Fast Bikes Magazine November issue 20 page FREE PREVIEW!

MICHELE PIRRO...

HAYABUSA WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THIS HYPERSPORT HUSTLER

NO V ISS EMB UE E 40 R 20 9 23

THE MAN BEHIND DUCATI’S MAGIC

BUYER’S GUIDE

T R O P S R E P SU

SUBSTITUTE

TRIUMPH STREET TRIPLE 765 MOTO2

IS THIS THE HALFWAY HOUSE WE’VE BEEN HOPING FOR?

ED TEST

WINNING AGT

TWINNIN

IKES, THREE B INE, G ONE EN LETELY P M O THREE C RENT DIFFE .

BLASTS..

BMW’S MOTOGP STORY

WHY THE FIRM NEVE ER MADE IT ON THE GRIID…

ISSUE 409 NOVEMBER 2023

54

60

THE KNOWLEDGE

FEATURES

If you like ‘em big and fast, chances are you’ll love Suzuki’s second-generation Hayabusa.

We do, which is why we’ve done a buyer’s guide on them.

Supersport is back..........................26

TESTS

BMW’s GP story .............................. 60

Used Bike Guide.............................. 54

Triumph Street Triple Moto2 .......... 18 Triumph’s Moto2-inspired Street Triple is its answer to the absent Daytona. The question is, has it filled the supersport gap in our hearts and minds? Here’s what we think.

Winning at twinning ....................... 34 We check out three very different Ducatis that share the same v-twin motor.

COLUMNISTS

Tom Neave ...................................... 94 After a solid home round at Cadwell, here’s Tom’s thoughts on the rest of the year.

Christian Iddon ............................... 96 Iddon’s been clocking some solid results of late, but he’s wanting more.

Steve Parrish................................... 98 Hear from Parrish ahead of his final motorcycle race.

32

Rather than getting down and depressed, we’re sharing our thoughts, hopes and dreams on a resurgence of supersport machinery.

Ever wondered why BMW never made it onto the Grand Prix grid? Well, it got closer than you might think.

Michele Pirro – The man behind the motorcycle ...................................... 68 Ducati’s success on the racetrack owes much to this guy right here. We catch up with Michele.

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WELCOME

What’s coming next?

W

e’re at that time of year again, when rumours start flying all over the shop about new models for next season. Some manufacturers are likely to litter us with fresh metal, while the word is from others that it’ll be slim pickings. I hope they’re bluffing, but only time will tell.

From a supersport perspective, I reckon we’re more than due a new ZX-10R, R1 and GSX-R. It’s also three years since the Blade RR-R hit the scene, with only a few minor changes since, so who knows if Honda will go tweaking it in any way?

Then there’s the Aprilia, which is still an awesome bike, but it’s pretty aged and under-gunned compared to some of the latest offerings on the market. This isn’t

me having a pop at brands, but more hoping that we see some renewed genius joining the ranks for 2024.

In days gone by, you could expect a model update every two to three years, with fresh metal every four to five. I think it’s only right to accept that those days are gone, at least for some sportsbikes, but that’s not to say brands aren’t set to go a little off-piste, developing bikes we simply didn’t see coming.

As far as trends go, there’s been a huge increase in the likes of middleweight sporty twins, and I don’t see that flow of entrants drying up any time soon. It’s logical to look at platforms that can be easily bastardised into new model runs, much in the same way Yamaha made the

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MT-07 and developed the R7 off the back off it. With that being the case, what’s stopping it from wheeling out a faired version of the MT-09 this winter? I reckon that’d be pretty popular the world over.

I guess the real question is: what would you like to see? Kawasaki thinks we are after more of what we know best, as is being hammered home by the release of its new Ninja 400RR and the reintroduction of the ZX-6R. Let’s hope this encourages a few others to follow suit. Johnny thinks that’ll be the case, as you can read in a few pages time, and I’m optimistic too. Let’s wait and see how lucky we get.

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PLA NE T FAST BIKES – NE W ME TAL

, NE WS & REV IEW S

WORDS> SIR ALAN OF DOWDS

Yes, folks – it’s that time again: new bike season!

The nights are drawing in, the schools are back, it’ll be Christmas before we know it, and the only thing to cheer us up is the hot new metal being sprayed all over the place. The Milan show is a couple of months away, but there are a few tasty goodies out already. Here’s what we’re getting all hot and bothered about...

APRILIA RS457 A pocket-sized surprise from Noale Well, we did NOT see this coming. The mini-superbike sector has been banging away in recent years, hitting the peak with Kawasaki’s ZX-4RR, which dropped earlier this year. And now Aprilia’s come out with another sweet-looking machine, the RS457. It’s a twin-cylinder sportsbike aimed at novices and fans of lightweight machines, with some of the best spec in the 400cc twin class so far.

Aprilia released the RS457 as we were going to press, just before the San Marino MotoGP, with factory rider Maverick Vinales featured in the promo pics. It’s a proper mini race-replica, with an all-new parallel twin 457cc engine bolted into a proper twin-beam aluminium frame, with full RSV-style fairing, decent sporty suspension and a comprehensive electronic riding aids package – switchable three-way traction control, three riding modes, colour LCD dash, backlit switchgear and optional quickshifter.

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The engine is the crucial factor, of course, and while it won’t match the four-cylinder Kawasaki unit for power, it’s a solid design on paper. There’s limited info at the moment, but we do know it is a dohc unit with four valves per cylinder, ride-by-wire throttle, and it makes 47bhp – right on the limit for A2 licence holders. Will there be an easy way to get even more ponies out of it? You’d like to think so.

Dry weight is just 159kg dry or 175kg wet, which is light, but not stunningly so. Yamaha’s 42bhp R3 is 6kg lighter wet, while the ZX-4RR is 189kg wet, with 77bhp, putting it well ahead on peak power and bhp/kg – but the RR isn’t an A2-compliant bike.

But just look at it. The RS457 is the only bike in the class with a proper aluminium frame, and while the forks and shock are only adjustable for preload, they look like decent kit, as does the gull-arm swingarm, though disappointingly it’s made from steel, not aluminium. That’s probably down to the A2 weight limits – there’s maybe no point saving mass beyond a certain point if you’ll rule the bike out for too many customers.

The radial front brake caliper is by Brembo’s Indian arm, ByBre, and it has sporty-sized rubber, too – though the Aprilia-branded stock rubber in the pictures also seems to be Indian home market kit made by TVS. That points to production in India; though Aprilia insists the RS457 has been designed in Noale, it would make a lot of sense to build a small-capacity machine outside Italy to take advantage of lower costs. The firm itself hasn’t said where production will be, and there’s no word on price or availability either. We’ll bring you more on the RS457 as soon as we can.

Keep an eye on our online channels – Facebook, Twitter, and the Fast Bikes website (www. fastbikesmag.com) – for news as it happens.

MV AGUSTA ASSEN EDITION BRUTALE We are expecting great things from MV Agusta over the next few seasons. It got an injection of capital and expertise last year from Pierer Mobility, the parent company of KTM, Husqvarna and GASGAS, and the Austrian moto-gnomes now own 25% of the Varese-based exotica maker. Here in the UK, KTM UK is taking on the distribution of MV, and is working to sort a dealer network.

Meanwhile, MV itself is due to come out with some new machinery and is investing heavily in the factory and R&D facilities.

Fingers crossed, then. In the meantime, it has to produce something new – and it’s the limited-edition special versions of current models doing the job right now. This month we got an Assen version of the mighty Brutale 1000 RR to celebrate the fact that MV Agusta won a heap of races at the Dutch track, back when it was a GP colossus; 35, in fact, with the last one coming in 1976, a 350 GP class win under Giacomo Agostini.

Amazing.

How would Ago get on wrestling this beastie around Assen today? It’s got nearly three times the power (207bhp from the Brutale, 77bhp for the 350 racebike), but weighs 60-odd kilos more (183kg vs 122kg). Back then, the four-stroke MV Agusta was desperately trying to keep its weight down to keep up with Yamaha’s wild two-strokes – so it got a trick titanium frame and super-light wheels and brakes. And whaddyaknow, the Assen edition Brutale also has some posh lightweight running gear in the form of Rotobox carbon fibre wheels..

There’s also a titanium MotoGP-style Arrow race pipe and custom-mapped ECU in the box, and plenty of carbon fibre body parts, plus a flash blue and silver paint job. That’s all on top of the incredible spec of the ‘base’ Brutale 1000 RR: electric Öhlins all round, Brembo Stylema brakes, 180kg dry mass and 212bhp with the race pipe fitted. There’s no price – but considering that the stock Brutale 1000 RR costs £32k, you’ll not be getting much change out of 40 big ones, we imagine.

ROYAL ENFIELD BULLET 350 From a £40k limited edition hyper-naked bike to a £4600 Indian runaround – don’t say we don’t cover it all in these pages. The new Royal Enfield Bullet is the latest home for the firm’s current 350 single-cylinder motor, and it will be built in its millions, carrying on from the first-ever Bullet, launched before the Second World War. It’s a bulletproof (sorry) piece of kit, with a beefy steel frame that will

take on the Himalayas with an entire family and their sheep on the back and run forever, serviced only using a penknife and some chip fat. Here in the UK, the very nice Royal Enfield folks will sell them by the truckload to pleasant elderly gentlemen who will trundle sedately around the countryside, having a ball. Get one to park beside the Fireblade in the garage – you know you want to…

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PLANE T FAST BIKES – NEW METAL

, NEWS & REVIEW S

BMW F900 GS F800 GS F900 GS ADVENTURE The boys and girls at BMW have a lot to show off this new bike season by all accounts, since they are celebrating 100 years of motorbike manufacturing this September. And the Bavarian firm warmed things up nicely with three new upper-middleweight adventure touring tools for us to check out. There’s a new top-line F900 GS, with an Adventure version and a lower-spec F800 GS, all sharing the same basic 895cc engine first seen in 2020 on the F900 XR and F900 R. These are updates on the old F850 and 750 GS models, and fill the gap below the mega-selling R1250 GS models.

The biggest change is to the weight. The old F850 GS was a chunky bugger, and no less than 14kg has been shaved off the dry weight this year thanks to a new plastic fuel tank, a skinnier rear subframe and lighter swingarm. They’re no lightweights still, mind; the 900 Adventure is 246kg and the standard 900 tips the scales at 219kg wet, while the 800 sits in between at 227kg. Those figures are a bit of a handicap for anyone looking for an easily-handled, middleweight, dirtfriendly bike and look slightly mad compared with the 205kg wet Ténéré 700. We have heard that BMW is going to release something new to slip in between the 900 GS and the mini 310 GS, though: perhaps a new

650-class ADV machine with genuine dirt skillz. Watch this space.

That 895cc engine gives the 900 models an extra 10bhp, now up to 105bhp, while on the entry-level F800 GS, the parallel twin dohc 8v lump makes just 87bhp.

BMW’s also totally revamped the suspension set-up, giving the 900s a new Showa front fork and ZF rear shock, with optional electronic rear suspension on the GS Adventure and the 800 GS. The 900 also has an Enduro Pro suspension upgrade option, which uses higher-spec Showa forks, with full adjustability and titanium nitride coated stanchions, plus a fully adjustable rear shock.

As ever, the best thing about BMW is the available bolt-on options, and you can turn your 800 or 900 GS into a luxury super-trick adventure tourer, given enough PCP-deal rope… Keyless ignition, enhanced riding aids, luggage, heated luxury, navigation, higher or lowered seats and screens, cruise control, M Endurance chain, tyre pressure monitoring: all that and much more is available. The new 900 and 800 GS range will be in shops after the new year, with the F800 GS priced from £9995, the F900 GS from £11,995 and the F900 GS Adventure from £12,350.

KTM DUKE 125 AND 390 We all wish we were young again here in Fast Bikes towers, and nothing makes us long for yoot more than this sort of thing. KTM has revamped its smaller Duke models for 2024 – the 125 and 390 (there’s also a 250 but the UK don’t get it, mate, sorry). Both of the natty little nobles get a new frame and swingarm, mostly to allow for a new side-mounted rear shock, it seems.

That lets them have a bigger airbox and lower seat – both good things, we hear.

The 125 motor is all-new, but of course gets no more power since it’s a 15bhp A1 learner legal bike, so we’re not too sure of the point

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there. Ditto the 390 engine; although it could have a bit more power, we’re into the A2 licence nonsense, so it’s only got an extra 1.5bhp, now up to 44.3bhp, and has more capacity, now at 399cc from 373cc. Kerb weight is a saucy 165kg, suspension is uprated WP kit, and the mini-Duke keeps the premium Bosch engine management, cornering traction and ABS set-up, all controlled via a slick 5in full colour dashboard.

Not a total revolution from KTM here, then – but what can you expect when Dukes are involved? The new bikes will be out in January, prices to be confirmed.

PLANE T FAST BIKES – NEW METAL

, NEWS & REVIEW S

KTM ADVENTURE 890 R RALLY AND KTM 450 RALLY KTM also released some wild dirt/road crossover tools at the end of summer too: the Adventure 890 R Rally and 450 Rally Replica.

The 890 is a special version of the Adventure 890 R road bike, limited to just 700 bikes world wide, with Dakar-spec suspension: WP XPLOR PRO 7548 fork system, featuring Cone Valve technology, and a WP XPLOR PRO 6746 rear shock. They give about 16 feet of suspension travel (okay, 270mm), and it also comes with a special seat, heavy-duty wheels, race pipe and much more. It costs £20,899 and is available to order NOW! Too soft for ye? Well check this bad boy: the KTM 450 Rally Replica. It’s a close copy of the firm’s 450cc Dakar racebike, with all the goodness, including an effing Pankl six-speed transmission as used by the factory race team. It’s got 48mm WP XACT PRO forks and rear shock, race Akrapovic pipe, SOHC 450cc race motor, the lot. Price is on application, and just 80 will be built.

MOTUL REFRESHES ITS BIKE OIL RANGE Motul has rebranded and repackaged its top bike engine oil to be more sustainable. The NGEN5 and NGEN7 oils are equivalent to the old 5100 and 7100 oils, but use 75 and 50 per cent regenerated engine oil respectively. NGEN5 is a high-performance engine oil for everyday use, with a focus on optimised starting and shifting behaviour, as well as best fuel efficiency. NGEN 5 uses an additive and ester formulation like the conventional MOTUL 5100 engine oil, but it relies on up to 75 percent regenerated engine oil.

NGEN7 is a high-performance oil which offers improved response for powerful engines as well as high temperature resistance and strong clutch grip. NGEN 7 is identical to MOTUL 7100 in terms of additive and ester formulation, but it uses up to 50 per cent regenerated motor oil. Both products meet the current API standards, and are also JASO MA2 certified.

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ALL THE LATEST, CO OL ES T & TRICK

ES T PERF ORMA NC E PRODUC TS

AKRAPOVIC CAN FOR HONDA HORNET 750

ALPINESTARS HALO DRYSTAR JACKET The Alpinestars Halo Drystar adventure touring jacket has much more style than the usual ‘black with black details’ winter gear – and is packed with features. There’s extensive vented sections for warmer weather, with removable sleeves, and an asymmetrical front section. When the weather turns, there’s a Drystar waterproof section that can go on the outside or the inside of the jacket, and it

rolls up to store in a pocket. The Halo jacket is designed to go with the Alpinestars Tech-Air 5 or Tech-Air 3 airbag jackets, and comes with Nucleon Flex Pro CE armour for elbows and shoulders. A soft collar and stretch wrists adds comfort, and it comes in four colourways (including black for the introverts…)

RRP: £450

This make us feel like we’re back in the good old days… A sweet slip-on Akrapovic end can for a Honda Hornet could have come out of a Fast Bikes product section from 20 years ago, but this time it’s for the latest 750 twin Hornet. The Akra can does what it always does: saves a bit of weight and adds a (little) bit of noise and power. It’s ECE approved so still road legal, but Akrapovic says it adds a deeper tone. You save 1.8kg in mass, with the stainless/carbon silencer tipping the scales at just 2.15kg, and there’s three-quarters of a horsepower more through the midrange.

RRP: £845

www.performanceparts-ltd.com

www.alpinestars.com

KOVIX KNX15 ALARMED DISC LOCK Disc locks are a great first line of defence, but they’re easily attacked by scrotes – and, of course, don’t stop a bike being lifted away by a few beefy bad ‘uns. Adding a 120dB alarm helps on both these fronts (assuming you’re nearby), so the Kovix unit is even more useful. A strong stainless steel body with a 14mm carbide-reinforced locking pin makes it a tough nut to try and break off, while the alarm will go off if it’s knocked or moved. That also stops you trying to ride away with it in place – which we’ve all done at least once…

RRP: £135

www.thekeycollection.co.uk

RUROC ATLAS 4.0 CARBON STAR WARS HELMETS If you can’t tell Mr Spock from Admiral Ackbar, then these probably aren’t for you.

The new Ruroc Atlas 4.0 helmet is available in these slick new Star Wars replica designs. They come in Bobba Fett, Darth Vader and Stormtrooper schemes,

and under the neat graphics there’s the Ruroc Atlas 4.0 carbon fibre shell, with RHEON Polymer protection material in the head liner, and ECE22.06 safety approval.

RRP: £450

www.ruroc.com

YAMAHA MORO 07 EMTB What the effing hell is this? A pushbike on the Fast Bikes product pages? Sacrilege! But this is no ordinary bike, it’s Yamaha’s new MORO electric MTB – and it’s just the job for getting in some muddy miles off-road. Mountain biking is ace for improving fitness, and is also top fun, as well as building balance and control skillz. The Yamaha MORO adds a grunty little electric motor unit that means you can do even more miles before your knees give out. Silent eMTBs also let you have a bit of enduro-like fun in places where a KX500 would get you arrested. The Moro has a PW-X3 drive unit and 500Wh battery, RockShox suspension at both ends and Maxxis rubber – all top-end kit. As it should be considering the price… check to see if your employer does Cycle To Work scheme for tax discounts.

RRP: £4,150 16 NOVEMBER 2023 WWW.FASTBIKESMAG.COM

www.yamaha-motor.eu

PRODUCTS

OXFORD USB SOCKETS HJC RPHA1 JEREZ RED BULL HELMET A tremendously colourful paint scheme for the HJC RPHA1 lid, this time celebrating the Spanish MotoGP at Jerez. It’s one of the best tracks in Europe, with a cult following, and this helmet fits right in. It’s the firm’s high-end race design, with the same spec as WSBK and MotoGP racers, according to HJC.

That means ECER22.06 FIM approval, locking visor closure, extensive vents, racing spoiler and tear-offs supplied, together with a Pinlock anti-mist insert. Available in sizes XS-XXL.

RRP: £799.99

Most new bikes come with a USB charging socket now – but if your older machine doesn’t, then here’s an easy option. Oxford Products has produced these USB-A and USB-C power sockets that fit effortlessly to any bike, with 3A power output, direct battery connection, simple sticky pad or cable tie installation, and water resistant silicon rubber caps. Keep your kit charged up on the move with minimal grief.

RRP £25

www.oxfordproducts.com

https://hjchelmets.eu

FURYGAN HEAT X KEVLAR GLOVES No heated grips on your bike?

Check these Furygan Heat X gloves for winter rides. They have small batteries that sit in pockets on the cuffs, and there’s also an optional cable to wire them into your bike. The heating elements keep your pinkies warm as toast, and the glove itself is made from goat leather and Kevlar, with a waterproof breathable membrane. They have built-in controls, and there’s also a smartphone app to check power and heat settings.

DAINESE RACING 4 JACKET Dainese has brought its Racing 4 leather jacket out for 2023 with this cracking white and black colourway. It’s a sporty riding jacket, with premium Dainese Tutu cowhide outer shell, a tight race fit, and CE armour in elbows and shoulders. The outer shoulder protectors have replaceable aluminium pockets for slider plates, and there are p chest and back protectors.

The design incorporates four closable vents for summer rides, and Dainese has added comfort stretch panels on the arms, hips and back areas.

RRP: £499.95

www.dainese.com

RRP: £279

www.furygan.com

GIVI ST607B TAIL PACK A useful tail bag that attaches to the pillion seat of most naked and sportsbikes, giving you space for kit without the grief of a rucksack or tank bag.

It’s a thermo-formed bag, with PU inserts for a semi-rigid(!) shell, and an expanding section to go from 22 litres to 26 litres. Universal fitting with four supplied buckle straps, fully waterproof outer cover and a padded shoulder strap for off the bike.

RRP £125

www.givi.co.uk

GB RACING TÉNÉRÉ GOPRO MOUNT GB Racing has expanded its remit from the usual engine crash protectors to come up with this neat little GoPro mount for the Yamaha Ténéré 700. It bolts directly into an existing frame point, and gives a super-solid mount for your action camera.

RRP: £48

www.gbracing.eu

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FEATURE

BEST OF BOTH WORLDS? WORDS: BIG MAC PICS: DOUBLE RED

TRIUMPH STREET TRIPLE 765 MOTO2 More focused than your typical naked, but not quite a sportsbike… is this halfway house we’ve been hoping for?

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TRIUMPH STREET TRIPLE 765 MOTO2

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FEATURE

You’ll want a pair of sunglasses to go with it.

B

ack in February, when Triumph launched its heavily updated Street Triple 765 to the media, it also announced a bling ‘Moto2’ edition, but didn’t bring it to Jerez, in Spain, for us to ride. At the time I will admit to not really understanding why you would do that, especially when you’ve gone to the expense of hiring Jerez race circuit. Why wouldn’t we all be let loose on a track where a round of the Moto2 world championship is held, on one of its bike bearing the Moto2 logo, on account of Triumph being the engine supplier to the class, and tie it all in together? Having just got in from my first hour or so riding the Moto2, I now know why…

It's actually pretty obvious – and also tells you more or less everything you need to know about the Moto2. If they did let us ride the Moto2 alongside the RS and R versions, it would certainly have diluted the focus on what are actually more important bikes for Triumph, the big-selling R and RS. Plus, given there’s only going to be 1530 Moto2s on the planet – 765 of each colour – and they pretty much all sold out as soon as Triumph

made the announcement, they rightly got us to focus on the R and RS back in the winter and deliver the good news about those to our respective audiences.

However, we were still left with questions that needed answering, the main one being, ‘What’s it like?’ All those upgrades that really sharpened the Street Triple for 2023, plus clip-ons and Öhlins all-round, are a mouthwatering prospect. Obviously, there are other things the Moto2 gets that the other Street Triples don’t, but they’re all cosmetic. Stuff like the paint job, obligatory build number plaque, some snazzy carbon fibre here and there and, of course, the aforementioned official Moto2 logos dotted around, too.

At this point it’s worth a quick reminder of what the 2023 Street Triple got by way of upgrades for 2023. The latest version of the three-cylinder 765cc motor gets shorter inlet trumpets to increase inlet velocity, re-profiled inlet ports, higher lift cams to open the valves more, which means longer valves, a re-profiled combustion chamber and piston crown to increase the compression ratio to 13.25:1, and a new higher flowing exhaust

with less angular bends and only one catalytic converter. The result is an impressive 7bhp increase over the previous motor. It’s such a big jump in power that the motor also gets new, stronger con-rods and gudgeon pins to cope.

Triumph also went a bit mad in the gearbox on new bike. The ratios are all lower than before, except first gear, which is a tiny bit taller. Then there is the final drive, which has one tooth less on the front sprocket and two teeth more on the rear sprocket. Put all that lower gearing together with the big boost in power and you really shouldn’t need me to tell you that the 2023 Street Triple is much livelier than the previous one. The shorter gearing means that the wheelbase is 6mm shorter – a significant amount, plus the rear ride height has been raised by 10mm, which is also a large change. Raising the ride height creates the byproduct of also reducing the rake of the steering very slightly, so the

THE BURNING QUESTION IS: DOES THE STREET TRIPLE MOTO2 FILL THE SPACE LEFT BEHIND BY THE DAYTONA?

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