Indholdsfortegnelse for September 2018 i Fast Bikes

Is it just me or do bikes cost way too much these days? Yeah, I’m tight, but I’m also sane, and when I look at the price of some of the latest and greatest crotch rockets it beggars belief. Especially for some of the top spec jobbies. It doesn’t seem too long ago that you could get a Mars bar for 30p, and a decent litre sportsbike for under £10k, like the big bang R1 for instance that arrived in 2009 with a £9k(ish) price tag… before it leapt up a few grand almost overnight. Figure that? For me that was the turning point of bikes getting dearer and I’ve not stopped crying since. Of course, manufacturers need a return on their technological investments, pioneering production techniques and utilisation of…

August 31 - September 2 – Stormin’ the Castle festival – County Durham September 1-2 – Isabena Rallye – Spain September 7-9 – The Soggy Moggy –Cambridgeshire September 7-9 – Ace Café Weekend Party – London September 8-9 – Kickback Festival of Bikes – Gloucestershire September 9 – Motorcycle Run & Harwich Family Fun Day – Essex September 9 – ESAM Open Sunday with Zero Motorcycles – Sussex September 15 – Kempton Park Motorcycle Jumble – Middlesex September 14-16 – Motorbike Women South Rally – Gloucestershire September 15 -16 – Somerset Moto Fest – Somerset September 23 – Churchill Arms Autumn Bike Jumble – Hampshire September 23 – Leighton Hall Motorcycle Hill Climb – Lancashire September 23 – Ride to Save Lives – Nottinghamshire September 28-30 – 22nd Kamikaze Cave…

Ever been in peril, jumped on the brakes and found the lever fighting back as the ABS does its very best to save you – even if you don’t need to be saved? Well we did a lot, especially on the Gixer. In fact, on most bikes the ABS has to be one of the biggest drawbacks of modern tech on the racetrack, as even the sportiest of sports bikes will try and do its best to stop you stopping. You find yourself wishing you could just get rid of the pesky system. The problem is though, with so much trickery on bikes nowadays if you just rip the thing out there’s a high chance that it will send the ECU into meltdown, which is where the ABS eliminator from…

Okay, it’s technically not a performance increase but it will definitely feel like one. We bang on about sprockets all the time and for bloody good reason, as it will literally transform the whole power delivery of your bike in one simple, effective and cheap sweep. A lot of bikes come with a stock setup that funnily enough it isn’t actually the best for the roads, and Kawasaki’s ZX-10R is such an example, with an incredibly long first gear. This is a prime example of where a sprocket will transform your ride, as giving it a few extra teeth on the rear will add that extra urgency when picking up the throttle, offering greater acceleration. It’s not just the feeling of power where a sprocket makes the difference either. If…

On any bike a shifter makes a monumental difference, meaning it would’ve been great on every bike. The problem is, usually the words ‘cheap’ and ‘quickshifter’ couldn’t be further apart; until you gaze upon the Healtech Quickshifter Easy range, which has just started invading the UK market. In all honesty, Quickshifters are worth their weight in gold whatever the price, but thanks to a new design, you can pick one of these ‘shifters for just over £250. They’re high quality, easy to install, and even come with Bluetooth connectivity, meaning if you like a fiddle you can alter the settings through an app on your phone. Performance increase: 7/10 Value for money: 9/10 Price: From £259.99 (model dependant) From: www.bikehps.com…

Who would’ve thought that a standard Ducati would be a little quiet? Well the new V4 is! That’s where an end can would be the perfect addition, giving a little more punch, losing a bit of weight and giving it a deeper roar in the process. SP Engineering are just in the process of creating a can for the V4, and we like the fact that it’s another good product, with a lifetime guarantee, for a stonkingly cheap price. Can’t go wrong with that. Performance increase: 6/10 Value for money: 7/10 Price: Around £295 (when available) From: www.spengineering.co.uk…

Never heard of it? Well, I hadn’t until five years ago, and now I’m a regular. And not just because they serve the finest German beer by the litre. Honest. Officially christened BMW Motorrad Days, this is the Bavarian manufacturer’s chance to let its hair down, have a big party and engage with its customers on a level that very few other brands could ever imagine. Rammed with retail stalls, stunt shows and off-road adventure riding experiences (that you can sign up for and sample), there are so many things to indulge in at the three-day festival that typically draws in excess of 40,000 folk through its gates… which are free to enter and well worth the trek. If you’re up for a long day in the saddle the gig’s…

Weather: We all know that the weather is a bit of a lottery at the Isle of Man, so take that into account when pushing on. Early in the morning can be foggy so watch out for low visibility, and take it easy as the weather can change in minutes! Drivers: At the end of the day it’s a public road, so there will be other people hammering it, and pottering about. Don’t be a dick, and be mindful when overtaking or if you end up drifting wide! There might be other people out there going as quickly as you are… Sharp corners: Just because Hicky and co. can take things flat stick, it doesn’t mean us mere mortals can, especially when traffic is two way. Even though the corners…

VENHILL BRAIDED BRAKE LINE You can have the best calipers, highest performing brake pads and strongest fists in the world, but they’ll mean nothing if your brake lines are as flexing as a kitchen sponge. All hydraulic systems depend on pressure to perform at their best, which is why the first and best upgrade you can make to your brakes is replacing the stock rubber hoses for something more substantial. Farmer Brod did just that with his race winning Daytona 675, kitting it out with Venhill’s impressive lines. They feature a Teflon inner tube that simply doesn’t flex, and to make doubly sure it doesn’t, the tube’s skinned with a tough braided steel outer. To keep the braid in good form and to make it look a bit more jazzy,…

1 Most aftermarket exhausts are a quarter of the weight of the OEM system! Fitting one can shed about 4kg. 2 It can take us a week of R&D to design, test and create a performance exhaust, taking the time to ensure the right exhaust is developed for each bike. 3 Up to 10bhp power gain can be achieved by a slip-on end can alone over the stock exhaust. 4 Due to the dramatic changes gained for relatively small cost, the exhaust is usually first on the parts list for changing after purchasing a new (or secondhand) bike. 5 Since 1990 carbon fibre and titanium have been used in production of exhausts to reduce weight and add further styling.…

I have to admit, I’m guilty of falling short on my monthly mileage over these past few weeks. With Blighty basking in a blistering heat that us Brits aren’t very well acquainted with, I simply couldn’t face the prospect of sweating my kahoonas off any more than they already were by donning my riding clobber. I’ve still been busy though, and one of my highlights of this month came in the shape of a rather tasty looking Moto 2-esque end can to replace the lackluster standard jobbie. Although the standard pipe wasn’t obnoxiously large, nor overly ugly, it simply didn’t produce a very fruity note. Rather than opting for the first port of call – which would be a Yoshi for many Suzuki owners – I wanted something a little…

Finally I’ve been able to get the big girl out on a track day – woo! Not a whole day, mind you, but I’ve managed to get two quick sessions in at Castle Combe on two separate days, just to see how the bike behaves after all the changes. As a quick recap, that would be the Goodridge braking hoses and the Rotobox carbon-fibre wheels, plus the extra-long gearing with the two-teeth smaller rear sprocket which in turn meant a much longer wheelbase than stock – all quite significant mods. As you may remember from last month, these had changed the bike quite a bit on several fronts, including the overall feeling. So I was super curious to see how these changes translated on track. First up, a huge thanks…

Remember back in 2015 when Josh Brookes was near enough unbeatable? Brookes and the Milwaukee Yamaha squad were an absolutely devastating combination… and unfortunately for everyone else in the field history is looking ominously similar. It may look like the Aussie has had a disappointing start to the season (which he admits he has) but did you know that it took him until the exact same round at Brands Hatch in his championship winning season to stand on the top step of the box? And in exactly the same fashion, he did the double – this time even more impressively, with his least favourite engine spec thanks to a gearbox issue in qualifying... This is a scary thought for the championship, as the Aussie tends to struggle throughout the first…

I’ve dipped into WSB ‘transfers’ above, but there are some more rumours worth mentioning. The first one is regarding Bradley Ray being bumped up to WSB next year on a Suzuki. If it happens, he’s got lucky, as his results since his double win at round one haven’t been brilliant. I do think he deserves the move though, and he could still win lots of races before the end of the year. Moto America champion Toni Elias has been linked with the seat alongside him. Jake Gagne’s time at Red Bull Honda is up, and many names are being linked. The wet dream would be Dani Pedrosa making a sideways move, the actual reality more like a partner for Camier carrying a suitcase stuffed with cash, or a different MotoGP…

FB: Is BMW likely to follow other brands down the supercharger route? KV: It is obviously a very big question, but we’re absolutely not following that trend. We’ve seen the same approach in the car industry of downsizing an engine and supercharging it, but we need far better control on a motorcycle, so we need to be much more precise with the delivery. If you want to do that with a supercharged engine it’s very complicated, so you don’t get that swift reaction you’d expect from a regular motor. Also, you save weight when you downsize, but you gain weight on a supercharger, and if done properly you need an intercooler and so on. When you put this altogether, this high-engineered supercharged engine isn’t very beneficial compared to a normally…

The stretch of tarmac between the Ramsey Hairpin and the Creg-Ny-Baa is incredible as it is, but when you have it all to yourself, and all ten miles (or so) are lined with hundreds of spectators there really is no better place in the world to ride your motorbike. Aside from a few bumps near the beginning of ‘The Mountain Section’ the surface is fantastic so you can really give it the berries. A lot of the turns are blind so it takes a few runs over there to build up enough confidence to really push, but when you know where you’re going you can be on the stopper and stretching the cables for 30 seconds at a time. By the time you get halfway up the mountain, you can…

I’d raced RGVs in my time and loved the two-stroke acceleration and light weight but always felt they were a little fragile when you got them making any power. I’d had an RG250 Mk.3 when they were new but always wanted a 500 so the idea came together – build a RG500 with modern suspension as my track bike. But by then RG500 prices were rocketing so I bought an RG400 from Japan, it was seized on one barrel as someone had taken a plug out and it had been dropped on one side. I stripped it down and sold off parts until I was left with the engine, frame, swingarm and wiring. I wanted a good handling bike more than outright power so I set about upgrading the front…

How’s your year going so far? I went into the start of the season with an idea of where I should be and what I should be doing, and as always I aimed pretty high. Problem is, BSB is incredibly hard, and if the smallest bit is wrong then the results show that! I didn’t have the start to the season I wanted as it didn’t quite click, but now it really has clicked into place. I was ninth and seventh at Knockhill, with a load of race winners behind me so things are going in the right direction! The way I’m riding the bike now means it’s happening, and things are coming together. I said to the team at the beginning of the year when things start going my…

The Fast Bikes Legal Clinic is compiled by Andrew Dalton, and his bike riding barristers and solicitors at White Dalton Motorcycle Solicitors. They deal with personal injury claims and their sister company, Motor Defence Team, deals with all the motoring offences. They know everything about bike law. Andrew is a former London motorbike courier turned barrister and solicitor, and we know he’s good. All the White Dalton lawyers are qualified barristers, or solicitors, or both - and they all have full bike licences, too. They don’t act for insurance companies or the prosecution. They are Britain’s most specialist law practice, and if they don’t know the answer to your question, there probably isn’t one. Don’t rely on the advice from your insurance appointed solicitor, get proper independent advice.…

WINNING RIDE John Neale PlayStation 4… HEARTBROKEN! Not been anywhere :( both my VFR and the GSXR are broken and I’ve missed the entire season so far. Trying to keep my spirits up by playing Ride on the PS4 (other games and consoles are available), in full gear of course, safety first girls and boys! FB: Ah man, with the beautiful weather that must suck! Hopefully winning a Fast Bikes hoodie will cheer you up… Connor Wylde Aprilia RSV4 We’re on a 2,500-mile tour of Europe with four days left! France, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Austria, Switzerland, Germany! Stephen Johnston Suzuki GSX-R1000 Up the north coast to pay our respects to William Dunlop #6. Paul Largey Honda Fireblade SP Doing 2,500 miles in Europe covering Scotland, England, Holland France, Switzerland, Italy,…

Say hello to my new wheels! Well, technically they’re not very new (unless you’ve never moved on from 2007), and actually they’re not mine (this is my mate’s bike). But I know this particular 600 better than anyone, and quite frankly I love it. I’ve got a bit of a thing for R6s. It stems from the time when I used to line up on my lardy, pancake-flat Gixer 600 and stare jealously at the other Superstock 600 lads on their shiny, rapid R6s. My Suzuki made 109bhp on the BSB dyno, while some of the Yammies were cracking 124bhp. One peaked at 128bhp, but the only thing legal about that one was the ignition key. To cut a long story short, their domination made me want one. And in…

So the sun has been shining with record temperatures in Blighty, meaning I had to do what everyone does with some good weather – pack the flip flops and sun cream before heading off to the coast. For something a little different, I tagged along with a group of riders for the Great Yarmouth Takeover, where thousands of bikers descend on the beach town for one day a year. Now, group riding can be a bit dodgy and I like sticking to one group I know, but this time I was with a group of riders I didn’t know so I decided to use the roll top bag rather than the panniers – just in case things got a bit fast on the way down. The bag works really well…

I have now had the pleasure of the R6’s company for 10 months and 5020 miles. It has been quite an adventure and this month has been no different, with clear World Cup roads and a couple of suitably long journeys to be had the R6 has had plenty of room to, shall we say, express herself? A couple of minor modifications were made at the hands of my colleagues, whose handy-work can be seen on our YouTube channel. Pyramid Plastics had sent through extensions to both the front and rear mudguards, which Martin duly fitted while Beej waved a camera about and cracked bad jokes. Both fit beautifully and are easy to fit with a sticking kit that does just the ticket. These additions make perfect sense for the…

Summer’s over. Put your budgie smugglers away. Here’s our no-nonsense take on the 2018 season so far. Repsol Honda Smiling from ear to ear. They have the best bike, one of the greatest riders of all time and have just signed Jorge Lorenzo for two seasons. Life is good. ■ Marquez – Absolutely crushing it. Era defining performances. In danger of running away with the championship. Simply exquisite. ■ Pedrosa – 2018 has been a total mare. Struggled all season to get the bike working. Retiring at the end of the season. Inherits the unwanted tag of ‘the best rider never to win a top class title’ from Randy Mamola. Should get a cushty gig as a lifetime Honda ambassador. Movistar Yamaha Generally unsatisfactory. The Yamaha top brass are not…

SPIDI CARBO TRACK GLOVES TESTED BY: Bruce MILES: 6,000 TIME: 2 years PRICE: £234.99 WEB: www.spidiuk.com I was a bit gutted when Farmer Brod handed me back my Spidi gloves in a slightly battered state. But hey, that’s what they were there for, and despite his best efforts to muller them, they took two 100+mph crashes on the chin… and I’m still wearing them. These are my ‘go to’ gloves, and have been for the best part of two years now. I love them, and for so many reasons. The biggest appeal is the fit, which ultimately ensures a great level of feel when you’re riding. They’re not too thick, too thin, or too restrictive; the cut’s perfect for me. Then there’s the secure placement they…

For me the Suzuki was a safe bet. It wasn’t exceptionally exciting, glitzy to look at or anything outstanding, but it did a great job of delivering a fast and fun ride. The motor’s it’s biggest talking point, feeling the most torque packed of all the inline-fours on test. The sharp throttle connection takes a bit of getting used to, but once the motor’s spinning it never wants to stop. It’s got a great gearbox too, but it’s a shame there’s no quickshifter or blipper to finish the package off. In the corners the Gixer’s no let down, being agile and planted. It’s an effortless ride and it’s pretty comfy too. You sit in the Suzuki, rather than on it, with decent leg room and a credible screen to write…

The main thing the Kwacker has in its corner is comfort. It’s a big old thing, with broad fairings, broad ‘ bars and a seat that wasn't built for size six glamour models. Engine wise. the power's too rev happy to utrise effortlessly on the road, made worse by tall gearing. There's not much tech to talk about either, with pretty primitive options of power modes and traction control on tap, but do you really need much more than those on the roads? The systems work well and the same goes for the bike's front brakes. They're pretty damn tasty under pressure, with no ABS hang-ups to note. Of all the bikes on test the Kawasaki felt the most aged, mostly owing to Its discotheque lovin' dash, which realy falls…

This bike should come with a size warning, because if you’re over six foot or have anything like a beer gut on you, you're going to struggle with the Mammy. We tiny, but brilliant. It feels Ike a pedigree race machine, crafted with performance taking precedence over practicality, which Is fine on track, but on the roads We maybe a little too focused. The 'bars feel sharply angled and they're not much larger than chopsticks; the fuelling is harsh and rev hungry; the seat is firmer than a plank of wood. Comfort is not the RI's forte, but Its motor is insatiably potent, with a soundtrack that guarantees adoration. The handling is sharp and precise and planted. it's a real hoot to blitz around on and certain to please the…

It gets something of a kicking on track, but the Honda comes into its own on the road. Its motor's strong from low down and, despite a little flat spot around 6,000rpm, delivers a powerful experience all the way to its Iimiter. I don't know why you need any more ponies on the road, short of having a small manhood. what It could also do with is a bit of a bigger screen, as it's tiny and appears more of a gesture than anything. The riding position's a little cramped too; arse up, head down-stylee, which does your wrists In after a while. The tech's okay, though like he Gixer It lacks a shifter and blipper. The colour dash Is a vary nice touch and adds to he Blade's attractive…

How you can own one of these and keep your licence Is beyond me. This thing Is fast, furious and so much fun. it's a lively bike, with a playful nature and its also deceivingly quick. Just because you're not buzzing the tits off its tantalisingly brilliant V4 motor doesn't mean that you're not breaking the speed limit four times over. everything's a blur, because you get so wrapped up In the sensation of the big Ducati, which grabs you by the bals and eggs you on willingly. I can't believe how much tech It's got, which is all easy to alter and performs a treat on the road. The brakes are exceptional and I realy liked how spacious it was. The 'bars are broad enough for bodybuilders and the…

The Aprilia’s a favourite on track and it doesn’t disappoint on the road either. The motor’s a little lacking at very low revs, but then it comes into its own and kicks out the creamiest, torquiest and straightest power delivery this side of a race bike. Couple that with the V4 sound track and you're pretty much in heaven. It's a great handler too. It's not the most agile, but it always feels planted and accurate. Even though it's not got fancy Ohlins like the RF, the RR's pogos don't leave you disappointed. It's a small bike though, so be prepared to feel a little cramped. The brakes are good and the tech on tap is pretty exceptional and child's play to operate. The traction control paddles are a nice…

Just imagine a place with no speed limits, sublime tarmac and year-round sunshine. That’d be heaven, right? Okay, the sunshine bit might be an ask too far, but as far as the decent surface goes and roads that allow you to fully sample the delights of your two-wheeled wanger’s motor without facing a few years in the cells, such a place does exist. Yes, I’m talking about the legendary Isle of Man, of course. It’s best known for being the home of the legendary TT races for two weeks a year, but outside of that fortnight the Island morphs into a safe haven for speed addicts (of the mph variety). That said, just because there are lots of roads on the Island where you can ride flat out when you…

I know what you’re thinking; you’ve turned the page and there is a blindfolded man, clad in leather surrounded by rubber – I realise most of you are probably used to seeing that in all your other magazines, but what is it doing in Fast Bikes? Well, I’ll tell you. We all like riding, that’s a given, and the more we ride, the more rubber we have to throw at our bikes. But with so many tyre manufacturers offering so many different products (each), it can be a hell of a job trying to decide what to punt for. So as a kind of public service to you, the Fast Bikes reader, we have decided to do a back to back test on six different options of ‘hypersports’ road tyre.…

To be in with a chance of winning this most tasteful of tops, just email us (letters@fastbikesmag.co.uk) or post on our Facebook page with a pic of you, your bike and a few words about it, where you’ve been on it and why you rate it so highly. We’ll then pick our favourite post each month and that lucky person will be the proud owner of their very own Fast Bikes hoodie – which is proven to make you at least 60% faster!* *Disclaimer: May not actually make you any faster. Send yours to letters@fastbikes.co.uk…

Christmas in August? Who’d have thought it. Well, nothing brings a smile to my face more than when a big box of goodies arrives at the door, and when said box has Akrapovic plastered on the side, you know it’s going to be a good month. Unfortunately though, that shiny new end can and system will have to wait another few weeks before it gets bolted on the little Kawasaki. And no, it’s not me being lazy, it’s because my Kawasaki seems to have developed an incredibly annoying nice that almost sounds like a quiet horn when the needle hits 9,000rpm. In every gear it kicks in at the same point, and even though I first heard it when giving it the royal spanking on the first trackday, it wasn’t…

It’s been a pretty exciting month for the R1M and me. The annual Yamaha Racing Experience (YRE) event, exclusively for R1M owners, was held at Silverstone circuit, and as an R1M ‘owner’ (I wish), I was invited along. It’s a two-day event with day one being dedicated to learning how all the tech on the R1M works, via a series of workshops and a chance to talk to some of Yamaha’s top technical wizards, and day two a chance to put everything you have learned into practice around the iconic Silverstone Arena GP circuit – the perfect proving ground for the R1M. Once we’d arrived at Silverstone, we were invited to unload our bikes into the ginormous ‘Wing’ pit boxes, before signing on and making our way up to a…

Never have I been so happy to receive a work email than the day I received one confirming my first long-termer bike was available and ready for immediate pick up. A train ride from Fast Bikes HQ to Corby and my shiny new CB1000R Neo Café Racer was waiting in the glorious Northamptonshire sunshine – I was buzzing. Picking up a new bike is definitely a privilege these days, unless you can afford to splash out the cash or have the income to support a finance deal, so I didn’t take for granted the fact someone handed me the key to a £12,299 motorcycle all in the name of telling you fine folks what I think of it. My first impressions of the CB1000R? Let’s start with the looks. Comparing…

So then, what glorious topic can we speak of this month regarding the WSB circus? Well, as it happens, nothing much is going on because we’re only a few weeks into the stupidest summer break for a racing series you could possibly imagine – 10 weeks. Now, I’ve already waxed lyrical about this contemptuously stupid thing on our website (www.fastbikesmag.com if you still don’t know!), so I won’t bang on about it much here, but damn is it disappointing! Ever since Dorna’s takeover of the series the summer break has been an issue, an ever expanding one, as it seems to get longer. Some of the riders don’t seem to mind too much given how short their winter break is with the first race at the end of February though,…

Ahhh, Suzuka time. I got the chance last year and it was one of the best experiences in racing I’ve ever had… even if the bike only lasted ten laps. With that in mind I was so glad when I got the call up from Tras135 BMW Financial Services Japan to head back out for 2018 and even better, I was to be teamed up with my TYCO BMW homie Michael Laverty who I’d already stood on the podium alongside at Le Mans 24-Hours earlier this year. Japan itself is an amazing place; the first thing that (literally) hits you is the heat, as you walk into a wall of humidity. It actually takes your breath away and it seemed we were in for a real smoker as just before…

Alright FB folk? I’m currently in Majorca again, but I’m not sure why given the amazing sunshine back in the UK right now! I’ve basically been zipping back and forwards between here and some events we’ve been doing, like the Silverstone Classic. It’s mainly a car event but the bikes get huge amounts of interest, especially with the Grand Prix Legends bunch, of which Wayne Gardner is a lynch-pin. As well as my fine self and Wayne, there was Freddie Spencer, Christian Sarron, Didier de Radigues and a whole bunch of us old racing duffers, plus Maria Costello. We had all the classic race bikes there, but we also had new bikes to whizz around on. Last year we just had Yamaha R1s, but this time around we had some…