When word got out about the RS 660, we were all pretty gosh darn excited. We rode the RS last year and, despite not being able to firmly place it in a particular motorcycle genre, were pretty impressed with its peachy little engine, the way it handled and its space-age tech. That said, the...
When you’ve sold as many Monsters as Ducati have – more than 350,000 – you know you’re onto a winner. But whilst the Monster 1200 always seemed to be exactly what it said on the tin (a Monster), its smaller sibling, the Monster 900 never seemed quite as monstrous as I’d have liked….
BMW has finally given the S 1000 R a long-overdue update; it’s 5.1kg lighter, it’s got a new chassis and yes, before you ask, it does include the newer spec S 1000 RR based engine… sort of. Ok, it’s not in the same 200bhp+ state of tune and you don’t get shifting cams, but essentially, it’s…
It’s the British GP at Silverstone this weekend. Although the home-crowning fairytale is mathematically impossible, Danny Kent is edging towards bringing the first GP title back to Blighty since Barry Sheene in 1977. Even without clinching the championship, Kent is already the most successful British rider since Bazza’s era... Read more
I’ve just sat down to watch a dubplate screening of Hitting the Apex: a behind the scenes MotoGP documentary directed by Mark Neale who gave us Faster and Fastest. Essentially, it’s the story of MotoGP from the late Noughties to the current day, covering six riders and the main... Read more
If you’ve been living in an inexplicable underworld in recent times, you’d be forgiven for overlooking the 30th anniversary of the GSX-R. In fact, given the relative lack of celebrations and new Suzuki releases to cover this milestone, you’d be forgiven anyway. At the same time Route 66 opened,... Read more
British Superbikes at Cadwell Park is always a special occasion. 40,000 race fans – most of them pissed for the entire weekend – crammed into the Lincolnshire valley create a festival-type atmosphere, and not even the Bank Holiday date change could scupper the annual party in the park involving... Read more
Myself and BvG were present at Silverstone last week for the Suzuki all-star trackday. We got to sample the GSX-R range (more on that later) and Baron nearly fell in love with the GSX-S1000F (more on that later, too), sharing the track with a host of super-fast racers and... Read more
Head down, bum up, throttle pinned at 150mph. Grab a handful of brake. A momentary period of satisfying stopping power then…nothing. Hurtling towards a tyre wall at that speed without any brakes because a little black box has thrown a wobbler isn’t my idea of fun. As of 2016,... Read more
Bad news I’m afraid: Baron von Grumble was arrested by the carbon fibre police yesterday. The special force – who has strong links to government officials and MI6 – cited several horrendous clashes of carbon weave (particularly the conflicting directions) and a complete disregard for trackday fashion. Carbon wheels,... Read more
Judging by its spec and simplistic ethics, we’re guessing Suzuki’s middleweight naked and budget happy-shopper was never meant to be raced round the Isle of Man. The Gladius – or the SFV650 as it’s now officially known – and bikes of this ilk cost £5,000, yet can lap the... Read more
After a lax servicing period and several track dates looming, we decided to treat BvG’s Fireblade to some much-needed refurbishment at JHS Racing. Brake pads needed changing (as you can see from the video), the oil needed dropping (it resembled Hulk’s jizz) and, in general, the whole bike required... Read more
Without overly championing beards, hipsters and grinders, we’re convincing aficionados of Yamaha’s Yard Built series. The latest addition is this XV950 Café Bob: ‘The Face’ by German builder Dirk Oehlerking of Kingston Customs, and another class example of how to transform a dreary, budget bike into something fucking cool... Read more
We’ve got our hands on the latest spec Alpinestars Supertech R, which feature a medley of updates and look even sexier for 2015. There are several reasons why I love wearing Supertechs and have chosen to for over 10 years. On an everyday vibe and assuming you’ve bagged the... Read more
