RiDE February 2022

‘When we can, we must get on with our biking lives’ The world we’ve been living in for the past two years has been a strange, and sometimes scary, place. We all know the troubles and pain many have had to endure, so frustrations of not being able to pursue your favourite pastime need to be viewed with perspective but few of us have been able to enjoy our biking to the full. Of course, there are bigger matters at hand but our travel has been restricted, both home and abroad. Bikes have sat idle, at times mothballed. And now, as I write this, there seems a whole new heap of uncertainty on the horizon. But we can feel differently than before, because if there’s one thing we’ve learned from 2020 and…

Yorkshire Dales This is a picture of the Kent Advanced Motorcycle Group’s last tour of the year. We had 20 members riding (in fine formation as you can see...) on a tour of the Yorkshire Dales and Moors in October. This picture was taken between Tan Hill Inn and Masham in North Yorkshire. This area is a wonderful part of the world and makes for a fantastic place to explore on a motorcycle with a group of friends. Steven Riches Get your bike in RiDE & win a BikeTrac system Each month the Star Picture will win a BikeTrac security tracker with a year’s BikeTrac subscription. As well as helping recover your bike if it is nicked, it logs journeys and gives live battery voltage information, too. How to send us your photos Email your…

Galloway Forest, Dumfries and Galloway This is my first brand-new bike, a KTM 1290 Super Adventure S. I decided to break her in on some forest roads in the Galloway Forest. Coming from a Multistrada I opted for this over the new V4 and I’m so glad I did as it beats it in every area – just don’t look at its face! Anyone want to buy some used Ducati leathers? Paul Hughes Cairngorms, Scottish Highlands This is my 2020 BMW R1250RT and my friend Neil’s 2013 BMW R1200RT in the Cairngorms on a recent six-day trip around Scotland. We had discussed doing this trip some three years ago but it got put off when Neil’s wife feel ill and he became her carer. Neil sadly lost his wife and I, a very dear…

DAN’S DAY JOB is as a systems engineer on Eurofighter Typhoon jets (“...and part-time truck driver”) but at the weekends he’s to be found out and about, riding round the roads of Lincolnshire on a choice of bikes. For our ride today, he could have chosen his BMW S1000R Sport or his 2009 Fireblade (with daytime-only MoT) and he has previously owned everything from lairy two-stroke 250s and classic 90s superbikes, through to a Panigale 1299. When we meet outside his home near Spalding though, pride of place on the drive goes to a bright-pink VFR750 that appears to be held together by cable ties and blind faith. More on that later... Dan’s been riding since he was a kid, passing his test in 1991 and has been on two wheels…

Best time of day to ride “Weekdays are best – most people are wherever they have to be and the roads are quieter; but not lunchtimes.” Best bit “My favourite part of the route is the B1190 from Horncastle through Horsington to Bardney, then the B1202 to Market Rasen through Wragby. I’ve been riding this route for 20 years and that section’s a great challenge and so satisfying when you get it right.” Be careful at… “All the way round you need to look out for tractors, and 40-foot tippers during the sugar-beet harvest.” Best place to eat/drink “Willingham Woods is good. Papworth butchers in Coningsby do THE best sausage rolls fresh from the oven. The fish and chip shop at Horncastle crossroads is well-known to anyone travelling to and from Cadwell.” And also remember… “There’s a speed camera…

WE WERE ALL young once and, while for many of us, those days may well be getting further away, there are still young bikers coming through the ranks, brighteyed, enthusiastic – and saddled with gigantic insurance premiums. You see, in 2022, you need to be an enthusiast to be a young motorcyclist. To get to a point where you can ride a large-capacity motorcycle, you need to jump through a huge number of hoops. If you start riding at 17, it is quite likely that four years later, to get your full category-A licence, you could have taken seven tests, be sick of motorcycling and quite possibly be bankrupt. This writer knows from experience. As a young rider, still on the nursery slopes of my biking experience, I paid £2000 to insure…