Innehållsförteckning för April 2019 från Fast Bikes

Wait, what? Yeah, Ducati have just released their own electric pedal-assisted mountain bike, dubbed the MIG-RR. Co-developed by Ducati and Thok Ebikes, the E-bike has a load of big bucks components, including a Shimano Steps E8000 motor with 504Wh battery, FOX Factory Kashima suspension, 4-caliper Shimano Saint brakes, Mavic wheels, carbon fibre Renthal handlebars, and a livery specially developed by D-Perf, owned by the legend that is Aldo Drudi. They’re available now, and will set you back about £5,500.…

KOVIX KCL10-150 LOCK & CHAIN With crime on the rise, it’s never been more important to look after your pride and joy, which means that there’s never been a better time to invest in an absolute tank of a lock… and that’s exactly where the 1.5m Kovix alarmed lock & chain combo comes into play. Tested on the streets, the KCL10-150 withstood a blow torch, ankle grinder and bolt-croppers and was still in good nick, thanks to its 10mm hardened steel links and a lock mechanism which is housed in stainless steel. The lock is armed with a 120db alarm system, which has shock and movement sensors powered by a long-life lithium battery. £124.99 www.thekeycollection.co.uk SDOC100 CORROSION PROTECTANT Summer might seem like it’s edging ever closer,but even so…

HONDA CBR650R Who here remembers the CBR600RR? Thought you did. Those things were, and still are, bloody awesome. Yet when it was ditched from the line up, it was up to Honda’s previous CBR650F to pick up the sporty middleweight mantel… and it never really set the sports bike scene alight. I mean, it was almost a 600cc, but just not quite there. It was a bit weighty, lethargic and generally uninspiring compared to a screaming six when it came to providing that ball-bustingly exciting ride and offering any serious hooning abilities. Thankfully though, Honda have been back to the drawing board and come back with something they tell us is faster, smarter and downright sexier. They’ve even dropped the ‘F’ in the name for an ‘R’. Just what we…

I’ve got a real soft spot for the Yamaha YZF-R1. It doesn’t matter if it’s the very latest, all-singing, all-dancing R1M, or an original 1998 jobby, the thought of throwing my leg over one, fills me with delight. I have always considered the R1 a cool motorbike and in 2004, when this model came out, I wasn’t alone, because it was the best-selling sportsbike of that year... and for good reason. Not only did the new Yam come with a new engine, but they’d tilted it forwards, allowing room for an extra brace across the top, which apparently increased the Deltabox frame’s rigidity by 200%. This particular bike belongs to a friend of ours called Dave. Now, Dave is a bloody nice chap, but he’s also a bit strange, and…

I freely confess that I’m a bit jaded and cynical these days. It takes a lot to impress these old bones, and while I’m all for new bikes, it seems that when the Milan show circus comes round, I find my gast is less and less flabbered every year. Luckily for my mojo, that wasn’t true at last winter’s showcase, and that’s mostly down to one bike – the new Panigale V4R. Okay, the carbon wings are pretty, and the new Öhlins NPX25/30 forks will please the suspension nerds, while much of the rest of it is familiar from the also-incredible Panigale V4S. It was one part of the spec sheet, however, that really smacked my gob, concerted my dis, and founded my dumb. It was the peak power output,…

PERFORMANCE: • HRC genuine valves • Genuine chrome water pipes • Genuine carb rubbers • Genuine floats and jets • Samco sport water hoses • DID vx2 520 gold race chain • Afam front and rear sprockets HANDLING: • Hel steel front and rear brake lines • Bridgestone BT54R rear tyre • Bridgestone BT015 front tyre • Forks rebuilt at Brooks suspension • Rear Showa shock rebuilt at Brooks suspension • Calipers overhauled and new pistons • New brake piston seals AESTHETICS: • Original frame bolts • Original brake and clutch levers • Original brake reservior • New fork stensions • Original fairing screws…

How controlling are you? I don’t mean in your relationship, silly, but with your bike. See, if you’re not in control, you’re the one being controlled and that often means you’ll spend a lot of your time in the gravel trap… or your lap times are so slow they’re best counted by a sundial, just like Boothy’s. Motorcycles are feisty things, constantly challenging physics in more ways than you can shake a stick at, while delivering a pace so ferocious they can make cornered lions seem cute. The point is, with contemporary production bike horsepower figures through the roof, controlling such towering outputs is no mean feat, despite whatever hi-tech gadgetry you’ve got littering your dash. So the question is, how do you take control of a nigh-on-200bhp, fire-breathing, will-hurt-you-if-it-can,…

Gaz Cheers BMW S1000RR Been for a few runs out. This was on the B4391 in north Wales. Stephen Fishie Hammond Suzuki GSX-R1000R A nice few blasts around the North Yorkshire Moors. Patrick Hollins Pft. Could’ve done with that hoodie to be honest. T’was bloody cold, I can tell you… #sniffmyseat? Jay Martinez Suzuki GSX-R750 Been out for test rides. I bought this little beaut to convert to a track bike. Class N write-off, so came very cheap. £3200 for a 2010 750.. not at all bad! Also booked my first track day of the season on February 28 at Donny.. Roll on.... John Bunkle Triumph Daytona 675 On way to Matlock Bath on Triumph Daytona 675. Weather was proper s**t that day. Paul Gidman Yamaha R1 Yep,went to the…

KNEE SKIDZ Hey, Fast Bikes! Just want to congratulate you again on a crackin’ magazine. Glad to see you’re still going strong, despite many other motorcycling magazinepublishers falling foul of the increasing popularity of people not knowing how to buy/ read a magazine. I have to say, you’re a step above the rest, and always have been. I have been getting monthly issues since 2009 when I passed my test. Anyway, here’s a picture of me on a test in Cartagena getting ready for the 2018 Thundersport GB championship. Sadly. I decided the Tech3 scheme had to go... FB: Cheers! You win this month on sheer commitment alone. Good luck this year!…

Q I was badly hurt in a junction crash. I was riding at the head of a queue of traffic, having pulled away from the lights, just as it was getting dark. I accelerated to about 60 mph. There are two speed cameras on this stretch. I saw a car ahead of me, facing towards me in the right-hand-turn lane. I was about ten metres or so away when the car turned hard across me. When I was lying in the back of the ambulance, a police officer asked the paramedics if I was fit to have a mouth swab taken. They said I was, and that mouth swab revealed cannabis in my blood. A secondary blood test showed that I had a level of 7.3, when the maximum level is…

BMW S1000 RR After too many months of drooling over images and straddling show bikes, we finally get chance for a spin on 2019’s most exciting new metal. HOW TO CHANGE YOUR OIL AND FILTER We’re back in the workshop again to show you the best way to change your oil and filter, with our step-by-step guide. TALL BIKES RULE! Life behind the ‘bars of one of the biggest, pokiest sports-tourers on the market: Ducati’s Multistrada 1260. PLUS LOADS MORE: ■ POWER TO THE PEOPLE: ZERO’S NEW ELECTRIC SRF SPORTSBIKE ■ 2016 YAMAHA MT-10 BUYER’S GUIDE ■ SPANKING HONDA’S NEW CBR500R On Sale April 2, 2019 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…

Ducati have just released their 2018 sales figures, and it’s fair to say they didn’t have a bad year, with 53,004 machines being delivered to customers around the globe. It wasn’t just the overall sales figures that are pretty impressive, because Ducati’s Panigale actually came out as the world’s best-selling machine in the superbike segment, so much so, that one in four of the machines sold in the sector was, in fact, a Panigale, with 9,700 of the machines flying out of Bologna and into your hands. "In 2018 we achieved stability, and the year was positive both in terms of business and racing,” said CEO of Ducati Motor Holding, Claudio Domenicali. “We won numerous MotoGP races and developed an exceptional bike. In short, the solidity of the company remains…

How did you become a factory rider? It wasn’t easy. I ditched my job and moved to Dubai at 19. I had a lot of advice from people around me to not make that leap of faith. I’d just done a lift engineer apprenticeship and had a stable job, and sacked it off to work in a showroom selling motorbikes and race at the weekend. It was balls-ey. I had no plan, as I was racing MX in the UK and just wanted to try and make a career. The training and riding worked. How do you train? At first I was training a lot for motocross. with a lot of fitness, cardio and long hours on a bicycle, just anything I could. After a while I got a coach,…

Devoid of eco-friendly exhaust notes, a million-miles-per-gallon fuel consumption, or an apologetically short seat height befitting of Snow White’s Seven Dwarfs, the 950 bucks the trends of convention and laughs in the face of political correctness. It is, without doubt, an ASBOinducing renegade, modelled for pleasure above all other qualities… and unashamedly so. Of course, if you’re familiar with the Hypermotard concept you’ll already know that, but a lot has changed since Ducati’s original hooligan Hyper hit the streets back in 2008. The same can be said when comparing the dumbed down second generation 939 to the new 950 that is 4kg lighter, 4bhp pokier and 53mm narrower. Ducati’s claiming the third iteration’s an all-new motorcycle, which is mostly true, the only major crossover parts being crankcases and barrels, which…

If you were to pull up at your local biker’s café on your new Panigale with your squeaky boots and shiny new leathers, you’d probably feel pretty godly, right? I know I would. But after 15 years of having the poo kicked out of them on the road, both the Honda and the Yamaha factory fanny magnets of old felt worn out. During the 300 plus miles that we did on the pairing, not once did I have any sexy Spanish knickers thrown at me. Not even soiled ones. In fact, the only soiled undies were my own (and possibly Frodo’s, but you’ll have to ask him) after riding the Fireblade. Its fuelling was so harsh low down that it almost spoiled the ride, not to mention the knackered battery…

Getting old is inevitable. It’s a shame, I know, but there is nothing we can do about it. If, however, anyone tells you to grow old gracefully, I’d suggest you give them a swift kick in the nuts – ’cause that’s what they’d deserve. I want to do the opposite. I want to grow old disgracefully and it would seem that KTM, with their new and heavily updated 690 SMC R, are more than happy to help us do just that. The Austrian firm have taken what was already a very nutty bike and made it even more so. The revised LC4 engine produces an extra 7bhp (74bhp) and 4Nm (73.5Nm), for starters. I know what you’re thinking. It’s still a big single like and it still ought to be,…

“RIP A FAIRING OFF A SUPERBIKE AND STICK ON SOME FLAT BARS” When it comes to naked bikes, Aprilia don’t do things by halves. The Italian firm was the first to unleash a full-on super naked back in 2003 when the original Tuono appeared, setting the formula of ‘rip a fairing off a superbike and stick on some flat bars’, which still exists to this day. So when the V-twin had finally run its course and the RSV came to be replaced by the RSV4 with its V4 motor, fans of the firm’s naked were waiting for Aprilia to follow the superbike up with a Tuono variation. They didn’t have to wait long, as the Tuono V4 arrived in late 2011. Predictably, it was properly bonkers… Boasting the performance and…

The pair valve, or Pulsed Air Secondary Intake Valve, is one of the bike’s exhaust emissions control systems, and in layman’s terms, injects fresh air into the exhaust gasses at the exhaust valve, to help ignite any unburnt fuel before it is released into the atmosphere via the exhaust pipe. It also serves to dilute the noxious exhaust gasses, essentially fooling the emissions tests into thinking the gasses coming out of the exhaust are less harmful than they actually are. Unless you are really bothered about emissions, though, the air valve really isn’t necessary and can be easily removed. It will usually simply be a case of removing a few bolts and hoses. They are normally heavy, ugly things that take up a load of space, so once it is…

WHAT IS IT? A tool to correctly torque nuts and bolts to a specific value. HOW DOES IT WORK? How strong are you? Pretty tough, right? But just how tough is tough? The point is your power is unique to you, and it’s pretty hard to measure accurately just how much power you’re putting through a spanner, ratchet or Allen key when you’re getting down and dirty in the workshop. Let’s assume you’ve been hitting the spinach hard. It could mean that you’re prone to over-tightening bolts, which could pull threads or, worse, snap bolts. From a mechanical point of view, that’s not good news. Neither is being as weedy as a daffodil; if you don’t tighten something tightly enough it will just come undone, drop out and cause your…

Ten years ago, the thought of having fast electric race bikes would’ve been enough to secure a one-way ticket into a loony asylum. Yet here we are now, delving into the state of electric motors on the eve of them having their own world championship alongside the MotoGP circus. Yep, every single petrol-head is fuming at the thought that one day, the glorious sound of internal combustion will be replaced by the quiet electric whine you’d expect from a Toyota Prius. But let’s have a little think… is it all bad? Yes, there’s no talk from the motor, but they’re torquey as hell. Okay, there’s no smell, but your missus wouldn’t have an excuse to bust your balls if you wanted to bring it into the front room. And okay,…

Well, what can I say? This is pretty much the most boring time of year, as it’s just, after all, the dodgy winter weather and just before testing in some nice sunshine. Basically, it means that as there’s bugger all proper racing going on, I’m having to work pretty hard on the farm, which isn’t cool. It’s not too bad though, and our cows have just had calves, which are basically like little Labradors, so it makes things a bit nicer. Even Tim came back to work with us for a week! I reckon it was because they were sick of him at his real job and wanted a week off, but thankfully he’s back with them now. I think he's still a bit jealous, as we did an Instagram…

ARMR HARADA S TESTED BY: Martin MILES: 250 TIME: 3 Months PRICE: RRP £349.99 WEB: www.tri-motive.com I’m not sure about you lot, but when anyone starts talking about budget or cheap leathers, I come out in a cold sweat as I’m taken back to my early biking days, where the only thing I could afford was a horrendous Frank Thomas 2pc suit in Kawasaki green. Thankfully though, nowadays the budget and cheap options available are not only a lot sexier, but also are of a much higher quality than before, which gives the first-time rider a lot more confidence and protection. This Armr suit is one of two from the Swansea-based distributor Tri-Motive alongside the Harada R, which has a slightly higher spec leather along with…

I have had this bike for a few years now and I really do like it. Although I rode bikes quite a bit when I was younger, when I had kids and stuff my riding took a bit of a back seat for a few years, but now I’m back into it I’m absolutely loving life. Because I’d had a few years out, I didn’t want to go for something ballisticly fast, like a modern thou’, but at the same time I did want a ‘proper’ bike, so I thought the CBR600RR was the perfect thing. I’d ridden this model RR before and really liked it, but before I bought this bike, I actually bought a brand new one from Honda. I enjoyed the new bike, but it didn’t feel…

When was the golden age of the litre sportsbike? The answer to that question will vary, depending on who you ask. Some will say that we’ve never had it as good as we have got it right now, with umpteen levels of every electronic impediment that you can think of, and more brake horsepower than you can shake a dirty great stick at. Others will hark back nostalgically to the ’90s, to carburettors and to clouds of blue smoke. However, if you ask me, and I would wager, many others like me, the mid-noughties, which provided us with some of the coolest and most exciting bikes going, has got to be in contention for first prize in the golden-era-of-the-superbike stakes. The R1, for example, might have been a pretty special…

The 2004 Fireblade was designed by a whole new team, and you could really tell. The previous model had, even then, started to look a little dated, but when this, the all-new ’04 model hit the showrooms it, like the R1, was considered pretty cutting-edge. Not to mention cool. So when my mate Ash told me about the ’04 Fireblade that he had just bought, I have to admit I was a little bit jealous. It was the first under-seat exhausted ’blade, but that wasn’t where the modernisation stopped. Honda had worked hard on mass-centralisation, and given it a gutsy 170bhp motor in an attempt to keep up with the Gixer and R1 brigade. First things first. Ash’s Fireblade looked great in black to us. It was reminiscent of a…

When it comes to weight, the most important type to reduce is rotational mass. Put simply, that’s the weight of your wheels, discs and any other items that spin round under motion. Just to complicate things further, the farther the weight is from its rotational centre, the greater the adverse effect, specifically meaning it’s more important that a wheel’s rims are light than the hub centre, for two reasons. Firstly, because the farther the weight is from the centre, the greater the inertial influence it has of exaggerating both the wheel’s deadening ‘flywheel’ effect and their gyroscopic effect. Specifically, it requires energy – i.e., torque – to accelerate a wheel, so the lighter a bike’s wheels, the less horsepower they sap. Secondly, when spinning, a wheel habitually wants to stay…

2012 TRIUMPH SPEED TRIPLE R Private: £6400 Dealer: £6999 Lacking the ultimate thrills you get with the Tuono, but a wonderful road bike and far easier to ride gently than the wild Aprilia. Engine: 1050cc, l/c, 12v, inline triple Power: 126bhp @ 9400rpm Torque: 111Nm @ 7750rpm 2012 DUCATI STREETFIGHTER S Private: £8500 Dealer: £9300 The Ducati name on its tank ensures extra sex appeal, but the Streetfighter is an expensive option when compared to the bargain Aprilia. Engine: 11099cc, l/c, 8v V-twin Power: 140bhp @ 10,000rpm Torque: 104Nm @ 9500rpm 2011 KTM 990 SUPER DUKE R Private: £5200 Dealer: £5899 An outlandish naked that is a riot to ride and is armed with a belting chassis and sporty handling. A top hooligan machine, but lacking grunt in comparison to…

CROOSIN’ Dear Fast Bikes, After reading your ‘Performance in Disguise’ and ‘Europe, Magical Europe’ articles in the latest mag, I thought I’d send you a pic of my BMW S1000R Sport ‘Touring Edition’, which was taken on my way home (via Andorra) from last year’s Aragon MotoGP. Managed to get a seat in the front row of the Marquez stand which, while maybe not having the best view of the circuit, certainly had the best atmosphere. The BM performed faultlessly throughout. Cheers and keep up the good work. Jim McMeekin FB: That looks proper trick – both the bike and the trip! It’s making us want to go touring to a GP round this year. ARMED Warrant Officer Al Butterfill (front), Sgt Kate Watling and Cpl Ben Lewis of 31…

You may have noticed in the last couple of issues that there has been a distinct lack of articles about my ZXR project, the reason being that I’ve had a bit of time off with the missus to enjoy Christmas and adjust to being a parent after the arrival of a little Baby Bean. Now things have settled down a bit, I’ve had time to get back in the garage and reacquainted with my neglected angle grinder and bike. We left off last time with some sneak peeks of the almost finished bodywork. Whilst it’s not completely done (I’m going to wait for the weather to warm up to give it all a final lacquer), I couldn’t resist loosely fitting it all on and getting the bike outside for a…

FB: What is the idea behind an engine refresh, and why is it so important? NM: Well, at the end of the day there are two underlying reasons. Firstly, it’s about preventative maintenance and addressing problems internally before they spiral out of control and go bang, causing bigger issues, and costing a lot more money. It’s better to change something little than throw a rod through the casing! Secondly, obviously depending on the discipline, it’s to keep the performance of the engine at its optimum. FB: How often should you have your engine refreshed? NM: This is a funny one actually, as it’s all massively subjective to the needs of the bike, and how hard it’s been worked. Say, for example, you have your average road rider on a ZX-10R…

DASH: A pretty standard Motec Superbike bike, which has been adapted for the Mugen to show things like the SOC, which means state of charge, or how much battery you have left. It also shows basic things like the motor rpm, speed, inverter temperature, motor temperature and battery temperature. The riders don’t actually have to pay any attention to them lthough, as they set the limits for the temperature and if it gets close to those levels it will go into a safe mode. The rider has no buttons to push either, so even if they want to change a map, it can be pre-set via GPS. Their philosophy is to give the rider nothing to concentrate on, but what’s in front of him. ENGINE: It may only have one…

It’s been non-stop for me since goodness knows when. After my awesome snowboarding trip last month, I only had a day-and-a-half at home before I headed back down to Malaga with Triumph, this time to introduce all their dealers to the new models. Our job is to make sure that all the bikes are shipshape so that the dealers have the best possible time riding them. It’s a bit like a Press launch, so it’s nothing new, but it is a little bit more relaxed, in all fairness. We work hard during the day, but when all the work is done everyone lets their hair down, has a few drinks and generally has a good time. It’s great fun, and you always meet some top people. As luck would have…