FREE DVD 14 VIDEOS OF HOT SBOTY 2017 ACTION
SCRAPPING WITH GUY AT MOTO TIME ATTACK
SEPTEMBER 2017 ISSUE 331
SWANSON NG SUPERBIK KE £35K 1299 PANIGALE R
FINAL EDITION N PLUS: DUCATI’S V-TWIN N DYNASTY
EMMETT’S
BACK!
“IT WAS A CHALLENGE TO SEE HOW DRUNK I COULD GET” G
£35K CH HALLENGE
DREAM BIKES AT A DREAM PRICES: Suzuki SV650 minitwin £4,500
CW Bikes Pit Bike £500
BMW K1600 GT £15,000
Honda Fireblade £8,696
Triumph Street Triple R £6,495
PLUS: ENGINES: WHAT’S YOUR TYPE? HONDA HORNET 900 BUYER’S GUIDE KNOW YOUR CHAINS TRACK TRAINING IN GREECE BSB BOYS ON SUZUKA SUCCESS
ISSUE 331 SEPTEMBER 2017
GET IT FIRST!
Subscribe...........................................8 You get the mag first, at a bargain price, straight through your letter box. You know it makes sense!
GEARED UP!
Products...........................................14 All the best gear you could ever want!
IT’S THE NEWS!
Upfront............................................ 10 Fuel bans and vegan suits... is the world going mad?
18
THE KNOWLEDGE
Used Buyer’s Guide.........................80 Feeling horny for a Hornet? Look no further!
MASTERCLASS
Bull Busters ..................................... 78
HAVE DUCATI SAVED THE BEST TILL LAST?
Why valve tightness really matters.
Riding ..............................................86 Legal ................................................89 What you NEED to know about undercover cops...
YOUR LIFE ON BIKES
Chatter.............................................90 It’s only fair we give the best readers in the world a couple of pages of their own!
OUR LIFE ON BIKES
Project Bikes ...................................92 Charlie’s TZR is almost ready...
Dangerous Bruce is finally getting his hands dirty.........................................94
Staff Bikes.......................................98 It’s got to that pimpin’ time of year! Honda Fireblade SP • KTM 390 Duke • Suzuki GSX-S750 • Suzuki GSX-R1000R And more! •
•
BMW S1000R • Kawasaki ZX-10RR • KTM 1290 SuperDuke R • Aprilia RSV4 RF
RACE SECTION
LAUNCHES Ducati Panigale 1299 R Final Edition ................................... 18 Testing Ducati's last ever v-twin superbike.
SUBS
How to destroy one-sided lean-o-phobia!
IBE CR
See page 8 for the best deals
TESTS
35K Challenge .................................32 We gave Fagan 35K and told him to go play...
FEATURES
The V-Twin dynasty ........................26 Having a teary look back at Ducati's history.
Suzuka 8 Hour!................................42
The world’s most important Superbike race...
Time Attack.................................... 48 We get stuck in at the inaugural event.
Dirtquake .......................................66 Checking out some sideways action.
Greece Lightning ............................ 70 How to go faster with Alex De Angelis!
32
FAGAN FINALLY FOUND A BIKE BIG ENOUGH FOR HIS ASS...
Pit Pass.......................................... 108 All the best goss from the paddock!
Race feature.................................. 112 The stories behind the one and only Sean Emmett!
COLUMNISTS
Carl Stevens.................................. 118 Waves goodbye to the Ducati
Gary Johnson ................................ 120 Dirtquake antics!
Chaz Davies .................................. 121 Rest big, win big!
Steve Parish .................................. 122 Parish has been up to no good, again.
4 SEPTEMBER 2017 WWW.FASTBIKESMAG.COM
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ADDICTION THIS MONTH IS AN ABS SOLU UTE CORKER OF A BLADE...
WELCOME
All fun & games...
P
eople don’t always see the commitment that goes into this job, but for the past three weeks I’ve been playing computer games until my fingers have bled. Yep, it’s been tough but someone’s had to do it – if only the missus understood! On reflection, I blame Ducati. If they hadn’t called and asked if I wanted to head out to Germany to test their new 1299 Panigale R Final Edition, then I might not have found myself buying a copy of SBK 2011 and playing it incessantly to learn the Nürburgring GP circuit where the launch was taking place. Thankfully, that grafting paid off because the game bore a pretty decent resemblance to the real circuit, which was brilliant. It was an honour to cock a leg over the FE, which delivered an action-packed riding experience from start to finish, with big wheelies, skids and lean angles forming the basis of my Germanic joyride. It turned out to be truly befitting of its role to sign off Ducati’s impressive V-twin superbike lineage, which will see V4s take their place from 2018. That’s both an exciting and saddening prospect, because it’s a change from what we’ve come to know and love, but I’m sure it’ll work out. As fantastic as the Final Edition turned out to be (which you can read about on page 18), the pricing of it – a cool £35k(ish) – wasn’t quite so palatable. That got us thinking about how else we could spend that cash, with Fags been chosen to splash the equivalent hypothetical value on the used bikes he’d have in his garage. A big thanks to Branstons and Bahnstormers for letting him come and waste your salesmen’s time in the process, but Al found some right corkers in their showrooms for decent money. We’ve said it before; the used market is absolutely brimming with brilliance, so if you’re not in the market for a brand new bike, check this feature out. Likewise, Neil Charlton’s piece on engine types is another corker to digest before parting with your hard-earned readies. Of course, another way to spend a bit of dough would be to invest in some rider training in Greece. That’s where Pretty Boy’s been, learning to ride better with the guidance of GP star Alex De Angelis. Well, that and getting pissed most nights on ouzo, but we won’t go into that just in case his mum’s reading. Yep, he’s been grafting like the rest of us in the only way we know how to. It’s been one hell of a month, and we’ve loved every minute of it. I hope you have too.
18
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BOSS MAN
‘Dangerous’ Bruce Wilson dangerous@fastbikes.co.uk
WINGMAN
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
TECH MAN
Neil ‘Know it all’ Charlton
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, NEW S & REVIEW S PLA NET FAST BIKES – NEW ME TAL
UK SET TO BE ZERO EMISSIONS BY 2040... Unless you’ve been living under a rock, there’s absolutely no way you could have missed this announcement in the last few weeks… even if you wanted to. Yep, the Government are looking to put a ban on petrol and diesel vans and cans by 2040, as the UK is one of 17 EU countries breaching annual targets for nitrogen dioxide; a problem which has been made worse by the failure of the European testing regime for vehicle emissions... But what does that mean for us bikers? At the moment, there has been no specific mention on the stance for two wheels, but either way there’s absolutely no hiding the fact that electric bikes are here to stay. Just look at brands like Energico and Zero Motorcycles who are actually fielding some more usable realworld bikes. And with the rise of races like the TT Zero, we can’t help but think that the electric wizardry is only going to be pushed further throughout the next 20 years. If you fancy an electric bike, you can even pick up a tasty £1500 grant from the government, if that’s enough to tempt you. But it’s going to take a bit more than that to convert us at FB from the beautiful feel, smell and sound of good old internal combustion engines. It was bad enough having to wave off two-strokes, and Euro 4’s not exactly done us any favours while we’re at it. But going totally
10 SEPTEMBER 2017 WWW.FASTBIKESMAG.COM
WE RECKON WE SHOULD JUST GET EVERYONE RIDING BIKES. leccy isn’t exactly getting us excited, especially following a recent track outing on one of these underpowered and weighty types, but we’ll tell you more about that in another issue. For now, we’re just moping over this decision and hoping that things get a damn sight better before that none-too-distant deadline, which the High Court and the Environmental Secretary proclaimed was necessary to find a way to significantly reduce the volume of nitrogen dioxide pumped into our sky, as it is purportedly linked to as many as 40,000 deaths each year. And now for the good news! We don’t need to fret just yet though, as motorcycles do currently meet lower emission requirements than those on four wheels. And with that in mind, we reckon we should just get everyone riding bikes. I’m not saying we’d be saving the world, but it would be a good place to start…
R EVIE WS AST BIKES – NEW METAL, NEW S & PLA NET FA
Suzuki GSX250R – it’s finallly here It's been a long time coming, bu ut Suzuki's finally released its GSX250R. Combining an edgy design with an aggressive stancee, it’s fair to say we expect this superbike-wannabe is going to be a bundle of laughs down your favourite set of twisties. The Japanese giants, who aree also soon to release a 125cc GSX-R themed sportsbike, have clearly taken inspiration from the GSX-R1000 in the look ks department, although the mimicking stops there because this little number's motor only makes a frugal 25bhp. Suzuki says the engine is designed to give the best performance in the low and midrange, enhanced by a two-into-one exhaust system
and optimised air flow from the intake valves. For the tight gits amongst you, you'll be pleased to know the GSX250R is claiming an impressive 91MPG. It comes with a full LCD dash,
clip on handlebars and LED lights, making it a luxurious little number for young and old alike. The GSX250R comes in with an RRP of £4,299, and is available now. o .
Vegan race suit available! Ladies, gentlemen and hipsters, here is something a little different; check out the Alien Moto A51-RR Evolution – a 100% Vegan suit made from 1000D Cordura and outer reinforced Superfabric. The suit comes loaded with CE approved Level 2 Protection and Titanium sliders on the shoulders, knees and elbows, alongside the standard stretch panels which make it look barely any different from any other suit on the market if you ask us! Winner of a 2017 PETA award, the A51-RR Evolution comes in both 1 & 2 piece, and is said to be breathable, washable and waterproof, and if it’s as good as it sounds could be a real game changer. The suit comes in at 995 euros for a standard size and colour and 1,295 euros for made to measure, with a minimum of 5% of the profits going to animal and injured riders’ charities. As soon as we can test one out, we’ll let you know how it holds up…
DUCATI PANIGALE 1299 UPGRADE We all know that road bikes are getting more and more sophisticated, and if you fancy taking things up a step Ducati are offering the new DTC EVO software for all 2015 and 2016 1299s. It has the top notch World Superbike derived precision you’ll find on the Superleggera, which constantly evaluates everything from lean angle to wheel speed in order to ensure the perfect amount of rear wheel spin; ultimately giving you that edge on track. By working off the throttle body valves and spark, the DTC EVO system gives more precision and consistency; especially when you get changing grip conditions like with an old rear tyre or some dodgy weather. Oh, and if you’re feeling really fancy, it comes with a ‘spin on demand’ function, which actually allows you to request more throttle and let the bike spin, in case drifting is your thing or you just want to try and high side your pride and joy… There’s no word on official price yet, but if you’re serious about going fast it will be a worthy investment!
12 SEPTEMBER 2017 WWW.FASTBIKESMAG.COM