Jim Moore

Freelance road tester and writer

Jim’s passion for bikes spans more than 40 years, 27 of them as a motorcycle journalist. His love of two wheels took root in the mid-’80s after his older brother, Phil, bought a Honda MT-5, followed by a Yamaha RD125DX – bikes that Jim would ride at every available opportunity.

Jim’s first motorcycle, a Yamaha FS1-E field bike, cost an eye-watering 15 quid and lasted an afternoon before blowing its piston into 1000 pieces! He eventually took to the road in 1989, aged 16, on a Kawasaki AR50.

Over the decades Jim’s owned, thrashed, and raced more bikes than he can remember – everything from 125s and 250 two-strokes to numerous Honda V4s, trail bikes, race reps and big inline-fours. He currently owns five bikes in various states of repair, including a heavily modified Suzuki GSX1100S, a Yamaha YZF750 and several small two-strokes.

In 1997 Jim’s passion became his job when he joined Performance Bikes magazine. Since then he’s worked for every major UK motorcycle publication, including MCN, Bike, RiDE, Classic Bike and Superbike, as well as international titles such as AMCN (Australian MCN).

In 2009, after a couple of years as Deputy Editor on Classic Bike, Jim helped launch Practical Sportsbikes magazine, a title focused on the restoration, use and celebration of bikes from the 1970s-1990s.

After nine years in the PS Editor’s chair, Jim traded Yamaha LCs and Kawasaki ZXRs for Ducati Multistrada V4s and BMW M1000RRs in his now wider role as freelance tester and writer – a job that’s seen him ride and review every important bike since 2019.