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Public Access - James Toseland Road Ride
By Bertie Simmonds on 01/09/2006 14:46:03
With just days to go before Brands Hatch WSB, Bertie Simmonds takes a road ride on the wild side with 2004 World champ and Great British hope James Toseland
lad getting down to his kecks for all but Cosmo's recent charity centrefold collection.While women love him and we cheer for him come race day, for us blokes it would be all-too easy to hate James Toseland. The reason is simple: envy. Firstly, he
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Fit for purpose: Honda CRF450X Dakar
By Bertie Simmonds on 20/10/2010 10:33:35
The average road bike does a bit of everything. But there are machines in the biking world designed to do one job only. Pure specialists if you will. These are the bikes...
MANMick Extance, Dakar Rally rider and highest British finisher in 2006"I've been in love with the Dakar Rally since I was 17 and have competed since 2002. It's the only race I do. I live for it every year with the whole year building up to it. I
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What's MotoGP ever done for us? Pt.2
By Bertie Simmonds on 05/05/2010 12:52:33
Following on from looking into how Grand Prix racing has revolutionised the very bikes we ride, here’s how the riding kit the fastest racers on the planet wear has shaped what we use today
racers around the Isle of Man did so in plus-fours and brogues. When they crashed (which they did, frequently) they left large portions of themselves on the road. In those days they would doubtless have laughed their horrific injuries off as “a mere flesh
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Fit for purpose: Diablo 666 Endurance ZX-10R
By Bertie Simmonds on 20/10/2010 10:03:37
The average road bike does a bit of everything. But there are machines in the biking world designed to do one job only. Pure specialists if you will. These are the bikes...
THE RIDER James Hutchins, Diablo 666 World Endurance racer"Endurance racing is just that. If you have to do an hour stint at the Suzuka Eight-Hour in oppressively hot and humid conditions you really do feel like you're going to pass out. You
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Tyre Launch: Dunlop Qualifier II
By Bertie Simmonds on 24/07/2009 15:18:01
RoadSmart meets Qualifier – Dunlop’s fast road & track tyre
grip on the shoulders of the tyre and a harder-wearing one on the centreline.“TTC has come to us from racing,” says Emmanuel Robinet, Michelin’s R&D director for motorcycle and motorsport. “The rear compound offers maximum pure grip between 35° and 55
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Used Test: Aprilia RSV-R
By Bertie Simmonds on 10/04/2008 19:28:42
The original Ducati spoiler is more practical and arguably more exotic too. Plus the spec'd up 'R' version can be had on the used market for as little as £3,000. But beware, she has a few issues up her skirt.
on in 1999, but they got it right first time. The RSV-R appeared a year later. It was capable of giving anything a run for its money on a race track but it's comfy on the road and doesn't have any major reliability issues either. The 1,000cc RSV-R is the mid
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What’s MotoGP ever done for us?
By Bertie Simmonds on 30/04/2010 12:21:11
How comparable is a £3 million MotoGP weapon to your sportsbike? Since 2002 technology has filtered down from the best teams in the world, more so than you might imagine
to four-strokes for the environment, but the technologies gained by contesting four-stroke racing are more or less reflected in street bikes,” continues Suzuki-san. “The know-how we obtain from the RC212V now will certainly be utilized in road bikes
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Don't Look Back in Anger
By Bertie Simmonds on 14/08/2001 15:53:42
Four people who have had family members killed in racing, but have dealt with their loss and carried on in the sport that they love
than a week afterwards."Lee and his brother Neil look tired. No wonder, as Lee was up until 3am the morning before this interview helping to sort out the two Chrysalis Racing GSX-R1000 race bikes that sit in the workshop at the end of the garden
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The Honda VFR Story
By Bertie Simmonds on 30/04/2006 14:05:42
Honda's VFR has stood for two decades as a machine which owners and press alike have claimed to be the world's most perfect motorcycle. Surprising, then, that the VFR story was almost over before it had begun
. We knew at once that it was good, although we were perplexed by the plain looks, and why wasn't it a race rep like the GSX-R or FZ? After the first road tests we knew it was very good. A year later we knew it was a classic. The '88 VFR with the 17
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10 Minutes with John Surtees
By Bertie Simmonds on 25/03/2008 11:00:06
If Valentino Rossi jumps ship to Formula 1 he'll want to follow the example of John Surtees
was that first win?My first road race was at Brands Hatch, just after it became Tarmac. My first win was in my second race at Aberdare Park, in Wales, on a Vincent Grey Flash.You've a reputation for being a tough customer. Did that help your racing?My family lost
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