Table of contents for February 7th 2018 in MCN

John McGuinness will ride for Norton at the 2018 Isle of Man TT. The rumour mill has been in overdrive since the 23-time TT winner confirmed he had parted ways with Honda Racing. The split came after the disaster that was the 2017 season, which saw McGuinness miss the TT with a smashed leg after a crash at the North West 200. While the marriage of the two most iconic names in road racing has been rumoured for a while, McGuinness only put pen to paper last week – and MCN was there to see history being made. ‘I didn’t want to finish my career like that’ “After the crash, I was buggered,” McGuinness told MCN. “My back was broken, my leg was in bits and I didn’t know whether…

Insurance stars Bennetts have retained their five-star Defaqto rating for the eighth year running. The Defaqto rating system is an independent assessment of insurance products looking at terms and conditions, policy details and key features. Tempting Tigers Triumph have announced the new Tiger 800 range will start from £9100 for the basic XR model. It creeps up from there with the £10,550 XRX, £12,050 XRT, £11,250 for the XCX and £12,450 for the range-topping XCA . Paint pros Kawasaki UK have created six unique paint schemes based on Japanese cities for their new Z900RS. Riders can vote for their favourite on the Kawasaki website with the winning design unveiled on the Kawasaki stand at the MCN London show at the end of February. Locked up A gang of five men…

In 1891, Robert Walker Smith and Albert Eadie bought the Townsend Cycle Company, on Enfield Road, Redditch. Their Enfield Manufacturing Company made needles, machine parts and bicycles. After a Royal Small Arms Factory order for rifle parts in 1893 the firm became Royal Enfield, and made their first motorcycle in 1901 after briefly building four-wheelers. They supplied many military bikes during WW1, then grew production and introduced the Bullet in 1932. The business expanded in the 1940s and ’50s. In 1952 they supplied the Indian Army with 800 bikes, before becoming the nation’s first four-stroke maker in ’55 via an Indian subsidiary. Enfield UK shut its doors in ’67 but Enfield India carried on, and in 1977 started to import Bullets back into the UK. In 1994 the Eicher Group…

Learn from Leon MSV have teamed up with Leon Haslam to run a series of trackdays at which the BSB hero will be on hand to offer insight and advice. The first event is on Sunday, March 3, at £129, with eight more throughout the season. Get voting Harley-Davidson’s annual custom competition Battle of the Kings is under way again, and once more it’s down to the public to pick their favourites. You can vote at customkings.harley-davidson.com, and voting closes on Monday, February 12. Red devils The Ducati Owners Club of Great Britain have an all new website, which hosts the forum, online store, events listing and much more. Membership to DOCGB gets you many benefits including the club magazine, discounts and tool hire. Piece of history Now that the…

VENHILL CABLE KITS FROM £16.56 Getting cables can be a nightmare for customs, so Venhill have released a series of throttle and clutch kits with over 2m of cabling. www.venhill.co.uk INDIAN QUILTED HOODIE £TBC It’s damn cold outside, so Indian have made a quilted hoodie that’s stuffed with 90% goose down. Perfect under a leather jacket to keep out those chills. www.indianmotorcycle.co.uk AGV X70 HELMET £289.99 There’s nothing quite as old school as an open-face lid, and the X70 from Italian helmet maestros AGV is a sharp one. With a leather and suede inner, it should feel as cool as it looks, too. www.agv.com BUILT MAGAZINE £4.99 If one retro story every week isn’t enough, then Built magazine is what you need. Jam-packed full of the latest and greatest customs,…

As the most successful racer, John McGuinness has stature that enriches every TT race. But there is more to him than that – he really is the true people’s champion. As road racing has become more professional, with more behind the scenes work involved, the relationship that some of the top racers have had with the paying public has diminished and the racers become less approachable. But John is one of the exceptions. Always generous with his time, I’ve seen him spend half an hour chewing the fat with a fan about the anodised bits on his bike or make a young kid’s day with an autograph and a bit of banter. And it’s not forced, because McPint is just like the rest of us – he’s a (supernaturally talented)…

Three years after its introduction, minor changes have made Yamaha’s R1M faster, easier to ride and simpler to set up. It’s still the booming, intoxicating track weapon it was before, but new semi-active suspension, more sophisticated anti-wheelie and an auto-blipper allow it to keep pace with rivals from Honda and Kawasaki. The biggest update is to the semi-active suspension. When launched, the R1M was the first Japanese thousand with electronic suspenders and its Öhlins Smart EC system was astounding – constantly adjusting itself in real-time. For example, the front end would stiffen itself on the brakes, soften itself off to give feel in slow corners and increase the compression on the rear shock to limit squat when you’re on the gas. On the road, it gave a magic carpet ride…

TRIUMPH STREET TRIPLE RS £10,100 Fuel 17.4 litres @ 49mpg = 187 miles Weight 166kg Seat height 825mm Power 121bhp Torque 57ftlb ‘A good scrub and polish had the Triumph gleaming like new again’ I must admit: I have been guilty of being a fair-weather rider, so it’s time to man up and brave the elements. Chances are, most naked sporty numbers are left tucked up under a blanket during the winter months. With the RS’s exposed parts and lack of protection from the elements, I’ve been sceptical about using it in the recent weather. There are arguments for retiring the naked machine to the garage, what with the abundance of dirt and salt on most roads just waiting to fur up those shiny bits. However, from experience some good…

THE EXPERT Andrew Rushworth is the owner of Triple ‘S’ Powder Coating, and has been involved in the industry for 35 years. He set up the firm when he was 20 years old. Despite a long history, powder coating has only just arrived at the forefront of mainstream motorcycle painting. Only recently superseding wet painting, the process is visible everywhere, from office furniture to fridges. It’s a relatively green process because there are no solvents involved.…

Styling is super-important. If it looks good, it’ll attract attention and if it attracts attention, it’ll probably sell well – unless it turns out to be a slug or mechanical disaster. The original Ducati 916 was exhibited at New York’s Guggenheim Museum as an example of modern industrial art. No wonder we loved it. However, not every bike designer is a styling genius and as a rule of thumb, an ugly bike won’t sell. There are exceptions and Honda’s CX500 ‘maggot’ was one. One period road test began with the words: ‘If looks could kill, this should be six feet under.’ How anybody could have looked at the finished article and thought: ‘Yes, nice job…’ eludes me. There have been aesthetic disasters since. Who remembers the Ducati-engined Bimota DB3 Mantra?…

2011 Aprilia Dorsoduro 1200 Colours Black/red or black/ white decals Dealer £5500 Private good £5300 Private average £5100 This one Up for £5795, this dealer sale has done 4210 miles and has a flyscreen. 2011 Aprilia Dorsoduro 1200 Colours Black/red or black/ white decals Dealer £5500 Private good £5300 Private average £5100 This one This model has done 16,000 miles and is in a WSB rep scheme for £5195. 2012 Aprilia Dorsoduro 1200 Colours 50% Black, red or white decals Dealer £5700 Private good £5500 Private average £5300 This one This 2012 model is being sold privately and has done just 7000 miles. £4900. 2013 Aprilia Dorsoduro 1200 Colours 50% Black, red or white decals Dealer £5900 Private good £5700 Private average £5500 This one This all-black 2013 bike has…

‘We’ll need to work on the electronics to find a good balance’MARC MARQUEZ The Honda MotoGP squad look to be on the verge of ending three years of trying to manage their overly aggressive RC213V engine after debuting a new specification last week in Malaysia at the first of three official pre-season tests. Factory trio Marc Marquez, Dani Pedrosa and Cal Crutchlow spent all three days of the test at the Sepang circuit working with three machines, using last year’s engine, a halfway-house version introduced at the Valencia test in November, and a brand-new design straight from Japan. Honda have been plagued with issues with the bike for three seasons, with aggressive acceleration and power delivery partly to blame for making the RCV the hardest to ride bike on the…

As first reported last week by MCN, Malaysian racer Hafizh Syahrin is set to replace German rider Jonas Folger at the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team for the 2018 MotoGP season, with the 23-year-old set to become South East Asia’s first racer in the premier class. Folger, who continues to struggle with illness and announced last week that he will sit out this season, was replaced at the Sepang test last week by Yonny Hernandez. But with him signing a deal to race for Pedercini Kawasaki in WSB and Tech 3 team boss Herve Poncharal insistent that he wouldn’t break a rider’s contract to sign a replacement, the Colombian looked set to only ride for the French squad for one week. However, with Syahrin sponsored by the Sepang Circuit and…

While McGuinness has put pen to paper with Norton, he’s yet to finalise his other racing plans for 2018. A deal for him to continue riding the Mugen electric bike in the TT Zero is pretty much done, and he’s also considering riding a 650 Supertwin but isn’t averse to riding in other classes, or at other races, either. He said: “Stuart is happy for me to have a shot on other bikes, whether it be a 600 or a 650 or whatever. As long as it doesn’t interfere with Norton he’s happy. I’d like to do some other races too, I need to get my mountain licence! “I’ve also had a word with North West 200 boss Mervyn White about going back to the North West, Norton want to…

I’ve been lucky enough to have ridden every Norton TT bike since 2012, from the relatively basic SG1 ridden by Ian Mackman to the MotoGP-powered monster Cameron Donald rode in 2014 to the SG6, which Josh Brookes took to Norton’s fastest ever TT lap last year. I rode the 220bhp SG6 at Cadwell Park and I was hugely impressed. It is a physically large bike, quite like the old Fireblade, which McGuinness had so much success on. It’s fast, handles really well and is relatively easy to ride. I’ve ridden quite a few of John’s TT bikes before; he likes smooth, driveable power, which the V4 has. He also likes something he can get tucked in behind with plenty of room. If John clicks with the Norton, I think we…

HIGHLIGHTS Street Triple S • 1050cc, 148bhp triple • Showa suspension • 825mm seat height • 192kg (dry) HIGHLIGHTS Street Triple RS • 1050cc, 148bhp triple • Öhlins suspension • Arrow exhausts • 189kg (dry) Triumph originally launched the Speed Triple back in 1994 and in doing so they helped popularise the factory streetfighter. The original was basically a Daytona 900 without the plastics, but the bike has steadily evolved into what we see unveiled today - the most advanced and most powerful Speed Triple ever, in the new S and RS. Feel the power A brand new bike can mean only one thing: a brand new engine. The new engine has stuck with the 1050 capacity but there have been huge changes inside, with 105 new parts all over…

Despite what its name might suggest, the H2 SX is neither a supercharged H2 with added panniers and screen nor the best-selling Z1000SX with the H2’s 197bhp engine wedged in. No, the H2 SX is much, much more than that. So, for example, although the H2 SX’s tubular trellis frame is similar to that of the H2, its engine is mounted two inches further forward; its head stock is shallower and its wheelbase is extended (by 25mm) for added stability. There’s more: the frame tubing is thicker, plus the sub-frame has been strengthened to take a pillion plus luggage. Engine-wise, the H2 SX has the same 998cc capacity as the H2 and the crankcases are the same, but otherwise it’s an entirely new engine. Kawasaki refer to the H2 SX…

Mention Andorra to most people, and you’ll be met with blank looks. Yet despite the tiny mountain state’s anonymity hidden between Spain and France – or perhaps thanks to it – Andorra has become something of a racers’ paradise, the perfect base for training, travelling and, er, tax haven-ness. Today, it’s home to some of bikesport’s greatest stars – Maverick Viñales, Toni Bou and even Brits such as Leon Camier among them. That transformation has come about thanks mainly to one man; former World Superbike front-runner Ruben Xaus. A Catalan from Barcelona, two hours down the road, his role as the unofficial frontman for a group of racers who jokingly refer to themselves as the ‘Andorra Mafia’ has meant that today the tiny principality attracts even those not earning enough…

MCN’s campaign to encourage as many riders as possible to cover 5000 miles in a year is all about getting the most enjoyment possible from your motorcycle. We realise life is full of pressures that stop you biking, but there’s always a way to squeeze in time for some extra motorcycle miles. You’ll end up a better rider and a happier person. What’s more, you’ll be able to tap into stacks of brilliant riding tips and know-how. How do I do it? Make a note of your mileage at the start of your biking year. Many members take a photo at the start of the term and at the end and share it on our Facebook page. Make a concerted effort to ride your bike more. Reap the benefits of…

Price £5999 Fuel 13 litres @ 65mpg = 185-mile range Weight 210kg (wet) Seat height 800mm Power 33bhp Torque 26.55ftlb ‘As the mileage has started to climb, so too has my confidence’ You may remember I was considering winterising the XMAX. You know the sort of thing: looking at different tyres, extended screens and hand guards, keeping on top of the grime... In truth, however – partly due to my ineptitude but mostly because of the Yamaha’s continuing brilliance – I’ve simply not needed to. Not much, anyway. I abandoned my search for hand-guard options after 20 minutes, simply because there aren’t any – not that my hands are suffering much on my daily commute anyway. Meanwhile, as the mileage has started to climb, so too has my confidence. The…

QI need some budget kit I’m doing my CBT in a couple of weeks’ time, and I’d like to get a jacket and trousers. I’ve had a look on the internet and seen some stuff I like, but I’m on a bit of a budget so want the best stuff I can get for about £300. What do you think is best? Ian Twaddle, Kirkintilloch A Answered by Keith Roissetter, Infinity Motorcycles Fit is all important, so find somewhere local to try on the gear – and take your boots with you to make sure they work with the trousers. A good range of adjustment to allow for an increase and reduction in layers as the weather changes is good, and there are vent zips, then even better. The New…

How much? Vincent goes for £650,000 A Bonhams auction in Las Vegas late last month set a new record for the most valuable bike ever sold under the hammer. Taking place in Las Vegas on January 25, a 1951 Vincent Black Lightning was bought with a winning bid of $929,000 (just over £650,000). www.bonhams.com Clearance deals at Doble Surrey-based Doble Motorcycles are having a used bike clearance sale, reducing the prices on a variety of machines across multiple genres. Promotions include over £1000 off a 2017 Honda Fireblade SP (£16,499) with just 420 miles on the clock. Find out more by visiting the website at w w w.doble.co.uk Spec-up your V4 Panigale Ducati have unveiled an extras list as long as your arm for their new flagship V4 Panigale superbike.…

‘They are a fantastic bike to ride, powerful and strong with a composed ride’ “The Dorsoduro 1200 is a good bike but spare parts and accessories can be tricky to get hold of - particularly some of the specific parts for the 1200 model. Things like sensors, engine bits, or even panels! The more generic Aprilia stuff like wheels, calipers and discs are all fine, as they fit a lot of other Aprilia models. “They’ve got a very complicated ABS system and it throws up errors that often don’t make a lot of sense, adding to time and therefore also costs. “The translation from Italian to English in the diagnostic system is poor and this makes it difficult to interpret when trying to find faults. The engine management system is…

Forward Racing unveil 2018 livery The Forward Racing squad have unveiled their Moto2 project, pulling the covers off the bike in Milan last week. VR46 Riders Academy racer Stefano Manzi will be joined by 2017 CEV Moto2 champion Eric Granado on Kalex machinery. GP riders undergo more stringent medicals The Grand Prix grid will undergo more stringent medical examinations than ever in 2018 thanks to MotoGP’s new partnership with Spanish medical provider Quironsalud. Started at the Sepang test, every rider on the grid will now be subjected to a host of pre-season tests. Silverstone resurfacing well underway The full track resurfacing of the home of the British Grand Prix is now well underway, with contractors Aggregate Industries taking five weeks to lift the entire 3.661 miles of the old track…

‘The bike is working and it’s giving me a good feeling’JORGE LORENZO Jorge Lorenzo is eyeing an attack on the 2018 MotoGP world championship after finishing the first pre-season test of the year in Sepang not only fastest overall but under the fastest ever two-wheeled lap record previously held by reigning champion Marc Marquez. The 30-year-old set his lap on the morning of the final day to dip a mere 0.03 under the time set by Marquez back in 2015, but it was enough to cement his name at the top of the time sheets – even though he admitted afterwards that he could have gone faster were it not for a number of limiting factors. Lorenzo said:“It wasn’t a perfect lap, because we had some things to test in…

‘I’m lucky as I hit the wall at 150mph’POL ESPARGARO Pol Espargaró was lucky to limp away from a high-speed crash on the second day of testing at the Sepang circuit, in a crash that has raised safety concerns after he hit a wall at the edge of the circuit’s turn four. Going out on a new rear tyre and a used front, he lost the front on one of the season’s fastest corners – but instead of lowsiding, the rear gripped and launched the bike out of track limits and straight into the outer barrier. “Honestly, I feel lucky because I had a big crash,” he said. “When I touched the brakes the wheel locked and the bike went into the outside wall. I hit it at more than…

While McGuinness’ aims are clear, the TT star is keen to ensure he can walk before he can run with the injured leg. However, he’s adamant that, barring complications, he’ll be fit for those crucial weeks in May and June. “Whether I’ll be fit is the million dollar question,” he said. “I haven’t got a crystal ball, but I’ve spoken to Norton about it and at the minute it looks like it’s going to be alright. “I had a long chat with my surgeon, he is happy with my progress and the aim is to get the cage off by the end of Feburary, start doing some training and then hopefully ride the bike for the first time at the end of March. That’s the perfect scenario, but if we…

The factory Norton squad will retain a two-rider line-up for 2018 with McGuinness joining 2015 British Superbike Champion Josh Brookes. Brookes returned to the TT for the first time since 2014 last year aboard the V4-RR SG6 and went on to set Norton’s quickest-ever lap around the mountain course with an average speed of 130.883mph. He said: “Last year’s bike was definitely capable of getting on the podium. I actually think with the right person on it last year it could have been on the box. I had been away for two years, so I had a lot to face with re-learning the course and a new bike – with that in mind I was happy to finish sixth and join the 130mph club. With further improvements it can challenge…

Q1 What are you riding? A Royal Enfield Classic 500, KTM 150 and a Beta 250 trials bike. Q2 Which living motorcyclist do you most admire? I don’t go in for hero worship, to be honest, but world trials champ Tony Bou is awesome. Inhuman. What he does on a bike is just phenomenal. Q3 What’s your worst riding habit I sit slightly skew-wiff. I’m just not symmetrical. I made my own seat for a bike many years ago which skewed off to one side to compensate. Q4 If you could have one riding superskill what would it be? That balancing and hopping about thing on a trials bike. I can’t do it and wish I could. I’m a trials beginner. Q5 What’s the fastest you’ve ever been on a…

The H2 SX’s supercharged four may look and sound the same as the H2’s but it’s actually very different. Kawasaki claim the new motor is 25% more fuel efficient than the H2. So how? First, the supercharger’s impeller and intake system are new. Although the impeller is the same size, the shape and angle of the blades have changed. The intake chamber has been revised, as have the intake funnel lengths. Throttle valves are smaller, from 50mm to 40mm, and cam profiles now have a shorter intake and exhaust duration. Intake and exhaust ports are also revised. The compression ratio has been significantly increased with new pistons. The higher compression significantly increases fuel efficiency. The exhaust is all new, too, with smaller diameter header pipes and a shorter, more compact…

Starting out over 20 years ago as a home away from home for Aussie racers based in Europe, Andorra is now the prime spot for athletes to live. Some of the sport’s top names call the tiny country home. Prestigious former residents and retired racers include Garry McCoy, Chris Vermeulen, Karl Muggeridge, Randy de Puniet, Fabien Foret, Carlos Checa, Norick Abe and Simon Crafar.…

SUZUKI V-STROM 650 XT £7899 Fuel 18.5 litres @ 52.5mph = 208-mile range Weight 216kg Seat height 835mm Power 70bhp Torque 45.7ftlb ‘It felt so good to get the V-twin singing properly for the first time since winter hit’ I’m proud to be an all-year-round rider. Britain’s winter might throw crappy weather and greasy roads at us – along with that lovely salt-laden sludge that seems to get just about everywhere – but there is still no better way of getting from A to B than on two wheels. However, I’m ashamed to admit that once the weather turns, while I’ll commute to work or use the bike to get somewhere, I don’t tend to go out for the fun, spontaneous blasts I can’t get enough of in the summer.…

‘Your solicitor will have access to your medical records’ Q Why is my life expectancy a claim issue? I was taken out on my Ducati Multistrada a few years ago, and the claim for my injuries and monetary loss has been plodding along nicely until recently. I was in the Air Force for 15 years and rising through the ranks fairly steadily. Due to the accident I was medically discharged, and I have recently started working as an IT specialist. I will now lose out on a fair amount of pension compared with if I remained in the Air Force, and this is being claimed by my solicitor. The other side is asking for a life-expectancy report to carve away some of my pension loss. Why should I agree to…

‘I’m confident we can get results’TOMMY BRIDEWELL Tommy Bridewell will be reunited with former team boss Martin Halsall as the former title contender looks to bounce back from a difficult season. Bridewell endured a challenging 2017 with Brent Gladwin’s WD40 outfit, but is determined to return to race-winning form after signing a deal to front Halsall Suzuki’s new BSB effort. Halsall withdrew from the BSB before the 2017 season kicked off, but will return this year as he seeks to take Bridewell back to the sharp end after a successful 2016 which saw the 29-year -old take two podiums on the dated previous-model GSX-R1000. “We didn’t want to leave BSB at the end of 2016 and I was very keen to continue with Tommy after that season, but things just…

‘The timetable to achieve the event for 2018 cannot be achieved’ACU’S PAUL KING The all-new Welsh Road Race event set to take place in the Brecon Beacons later this year has run into difficulty and been postponed until 2019. The event was set to take place between August 3-5 this year on a 5.25-mile public road circuit, but now won’t take place until at least 2019 with organisers promising the date will be announced soon. A statement from organisers confirming the postponement of the event is vague on details, but blames a revision to the Road Traffic Act in Wales for the complications. “We are working closely with the ACU, Crown Properties and Powys County Council to organise the Welsh Road Race, and under the new changes in legislation, the…