BMW
f800R A drivechain, a pair of sprockets, forks with springs in, a single indicator switch, no cylinders sticking out the sides. Can it really be a BMW?
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words Martin fitz-gibbons PHotograPHY jason CritCHell Martin Fitz-Gibbons, 27, is Bike’s road tester and resident middleweight evangelist. He’s ridden every naked middleweight on the market and tested all four existing F800-engined variants (S, ST and both GSs) against their rivals.
Sometimes it’s hard to understand what a bike’s really about. Often manufacturers aren’t much help, spewing out spurious marketing spuff to dazzle or distract into thinking they’ve created something not just different, but so epoch-defining and lifechanging you’ll never see anything this meganormous again. But BMW’s F800R is different. It’s purpose is simple: it’s there to sell. And to sell to people who’ve never bought a BMW before. The market for ‘dynamic roadsters’ (BMW’s term for Hornets, Z750s, FZ6s and the like) is huge – around 100,000 shift across Europe each year and BMW want a slice of this juicy, fruitful, ever-rising pie. The bike’s ‘positioning statement’ – often a selection of the month’s trendiest arty-farty, airy-fairy buzzwords – is surprisingly easy to understand. ‘It’s the BMW among mid-sized dynamic roadsters,’ we’re told. Oh... kay... So you’re not pretending it’s an emotional paradigm of passion, intoxicating inter-city involvement, catwalk-led contemporary design and champagne-soaked Grand Prix technology? Apparently, it’s an unfaired, middleweight BMW. And that’s it, simple. It makes sense to anybody who can tell a motorbike from a squirrel. To make it even more accessible – BMW want more than half of its F800R sales to come from rival brand customers – it’s also their most conventional current model. The R is even more regular than the nearly-normal F800S and ST models we met three years ago. At the back you’ll find a pair of sprockets, joined by a chain, driving the wheel. A back wheel, you’ll note, held in by a regular double-sided aluminium swingarm. Up front sits a pair of telescopic fork tubes, complete with springs and damping oil, and everything where you expect it to be. It’s the same with the switchgear: indicator and starter buttons in the places non-BMW customers will be able to find them. Even the seat is designed to welcome all, a low, plush, supportive saddle that puts you deep inside the bike rather than perched on top. So. Twiddle the natty adjustable levers to suit, fire up the Boxer-
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first ride It’s an unfaired, middleweight BMW. And that’s it, simple. It makes sense to anybody who can tell a motorbike from a squirrel
NorthamptoNshire
Northamptonshire
Starting at Whittlebury, the F800R launch route takes in the A413 to Buckingham, A422 to daveNtry Banbury, A361 to Daventry, then some unclassified back roads NorthamptoN north west of Northampton. After a 90-minute, 80-mile ride, the route ends up at Silverstone, where BMW have booked the Stowe circuit for an afternoon. Whittlebury Not to be confused with the legendary loop that’s hosted the silverstone F1 Grand Prix for the past BaNBury 20-odd years, the Stowe circuit is a tarmac triangle on the infield BuckiNgham of the full circuit using part of Silverstone’s runway. It’s four-fifths of a mile long, with just five corners. The F800R blasts up to fourth on the two straights, then after hammering the ABS hard uses second gear for the corners. Short, simple, flat as a Norfolk millpond, but more fun than it looks.
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first ride
steering damper is a surprise with a wheelbase as long as a Harley; from r1150Gs to s1000rr, what is it with BMW’s love of squinty headlights?
sounding parallel twin, reset the onboard computer, then smoothly launch into Midlands countryside. I feel at home instantly. The F800R is every bit as familiar and unthreatening as early English summertime. Almost straight away you know what to expect. The steering is neutral, measured, neither hurried nor heavy. The suspension, despite a slight firmness, maintains a decent ride quality. And the motor, in the same state of tune as its S and ST brethren, thumps impressively through the midrange but tails off before the 9000rpm redline. It’s not slow, of course, but it doesn’t have the adrenaline reserves of a Honda Hornet 600, let alone a Triumph Street Triple. However, to accelerate (literally) the feeling of power, BMW made fourth, fifth and sixth gears lower. Which makes sense – with less wind protection there’s less need for top speed, and it gives more pep to the lazy, higher-gear roll-on overtakes needed on these A-roads. Cleverly though, final drive gearing is unchanged from the F800S, thanks to a choice of sprockets that exactly replicates the final ratio of the S’s belt drive. A nifty detail for fellow trivia nerds out there. The 80 road miles pass remarkably quickly, easily and fuss free. By the end, even including a photo session, the computer reckons fuel economy averaged 50mpg. It’s remarkable – I can’t think there’s another bike that could cover those miles, at that pace, and use so little fuel. Though the petrol tank only holds 16 litres, it means a range of 176 miles even ridden pretty aggressively. As a final test, BMW let us on to Silverstone’s short, simple Stowe circuit. It’s not much to look at – two straights, five corners, zero camber or height change – but the F800R makes a good fist of a good time. Down the straights the brake marker boards are in exactly the right place to simply hammer on the lever and pedal as hard as possible, then trust the ABS system – refined on the R with a new pressure sensor – to scrub off sufficient speed in time. Advanced riders will be miffed that, as on the S, there’s still no button to turn the system off, but for most of us it works well enough. Through the corners the F800R’s a charm, steering sweetly and holding decent lean angle. It does need a bit of a
wrestle, though – it likes having the scruff of its neck grabbed. A look through the changes over the S model helps explain. The new swingarm is two inches longer than its S-equivalent, elongating the wheelabase to 1520mm. That’s the length of a Harley-Davidson Sportster 1200 Custom, nearly five inches longer than Triumph’s Street Triple. Stability ain’t a problem – so why they then added a steering damper is beyond me. But the handling works and that’s ultimately what matters. In fact it all works. And they’ve even done pretty well on price – the basic F800R costs £5925, which is on a level with the Hornet 600 (£5903), Street Triple (£5729) and Kawasaki’s Z750 (£5799). Spec one up with ABS, a front cowl, heated grips and all the gadgets we had on our test machine (LED indicators, onboard computer, tyre pressure alarm) and the price rises over £7000, but then you get more. In any state though, the F800R is a charming and useful steed, calm enough for a relative novice to feel comfy on, but still spunky enough to keep an older hand happy.
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s p e c s B M W f 8 0 0 r
refined ABs system uses a new pressure sensor and works well, even on track; side-filler and underseat fuel tank carried over from other f800s
Price Power (claimed) torque (claimed) engine Bore x stroke Compression ratio fuel system transmission frame front suspension Adjustment rear suspension Adjustment front brakes rear brake tyres front; rear Wet weight (claimed) Wheelbase rake / trail seat height fuel tank insurance group Colours Available from
£5925 (base spec), £7082 (as tested) 86bhp @ 8000rpm 63lb.ft @ 6000rpm 798cc, 8v, dohc parallel twin 82 x 75.6mm 12:1 fuel injection, 46mm throttle bodies 6-speed, chain aluminium twin-spar 43mm telescopic fork none monoshock preload, rebound damping 2 x 320mm discs/4-piston calipers 265mm disc/1-piston-caliper 120/70 ZR17; 180/55 ZR17 199kg 1520mm 25°/91mm 800mm 16 litres NU12 silver, white, orange BMW UK, 0800 777155, www.bmw-motorrad.co.uk
What is the Great Escape? We began with a list of 200 events, activities and places we think you need to experience. Each was given a points value – a fun way to keep track of who’s done what. Then we made a shiny new website – one of those social networking groups – where you can register, upload pictures, tell your stories, share videos and chat to fellow adventurers. The best every month gets printed in the magazine. Go on, get involved at www.bikegreatescape.com
view from the BlogosPhere
Nimes aNd millau Danny Peters <DannyP>
<< Early morning in Nimes. I text my Aussie mate and tell him that I am now completely at one with French culture, having eaten runny cheese and surrendered to some Germans
I met at breakfast. I hadn’t surrendered, but when they told me that they had come via Belgium, I deadpanned them with, ‘That is the traditional route.’ They looked at me while I tried to keep a straight face and not be embarrassed by my own immaturity. Aussie mate replies and tells me that we English just can’t let the war go – probably because we haven’t won anything since. The circle of nationalistic insults is completed and balance is restored. The day starts wet. Very wet. Praise the lord for Gore-Tex. Moulin looks pretty but I don’t have time to stop. By the time I realise quite how close to the centre of Paris the GPS is taking me it’s too late. I can see the Eiffel tower, the road is rammed and the local two-wheelers
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are filtering past me at 75mph in 35mph traffic. Off you go – I’ll catch up… At least the sun is out again. My own laziness and the GPS
got me into this, but the GPS is getting me out of it again.
I’m not on the autoroute I wanted to be on, but it’ll do. I cut left to Amiens on a road so straight the Romans must have left it and swear off the motorways for the rest of the trip. I’m fed up of paying. The afternoon brings some of the most involved biking I’ve ever enjoyed. The weather is changing by the minute as I track a few miles inside the coast up towards Boulogne. Light and dark surround me: one minute rain, the next blue skies and sunshine. Then the occasional torrential hail shower just to spice things up. One constant remains, the wind is still vicious, but it’s driving the change in weather along with the huge wind turbines that seem to be creeping closer and closer to the road, reminding me as always of John Wyndham’s creepy evil Tripods from childhood television. The road rises and falls, twists and turns. In between, there are convenient straights where I can despatch HGVs with a flick of the wrist. As I climb the hill out of Boulogne and head towards Calais, the sun is low on my left even though I’m shrouded
in heavy rain and the most vivid and complete rainbow I’ve ever seen leaps out of the landscape on my right. This is the
sort of day that just can’t exist unless you are on a bike and I love it. For more of Danny’s story, log onto the website. >>
1. ‘A rest stop on the way From Minali to Udapur in the Indian Himalayas. The bike is an Indian Royal Enfield 500 with the right-hand-side four-speed box. It actually has a lever, which finds neutral if you kick it after you’ve ground to a halt. Perfect bike for those roads, though.’ Stephen Parry <Craig> 20 points (would have been 50 if you'd done it on your own bike)
2
3
Michael Bithell (Redtailkarn) 2. Nick Sharpin <little_scrote> claimsat two takingHead. parks thepoints top offor Beachy ownership this fine torque Stand fast, of sidestand... wrench 2 points 2 points 3. Mark Wilkinson <Wilko> came across this remarkable Chinese feat of engineering. 5 points 4. ‘Had to go the long way around into Italy. Through a snow storm...’ (Good call). <jimh> 20 points
4
5
5. Michael Bithell <Redtailkarn> claims two points for buying this fine torque wrench. 2 points 6. Andrew Pople <Andyp> on the N85 in France. Nice view. 5 points
6
Bike 33
Bike’s bike for the Mountain Course. built in the Mountains, of Course TTXGP is either a brave new world where fossil fuels no longer matter or a two-wheeled contest packed with bizarre inventions that will never amount to anything. Either way it will be as enthralling as any of the main TT races. Here’s a closer look at our electric-powered entry... Words Mark Gardiner PhotoGraPhy Mark Gardiner and BraMMo MotorsPorts
Interstate 5 is a freeway that connects all the biggest cities on America’s west coast – San Diego, Los Angeles, San Fransisco, Portland and Seattle. But where the route passes through the rugged coastal mountains on the border of Oregon and California, you might as well be on the Alaska Highway. There are hours when a Gold Wing’s radio won’t pick up anything but static. Winding my way down the north slope of Mount Shasta, I finally saw the lights of Ashland, Oregon in the distance. This used to be mining and logging country until the ore ran out and environmentalists started chaining themselves to the few remaining old-growth trees. That left a quaint small town, but unfortunately one with no visible means of support. (I say ‘visible’ because when the loggers left, marijuana farmers moved into many out-of-the-way forest clearings.) But the town reinvented itself 20 years ago around a Shakespeare festival and rich Californians started to retire there. All in all, it’s not the kind of place you’d expect to find a state-ofthe-art motorcycle research and design facility, but this is where our entry for the TTXGP is being built. Brammo Motorsports is based, for now, in a small office building behind a few gas stations and motels, just off the highway. A total of about 30 employees work there, mostly sitting at large, glowing computer screens displaying finite-element analysis of motorcycle components. 44 Bike
So far, Brammo’s produced five bikes. I don’t mean five different models, I mean five actual individual bikes. The first four were prototypes of the Enertia, an electric commuter bike. The fifth was Bike’s entry in the TTXGP. The first time I saw the bike – less than two months before the race – it was still being assembled. It had been created by a team that had designed one previous motorcycle – the Enertia, with a top speed of 50mph. No one on the team had ever been to the Isle of Man, let alone seen what their race bike was in for. Having ridden the TT course in anger, I know that even on a motorcycle with an expected top speed of only 100mph there are plenty of opportunities for calamity. No shakedown ride could possibly offer a simulation of the stretch under the trees through Lezayre Parish where roots have created vision-blurring and suspension-jamming bumps. That would be a great place to kill any machine and there are too many places to kill your rider to count. How did these three guys – the dot-com era millionaire, the race car designer, and the downhill mountain bike designer who still looks to be in his teens – ever find themselves building a motorcycle for this assignment? The answer to that question is simple: they read Bike. Brian Wismann, Brammo’s director of product development, read Rupert Paul’s column in last November’s issue: ‘We need a publicity-seeking technical partner who understands electric vehicle power or internal combustion hydrogen. If that’s your company, drop me a line at rupert.paul@virgin.net.’ Apparently creating a prototype of one of the first commercially viable electric motorcycles wasn’t keeping Wismann busy enough. He emailed our resident sage and offered to build a bike. New issues of Bike take a couple of months to reach US newsstands and, at that point, the race was only five months away. Luckily for Bike, there’s not much to do on winter evenings in Ashland. Most days, Brian and chassis engineer Aaron Bland
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Less is more in the electric world. Our ttXGP contender has the geometry of a triumph 675 shrunk to the size of a Honda rS250
Bike 45
Hello world... Honda’s TT pioneers after the 36-hour Tokyo-London flight
Say what? A British journalist (left) interviews the team in a Douglas hotel
Serious faces all round – points scorer Taniguchi (on bike) before practice
Many onlookers laughed at Honda’s humble TT debut, but not everyone – top British racer Bob McIntyre could tell they were going places
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honda at the tt
Honda’s arrival in grand prix racing may have changed motorcycling forever but the factory’s first Isle of Man TT, 50 years ago this summer, was an uphill struggle all the way words MaT oxley
‘Four solemn men of the Orient stepped from a Dakota aircraft at Ronaldsway airport, Douglas, last Thursday afternoon,’ wrote Motor Cycle News when Honda’s little band of grand prix pioneers arrived in the Isle of Man on May 5, 1959. There were all kinds of reasons for the stern faces, not least that the Japanese were venturing nervously into a totally alien world; just getting permission to leave Japan was a major problem in those days. But at least Honda’s first grand prix squad already knew their way around the notorious 37¾-mile Mountain circuit, the world’s most challenging and deadly racetrack. They had spent months diligently memorising a detailed course guide written by six-time TT winner Geoff Duke and laboriously translated into Japanese by star Honda rider Kunihiko Akiyama. So they knew how to avoid the hellish bumps at Kate’s Cottage, they knew how to miss the verandah of the café at the Bungalow and they knew how to set up for the frighteningly fast 33rd Milestone. Only when they arrived at their hotel and started preparing their four-stroke 125 twins for practice did they discover the horrible truth: they had been learning entirely the wrong racetrack. The ultra-lightweight TT for puny 125s wasn’t run on the demanding Mountain circuit, it was staged over the shorter Clypse course. The two tracks did feature several famous corners in common – Creg-ny-Baa, Brandish and Hillberry – but they were all taken in reverse direction. Honda’s TT pioneers Bike 51
i n t e r v i e w
experience
‘Mad Sunday was crazy. it was like the first day of the Somme’
Dr Peter Moran has spent 30 years as a TT doctor, saving the lives of riders who crash on the most demanding racetrack in the world. Here, he speaks racing and philosophy INTERVIEW MICK PHILLIPS PHOTOGRAPHY FABIANO AVANCINI
‘I’m from Clifden, Connemara, on the west coast of Ireland, the next parish to New York, they say. I’m one of those tall Celts. Most Celts are short and stocky, but the Morans are great tall beanpoles. ‘What brought me to the Isle of Man? I fled from a woman. That was in the late ’70s. I started as an anaesthetist at the old Noble’s hospital and went on to deal with intensive care. Back then Mad Sunday was crazy. There was always some lunatic who would be on the wrong side of the road and it’d be like the first day of the Somme. I’ve seen damn near all the injuries. ‘I live in a parish called Lonan, up in the hills. If you have a feeling for places, the Isle of Man is very special. It has an extraordinary collection of megalithic sites. I can think of at least 20 people who never went home after their first TT. ‘I ran away to sea in ‘86, that’s when I gave up anaesthetics. I was a civilian employee of the Ministry of Defence, serving as a chief surgeon in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, which no one has ever heard of. They are the merchant re-supply side of the Royal Navy. ‘I love anarchy. After ten years at sea I was absolutely unemployable in the NHS. It was pure postgraduate education.
I think I learnt nothing until I went to sea. It’s very difficult to explain, but anyone who’s been at deep sea will keep it in their blood forever and if ever they bump into another deep sea man, then that’s it, they’ll lose track and end up going home pissed and getting an awful bollocking off their wife – even in their ’80s. My time with bikes goes back to medical school in London. I knew bikes very well, but I didn’t know anything about racing till I moved to the Island and I never saw a full TT until just before I went to sea because I could never get the time off. But I was doing the helicopter then [as a TT doctor who is rushed to race crashes], in fact I must have done 30 years of that by now. Anyone who’s seen the TT out on a fast bit will think ‘fuck, they must be different to us’. They don’t look it at all, but you can tell a racer in his eyes. I always call it the eyes of a gunfighter. Joey [Dunlop] was deceptive. He looked like a kind uncle most of the time, but if a photographer caught him right, just before he put his helmet on, he had a completely different look. Conor Cummins has it, in fact most of that breed of new young bucks have it. The TT is just one of those things you have to observe. It’s like Bike 59
rsv4
RSV4 on Road
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the road test
We’ve had a brief taste on a wet track. Now, finally, we ride it on the road. Bike takes a trip through Italy with Aprilia’s test rider on the new RSV4 WORDS MIKE ARMITAGE PHOTOGRAPHY CHIPPY WOOD
I really hope he knows where he’s going. Still damp at the edges from last night’s downpour, the slip road leading on to the autostrada plummets in a sharp spiral, blindly peeling between unyielding concrete barriers. Instinct tells me to roll off, apply a little caution, but my guide clearly thinks otherwise as he drives through the turn. Dropped deep into an alien environment and keen not to lose his tail in typically disorganised morning traffic, there’s little option but to trust he won’t lunge us into oblivion. But if anyone knows this multi-lane section of the SS47 at Bassano del Grappa in northern Italy, it’s the spindly character perched on the bike ahead. His name is Fabrizio Pellizzon, and he’s a development rider for Aprilia. This is part of their test route, linking the factory in Noale to the treasures of the Dolomites to the north. It’s a road he’s ridden countless times evaluating everything from whirring scooter to booming RSV-R V-twin. And, of course, this bike, the 2009 RSV4 Factory, a machine likely to promote the modest factory from interesting alternative to mainstream player, and possibly the most eagerly anticipated sportsbike of recent times: all-new, 180bhp, 999.6cc V4; the dimensions of a 600; Öhlins suspension; Brembo monoblock brakes; ride-by-wire; switchable engine maps; variable-length inlet trumpets; and an adjustable steering head, swingarm pivot and engine position. This is serious metal. Clearly it works on a track, the exploits of Max Biaggi and Shinya Nakano in World Superbikes more than proving the potential. But launched to the world’s press on a saturated Misano circuit and yet to reach dealers, there’s been no opportunity to experience the RSV4 where it matters – on dry, open roads. Until now. A few kilometres shy of Trento, 55 miles of major route ends as we carve off to the right at Civezzano, looping on to the SS71. The flat terrain nearer the coast is soon a distant memory as we head through step-sided valleys on this smooth, light grey road that nips and rolls as it ascends higher into the mountains. There’s a
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If anyone knows this multi-lane section of the SS47 at Bassano del Grappa in northern Italy, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the spindly character perched on the bike behind. His name is Fabrizio Pellizzon and heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a development rider for Aprilia. This is part of their test route, linking the factory in Noale to the treasures of the Dolomites
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on your marks ...
get set...
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A LAp of britAin
...in which Bike embarks on an epic, non-stop, 72-hour, 3000-mile ride round Great britainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s coastline to find out if KtMâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new 990 SM t is a serious sports tourer or a supermotowith-panniers. or both
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r1
2009 garage feature name
What have We learned in the first 3000 miles?
words steve rose photography chippy wood
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Properly running it in makes a difference
Seven miles on the clock. Ah. Been a while since I ran in a bike and I’m going to do it properly. Two reasons. First, there’s a lot of new stuff on this bike, not least a firing order that no one’s done on a big four before. So, just supposing something happens and it goes pop in July, I want to be sure it ain’t because I haven’t looked after it. And, second, because in 12 months time this bike will be sold to a wide-eyed punter and they have every right to expect it to have been looked after. So, ignoring the experts in the office who recommend ‘just razz the arse off it,’ I spend the first four days making 25 to 30-mile trips, varying the revs and using the gears. And guess what? When my R1 goes on BSD’s notoriously stingy dyno it makes 159bhp – the most BSD have seen from a stock ’09 bike. And, it’s used no oil.
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We all have at least one more summer on a sportsbike
I was convinced it was over. After 25 years, I was done with sportsbikes. In 2008 I rode a Harley Street Glide that made 65bhp and weighed 332kg. Ten months waiting for the novelty to wear off. It didn’t, I loved it. The R1 feels like it weighs 65kg and makes 332bhp. I can’t stop riding it way beyond my abilities despite the inevitable consequences and I can’t bring myself to care about the numbers I’m seeing despite needing a licence to keep my job. Here I am again waiting for the novelty to wear off. This time I suspect it will be a grumpy man with a beard and a fluorescent jacket who makes it happen. Failing that, I can’t see me ever getting used to this.
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Suzuki GladiuS
The Gladius gets stuffed up Britain’s finest back roads (wa-hey!). Rider’s thoughts on potential improvements – suspension, tyres, weight distribution – not pictured
Martin Fitz-Gibbons (27, 5ft 9in, 75kg) is Bike’s road tester. A long-time middleweight fanatic, MFG has lived with a CBF600S and Fazer 600, as well as owning an SV650S for six years
In life, not much requires perfection to be fun. Good thing too. If that were the case we’d all be even more miserable than we spend our days pretending to not be. Most things are flawed, but that doesn’t stop plenty of them raising a smile. Beer, for example, is often a catalyst for amusement despite the fact it’s well marketed, flavoured poison. Similarly, rollercoasters are great fun, even though they’re 90% queueing and 5% the vague whiff of vomit. It’s important to bear this in mind before judging Suzuki’s Gladius. Yes, it has a stupid, pretentious, irrelevant name. A Roman sword? Whoever named their brand new, fun, funky, exciting, dynamic motorbike after an ancient, heavy, inanimate, long-superseded killing utensil really deserves being thrown to the lions. And yes, it looks like one of those infuriating robot dogs that entertained the planet’s children for five whole minutes one Christmas morning a few years ago, but give it a chance. Sit on it and you’ll find a decent-sized motorbike, as opposed to the tiny, waif-like ER-6n. Start the updated SV650 motor and you’ll be rewarded with a pleasingly rumbly V-twin exhaust note, rather than a slightly limp parallel twin whimper or flat fourcylinder wheeze. Now forget all the über-hip, urban chic advertising toss, leave town behind and head out into the wilderness to give it some stick on fast, smooth, flowing roads. The Gladius’ motor See? It’s brilliant fun – enough has none of the power to keep an experienced downsides of the rider’s attention, with the fattest over-smooth ER, bottom-end and midrange of the uninspiring CBF four bikes making life easiest for or gutless XJ6, and newer folk. And it delivers it all then outshines all with joyous, junior V-twin their good points thumps. The Gladius’ motor has combined. It doesn’t none of the downsides of the over- demand to be revved smooth ER, uninspiring CBF or hard, but it still feels gutless XJ6, and then outshines all good when you do... their good points combined. It doesn’t demand to be revved hard, but it still feels good when you do. It’s unintimidating but inspiring – an immensely difficult combination to get right. As for completely fulfilling the job it’s there for, the SV650 motor has to be one of the best from any motorbike of the past decade. Regardless if you’re playing nice or rough with the motor, the gearbox quietly gets on with its job, snicking between well-spaced ratios with little drama and few objections if you leave the clutch out. And though you know it’s powered by a twin, those satisfying engine pulses don’t translate into hand-numbing vibes, even with just two tiny little bar end weights for defence. On the motorway the riding position’s comfy enough, the little clock binnacle does as much as can be expected to lift the wind off, and a gear position indicator – the only bike here with one – stops my left foot OCD checking I really am in sixth. After a day’s riding swapping between the four bikes round Bike’s back-roads test loop, followed by a morning getting a 130-mile motorway run out of the way, I’m so happy with the Gladius I could take out an advert in the local paper proudly announcing to the world our impending happy union. It’s still everything that’s great about the SV650, just weirder looking. 128 Bike
It’s precisely this sort of 52.5% rear weight bias that’ll ruin motorcycling for everyone
big test But as we head through Yorkshire on our way to the Lakes, a long run of bumps, humps, lips and dips starts to put doubt in my head. The Gladius, which had steered so nicely on the smoother, flatter Midlands tarmac, isn’t happy on the more turbulent Yorkshire roads. The rear shock seems to completely forgo any sense of damping, leaving just a barely tamed spring. Into steeper drops it bottoms out, over crests it whips me out of the seat. Chasing the CBF and XJ6 on the fraught A684 from Hawes to Sedburgh, the movement isn’t tamed quickly enough, leaving it unsettled and still jiggling about when I’m trying to corner. With the first chink in the Gladius’ armour, I notice another. There’s a noticeable rearward weight bias which, in a straight line and with a confident throttle hand, helps it eagerly wheelie off surprisingly modest crests. But through corners it doesn’t feel like there’s enough weight on the front. It creates a strange sensation, like there isn’t a perfectly direct link between your inputs and the bike turning, or the front tyre and your sense of grip. Somehow the CBF always feels more connected to the tarmac. It’s the same on the brakes – the Honda feels sharp, strong and confident; the Suzuki is more numb. And there are other irritations – the tiny petrol tank is always the first to need filling and the offset, stampsized speedo is an afterthought – but nothing that detracts from the bike’s character or its fun factor. The average chassis just doesn’t do full justice to the fantastic engine. How much of a problem this is depends on your viewpoint. Simon, in between hogging the XJ6, reckons the Suzuki’s chassis is a serious thorn in its side. Neither Khal nor Gary are particularly moved by the Gladius either way but, for all its flaws, it’s still the one I have the most fun on, the one I think about most when I’m not riding it. When I look at the other bikes I see what they are now and no more. When I look at the Suzuki I see what it could be. I imagine owning one and taking it to a suspension specialist, not just for a better shock but maybe a different linkage to alter the geometry. I wonder if different pads and lines might sharpen up the brakes. And after all that I imagine how much fun it could be not just on a deserted back road, but on a Brands Indy trackday. So no, the Gladius isn’t perfect. I couldn’t argue it’s objectively the best bike here. But something about it – maybe it’s just the motor – has me hooked. And as hooligan as the XJ6 is, as composed as the CBF and as easy as the ER-6 are, none of them grab me in the same way.
Yamaha XJ6
Simon Hargreaves (41, 6ft 1in, 87kg), Bike Senior Editor. Lover of all things excessive – be they fast and powerful or, indeed, slow and overweight – and despises all things mediocre. Tested the old Yamaha XJ6 (1993, loved it), Fazer 600 (1998, loved it too) and FZ6 (2001, hmm...) Bike magazine’s very own moral compass, Mr Martin FitzGibbons, once observed that the measure of a road tester is his ability to differentiate a great bike from a great ride. You can, he said, have great rides on rubbish bikes and rubbish rides on great bikes – neither is any indication of the other’s merit. So bearing that in mind, I’ve gone over the following in my mind a few times before committing to print. But here goes: Yamaha’s new XJ6 – sans fairing, sans horsepower, sans everything – is a Great Bike. Not just a great ride – which it was, whistling up the A1 and across North Yorkshire to the Lakes, across the highest passes in England (Wrynose and Hardknott), Bike 129
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What do you do when you take a rest day from an arduous desert rally? thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s right, head off into the dunes to do some riding. Welcome to the world of Chippy Wood
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