Table of contents for 25 March 2020 in MCN

As the world continues to get increasingly unrecognisable day by day, I’ve realised just how much I rely on motorbikes for my daily happiness. But as government advice evolves, we need to show that bikers are the best people in our communities, not a scourge. I went for an isolated solo ride on Sunday, but will not do so again now until the ‘all clear.’ I’ll continue to use my bike for essential journeys as it’s my primary source of transport – but it feels only right not to go out for leisure rides. I was also seriously saddened to see so many bikers having mass meet-ups over the weekend at regular biking haunts. We are living in extraordinary times and we need to respect the safety of the communities…

Mutt are going from strength-to-strength as they unveil two all-new bikes and open the doors to their East London store. If you’re not familiar with Mutt, they’ve made their name with cool 125s and 250s that they ship in from the Far East, then customise and get ready for sale in their Birmingham HQ. Until now they’ve been relatively simple, classic looking twin-shocks but now they’ve got an all-new bike that’s ready to shake things up a bit. Called the Razorback, the machine comes in two flavours – a scrambler style and a flat-tracker – but they’re both essentially the same motorcycle underneath. The Razorback is powered by an air-cooled 125cc single, which puts outs 11.8bhp (making it L-plate friendly) and is derived from the Suzuki GN motor, so we’ll…

Following weeks of frantic voting we can finally reveal that the winner of the 2019 MCN Golden Sausage award and Britain’s Best Biker Cafe is the Biker’s Cove in South Queensferry. This popular Scottish eatery emerged triumphant from our shortlist of 11 after scoring a massive 43% of the public vote. “It’s truly humbling,” says Chas McLeod, who owns and runs the Biker’s Cove along with Tricia Sutton. “We never expected that a wee place like this could grow to be so big – all we had when we started off was a kettle, a jar of coffee and a jug of milk. It’s not just down to us though, without our regulars we wouldn’t be here at all.” Founded in 2011, The Cove was originally intended as a meeting…

Spyshots have emerged of what appears to be a stripped-back version of BMW’s upcoming R18 cruiser. Taking aim directly at Harley-Davidson’s heritage models, the classic-looking boxer has a tall screen bolted H-D-style to its forks, high-level bars and a single clock. This version of the R18 also has a smaller 16in front wheel with a fatter tyre bumping up the overall wheel diameter, again, like some of Harley’s retro models or a Triumph Bobber Black. The tyre itself looks to be a brand-new Michelin Commander 3, which has only just been launched and may well have been developed with BMW for this bike. It’s no secret that BMW have the American market firmly in their sights with the R18 and in a close-up of the clocks on this bike the…

I did some panic buying last week, but I didn’t go and buy 300 bog rolls, I went and bought petrol. I’m not bothered about wiping my arse, I can use a dock leaf for that. What I was worried about was not being able to ride my bikes, so now if we get cabined up, I’ve got loads of fuel and a load of land to go riding on. I’ve got plenty to go at for the enduro bike and the speedway bike, but now I need a digger so we can start making jumps and stuff and also another old wreck of a car so we can start doing a bit of banger racing. ‘NOW I FEEL LIKE I’M ALL DRESSED UP WITH NOWHERE TO GO’ At the…

‘I LIKE IT’ PHIL ELLIS Age 49 Height 5ft 9in Current bike TZ250 Been riding 39 years First bike Puch Scrambler 50 “I like the thought of the engine size in that chassis. It’s not a big, heavy, fast bike, it’s got that nice mix. It’s a British brand, but I think the price is a bit high for what else there is on the market at the moment. I’d like to own one for the track if it was priced more sensibly – and available.” ‘LOOKS DATED’ PHIL AIRLIE Age 48 Height 5ft 11in Current bike Yamaha R6 Been riding 42 years First bike Yamaha TY50 Dream bike KR-1S “It’s nice but it’s not different enough from the old model to justify the cost. The engine would give it…

‘It was the catalyst for modern Ducati, yet was nearly never built at all’ Four decades ago a small, struggling, Italian manufacturer, barely producing 3000 machines a year, unveiled the production version of the bike that would change both it and the world forever. That manufacturer was Ducati, a company then barely recognisable from the 100,000 machines-a-year, Audi-owned brand it is today. The bike was the 500 SL Pantah, the first production, belt-driven Desmo ‘L-twin’ which, by also being the firm’s first road bike featuring a tubular steel trellis frame, set the design template for every Ducati which followed, from the 900SS and Monster, to the 1098 and Scrambler. The Pantah was primarily the work of legendary Ducati designer Ing. Fabio Taglioni who was also the driving force behind Ducati’s…

I’ve been desperate to get my hands on a Yamaha Ténéré 700 ever since I heard they were making it. My first bike was an XT660R which I used to tour the US and Central America. I loved it. That said, the XT wasn’t without its issues. There was no wind protection, the thumping single made your blood feel carbonated and motorway riding was a chore. But with the Ténéré (or XTZ690 to give it its official title) Yamaha have the chance to fix all that. The screen is only small and has no adjustment but gives you a surprising amount of wind protection but the biggest improvement is that 700cc parallel-twin engine. The Ténéré feels like an XT on steroids. Having proved itself in Yamaha’s excellent MT-07, Tracer 700…

Motorcycle racers, by their very nature, aren’t known for their patience – so it doesn’t take long for them to start becoming a little creative to relieve the boredom. MCN picks up the best of this week’s rider escapades from around the globe, from good Samaritan James Hillier helping his community through to trials god Toni Bou (right) going about his daily routine in his house…..…

‘I don’t mind a Domino’s at the end of the year, that’s nice’ ‘My fitness is getting better every year’ Sam and Alex Lowes are two of the most dedicated and fit riders on the grid – these boys are the very definition of driven. “30 years ago, people didn’t train as hard and were probably partying a bit more and living a different lifestyle,” Moto2 rider Sam explains. “Today you have to be able to produce the best lap towards the end of the race. You need to be over-fit really to be able to control everything.” His World Superbike racing twin Alex agrees: “If your fitness drops during a race and you’re struggling, your concentration can naturally drop as well. It’s important to be fit, strong and flexible…

‘We’re looking forward to getting to the other side’ British Superbike teams and riders have been plunged into the unknown after the series became the latest to postpone its season. The announcement came last week following the Motorcycle Circuit Racing Control Board and Auto-Cycle Union’s decision to suspend all motorcycle circuit racing activity until the end of April. The decision means the season opener at Silverstone has been postponed indefinitely, and that all testing has been prohibited. There are also no trackdays or club events available until the end of next month. ‘A five-round mini-series isn’t beyond the realms of possibility’ The delay to the season has the potential to cause problems for teams and riders up and down the paddock, with sponsorship deals and other monetary outgoings being a…

The Ducati Scrambler 1100’s clattering air-cooled bellow is entering its third year with two new variants, the Pro and Sports Pro. Both get a new exhaust, shorter rear mudguard, an improved seat and a lower numberplate holder as well as new colour schemes and graphics. But if your budget doesn’t stretch to £11,295 (1100 Pro or £12,795 (Sport Pro), there are plenty of old-school Dukes to tempt you. 2020 SCRAMBLER 1100 PRO What is it? This latest offering takes the Scrambler family to a whole new level with smart styling updates and a striking high-level, twin-side exhaust. MCN says “A true lump of Italian exotica with the grunt, character and handling to put a smile on your face.” Want to buy one? £11,441otr, £2661 deposit, £135 per month on…

Motorbike security manufacturers have been upping their game to gargantuan levels to try to defeat increasingly brazen, disc-cutter-wielding bike crims. We’ve already seen the Sold Secure Diamond rated Squire Behemoth padlock and chain with its double lock tumbler, hefty 22mm chain links and even heftier £600 pricetag. Now there are two more gigantic lock and chain options on the market from Milenco and Oxford which also meet the stringent Sold Secure Diamond criteria. The Milenco Snaefell (inset) is Sold Secure Diamond rated and, like the others, uses 22mm chain links in 1m, 2m or 4m variants. The lock has a 35mm hardened steel centre shaft with hardened steel armouring and pick-resistance. Milenco claim that the Snaefell is the toughest motorbike lock on the market. •‘Locks must defy an angle grinder…

With the current coronavirus situation in the UK, we’ve taken the decision to postpone our Devitt MCN Festival of Motorcycling. The wellbeing of all our attendees, staff, exhibitors plus the general public at large is of paramount importance to everyone here but there’s absolutely no reason to be glum – the festival has a new date, September 19-20, which gives us plenty of time to pack in even more amazing stuff that we will be revealing over the coming months. All of the exciting things we always bring such as test rides from the major manufacturers, an abundance of gear and kit bargains, stunt shows, live music and, of course, a huge number of bikes to see will all be there. Plus, if you’re part of a club who couldn’t…

SUZUKI RS125 GAMMA Hope you enjoy this first bike picture, it’s a gorgeous Suzuki RS125 Gamma. Dave Hackett SUZUKI GT50/ HONDA SS50 Just 16 but we felt very grown up. Me on the GT50 and Warren on his SS50. Always breaking down but they were great fun. Paul Archer BSA BANTAM My first bike in 1960, on L plates as well. No helmet needed. Dave Wyatt YAMAHA PW50 This is my son Finnley on his first motorbike – a little Yamaha PW50 at just five years old. Emma Bryant KAWASAKI ER-6F My wife, Laura, sitting on her first big bike. She got this just after passing her test (at 52) and looking forward to the rides and touring ahead. Mark Watson HONDA MT5 It was slower than all my mates’…

‘At 205bhp it’s an unrelenting assault on body and mind’ Ducati’s original 2009 Streetfighter was a bit of a one-trick pony – it loved to wheelie and that was about it. I loved it for that, but most didn’t and disliked its extreme, supermoto-like riding position even more. No surprise, then, that during its six-year life it was never a big seller. But now there’s a new one and while the £19,975, 205bhp Streetfighter V4 S retains the original’s spirit, it now has a more refined side, too. More of everything Few machines look quite so purposeful in the flesh. It could easily be Dovi’s Desmo mid-strip and for the tiny amount of bodywork it has, it’s a riot of shiny blood red curves, creases, scoops, nips and tucks. Its…

If you were really honest with yourself and tried to define what makes the perfect sportsbike, it might go something like this. For starters you definitely don’t need 200-plus bhp, because where the hell are you going to use it? Riding any modern superbike on the road feels like a huge waste of its talents, so something around the 130bhp mark with 60-ish ftlb of torque would be perfect and a soundtrack to make your trousers tingle. It’ll need to rev like a wild supersport racer for maximum brain fizz, have peachy fuelling and enough midrange on tap for when you don’t want to be doing a Michael Flatley on the gear lever. It’ll need to glide through corners, so we’re going to need a lightweight chassis, sticky rubber, top-notch…

Although the Pantah was never quite the success hoped for on the street, racing was a different matter. In 1980 NCR produced and entered two racing versions in the Italian TT F2 class (eligible for two-strokes of 251-350cc or four-strokes of 401-600cc). Then, for 1981, Ducati’s racing department built its own race versions, the TT2, winning on its debut at Misano. Over in the UK, Steve Wynn’s Sports Motorcycles had been campaigning Tony Rutter aboard their own race version of the Pantah with some success leading to the factory promising to send two works TT 2s over for the TT. When these failed to materialise, Rutter raced Sports’ own version to victory. The factory bike turned up in time for the Ulster GP and Rutter became 1981 F2 world champion.…

THE LESSON 1 Gathering information There will usually be a warning sign for a humpback bridge or hidden dip, but not always. Make sure you’re reading the road ahead for the best view, or lack of it, and watch for clues that may indicate limited visibility. 2 Be prepared for anything Set your speed to give you time to react should anything unexpected happen. Adjust your road position for the most likely scenario. The centre of your lane usually gives you the most options for evasive action. 3 Make your presence known If it’s a steep bridge, then you should certainly think about sounding your horn on approach as a warning – that’s what it’s there for, after all. Lifting your visor may also help you to…

VisorCat £36.99 Tested by Martin Fitz-Gibbons for two months, 1000 miles A clever gadget to keep your visor clean and clear. Slide the rubber body over your left glove, slip the rubber loop over your index finger and tighten up the fabric wrist strap to keep it all in place. Beneath the vertical rubber flap is a sponge, which draws in cleaning solution from a refillable reservoir. When you want to clean your visor, you wipe from left to right first – the rubber flap folds back, revealing the sponge. Then wipe from right to left, letting two rubber blades on top of the sponge flap squeegee the water and grime away. That’s the theory, anyway: in practice it takes a couple of wipes to get the visor totally clear,…

Dorna Sports CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta has penned an open letter to MotoGP and World Superbike fans on what would have been the opening day of the Thailand Grand Prix. Round two of the MotoGP season was, like all sporting events, postponed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Within the letter, Ezpeleta reminds fans of their responsibility during these difficult times and to support each other by following the restrictions and guidelines put into place. “This virus has stopped the world turning for an indefinite amount of time, but we’re sure that we’ll return to our daily lives and come out of it even stronger than before,” the letter reads. “We have always been clear that racing is our mission, and that will continue to be the case. Even in the…

Only I could have chosen to train alongside two champions for my first trip to the gym in four months. The work that Alex and Sam put in is incredible. Nobody can question their commitment and determination to succeed. We arrived at Derby College’s Broomfield Hall Fitness Centre with the morning light yet to appear. Despite the hour, Alex and Sam were raring to go with personal trainer Kirk Gibbons. I’m not the fittest guy around but I was determined to get involved in the workout as much as I could. After a short warm-up on the bikes we headed onto our first machine of the session, the rowing machine. I knew they were competitive, but remarkably, Alex and Sam recorded the exact same distance during the first two ‘sprints’…

Bikers in London are planning a coordinated effort to reverse plans to charge bikes to park. Hackney council have opened up a consultation that could see riders paying as much as £214 per year to leave a bike on the street. Visitors would have to pay £4 a day. The council claim that this is to bring motorcycles in line with cars while also encouraging people to switch to greener forms of transport but locals aren’t convinced. “I understand that there’s a lot of pressure to reduce emissions across London but the truth is that electric bikes aren’t right for a lot of people yet,” says George Dennison, owner of MotoDen, Hackney’s only remaining bike dealer. “Plus if the council continue with their plans, we won’t be around in a…

Isolation? Just head out and ride! As a 76-year-old with a lifelong passion for motorcycles I think I may have found a solution to the coronavirus self-isolation issue for us older members of the biking community. So, I shall be getting my leathers on and going out for a good old blast on my ZX-9R. Hopefully the roads will be quieter with people working from home and I will replenish with fuel at the local services, when needed, later at night without removing protective riding gear! Happy riding and keep well. Tony Young, email Ed: That’s the sort of biking spirit which will get us through all this! Proper mini adventure Heartily agree with Mark Edwards (MCN Letters, March 18). The hype for ever bigger and more powerful bikes is…

It’s Britain’s best road test route. A tough 250-mile mix of A and B-roads, a stretch of busy 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 for sportsbikes, and Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground and the dyno for hard and fast data when needed. You want answers? We’ve got ’em. 1 All systems are go From a distance the 765 looks just like any Daytona, but 675 owners will feel a pang of jealousy when they see its new colour display and switchgear, now the staple on all current generation Triumphs. A Moto2 logo flashes up on the screen when you turn the key and from…

To ride, the 765 Daytona is everything we hoped it would be. It’s still a pure-bred, lightweight, rev-hungry supersport bike that excites, grips and flatters, but thanks to the motor’s extra midrange grunt and flexibility it’s easier to ride on the road. It’s faster around a racetrack, too, without being a handful, like a tyre-shredding superbike. It’s equipped like a rarefied slice of exotica should be, packed with the latest electronics and suitably rare, but its looks are dated and the attention to detail in places is lacking. Should Triumph make a full production version? Definitely, but whether they will is doubtful. TRIUMPH DAYTONA MOTO2 765 LIMITED EDITION…

BEWARE Cyclists, horses and pedestrians may all occupy the left of your lane, so give them room as well as yourself. 1. READ THE ROAD Warning signs, not just for the bridge but any junctions beyond, will help prepare you on your approach. 2. SLOW DOWN You’re not jumping Ballaugh Bridge, take it slow. Show brake light rather than just rolling off to warn vehicles behind. 3. CENTRE LINE On smaller roads in particular it’s likely that it the bridge will be narrower, so take this into account with your positioning. 4. SOUND OFF A toot on your horn will let anyone on the other side know that you’re coming. Time it so that you’re close enough to be heard. 5. DON’T PRESUME The other side of the bridge may…

‘The Suzuki feels like it was made for me’ Some moments in life end up leaving lasting impression. For 58-year-old Nigel Greenway it was a fleeting glimpse of a Suzuki GT550 as a teenager that put him on the path to becoming a proud GSX-S750 owner some 40 years later. “I distinctly remember being sat at some traffic lights on my Yamaha Fizzie,” says Nigel, “when this GT550 pulled up next to me. I was just captivated by the size of it and the glossiness of the paint and chrome. It must’ve imprinted on me because I’ve had a subconscious brand loyalty to Suzuki ever since.” After a break from bikes, Nigel returned to two wheels in the late 1990s and owned a couple of Bandits, before jumping ship to…

From the outside it’s easy to dismiss as riding round and round in circles pretending you’re that Rossi bloke. But a trackday can teach you so much about riding – not just what a bike is capable of and how amazing tyres are, but what you’re capable of too. Though any bike can be fun on a circuit, the greatest experiences come from choosing a track-happy one. Here’s our pick of affordable second bikes that are good on the road – but mega on track. £2500 HONDA CBR600RR 599cc |168kg |115bhp |820mm seat height • Dealer up to £8500 • Private up to £7000 • This one 2004, 35,000 miles Supersport bikes come alive on track. The buzz from redlining a zinging 600, revelling in its pin-sharp steering and…

1 This is no time to be a show off All bikes over three years old require an MoT. As well as being vital for ensuring it’s safe to ride, the inspection checks whether a bike conforms to regs – and the numberplate is just one aspect. The size and shape of lettering as well as the dimensions of the plate will come under scrutiny, so if you’ve got a fancy ‘show plate’ now’s the time to switch back to standard. 2 That’s a bright idea If indicators are fitted then they must flash in accordance with the regulations; aftermarket indicators won’t necessarily cause a fail but any that flash as rapidly as a strobe will not pass. Check for front and rear brake light operation, sometimes the…

• Personal trainer since 1997 • Has worked with the Lowes twins since 2011 • Other clients: Leon Haslam, Tai Woffinden, Tommy Searle (motocross) and Sandy Ryan (Boxing) – all champions in their sports. “I believe in hitting every muscle fibre in the body. We have two types: slow-twitch and fast-twitch. I want to know that if my guys need to run a marathon, they can run a marathon. If they’ve got the sprint, they can sprint. If they need to lift a weight, they can. Every day we’re targeting different areas, but we’re also targeting our mentalities. These boys need to be strong mentally so that whatever happens out on track, they can deal with it and move on. We do a lot of talking. If it’s not been…