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Looking For Travis: KTM 990, Transalp, BMW HP2
By John Cantlie on 20/05/2009 16:06:06
A KTM 990, Honda Transalp and BMW HP2 get stuck into the muddy action at the WRC Wales Rally as we go searching for freestyle legend Travis Pastrana
photographer last rode a bike 10 years ago and is visibly quaking with fear. I give Geoff the more forgiving Transalp and we hit the road. When he disappears in my mirrors for the third time, I get pissed off and hit the throttle.The KTM is a beauty. It’s rough
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First Ride: 2002 Kawasaki ZX-6R
By John Cantlie on 29/03/2008 16:46:13
NOW WITH 36cc EXTRA FREE! If you can't beat 'em, cheat. Works for us and there's a decent chance it'll work for Kawasaki as they wheel out their new oversquare 636cc ZX-6R. Any good or dead horse flogged?
, screaming second gear all the way into over-run at 14,500rpm, getting back on full throttle as soon as you dare, and clutchless-shifting your way down the main straight, head buried deep in the bubble. And the 636 responds to this sort of treatment with a
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Road Test: Ducati 999 vs. 998
By John Cantlie on 21/04/2008 22:00:18
Of course, what every 998 owner really wants to know is whether they have to sell their bike immediately and get another loan for a new 999. Or are they - infact - better off with their undoubted modern classic?
things like this cease to annoy.From the off, the 999 is the better bike to ride. The throttle is wonderfully light after the muscle-grinder fitted to the 998, the footpegs (in the standard position of a possible five) don't cramp your legs up underneath
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First Ride: 2006 Honda ST1300 Pan European
By John Cantlie on 03/04/2008 19:21:50
For 10 years now Honda's Pan European has been one of the sharpest touring tools in the box.
torque-free you'd think you were on a chain-drive bike. Fuel mixture is dumped inboard by four 36mm fuel injectors, with all the benefits in throttle response and engine feel that injectors bring over carbs. I found it easiest to short-shift into top gear
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Road Test: Honda CRF450 vs. Yamaha YZ426
By John Cantlie on 20/04/2008 21:57:00
With two new shattering four-stroke dirtbikes available for 2002 in the shape of the Honda CRF450 and Yamaha YZ426, we sent our resident off-road specialist Steven Pheasant to various mudholes around the UK to figure out who's packing the big gun.
you out of trouble. If you get all out of shape on the 450, just open the throttle and it'll get you through it, more often than not. A shorter person would probably find the Honda more suitable for them, due to its smaller dimensions. Yamaha's 426
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First Ride: Honda XL700 Transalp
By John Cantlie on 10/04/2008 22:59:27
Older than the hills themselves, Honda’s original Adventure bike just got itself a total makeover for 2008. And a whole new lease of life...
of its engine the new Transalp is a big step forward. 100mph comes up on the easy-to-read instruments very easily, and you get big-bike feel at the throttle for just another 30cc and a reworked cylinder head. The fastest I saw in a straight line, if you
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Altitude Sickness - Tackling Pikes Peak
By John Cantlie on 29/06/2010 15:27:47
There is a race twelve miles long, with 156 flat-out bends on a mix of tarmac and dirt. on any one of those corners, running off the track means plunging over a cliff and hitting rocks. We tackle the legendary Pikes Peak hillclimb
by John Pierce, ex-racer and a resident of Nashville, Tennessee, riding an Aprilia SXV550. The 70bhp V-twins sounded amazing on their open race pipes; my KTM was just loud. Our three-man squad looked the bollocks: bikes all stickered up with sponsor
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The Ramp
By John Cantlie on 22/10/2010 16:19:05
Surely there's never been a more insane idea than freestyle motocross
and exhausted. I had forgotten how physically monstrous motocross tracks are. "Alex, your body position is all wrong but the way you hit the jumps is right. John, your body positioning is good but you're attacking the jumps without carrying any speed." Frazer
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Living with a 2008 Suzuki RM-Z250
By John Cantlie on 16/05/2008 10:14:14
John Cantlie reviews the RM-Z250 and reckons he has a pathetically mis-aligned mindset. We'd agree.
fours or 250 two-strokes. You can ride this bike hard and get a feel for what both it and the surface underneath you is doing without being scared of opening the throttle. 250 four-strokes are the best thing to happen to motocross in 20 years, and the RM
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Reach for the sky - Whitham's Tornado ride
By John Cantlie on 10/04/2002 17:01:29
Whitham reduced to a whimpering pile of vomit and fear after one hour in the back seat of a Tornado GR4 fighter-bomber
-propelled monstrosity, it doesn't all come naturally. The navigator warms-up the FLIR and TFR systems while Whitham and an engineer busy themselves with the six-point harness, plumbing Jim into the oxygen and communication systems. The pilot - a top lad called John
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