Table of contents for June 2023 in RiDE

‘The go-to choice for anyone who wants to go far and fast’ The world of sports tourers has done an about-face in the last decade or so. Once the retirement home for out-moded sportsbike platforms, it has been rejuvenated. Thanks to the likes of Kawasaki's 1000SX and Yamaha's Tracer family, which both share the heritage of brilliant naked bikes, they're more useful, fun, practical and exciting than ever. They're the go-to choice for anyone who wants to go far and fast. This issue is dedicated to the best in sports touring. We ride the latest and the best models, find out which tyre will let you have fun no matter what the weather and reveal the best used bargains – you can get a lot of bike for your money.…

‘I'm looking to upgrade to a bigger bike. Is it a mistake?’ Q I'M PLANNING ON buying a new bike in the next few months and I'm tempted by the Triumph Tiger 1200. My current bike is a Honda CB500X. I know it's a big jump but I'd really like more speed and power. From a riding point of view, what do you think? Am I making a mistake? Stuart Kirkham, Bristol A You're certainly not crazy for thinking about it, Stuart. For most of us, a bike isn't a sensible choice; it's a passion, so it makes sense to go with your heart. I fully approve of that! But – and I suspect you knew one of those was coming – when the jump is as big as the…

THE GSX-8S IS an important bike for Suzuki. The last time it had a totally new bike was 24 years ago, coincidentally with the SV650. Since then, it has survived on incremental development or moderate overhauls of proven designs. The 8S is a brand-new engine, in a brand-new chassis. Both are shared with the V-Strom 800, to suit naked street-bike and adventure-bike needs. Swingarm, subframe, forks, wheels, brakes, bodywork and the rest differ between the two. Suzuki has form for brilliant, affordable middleweight nakeds. Its Bandit 600 was the first cheap ‘big’ bike to be fun as well as useful, and the SV650 was the first modern Japanese to be considered anything other than a poor man's Ducati. There's a lot riding on this: expectations are high. There's been plenty…

JANETTE AND PAUL met four and a half years ago. “We met online, because I specifically went shopping for a biker,” says Janette. Paul interrupts, laughing: “I'm not aware of this!” “Yes you are, you fibber,” replies Janette. “I wanted us to have biking in common – I was with an anti-biker once; I rode and it was a major bone of contention. So it was a deal-breaker – it was all over my profile.” Did you think it was cool, Paul? “Yes I did – and it is. Apart from she knows when I've got new parts and how much they cost. I can't hide it.” “You wouldn't believe how many guys say they're into bikes,” laughs Janette. “Then you'd ask, have you got one? They'd say no –…

RiDE has teamed up with Rapid Training to give you the chance to win a full day of training with an expert riding coach. The training – worth £495 – will identify habits that may be holding you back, along with those elements of your riding style that can take you forward. You'll learn how to consistently carve the late-apex lines you've seen here, plus how to see and interpret detail at speed, how to develop an intuitive response to whatever comes your way and how to handle your bike with precision and ease. All Rapid's coaches are trained to Police Class-One standard and can adapt the course to suit all levels and experience. You can enter the competition at www.rapidtraining.co.uk/ride-rapid-competition…

FIRST, LET'S GET one thing straight: there isn't a bad set of tyres here. Look at the results and it's clear Continentals performed the ‘worst’ here, but they're still highly competent and miles better than the standard tyres fitted to a GSX-S1000 GT. So if you upgrade to these from stock rubber, you won't be disappointed. The Conti's only problem is the other tyres in this test are nothing short of exceptional. We're living in a golden age of sportstouring tyre technology and the offerings from Dunlop, Bridgestone, Michelin and Pirelli all impressed. All boast varying characteristics but all of them are dependable, have the grip to be enjoyed at brisk speeds on wet roads and with a huge safety margin. While the Pirellis were marginally the best of this…

One of many recommended by owners. This one's in gloss or matt-black ABS, comes with all fittings and helps protect the Crossrunner's radiator. www.powerbronze.co.uk Adventure-style aluminium topbox recommended by owners and available in 42–litre and 58-litre sizes – the former holds a full-face lid. www.givi.co.uk Not the cheapest (Oxford Products versions are also recommended) but Honda's grips are used by numerous owners (an attachment kit must also be used) and recommended for obvious reasons for year-round use. www.honda.co.uk The Crossrunner is one of motorcycling's most underrated sports-tourers. If you don't need 130bhp+ and fancy electronics, the VFR-derived Honda has it all. For flexibility, character and class, as well as surprisingly low prices, nothing much comes close. WHAT'S GOOD? Fabulous V4, versatility, reliability, intoxicating character and value. NOT SO GOOD… Undervalued image,…

BMW'S R1250GS IS Britain's most-popular bike. Since it was introduced in its current form at the end of 2018, it has smashed sales charts and flown out of dealers’ doors faster than BMW can build them. Impressively, demand hasn't slowed and now, nearly five years after it was introduced, people still are deciding to go 1250GS – many for the first time. With this in mind, we decided to take the plunge and run one for a year too. We're going find out what it is like at all aspects of an adventure bike: distance work, touring and even a bit of off-road. As I write, we've only had it a week but this is what we've learned so far… THE FACTS £17,475 > 134bhp > 249kg MILES THIS MONTH…

‘It won't suit everyone but it suits me’ Sixteen years and 126,000 miles on, Kevin Boot's 2007 Honda Blackbird still looks great, rides well and can smash miles Name Kevin Boot, 70 Bike 2007 Honda CBR1100XX Total Miles 128,000 Miles per year 12,000 “I RIDE ALL-YEAR round and I used the Blackbird for commuting when I was still working. I'm a member of Sheffield Advanced Motorcyclists and day-long social rides are a regular occurrence. Annual group trips to the Scottish Borders are also a must. Having a wife who also enjoyed biking meant that many other trips were taken as well.” Alongside the Blackbird, Kevin's put another 50,000 miles on a few other bikes in the past decade or so. “In 2011 I also bought a Honda ST1100 and in…

Brill Hill, Oxfordshire This is the second ride on my new ‘21 BMW R nineT Pure. I fractured a vertebra in August 2022 and have spent seven months focused on rehab and getting fit again. Reading RiDE and dreaming of getting back on a motorbike got me through the slow process. Here's to a summer of biking and thanks for a great mag! Stuart Staples Brecon Beacons, Wales Me and the wife took a blast through the Brecon Beacons in Wales. There's nothing quite like the morning dew's damp smell mixed with fresh, clean air. It was a clear morning and there's no feeling like the freedom of beautiful scenery. This ride was on my 2016 blue Kawasaki Z1000 which I believe is one of the best sports tourers out…

THE UNITED KINGDOM'S road network is in crisis: the cost to make good the backlog of repairs on England and Wales’ local-authority roads has now stretched past the £14billion point. Reported by the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) for its 2023 Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey, the total cost to fix our crumbling carriageways now stands at £14.02 billion. This is said to be the equivalent of £68,000 per mile of local road in both England and Wales. Representing an 11% increase on the record figures of 2022, the AIA believes it would take an average of 11 years to complete the catch-up. The same report also showed that the gap between what local authorities received and what they said they would have needed to keep roads to their…

Email ride@ride.co.uk Write to us RiDE, Media House, Lynchwood, Peterborough PE2 6EA LETTER OF THE MONTH What do I really want? After 49 years, I found myself falling out of love with riding motorcycles. There are a number of factors: the buffoons that use the roads and the state of the roads themselves in Lincolnshire! So I sat myself down and contemplated what I really need a motorcycle for and soon realised that what I really enjoy is trundling around the country roads and lanes that criss-cross Lincolnshire. So I retired my Hyperstrada and Duke and bought a Husqvarna Svartpilen 401. I love this little bike and find myself re-energised again for hopefully another few years of riding. I urge anyone to try a smaller machine and experience motorcycling in it pure and simple…

FIRST RIDE 2023 YAMAHA TRACER 9 GT+ YAMAHA'S NEW TRACER 9 GT+ is more than just a simple up-spec of the already-excellent 9 GT. With a host of new features, world-first technology and owner-driven improvements, this latest member of the Tracer 9 family elevates Yamaha's favourite sports tourer into the prestigious premium category. It puts it alongside fully-loaded all-rounders like Triumph's Tiger 900 GT, Moto Guzzi's new V100 Mandello and BMW's R1250RS. The GT+'s underpinnings are familiar territory – its engine is the same proven 890cc CP3 inline triple as used in the other Tracer 9s, producing a midrange-rich 68.5lb·ft at 7000rpm and 117bhp at 10,000rpm. With four modes to choose from – Sport, Street, Rain and Custom – this ride-by-wire-throttle-controlled mill is always composed and willing, whether trickling through…

Old-school design Side-draft throttle bodies/inlet ports haven't been popular since the 1980s and they're comparatively small too. Stroke length is longer than you might expect as well. This thinking is old-hat in performance engines but it's a bonus if you want a torquey motor. Airbox under the seat, rather than between your knees, allows for the tank to be narrower. Room for a little (or a big) one The 810mm seat height isn't lofty and the engine/frame design is as much about reducing the width for an easy standover. Shorter riders on the launch didn't appear to have an issue but the well thought-out riding position meant that our tester's 34” inside leg wasn't cramped either. The support you need Low-tech suspension and simplistic ABS can be a bad combination:…

THE RAIN DRIPS off my open visor as I look across at my co-pilots Jimmy and Jason, a right sorry sight draped in soggy one-piece waterproofs. Don't like to start our sports touring ride-out to North Wales on a Debbie-Downer but the good news is the forecast is optimistic. It's hard to believe right now but sun is on the menu. And Snowdonia is always worth a wet schlep to get across to from England – the riding is fantastic whatever the weather once you arrive. Before setting off, we stand back and survey our transports – Suzuki's reinvigorated Hayabusa keeping the hypersports-tourer concept alive; Kawasaki's Ninja 1000SX nailing conventional sports touring since 2011; and Triumph's Tiger Sport 660, blending nice-price middleweight with tall-rounder practicality. Three very different engines, chassis,…

MIKE AND CARRIE have been together for 11 years, and married for two-and-a-half. Carrie rode bikes before they hooked up, but Mike didn't and motorcycling wasn't a factor at the start of their relationship. “When I passed my test, I had a specific reason,” says Carrie. “My dad and uncle ran classic bikes, so I spent years trying to convince them to let me take my test so I could help them ride to the shows. In the end, I took my test in secret! But when Mike and I first met, I didn't have a bike of my own; I was using dad's Triumph Tiger T90.” So how did you come to own bikes and ride together? “That was me,” says Mike. “I kept saying to Carrie look, you've…

GARAGE THE DIRT ONE OF THE most overlooked adventure bikes, the short-lived Capo’ can also be a high-spec, bargain all-rounder with used prices sometimes under £6K. Dorsoduro V-twin punch, Brembo brakes and, on the upspecced Travel and Rally versions, semi-active suspension, add up to a classy, comfortable Italian. 1 The engine's pretty good 90°, 1197cc V-twin is from 1200 Dorsoduro but remapped for extra midrange. Clattery low-down, it's torquey, entertaining and generally reliable with riding modes but also ‘just’ 125bhp (although this can be improved with an exhaust swap). Exhaust valve cables can break and, in extreme cases, the actuator motor itself seizes. How common? Major problems are rare; exhaust swaps are common. 2 It has a sassy chassis Sporty handling is good and helped by Brembo radial brakes while Travel and…

OUR ROUTE STARTS west of Taunton but we meet up at Gordano Services on the M5, near to Phil's home. We ride down together – he's on his Tracer 900GT (68 plate but already has 35,000 miles on) and I'm on RiDE's BMW R1250RS. Phil's long-distance mindset is evident as he gets up to cruising speed and stays locked on. I set the cruise control and relax until we come off the M5 40 miles later… It's a beautiful, sunny spring Sunday morning as we head west on the A358 towards Bishop's Lydeard. The ride Passing the headquarters of 40 Commando of the Royal Marines, there's a queue of Sunday drivers sitting at 45 in a 60 but, once we turn off onto the B224 towards Lydeard St Lawrence, we…

SOUND FAMILIAR? AFTER ENDLESS TEASING, the KTM 890 SMT is here. Available in May, the £12,499 SMT will sit between the current crop of 890 Dukes and Adventures, powered by a re-tuned version of the 889cc parallel-twin engine. With a claimed 103.6bhp at 8000rpm, there's a 20% increase in rotating mass over the smaller 799cc twincylinder, to provide greater stability and reassurance through corners. KTM says the bike is as happy to plod along at low revs as it is revving out. A claimed fuel economy of 51.1mpg gives a theoretical range of 179 miles. This frame is shrouded by bodywork somewhere between the 890 Adventure and 690 SMC R supermoto. The new fuel tank is designed to give a decent contact patch combined with enough room to get animated. Housing…

TRIUMPH'S STREET TRIPLE 765 range is fronted by the all-singing, all-dancing RS model. Buyers tend to be swayed by the added bling – premium kit such as the Öhlins shock and Brembo Stylema calipers tempt many and make the RS the best-seller. But many rate the middle-ground R version as the best all-round package for road riding, due to its softer and less rev-hungry motor compared to the track-ready RS. The theory is its lowerspec suspension gives a plusher ride that's comfier and easier to get on with. Triumph has treated the R to some upgrades for this year, boosting power and torque by 2.1bhp and 2.2lb·ft using lessons learned from the firm's involvement as control engine supplier in Moto2. The electronics package is also enhanced, the riding position made…

MARK AND JO have been together for ten years, married for five, and haven't got kids: “We've got bikes instead,” laughs Jo. Did you ride bikes before you met? “Mark did but I didn't,” says Jo. “We met on a dating website and I started going pillion with him on weekend rides. My dad has ridden all his life and, when I hit 40, I thought I'd love to learn to ride. But I didn't take it seriously until I met Mark. After a few pillion rides, I realised I wanted to do it. I passed first time, then spent the next two years saying ‘I can't do this!’ It took a long time to build confidence but Mark was patient, sitting behind me, tutoring me over the intercom.” So…

SUMMER RIDING MASTERCLASS: PART 1 WELCOME TO RIDE'S summer masterclass. Over the next five issues, the experts at Rapid Training will guide you through a riding plan that could significantly improve your safety, enjoyment and, as a result, your speed. Read all five – and practice the tips in between – and you could end the summer riding better than you ever imagined. The masterclass is based on Rapid's hugely successful road and track coaching program, which combines the knowledge of their British Superbike and TT riders with their team of elite police-trained coaches. The first topic is cornering lines, which obviously have a huge impact on your safety and speed. Next, we'll move on to steering techniques, throttle control, visual skills and finally, brakes. There are other skills needed…

RST Pro Series Ranger Jacket £399.99 Trouser £299.99 www.rst-moto.com THE CLAIM “The RST Pro Series Ranger is the ultimate go-anywhere jacket. Designed to see you ride around the world. It is three jackets in one with a removable destination inner coat, the Ranger main outer jacket and then a SinAqua Waterproof outer shell.” THE REALITY I'm not normally a fan of three-layer ‘system’ clothing but this one actually works. It's an adventure/touring suit with a bias towards adventure and protection is top of the list. Both the jacket and trousers are CE AA-rated and come with a full suite of Level-2 armour; shoulders, elbows, back and two-piece chest armour and hips and knees. There are also external TPU cups over the shoulders and knees and additional ballistic nylon in key…

THE HONDA CROSSRUNNER remains, sadly, one of motorcycling's most misunderstood bikes. What started out as an upright, oddly-styled, adventure-sport version of the aging then VFR800 VTEC, actually turned out to be a decent all-rounder… eventually. The trouble was, although okay, that first 2011 version, for all of those stated reasons, was mostly overlooked. By the time the second-gen version arrived in 2015, with better looks, an even-better V4 (as it was now based on the improved 2014 VFR800F), new screen, dash, brakes and more, it was already too late. By then, sports-tourer buyers had plumped for the Kawasaki Z1000SX. The Crossrunner didn't stand a chance. But if that was bad news for the Honda, it's good news for used buyers today. The second-generation VFR800 lump is one of motorcycling's great…

UPDATE 09 WE ALL KNOW that our GSX-S has had a hard life; two winters, numerous riders, inside and outside storage and even a trackday. Ours is definitely a victim of its own success, carrying journos and snappers the length and breadth of the country in literally all weather conditions. I reckon I personally have spend more time on it in the misery of a British winter than the joy of a spring or summer but that's fine. I have loved every single moment aboard the UK's best-selling sports tourer. But how has the bike stood up to those miles? We also all know that any bike needs cleaning and protecting but how has the GSX-S fared in those 10,000 miles at the hands of RiDE's staff? We compared our…