Índex per November 2018 a Performance Bikes

Project Blade vs GSX-R K5 A thought came into my head today when I had a quick glance at the lightweight Fireblade column (that sort of thing is right up my alley)... Have you thought about putting it head to head with Kar Lee’s GSX-R1000 K5? I know and understand that some of the mods done to the Blade are on another level, but I have followed Kar’s K5 for a long time now and that thing is a proper weapon (carbon wheels, Öhlins, Brembos, etc) and also roughly from the same era. Two proper fettled analogue thous: imagine... On another note, I have a mint GSX-R1000 K5 for the road which I want carbon wheels for... any ideas what brand seems to be the best? I was thinking Dymag…

THERE’S NO OTHER place I’d rather be in September than the Goodwood Revival. Describing it as a step back in time doesn’t do it justice; it’s like a multi-million pound movie set but much bigger. Actually, a lot of the buildings are temporary and built just for the event, though you wouldn’t guess it. Most of the circuit’s buildings stay in place, as does the aerodrome, although all the B52s and Spitfires that fly overhead all weekend are flown back to museums on the Monday. The circuit, pits and race tower are as they’ve been since the beginning of racing at Goodwood in 1948. The attention to detail needs to be seen to be believed and there’s a grid made up of more than £200 million of DB4’s SWB Ferrari…

I RODE BOTH of these bikes at their launches, so I did have a headstart when it comes to forming an opinion. The Street RS was launched at a circuit in Barcelona, and before the rain came, I was already smitten. The Speed RS was launched at Almeria, and I was seriously impressed by what a difference just 500rpm can make to the previous incarnations of Triumph’s big naked. As well as having a bit more horsepower, the Speed RS has some really nice high-quality finishing touches, too. The suspension is a cut above the usual fare, and its brakes and the electronics are both a cut above the equipment you find on the Street. But then, for £3000, you’d understandably expect them to be. At a price of £13,000,…

2019 KTM 1290 SUPER DUKE GT JOHN McAVOY IT’S FUNNY SOMETIMES HOW a throwaway comment can lead to unmissable opportunities. The short version is that a conversation took place between PB and a chap at KTM at an undisclosed point in time during the summer. The topic of which was tagging along on the production of a promotional video for the 2019 KTM Super Duke GT. Fast forward several weeks, and I’m standing on the side of the road at Guthrie’s Memorial on the Isle of Man TT course, drone flying overhead, film crews stationed on the Mountain to capture the action. I’ve been given strict instructions to limit all my riding to between Ramsey hairpin and Creg-ny-Baa. The bike is weeks away from being announced; it technically doesn’t exist…

TRIUMPH’S CHIEF ENGINEER, STUART Wood freely admits their involvement in Moto2 from next season, was opportunistic, and incredibly fortunate from a timing point of view. Just as the 675cc triple engine was being consigned to the history books thanks to ever-stricter emissions regs, three separate and unrelated events took place. The Daytona 675 would no longer be a viable option for race teams in the FIM Supersport class, the Dorna contract to be engine supplier for the Moto2 class came up for tender, and Triumph had just committed at board level to replacing the outgoing 675cc motor with a cleaner 765cc three-cylinder platform on which to keep a presence in the lucrative middleweight naked road bike sector. Problem: No possibility of getting the FIM rules changed for triples in supersport…

THERE IS NOTHING THAT wrong with the Yamaha XSR900. Well, aside from terrible fuelling and dodgy suspension, it’s just really ugly...” Hag Hughes makes a fair point in describing Yamaha’s neo-retro bike. Powered by the firm’s wonderful 847cc triple, it may look a dog’s dinner, but it goes like wobbly stink when given some welly, making it the ideal starting point for any special builder. “Thanks to broken bones, I’m too old and knackered to ride sportsbikes on the road nowadays,” explains Hag. “And I’m not alone; lots of my mates are in a similar situation and we have all been looking at upright options. But we still want the hooligan-factor in our bikes.” Which is how a modern-day homage to Yamaha’s iconic RD350LC started to form... “When I looked…

‘It’s a simple process to ditch the off-road gear. Firstly you need smaller diameter, wider rims’ 2017 KTM 500 EXC-F JOHN BENNETT I WOULD LOVE to tell you all that the reason I love supermotos and have embarked on my latest dirtbike-on-theroad build is because of my gnarly motocross background, or a supermoto racing career in my youth. However, I’m afraid the truth is rather underwhelming – I was converted after trying a mate’s KTM 690 SMCR a few years ago and have never looked back. I’m at best average off-road, and the only time I get sideways is when I’m squeezing between bikes in my crowded garage... But, let’s get back on topic: sportsbikes and supernakeds are fantastic things; I could never be without one. But riding either in…

‘Taylor was blown away. He even said to me, “We’re going to win today.” True to form, it pissed it down for the race’ 2016 BMW S1000RR ALEC TAGUE WHILE MICHAEL WAS at Goodwood, Taylor Mackenzie took on the task of upholding our honour at Silverstone last month. He’d been struggling with front-end feel on the S1000RR, but we got to try some prototype parts from K-Tech at the meet. Their 2019 fork internals were a revelation – they’ll be on sale next year to the public, too. Taylor said they totally transformed the bike, improving the fork stroke throughout, especially at the bottom of its travel. He went fastest in the first free practice session, over 21 laps, but the rear tyre was starting to blister. For FP2, we…

HOW LONG TEN YEARS/500+ TYRES COST £26.99 CONTACT WWW.TOPEAK.COM I’VE CARTED this pump to every corner of the country in the last 10 years: to race tracks, skateparks, and mountain bike trails. It’s pumped bike tyres, bicycles, cars and air beds. It has fired in more than 100psi on numerous occasions, and has a combined Schraeder/Presta fitting for versatility. The metal construction has been durable (don’t confuse it with the cheaper plastic versions), and the gauge was cock-on accurate for many years, though it’s now a few psi adrift after so much use (it’s still close enough to only require a small correction with my normal pressure gauge, though). You can buy cheaper alternatives, but for accuracy, longevity and ease of use, this has been stunning value and it’s more…

‘With the system installed, there is a very noticeable improvement in throttle response and power’ 2017 SUZUKI GSX-R1000R JOHN BENNETT HERE AT PB we’re not shy of complaining when necessary: if something needs flagging up as a problem, we’ll do it. Over a year into our custody of this GSX-R, it’s been good, but not without a few small to medium issues. One issue we never had, however, was with the autoblipper: some owners complained of aggressive throttle blips, and a minority even blamed it for serious engine/ gearbox failures on their bikes, though nobody (to our knowledge) has been able to point the finger solely at Suzuki’s own quickshifter as fitted to the R model. Half-baked aftermarket interference seems just as likely a cause... Our bike hasn’t missed or…

CHRIS NEWBIGGING EDITOR chris@pbmag.co.uk Sadistic Governer AUSTIN SMITH CONTRIBUTOR austin@pbmag.co.uk Murderer’s pen-pal MICHAEL RUTTER TRACK TESTER editorial@pbmag.co.uk Brewing knock-off Bathams Best Bitter in the cell toilet MARK WHITE TECHNICIAN editorial@pbmag.co.uk Hunger strike and dirty protests JOHN MCAVOY ROAD TESTER editorial@pbmag.co.uk Mucking out the prison farm JEREMY MCWILLIAMS COLUMNIST editorial@pbmag.co.uk Developing rudimentary firearms from chair-legs JOHN BENNETT VLOGGER www.youtube.com/lambchoprides Showertime prowler KAR LEE FORUM EDITOR editorial@pbmag.co.uk Sneaking meds from the hospital wing CAROLINE BARRETT EDITORIAL ASSISTANT caz@pbmag.co.uk Governer’s secretary, allegations of ‘inappropriate relations’ with a prisoner THANKS TO Chubbsy, Mat Hall, Private Pete O'Dell at The Motorcycle Works, Ouse Valley Singles Club.…

SEAMLESS GEARBOX R1? You can’t read too much into manufacturer patents; they’ll nail down any idea worth nicking. But we hope Yamaha’s recent patent, showing a seamless MotoGP-style transmission in a road bike, will go somewhere. It has a normal single clutch, but gear/shaft design allows an overlap of gear engagement to ensure there’s no let-up in drive. MOTUS CLOSES American bike manufacturer Motus has shut up shop. The odd-bod builder lasted 10 years, making a pushrod V4 based on V8 muscle car technology, evidently satisfying a demand that just wasn’t there. BADASS BABY BEEMER BMW has shown this race-spec ‘G310RR’ concept with curiously little fanfare. This version is expected to be a precursor for a Junior World Supersport bike to take on the Ninja 400 and KTM RC390 currently…

‘It’s blisteringly fast for a bike with 140bhp, no fairing and essentially a decade-old design’ THE HARDWARE LINING UP at the pit exit, ready for the fast group session at the No Limits trackday, is mighty impressive. There’s some serious tackle about to take to the track, and it’s all headed by a trio of full-on Moto2 bikes on slicks, and a bog standard Triumph Speed Triple, complete with numberplate, mirrors and Michael Rutter. He may be many things, but he’s not shy, or lacking in confidence. I’d be lurking somewhere towards the back of the group for fear of getting in other people’s way, but not our boy Rutter. This is his backyard, and he’s not about to be intimidated by anyone or any bike, regardless of the fact…

Power 174bhp @ 10,000rpm Torque 104lb.ft @ 7250rpm Weight 225kg (estimated) Price £17,000 (est) THE DETAIL ENGINE Type Liquid-cooled, dohc, 8v, 75° V-twin Capacity 1301cc Bore x stroke 108mm x 71mm Fuelling Ride-by-wire electronic fuel injection Power 174hp @ 10,000rpm (claimed) Torque 104lb.ft @ 7250rpm (claimed) CHASSIS Frame Steel trellis Front suspension 48mm WP upside-down forks, semi-active Rear suspension WP monoshock, semi-active Front brakes 2 x 320mm discs, four-piston Brembo monoblock radial-mount calipers Rear brakes 240mm disc, twin-piston Brembo caliper DIMENSIONS Wheelbase 1482mm Rake/trail 24.9°/106mm Weight 220kg (estimated) Seat height 835mm Fuel capacity 23 litres TECHNOLOGY Rider aids: Rider modes, traction control, engine braking modes, anti-wheelie, launch control, quickshifter, autoblipper, Bosch cornering ABS, cruise control, hill-start assist, BUYING Price £17,000 (estimated) Contact www.ktm.co.uk…

1 Spring puller “Every race bike has springs holding the exhaust sections together and they can be a nightmare to take off and put on. I used to struggle like hell with a set of pliers, but this spring puller is so simple and stops all the irritation. There is nothing worse than that ‘twang’ noise as the spring slips and fires off into space or smacks you in the face, and this simple tool stops that happening. And, best of all, I got it for free in a toolbox I bought from Rob Mac!” 2 3/8ths ratchet drive “This is one of those things that sits in your toolbox unused, but when you do need it, it is absolutely invaluable. The head can rotate to any angle so it…

JAMES HOLLAND JHS Racing Set up by James Holland in 1992, JHS Racing made its name when the SV650 first arrived in 1999. His company has spent the last 19 years tuning, big-boring and racing Suzuki’s V-twin in the UK, Europe and Isle of Man. www.jhsracing.co.uk RICHARD ADAMS Maxton Suspension Richard is a familiar face in the BSB and TT paddock and what he can’t tell you about damping and springs isn’t worth knowing. He has worked on countless SV650 race and road bikes over the years. www.maxtonsuspension.co.uk GILES HARWOOD HPS Giles established Harwood Performance Source (HPS) in 1999 and it has grown to become one of the UK and Europe’s most respected technical mail order companies - sending boxes of goodies to excited owners all over the world. www.bikehps.com…

‘Some of the very slow hairpins were hard work; it’s tall-geared and I had to clutch it round to prevent stalling’ 2005 YAMAHA YZF-R1 CARL NEWBIGGING I’VE BEEN WARNED about the grief that old alarms can cause, but as the R1’s ancient Meta has a function that allows you to effectively disable it, I didn’t worry about it. It obviously still draws though, as the battery recently packed up and it needed a bump to get going. No big deal, until I tried to start it at a petrol station later. I thought it would have charged enough to turn the motor on the starter. No such luck. But it bumped easily the first time, so I tried again. It caught, and then stalled, and it toppled to the right…

HOW LONG 1300 MILES COST £349.99 CONTACT WWW.GARMIN.COM/UK IF YOU ask it to take you somewhere, and you manage to punch in the correct address, it’ll do that. Basic satnav function fulfilled. But, to suit today’s must-have-more culture, it’s rammed with more features than I can find and use. One that’s useful is creating a route on the screen by dropping and joining pins, though it’s a bit clunky in the way the screen responds, and if you accidentally create one trying to move the map around, it’ll spend ages creating a route you don’t want, so it generally takes a while. And that’s typical of the myriad functions – they’re basically good, but it’s slow to respond and the keypad isn’t easy to use in gloves, and some of…

HOW LONG FOUR MONTHS COST £152.99 CONTACT HOODJEANS.CO.UK I’M SCEPTICAL about riding jeans. Very sceptical indeed. We all accept that they’re not going to be up to the ‘full leathers’ standard of protection, but the question for me is, ‘Do they offer enough, if any at all?’. I’m not hoping to be testing these Hood K7 Infinity jeans in an upside-down situation en route to the nearest ditch any time soon, but they do seem to check off what I’d want, should I be forced to. Perhaps most importantly, they’re armoured as standard, with D30 T5 Evo X inserts at the hip and knee (with adjustable position). Their ‘Para-aramid’ protective lining giving massive coverage all over, and there are stirrup straps to prevent riding up. There’s also no external leg…

‘The power, chassis and handling let me attack hard, while the wide bars lend unmatched agility’ 2018 KTM 1290 SUPER DUKE R CHRIS NEWBIGGING I PRIORITISE EXCITEMENT over practicality to a reasonable extent. Not so far that I’d tack lights on to a British Supersport bike for the journey to Alsace region of France I’m about to board a ferry for, but looking at a ‘Polite’ vest-wearing, flip front ’n’ beard-touting Triumph Tiger owner who’s loaded his bike with so much gear I’m surprised it hasn’t caused Dover to slip into the sea, I wonder what joy you can get from a bike so compromised in the fun stakes. Maybe I’ve got it all wrong, and he’s honed the joy of long-distance riding to a fine art, and this twat…

HESD Electronic steering damper is non-adjustable and doesn’t suit everyone. It’s possible to remove it and replace with an adjustable part, but you will need a plug-in bypass module or a flash to avoid an engine management light. CHARGING Stators get hot and bothered, reg/recs blow as a result (or independently). A rewound, up-specced stator and superior aftermarket reg/rec is the cure. 2006 MODEL More midrange, sharper geometry, larger brake discs, 3kg lighter and shorter gearing. If you have an 04 bike, lowered gearing, a lighter can and fitting the larger discs with caliper spacers would achieve the same. WHAT TO PAY MINT: £5000 ROUGH: £2500 BEST MODIFICATION The intake is an easy and cheap area to improve: ditching the flapper valve, blanking the PAIR and fitting a performance air…

ADVERTISING Phone 01733 468000 Group commercial director Gareth Ashman Group commercial manager Rhonda Janes Key accounts Shaun Collin Account Manager Phil Martin Senior Telesales Sarah Frisby Telesales Exec Jessie Hutchings MARKETING Phone 01733 468845 Marketing manager Sarah Norman Marketing executive Angela Humphrey Head of newstrade marketing Leon Benoiton Newstrade marketing Joe Deboo PRODUCTION Phone 01733 468341 Production controller Carl Lawrence Advertising production Kerry Beasley Printed by Wyndeham Peterborough Distributed by Frontline THE BOSSES Managing director motorcycling Rob Aherne Group managing director Rob Munro-Hall Editorial director June Smith-Sheppard Finance director Lisa Hayden Group finance & strategy director Sarah Vickery CEO Paul Keenan…

AFTER JOHNNY DATALOGGED the Speed RS against the Yamaha MT-10SP in Almeria, and trounced it, we weren’t surprised that it did the same at Donington. The fact that the Speed RS has slotted in to the leaderboard in front of the KTM Super Duke R was a surprise. The KTM has significantly more power, and electronics much more suited to track riding. The Triumph’s superior ground clearance and usability proving to be its ace card. The Street RS spares Yamaha’s blushes, just. It gives away more than 30bhp to the MT-10SP, doesn’t have trick Öhlins active suspension, a 1000cc engine, or a £14,000 price tag, yet gets to within just 0.15sec of its lap time.…

IT’S INEVITABLE: as MotoGP becomes more and more complex, riding techniques become more and more complicated. For most riders, developing their technique to get the most out of their bike and their tyres is now a full-time job. They don’t just go out and ride; when they’re on track they study their rivals, trying to learn new tricks. And when they’re back in their motorhomes and back at home between races, they spend hours watching the TV, analysing their own technique and those of their rivals. The biggest changes in technical regulations – and therefore of riding technique – came in 2016, when MotoGP switched from factory to spec electronics and from Bridgestone tyres to Michelin. This transformed machine set-up and riding skill requirements. It forced engineers to radically change…

SPIKE’S TOP TRACKDAY TIPS Preparation is key Ensure your bike is ready the day before. Don’t start working on it when you arrive at the circuit as you will be in a flap and may only discover an issue at this point, potentially ruining your day. Seek advice If you’ve never been to the track before, no matter how good you are, seek advice from one of the trackday instructors. It’s generally free and you’ll be starting on the right lines and not chasing your tail. Go hard! Look for reference points and, as soon as you are confident, accelerate and brake hard. That’s how you’ll find your markers. If you bimble around you’ll never generate proper reference points. Build up Don’t try and do a hot lap on your…

‘What it’ll actually look like hadn’t been discussed, but the bare Kevlar looks grim and the half-prepped tank cover is even worse’ 2008 HONDA FIREBLADE CHRIS NEWBIGGING THE PB TEAM has many positive attributes, but style is not one of them. I’m lucky if my socks match, Johnny’s so big he has to buy outfits from industrial estate ‘big and tall’ shops, and the less said about Whitey’s passive-aggressive vegan propaganda T-shirts, the better... So we haven’t really put much thought into the colourscheme of Project Blade. In honesty, making a bike on the cusp of 1:1 power to weight has taken the bulk of our brain power, so what it’ll actually look like hadn’t been discussed. But the bare Kevlar looks grim, and the half-prepped tank cover is even…

ALEC TAGUE BATHAMS RACING HONDA RC213V-S IN ALL MY 30 years of working on motorcycles, this is the finest machine I’ve ever seen. Once you pull it to pieces and really get inside it... Oh my fucking god! It’s pure sex. Since you last heard from me, the RCV has been back to Honda’s Louth HQ to have the Sport Kit fitted. We’ve taken off the mirrors, indicators and 98dB exhaust, and it’s now wearing a full GP-spec open megaphone. The real work is going to be in the engine. Up to 8000rpm it’s sedate, but above that it’s like a 500GP two-stroke. We’ve a lot of work to do to iron this powerband out. In terms of peak power, it’s already as healthy as any BMW Superbike we’ve ever…

HOW LONG 4000 MILES COST £199.99 CONTACT WWW.NEVIS.UK.COM I’M HARD on footwear, and a lot of bike boots just don’t stand up to walking wear, and my big old feet meeting the track fairly regularly. TCX have always workeed for me, though, and these latest track boots are following suit by being rock solid. There’s not a separate internal boot as such, but a lace-up element that holds your foot snug before you zip ’n’ clip it up around your calf, so there’s no slop or discomfort. There’s decent feel for the pegs and foot levers without being so thin that every vibe and tingle reaches your feet. Riding my KTM in a set of casual town boots highlighted just how much the RT-Races are keeping the bad vibes away...…

‘The fluoro rims have been powder-coated gold to ape those of the fabled TDR250’ 2017 YAMAHA MT-09 MARK WHITE HOW MUCH BETTER is that?! I mean, just look at it... Is that not a great looking motorcycle? All it took to finish was a pair of wheels in the appropriate colour. Finally the MT-09’s transformation is complete in every way. It’s taken months, literally, to organise getting the standard Yamaha fluoro yellow wheels powder-coated gold to ape the anodised rims of the fabled TDR250 that I’d taken inspiration from for the MT’s makeover, but it’s been worth it. I’d been messed around by a firm who said they could do it, but broken equipment, timescale difficulties and the responsibility of handing over wheels that aren’t mine (they do belong to…

‘Less squatting under power allows everything to drive forward, but the TC goes berserk’ 2018 TRIUMPH SPEED TRIPLE RS AUSTIN SMITH CHRIS AND I SHARE a passion for pedal power as well as horsepower, so this month saw us both disappear in search of an off-road adrenalin hit. Chris took himself off to France (page 102) on his KTM Super Duke for the World Cup Downhill championship while I headed north to the Peak District for the Scott MTB Mountain Marathon. But, unlike Chris, I was actually competing. I was lucky enough to have my family take most of my kit in the car, so I could enjoy the ride up. Just as well, as getting any sort of luggage on the RS is nigh on impossible now I’ve removed…