Table of contents for February 2019 in Performance Bikes

‘Everyone remembers their favourite feature, writer, road tester...’ LONG TERM READERS will know PB didn’t appear from nowhere in April 1985. It was a relaunched, renamed ‘Motorcycle Mechanics’. Same faces, same stuff inside, but with a new edge. Huge leaps in motorcycling were happening by the year, and even by the month, changing how we rode bikes forever. Turning MM into PB let it move with the times. Those times lasted nearly 34 years: sportsbikes boomed, and several generations revelled in a culture influenced by the bikes, and also the times. Everyone remembers their favourite feature, writer, tester, coverline: you can’t single out one of them as the thing that defines PB; they all did. PB isn’t just the Frenzy. Not just Gus and Ronnie. It’s definitely not Trev Franklins’s…

DON’T FANCY GOING TO the enormous expense, and enduring countless hours of workshop fannying, required to better Ducati’s super-light Superleggera? ‘They’ve developed a new intake system that works with the trellis’ Here at PB we’ve spent the last year shaving every gram we could off a 2008 Fireblade to give it a power to weight ratio worth shouting about. But you can get close with a simple dig into the joint savings account before making a call to Bologna-based frame builders Pierobon, who have made it that little bit easier for you to construct your own exceptional V-twin Panigale weapon with their latest X85R kit. Opt for individual components or splash the kids’ inheritance on the complete kit – the choice is yours. Supply a 1199/1299/899/959 motor, and you’ve a…

BEEN MEANING TO write for ages and now that the devastating news about the end-ish of PB I realise that there is a time limit! First off, I hope you and everyone at PB find awesome new roles elsewhere or can enjoy luxurious early retirement basking in your jacuzzis full of dosh and lightweight chassis parts, etc... The main reason I wanted to write was that I’ve been glued to your Project Blade, because I own its bureaucratic brother – a white Fireblade, reg CE08 DSZ. I got it a couple of years ago. It’s the polar opposite to yours; pretty much bog standard, reassuringly fat and suitably heavy. So thanks for all the inspiration, knowledge and entertainment and wishing you, the team and your Blade all the best for…

In this company, the Ducati Panigale V4 is arguably the bike with the more tenuous link to its MotoGP brethren. The motor has the same V4 layout and 81mm bore size as the Desmosedici MotoGP bike, and it is mounted in the frame tilted back 42° to the horizontal plane just like the racer. It also has a counter-rotating crankshaft, and a ‘twin-pulse’ firing order, but the wider construction is suitably different to the Desmosedici GP. But, if you are one of the very sensible (or deranged) people to have bought a Panigale V4 since it came out a year ago, you can say in complete confidence that your motive power is conceptually identical to the 2015 Ducati MotoGP bike. Well, apart from the fact it’s got a longer stroke…

I REMEMBER THE FIRST RIDE on I Project Fireblade in October 2016. It wasn’t great. The suspension was underdamped yet harsh, the idle was a bit stumbly, and the misshapen Avon front/ancient Metzeler rear combo made it handle like a pig. In a bent shopping trolley. On cobblestones. It also spun up on apparently dry, clean roads with less provocation than I might have hoped. But what did we expect for £4000? You wouldn’t get an HPI-clear, unbutchered 2008 Fireblade for that now: so we didn’t mind the 40,000 miles on the LCD display; it was a project bike with a lot of potential and not a lot of money. Phase one of Project Blade targeted typical production 1000s – accentuating the strengths of a pre-rider aids superbike so it…

‘The chassis feels out of place. It’s a cramped ride, with a short reach to the bars, and the rearsets are quite low’ SOME BIKES MAKE YOU feel instantly welcome, assuring you that you can start riding quicker, relying on sorted underpinnings to look after you. Some take a small leap of faith to get into their operating window, to begin getting feedback and getting the best out of them. Then there are bikes like the Corsaro. I took the Morini out first, to scrub and warm tyres ready for Michael’s first run in the next session. The intention is to let him use every lap to push and analyse the bike. But after my first lap, I know I’m not sending him out on it. It’s handling strangely: initially,…

I USUALLY QUITE ENJOY riding naked bikes for these tests – it’s amazing how much performance most of these road bikes have, and they’re a lot of fun to chuck around, wheelie out of turns, try not to anger marshals with... It’s generally a nice change from the commitment you need to ride a litre sportsbike, even a road bike. The Aprilia Tuono 1100 is one of my favourite bikes, if not the favourite – sophisticated parts and technology on a naked bike makes for a bike that’s not only fast on the datalogger, but a lot of fun to ride – I’d happily sacrifice a few seconds a lap (for trackdays, at least) for the fun factor. The Monster 1200 (the closest bike to the Morini on spec as…

HERE’S THE THING: as you might have surmised, Moto Morini’s Corsaro 1200 ZZ doesn’t really have a true rival. The closest competitor is Ducati’s Monster 1200 – its engine capacity is on a par, it’s a stripped back big-bore naked... but even this Italian rival costs thousands of pounds less than the Corsaro, is well put together, has top-notch running gear and a far more comprehensive suite of rider aids. There are few other ways to put this kindly: the Morini feels like it’s from another decade... maybe even another century... Nice cans, though.…

VISOR DOWN, TAP DOWN on the gearshift for second gear, roll out of pitlane, look over right shoulder to check the track is clear, and breathe. The build-up and anticipation are out of the way, and the words of Mackenzie’s crew chief are still fresh in my ears (“Don’t crash it” does actually seems like a fair thing for him to say to me). I’m sitting on top of well over 200bhp with no electronic safety net. It gets worse. The whole McAMS team are waiting on the pit wall to scoff at my feeble efforts on a bike that has a riding position set up for a small child, and is miles too soft for me. Mackenzie weighs about as much as what I had for breakfast that morning,…

GROWING UP IN THE Kent area in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Tony Worrall did what so many bikers did back in the day: create havoc around Chelsea Bridge. “I was a full-on Chelsea Bridge lad on my LC. Well, various LCs...” he laughs. “It was madness, I was on my YPVS and we would go to the bridge, ride like idiots to Heston services and then back again at 2am with no regard for personal safety – it was fantastic! In the end I had to run three engines; one in the bike, one with Bob Farnham waiting to be fixed and one ready to go in the bike for when the current motor would go pop. I just rotated them around, mainly because they were all in…

FEW BIKES CAN claim to have had the kind of effect on the motorcycle industry caused by the Suzuki Hayabusa. Not only did this behemoth of speed force the implementation of a voluntary ‘gentleman’s agreement’ speed restriction on all bikes built by the Japanese manufacturers, but it has also gone on to attract a cult following due to its unique looks and sledgehammer of a motor. From extended swingarm street bikes to single seater race cars via drag bikes the Hayabusa has powered them all. But as of the end of 2018 it met its maker – consigned by Euro4 to the great scrapyard in the sky, in Europe anyway. But fear not, the Hayabusa’s legend lives on as a huge number of these beasts prowl the streets. From tatty…

HOW LONG TWO YEARS COST £3 CONTACT THE INTERNET/HOMEWARE SHOPS IF YOU WORK on bikes and don’t have a set of picks, buy a set of these now. Fishing out brake seals from calipers or removing O-rings shouldn’t be attempted with screwdrivers – these do it faster without damaging rubber or metal parts. And when they’re cheaper than a single brake seal damaged by using the wrong tool, why would you not get a set? They’re handy for gently scraping corrosion and gunge from caliper seal grooves, too, using one of the four different shaped picks These are just a generic product – I’ve seen them sold as Rolson and Silverline, and you can get them just about anywhere that sells that kind of budget brand tool. The job they…

‘The best bike I’ve ever owned’ SUZUKI GSX-R750 K6 PAUL GEORGE I SWAPPED MY 2008 plate Daytona 675 for this GSX-R. Some of my friends told me I was mad, but I wanted something I could ride aggressively on track as well as on the road without the fear of destroying a beautiful bike when I ran out of talent! I’ve had it wrapped in Yoshimura 24-hour endurance colours (nice choice, Paul – CN), have uprated the brakes with 2012 Honda Fireblade calipers with a Accossato master cylinder, along with PFM cast brake discs running dual carbon pads (come to think of it, I’m not actually sure if this is road-legal...). It now has an Öhlins TTX rear shock and K-tech fork cartridges, as well as a Sigma slipper clutch,…

I’M WRITING THIS on a flight back from Bangkok, and I’m feeling a little fragile. On the plus side, I’m up at the front and the lovely crew are serving me a glass of champagne and some seabass, and then I’ll have a kip... It was my first time at Chang International Circuit coaching at the Burn Rubber Riding Academy. I’ve worked with them in the past at the Duke 390 launch at a smaller circuit, the brilliantly named Bonanza North of Bangkok. I was joined at the Riding Academy in Burriam by Loris Capirossi and Fausto Ricci, who were also guest instructors. Coaching in Asia is certainly more difficult in the heat, but we’re all about 3kg lighter now so it has its benefits. More riders are turning up…

It was 2004 when Yamaha first adopted the crossplane crankshaft concept in their YZR-M1 race bike – coincidentally, the same year Valentino Rossi won his first championship with Yamaha. Five years later, the crossplane crankshaft debuted in the YZF-R1 road bike, and in doing so, Yamaha made the most obvious technical connection yet between their MotoGP bike and the bike in the showroom. Without raking over old ground too much, the crankpins are at 90° to each other, as opposed to the more traditional 180°. Thus, the crankpins are in two planes, crossed at 90°. The end result is one part to the secret of fast lap times; a smooth, manageable and plentiful power delivery. It’s no surprise that smooth is a word always that comes out of Rutter’s mouth…

‘Honda just took out the really expensive, secret stuff they didn’t want anyone to see’ Proof, if it were ever needed, that no good story ever started with a salad. A throw-away comment made in a hotel bar at 3am at Le Mans by Honda’s former senior test rider, Dave Hancock, is why we have the RC213V-S today. Asked by one of Honda’s project leaders what they could do to put some excitement back into their motorcycles and image, it is said that Hancock replied simply that Honda should put some mirrors and a numberplate on Marc Marquez’s 2012 championship winning bike. That was the genesis of the most expensive, extreme motorcycle the world has ever seen. Two years later, we got a look at the concept, then in 2015…

“THE FORKS DIDN’T have enough sag at 27mm, but I could only get them to 28mm before reaching minimum preload. Barely enough for track, let alone road. Both compression and rebound were 27 clicks out, suggesting they’ve not been set properly. They were way too soft; six clicks from full compression and 10 out on the rebound made them OK. “The shock is hideously soft – the hydraulic preload adjuster needs six turns from its minimum setting before it does anything, and you need it to, because 28mm sag is almost double the 15mm I got it to. But that needed the bike lifted off the floor, and the preload turned all the way in. The no-tools damping adjusters at least work OK – I closed compression from 13 clicks…

I’M SOMETHING OF an Italian bike apologist, but only for those with enough redeeming features and endearing qualities to offset Latin idiosyncrasies. Ducati have it sorted, Aprilia are getting better at it, and even a mega-bucks Bimota has a place in the world. They can bring a little bit of joy to your life: even if it may also bring the odd mystery electrical fault... More than the lap time, or lack of power, my issue with the Corsaro is that it’s in no way inspiring, endearing or mesmerising. It’s an average supernaked with many issues and a large price tag. I really wanted to like it – I’ve owned number of Japanese/Euro big twins and naked bikes over the years, and it should have talked my language, but it…

The closest road bikes get to true MotoGP weaponry: Ducati’s twin-pulse Panigale V4, Yamaha’s electronic marvel, the YZF-R1M, and Honda’s exquisite RC213V-S, prepare to do battle in PB’s exclusive ‘missing link’ group test at Almeria, Spain. Bolognese engineers Pierobon have form when it comes to making big-bore Ducatis handle. Their latest chassis kit, the X85R, wraps a steel trellis frame around any V-twin Panigale engine. Simplicity, perfection: proof that Italians do it better...…

2019 DUCATI PANIGALE V4 R FOR THE FIRST TIME in 31 years, there will be no Desmo Ducati V-twin on the World Superbike grid in 2019. Instead, the Italians have joined the four-cylinder arms race with the Panigale V4 R, based on the Desmosedici MotoGP bike and made available in road-legal form to satisfy homologation regs. Spoiler alert: you need one. The V4 R makes a claimed 217bhp and 83lb.ft. Stick on the Akrapovic exhaust that graced the bike we rode at its Jerez launch and that power figure rockets to 234bhp. From a bike that weighs a reckoned 193kg ready to ride (172kg dry). We’ll save you the maths: that’s 1.36bhp per kilo. While it shares the same technical basis as the more prosaic but still high-performing V4 S,…

2000 DUCATI 996 CHRIS NEWBIGGING I DON’T BELIEVE IN that ‘never meet your heroes’ thing. Maybe it’s because I’ve never built anyone, or anything, up to near-mythical status in my mind: I admire certain people, I desire certain things more than others, but I’ve never bought into the kind of rabid fandom witnessed in hardcore Rossi fans. Or defended my bike choices to the belligerent end: the spitting, raging response once proffered by an XZ550 owner to a printed criticism was something to behold... The nearest I got to heroes as a boy were Carl Fogarty and his factory Ducati 916: the former for his hard-fought, passion-driven race and championship wins, and the latter for being stunning to look at, better to listen to and, by my juvenile reckoning, the…

HOW LONG THREE MONTHS/1988 COST £169.99 CONTACT WWW.AGV.CO.UK DON’T BE FOOLED by the price; the K1 offers a lot for the money. The visor aperture is wide and high, giving decent peripheral vision, but for those who like to get their chin on the tank, that vision becomes limited as the head lining obscures the view. The quick-release visor is probably one of the best I’ve used. It has Pinlock mounts, but doesn’t come with a Pinlock insert, so factor in £25+ extra. Inside, you’ll find a high-quality removable/washable lining. It’s been designed for eyewear compatibility and intercom speaker pockets, but this creates a void around the ears, which I found increased the internal noise, so for me, earplugs are a must. Ventilation is good, but the fit isn’t perfect.…

2018 TRIUMPH SPEED TRIPLE RS AUSTIN SMITH MORE THAN 5500 MILES has been enough to convince me I don’t need a fairing for 90% of my riding. Here’s how the Speed Triple RS has shaped my opinion. THE MOST EXCITING NAKED BIKE I’VE RIDDEN My time on the Speed Triple RS has taught me one thing: 141bhp at the rear wheel is enough. Some may disagree, but for a naked bike this is plenty to go tearing down any twisty road. The new lighter engine now kicks out power at any rpm, allowing me to hurtle through the revs towards the redline whilst always being in control. It was this that I loved the most. The RS has a great spread of torque making it effortless and easy to drive…

‘The best stuff will be in a mini-mag within the pages of Practical Sportsbikes’ NOTHING LASTS FOREVER: it’s surprising we’ve lasted this long, given some of the antics and incidents we’ve been party to for nearly 34 years. Proving things go in a cycle, Performance Bikes ceases publication as a standalone magazine after this issue, and will live on partnering and bolstering the great work that PB’s first-born child publication, Practical Sportsbikes, does with used and modern classic sportsbikes. It’s reminiscent of Motorcycle Mechanics disappearing, adapting, then being reborn as PB in the first place, to reflect the changing world of motorcycles and the people who buy them. It’s been a brilliant 33-year run, but continuing to make PB the same old way would be madness. With rival title Superbike…

IT’S ALMOST EMBARRASSING parking the Blade next to an RCV – and not because of the colour scheme... The finest paintjob in the world couldn’t mask an engine and chassis betraying their age and use when you look closely. But I like it for that. The RCV has been lovingly prepared by Padgett’s for the test, and they’ve even sent a mechanic to keep it tip-top. PB’s Blade just has me, and a toolkit containing more than one hammer... I take five laps to scrub the new Bridgestone V01 slicks in, make sure the bike feels OK and then pull in for a nut/ bolt check and a visual once-over. The Bridgestones scrub in quickly so it’s up to decent speed soon. It feels secure, confident and tracks correctly –…

THESE TESTS AREN’T PURELY about speed. It’s obviously a big part of it, but it’s as much about learning what the experience will be like for ordinary riders on their road bikes should they take them to a track. They’re not a cheap or especially relaxed day out, so you need to come home with a smile on your face and feeling rewarded. As sportsbikes become ever more serious (will 2019 be the year aerodynamic winglets win trackdays? We hope not), supernakeds make sense not only as high-quality, high-performance road bikes, but also as a way to get your kicks on track without all of the intensity of a superbike, while still enjoying the sort of high-quality components that make your day faster, more fun and less likely to end…

BESIDES BEING PERHAPS the only good song Paul Weller has written since The Jam were disbanded, this headline also aptly describes 2019, and by extension the conditions under which the lion’s share of our Rutter Tests were performed. Scorching track temperatures, a well-behaved bunch of trackdayers, several litres of water, and a pair of sweaty sacs made track testing conditions close to perfect (the claggy genital issues were easily resolved with a baby wipe shared between Chris and Michael). Provider of motorcycle trackdays at circuits in the UK and Europe. nolimitstrackdays.com A LAP OF DONINGTON 2.487 MILES OF THROTTLE-STOP ACTION 1 START/FINISH LINE Morini: 107.89mph Ducati: 114.77mph Rutter gets out of Goddards at much the same rate on both bikes, but the more powerful, quickshifter-equipped Ducati soon pulls out an…

THE MOTO MORINI’S POWER curve isn’t bad – there’s a bit of a dip just below 6000rpm where it falters at the rpm it’s tested by homologation authorities, but it’s not that pronounced on the road. It makes commendable torque, too. The instant response at the bottom (over 70ftlb before 4000rpm) But it’s another area where Morini needs to try harder – a Monster 1200S offers a lot more from a similar engine, for a smaller price. The Corsaro 1200 ZZ’s motor performs and feels exactly like what it is: an old engine that’s only slightly updated for legislation’s sake. Sadly, it’s no longer up to the standard you should expect from a sports naked.…

1 Engine In accordance to British Superbike race regulations, the crankshaft remains standard. The team tune their own cylinder heads, otherwise everything else is the same as the factory World Superbike machines. The BSB motor packs kit cams, kit gearbox, factory oil cooler and radiators, STM slipper clutch, kit sump and a factory Akrapovic titanium exhaust system. 2 Electronics No rider aids in BSB means the lack of any on the McAMS bike is basically the only difference between it and the WSB bikes of Lowes and Van der Mark. The domestic team try to overcome this with alternative solutions, namely by mapping the torque of the engine by adjusting the fuelling and throttle bodies via the Motec kit. Geometry and swingarm position are also key elements to aiding stability…

2017 SUZUKI GSX-R1000R JOHN BENNETT WELL, THE SUPER Duke is sold... Yes, it was a fantastic year of ownership but as one project comes to an end, another can ramp up as the GSX-R is (almost) mine. I have to confess I did have one last pang of seller’s remorse (is that a thing?) as I watched the Duke loaded and taken away. It didn’t take me that long to get over it, though: funny how the thought of a latest generation litre sportsbike with my name on the log book lifted my spirits... Annoyingly, before I can send the cheque off, there is a final outstanding recall required, and Suzuki are insisting it is completed. It’s regarding the fuel pump O-ring which needs replacing, so this means one last…

HOW LONG THREE YEARS COST £1095 CONTACT WWW.MOTOLUG.COM I ABSOLUTELY hate pissing around with trailers – mostly because storing the bloody things is ridiculously inconvenient. What do you do if you don’t live on some sort of ranch? I’ll tell you exactly what happens in most cases: said trailer gets chucked in the back garden, making the place look like Steptoe’s yard, rotting away until the next time you need it, only to find that the wheels have seized solid... Motolug’s TE trailer, which I’ve been using to cart my various project bikes, track bikes and non-runners around on for the last three years, is fully modular and can be configured in single or two bike form in 15 minutes. Even by someone like me. The icing on the cake…

HOW LONG FOUR YEARS COST 139.99 CONTACT WWW.SCREWFIX.COM THIS COMPACT LITTLE impact gun is perfect for working on bikes. It has a two-speed gearbox, and if that’s not enough, the trigger is variable so you can use it for those delicate tasks. What makes this ideal for bikes is the fact that it is lightweight and has a relatively low torque output (just 11Nm) for an impact gun, but it still retains a useful torque range. It’s particularly good at spinning off casing bolts and clutch spring bolts when you’re in a hurry. I have used it many times when changing my TZ’s gearbox. I boasted to my Mrs that I could rip the cassette gearbox out of my race bike in less than two minutes: called out on my…

THE CB1300 REPRESENTS the kind of modern retro that no longer exists as a new bike: a big, gutsy motor in a 1980s style. Brawny, stylish and respectably quick, too. At the moment, it’s mostly about 1970s throwbacks when it comes to retro bikes, but they can have a faint whiff of piss and Saga brochures about them. The new ’80s-chic Katana might mark a change in that: but for a quarter of the price, you could have a CB1300. The 1300 evokes the style of the CB900F, with a water-cooled motor derived and developed from the CBR1000F. Smooth, understressed and torquey, it’s a superior motor to that found in the air-cooled CB1100 offered now, with plenty of scope to tune the conkers off it. The development team even raced…