Innehållsförteckning för October 2020 från Fast Bikes

DAINESE ASSEN 2 LEATHER SUIT TESTED BY: Carlos MILES: 4000+ TIME: 9 months RRP: £799.95 WEB: www.dainese.com For me, there’s no better feeling than jumping in a brand new suit. When my D-Air jobbie was off getting the TLC it needed (and a new airbag, cough) I was keen to get back in a standard suit for road riding, and the Assen 2 really caught my eye. See, I love the Dainese range, but the colours have always been a bit too plain for my liking, which is why when a bright, bold set came along, I just couldn’t keep myself away. Although the Assen 2 is towards the cheaper end of the spectrum where Dainese is concerned, the suit will still set you back just a snip under £800,…

As introductions to litre bikes go the ZX-10R probably wasn’t the wisest of choices to plonk a naive, weedy youngster on, but that’s what happened and it will forever be the first (and scariest) big bike I ever rode. Back in ’09 this green meanie had a bit of a reputation for being a brute… and it didn’t disappoint. My most vivid memories are of crazy speeds, unprompted wheelies and its tendency to cause skid marks on and off the track. I remember it being an animal, and 11 years later I was gagging to see if it still felt as audacious and exciting as my mind had registered it. I’ve ridden countless bikes since I raced this Kwacker, some much more potent, yet I approached this reader’s immaculate machine…

The Noughties was a very special decade in motorcycle development, where some machines gained loads of power, saved loads of weight and came equipped with frames and suspension that would actually take you round a corner fast and safe. In today’s world we expect to find TFT dashes, electronic pogos, fancy rear wheel slide functions and all the other high-tech glitz that not too long back was reserved for the likes of Rossi and Co in MotoGP. Yes, we’ve never had it so good, but blasting around on these three renegades was a pleasant reminder of a time when men were men, and bikes would highside you if you looked at them funny. Bikes that are about as forgiving as a stone, but twice as much fun as a bucking…

Without doubt, Boothy has been our staple ‘stoppier’ since joining Fast Bikes, but contrary to popular belief it takes more than the harsh application of the brake lever, and the forward projection of his breasts, to launch his bike’s rear wheel skywards (although arguably it helps). Stoppies are great fun, and easier than you might think to nail, providing you get your technique right and commit to the practice with confidence. It also helps to find a clean, safe and legal (private ground) stretch of tarmac to practise on. Begin by making yourself familiar with the stopping power of your brakes. You’re not trying to lift the back wheel skyward at this point, but to get a grasp of how aggressive and consistent, or not, your anchors are. You’ll also…

Hands up, who’s been racing before? If you have, then you’re going to love a stroll down memory lane as we take a look into the intricacies of getting your ass on to the grid. And if you haven’t? Well, I’m warning you now, this article may turn out to be incredibly costly, in both time and money. You have been warned, so don’t blame us when the missus sees those credit cards. But then again, it’s all so worth it. The rush from holding all those revs on the clutch as the lights flicker on, surrounded by 30 or so other people that all want that very same piece of tarmac into turn one… You just can’t put a price on that feeling. And we’ve had so many people get…

My introduction as a rookie to club racing with East Midlands Racing was well documented last year; the Bridgestone sponsored CB500 racing is all over Fast Bikes’ YouTube channel, and there was a lot of coverage in this magazine because I simply couldn’t stop going on about how great it all was. I wasn’t lying either – there really is no experience like racing. Paddock life is genuinely a special time which I liken to being on a brilliant holiday where you get on with everyone, knowing you will be doing it all again the following month. The people you meet in the paddock are all there for the craic just like you, your fellow competitors help each other to get out on the track, which is where paddock love…

IN ASSOCIATION WITH NO LIMITS TRACKDAYS WINNER WANNA WIN? To be in with a chance of winning a No Limits trackday, either send us a pic on our Facebook page or email one to fastbikes letters@mortons.co.uk Closing date: October 15, 2020 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 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 this page, you’ve won a trackday of your choice! If it’s you, get in touch with us, and we’ll look after…

FB: What is meant by the term aerodynamics? ARR: Ah, well the term aerodynamics is absolutely massive. Put simply, it’s the movement of air around solid bodies moving through it. So that could be a car, a plane, a runner, anything. One key point is the higher the velocity, the proportionally larger the forces, so simply if you double the speed you quadruple the force acting. Over the past couple of years, it has really become a talking point in the two-wheeled world but it’s been around since the first bike – and race bikes have been running aerodynamic fairings since the late ‘50s. FB: Why is it important? ARR: Aerodynamics affects things hugely, and understanding it is like opening Pandora’s Box. Although the effects on bikes aren’t quite as…

Here at Fast Bikes magazine, we absolutely love an affordable middleweight. Not only are they bags of fun and an absolute joy to thrash, but most importantly they are relatively cheap; the likes of Yamaha’s MT-07 comes in just a splash over six-and-a-half grand, while Honda’s CB650R, Suzuki’s SV650 and Kawasaki’s Z650 all come in around the seven thousand mark – although, with all the fancy new finance deals out at the moment, they’ll set you back way less than a hundred quid a month, with a small deposit. And that’s exactly where Triumph have aimed their all-new Trident; in the affordable, entry-level middleweight category. Although we were at the official unveil, no matter how hard we pushed they didn’t want to delve into too much detail; no words on price,…

Fast Bikes HQ is a place that’s no stranger to the coolest, fastest, trickest motorbikes. Park a Panigale in the bike bay and nobody bats an eyelid. Turn up on a brand new ’Blade; who cares? But every once in a while, a motorbike appears at the office that makes everyone stop and stare. It doesn’t happen very often, but when it does, you know you have got something pretty darn special in your midst. And that was exactly what happened when the new MV Agusta Brutale 1000 RR arrived for us to test. It was wheeled out the van to a chorus of gasps and sharp intakes of breath (sorry if they are the same thing – dramatic effect and all that) because, forgetting about what the spec sheet…

Do you remember when Rossi’s Yamaha M1 got cross-plane crank technology? Or when Tommy Hill raced the ‘Scunthorpe Pig’ for Rob Mac in BSB? It might have taken a few more years for the Japanese manufacturer to get this pioneering technology into the production bike scene but Yamaha’s new R1 caused quite a stir when it boomed onto the market in 2009. Of course, they were rarer than hen’s teeth that year and that was largely the reason why my team mate Richard Cooper had one, while I crashed my way around the BSB calendar on a conventional ’08 model. The new machine looked awesome, sounded exotic and put on one hell of a performance on race tracks around the world… but what was it like on the roads? That’s…

So you’ve survived for years on the road, avoiding old oblivious Sunday daydreamers completely consumed by the blasting bangers that Songs of Praise has to offer. You’ve done several trackdays and put in times local, fat fast Fred, can’t live with, and now you spend your evenings asking about your tyre wear on trackday forums. You’re the last of the late brakers in your local race club and you reckon Dovi’ would struggle to get past. Every red traffic light is an open invitation to roll up on your front wheel, hoping the resulting effect is the pedestrian’s skirt falling down in sheer lust… We get it, you can brake. BUT, have you ever stopped to consider the best way to throw out the anchors based on science not scrotum,…

If you want to stop better, sometimes you have to buy better. Some OE pads are naff, the same goes for brake discs and master cylinders too. Thankfully, all of these parts, plus braided hoses that aid pressure applied from the master cylinder to the caliper pistons, can be bought and upgraded. Typically the biggest, cheapest investment you can opt for are better pads, but changing any other part of the braking system is likely to make your stopping better too. If you think your steed is lacking in the stopping department, ask a few fellow owners about their machines, maybe check out a few forums for opinion too, and find out what common upgrades have made the most gains. Don’t be surprised to find some folk have gone all…

My first time riding was on a Euro trackday with No Limits at Portimao. This was back in October 2018, and I immediately got a taste for it! As soon as we got home, I got another Euro booked for the following January. I was hooked, and it just kept getting better and better. From my progress on track, and what people in the paddock were telling me, I needed to get my ACU licence immediately and start doing trackdays in the UK. With this fresh in my mind, I booked on for my ACU in March – it was mega, and having passed, I booked on to some UK days. Fast forward to three trackdays later and I was finding my feet in the Fast Group on my SV650,…

KTM don’t operate like most motorcycle manufacturers. Bold and brash at best, the Austrian company love to play on their wild reputation and live up to the ‘Ready to Race’ tag line – who else (aside from easyJet…) could get away with lurid orange as their corporate colour! So when in 2013 they announced they were going to build a full-on supernaked to replace their fun, but a little underpowered, 990 Super Duke R, fans of naked lunacy sat up and took notice. Even more so when videos of the prototype started to emerge… Nicknamed The Beast by KTM, the all-new 1290 Super Duke R was certainly not targeted at the mild-mannered rider. Caught pulling wheelies, smoking its rear tyre and generally behaving in a very antisocial way in its…

IN BRIEF… Rider: Carlos Track: Donington Park/Snetterton Series: British Superbike Championship Class: Ducati TriOptions Cup/R&G Ducati Shield Bike: Ducati Panigale V2 Fastest Lap: 1:12.356/1:58.825 Position: 10th, 9th, 14th, 10th Championship Position: 12th/2nd Excuse(s): A new bike with little mileage… Man, I can’t even begin to tell you how good it is to be writing up a race report! Although to be honest, I’ll have to level with you lot – the whole Covid-19 almost helped me a bit, by giving us some extra time to get the bike ready; see, after riding the V2 on its launch in Jerez, I did fall for it a bit, so I took the plunge late on, sold my GSX-R1000R and changed my plans for the year. No more Endurance, and back to the…

It is amazing to think just 10 years ago Carl was still in kindergarten, and that, like him, high-tech sportsbikes were largely unheard of. Okay, some of the flashier folk out there might have had a bike with a dash-integrated gear indicator (while the rest of us relied on a bolt-on from the M&P catalogue), but tech on bikes didn’t really start hitting the scene until the late Noughties, when features like power modes, basic traction control systems and the odd stock-fitment quickshifter began making their way down from racing circles and on to our street bikes. Honda was the first to add ABS to sportsbikes in 2009 on the CBR600RR and Fireblade, while Ducati debuted sporting traction control in 2008 on the 1098R and Suzuki were the first (some…

Over the years there have been some iconic ’Blades for us to relish, but I reckon the ’08 machine was one of the best. Sure enough, it lost the RCV-inspired, pretty boy image of the 2004 RR that came before it (becoming more compact with a greater focus on mass centralisation), but aesthetics aside, the DNA of this machine was exceptional and that shone through on the roads, on the track and at the TT. In true Honda manner, it was a motorcycle that focused on function over form, and despite it having a stunted face only a mother could love, I was still excited to hop on this 6500-mile-old stunner and give it a good seeing to. Unlike the Kawasaki and Yamaha, the ’Blade felt instantly more accommodating, sitting…

If you’re desperate to hit the dirt, grab a handful of brake at lean in the wet… you’ll be on your arse before you know it. Braking in the wet requires a largely different approach and attitude to doing the same thing in the dry, because grip levels are drastically reduced. Even with full-blown wets on, braking too hard, in a straight line or while cornering, can cause your bike’s tyres to lose traction and drop you like a stone. So how do you stay safe but get the best out of your brakes in the wet? Again, technique and feel have a massive role to play in such scenarios. On the road, the addition of manhole covers, white lines and diesel makes life even trickier, while on track there’s…

Mind you, if you’re going to race or just dedicate your bike to doing more (No Limits) trackdays, then you’ll need to carefully consider what’s an essential purchase and what desirables you might need to filter out until your lottery numbers come up. Oh, and definitely work to a budget on this one because you might need to buy some of these parts again if you have a crash. So let’s break it down: Bodywork Standard road bike fairings are no use for trackday riding; they’re very expensive to replace, regardless of buying new or used, and the standard kit wouldn’t pass scrutineering if you were to go racing. So, remove the standard fairing at the soonest opportunity and wrap it up for selling in the future or stick it…

STAR LETTER STAY PROTECTED Hi guys, I have been riding for a few years now and recently purchased a new 2020 ZX-6T KRT performance which I picked up last Saturday morning. I had been looking forward to my first sportsbike and as we all do, I bought some accessories to add on. Among these were crash bungs that I had bought for the first ever time. I’ve never had a mishap on a motorcycle and I have always thought they were an eyesore but something that day made me add them to the basket. On my way home from the dealers I had a low side around a quiet roundabout at about 10mph caused by a mix of brand new tyres and possibly not counter steering enough on the new…

I think I’ve had more pre-season track time for 2020 than any other season in my career. It all started back in December last year when the PBM team allowed me to get my first taste of the V4R at Cartegena just a few weeks before Christmas. Following that, I shipped myself out to Spain with a practice bike doing trackday after trackday in the run-up to the official BSB tests (another four days) on the race bike until Covid hit. Fast forward a few months of doing nothing and as soon as the situation would allow, I was back on the bike. Private team tests at Knockhill and Croft and more track days on the practice bike at Knockhill and Teeside. Then to top it off, we had the…