Fast Bikes 321 December 2016 preview

YAMAHA YZ YZF-R6 UNVEILED EXCLUSIVE: 959 PANIGALE R SUPER RSPORT’S SECOND COMING! DUCATI’S MIDDLEWEIGHT GETS THE TREATMENT

DECEMBER 2016 ISSUE 321

FORCE ri ate Ina pprop

Touring On A Kawasaki H2 And Ducati Panigale R!

IONS: LITTLE KIDS, BIG AMBIT PLUS:: L ERATION GEN T NEX THE FOR B BSB RACING FATHERLY ADVICE: F LAM T TRACKSIDE TIPS WITH RON HAS

U USED KTM RC8 R:

Y MONEY S SERIOUS SUPERBIKE AT SILL

A AND LOTS, LOTS MORE!

Inappropri ate

BEHAVIOUR!

Supermotards up to no good

Inappropriate

LEARNER LEGALS!

Road racing for points on 125s

Inappropri ate

POWER LEVELS!

See the havoc 1,500bhp can do

Inappropriate

SURROUNDINGS!

Ducati’s XDiavel taken on track

TESTS

Supermotards .................................26

Exactly what happens when you poke these bikes in their collective eye? A wild ride, that’s what. Hold on to your crash hats because these supermotards are in town!

– Husqvarna 710 – MV Agusta Rivale 800 – Ducati Hypermotard SP

Ducati Panigale R vs Kawasaki H2.36

We head to France to take in some historic war sites on some of the most inappropriate machinery imaginable. Surely they’ll be no good for this caper? Miles will tell...

Learner (Il)legals .............................44

A-Force heads to the Cat and Fiddle to try and set off the average speed cameras on an Aprilia RS4 and KTM RC125. Naughty boy!

Ducati XDiavel on Track..................52

If it’s got a superbike-based engine in, then the rules say that we have to put it on track.

But how will a feet-forward cruiser fare here? How do you think...

8

NEW METAL HAS LANDED

YAMAHA RELEASES DETAILS OF THE NEW YZF-R6

26

SUPERMOTARDS: ROUND UP THREE OF THE MOST INSANE BIKES ON THE PLANET AND YOU END UP WITH MAYHEM!

4 DECEMBER 2016 WWW.FASTBIKESMAG.COM

36

NOT BORING TOURING: WE HEAD TO FRANCE TO PROVE THAT YOU CAN DO THE HOLIDAY THING ON ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING

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DRAG RACING: IMAGINE A BIKE LAUNCHING AT THE TOP OF YOUR STREET AND IT DOING 240MPH BY THE END OF IT!

ISSUE 321 DECEMBER 2016

IT’S THE NEWS

Upfront..............................................8 Loads of news about 2017’s latest metal...

GEARED UP

Products..........................................20

We focus on dashes, and lots of new prods!

GET IT FIRST

Subscribe ...................................... 124

Get that winning feeling by getting Fast Bikes delivered every month – with 20 per cent off!

THE KNOWLEDGE

Used Buyer’s Guide.........................82 Fancy a KTM RC8 R? Of course you do!

MASTERCLASS

Riding ..............................................94

Keith Code imparts more of his wisdom in an attempt to make us all better riders.

Technical .........................................96

James Holland considers the latest batch of enquiries to reach him on planet JHS...

Legal ................................................99

More legal advice – and it could get ugly...

YOUR LIFE ON BIKES See page 124 for the best deals

Chatter .......................................... 100

Lots of shenanigans, great pics, and tall tales!

Travel and Tracks.......................... 102

Remember that winter is only a mindset!

OUR LIFE ON BIKES

Staff Bikes..................................... 104

The spanners are wielded this month – as our lots of tools! It’s time to prep, people!

Kawasaki ZX-10R KTM Super Duke R ! Triumph Speed Triple

58

SCHOOL’S IN: COOL FAB RACING LET THE YOUNG ‘UNS OUT FOR JUNIOR BSB RACING!

Yamaha MT-10 Ducati Monster R ! Suzuki GSX-S1000F

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RACE SECTION

Pit Pass.......................................... 112 It’s time to celebrate the latest champions!

Race Feature ................................. 116

A fascinating insight into the trackside world of the racing Haslam’s – Ron and Leon.

COLUMNISTS Dangerous Brod ............................ 122

Things look to be on the up – for a while...

Chaz Davies .................................. 129

Five out of six for Chaz is good doing!

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

More Parrish news from the Stavros church...

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ADDICTION: DUCATI HASN’T MADE A 959 PANIGALE R. AND EVEN IF IT DID, IT STILL WOULDN’T BE A PATCH ON THIS RICK HACKETT MADE MARVEL. CHECK IT OUT...

BUY

GEAR

FASTBIKESMAG.COM DECEMBER 2016 WWW.FASTBIKESMAG.COM 5

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

EASY RIDERS

Not every new machine for 2017 has a feast of letters after its name denoting extreme performance. A few tasteful new additions to the sportsbike lexicon aren’t quite as extreme as the new crop of Fireblade SPs, GSX-RRs and ZX-10RRs…

DUCATI SUPERSPORT

TECHNICAL Ducati SuperSport

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Type Bore x Stroke Compression Fuelling Tested Power

ELECTRONICS

Tested Torque

ABS Quickshifter Wheelie Control Launch Control

CHASSIS

937cc, liquid-cooled, 8-valve, L-twin 94.0 x 67.5mm 12.6:1 EFI, 53mm throttle bodies 113bhp @ 9,000rpm 96.7Nm @ 6,500rpm

RBW/Riding Modes Yes/Three Traction Control Yes, Eight levels

Frame Front Suspension Rear Suspension Front Brakes Rear Brakes

DIMENSIONS

all the wrong places.

Weighing in at 210kg wet, it’s no size eight model, nor is it a chunky beast that’ll be a nightmare to cajole. The wheelbase may be long, but with 24-degrees of rake and 91mm of trail it should feel both sharp and stable at the same time – Ducati claims lean angles of 48-degrees are available.

Marzocchi has you covered at the front and Sachs at the back when it comes to the suspension, with everything except rear compression able to be adjusted. Brembo M4-32 calipers are a proven package and shouldn’t scare too much in this environment. As you’d expect, Ducati turns to Bosch to supply a 9MP ABS system that allies with the DTC traction control system to form the Ducati Safety Pack. Interestingly, the new dash is Bluetooth compatible, meaning that you can hook it up to your phone to take calls and listen to music on the run. What will they think of next? A USB charger under the seat? Oh, they have…

With the Panigales doing the firm’s sporting slog, the Multistrada covering touring, the Monster being the naked base and Hypermotards checking in for stunts, the slice of the pie the bike is aimed at is niche. Kawasaki has had decent success with the Z1000SX, while Honda has had less with the CBR650F, both bikes touted as being not-too-sporty sportsters. At £10,995 we need to see if the SS sinks or swims, but Ducati’s history of turning metal and plastic into gold bodes well for the new SS...

Wheelbase

PRICE

When Ducati unveiled its new SuperSport (and S model) at the Intermot show in Cologne, it was hoped that the concept of old would be readily harked back to by riders looking for a bit of an easier time in the sportsbike saddle. That wish, however, got lost in the nomenclature of the machine, with most going ‘you can’t race that in supersport, the motor’s too big’.

SuperSport can refer to two different periods in Ducati’s history. The first was from 1973, where a 750 Super Sport was developed for racing for the likes of Paul Smart. The second reference is to the SuperSport (SS) bikes from the late 1980s.

Developed around the 904cc air-cooled engine, the bike was fully faired and based around the tubular steel trellis frame.

Smaller 350, 400 and 600SS bikes were built for home and Japanese markets before a 750 joined the ranks. Pierre Terblanche penned the form of the facelift models from 1999, and by 2003 there were 600cc, 800cc and 1,000cc model available. These were the cheapest way to get into the Ducati sports club, and handled sweetly thanks to their light weight and non-intimidating power. Which brings us round to 2017.

We can see why confusion may reign, because the look of the bike screams Panigale, not the cutback minimalist style of the old SS troopers. Add to that a plethora of technology, the addition of an S model (with Öhlins, natch) and the not inconsiderable 937cc liquid-cooled motor and you’ve got a tantalising prospect.

Take that motor, for example. Rampant in the Hypermotard, it punts out 113bhp in this guise, which isn’t really supersport levels of power in the racing sense. The riding modes offer a choice between Sport, Touring and Urban – hardly Race, Balls-to-the-Wall, and Bananas that you get on some more focused machinery. The length is long (1,478mm) to promote stability, while the ergonomics are friendly, not fierce.

But we don’t mind that one jot because that’s the territory for the trio of Panigales in the range. No, this is a roadbike through and through. Sure, it’ll be coaxed onto a track where we’re sure the quality components will acquit themselves well, but the road is where the SS will feel most at home. 9,000 mile service intervals, decent economy and wide slopes of torque all go to make the new machine either a great step up for those relatively early on their sportsbike journey, or a step down for those creaking in

ENGINE

The SuperSport that isn’t a Supersport. Confused? Read on...

Price

Seat Height Dry Weight Fuel Capacity

From

Yes, Three levels Yes No No Tubular steel trellis 43mm Marzocchi forks, fully adj.

Sachs monoshock, preload and rebound adj.

Brembo M4-32 calipers, 320mm discs Two piston caliper, 245mm disc 1,478mm 810mm 210kg 16 litres £10,995 www.ducatiuk.com

Think of the SuperSport more as a Panigale for the road...

CORE TEST

Fagan is on the lookout for lunch...

usqva arna a 70 01 Hu

L

et’s face it, thoroughbred supermotos are a bit shit unless there’s a kart track involved or your daily commute is one of those twisty roads you see in a dreamy meme drifting off into the horizon. Or your name is Ruben Xaus.

But let’s also be straight; the Husqvarna 701 isn’t a 450cc supermoto of yesteryear – this is a full-fat, thumpy muthafunkster.

It’s a lavish, gentlemen’s übermoto that offers far more than its one-dimensional racier brethren and broader riding parameters than you might expect. And it looks utterly boss.

On paper, its inclusion in this test is grossly unfair on the Husky. A complete lack of electronics or riding aids (save for the handily switchable ABS for skids) and, most poignantly, bereft of a cylinder and the gallivanting ponies associated with an extra piston should scupper the Husky, but it didn’t.

Beej and I both admitted after a serious spanking (of the bike) that the 701 was far better than we thought it was going to be.

It goes without saying that sitting on the 701 is akin to straddling a motocross bike; super-tall seat, MX ’bars, levers

Kneedown or foot out?

It’s the dilemma with no right answer...

28 DECEMBER 2016 WWW.FASTBIKESMAG.COM

and pegs, abundantly upright ergonomics, noticeably slender (Husqvarna has placed the fuel tank right at the arse-end of the bike) and bragging an extremely minimalist cockpit. In fact, minimalist is a fairly apt buzzword for the 701, barring the engine and its ability.

With incest from its brothers and sisters at KTM and, more specifically, the 690 SMC, the 701 bucks previous SM trends by delivering monstrous, hardhitting power – and a delicious spread of oomph, too. A flat torque curve ensures there’s usable shove anywhere in the rev range and there’s enough to negate chucking gears at it every few seconds, although short gearing heightens this reality.

Having a sister company that’s refined single-cylinder technology since baby Jesus, there’s very few vibes or buzzy, annoying traits usually associated with one-pots, and it only begins to become irritating as you edge over legal speeds.

There’s a real crisp, but direct, throttle pick-up that leaves you searching for the next crest or any other road-based excuse to do naughty things.

I felt like a bit of a twat in

several ways. Firstly, I am a twat.

Secondly, the Husky is far cheaper and less kitted out than the broader Italians on test.

Thirdly, I was wearing one-piece leathers and a full-face lid – non-conformist supermoto fashion. Kneedown isn’t an awkward affair though, certainly no more awkward than with the Italian duo. And besides, dangling a supermoto leg on the road is a sure-fire Gareth klaxon.

It’s by far the sharpest steerer of the trio, with close to zero human provocation required to change direction, yet I was surprised at how stable the 701 was during mid-corner heroics.

This was my first taste of ContiAttack SM rubber, which simply goads you into additional liberty taking and exploring grip limitations. It feels happier dissecting tighter, nadgery sections of Tarmac, allowing its epic stop/start etiquette to shine.

Hard on the brakes, and the rubber-mounted ’bars faintly flex, particularly when coming to a complete stop – there’s a nice whimsical offshoot to digest.

Although they look like they’ve been ripped off a factory SM racer, the brakes only provide just enough power with

TEST

W ORD S: A L 'A- F ORCE' FAG A N IMAGES: ANDY 'BEAK Y ' SAUNDERS /AS DESIGN

BETTER

THAN AVERAGE? There can only be one true test for today’s 125cc sportsbikes; a session on the road formerly known as the best, most dangerous stretch of Tarmac in the UK…

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KT KTM T RC125 VS APRILIA RS4

S

tretching from Macclesfield to Buxton, and teeming with sexy corners as it goes up hill and down dale, the infamous Cat and Fiddle section of the A537 was once upon a time the greatest road in the UK. It kinda still is, but we’re going to caveat that with the word ‘potentially’.

Being one of the most treacherous roads in the country, and holding the crown for many a year, local authorities thought it prudent to install eight 50mph average speed cameras (the rear facing buggers, too) in a bid to prevent further fatalities and most definitely not to bump up speeding ticket revenue. £1.2 million worth of investment has ensured the Cat and Fiddle is no longer in the UK’s top-ten most dangerous roads (as of the last figures available), despite the notorious cock-up that meant nobody was caught during the first year of it functioning due to a number of shortcuts that could be taken which didn’t have the 50mph blanket limit applied. However, I’m still of the belief that speed doesn't kill people. Raging thundertwunts kill people.

With an average speed of 50mph, the road now edges on pointless aboard modern 200bhp sportsbikes and universal Fast Bikes’

fodder, unless absorbing scenery is your thang. In fact, pretty much anything else in excess of 50bhp wouldn't end without a nasty letter through the post. Sticky tyres, hefty swingers and some mild thought could see you rolling at a constant 50mph if conditions were clement. However, you’d have more fun snorting battery acid.

Nevertheless, we returned to this old stamping ground on a crisp summer’s day armed with fresh sliders and a van full of sportsbikes. Here at Fast Bikes, we love a challenge, even if that challenge risks a few points on my lovely, clean, unmolested licence. KTM’s RC125 and the Aprilia RS4 are two of the fittest teenybopper rides going, a pairing most adept at tackling such a challenge at the Cat and Fiddle, so we headed up to the naughty norf from the sexy south in an attempt to trigger these pesky cameras and take in some stunning panoramas. The challenge was set after some top office bants, with Rootsy reckoning a 125 could be ragged stupid up the hill and still not manage a 50mph average speed. Feigning a holiday, he left me to it – with a promise that he’d pay the fine and associated

The cyclist makes for the inside line...

DECEMBER 2016 WWW.FASTBIKESMAG.COM 45

FEATURE

STEVENS ETTY BOY KMAN WORDS: PR TY BOY OA T E R P O S T O N IMAGES:

T I G N Dr OI

fo the

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g is a new Cool Fab Racin with seven championship ike teams British Superb the future helping to craft g talent! of British racin

TEN WITH

INTERVIEW: ROOTSY

IMAGES: SUBARU

TEN MINUTES WITH...

MARK HIGGINS

Mark Higgins is a Manxman who has broken lap records at the TT. Unlike most, however, Mark gets to compete on four wheels – but that doesn’t make his feats any less impressive. 128.730mph in his specially built 600bhp Prodrive Subaru was a staggering achievement – and he reckons there’s still more to come from it…

On my quick lap I can tell you that there was a lot of concentration going on.

We were talking about the heart rates of us as drivers compared to riders earlier, and with me it’s not the physical exertion that puts my heart rate up, it’s the mental effort I have to put in.

We’ve been monitoring my heart rate and it’s been up at around 155bpm while I’ve been going round sat in my seat.

It’s been such a pleasure to drive round the course in these conditions.

Our top speeds aren’t much more than what we had when we last had a crack at this in 2014, probably up by around 4 or 5mph, but the car now is so

planted. It just does what I want it to do, and it improves every time we go out.

We did some tweaks to the car over the TT. We had some oversteer on the first day, then a bit of understeer, so we’ve had to put a bit of work into it to get the speeds up.

The TT track makes quite a special special stage.

When you drive round the course normally you think that there aren’t that many corners, but you start adding speed to it and suddenly there are an awful lot of turns. It gives you the biggest buzz you’ll ever get in your life – it’s certainly the biggest one I’ve had.

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The twisty and bumpy stuff is good for us.

That’s where the bikes are really hanging on, but we can push hard over these sections. But it’s still all a learning process because over the six years we’ve been doing this we’ve probably only have eight laps all together. I’m still learning every time, and like the riders say, there’s nowhere else in the world you can go to in order learn this place. We test, obviously, and you think you’ve got it right, but you go down Bray Hill and it soon becomes apparent that you haven’t got it right.

There’s a lot of guessing.

We’re flat on the floor. A lot.

I don’t know the percentages, but it’s foot down as far as it will

go for a lot of the lap. We’ve got DRS on the car, and I reckon that’s open for 40 per cent of the lap to try and reduce drag. If you can get the top speeds then that’s when we get close to the speeds the bikes are going. We’ve hit 168mph, so we’re still a bit off the bikes. That was down Sulby Straight and also going down into Greeba. Another 10-15mph and we’d be on the bikes then.

My quick lap didn’t have much left from me.

But there’s a bit to come from the car. We had a sensor go down on the cooling system which told us the car was running hotter than it was, which then took ignition out of the engine which obviously slowed the speeds down.

82

USED BIKE GUIDE: USED GOLD. WELL, ORANGE...

RI DI NG , M OD IF YI NG , FI XI NG AN D BU YI NG

94

MASTERCLASS RIDING: ARE YOU IN CONTROL?

MASTERCLASS

Riding ................................................. 94 Keith Code imparts his extensive knowledge to us all!

Technical ............................................ 96 James Holland sheds some light, so you can enjoy your shed...

Legal ................................................... 99 A prime lesson in why you have to say no sometimes...

YOUR LIFE ON BIKES

Chatter.............................................. 100

Another month of gaffs and guffaws, all courtesy of you lot!

Tracks and Travel............................ 102 So it’s getting cold out there. You can wrap up, can’t you!

89

RACE SPEC: TURN THAT RC8 R INTO A RACER!

USED BIKE GUIDE

KTM RC8 R .......................................... 82

Austria’s finest export, this side of strudel and Red Bull!

RACE SPEC

KTM RC8 R Track ............................... 89

So you’ve just bought an RC8 R after reading our used test, now go and convert it into a proper track weapon!

OUR LIFE ON BIKES

Staff Bikes ....................................... 102 Life on the fleet never sleeps. Perhaps it should...

KAWASAKI ZX-10R KTM SUPER DUKE R SE • TRIUMPH SPEED TRIPLE R • •

YAMAHA MT-10 DUCATI MONSTER R • SUZUKI GSX-S1000F • •

DECEMBER 2016 WWW.FASTBIKESMAG.COM 81

YOUR LIFE ON BIKES

S TA R L E T T E R DOES THE EARTH MOVE FOR YOU, TOO?

Firstly, let me applaud you on your great magazine. I travel a lot with work and the magazine gives me great reading when I’m away from my much loved Ducati 749. I have spent a small fortune on this bike and love being out on the open road listening to the deep throb of the twin and Termis in tandem! I LOVE IT. Please see the attached pictures as I would love to see my pride and joy in your magazine one day. I actually work for Caterpillar so if you fancy a good photo shoot with some big boys toys in the background we can arrange something for sure.

Jason Lewis Awesome offer Jason – we’ll darken your door one day for a good shoot. Anyone else out there got some impressive workplaces? We’re thinking of access to Heathrow’s runways, aircraft carrier decks, lingerie manufacturer’s studios, that sort of thing. Get in touch at fastbikesletters@mortons.co.uk

A facsimile of the Ducati race bike

WORTH £79.999!

100 DECEMBER 2016 WWW.FASTBIKESMAG.COM

GEORGE IN THE JUNGLE

Hi Mr Mole, I’ve just finished reading your very thought provoking column on Lorenzo’s move to Ducati. You state how he’ll fare is such a mystery? As a Ducati fan (and owner of a few of their bikes) it’s no mystery to me – more a case of the Rossi period being revisited. In answer to your questions…

1. There’s no chance Ducati will build a Lorenzo-Desmo. To do this they would need to build a bike that is millimetre perfect and that’s not in their DNA. The only manufacturer that can do that is Yamaha.

2. Lorenzo, because he is the smoothest rider to race in MotoGP since Max Biaggi, will not be able to adapt any more than Rossi could.

3. There’s no chance the current bike will suit his blinding corner speed because it won’t change

direction fast enough – particularly with the winglets fitted.

4. Lorenzo won’t fall apart like a cheap watch, but there will be plenty of ‘tantrums and hissy fits’ along the way! He should have stayed at Yamaha. Ducati should have raided the Pope’s ‘Mafia Controlled’ Bank to raise the money to buy Marquez out of his Repsol contract and signed Maverick Vinales at the same time. You would then have two riders who would have ridden the wheels off the bikes and brought race wins and titles to Ducati for the first time since my hero Casey Stoner. How I wish he was still racing.

Colin Jacobs, Hingham, Norfolk All fair points Colin! Though wings are banned next year...

FLASH BOYS

Jason’s bike and company car...

You can win a set brilliant Oxford Optimiser 3X for simply writing the Fast Bikes Star Letter.

A “soft-start” charging mode to improve recovery of deeply discharged batteries as low as 8 volts. Intelligent charging will “cycle-charge” in an attempt to recover sulphated batteries. Suitable for all 12V automotive batteries including LITHIUM LiFePO4 batteries. New voltage sensors quickly detect high current drain and will automatically revert to the most appropriate charge rate. Fast and efficient charging in all modes keeps charge times short and reduces power consumption.

Yamaha issued Jorge with a new bike until the end of the season...

Just writing you a note as I’m a Fast Bikes subscriber and a new ZX-10R owner and follow your updates on the new Kawasaki closely each month. I find it interesting that you have added the blip box thingy and have mentioned getting a Power Commander. Would it not be easier to get the bike flashed?

I’ve had mine done at BSD at Peterborough to get rid of all the Euro4 crap and enable the downshift auto-blipper that the bike already has all the parts for and so doesn’t need any more components. I just thought I’d drop you this message as my Akra de-cat pipe and the flash cost me less then one of those blipboxes anyway and now there’s no need for a Power Commander. I might be telling you something you already know, but I wouldn’t like to think you were trying to promote parts that cost a fortune and aren’t worth a fraction of their price. Anyway, I hope you’re enjoying the bike – I know I’m enjoying mine – especially with the few mods I’ve done to it. I’m hoping you still do the longtermers group test at the end of the year as it usually makes one of the best reads.

Lee Brogdon Thanks for getting in touch, Lee. We’re acutely aware of the potential of flashing, but manufacturers aren’t keen on the practice. We’re looking at working with one manufacturer to stick a flash on, but the rest of them get grumpy whenever we raise the issue…

KS, RACERS AND TE AMS OC DD PA CE RA ’S LD OR W E TH TO ULTIM AT E AC CESS

BROTHERS IN ARMS

There are so many huge racing stories we could have run with this but month on our big opening spread, was this think 't didn we bet you going to be the one! Well, we think two brothers, sired by one already r, famous and successful racing fathe t earning their spurs in the cut-throa world of BSB support racing deserves some serious plaudits, don’t you?

Yup, The Mackenzie brothers of Tarran and Taylor won their respective classes at the first not even when some of the series attempt, blowing the established ley g ddlin befu stalwarts had moved on. True, Brad order out of the park and ight limel the of some n Ray has stole serial race predictors’ pre-season towards the end of the year, but take bets. That both have achieved the rent diffe tly nothing away from Tarran's title same result, albeit in sligh l victory, if was well earned and just ways, merely adds to the wonderfu one for rewards for the WD-40 team, and and, ries victo their nature of a of back those such as Geoff Crust and the off of them, this comes super-dwarf-tech Darryl Young. truly torrid 2015.

Best of all with these lads is that h Britis into foray r's Taylo al the chips are down they've cryst in when now superbikes last year, h muc n show exactly the same spunk and clear hindsight, smacks of too e com did fight as their father did two decades hell of year His . too soon luck ago. Remember when Niall was bad of unt with a huge amo balls his literally fighting tooth and nail with though, including singeing s was he Steve Hislop, Chris Walker or Jame saki Kawa 0 WD-4 the when title? No quarter BSB the for ham at Whit es flam into t racing on burs if was given then. Friendships were Snetterton. That was the highlight, a smashed in return for sweet-tasting to , such as it call can one (in e wher victory, and both of his lads proved on seas ish rubb completely they have that ability. Very few ing essence) he did his budd remember the nice guys, but the credentials no favours whosoever. of ples Mackenzies young and old seem to exam with filled is Racing have the knack of being covering step one the lesson of taking Neil both bases essential for popularity backwards, to take two forwards.

WSB early and, crucially, race success. his ing quish relin Hodgson Their next moves are very you if BSB, career to return to to no important though as it's quite easy remember? It certainly did Hodgy in the mire in Britain; to y stuck ever for get Yet run. long the in harm use take become part of the furniture beca Neil there's dozens of those who liar. fami and ble forta com e both it's steps back only to never mov That doesn't move on careers to the forwards again. While from the r that ared next step. Slipping into the GP lowe appe have outside it may ask, an of h muc too be k could rstoc es supe class Taylor's 'demotion' to the , or too much of a big bill, rather. But 1000 class was just that, a demotion wipe ld both could ply their trade at world wou him re befo smashing all and level and we know Niall has been away any memories of 2015 bit sniffing about the WSB paddock a clear the slate. Well, after winning supersport for Tarran, d Worl say just year. let's this year, this s race stacks of r? and European superstock for Taylo that slate is now shining! in ed bedd once and so, nt hope We sure Tarran, meanwhile, made a dece can emulate their they hope also r we lowe the in elf hims name for successful 2016, be that in race wins echelons and then in superstock 600s her star r's or titles. The only question is whet in 2015. He shone while Taylo 'll get the right rides, but they not have or could dy nobo but d, wane so the we reckon Niall knows a few folk, predicted that he'd be fighting for e! spac this long, h year watc big-boy supersport title all

112 DECEMBER 2016 WWW.FASTBIKESMAG.COM

Victory wheelies rule!