Motorcycle Sport & Leisure - October 2020

TOP PLACES TO VISIT IN EUROPE

When we get the all-clear again!

BUYING USED

Honda Hornet

DUCATI STREETFIGHTER V4 S ◆ 205bhp ◆ 199kg ◆ Winged Beast!

PLUS! COMPARISON TEST:

Honda Africa Twin 1991 vs. 2019

RIDDEN: H-D Fat Boy ◆ Yamaha Tricity ◆ Triumph Daytona 765 ◆ Honda SH125i

October 2020 Issue 721

Contents

PAY LESS

Get the original & best bike magazine every month

P26

36 NEWS & OPINION: News

32

Legal Eagle

34

18

Products

44

26

Subscription offer

TOURING & ADVENTURE

7

12

Here are the biggest biking headlines from the past month.

Our new contributor brings law and order into MSL.

These are the products that caught our eye this time.

Your chance to save £££ and get the magazine before it’s in the shops.

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65

20

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4 Motorcycle Sport & Leisure – established 1962

Kit guide

This time we have a look at the ins and outs of textile gloves.

Maynard Hershon

There’s more to buying and selling bikes than meets the eye.

Your letters

MSL readers voice their opinions about the biking topics that matter.

Touring news

The pandemic has given birth to a new tour operator in Wales.

66 ROAD TESTS 10

Day ride

300-mile round trip to Sammy Miller Museum in the New Forest.

14

Mid ride

Empty roads, good food and good value sum up riding in Portugal.

Top destinations in Europe

Four destinations not to miss.

Triumph Daytona 765

What is a road-going Moto2 bike like to ride? You guessed it, pretty wild!

Yamaha Tricity

28

Harley-Davidson Fat Boy

Richard Millington

Never has keeping an eye on the FCO travel advice been more important.

This month’s small-capacity bike is the ever-popular Honda.

20

Long ride

DIY self-organised ride round the high spots of New Zealand. It’s stunning!

Honda SH125

36

Three-wheeled scooter sounds like an oddity, but is it really that different?

We test ride the Big Easy muscle cruiser. You can’t get closer to the American dream in Lincolnshire.

Ducati Streetfighter V4 S

Over 200hp and less than 200kg. This is one special bike from Bologna.

28

TEST FLEET 82

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Yamaha TMAX

Roger keeps wondering why more people don’t appreciate maxi-scooters.

Moto Guzzi V85TT

Travel restrictions have hampered Nathan’s journeys on the Guzzi.

Kawasaki Ninja 1000 SX Tourer

Damn. Puncture. Even the mighty Ninja can’t shake off this one.

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Two in one month! Ross has a puncture too.

KNOWLEDGE 70

Knowledge

72

Letters special: Distractions

74

80

93

98

Do you know what the bike kit CE-labels mean? We make sense of it all.

MSL readers answered our call for opinions about riding distractions.

Here goes…

Buying guide: Honda Hornet

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88

Mossy looks at the hugely popular Honda as a second-hand buy.

Suzuki DR350 project

The bike is almost back on the road… almost.

Kevin Cameron

If manufacturing came back home, would we recognise it?

Honda Africa Twin

Bertie has found the perfect pillion pal.

BMW F900XR

Beware of the touring screen, says Mike. It may not be the solution you think it is.

Suzuki V-Strom 1050XT

Mossy takes the big Suzuki off-road, and his feelings are mixed.

90

Tried & tested

Sena 50R and S are top-of-the-range comms units. We test them to see what they are really like.

Triumph Street Scrambler

91

Yamaha Ténéré 700

Carl tries to convince everyone that the Ténéré is not really that tall.

Royal Enfield Interceptor 650

Big mile day gives Mikko a taste of what the Interceptor is like as a tourer.

October 2020 EDITOR: Mikko Nieminen mnieminen@mortons.co.uk DESIGNERS: Charlotte Turnbull, Fran Lovely, Tracey Markham, Michael Baumber PRODUCTION EDITOR: Mike Cowton PUBLISHING DIRECTOR: Dan Savage PUBLISHER: Tim Hartley GROUP ADVERTISING MANAGER: Sue Keily DIVISIONAL ADVERTISING MANAGER: Tom Lee: tlee@mortons.co.uk 01507 529412 ADVERTISING SALES: Emma Buxton-Rockley: EBuxton-Rockley@Mortons.co.uk 01507 529410 SALES AND DISTRIBUTION MANAGER: Carl Smith: CMSmith@Mortons.co.uk MARKETING MANAGER: Charlotte Park: cpark@mortons.co.uk COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR: Nigel Hole EDITORIAL ADDRESS: MSL Magazine, Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincolnshire LN9 6JR WEBSITE: www.mslmagazine.co.uk GENERAL QUERIES AND BACK ISSUES: 01507 529529 24-hr answerphone help@classicmagazines.co.uk www.classicmagazines.co.uk ARCHIVE ENQUIRIES: Jane Skayman jskayman@mortons.co.uk 01507 529423 SUBSCRIPTION: Full subscription rates (but see page 26 for offer): 12 months 12 issues, inc post and packing – UK £52.80. Export rates are also available – see page 26 for more details.

UK subscriptions are zero-rated for the purposes of Value Added Tax. SUBSCRIPTION AGENTS: Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincolnshire LN9 6JR CUSTOMER SERVICES NUMBER: 01507 529529 TELEPHONE LINES ARE OPEN: MONDAY-FRIDAY 8.30AM-5PM DISTRIBUTION: Marketforce UK Ltd, 5 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London E14 5HU. 0203 787 9001.

PRINTED: William Gibbons & Sons, Wolverhampton The publisher accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs. If you are sending material to us for publication, you are strongly advised to make copies and to include a stamped addressed envelope. Original material must be submitted and will be accepted solely on the basis that the author accepts the assessment of the publisher as to its commercial value. © Mortons Media Group Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage retrieval system without prior permission in writing from the publisher. ISSN: 1478-8390 MOTORCYCLE SPORT & LEISURE (USPS:001-522) is published monthly by Mortons Media Group Ltd, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincolnshire LN9 6LZ UK. USA subscriptions are $66 per year from Motorsport Publications LLC, 7164 Cty Rd N #441, Bancroft WI 54921. Periodical Postage is paid at Bancroft WI and additional entries.

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LAUNCH

ROAD/OFF-ROAD

BEST PLACES TO VISIT IN…

EUROPE

There is so much great riding across Europe, but whatever else you do on your next trip, don’t skip these top destinations!

A

nyone who’s spent time hunting out the good riding in Europe will wax lyrical about just how good it is.

The roads, scenery, traffic and food can make for a great motorcycling destination. But even here, not all roads are equal. To discover the best places to visit and the most thrilling roads to ride we talked to Richard Millington from Motorrad Tours, an expert on European riding spots with years of experience of riding there. Here are the top destinations he told us not to miss…

66 Motorcycle Sport & Leisure – established 1962

MSL expert

Motorrad Tours is an Official Travel Partner of BMW Motorrad. They operate a range of motorcycle tours throughout Europe as well as tours in Africa, the Americas and Asia. You are welcome to ride any make of bike on their tours, but they always ride BMW. Their touring style is about freedom - they provide route guidance notes, maps and GPS routes so you can choose to ride independently or with the tour leader, or swap and change; you have the freedom to choose.

For more information about Motorrad Tours visit www.motorrad-tours.com or call 08000 131 282.

ENDOFPREVI EW

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www. c l as s i c magaz i nes . c o. uk

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