Table of contents for 17 May 2023 in MCN

FREE! Oxford XA14 disc lock when you take out an MCN Membership, See p20 ‘I never imagined I'd win like this’ MARCO BEZZECCHI THIS WEEK Tracing an aggressive new Arc Arc represent the very best of British manufacturing knowledge and ingenuity, marrying talent forged in sheds with cutting-edge know-how Learned in some of the biggest automotive groups on Earth. The result that you can buy right now-Like customer No1, Ryan Reynolds – is the Vector, but the boss exclusively confirmed to us this week that there are even more radical bikes to come… PAGE 4 THE BIG TEST Stripped-back naked aggression If you want the insanity of a track-focused superbike, but without the crippling riding position that makes every part of you ache after an hour in the saddle, then…

THIS WEEK BMW are preparing to reveal their next generation of retro roadsters, teasing a new R12 nineT model to a select group of journalists at their Motorrad HQ in Munich – and while much has changed under the skin, they haven't messed with the winning formula. Although no official specs or details will be released until November 2023, MCN can confirm that the bike retains the air/oil-cooled 1170cc boxer twin engine from the non-ShiftCam R1200GS, with a series of new electronic and ergonomic changes to bring the machine up to date. “We used the package from the R1200, which was already there from the GS with the airbox, and the frame so that was basically a little bit of a compromise… because it was not a roadster package,” BMW's…

SAVE £1150 £12,349 Kawasaki Ninja 1000 SX The Ninja 1000 SX is a brilliant do-it-all bike and with over £1000 of goodies included in this deal, it could prove too good to resist. With panniers, heated grips and smoked screen it's one of the finest sports-tourers out there. If you finance one using the 9.9% K-options finance deal, Clay Cross will add the £1150 tourer kit free of charge. www.claycrosskawasaki.co.uk SAVE £1600 £5899 Suzuki SV650X Armed with a set of clip-ons, the X's sporty riding position reminds you just how impressive this V-twin middleweight is. www.motogb.co.uk • Engine 645cc • Power 75bhp • Weight 198kg • Seat height 790mm SAVE £3255 £14,995 Triumph Speed Triple 1200RR The 1200RR is a big-cube superbike, created in Triumph's own inimitable style. Quality and…

Ruroc Atlas 4.0 Track £550 With a T300 carbon-fibre shell that's 15% lighter than the stock Atlas 4.0, the Track has been aerodynamically refined for high-speed use on race circuits. Improvements include a new top visor seal, rear spoiler and double D-ring fastener. It has ACU Gold approval and ships with both clear and dark visors. ruroc.com Richa Cyclone 2 Gore-Tex £529.99 The AA CE-rated Cyclone offers all-weather protection with a waterproof Gore-Tex Z-liner and detachable thermal lining. For warm days the abrasion resistant ripstop shell has an Airtech Control System for adjusting ventilation. D3O Level 1 armour is included for shoulder, elbow and back. nevis.uk.com Yamaha R3 Fender Eliminator £95 Owners of Yamaha's R3 can tidy up the back end with this neat Fender Eliminator from US-based Competition Werkes.…

May 20 Off-road day at Sammy Miller's If you've got an off-roader, then you'll fit right in at Sammy Miller's Museum this weekend. Head down to New Milton, Hants. sammymiller.co.uk May 21 Speedway Lunch For £35, you can feast on a firstclass Lunch and meet riders who dominated the track in times gone by. It's at Paradise Wildlife Park in Hertfordshire. worldspeedwayriders.org May 19-21 BSB It's Donington Park this weekend. Tickets are £45 for the weekend (£27 for teens), Friday is £15 (£10 for teens) Saturday is £24 (£15 for teens) and £34 for Sunday (and £20 for teens). www.britishsuperbike.com May 19 Bexhill Bike Night The Custom Cafe in BexhiLL-onSea is having its weekly Friday bike night. For great food, great company and a great space to chat, head on…

FRIDAY May 19 12pm, EUR2 BSB Vault, Donington Race 1.7.15pm Race 2 SATURDAY May 20 1pm, EUR2 Live Bennetts British Superbikes from Doninqton Park: Day 1 Spm, EUR2 Speedway Grand Prix, Warsaw Highlights SUNDAY May 21 lpm, EUR2 Live Bennetts British Superbikes from Donington Park: Day 2 MONDAY May 23 11am, BTS2 FIM JuniorGP Championship 9pm, QUEST New Series: Shed and Buried 11pm, QUEST BSB Highlights from Donington Park 12am, QUEST British Speedway Highlights KEY TO CHANNELS: DRT – DISCOVERY REAL TIME DSC DISCOVERY CHANNEL DHD DISCOVERYCHANNELHD EXS EXTREMESPORTS CHANNEL EUR1 (2, HD) – EUROSPORT1 (2, HD)MOT MOTORSPORT.TV CH4 – CHANNEL4CH5 – CHANNELFIVEBBC BBCI – BBC INTERACTIVE ESPN – ESPN CLASSIC CHANNELITV DST – DISCOVERY TURBO SHEB DISCOVERYSHED INST NSIGHTSS1(2,3 OR X) – SKY SPORTS 1 (2,3 OR EXTRA)QUEST BTS1 –…

PODCAST NEWS A brand-new series of the The Nod podcast, discussing both mental health and the positive power of motorcycling to improve it, goes live today on all major streaming platforms. Produced in conjunction with MCN and supported by BMIC, The Nod features men's mental health advocate Ben Bowers, alongside co-anchors and good friends, adventurer Charley Boorman and custom bike builder Anthony Partridge. Bowers has been a Movember ambassador for more than 10 years and helped the charity establish their partnership with the Distinguished Gentleman's Ride. He has also twice had to overcome testicular cancer. Both Boorman and Partridge have appeared on television screens across the country for years, with Boorman starring in the Long Way series with Ewan McGregor, and Partridge known for his work on Discovery's Goblin Works…

shrinking violets… No BMW S1000R • £13,100 • 999cc inline four • 163bhp 199kg A shade over 13 grand will buy you a Billy-basic S1000R. It's based on the S1000RR superbike, too, but power is trimmed down to ‘just’ 163bhp and it doesn't have ShiftCam variable valve timing. But its engine acts more or less like the M1000R does up to 9000rpm, which is still way more than you can use on the road. After that the M is much more powerful with a claimed top speed up from 158mph to 174mph. The S1000R might lack the pizzazz of its twin, V4 and crossplane crank rivals, but it's hugely competent: fast, comfortable, fun and still packed with electronics. Ducati Streetfighter V2 •£15,995 • 955cc V-twin • 151bhp • 200kg We…

BIKING LEGENDS People who have shaped our world Since the Honda Motor Co. was founded in 1948, it has sold over 400 million motorcycles and is now worth around $44 billion. Honda is the biggest bike manufacturer on earth. Founder, Soichiro Honda, could never have dreamed of such global success when he came across 500 war -surplus generator engines in 1946 and decided to fit them into nushhi ke frames. Born in 1906 as the eldest son of a humble blacksmith in the tiny village of Komyo (now swallowed up by Hamamatsu), Soichiro was fascinated by all things mechanical. At school, he earned the nickname ‘black-nosed weasel’ as he always turned up with a mucky face from helping his father in the forge. He left school at 16, after just…

Oxford Noodle Glove £5.99 Channel your inner Cookie Monster with this excellent wash mitt. With its many microfibre noodles, it is great at lifting off dirt without risking damage to paint or shiny surfaces, meaning it's perfect for bodywork – and really excellent at cleaning wheels, because you can get right in between spokes, as well as other nooks. My only criticism is that the fabric of the glove itself is a little flimsy, and when it gets wet and heavy has a tendency to flop off my hand. The light elastic at the wrist could do with being a little tighter in order to prevent this. But, all in all, I think every biker needs a Noodle Glove, especially when they only cost £5.99. 3 month ON TEST Quality…

MCN COMPARE GET PROTECTED! What will it cost to get insurance? We ran an comprehensive MCN Compare quote based on an average risk UK rider to get an idea: Triumph Street Triple R £274.90 The 2023 Street Triple range includes the base model R version, the 128bhp RS version and the already sold out Öhlinsencrusted Moto2 Edition, complete with clip-ons. At the unveiling of the 2023 Street Triple family, Triumph proudly announced that they had given “customers and the press what they've been asking for – a Moto2 bike for the road”. That statement is a tiny bit of a stretch given that Moto2 machines are fully faired, stiff chassis'd, 157kg and, for this season, now over 140bhp – but the sentiment is certainly there, and courtesy of Triumph's four…

BRUCE DUNN MCN's expert technician Use protection… Essential kit that will save your machine from accidental damage 1 Plastic fantastic The thought of ever damaging your bike can be enough to turn your stomach, which is why plenty of us choose to lavish them with crash protection. Made from tough nylon, crash protection is designed to keep your bike's expensive – and often hard to replace – plastic and metal bits from hitting the ground. Check out what's available for your bike. 2 Save swingers and suspension It's not just bodywork and engine casings that benefit from protection, forks and swingarms can potentially be saved too via the use of spindle sliders. These are simple to fit – it's just a case of slotting the supplied threaded rod into the spindle and…

Reporting from the heart of the roads racing paddock Alastair Seeley's rejuvenated career shows no sign of slowing down as the North West 200's most successful racer notched up more wins and lap records at this year's event. The 43-year-old has reentered the British Superstock 1000 fray this season and is running at the front of the pack on the Synetiq BMW. Bringing that bike and pace to Portrush, Seeley smashed the lap record and claimed victory in both NW200 Stocker races. The former double British champion added win number 28 and a new 124.427mph record to his NW200 CV in the Thursday evening race, leading Davey Todd home by a huge 10.3s. This team is a match made in heaven’ It also marked Seeley's 15th victory with Hector and…

Reporting from the heart of the roads racing paddock Glenn Irwin's domination of superbike racing at the North West 200 continued unabated last weekend when the 33-year-old steered his PBM/Beer Monster Ducati V4 to victory in both of the premier class races. That double means Irwin is the winner of the last eight Superbike races at the event, a tally just one shy of the record of nine Superbike victories at the Northern Irish meeting shared by the late Joey Dunlop and Michael Rutter. An off by Gerald Dath in the first race and separate crashes by James Hillier and Mike Browne in the second brought out the red flags after only three of the scheduled laps had been completed in each race. Irwin was battling Davey Todd and Dean…

NEW COLUMN If MotoGP riders want something and fans want the same thing, why not give it to them? I'm talking about penalties, of course. Last month's Spanish GP was a joke, with the FIM stewards penalising Bagnaia, Morbidelli and Quartararo for doing what most riders consider normal: rubbing is racing and all that. At Jerez the stewards policed MotoGP like over-zealous cops. And as Irish poet Brendan Behan once said: “I have never seen a situation so dismal that a policeman couldn't make it worse.” The entire grid was so frustrated they demanded a meeting with the stewards at Le Mans. And they got one. Bagnaia was most vocal in his call for a softer touch, even after he'd locked horns with Marc Marquez during the Sprint, the champion…

When not busy at the headquarters, Arc boss Mark Truman likes to showcase the Vector to bikers in the local area, heading out to spots such as Caffeine and Machine, in Stratford-upon-Avon. Truman said: “We love to spread the word about Arc and as you can imagine most of our customers aren't what you would consider to be the traditional motorcycling set, but we're keen to keep everybody as involved in the process as we can. “If there's a local event just down the road that we can pop to and take the bike and let people see it, then [we will]. “When we went to Caffeine and Machine there were lots of nice bikes there, as you can imagine, but the biggest crowd was around our bike, with everyone…

THIS WEEK Good news for combustion engines and the planet as HIF Global have secured a permit to build the world's largest efuel plant in southern Texas with construction set to start in 2024. The facility in Matagorda County will produce 200 million gallons of synthetic fuel each year, that's enough to power-up 400,000 cars, once it is up and running. The firm behind the project, HIF (which stands for Highly Innovative Fuels), are said to be the world's leading efuel company and the same people who are working with Porsche to open a facility in their native Chile. “In December our efuel facility in southern Chile began production of eGasoline, showing the world that carbon-neutral efuels go straight into existing car engines to decarbonise the infrastructure we use every…

Our used bike anorak reveals this week's smartest buys ‘I like big butts and I cannot lie…’ Over winter I made a decision, the RD350LC has to go. I've been agonising for months but I hardly ride it and it just seems to be gathering dust in the garage, which is a real shame. However, typically, despite not actually getting around to selling the RD, I have already spent the money I've not yet made on another bike. And it too will probably just hang around in my garage! What bike? A Suzuki TL1000R. To many, the TL-R is viewed as an abject failure – with good reason it has to be said. Despite being billed as a WSB racer it failed to line-up on the grid, the fabled race…

‘Too busy for pictures’ CHRIS HOOD A photo I grabbed last weekend (I think!) I've been out this week too, but I've been too busy enjoying it to take piccies! ‘Truckstop brekkie’ GARY CHANTRY A stop off at the Midway Truckstop for brekkie with friends, in Prees Heath. ‘It was all downhill from here’ JOHN CRAWFORD We travelled up via Glencoe to Orkney and spent two nights there. The highlights were the Italian Chapel, Scapa Flow, Twatt, of course, and Skara Brae. Then it was down to Edinburgh via the Cairngorms. ‘A trip to Baffle Haus’ RICHARD BENTHAM A trip to Baffle Haus with my friends Les and Lyndon, And we bumped into Henry Cole! ‘Top of the Buttertubs’ PAUL LOW Windswept and interesting at the top of the Buttertubs…

SUPER-NAKED SHOOTOUT THE MCN TEST ● THE HOTTEST BIKES ● EVERY WEEK £19,480 BMW M1000R • 999cc 16v inline four • 207bhp/83lb.ft • £209.49 per month PCP £22,895 Ducati Streetfighter V4 S • 1103cc 16v V4 • 2Q5bhp/90lb.ft • £232.47 per month PCP MCN CHIEF ROAD TESTER BMW's new M1000R and the updated Ducati Streetfighter V4 S make obscene amounts of power. The Italian's MotoGP-derived V4 motor pumps out 205bhp and the German's inline four has 207bhp, making it the most powerful naked money can buy. But aren't these big numbers getting a bit silly for road bikes with all the aerodynamics of a house brick? Back in 2008 I raced a Yamaha R1 that made around 165bhp at the rear wheel. It was more than quick enough, but I…

‘Nice, but no wow factor’ The new CL-X might say adventure in the brochure, but it's unLikeLy to be your pick for serious aLL-terrain riding. Instead, it's a comfortable, mild-mannered, retro-Looking twin that would likely raise a smiLe on a dusty graveL traiL but nothing more serious. The grumbLy circa 70bhp DOHC 693cc paraLLeL twin engine is sprightly but easiLy managed, and the wide fLat bars aLLow you to buLLy the 18in front PireLLi Scorpion RaLLy STR tyre into bend after bend. Combine this with a soft seat and a roomy peg position and it becomes an affordable alternative to the Likes of the £9995 Ducati Scrambler Icon but the twin Lacks the urgency of more modern 270-degree crank rivaLs, and you miss out on that final 5% wow factor.…

Motorcycle Parts Warehouse Fairing Kit £234.24 With my trackday debut fast approaching, I decided to switch out the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) fairings on my Kawasaki ZXR400 as a precautionary measure in case of any accidents during the event. Since I needed to commute to and from the track on my motorcycle, I chose to go with road bodywork instead of track bodywork. 600 miles ON TEST The fairings came pre-drilled, making it possible to install them in less than an hour, even with minimal experience and only a few basic tools. The only issue I faced during the installation process was some of the plastic parts overlapping, which didn't match the originals exactly. However, with some quick sanding, I was able to align them properly. Once I was satisfied…

Lots of biking brands have been targeted by counterfeiters, but British crash protection and accessory specialists Evotech Performance and GBRacing have had more than their fair share of products ripped off by fraudsters. Sold online via third party marketplace websites, the fake protectors appear at face value to be exact copies of the real thing but at a fraction of the price. Yet, far from being a bargain, these hooky products are at best poor quality and at worst downright damaging for your bike – and what's the point of fitting protection that does more harm than good? Another benefit of buying the real deal is that often they have link ups with insurers, meaning that in the event of a crash, your damaged protectors will get replaced free of…

Well that was a good North West for me. I got in the top five, but honestly the result doesn't matter. What matters is that I felt good, I was faster than last year, I didn't make mistakes and the bikes were good. The new Metzeler tyre feels a better too. So far this year I've done Spanish testing and two BSB rounds and now I've had plenty of miles around the North West getting my heart rate up -I even got a sweat on. I'm just enjoying it again. Another thing is that nobody is talking to me as much as before-which is quite nice really. No one thinks I'm a threat and racing can be brutal like that so as far as people are concerned – I'm done.…

Dani Holgado showed exactly why he is leading Moto3, winning his second race of the year and his Tech3 team's home race with an exemplary performance. Such was his speed, the Spaniard split a lead group of seven in the final two laps. Only title contender Ayumu Sasaki was able to hold on. The result was all the more impressive considering Holgado's physical struggles in recent weeks. Races in Austin and Jerez were blighted in the closing laps by arm pump issues. Different treatment through this weekend meant he couLd ride freely here. ‘He's an animal on track, but a teddy bear off it’ Team boss Hervé Poncharal was understandably enraptured by his rider. “He's an animal on track, but a teddy bear off it!” he said. Runner up Ayumu…

Only a fool would have bet against Sam Lowes repeating his Jerez heroics at Le Mans on Saturday afternoon, after the Brit notched up a 20th career pole. But he could only pick up a point for 15th after crashing out of the race, before dramatically joining the restart from the back of the grid. “It's a mistake obviously to crash at that point in the race,” said Lowes. “I don't feel I did a lot wrong. They were a bit deep in Turn 1, I cut it back a bit, but with a cool tyre, and a full tank of fuel. I wasn't doing anything stupid. The team did a great job to get me back out. I don't know how they got me back out. It was a…

THIS WEEK Sym have released their 125cc Jet X with a UK retail price of £3350. The A-licence friendly commuter features ABS, LED lights all round and a four-stroke, four-valve, liquid-cooled engine that produces 12.5hp at 8000rpm. Weighing 120kg, the Jet should be a sprightly urban scooter capable of 70mph and a 100-mile range from its 7.5-litre fuel tank. Spend an evening with Knighter Five-time enduro world champion David Knight MBE will be hosting an evening at the Manx Museum in Douglas on Friday, June 2, introduced by two-time TT winner Steve Plater. Costing £25 a ticket, the event will see Manx-born Knight talk about his career, from schoolboy racing, to travelling the world. Tickets: manxnationalheritage.im/whats-on/ Do the NC with H-D Chester Harley-Davidson are offering a free 950-mile, five-day guided…

Fantic's first-ever electric moped, the Issimo City, is now available throughout Europe following its introduction at last year's Eicma trade show in Milan. With a 3kW motor, the scooter is available in both L1 and L3 options. The L1 version is a 28mph moped, while the L3 is the equivalent of a 125cc machine. In both versions, the Issimo City comes with a standard 2.2 kWh battery with the option of ugrading to 4.4 kWh. That gives the L1, 2.2 kWh version a range of 72km (45 miles), extendable to over 140km (87 miles) with dual batteries. The Issimo retails for around £3460 (€3990). Seeing the light? The Cheshire Police motorcycle unit have taken ownership of a new piece of technology that allows officers to accurately test the level of…

mcn.letters@motorcyclenews.com motorcyclenews motorcyclenews MCNnews ‘Held to ransom on electronics’ With the ever-increasing use of electronics on bikes (and cars) there is also a trend for withholding some of their best functions until a ransom payment is made. As your MCN250 test (MCN, May 3) of the KTM 890 Adventure R discovered, four of its electronic controls which worked from new are, after a short time, automatically shut down unless a significant extra payment is made. It is disingenuous of KTM and others to claim these extra costs because all these facilities are fitted, working and thus already paid for, on your new bike. This insidious practice should be discouraged. David Bagshall, email STAR LETTER Noise isn't an issue With the ever-increasing use of electronics on bikes (and cars) there is…

Send your trips to yourpics@motorcyclenews.com Readers Paul Spellman and friends The Ride Stockton to John O'Groats and back How many miles? 1000 Tell us about the trip… We (four riders, two support) went to John O’ Groats and back in 24 hours. Our Blood Bike group www.bloodrun.co.uk/#Home needs to buy a new bike and our finances have not recovered since the Covid pandemic so that was the purpose of the trip, if anyone wants to add sponsorship. We started at our PitStop social, base in Stockton hitting our first snag in Otterburn where our bacon roll I stop was dosed because we were’ too early. Fortunately, a little caff in Jedburgh did the business and then on to Edinburgh bypass and Dumbarton. An unplanned stop here as we were pulled…

KEY TO THE AREA ■ SOUTH WEST ■ CENTRAL NORTH & SCOTLAND ■ SOUTH EAST Wednesday May 17 BIKE MEETS ■ Huggys Speedshop, MaLLory Park, Leics From 10am www.huggysspeedshop.co.uk ■ King Billy Rock Bar, Northampton 6.30pm ■ MFN, Seven Oaks Inn, Stanton By Dale, Derbyshire 5pm till Late Facebook: MFN Bike nights ■ The Old Stores, Pontblyddyn, Flints 6pm-9pm 07548-224866 Seaways, Fridaythorpe, Fast Yorks 4pm-8pm mike@seawayscafe.co.uk ■ Park Road Cafe, St Helens, Merseyside 01744-808440 Squires Cafe, Newthorpe, West Yorks www.squires-cafe.co.uk ■ Loomies, West Meon, Hants. Open till 9pm www.loomiescafe.co.uk ■ Paignton Seafront, Devon Facebook: English Riviera Bike Night ■ VMCC & Norton Owners Club Day, Sammy Miller Museum, Bashley Manor, New Milton, Hants 01425620777 or www.sammymiller.co.uk ■ Hook Bike Night, Newton Road, Hook, Pembrokeshire 6pm hook.bike.night@gmail.com ■ The Pathfinder Cafe,…

Be safe, be seen. It's a well worn phrase and with good reason. SMIDSY (“Sorry Mate I didn't See You”) has been shown to be a major cause of collisions involving cars and motorcycles at junctions. To get noticed, many riders wear brightly coloured gilets, (the French word for vest). These are generally fluorescent yellow, because that is the brightest colour on the chromaticity scale. While yellow stands out in low light conditions and at night, it isn't as effective on a bright summer's day, when it can blend in against a backdrop of leaves or grass verges near the road. This is why road workers usually wear fluorescent orange clothing – because it's a colour that doesn't occur naturally, and is therefore easy for the human brain to distinguish from…

STUART PRESTIDGE STAFF WRITER ‘Lively, fun and good value too’ Scooters are inherently fun and the Address ticks that box with a lively engine and decent handling, mixed with a good dose of useful storage space and modern conveniences such as a USB charging port. A snip under £2.5k is great value for a 125 and with the ability to turn out 140-odd miles to a tank, value-conscious riders will be scooting all the way to the bank. That's not to say it's lacking practical features with a centre and sidestand as standard and 21.8 litres of underseat storage. For no-nonsense, top-value commuting from a known brand, you can't go far wrong here. THE FACTS £2499 Suzuki Address 125 Engine Single cylinder, aircooled 124cc Frame Steel tube Suspension (F) Telescopic,…

‘Go for the V4 beast…’ Are 200bhp nakeds too much? Well, thanks to clever mapping and rider aids, that kind of power is manageable. Whether you can actually use it all it is another matter. You'll be lucky to find the room to get the Streetfighter V4 S or M1000R past half revs on the road. But they have the handling, braking power and tech to match their superbike engines, and that's where the enjoyment lies with these monsters. Pick a corner and rail through as fast as you dare. The BMW is the easiest to get on with. The engine is smooth with a broad spread of power, the riding position is slightly less extreme and it has a bigger dash, heated grips and cruise control. Yet it doesn't…

‘Does price matter?’ With no improvement whatsoever offered by the Anniversary models in terms of spec over the base versions of each model it's difficult to objectively assess their appeal. After all, the Heritage Classic Anniversary is over five grand more than the stock version; the TriGlide Ultra £12,500 more. And for what? Some fancy paint and a few badges? But buying a Harley has never been rational. Whether you like the style and ride or not, Harleys remain ‘ultimate dream machines’ and the Anniversary editions are even more exclusive. If that individuality appeals, the price probably doesn't matter. THE FACTS £28,577 2023 H-D Heritage Classic Anniversary Edition…

Alpinestars Ride Tech V2 Long Sleeve Summer Top £67.99 This is Alpinestars’ second generation Ride Tech Summer Long Sleeve Top, designed to keep you cool and comfortable under riding gear in hot weather. The ‘Version 2’ is lighter and thinner than the original and comes in plain black with red detailing, rather than the old black/red Deadpool-style design. I wear it for racing and trackdays when temperatures soar and normal summer base layers are too stifling. Its stretchy, moisture-wicking material is ultra-thin and vented, which really keeps me cool, especially around the neck with its lower cut. It's so light it takes up almost zero room in a kit bag and after numerous wears and washes it's still in perfect condition. If you've got the body for it, strutting around…

I have to say I am a bit of a fan of the XJR1300 (although not the Racer model, that was a nightmare to sell) but you do have to be careful when buying any that have been modified. Buyers always seem to want a stock XJR and mods end up devaluing the bike, as one owner discovered… I remember the bike well, it was when the whole ‘hipster’ movement was at its peak and he had spent a lot on the bike. As well as new paint it had a different seat, replacement bars, new exhaust, bar-end mirrors and even the swingarm had been modified and the subframe chopped. It looked good but I knew it would be a hard sell and where I would have offered someone with…

A spate of crashes at the NW200 have ruled some of road racing's biggest names out of this year's TT. The current leader of the British Supersport series, Lee Johnston, suffered serious injuries when he crashed his Ashcourt Yamaha at Church corner during qualifying. The English-based Ulsterman was airlifted with a broken shoulder and femur. New Honda signing, Nathan Harrison broke his wrist and collarbone when he crashed out of the Superstock race Later the same day at Dhu Varren. Michael Sweeney is another TT doubtful after crashing at the same spot in the opening Supertwin race, breaking vertebrae, his collarbone and dislocating a knee. Conor Cummins was ruled out of Saturday's action after damaging his knee when he clouted a kerb at Ballysally roundabout in Thursday's Superstock race and…

Dean Harrison posted a series of impressive North West 200 results ahead of next month's TT races. The Bradford rider, who won the Senior TT in 2019, claimed third place finishes on the DAO Racing Kawasakis in both of Saturday's Superbike events plus a third and fourth in the two Superstock races. He also finished fourth and fifth on the BPE/Russell Yamaha R6 in both 600cc races at the seaside event. “I felt most comfortable on the Superbike,” Harrison said. “I felt like I was always there in both races. It was a shame the races were cut short because there was nothing in it between us and I had more to give.” ‘There was nothing in it and I had more to give’ “Kawasaki have stepped things up this…

Michael Dunlop was running at the front of the pack in all the races he contested. The 21-times TT winner has switched to Honda for the big bike classes this season, running a Hawk Racing Honda in the Superbike class alongside a stock Fireblade and a Yamaha R6 in his own MD Racing colours. Dunlop posted the fastest Superbike lap during the opening practice session and finished in the top five in every race he started, except for the first Superbike event when he was forced to retire because of issues with his rear tyre.…

Reporting direct from the French round of MotoGP With Pedro Acosta waiting in the wings as the next big thing for KTM, many had assumed MotoGP rookie Augusto Fernandez was a simple stop gap until his young compatriot's inevitable rise. Yet Fernandez has already proved he belongs at this level after a sensational fourth place at Le Mans in just his fifth race in the class. Yes, he benefited from crashes up ahead. But the 25-year-old was strong all weekend and passed both the factory KTMs in Sunday's race before resolutely defending from Aleix Espargaro – eight years and 217 premier class starts his senior – in the closing laps. “Congratulations to him,” conceded the Aprilia man. “His race was crazy. While this result was no doubt a surprise, Fernandez…

SPORT ‘We showed everybody we were there…’ If the dreaded stewards are in the mood to hand out yet another penalty for being “overly ambitious”, there's one rider who should have one every time he puts on his helmet. It's Marc Marquez, multichampion, frequent crasher, and a man to whom the words “never give up” just don't go far enough. Le Mans marked the eight-time champion's return after yet another injury that meant he sat out the first four races. After just missing pole, he lead the early laps, then crashed from a secure podium with two laps left, in what was his first fulllength GP since October last year. Prolonged absences have been a hallmark of the past three seasons, since he snapped his right humerus at the start…

At the centre of the MotoGP paddock for over 25 years TOP STORY Amemorable win in a manic Le Mans MotoGP or a shave? Marco Bezzecchi couldn't decide what made him happiest. A dominant win on a landmark 1000th Grand Prix weekend reignited the Italian's early title challenge. But he seemed even more ecstatic to be taking a razor to the moustache he said he'd keep until he won again after his maiden success during a wet Argentinian round last month. It's safe to say that Bezzecchi had his share of close shaves before proving he was a cut above the rest in France. Scare number one came at the start of lap six when he came within millimetres of being caught in a terrifying tangle with Mooney VR46 Ducati…