BEST PLACES TO VISIT IN…
EUROPE
There is so much great riding across Europe, but whatever else you do on your next trip, don’t skip these top destinations!
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nyone who’s spent time hunting out the good riding in Europe will wax lyrical about just how good it is. The roads, scenery, traffic and food can make for a great motorcycling destination. But even here, not all roads are equal. To discover the best places to visit and the most thrilling roads to ride we talked to Richard Millington from Motorrad Tours, an expert on European riding spots with years of experience of riding there. Here are the top destinations he told us not to miss…
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MSL expert
Motorrad Tours is an Official Travel Partner of BMW Motorrad. They operate a range of motorcycle tours throughout Europe as well as tours in Africa, the Americas and Asia. You are welcome to ride any make of bike on their tours, but they always ride BMW. Their touring style is about freedom - they provide route guidance notes, maps and GPS routes so you can choose to ride independently or with the tour leader, or swap and change; you have the freedom to choose. For more information about Motorrad Tours visit www.motorrad-tours.com or call 08000 131 282.
TOURING & ADVENTURE
Picos and Asturias mountains
The Alps may be the most famous riding destination in Europe, but that well-deserved reputation means it’s a busy place during peak season. That’s not a problem for those on a coach tour, but not ideal if you’re looking to enjoy riding incredible mountain passes. Enter: the Picos. Bridging across the tops of Spain and Portugal, the Picos mountain range features miles and miles of perfect, winding asphalt, clinging to the edges of breathtaking views. The road surfaces appear to have been laid specifically to make motorcyclists happy; grippy, smooth and in excellent condition. Best of all, the roads here are quiet, devoid of coaches and waiting for you to enjoy. Not having to pass a line of cars just as you were getting into the flow, no having to pull over and wait for that coach to get far enough up the road for you to enjoy the turns. Just endless runs along perfect blacktop, linking corners, peeling from apex to apex merrily grinding off the ends of your footpegs and frazzling the sides of your tyres. There are no chicken strips in the Picos. Seek out Parador hotels for the perfect end to each riding day – staying in incredible historic buildings, enjoying food and wine as good as the winding roads that got you there. This remote region of Europe is still quiet, still relatively undiscovered, making it a perfect place to explore by bike, not just to enjoy the roads, but to take in the incredible scenery too.
Andalucia
One of the best reasons to ride Andalucia for us Brits has to be the climate; it’s the perfect way to extend your riding season. Jump on a plane to Malaga and just as the UK weather in October is turning dark, damp and chilly, you can be enjoying great riding with temperatures in the low to mid 20s. There are some absolutely iconic routes in Andalucia, including the famous ride from Alcantara to Ronda. This iconic stretch of road takes you on 30km of non-stop twists and turns climbing up into the mountains. The riding in the Sierra Nevada National Park is simply incredible with mountain passes that seem to never end, constantly changing direction as they cling to the stunning landscape. Good roads and perfect riding weather are just part of the story, though – Andalucia boasts numerous old towns packed with history and beautiful architecture. Cap off a good day’s riding with a night in the heart of bustling old towns like Cordoba or Seville where you can enjoy fantastic restaurants and European dining late into the evening.
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Norway and the Arctic The Arctic might conjure up images of teams of huskies pulling sleds across dark, icy plains, whipped by the wind under the glow of the Northern Lights, but in the summer months that all changes. For weeks here the sun never sets, giving you hours of warm, idyllic riding time across this beautiful landscape. Norway is littered with truly breathtaking fjords and glaciers, and is rightly regarded as one of the most picturesque places on Earth. Long riding days and perpetual twilight seem alien at first, but this quickly becomes normal as you adapt to being able to enjoy the ride at any time of day. Travelling around Norway and up into the Arctic Circle inevitably involves multiple ferry crossings as you hop between the fjords, but the real highlight for many is riding some of the incredible bridges of the Atlantic Ocean Road. Carving their way through the air, these huge structures are a unique treat to ride and a highlight of any ride in Norway. On the frankly brilliant subject of iconic roads, you cannot miss the serpentine curves of the Trollstigen Highway, a perfect spot to enjoy some riding and fill your camera with pictures of waterfalls.
Insider information
Across much of Spain and Portugal, you’ll find Parador hotels tucked away in stunning areas. These hotels are always in incredible ancient buildings, bustling with character and about as far from a Formula 1 motel as it’s possible to find. Make sure you treat yourself, as we do on our Andalucia and Picos trips, to a couple of nights staying in one of these places for a properly special end to your riding day.
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TOURING & ADVENTURE
Scotland Recently, I was asked to pick my favourite coastal route and the road that stuck out in my mind definitely caused some controversy. There’s a stretch of road in North West Scotland running from Clashnessie to Unapool and then up to Scourie. When the weather plays ball, this ribbon of tarmac is simply stunning. Mixing singletrack with two-lane, clinging to the dramatic Scottish coastline, then pulling slightly inland before springing another coast-edge view on you as it rushes back to meet the water. Pick a sunny day to ride it
and you’ll see why Scotland is internationally renowned for epic motorcycling. Pick a wet day and you’ll remember why the Scottish weather is internationally revered. Scotland is no one-hit wonder when it comes to good roads either; miles of singletrack stunners wind between lochs, inlets and fjords played out to an adoring crowd of breathtaking mountains. Embrace the weather, make the most of the sunny days and Scotland is one of the finest motorcycling destinations on Earth. And the whisky isn’t too bad either…
When to go?
Andalucia is a great winter destination for riding, maintaining decent temperatures and that all-important lack of rain long after northern Europe has become a soggy mess. The Picos and the Arctic are better enjoyed in summer, as a K1600GT is a handful on snow, whatever tyres you fit. Scotland, in particular, needs careful timing – between May and August is mozzie and motorhome season, so April or September are the ideal times to be riding there.
NORTON COLLAPSE
After the crumbling of the iconic marque, our friends at MoreBikes.co.uk have asked pertinent questions about the situation WORDS: Ross Mowbray / MoreBikes.co.uk
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orton Motorcycles has gone into administration, as it is pursued by HMRC for £300,000 in unpaid taxes. Whilst the dust on this news settles, MoreBikes had a dig through its news archive to see what the company has been doing over the past few years – and doing this raised a few questions, like: 1: HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?
Norton has been very busy over the past three years, acquiring a range of investments, making a range of export and licencing deals and seemingly selling plenty of bikes (well, taking deposits for plenty of bikes at the very least). So how is it they’ve not managed to pay a £300,000 tax bill?
2: WHAT ABOUT THE LINK-UP WITH ZONGSHEN? DOESN’T THAT BRING IN SOME CASH?
In August 2017, Norton and Zhongshen entered into a 20-year, multi-million pound Design and Licence agreement based around Norton’s 650cc twin-engine. The 650cc parallel twin engine was jointly engineered and developed by Norton and Sussex-based Ricardo Engineering, and was specifically designed to the requirements of Zhongshen. A couple of years later in December 2019, the Chinese factory displayed its Cyclone RK6 tourer and adventure bike, built around the Norton licenced engine, so a few weeks ago it looked like it was full steam ahead for the partnership. But with Norton going into administration, it’ll be interesting to see if
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Harold Deniell the H ld D i ll on a Norton N t during d i th 1947 Dutch TT
HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? Zongshen continue to use the engine and pay the licence fee. The specific value of the 20-year deal has remained private so far, but the initial fee paid to Norton is said to be in the millions of dollars, with ongoing royalties paid on each engine produced. 3: WASN’T THERE A £20 MILLION EXPORT DEAL WITH JAPAN, TOO?
There was. At the start of 2019, news emerged that Norton had signed a new £20m export deal with Japan, which it claimed would support 200 jobs in the UK and see around 1000 new motorbikes sold to Japanese customers over the next five years. The deal was announced when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with (then) Prime Minister Theresa May in London, as part of a series of new deals for British and Japanese companies and farmers worth over £200 million. At the time, Kay Johnson, head of global sales and marketing at Norton Motorcycles, said: “Norton have an agreement with our distributor, PCI Limited in Japan, which will run over a five-year term to manufacture over 1000 bikes and will achieve an estimated value of £5m. We very much look forward to growing our workforce to support the demand for motorbikes in this territory and, in doing so, continue to build a strong trading business with Japan.” 4: WHAT ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT GRANT?
In July 2015, the (then) Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, visited Norton to announce a £4 million investment from the British Government. The Government’s Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative was intended to allow Norton and its 11 supply chain partners to set up a new British Motorcycle Manufacturing Academy to train and supply the next generation of engineer apprentices, build a new 10,000 square feet manufacturing facility, and develop clean motorcycle engine technology in the UK within two years. The AMSCI funding was expected to result in 159 jobs at Norton, which was
Blackwell’s 1948 ISDT model, model shown in 1949
Time for a cuppa – the 16H provides a makeshift table
expected to grow to 600 direct and indirect jobs, including 200 apprentices, by 2020.
V4 RR models, which went into production in the summer of 2017.
5: THERE WAS A £3 MILLION BOOST FROM SANTANDER TOO, WASN’T THERE?
6: WHAT’S HAPPENED TO ALL THE MONEY?
You’re right. Back in April 2017, Norton announced it was scaling up production and hiring 40 more staff, thanks to a £3 million boost from Santander. At the time, the factory was turning out a (claimed) 500 units from the 961 Commando range each year, blending traditional techniques with cutting-edge technology. But, thanks to the financing from the Spanish bank Santander, Norton was said to be ramping up production and hiring more staff to increase output and meet demand. Speaking about the news, Stuart Garner, General Manager of Norton Motorcycles, said: “Santander has been able to provide a range of incredibly flexible banking services that fit our needs perfectly. After having developed and pre-sold a huge number of machines, we needed financing to be ready to pay our production tools, stock and personnel to allow production to go from 40 bikes per month to over 130 from the summer of 2017.” The vast majority of the funds were set to be allocated to the all-new 200bhp 1200cc V4 engine and chassis, which would eventually form the basis of the new Norton V4 SS and
According to its last full year accounts, the company had sales of £6.7 million, on which it made a £33,701 pre-tax profit. That’s a lot of sales and not much profit. Ok, so Norton will have been making investments in new models,and development of the current and ‘next wave’ of Norton motorcycles certainly isn’t going to come cheap, but considering the numerous investments and deals we’ve detailed above, it seems surprising that they’ve failed to stay afloat. 7: WHAT IF YOU’VE BOUGHT A BIKE?
It all depends. At this stage there’s no one answer as there’s still a lot of uncertainty about the future, but if Norton fails to get back up on its feet any time soon then there’s a couple of most likely scenarios. For the bikes that have actually made it to their owners, it’s fairly likely that the values will tank – with parts, spares and factory support extremely difficult to come by. For punters who have laid out a significant deposit for a new Norton motorcycle, they’re going to be at the beck and call of BDO, who are looking after Norton for the immediate future. Although it’s no great surprise, it’s a massive shame that it’s come to this, particularly considering Norton’s received a lot of love from the British motorcycling fraternity (including plenty of pre-orders for bikes). It’ll be fascinating to see the story develop over the coming days, weeks and months, as we finally get the bottom of what exactly has happened at Norton. www.mslmagazine.co.uk 49
Test st R Ride ide
a e k i l g n Feeli
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is not for you. 3 t e k c o R e th , o it el incogn If you want to trav the attention that the machine h But iff you’re ok wit r a treat! fo demands, you’re in nen, Triumph mi apman, Mikko Nie OGRAPHY: Gary Ch OT PH n ne mi Nie o WORDS: Mikk
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ha ridden a lot of striking have striking bikes, but never one that has caused more of a stir than the et 3 GT. GT It It seems to Triumph Rocket attract attention wherever it goes p from f – I had thumbs up passers-by, requests to start the engine when I was parked, and at one point a road works crew downed their tools and stared at the bike when I stopped at temporary traffic lights (sorry about lay caused). la caused). Someone even the delay opened their car window to take a picture of the bike while overtaking ay ay. me on a motorway. ly IS a very But then again, this really special bike. It is the largest capacity production motorcycle with a whopping 2500cc triple engine. It produces 165bhp of power and
Triumph Rocket et 3 GT 221Nm of torque. It weighs over 300kg. And it costs £20k. Not many bikes are that extreme in so many wa – and that’s t’s why t’ why you you don’t see ways any on an on the roads. too many
Where to go?
To give this Grad Tou T Touring ring ng G Goliath oliath a run un ffor its money, ey, a p ey roper road proper trip was in order. With the world shuttered up and sheltering from m, ffore ign trave ra l was rave the Covid storm, foreign travel out of the question, but that was ack no problem – it was time to pack for Scotland! The plan was simple: ride up to ck up up the miles over five Scotland, rack da find every ry type type of road road possible, days, and find out what the Rocket 3 is like to live with on tour.
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Scotland would be the ideal f a test like this. Just destination for getting there would mean big ig m iles miles t’ t’s and big roads. Once in Scotland, it’s sy eenough nough to find little mountain easy passes,, ffas fastt and flowing main roads, good surfaces, bad surfaces, and you’re almost guaranteed different differ ff ent ffer t’s perfect t’ perfect for f weather conditions too. It’s a bike test.
Keyless yless issue or issueless k key? ey? ?
Usually these longer tests start with a way riding wa riding couple of hours of motorway to cover the distance and to see what en ronment. envi the bike is like in this environment. On this occasion though, h, I didn’t didn even get to the big roads before befor ef e I ran efor into problems: In fact, I didn’t didn even manage to start the bike. I had ridden ef efore ew which which buttons one before so I knew to press, and made sure I had the pocket, but keyless key in my pocket, nothing… It took embarrassingly ng until until I discovered that you long hav ave to turn the keyless first have o before ef efore keyy on you can star art the motorcycle. start Te gy eh… gy, Technology, Once the huge engine was softly purring, I was ready to hit the road. As I took to ok o ff I was off remi minded what a reminded refine ned machine the refined
Touring The e Triumph Triumph Rocket 3 turns heads like T a film star – after all, it’s not ot every every day you see a 2500cc motorcycle roll past. It was was made special!
The tour in numbers ■ Days: 5 ■T Total miles: miles: 1273 ■ Time on the bike: 26 hours ■ Fuel consumption: 44mpg (15.6km/l)
Test st R Ride ide Specification ROCKET 3 GT Price: £20,200 Engine: 2458cc inline 3-cylinder, water-cooled, DOHC Bore/Stroke: 110.2mm x 85.9mm Power: 165bhp (123kW) @ 6000rpm Torque: 163lb-ft (221Nm) @ 4000rpm Transmission: 6-speed, with shaft, bevel box final drive Frame: Full aluminium frame & single-sided swingarm of cast aluminium Wheels: Cast aluminium (F) 17 x 3.5in; (R) 16 x 7.5in Tyres: Avo A n Cobra Chrome (F) 150/80 Avon R17 V; (R) 240/50 R16 V Suspension: (F) Showa 47mm USD 1+1 ont forks, fforks, compression and cartridge front rebound adjuster. 120mm travel; (R) Fully adjustable Showa piggyback reservoir RSU with remote hydraulic preload adjuster, 107mm travel. Brakes: 320mm discs, Brembo M4.30 Stylema 4-piston radial monobloc calipers; (R) 300mm disc, Brembo M4.32 4-piston monobloc caliper. Cornering ABS front and back Seat height: 750mm (29.5in) Dry weight: 294kg Fuel tank: 18 litres (4 gallons) Fuel consumption: 44mpg (15.6km/l) Contact: www.triumphmotorcycles.co.uk
Rocket 3 GT is. You’d think that a motorcycle with a 2.5-litre engine would be like trying to ride an angry bull, but apart from its hefty weight, you don’t really notice the enormity of it until you get to an open road, wind the throttle right back and enjoy the ocean of torque carrying you forward. I didn’t get as far as the open road though. As I rolled off the drive a message came up on the dash telling me that the key fob was out of reach. Damn, had I left it behind? Just as I was about to turn round and find the damn thing, another message flashed up ‘Key fob battery low’. Ah, so I definitely have it in my pocket, but it’s running out of battery… Given that I was about to head hundreds of miles away I wanted to get the key checked rather than get stranded somewhere. I made a little detour to Webbs of Lincoln, where they very kindly checked the bike and the key. After a short wait the mechanic came back with the key: “It’s all working fine, just ignore the messages. We see this a lot with keyless bikes. You’ll be fine.” It was great service from Webbs, and I felt happy to carry on my way, but I was rather missing a good old-fashioned key. Oh well, I needed to get a move on.
Initial impressions
With the key issues sorted, I headed to the A1 and pointed the twin headlights of the Rocket 3 to North. The initial feeling you get on the bike is that you are in a very pleasant place for travelling far. The seat is low enough to allow both feet firmly on the ground (important when you’re paddling a bike this size), and it’s very comfortable with the pillion seat working as a nice lumbar support that you really appreciate when accelerating briskly. Your knees grip the tank, finding a natural position to anchor yourself in place. The bars are very wide and give you ample leverage to steer the bike.
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ABOVE: Cornering on the Rocket 3 is great, as long as you can do it at speed BELOW: The dash looks great with the unusual design, and it's easy to read BELOW RIGHT: Weather protection is minimal at best
The only bit that took me quite a while to get used to was the foot pegs, which are placed in a feet-forward position on the GT. I like them when cruising along at speed, but in slow speeds, stop-start traffic and when manoeuvring the bike around, I would feel more confident with standard pegs. Another issue I had with the pegs is that because of the angle at which your feet rest on them, it is your heel that touches the Tarmac before the peg when you are cornering more enthusiastically. Ground clearance isn’t great on this bike, so this happens quite a bit if you’re ‘on it’, and it can be feel a little alien. Incidentally, the pegs can be
Touring
moved to the standard position where they are placed on the roadster-style R model. If this was my bike I would move them, but that’s a matter of personal preference. The first stretch on the A1 showed that the big bike was very much at home on big roads – very planted and solid. There is not much weather protection from the little fly screen, and as it was a blustery day I felt the wind blowing me about, but underneath me the Rocket 3 just plodded on completely undisturbed by the conditions. I suppose that’s what you get when you have a bike weighing more than 300kg, and especially when that weight has been placed as low down as possible and connected to the wheels with quality suspension. You can just switch the cruise control on, hang in there, and let the bike do its thing.
ABOVE: Shaft drive makes life on tour easy ABOVE RIGHT: Look at the size of those pipes! RIGHT: Great braking power from the Brembo stoppers BELOW: The huge wave of torque makes riding the big bike a doddle
As well as the looks, it’s the sound of the big engine that people are interested in. Quite often when I was parked up people would come and chat about the bike, and it took me a while to realise that they were lingering around just so that I would start the engine. When you do start the engine, the sound is a deep and smooth rumble. It’s not as loud or raw as I was expecting. Something like the Ducati Diavel has much more of a bark than the Rocket 3, which sounds as mellow as it feels – until you get the revs up, naturally.
Look at me
It didn’t take very long to realise that the Rocket 3 GT is a bike that draws the crowds. Everywhere I went, people wanted see it, hear it and talk about it – for someone as obsessed about motorcycles as me, that’s only a bonus. I can see why people are naturally drawn to the bike for two reasons. Firstly, it’s a big muscle bike with a commanding presence; that 2458cc triple engine with power figure of 165bhp (123kW) @ 6000rpm and peak torque of 163lb-ft (221Nm) @ 4000rpm is a big unit. But it’s not just the size of the machine. It’s also very clearly built to a high standard with beautiful details, from the huge exhaust pipes to the minimalist folding pillion pegs. You can see that this is a big, powerful and expensive motorcycle, and the more you look at it the more clever little details you find (for instance, how the wiring is routed inside the frame and handlebars). The bar-end mirrors look great, and somewhat surprisingly they also work brilliantly – you have a great view behind with not a hint of distortion at any speed. www.mslmagazine.co.uk 13
Test Ride
Scotland
As soon as I got to the biking iking Nirvana ar that just that is Scotland, it was clear cket 3 was as any other bike, the Rocket happier away from the highways. You can have enormouss fun with the big Triumph when carving through fastt llow ow you you to roads with corners that allow emember keep the speed up. But remember eight of the that the sheer size and weight bike means that you need to get the ttle room corners right as there is little n too hot. for fine-tuning if you go in he heavy ea eavy The suspension keeps the beast perfectly planted in all but the most potholed corners and the fat Avon Cobra Chrome tyres offer plentiful grip. Just watch your lean angle before you grind a hole in the heel of your boots. Over the five long days I spent on the Rocket 3 GT it was easy to assess some things that you wouldn’t notice on shorter runs. One of them was that the clutch lever was just that little bit heavy that you could feel that you had been working it at the end of the day. On the plus side, the shaft drive meant that I didn’t need to worry about maintaining a chain during the trip. It makes life on the road that little bit simpler. The gearbox is super-slick and easy to use. Not that you need to use it that much – the huge amount of torque and how widely it is available on the range means that you can pretty much just flick it in third and cruise at any speed. Acceleration is rapid across the rev range, and overtakes happen before the poor slow drivers know what just happened. The limitations of the machine come when the roads get smaller, corners tighter and speeds slower. As you’d expect, a bike of this size is not ideal for small Alpine-style tracks 14 Motorcycle Sport & Leisure – established 1962
TOP LEFT: The Green Welly Stop gathers biker and bikes of all sorts ABOVE: Tranquillity, natural beauty and great biking roads – Scotland has it all! BELOW: Biking is BIG in Scotland
with hairpins and broken road surface. In its defence, the Rocket 3 has ample torque to pull itself up any hills, and the slow speed control is good. The problems are mostly mental as you are trying to turn a big, heavy bike in a small space, with your feet pointing forward rather than towards the ground… It got much better the more time I spent on those roads, but if I had to do it again I’d be asking any adventure bike riders to swap machines with me. It’s surprising how manageable the GT is for its size, but it does have its limits. You wouldn’t put it in the ‘do-it-all’ category of motorcycles.
Touring Accommodation
The base for this tour was the Four Seasons Hotel in St. Fillans in the northeast corner of Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park. With stunning views over Loch Earn, the Four Seasons offers spacious rooms and chalets, well-stocked bar, fantastic food, and a biker-friendly welcome. Rooms start from £95 per night. Web: www.thefourseasonshotel.co.uk | Tel: 01764 685333 Email: info@thefourseasonshotel.co.uk
Touring extras
Our test bike was made a bit more touring friendly with the following accessories: ■ Luggage rack (£200) ■ Sports panniers (£470) ■ Pannier mounting kit (£345) The panniers (20 litres each) are easily removable with the ignition key, and just about big enough for all the stuff you need on a week-long tour. The luggage rack is very small, but handy if you need to strap extra bits on, or you can use it as a handy helmet stand with the pillion back rest.
Weight watching The new Rocket 3 GT is more than 40kg lighter than the previous generation, with its new crankcase assembly, lubrication system and balancer shafts, as well as a lighter gearbox and a mass-optimised aluminium frame. It’s still a bit of a heavy beast, though: Triumph only lists the dry weight of 294kg, which means well over 300kg with oil, coolant and 18 litres of fuel on board.
Test Ride
The invisible hand
The Rocket 3 GT is loaded with electric goodies from the essential, through the nice-to-have, to the downright questionable. The obvious winners in this category are the standard fitment heated grips and cruise control, which both are easy to use with a single button control, and add to the ride quality. Hill start control is another useful feature in such a lump of a bike. And there’s also a USB charging point to keep your gadgets powered up. Behind the scenes, there is a lot going on too. There’s cornering ABS and traction control, and four ride modes (Road, Sport, Rain and Rider configurable). All of this is kept in check by an IMU unit that knows exactly which way you’re heading, how fast, in what angle, and whether that necessitates the activation of any of the safety features. And then there’s the keyless
ABOVE: Mornings were beautiful, but chilly ABOVE RIGHT: Braemar Castle. One of the many places where you just have to stop for a photo BELOW: Leaving Scotland on the A68
ignition, but the less said about that the better. In practice, you don’t really feel what’s going with the ABS and traction control unless you really are in trouble and need them to come into play. There isn’t a huge difference in the feel of the ride modes either, as they all provide a very smooth power delivery, with a slightly different sense of urgency.
When it’s all said and done The Triumph Rocket 3 GT is a very special bike, there’s no denying that. Riding a bike with an engine twice the size of one you find in a regular family car is special too. And the way people react to the bike is definitely special – I have never known anything like it. But does the bike work in the real world? Yes and no. If you accept it as what it is – an unreasonably large, powerful, heavy and expensive motorcycle – then you will have great
fun on it. But if you want it to be the Jack of All Trades, the one bike that can do it all, then you’re barking up the wrong tree. Just like high-end cars, the Rocket 3 is sure to have its own cult following, but it will never be the one for the masses. The price alone will see to that. And on top of that it’s not the most versatile option if you only have one bike. There are others that will do more for less. But then again, it is the most incredible machine that will bring a smile to your face if you ride it like it was designed to be ridden. And it turns heads like a rock star – it’s not every day that a 2500cc bike rolls past. Last year, when the Rocket 3 was launched, I asked Triumph’s Chief Engineer Stuart Wood why on earth they built a bike this big. His answer was simple: “We could do it, so why wouldn’t we?” I think that tells you everything you need to know.
The other rocket T hat same engine powers two Rocket 3 models, the roadster styled R, and our test bike, the touringoriented G T . T he R has mid-positioned foot pegs and roadster handlebars, but no screen or pillion back rest. T he G T features forward-mounted pegs, touring handlebars, fl y screen and a more padded pillion seat with a back rest. It also gets heated grips as standard, standar whereas on the R they are an optional extra. All these items are interchangeable between the bikes – so you can pick and choose if you want.
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TOURING Your rides ◆ Expert advice ◆ Places to go
TO EVEREST BY MOUSE Richard goes long-distance riding for a noble reason
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ichard Barr from Letchworth (originally Dundee) has ridden 10,000 miles to Mt Everest Base Camp, raising funds for the Down's Syndrome Association and Woolgrove School, Special Needs Academy. He was part of a group of 20 riders led by Globebusters, and had sponsorship from Avon tyres and NGK Spark Plugs. And he wasn't alone. Apart from 19 other riders, mascot Tom Mouse rode all the way there as well, most of it in the tank bag. 'This adventure and all the fundraising challenges I undertake are in memory of our son Tom,” said Richard. “He had Down’s Syndrome and died in Great Ormond Street Hospital in 2004, aged seven.” The trip took 10 weeks and passed through 19 countries,
including Albania, Greece, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, the ’Stans and China before reaching Everest Base Camp in Tibet. Richard takes up the story as they ride into Turkey: “Turkey felt almost immediately different to the quiet and rural Greece. Turkey felt vibrant and ambitious, a feeling amplified hugely in Istanbul, a city of over 15 million people. What captured us most was the frequent call to prayer. Five times a day the city would be alive with the call from hundreds of mosques – haunting, moving, soothing... A feature of road travel across Turkey is speed traps and coming across police and military checkpoints. East of Istanbul, we were stopped three times! “...In Georgia the pothole count increased significantly and some of the Georgians' driving was a bit erratic. Evidence of the
country’s recent Soviet heritage was on show with gas pipe networks running above ground in many of the towns...” After crossing the Caspian Sea by ferry they entered Turkmenistan, a country the size of Spain, which allows only 10,000 tourists in each year. Riding across the Karakum Desert to the capital Ashgabat, they anticipated temperatures in the high 30s, but it was belting with rain for much of the journey, with spectacular lightning bolts across the sky. The Kyzylkum Desert in Uzbekistan delivered though, with temperatures of up to 35C and an excellent dualcarriageway, which sudden ended, giving way to a dust and rubble track. In western China security was high, with regular checkpoints equipped with scanners and armed police. All public buildings – including schools and petrol stations – had reinforced barricades with armed guards. But it wasn't all like that. In Kashgar's ancient Muslim quarter the locals were keen to take selfies with the travellers. As ever with overland trips, the friendliness of locals shone through. Into Tibet, crossing the high plateau and several mountain
Richard Barr is raising funds for the Down’s Syndrome Association
Rich hard d and d Tom Mouse mad de it to within sight of Everest
passes of over 5000m before stopping at the beautiful Mount Kailash, a pilgrimage destination for four religions. Finally, after 10 weeks on the road, they made it to Everest Base Camp. “We were privileged to experience a wealth of places and cultures,” said Richard. “We travelled on some amazing and challenging roads through extremes of weather and built friendships with a fantastic group of fellow adventurers.” Read about Richard's other adventures at https://richardschallenges.blogspot.com/
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Tunnel of Death (three miles, dark, wet), Tajikistan
Richard pays for all his adventures himself, so any donations go to the Down’s Syndrome Association and Woolgrove School. Online: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/richardbarr By cheque: email Richard on dicky.barr@ntlworld.com
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Day Ride
HEADING FOR SNOWDON Over the second highest mountain pass in Wales to a wet and windy coastline WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY: SEAN TARVER
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hen I was younger, I'd often set off on long rides around the country or over to France or Germany. Then work, wives and children got in the way, and although I had still had bikes, they became more of a commuting tool or garage ornament than anything else. Then I found that my ageing BMW R1100RT was only clocking up a few hundred miles each year. There was a reason for that – it was too heavy and wide to easily get out of the garage and manoeuvre past our cars. The RT went, but I was determined to do more riding and given the choice of a bike or no bike, decided on something smaller and with character. I tried a new Moto Guzzi V7 and fell for all its eccentricities and burbling sound, despite relatively low power. Wondering whether I would commit myself to paying for a new one, I came across a used Breva 750, the V7's predecessor. Same engine, frame and gearbox, no retro looks or modern tech, but I could afford to buy it for cash!
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PART ONE ABOVE: Valleys don’t get much prettier than this BELOW: Comfy, easy to handle, nice noise – Breva did the job
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It had a little bit of peeling paint (patina as Guzzi owners claim), but was mostly ok and, best of all, was fitted with a set of aftermarket Mistral pipes which produced a reassuring, deep barking note, like a proper motorcycle. Plus it was small and light enough to easily get out of the garage. The question was, would it be capable of touring?
DESERTED LAKE
There are still parts of the UK I have never been to, and Staffordshire (Alton Towers apart) was one of them. I came off the A50 at Uttoxeter and headed towards Stafford on the A518. Its gentle bends took me through rolling countryside, with a glimpse of a castle and an old, high-gabled farmhouse on a hill. After the pretty town of Newport I reached the outskirts of Telford... and got lost. I try not to use a GPS, preferring a paper map and remembering a chain of place names to follow. This time the signposts let me down, so tucking into a lay-by I activated a sat-nav app on my phone, which took me down the M54 a few junctions until it became the A5 towards Shrewsbury, choked with trucks, caravans and cars – I filtered through the roundabout queues and was soon heading for Welshpool and the border on the A458. I wanted to take in the mountain pass to Bwlch Y Groes, the second highest public pass in Wales at 545 metres and famously used by factories such as BSA to test their bikes. I left the A458 in the village of Ford, following the brown tourist sign for Lake Vrynwy on the B4393. On the whole I had this road to myself as it wound through the countryside, and must have crossed the border as the signage was now in Welsh as well as English. Birds flew over the road, some of them large... a buzzard – no, forked tail, a kite! I kept following the brown signs for the lake, through some lovely bends with fantastic views as the terrain became
Moto Guzzi Brevas don’t count Unassuming sign for the pass
Lake Vyrnwy
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hillier, the Guzzi’s exhausts barking and popping as we headed up and down. We eventually arrived at the lake and crossed the impressive-looking dam, with its mock medieval towers, to reach the southern shore. I stopped. Other than the sound of rushing water below and the occasional vehicle, it was so quiet, and I could not believe how few people there were. Back on the bike, riding along the southern shore, past moist, mossy banks and rocky outcrops, I spotted the sign for the pass, indicating a narrow track leading away from the lake and up a hill. Taking it entered another world. In second gear I climbed and climbed into the mountain moorland, passing two cyclists on the way up, but otherwise no cars, no people, just a few sheep. But there was no room for complacency, and the Guzzi fishtailed as we hit a patch of gravel round one steep bend. After what seemed like quite a few miles grinding away in low gear, watching out for errant sheep, I reached the top of the pass, to be greeted by the stunning view of an even deeper valley on the other side, while a slate sign announced Snowdonia National Park. Low gear again, but now for engine braking as we descended with tentative touches of the brakes, down into the village of Dinas Mawddwy, rejoining the main road and the real world again.
ABOVE: Lakeside roads are wooded and scenic TOP RIGHT: Unsuitable for HGVs, always a good sign RIGHT: Main roads carve through the Welsh scenery
BELOW LEFT: Top of Bwlch y Groes, and Snowdonia National Park BELOW: Over the moors, and not a caravan in sight
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At Barmouth it began to rain, so I dug out my new Oxford waterproofs. As it was getting heavier I decided to cut this day ride short and head north for the hotel. Joining the A470 again, I passed Trawsfynnydd with a plan to stop at Blaenau Ffestiniog and look for the mountain railway. I have a boyish soft spot for a steam engines, but the rain got heavier, the clouds got lower, and even at five o’clock it was getting darker. Then a café sign loomed, 'Bikers welcome', with a Honda CB1300 and VFR750 outside, so what could I do but stop. Duncan, the CB rider, was travelling to the Isle of Man for the Classic TT with his brother. All of us dripped water over the floor while ordering tea and bara brith (Welsh tea loaf). The brothers wondered whether my Italian bike – having now had a good soaking – would start, but it did. Not only that, but it was still comfy. Later that day, after taking off my riding gear, my hands weren't numb, my backside did not ache and my legs did not feel cramped. Cheered, I headed for the bar. NEXT MONTH: North coast, Anglesey and a stream in the sky.
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Mid Ride
It must be Norway – spot the turf roofs
PART ONE
NORDKAPP THE LONG WAY UP Do you know anyone who’s ridden a Tuono to Nordkapp? You do now, meet Jeremy! WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY: Jeremy Torr
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e had it planned for about six months. I was in charge of maps, Robin was in charge of speed, Teng would meet us halfway, and Carl would make sure his relatives in Sweden would put us up as we passed through. Our Nordkapp trip was go! Then Robin decided to have a wedding. Teng couldn’t find time away from urgent bread-making duties, and Carl was offered a job in Houston. The trip was hanging by a thread, but the urge was strong; I had the Tuono serviced by the team at Essex Performance in Basildon and set off. It was July 6, almost midsummer and great weather was predicted. I sailed jauntily across the Channel and enjoyed about half-an-hour of summer before the monsoon hit. Trucks were blown off the motorway on to their sides, fog and pelting rain made visor-down riding impossible, and my riding gear turned into dishrags. I limped into Amsterdam, narrowly avoiding what seemed like millions of bicycles and cars, and hung out my stuff to dry. Two days later it was merely damp. 56 Motorcycle Sport & Leisure – established 1962
Tuono made it to Nordkapp without a glitch, rear tyre apart
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I’d decided to ride the Aprilia Tuono (2006 V-twin) to Nordkapp because I didn’t know anybody else who had. It wasn’t the most obvious Arctic Circle ride, but I knew it was reliable and I couldn’t bear the thought of going on a BMW (or any other adventure bike for that matter). The Tuono proved its worth as I sped north from Amsterdam on uncrowded sunny roads into north Germany and Fehmarn, where the Rødbyhavn ferry to Denmark would take me into Scandinavia. Over coffee I met two cyclists, who told me enthusiastically about their trip to spot and identify as many different types of sheep as they could on Fehmarn. Exciting indeed. The ferry was unexpectedly busy, as a bomb threat the previous day had led to a tailback of trucks waiting to cross to Denmark. Among the patiently waiting passengers was a couple of young German women going to Frederiksborg Castle, to see Cliff Richard perform live. They proudly showed me dozens of photos of him on their phones. Maybe Denmark would be more exciting than Fehmarn? However, once off the ferry, Denmark impressed me mainly with its flatness and its lack of anything breaking the horizon, apart from pig farms. The most memorable thing was the stench from some roadside
toilets as I rode under cloudy skies across the Lolland and Zealand islands to the ferry at Helsingør, where I would catch the boat to Helsingborg in Sweden. A couple of burly border guards eyed me suspiciously as I rolled off the ramp, maybe because I wasn’t on an adventure bike. As the clouds parted for some refreshing Swedish sunshine, I headed north towards the delightfully named Båstad. The landscape opened up and became charming and rolling, with pine forests and tanned blonde women on bicycles. That was more like it. I pitched my tent in a corner of the campsite, ate a tasty omelette in the canteen, and retired for the night. Unfortunately the weather didn’t. As soon as it got dark, the thunder started and my $25 K-Mart tent shook so much I thought it was a goner. The rain bucketed down and I gathered my belongings into a little pile away from the dripping walls. By morning it had stopped, but it must have been heavy, as a frog had taken shelter under the groundsheet. I wiped everything down and rode off into the heart of Scandinavia, optimistically whistling in my helmet. Soon the scenery became as brilliant as the sunshine. I’d chosen side roads rather than major highways and enjoyed the rolling pine-clad hills, massive mirror-like lakes, crisp cool air and moose warning signs. A trucker in a chunky container lorry nodded at me, mouthing “Nice bike”. www.mslmagazine.co.uk 57
Stopped for petrol, I met a Swedish couple. Their Harley had broken down, which meant they would miss their ferry and hotel reservations all the way to Croatia. But they were very Viking about the situation. “The holiday is now no good, is all kaput, but the sun is shining and we are still alive,” they smiled. I decided I liked Sweden.
RUBBLE AND SLIME
That night I bedded down in a little hytte (hiker’s hut). These are everywhere in Sweden and Norway for walkers to sleep in, and cheap, too. This one was a bit bigger than a dog kennel, but lovely and warm, with enough room for two bunks and a chair, and right by the edge of one of those glass-calm lakes. I slept the sleep of the contented. The next day’s journey to Östersund, where Carl’s brother Henrik lived, was a roller-coaster of superb empty tarmac, with deer flitting in and out of the sweet-smelling forests lining the road, and glimpses of snow-capped peaks in the distance. Biking heaven. When I arrived, Henrik was about to leave for a work assignment that Carl forgot to mention. Luckily, his wife believed my Nordkapp story and welcomed me in, gave me a tour of the town and its amazing old wooden buildings. After a day or so chilling in Östersund, I headed west for Norway. The E14 main road to Trondheim is a bit of a yawn, so I turned off on a side road – the 332 – which was going in my direction. Boy, what a road; my diary noted it was 'the best ever', and it was until the Tarmac ran out. Mountains loomed over, the clouds swirled in and the surface turned to ice-like, glacier-fed volcanic rubble and slime. I hadn’t seen a vehicle for nearly an hour, there was no phone signal and my road tyres had nil grip, even at walking pace. I was swearing equally violently at the remoteness, my poor decision making, the potential for being eaten by a wolf and what my family would say at the funeral. Then a truck appeared slowly, coming the other way. I waved frantically and it stopped. “The road is good in about 10n minutes,” smiled the driver, and a short while later I was cruising down crisp new tarmac into sunny Norway. 58 Motorcycle Sport & Leisure – established 1962
TOP LEFT: Fjords are majestic, but not for swimming TOP RIGHT: Made it, and on a Tuono! ABOVE: Jeremy’s sophisticated navigation system exposed
BELOW: Norwegian road hazard
The road north (there really is only one – look at the map) is the E6, and if I thought that Sweden's 332 was the best, I was mistaken. Everybody should ride the E6 once. Incredible scenery, sinuously twisty, fantastic surface, no traffic. It was just crying out for a bike like the Tuono, and I caned it. Then at a petrol stop a German biker mentioned that the speed limit was 50mph, rigidly applied and ferociously fined if exceeded. He told of bikers who hitched home after their bikes were confiscated for overdoing it. I slowed down. A lot.
FURTHER NORTH
As I rode north, the number of roadworks increased. The road guys can only mend them in summer when the snow and ice have melted, which exposes the same volcanic gravel slime as on the 332. This has the side effect of working like mobile sandpaper – my rear tyre rubber was disappearing by the minute, and the bike’s handling deteriorated rapidly. Luckily I had slowed down by about 50% to avoid being nicked, so it wasn’t so bad. But I realised that zipping around the Arctic Circle on bald tyres would be a Bad Idea, so asked at food and petrol stops if
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there was a motorbike or tyre shop around. Everybody laughed dismissively, and said no. Meanwhile, the roads became higher, snowier, and more lonely as I rode further north, and my rear tyre was now almost completely shagged. What to do? The only option was to make a detour into Tromsø, the biggest city in north Norway, and the only place likely to have any tyres. It was raining heavily there, snow melt was making the rivers rise and roar, and all the restaurants were all closed. It was also freezing. I found the campsite, but some idiot with a dog walked into my tent ropes, got tangled in them and started swearing, which made the dog bark and jump about even more in the ropes and spatter us all in mud. Things were not looking rosy. Next day I tracked down one of two bike shops in Tromsø, Eide Motor. The news was almost good. They had the right tyre, but had fitted it to another bike just hours ago. I must have looked gutted, because the lady behind the desk, Lotte, said she would ring around. And luck was with me – wholesaler Vianor had just one left, and could fit it! I rushed across town to Vianor, and spent a happy hour with Leije fitting the new rubber. He went above and beyond what anybody could expect for the price of a tyre in the Arctic Circle, and I owe him big time. Feeling confident of making Nordkapp now, I pointed up the E6 into the really wild country. The road got bleaker and bleaker, the bare rock tunnels (most several kilometres long) got longer and gloomier, and the snow piled up deeper next to ice-covered lakes. Surprisingly, it wasn’t too cold, maybe because it was by now pretty dry. With Nordkapp almost in reach, I decided to pace myself and stay at the nearest campsite, Olderfjord, splashing out and renting another hut. The place was crawling with BMW 1200s, which made me even more proud of the Tuono. What a bike! A couple of German guys told me the best time to visit Nordkapp was 2-3am. “The visitor centre will be closed for sure, and you can ride right in. No need to pay!” they added
TOP LEFT: Summer solstice means free firewater TOP RIGHT: A Norwegian vista, always superb ABOVE: : The only way across the fjords is by ferry
Germanically. I got an early night and set the alarm for 3am, waking at the alarm to bright sunshine – land of the midnight sun, remember? Nobody was about, and the day looked perfect. I headed for the most northerly point of Europe, some 2300 miles from home. I have to admit, I was excited. The road was totally empty, the surface was clean and dry, and I reckoned the chances of police were slim, so I gave the Tuono a bit of right hand. The 80-odd miles blurred by in a little over an hour, including twisty coastline jinks and diving under the sea for almost five miles in the dark and slimy Nordkapp Tunnel, seawater from the fjiord hundreds of feet above dripping on to my helmet. I arrived at the headland, and the famous steel globe, totally alone apart from a few gulls. I rode right up to it, posed, snapped a couple of photos and watched the sun glisten on the Arctic Sea, grinning like an idiot. Then I got back on the Tuono and we carved it back, again on virtually empty roads. Still grinning, I jumped into bed and slept like a baby. The Tuono and I had done it, and Robin, Teng and Carl would be kicking themselves. Now all we had to do was find our way back. NEXT MONTH: Finland, the Baltics, Ukraine, then west... www.mslmagazine.co.uk 59
Long Ride
THE HIMALAYAN Royal Enfield named its adventure bike after a mountain range – so David Robinson-Smith took one there WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY: David Robinson-Smith
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ed yells “Lock and Load” from the back of a line of Enfield Himalayans as we re-mount ready for our second attempt to cross Baralacha La, a 4685-metre pass which had been blocked by a landslide the day before. “God, I love saying that,” he adds. Ted was one of a half-a-dozen affable west coast Canadians who provided the backchat for my trip. We were riding from Vashisht in the Himachal Pradesh to Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir. Final destination – Srinagar – is about as far as you can go in India before reaching Pakistan. I had arrived in Delhi a week earlier, a great introduction to India. From the airport, you’re suddenly faced with an eight lane no rules, race track populated by death-defying rickshaws, nonchalant cattle, old men carrying impossible loads on bicycles, creaking trucks and hordes of small cars. But according to the radio this was a good day, with the 60 Motorcycle Sport & Leisure – established 1962
ABOVE: Royal Enfield’s idea was for a lighter, simpler adventure bike
RIGHT: That’s another pass ticked off
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temperature dipping below 40C (just) and pollution levels dropping from severe to high. Suitably acclimatised, I took a flight north. I was travelling with an organised group of 18, including groups from South Africa and Brazil as well as the Canadians. I was the only Brit. Road captain (Manish) led from the front while Murphi was the tail rider and was a mechanic in the support van with all our gear. The website specified, 'You should have a reasonable level of fitness at the time of the tour and at least one year experience of riding a motorcycle.' I would have added experience of riding off-road, and in a group of predominantly road riders, the high passes with river crossings, boulder-strewn terrain, sharp climbs and gravelly descents were challenging for all and unnerving for some.
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shack, with piles of soggy motorcycle gear steaming in the corner, we shared our water crossing tips over cups of hot lemon and ginger tea. These summarised as accelerate, ignore all chaos around you and pray. In other words, adopt the Indian approach. By the time we reached the Baralacha La pass for our second attempt, the weather had cleared. We were now above the snow line, a novelty for the South Africans Hendrick and Miranda who were soon snowballing and taking pictures of their snow angels.
MOVING ON UP
Day one set the tone. From Vashisht we headed up the Rohtang pass (just under 4000m) and as we climbed, it started raining. Traffic slowed as visibility deteriorated and the Tarmac became patchy, interspersed with rocks, puddles and mud. Looking down between the clouds from hairpin crests you see a cliff edge with insect-sized cars far below. Look up and there were streams of muddy water flowing over rocks jutting precariously out of the bank above. At one point the road became a river. The Indian way to tackle such obstacles (which applies to all vehicles) is to charge at it, safe in the knowledge that someone else will always help if things go wrong. And things do. As I watched, the river became increasingly littered with half-submerged bikes, static cars and flailing arms. Later in a roadside www.mslmagazine.co.uk 61
At this height the Himalayas impose their presence. It’s the combination of being surrounded by towering snow-capped peaks, huge jagged rock faces and featureless boulder fields where there appears to be little life of any sort. It creates a stillness that quickens the heartbeat. Or that could have been the lack of oxygen. The Enfield certainly thought so. Twisting the throttle at this height brought a lengthy pause followed finally by a slow, reluctant beat from the bowels of the single cylinder. There is no rushing an Enfield at this height. By day five we had scaled two major passes and set out on our longest day so far. We were passing from the state of Himachal Pradesh to Jammu and Kashmir. Ladakh is a region of Jammu and Kashmir and the name translates as, 'land of high passes'. True to form, our journey entailed 130 miles across three mountain passes, all above 4700m, the last reaching 5330m. I had now established my rhyt ythm t on the bike. The Himalayan is tall enough to stand comfortably (I’d also removed the peg rubbers and turned the hand bars upwards for additional height), while the 21-inch front wheel bounces over most stuff. The brakes, suspension and engine are all comfortably predictable. With the weather bright, clear and warm, the riding was easier so we could appreciate the scenery. With one eye watching for the ever-present boulders and potholes, it was possible to snatch a view of a distant soaring eagle or a marmot scurrying to cover as 18 chugging Enfield’s rumbled past. On reaching our highest point of the day, I asked George how he was getting on. To a man, the Canadians were laid back, but George – a 60-something computer programmer on a year-long sabbatical – took this to an extreme, raised a flat hand. Straight-faced, he started to tilt it up and down. “Well, I guess I’m OK,” he said hesitantly. For George this meant he was loving every moment.
GROUP DYNAMICS
At Leh we had to change bikes. Our Himalayans were from Delhi, but to ride a rental bike in Ladakh you have to rent it locally, not the first time we came up against bureaucracy. In addition to the formal checkpoints, informal roadblocks were common. Typically, rocks in the road funnel the traffic into a single file towards a very non-official group of men checking who knows what. I was told there is always a 62 Motorcycle Sport & Leisure – established 1962
ABOVE: View from gondola taxi, Srinagar RIGHT: Pangong Lake spans India and China
ABOVE: Himalayan in the Himalayas
demand for money and what followed was a very animated conversation between Manish and the men. Typically, after much shouting and gesturing we are herded through. Money rarely appeared to change hands. The following day we rode our replacement Himalayans out of Leh. Some of these bikes were fuel-injected, which was an improvement, but mine sounded more like a poorly maintained lawn mower – the bars shook so much my left hand went numb after riding for anyt ything t more than half-an-hour. We were heading for Khardung La – our highest mountain pass at 5400m, higher than Everest base camp. By this time the dynamics of the group had been
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ABOVE: David was impressed by the Enfield, up to a point RIGHT: Stopped for tea BELOW: One of the better roads
established. This was my first group bike trip as previously I have travelled alone, and I must admit I was sceptical as 18 people makes a big group. If you think herding cats is hard, try herding 16 mid to older aged men (plus two women) every day for two weeks. Credit to Manish, he would patiently talk us through our itinerary for the day, explaining the importance of keeping behind him and in front of the tail rider. The route had been circulated before the trip and everyone had a copy. That didn’t stop people disappearing for periods and re-appearing sheepishly later. There was no real intent to ignore the rules, just simply a result of middle-aged men and their inherent absentmindedness. Ian – another of the sexagenarian Canadians – rode the whole route sat stoically in the saddle no matter how bad the road surface, bumping uncomfortably along at a snail’s pace. Whenever we stopped he’d ask: “Where the hell is this place?” With every plate of food: “What is this supposed to be?”
The Brazilians on the other hand had other things in mind. They always rode together and at every stop they formed a circle, had a team hug, danced, yelled and took a vast number of selfies. The South Africans’ love of snow was only surpassed by their love of smoking – Anton, who rode the trip with his partner Coreen pillion, made one concession to combatting the effects of altitude sickness. He moderated his intake from 60 cigarettes a day to 30(ish). It all felt at times a bit like an episode of the wacky races, but strangely, it worked.
ABOVE: Stopover at the Indian end of Pangong Lake LEFT: Accomodation – better than camping
HIGHEST HIGH
As is said (probably too often), it is the journey you remember, not the destination. Having navigated past an endless convoy of Army trucks, we reached the peak of Khardung La and took our pictures of the monument amidst the mass of fluttering prayer flags. A board from the Border Roads Organisation welcomed us to the 'highest motorable all weather road in the world’. At 5400m, we were panting with the altitude, hearts working overtime. The only other effect of the altitude I had was a dull headache, but decided not to stay longer than need be. The downhill ride was more relaxing, and although the road was pot-holed and rocky, I got into a rhyt ythm, t standing on the pegs and taking wide lines with the valley opening up in the distance ahead of me. I was riding alone and the only sound was from the single cylinder thumping away beneath me reverberating across the mountains. On day eight we reached the Indian end of Pangong lake – the other end was in China. In contrast to the surrounding landscape of dry, barren, austere mountains, this huge blue stretch of water was a welcome change and is said to be the world’s highest salt water lake. By now this height (4350m) seemed almost normal. Returning to Leh we stocked up on supplies and were re-united with our original bikes. This was a relief, as my rental bike still felt like it was at risk of shaking itself to bits. The remaining 250 miles to Srinagar were mainly on good roads and with only a few stops for breakdowns (a broken throttle cable, a slipping clutch and a puncture), we made good progress. We stayed overnight in Kargil in what was now a predominantly Muslim area. The Pakistan border was close and every small town we passed seemed to be part of a larger Army base. Long lines of military trucks moved in convoy in both directions. Unknowingly, we faced one last challenge. Zoji La is only a 3500m mountain pass and should have been a breeze for a group of accomplished mountain marmots, which we now considered ourselves. Unfortunately, an army convoy in one direction and a 64 Motorcycle Sport & Leisure – established 1962
TOP RIGHT: Even below the passes, scenery was stunning ABOVE RIGHT: Yep, it gets wet and grey on the passes
BELOW: Squeezing past a military convoy on Zoji La
line of prehistoric trucks met mid-way and the ensuing impasse on a single-track mountain track was chaotic. Add rain, minimal visibility due to low cloud, diesel fumes, kamikaze taxis and cliff edges. On the way down we stopped to re-group. Then one of the Brazilians suddenly slumped on his bike. He’d blacked out and had to ride pillion for the remainder of the day. After a long day we reached Srinagar, the largest city in Kashmir and our final destination. Despite the constant presence of Indian soldiers (Kashmiris actively contest Indian rule), it felt like an oasis of calm after the drama of the mountains. The city is centred around the picturesque Dal lake and the hotels are river boats. We parked the bikes for the last time and spent the next few days watching the birds fishing (mainly terns and kingfishers), drinking beer, taking shikara (taxi gondola) rides and having our feet cleaned by the fish as we dangled them in the lake. Reflecting on the trip, I pondered whether the team was right in describing it as the 'ride of my life'. It’s certainly incomparable and up there as one of the most memorable, and I’d recommend it to any rider with a bit of experience. For me though, the ride of my life is always my next one, wherever that may be.
Test Ride
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Moto Guzzi’s quirky adventure V-twin has become an unlikely hit by alighting at a sweet spot between traditional and modern, large-capacity and small. We ride the V85 TT on all terrains – but mostly road – to discover what all the fuss is about Moto Guzzi V85 TT WORDS: Roland Brown PHOTOGRAPHY: Andy Saunders
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ven Moto Guzzi’s staff must have been surprised by the success of the V85 TT last year. After all, production in Mandello del Lario had been unspectacular for decades. Countless new models had come and gone without making much impact, let alone breaking sales records or approaching the status of Seventies icons like the 850 Le Mans or original California. Then suddenly the two-wheeled world couldn’t get enough of a new bike with Guzzi’s trademark pair of air-cooled pots sticking diagonally out on each side. Show-goers had swooned over the adventure V-twin
on its unveiling at EICMA in Milan; journalists had enthused at the press riding launch in Sardinia. More importantly, customers were making it a hit in the showrooms – so much so that for a while the atmospheric old factory on the banks of Lake Como couldn’t keep up with demand. Looking over the Guzzi’s stubby perspex screen as the A5 unravels on a sunny afternoon months later, this outbreak of Italian-style TT mania seems perplexing – but at the same time entirely justified. That contradiction is apparent in many ways, not least engine performance. The V85 TT feels perfectly content at road speeds, and happy to add a
Sturdy aluminium bash plate offers protection
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Test Ride Specification MOTO GUZZI V85 TT Price: £10,899 single-colour, £11,099 two-colour Engine: 853cc, air-cooled 90-degree transverse V-twin, ohv pushrod, 2vpc Power: 79bhp (80PS) @ 7750rpm Torque: 59lb-ft (80Nm) @ 5000rpm Transmission: Six-speed, shaft final drive Chassis: Tubular steel frame Suspension: (F) Inverted telescopic KYB, 170mm travel, adjustment for preload and rebound damping (R) One KYB damper, 170mm wheel travel, adjustment for preload and rebound damping Brakes: (F) 2, four-piston Brembo radial calipers, 320mm discs (R) Two-piston Brembo caliper with 260mm disc Tyres: Metzeler Tourance Next [Michelin Anakee Adventure for two-colour model] (F) 110/80 x 19 (R) 150/70 x 17 Seat height: 830mm Fuel capacity: 23 litres Fuel economy: 48mpg Wet weight: 229kg (claimed, with 90 per cent full fuel tank) Contact: www.motoguzzi.com/uk
gentle burst of acceleration when required, but lacks the grunt to get my adrenaline flowing as a more powerful bike would. Similarly the Guzzi is delivering a pleasing platform from which to watch the Leicestershire hedgerows flash by, without being high-tech or luxurious. Provided I don’t rev it too hard, the TT is throbbing along with a gentle vibration and restrained exhaust sound that anyone who’s ridden a Guzzi V-twin would recognise. It’s proving respectably quiet, roomy, comfortable and well appointed. Although its chassis is not particularly sophisticated, I’m fine with that. The fairly long-travel suspension is soaking up all but the biggest bumps pretty well, while retaining sufficient control that when a roundabout appears I’m glad of the chance to leave my braking late, then squeeze the lever hard, tread down a few gears and crank round at an enthusiastic pace. Sometimes I’ve been adding an extra lap just for fun, relishing the bike’s cornering ability as though its TT stood for Tourist Trophy rather than Tutto Terrano. That ‘all terrain’ designation confirms the V85 TT’s design brief as a contender in the
thriving middleweight adventure category, amid competition from bikes including BMW’s F850GS and Honda’s Africa Twin. That’s timely, as is its ability to join the retro-themed scrambler ranks popularised by Ducati, Triumph and more. If the TT gains by having a foot in both camps, it also builds on lessons that Guzzi have learned in several decades spent trying to crack the dual-purpose market, dating back to the Eighties and Nineties, when machines like the firm’s Quota 1000 were called big trailies rather than adventure bikes. More recently, the Stelvio 1200 had its merits, but failed to take a significant slice of the fast-rising adventure bike cake,
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and the 744cc V7 Stornello was cute but underpowered, even for a middleweight. The V85 TT slips neatly into a gap between the two, and seems to have hit that Goldilocks spot of having just about enough of everything. It’s a product of Guzzi’s V9 family of 853cc V-twins, following the forgettable Bobber and Roamer roadsters. Its engine retains the air-cooled, pushrod-operated, two-valves-percylinder layout favoured since the Sixties, but is a complete revision.
UPDATED, BUT FAMILIAR
BELOW: Dash could be bigger
A long list of top-end updates including titanium inlet valves reduces weight and friction considerably, allowing an increase in peak output from 54bhp to a much more useful 79bhp. A re-designed crankshaft and conrod assembly cuts weight by almost 30 per cent, improving throttle response and reducing vibration. The lubrication system is also new, with a semi-dry sump layout that allows increased ground clearance. The engine forms a stressed member of the purpose-built tubular steel frame, which holds upside-down forks and a diagonally mounted single shock, both from KYB. Each
ROAD Eagle’s Adventures: GUZZI’S ROUTE TO THE V85 TT Moto Guzzi can’t claim much off-road tradition, but the V85 TT’s lineage includes participation in the inaugural Paris-Dakar Rally in 1979. A French team entered five modified V50 roadsters, known as V50 TT specials. Four failed to finish, but Bernard Rigoni rode the other to a heroic 48th of 74 finishers in the combined car and bike event. In the Eighties, Guzzi’s Dakar ace was an architect called Claudio Torri, who entered a big-tanked, factory-built V65 TT in 1985. He didn’t finish, but returned in 1986 with a more powerful, 750cc V75 TT, only to suffer a drive shaft failure. Guzzi’s dual-purpose production V-twins began in the late Eighties with the NTX650, which was soon enlarged to 750cc. The NTX750 was built until the mid-Nineties, but was best known for its even longer-lasting police bike derivative, complete with big blue flashing lights.
end gives a generous 170mm of wheel travel, with adjustability for spring preload and rebound damping. Wheels are wire-spoked with a typical adventure bike’s 19-inch diameter front, rather than a roadster’s 17 inch or truly dirt-friendly 21 inch. Slightly strangely, Guzzi have chosen to fit different tyres to the single-colour and two-tone TTs. This bluey-green test bike wears Metzeler’s Tourance Nexts, as do its grey or red alternatives, but the two-colour model (white plus either yellow or red), which also has a suede seat cover and red frame, comes with Michelin’s slightly chunkier Anakee Adventures. Either way, there’s no doubt that the TT’s style is a big part of its appeal. Those twin lights, linked by the eagle-shaped daytime running light, make a beaky face with the high-level front mudguard. With its air-cooled pots jutting out seductively between the shapely fuel tank and aluminium bash-plate, the Guzzi has a streetfighter-meets-scrambler look that perfectly reflects its intended use. That ‘just enough’ feeling held true when I threw a leg over the 830mmhigh seat and reached forward to the wide, slightly raised handlebar. The TT is big enough to feel substantial and roomy, yet at 229kg with a near-full tank it’s lighter than most big adventure bikes and low enough to be manageable for most riders. That said, it weighs more than retro-rivals including BMW’s R nineT Scrambler and Ducati’s Scrambler 1100 Sport, and is more than 20kg heavier than KTM’s 790 Adventure and Yamaha’s Ténéré 700.
In the early Nineties, Guzzi came up with the Quota 1000, featuring twin headlamps, giraffe-like suspension and mile-high seat. My main memory of testing it is of trying to avoid using the scary front brake, which instantly overwhelmed the soggy forks and skinny, 21in front tyre. Guzzi made a better effort in 2008 with the Stelvio 1200. It was stylish, handled well and its 105bhp output matched that of BMW’s all-conquering R1200GS. But a small fuel tank, feeble low-rev performance and a price close to the GS’s meant it was largely ignored, and updating it with bigger tank and more grunt did little to help. The bike that provided a blueprint for the V85 TT was the V7 II Stornello of four years ago. A scrambler-style derivative of the 744cc, entry-level V7 II roadster, it made just 48bhp. But it looked cool and highlighted the potential for a more powerful retro all-rounder.
It barked into life with a familiar Guzzi sideways shuffle and whir of air-cooled valve gear, if not with the pronounced lurch and rattle of old. In this and other respects it’s sort of Guzzi lite, with enough traditional Mandello character to make it interesting, but also with modern touches to appeal to riders coming from other brands. There’s a USB socket alongside the TFT screen, which is colourful if slightly small and busy; and a choice of three riding modes (Road, Rain and Off-road), which automatically change the ABS and traction control settings to suit, turning off the rear wheel anti-lock in the case of Off-road.
ROADS AND OFF-ROADS
In its modest way the engine is a gem, despite its 79-horse maximum being below the low 90s figure that many middleweights produce these days. Crucially, Guzzi’s engineers didn’t make the mistake of chasing top-end power at the expense of lower rev performance, as they initially did
BELOW: Broad seat is comfortable but doesn’t allow for much movement BELOW RIGHT: Braking power courtesy of Brembo
with the Stelvio. The TT’s power delivery is flexible and well controlled, and there’s plenty of urge through the midrange. Guzzi say that 90 per cent of maximum torque is delivered from 3750rpm, which felt about right. From anywhere much above 3000rpm the bike rumbled forward obediently, getting increasingly enthusiastic as it approached the peak at 5000rpm. It was very much at home on twisty B-roads, accelerating at an entertaining, if not arm-straining rate as those lightened internals showed their benefit in conjunction with nicely metred fuelling. The revised six-speed gearbox is a notable improvement on most Guzzi efforts of old, too. First went in without the traditional clonk, and the box changed very sweetly, though it’s a shame there’s no quick-shifter even as an option. The shaft final drive didn’t intrude. The TT also worked well on more open roads, having sufficient grunt for easy overtakes, and cruising with
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Test Ride REAR SUSPENSION
The KYB rear shock is diagonally mounted on the bike’s right, and matches the front forks by providing 170mm of wheel travel and being adjustable for preload and rebound damping, but not compression.
REAR WHEEL
Both the 17in rear wheel and 19in front are wire-spoked rather than cast. This standard TT wears Metzeler Tourance Next rubber; the two-tone model comes with Michelin’s Anakee Adventures.
FRAME
INSTRUMENTS
The main frame uses the engine as a stressed member and does without lower rails to maximise ground clearance. The rear subframe, also made from tubular steel, incorporates pillion hand-holds and a rack.
ENGINE
The 853cc engine has Guzzi’s classical air-cooled, 90-degree transverse V-twin layout and four-valve, pushrod-operated top-end design, but is all new, with lightweight internals and semi-dry sump bottom end.
Closest Rival
BMW R NINET SCRAMBLER – £11,060 If you’re looking for a cool European bike with a retro vibe, a torquey, shaft-drive twin-cylinder engine and a hint of off-road ability, both the Scrambler and identically priced R nineT Urban G/S – styled like the original R80G/S – tick all the boxes. The 110bhp boxers are more powerful and slightly lighter than the Guzzi, but they’re also simpler and less well equipped, with basic instrumentation, little or no wind protection and thin bench seats. seats
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The V85 TT might have a retro look, but its cockpit view is modern, with a colourful TFT display to show the selected engine mode and digital speedo, and a USB socket alongside for electronic extras.
FRONT BRAKE
Brembo’s radial four-pot calipers and 320mm discs provide strong stopping power in conjunction with the 260mm rear disc, but the Guzzi doesn’t match some of its rivals with a cornering ABS system.
FRONT SUSPENSION
KYB’s 41mm usd front forks are adjustable for preload and rebound damping, and provide good ride quality from their 170mm of travel along with plenty of feedback on what the 19in front wheel is doing.
a pleasantly long-legged feel. The Guzzi would sometimes feel underpowered if loaded with a pillion and luggage; a rumoured larger capacity model would satisfy that need. For touring it does at least have an easily used cruise control. Also helping on longer trips was its ergonomic blend of roomy, slightly leant forward riding position and usefully efficient wind protection. Being very tall I hadn’t expected too much of the screen, which isn’t height adjustable, but can be pivoted on its mount. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that in its most upright position it kept the breeze off my chest whilst generating minimal turbulence, something few bikes manage. The hand-guards’ protection was useful too, although they could be larger and I’d regard the accessory heated grips as essential. I had no complaints about the broad seat, which I found comfortable, although its pronounced pillion step limits the rider’s ability to move around. With
ROAD Kitted out: the V85 TT Travel The V85 TT Travel is billed as a new model, but is essentially the standard V-twin plus accessories: taller screen; heated grips; LED spotlights; panniers (plastic with aluminium inserts); and Guzzi’s multimedia platform for smartphone connectivity. The Travel comes in a new sand colour, and wears Michelin Anakee Adventure tyres like the two-tone standard TT. It costs £11,999, so £1100 more than the standard model: good value if you want all the accessories, but maybe not if you only want some, or prefer the tougher all-aluminium panniers.
the TT drinking fuel at an average of almost 50mpg its 23-litre tank gave a useful range of well over 200 miles, if not quite the 250 that Guzzi claim. Roadgoing handling was very good, blending respectably light steering with stability, despite the big front wheel and generous suspension travel. The TT pitched into turns in response to light pressure on the wide bars, and had sufficient damping to keep its cool even when cranking through bumpy B-road bends at a healthy pace. The Metzelers gripped impressively and the footrests occasionally scraped, though not hard enough to cause any problems. Ride quality was usually as good as you’d expect with all that suspension travel. On a few occasions big bumps kicked through the seat with spine-jarring force, but the KYB units generally did a sound job and the standard settings were a reasonable compromise. The forks even coped well when I was making use of Brembo’s front brake blend of 320mm discs and four-piston radial calipers, which gave plenty of stopping power, if not the two-finger ferocity or cornering ABS of some rival systems. My off-road excursions were limited to a few brief dirt-road diversions, where the Metzelers coped fine without doing anything to suggest they were designed for the task. At least there was that sturdy bash-plate
to protect from stones or jumps. For serious off-road use you’d ideally fit Karoos or even knobblier rubber. It’s hard to imagine very many owners leaving tarmac for long, although the TT looks as though it would be sufficiently robust to take off around the world, especially if kitted out from an accessories list that includes crash-bars and aluminium panniers, as well as smartphone integration. That’s a suitably varied selection of extras, from a bike that blends old and new in engaging fashion. As for the secret of the V85 TT’s success, when you add up all the things it has going for it, the Guzzi’s popularity shouldn’t be a surprise. It’s not brilliant at anything, but scores a solid seven or eight out of ten at just about everything: it’s respectably
ABOVE: Demand for the V85 TT has surprised everyone. The factory is busy
BELOW: Switchgear is stylish BELOW RIGHT: Twin headlights are striking, but divide opinion
quick, sweet-handling, comfortable and versatile, as well as reasonably priced at £10,899 in single colour or £200 more in two-tone. Equally importantly it’s goodlooking, distinctive and bursting with slightly laid-back charm – a bike that seems to have a smile on its face and the ability to put one on its rider’s, too. Last year’s pre-launch hype was justified. The V85 TT is far from the most spectacular motorbike to come out of Italy recently. But in this increasingly crazy world it is, in many ways, the one that makes most sense.
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Test Ride Yamaha MT-03
IT’S NOT THE SIZE OF THE DOG IN A FIGHT… …it’s the size of the fight in the dog
WORDS: Carl Stevens PHOTOGRAPHY: Yamaha Motor Europe
T
here’s a lot to be said for entry-level nakeds. They suit everyone from the new riders who want to build up their confidence and hone their skills without breaking the bank, to older guys and gals who want to ride something that little bit easier and softer. And nakeds in general? Well, with Yamaha selling over 250,000 MTs since their creation, it’s fair to say that they mean business – they’ve even got their own festival now. The problem was, until now the A2 spec MT-03 just didn’t quite have the razzmatazz of its rivals; it wasn’t quite as aggressive, nor edgy
as the offering in the orange corner especially (cough, 390 Duke), so they’ve been back to the drawing board. So what’s new? Well, Yamaha tell us that there’re three main concepts they stuck by. Firstly, and most obviously, is the new design. Not only have the aesthetics been seriously overhauled with the addition of LED lights and an LCD dash, but so had the riding position. This brings us to number two, which is rider feeling. Not only does the new 03 look sleeker and more aggressive, but thanks to an MT-10esque mass forward type design combined with higher and closer
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Aggressive styling is eye-catching
LAUNCH Specification YAMAHA MT-03 Price: £5099 Engine: 321cc, 2-cylinder, l/c, DOHC, 4-valves Power: 41hp (30.9kW) @ 10,750rpm Torque: 21.8lb-ft (29.6Nm) @ 9000rpm Frame: High-tensile steel tubular frame Suspension: (F) KYB 37mm USD front forks, (R) Monocross KYB rear suspension Brakes: (F) Single 298mm disc with 2 piston caliper, (R) 220mm single disc with single piston caliper Seat Height: 780mm Wet Weight: 168kg Fuel Capacity: 14 litres Contact: www.yamaha.co.uk
bars, it should feel more antagonistic, and indeed dynamic, as well. Due to the geometry change, Yamaha have altered and sharpened the suspension up a bit, which takes us into the third and final point, of maintaining their current strengths – or so they say. See, they’ve kept a lot of the same components, including the chassis and engine, although the powerplant is still a pretty trick bit of kit for such a small cc machine, boasting forged pistons, 180-degree crankshaft and Offset DiASyl cylinders. Not bad.
RIDING IMPRESSIONS
Jumping on the 03 in Malaga, I couldn’t believe the difference in comparison to the old model. Although it doesn’t feel any bigger, thanks to the new design of the tank and the shape of the bars, it just oozed aggression, with a style akin to its best-selling bigger siblings; from the trick dash to the busty tank it actually felt like a proper bike, and after firing up those two cylinders, it even had a fairly throaty clamour as well – a rarity in the emissionstrangled world we live in nowadays. The clutch was effortlessly smooth, the fuelling delightful and the 169kg wet weight felt easy to chuck around. After some motorway mileage that the 03 lapped up with surprising ease (it will sit at 70mph+ with no issue), we hit some big, sweeping back roads, and for such a small naked, the stability was surprisingly apparent. Even on the side of the tyre it would hold a line with ease, and the way in
which Yamaha had altered the riding position made it easier than ever to really inspire confidence, creating buckets of feel in the front end. Hell, even as we left the open road and got into the tight and twisty hairpins the MT surprised me; into hard braking zones, yeah, there was a lot of dive, but nowhere near as much as I anticipated, and the brakes weren’t too shabby at all, which was a nice surprise. Okay, the ABS was quite savagely intrusive on the first initial stab, but for a fairly budget system, it’s definitely not the worst bit of kit I’ve ever tried. Having these stop and go hairpins really gave us a chance to work the engine as well, and to be honest, you’d do well to find one much smoother. After riding it through the mountains I can see why so many riders opt for one of these little things; chasing
every rev, perfecting every gear change and twisting the throttle grip as early as possible is the only way to keep going, and going fast, which in turn is just utterly infectious when searching for the quickest route, although if there’s a complaint to be had, it could be a little more lively.
CONCLUSION
BELOW: Don’t be fooled by the size of the engine BELOW RIGHT: Stubby exhaust keeps the tail light
As far as mini-nakeds go, the MT-03 is about as well rounded as they come. For a young-un? It’s got a smart level of finish, a proper big-bike feel and looks the part, which will tick most boxes. For someone with a bit more experience, it rides like a proper machine, and can hack the big open road, as well as taking on a fair amount of abuse in its stride. Okay, it’s not as exciting and urgent engine-wise as some of its rivals, but it feels every bit as fast, and for a little bike? It’s pretty damn capable.
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