Fast Bike Summer 2017

BMW W HP4 RACE PONIES FOR PENNIES NIESS WE RIDE E 212BHP CARBON KING

WHY YOU NEED ADDITIVES

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00 RR BMW S 10Z F-R6 YAMAHA YI ZX-10RR KAWASAK X-R1000R SUZUKI GSZF-R1M YAMAHA Y V4 RF APRILIA RSEBLADE SP HONDA FIR99 S PANIGALE DUCATI 12

HONDA RR CBR600 BUYER’S GUIDE

: PLTHUE S T T?

CE WANNA RA PENSION S U S R KNOW YOU E COMEBACK K TRO THE TWO-S E INVESTMENTS IK B D E S U BEST

ISSUE 329 SUMMER 2017

IT’S THE NEWS

Upfront............................................ 10 Want money off Pirelli/Metzeler tyres? Look no further, folks! You’re welcome!

GEARED UP

Products.......................................... 18 All the best gear you need in your life!

GET IT FIRST

Subscribe ..........................................8 If you want the mag first, straight through your letter box and at a bargain price, step this way and sign up today.

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THE KNOWLEDGE

Used Buyer’s Guide.........................80

Honda’s 2003 CBR600RR RCV-alike certainly looked the part, and is now a great used buy!

MASTERCLASS

IT’S FINALLY HERE!

Bull Busters ..................................... 78

Riding ..............................................86

Blinking means not thinking, or seeing rather, for crucial milliseconds!

Legal ................................................89 Been riding like a prat and got caught?

Shame on you, now read this...

LAUNCHES

BMW R nineT Urban .......................56 Not really our cup of tea, truth be told, but here it is anyway!

TESTS

Sportsbike Of The Year .................. 24

The best words, letters and whatnot, from the best readers in the world, ever!

It’s here! Finally, the UK’s biggest, best(est) and most important proddy Superbike test graces these pages! So, who won between the Aprilia RSV4 RF, BMW S 1000 RR, Yamaha R1M, Ducati 1299 Panigale S, Yamaha R6, Kawasaki ZX-10RR, Honda Fireblade SP & Suzuki GSX-R1000R? Find out right now!

OUR LIFE ON BIKES

FEATURES

Charlie’s TZR project continues apace, as the dreaded day of racing gets ever closer!

If the answer is ‘yes’, read this first!

YOUR LIFE ON BIKES

Chatter ............................................90

Project Bikes ...................................93

Staff Bikes.......................................99

Wanna Do The TT? .........................50 Up In Smoke ...................................58

More new bikes arrive this month!

The story of the once beloved two-stroke motorcycle – cue hazy, smoky memories...

•

Future Classics ............................... 70

Honda Fireblade SP KTM 1290 SDR • Triumph STR 765 • Suzuki GSX-R1000R •

•

BMW S 1000 R Honda CB500F • Kawasaki ZX-10RR • Aprilia RSV4 RF ‘16 •

12

Just which bikes can you pay for now, and earn from later? There’s a few!

SUBS

Fuel additives and the like – are the modern versions any good, or still a load of tat?

BMW’S AMAZING HP4 RACE THRASHED ON THE TT CIRCUIT!

IBE CR

RACE SECTION

Pit Pass.......................................... 114 Waving a teary farewell to Nicky Hayden...

Race Feature ................................. 118 Featuring Mr North West 200, Mervyn Whyte, and what the future holds for the road race!

COLUMNISTS

Carl Stevens.................................. 126 Haircut 100 keeps himself busy while the racing’s away on holiday...

Chaz Davies .................................. 129 V’Chazzle tests the MotoGP Ducati, raps about a dodgy Donington, and then has his say on the future of WSB...

Steve Parrish................................. 130

More Parrish bluster and gossip straight from the 2017 Isle of Man TT! 4 SUMMER 2017 WWW.FASTBIKESMAG.COM

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STEVE WEBB’S STUNNING RG/RGV HYBRID FOR YOU TO GAWP & DRO OOL OVER,, AND DREAM ABO OUT OWNING G...

See page 8 for the best deals

WELCOME

Lapping it up!

T

he garage door swung open and there they were: the eight sexiest bikes of 2017 lined up and ready for the spanking of their pubescent lifetime. What a bloody sight that was, all immaculately prepped and shod in virgin Bridgestone R10s.

Standing there, goggle-eyed and slack-jawed, I knew for certain that I have the best job in the world. These beauties were mine for the thrashing!

Well, mine plus the Fast Bikes ‘massive’ who’d come out to Portugal in force to make Sports Bike Of The Year the spectacle that it is. If you’re new to this, all you need to know is SBOTY, as we like to call it, is the ultimate sportsbike test; an annual pilgrimage where we pit the best the showrooms have to offer against the stopwatch on the world class Portimao race circuit.

This onslaught’s been an annual event here at Fast Bikes for well over a decade, but never in that time have the results been as breathtakingly close as the timing device revealed at this year’s gig. I’m not going to let the cat out of the bag here, but let’s just say if you’re in the market for a new litre bike, you’re truly spoilt for choice. All the results are inside for the relishing so crack on and digest them at your leisure.

But it’s not just the new metal that’s drawn our attention this month. Being the money hungry megalomaniacs that we are, we’ve also been seeking out the best used metal to splash your hard earned cash on – the kind of bikes that will fill your life with adrenaline-fuelled elation while appreciating in value at the same time. It turns out there’s a bit of a formula to selecting said machines, as our canny penny pincher Dowds has explained in his wise words.

Moving on to a money-can’t-buy theme, I lucked at this year’s TT. Unlike our superstar Fagan, I’ve never raced in the Island but that desire’s been bubbling ever since I was a kid. People either love it or hate it, but after this year’s visit which saw me saddle up in a Subaru and plummet full throttle down Bray Hill, I’ve come away dangerously close to putting my name on the dotted line.

There’s just something about the place. If you’ve been you’ll know what I mean. So I did the maths, asked some questions and got a fuller picture of what it would take to become a TT rider. Growing a big pair of balls is right up there, but it turns out there’s a rigorous process to the job. Interested? All you need to know is inside.

Enjoy the read, the issue and the month ahead.

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’Ello Darlin!

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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

SUBSCRIBE!

techguy@fastbikes.co.uk

See page 8 for the best deals, or visit classicmagazines.co.uk/fb SUMMER 2017 WWW.FASTBIKESMAG.COM 7

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, NEW S & REVIEW S PLA NET FAST BIKES – NEW ME TAL

The Roadtec 01s are pretty stable at 180mph lean!

SAVE MONEY

ON PIRELLI/METZELER TYRES! W ant some new tyres and would like to save a bob or three on them? Well those fine purveyors of all thing round and rubbery, Pirelli & Metzeler, are now running a cashback scheme to current and potential customers.

We’re quite sure T&Cs will apply here, which doubtless you’ll be able to find on their respective websites (www.pirelli.com or www.metzeler.

Supercorsas and sun – perfect!

10 SUMMER 2017 WWW.FASTBIKESMAG.COM

com), but the gist of it boils down to a £30 discount on selected hoops via a pre-paid credit card type thing.

Tyres included on the offer are as follows – for Pirelli it’s the Diablo Rosso III, Rosso Corsa, Angel GT and Supercorsa SP V2 plus the Scorpion Trail II. On the Metzeler front, it includes the Roadtec 01, Sportec M7 RR, Racetec RR R K3 and the Tourance Next (whatever that is!).

There’s something g for everyone in

that little mix, and all are bloody brilliant tyres.

To apply for this credit card thingymabob, head to the respective websites, hit the motorcycle sections and you’ll find where and what you need to do.

You can also, if you like, do it through your local dealer. So then, money off, can’tt be bad, can it?

Best you get down to buying some new boots then!

, NEW S & REVIEW S PLA NET FAST BIKES – NEW ME TAL

EXCLUSIVE

BMW HP4 RACE...

UNLEASHED! If there’s one bike we would’ve liked at SBOTY, it’s the BMW HP4 Race. But as pigs don’t fly, we left it to racing superstar Peter Hickman to give us his take on the 212bhp king of carbon, having ringed it dry around the TT course.

12 SUMMER 2017 WWW.FASTBIKESMAG.COM