ROYAL ENFIELD Bite the Bullet with our buying guide!
DOMINATOR 650SS
This was one of Norton’s finest finest
28 PAGES of TRAVEL
KAWASAKI
FROM WALES TO ITALY
NINJA 1000SX
New Top Gun of sporty touring
XR 0 0 9 F d who BMW An t is it? Wha y it? u b d l shou
SUZUKI
V-STROM 1050XT More brain and brawn
April 2020 Issue 715
Contents
PAY LESS
Get the original & best bike magazine every month
P26
18 NEWS & OPINION: 7
News
46
The High Sider
16
Maynard Hershon
48
Norton collapse
Latest products
TOURING & ADVENTURE
Ducati Superleggera V4 leads the charge of this month’s news.
24
26
36
Maynard has running issues with his new bike.
These 10 products caught our eye this month.
Your letters
Our readers know their stuff. And this is where they air their views.
38
We ask seven questions that need answers.
51
Touring news
52
Day ride
56
Mid ride
Subscription offer
Save £££ and get the magazine before it's in the shops.
Our man with his finger on the pulse of motorcycle racing.
60
66
68
74
4 Motorcycle Sport & Leisure – established 1962
Richard goes long-distance riding for a noble reason.
30
Heading for Snowdon in Wales.
All the way to Nordkapp on a Tuono. Yep, that’s right – Tuono!
Long ride
Himalayan ridden in the Himalayas. What a great excuse!
Richard Millington
80
82
When in Bologna…
…don’t forget to visit Ducati museum and factory.
Events
This is what’s going on this month.
GPS or not? Our touring man ponders navigation.
ROAD TESTS
History Boy
10
BMW electric concept
Riding to Italy
18
Kawasaki Ninja 1000SX
It’s another railway, but this time with a Hollywood link.
Louisa rides to see the resting place of her Great Uncle.
Alan Cathcart tests the latest electric concept bike.
The new Top Gun is full of gadgets, and better than before.
TEST FLEET 92
Yamaha Niken
Two wheels at the front are ideal for winter, right?
94
Kawasaki Z1000SX
95
Suzuki V-Strom 1000XT
Pre-launch test of the outgoing pre-Ninja model.
Trying the current model before the launch of the new one.
98
96
Honda Monkey
Such an icon, but does it work in the real world?
28
Yamaha MT-125
98
30
BMW F900XR
104 Burgmania
38
This little nipper proves that it’s not all about size.
Same idea as before, but now in a new package. Does it work?
Suzuki V-Strom 1050XT
The big adventure bike is updated with a retro flair.
KNOWLEDGE 85
Knowledge
A visit to Oxford Products reveals just how much effort goes into QA.
86
Tech talk
88
Motogymkhana
This time we look at brake pads.
This might just be the best fun you can have on two wheels.
Buyer's guide
Royal Enfield Bullet is a classic. And a good used buy!
MSL readers love their Suzuki Burgmans. Here are some tales from our readers.
108 Classic test
Norton Dominator 650 was one of the marque’s finest motorcycles.
114 Stafford classic show
If you need a destination for a ride, this is a good one.
116 Tried & Tested
Motorcycling kit tried and tested so you know if it’s any good.
122 Kevin Cameron
Retrospective look at motorcycle technology with a modern twist.
108
April 2020 EDITOR: Mikko Nieminen mnieminen@mortons.co.uk DESIGNERS: Charlotte Turnbull, Fran Lovely PRODUCTION EDITOR: Mike Cowton PUBLISHING DIRECTOR: Dan Savage PUBLISHER: Tim Hartley GROUP KEY ACCOUNTS MANAGER: Steff Woodhouse: swoodhouse@mortons.co.uk 01507 529452 / 07786 334330 GROUP ADVERTISING MANAGER: Sue Keily ADVERTISING SALES: Charlotte Mountain: cmountain@mortons.co.uk 01507 529538 SUBSCRIPTION MANAGER: Paul Deacon: pdeacon@mortons.co.uk CIRCULATION MANAGER: Steve O’Hara: sohara@mortons.co.uk MARKETING MANAGER: Charlotte Park: cpark@mortons.co.uk COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR: Nigel Hole EDITORIAL ADDRESS: MSL Magazine, Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincolnshire LN9 6JR WEBSITE: www.mslmagazine.co.uk GENERAL QUERIES AND BACK ISSUES: 01507 529529 24 hr answerphone help@classicmagazines.co.uk www.classicmagazines.co.uk ARCHIVE ENQUIRIES: Jane Skayman jskayman@mortons.co.uk 01507 529423 SUBSCRIPTION: Full subscription rates (but see page 26 for offer): (12 months 12 issues, inc post and packing) – UK £52.80. Export rates are also available – see page 26 for more details. UK subscriptions are zero-rated for the purposes of Value Added Tax. SUBSCRIPTION AGENTS: Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincolnshire LN9 6JR CUSTOMER SERVICES NUMBER: 01507 529529 TELEPHONE LINES ARE OPEN: MONDAY-FRIDAY 8.30AM-5PM DISTRIBUTION: Marketforce UK Ltd, 5 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London E14 5HU. 0203 787 9001. PRINTED: William Gibbons & Sons, Wolverhampton The publisher accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs. If you are sending material to us for publication, you are strongly advised to make copies and to include a stamped addressed envelope. Original material must be submitted and will be accepted solely on the basis that the author accepts the assessment of the publisher as to its commercial value. © Mortons Media Group Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage retrieval system without prior permission in writing from the publisher. ISSN: 1478-8390 MOTORCYCLE SPORT & LEISURE (USPS:001-522) is published monthly by Mortons Media Group Ltd, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincolnshire LN9 6LZ UK. USA subscriptions are $66 per year from Motorsport Publications LLC, 7164 Cty Rd N #441, Bancroft WI 54921. Periodical Postage is paid at Bancroft WI and additional entries. Postmaster: Send address changes to MOTORCYCLE SPORT & LEISURE, c/o Motorsport Publications LLC, 7164 Cty Rd N #441, Bancroft WI 54921. 715-572-4595 chris@ classicbikebooks.com
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Test Ride
LAUNCH
Test Ride BMW F900XR and F900R
LIVING IN THE
SHADOWS The F900 range could easily be ignored with the larger, headline-taking BMWs hogging the limelight. But the parallel-twins, especially the new XR, could be just what you are looking for WORDS: Matt Hull PHOTOGRAPHY: BMW
F
or many owners, their bike is a badge. A way of telling the world what you are like, what you enjoy or even how much money you have; without speaking. Sportsbikes give you thrills, at the expense of comfort. Adventure bikes give range and ruggedness at the expense of handling and often weight, while naked retro bikes look great in town or at your bike meet, but any further and you’re fighting the wind and wishing you had somewhere to store, well, anything. You are defined by your steed. BMW have plenty of these badges, like the all-conquering, go-anywhere boxer GS, the tour-the-world RT or the blistering S1000RR. So what does the all-new F900XR say about its rider? Their smaller, parallel-twin platform has always played in the shadows of the big bikes. Yet from the beginning they have offered a capable toe in many different pools – adventure, naked, even sports and certainly touring; just without quite as much significance as their bigger siblings. In 2018 the 800 was reinvigorated, enlarged and now, for the new decade, it gets another revamp – with an all-new model; the F900XR. No news yet on the GS model, but you can guess it’s coming...
F900XR – IT’S GOOD, YES; BUT WHAT THE HELL IS IT?
You can just imagine the marketeers and advertising ‘creatives’ throwing their decaf skinny latte all over their Uber, darling, because they can’t put the XR in ‘a box’. Who’s it for? What demographic are they? Where do we aim it?’ Who cares? I see it as a German Yamaha Tracer, a smaller Multistrada, or a Triumph Tiger that doesn’t like getting dirty. To me it looks good: modern, sporting, not too big and clean lines. Sitting on it doesn’t let that initial positivity down; seat heights available are
LAUNCH
T I E GIV A GO e most ffun Moto Gymkhana: th gear t you can have in firs
W
WORDS: Ross Mowbray PHOTOGRAPHY: Gary Chapman
e’ve had a long, welldocumented relationship with Moto Gymkhana. From our first practice session, we were sold on the gravitydefying motorcycle sport out of Japan. And to show you just how much of a blast you can have firing it round some cones in first gear, we thought we had better invite a few subscribers along to give it a go. Over the last two years we’ve spent time getting to grips with the sport and brushing up on our skills with main man Andrew Freeman. We’ve practiced in the office car park. We even bought a bike to compete on. And yet, you don’t need years of practice and a specialist machine to get involved and be competitive. Everyone who came along to our practice session could easily hold their own at a Moto Gymkhana meet – providing they could remember which way the course went.
KNOWLEDGE Moto Gymkhana UK’s Andrew Freeman shows us all how it’s done. On BMW’s gigantic R1250GS no less.
ENJOYED THIS PREVIEW? THE BEST ACTION IN TRIALS AND MOTOCROSS
DIRTb bike ke
VELO MAC MA S SPECIAL PECIAL NORTON RT RTON INTER AJS SCEPTRE SCEP E SPORTS! SCEPTR SPORTS POR ! PORTS
CLASSIC
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Forty-eight Autumn 2018
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MOTO MEMORIES // TECH TALK // MONTESA COTA 200 // BULTACO MATADOR
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