Indice dei contenuti per August 2017 in Performance Bikes

A SURPRISE win in the opening Superbike race, finishing off the podium in Supersport, a Superstock win in spite of minimal practice time to adapt to different rubber, and finally his huge crash at the 27th milestone led 16-times winner Ian Hutchinson to point the finger at the Dunlop tyres he requested to use this year. Despite holding off Hickman for the opening win in the Superbike TT, Hutchy claimed he didn’t think it was on the cards at the start. “I was treating it as a six-lap practice – the bike wasn’t right, so I was surprised to have won,” he said. After four Supersport wins in a row, finishing the single 600 race in fifth, over a minute adrift of winner Michael Dunlop, stung for the only rider…

To James Whitham, and Max Biaggi Racer turned racing pundit Whit is undergoing treatment after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma for the second time. He took a break from BSB in the 1990s for treatment, and beat it first time round. PB wishes him the very best in kicking its arse a second time. Meanwhile, 250/WSB champ Biaggi spat himself off a supermoto training at the same Sagittarius circuit that cost Doriano Romboni his life in 2013. The Roman Emperor was initially placed in intensive care, but was stabilised and is now recovered from various injuries to his chest.…

DAVEY LAMBERT 1969-2017 Davey Lambert was the first rider to fall victim to the unforgiving TT course this year. The 48-year-old from Gateshead crashed at Greeba Castle in the Superbike race. He was transferred to Aintree hospital in Liverpool but succumbed to his injuries. JOCHEM VAN DEN HOEK 1988-2017 Dutch rider Jochem Van Den Hoek also lost his life, crashing out of the Superstock race at the 11th Milestone. A front-runner at European road races, 2017 marked Jochem’s second year racing at the TT. ALAN BONNER 1984-2017 33-year-old Alan Bonner from the Republic of Ireland was killed at the 33rd Milestone in Senior qualifying. A popular figure in the paddock, racers and fans have paid tribute to an accomplished road racer. PB’s condolences go out to close friends and families…

(WRONG) SEASONAL WEAR AGV PISTA GP-R ROSSI WINTER TEST 2017 Now your legs have made a guest appearance and there’s a hint of sunburn on your bonce, it’s tough to cast your mind back to the depths of winter and the Sepang MotoGP tests. But that’s not stopped the firm in charge of protecting The Doctor’s racing brain, AGV, producing this replica of Rossi’s testing lid. Complete with snowmen and icicles, it’s an exact replica of the lid he wore at Sepang’s sweltering pre-season test earlier this year. Made from a carbon-fibre shell, with aerodynamic winglets and a built-in hydration system, it’s a beautiful lid, but only a fortunate few will be able to afford it. Price £1100 Contact www.moto-direct.com SAY NO TO B.O. FURYGAN ARON JACKET The trouble with…

RUTTER ON THE FAST SECTION ‘It’s the fastest part of the course, but this is one of the few places where you can relax your grip on the bars and breathe’ SECTION 3 - 1.78 MILES IT IS EXACTLY 1.78 miles from the entry of Quarry Bends to Sulby Bridge, a distance which Rutter dispatches in 43.82 seconds on the GSX-R – or to put it another way, an average of 146.3mph. He negotiates five direction changes through Quarry Bends before being spat out on to Sulby Straight where he promptly maxes the Suzuki out at 186.08mph. Overall, the BMW fares better than the Suzuki in this sector, completing it in 41.98 seconds (or 152.93mph average), but it has to come from behind. The GSX-R deals with the fist part…

WHILE WE WERE exploring previously uncharted waters, becoming the first people to accurately reveal the 110-year-old secrets of the TT course, we thought we would push our luck and ask Rutter’s Bathams SMT team if we could datalog their Superstock bike for a lap, to see just how much difference upgraded suspension, pre-heated Metzeler Racetec RR tyres, a bank of set-up data from last year’s TT, and the other minor tweaks tight Superstock regulations allow, makes over a basic road-going S1000RR. The race bike lap we datalogged was Rutter’s first lap on it during practice week, and at 125mph was still some way off what he managed during the Superstock race the following week. In many ways this gives us a closer comparison in so much as the lap on…

I’LL GET STRAIGHT to the point. I was genuinely surprised – no, shocked – at how good these bikes were around the course. The performance available from a standard road bike is mind-blowing. There wasn’t a single moment on either bike when I thought to myself, ‘this is a bit shit’, or wanted more. I had to bring my best to each bike. There wasn’t a moment when I could relax. I love the way that both bikes were quite different to each other on the course, and displayed their individual characteristics. The BMW is so fast, and has such brilliant electronics. They’re still the best, maybe because I’m used to them, but either way there’s no getting away from the fact they are still the benchmark. The suspension coped…

‘We convinced the Goodwood guys to let us in on the spot. Even Keanu Reeves had to move up to make space for us’ CARBON-FIBRE is the material of the moment, as the exotic new Ducati 1299 Superleggera and BMW HP4 Race have proven. However, one full year ahead of the big-name carbon sportsbikes, the Dutch-built carbon monocoque-framed VanderHeide V4 superbike made its debut at the 2016 Goodwood Festival of Speed. But the Aprilia RSV4-engined beauty, built by brothers Sjors and Rolf van der Heide, wasn’t even on the guestlist. “We didn’t have an invitation, but we went there anyway hoping to use the bike as our ticket,” says Sjors. “We finished building it on the Monday and on Thursday we turned up at the gate and asked them to…

Don’t get distracted If you have people in the garage with you, stop whatever job you’re doing or you will get distracted and mess it up. If a mate is blathering on at you, that’s when you can easily forget to do up a nut or replace a washer. Walk away I was evil last Sunday as I couldn’t get the turbo to run, nearly in tears. I took a break, looked at a forum post and the light bulb went on in my head. The next day, with a new part fitted, it fired up first push of the button. Forums are useful... The PB forum is fantastic, full of people who really know their stuff. But all forums are useful, too. If you are stuck, join a forum…

ENGINE Tough as old boots mostly. Auto camchain tensioners can get a bit slack and let the chain go, so replace them (manual alternatives are available) on time and be wary of rattles. CHASSIS Handling is decent. Earlier forks are non-cartridge and not easy to get working really well, but 1995-on bikes had cartridge forks that are receptive to internal changes. EXHAUSTS Do some research on full exhaust systems before buying: some will poke a hole in the midrange that’s hard to fix. WHAT TO PAY MINT: £1800 ROUGH: £900 BEST MODIFICATION Opting for a 120/70 instead of 120/60 profile front tyre vastly improves steering without any penalty, and gives a wider choice of decent rubber.…

CHRIS NEWBIGGING EDITOR chris@pbmag.co.uk Not last night, not ever. Not as long as there’s a hole in my arse. AUSTIN SMITH ART EDITOR austin@pbmag.co.uk Between working and sleeping, there’s not enough hours in a day for that shit. JOHN McAVOY ROAD TESTER editorial@pbmag.co.uk No, because I have testicles and not post-menopausal ovaries. MICHAEL RUTTER TRACK TESTER editorial@pbmag.co.uk Of course! I never miss an episode. In fact, I’ve got it on series link... MARK WHITE TECHNICIAN editorial@pbmag.co.uk Hell no, just look at what it’s done to Rutter... JOHN McGUINNESS COLUMNIST editorial@pbmag.co.uk How the hell could I call myself a road racer if I watched that bag of shite? KAR LEE FORUM EDITOR editorial@pbmag.co.uk No. It would impinge upon my newfound love of building model railways. CAROLINE BARRETT EDITORIAL ASSISTANT caz@pbmag.co.uk Even…

PETER HICKMAN made the established TT experts work for their results, finishing runner-up in the Superbike, Superstock and Senior races with a brace of thirds in the Supersport and Lightweight to make him the highest points scorer across race week, and the winner of the Joey Dunlop Championship. Hickman opened the week with an impressive charge to second place in the final two laps of the Superbike race, bringing back an 11-second lead to just 1.6s at the Ramsey timing point. But Hutchinson put the hammer down for the final miles, just as Hickman reckons his bike coughed and lost power as it ran on fumes from the Creg, finishing five seconds back, but in front of Dean Harrison. He started the Supersport race on a Triumph Daytona 675, slowly…

RUTTER ON COLD TYRES ‘Going from a standing start to 160mph is special. But the first pull of the brakes at the bottom of Bray Hill wakes you up!’ SECTION 1 - 2.80 MILES THIS IS THE the sector with the most TT landmarks in it. Bray Hill, St Ninian’s Crossroads, Quarter Bridge, Braddan Bridge, Union Mills and Ballagarey are all visited by Rutter, less than 90 seconds after setting off from Glencrutchery Road. During the 2.8-mile long sector, he averages 111.2mph on the BMW and 114.54mph on the Suzuki, which is staggeringly impressive on its own before factoring in that Rutter started each lap on stone cold tyres he’s not familiar with, at 36psi. This makes the data collected by Rutter from a standing start borderline-unworldly. It also shines…

RUTTER ON THE BUMPY SECTION ‘Races can be won and lost here, due to how you set your bike up for the bumps. The range of adjustment in these bikes is great’ WHEN WE ASKED Rutter to suggest the best place to study how the bikes behave over bumps, he replied instantly: “It’s all really bumpy, but the worst bit is from Ginger Hall to Ramsey Hairpin. It’s so bumpy there that in 1998 my contact lenses fell out of my eyes, and I did the next lap and a half pretty much unable to see.” He had laser eye surgery soon after... This 4.16-mile sector is our natural point of comparison for suspension quality and stability. A first glance at the data reveals that as well as the bumps…

THE ORIGINAL VERSION of this bike’s double-wishbone front suspension design was created by French engineer Claude Fior, who used it on his Endurance racer in 1979. It was later copied by BMW in creating the Duolever fork for their K-series bikes. Zimbabwean engineer Norman Hossack patented a similar design in 1984, but allowed this to expire, therefore allowing BMW to adopt it on the K1200, unencumbered by licence or royalty agreements. Fior never patented his design as he was only interested in racing with it, not commercialising it. There are several effective benefits of the design. Steering and suspension functions are separated, so the front suspension doesn’t freeze when you trail-brake when leant over; superior suspension compliance, thanks to a fully-adjustable shock eliminating the stiction problems of a telescopic fork;…

2016 BMW S1000RR ALEC TAGUE FOURTH, FIFTH AND sixth at the TT... It’s been an amazing month. For Michael as a rider, and us as a team. It’s actually Michael’s best TT performance since 2000 – when he was 28 years old! But the build-up wasn’t ideal... We arrived at Donington WSB to race Superstock the weekend before the TT with Michael’s Superstock bike and the TT Superbike, which I’d taken home with me before the team truck left for the Isle of Man because it wasn’t finished. We operated out the back of the van for the weekend – proper club racing-style. That was all going well until James Rispoli took a lunge at Michael coming round Goddards and sent him over the bars. The next thing I saw…

1997 YAMAHA TRX850 JOHN McAVOY I KNOW I shouldn’t be surprised when it turns out that my TRX has been utterly transformed by replacing its 20-year-old, 50,000-mile OE shock. But swapping out a component that probably cost £20 to make and replacing it with a premium-brand, handmade aftermarket shock has made such a difference that a quick test ride ultimately turned into a full-scale head-banging session. In fairness, I was probably surprised more at the sheer scale of the transformation rather than the fact that there was one. After all, taking a £438 plunge on a bike that’s only worth around £1200 is a sizeable investment, and the reason I opted for the entry-level NTR1 shock from British company Nitron. Their top-of-the-range NTR R3 shock would have set me back…

HOW LONG 500 MILES/ONE TRACK EVENING COST £270 CONTACT TYRE DEALERS THIS IS THE latest iteration of Dunlop’s Sportsmart all-round sporty road tyre –stickier than a sports-touring tyre, longer-lasting than trackday rubber. I’ve fitted them to my MV, as they’re the perfect fitment for mostly road and occasional gentle track use. So far, they’re good – they warm up nicely and are plenty grippy enough, including on track at the sort of pace I’m prepared to go to on ageing suspension... They’re nice and stable, too – a big lump like me on a compact bike can easily get into wobbles, but the profile is nice and progressive. I haven’t had a chance to try them in the wet yet. If I was to pick fault with a tyre that…

2017 HONDA FIREBLADE JOHN MCAVOY BOTH I, AND PB as a whole, have been underwhelmed by the 2017 Fireblade. A light, accurate chassis has been wholly overshadowed by inconsistent throttle behaviour, which we believe to be either a mapping issue, or the result of over-cautious rider aids interfering in a clumsy fashion. This shouldn’t be confused with the issues the road race team has had. It’s a completely different set of issues, with a different electronics system. But all the same, it means the bike made a poor show of itself in the Rutter Test, and I’ve yet to fully gel with it and appreciate its good qualities in full. Honda are adamant my bike is functioning perfectly, and suggested we revisit the electronics menu in case we’re got the…

HONDA HAD two weeks to bounce back from John McGuinness’s NW200 crash, caused by an as-yet unsolved (or at least unannounced) electronic malfunction. In the name of safety, Guy Martin’s road race bike got the same MoTeC electronics as the BSB bike, which has had more development laps, and not suffered the same potentially dangerous glitches as the Honda kit system. More testing followed: at Castle Combe, and even Elvington runway, trying to tackle the Fireblade’s SP2’s secondary, less contentious issue – speed. It was outpaced by a stock S1000RR road bike on the day. The troubles reached their zenith in the Superbike race: eight miles in, Guy attempted to shift down to slow the bike from 140mph or so into Doran’s bend with engine braking, and got what he…

I’M WRITING this sat in a hospital gown that would put you off your dinner. And 10 minutes ago I had a swab pushed where the sun doesn’t shine – clearly the road to recovery isn’t going to be a pretty one. We’ve been waiting for skin grafts to settle before I can have the long-term fixator frame fitted to my leg. I’ll have my leg freshly broken again, in a clean fashion just below the knee. The break will create a gap between the bone and the plan is that I’ll grow a tiny amount of new bone every day. It’ll be down to me to adjust the fixator, which will keep the bone apart and force it to grow. At least it’ll give me a chance to get…

RUTTER ON SECTION TWO ‘Going through Kirk Michael feels like a video game sometimes. The tall buildings really give you a sense of tunnel vision’ SECTION 2 - 2.80 MILES THE 2.8 MILE section from Kirk Michael to Ballaugh Bridge is largely high-speed and flowing, with the exception of a hard change of direction between Rhencullen 1 and Rhencullen 2. This direction change takes place at 111.51mph on the BMW and 115.83mph on the Suzuki, reinforcing the Suzuki’s status as the faster turning of the two bikes. Rutter peaks at 1.08 lateral g on the Suzuki and 0.971g on the BMW, so we really are splitting hairs as both bikes are being well and truly bullied by him, and he is asking a lot from them in a short space…

RUTTER ON THE MOUNTAIN ‘The sense of no longer being enclosed by buildings and spectators almost gives riding the Mountain a sense of solitude’ SECTION 5 - 8.97 MILES IT IS PRECISELY 8.97 miles from the Gooseneck to Creg Ny Baa, and in that distance the utterly unmistakeable Mountain section of the TT course (otherwise known as the A10 from Ramsey to Douglas) is the very definition of fast, flowing tarmac. From the Gooseneck, the road gains 260.17 metres in elevation, peaking at 429.40 metres above sea level at Hailwood’s Rise – that’s equivalent to just over a quarter of a kilometre of vertical ascent. Some of the headline numbers that Rutter’s data trace reveals about the Mountain section and the bikes are staggering. If you have seen the helicopter…

BOTH BIKES were fitted with Metzeler Sportec M7RRs, and inflated to 36psi front and rear (cold) on Metzeler’s advice. Normally they would recommend 42psi for the rear, but went for a lower pressure due to the additional heat build-up Rutter would generate. They were not pre-heated. By their own admission, Metzeler were being conservative in these circumstances – the tyres were largely untested, despite drawing on lessons learned through road racing at the North West 200, Ulster Grand Prix and TT. In many ways, using the Sportec M7RR for this test seems wholly appropriate given how much reference there is in Metzeler’s own blurb about using feedback and lessons from Guy Martin and road racing to create the ‘ultimate tyre for the road.’ This is also a first for Metzeler,…

WORLD ENDURANCE is the most brutal short circuit racing discipline. Writing it off as riders circulating at 90% on soft-edged bikes is grossly inaccurate: they’re full Superbike-spec machines, ridden by some of the world’s best riders at full tilt with only a few seconds of respite once an hour. Then it’s back out on fresh slicks and chasing the limit again. You don’t win it with just any bike. French team GMT94 finished second in the series last year, and their refined R1 is so far bossing it in 2017. They won at April’s 24-hour at Le Mans, then took the 8-Hour at Oscherleben. However, this year’s new-format championship actually started at the Bol d’Or in September 2016 (go figure), where the maximum 40 points were won by Suzuki... Their…

1 Ice cream and takeaway tubs ‘I always buy the wife good quality ice cream that comes in a nice plastic tub, not the stuff in card-style tubs, because they make great containers. Sweet tubs are far too big, ice cream tubs are much better. My mother-in-law has a Costco card and one day she came home with 100 brand new takeaway containers, which only cost about £12. That saves the effort of cleaning used ones up and all your nuts and bolts smelling of curry! Costco is a brilliant shop, a total mine of useful stuff you never knew existed...’ 2 Long Phillips screwdriver ‘I have no idea where this came from, I suspect I might have liberated it from dad’s garage, but it is so useful because the…

1989 SUZUKI RGV250K CHRIS NEWBIGGING YOU HAVE TO RISE above certain things with an ageing two-stroke. And Italian bikes for that matter: I’m not sure when I became such a glutton for mechanical punishment, but I’m getting it from both corners of the garage just now... In the blue corner, the RGV has stood with a towel over the open gearbox/clutch in a box since I’d threadlocked/peened the bolts securing a performance clutch on a worn-out drive gear... RGV specialists The Tuning Works kindly took it back and extricated my double-secured fasteners so I could fit a better gear. I’m not sure if they took pity on me and my problems, or it’s just good old-fashioned customer service. My previous experience with owner Sean says it’s mostly the latter. I…

HOW LONG FIVE NIGHTS COST £125 (PRACTICE WEEK) - £345 (RACE WEEK) CONTACT WWW.IOMTTBREAKS.COM  certain circumstances...). There’s enough room for two adults using it as a double or twin, and you could get an under-12 in the bunk, too. As long as you just need a place to sleep, shower and shit, it’s fine. Chris and I had no quibbles; other than the fairly steep rates, it suited our needs perfectly. It’s ideal for a short stay when you’ll be out all day. It’s right next to the paddock in Douglas, so you’re in the centre of TT fortnight happenings, but if you’re staying longer and need social or cooking space it’s no good. They’re also offered at Silverstone MotoGP. THERE’S NO GETTING away from the fact that this is…

2017 SUZUKI GSX-R1000R CHRIS NEWBIGGING EVERYBODY KEEPS telling me I need to buy this GSX-R after its stonking 121.9mph lap in our TT Rutter Test special. “It’s a piece of history,” I’m informed. I suppose it sort of is: it holds an unofficial lap record for the fastest road bike round the Isle. But I’m not sure that’s reason enough to buy it... It’s quite cool having a bike with a collector box grazed through the dip at the bottom of Bray Hill, though: a little bit of me was disappointed it didn’t come back with more visual reminders of its unprecedented test excursion to start the following sort of exchange. Gawker: “What’s that scuff?” Me: “Oh, you know... from Barregarrow. Does that every lap...” The best legacy of its…