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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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Tyre launch: Bridgestone Battlax BT-016
By Bertie Simmonds on 22/10/2008 11:25:39
With its first MotoGP title, not to mention the services of a fast Italian, Bridgestone is on a high
Bridgestone’s new Battlax BT-016 Hypersport tyre follows on from the enormously successful BT-014 tyres and sits below the racier BT-002 Racing Streets and above the sports-touring BT-021s. If you’re a tech-head, you’ll love the BT-016s. During
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Used Review: Triumph Daytona T595-955i
By Bertie Simmonds on 05/04/2008 17:59:57
A revelation when it first appeared: here was a proper British effort at a big sportsbike. Over the years while the competition has got wilder, the Daytona has stayed milder which makes the mature Daytona a very solid road bike
The impact of the first Triumph T595 should not be under estimated. Here was the first proper big British sports bike for many years and one which - on paper at least - promised to give the legendary FireBlade a run for its money. Cue 'Land of Hope and Glory' and much jingoistic ...
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Used Review: Ducati Monster S4 & S4R
By Bertie Simmonds on 08/04/2008 21:11:47
Like the original but on steroids, the Monster S4 grasped bare-biking from Bologna by the bars and took it into the new millennium. But are there any bugs? Used-bike fact hound Bertie Simmonds finds out.
Ducati's evergreen favourite, the Monster had been around for seven years when - in Y2K - the S4 was launched.This was a much-needed shot in the arm for the Monster family, which by this time had been overtaken by the opposition, such as the TL1000S-engined Cagiva Raptor.Out went...
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Used Review: Kawasaki ZX-9R (B1 - F2P)
By Bertie Simmonds on 05/04/2008 16:32:53
Kawasaki built a Blade beater for 1998, just in time for Yamaha's R1 to trump the pair of 'em. But all was not lost - the ZX-9R drew a dedicated following.
. As far as the back end was concerned there was either nothing wrong at all or the rear shock/linkages and tyre combination were all cock-a-hoop (depending on who you believed), but the fact that it was a bit big and a bit heavy meant that, for many bikers
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Used Review: Honda CBR600F 1999-2002
By Bertie Simmonds on 05/04/2008 14:01:56
Year-on-year since its introduction in 1987, Honda's venerable CBR600F has been the undisputed king in the white-hot battle royal of the middleweight 600cc sports category. Bertie Simmonds checks out the last of the line
300,000 bikers can't be wrong. That's how many people who, the world over, have purchased Honda's evergreen favourite - the CBR600F - in the last 18 years.Back in 1987 Honda saw Kawasaki and Yamaha having a laugh in the middleweight sportsbike class with the GPZ600R and FZ600 and...
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Used Review: Ducati 916, 996 & 998
By Bertie Simmonds on 05/04/2008 14:08:20
An aesthetic and performance revolution in its day, the 916 series has guaranteed iconic status for Bologna's blood-red bullets for time immemorial. But are those stories of Desmodromic histrionics all true?
Carl Fogarty. The Aprilia RSV Mille. Neil Hodgson. The Honda VTR1000 Firestorm. James Toseland. Suzuki's TL1000. Troy Bayliss and, finally, Ducati themselves.None of the above would either be here today or where they are today without the beautiful, seminal 916.Developed in 1993 ...
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Used Review: Triumph Sprint RS
By Bertie Simmonds on 05/04/2008 21:38:34
Quiet, unassuming and unpopular the Sprint RS may have been as a new buy, it now has a loyal following and makes a bargain sports tourer.
I was at the launch of the Sprint RS in southern Spain in 1999. Some muppet in the office thought it would be a good idea to ride back from there to the Midlands, in late December.But thanks to decent winter kit and the Sprint RS's solid attributes, I got back in one piece and no...
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Used Review: Honda CB600F Hornet
By Bertie Simmonds on 05/04/2008 21:49:32
Born in 1998's naked middleweight boom, the Honda Hornet has evolved into a more capable, practical machine than the tiny-tanked original model.
Honda's Hornet has always been a handsome machine, but despite being up against some tough competition it's attracted a cult following.It began in 1998, when Honda (and Yamaha with the Fazer) decided they'd had enough of Suzuki topping the sales charts with their Bandit 600, and ...
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Used Review: Triumph TT600-Daytona 600-650
By Bertie Simmonds on 05/04/2008 22:01:14
Yep, it's true. Back in 1996, when Triumph first mooted a middleweight sportsbike - codenamed T806 - they looked at making a triple.
Yep, it's true. Back in 1996, when Triumph first mooted a middleweight sportsbike - codenamed T806 - they looked at making a triple.But, after listening to a number of 'focus groups' in the USA and the UK, it was felt that a tried-and-trusted four-cylinder layout should be used. ...
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