Fast Bikes November 2017

EXCCLUSIVE INTERVIEW MAR RC MARQUEZ ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS

NOVEMBER 2017 ISSUE 333

NOU NOUGHTY BY NATURE BARGAIN BULLETS FROM THE NOUGHTIES NOUGHTIE 2000 DUCATI TII 748 2001 01 1 YAM AM MAHA R1 1 2001 01 1 CBR600 2004 GSX-R 750

BRAKE LIKE BROOKES IN

10 STEPS PLUS:

BEST HELMETS REVEALED ONE (TRACK) SCHOOL FOR ALL KNOW YOUR SLIPPER CLUTCHES MV AGUSTA F4 BUYER’S GUIDE GET STARTED ENDURANCE RACING

HEAD-TO-HEAD D

SUZUKI GSX-R1000

L6 6 VS S L7

WITH BSB’S TAYLOR MACKENZIE

ISSUE 333 NOVEMBER 20 017

GET IT FIRST!

Subscribe .........................................8 You get the mag first, at a bargain price, straight through your letterbox. You know it makes sense!

GEARED UP!

Products.......................................... 14 All the best gear you could ever want!

IT’S THE NEWS!

Upfront............................................ 10 All the goss from the world of two wheels.

THE KNOWLEDGE

Used Buyer’s Guide......................... 78 The one and only MV Agusta F4.

18

MASTERCLASS

Riding ..............................................84 Improving your riding skills.

Legal ................................................87

TAKING A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE WITH THE BEST OF THE NOUGHTIES!

Don’t do drugs. Here’s why…

Know Your Tech ..............................94 Spalders give us the lowdown on slipper clutches.

YOUR LIFE ON BIKES

Chatter ............................................88 It’s only fair we give the best readers in the world a couple of pages of their own!

TESTS

Noughty By Nature ......................... 18 We take on the bestest and baddest bikes from the turn of the noughties!

Test of Time ....................................54

OUR LIFE ON BIKES

Just how much better is the new GSX-R1000 than its predecessor?

Charles’ track debut doesn’t go to plan.

FEATURES

Project TZR ......................................90 Project Moto3 .................................92

Buying Used ....................................32

It’s finally off the ramp!

Buying a used bike? Make sure you read our golden rules first.

Staff Bikes.......................................96

Head Cases .....................................36 We take a thorough look at the state of the helmet industry.

44

Brake like Brookes..........................42

Endurance Race ..............................66

One School for All ...........................44

Marc my Words............................... 72

Pimpin’, problems and punctured radiators!.

•

Honda Fireblade SP • KTM 390 Duke • Suzuki GSX-S750 • Suzuki GSX-R1000R

•

BMW S1000R • Triumph Street Triple RS • KTM 1290 Superduke R • Aprilia RSV4 RF

RACE SECTION

Pit pass.......................................... 106 All the best goss from the paddock!

COLUMNISTS

Carl Stevens.................................. 118 Taylor Mackenzie.......................... 119 Meet our new columnist.

Gary Johnson ................................ 120 Gaz has been banging in the laps.

Chaz Davies .................................. 121 It’s been a memorable month for Chaz.

Steve Parrish................................. 122 Parrish is up to his usual antics!

BUY

GEAR

FASTBIKESMAG.COM 4 NOVEMBER 2017 WWW.FASTBIKESMAG.COM

Pretty Boy takes on each level of the Ron Haslam Race School.

60

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU CROSS A SUZUKI WITH SPIDER-MAN…

It’s a rapidly growing sport in the UK. We get stuck in and check it out.

Beej gets under the skin of MotoGP’s Marc Marquez.

SUBSCR See page 8 for details

IBE

Carl downsizes for this month’s racing…

Delving into the details of braking like a Superbike champ.

WE TAKE A STEP BACK INTO THE CLASSROOM FOR THE DAY.

6 NOVEMBER 2017 WWW.FASTBIKESMAG.COM

WELCOME

66

Chicken dinner!

Friends reunited

H

ave you ever stopped to think how many of your mates you’ve met through bikes?

If you’re anything like me, that shared interest will form the basis of your relationship with most of the people you know and knock around with. Motorcycling is bloody fantastic, we all know that, but it’s also a great way of getting to meet folk and make long-lasting friendships that seem to weather the challenges of time and distance like nothing else. I bumped into an old mate the other day. Well, technically he bumped into me as we fought for supremacy on the run into Barcroft corner at Croft circuit, where I was racing endurance with my brother (which you can read all about in this issue).

It was a proper sketchy moment. One of those times when you shout the first swear word that comes to mind so loud you wonder how the whole world didn’t hear it. Of course, I laughed about it post-race with this aforementioned megalomaniac, who’d now grown up, had kids and decided, like me, to give racing a second stab. It was great to catch up, talk bikes and reminisce about the nonsensical goings-on from a decade earlier when we raced one another in the GSX-R Trophy. If I don’t catch him for another 10 years, it won’t matter.

We’re mates and that’s that, all thanks to power of some sticky tyres, a fistful of throttle and a common love of going round and round in circles as fast as we can.

While we’re on with reminiscing, you’re likely to have clocked the R1 on the cover. What a beautiful thing that is. If you’ve owned one, I’m jealous. If you haven’t, you ought to. It’s perhaps the most iconic production bike from the turn of the noughties, and despite being over a decade and a half old, it still delivered lots of LOL moments for Fagan and co. who went about trying to relive their misspent youths on this, plus three other great bikes from the turn of the millennia. You’ll see what was made of them, along with some expert used buying advice on what to know before setting some moths free from your wallet.

The only thing not covered in our ten step buying guide is the best excuses to offer the better half when they see you turning up with yet another bike, but we’re sure you can master those one on your own. You could always throw in the ‘investment’ word, as bikes such as those we tested are slowly starting to climb in value. Yeah, that should do it. And don’t miss out – I’d suggest you ‘selflessly’ treat yourself sooner rather than later. Enjoy your read, and your future purchase.

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BOSS MAN

‘Dangerous’ Bruce Wilson dangerous@fastbikes.co.uk

WEB MAN

Benjamin ‘BJ’ Kubas Cronin beej@fastbikes.co.uk

FAST MAN

Alastair ‘A-Force’ Fagan fit@fastbikes.co.uk

AD MAN

Charlie ‘The Sheriff’ Oakman coakman@fastbikes.co.uk

NEW MAN

Carl ‘Pretty Boy’ Stevens teaboy@fastbikes.co.uk

RACE MAN

Mike ‘Boothy’ Booth

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, NEW S & REV IEW S PLA NET FAST BIKES – NEW ME TAL

MV AGUSTA LEWIS HAMILTON SPECIAL!

You wouldn’t usually associate an Italian motorcycle brand and a three times British F1 World Champion, yet for the second time MV Agusta have collaborated with Lewis Hamilton – and they’ve created something pretty special…

Limited to just 44 units, the F4 LH44 is based on the MV Agusta F4 RC (the top of the range model in MV’s arsenal) which makes an absolutely monstrous 205bhp thanks to the Corsa Corta engine and its snazzy central timing chain, plus radial valves. This isn’t where the fun stops though; the F4 LH44 comes equipped with a kit that includes a stunning titanium silencer with its own dedicated ECU which will give you an extra 7bhp, bringing the grand total of ponies up to 212bhp – harnessed within the bike’s iconic and stunning steel trellis frame.

Quality and exclusivity oozes throughout, with Ohlins USD NIX 30 TiN-coated fully adjustable forks and an Ohlins TTX 36 rear shock being the choice of suspension – yet not in the traditional gold, as the forks and shock come in a striking anodised black finish to achieve the desired look of the model’s instigator and enforcer, Lewis ‘really quick in a car’ Hamilton. And the uniqueness doesn’t stop there as even the Pirelli Supercorsa SP tyres it comes on have been given the same extent of bespoke treatment by incorporating a red sidewall with the LH44 logo on just to ensure that full factory finish.

Oh, and if you are lucky enough to own one of these you’ll be sitting on top of a handmade seat, which has been designed using top quality natural leather and Alcantara for the highest level of ergonomic comfort – no one likes a sore botty!

To top it all off MV Agusta and Hamilton have

‘Where are the other two wheels?’

chosen an absolutely drop-dead gorgeous blacked out colour scheme, thanks to using ink-based paints instead of traditional colour bases. Even the engine has been finished in black, while the screen comes smoked (a first for MV in a production model). The F4 LH44 comes drenched in carbon fibre goodies and includes a racing style fuel cap, forged wheels and an unbelievable level of detail: even the rear wheel nut has been CNC machined after anodisation.

Hamilton said: “It looks quite stunning and I had the pleasure of riding on track a few weeks ago in Italy; it feels great and combines the best of both worlds, a race bike for the road! There will be 44 bikes produced so I hope the lucky owners will love it as much as I do.”

The price hasn’t been announced just yet, but we can imagine it will reflect the Gucci nature of the MV Agusta F4 LH44. Still, there's no harm in dreaming, eh?

Where do we sign?

10 NOVEMBER 2017 WWW.FASTBIKESMAG.COM

See page 8 for the best deals

If you’re reading this then unfortunately you’re already too late to do anything about it, but from October 2, Ducati UK increased their prices on the Ducati and Ducati Scrambler ranges by just over 2% in order, they say, to keep their products in line with (or just under) the current rate of inflation.

The price rises vary somewhat between the different models available, but the entry level monster will see the lowest price rise, with the SRP increasing by just £100, while bigger bikes such the new Supersport S will see an increase of up £300 on the former list price. Typical bloody inflation…

C

S

DUCATI PUTS PRICES UP

S UB

NEW S & REV IEW S PLA NET FAST BIKES – NEW METAL,

R IB E

Fancy one of these? It's gonna cost you (more).

It’s that time again!

DIRT BIKE SHOW IS GO!

SUZUKI TO UNVEIL THE SV650X Designed to pay homage to the rally cars and bikes of the 1970s, this ‘Neo-retro’ design sees the SV650X gifted with a newly styled fairing and tinted screen, fog lamps and clip-on handlebars in order to give you that full on hipster experience.

It features the exact same 645cc V-twin from the new SV650, and although Suzuki are assessing whether to put the bike in production, we’re sincerely hoping they bring out a much sportier version while they're at it.

NO MOT FOR BIKES OVER 40

In a pretty bold move by The Department for Transport, from May 2018 all vehicles that are over 40 years old will be exempt from taking MoT tests after bringing the threshold up from pre 1960s to pre 1978.

Strangely, the reasoning behind the change is that anyone with a vehicle (whether car or bike) of that age will rarely use the machine and it will be loved and cared for, leaving it up the owner to take responsibility for the general roadworthiness.

You can always take your old weapon in for a voluntary MoT though if you’re feeling worried about it.

12 NOVEMBER 2017 WWW.FASTBIKESMAG.COM

If you’re like us and love getting dirty when the winter season descends, you should treat yourself by visiting the Dirt Bike Show. Europe’s largest off-road extravaganza takes place at Stoneleigh Park Showground between the October 26-29, with advance tickets starting from £8.

As well as riding displays form the likes of Dougie Lampkin, plus moto-football and minibike supercross, you’ll also have chance to scout out the latest and greatest offerings from leading manufacturers, including Beta, Honda, Husqvarna, KTM, Sherco and Yamaha. For more info, check out dirtbikeshow.co.uk or call 01507 529529.

KTM OFFER ON RC125 AND RC390 We all love a bargain, and our friends at KTM have got a few corkers on the cards to keep you smiling as we head into that cold and bleak time of the year called winter. There are fantastic price drops to shout about on both the RC390 and RC125, with the 390’s retail price dropping to just £4,399 (down from £5,099), while the RC125 is available at £3,599 (down from £4,299).

Both are available now from all good KTM dealerships (and even the bad ones). Better still, both models are available on zero per cent finance deals. Get one (or both) while you can.

That's cute.