Fast Bikes February 2023 issue - 20 page preview!

THE KNOWLEDGE

Used Bike Guide .............................. 54

It’s no longer in production, but there are so many reasons you should want to own the last of the GSX-R line. Here’s why…

YOUR LIFE ON BIKES

You and Yours ................................. 88

All of your adventures Chatter ............................................ 78 A page dedicated to the best readers in the world…

TESTS

BMW M 1000 R................................ 18

BMW’s thrown itself into the supernaked sector wholesale with this M-spec headbanger.

Retrosexuals ................................... 28

Nice to look at, naughty to ride. We get to grips with some of the finest offerings in the retro styled sector.

COLUMNISTS

Brad Howell .................................... 92

If you’re wanting to be fit for next season, the graft starts now.

Tom Neave ...................................... 94

It might be a while since the season ended, but Tom’s still flat out on two wheels.

Christian Iddon ............................... 96

He’s got a new bike, new team and a new focus for 2023.

Steve Parrish................................... 98 Parrish gets up to his usual shenanigans.

FEATURES

BMW GS Trophy .............................. 60

Fifteen teams, 800 miles, one epic off-road adventure.

Track Spec....................................... 80

Not everyone takes their super pricey, super trick Ducati V4 Streetfighter on trackdays… but this guy does.

Alternatively, scan the QR code on this page and order your next copy today. We will send it directly to you!

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There’s only one way to kick this off and that’s by wishing you all a happy new year. We’ve made it to another one, which will hopefully be every bit as fulfilling, or more so, than the last. I’m not the kind of bloke who goes about setting a million resolutions and such like, but I do like a rough idea of what I want to aim for at this time of the year. While the roads are still muckier than a pig pen and it’s cold enough for your tyres to catch pneumonia, there’s no harm in getting a few aspirations jotted down on a hypothetical to-do list.

My boxes to tick include more road trips. Whether at home or abroad, I really don’t mind, but I’ve come to realise that good times happen when you head out on a bike with a bunch of mates for no particular reason. I also want to ride on track more. Last year was a bit pitiful on my part for getting out on circuits, which I plan to make amends for in the coming months. Lastly, I want to buy a new bike. When I say new, I mean new to me, but first I’ll need to raise some cash, so if you see me down the car boot flogging flowerpots, do me a favour and buy a couple, please… it’s for a good cause.

The festive break has given me much time to think, drink, and scan the internet looking for bargain bullets of yesteryear... I’d have a garage full of such steeds if I could. Arguably, you could have just that for the price of most new sporty propositions, but quantity doesn’t always make up for quality, and if the latest headbangers from BMW are anything to go by, you wouldn’t want to miss out on what’s heading our way. I say this having recently sampled the M 1000 R, which was a tasty toy on road and track. How on earth have we got to a stage where nakeds claim to have 207bhp? I’m not complaining, I’m just mesmerised by the feat, along with the kind of technology that bike is packing. It’s mind-blowing, as you’ll hopefully gauge in a few pages’ time. Another thing that’s mind-blowing and deserves a big mention is our man Tim’s progression to the British Superbike series with the MCAMS Yamaha squad. We couldn’t be prouder and want to wish him all the best for the season ahead. Likewise, we want to thank you, the readers, for your continued support and wish you a cracking time on and off your bike in 2023. Make sure to scratch all the itches you can and keep us posted with your antics.

PLANET FAST BIKES – NEW ME TAL, NE WS & REVIEWS

Normally, when someone turns up with a retro ‘sports’ bike, we don’t answer the door, and they take it along the hallway to a more appropriate editorial hovel. But if this bugger was to roll out of the back of a courier’s transit van, we’d be all over it, quite frankly. It’s the new concept from those crazy kids at MV Agusta – a 1000cc version of the lush Superveloce, which is itself a retro variant of the F3 supersports bike.

So – a proper full-fat Agusta 1000cc motor, complete with the latest 208bhp tune on the

inline four superbike lump, in the classic hybrid Agusta frame: steel tube trellis and cast aluminium pivot plate sections.

Running gear is the usual superlative fare from Brembo and Öhlins: Stylema four-piston calipers up front, and the Öhlins EC electronic semi-active damping control set-up on the Nix forks and TTX rear shock. Single-sided swingarm, forged CRC rims with subtle classic spoke detail, carbon bodywork, full titanium Arrow pipe – it’s all there, with a dry weight of 194kg.

WORDS: SIR ALAN OF DOWDS

But it’s the styling that catches you, particularly the mad aerodynamic wings. MV Agusta actually experimented with wings on a prototype 500 GP racebike in 1973, with a wild top fairing that bears more than a passing resemblance to modern versions like the Aprilia RSV4 and BMW M1000 RR. On the Serie Oro 1000 Superveloce, the wings claim to add a hefty 39kg of downforce to the front end at 200mph, while also improving cooling air ow and dropping the engine oil temperature by 3°C. There are also cool carbon front disc covers with a subtle air scoop integrated, so they look

almost drum-brake retro, but have awesome performance.

Expect the usual from Agusta – a very limited run of this posh Serie Oro machine, with a less expensive variant on sale in a year. But there are also big changes behind the scenes at MV which might help it step up a bit overall.

KTM’s parent rm, Pierer Mobility, has bought a 25.1% stake in MV Agusta, and now has two of its senior managers on the MV board.

Could some ef cient Austrians taking over at Varese have a similar effect to when the Germans at Audi took over at Ducati? It would be great news all-round if so.

KTM UPDATES

These updates just missed the EICMA show from KTM. There’s a new 2023 Duke 790, as well as tweaked versions of the 890 Adventure and a new 790 Adventure, now built by KTM’s Chinese partner CF Moto.

The point of the returning 790s is twofold: the Adventure offers a cheaper middleweight adventure tourer, and the 790 Duke has been built so the firm can offer an A2-compliant version of its naked middleweight. Both bikes have been tweaked for 2023 with new cornering ABS and traction set-ups, new colour dashboards, and a 95bhp tune for the 790 motor. The 105bhp 890 Adventure has had a series of tweaks to the bodywork, riding position, dashboard and suspension.

TOURIST TROPHY

The Isle of Man authorities did a great job with the new live online TV channel launched in 2022. The TT+ site provided some amazing live race footage and behind-the-scenes material for a very decent price.

And while the races were taking place last June, documentary maker Adam Kaleta was shooting this incredible film, which has a brilliant blend of that hardcore race action, as well as a taste of what’s going on inside the heads of the racers and the people surrounding them. There are also a few chuckles from the likes of John McGuinness.

Available now to watch for free on the TT+ website, and well worth 95 minutes of your time. See https://ttplus. iomttraces.com

RIDERS’ RIGHTS GROUP ADVICE ON TAKING BIKES INTO THE EU

One feature of Brexit that many folk didn’t see coming was the impact on transporting bikes into the EU.

Since the UK is outside the single market, there might be customs charges or duties on bikes being imported in a van across the English Channel. It’s even more complex if the bike is a racer or trackday bike rather than a road bike. And if it’s a third party – your mate in his van, or a trackday company transporting the bike while you fly down to Malaga on an Easyjet A319 – then it gets really tricksy.

The UK and EU authorities have made an effort to simplify the processes, but you’ll still make your life easier by having all the right paperwork and a straight story. The National Motorcyclists Council has a short info document you can download to check with at www. uknmc.org/downloads

NORTON’S BACK

Brit superbike maker Norton is back with a new factory, new owners, and new management. We spoke to the firm’s COO about the future.

There’s been no shortage of news from Norton in the past few years – much of it bad. But the distressed Brit bike brand looks to have turned the corner of late, after Indian giant TVS (the fourth biggest bike maker in the world) took over from the disgraced former regime under Stuart Garner. There’s a new £40 million Norton factory in Birmingham, bikes are starting to be built properly, and there’s a new management team in place. We spoke to one of them, chief operating of cer Christian Gladwell, on the plush Norton stand at the NEC show.

Gladwell isn’t your typical bike rm boss. He was an of cer in the Scots Guards and came to Norton from Saatchi, where he’d worked on developing luxury brands like Chanel, Gucci, Burberry and Breitling – as well as helping launch Jay-Z’s cologne range… He’s been riding bikes for years though, and currently owns an MV Agusta Turismo Veloce and a Norton Commando 961, so he knows what a bike brand needs to do.

We kick off by talking about his ‘vision’ for what sort of bike rm Norton should be, and Gladwell has some pretty interesting responses.

“Our theory is to give people a really luxurious option for t and nish in terms of materials, in terms of achingly beautiful design – and that starts with reliability, being able to back up all of the things that the motorcycles visually tell you they should do. So we are never going to be Honda and we don’t want to be Honda, and that’s nothing against Honda. It does things brilliantly, but we don’t want to sell that kind of volume.

“Neither are we Brough Superior; we’re not 1000 bikes a year. We want to be in the middle. Peak production for us looks like 40,000 motorcycles a year in six or seven years’ time – which is a decent business. I mean it’s not Ducati, it’s like two-thirds of Ducati in terms of volume.”

And that obviously means new bikes. “We will have a much broader product range than we have at the moment, obviously, and up to maybe 50% of that will be electric. We’ve just won the lead role in an advanced propulsion centre consortium for £60 million of government funding for an electric hyperbike, and that’s the new form of Norton innovation.”

One thing we won’t see any time soon is the Atlas 650 twin that was promised by the previous owners at Norton, using half the V-4 engine. “Look, [cancelling the Atlas was] a really dif cult decision to make. In a perfect world we’d do everything, but we’ve only got a certain amount of resources. We need to focus on what’s doable and not let people down by delivering something at 60%. If the question is are there plans in the future for a fully homologated scrambler twin and derivatives, yes for sure, but we’ve made a decision. We are not in the market of making a parallel twin 650 super light at £12k in the foreseeable future.”

The immediate focus will be on the V4 platform then, it seems. “I had a really good feeling this morning for the V4s,” says Gladwell. “I was doing an interview and was asked what’s the most successful bike, and it’s the V4 – and that sort of took me by surprise.

“Because I love the Commando, but that V4 SV is a visually arresting piece of work. It’s beautiful. You cannot be a luxury brand – whether you’re making pens, suits or motorcycles – unless you make beautiful things, fact. You cannot do it. It has to be beautiful, then underneath that, yes, it must be completely reliable and have a two-year warranty. It has to do what the customer wants, but ultimately the rst thing is that it has to look beautiful.

“Of course, our product range is going to get bigger. So, thinking about families, we’ve invested in the V four, of course, so there’s going to be a V4 family. At the moment, we’ve got two [the V4 SV superbike and the new V4 CR café racer] and there’s going to be more.

“Without going into speci cs, there are going to be more versions of the V4 family for 2024/25.”

What about the Commando 961? It uses a really old basic air-cooled engine design which already struggles with noise and emissions regs and is another area where Gladwell sees big change: “The Commando is really important, not just as a motorcycle for us but as a family, and you will see a new family of Commandos based on a new twin. What that new twin is, we don’t know, but it’s de nitely Euro6 and federal homologated.”

He’s clearly a bit sad about losing the old engine, though. “There are some beautiful things about the engine for me. I mean, I’ve bought one of those. The reason I have is, for us to access the key markets in the world, we can’t make that twin, because we’ve been told we can’t do it. The same as every other manufacturer – it’s the noise. We talk about the emissions, but it’s mainly the noise, so if you love that, then get them while they’re

hot, because we can’t continue to make them.”

What about racing? The previous ownership made a big play on the Isle of Man TT, signing the likes of John McGuinness and Peter Hickman to ride clearly inadequate V4 1200 and prototype 650 twins round the Island. Perhaps, thankfully, Gladwell’s response is measured.

“I get asked ‘is Norton going to go racing’ all the time and the answer is ‘maybe’. But what we’re not going to do is race at the Senior at the TT or line up in MotoGP any time soon. But there’s lots of ways we could go racing at to honour that past with a nod to the future because Norton was always innovative. When you look at why the TT played such a role in the 1920s and 1930s onwards, it was because it was that hotbed of innovation.”

With all-new petrol-powered bikes looking set to end production in 2035 – 12 years away – Gladwell recognises that he, and Norton, have to get set for a very different business in future, with electric bikes, alternative fuel engines, and even more radical ideas all being looked at. “If you look at the data in the developed world for 500cc and above, it’s declining. If we keep making motorcycles for people who just like motorcycles, there will be no industry in 50 years, less maybe. So, when people say hang on a minute, you’re taking the brand in a different direction, yes I am and yes we are, and it’s not my idea – I just do the numbers.

“We have to innovate, we have to expand, and it’s not some horrible Machiavellian marketing trick. We are trying to extend this brand, stretch it, curate it, because we know that we are guardians of it, and we want to be around for another 125 years.”

Keep an eye on our online channels – Facebook, Twitter, and the Fast Bikes website (www.fastbikesmag.com) – for news as it happens.

F900 R CUP DETAILS ANNOUNCED

BMW has announced a new one-make support race series, running at nine BSB rounds in 2023. The F900 R Cup will, unsurprisingly, use the rm’s F900 R naked twin as the base for a cheap, easy-access race series. The bikes are modded for track use with K-Tech fork internals, K-Tech rear shock, full Arrow exhaust, rearsets, quickshifter, and race bodywork. Tyres are, of course, by series tyre sponsor Pirelli, with riders limited to two sets of tyres over a race weekend, using the Diablo Supercorsa SC and Diablo Rains, depending on conditions.

Teams will have the option of purchasing a bike and having the race kit tted by their preferred BMW Motorrad retailer, by approved partner Fortis Racing, or by their own support team. Fortis Racing will be present at each round, offering on-site race support and spares for all riders within the series.

The series has caught the imagination of many riders, from wizened old hacks looking at the prize money to young guns wanting to show their worth and catch the eye of a ‘proper’ race team. Entries are now open, with 72 places up for grabs in two grids, lled in a US Supercross-style format. The top 16 in the opening two heats of each round will directly qualify for the Main Event nal, while riders nishing from position 17 onwards in each race will head into a Last Chance Quali er race. The top four nishers from the LCQ race will then make the main point-scoring nal.

The series manager is our old mate Steve Plater, who told us: “I’m really looking forward to the start of this brand-new championship. The F900 R Cup provides the opportunity for young riders to compete within the British Superbike series and showcase their talents to the world. As the race bikes are identical, there is sure to be some spectacularly close racing.”

ULEZ EXPANSION

Ride an old bike in outer London? Then the clock is ticking... Transport for London and Mayor Sadiq Khan have extended the Ultra Low Emissions Zone out to all remaining 33 London boroughs. So, if your bike isn’t Euro 3 emissions compliant (that’s generally anything built before 2007), you must pay

£12.50 a day to use it inside the zone. There are some loopholes: classic bikes more than 40 years old are exempt, bizarrely, and many bikes from the late 1990s and early 2000s can be made compliant with the test by fitting an aftermarket catalyst, or even some mild air intake changes. Hate London so don’t care about

this? Well, watch out... there are ULEZ zones of various types appearing in many cities around the UK – Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow all have them in operation or planned. None of these zones cover motorbikes as yet, but you’d not be surprised if they suddenly did, would you?

ALL THE L ATEST, COOLEST & TRICK EST PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS

A cool new product that makes you faster on circuit, saves money, and is made in the UK by a small start-up business owned by a massive trackday fan... what more could you want? These new JP Brakes upgrade pistons are made from titanium and have extensive venting and careful design to minimise heat transfer into your brake fluid and calipers. There’s internal ribbing inside the piston to

increase heat dissipation and they even save a bit of weight over stock stainless steel pistons. According to the maker, Jason Pitchford, the result is less brake fade, reduced drag and binding, and they can even cut brake pad wear. They look proper ‘factory’ too. Available for most sportsbikes, as well as aftermarket Brembo and HEL calipers.

ALPINESTARS FASTER 3 DRYSTAR

RIDING BOOTS

As we go to press it’s a bit nippy for short riding boots, but the sun will soon be back – and these new Faster 3 urban riding boots look like just the job. There’s a microfibre upper with armour on the malleolus, heel and toes, and extensive comfort padding around the ankle and tongue area. The sole is a tough, lightweight rubber compound with built-in shock absorption, plus an integrated support shank for more rigidity. There’s traditional lace fastening, plus Velcro security strap, shift protector and an external toe slider panel. Best of all, there’s a Drystar waterproof breathable membrane for those spring showers. £169.99

The Rapid Bike fuelling module is a plug-and-play unit that comes with its own wiring harness to fit the Euro 5 Panigale V4. It tweaks signals from the bike’s lambda sensor, letting tuners improve performance and fuel efficiency across the entire rpm range, especially in the closed-loop section. This Racing2 kit manages the four upper injectors, together with all four stock lambda sensors for accurate air/fuel ratio management. It also includes two injection maps (for cylinders 1-2 and 3-4) and an improved ignition timing map for increased power and torque across the entire rev range. Rapid claims smoother, more predictable throttle response and power delivery.

This latest unit has been redesigned to give smaller size and lower weight and is preprogrammed for the Ducati Panigale V4. It piggybacks off the standard ECU, so there are no changes to the stock fuelling hardware.

ARAI TT 2023 HELMET

Yep, it’s that time again! Arai has just released the design for its limited edition TT 2023 helmet – and it’s another cracker. The Aldo Drudi paint design, applied to a top-end RX-7V EVO lid, features the TT logo, the Manx Triskelion and the Ellan Vannin Manx script, all in a subtle red/ white/black scheme with fluorescent yellow highlights. The ECE R22.06-approved lid is one for the collectors and the hardcore TT fans out there. Price is to be confirmed, and the lid will be available in May. Get your pre-order in now… £TBC www.whyarai.co.uk

TUCANO URBANO BORMIO JACKET

We’ve tried out some of Tucano Urbano’s urban riding kit over the years and it’s stylish, well-made stuff. This Bormio jacket looks good on and off the bike, but is also fully featured, with a laminated three-layer softshell waterproof outer, CE-approved CPS Aerosoft armour in elbows and shoulders, and a pocket for a back protector. It’s pre-wired for the IN&MOTION airbag set-up as well. The Bormio is packed with pockets and adjusters, has a thumb-loop inner cuff to stop draughts, water-repellent zips, padded thermal/fleece lining, adjustable hood, and much more. Available in sizes S-3XL in black, dark blue and white colourways.

CATERING-SIZED MINT CHAIN CLEANER

Premium German lid brand Schuberth has just dropped this – the all-new S3 sport-touring lid. It’s a brand-new redesign from the firm, with ECE 22.06 approval, new dual-density EPS liner, lightweight glass fibre shell and extensive ventilation channels. There’s an integral flip-down sun visor, quick-relese main visor with a pre-installed Pinlock 120 insert, emergency removal system, and new metal plate highlights on the trim. Schuberth is also offering an optional

OXFORD POLAR 1.0 MS WINTER GLOVES

As all hardcore winter riders know, you can’t beat a ‘lobster claw’ two-finger glove when the weather turns really bad. It’s something to do with surface area and volume, but whatever the science says, they just

work. Oxford claims these Polar 1.0 MS gloves are its warmest ever, with Primaloft thermal lining, Dry2Dry waterproof breathable membrane, leather and nylon construction, and reinforced seams. There’s a

custom fit with bespoke cheek pads and head liner parts, and the new S3 also has speaker, wiring harness and radio antenna already installed for easier fitting of the optional Sena communications system. The new S3 has also been developed in Schuberth’s wind tunnel, so is claimed to be super-quiet, with great aerodynamic performance. It’s available in nine colourways and comes with a superb five-year warranty when you register online.

touchscreen compatible forefinger and thumb, a built-in visor wipe, synthetic suede bar gripping panels, Velcro wrist and cuff straps, and much more. Just the job for those long winter commutes.

BMW M 1000 R WONDER

Having laid the foundations with the S 1000 R, BMW’s gone back to the drawing board and cranked up the spec and spice in a bid to create the sauciest supernaked the sector’s ever seen.

Wings aside, you’d be forgiven for thinking much of the new M 1000 R mimics the foundations of BWM’s S 1000 R. The frame is the same. The swingarm is the same. The wheels are the same… and so the list goes on. But this was never about reinventing the wheel; this was all about taking something that was already decent and making it a whole lot more exceptional. Or, to use BMW parlance, to give it the kind of treatment that would make it worthy of the ‘M’ people. Of course, I’m talking about the Bavarian brand’s esteemed performance arm, not the 1990s pop group, which, unlike the latter, entered the motorcycling scene only last year with the launch of the M 1000 RR. For the brand, the upping of the ante was not only necessary, but logical too. They had the tech, they’d done the development, so why the hell wouldn’t they raise the bar with a 200bhpplus supernaked. Or to be more precise, to launch the most powerful production supernaked known to motorcycling.

BMW claims the ‘M’ makes a whopping 207bhp, which is hard to dispute considering the ShiftCam motor that powers it is the exact same masterpiece that fuels the brand’s new S 1000 RR. It’s got the same internals, the same throttle bodies and even the same gearbox ratios, with the only major difference being to the rear sprocket’s tooth count, which has been increased by two to ensure this motorcycle is nothing short of ludicrous. But to counter the craziness of the specs and

make the bike still viable for the likes of you and I on our daily trip to Tesco for a bottle of booze (…just me then), the supernaked’s been kitted with additional super-smart tech. Think brake slide control, engine brake options, stoppie control and a raft of other counter measures to help you from throwing this weapon at the scenery each time you crank the throttle. It’s massively customisable too, with four pre-set rider modes, plus three additional ‘Race Pro’ options that allow you to dial in the settings you want. You get the point, this thing is dripping with top-totty tech, all of which is viewed on the bike’s generously sized 6.5in TFT dash. It’s actually the same screen on all of BMW’s latest and greatest models, albeit with slightly revised functions, including an ‘M’ start-up animation. Other familiar features are the switchgears, which is no bad thing because they’re up there with the best. What you don’t get on any other BMW model is the aforementioned bi-plane wings, which actually look pretty trick in the esh. BMW reasoned this bike, with all its added oomph, wasn’t safe without their addition – claiming that they work from as low as 60mph and deliver an additional 11kg of downforce once your police chase reaches speeds of more than 120mph. In reality, to take on the likes of Ducati’s Street ghter and MV’s Brutale, they likewise needed a motor with a crazy power gure and aerodynamically rati ed protrusions to keep up with the Jones’s. Cynicism aside, I’m glad they’re there – they

are a stand-out feature that means there’s no confusing the model with the S 1000 R. The thing is, for all the similarities between the two propositions, the M is a league ahead of the S 1000 R, with the latter now relegated to the role of ‘roadster’. It’s a cracking bike, don’t get me wrong, but it was a machine that BMW realised could be made so much better, with many a tweak going on beneath the surface, like to the Dynamic Damping Control system. Unlike on the S, there’s no option for manual suspension (or a conventional key ignition), whether you opt for the entry spec M or the carbon-clad Competition version, that both come with