Table of contents for 13th March 2019 in MCN

The fear of what may happen is often much worse than what actually does happen. After Brexit, we will need a stack of cash to leave the country, a passport signed by the Queen and a vow not to steal France. Only we won’t. Playing on this fear of the unknown is powerful and can influence behaviour. Motorcycle theft, congestion charges and stricter laws all spell the end of two wheels in Britain. Only they don’t. The reality is far less stark and because it’s actually a relatively positive message, the scaremongering is left to simmer. When there’s not really a panic or impending chaos, the doomsayers don’t really want to know. Middle England loves a good crisis. It doesn’t love a ‘everything is actually okay’ story. So the misleading,…

‘There are big crowds which is great to see’ Blue skies heralded the return of the Carole Nash MCN Scottish Motorcycle Show to the Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh at the weekend. More than 15,000 show-goers streamed through the gates, eager to shake off the shackles of winter and celebrate the onset of the riding season by checking out the latest models, snapping up some new kit and drooling over an incredible array of customs and classics. The vast Highland Hall welcomed all-comers with displays from many of the major manufacturers, giving potential customers the opportunity to swing a leg over and try their dream machine for size. Laura Conway from Paisley currently rides a Kawasaki ER-6f on an A2 licence, but made a beeline for the 2019 ZX-10R. “I…

It doesn’t matter how you make up your miles, as members of our #ride5000miles group prove, there are many ways to hit that target. With a spirit of adventure, Rob Wright and his mate took a trip to Ecuador and once there couldn’t resist a day on two wheels. “Motorcycling wasn’t originally on the agenda,” Wright told MCN. “We wanted to climb the volcano, Cotopaxi, and a pro-mountaineer suggested that we ride up, rather than climb. “We rented a couple of Honda XR250s which had clutch cables that might not have been lubed in years, wooden brakes and ropey suspension. We had to carry the bikes across gorges, ride along goat trails with kilometre drops to the side, make it up to the refuge at 4800m on Mt Chimborazo, brave…

In a bid to bring the allure of Harley-Davidson’s big tourer to those on a sub-£20k budget, the Milwaukee firm have released a new Standard version of the venerable Electra Glide. Starting at £19,995 (the full-dress Ultra nudges £25k), the new Standard is uncluttered by convoluted infotainment systems, rider modes and electronics. Instead, you get the excellent Milwaukee-Eight 107 engine (a 1745cc V-twin developing 88.5bhp and 110lbft torque), that iconic Batwing handlebar fairing, clean lines, sleek panniers, and the bare minimum of electronic assistance in the shape of (the legally required) Bosch ABS. Pure and simple.…

BSA SPITFIRE Thought you might like this picture of me from back in 1968. Could those bars get any lower? John Lovell  After the obligatory Fizzy, my first bike at 17 was my RD250F, having just passed my test and lost the L-plates. 40 years on, and 30 odd bikes later, I’m now a motorcycle instructor and still living the dream. Martin Hurrion YAMAHA RD250F PUNCH GRAND PRIX With my sister on my Puch Grand Prix in about 1979. David Merrifield  1979 and I’d just fallen off! Trainers, jeans, no gloves or leather jacket. Oh dear. Nick Sanderson YAMAHA RS125DX HUSQVARNA TC65 My first and only bike so far; a Husqvarna TC65. The picture was taken last Christmas. Max Kimmings ROYAL ENFIELD BULLET This is my son Ben Church. After…

BMW’s S1000XR has the same analogue tacho/LCD digital panel combo it’s had since its 2014 launch, it wasn’t changed in the 2017 update, hasn’t (yet) got a TFT option and, as a result, though functional, now looks dated for a 2019, £15K machine. The updated Versys, by comparison, now has clocks from the H2 SX, with an analogue tacho and LCD panel on the base version and larger, colour TFT panel on this SE which boasts masses of info, including a rather gimmicky but entertaining lean angle indicator. KAWASAKI SWITCHGEAR Also adapted from that of H2 SX but while comprehensive they are a little bulky and unintuitive although in due course owners should become familiar. BMW SWITCHGEAR Familiar high-end BMW fare, but still not perfect. Mode switch on right bar…

Hidden away in a complex of converted farm buildings in the rolling Lancashire countryside are the motorcycle engine performance specialists responsible not just for 2019’s British Superbike and British Supersport-winning machines, but for roads and race-winning bikes across the globe. FW Developments build, tune and maintain not just the racing engines of the JG Speedfit Kawasakis Leon Haslam rode to last year’s BSB crown, but also the Yamaha R6 of BSS winner Jack Kennedy. It’s an operation which, in just over 30 years, has grown to become one of the UK’s largest and most successful tuning and performance centres having worked with the likes of Michael Dunlop, TAS Suzuki, Shakey Byrne, Paul Bird and more. FWD were founded by former European and British sidecar champion, Frank Wrathall, in 1986. With…

‘This is terrain the long-awaited 790 R thrives in’ The dawn sunlight is backlighting the huge dust cloud kicked up by the rider in front. On full throttle, I hook fourth gear and the rear tyre starts to spin on the loose sand instigating a satisfying slide. As the wheels come back into line, the rear digs for grip and the chassis responds, gunning me forward. Left and right it’s wide open Moroccan desert and I know there’s nothing behind because we’ve been bearing southeast for the last hour. We’re heading towards the Sahara and I can see the outline of the monster Merzouga sand dunes silhouetted on the horizon. I know it’s not a race, but I can’t help feeling like a Dakar rider. If KTM wanted to prove…

The 2019 MCN fleet is a wildly varied collection of new metal that reflects the huge range of models now available both in the mainstream and in niches that hadn’t even been invented just five years ago. We’ll be delving beneath the marketing hype their creators spout to see how they cope with thousands of real-world miles, modifications, different tyre choices, all-weather exposure and showing how you can get the most from yours. In the process we’ll be targeting #ride5000mile totals, notching up trackdays, venturing deep into Europe, and testing the mods you most want to see. It’s going to be epic. ‘We’ll see how they cope with thousands of real-world miles’ Indian FTR1200S ● 120bhp ● 85ftlb ● 805mm seat ● 231kg (kerb)  Rider Jordan Gibbons: 28, 5ft 7in,…

THE STUDENT Carol Price, 44, Bristol Fireblade lover Carol has been riding for four years, having passed her test as a 40thbirthdaypresent. Carol’s riding problem I’m never sure what gear I need to be in on trackdays. I find I get a lot of false neutrals on track too, maybe because I’m a bit hesitant. THE TUTOR Michael Neeves, Road Tester Neeves has been testing bikes at MCN for over 15 years, instructs at the Ron Haslam Race School and races a BMW S1000RR. Neevsey’s plan Being in the right gear is crucial. I’ll show Carol how she can work out the best cog for every corner on every track she visits. THE LESSON 1 Running a gear too high Like many road riders on powerful four-cylinder bikes, Carol was…

Mark Buckmaster wanted to get into classic British bikes but was put off by the mechanical side of things. “I love the look and the sound of a classic British single but the thought of having to constantly tinker with it to keep it serviceable wasn’t something I was into. I just want to ride.” As this is a golden age of retros, Mark had plenty of options, the best of which came from Triumph. “I tried the Bonneville and it was a beautiful bike to ride but was just a little too refined. It’s a modern bike with a retro look, whereas I wanted something with a bit more charm and authenticity,” Mark says. That search for authenticity lead him to door of Royal Enfield dealers Cooperb, who sent…

1 Better than cure… When steel bolts are tightened into alloy, damage to the softer metal’s threads can occur if the nuts or bolts are corroded or overtightened. You can prevent this from happening by using a torque wrench set to the correct value when tightening fasteners. But if you do accidently end up stripping threads don’t panic, there are ways of getting out of trouble. 2 Use a thread file Damaged threads on a bolt can be revived using a thread file. A thread file usually has eight pitch sizes, four on each side at both ends. Select the appropriate pitch then place the bolt in a vice before slowly drawing the file across the bolt, the threads will clear and revive with each stroke. Turn the bolt in…

Andrea Dovizioso will have to wait before he can properly celebrate Sunday’s race win, following protests from Ducati’s opposition after the race saw the result referred to MotoGP’s Court of Appeals. The protest, lodged by Aprilia, Suzuki, Honda and KTM, is seeking to strip the Italian of his win for using a new aerodynamic device attached underneath the Desmosedici’s swingarm. First trialled by Jack Miller and Danilo Petrucci during testing but not used by Dovizioso until Sunday’s race, the attachment is believed to act as a diffuser, helping to smooth the airflow onto the rear wheel. It’s not specifically banned under the current rules and it seems that the protest relates more to differing guidance given to the teams than to the actual legality of the aerodynamics. The protest had…

Cal Crutchlow made a stunning recovery from the badly broken ankle that ended his 2018 season and left him questioning whether he would ever ride again by taking an incredible podium finish in the opening race of 2019. Holding off the advances of Alex Rins throughout the 22-lap Qatar Grand Prix, the Briton came home in a strong third position behind Andrea Dovizioso and world champ Marc Marquez. Just four months after the horrific Phillip Island crash following which doctors predicted a 12-month recovery period, Crutchlow admitted to MCN that he hadn’t known if he’d be able to ever reach this level again, let alone so soon. “I’m not speechless but I don’t know quite how I feel! The last time I raced I was on the podium as well…

The biking world was rocked almost as hard as the music world last week as news broke that motorcycle racing addict and The Prodigy frontman had taken his own life. Flint’s iconic public image made him one of the defining faces of the 1990s and Noughties, and his deep-rooted passion for bikes and racing meant that he also achieved fame, respect and adoration from a whole new group of fans over recent years. The success of The Prodigy helped feed his motorcycling addiction, and it was during the production and promotion of enduring global mega-hit Firestarter that a new career in racing threatened to surpass the music. Speaking to MCN in 2014 he revealed that: “Back in 1998 I had a go on Sean Emmett’s Reve Red Bull Ducati, and…

Thank you for a really interesting article on helmet design and the potential to minimise brain injury. I'm a life-long biker and also CEO of the charity Headway Oxfordshire, providing support and rehab to those affected by brain injury. When I turn up to work or visit hospitals etc on my bike, I do get a bit of a reaction. How can I ride when I see the consequences on a daily basis? That's because I love biking and it's essential to enrich our lives with the things that give us pleasure. However, it's true to say that helmet design is behind other technologies. As your article points out, this is a highly complex area, as the movement of the brain inside the skull (such as in a very sudden…

Just before I bust my leg, I had an Africa Twin from Honda and I did quite a bit of cruising around. I love getting out and riding to a few of the local biker cafés, having a cuppa and a chat with people. ‘I’VE ALREADY HAD A LOOK AT A COUPLE OF PUBS’ There’s a classic bike meet on the last Thursday of every month just down the road from me and lots of people go to that, so I’ll try and get along when I can. It’s good craic, they’re all there talking s**t and all sorts of bikes turn up. It’s great to sit back and listen to them going on and on about random stuff. Devils Bridge is only ten minutes from where I live, so…

It’s Britain’s best road test route. A tough 250-mile mix of A and B- roads, a stretch of motorway, plus plenty of towns, villages, blind corners, ballistic straights, and a huge range of grippy to slippy tarmac. There are two cafés, an off-road section for adventure and trail bikes, track time at Silverstone for sportsbikes, and Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground and the dyno for hard and fast data when needed. You want answers? We’ve got ’em. 1 First impressions From the outset it’s clear both these adventure sport fours are £16k, fully-loaded monsters that should gobble up the 250. The new Versys SE is in Grand Tourer trim with all the toys, but we’re leaving the panniers off to match the XR. The sportier XR is in Sport SE trim with…

‘After riding the Zero, I’d love to own an electric bike’ Despite the Mugen TT Zero bikes lapping at an average of 121mph and the introduction of MotoE in the MotoGP calendar for 2019, bikers tend to prefer their motors to burn dead dinos rather than electrons. But those fixed mindsets are seeing us miss out on what is a rapidly changing sector. Give an electric bike a go and you might be in for a surprise… “I had a hybrid car and it was crap, but electric bikes intrigue me,” says Keith Manning, who answered MCN’s call for someone willing to experience an electric motorcycle for the first time. “I work for Perkins Engines servicing generators, so I understand electricity and its benefits in terms of the environment and…

1. LEARN IT Study a map after you’ve completed your sighting laps to give yourself a better idea of your gear pattern. 2. CHANGE DOWN After a long straight, make the first down-change at the same time you start braking hard for the corner. 3. GOING IN Using a low, revvy gear on corner entry will help you get off the throttle all the way to the apex. 4. AT THE APEX When you pick up the throttle at the apex, with the engine already spinning fast it’s easier to control the rear wheel. 5. COMING OUT Your selected gear should get you from the apex to the exit. If you need to change up you’re in a gear too low. 6. SHORT SHIFT Tackling long corners that open out,…

Changing gear can be all part of the fun of controlling a bike and a perfectly executed cog-swap is a thing of beauty. But there are more and more auto and semi-auto options out there and if you do a lot of urban riding, or have suffered an injury, they make real sense. There are some interesting options and some are slow sellers, which makes them potential bargains as dealers look to shift their stock. MCN BEST BUY £4000 HONDA VFR1200 DCT 1237cc | 267kg | 170bhp | 815mm seat height • Dealer £6000-£8000 • Private £4000-£6000 • This one 2010, 21,500 miles If you are after an automatic bike, they don’t come much better than the big VFR. The Honda is bit like the Yamaha FJR1300 (see right) in…

‘I laugh it off but I’ve been really low, so a solid sixth is good’ He may not have been on the podium, but Sam Lowes was delighted with his steady start to the 2019 Moto2 season, after matching his best ever result at the Losail circuit to bag sixth. Not quite living up to his pre-race hype after dominating testing there, he nonetheless comes away from the first ever Triumph-powered race happy with what he achieved. Despite losing out on the long straights of the Losail circuit when it came to a race situation, he’s confident that his result is a strong starting point for the season. Safely making it through a nervous and tense race and finishing his first crash-free race weekend since July, Lowes told MCN that…

‘We are basically in the same place as last year’ Valentino Rossi once again produced his Sunday magic to take home a strong result from Qatar. Finishing fifth, just 0.6s behind winner Dovizioso after battling for the lead for most of the 22-lap race, It was a spectacular turnaround given the nine-time world champion struggled in both practice and qualifying. After starting a distant 14th on the grid and unable to find any confidence in his front tyre, the Monster Energy Yamaha rider admitted afterwards he’d surprised himself when he found himself right in the mix. “We modified the settings of the bike for the race and it made a big difference. I felt good with the bike and I enjoyed coming from the back. The podium would have been…

Jack Miller came unstuck during Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix when he was forced to rip the seat off his Pramac Ducati during the opening laps before later retiring. It’s believed the paint scheme on the bike’s tail unit, onto which the seat is glued, came away from the carbon fibre, taking the glue and seat with it. He said afterwards: “In the first right-hander, I almost fell off the side of the bike. I made it through a few corners, looked down and saw that the seat was twisted so I threw it away. But without the seat and the paint, the carbon fibre is like ice and our arses have no grip on them. I was trying to manage it but I wasn’t able to enter any corners safely.”…

‘I had potential to win. But this is what happens sometimes’ Suzuki duo Alex Rins and rookie Joan Mir enjoyed the factory’s best-ever start to a MotoGP season by coming home fourth and eighth at Qatar. Looking off the pace they displayed in testing, the pair stunned their rivals in Sunday’s race by jumping right back into the mix. But although it was a great start to the season for Rins, he was frustrated afterwards by only placing fourth having been confident during the race that he could have achieved more; a sign of just how much the Suzuki GSX-RR has improved in a short period of time. “After the race I was frustrated, because I thought I had potential to win. But this is what happens sometimes. We have…

Suzuki have today revealed their big, new, retro bruiser, the GSX-S1000-based Katana, will cost £11,399 when it arrives in dealers in late April. The new Kat marks a bold return to the range for one of the firm’s most well-known models, and marks the first indication of Suzuki’s desire to draw upon their glory days with a rumoured return of the DR BIG in 2020, too. The new Katana is clearly styled to mimic its ancestor. With a chiselled nose, chunky square headlamp and shallow tank profile, it’s an unapologetic homage to the 1981 original, but there’s nothing out-dated about it. The 148bhp powerplant is shared with the GSX-S1000, with dual throttle valves, a 44mm throttle body (like its GSX-R1000 sibling), and 10-hole injectors for precise atomisation. The GSX-S was…

Twenty years after the F4 750 Serie Oro marked the start of MV’s four-cylinder sportsbike journey, the £63,000 Claudio special, in honour of the late boss, is bringing it to a close as the F4-series finally falls victim to Euro4 emissions rules. The cheapest used F4 is £7500 and selected models are fast appreciating in value but do your research as there are some 2009 or 2011 models registered as 2012s. 2019 CLAUDIO What is it? The level of detail on the 213bhp Claudio is astonishing. There’s MotoGP-style switchgear and GPS datalogging, while the bike is held together with titanium fasteners. It also boasts full carbon bodywork. MCN says “The company have vowed to develop a replacement but we suspect we won’t see it for a while.” Want to buy…

‘A decade ago vehicle crime was a low police priority’ Against a backdrop of wildly accelerating automotive crime, which has been headlined by a huge jump in the number of stolen vehicles reported from 2017’s total of 86,000 to over 112,000 in 2018, a nearly 50% rise, the battle to stem the theft of motorcycles and scooters looks to have achieved a tangible improvement over the past 12 months. Latest figures reveal that reported bike thefts totalled 27,000 for 2018, bringing the number of machines stolen broadly back in line with the figure for 2016, but encouragingly well below 2017’s frightening spike of 34,000 reported thefts; proof, perhaps, that the police’s recent increased freedom to pursue and forcibly stop moped or scooter-enabled criminals is having an effect. Even more encouragingly,…

Husqvarna Motorcycles have announced this week that their stylish Vitpilen and Svartpilen 401 duo will be available with Rekluse clutch kits that turn the fully manual gearbox into an unstallable twist-and-go, while retaining the manual shift. ‘How the hell does that work?’ you might well ask. Clutchless snickers Before the confusion sets in, let’s be absolutely clear: this isn’t an automatic gearbox conversion. The Rekluse kit, already widely available for off-road bikes and road bikes, including the MV Agusta Turismo, makes the clutch redundant when pulling away or coming to a halt. Rekluse make several different versions of their kit, but the Husqvarnas will be using the Radius X Centrifugal Force clutch kit combined with their TorqDrive clutch pack that uses Rekluse’s innovative EXP automatic clutch disk; the part where…

1 Engine development Though semi-retired, Frank Snr is still involved. Here he’s modifying the inlet ports on the ‘Version 2’ tune of a 2019 ZX-10R. He said: “I’ve been using the same block of wood for 30 years.” 2 Facilities are second to none “The challenge is to supply high quality performance and reliability,” says Frank Snr. 3 Roads and race This Irish road racing Honda CBR600 is in for a full rebuild. Here engine builder Ian Park tightens up the conrods. 4 Experience and excellence FWD’s experience and success record is second to none. Engine builder Ian has been with Frank for 21 years. Here he’s cutting a valve seat for one of the JG Speedfit ZX-10Rs. 5 It’s not all bhp Reliability is as important as power. “We…

With a two-fingered salute to the superbike establishment, BMW launched the S1000RR in 2010. At a time when its rivals could barely muster a rear wheel 160bhp, the German wonder made 190bhp, had MotoGP-inspired electronics and race-ready handling. Refined in 2012 and updated in 2015, it’s a TT winner, loved by racers and is the circuit weapon of choice for discerning track heads. Its successor has been four years in the making, is new from the ground-up and we’re riding it at the launch in Estoril. It might be wet, but the BMW’s brilliance shines through. 1 It’s lighter than light A new riding position is no less comfy than before, but the RR is more compact and airy-light, like a 600. It makes the old machine feel like a…

RATINGS POOR ★ AVERAGE ★★ GOOD ★★★ VERY GOOD ★★★★ EXCEPTIONAL ★★★★★ 1800 MILES RST Paragon Thermotech heated gloves £189.99 Tested by Ben Clarke, one month These battery-powered gloves are brilliant. I first started using them in a cold snap when temperatures dipped to minus three. At that temperature they kept my hands feeling comfortable, so much so that you don’t give them a second thought. A full charge takes six hours and will power the gloves on the highest of their three heat settings for about two hours. If you run out of puff and have to use them without power, the gloves themselves are actually very good, but not quite as warm as my regular non-heated winter mitts. The batteries are held inside the cuffs, which means they…

John McPhee was happy to limit the damage on Sunday after developing a technical problem with the Petronas Sprinta Honda. Finishing 13th, just 1.8s off the win, he says that he’s just happy to have got some points on the board after losing out with a lack of power on the straights. He said: “It is nice to be back racing again, having a scrap and doing what we love. Unfortunately, we had a small technical problem with the top speed, which cost us on the straight, but the bike was good around the rest of the track.”…

Maverick Viñales finished the opening round of the 2019 MotoGP season with the one title he’s in no hurry to retain; once again proving the king of winter testing has been unable to convert that into race-winning speed. After being fast at all of the pre-season tests for the third season in a row, the Spaniard folded during Sunday’s race despite qualifying in pole position. Viñales is struggling, still, to master the Yamaha M1 with a full load of fuel, despite practising exactly that over winter, and was left psychologically battered after the race. And as he’s unable to ride the same way in traffic as when he’s alone, he says he can’t save his tyres to make it to the end. ‘Alone I can make lap times but in…

Silverstone, home of the British Grand Prix, finally looks set to be resurfaced ahead of this year’s race after six months of uncertainty about its future. After last year’s GP was cancelled due to standing water on its newly-asphalted track and MotoGP bosses subsequently stated resurfacing was vital before this year’s race could go ahead, MCN understands the Northants venue WILL embark on the project later this year. Although still not officially confirmed, sources have told MCN the resurfacing will begin mid-June, finishing only two months before the MotoGP race and just two weeks before F1 arrives for what could be the last British F1 Grand Prix for some time as F1 bosses and Silverstone remain at loggerheads about the event’s future. ‘Track bosses still refuse to confirm the work…

‘It’s nice to beat a champion in this way’ Sunday’s opening race of the 2019 MotoGP season ended with an almost identical repeat of 2018’s epic last corner duel, where Andrea Dovizioso and Marc Marquez once again went toe-to-toe in the very last turn. And, just like 12 months ago, it was Italian Dovi who came out on top, taking the win for the fifth time in his sixth last-corner showdown with the Spanish world champion. Although Marquez gave it his all in an attempt to take the victory, it wasn’t to be. Instead Dovizioso used his experience and intelligence to formulate a strategy on the spot to allow him to control the actions of his great rival right up to the line. “I didn’t really know what the other…

Rookie Fabio Quartararo was quick to hold his hand up after stalling his Petronas Yamaha on the grid and being forced to start from pit lane. After impressing by qualifying on the second row, the Frenchman was despondent after the race about what could have been. He finished out of the points in 16th. “I made a mistake before the start, but it is better to make mistakes at the start of the season rather than in the middle. But I am happy with the job we have done. The biggest thing I learned from my first Grand Prix is that it is much harder to overtake in this category than it is in Moto2 and Moto3, but we did learn a lot during the race.”…