY PRACTICE DAY With the action set in a densely residential area, race organisers have to wait until everyone has set off for work or gone to school before the roads are closed and practice can begin at 10am. They must re-open by 3pm. After the 18 newcomers completed their initiation laps the Supersport, Superbike, Supertwin and Superstock bikes took to the track for 45 minutes each in bright sunshine. Alastair…

In 1977 the BMW R80/7 was the first bike with factory-fit heated grips and in 1988 the K100 debuted ABS. In 1992 the Honda Pan European was the first to have traction control. Lap timers appeared on the 1995 Aprilia RS250 while BMW added servos to its ABS in 1997 on the K1200LT. In 2003 Controller Area Network (CAN bus) arrived with the Ducati 999. The MV F4 Tamburini of 2005 had electronically variable length intakes and in 2005 BMW’s ESA was the first electronic suspension. The 2006 R6 was the first ride-by-wire bike and the GSX-R1000 K7 was the first with proper variable fuel modes. Ducati’s 1098 brought inbuilt dataloggers to the party in 2007. The 2009 CBR600RR and Blade were the first sportsbikes with ABS while the 2010…

Fame and fortune changes people. Some people. Others, not so much. John McGuinness may have won 23 TTs, a British 250 title and stacks of other top-notch races all over the world, but he was still the same bloke who used to pick winkles in Morecambe or lay bricks for a local building company. Whenever MCN asked him to do a star turn at the Butlins party, he’d turn up with his family and an assortment of inflatables for the pool! His Q and A sessions were always packed and full of witty one-liners, honesty and often a request for beer! Our thoughts go out to John and his family after his terrible crash at the North West (see page 4) and whatever decision he makes concerning his racing future…

YAMAHA RD125 With my brand new Yamaha in 1978. Check out those flares! Malcolm Holmes HONDA HORNET This was my first bike after doing my DAS when I was 40 in 2009. Tina Clark KAWASAKI KH100 Bought for £30 after being told I wasn’t allowed a bike. Israel Stanway SUZUKI GT250 X7 Bought new in 1980, fitted with an Invader fairing. I now ride an Aprilia Tuono – which also has a light front end! Andy White TRIUMPH TIGER 100 Me and my Dad in the late ’60s – I got my first bike, a Puch Maxi less than 10 years later. Ian Skinner BMW R80RT My first police bike...R80RT. Maggie Thatcher told us our bikes were too slow when we escorted her and bought our force K100s instead! Neil…

A GREAT NEW NAME Honda debuted the name in 1994 with its Japan-only 250 and the US never got it, over there the name is owned by AMC, dating back to the 1952 Hudson Hornet. SHADES OF BLADE The oddball 16in front and rear 180-section tyres were lifted straight from, of all bikes, the mightly FireBlade. And why not… HORNET RACING Or, specifically, the Honda Hornet Cup – one of the most successful (and lunatic) one-make racing series of recent years. SCORCHED PILLIONS Well, scorched ankles at least. Those high pipes were the biggest and boldest in the class.…

‘The Aprilia leaves rivals in its wake’ With its nips and tucks the 2017 Aprilia Tuono V4 1100 Factory has moved further ahead of the super-naked game and leaves its rivals squabbling for runner-up spot. It’s every bit as quick as a superbike, but comes with lashings of everyday practicality. Some might point to the Aprilia’s fairing and say it’s not a super-naked, but its brilliance lays in its engine, chassis, poise, confidence and electronics, not its plastics. It’s the most expensive too, but justifies its high price tag. Slotting into second is the Yamaha with its wild engine, easy handling, roomy riding position and the best wind protection. The lightning-fast, hot-gripped, but slightly characterless BMW comes third and bringing up the rear, KTM’s roomy supermotoon-steroids has a front end…

‘Full of charm and good value’ Learning about SWM’s varied model range was certainly an eye-opener. The 650R supermoto is a bit too focused for most, but the 440-engined bikes have real air-cooled retro appeal mated to very reasonable price tags. The build quality seems robust, and the styling is spot-on, complete with an obvious dose of Italian panache. They are never going to be huge sellers, but those who opt for one are almost guaranteed to fall for their unique charms. Faced with a Royal Enfield or a SWM, I’d almost certainly go for the more versatile, powerful, and better spec’d Italian options. GRAN MILANO Café cool with a relaxed attitude Engine 445cc,4v air-cooled SOHC single Power 35bhp Torque 25.8ft lb Weight 145kg (kerb) Tank size 20l Seat 847mm…

‘Activities were publicised through a hand-typed newsletter’ WHERE IS IT? • 15 active regional sections across UK and Ireland WHEN IS IT • Each regional section meets weekly. Plus trips and tours CONTACT • www.thebmwclub.org.uk HOW MUCH IS IT? • £30 per year With a motorcycling heritage that goes back some 90 odd years and a current line up of models that regularly feature as ‘best in class’ and ‘top 10 sellers’ it should come as no surprise that BMW are the focus of the UK’s largest independent single make owners club. The BMW Club was set up in 1951 by a group of like-minded enthusiasts from South London who communicated their social and sporting activities via a hand-typed newslettercalledthe Journal.Thisproved to be an effective way of attracting new members,…

SCREEN I’ve already tweaked one thing on the V-Strom – the height of the screen. The standard screen is actually quite big so at this stage I’m not considering an aftermarket option, but it was delivered to me on the lowest of its three height settings. A five-minute job to hike this up (from lowest to highest setting it gives it about an inch, maybe a bit more) has massively reduced the windblast I was getting to the chest/neck area. STAND I’ll be fitting some luggage ahead of some longer trips I have planned, including a potential trip over to the Isle of Man for the TT later this month. I’ll also be getting a centrestand – something that in my opinion should come as standard on any adventure bike…

‘The XT was off on a 600-mile round-trip to the Lake District, with a spot of off-roading’ 1981 YAMAHA XT500 Price £850 (used) Fuel 8.8 litres@59mpg = 114 miles range Weight 140kg Seat 840mm Power 32bhp Torque 26.8ftlb MPG 59 SIMON RELPH Forty-one years’ experience, on and off road. Passionate bike-builder. Height 6ft 1in Weight 98kg Well it’s good news on the XT front – after 22 years of neglect, languishing in a host of garages, it’s finally all back together and up and running. It took a bit of heavy-duty kicking first time as I did not have a decompressor cable fitted. I also discovered the timing was too far advanced. Boy, did it kick back! But it started, and I watched in satisfaction as a 22-year-old cloud of…

Which dyno operator? If you’re not sure where to take your bike, speak to people who have had work done. Word of mouth on good service gets round really quickly. One attractive factor for people using us is that we have [carb supplier] Allen’s Performance four doors up from us. The boss, Steve Panter, really knows his stuff. If a dyno shop has a carburettor supplier just up the road that’s useful. Which gadget? Most people know Power Commanders [the module that allows a dyno operator to modify the signals the ECU sends to the fuel injectors], but they need to up their game now. You can do the same with Bazzaz for a lot less money, or go the Woolwich way where you can actually talk to the ECU.…

Last week, we looked at how to buy a bike on eBay. This week, it’s how to sell. How to get the most watchers, and the best price. Don’t take the number of watchers as indicative of the number of people likely to bid. Most people will just want to see what it sells for, especially if it’s something unusual or they own one themselves. I do this myself all the time. First rule – put up as many pictures as possible, large size, and make sure they’re good. I’ve seen too many auctions fail to make decent money because of bad pictures. Same goes for the description. You want to include as much info as possible. A little personal opinion never hurts, either – it shows you’re an experienced…

STUART LEIGHIO Yamaha R1 owner HONDA CBR900RR I’d buy a 929cc Honda CBR900RR. You can pick them up for about £2000 and then with the money saved, I’d fit braided lines, a taller screen and get the suspension refreshed. They are great, fast road bikes. I miss mine! ROB PRESTON KTM 125 Duke owner BMW F800ST I want my first big bike to be fairly sensible and I need an all year-round bike that can get me to work and back as well as being half-decent to ride for leisure. A Honda VFR800 does the job, but I also like the idea of the BMW’s belt drive as I won’t have to lube/clean it. WAYNE MARRISON BMW S1000RR owner SUZUKI BANDIT1250 I’d get something like a Bandit 1250. I could…

2002-2005 Honda VFR800 VTEC Colours Red, burgundy, silver, blue Dealer £3000 Private average £2400 Private good £2600 This one 46,000 miles, Powerbronze black double bubble screen and Scorpion stainless silencers. £2700 2006 Honda VFR800 VTEC Colours Red, burgundy, silver, red, navy Dealer £4000 Private average £3500 Private good £3800 This one Fully serviced, two owners, 35,678 miles. Comes fitted with heated grips and bar risers. £4295 2008 Honda VFR800 VTEC Colours Red, burgundy, silver, red, navy Dealer £4600 Private average £3800 Private good £4200 This one 6000 miles. Comes with Honda’s colour-coded luggage already pre-fitted. Full service history. £4995 2012 Honda VFR800 VTEC Colours White, black, silver Dealer £5600 Private average £4800 Private good £5200 This one Lovely UK bike fitted with topbox and Oxford heated grips. Full service history…

Sofuoglu hits 40… Kenan Sofuoglu has made up for not scoring in the first three races by winning the last two. He claimed his 40th WSS victory after a battle with championship leader Lucas Mahias. Seeing red... a lot Red flags were a feature of the entire weekend at Imola. The WSS and the Superstock race were both red-flagged twice with the second WSB race being red-flagged once. The only race not affected was ironically the Supersport 300 race featuring 38 riders as young as 15. Ducati kicks Assen Just as Kawasaki had done in Assen, Ducati won every race it entered in Imola when Chaz Davies’ Superbike double was added to by Michael Ruben Rinaldi’s Aruba.it STK1000 Junior team victory. Rinaldi won from local boy Roberto Tamburini (Pata Yamaha)…

 If Carlsberg did race weekends, Chaz Davies would own the brewery. The 30-year-old Welshman dominated the Imola WSB race weekend, securing pole position, two clear race wins and a new lap record to boot. ‘Racing at Imola is like racing in WSB in the mid-90s. There’s a real buzz!’CHAZ DAVIES And he did all this under the noses of Ducati’s bigwigs, Claudio Domenicali, Ducati’s CEO and Gigi Dall’Igna, the boss of Ducati Corse. Even Ducati’s World Superbike boss, Ernesto Marinelli, who has worked with most of Ducati’s greats from Bostrom to Bayliss, Haga and Checa said that he was in awe of Davies’ ability to extract the absolute maximum out of his Panigale. On the weekend, 75,000 passionate Italian fans piled into Imola for round five, and Davies delivered. On…

 On paper, the fight at the front of the WSB class this year was supposed to involve Yamaha, Honda and Aprilia – not just Kawasaki and Ducati. ‘We may see rules to equalise the field’ But all that ‘on paper’ competitiveness has been turned to ashes by the efforts of the two top teams, and their alien-level riders. And all this against a backdrop of more standard engine parts and no split throttle body trickery unless they come on the stock bike. The FIM and Dorna technocrats have taken great care and effort to make sure brakes, suspension, tyres, electronics and software are accessible to all. But arguably the gap to the podium has never been bigger than now. Expect rule changes of some kind again because some are complaining…

Guzzi jubilee To mark 50 years since the introduction of Guzzi’s transverse V-twin, in May buyers will get a range of accessory packs free of charge. V7 III Stone, Special, V9 Roamer and V9 Bobbers are all included in the anniversary deals. Laverda heaven Got a Laverda obsession? How about buying the entire Cor Dees Laverda museum? The 81-strong collection includes every significant Laverda, irreplaceable race bikes and rare prototypes – plus acres of memorabilia. It’s an unrepeatable opportunity for the hardcore fan. Enquiries to laverda@viatherma.com Talent search Swinton are inviting riders in the South East to demonstrate their skills at BikeFest South on June 11 at Goodwood. Prizes are awarded in three age groups from 16-30, and the overall winner will bag goodies including a two-week trek to Peru…

With the riding season underway, there is still time to join our 5000-mile challenge. Thousands of British bikers are already members of our online community. “It’s been great fun so far,” says MCN’s Matt Wildee. “A motorcycle is an awesome thing, but we’re all under pressure to do lots other things with our time. The annual mileage for most is about 3000 miles and this is all about making a point of using the bike more. “The best thing about it is how people have come together. Members have been using our Facebook group to share great routes and places to ride, pics and hook up with others. There isn’t anywhere else like it online.” ‘WE LOVE R5K!’ MCN readers on how signing up improves their biking ‘My commuting days…

The Buell XB9 isn’t the first bike that springs to mind when you think of a base for a custom bike, but for deBolex Engineering it presented the opportunity to do something a little different. With an open brief and a unique bike, Calum Pryce-Tid and Des Francis set to work creating a machine that would carry their signature with pride.They started by sorting out the stance of the bike. “After some time measuring various components we started with the front-end swap,” says Francis. “We switched to a set of Showa forks and custom yokes machined up by Fastec Custom Racing. We then got on the phone to our friends at Maxton who put together one of their RT10 monoshocks with a remote reservoir.” With Dymag carbon five-spoke wheels perfecting…

WHAT YEAR? 1 It’s one of the most famous jumps ever failed, but what was the year? WHAT’S THIS? 2 It was Japan’s answer to Ducati’s 900SS, but what make/model is it? WHOSE CAKE? 3 The year is 2010, and one of our greatest racers gets married... NAME THE BIKE 4 This crazy hub-steered carbon fibre dream is pretty distincive. What is it? CAPTAIN WHO? 5 It’s an early foray into TV, but who’s the eccentric captain of the boat? WHAT’S THIS? 6 This Honda concept never made production, what makes it so odd? WHO’S THIS? 7 He’s a bike-mad race team owner, and a right little fire-starter. WHO’S THIS? 8 These two kingly jesters are famous for mucking about. WIN AN MCN MUG! Get them all right and you…

‘BMW have raised the bar’ If you own a 2016 GS TE you already possess one of the best, and most versatile motorcycles on the planet with an extremely efficient electronics package. But the 2017 BMW is a significant step forwards in terms of refinement that only really becomes truly apparent the longer you spend riding. If you are in the market for a GS TE, the £2000 saving you get with the older machine is tempting, but if you want to cover major miles, it’s a false economy. The latest machine subtly moves the GS’s already incredibly high bar even higher.…

England at its quintessential best, this route runs from Banbury in Oxfordshire along the length of the Cotswolds to Bath in Somerset, taking in some of the finest roads in the region. The B4035 rocks straight off the bat, a rolling ribbon of two-lane tarmac that dashes between the hedgerows to connect the villages dotted across this hilly high ground. The surrounding area is the source of several rivers and the road takes on an organic flow in an echo of their natural course – until that is, its junction with the A429. This next leg traces the Fosse Way, a Roman road that originally ran from Exeter to Lincoln to mark the empire’s western frontier; as a consequence it’s comparatively straight, but makes for an enjoyable cruise nonetheless as…

1 H’s Café, Kent Motorcycles, A2 near Barham, Kent. Drop in for a bacon buttie or a new bike. kent-motorcycles.co.uk 2 Knotts End Café, The Esplanade | Knott End on Sea, Poulton Le Fylde, FY6 0EA. 01253 811948 3 West Bay, Dorset. Always plenty of bikes parked up at the seafront carpark on weekends and sunny evenings. 4 The Mill, Withington, Cheltenham,Gloucs. Wednesday night meet. www.bikersnite.com 5 Route 11, A11 Northbound, Attleborough, Norfolk. Explore some of Nofolk’s best roads then stop off for chips and chat. Monday night meet. 07702 629619 GET YOUR MEET ON THE MAP If you have a bike-friendly cafe aenue w and nt wan et yo get r mee you on tmeet monthe comap tact,ema sonl: mcn sam. @ williams motorcyclenews.co. @motorcyclenews.com…

‘The sporty feel is great for egging you on when you find belting B-roads’ KAWASAKI NINJA 650 Price £6549 Fuel 15 litres @ 49mpg = 163 mile range Weight 193kg Seat 790mm Power 67bhp Torque 49ftlb JAMES ARCHIBALD Big miles rider who enjoys being on a bike whatever the weather/season Height 5ft 11in Weight 80kg I’ve done just shy of 3000miles on the Kawasaki Ninja 650 in the last eight weeks. I’ve used it for everything from short commutes, to long trips, to sunny(ish) Sunday blasts. So now I’m building up quite a good idea of what the bike is like to live with. The Ninja has been getting quite a lot of interest with MCN readers and people have been in touch with questions, so I thought I’d post…

Oxford Monster disc lock £50.59 This Thatcham and Sold Secure Gold approved lock is normally £69.99 but they are currently on sale. You could say it’s a bit of a steal… Puns aside, it has an 11mm hardened Ni-Cro-Mo steel alloy shackle and double locking mechanism. The body has a wider opening than some to make it easy to slot onto your bike’s disc. Mammoth Security Shackle £30.99 Another one on sale at the moment, you’d normally be looking at £45.99. The lock has Thatcham security approval and uses an 11mm Cro-Mo steel alloy shackle. It can double up as a padlock to work with a chain. The lock body is longer than some rivals. MCN Production Editor Simon Brown uses one of these on his Ducati Scrambler FT and…

THE EXPERT Dan Hegarty is the owner, engine builder and dyno man at RTR Motorcycles at Bingham, near Nottingham. He’s also a very fast road racer: last year he won the TT Privateer Championship. A dyno is a machine which simulates how a bike is ridden on road or track. The front wheel is fixed; the rear drives a big roller. If an engine has been modified, experimenting with the ignition and fuelling can optimise its ability to turn and accelerate the roller, expressed as torque and power curves. “We use a Dynojet 250i,” says Dan. “A dyno is useful because there’s no point in guessing with stuff. People obviously like it when they get a bike running better, but there’s so much more to a dyno. You can look…

Win a new KTM RC390 KTM are offering the chance to win a brand new RC390 – and all you need to do is sign up to the firm’s newsletter. Updated for 2017, the 373.2cc single-cylinder race-rep now boasts a ride-by-wire throttle and new exhaust. To register, just log onto www.ktm.com/gb/newsletter Vespa’s free bits Anyone who registers a new Vespa GTS Super 125 or 300 or a Primavera 125 will receive a free accessory pack the option of top-boxes, screens, racks and new graphics. Vespa are also offering a low-rate 5% APR PCP option. Visit http://www.vespa.com/uk_EN for more information. Bikesafe scheme gets Multistradas Ducati have supplied 10 Multistrada 1200s to the Bikesafe initiative. The police-run scheme is designed to improve rider safety. The purchase is funded by Highways England who…

For a class – 250cc two-strokes – that no longer has any meaning, quarter-litre sports strokers don’t half have a huge following. Part of that is because, until the 1983 learner law change, machines like the RD250LC, KH and X7 were THE learner bikes that a whole generation lusted after. Another is that, later, 250 GP strokers like Biaggi’s Aprilia or Harada’s Yam were often considered the most exquisite of all racers. Either way, there’s no doubt the road-going breed reached its peak with 1994’s Aprilia RS250. In truth the cute Italian was a little late to the party. Machines like Suzuki’s RGV and Kawasaki’s KR-1/S (not to mention the exclusive, Japan-only Honda NSR250 and later Yamaha TZRs) had been around since the late ’80s. But the Aprilia arguably managed…

‘The main components of the VFR’s engine are incredibly reliable’ “The VFR800 VTEC can fairly be described as bulletproof, as the main components of the engine are incredibly reliable, even after colossal mileages. That said, some bikes suffer with electrical problems and all of these issues can be traced back to the charging system, meaning that the generator and sometimes the regulator/rectifier need to be replaced. Occasionally the earth block suffered from corrosion which in turn led to a few gremlins. “Sometimes high-mileage bikes can have noisy camchain tensioners which need replacing. “Early models had a few recalls; there was the possibility of the rear subframe cracking when fully loaded with pillion and luggage, so dealers had the bikes in to fit uprated parts. Another recall was for the PCV…

 Tom Sykes’ biggest problem on his factory Kawasaki was not bike set-up or tyre choice, but, as he joked after race two, Chaz Davies. ‘At this track we don’t have the package’TOM SYKES In race one it was a lack of grip he did not expect after a strong practice and qualifying. Fourth was clearly a disappointment, but it gave him a pole position start in race two under the latest reverse grid rules. Some chassis changes led to understeer in some sections in race two as he tried to keep Davies and then Jonathan Rea behind him. The result of the understeer was seen when he was consistently and dramatically smoking his rear tyre over the Piratella crest. He took third place, and did not lose out too much…

 Alastair Seeley claimed his first ever four-timer at the only road race meeting he competes in each year, but lost out to Glenn Irwin in the flagship superbike race. ‘I caught a couple of puddles at the edge of the road but wrestled it out’ALASTAIR SEELEY “Glenn was coming here full of confidence after finishing on the podium in BSB races this season,” said the 37-year-old as the pair shared a joint celebration after the race. “I know how special a North West win is and most of my races here have been ding-dong battles. I knew Glenn would be very competitive on the Ducati and the best man won on the day.” Seeley was on pole for the Supersport and Superstock races after qualifying but a fuel filter problem…