Table of contents for 6 January 2021 in MCN

‘Peter wanted to transform the motorcycle chassis’MAT OXLEY PAYS TRIBUTE TO PETER WILLIAMS TRIBUTE The genius of Peter Williams Motorcycle history is littered with amazing riders and groundbreaking engineers, while very few people have managed to be both at the same time. But Peter Williams, who sadly passed away just before Christmas, was. As a rider he beat the very best – and as an engineer he radically accelerated chassis and braking development using his own bikes as the test mules. SPECIAL TRIBUTE PAGE 36 TOP STORY McGuinness gets a shock MBE If New Year’s Honours were handed out purely for popularity, then John McGuinness would have received one years ago – but after such a difficult couple of years following injury, the disastrous Norton ride and Covid’s decimation of…

The National Motorcycle Museum’s Covid-19 raffle has been a huge success but they’re still well short of the money they need to reopen, so they’ve announced another raffle to run in early 2021. But first up, congratulations to Craig Lee of South Yorkshire, who bagged himself a new-old-stock 1977 Norton Commando 850 when the raffle was drawn on December 21. Also drawn were the second and third prizes of a 1948 350cc Ariel NC and a 1959 350cc BSA B31, which went to Phil Sherratt of Staffordshire and Stewart Bramham or Cornwall, respectively. The next raffle the NMM are running is the Triumph Over Adversity Recovery Appeal Raffle’ as they’ve still only raised 33% of their original £500,000 target. As the name suggests, this raffle is Triumph themed with first…

A rider who failed to stop for police on a stolen motorbike has been sentenced to 32 months in prison in Newcastle. Ryan Alan Thompson, 22, fled and dumped the bike but was spotted walking down a nearby street and arrested. The bike was recovered and Thompson was charged with offences including dangerous driving, drug driving and document offences. PC Simpson said: “Thompson selfishly thought by putting other road users at risk he would get away and I am glad his sentence reflects the seriousness of his actions.”…

Electric bike firm SUNRA are launching UK sales via their approved dealer network, starting within greater London before planning to expand nationwide. Founded in 1999, the Chinese company has established itself as a key player in the electric vehicle industry. Today the company is listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) with a value of $1.1bn. SUNRA’s UK launch sees the electric ROBO range, which has already proved popular in Europe, go on sale here. There’s the ROBO, with a top speed of 28mph and the ROBO-S which has a op speed of 50mph and a maximum range of 84 miles. Available in two colourschemes, the scoots are priced at just £2499 and £3299 respectively. This takes into account the 20% Government grant. SUNRA UK are offering a further discount…

WEDNESDAY January 6 12am, EUR2, Motorcycling: Cookstown 100 6.30am, EUR2, Dakar Rally 2021: Highlights from Stage 4 11.15am, BTS2, MotoGP 2020 Season Review SATURDAY January 9 5.30am, EUR2, Bennetts British Superbikes from Brands Hatch 2020: Highlights SUNDAY January 10 10.30pm, QUEST, World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides: East Anglia with Henry Cole 5.30am, EUR2, WSB Portugal 2020: Highlights KEY TO CHANNELS: DRT ― DISCOVERY REAL TIME DSC ― DISCOVERY CHANNEL DHD ― DISCOVERY CHANNEL HD EXS ― EXTREME SPORTS CHANNEL EUR1 (2, HD) ― EUROSPORT 1 (2, HD) MOT ― MOTORSPORT.TV CH4 ― CHANNEL 4 CH5 ― CHANNEL FIVE BBC BBCI ― BBC INTERACTIVE ESPN ― ESPN CLASSIC CHANNEL ITV DST ― DISCOVERY TURBO SHED ― DISCOVERY SHED INST ― INSIGHT SS1 (2, 3 OR X) ― SKY SPORTS 1 (2, 3 OR…

Electric bikes will be the latest weapon in the fight against wildlife poachers in South Africa. Specially developed Cake electric bikes will be in action from May with the team at the Southern African Wildlife College, which has used petrol machines in the past to reach remote locations where the poachers operate in Kruger National Park, but the noise of the engine often gives the game away, and airlifting fuel is costly and difficult. The Cakes will charge on solar power. Most costly MV MV Agusta have teamed up with Swiss watchmakers, RO-NI, to create a £55,000 timepiece to mark the bike firm’s 75th anniversary. RO-NI will be handcrafting a new, automatic model inspired by the firm. The watch, named RMV, will be a limited edition of 75 units. Timur…

ROD MITCHELL Marketing Director of Motorcycle Law Scotland “My first real taste of the SW300 on my Honda Africa Twin was during a four corners of Scotland charity ride in May 2019 when we were riding around the whole of Scotland over three days to raise funds for MND research. Joining the SW300 route from the east at Lockerbie, we rode around Dumfries headed south and soon found ourselves following the wonderful coastline. The road hugs the coastline for much of the route with the Solway Firth to your left. You can easily see across to Workington and Whitehaven with the Lake District National Park in the distance. There are little villages and hamlets from time to time but the roads are excellent and there is very little traffic. There are…

JEFF TERRY, MCN READER “I haven’t had chance to do as many miles as I’d like due to lockdown and work but so far with the preload on max it feels ok, a bit stiff, but I’m not sure what it’d be like with a week’s luggage or a pillion too. I’m hoping by upgrading the spring I’ll be able to set the sag properly with some preload left to play with and also for it to support me better when I’m out on the trails to reduce the risk of bottoming out and damaging anything.”…

JON ASHLEY, 57, MANCHESTER Jon has owned a Hornet, CB1000R and a brace of S1000Rs My S1000R is now showing over 15k and has been relatively trouble-free. The engine is still performing perfectly, despite being really noisy, and the bike eats up the miles. The electronics continue to shine, and on the road your performance margin is massive, which means you have plenty of scope in all situations from braking, handling and acceleration. It really is sublime. It did suffer an issue when I was on the Isle of Man back in 2019. The ABS light stayed on for 24 hours but reset itself after a long ride and it’s not happened since (although it came on again after I absolutely leathered it from a standing start from the Creg…

• Fit and comfort rated • Design, construction and quality rated • Thermal properties rated via indepth road testing RATINGS Exceptional Very good Good Average Poor Adventure Spec Core Long Baselayers £49 (for each half) ‘My most used piece of kit’ Tested by Jordan Gibbons for 18 months Baselayers are essential bits of kit all year round. Put simply, if you don’t have a good baselayer all that fancy technical kit you have on top simply won’t work properly. To make their baselayer Adventure Spec had their own blend of fibres spun which uses nylon, Lycra and silver ion yarns. The result is material that’s comfortable, stretchy, quickdrying and thanks to the silver, odour resistant too. Each piece is made from multiple knitted ‘zones’, so they’re warm and supportive in…

Even on the latest, greatest high-tech bikes, an oil and filter change is one of the few remaining tasks that can be done fairly easily at home, and it’s quite a straightforward but highly satisfying job to do. But if you’ve got a bike that’s still in warranty or you’ve taken out an extended warranty, you may feel a little more reluctant to drop the oil yourself for fear of invalidating it. Most riders believe that all servicing must be carried out by a main dealer in order to keep the warranty live, but with most manufacturers this isn’t the case at all. Often it’s possible to have the service carried out by a non-franchised dealer or completed at home as long as you can prove (by way of a…

After what was a brilliant 2020, it’s now time to vote for your MCN rider of the year. The MCN Sports Desk has whittled down the original list of riders to just five, so which one of these high achievers will get your vote. ● JOAN MIR – MotoGP world champion ● FRANCO MORBIDELLI – MotoGP runner-up ● SAM LOWES – Moto2 race winner and title fighter ● JONATHAN REA – six-time WSB champion ● JOSH BROOKES – two-time BSB champion To cast your vote and have the chance to win a three-month subscription to MCN go online to: www.motorcyclenews.com/vote/ T&Cs apply, see website for details.…

March 28 Losail (Qatar) April 11 Termas de Rio Hondo (Argentina) April 18 COTA (USA) May 2 Jerez (Spain) May 16 Le Mans (France) May 30 Mugello (Italy) June 6 Barcelona (Catalunya) June 20 Sachsenring (Germany) June 27 Assen (Netherlands) July 11 KymiRing (Finland) TBC TBD – Circuit to be confirmed August 15 Red Bull Ring (Austria) August 29 Silverstone (UK) September 12 Aragon (Spain) September 19 Misano (San Marino) October 3 Motegi (Japan) October 10 Chang International Circuit (Thailand) October 24 Phillip Island (Australia) October 31 Sepang (Malaysia) November 14 Circuit Ricardo Tormo (Spain) Reserve List Portimao (Portugal), Mandalika (Indonesia) & Igora Drive (Russia)…

Aprilia MotoGP team boss Fausto Gresini has Covid-19 and remains in hospital in a serious condition. The 67-year-old Italian was moved to the intensive care unit of the Carlo Alberto Pizzardi hospital in Bologna on December 30. Having first been put on a ventilator in a medically induced coma, the former two time 125cc world champion is now no longer in a coma but remains on a ventilator to help him breathe with his condition described as stable. Pol’s big surprise Pol Espargaro got his first look at the Repsol Honda RC213V in a surprise at his home. The bike, equipped with the number 44, was wheeled into his garden while he was away training, ready for the Spaniard to unwrap upon his return. After the unveiling he was kitted…

It’s a tour of the Lincolnshire Wolds, that’s punctuated with visits to RAF bases, old and new. We head out from the filling station on the A153 to the east of RAF Coningsby. From here take the A155 from the roundabout to enjoy a gently meandering run across open farmland to East Kirkby, home of the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre. It’s worth a quick pit stop at the NAAFI Café and an amble around the museum. Turn left at West Keal and follow the A16 all the way to the Ulceby Cross roundabout, then take the second exit for Louth and the A1104. Turn left at Maltby Le Marsh for the A157 and rejoin the A16 just after Kenwick – head towards Boston where the Maud Foster windmill is worth…

There’s nothing more pleasing than a positive surprise, a bolt from the blue that shocks and delights in equal measure – and John McGuinness being awarded an MBE in the New Year’s Honours list was exactly that. What a rare bit of brilliant good news to kick off the New Year with! It doesn’t really need saying that it’s well deserved, but I’ll say it anyway, because bike racers (and biking) are unfairly and disproportionately overlooked in our national consciousness. Ordinarily, two wheels only make the headlines for vilification. Criminals using bikes are always ‘bikers’, speeding on two wheels is always more sensational than four, and fatalities are reported with barely contained fervour – but positive biking stories are harder to spot. Meanwhile, any number of less brave or accomplished…

£9499 Triumph 1200 Thruxton Powered by Triumph’s 1200cc parallel twin engine, the Thruxton burbles and tremors with feel-good vibes at tickover and on the move it rewards with big dollops of British meat and potatoes grunt. It spins up rapidly thanks to a lighter crank compared to its Bonneville siblings, too. • www.fowlerstriumph.co.uk SAVE £2200 £8899 KTM 790 Adventure The ever-so-slightly tamer and more road biased version of the flagship 790R offers incredible value for money right now. • www.ams4ktm.co.uk • Engine 799cc • Power 95bhp • Weight 189kg • Seat height 850mm SAVE £804 £3695 Aprilia RS125 There’s just one silver 2019 model left at Teasdales with this 22% discount. • teasdale-motorcycles.co.uk • Engine 124cc • Power 15bhp • Weight 134kg • Seat height 820mm SAVE £748 £7399 Suzuki…

Yamaha have issued a recall for FJR1300 models from 2012 onwards over a potentially faulty brake switch, which can cause the cruise control to malfunction and the brake lights to stay on. In total 8974 bikes are affected. There is also a recall for some 2015-on bikes for a failure of second gear, affecting 887 bikes. If you have a bike in this age range and have not heard from Yamaha, contact your dealer to check if your bike is affected. Date for the diary The 78th running of the Milan EICMA motorcycle show has been confirmed for November 23-28, 2021. The EICMA show is traditionally when most manufacturers unveil their new bikes for the coming year, however the 2020 event was cancelled due to the pandemic. Motorcycle Live will…

Shark Evojet Helmet £231.99 Ride flipped-up or flipped-down… A futuristic evolution of the rather staid flip-front helmet genre, this lid is dual-homologated, so can be worn as a full-face or jet style open-face. When it’s in the flipped position the whole of the front lifts up because the visor’s attached directly to the chin bar. We’ve had one on test over the last six months and found it a little strange that you couldn’t just push the visor up to have a scratch of the nose or get some air, but soon got used to it. It’s the same comfortable fit and quality piece of kit you’d expect from the French helmet manufacturer. Vents are well placed and easy to open, the flip lifts with ease and the drop-down sun…

‘At this time of year, it’s V4 value’ In winter my Inner Skinflint starts chirping in my ear and I find myself looking around for cheap, and I mean really, really cheap, bikes. Like priced at a grand or lower. People say that you can’t get anything decent for that sort of money, but last year I scored myself an immaculate one-owner Honda VFR800 (pre-VTEC) for £1000 from an autojumble as well, so I know it can be done. Honda VFRs are going up in price now – well, the 750s are; the 800 somehow lost some of the earlier bike’s purity, and we won’t mention the VTEC model. Interestingly, I see people are paying good money for the original VF750F: the 1983 bike that achieved a woeful tendency for…

THE PLAN We were supposed to go to the Pyrenees but of course Covid put a halt to that so during August we planned a trip to Scotland instead. ● Readers Wayne Nott and 15 riders from the Black Widows, Caerphilly Chapter (“the club name is a joke, by the way”) ● The ride Caerphilly up to the North Coast 500 in Scotland ● Miles 1907 ● Best bit? A cracking trip and a great laugh with great company. We stopped overnight in Moffat, Fort Augustus, Bettyhill, Ullapool, Skye, Oban and Keswick. Even the weather was good for most of the trip and we would definitely recommend it. THE ROUTE THE ‘WIDOWS’ As our tasteful T-shirts say, we are feared throughout the land. Not really, we are a very nice…

Q ‘They’ve been spying on me’ I have a personal injury claim following an accident in 2018. I was badly hurt and was off work for nearly a year. Although my injuries have hampered my hobbies, I have continued to work on my bikes and DIY projects. Last week my solicitor called me to say the Defendant has surveillance footage of me working in my open garage. They say that this shows that I am not as injured as I claim. Can I do anything to stop them? Clive, Scunthorpe A Surveillance filmed from a public place is not illegal but the agents are not permitted to trespass. There is not much a legal representative can do to prevent an insurer carrying out surveillance or object to its use in…

“When the Germans go crazy with their design so often it ends up garish rather than cool, which is exactly the case with the bumblebee look. I don’t have a problem at all with BMW looking to their heritage. The R nineT Urban G/S not only looks fabulous it is also brilliant to ride but with this one I think they have missed the mark. I’m heavily involved in the car world and run my own YouTube channel Harry’s Garage and four-wheelers have become too Nürburgring-obsessed at the expense of the cars actually being good on the road. When companies look towards heritage models they tend to make them slower and more fun to ride, which is exactly the experience you get when you own a classic like my 1986…

2004 WORLD TITLE Jarvis signed Rossi, who won the MotoGP title at his first attempt with Yamaha, giving the factory its first GP world championship since 1993. That success kept Yamaha in MotoGP. RIDING ROSSI’S M1 At the end of the 2006 season, when Rossi lost the title to Nicky Hayden, Jarvis got to thrash his YZR-M1 around Valencia. When you’re the big boss that’s the kind of perk you get. ROSSI’S LAST TITLE? After difficult 2006 and 2007 seasons Yamaha and their YZR-M1 returned to the top in 2008 and 2009, when Rossi achieved his last MotoGP world championship. So far… 2015 YAM ONE-TWO Jarvis signed Lorenzo in 2008, as he thought Rossi was nearing the end of his MotoGP career. In 2015 Yamaha took a one-two in the…

• Full details of the SWC300 can be found on the Visit South West Scotland website (www. visitsouthwestscotland.com) and because it’s doable in a day you don’t need much more than a long weekend. Early or late in the season means the roads will be even quieter, but bear in mind that might come at the cost of less daylight. It’s worth noting that there’s plenty more to explore besides the SWC300 right across the region, so why not stay in Moffat for a week to discover more of Southern Scotland’s hidden gems?…

These days the world is all about brands. From TVs to trainers, beer to washing powder, we buy as much for the label as for the product. And no brand has an identity as strong as KTM. One glimpse of orange paint and you know it’s a bold and characterful rider’s bike, with an edgy free-revving motor and oodles of attitude. Except, actually, the Austrian bikes are far more rounded than you think. Here’s a selection... Different buyer SMTs don’t attract as many hooligans as a Super Duke does – it’ll be easier to find a bike that doesn’t have loud cans or other mods. Winter wanderer Finish is robust, but if the LC8 V-twin has fur and missing paint you should check the chassis for equal amounts of grottiness.…

Furygan Heat Blizzard £249.99 Having heated gloves that use a battery makes them much easier to live with as there are no wires to worry about. For those shorter cold days, they can’t be beaten. Nathan Skyrme, Swansea Oxford Hotgrips Advanced Adventure £79.99 They switch off if the battery is low and were good for 150,000 miles. Philip Weston, Bristol Keis B501W heated bodywarmer £155 A godsend – especially the heated collar. You can put it to the coolest setting and it still keeps you toastie. Maggie Day, Woodwalton Gerbing Premium Heated Jacket Liner £199.99 Plugged in, it is really warm and comfy with a good spread of heating. Graham Bell, Essex Keis Premium J501 jacket £199 Absolutely superb. It’s also not bulky and plugs into your bike, so you…

When this much-loved 1980 Z1000 started running badly a few years back, the owner parked it up. Eventually, he dragged it out and took it to M&M Motorcycles to get it running sweetly. Mechanic Jason Atreides at the Cambridge-based dealership, said: “The bike fired up and it was almost running perfectly, but not quite. Cylinder one’s reading after a dry compression test was low, so I did a ‘wet’ test to narrow down the possibilities.” To do a wet test you put a teaspoon of oil down the plug hole. If the reading is now higher that indicates that the oil has sealed any wear in the ring area for a couple of spins. If it stays low, it’s a valve issue or a hole in the piston. Jason added:…

MOTOGP There was a changing of the guard in 2020, and for 2021 there’s no Cal Crutchlow or Andrea Dovizioso, whilst Valentino Rossi is no longer an official Yamaha factory rider after switching to the Petronas Yamaha satellite team. VR46 Academy member Franco Morbidelli partners his mentor. Fabio Quartararo moves to the factory team after securing three victories in 2020, linking up with Yamaha’s new ‘number one’ Maverick Viñales. Marc Marquez, fitness permitting, will have a fourth different teammate in as many years with old Moto2 foe Pol Espargaro switching from Red Bull KTM. Espargaro departs the Austrian manufacturer after leading their MotoGP project since 2017, and there’s a good chance his aggressive riding style will suit the RC213V. Alex Marquez departs to the satellite LCR Honda team alongside Takaaki…

MotoGP’s freshly crowned world champion Joan Mir has a New Year wish: the return of a fit and race ready Marc Marquez in 2021. Mir and Suzuki are readying themselves for a full defence of their classy 2019 title victory and Marquez remains the benchmark rider with six championships and 56 MotoGP race wins since 2013. There is huge anticipation for the return of Marquez following bone graft surgery on the upper right arm fracture that ended his 2020 campaign at the opening race in Jerez. “For sure Joan wants to race Marc for the championship,” said Suzuki team boss Davide Brivio. “Let’s be clear, in the recent period Marc has been top rider in MotoGP although he was absent from Jerez 2 last year. “Everybody wants to challenge him,…

Suzuki have announced a new finance offer across their V-twin models to begin the New Year with some serious temptation. The legendary SV650 and both the V-Strom 650 and 1050 ranges are all included in the new deal, which sees the bike available at a very competitive 3% APR on both three-year PCP and HP agreements. And with a minimum deposit of just £300, you don’t need a huge stash of cash up front to get your hands on the latest Suzuki V-twins. Naked ambition One of the most popular bikes available on the new deal is certain to be the SV650 – the machine that has played a huge part in establishing the booming naked middleweight sector – along with its retro-themed sibling, the café racer-inspired SV650X. Both bikes…

Leave the castle turrets behind and head into Old Windsor before having a blast through the long straight runway which cuts its way through Runnymede. The meadow is where King John sealed the Magna Carta in 1215, so don’t forget to check out the monuments. Aim for Virginia Water where a bunch of squiggly switchbacks and sharp corners await. It’s well worth pulling up and taking a stroll through the park, for waterfalls and Roman ruins. The road will also take you past the Wentworth Estate, click into second gear and take it slow to drift past some of the most pricey houses in the UK. Jump onto London Road and head for the B383 north. This little gem will take you straight to Legoland and via the Royal Windsor…

Sniffer dogs have been trained to seek out metal tagged with DNA markings, which could help police find stolen motorbikes much faster. DNA spray has been used for a few years now in the fight against bike crime, with excellent results. Officers use a special canister to tag a rider and their machine with a liquid that is almost impossible to wash off completely and carries a distinct DNA signature. Forensic teams can use the presence of this liquid on a suspect’s clothing or skin to tie them to a specific motorbike and place, which is invaluable when building a case. Now SelectaDNA, the firm behind the tech, say they’ve worked with Search Dogs UK to train dogs to seek out the markings. They’ve already helped the Met Police with…

Thyssenkrupp Carbon Components carbon wheels £3000 est This are claimed to be the world’s first braided carbon wheels for a single-sided swingarm and tkCC are inviting preorders for wheels for the Ducati Panigale V4. The wheels are lighter than OE whilst being strong enough to gain German Type Approval. www.thyssenkrupp-carbon-components.com Akrapovic exhaust for Ducati Multistrada V4 £2376 The racing system is stainless steel and equipped with a silencer with titanium outer sleeve and carbon end cap. Along with the exhaust, the price includes mapping which adjusts all the electronic parameters of the bike to suit the new performance. It weighs 5kg less than the standard exhaust and lifts power by claimed 4bhp to 174bhp. There’s also an Akrapovic silencer available (£1188). www.ducati.com Oxford Bar End Mirrors £49.99 These bar end…

The Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance are preparing to move into a new purpose-built home in Spring 2021, which should help improve emergency response times and allow their helicopter to fly more missions at night. The new premises is being built adjacent to RAF Waddington on the A15, just a few miles out of Lincoln, and is the result of a £1.82million grant from the Department of Health and Social Care. The HELP Appeal charity also donated £316,152.25 to further fund the helipad and lighting, which will allow the service to provide more aerial support at night. A charity close to many bikers’ heart for the services they provide, he Air Ambulance’s new building will include a purpose-built hangar, along with housing for the team’s Critical Care Car. It is…

MARTIN LAMBERT Every week we give a different rider a wodge of fictional cash and ask them to ‘buy’ the bike that sets their soul on fire. This is Martin’s pick... Ever since seeing a Z1 B parked up at the end of his street on the way to school, Kawasaki Europe’s PR Manager, Martin Lambert, has been obsessed by the brand. So much so, that as well as working for the company for 25 years he has owned more than 45 Kawasakis to date and currently has six in his garage, two in the shed, two in his house, one in his loft and a variety of H1 and S2 parts in the spare room. What would he buy given a budget of £8700? The last of the monster-motored…

mcn.letters@motorcyclenews.com motorcyclenews motorcyclenews MCNnews Best of biking spirit Our friend Peter Rowland spent the whole of last year volunteering and launched the Redbourn Riders Facebook group, and during lockdown started Zoom meetings where everything is on the table to talk about from health to politics, motorcycling to advanced tests, to alcohol to travel to generally having a right old laugh. Knowing a second lockdown was inevitable, he organised a visit to the Triumph factory to keep spirits up. Biking needs more people like Peter! Redbourn Riders Group, email Parking chages are crazy Reading your piece on the Camden bike parking charges, I have to say this is a ridiculous way of doing things. I’m a biker and an HGV driver and both seem to be a problem for councils. Camden…

MCN CONTRIBUTOR £18,930 BMW R1250GS te EDition 40 Years • 1254cc ShiftCam boxer twin DOHC 8v • 134.1bhp @ 7750rpm • 249kg wet weight In the motorcycle world it is hard to think of a model that has enjoyed the same sort of longevity as BMW’s GS (or Gelande/straße if you are being formal). The only one I can think of is Enfield’s Bullet, which (a change of country aside) has been going since 1931. So how have BMW decided to mark the original 1980 G/S reaching its ruby anniversary? Through a special ‘Edition 40’ paint scheme harking back to the R100GS – which was actually released in 1988 and the new bike itself is a 2021 model – so the chronology isn’t quite right. That aside, the Edition 40…

Underneath the ‘bumblebee’ paint the Edition 40 Years is still a BMW R1250GS TE and therefore a fairly loaded version of what has been proven over the last four decades to be a brilliant machine. It is, as always, the benchmark and the ultimate do-it-all. But what does the £1990 you need to pay to gain the black and yellow paint get you? That’s the slight issue... As brilliant as the GS is, I’m not convinced many will want to pay extra for this anniversary paint. I hate to say it but the yellow screen (ours is fitted with a clear one, a free option...) has a hint of 1990s GSX-R bolt-on about it. The problem BMW have encountered is that having somewhat over-played the GS heritage card, the truly…

Five grand isn’t much for a well-finished 650 retro, especially one with features – radial brake, LED lights, adjustable levers – that you don’t get on similarly-priced rivals. The engine is willing with a decent character and pleasing exhaust note, and the X-Ride feels right during half-arsed B-road bend-swinging. The looks aren’t bad either, giving the impression of a fancy Ducati Desert Sled for a mere fraction of the price. It’s a shame the choppy forks, blocky tyres and lack of brake feel are things noticed on every ride. Solving the rubber situation will be straightforward but sorting the front-end would require time and money, which somewhat defeats the object of a bargain-priced buy-and-ride machine. If your riding is mostly on tight lanes and you’re smitten by the looks, fill…

‘More minty used bikes than ever...’ These days everyone buys new bikes on PCP. Mobile phones and pay-to-view TV have got us used to coughing up monthly and it’s extended to bikes. And if you’re old-school and prefer owning rather than effectively renting, the PCP boom is still good news, as it means showrooms full of mint bikes. PCP mileage limits let a dealer preserve the value in used stock; bikes with lots of miles on them depreciate so they cap the miles on the finance deal to make sure the bike has value at the end of the PCP term. Typically it’s 4000 miles per annum, but by opting for a lower annual mileage the buyer can wangle lower monthly payments – so for weekend leisure riders it’s a…

1Go for the genuine article It doesn’t get more fundamental than your bike’s engine oil, so don’t overshoot intervals or use pattern parts when home servicing. The price difference between genuine and pattern parts is very little, and genuine parts are often super critical to an engine’s longevity. All you need is an oil filter, new sump plug washer and the correct grade of oil. 2 Strip down for easy access Have a flick through your bike’s workshop manual to see if any bodywork panels need to be removed prior to starting the job. You will need to gain access to the sump plug, which is located at the very bottom of the engine, and the oil filter which is often found at the front of the engine behind the…

Team Ecstar Suzuki Joan Mir & Alex Rins Monster Energy Yamaha Maverick Viñales & Fabio Quartararo Repsol Honda Marc Marquez & Pol Espargaro Ducati Team Jack Miller & Francesco Bagnaia Red Bull KTM Brad Binder & Miguel Oliveira Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aleix Espargaro & Lorenzo Savadori or Bradley Smith Petronas Yamaha SRT Franco Morbidelli & Valentino Rossi LCR Honda Alex Marquez & Takaaki Nakagami Pramac Racing Johann Zarco & Jorge Martin Esponsorama Racing Enea Bastianini & Luca Marini Tech3 KTM Danilo Petrucci & Iker Lecouna…

Alvaro Bautista and Leon Haslam may both appear at this year’s high-profile Suzuka 8-Hour event. 2020’s race was cancelled due to Covid-19 and as a result, Team HRC were unable to compete in Japan with the new Fireblade. Haslam has enjoyed success with Honda before in the 8-Hour, in 2013 and 2014. “It’s one of my most favourite events,” Haslam said. “The atmosphere there is just fantastic, and I’d love to win again with the new Fireblade.” Bautista has never competed at Suzuka but hinted at a possible appearance. “I’ve never raced in that type of race before but if HRC ask me to go, yes it would be quite interesting so why not? It would be a good experience.” KTM extend their test team deals Mika Kallio and Dani…

Suzuki have announced a new finance offer across their V-twin models to begin the New Year with some serious temptation. The legendary SV650 and both the V-Strom 650 and 1050 ranges are all included in the new deal, which sees the bike available at a very competitive 3% APR on both three-year PCP and HP agreements. And with a minimum deposit of just £300, you don’t need a huge stash of cash up front to get your hands on the latest Suzuki V-twins. Naked ambition One of the most popular bikes available on the new deal is certain to be the SV650 – the machine that has played a huge part in establishing the booming naked middleweight sector – along with its retro-themed sibling, the café racer-inspired SV650X. Both bikes…