Lap time: 1:46.7Top speed at end of straight: 164.01mphMax braking (g): 1.19Max lean: 50.94 Why it’s so specialDucati built this homologation special for World Superbike racing. It shares the same Marchesini wheels, Ohlins electronically-adjustable suspension and Brembo monoblocs as the S model and the power and torque is the same, too. But the R has new titanium conrods, giving the ...
- Motorcycle News
- First rides & tests
- 17 May 2013
Another weekend, another trip down to Somerset to catch-up with friends and family. It was also another weekend when the heavens have opened and I’ve had to ride the F800GT down in the pouring rain. And hailstones. Come to think of it, I don’t think that there has been a time when I have had a ride where I have ...
- Motorcycle News
- First rides & tests
- 16 May 2013
Lap time: 1:47.7Top speed at end of straight: 167.7mphMax braking (g): 1.29Max lean: 46.85 Why it’s so specialIt’s the first sports bike to be produced with semi-active suspension. The damping inside the HP4’s Sachs forks and rear shock adjusts as you ride, based on your road speed, throttle position, lean angle, shock movement and intervention from the traction control and ...
- Motorcycle News
- First rides & tests
- 16 May 2013
Lap time: 1:49.8Top speed at end of straight: 164.4mphMax braking (g): 1.38Max lean: 48.2 Why it’s so specialThe 1199R and HP4 may be the latest and greatest superbikes to arrive, but neither can boast two World Superbike championships like the RSV4. Reputed to have been made for Max Biaggi from the beginning, the Aprilia made the world take notice when ...
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- First rides & tests
- 15 May 2013
In this week’s paper I report how the heated grips on the Suzuki Burgman 650 could be warmer. Just about every journalist on the launch in Scotland seemed to agree on the point. Some said they seemed to work intermittently. Others questioned whether they worked at all. Suzuki scratched their heads and said they’d look into it. On the ride ...
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- First rides & tests
- 14 May 2013
Lap time: 1:53.86Top speed at end of straight: 163.6mphMax braking (g): 1.19Max lean: 41.62 Why it’s so specialMV Agusta F4s are the ultimate poster bikes. The iconic Massimo Tamburini-designed lines haven’t really changed over the years, just tweaked, refined and polished, but even today, 14 years after the original F4 750 was released, this latest evolution is unutterably beautiful. It ...
- Motorcycle News
- First rides & tests
- 14 May 2013
My week of riding has begun, destination Northern Italy. Sitting in the sunshine at Folkstone waiting for my slot on the Chunnel makes me realise what biking is all about. This years seemly endless winter made me forget the appeal of the two wheeled lifestyle, it's ok now, I definitely remember. Only 450 more miles to go today, accompanied by ...
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- First rides & tests
- 13 May 2013
These are ‘Top Trump’ superbikes – the kind of machines you’ll probably only ever see in pictures and rarely in the flesh. The new Aprilia RSV4 Factory APRC, BMW HP4 Carbon, Ducati 1199R Panigale and MV Agusta F4RR are all about the big numbers: power, capacity, top speed, electronic rider aids and, of course, price. If you’re in the market ...
- Motorcycle News
- First rides & tests
- 13 May 2013
I’d forgotten how dirty a minimalistic bike like the Street Triple R can get. I was caught out in a rain storm yesterday and within half an hour the Triumph looked like it had been taken down a farm track, which it hadn’t. The ride was on A-roads, but the level of filth on the back end was incredible. ...
- Motorcycle News
- First rides & tests
- 13 May 2013
Not sure what it is with the local councils, they must have come into money, three of the roads I used have been re-surfaced and are covered in chippings. A bugger to ride over and getting peppered by oncoming traffic actually smarted a little. The bike’s back from the first service and with the next one not being due till ...
- Motorcycle News
- First rides & tests
- 13 May 2013
