Motorcycle Sport & Leisure December 2014

A CHEAP F800GS:

How to buy one for half price

This issue is sponsored by

CALIFORNIA CRUISIN’:

Riding to Malibu on a Moto Guzzi

December 2014

SCOOP! TRIUMPH’S

ALL NEW

TIGER 800 ◆ Programmable riding mode ◆ Daytona engine parts ◆ Traction control ◆ Cruise control ◆ Under £9k!

SCOOP

2

33

NEW BIKES REVEALED!

Expert opinion and all you need to know about the biggest and best new metal for 2015

SCOOP

3

BMW’S UPRIGHT DUCATI’S NEW MULTISTRADA: SUPERBIKE: Adventure styling! S1000 performance! Full-on fun!

More power! More gizmos! More clever!

PLUS: Honda’s retro icon: the VF1000 R ◆ Racing in France’s secret, maddest road race ever! ◆ Riding like Foggy (and Compo and Clegg) ◆ Yamaha’s Tricity oddball ◆ Tasmania by postie-bike ◆ Riding route: Amalfi coast ◆ Touring to Bosnia

MSL December EDITOR: Tony Carter PUBLISHER: Steve Rose: srose@mortons.co.uk DEPUTY EDITOR: Bruce Wilson DESIGNER: Sarah Scrimshaw REPROGRAPHICS: Simon Duncan GROUP PRODUCTION EDITOR: Tim Hartley GROUP KEY ACCOUNTS MANAGER: Steff Woodhouse: swoodhouse@mortons.co.uk 01507 529452 / 07786334330 ADVERTISING TEAM LEADER: Richard Sinclair: rsinclair@mortons.co.uk 01507 529538 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 PRODUCTION MANAGER: Craig Lamb: clamb@mortons.co.uk PUBLISHING DIRECTOR: Dan Savage: asavage@mortons.co.uk COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR: Nigel Hole ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR: Malc Wheeler

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CONTENTS

36

NEW 006

ONE TO RIDE

009

SCOOP! TRIUMPH’S NEW TIGER

026

THE SECRET RACE: RUNNING ON MT (09, THAT IS…)

Here’s a cracking ride to do should you ever find yourself touring in fairly-near-Europe. The Amalfi coast from Sorrento and past the Isle of Capri. Outstandingly good fun.

To kick things off with a host of news about the new metal for 2015 is this beauty of a scoop. The Tiger has loads of changes for this year, is more refined and a more capable ride all the way too. It looks the business and has a huge boost in mpg. We’re already impressed.

You take a 900cc Yamaha, kit it out in analmost-racey way and race across a big swathe of France in something resembling the Cannonball Run with – at times – a large petrol can strapped to your back. Well, when we say you we mean Bruce. Our Bruce.

Three weeks ago.

036

CALIFORNIA CRUISING

040

YAMAHA’S TRICITY

042

044

If you want a California experience in the truest, most modern sense of the phrase then you can’t do any better than riding the big Guzzi along the west coast.

Three wheels, big (ish) scooter and Holland.

Sounds like a laugh but can the concept win us over on the open road too?

TOURING 054

058

069

072

SUBSCRIBE TO MSL!

Loads of positives head your way if you decide to join the growing ranks who are subscribing to this very magazine. And you get it earlier than those who get their issue from the shops, too. So wait not a day longer, get on with it.

KNOW YOUR TOURER

This month we’re looking at the all-round brilliant Aprilia Caponord.

THE BIG TOUR: POSTIE ROUND TAZMANIA

KNOWLEDGE 078

080

098

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BOSNIA AND THE HISTORY TOUR

Riding to such a glorious location as the Dalmatian coast is always going to be epic and at this moment in time, when remembering iconic periods in history, all the more poignant.

A little bike that’s duty-bound to take on allcomers through nothing more than big ambition and a bit of luck.

POSTBAG

There’s quite a lot of talk from a lot of you about last month in MSL, most notably about the Bandit that isn’t a Bandit – if you see what we mean.

OUT THERE

Another free listing to help you make the most of the next four weeks. It might be getting a bit chillier, but that isn’t any reason to turn off the bikes now, is it?

IT’S PANTS!

Or trousers, to be more precise. All you need to know in order to get the perfect pair of pantaloons for your riding exploits this coming season.

LAST OF THE SUMMER WHINES

Three old, daft buggers go oop North to the land of Nora Batty to stretch their motorcycle legs and lark about. Good fun, tha knows!

BUYER’S GUIDE: BMW F800GS

A gorgeous middleweight Adventure bike that is a very smart buy for the smart rider who prefers to ride instead of posing down the local supermarket on a Saturday morning.

REFLECTIONS: HONDA VF1000R

A large bike that paved the way for what we now know as Superbikes. The VF changed a generation’s mindset about what to expect from an endurance-inspired motorcycle. Plus it looks way cool, even today. mslmagazine.co.uk 5

Top Stories

Kawasaki’s H2R H

When is a lot of something too much? ere’s a question for you – how should we, at MSL, talk about this motorcycle? What it basically shows us here is that somewhere in the heart of Kawasaki are still people who want to wave their bits about, shouting ‘Look at THIS!’ In reality, what we’ve got from the big green is a 296bhp weapon of fast destruction. is bike, debuted at Cologne, is the track version of the concept with the roadbike – the H2R – coming

The Details KAWASAKI H2R 256bhp max power Supercharged 998cc motor Carbon fibre fins jut out from the fairing Trellis frame Around £50,000

soon. is is a bike that has a supercharged 998cc motor, will be made in extremely limited numbers and is rumoured to eventually have a price tag of… £50,000. Yep. If we’re honest, we’re in two minds about this bike. Yes, it looks incredible and the wings, the literal wings, that jut out from the compact bodywork look interesting and exciting. But is this where we need to be going?

No doubt this is going to be the sort of motorcycle that defines a sector of motorcycles, but that’s a lot of money (and besides all that, you can’t use a supercharger in British, World or even American

superbike racing now, so it seems a bit defunct as a genuine reason to buy) to spend on a bike. e road-going version is due to be unveiled at EICMA in Milan in November. ere’s no getting away from that lovely looking trellis frame which Kawasaki says has been designed for high-speed stability without the need for a long

wheelbase (so the factory is saying that this thing is very chuckabout-able).

So, the H2R trackbike is silly powerful and costs silly money. If you want one then you’d better be as fast out of the blocks as this thing’s going to be out of corners – only 10 of them are being made available to UK buyers.

Expert view: Kawasaki H2R Richard Albans runs TTS Performance, at Silverstone. The supercharging specialist has over 40 years’ experience in his trade, which is why we asked him to explore Kawasaki’s new supercharged H2R. Should we be impressed with Kawasaki’s claimed 295bhp from a supercharged 998cc inline-four?

If it’s 295 crank horsepower on 98 octane then it’s pretty good. With the engine management and knock control available it could be done safely. This power figure is for the track so the appropriate maintenance schedule would apply, like any race bike.

Pulling it down to 250 for the road is in another league, if it’s given with the usual two- to three-year warranty. It’s built for the power so durability shouldn’t be a problem.

Does supercharging compromise a motor’s durability?

A good supercharger conversion can give the power of a bigger motor when needed and the economy of a smaller motor when off boost. The bike can be lighter and smaller so

14 mslmagazine.co.uk

giving a better power to weight ratio and more options on weight distribution and handling. I have supercharged R1s and GSXR1000s with my supercharger conversions and they stay together with around 220-240bhp and 110lb-ft of torque.

Not bad considering they weren’t designed with forced induction as standard. All we do is lower the compression to 10:1 and put stronger clutch springs in. As long as the engine management is recalibrated to suit they go well.

Won’t it mean the bike’s horrible to ride at anything other than flat out?

Our supercharged bikes ride beautifully with a much smoother and linear power delivery than a normally aspirated bike, and can be ridden on the wave of torque rather than having to cog it through the box to go fast.

With this in mind it can work out more economical than an NA bike because you’re not having to scream it to go fast.

If we gave you a standard ZX-10R, would you be able to produce 300bhp from it using a supercharger?

If you gave me a ZX-10R I could easily give you 300 horsepower, but in that state of tune I would recommend stronger rods and pistons. Though, as an experiment, it would be good to see what the standard parts would take.

If I fitted one of my fully developed production kits then the cost would be around £5-7k depending on the complexity of the conversion. To start from scratch and design and develop a conversion costs me around £20k for a bike. I sometimes swallow that cost if I see a market, if its oddball then the customer pays accordingly.

Are we likely to see more manufacturers fitting superchargers on production bikes?

I have always seen an opening for the bike manufacturers to do what Kawasaki has done but it’s only with the invention of the compact supercharger that there is room on a bike to make it work. I have been fitting them for 12 years.

For more info on supercharging motorcycles check out www.tts-performance.co.uk

NEW

Versys 1000 and 650 gets refreshed About time, too.

Much bigger tank of the 650 ups performance.

New face, fairing on the 1000cc Versys.

T

hey’ve been firm favourites for the past few years and now Kawasaki has updated both the big and little Versys.

Both bikes get a new fairing and funky dual front headlights as well as a reinforced chassis to support more luggage on the move. e engine on the 1000 stays the same and so do the suspension and wheels (although the rims have been strengthened).

A centrestand now comes as standard as does a ‘no tools

required’ adjustable windscreen. ere’s ABS, three-mode Kawasaki Traction Control (KRTC) and Power Mode Selection (Full/Low) as standard. ere’s also the Assist & Slipper Clutch which limits back-torque and reduces the effort needed to pull the clutch lever. e 649cc engine of the Versys 650 keeps its familiar low and midrange torque but has received a boost in the high rpm performance range. Fuel efficiency has also been improved.

Upgrades have been made to the long travel 41mm suspension

which now has separate functions for each tube, allowing all adjusters to be at the top of the fork for easy use rather than having to adjust settings at the bottom of a fork leg. e rear suspension also gets an easy-toaccess remote preload adjuster.

New calipers, revised master cylinder settings, new brake pad material and a larger diameter rear disc all improve the overall braking on the smaller bike, too. ere’s an all-new larger hand adjustable windscreen and the fuel tank capacity has increased by three litres to 21 litres.

The Details KAWASAKI VERSYS - BOTH BIKES New fairing for both bikes 1000 gets stronger chassis to up luggage carrying 650 gets better high-rpm performance 650 also gets multi-adjustable front suspension 650’s petrol tank upped by three litres to 21.

Aprilia’s Caponord goes all Rally

N

ow, we love the Caponord – it’s a flippin’ good bike with lots of power and great handling.

And for 2015 Aprilia has added a Rally version of

The Details APRILIA’S CAPONORD Loads of electronics Self-adjusting Dynamic suspension Hard panniers 24 litre petrol tank

the bike to the range. is is good news! e new model features spoked wheels, hard panniers with aluminium covers, a 24 litre fuel tank, LED running lights, a larger screen plus protection for the sump, oil cooler and slightly tweaked bodywork.

It’s powered by Aprilia’s 1200cc V-twin engine, has a ride-by-wire throttle with three engine maps, traction control, cruise control, switchable ABS as well as Aprilia Dynamic Damping (ADD) suspension which automatically adapts underneath you to match the road surface and riding style.

Price to be announced.

mslmagazine.co.uk 15

MT-09

RUNNING ON MT Seven days, 3000 kilometres and more than 84 hours in the saddle. We armed Bruce with an MT-09 and sent him along to experience life on France’s best kept secret road race.

WORDS: Bruce Wilson PHOTOGRAPHY: Bruce Wilson / Moto Tour

S

o there I was, in France, staring at a somewhat odd looking Yamaha MT-09. is was my mount for the Moto Tour 2014 and I’d just signed the paperwork to secure my place as one of its 197 competitors.

Road rallies are big news in France but, up until this point, I’d never really heard of them apart from the occasional Easter egg run back home in the UK. But this was a very different scenario. is was war... and professional war at that. e 2014 Dark Dog Moto Tour – to give it its full name – was to start from the picturesque town of Saverne, in Alsace, in less than 24 hours.

Ripe with history, the location’s fine architecture told of its German ancestry, with the grand town hall and its impressive grounds playing host to the 1000-plus armada of people, vans and lorries which would descend south over the following seven days, ending in Toulon on the Mediterranean coast.

It all sounded good in theory, but I quickly realised I had a lot to learn and in a short time. e first, and potentially biggest challenge, was knowing how to communicate using my deplorable schoolboy French with my allotted team of technicians.

Collectively they were called Panda Moto and they’d kindly agreed to support and guide me through the event, as well as to prepare the bike for the task ahead. e last time I’d seen my bike, it looked like every other MT-09, plus a few shiny bolt-ons; Akrapovic can, Gilles rearsets, R&G crash protection and some trick Öhlins suspension. But now it resembled Frankenstein’s

26 mslmagazine.co.uk

monster, complete with what looked like a lunchbox on the le bars, a new tacho on the right, number boards on the front and sides, plus two huge LED headlights seemingly capable of spotting planes.

Before long these new essentials would all make sense, but as I watched Benjamin DuPont, the team manager, fettle around the Yam... adjusting things as he went, I just stared on in quiet bemusement, muttering the odd mispronounced word in French.

If you’re contemplating the ‘Tour’, the first thing I should tell you is there’s a lot of paperwork to sort and a lot of queuing to be done. In my case, a hell of a lot. For every three steps forward I went, some guy would dive in ahead, get chatting to his mate and remain ahead of me. Oh bugger!

Eventually I arrived at the organisers, who needed to see a V5 certificate, my insurance, a health assessment from the doctor and my FFM licence (Federation French Motorsport). e latter I didn’t have, but €140 soon got us over that hiccough.

Rewarded with a crate of Dark Dog energy drink, a pat on the head and a sticker with emergency numbers to call if necessary, I made my way back to the team, who had got the bike set for scrutineering.

I was queuing again, but at least the weather was pleasant and the next hour seemed to fly past. Unfortunately, the bike’s appraisal didn’t go as swimmingly. Its exhaust made 98dB. e statutory noise limit was 96dB. Promises of coasting the bike around quietly didn’t wash, but team boss Benjamin and his band of merry men didn’t dwell on the bad news.

Back at his truck, they had the silencer off in seconds, rammed

Great Rides #15

About the route

THE MIKE ELLIS MEMORIAL FUND ROUTE Starting from Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway, Toddington GL54 5DT

Above: Mike Ellis, in memoriam.

Head northwest towards B4077 for 49ft, then turn left on to B4077 and travel 410ft.

Turn left on to High Street and follow road for 3.8 miles. Total miles travelled so far – 24.

At the roundabout, take the third exit on to Broadway Road/B4632. Follow B4632 for 4.5 miles.

Turn left on to A424 and follow road for 2.0 miles.

Turn right on to Station Road/B4632 and travel for 0.2 miles, then continue on to High Street for 0.3 miles.

Turn right on to Fosse Way/Roman Road/A429 and travel for 1.0 miles, and then turn left on to Evesham Road/A424 and travel 256ft.

At the roundabout, take the third exit on to Leamington Road and travel for 0.8 miles.

Take a slight left on to Tewkesbury Road/B4077 and follow B4077 for 5.6 miles.

At the roundabout, take the third exit on to A44 and travel for 5.3 miles.

Turn right and follow road, continuing on to Buckle Street for 5.2 miles.

Turn right on to A424 and travel for 5.2 miles.

Continue on to B4081 and follow road for 2.9 miles.

Turn right on to Fosse Way/Roman Road/A429 and follow A429 for 3.8 miles.

Turn right at Angel Lane and travel for 1.5 miles.

This route starts from Toddington station on the Gloucester Warwickshire Railway, and travels to Broadway, then up the legendary Fish Hill and on to Stow-onthe-Wold. Down to Bourton-on-the-Water (The Venice of the Cotswolds). The route briefly joins the Fosse Way Roman road before diverting off on to the old Tewkesbury Road, then turns off past the Lavender farms of Snowshill, before dropping down to Chipping Campden, through Broad Campden before finishing at the Watsonian sidecar factory in Blockley.

Turn right and travel for 0.2 miles, then a slight right for 354ft, then turn left.

Destination will be on the right.

Blockley GL56 9RF – Watsonian Squire Factory

Total miles travelled – 42.5 miles

Blockley Toddington

B4077

Stow-on-the-Wold Cheltenham

Upper Rissington Bourton Bridge

54 mslmagazine.co.uk

THE HAPPENINGS

It’s not bikes…

Dealer spotlight

Cheltenham Harley-Davidson, 599 Princess Elizabeth Way, Cheltenham GL51 7PA Tel: 01242 240570 www.bladegroupharleydavidson.co.uk Opening times: Monday-Friday: 9am-6pm Saturday: 9am-5pm

WHAT’S THERE? As the route is very near to Cheltenham, here’s a short guide on what to do around this Cotswold town.

Cheltenham is an inland spa town and visitors can still sample the spa water at the Pittville Pump Room, which is in Pittville Park, and is recognisable by its blue dome.

The original pump is still there and visitors can drink from it; it is England’s only source of natural alkaline water.

The Promenade is the main shopping street. Regency terraces and trees line the avenue; and the Neptune fountain can be found here. This makes for a pleasant shopping experience.

There is also the racecourse to visit. The popular Gold Cup National Hunt Festival week is held in March, along with other festivals throughout the year including: jazz, science, music, literature plus others.

Composer, Gustav Holst, was born on Clarence Road and his birthplace is now a museum dedicated to him, where you can see the piano that he composed The Planets on. Another interesting museum is The Wilson, which has been newly refurbished and houses fine art and touring exhibition galleries.

Heading out of Cheltenham town centre, just four miles away, is the highest point in the Cotswolds – Cleeve Hill, which is 330 metres above sea level.

The site is one of the UK’s SSSIs (Site of Special Scientific Interest) and is the largest enclosed ‘wold’ in the Cotswolds.

For more information about Cheltenham and the surrounding area, visit www.cotswolds.info/places/cheltenham. shtml or www.visitcheltenham.com

Cheltenham Harley-Davidson officially opened on American Independence Day, July 4, 2008 and is recognised as one of Europe’s flagship Harley-Davidson stores.

Complete with a state-of-the-art new and used bike showroom, dedicated inhouse clothing store, fully stocked parts and accessories department, a comprehensive workshop facility and possibly the best coffee bar in town.

WHY VISIT? The dealership is situated just minutes from the fantastic open and rolling roads of the Malvern and Cotswold hills, offering some of the best UK roads and scenery available.

If you need an excuse to visit, it’s also situated next-door to one of the largest retail parks in the area.

About the group The Mike Ellis Memorial Fund was set up in memory of Mike Ellis who died while out riding. Despite the efforts of two retained firefighters who had a defibrillator Mike died at the scene.

It was decided by Mike’s family, friends and colleagues that it would be an appropriate idea to raise funds to buy a defibrillator for the Northwick Business Park in Blockley, where Mike worked, so that there would be one permanently available in case of an emergency.

Watsonian Squire organised a rideout in

2012 to raise the money, and this has been made an annual event to raise funds for the Mike Ellis Memorial Fund.

The defibrillator has been purchased and the fund has been registered as a charity (pending) and is continuing to raise the cash for other rural communities to have defibrillators, and also for the Midlands Air Ambulance, which attended when Mike was fatally injured.

Please visit the website for more details: www.mikeellismemorialfund.org.uk

If you would like your group or event to appear in these pages, please email the details of the route you think our readers would be interested in as well as information about your group to: jclements@mortons.co.uk mslmagazine.co.uk 55

So, after all that...

We had to draw out a winner. Out of the three, there was one bike that stood out as the one we’d take on holiday, but as far as the other two go, they’re still good motorcycles. It’s a really close-run thing.

LAST OF THE SUMMER TIME

M

ake no mistake all three are very capable motorcycles and all have their individual strengths and weaknesses but on our group test, doing that journey, there was one clear winner in our group’s opinion: the Harley-Davidson.

What Harley-Davidson has done with the Ultra is pretty impressive.

While it’s always been a capable tourer, the old bike had started to feel its age. ings such as rider aids and electronic assists (and gizmos) were just edging the other bikes in the class ahead. en, last year, H-D launched a

range of motorcycles that raise the bar. ese are the Project Rushmore motorcycles and this Ultra is the top of the pile. And it works.

Stiffer handling, better linked brakes, dual-cooled motor and a few more ponies, coupled with low seat height and supreme day long comfort make it our number one.

Splitting the Victory and Indian isn’t possible; they are just so different. e Victory makes a great, long legged, cross continents tourer, but when it comes to looks, tassels aside, the Indian is a thing of beauty and does what it was designed for perfectly; cruising.

Anyone else hear the old PG Tips advert music? No?