Motorcycle Sport & Leisure - September 2020

MOTORCYCLE DENIM JEANS

Yamaha Tracer 900

ARE YOU READY FOR

SPORTY

We rate the comfort, looks and protection

BMW F900XR

Ducati Multistrada 950

TRAVEL

TOP PLACES TO RIDE IN MOROCCO

ADVENTURES! ◆ Zero SR/S ◆ Sinnis Terrain ◆ Moto Guzzi V85 TT ◆ Husqvarna Vitpilen 701

September 2020 Issue 720

Contents

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44 NEWS & OPINION: 7

18

27

28

32

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News

There’s a new UK road race planned for 2021. And plenty more happening in the world of biking.

Products

This month we have five items to share with you. All of them pretty cool.

Subscription offer

TOURING & ADVENTURE 57

Not all tourers are the same. This chap has been doing the distance on an electric bike.

Day ride

60

Mid ride

Electric bike history

Electric bikes have been in the making for a long time. Here’s a quick look at some of the developments.

Electric letters

This is what MSL readers think about electric bikes. Safe to say they split the opinion.

Maynard Hershon

The pandemic has had a worldwide impact. This is how it changed biking for Maynard.

Your letters

Thanks to all of our readers for writing letters and emails. Here’s a selection of MSL readers’ thoughts.

4 Motorcycle Sport & Leisure – established 1962

Long ride

69

Richard Millington

70

Where to ride in Morocco

Touring news

58

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

64

Boys’ Own adventure down in Dorset.

What a great way to pick a route.

Where do you take a 14-year-old on a holiday? The D-Day beaches, on a motorcycle!

70

The long and tough ride in Mongolia concludes in this issue. What an epic ride!

2020 has not been kind to motorcycle shows. Richard finds that a real shame.

Our friends from Wheels of Morocco share the secrets of perfect ride locations.

93

TEST FLEET 82

Triumph Street Scrambler

Ross has finally got his hands on one of his favourite bikes.

83

84

85

ROAD TESTS 10

Sinnis 125 Terrain

14

Husqvarna Vitpilen

Our small-capacity expert Ross tests the diminutive adventurer.

All modern Café Racers look great, but not many are this handsome. But how does it ride?

20

Zero SR/S

36

Moto Guzzi V85TT

44

76

80

93

98

87

88

The latest electric bike from Zero takes a sporty turn. Can it rival petrol bikes?

The bike that single-handedly revitalised Guzzi sales. We have heard a lot of good things about this one.

Sporty adventure tourers

It’s an interesting category, and all of these bikes deserve praise. Which would you choose?

KNOWLEDGE 74

86

Yamaha Ténéré 700

It can do the miles no problem, but seat comfort might need to be fixed.

Suzuki V-Strom 1050XT

Run-in period is over, and Mossy can start to really ask the V-Strom some questions.

Yamaha TMAX

The first service has Roger pondering about the running costs of the scooter.

Moto Guzzi V85TT

Nathan gets the Guzzi ready to meet some new friends.

BMW F900XR

It’s still early days, but Mike is warming to the BMW. Ride modes are ace.

Kawasaki Ninja 1000 SX Tourer Has Stu found a fault with the Kawasaki yet, or does the honeymoon just go on and on?

89

90

Honda Africa Twin

Bertie is bubbling merrily on the Africa Twin, but he had a little fright when he discovered some accessory prices.

Royal Enfield Interceptor 650

Mikko has been using the Enfield to deliver PPE during the pandemic.

Knowledge

How to clean your motorcycle like a pro? Here’s how.

Suzuki DR350 project

The bike needs nothing big done, but without all the little jobs it won’t run!

Tech talk

This time we look at brakes, and ask what really makes a difference between good and bad brakes

September2020 EDITOR: Mikko Nieminen mnieminen@mortons.co.uk DESIGNER: Charlotte Turnbull 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 SUBSCRIPTION MANAGER: Paul Deacon pdeacon@mortons.co.uk CIRCULATION MANAGER: Steve O’Hara sohara@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 27 for offer): (12 months 12 issues, inc post and packing) – UK £52.80. Export rates are also available – see page 27 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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Tried & tested

Denim jeans designed for motorcycling are popular, but are they up to the job?

Kevin Cameron

Autonomous vehicles are coming. But can they coexist with motorcycles?

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Test Ride

ROAD

GOLDEN O

EAGLE

Moto Guzzi’s quirky adventure V-twin has become an unlikely hit by alighting at a sweet spot between traditional and modern, large-capacity and small.

We ride the V85 TT on all terrains – but mostly road – to discover what all the fuss is about Moto Guzzi V85 TT WORDS: Roland Brown PHOTOGRAPHY: Andy Saunders

E

ven Moto Guzzi’s staff must have been surprised by the success of the V85 TT last year. After all, production in Mandello del Lario had been unspectacular for decades.

Countless new models had come and gone without making much impact, let alone breaking sales records or approaching the status of Seventies icons like the 850 Le Mans or original California.

Then suddenly the two-wheeled world couldn’t get enough of a new bike with Guzzi’s trademark pair of air-cooled pots sticking diagonally out on each side. Show-goers had swooned over the adventure V-twin

on its unveiling at EICMA in Milan; journalists had enthused at the press riding launch in Sardinia. More importantly, customers were making it a hit in the showrooms – so much so that for a while the atmospheric old factory on the banks of Lake Como couldn’t keep up with demand.

Looking over the Guzzi’s stubby perspex screen as the A5 unravels on a sunny afternoon months later, this outbreak of Italian-style TT mania seems perplexing – but at the same time entirely justified. That contradiction is apparent in many ways, not least engine performance.

The V85 TT feels perfectly content at road speeds, and happy to add a

Sturdy aluminium bash plate offers protection

www.mslmagazine.co.uk 37

Test Ride

ADVENTURE VENTU SPORT OF

TOURING OURIN

GROUP Multistrada 950 ti ca Du 0, 90 er ac Tr a ah BMW F900XR, Yam

ure riding are all at Touring, sport and advent cycling, but can the heart of modern motor age? ck they all be found in one pa achines vying Here are three sub-litre m e ultimate for the coveted prize of th ty streak or adventure tourer with a sp

s WORDS: Dave Manning, Ros

pman

en PHOTOGRAPHY: Gary Cha

Mowbray & Mikko Niemin

T

hese bikes aren’t as easy to pigeonhole as you first think. BMW classes the F900XR as an adventure bike, Yamaha treats the Tracer as a sports tourer, and Ducati refrains from categorising the Multistrada 950 at all. They are all designed to clock up big miles in a fast, comfortable and entertaining manner, and represent perhaps the

closest thing to what we are used to calling sports tourers in this under 1000cc category.

With slightly different approaches to the same task, the bikes are not so different from each other, so we took the three of them out for a spin to see what the differences and similarities are – and, of course, the million dollar question: are they any good? www.mslmagazine.co.uk 45

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