Table of contents for January 2016 in Performance Bikes

THIS MONTH HAS all been about the new bikes unveiled at the EICMA show in Milan – and for me the star of the show is Suzuki’s new GSX-R1000. Despite what Suzuki may say, the last time we saw an all-new big-bore GSX-R was when they unveiled the K5, 11 years ago. And they’ve thrown everything at it. The GSX-R is the first litre bike to have variable valve-timing, a valve-train with finger followers like an S1000RR and F1 cars allows it to rev its head off, and Showa’s top-spec gas forks are bolted to an all-new lightweight chassis. On paper it’s on the pace with anything to come from Japan. Yet some were underwhelmed by the first pictures. They shouldn’t be. When you see the bike outside of the…

1 Two header balance pipes have a butterfly valve that adjusts exhaust behaviour at different rpm 2 Frame and swingarm are fairly ordinary – it still works, so why not? 3 Bodywork is more aerodynamic and facilitates a tighter tuck 4 Ride-by-wire finally reaches Suzuki, bringing TC and launch control 5 Cylinder head has narrow valve-angle and F1-style followers 6 Inlet cam has centrifugally-operated moving lobes for VVT 7 Showa’s BFF gas forks are 2016’s must-have. The R-model has them 8 Gearbox is conventional but assisted with a quickshifter/ autoblipper…

THE SPECS POWER 198BHP TORQUE 85LB.FT WEIGHT 180KG THE TOP LINE Aprilia RSV4 Factory isn’t any faster, despite new competition from the ZX-10R and GSX-R1000, but it is smarter. The V4-MP phone app is even further integrated with the bike’s rider aids – you can now program the systems to different levels for different corners. Want to leap the Mountain at Cadwell? You can use your phone to tell it to turn everything off, before reactivating the safety net before Hall Bends. It can also provide advice for going faster, and the telemetry function can show power use, throttle opening, G-force, lean angle and rear wheel slippage. At this rate, it’ll be able to ride the bastard for you in 2017... Rich RSV4 owners can also benefit from Aprilia’s racing…

THERE’S A NEW, sportier-than ever Multistrada, based on the Multistrada S designed to celebrate their four Pikes Peak victories. The bike uses non-active Öhlins at the front and a TTX36 shock at the rear and has options for a Termignoni silencer and short, carbon screen. We like. The Hypermotard 939SP is the sportiest Hypermotard we’ve seen. It has a new 937cc Testastretta 11° motor producing 111bhp and 10% more torque than the previous Hyper as well as updated electronics. The SP comes with full Öhlins suspension front and rear, and more ride height, allowing 47.5° before stuff decks out. It even comes on a set of Pirelli Supercorsas. We can’t wait to spank one on our back roads.…

690 DUKE R All the new stuff, plus posher brakes, suspension and exhaust THE SPECS POWER 73BHP TORQUE 54.6LB.FT WEIGHT 151KG THE 2016 690 Duke is the smoothest KTM single yet, with a high-spec R model also added. The single-cylinder streetbike is 21 years old, so it’s the ideal time to create the best refinement yet. The LC4 engine has had a thorough overhaul to shed any obstrusive vibration. An extra balance shaft has been added in the cylinder head, and to meet Euro 4 noise/emissions regs, the intake and exhaust have been fiddled with, too. Despite the Euro-nannying, it’s more powerful – 71bhp for the standard model, 73bhp for the R. The new bike comes with a 3kg weight penalty, though. A few extra quid spent on the Duke…

IF YOU HAVE that MT feeling inside (geddit?) but are on a restricted A2 licence, there’s now an MT-03 for you. Slightly confusingly for PB’s oxygen-starved office dwellers, it’s nothing to do with the old 660cc single-cylinder MT-03 – it uses the 321cc, 41bhp motor from the R3 sportsbike. The look is designed to fit in with the MT125, MT-07, MT-09 and the new MT-10, with subtle differences to make it stand out – a little bit. The colour options are the same across all five MT models, so be careful what you get on at bike meets next year. It has a steel chassis, basic suspension and skinny wheels. The seat is low at 780mm, and the riding position is tailored for easy control, says Yamaha. It should make…

SUZUKI GSX-R600 JAY WOOD “MY 2001 GSXR-600 has been in PB before. It had 7000 miles on it when bought more than seven years ago, and is now showing 21,000, mostly track miles. Being a painter, I’ve treated it to a few different paintjobs, and it now has road and track bodykits. “It’s been to Land’s End, John o’ Groats, the NW200 and Assen BSB, amongst other trips. It’s not the easiest tourer as it has a race subframe – everything gets carried in a rucksack! “I’ve done trackdays at most circuits in the UK, and raced with Hottrax last year in the Modern Classic Evos. It was good enough for second in class at Donington. The engine is standard apart from a Blue Flame end can and K&N filter;…

HONDA FIRESTORM LEE BERRY “AFTER HAVING BIKES for many years I sold my GSX-R1000 K3 in 2006 after about 20 of us had a trip up to Scotland and I witnessed three of my mates fall off. Then, about 18 months ago, I was offered a Honda VTR Firestorm which had thrown the timing chain and was in bits and pieces in boxes. “I bought it, stripped it all down and have rebuilt it over the past 14 months. It’s a really nice cheap bike. The motor is standard apart from a manual camchain tensioner, BMC air filter and titanum Moriwaki cans. It also has an HRC quick-action throttle. “The brakes are running CBR600 F4 calipers and master cylinder with Brembo ceramic pads and PFM discs. It has Harris rearsets…

BMW S1000RR 196.26bhp, 203.5kg, £16,290 as tested The quickest bike round our Mallory Park test track all year, the S1000RR is a supremely useable and blisteringly fast sportsbike. DUCATI PANIGALE S 196.39bhp, 194kg, £20,750 More grunt than an orgy in a pigsty, plus electronic assists that let you get on with riding hard, the Pani is the most involving ride we’ve had all year. YAMAHA YZF-R1M 189.89bhp, 201.5kg, £18,499 The track-focused version of Yamaha’s all-new R1 blew us away at Mallory earlier in the year with its corner speed and utterly sublime electronics.…

DEAN’S DAYTONA 675RS shows how good modifications can really enhance an already excellent standard machine, and that you don’t need to break the bank to create a properly good road bike. From the moment the HM Racing dash illuminates and briefly shows ‘Triumph’ before reverting to a nice and clear display I love the RS. Not only does the fact it was once owned by a member of the royalty make me laugh, but everything about the bike works together to ensure you enjoy the ride. So many times with the specials I ride this simply isn’t the case. We took the RS to the Cat and Fiddle road in the Peak District, a stretch of tarmac as notorious for the number of crashes it sees as it is for…

FORMULA PROSTOCKS INTEND the Bandit 600 Challenge to be a cost-effective, close-fought class, so permitted changes are few. The rear shock is free choice, but forks must retain all original parts bar springs and oil. We can modify the damping holes, but the limited improvement here renders an expensive shock mostly pointless, too. Brake calipers and disc diameter must be standard – any road master cylinder may be used. Wheels must be standard Suzuki – early bikes like ours will be permitted to fit a 3.5in front to allow correct fitment of race tyres so they aren’t at a disadvantage to later bikes, which have them as standard. Any road-legal race tyre can be used, plus wets. The exhaust can be changed, but headers must be 40mm or less. Carbs…

SPECIFICATION £20,750 182BHP | 194KG MILEAGE THIS MONTH 309 TOTAL MILES HOURS QUIETLY SOBBING THIS MONTH 4 While hugging the Pani in the PB lock-up BEST MOMENT A race with a BMW M5. The Pani shut it down... 2015 DUCATI 1299 PANIGALE S MATT WILDEE AFTER SEVEN MONTHS of wheelies and setting off car alarms, the Panigale is heading back to its rightful owners. I’ve written about what a joy it has been on fast, flowing grippy roads, but what surprised me in the last few months is how competent it has been as summer turned to autumn, and autumn to winter. Despite being so lively, it has been decent in the damp and slime, picking up grip and driving even when the Dunlop GP Racer tyres were at the…

A HEAVY HEART Titanium rods and valves are omitted. It’s likely to be lower revving, so it doesn’t need them R1 SUSPENSION It’s the same gear as the R1, with spring and valving changes to suit being a road-oriented bike HOW FAST? Good question: there’s no claims of power, torque or weight yet, so it’s hard to anticipate performance LOWER TECH Sophisticated IMU-controlled riders aids are R1 only: the MT-10 gets more conventional three-stage traction control SIDE ORDER The MT-10 is ready-plumbed for accessories: a 12v socket for heated grips and mounts for luggage on the subframe HEY SHORTY 1400mm wheelbase is very short – 5mm less than the R1, 35-40mm less than comparable nakeds SPECS (EST) POWER 160BHP TORQUE 75LB.FT WEIGHT 210KG YAMAHA HAS FINALLY put a cross-plane inlinefour…

EURO 4-COMPLIANT Those massive pipe pass latest euro laws and might be OK for quiet trackdays, too REVISED FAIRING Wider upper fairing was first seen on the 1299 Panigale this year GOOD RUNNING GEAR Showa BPF forks, Brembo M4.32 calipers, Sachs shock and Pirelli Rosso Corsa tyres THE SPECS POWER 155BHP TORQUE 79.2LB.FT WEIGHT 200KG WITH MORE POWER than an original R1, just three horsepower less than a Ducati 1098 and more claimed shove than any Ducati 999 produced, Ducati’s ‘entry-level’ sportsbike is set to be a proper rocket. The Bologna firm have heavily reworked the Panigale’s motor, while taking on the cosmetic changes that the larger Panigale had last year. They’ve also improved the electronics and added some flipping huge exhausts to help it pass the stringent Euro 4…

THE SPECS POWER 159BHP TORQUE 96LB.FT WEIGHT 177KG BIMOTA HAVE RIPPED the DB11 sportsbike’s dress off, and clad it in a skimpy bra and panties to create the Impeto supernaked. It’s powered by the Diavel’s Testastretta 11° – Ducati’s more flexible derivative of the old 1198 superbike engine. It still knocks out a claimed 159bhp and 96lb.ft of torque. The frame is taken from the DB11, minus the full-length seat subframe and fairing bracketry. It’s part steel trellis, part machined aluminium alloy plate, with a swingarm constructed in the same way. The shock mount is adjustable for ride height and the Öhlins suspension at both ends is fully-tweakable. The dash is a new TFT effort in an Impeto-specific binnacle that’s vaguely reminscent of a GSX1100EE, as one PB reader pointed…

THE EFFEMINATE SFV650 Gladius is being pensioned off, and the naked SV650 making a welcome return in its place. Well, sort of. The name, pink paint and cutesy styling is gone, but the 2016 SV heavily borrows from the old SFV – the engine and chassis are closely related, with a few tweaks for Euro 4 regs, more power and friendlier manners for new riders. The reborn SV gets more unisex styling, an extra 4bhp and 5kg less weight. A new ABS system refines the anti-lock braking. Seat height remains at 785mm as the SFV, but the seat/tank are tailored to make it easier for shorties. It will be the second new Suzuki to no longer need the clutch pulled in to start, and the Low RPM Assist opens the…

THE SPECS POWER 170BHP TORQUE 106LB.FT WEIGHT 189KG IT’S NOT QUITE ‘The Beast’ prototype, but the slightly posher Super Duke R SE is a bit closer to the concept in appearance. It’ll only be available for a limited time (unspecified, but probably as long as people are still buying them), and comes with a selection of Powerparts catalogue goodies as standard. An Akrapovic titanium silencer knocks 1.5kg off, and works fine with standard mapping, say the Mattighofen lot. Machined alloy yokes anodised in orange are standard, and matched by milled fluid reservoir caps. The CNC machine has also been busy making the individual components of the aluminium levers, adjustable for length as well as span, and the lever guards fitted only to the SE. Brake discs are a wave design,…

BMW SURPRISED ATTENDEES of the recent G310R launch (p26) with an electric version of the S1000RR – the eRR. The unveiling was such a surprise, even BMW’s PR department were caught short and didn’t have any information on the bike on stage! The ‘experimental vehicle’ looks a fairly half-arsed effort at creating an electric superbike. Although housing a simplistic electric powerplant within the slender chassis of the 1000cc four is easy, the necessary battery and control systems are another matter. Current electric bikes, even those built purely for short races, have weight and size limitations imposed by the power source required for decent performance and range. Mugen’s electric TT bike weighs 250kg (46.5kg more than a fully road-legal S1000RR), and has a 1485mm wheelbase (60mm more than the BMW), and…

SUZUKI GSX-R1000 DAVID ESTERIS “I SAW A post on PB’s Facebook page about editor Matt’s tidy 2000 R1 and wanted to show you this. Just like his R1, my bike goes to show that you don’t need to spend a fortune to have an exciting, fast performance bike. “I paid just £1400 for this bike last year and the saving over something newer has allowed me to spend the cash on top-level performance parts. It’s got a lot of good kit on it which has transformed it. There’s an Öhlins shock and steering damper and forged magnesium Marchesinis, which save a huge amount of weight. “Then there’s the Harris rearsets, reworked valving in the forks and Braking wavy discs. It has a Yoshi can but I have a full Akrapovic…

YAMAHA R1/R7 DEREK MURRAY “THE STORY BEGINS in 1999 when I bought a crash-damaged 1998 R1 from East Coast motorcycles in Forfar. “By 2001/2002, I’d stripped the whole bike down to every nut and bolt to make a QB Carbon R7-style R1. All the work to turn it into the bike you see here happened between April and May 2002. It was a busy six weeks! “At the same time I took the motor to Dave Stephenson for blueprinting, lightening, balancing and some other secret tinkering. He says the bike should make close to 170bhp now. “There’s so many lovely bits fitted to it, from the Marchesini wheels to the braced and lengthened Spondon swingarm. “All told, the engine, chassis and cosmetic work have cost just over £10,000. Eek!”…

IT’S BIKES LIKE these that converted us from anti-electronics luddites to paid-up members of the traction control fan club. They’re simply awesome, and unlike the days when just the Japanese big four made decent superbikes, they all offer distinctly unique experiences, too. Our three favourite superbikes barely share any common details – engines, chassis and styling are all different. You can pick any of these subjectively, and still get a brilliant bike that’ll more than justify three years of payments. The R1M is amazing. The electronics are a silent guardian angel, watching over us riding our arses off in November without spoiling our fun. It feels like a racebike. Ride it alone, and it feels every bit the most sophisticated R1 ever. Hop on one of the other bikes though,…

IT’S ARGUABLE that Ducati’s chief designer is the most important in the bike industry. Other manufacturers might sell more bikes, but there are few others that live and die by image as well as performance quite so much as Bologna’s exotica masters. Gianandrea Fabbro is the man with Ducati’s future (and a pencil) in his hand. Although he’s not the only one designing, creative direction and ultimate responsibility is his. He designed the 1098 to rescue the superbike range after the failed experiment of the 999, and later developed the Panigale. This makes his thoughts and opinions important... “I’m not sure electric bikes are the future” I don’t know how electric bikes will influence the future of motorcycling – whether they will become a smaller, niche interest. My problem with…

IDIDN’T REALLY KNOW what to expect when Mugen asked me to ride an electric bike for them in 2012, having never ridden one before. I talked to Michael Rutter about it; he’d already won the 2011 race on the MotoCzysz, and I’d seen him running away with it for a while, so it was a no-brainer to have a go at beating him. “My first ride of it was here at Motegi – it was frosty with ice on the track. I was well nervous, and didn’t know what to expect; you just get on with it, don’t you? But anyone can jump on and ride an electric bike because it’s such a simple thing to ride. Twist-and-go – it’s just a big racing scooter, with linear power delivery from…

CHECK THE FITTING Seat height can be adjusted by 20mm to 805mm or 825mm, the footpegs have spacers to allow them to be repositioned and the bars can be moved up and down. Check the bike has spacers and see what position the pegs/bars/seat are set at if it doesn’t feel comfy. WATER PUMP SEAL The water pump seal is a weak point, so keep an eye on the breather hole on the back of the pump. If the seal goes, water or oil can gather in the breather. Replacing the seal is simple and the part only costs a few quid. SPRAG CLUTCH As with any V-twin, watch out for a damaged sprag clutch. When the starter is pushed, listen out for a clattering or squeaking sound that indicates…

PB spoke to 2009 RC8 R Cup champion, and owner of DWR Motorcycles, Dave Wood about how to make an RC8 fly… www.davewoodracing.com HANDLING To sharpen the steering you can fit the RC8 R’s yokes. The R has a trail of 97mm compared to the stock bike’s 90mm and swapping the yokes speeds up the stock bike’s handling and allows it to hold a tighter and more consistent line around corners. QUICKSHIFTER The RC8’s gearbox isn’t the best in the world and on track a quickshifter makes up-changes far slicker and more precise. REARSETS To increase ground clearance, a set of KTM Power Parts rearsets cost £430 and fit beautifully. Cheaper alternatives are also available with prices starting at £150. ECCENTRIC RIDE HEIGHT ADJUSTER We played around with the height…

2015 BMW S1000RR CHASSIS ‘This is a rolling chassis which we gave to K-Tech to develop a shock for the 2015 chassis. You can’t use the 2014 bike’s shock as it hits a mounting point due to the revised frame and swingarm.’ BRITISH ENDURANCE BMW HP4 ‘This HP4 won the Hottrax British Endurance Championship last year. The team’s owner now uses it for trackdays.’ WORLD ENDURANCE SUPERSTOCK 2015 BMW S1000RR ‘This is a test bike, which we use for trackdays and testing. During free practice you can run more than one bike, so we take it with us to the races, but other than that it is just a test mule. As we have three riders in an endurance team, it is handy to have three race bikes when testing…

SPECIFICATION £9899 137BHP | 220KG MILEAGE THIS MONTH 430 TOTAL MILES BEST MOMENT Unleashing the new-found torque for the first time 2015 KAWASAKI Z1000 CHRIS NEWBIGGING ARSE DYNOS CAN be wildly inaccurate, and all manner of problems arise when you stick a sniffer up the exit pipe, too... So although my Zed felt better for the Akrapovic 4-1 I fitted in my lunch break, I wanted quantify this on BSD’s dyno, where I’d earlier had it tested in stock condition. It made 126bhp at the rear wheel before – healthy enough, and in line with a few other standard Zeds Mark Brewin has tested. I knew it had jumped a reasonable amount, as it had suddenly gained the ability to wheelie in third, but Akrapovic’s claim of 10bhp seemed a…

THE TRICK ONE You could almost miss the extra R. Obvious extras include BFF gas forks and shock over the base model NEW ENGINE The motor is completely new. The bottom end is conventional, but the head is sophisticated ELECTRONIC ABS Same calipers as the current bike, but with clever ABS to help instead of hinder ELECTRONICS No more complaints about missing rider aids. The L7 has got the lot FAMILIAR FACE It’s recognisably GSX-R – Team PB reckons it’s closest to a GSX-R750 K4 TAKING THE LED The GSX-R has full LED lighting. It weighs less, is more compact and draws less energy. Win-win-win BETTER SHAPE Suzuki has slimmed the whole bike down for better aerodynamics. Fairing still looks protective, though BPF OR BFF? The base-model GSX-R1000 has black…

BEST IN SHOW The sweetest, best-looking bike of 2016, we reckon THE SPECS POWER 115BHP TORQUE 61LB.FT WEIGHT 175KG MV HAVE GIVEN the Brutale an engine, electronics, chassis and styling overhaul. It now makes 115bhp and 61lb.ft of torque, with 90% of the max grunt delivered from 3800rpm. But that’s down 7bhp on before – the extra 2lb.ft of torque may provide small comfort. The exact engine changes have not yet been detailed, but expect fettling of airbox, throttle bodies, cams/timing and exhaust to clean up emissions and stifle noise. MV’s MVICS ride-by-wire and eight-way adjustable traction control remains. A quickshifter/ auto-blipper is standard fit. A revised frame lengthens the wheelbase by 20mm to a still-stumpy 1400mm, and trail jumps from 95mm to 103.5mm. Forks are Marzocchi, the shock is…

BIG POWER Testastretta engine should give it massive pull at city speeds and top-end to shame a sportsbike LAUNCH CONTROL Yes, launch control on a cruiser. Not much is going to beat the XDiavel away from the lights THE SPECS POWER 154BHP TORQUE 95LB.FT WEIGHT 247KG WE NORMALLY LIKE cruisers about as much as visit to the clap clinic, but this XDiavel seems like a seriously cool bit of kit. It has 154bhp thanks to a similar Testastretta DVT engine to the Multistrada, developing huge grunt at low rpm and enough top-end power, which, combined with its long wheelbase and low centre of gravity, should make it king of the traffic light GP. It now has launch control to make this even easier. Ducati also claim 40 degrees of lean…

HELPING HAND We never felt the creamy triple delivery needed traction control, but it’s now there for when you get too giddy BLUE COLLAR The base model is still high-spec – there’s just no carbon or Öhlins FANCY THAT The Swedish bouncers at either end will probably make the Speed Triple R the bigger seller of the new models SPECS (EST) POWER 137BHP TORQUE 83LB.FT WEIGHT 215KG TRIUMPH IS GIVING the brilliant Speed Triple a nip and tuck to sharpen it up, with more power, fettled styling and an electronic rider-aids package for the first time. The three-cylinder wizards from Hinckley claim a ‘new’ version of the 1050cc engine that powers both the S and R models, but in reality it’s more of a substantially modified version of the motor…

MORE GAS 23-litre tank is five litres more than the naked. KTMs are good on fuel so 200 miles should be more than feasible NEW HAT New fairing should make it more tourer-ish, but wind protection and downforce should help handling at speed THE SPECS POWER 170BHP TORQUE 106LB.FT WEIGHT 228KG KTM’S APPROACH TO an all-rounder is typically wild – simply adding panniers and a fairing to the loony-tunes Super Duke 1290 R to the create the 1290 GT. It occupies the same sort of position in the range as the 990 SM-T (a PB favourite, thanks to its similar combo of older Super Duke motor and comfort), but instead of basing it on an adventure bike, KTM started out with a machine already rolling on 17-inch wheels. ENGINE Identical…

POWER TRIP Cruise around in Eco mode, and it’ll do 125 miles, Energica reckons ENERGICA’S PROMISING ELECTRIC bike loses its fairing and gains high bars to become a supernaked for 2017. It’s almost identical to the Ego sportsbike PB tested in the last issue (which remains on sale), but with a Tuono-style makeover to broaden its appeal. It has the same permanent magnet motor, the same battery pack, and the same tubular steel frame. Bitubo suspension remains standard fitment, with …hlins as an option. Like internal combustion supernakeds, power and top speed is knocked back a bit – maximum torque is 125lb.ft as opposed to the 144lb.ft sportsbike. Top speed is restricted to 125mph, rather than the claimed 150mph the faired bike can achieve. It still has four power modes…

KAWASAKI ER-6N NIKI GLEADHALL “I USE THIS as a track bike but it used to belong to my dad, who did all the modifications. So far it has a Nitron emulsion shock, which is excellent value, and cartridge emulators in the forks. It handles really well but now it really needs some rearsets to improve the ground clearance. “The Leo Vince pipe adds a bit of character, saves weight and adds power, too. We’ve used this bike for everything – it’s been ridden to Le Mans for the MotoGP and now I want to go Minitwins racing with it one day.”…

THE CLASS OF 2015 will go down as one of the greatest. The already magnificent BMW S1000RR got even better, Yamaha gave us an all new, hi-tech R1, and the Italians obliged by heavily upgrading the Aprilia RSV4 and Ducati Panigale. During the course of the year, we have taken each of them to Mallory Park and allowed Michael Rutter to thrash the living shit out of them to set a lap time, and tell us what he thinks of them. BMW finished on top last year with the HP4, but clearly moved the goalposts this year with the third-generation S1000RR. It went 0.54s quicker than the HP4’s 2014 laptime... Not only did BMW’s own bike better the HP4, but so did many others. The HP4 slipped from top spot…

THE MOTOR The casing housing the rotor that is the motor’s sole moving part was machined from magnesium billet – a costly process which took three days of CNC time. The motor is mounted low down beneath the swingarm pivot, in the optimum location for ideal handling at the rear of the converter. Mugen say the bike produces more than 148bhp at the output shaft, running at 8000rpm, with a constant (and massive) 162lb.ft of torque delivered from 1rpm. This is transmitted to the rear wheel via a direct single-speed transmission with gear-driven primary reduction and chain final drive. There’s no gearbox. WHEELS With the accent on weight-saving for the cycle parts, it’s quite a surprise to find the Mugen uses (admittedly gorgeous) Marchesini forged magnesium wheels, rather than the…

DEAN CATTON To the best of his knowledge, Dean has no royal blood in him, although considering the number of blood transfusions he has received as a result of crashing bikes, he may be wrong. BRAKES AND WHEELS Brembo M4 monoblock calipers are matched to a Brembo 19/20 master cylinder and Hel lines. OE calipers required spacers to match the Ducati 999R Marchesini front wheel. Dean has a matching 999R rear wheel that should slot in once it’s had new bearings. TATTOO Dean’s anatomically correct (if you ignore the cogs) tattoo shows the metal plates, screws and fractures from his R6 accident that the X-ray revealed. He is planning a similar one for his leg to show the damage a 50cc scooter can do. ELECTRICS A Bazzaz standalone quickshifter is…

2009-2014 | £6500-£10,000 | 180MPH | 159BHP KTM’S RC8 R is probably the only sportsbike on the planet that properly fits normal blokes. Designed to fit burly Austrians, it combines great ergonomics with unique styling and a grunty, fluid V-twin power delivery that makes it a superb road bike. And you can get them for under £5k. The RC8 was KTM’s first and (so far) only superbike. Its crazy, insect-like looks wowed everyone when the prototypes of the bike were unveiled in 2003 and still looked fresh when the production bike appeared in 2008. The RC8 was up against Ducati’s 1098 and Aprilia’s RSV1000, but despite looking mad, was actually playing a different game to both of these. On our first ride of the bike we were amazed at how…

DARREN RUMLEY 2010 RC8 R & 2012 RC8 R TRACK Fave mod Fitting an Akrapovic system not only makes the bike sound amazing, it also gives it a strong boost in the midrange, which you need against modern 1000s on track. Fitting a quickshifter seems to smooth out the lumpy gearbox, too. What do you love about your RC8? The styling is still futuristic; it is different to everything out. The V-twin’s torque is amazing and the RC8 handles beautifully when you get the suspension set up correctly. What do you dislike about it? My RC8 R made 156bhp, which was about 40bhp down on a modern 1000 and a bit frustrating when you are on track. It used to go through water pump seals but replacing them is a…

‘The engine, frame and swingarm are identical to the road bike and are covered in Alpha Racing crash protectors. ‘The BMW electronic suspension has been removed and replaced with K-Tech units and we are allowed to run BMW’s HP lightweight wheels. The rearsets are from Alpha Racing and so are the fairing lowers. However, the upper cowl is an OE BMW fairing with the standard BMW lights and screen. ‘We run a titanium Akrapovic exhaust system with a standard BMW air filter and BMW race calibration kit, which boosts power to around 204bhp. The rules state we aren’t allowed to use titanium fasteners, so all the nuts and bolts are BMW steel units. The calipers are OE units although we can use Brembo discs, SBS endurance-spec pads and Castrol SRF…

SPECIFICATION £14,760 193BHP | 204KG MILEAGE THIS MONTH 405 TOTAL MILES MPG THIS MONTH 42mpg BEST MOMENT ...of the year should have been riding seven international S1000RR race bikes, one after the other, at Valencia. But it wasn’t. A track day at Snetterton was even better. 2015 BMW S1000RR SIMON HARGREAVES BMW’S S1000RR STARTED the year by setting the fastest-ever time for a road bike in the hands of Michael Rutter at our Mallory Park test track and ended the on the top step of the BSB podium. It was the second of 2015 – Tommy Bridewell won at Oulton Park earlier in the year, while team-mate Michael Laverty spent the year building confidence in his RR with increasingly solid performances. The arrival of a swingarm upgrade at Assen in…