Innehållsförteckning för Summer 2019 från Fast Bikes

That sounds like a win win, doesn’t it? So if you’re looking for a new KTM Street road bike and fancy being in with a chance of winning some VIP MotoGP tickets, get yourself booked in for a test ride by the July 31 and you’ll be entered into a competition to win a special weekend at Silverstone with the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team for you and a mate. The lucky winner will receive two VIP tickets for Sunday’s racing at Silverstone in August, where you’ll be based at Red Bull’s famously lavish, three-storey hospitality suite – you know, the behemoth that probably takes about a billion hours to set up. Not only will you have access to the factory spec hospitality on offer throughout the day, but…

There’s been a craze going on in the last few years; started in car racing, taken on in MotoGP and is now trickling down into road bikes… and that’s the importance of aerodynamics, and namely wings. And being at the forefront of the technology fight, who better to open up an exhibition all about it than Ducati - who have just opened their latest attraction at their Museum, dubbed the ‘Anatomy of Speed’. So what is it? Essentially, it’s an exhibition that illustrates all the wizardry behind aerodynamics, how Ducati utilise ‘em, and how things have evolved over the years. It consists of photos, videos, display panels and projections, alongside actual machines and fairings for good measure. The Anatomy of Speed exhibition is the third temporary show hosted at the…

B-road Boothy I was more excited than you might think at the prospect of throwing my leg over the only 600 (well, 600ish) in our Ultimate Sportsbike test, and I’ll tell you why. I have already done a bunch of miles on one of these babies this year and I loved every minute of it. The 2019 Kawasaki ZX-6R was looking super snazzy in its KRT race rep colour scheme and despite it looking a little slimmer than the rest of the beasts in the line-up, it didn’t feel small or cramped aboard. Snazzy though the colour scheme may be, you aren’t treated to an exciting, space age dashboard and cockpit, as you might be on the other ‘new for 2019’ models. Instead, the baby Kwak comes with an actual…

B-road Boothy You know that you have made it in life if you own a Ducati, right? Well, I’m sure that’s what people that own Ducatis say anyway. I don’t say that. But I must admit, the Panigale V4S does look like one hell of a motorbike. The V4S exudes class from every extremity, from its shiny red paintwork to its suede saddle, not to mention its £24,295 price tag. When I climbed on the V4-powered red rocket, my first reaction was ‘wow, this is small’. And it is small – it’s a narrow motorcycle, but in actual fact, when you reach for the ’bars they are plenty wide enough for the red rocket to feel like a proper man’s bike. The same can be said for the footpegs, though…

Last year, for the first time, we decided to gear up our bikes with some of the best crash protection in the biz – and this year was absolutely no different. This is because even the very smallest of spills can have a massive impact on your wallet, and as we like to take the bikes to their absolute limit, it’s only right we have them kitted out for every eventuality. R&G make crash protection kits for just about every single bike you can think of, but they don’t just stop there; oh no, if you’re after an aftermarket tail tidy, set of rearsets and near enough anything in between, head their way. All the kit has been tried and tested heavily in the BSB paddock, which means it’s good…

What do you look at when you first see the specs for a new bike? If you’re anything like me then that’s a bit of a daft question – it’s all about the brake horsepower and the dry weight, isn’t it? Then we’ll maybe enquire about how fancy the brake calipers and suspension are. Finally, we’ll skim-read the electronic aids package – then all that remains is to see if it comes in colours to match Boothy’s special orange leathers. The question is, do you ever to the lower reaches of the chassis specification, though? The rake and trail figures, and the wheelbase? Those are the headline figures on a chassis layout, but there’s a host of other details which the engineers and test riders have been sweating over for…

Learning a new circuit layout is a tough task; even world championship racers struggle to be competitive on their first visit to a new track, so don’t be too disheartened if the local track specialists whoop your ass in the first few sessions. But if you want to show the locals how it’s done, here’s a few tips for getting up to speed on unfamiliar Tarmac. You can help yourself out before you even get to the track by having a look on YouTube for some onboard footage from either a reputable former racer or a current racer. Print out a track map and make some notes, look for landmarks where the rider is braking at, turning from, which part of the kerb they are closest to when in the…

Here at Fast Bikes magazine, we love trackdays. So much so, we wanted 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 single month, for simply being chosen from our social media posts. So, if you're the lucky person in the circled picture, you've won a trackday of your choice! Send us a message over on our Facebook page and we'll look after the rest, and if you haven't won this time, there's always next month. The usual T&Cs apply, blah, blah... IN BRIEF… Rider: Dangerous Bruce Track: Anglesey Series: No Limits Racing Class: Endurance/Pirelli Super Series 1000 Bike: Suzuki GSX-R1000 Fastest Lap: 1.10.726 Position: 12th/3rd/8th/8th Championship Position: 3rd/11th Excuse: Didn’t want to…

BOXING… Hi there. I thought you might like to see this picture of my CCM Spitfire Scrambler on its first trip of what I hope will be many to Newlands Corner in the Surrey Hills on a beautiful, warm March day. There is a lovely circular journey of about 20+ miles, which also takes in the iconic Box Hill. Neil Pepin FB: Nice! We don’t see many CCMs out, so it’s nice to see ‘em out. Enjoy! ELECTRIFYING I’ve just started reading the first ever issue I’ve had of your magazine and would like to make comment on your editorial, to let you understand I’m ancient, well, 59 in a fortnight, and couldn’t agree with you more. In fact, I would go further and state that there is far too…

report they did not want to know. My insurers paid out to the taxi driver and even paid for a hire taxi and he probably is working illegally, but my insurers basically told me they were going to pay so I have now lost my no claims bonus too. How can I get representation? A Just a preliminary word of advice. The doctor who you overtook has a Hindu name. The taxi driver has a Muslim name, and they live about 70 miles apart. I suspect they are not likely to know each other, and just so we are clear, not many Hindus go to the Mosque. It is a little surprising that you think the police officer was racist when you started cooking up an entire conspiracy based on…

Right, where to start then! Well, I have just got back from a stint at the IoM TT. As most of you know, I absolutely love the place. I have such a desire to go and race the roads, but with the family so against for now it's still on hold. That doesn't stop me from going over and enjoying the action though, although this year I saw very little of that. For the four days of practice week I only saw one session! That one session I watched with a friend and I have absolutely no idea why, but he wanted to watch at the entry to Governors Dip. After an hour of being bored to tears I had to remind him that the 'average' lap record speed is…

In case you missed it a few months ago, we’ll be back at Cadwell Park once again for our very own trackday on Monday, July 1. The day will be run across the usual format, with groups for Novice, Intermediate and Advanced – meaning there’s a session fit for everyone. Not only will we just be riding, as we’ll also have competitions on the day, goody bags, freebies, and some super cool stuff that’s a surprise. One thing we do promise though, is that it’s going to be bloody awesome. For more information or to book on with us, head over to www.nolimitstrackdays.com.Oh, and keep on www.fastbikesmag.com as we release more info on the lead up to it. It’s going to be a blast!…

Oh yes, just what we like to hear! We all love going to bike shows, but things do get a tad pricey, don’t they? Well thankfully for this year Motorcycle Live has reduced the car parking prices by a pretty handsome 25%. This means that car parking booked in advance will set you back £10, while on the day will be £12, so you can spend more money on bikes and kit… or something like that. As always, bike parking is free, and advanced tickets are on sale now. The show will run from the 16th-24th November, and we look forward to seeing you there… For more info, head over to www.motorcyclelive.co.uk…

YOSHIMURA QUICK THROTTLE KIT TESTED BY: Bruce MILES: 1,000 TIME: 2 months PRICE: £277 WEB: www.performanceparts-ltd.com I’ve got big hands, but grabbing a full rotation of a GSX-R 1000 ’s throttle seems a stretch beyond me. I had two choices: a wrist extension operation, or to treat my bike to a quick action throttle. I decided to go for the latter and spent a fair bit of time checking out the competition. There are lots of options for L8 Suzukis, but one stood out among the many. It was Yoshimura’s Quick Throttle Kit, and the reason it appealed to me was because of its simplicity. It didn’t require additional cables, deciding on what coloured cam to insert, or how I should alter my hairstyle to suit it… it just needed…

Here at Fast Bikes, we really don’t like doing things by halves. In fact, when we stepped up our largest test of the year for 2019, we knew we had to go bigger and better in every way. This is why we’ve worked doubly hard in getting all the data we could – to determine the real winners, and indeed losers. Lap times, power runs, 0-60mphs, 100-0mphs and top speed runs all helped to determine the results, so without further ado, here it all is…. A big thanks to Racelogic and their VBOX Sport for providing a brilliant data platform to test and analyse performance accurately. For more info, check out www.racelogic.co.uk…

When the boss man asked me if I fancied an afternoon on the Kawasaki Ultimate Ninja Experience, I did not take much persuading. But what is it? Basically, the ultimate demo ride. You pay your cash and they lend you a bike and a top-class instructor – think either Stalker, Glenn Irwin or Leon Haslam. And then, if you like the ZX-6R and buy one, you’ll get your money back from the trackday… how cool is that? Pretty cool in my book. So with an afternoon in the sun tearing around Cadwell Park on a new ZX-6R with a bit of tuition from one of my childhood heroes, the legend that is Chris Walker on the cards, I jumped at the opportunity. I mean, days don’t get much better –…

BEAUTY This is my new toy/tool. First decent ride out on it with the wife on the back. Don’t worry, I haven’t lost her. What a machine the new 1260s is. Swapped my FJR for this and don’t know why I didn’t do it years ago. We’re on the back roads of Cambridge here and I’m already looking forward to our planned North Coast 500 trip in September. I feel like I’m 21 again and not 47!!!! Well done Ducati and a massive thumbs up from me. It does everything and more than you want. Mike Frain FB: That’s what we like to hear! Keep getting younger… hopefully a hoodie will help!…

FB: What constitutes a proper, full on, wet weather tyre? SC: It’s actually two things. Firstly, it’s the grooves; they’re designed both to evacuate as much water as possible, but dimensioned to ensure the largest, widest possible footprint. Secondly is the compound formulation: this is 100% silica featuring a recipe with extreme low-temperature conformability to Tarmac micro-characteristics, which ultimately gives that incredible amount of grip when conditions aren’t ideal – so they don’t need the same amount of heat as a dry tyre to be effective. FB: Are they road legal? SC: All our rain tyres are marked with an NHS symbol which means ‘not for highway service’, so they can’t be legally used on the road. This is because their operating range is too narrow to ensure duration in…

What started as a light sprinkle as the first of the teams assembled on the grid, turned into a deluge that overwhelmed the Imola circuit. In what turned out to be a bit of a joke for a championship of this stature, officials were then running up and down the pit lane, with riders in tow, holding impromptu meetings regarding racing. Some wanted to race, others didn't, but it was finally decided that riders would assemble on the grid with a view to race. After a couple of sighting laps and another meeting of jockeys on the grid, it was decided that conditions were too dangerous, with too much standing water to race safely. From the TV it didn’t look so bad, but speaking to a few riders myself it…

Having unloaded the old CB1000R out the back of my hire van at Honda I left the ramp out, and shortly after I was wheeling in my new termer: Honda’s CBR650R. A very welcome replacement to fill the very large gap returning the big thou had left in my garage. This bike caught a few journos out when launched in Spain (See FB #351 for Carl’s launch report) as the overall sporty looks sees the CBR650R do a very good impression of the Blade. Well, a Blade that has let itself go a bit and put some timber on its arse that is. That aside, this is a very pretty bike indeed and one that I am looking forward to getting under the skin of very much. Initial contact with…

It’s been a good month on and off track, with a hell of a lot of highlights. Let’s kick things off with Donington BSB, which saw rain, shine and ballistic pace in every class. It was a school day for us all because it was the first time BSB had run in recent times on the smaller, National circuit. Personally, I like it, so I clicked with it pretty early on and found myself a regular in the top 10 during practice and qually. That was a relief because I had my Uncle Tim with me and he threatens to disown me if I’m going too steady. As ever, my team was mega, getting stuck in and doing a top job of making me and the bike as quick as…

Following the success of their Riding Master event at Misano last month, Dainese have just announced not only another track school, but also an expedition trip for good measure. Taking place on June 29, the Riding Master Franciacorta will follow the same format as before, with classes looking after everyone from absolute novices to budding racers and everything in between. If you fancy an off-road adventure, the new Expedition Masters experience will be held from July 27 to August 4, spanning the entire perimeter of Iceland on a fleet of BMW R 1250 GS rentals. The tour starts in Reykjavik and passes by active volcanoes, geysers, glaciers and fjords, alongside having training camps along the way for the ultimate off-road experience. It will set you back a whopping €7,299, but…

Here at Fast Bikes, we like something that’s a bit different, and the Superveloce 800 Serie Oro is exactly that… Released at EICMA last year, a lot of people went absolutely nuts about it, which is exactly why MV Agusta have finally confirmed that they are putting it in production. Timur Sardarov, CEO of MV Agusta actually went on to say that “This is one of the meanest and most stylish bikes we’ve ever produced” - although we’d probably say those accolades go to the Brutale 1000 any day of the week. They’re available for pre-order now through your local dealer, or failing that, the MV Agusta website. The first 300 bikes are set to be delivered in March 2020, although we’re still yet to hear word on a price……

Tan lines, outdoor boozing and socks with sandals; there are many signs that signify the start of the Great British summer, but for us here at Fast Bikes, this most revered time of the year is traditionally kicked off with the world’s biggest, toughest and fastest sportsbike test. It’s who we are, it’s what we do and for the past 17 years we’ve been able to categorically outline the best performing new metal through our gladiatorial, head-to-head, no-nonsense track shoot out. We’re talking about SBOTY, which has been our staple approach to experiencing the good, the bad and the sometimes confusing make-up of what manufacturers have had to offer, across all shapes and sizes of sportsbike goodness. It’s been one hell of a ride, but for 2019, at the behest…

B-road Boothy There is no such thing as a bad Fireblade, butwhenthe2017 version appeared on the scene there was certainly room for improvement… and Honda knew it. So that’s why we’ve got this, the slightly tweaked 2019 Blade. The gold-coloured wheels denote that this is the SP version, which comes with electronic suspension and a few other bits of bling, but it’s still got the quintessential look, feel and smell (probably) as any modern ’Blade you care to come across – jump on it and you’d be hard pushed to tell you were on a ‘new for 2019’ bike. The dash does some funky things with a Fireblade logo when you turn the key and the engine hums smoothly into life when you press the button... so far so good.…

To keep things fair and square for the biggest and most in-depth test we have ever done, we have kitted all the test bikes out with the all-new Bridgestone Battlax Hypersport S22 tyres. The S22 supersedes the S21, but the ’22 isn’t just a tweaked ’21, it’s a brand new tyre, which has been improved in every way, from outright grip in the dry, to stability in the wet, and all without slashing the wear life of the tyres. In fact, Bridgestone claim the new tyres can muster 15% higher corner speed in the dry, and 5% faster lap-times in the wet, so we thought it would be the perfect tyre to test the bikes on the road, the track and flat out at Brunters. Two new compounds make up…

In life there are winners and losers (like Frodo). The same goes for motorcycles, but I’d stop short of calling any of these bikes losers. In reality, they’re all bloody brilliant, smarter than I am and probably much quicker in a 100-metre sprint, too. Putting this test together has been a real eye-opener, from the stuff we learned on the dyno, to the way each bike showed its hand on the roads. Blasting them around Cadwell was a really good barometer and the riding we did at Bruntingthorpe hammered home their identities and capabilities. There is no lemon among this collection, no bike that shouldn’t be here, and no two machines that are even remotely the same. But in life it pays dividends to be a little picky. Unless you’re…

and Ewan-style soiree, complete with champagne and strawberries, think again (we had cake and beer). In true MT motor style, the 700 proved the ultimate dangerous-riding-competition counterpart right from the very off, offering wheelies aplenty from its torquey motor, despite the lengthened (1,590mm) wheelbase and long travel forks that sucked up road imperfections faster than a tramp on chips. As road bikes go, despite the stock fitment 21” front wheel, the Ténéré was proving up for the craic, pitching into corners with ease and holding a disciplined line. I was impressed, and I was having a right blast for the initial hour’s ride on flowing roads. It felt like a big, comfy bike, being tall-seated, low-pegged and sporting relaxed, broad handlebars. The fuelling felt brilliant, delivering the kind of silky,…

PRICE GUIDE: £4,500 - £9,000 Cheapest private: £4,500 22,000 miles, 2000 model in good condition with a few extras Our choice private: £6,590 16,145 miles, just serviced and very clean original bike with a good service history Cheapest dealer: £6,495 27,599 miles, 2001 bike in silver and in excellent condition Our choice dealer: £7,988 20,885 miles, lovely bike with a long MoT. Immaculate. Ex-demo: n/a FINISH Overall the SP-1 is beautifully finished, so if the bike looks a bit of a hound it is always best avoided. There are cheap SP-1s out there, but they are cheap for a reason and generally it is because they haven’t received the care and attention they deserve. If the owner can’t be bothered to clean the bike, what will their maintenance schedule be…

Scrubs – ah, they’re a difficult subject to talk about. On the one hand, I used to love ‘em when I was an apprentice and money was a bit tight, but on the other, nothing beats new rubber, and sometimes they can be sketchy. I for one, will not fit dangerous rubber. We all know how costly tyres are though, so here’s a few things you should know before spanking your cash on some part worns: Are they right for you: If you read last month’s piece, you’ll know how important the right compound and tyres are. Take an SC0 for example; they’re designed for one heat cycle, across one race, for a properly set up superbike spec machine. After this, they’re going to be way from their optimum, so…

WHAT IS IT? A neat little set of budget T-bars, ideal for getting into tight spaces. HOW DOES IT WORK? These T-bars are mega handy when it comes to working on your bike. They’ve all got decent length shafts so don’t struggle to connect with those hard-to-reach bolts that are hidden behind your radiator, bodywork or some such obstruction. The star-drive (or ‘Torx’) T-bars are becoming more and more useful, as more manufacturers seem to be opting for this type of bolt (BMW being a case in point), and they have ergonomic handles to help you get a decent twist without ouch-ing your hands. Each T-bar has a driving bit on the handle too, meaning you can use the long shaft as a lever to undo the more stubborn bolts.…

Before we get stuck in with Capirex himself, I think it’s important to have a little history lesson - meaning it’s time to flashback all the way to 1990, and specifically to the final round of the 125cc World Championship which took place at the Australian Grand Prix. It’s a two-way battle for the title, with a young Italian whippersnapper called Loris Capirossi looking to make history as the youngest ever World Champion at just 17 years and 165 days old, against a more established and slightly older Dutch rider named Hans Spaan. A simple battle endures between the two? Absolutely not. As it turned out, it wasn’t just going to be a plain old two-horse race; from the outset Spaan was mobbed by Capirossi’s fellow Italians, who boxed him…