Innehållsförteckning för August 2023 från Fast Bikes

WELCOME Buying bikes; it's a big thing for all of us, regardless of whether you're spending the equivalent of a mortgage, or handing over the kind of cash you might find down the back of the sofa. I am habitually tight, as regular readers will now know, or at least when it comes to spending money on myself. But things are changing, and it's mostly down to my sudden craving to own as many motorcycles as I can. The truth is, the type of bikes I'm buying are often the ones that others don't want, and that's reflected in the pricing. But I've always been the type of person to see past a few battle scars, or the necessary graft to make something decent out of a heap. In the…

We all saw the saucy Norton V4 Café Racer at the NEC show last year, and now the Solihull-based premium bike maker has released the final production version with full spec and details. It's a limited edition deal, with only 200 bikes being made, and features a 185bhp version of the firm's 1,200cc 72° V-four motor bolted into a hand-made aluminium tube frame, billet CNC-machined single-sided swingarm, and the very finest in running gear from Öhlins and Brembo. The bike comes in two versions: Carbon, with carbon-fibre bodywork and BST carbon wheels; and Platinum Manx, with silver painted bodywork (still carbon) and OZ Racing forged aluminium rims. Price is £42k. Norton is aware that it can't justify its shiny new Midlands factory or build a big new brand with a…

ALPINESTARS GP PLUS R V3 JACKET A smart cowhide jacket that's optimised for use with or without the firm's Tech-Air 5 airbag, the GP Plus R v3 uses a new Rideknit material for the stretch comfort panels around the seams. There's also p plentyy of zip pp pered ventingg for riding in cooler and hot conditions, CE armour in elbows and shoulder, plus pockets for optional chest and back protectors. It's got a subtle, sporty design, and zips to suitable Astars trousers. £470 www.alpinestars.com DAINESE HEKLA JACKET Hekla is an Icelandic volcano and also o the name of ‘a short hooded cloak', so we e have no idea what that has to do with h this – Dainese's latest high-end touring/ adventure jacket. The firm has moved d away from…

FEATURE Ducati 916 Like all the bikes in this category, the 916 should really not need any introduction, but as an example that in recent times has gone mad in value, this shines. It's hard to believe that not very long ago, one of motorcycling's greatest icons could be found for as little as £5000 (I know this as I sold mine for £4500 in 1999), yet today, don't expect much change from £10,000 for the base Biposto (twin seat) model or £20,000 for the more desirable SP and SPS models. It's mad to think that today a nice low-mileage 916SPS commands Panigale V4 money. The 916 ticks all the boxes when it comes to being a bike that was always a safe bet to take off in value, but…

So, there you have it… you've got our take on the bikes to buy, the bikes to salivate over, and the bikes to take a punt on. But before we sign off and leave you to a weekend of scrolling online ads for overlooked bargains, we thought we'd give you a bit of insight from a bloke who's built up an impressive collection of bikes on the back of buying them at the right time and for the right price. Gareth Gent (not his real name; he's justifiably paranoid about bike theft after a near-miss a few years back) lives in the north of England, handy for some amazing roads, and he's lucky enough to have the space, the finances, and the understanding partner essential for a properly expansive used…

Used Bike Guide 2005 YAMAHA YZF-R6 At a quick glance, nothing really stands out about the 2005 Yamaha YZF-R6. The silhouette is instantly familiar as it is basically the same as every other R6 since the model was launched in 1999, and the paint schemes aren't particularly eye-catching either… well, unless you are viewing the limited edition R46 model, which is generally best not studied too closely for fear of damaging your retinas. But look a little closer and you will start to notice the small but important details that make this generation unique. First on the list are the R6's forks, which in this year changed from the previous generation's right-way-up items to inverted units. And they are equipped with radial brake calipers, replacing the conventionallymounted units on the older…

STAR LETTER FastBikesMag.com/FastBikes-Forum Facebook.comFastBikesMagazine @FastBikesMag WAR TOUR Hi, I spent four days of excellent riding around Normandy, visiting the D-Day sites. Here is a picture at Ryes War Cemetery with (from left) Chris' Honda CB1000R, Dave's Triumph ST1050, Peter's Suzuki S1000F and my Street Triple 765. Cheers, James Hi James, thanks for dropping us a line. It sounds like you and your mates had a cracking tour. As I'm sure you'll agree, the Normandy coast, with all its history and cracking scenery, is a trip that we'd say is massively worth making. Getting the ferry to Caen or Le Havre makes light work of the riding too. Keep us in the loop with what you get up to next. WIN You can win a Weise Redwood Shirt by simply writing the…

If you've been following this project in Fast Bikes over recent months, you'll know that things have been very last-minute due to the late arrival of parts. Instead of a decent amount of pre-season testing, the first time the R7 turned a wheel was in the second qualifying session at the North West 200, which showed signs of potential but not much performance. The absolute key component that was still missing was a ram airbox, which promised a much-needed power boost. The R7 came home from Ireland with me instead of going straight to the Isle of Man with the rest of the team bikes, and went straight to MSS, where it was stripped, ready for the arrival of the airbox. Eventually, the airbox cleared customs and arrived at the…

Upfront PLANET FAST BIKES – NEW METAL, NEWS & REVIEWS As we went to press, BMW had just displayed the might of its standard M1000 RR superbike at the Isle of Man TT. Peter Hickman won the Senior and both Superstock races on his FHO Racing M1000 RR – setting a lap record on the stocker of 136.358mph… so it was the perfect time to drop this – the M1000 XR prototype. The mad Munich massive has taken the already mental S1000 XR road-biased ‘adventure tourer' and given it a mighty M-Sport makeover. That starts with a full-bore 200bhp motor, based on the unit out of the M1000 RR, complete with ShiftCam variablevalve operation. It's bolted into a tweaked S1000 XR chassis, which gets new bodywork, incorporating aerodynamic winglets, of…

Italian exotica-monger MV Agusta, fresh from a new funding deal with KTM owner Pierer Mobility, has announced a big expansion and refurbishment of its historic factory at Schiranna, on Lake Varese, near Milan. The firm is adding a museum to the location, alongside new R&D labs, engineering works, and uprated production facilities. Add in a new deal for distribution in the USA and Europe through Pierer partners and the future looks pretty bright for the firm.…

FEATURE SPLASH THE CASH It is possible to ride the bike of your dreams completely free of charge, and if you're clever enough, you can even make a few quid while you're at it. The idea for this examination of how this is possible came about one evening browsing the internet with an imaginary budget (yes, I still do that). I stumbled across a bike so cheap that I just couldn't believe it. Certain it was a mistake, I went off looking for other examples of the same bike – only to find that they were all indeed roughly the same price. I messaged Bruce a link to the bike. “Have you seen how cheap this is?” I texted. “You could buy that, run it for years, and never lose a…

FEATURE SPLASH THE CASH 2009 Yamaha R1 In 2008, when Yamaha released the teaser adverts for the upcoming replacement to the ever popular R1, all they did was publish a photograph of a crankshaft. To all but the geekiest of fans, it was just a crankshaft – which of course it was – but closer inspection of the photo revealed the crank pins were offset by 90° to each other, which in simple terms offers greater torque at lower revs, primarily by drastically reducing the inertia torque usually generated by a normal crankshaft layout. On the 2009 R1, and every one since then, only one of the four pistons is ever stopping to change direction at any given time, where in a normal engine they move and change direction in pairs.…

It's still hard to get my head around the fact that here we are on the cusp of another season of long sunny days and dry tarmac, and for the first time since 1986, there isn't a high capacity GSX-R in Suzuki's range. The GSX-R 1000 which took over from the 1100cc behemoth as the company's range topping ‘Halo' sportsbike in the year 2000, is no more. It's become the latest victim of increasingly tough emissions regulations and falling sales in the sector. I've been lucky enough to have ridden every single version of the GSX-R1000; from the bombastic K1/K2 to the much better K3/ K4, the game changing K5/K6 and then the ones that most people forget about… right up to the final version with the variable valve timing…

MASTERCLASS Legal If you've been a naughty biker, you need some decent legal advice, get it from mail@whitedalton.co.uk Q I have an unusual query. I had an accident a couple of years ago. A lady pulled out of a side road and into my path. I hit her and went over the car. My solicitor took my case to court and I won 100% (in 2023). I now have a problem with [name removed] who are telling me I owe them £10,000 in hire charges. My current solicitor tells me he cannot advise me further as his job finished when he won my case at court. What can I do? A Let's give this some context. You suffered injuries in a straightforward car versus motorcycle road traffic collision. The lady driver…

IN ASSOCIATION WITH NO LIMITS TRACKDAYS FastBikesMag.com/FastBikes-Forum Facebook.comFastBikesMagazine @FastBikesMag WANT TO 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 letters@fastbikes.co.uk Closing date: July 4 WINNER 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 these pages, you've won a trackday of your choice! If it's you, get in touch with us and we'll look…

FEATURE SPLASH THE CASH We all have that list – bikes we wish we still had and can't believe we sold for what we did, because since then they've gone on to become icons that everyone wants… but when we owned them, they were just what we got our kicks with. In my case, I'm talking about, among others, my Kawasaki KR1-Ss, Suzuki RGV250, Yamaha TDR250, Suzuki TL1000S, Ducati 916, 1998 Yamaha R1, Suzuki GSX-R750Y and Kawasaki ZXR750-RR, all of which I virtually gave away. At the time, I got fair prices for my 916 at £4500, my TDR for £750 and my RGV for £1500, and the ZXR-RR sold for a couple of grand. I could be depressed about the sheer amount of money I've lost in depreciation over the…

FEATURE SPLASH THE CASH 2004 Fireblade The 2004 Fireblade is the result of Honda deciding it wanted to go superbike racing, abandoning its ‘less is more' approach to superbike design and going all in with a 1000cc example. It also drew heavily on Honda's design philosophy of mass centralisation it was using to great effect on the V5 RC211V MotoGP bike. And it was the first non-Baba designed Fireblade, which, unless you've been living under a rock for the past 20 years, you'll know is significant. Tadao Baba was the brainchild of the original and groundbreaking Fireblade, which is undoubtedly the very definition of a game changer. He stayed on the Fireblade project right through to the final sub-1000cc version, the 954cc bike, itself a strong contender for a bike worth…

Ulsterman Jeremy McWilliams, 59, is the most versatile rider in the world today, having won more races on more different bikes than anyone on planet earth, ranging from nifty 250GP two-strokes to lumbering two-litre V-twin PowerBaggers. As one of KTM's two ex-MotoGP riders charged with developing its new on-road models, he shared test duties with Mika Kallio in developing the twin-cylinder RC 8C in both its guises to customer-ready condition. How does he rate the latest 2023 version against its predecessor? “It's definitely come a good few steps forward,” says Jeremy, enthusiastically. “It's more of a rounded-out version. I did some development on each one, and when we were testing in Alcarrás towards the end of last year, I got to ride this latest version and couldn't fault it compared…

LONGTERMERS TIME ON TEST: TWO MONTHS ODOMETER MILES BHP: 213 GAIN: 0 NEXT AIM: PIMP IT UP I've ridden a lot of bikes from new, getting them up to mileage before handing them over to a technician for a first service. It's quite often a job done behind closed doors, or at least as far as I'm concerned – who'd want me kicking around for a few hours, gawping while they graft? Then again, not all techs are like Jinx from Ducati UK, who's been hands on with the Italian brand for over 20 years, working on everything from Desmos to Monsters, and everything in between. He knows his onions, or more to the point, Ducatis, and having promised I'd be on best behaviour, not nick anything out of his…

SHARKS stars Every now and then, it seems like there's a bit of a changing of the guard in the top race series. The big names you've grown accustomed to begin to drift down the results sheets and new, less familiar names start to rise to the top. We've spoken to a few of those names in these columns this season and this month we are talking to another – Kyle Ryde. Born in 1997 and turning 26 this July, Nottinghamshire man Ryde has, like all the good guys, been racing since he was in reception class at school. He's also worn SHARK helmets for almost his entire career and is a firm fan of the French firm's kit. When we spoke to Kyle, he'd just come off a double…