Fast Bikes May 2023 issue - 20 PAGE PREVIEW!

SHED FIND TO ROAD TO SUPERBIKE THE TT BREATHING LIFE BACK INTO OUR PROJECT ZX-7R

PART TWO OF OUR YAMAHA R7 BUILD

MA Y ISS 202 UE 3 40 3

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

REBORN S E D A G E RENEWEIGHT NAKEDS IDDL M

RE… GET HARDCO

ABOUT THE DARK ARTS OF MOTOGP AERO

TRIUMPH STREET TRIPLE RS

DUCATI MONSTER SP

SWANSONG

STROKER

LIVING THE TWOSTROKE DREAM ON A HONDA NSR250R SP

ISSUE 403 MAY 2023

40

54

THE KNOWLEDGE

COLUMNISTS

All you need to know about Ducati’s pioneering 1199 Panigale.

If you want to get the best from yourself and your bike, read Brad’s wise words.

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

YOUR LIFE ON BIKES

You and Yours ........................................88 All of your adventures

Chatter ...................................................75 A page dedicated to the best readers in the world…

TESTS

Triumph Street Triple 765RS (…and R)...18 The Hinckley massive has pulled off another blinder with its latest middleweight protagonists.

Here’s what we make of the ’23 spec 765s.

Ducati Monster SP ..................................32 It’s a hard bike to place, but it’s an easy bike to love… as Johnny Mac explains.

Swansong Stroker ..................................66 We let Timmy loose on Honda’s super-sexy NSR250R SP.

BUY

GEAR

FASTBIKESMAG.COM

Brad Howell ............................92

Tim Neave ...............................94 With a raft of testing under his belt, Timmy gives us his thoughts before the season opener.

Christian Iddon .......................96 Iddon’s fresh from the official BSB test and his first test of his Ducati V4R.

Steve Parrish...........................98 More tales, more mischief.

FEATURES

Shed find to superbike ...........40 We breathe life back into a shed-find ZX-7R and start prepping it for sale.

What the tech: Aerodynamics 78

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We delve deep into the mind-blowing world of MotoGP aerodynamics.

66

WELCOME

Change is good

I

’m writing this on a plane, heading to Spain to test Ducati’s new Streetfighter V4S. It’s an exciting proposition, not least of all because I’m keen to see how this already mesmerising motorcycle has been made better than what’s come before. It already had ridiculous amounts of power, ticked the lithe handling box and pioneered impressive aerodynamics. The tech was faultless, the brakes too, and if naked bikes are your thing, it wasn’t exactly lacking in the looks department. Of course, I daresay most manufacturers know it’s a slippery slope to sit back and rest on your laurels. History has shown that the minute you let off the throttle, someone else will come out with something smarter, faster and sexier. That’s the way this game works, and I’m pleased that’s the case. Evolution is a necessity in all walks of life and especially so in the world of two wheels, where innovation, passion and pure excitement are prerequisites for consumers. It’s been said a trillion times over, but it’s only when you look back a decade or two that you realise just how far the pillars of performance have been pushed. In a few pages’ time, you’ll come across my latest purchase – a 1996 Kawasaki ZX-7R. It’s a bike that once ruled the roost, winning races at world and domestic levels. Who can ever forget the likes of Yanagawa on the factory Kawasaki? Or the impressive efforts of Glenn Richards and Scott Smart on their Hawk Kawasakis, taking on the litre bikes that entered the BSB series in 2002? Those scenes are etched in my head, which is why, despite acknowledging just how drastically outgunned this used icon is, it still appeals to me. And that’s the beauty of motorcycles. In a similar vein, Tim got his first taste of a two-stroke 250 recently and loved the thing. For perspective, it makes about 190bhp less than the Yamaha R1 he’ll be racing at British Superbikes this year, but that didn’t dull his experience. I guess the point in this piece is to celebrate what’s come before, but to also embrace change and hope for more… which is exactly what I expect to experience from my imminent V4S test. I don’t doubt for a second it’s going to prove an absolute beast around Almeria, the track I’m testing it at, and I’m genuinely hoping that it proves better than the already impressive model that came before it... for the sake of evolution above anything else.

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PLA NE T FAST BIKES – NE W ME TAL WORDS: SIR ALAN OF DOWDS

, NE WS & REV IEW S

WORDS: SIR ALAN OF DOWDS

KTM BRABUS 1300 R EDITION 23 Fair play to KTM, it doesn’t hang about. Not content with taking on brands like Husqvarna and GASGAS, as well as tie-ins with MV Agusta in Italy and Bajaj in India, the Austrian outfit is now expanding its relationship with posh German car tuning firm Brabus.

You might remember the first fruits of that partnership from last year – a factory special Super Duke 1290 packed with tasty bolt-ons and a nasty price tag. And it’s basically more of the same 12 months on. The KTM Brabus 1300 R Edition 23 is a ‘luxury’ version of the Super Duke 1290 R EVO, with similar engine and chassis performance, but tricked up with a host of Brabus parts. The price is just as steep as last year: £37,000.

The most obvious upgrade is the forged aluminium ‘Monoblock Z’ nine-spoke rims, together with the Brabus slip-on dual can exhaust and a black-finished frame (rather than the garish stock orange). Brabus has also designed the heated custom seat and grips (essential for all the winter commutes the bike will no doubt do), and also the carbon fibre

10 MAY 2023 WWW.FASTBIKESMAG.COM

body parts. Those include the headlight fairing, mudguards, pillion seat cover, engine air intakes, belly pan, engine case protectors and radiator surround. The chassis trinkets that aren’t carbon are generally CNCmachined aluminium; footpegs, levers, yokes, pedals and master cylinder reservoirs are all premium black-machined and saucy. Add on a lightweight lithium-ion battery, a quick-release throttle and the bespoke paint and you have the complete upgrade list, pretty much.

They’re all good changes, to be fair, and the basic bike doesn’t need too much anyway. The 1290 R EVO already comes with the 1301cc LC8 V-twin motor that makes 180bhp, Brembo Stylema brakes, sweet single-sided swingarm, 194kg dry mass, WP Apex semi-active suspension and stacks of electronic riding aids: cornering ABS and traction, wheelie control, quickshifter, rider modes and loads more.

There are two colour options, stealth grey and black black, with just 145 of each being produced. And, of course, they all sold out within a couple of days of going on sale,

apparently, which is good to hear in this economy. Still desperate for one? You’ll probably find one on sale by a scalper at a posh car auction for £10k more in six months’ time. Otherwise, you’ll just need to wait for the 2024 edition…

You’ve probably seen the Brabus car tuning name before, but it is quite a niche brand in the UK. Bought by Mercedes-Benz in 1999, the firm takes its name from the two founders, Klaus BRAckmann and Bodo BUSchmann, and is perhaps best-known here for its tweaked smart cars. It has built some incredibly special cars though, including one-off tuned AMG Mercedes supercars and Maybach limousines. It’s also got a yacht and an aeroplane customising arm, so that’s the sort of market you’re dealing with here.

Apparently, the KTM tie-up has come about because of a personal friendship between senior management at the two firms. We suspect many of the bikes sold will go to Brabus car collectors, for whom £37k is less than what they’d spend on supercar trackdays and tyres in a year.

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

HUSQVARNA NORDEN 901 EXPEDITION From one extreme part of the KTM empire to another, with the natty new Husqvarna Norden 901 Expedition. It’s a long way away from the KTM Brabus 1300 R, and we think in quite a pleasing way. It’s based on the 2022 Norden 901, itself a variant on the KTM Adventure 890 middleweight ADV machine. Last year’s bike had the typical modern Husqvarna treatment, which is to say a modest performance upgrade thanks to some more premium parts, a restyle with more ‘Scandinavian’ looks, and a smattering of posh bits like premium finish fuel caps and smarter controls. The Norden also got a round LED headlamp for some pleasing retro looks, together with a higher price tag to reflect the classier build.

The Expedition is more of the same, really. As with the likes of BMW’s GS Adventure models,

there’s enhanced off-road capability (on paper at least) thanks to upgraded suspension and improved crash protection from the massive alloy sump/engine guard. The WP XPLOR suspension has longer travel (240mm both ends) and is fully adjustable for compression/ rebound damping and spring preload. The engine is the same excellent 889cc parallel twin as the KTM 890, with 105bhp, housed in a steel tube trellis frame, and the brakes are also unchanged, with dual 320mm discs and four-piston calipers up front. The 901 also gets the full rider aids package, with extra off-road settings for the ABS, quickshifter, cornering traction and colour dash.

Add in more dirt-friendly Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR tyres, a taller windscreen, centrestand, hot grips and seat and some trick standard luggage and you get the picture: this is a Norden for the Long Haul, on road or off (your skills allowing). One thing’s been missed out, though: the traditional massive fuel tank of the hardcore ADV tourer is absent, and you only get the same 19 litres as on the base bike. That’s probably down to the 890 using a unique saddle-type tank design that comes way down either side of the engine as far the sump guard, which would be tricky to modify easily. You’ll just need to paint a jerry can to match and strap it onto the rear rack.

The new Norden 901 Expedition is in Husqvarna dealers now, costing £13,599.

PLANE T FAST BIKES – NEW METAL

, NEWS & REVIEW S

STALINGRAD CUSTOM CHIC BMW Motorrad is 100 years old in 2023, but this one-off special R18 harks back even further into the firm’s roots. Before bikes, BMW made aircraft engines, including the 132 radial engine that powered the Junkers Ju-52 airliner and transport plane in the 1930s. A stalwart of the Luftwaffe in the Second World War, the plane had two nicknames: Tante (Aunt) Ju, and Iron Annie. One

of the bikes made it to America postwar, and it’s that Iron Annie this special is named for. Built

by Swiss BMW dealer and customiser VTR Motorrad for a well-heeled client, it’s had a ground-up rebuild, with hand-formed aluminium bodywork, a brown leather seat, and a speedometer made by a Swiss watchmaker. The bodywork has lines of ‘rivets’ and aircraft warning graphics,

but it’s the grey paint and corrugated sections that really echo the Junkers plane. Ribbed panels helped add stiffness without weight in the early days of aircraft design and featured on the Ju-52 – and copied by Henry Ford for his Trimotor plane. It has lowered Wilbers suspension, slick Kineo spoked rims with a 21in front to make the bike look smaller, and Avon Cobra custom rubber.

WHISKEY THROTTLE Jack Daniel’s and coke – or Jack and black – is one of the great ‘out drinking’ drinks, we reckon, so there could only be one colour scheme for this limited edition Indian factory special. The Jack

12 MAY 2023

Daniel’s Limited Edition Indian Chief Bobber Dark Horse (crazy name, guys) is based on the firm’s 1890cc Chief Bobber retro cruiser, with posh black paint, JD logos and a ‘don’t drink and

ride’ sticker on the tank, in case you forget. Heavy as hell at 315kg and priced well over £20k, it’s limited to 177 units (which is also the number of alcohol units in a gallon of JD, funnily enough).

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PLANE T FAST BIKES – NEW METAL

, NEWS & REVIEW S

THE ROAD TO 2023 The Isle of Man TT will be up and running before we know it. And the organisers are running the usual annual launch event next month, at the Mountain View Innovation Centre just outside Ramsey on Saturday, April

KWAKS ON TOUR Kawasaki UK’s bringing back its Dealer Demo Days from April, giving riders the chance to experience the latest 2023 models. There are 26 dates at dealers around the country, plus more TBC – and it’s a great chance to try out a 2023 bike.

Beginning on April 1 at Completely Gloucester, the tour runs throughout the summer months and ends on September 9 at JW Groombridge.

The full calendar and more info is available online at www. kawasaki.co.uk • Norton is also offering demo rides on its updated Commando 961 – and it’ll even bring the bike to your door. More details on the ‘Test Ride To You’ service at https://nortonmotorcycles.com/ book-a-test-ride 14 MAY 2023 WWW.FASTBIKESMAG.COM

15. Tickets are now on sale if you’re on the Island already or looking to make the trip, and the show will have all the big names there, including John McGuinness and Peter Hickman, who’ll be riding a Honda Fireblade

and BMW M1000 RR respectively. For all us mainlanders, the evening show will be recorded and shown for free on the TT+ online streaming channel soon after. More info: https://ttplus.iomttraces.com

MAY 2023 WWW.FASTBIKESMAG.COM 15

ALL THE LATEST, CO OL ES T & TRICK

ES T PERF ORMA NC E PRODUC TS

VANUCCI VXP-1 ARMOUR JACKET Remember last summer? How you wanted to go riding in your pants because it was so hot?

Well, it’ll be boiling again soon, and here’s a solid option to keep ye (a bit) safer on the bike while staying cool. It’s a multi-use mesh jacket with CE level two armour in shoulders and elbows, plus a full back protector and optional chest protector pockets. Wear it under your jacket in cooler weather or on its own round town when it gets really hot.

RRP: £176.24

LS2 GARRA BOOTS It is better known as a helmet maker, but Chinese firm LS2 is working hard to grow its entire riding gear range. These new short Garra boots are part of that: they’ve got a fully waterproof and breathable membrane, Nubuck leather

RRP: £114.99

outer shell, stretch fabric lining, gear change pads, and protective cups at heel, ankle and toes. They’re CE approved as protective motorcycle footwear and come in men’s and women’s sizes in black/ yellow or black/red.

www.ls2helmets.com

R&G RACING CARBON LEVER GUARDS We all need lever guards in our lives, whether we go on track or if we’re paranoid about hitting cars in traffic – or even just if we like the cool styleee.

These new R&G Racing guards

are made of carbon, which is always the best thing to make black plastic-y things out of, we reckon. Light, strong and handsome, and available to fit most current bikes.

RRP: £168 each or £305 for a pair www.rg-racing.com

www.louis-moto.co.uk

ARAI RX-7V EVO MAVERICK STAR A sweet new Drudi design scheme for the top-end Arai race lid, the Maverick Star is a little more subtle than some paint jobs out there. It’s based on the latest ECE 22.06 homologated RX-7V Evo shell, with the usual high-end Arai protection levels, plus extensive air venting. The top diffuser has intake and exhaust vents, and there’s also closable eyebrow and chin venting.

The inner is fully removable and washable, and your dealer can supply different thickness inner pads for the perfect fit. Double-D ring, emergency release cheek pads, inner speaker pockets around the ears and quick-release visor all round out the spec list nicely. Not cheap – Arai never has been – but a fair price these days for a premium handmade-inJapan lid, we reckon.

RRP: £799.99

RST S-1 MESH GLOVES Okay, it’s maybe a wee bit early for full summer mesh gloves as we write this. But before you know it, it’ll be all 40 degrees again – so best get ready. These RST S1 Mesh gloves are designed for maximum cooling airflow, while adding all the protection you’ll need. There’s Alcantara and TPU hard knuckle protection, plus a double layer leather palm and Velcro double wrist fastening.

Available in a range of colours, including this neat black/green, and also includes a touchscreen insert on the forefinger.

RRP: £84.99

16 MAY 2023 WWW.FASTBIKESMAG.COM

www.whyarai.co.uk

www.rst-moto.co.uk

PRODUCTS

SPADA LAMBERT JACKET We like the look of this Spada jacket a lot: it’s got a neat retro-roadster style, with or without the removable fleece hood. The black leather outer is no-nonsense old skool cool, and the metallic finish studs and zippers, plus diamond quilted shoulders, finish it off nicely. The final spec hasn’t been released as yet, but expect the usual CE armour in elbows and shoulders, plus pocket for back protector, and thermal liner. Decent price in these inflationary times, too.

RRP: £269.99

www.spadaclothing.com

ALPINESTARS RACING ABSOLUTE V2 SW MOTECH DESERTX TANK BAG The new Ducati DesertX is a cracking ADV machine – but the sculpted tank isn’t the

easiest thing to fit a standard tank bag to.

Enter the clever folks at SW-Motech: they’ve come up with a neat little subframe to attach their own clip-on bag without messing with the retro-ADV style standard bodywork. The Micro tank bag is water-resistant and big enough for the touring essentials you need close to hand: wallet, phone, travel documents, toll payments, lock keys etc. It’s also got a MOLLE-style top for extra attachments and comes with a fully waterproof rain cover. The ring bracket also fits SW-Motech’s other QD Pro system bags.

RRP: Micro tank bag £112.96, fitting ring bracket £51.84

This is the big one from Astars for 2023 – the Racing Absolute V2. It’s a no-holds-barred £3k one-piece race suit, made entirely out of leather from only the hardest MMA-champion kangaroos. And double-hard extra layers of kangaroo-ass on the, er, ass, hips, elbows and back. Poor little Skippy!

He’ll be happy in kanga-heaven though, knowing that he’s helped put together this tough, light uber-suit. It is Tech-Air airbag-ready (yes, that £3k doesn’t include an airbag, folks), and all the comfort stretch areas are festooned with Kevlar and abrasion-proof materials. Elbow sliders, shoulder and knee outer reinforcements, knee sliders and comfy neoprene collar and cuffs all comes from the top drawer as well. Available in loads of colours to match your Lamborghinipainted Ducati Panigale Super Leggera or BMW M3 CSL-matched M1000 RR and heading to an Astars store near you soon. Lovely stuff.

RRP: Approx £3k

www.alpinestars.com

AKRAPOVIC TITANIUM YAMAHA YZ450F EXHAUST Nothing says ‘SUMMER’ more than a sweet new titanium race pipe for your dirtbike. This full-on Akrapovic Evolution Line system fits the new 2023 Yamaha YZ450F and was designed alongside the factory MX team. It weighs just

RRP: £1600

3.32kg, saving 0.9kg over stock, and gives an extra 2.4bhp at 10,600rpm with 1.5Nm more torque at 10,500rpm. The system has variable thickness titanium construction throughout to optimise weight and strength, and meets FIM

competition sound regs. Even the badge is trick, with some new witchcraft method that means no sticker or engraving, just a damage-proof logo complete with red and white colours. Extremely sweet.

www.akrapovic.com

MAY 2023 WWW.FASTBIKESMAG.COM 17

STREETS AHEAD WORDS: BIG MAC

PICS: TRIUMPH

TRIUMPH STREET TRIPLE 765RS Never one to rest on its laurels, Triumph has once again put in the graft to keep the Street Triple at the top.

Y

ou’ve really got to doff your cap to Triumph. Not only did it conceive the Street Triple 675 in the first place back in 2007, in the process setting the gold standard for performance, desirability, build quality and price in the middleweight naked class, it’s continued to set the standard ever since. That’s 16 years with a target on your back, roughly 5800 days when designers at all your competitors have gone to work each day to come up with something better… and, being blunt, have not managed it.

Don’t get me wrong, the sector is loaded with bikes that are all brilliant and worthy of your hard-earned cash, but I’ll bet you a year’s subscription to Fast Bikes magazine that you can’t find a middleweight naked test in ANY of the UK motorcycle media during the past decade and a half that the Street Triple hasn’t won. So, what do you do when your bike is top dog in class, with no sign of any challenge coming from your competitors?

18 MAY 2023 WWW.FASTBIKESMAG.COM

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Kerb crawling is his specialty.

It turns out that if you’re Triumph, you don’t play it safe, save your energy, maintain the status quo and keep adding to the 130,000 units already sold. You don’t even give it a quick once-over with an extra couple of bhp and trim a kilo of weight from it. No, if you’re Triumph, what you do is start with a phone call to the people who have been designing and building your Moto2 engines for the past four years...

If you’re taking all the trouble of going racing by becoming the engine supplier for the Moto2 world championship, you might as well get some benefit from it. So, when the man from Triumph says that the engine in the 2023 Street Triple R and RS is the exact same as the one in the Moto2 bike, minus posh clutch, Marelli ECU and a few other ancillaries, I believe him. I also believe him because way back in 2018, I had the chance to ride the Moto2 mule – which nobody at Triumph would say how much power it made. I put in print at the time that in the absence of any quote from Triumph, I would rely on my scarily accurate bum-dyno, which told me that the Moto2 mule I was riding had 130-135bhp, and here we are today with a

20 MAY 2023 WWW.FASTBIKESMAG.COM

copy of that engine, complete with concessions to the road and Euro5 emissions, making 128bhp. I have no problem with Triumph’s claim that the Street Triple’s engine has a direct link to the Moto2 race engine being genuine and not some sort of marketing guff. If the target for the latest Street Triple was 130bhp, why wouldn’t you just copy the race bike engine when you know it makes the target power you’re looking for? It just makes sense.

The key changes to the engine are all what you would expect if you were tuning any engine for more power. The principle is simple, but the execution is the hard bit. Get more air and fuel into the combustion chamber, squeeze it harder to extract more energy out of it, then get it out the other side as quickly as possible. So, 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 reprofiled combustion chamber and piston crown – that gets machine finished and looks trick as anything – to increase the compression ratio to a massive 13.25:1, and a