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MORE FRESH METAL HEADING OURWAY…
If youthought we hada solid wave of newbikeslastissue,the goodnews is this month’sbeen nolessgenerous, with more newmachines heading our way than you canshaketheproverbial stick at.Here’s what thebrands have in storefor us…
BALLISTICBEEMERS
S1000R, S1000RR, M1000RAND M1000RR
There’saheapoffreshupdatesforBMW’s inline-four999ccS1000andM1000models,in both single Rnakedanddouble Rsuperbike format.Thebignewsisthe2025M1000RR, finallycrownedasWSBKkingunder Toprak Razgatlıog˘lu,whichgets astonkingsixextra bhppeakpower.TheWSBKchampnowmakes 218bhp,upfrom 212lastyear,thankstoa top-endrefresh,whichisanamazingoutput from anormallyaspirated999ccstreet-legal unit.There’smorecompression,nowa near-diesel14.5:1from13.4:1,new-shape titaniumvalvesandrejiggedseats,ovalintake andexhaustports,newpistonsandbigger 52mmthrottlebodies(upfrom48mm). Toprak’s topridealsogets anewframefor’25with relocatedenginemountandalteredstiffness, new MWinglets3.0forevenmoredownforce
Keepaneyeonouronlinechannels –Facebook,Twitter,andthe Fast Bikes website(www.fastbikesmag.com) –fornewsasit happens.
Iknowwhatyou’rethinking –didn’twedothis already? Well,yes:Honda firstshowedthe new Hornet1000offaroundthistimelastyear,asa 2024model.It’skindahearteningtothinkthatthe enormous moto-industrialcomplex whichisHonda isjust like us –projectbikes takingmuch longer thanyouthought they would to finish off…The bike,now a2025model,is afairlystandardHonda takeontheroadstertheme:anold(2017) CBR1000RRFirebladeengine,suitablydetunedfrom 190to150bhpwithsoft camsandless compression,boltedinto asteelframewithcooking runninggear and neatstyling.Itweighs211kgwet, whichisn’tamazingbutisn’tterrible,and yougeta fairlyunremarkable2025-specsetofrideraids includingwheelie andenginebrakecontrols. Butthebig Hhasmadeupforthat12-month delayintwoways.Firstly,it’smadethenewbike astone-coldbargain,withretailpricingthat’s seeminglyfromthe1990s.Andtheengineers havealsoproduced acheekySPversion,thatnot onlyhasBremboStylemabrakesandanÖhlins
COOL KAWASAKI
Z900
TTX36rearshock,butalsohas auniqueand new ‘RevolutionaryControlled’(RC)valveintheend can, which closesatlowrevsthen opensat5700rpmfor full-power breathing.
Aswesaid,though,themostamazing thingis the pricing.Thestockbike isjust£8999,whichlookslike you’dneedtoadd VATtoitorsomething.The SP isa grand more,at£9999, also impressive.Bothbikes willbeonsalein January,andwe’llberiding‘em verysoon…
CMX500 AND1100
Youmay not loveHonda’s CMX rangeofsoft-ish Japanese cruisers,butyouhavetorespectitforits massivesalesperformance.TheCMX500 Rebelisa big hit withtheA2licence brigade,somuchsothat Kawasakivirtually copieditwithitslatestEliminator 500, andthe AfricaTwin-poweredCMX1100provides afull-powerhitinthesamevein.Both bikesgeta modestrefreshfor2025:the500mostly on the cosmeticandEuro 5+ homologationfront,withthe 46bhp471cctwinmotorlargely unchanged.The 1100 now comesinthree models:baseCMX1100, anew ‘T’touringvariantwithhalf-fairingand bagger-style panniersandanSEversionpackedwith bolt-on factorycustombits.Themotor hassome of the upgradesseen on theAfrica Twinthisyear,withmore compression,different cams,heavier flywheeland newexhaust, plus ride-by-wirethrottle.Peak power is aboutthesameat87bhp, butthere’smuchmore low-downandmidrangegrunt.Pricesandavailability fortheRebelsisTBC;expectmore news nextmonth.
Didn’t Triumphdothisbefore? Well,yes –theHinckleyfirm sold aTiger800modelbetween2010and2019,butit’skeen tostressthisnewmachinehasnothingtodowiththe old‘un. Infact,it’sbasically agrown-up’sversionofthe firm’shighly successfulentry-levelTigerSport660model.Indeed,the engineonthis new 798cc800tripleisbasedonthesame crankcasesandcylinderheadonthe660,butwith abigger boreandlongerstroketogetthoseextracc. Thereare new pistons,withthesameboresizeasthe765Street Triple,a longerthrowcrankthanthe660,andfurthermodstothe head.The800alsohastriplethrottlebodiesinsteadofthe low-performancesinglethroatdesignonthe660,andthe resultis abeefy114bhppeakpower,with83Nmoftorqueand abroad rangeofgrunt.
Similarly,thechassistakesitsbasiclayoutfromthe 660, with asimilarsteeltubeframedesign,andupratedrunning gear.Triumph’saddedfully-adjustable41mmUSDShowaforks and arebound/preloadadjustablerearmonoshockwith remotepreloadadjuster,Triumph-brandedfour-pistonfront brakesandroad-friendlycastaluminiumwheelswithMichelin Road 5rubber.Theelectronicspackageincludescornering ABSandtractioncontrol,cruisecontrol,quickshifter,LCD dashandBluetoothconnectivity,andtheTigerSport800will beonsalenextMarch,costingfrom£10,995.
SPEED TWIN 900
Triumph’sgiventhenovice-friendly Speed Twin900retroroadstera tweakingfor 2025.Thefundamentalsareasyouwere: theengineis the samefriendly64bhpparalleltwinSOHC unit in alightlymodded steeltubeframe.Suspensionisnow byMarzocchi,incommonwith muchoftherest of the Triumphrange,andthere’saradial-mount front brake caliper,fresh bodyworkdesignand upratedelectronickit. It’llbeintheshops in Februarypricedat£9195.
TRIDENT660
Aminor refreshforHinckley’sbudget81bhproadster,the£7895 Trident 660gets cornering ABS,newShowaBigPistonforksandcruisecontrol, as wellas astylingrefresh.
losein uniqueenginetech,weregainineasier servicing, possibly. Themotorislight,at54.5kg, andisan890ccDOHC8v90-degree V-twinwith oversquare dimensions(bore xstrokeof 96x61.5mm)andhigh compression,13.1:1. There’s variable timingontheintakecamshaft with ahydraulicvariator, chain camdriveanda cleverdesignthatlocatesthewaterpumpinthe frontcylinderheadformorecompactness. It's notamega-powerfulunit–just120bhpin highpowerformat –and there’salso a115bhp version.That’snotbadforasub-900twin (somethinglike aBMWF900Rmakesjust 105bhp)andwill be fineforthelikes of the MultistradaV2,DesertXandMonstermodels.But it’swelldown on thecurrentPanigale V2’s 157bhp,soyouimaginethey’ll havetodo somethingelseforthat.
£10K kicks
Doesbuying u’lllimit
wa nl yto Does buying a bike on a budget of roughly ten grand mean u’ll limit your fun as ll as your cash? There was only one w to find out…
Themiddlegroundisoften overlookedinmanyareas oflife. We areallguiltyoffocusingonthe extremitiesandtheniche,insteadofwhere alltheactualactionandfunregularlytakes place.Inthe caseofthemotorcyclemarket, which as Itype is inthethroesof experiencingsomethingofa transformation,manufacturersare putting muchmoreemphasisonaffordableoptions as opposedtobig-ticketmegabikes as buyinghabitschange.
Manyofusmourntheloss of over-thetop, over-powered, over-priced bikes, whilesimultaneously welcomingwith openarmsmuch-neededbikes that provideanentrypointintomotorcycling, butit’seasytomissthatthere’sbeen muchactivityat or aboutthe£10,000 markthis year.This isimportant,because if you’reonthemarketforacirca£9000 paralleltwin,steel-framed bike,butcan spendalittlebitmore, then awhole world ofoptionsopensup.
At £10k-ish,there’salsomuchmore varietythanthego-toformatfor manufacturerswhich wanttobuild abike to apricepoint,whichiswhy we selected
theapparentlyoddmixtureofbikesyousee inthisfeature. We arefocusingonsaid pricepoint, ratherthanthegenreofbike, andwith so manyoptionswedecidedto gatherthethreenewestbikes this year whichqualify by virtueofbeingall-new, updatedor,inthecaseoftheHonda, re-engineeredand reintroducedfor apiece ofthe£10kaction.
Ourcastcouldnotbemorediverse, whichinitselfis areasontocelebratehow good we’ve gotitrightnow. There’sa 77bhpsingle-cylindersupermotoand apair of 119bhpbikes, onebeing athree-cylinder nakedandtheother afour-cylinder supersport.So, as well asvariety,thereis plentytogetthejuices fowingintermsof specandperformance –whilestill staying ontheright side ofthelinewherethings canstarttoget abitintimidating.
Inother words, these bikesplaytoboth sidesofthecrowd.There’senoughgoing ontoengagean experiencedriderwho doesn’t want to break thebankbutdoes wantfullyadjustable suspension,oran alloyframe,or something
morethanwhat auser-friendlyparallel twin-cylinderenginecanoffer.There’salso notsomuchgoingon that arelative newcomercouldn’tjumponanyofthese bikes and be thoroughlyentertained as opposedtobeing overwhelmed.Inmany ways, thesebikes –andotherslikethemat the sameprice point –are,infact,the real heroesofmotorcycling.Theycanpleaseall of the people,all of the time,withthe exceptionof thefewwhowillneverbe movedfromthe‘biggestis best’ position. Whenitcametowho rodewhichbike forourdayout,it wouldbe abrave man whostoodbetweenfattrackerand general slippy-slidyTimmyandtheDucati,while Brucehadunfnishedbusiness withthe CBR600RRafterhavinghistime(ahem)cut shortononeatitspress launch –witha triptothemedicalcentrethrowninfor goodmeasure–and Iwas keentogetthe key tothe Yamahatomakemyself oneof the very fewpeopletohave riddenallthree versionsofthenewly-updatedMT-09, havingalreadyhadtheSPand Y-AMT spec versionsalreadyinthebag. Letthefunbegin…
YAMAHA MT-09: UNDERTHESKIN
ThebasemodelMT-09isthe cheapestonthistest,cashingin at£800less thanthemost expensive(theDucati), yetitisthe biggestcapacityat890ccandtherefore by farthemosttorque,anditalsohas themostsophisticatedsuiteofelectronic rideraids by acountry mile.
It’slittle wonderthattheMT-09issuch ahitintheshowrooms. Sinceit was introducedin 2014,ithasachievedan almostcultstatusandfollowing by virtue ofitsbrilliantengine,decenthandling anddistinctive looks.It’sbeen asmash sincedayone,andinthis,it’s10thyear of existence,itgot afairlyheftyupdateas opposedto acomplete reworking.
aroundtheenginemountsand ateeny tinytweaktothesteeringangle. Elsewhere, theriding positiongotlower handlebarsand aslightlydifferent position forthefootpegs,which combined with anew fueltank designandshapegives thelatest MT-09 aslightlysportierlayout.
Thefront forksgotslightlystiffer springsandthe rearsuspensiona differentlinkagetomakethe relationshipbetweenshock absorberand swingarm movement different,although it wasneverclearwhetherit increasedordecreased the rising rateof the swingarm, but moreonthat later.
Asidefromthenewlook courtesy of anew headlightcluster and anipandtuckonthe rear end,probablythesinglemost signifcantupdatewhichseparates
