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…
Famed for mentally fast, techno-packed cars, and creating the world’s best-selling motorcycle, BMW tore the industry a new botty when launching the original S 1000 RR. It was, and still is, the benchmark for 1000cc four-cylinder weaponry. The 2009 S Thou’ was akin to a CBR600RR injected with some severe... Read more
Today is not a normal day. Yesterday was not a normal day either after engaging in carry-on combat with Benidorm-bound tourists on an averagely mediocre flight from London Gatwick. Needless to say I persevered in my avoidance of the Spanish strain of Ebola, and my trusty EasyJet flying machine navigated... Read more
Just after landing in Milan’s Linate airport, we jumped straight into a taxi and fled to Ducati’s exquisite 2015 model launch, held at a theatre in central Milano. Claudio Domenicali, Ducati CEO, hosted the launch that was streamed live to millions worldwide. There was banging dubstep, some beautiful, scantily-clad... Read more
There’s not much that betters the soundtrack of a Desmosedici. Ducati’s road-legal version of its GP racer was launched in 2007 and the entire limited batch of 1500 sold out quicker than Baron’s Jizz Machine stickers. While the GP derivations can’t be denied, Desmo owners didn’t get the full... Read more
There were lots of lavish techno queens unveiled at the Milan show but this retrosexual café racer concept from Yamaha also caught grabbed our attention. This is the handy work of the (unfortunately-named) Bender brothers from Germany. Raphael and Christian transformed a bog-stock XV950 into the Boltage as part... Read more
Straight after Honda’s shindig, it was Kawasaki’s crack at releasing some more wiz-bang for public consumption. The ‘track-only’ H2R and its supercharged howitzer was unveiled at Cologne last month and the target power output was 300bhp. Kawasaki, apparently, has exceeded those expectations with 306bhp – its slogan, ‘Built Beyond... Read more
0 miles It’s 6am. Out of the window the morning sun is hidden by dense fog, which is not a welcome sight. We make our way out of the most bizarre hotel rooms in Eastern Europe and down to see the bikes – all packed, set up, cameras and... Read more
Fresh from clinching the World Superbike championship with Sylvain Guintoli and his RSV4, Aprilia unleashed a heavily revised road-going model in Milan – or, rather, two new RSV4s. The RR, for me, was the bike of the show: resplendent on the stand in its new guise, and packing some... Read more
Ex-racer turned TV pundit, James Haydon kicks off with the first of some excruciatingly funny hire car anecdotes… “We were in southern Spain at a pre-season test with Red Bull Ducati. Ben Atkins (team manager) didn’t like hire cars being damaged, and I’d had a few warnings not to... Read more
Are you married? Do you have a significant other? Or do you live by your lonesome? You may think that to keep your bike in the living room you’d need to be the consummate bachelor. But I’m here to tell you that you don’t. All of us at 44Teeth... Read more
Every day bad drivers cause accidents on the road. Most of the time nobody gets hurt, there’s an insurance claim or two to fix a bent bumper and everyone lives happily ever after. Sometimes it’s a lot worse. Sometimes cars, bikes, and worse, lives are destroyed. So road traffic... Read more
Who’d have thought getting ready for a major international motorcycle competition would be so complicated? We’re eight months away from the Dakar Rally, and we’re already balls-deep in Dakar prep and general rally-bike related faffery. And with the first Dakar qualification rally looming (Andalucía Rally, 12th – 16th May... Read more
I love summer. And it’s not just because the ladies tend to dress more scantily. Although, I’ll admit, that is a bonus. No, I love summer because there is so much more stuff you can do. Don’t get me wrong, I’m the first to drag the off-road bikes out... Read more
Throughout history, Great Britain has had some ‘great’ British bike racers. Barry Sheene, Ron Haslam, Carl Fogarty, to name but a few. And although the popularity of motorcycle racing here in Blighty is minuscule compared to the likes of Italy, Spain, and other such nations, we have still managed... Read more
2021 will be the second year in a row motorcycles have failed to race round the Isle of Man TT Mountain Course. And we all miss it. For many people, myself included, the Isle of Man TT was the highlight of the year. Now, I can barely remember what... Read more
Just this morning I was sat on the porcelain throne, smartphone in hand waiting for the splashes and mindlessly scrolling through the endless reel of guff on Facebook when I came across a post that stood out as being even more idiotic than the rest. My keyboard warrior detector... Read more
I grew up riding two-stroke motorbikes. From little baby motocross bikes, to 125cc road race bikes. And I loved them. But back then, they were all I knew. I didn’t know you could add another engine revolution to the old ‘suck, squeeze, bang, blow’ sequence. In actual fact, where... Read more
We’ve all picked the wrong queue at the fuel station and cursed ourselves for not being psychic. It’s a gamble, and like any form of gambling, some you win, some you lose. Occasionally though, you lose so spectacularly that your head almost explodes. Or is that just me? Some... Read more
Jerez looked as though it was, once again, going to be the Fabio show; the Frenchman with the Italian sounding name built a commanding lead and pretty much dominated the race until half way through when the poor kid got arm pump and couldn’t hold on any more. That... Read more
It might have won six out of the last six World Superbike Championships, with Johnny Rea onboard, but the Kawasaki ZX-10R (or RR) hasn’t been flavour of the year in the real world, for some time now. It wasn’t that it was too slow. It’s just that it seemed... Read more
The 2021 MotoGP season’s got off to a banging start. Especially if you’re Yamaha, who’ve won three out of three GPs so far this year; with Maverick winning the opening round and Fabio following that up with a brace of wins for himself. But it’s a long season and... Read more
