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Time for a change of scenery

13 October 2000

Time for a change of scenery

MOST of us go touring in summer. But if there’s one time when you should really try something different on your bike, it’s autumn. This is the time of year when heavy-duty gloves come out of the...

Give us a go, Mr Walker

01 October 2000

Give us a go, Mr Walker

I’VE ridden plenty of Suzuki GSX-R750s in my time. But the number two on the front of this one marks it out as being Very Special Indeed. And I’ve never been so scared in my entire life. You see, the...

Britain’s answer to the R1

15 September 2000

Britain’s answer to the R1

THERE have been some great British motorcycles over the years. Triumph’s Bonneville, Norton’s Commando, BSA’s Dandy (well, maybe not). But, even in light of the very latest machines like Triumph’s...

All that glitters... is almost gold

15 September 2000

All that glitters... is almost gold

FEW people in the world will ever get to look at, let alone hear, ride or even own an MV Agusta Series Oro. Only 50 of the magnesium-laced ” gold ” series bikes have ever been built. All of them are...

Beyond reason

08 September 2000

Beyond reason

I’M sitting in a jammed-up one-way system, snicking the gearbox into neutral. The idling engine’s heat is starting to make its way through my jeans. Traffic jams are an annoyance on most bikes,...

A little bit of what you fancy

08 September 2000

A little bit of what you fancy

IT was all a bit ironic. Here I was in the middle of Germany, howling along on an exotic FireBlade-engined bike I had travelled halfway across Europe to ride. But along with its Japanese-made engine,...

Tale of the unexpected

01 September 2000

Tale of the unexpected

TRACKDAY bikes – R1s, Blades, GSX-Rs, 916s, BMWs. Er, excuse me? Let’s try that one again. Track day bikes – R1s, Blades, GSX-Rs, 916s… BMWs? Surely Munich’s big Boxers are designed to clock up the...

Casting light on the secrets of the black box

01 September 2000

YOU know what the problem with that is… that’s your cerebral oscillator confounding your collectivisor, that is… Modern bikes can be such conundrums of electronic complexity that you won’t be alone if your eyes start glazing over when your mechanic begins explaining why yours won’t start. It’s easy to give up, hand over the key and wander off in the hope that there’s a taxi rank nearby, without...

The sum is greater than its parts

01 September 2000

The sum is greater than its parts

IT was just like gazing at the stars. The more I looked, the more I saw. Except this wasn’t the sky. This was a very special Honda SP-1. And instead of seeing planets, I was gawping at a machine which...

You can’t have too much of a good thing

25 August 2000

You can’t have too much of a good thing

FOR some people, enough is never enough. Mountaineers always want to climb higher mountains, athletes always want a quicker time and those strange people who try to set world records by eating...

Why exhausts are left to the experts

25 August 2000

Why exhausts are left to the experts

FITTING an aftermarket silencer or complete exhaust system is the most common modification we make to our bikes. We do it to add a bit more power and personality, and to shed a bit of weight. But, as...

What have you done wrong today?

18 August 2000

What have you done wrong today?

MISTAKE: ASSUMING DRIVERS CAN’T/WON’T ATTEMPT THE SAME OVERTAKE AS YOU HOW many times have you gone to overtake a slow-moving vehicle only to have a car pull out from the queue behind it to attempt...

The real deal on wheels

18 August 2000

The real deal on wheels

LIGHTWEIGHT wheels are standard equipment on race bikes. But how much difference could they make to our own machines? They are certainly more than an expensive pose. They can reduce the unsprung...

Why no YZR500i?

11 August 2000

Why no YZR500i?

WE’VE become used to seeing fuel injection replace carburettors on bike after bike, and the electronic system is now nearly as common a sight on road bikes as disc brakes. But if fuel injection is the...

Who do you think you are son, the invisible man?

11 August 2000

Who do you think you are son, the invisible man?

I’M currently riding at 62mph. Nothing exceptional about that, except I’m in a 50mph zone. Some would argue there’s nothing exceptional about that, either, apart from the copper up ahead pointing a...

When you’ve got a Busa under the bonnet…

11 August 2000

When you’ve got a Busa under the bonnet…

CARS? Heavy, slow, boring shopping trollies with way too many wheels, in my experience. Ideal for supermarket runs, bad weather and luggage carrying. But for having fun? Forget it unless you’re...

250 v 600 = no contest

11 August 2000

250 v 600 = no contest

THE CBR600 rider in the distance is scything through the pine-lined canyon switchbacks. His mind is set on one thing – trying to put as much distance between himself and the bike screaming up behind...

The people’s champions

04 August 2000

The people’s champions

WHERE were you on Sunday afternoon? If you were sat beside a certain track in Kent, or glued to the BBC’s Grandstand, you don’t need telling how big the World Superbike series has become. The...

Only if you’re Carl Fogarty

01 August 2000

Only if you’re Carl Fogarty

IT’S the number plate that gives it away. The legend ” T4 FOG ” just above the chunky rear tyre reveals that this is no ordinary Ducati Monster. Yes, the owner of the machine glinting seductively in...

Just nipping out to buy another RC30, dear

01 August 2000

Just nipping out to buy another RC30, dear

SOME people collect stamps, others collect beer bottles. Some are even lucky enough to own a few bikes. But there’s one man for whom only the very best will do – that’s why he’s got a collection of...

Be prepared to change your mind

21 July 2000

Be prepared to change your mind

IT’S good to challenge yourself, to take yourself aside and question your beliefs from time to time. It’s even better if you can do it in glorious sunshine. As I sit reflecting on my newly-shifted...

S’pose I’d best go in the fast group, then

21 July 2000

S’pose I’d best go in the fast group, then

THE GSX-R rider nods in the direction of the gleaming red Virgin Mobile R7 as it’s wheeled out of the back of a van in the middle of a bustling paddock. Surprised that such a humble rent-a-van could...

The queue-jumper

14 July 2000

The queue-jumper

THE sweet smell of two-stroke wafted around me as I waited for the lights to turn green on a gridful of impatient, wide-eyed loons. My senses were wound to maximum. The instant I saw green I was ready...

Somebody pinch me

14 July 2000

Somebody pinch me

I’M sitting on a bike I once only dreamed of touching. This seat is usually reserved for genuine racing heroes. Kenny Roberts and his son are among the very few who have graced it. The mid-day...

Cars use front-wheel drive – so why don’t bikes?

14 July 2000

Cars use front-wheel drive – so why don’t bikes?

Some ways of doing things are so universal that people don’t even think to ask if there’s any other option. Until, on occasion, some lateral-thinking genius comes along, turns convention and accepted...

Prepare for an Indian summer

07 July 2000

Prepare for an Indian summer

THE scenario had been acted out many times before. A V-twin Harley-Davidson was locked in combat with a four-cylinder Indian, their riders crouched over the tanks with the throttles at the stop...

Fancy going for a blat, Bazza?

07 July 2000

Fancy going for a blat, Bazza?

AS a kid growing up in the ’70s, like many of my peers, I had an Evel Knievel wind-up toy Skycycle, complete with stars and stripes-clad Knievel doll. After about a year of playing at Knievel, I...

Blades: The Gathering

01 July 2000

Blades: The Gathering

CULT status is usually accorded to things which aren’t actually that popular. Red Dwarf, for example isn’t anywhere near as big as Neighbours. Honda’s FireBlade is a glaring exception to this...

Cool calipers take the heat out of the hardest braking

23 June 2000

Cool calipers take the heat out of the hardest braking

YOU can expect to see them on the front forks of a bike in a pub car park near you very soon: Radially-mounted brake calipers. If you have eagle eyes and an anorak attention to detail, you’ll have...

It’s gonna get you

23 June 2000

It’s gonna get you

UNRELENTING rain smacks off my visor. Somewhere in the pitch-blackness, in the turbulent air behind me, something evil has picked up my scent. I hear the unmistakable sound of a V-twin engine...

This thing has grown bigger than all of us

16 June 2000

This thing has grown bigger than all of us

IT’S official. Ducati is not just a motorcycle maker, it’s a cult brand, like Harley-Davidson or Caterpillar. They’ve reached a stage in their relatively short career where the name Ducati has become...

It’s a dirty job, but someone’s got to do it

16 June 2000

It’s a dirty job, but someone’s got to do it

IT’S Sunday morning. You were due to go for a ride, but the weather’s naff and you’ve got a hangover. So what are you going to do to spend some quality time with your baby? Clean the thing. Most of...

Welcome back to the playground

16 June 2000

Welcome back to the playground

LIFE is hard. There are those who can amble through it not worrying about the next big bill, but they are a privileged few. The rest of us have long forgotten that happy, simple land where children...

Big on the Island

09 June 2000

Big on the Island

GETTING noticed at the TT gets harder every year. There are about 15,000 bikes parked along Douglas promenade on any given day and so many specials and rare exotica on display that your average...

Change your scenery

09 June 2000

Change your scenery

SOME bikes create dilemmas. And this is one of them. You know you’re just nipping across town, so you put on your best trainers, polish your black visor and leave on your best going-out jeans. After...

It’s been a hard day’s fortnight

09 June 2000

It’s been a hard day’s fortnight

ROLL off the ferry for the start of your Isle of Man experience and it comes as no great surprise that everything is laid on for you. The racing goes off when it’s meant to (weather permitting) the...