Motorcycle Sport and Leisure February 2015

25 PAGES OF TRAVEL

MV AGUSTA STRADALE

Exotic, triple cylinder tourer tested

KAWASAKI VERSYS

Second generation 1000cc all-rounder

NORTON RACER

£20k hand-built beauty

MOTORCYCLE FOR THE FUN OF RIDING

BMW R1200R

SPORT & LEISURE

MSL February 2015

The premium naked option

RIDING ABROAD

How you should adapt to suit

NOT JUST FOR

WINTER Why everybody should have a £700 hack in the garage.

YAMAHA MT-09 TRACER “WE DIDN’T WANT TO MAKE JUST A NICE ALL-ROUNDER” PLUS: Kawasaki GTR 1400; what to know, how much to pay ◆ IAM a better rider ◆ GasGas EC300F Racing ◆ GS Trophy ◆ Moto Guzzi V7 specials; bespoke builds with guarantees

MSL February EDITOR: Tony Carter: PUBLISHER: Steve Rose: srose@mortons.co.uk DEPUTY EDITOR: Bruce Wilson DESIGNER: Sarah Scrimshaw REPROGRAPHICS: Simon Duncan GROUP PRODUCTION EDITOR: Tim Hartley GROUP KEY ACCOUNTS MANAGER: Steff Woodhouse: swoodhouse@mortons.co.uk 01507 529452 / 07786334330 ADVERTISING TEAM LEADER: Richard Sinclair: rsinclair@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 PRODUCTION MANAGER: Craig Lamb: clamb@mortons.co.uk PUBLISHING DIRECTOR: Dan Savage: asavage@mortons.co.uk COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR: Nigel Hole ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR: Malc Wheeler 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 £49.20. 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 DISTRIBUTION: COMAG, Tavistock Road, West Drayton, Middlesex UB7 7QE. 01895 433600 PRINTED: William Gibbons & Sons, Wolverhampton

20

SEE

SEE PAGE 26

SUBSCRIBE

to MSL and part with less cash, have the magazine sent to your home (or wherever you want) and get it earlier than the poor people rushing to the shops before we sell out (again). Cha-ching!

80

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

Independent publisher since 1885

Having trouble finding a copy of this magazine?

Why not just ask your local newsagent to reserve you a copy each month?

4 mslmagazine.co.uk

Member of the Professional Publishers Association

34 12 49

CONTENTS

54

NEW 006

ONE TO RIDE

012

THE GUZZI-EST SPECIALS OF ALL

020

WORLD LAUNCH: KAWASAKI’S NEW VERSYS 1000

Malaga has a plethora of amazing routes for bikers to enjoy, many of them set against terrific mountains – here’s a beaut, if you’re passing.

There’s a place that makes the most stunning V7 specials you’ll see, from new, with a full warranty from the factory too. MSL checked them out up close and personal at the company base in that there Yorkshire – tha knooooows!

In a sector of motorcycling that’s getting very densely populated by some very good machines very quickly indeed, how will Kawasaki’s newest big sporty-tourer fare? Our John donned the textiles and headed overseas for the world launch.

028

034

044

800cc triples are a favourite for many bikers because of the torquey mid-range and revvy top end but can such a motor from Italy deliver in the sports-touring stakes when wrapped in an MV frame and styling package?

It’s our Alan’s turn to get the world launch vibe going on with this one.

WORLD LAUNCH: BMW R1200R

It’s a naked, yes, but it’s also a really interesting idea for where roadsters are going. The 125bhp, 231kg bike is the lightest ever water-cooled boxer 1200 and our Bruce went on its world launch to find out if it really is as clever, sophisticated and easy-going as we think.

049

RIDING IN WINTER: THE HACK OR THE DIRT

Two options to consider for riding this time of year without messing up the main pride and joy in your garage; grab a cheap road hack like a very aged BMW or get out on the dirt with a sorted off-roader. Here’s our pick of the ones to go for.

WORLD LAUNCH: YAMAHA TRACER MT-09

The 10th bike in the MT family is this upright sports-tourer. The boss (TC) headed over to Andalucia in Spain to put, among other things, the third evolution of the fuel-injection and traction control on the MT motor through its paces. It proved to be an interesting test of an interesting system.

WORLD LAUNCH: MV AGUSTA STRADALE 800

TOURING 068

074

28

CIDER COUNTRY

Here’s a great one-day ride in Somerset for you to try. Go stretch your legs and bag some great cider while you’re at it too.

THE MOUNTAIN MAN

An epic tale of one man’s journey to get from the east coast of America to the west coast of America using routes almost entirely consisting of roads through mountain ranges.

KNOWLEDGE 080

104

GLOVING IT: THE BUYER’S GUIDE

One of the most important bits of kit to get right, gloves are so essential and often overlooked in the kit roster. Here’s all you need to know about what to look for when buying those bits that cover up the pinkies and palm.

REFLECTIONS: YAMAHA XJ650T

In 1980 the Turbo version of the middleweight Yamaha was claimed to be able to get very close to 150mph, pumping out 90bhp and tipping the scales at 235kg dry. Impressive figures for now, back then that sort of stuff was pretty revolutionary. mslmagazine.co.uk 5

News Moto Guzzi specials

NEW

ULTRA COOL: MEET THE BRITISH ROLAND SANDS

Mark Johnson makes some of the coolest custom bikes in the UK. And they’ve got a two-year factory warranty… beat that, cool cats.

WORDS: Tony Carter PHOTOGRAPHY: Joe Dick

B

y the time you get to the end of this article and then page 79 of this magazine (the Knowledge section) you will be empowered with two linked bits of motorcycling knowledge. e first is that customs are absolutely where the trend in motorcycling is right now – and we’ve got a massive hike in sales figures to back that up, and the second is that in Shipley, West Yorkshire is a man at the very heart of the movement – but you might not realise how on the button what he’s doing actually is.

Step forward and take a bow Mark Johnson, boss of Moto Strada. e dealership started 10 years ago with Moto Guzzi and over the past decade has been dealing in various strands of Italian mainstream alongside the Guzzi brand including Aprilia, Vespa and Derbi.

So far, so normal. But what MSL went to get up close and personal to was far from everyday.

You see, what Mark and his small team does – what we’re MOST interested in right now – is a strand of

absolutely gorgeous bespoke bikes based around the V7s from Guzzi.

We’re not talking about old bikes redressed in some fashionable clothes to then sell on. ese are new V7s. ey go, stop and handle how the great designer Galluzzi intended.

Cost-wise it all really rather depends on what your individual tastes want, but something unique and eccentrically exotic with all the modern touches of fuel-injection, factory warranty and great brakes, expertly finished but built to your exact desires can be had a for a surprisingly light fee on top of the original bike.

And it can be done quickly too…

Mark told MSL: “If we’ve got the bits in stock we can build very quickly. If somebody comes in and they want something more specific, a certain paintjob or if we’re building wheels for them – basically if things are going out of house to source, making exhaust systems for example – then we’d need four weeks from point of order.

“I think that four weeks is acceptable for something that is bespoke. To be honest, we find that people aren’t rushing us for these bikes.”

No. ese are special things for sure and to see them up close

Cool wheels, great brakes, top forks.

underlines the quality of the job at hand. Four months wouldn’t be out of the realms of acceptability here… four weeks is really rather exceptional.

But that short-order timescale for the very best of custom haute cuisine is testament to the overall philosophy of Moto Strada – which is to build cool things. Special, cool things that are bespoke.

“What we want to do with the bikes that we’ve made here is to give people and idea about what they can have for themselves. So if they look at these bikes and say that they’d like a certain pipe on one of these bikes, or rear-sets or paint or whatever, then we can give them the option to change it and to do their own thing. at’s what’s more important at the moment... and not

The changing scene Mark Johnson of Moto Strada says that, as one of the most exciting customisers on the scene at the moment, he sees the overall trends going through a change: “I’ve been riding around on these things and you’ll stop at a pub and people are saying it’s cool and want to know more.

“I’ve also been to the same places on the latest

superbike from Aprilia and you don’t get anyone outwardly paying it any attention – it’s just another plastic rocket.

“That’s where we’re wanting to go with this, that ‘throw a jacket on and just ride’ attitude.

“This, to me, is more about enjoying the ride.

I love riding these bikes with just a jacket and an open face helmet.

I’m not riding anywhere at a million miles an hour and I’m not upsetting anybody by doing that.

I come to work on it over the moors and it’s great – it’s a torquey little bike and you just open the throttle and it just goes. It’s about the pure fun of riding again, that’s what this is to me. It’s a recalibration of motorcycling that we’re seeing now…

“I look at these bikes as not ‘old dog new tricks’ but more like ‘new dog old tricks’.”

mslmagazine.co.uk 13

First Rides BMW R1200R

NEW

NAKED MASTERPIECE All-new for 2015, BMW’s sophisticated R1200R is set to make a sincere impact on the naked bike scene. woRds: Bruce Wilson phoToGRAphY: BMW

Y

ou might be surprised to learn that more than 50,000 R1200Rs have sold since 2006. I was. To a certain extent, the ‘R’ seems to be a model that easily slips under the BMW radar, overpowered by the likes of the German brand’s allruling R1200GS among others. But this workhorse BMW is perhaps one of the most iconic models within the brand’s impressive line-up.

It can trace a clear lineage to the Bavarian company’s original motorcycle – the R32 roadster.

Released more than 91 years ago, the focus of that first BMW included performance, comfort and the capacity to travel large distances. And those traits are clearly present in the 2015 R1200R, which I was lucky enough to test recently in Alicante.

Glistening away under a warm Spanish sun, the ‘R’ looked an undoubtedly attractive proposition.

You’re either a lover or a hater of the

boxer-twin motor, which proudly nestles within a tubular steel frame, clearly exposed for all to see.

Without a doubt, it forms the widest part of this otherwise slimline naked bike, rammed full of eyecatching features such as billet alloy yokes and a striking single headlight.

Wide bars are a natural choice for the roadster, but the narrow profiled tank came as a nice surprise, along with an equally teeny saddle.

In all there are four seat options for the new model, ranging from 760mm all the way up to 840mm. And the pillion also gets the chance to switch away from the generously proportioned standard mount, in favour of an aptly named ‘comfort’ seat. at’s just one of an abundance of optional products available for the model, which also includes Dynamic Electronic Suspension Adjustment (DESA), Gear Shi Assistance Pro and Keyless Ride ignition.

Our test bikes were the higher spec ‘Exclusive’ versions of the three available R-models – R1200R, R1200R

There are three different dash display options on the R1200R.

mslmagazine.co.uk 29

STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND Actions speak a thousand words, so even if you don’t know the lingo, you should still respect the culture when travelling.

WORDS: Richard Millington PHOTOGRAPHY: Mortons Archive

M

otorcycle touring is addictive for most of us. e limiting factors are oen time and money.

Plus the occasional desire to be at home to see the family. e craving is founded in the love of motorcycling that we all share. But we could satisfy our desire to ride in the UK, on a track or off-road. Touring takes us somewhere new – literally. ese journeys, these discoveries are what keep us wanting to tour.

Travelling to foreign countries, immersing yourself in foreign cultures and making terrible attempts to speak in a foreign tongue, it’s all part of the attraction.

Meet Richard…

Richard Millington has been riding for more than 30 years and touring for over 25. His two-wheeled passion for travel kicked off in the 1980s, with a memorable first trip on which his Suzuki GSX1100EFE’s exhaust set fire to his soft panniers. Since then, he’s never looked back, fuelled by his involvement in the motor industry. Richard has turned his passion into a business, founding Motorrad Tours. He’s ridden on five continents and guided motorcycle tours in Europe, Africa and North and South America. www.motorrad-tours.com offers a range of tours throughout Europe and around the world with something for every taste.

66 mslmagazine.co.uk

We have all travelled and seen, or more likely heard, the ‘Brit abroad’ and cringed with embarrassment. Speaking loudly and slowly, in English, about there being no proper beer, asking why no one understands ‘egg and chips’! I am sure every country has them but the ‘Brit abroad’ stands out to us due to the embarrassment of our shared heritage. It is even worse when they are ahead of you in the queue. So how do we travel like a gentleman or a lady? How do we make the next ‘Brit abroad’ more welcome aer we have le, rather than less? e basics are true of all travel. Try and learn the lingo. Even a few words – hello, please, thank you – will be acknowledged and get you some brownie points. e more the better, but we are not all blessed with an aptitude for languages.

I travelled with a guy who ended up ranting at a waiter in English (there was no point as the waiter clearly had no knowledge of the language) about getting the wrong omelette, again! e cafe owner intervened and very tongue in cheek apologised that the waiter had failed to learn English and was only fluent in Spanish, in a Spanish cafe, in Spain.

Remember that one of the reasons you wanted to visit was that it was ‘all different’; so don’t expect it to be like the UK. Aldous Huxley said: “To travel is to discover everyone is wrong about other countries.” Accept that being abroad means things are different.

Understanding things might also be different to when you or your mate visited a few years ago, will also help. For most of us it is part of the attraction, until it takes us out of our comfort zone.

It might be that they cook differently. is is okay when your food arrives on the plate with an unusual and memorable sauce. However, when they go and pick a duck out of the yard, slaughter it in the next room, pluck it in front you and glibly throw the still warm duck into the pot outside to cook, then you may find yourself a long way outside of your comfort zone. But respect that this is the nation’s culture. Be patient and courteous. In China every conversation may sound like an argument, but it is in fact a normal, civil conversation. Lots of cultures talk with their hands and arms and there is lots of

gesticulating, but this is normal. Don’t get wound up and incorrectly sucked in. ere are some biking basics to follow as well. I nearly always ride with a flip-up helmet now. e ability to easily reveal your face when stopping to ask directions or talk to police is invaluable. It takes us from being a threatening armoured road warrior to human being in half a second. Approach a police checkpoint at walking pace with the flip up, the tinted visor away and a smile on your face – you’ll be amazed how many times you’ll get waved straight through. And if you do need to stop then take off a glove and shake hands.

Now you are a real person and a friendly one.

A handshake is almost universal and that simple contact forms a bond.

I wave to almost everyone. I wave to other bikers regardless of what they’re riding. I wave

TOURING BIBLE

to people who look curiously as you are approaching. e reason being that people, perceive you differently, they see you as being friendly and welcoming. Nearly everyone waves back. It is an instinctive response. I say nearly everyone, because there’s still the occasional person who won’t reciprocate a nice gesture.

On tour in Morocco recently I reverted to my favourite trick of waving at kids with the le hand, then waving with the right hand at the same time, then looking from one hand to the other to feign panic that I had let go of the handlebars. Most kids wave back with two hands, laugh or look surprised.

Except one lad who look distinctly unimpressed, shrugged his shoulders, stuffed his hands in his pockets and wandered on, with a look of utter distain and contempt. I

was properly put in my place. At seven or eight he was far too old for such foolishness.

Don’t speed through the towns and villages – goes without saying. We are riding bikes which are big and fast and to some extent noisy. Using them to scare people or make them jump hopefully went out of fashion in the 1970s.

Don’t trash the place on arrival. I don’t mean throwing the TV out of the window and riding the bikes into the pool. I mean don’t wreck a coffee stop for everyone else by covering every surface with bike gear (especially wet bike gear) making it impossible for others to enter, sit and order. Wonder why some places are biker unfriendly? Probably because the owner has watched customers leave, or not enter, owing to littered helmets, waterproofs and gloves everywhere. A ‘helmet table’ is great but only if there is space and

keep an eye on it as the place may get busier.

Don’t park one bike to a space, for all the same reasons. Oh and don’t use the hotel or cafe towels to clean your visor! Always guaranteed to make sure we are not welcome next time.

I suppose for most of us it is simple. To travel like a gentleman all you have to do is behave like one. It is also easy to forget this though. When we are cold and wet, or hot and tired, when we haven’t been able to find the hotel, when we suspect that the receptionist could be more helpful than they are currently managing, it is easy to slip into ‘Brit abroad’ mode and suddenly find yourself shouting slowly: “I just want a room with a shower, and to know you serve some decent beer!”

If so, take yourself to one side and give yourself a hard slap and a good talking to, go back, apologise and start again. It’s not hard. mslmagazine.co.uk 67

TROPHY HUNTING

2 PART

Four days into the GS Trophy and Team GB are in their element as they round off the second half of their Canadian adventure.

WORDS: Bruce Wilson PHOTOGRAPHY: BMW / Bruce Wilson

DAY 4 – CHRISTINA LAKE TO BALFOUR – 240KM

Picture a trail just 4m wide with a 1000 sheer drop to the le and no guards to stop you going over. is 62km long abandoned railway line was to be our morning’s warm-up ride, meandering its way from Christina Lake towards our night’s destination at Balfour. e pace was always fast, but it slowed that morning on realisation that one of the bikes ahead had just gone over the cliff. Dismounting and running over to see if there was anything we could do to help, it blew our minds to discover that the rider in question was actually the videographer who was not only okay, but cracking on with a fag in one hand and his camera on the opposite shoulder.

He was recording the tentative recovery of his bike, which had lodged into a cluster of trees some 20m below. As far as rude awakenings go, that was right up there. But crashes were now becoming part and parcel of the Trophy. It was hard going and accidents were to be expected.

82 mslmagazine.co.uk

To stay safe and ahead of the game took a lot of thinking and a lot of energy. And with several long days and late nights now accumulated, people were getting sloppy. at showed more so than ever at the day’s first challenge.

Along the length of the railway line were some amazing hand-cut tunnels and huge wooden bridges, allowing a direct line where the face of the rocks would otherwise mean a severe detour inwards.

It was on one of these detours that the teams were told they had to descend their bikes down a rock face trail and push it back up the other side to meet the opposite end of the bridge. e paths downwards and upwards were narrow and loose surfaced, which caused no end of headaches.

Riders would charge down the initial hill to see the momentum vanish as they steered sharp le to start the ascent. With the engine off, lugging a big GS up such a path was hard work for even the strongest of guys. We watched a few of the teams go before us and saw that they all had the same approach and all failed in the same way.

ABOVE: Mile long railway tunnels were pitch black and great fun to navigate.

GS TROPHY

Even with three guys pushing from the rear the bikes were reluctant to climb. At the BMW Off Road Skills centre near Swansea, Dakar racer Simon Pavey had extolled the virtues of pulling a bike from the front to each of us. As though we were now in possession of a secret weapon, Team GB agreed this is what we’d do differently.

John and Jon were two powerful guys and while they aided the bike’s steady descent from behind on the run down, they’d quickly shi to the front on the ascent and get the bike hauled up to the top. Which is pretty much what happened. We crossed the line with the third fastest time, having beasted the opposition by minutes in some cases.

Yes, we were tired, but we were always thinking; not just rushing in and hoping. We knew we’d done well and so did all the other teams who came over to congratulate us. It felt great.

Aer 50km, the trail gradually started to descend.

From the very beginning of the day we’d run alongside a vast, turquoise-coloured river below. And now we

Team GB bag a holiday snap with the boys from Argentina.

mslmagazine.co.uk 83

LONG TERMERS

LONG TERM LIFE

All-round entertainer From commutes to day trips with the wife; weekend scratches to several days with my mates in Scotland; the Zed hasn’t missed a beat.

In detail Rider: John Milbank Bike: 2014 Kawasaki Z1000SX Miles this month: 557 Miles in total: 5794 Current fuel economy: 46.9mpg Cost when new: £9699 + £215.95 for a top box Highlights this month: Visiting the NEC show Lowlights this month: Admitting I have to give the bike back

I

t’s fast… very bloody fast, but it’s controllable: the ABS and traction control inspired confidence on fast, dry and sweeping Scottish roads as much as it did on soaking wet, slippery, tight and twisty Scottish roads.

It’s a quality piece of engineering – it’s been le far too long between washes, yet when All Year Biker gave it the once-over, and treated it with ACF50, it genuinely looked showroom clean. No hidden rust, no flaking paint, just hard-wearing crasmanship. e OE Bridgestones wore well, but aer they squared-off, the Metzeler Sportec M7 RRs have been superb on the greasy winter rides to Motorcycle Live, and the leek-strewn 50 mile commute to Horncastle. On the few dry days in November, the M7s kept me grinning…

It’s versatile with the luggage on; in fact, I’d say it’s one of the best allrounders I’ve ever ridden. It’d be ‘the’ best if the saddle was just a little comfier, and if the factory-fit luggage could combine panniers and the top box. It’s certainly, by

a long way, the most fun all-rounder I’ve ever ridden, and that’s why it’ll be very sorely missed.

Kawasaki told me that I can hang on to the bike until Christmas, which I take to mean that I’ll drop it off at the Bourne End HQ on Christmas eve… mslmagazine.co.uk 93