Table of contents for March 2016 in RiDE

Scottish Highlands Overlooking the Summer Isles last July with my Honda Blackbird (1998 version with 82,000 miles) and my wife trying to figure out the map – Russ Quinlan Pyrenees My Triumph Street Triple R, in the Pyrenees on the Spain-France border at Candanchú, heading home after the Aragon round of World Superbikes. I even managed a couple of laps of the track after the racing – Andy Hanks Peru I was recently in Peru and I did an awesome motorcycle trip from Lima to Cusco – Carlos Castro Cairngorms My mate Nick with his Triumph Tiger 800 and my Honda VFR1200, having emerged from an hour of fog in Glen Shee. We had seven days of beautiful weather. The Cairngorms were a real eye-opener – Chris Simpson Northern Spain…

EXTREME IS EASY; it’s balance that’s hard to get right. Anyone can build a fast bike, or a cheap bike, or a mile-munching behemoth. But creating one machine that can turn its hand to any kind of riding, that’s where things get tricky. Of course, you can always throw money at the problem – VFR800s, R1200GSs and Z1000SXs are all popular, and with good reason, but as new bikes they all cost more than £10,000. So what if you want a well-balanced bike for an equally well-balanced four-figure price? Two prime contenders appear to fit the bill: Triumph’s Tiger 800 and Yamaha’s MT-09 Tracer. By accident or design they share similar features: both have three-cylinder engines, are evolutions of naked street bikes, and have a hint of adventure blended into…

BMWF800GS 2008-2012 £3500-£7000 798cc parallel twin 84bhp 207kg 16 litres The first generation of BMW’s parallel twin adventure bike was an instant hit. Light, agile and easy to ride, with an impressively frugal motor that gave the 16-litre tank a realistic 200-mile range. Lightly updated for 2013 (gaining a conventional indicator switch), an early bike now represents a solid used buy. You have to buy wisely, though. Finish is less than robust and even well maintained bikes may have flaking paint on the engines. Electrical faults are not unknown, so check the service history, which should be up-to-date. BMW luggage, especially panniers and tankbags, might be welcome extras, but shouldn’t inflate the price. It’s great to ride: beautifully agile, steering accurately and instinctively. Brakes are decent and the suspension is…

All of it. It shares as few parts with the outgoing bike as the first Hinckley Bonnie did with the last of the originals. It doesn’t share a production line or even a postcode - the new bikes are all built in Thailand. Even the name is new-sounding-old. At first glance the biggest difference is the hike in capacity to 900cc. Then there’s a clever clutch that allows a light action, using the clutch’s own rotation to force the plates harder together. More important though is the shift to water cooling - though actually it’s air and water cooling. Those fins on the barrels aren’t just for show, but contribute enough cooling to allow the use of a tiny radiator, scarcely bigger than the old bike’s oil cooler and very…

“A stylish, sweet and well-built machine” IT’S NOT JUST the cloudless blue Nevada sky and autumn warmth at 8am that are generating the feel-good factor as I set off from Las Vegas on my first ride of the new small Indian. The Scout Sixty has just negotiated the first few turns feeling effortlessly light and manageable, and rumbled down a couple of straights with a pleasantly sweet and free-revving feel from its new 999cc V-twin engine. Right now the low-slung single saddle feels like a mighty good place to be sitting, and I’m not remotely fussed that it’s covered in vinyl rather than the classier leather of the larger-engined Scout. It’s not surprising that the Sixty, whose name comes from its capacity in cubic inches, should deliver most of the…

 THE RSV4 COULDN’T be more ready for the track if it had numbers on and was waiting for you under a brolley. With its standard Pirelli Supercorsa SP tyres you can ride to a track, adjust the pressures and be as fast as anyone. “Adjust the tyre pressures and be as fast as anyone” Set the throttle mode to Race, the ABS to 1, wheelie control to 1, and adjust the traction control on the go until you find the balance between protection and intrusion. Pop the dash to track mode for just the important information. To adjust the Öhlins suspension you need a C-spanner and a 3mm Allen key, but standard settings are pretty much spot on. Under acceleration no bike will get away from you, while the RSV4…

“The way it corners is on a different level to most other bikes” THE RSV4 RF is the best big trackday bike out there bar none. A sublime handling, well set-up package from the off, its electronics will cosset you while you get used to it, at which point you can then tailor the settings to suit you. It’s amazingly, deceptively fast, has incredible brakes and the way it corners is simply on a different level. And though £18,135 is a lot of money, the RF needs for nothing – it comes with everything you need for the track. It is beautiful in a brutish way, but it is very small. Its size, allied to top-quality but very firm suspension, means it isn’t the best road bike – though it’s…

BMW eRR In short, an electric BMW S1000RR. Very much an experimental vehicle, developed with the Technical University of Munich, with absolutely no details made public and nothing resembling a plan for turning it into a production bike, but it’s clearly possible. RiDE was there, in a Munich press conference, when a BMW rider did a couple of laps of the room on it. Maybe that’s all it can do. Maybe it will turn up this summer at the TT Zero on the Isle of Man. Maybe it will mutate into a motorcycle based on the C Evolution electric scooter. Whatever, BMW are firmly committed to exploring electric possibilities on two and four wheels, so public reaction to the eRR will help guide them on to the next step. Moto…

“Valve clearances should be done at 8000 miles” Service schedule Screw-and-locknut tappets are home-mechanic-friendly, which is just as well since valve clearances are supposed to be done every 8000 miles. Oil and filter are changed at the same time, with the air filter changed every other service and spark plugs expected to last 32,000 miles. There’s also a separate clutch oil filter, changed every 16,000 miles – often neglected. Access isn’t too bad, except you need to remove (or at least move) the radiator to change the air filter. Best to leave that until there’s something else to do. Or you could do what Mark Thurgood does and not do it at all: “I do oil and filter changes between 8000 and 10,000 miles, and that’s all. My 700 still…

#8 Suzuki GSX-R750 Where did it come from? Since its inception in 1985 the Suzuki GSX-R750 was hailed as a racebike for the road. Its aluminium frame, light weight and GS1000R-inspired engine made it a line in the sand of sportsbike development. What’s changed? The bodywork design of 1985-1988 bikes led to the ‘Slabside’ nickname, while the later 1988-1992 GSX-Rs were called ‘Slingshot’ after the type of carburetors used. The 1992 to 1994 models were water-cooled, though the design was looking dated. Then in 1996 Suzuki gave us the GSX-R750 SRAD, a completely new bike. The beam frame was huge, light and went straight from headstock to swingarm pivot, instead of the familiar round-the-engine route. The high-revving engine again offered race-bike performance for the road. It was up against Honda’s…

IF YOU’RE LIKE most riders, you probably gave up on training about the time you passed your test. Since then, you’ve maybe signed up for a BikeSafe ride, or did a RoSPA course to try and get your insurance premium down. But what about a very different kind of training? How about being coached round a racetrack, one-to-one, by a former World Superbike racer? Well, that’s what plenty of folk are doing, with a growing number of bespoke on-track courses. We spent a day watching one of these trainers, Dean Ellison, at work round Brands Hatch on a nice late-summer trackday. Dean is the older brother of BSB runner-up James, and a former BSB, WSB and WSS racer himself (as well as a thoroughly nice bloke). And now he’s passing…

MATT SAYS... If your bike is 400cc or larger, go for the best chain you can get. An O-ring or X-ring chain will last much longer than a cheap one. Always change the sprockets at the same time as the chain, as they wear each other out. WHAT YOU’LL NEED EQUIPMENT You’ll need a chain riveting tool (we used a DID tool, £50) and a chain splitter (£15). Our chain and sprocket kit cost £117 from Wemoto. More speed or more mpg? Replacing sprockets lets you change your bike’s gearing. Lowering the gearing (fitting a larger rear or a smaller front sprocket) lets the bike accelerate faster, but can reduce top speed. Raising it (fewer teeth at the rear or more at the front) lowers revs for any given speed,…

BMW R1200R EXCLUSIVE Appears to be a simple, stripped-back roadster, but actually combines a liquid-cooled boxer with semi-active suspension and plenty of gadgets. SIX MONTHS ON I’m going to finish how I began: this is a wonderful bike with a load of electric cleverness that shouldn’t distract us from its fundamental rightness. I was initially worried the electronic suspension, switchable modes, and adjustable ABS and traction control were all signs the engineers lacked confidence in the R’s basics. Not at all. Having tried pretty much every combination over 5000 miles, I became increasingly sure that it’s superb in most of those settings most of the time. I kept returning to the preferences I established early on and would have been happy if no other settings were available – but the…

“If you want a nice waft through quiet A-roads, it’s fantastic” SUZUKI BANDIT 1250S Reliable, practical, big-bore fun courtesy of the reborn big Bandit. Simplicity and great value were the bywords for the previous model – and they still are. I’VE SPENT A few months on the Bandit and a large part of our mileage together has been made up of A1-based commuting and filtering through lanes of stationary traffic. As a commuting tool, it’s been flawless. No fuss, just a reliable get-on-and-go machine. All that I needed to make it perfect was a set of heated grips for the cold mornings. It hasn’t been a workhorse exclusively, though – we also saw our fair share of scenic routes home and Sunday rides too. A few spirited rides confirmed it’s…

BSA Bandit low rider This incredible-looking creation started life as a BSA Bantam 175, but now has a stainless steel frame and wood-effect wheels. Looks amazing, but possibly not the most practical riding position. Norton Dominator SS The bike seen in Q’s lab in Bond film Spectre. “The guns on the front are real. The manufacturer made us two – decommissioned, unfortunately,” explained Norton boss Stuart Garner. MT-11 The MT-11 is a British take on a Moto2 bike. Triumph specialist Tony Scott of T3 Racing has had a fully adjustable UK-made trellis frame built around a Daytona 675 engine, British K-tech suspension and bespoke bodywork. There are plans for a road version, though no prices yet. Suzuki GSX-R750F To promote their Vintage Parts programme, Suzuki restored an original 1985 GSX-R750F…

“As wide as the race track with equally perfect tarmac” WHITE-TIPPED WAVES march in across the Atlantic, breaking with a roar on the golden beach. Holiday-makers bask in the afternoon warmth and splash among the waves - but, as inviting as it looks, I’m not here for the surf or sunbathing. I’m here for the riding. I’ve ridden in the Algarve a few times on bike launches, both at the spectacular Portimao circuit and on the roads around it as well. For me, as an indifferent track rider, it’s the public roads twisting through the hills that have the winning appeal. Some of them are narrow, some are bumpy, others have sand spilling out from the verge: they’re challenging. Then there are the other roads. The smooth ones. They’re as…

YOUR NEXT GREAT RIDE THE YORKSHIRE DALES 54.217929, -2.331305 BLUE SKIES BRING out the best in Yorkshire. With the sun in the sky and your bike on these roads, it’s easy for even the softest of southern cynics to see why bluff stereotypes refer to Yorkshire as God’s Country. It really does make you feel blessed to be a biker. The best thing about Yorkshire is its sheer scale: England’s largest county has its big cities, but they’re a world away from the quiet roads that roll through the Dales. This is the B6255, which explodes from Hawes to Ingleton like a champagne cork being fired from a bottle, fizzing over the hills in a spray of intoxicating corners and heady straights. Rolling round the corner and over the last…

“Oncoming trucks kicked up clouds of dust, obliterating the view” GRASS FIRES CRACKLED along the verge, sending veils of smoke wafting across the road. Deeper into the bush, flames licked into the small trees. The African winter is dry season, the time for fires. Zambia was burning and we were on six BMW GSs, rolling out mile after mile on our African Big Five adventure: five mates, five countries and five great rivers to cross. We were on our way to Victoria Falls, Zambia, having started from Johannesburg, South Africa, and then on to Malawi and back down through Mozambique. Long Zambian roads swept over gentle hills. Infrequent towns were small, with brightly painted advertising hoardings and shops, such as the Try Me Once Funeral Parlour. The GS revealed its…

“Unless the fringed leather chaps are defective you have no right to a refund” Oh, you shouldn’t have… Q I’VE BEEN GIVEN unsuitable ‘biker’ gear (chaps, tassels, skulls, flame jobs, the works) by a couple of relatives who seem to have a curious idea about what I’m like. Can I take them back, or send them back to the vendor/distributor/maker, and get a refund or replacement? I wouldn’t want the well-intentioned relatives to know what I’ve done. A HOPEFULLY YOUR CHRISTMAS stocking will be full of wonderful bike-related presents, but if you have been given an unwanted gift, or a wanted gift in the incorrect size or colour, where do you stand? First of all you need to have the awkward conversation: “As much as I loved the fringed leather…

AFTER THE VERY welcome outbreak of sanity a year ago that saw the Yamaha MT-07 leading a trend towards lower prices for new bikes, the outlook for 2016 is decidedly patchy. A great many new bikes have five-figure prices – and that’s before you start adding optional extras. These prices are way out of the reach of many of us, even with the continuing availability of low-cost loans, cheap finance deals and personal contract purchase schemes with temptingly low monthly payments. So to put these prices in context, we’ve included some continuing models and some of the more desirable secondhand options. Our list of 2016 prices is far from complete, largely because not all the UK prices had been announced at the time of going to press. Some of these…

“The Yamaha Tracer is good but the BMW XR is a great bike” LAST WINTER I got involved in an exchange of emails with a variety of RiDE readers who were in the process of buying new bikes. The dominant theme was that the adventure-styled all-rounder – the Yamaha Tracer, Triumph Tiger Sport, Honda Crossrunner – was having its moment. Now, a year after the buying process began for most of them, we’ve got back in touch to see how they’ve been getting on. “I’ll keep this a long time” Gordon Smith was reluctant to sell the Yamaha Fazer 1000 he’d ridden all over Europe, but a back injury suggested he should change to something with a different riding position. He’d fancied a Yamaha Tracer, but couldn’t get a test…

“If all your riding’s on the road, larger bikes make sense” ADVENTURE BIKES ARE very fashionable – but also very expensive. Can you get the same styling and same ability on a budget? Yes, but the kind of machine you get will depend very much on what you plan to do with it. If you want to do an overland trip you need to accept the fact that, at this price, you’re looking at an older machine. The challenge is finding one with low enough miles, in good enough condition, for the price. The good news is that they are out there; the bad news is it may take a while to find one with which you’re happy. If you want an adventure-style machine but all your riding will be…

IT’S TRUE TO say the NC bikes don’t offer the intrinsic excitement of plenty of other machines. True, but not really fair or relevant. It’s a bit like complaining that bread isn’t as sweet as cake. That’s simply not its job. Cake’s for treats, bread’s for every day – and the NC has a hell of a lot going for it as an everyday bike. Outstanding fuel economy – it’s easy to average more than 70mpg in normal riding and even more if you really make an effort – as well as simple servicing (with sensible intervals), scooter-style storage and nuke-proof reliability are just the headlines. Equally important are the bikes’ perfect low speed balance, lazy engine characteristics and good comfort. The DCT transmission option will send many riders away…

Kabuto RT-33 £359.99 www.tri-motive.com KABUTO ARE THE Japanese helmet firm that used to be known as OGK. Their RT-33 weighs just 1350g, thanks to a composite shell material, which makes long journeys much less of a strain. The double D-ring fastening is unobtrusive, while the Coolmax lining feels plush and can be pulled out for washing. The visor is large, offers great vision and comes with a Pinlock 100% Max Vision anti-fog insert. It’s billed as a road and track helmet. It’s not loud, the vents work well to keep air moving around inside the lid, and the visor lets nothing past. On track the top vent lets gallons of cool air in, while the equally big exhaust vent lets all the hot air out. The shape means little or…

“As weight transfers to the front, the back wheel will go light” WHEN DID YOU last do an emergency stop? Do you use the brakes a lot? Do you brake too much? Should you be braking more? How you use the brakes reveals a lot about how you ride – being better will improve confidence, making every ride more enjoyable. Like any skill, good braking takes practice. Yet how many people actually practise it once they’ve passed their test? The trouble is, if the last time you did an emergency stop was when you did your test, you’re unlikely to make a good fist of it when it counts – when something pulls out or stops suddenly in front of you. It’s worth finding a safe place to practise braking…

“The shed literally fell down as I pulled the Honda out ” 1987 HONDA CAFÉ RACER Rolled off production line as a mint Honda CBR600F. After a busy life and several owners, Matt is turning it into a retro-style naked. I HAVE KNOWN this bike since it was five years old. It was the pride and joy of a fellow instructor, Rachel. Years later another friend, Rich, bought it as his first bike. A few more years passed, then I bought it as a bike for training on. After years of service the CBR was parked up and I thought it could make a track bike, so started to strip it down. But real life got in the way, the CBR was moved to the shed and forgotten. My fiancee…

YAMAHA MT-09 TRACER One of 2015’s biggest successes, and it’s clear why. Same torquey three-cylinder engine and agile chassis as the MT-09, with added half-faired practicality. IT’S PRETTY SIMPLE to test luggage, really. All you need is to load it up and ride for long enough to hit all kinds of weather. So as autumn faded towards winter, I headed to Scotland. Last time I did a big trip with the Tracer, I got as far as the garage. The semi-rigid Yamaha panniers wouldn’t take all my gear, so I spent half an hour repacking, leaving stuff behind. Not this time. The black plastic Kappa K33 panniers (www.kappamoto.com) swallowed a bag with four days’ kit on one side: exactly what I’d had to split between two Yamaha panniers. Now I…

SOME ROADS ARE worth making an effort to find - they’re so good they repay the time it takes to reach them with amazing riding that lives long in the memory. Some even become biking honeypots that draw riders from other countries, with continent-crossing tours planned around riding one ribbon of tarmac. Perhaps the greatest of these is Italy’s Stelvio Pass. I’ve ridden it and it is outstanding - well worth going back to ride again. So why have I dragged photographer Weeble to Portugal, not Italy? Because I’ve heard rumours of a road to rival the best in Europe, one the locals call “the Portuguese Stelvio”. We’re here to find it. All I know is that we need to explore the Serra da Estrela, the mountains rising halfway up…

ELVAS BLEW MY mind. I knew it was a World Heritage site before we arrived - but I hadn’t grasped the sheer scale of this fortified city on Portugal’s border. Getting inside means riding beneath the arches of the towering aqueduct, then through the town’s colossal defenses. Everything about the place is staggering - and staggeringly well preserved, too. This miraculous town isn’t the only amazing fortification on this once-contested border with Spain. From the massive star-formed walls of Elvas, with its astonishing satellite Forte de Nossa Senhora da Graça, our daytrip heads off around the castles of Estremoz, Alter do Chão, Marvao and Campo Maior. Along the way it takes in a mix of flowing and supremely twisty roads. Whether it’s the roads or the ancient towns, the castles…

There’s a rumour that curry is now Britian’s national dish… but nobody ever spent their fomative motocycling years riding an FS1-E to a curry house. For riders of a certain age, showing off at the chippy was a rite of passage. Years pass, bigger bikes are bought and the desire to show off dwindles… but the pleasures of a chip-shop run don’t diminsh. The benefit of growing older and throwing away the L-plates is that there’s no need to ride just to the local chippy. The trick is to find one that’s really worth the trip. For 28 years the National Fish & Chip Awards has found the UK’s best fish-frying restaurants. The 2015 winner was the UK’s most northerly chip shop: Frankie’s, in Brae on Shetland (www.frankiesfishandchips.com). Getting there…

“Taking it easy seems so natural” IT’S A PERFECT day. Blue sky, bright sun and this: an empty, sweeping road through an unspoilt landscape. What a difference a day makes… Everyone warns you about the weather in Ireland. Throwing open the curtains of my Killarney hotel the day before, I suddenly realised why: I couldn’t see the hills. A low cloud hovered above the town, pouring water everywhere. Still, it was a fine, warm drizzle. What locals call a soft day. I set off to explore the Ring of Kerry - the big draw around Killarney - but the weather got worse. Within half an hour, I decided to abandon any thoughts of exploring… which was just as well, as the handling had suddenly become very odd. Ah yes, that’s…

SAMMY MILLER MOTORCYCLE MUSEUM NEW MILTON, HAMPSHIRE NESTLED ON the edge of the New Forest is the eclectic collection assembled by champion trials rider Sammy Miller. There are more than 300 well-restored bikes, from a Moto Guzzi V8 to tiny single-cylinder race bikes. Every machine here is able to run. There’s an extensive range of fascinating road bikes and race machines, displayed in well-lit rooms that make it easy to get close enough for a really good look at the machines. There’s a cafe that can also be an excellent destination for a ride-out whether or not you visit the museum. OPEN: Weekends only until February 15, then every day until Christmas 2016. ADMISSION: £7.50 adults, £3 children. WATCH OUT FOR… Ponies and cyclists in the New Forest. Most of…

I AM RIDING a tightrope. I know I should relax and go with the bike, but I can’t unhunch my shoulders, take the grimace of concentration off my face, nor soften my arms from the two iron rods they have become. My tightrope is a single tyre track in soft mud that has been baked hard by the sun. The danger on each side is not thin air, but mounds of gravel. The road in question is not within the safety of an off-road skills course, nor in easy reach of the emergency services. It’s Ruta 40 in Patagonia: an upaved 400-mile route from Perito Moreno in the north to El Calfate in the South (though much of it has subsequently been paved). Now is a good time for me…

FOR SOME RIDERS a trip begins when you roll the bike out of the garage, and involves getting off the bike as little as possible. Every mile you ride is a treat, because the journey is as important as the destination. But there’s another school of thought: time is limited, opportunities to ride are precious and life is too short to spend days sitting on a French motorway when you really want to be riding in the mountains. Ferries have long provided one solution. For riders in Scotland and the north of England, the overnight crossings from Newcastle or Hull avoid the tedious slog to the south coast. Riders bound for Spain have been saved long rides through France by ferries to Bilbao or Santander. But boats and motorways aren’t…

AT FIRST GLANCE, the new Street Twin looks like a mild update of the outgoing ‘cast wheel’ Bonneville. In fact it’s all new – the first of a range of new Bonnevilles based on water-cooled, big-bore versions of the well-proven twin. But the changes go deeper than just swapping oil for water in the cooling system – the new bike is lighter, more powerful, with much more torque. And it’s low. Low enough so even I can put both feet flat on the floor and still have some space between crotch and seat. Can’t remember the last bike I rode when I could do that – and certainly not the last one that still managed to handle and have decent ground clearance. And yes, this does handle. I’m not talking…

“Keep the RSV4 on the best B-roads and it’s an intense ride” B-roads The RSV4 is built for racetracks, so some B-roads will feel too bumpy and far too slow for it. A weapon it may be on track, but on a B-road a well-ridden adventure bike will leave you behind. It’s not strictly the fault of the bike, but the superb chassis and …hlins suspension were not set or designed for our badly maintained minor roads, while the engine can barely start to get into its stride before you have to slow down again. It is uncomfortable, feels awkward and seems a waste. In its defence it copes better than the other 1000cc superbikes, thanks in part to light weight and a very comfortable seat pad. Find a wider,…

“Your first big bike will shape how you develop as a rider” GETTING YOUR FIRST big bike is a milestone – possibly an even bigger one than passing your test. Choosing the right one is important, because it will shape how you develop as a rider. You need a bike you can enjoy, one that inspires you to get out and ride – and one that reassures and encourages you when you’re out there. There are some things you don’t want in a first motorcycle. You don’t want one that intimidates or is difficult to ride, nor one that’s heavy and hard to handle at low speed. Your first bike shouldn’t makes you nervous. It should reward you for passing the test by being easy to enjoy. It’s sensible to…

1 FINISH Generally pretty good, though there are some complaints of peeling paint on engine casings and fork legs – possibly started by stone chips allowing moisture to get under the paint. The first items on your shopping list, if they’re not already fitted, should be a longer mudguard and a decent rear hugger – about £16 and £60 respectively from Pyramid Plastics. Without them the engine and rear shock take a terrible pasting from road gunge. Some owners suggest adding a proper rear mudguard as well, otherwise your pillion tends to get splattered. Handguards from KTM dirt bikes can be modified to fit and make a real difference in bad weather. 2 BRAKES They’re not the sharpest stoppers out there, but newer riders tend to appreciate the emphasis on…

VENTS At this price you’re not looking at sophisticated breathable fabrics. Look for vents at the rear of the jacket as well as the front, to avoid ballooning at speed. VISIBILITY A wide variety of colours available (though mostly black). Some come with hi-vis (bright in the daytime) or reflective (useful at night) stripes or patches. FRONT ZIP All have a big zip at the front, but some also have inner zips, and some have a flap over the outer zip. How much zipping and popping are you prepared to do? ARM ADJUSTMENT If you’re taking out a removable inner jacket in warmer weather, you could find the arms become baggy and flappy unless there are effective arm adjusters. POCKETS Pockets are fiddly to manufacture, adding to the cost of…

Anti-lock braking systems (ABS) are designed to stop wheels locking. In essence, they all work the same way: by letting the brake off when the sensors detect a wheel locking. There’s a difference between basic single-channel systems, which let both brakes off regardless of which one is stopping, and more modern two-channel ABS, which monitor and control each wheel independently. The current generation of ABS doesn’t completely let the brakes off, but it reduces the braking pressure enough to stop the wheels locking. The latest development is cornering ABS, which factors data from a bank-angle sensor into its equations, so it will behave differently when the bike’s leant over. Combined braking systems (CBS) will apply both brakes for you, even if you operate only the lever or the pedal. Older…

SUZUKI V-STROM 650XT The XT is a more adventurey version of Suzuki’s long-running and much-admired middleweight, with tubeless spoked wheels, handguards, a sumpguard, engine bars and a beak. WHEN YOUR GARAGE gets full of bicycles, tables, chairs, pressure washers, ladders and broken motorbikes, something has to give. And that’s meant the odd night outside for the V-Strom. Fortunately, I’m in possession of just the thing: a Suzuki own-brand rain cover, priced at £69.99. It’s quite a revelation for someone whose cover buying ceased in the ’80s, when your choice was heavy canvas for outdoors, flimsy lightweight dust sheet for indoors, or in the absence of cash a gigantic plastic sack that must once have housed a chest freezer. By contrast, my Suzuki cover is easy to drape over the bike…

#3 Cleaning your luggage Strapped to the bike and exposed to the elements, soft luggage gets a rough time. Getting covered in road grime not only makes luggage look secondhand but also makes it harder to handle, as dirt rubs off on you or the things you want to pack inside. Quality luggage should be made of a nonabsorbent material, so it should be relatively easy to clean. Make sure the luggage is properly dry before you start trying to clean it. Use a stiff brush to shift loose, dry dirt that’s crusted on the surface. Next use a damp, clean cloth to pull out the next layer of dirt. Don’t scrub it, in case you work the dirt further into the fabric: just press the damp cloth against the…

I would like to congratulate Stuart Barker on his “Keeping it Simple” article about your Honda Crossrunner long-term test bike in the January issue. Awesome description of why we ride bikes. He put into words what I think and feel but could not express. “Behind a dark visor, I’m just an 18-year-old with more experience.” Love it. Makes me smile each time I’m out just thinking of that sentence. WIN AN OXFORD AQUA30 BAG WORTH £50 This heavy-duty roll-top luggage bag is dry and rugged, easy to fit to a bike and convenient for carrying around. Win another fantastic Oxford product in next month’s RiDE…

A DECADE AGO Charley Boorman was a columnist in this very slot, the inside back page of RiDE. He had become a big name thanks to Long Way Round and was taking the opportunity to fulfil a long-standing ambition: compete in the Paris-Dakar race. The elements were in place. BMW were behind him. He’d trained with experienced desert racer Simon Pavey, who would be one of his team-mates along with Matt Hall. Mechanic Gareth Edmonds had spent months converting a stock F650GS into a competitive desert racer. Boorman had a setback in the form of a broken collarbone that preventing him from taking part in the Weston Beach Race as a warm-up event. “Getting back on the bike for the first time post-crash was a struggle,” he wrote. “Physically I’d…

TRIPS LIKE THIS come together after a lot of research. Books and magazines are good, the internet can helps - both bike forums and travel-review sites - but nothing beats talking to experts. I was lucky that I had two real experts to call on: Portuguese bike journalist Rogerio Carmo and UK touring guru John Cundiff of Alpine TT. But when every source tells you to go to the same place… well, you know you’re onto a winner. So an absolute must-visit place on our list was Chaves (pronounced Sha-vez). It’s a nice town, the hotel is lovely but, as promised, it’s the roads through the rolling hills that steal the show. That’s no mean feat given the riding we’ve already done - but the N103 from Bragança to Chavez…

IT FELT LIKE FATE: just as I was putting the finishing touches for the routes for our trip to Portugal, car-hire giants Avis released the results of research they’d done to find the best driving roads in the world - and it was topped by a road in Portugal. Perfect, I thought: I’ll add that to the list. The thing is, even as I added it to our route, I couldn’t help being skeptical about it . From what I could see, this wasn’t research based on driving the roads. Avis had paid some scientists to look at a map, feeding the number of corners, the lengths of the straights and some kind of scenic rating into a computer to produce what they call the Avis Driving Ratio. The UK…

“Quiet, sweeping roads through amazing scenery” PORTUGAL IS A long way from the UK, but the Brittany Ferries service makes these astonishing roads easily accessible. Our tour ties in with the Plymouth/Santander service, going out on a Sunday sailing, then returning on the Wednesday-evening crossing. We have a nine-day route crammed with simply mind-blowing riding. This leaves one extra day for flexibility, giving you a chance to have a break off the bike - maybe exploring the fortified city of Elvas or chilling out on a beach in the Algarve. Alternatively, you could ride whichever of our daytrip loops most captures your imagination, as the tour links our daytrip bases together. This is a long tour - basically 2000 miles in nine days with one or two long stints in…