Indholdsfortegnelse for February 2022 i Fast Bikes

There’s only one way to start this piece and that’s by wishing you all a Happy New Year. With a bit of luck 2022 will be the year the world finally gets back to normal, meaning we can ride where we like, when we like… as fast as we like. Okay, that last point might be pushing things a bit, but I for one can’t wait to get stuck in and tick off a load of biking ambitions that’ve fallen by the wayside in recent times. It’s hard to believe that only a year or so ago riding a motorcycle without good reason was a culpable offence, or that trackdays were non-existent, or rationed at best. That you couldn’t meet up with mates for a brew or plan a mega…

Many, many months ago we assembled the cream of the sportsbike scene and put them through a gruelling workout on road, track, dyno, and drag strip. It was nothing short of epic, defining and a worthy way of figuring which three of our combatants were at the top of their game and deserving of a final fling in Portugal on the world-class Portimao race track. A no-holds-barred scrap where the fastest lap would crown this year’s USB champion, egged on by awesome Michelin Power Slick 2 rubber and the chance to spend three whole days fettling away at suspension settings, rider aids, and anything else we cared to alter. Essentially, it would be our chance to push the BMW M1000RR, Ducati V4 SP and Aprilia RSV4 1100 Factory to the…

Sometimes things just don’t go to plan, and there’s no other way to dress up our trip to Portugal. If someone had of taken a hammer to my nutsack I imagine the pain would have been on a par with what we went through out there, desperately strategising ways and means to get the job done. But the simple truth is we can’t control the weather, and we had to take solace in getting at least one day out on track… and it was an awesome day at that. Spinning laps around that circuit, on the latest and greatest production bikes, armed with proper rubber, was up there with a lottery win (…well, a five number win). Yes, we wanted so much more and I only wish we were able…

Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RR Hands up who thought we’d ever see the day when a sportsbike was derived from a naked bike, instead of the all-too-common opposite way round. The list of naked bikes that have derived from sportsbikes is long, and for good reason. Only last month I was waxing lyrical about the genius of Ducati taking a Panigale V2 and, with a few simple tweaks to the riding position, ending up with the brilliant Streetfighter V2. So why can’t it work the other way round? Well, Triumph doesn’t seem to see a reason why it can’t – especially when its bespoke naked bike is so good. Say hello to the Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RR. Triumph has hit the Speed Triple 1200RS with a brilliantly simple formula.…

Paul’s bike was bought as a brand new road bike in 2020; after 400 miles of running it in on the road, he converted it into a track racing weapon. With new BMWs, you must complete 400 miles at a limited RPM to run the engine in, and then it is back to the dealership to have the ECU unlocked and the warranty signed – failure to do this will void the warranty. After Paul ticked this box, it was back to his workshop, and the bike was stripped down to the bare frame and engine ready for road-to-race conversion. When the 2020 gen four S1000RR model first arrived on the scene, you couldn’t legally map the standard ECU while maintaining the three-year racing warranty, so a Woolwich ECU flash,…

WINNER Here at Fast Bikes magazine, we love trackdays... so much that we want to give something back to you, the reader! We’ve teamed up with the lovely lot over at No Limits Trackdays to offer a free trackday every month. All you have to do is send us a picture of yourself at your last trackday for a chance to win. If you’re the lucky person highlighted on these pages, you’ve won a trackday of your choice. If it’s you, get in touch and we’ll look after the rest. If you haven’t won this time, there’s always next month. There are no cash alternatives available. The winning image is drawn at random. Terms and conditions apply. To view the privacy policy of MMG Ltd (publisher of Fast Bikes magazine),…

Hi Fast Bikes, Please could you print this to wind up my dad? Waiting for the session to start – then in the back of an ambulance for a week in hospital. Too impatient, and lack of concentration to blame. A few months later we came across the history of the number 74. Our joint track bike was somewhat bent but on the positive side, the engine survived. Dare I mention our shared Porsche Boxster he also wrote off... Thanks, Simon FB: Hi Simon, We’ve all been there. Our advice would be keeping your dad away from the race track… or possibly anything with an engine in it. On the upside, the bike does look salvageable, and at least the old man is okay! Better luck next year. WIN WEISE…

I was pretty buzzed up after riding the BMW, so I was keen to let Bruce have a rip on it and see what he thought; so, for the last couple of sessions I jumped on the Ducati V4 SP. It blew me away on my first experience with it at Cadwell Park back in July, and it went on to take the overall win in part one of our Ultimate Sportsbike test in convincing style. Ducati has undoubtedly set the benchmark in the sportsbike world with this beautiful machine, but having unleashed the true potential of the BMW when we turned the electronic aids off, I was eager so see whether the Ducati could still stand dominant. My initial feeling before anything else was how low and connected I…

There’s a lot to like about winter. For starters, the grass doesn’t need cutting. And owing to the long, dark nights, casual alcoholism is widely accepted (or so I keep telling myself). But the biggest appeal for me is the chance to get down and dirty with some off-road antics… assuming you have a bike to play on. In my case, I don’t, and for some reason my brother’s stopped lending me his, so you can imagine how delighted I was when an invite arrived from Yamaha, asking if I wanted to try out the new WR250F. I waited a whole three seconds before saying yes – and left it another hour before breaking the news to my wife and kids that I was leaving them again. Dorset was the…

Running a big company can be a tricky old business, and despite the fact Kawasaki Motorcycles is a gnat’s cock of Kawasaki Heavy Industries, it still has to succeed – and that means pressure on the management. In the early 2000s, Kawasaki’s big bosses were feeling the strain... Flogging a load of dead horses, Kawasaki’s model range was outdated, heavy, and well behind the game. Rivals had bikes such as the game-changing FireBlade, mental GSX-R1000, and rocket ship R1 – Kawasaki had the ZX-9R and ZX-6R, both of which still had carbs and fuel taps. Something needed to be done. After a humble apology to the world by the main boss, in 2003 Kawasaki finally hit back... and hit back hard! Having poached a radical designer called Shunji Tanaka from…

Q I am a delivery rider for a well-known food company. I won’t name them, but it rhymes with kangaroo. I was doing a food drop-off in my local town centre when I was knocked off my bike. A VW Polo was stationary at a junction, and I thought I would undertake it. I pulled alongside it and looked at the driver. As I did so, he took off at speed and turned left, clipping my bike and knocking me off onto the pavement. The driver initially stopped for a few seconds and then drove off. It was a busy town centre and some passers-by came to my rescue. One even tried to stand in front of the car to stop the car driver from leaving! The driver drove around…

GREAT BUT GONE Revisiting three cracking bikes we wish were still in production – the KTM RC8R, Triumph Daytona 675R, and Suzuki GSX-R750. TRIUMPH TIGER SPORT 660… Nippy, nimble, and surprisingly naughty. Here’s our take on the new Trumpet. SIDEWAYS FOR SPEED There’s a good reason why all the top racers around the world get stuck in with flattrack, as we learn first-hand. PLUS LOADS MORE GREAT TESTS AND FEATURES On Sale February 1, 2022 Buy it from WHSmith, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and all good newsagents. Failing that, try a bad one. Check out the eye-poppingly good digital edition at www.classicmagazines.co.uk Having trouble finding a copy of this magazine? Why not just ask your local newsagent to reserve you a copy each month?…

Bonjour to all at Fast Bikes magazine and you fantastic readers! I hope you’ve all enjoyed a well-deserved Christmas break and you’re ready for another crack at a new year. It’s amazing to be asked to join this great line-up of columnists and before we get the ball rolling let’s clear one thing up first – I’m not French like the beginning suggests. In all honesty, I can barely speak English at times! If you’ve met me in person you will understand, but those who haven’t, I am in fact from the northeast of England, not too far from Newcastle upon Tyne. As you may know the northern accent can be hard to understand at times so if I wrote Alreeeet! at the beginning you might be reading this thinking…

Highlights Like it or not, Ducati is probably the biggest pioneer and innovator in the motorcycle world – and has been for the last five years or so. It was the first manufacturer to shake up the aero package, the first to stick wings to the side of a motorcycle, and the first to invent a launch control device for the front and rear of a MotoGP bike… in a nutshell, it has reshaped the racing world in recent times and, lucky for you and I, this world-class tech and engineering is now starting to filter its way down to the production line. When Ducati set out to develop the new Panigale V4 S, its target was (as it always has been) to make the bike even easier to ride…

I didn’t need to re-read the first USB feature to remember how I felt about the BMW M1000RR before we headed to Portugal; how badly it performed at Cadwell Park in the track riding section earlier in the year was etched into my memory. I can’t believe I’m even having to put this in writing; after all, I’m talking about a machine with such a pedigree of performance and a hellish reputation. But, for one reason or another, the standard road electronics really let the new Beemer down back in the summer. As stated before, the rules declared that we had to run the rider aids to keep things fair, but even at -7 on the traction control, the bike was performing like no other. I can vividly recall going…

Depending on what you consider constitutes a new model, the last 30 years has yielded eight different versions of Hondas iconic Fireblade, or as many as 14. While more than happy to pay homage to arguably one of the most significant bikes for several generations, we didn’t want to just look back and reminisce about the good old days and analyse the evolution of the species. It’s all been done before, and for good reason – the Blade has been consistently one of the go-to sportsbikes for longer than Tim has been on this planet and Bruce has been out of nappies. Luckily, when the original Fireblade was debuted in 1992, I was 20 years old and therefore old enough to not only remember the moment but also, as a…

LET’S TALK A BIT ABOUT SIZE... Dear FB, First of all, congratulations for your fabulous magazine – great job. Anyway, I would like to ask your opinion, because reading your mag I got in trouble. I currently own a Suzuki GSXR 1000R, using Dunlop Sportsmart TT tyres on it. I use it 70% track and 30% road and like it very much, so I totally agree with your comments and experiences of it – but you have shown a new target for me, the Michelin Power Cup 2. Reading about it, it seems to be a good alternate for me, so that is the background of my interest. My question is changing the size from 190/55 to 200/55 – could it be worthwhile? Let me wish all my best to…

I’m just about a week into the Motorcycle Live show, at the time of writing this, and I’m nearly sick of talking… but not quite. I’m on the Blackhorse stage, running the chat show, and so far it’s been a good craic. Anyone that’s anybody in the road racing world has been up for a natter, and it’s interesting to see who is coming and going for the upcoming racing season. I think the biggest news must be that Taz Mac is staying to defend his British Superbike title and will be running the no.1 on his R1, but also that Toprak is staying in WSBK to defend his title. It’s strange how these brilliantly talented and youthful lads haven’t had the opportunities to progress up the ranks into WSBK…