Bike news

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

TYRE pressures are a crucial factor in determining how your bike handles and how quickly you wear your (not exactly cheap) tyres.There are lots of myths and misconceptions about what pressures you...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 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...

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...

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...

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...

IT is quite conceivable that you will have seen a piano used as a sidecar before – in your wildest dreams.If you pinch yourself and the tinkling of the ivories continues to get louder, you’re almost...

WHEN you’re talking about GPs and WSB, Michelin and Dunlop are the only names that matter in tyres. The two firms enjoy a monopoly in world championship racing, and no-one uses anything else. But when...

THE family of Mexicans sitting to my left in their old Ford pick-up are just plain staring. In fact, from the look on their faces you would think I had just pulled a gun on them.The bloke to my right...

THEY say you can have too much of a good thing. I disagree. Maybe I’ve just got an addictive personality, but when I find something I love doing, I just want to keep doing it. Riding bikes is one...

I’M at the top of a 10,000ft mountain, the equivalent of a third of the way up Everest. It’s May, but there are deep snow drifts all around and miles of narrow, rocky trails bordered by sheer drops.

TYRE size is one of the burning issues in 500 GPs this year. If you’ve watched any of the recent rounds on TV you’ll have heard commentators going on about 16.5 and 17-inch rear wheels. So what’s the...

IT’S important to look good in the city. For those who frequent the best bars and restaurants, a battered old CX500 is a bit of a no-no. The Ducati badge says all the right things to the...

AS the bike in my mirrors drew nearer I got my head down, cracked open the throttle and went for it, but in no time it was on my tail. The narrow, twisty road allowed me to hold it off, but as soon as...

IT’S back in May 1979 and I’m rushing to my local newsagents to pick up the latest copy of American bike magazine Cycle World. As I walk into the shop I glimpse the front cover and there, in glorious...

HOW do you want your bike to feel? Racy and quick into turns or steady and stable? It’s all down to suspension.Top racers spend more time working on suspension settings than anything else. The ad...

WE’VE been hearing a lot about slipper clutches recently – they’re fitted to exotica like Aprilia’s RSV and anyone watching the TV coverage of the Phillip Island WSB will have seen what can happen if...

BRUTAL, that’s the only word for it. The X1 Lightning has always been a bit of an animal, but this carbon-clad version has taken things to a new extreme. I can’t remember the last time I had a bike...

HANDS up if you don’t know how half the functions on your video recorder work and therefore never use them. If it records at the appropriate time and on the right channel, you’re more than happy.Many...