BIKE

BIKE is packed with road tests of new bikes and inspirational riding stories, with fantastic places, amazing races and extraordinary people. Created by a passionate and expert team of motorcycle riders, Bike makes you feel part of the amazing motorcycling world. Our three main areas of content are... Road tests: We ride and test all the latest bikes, from tourers to retros. Riding: We take motorcycles to the four corners of the UK, and the four corners of the world Extraordinary travel stories: amazing races, extraordinary events and astonishing bike people.

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5 BIKES THAT REALLY MATTER THIS MONTH

Braking News • From the wonderful to the weird, Bike’s pick of this month’s stories from the motorcycling world…

Deals on wheels • Not got a secret stash of used notes? Don’t fancy paying interest on finance? Stroll this way and feel the exciting potential of some 0% finance...

Just why is the twin in? • Aprilia’s new 660 engine follows the paralleltwin with 270° crankshaft format, already used by everyone from BMW to Triumph, Yamaha to KTM. Jamie Turner explains why this layout is the flavour of the decade with engineers…

53.435815, -1.895376 • Type into Google Maps and go here.

‘Girls handed out free Pernod’

‘Don’t stick a beak on just because everyone else does’

Bike UK

It’s a Harley …but not as we know it • Even the most optimistic Harley fan didn’t expect this. On paper, the new Pan America looks like a potential GS beater

‘S’ is for radar equipped • It’s hard to fathom how we got by, off-road, without 160bhp and a radar. Now we don’t have to…

R18 takes cruiser control • BMW’s new R18 Classic is BMW’s latest attempt to wrest control of uber cruising from Harley…

The joy of more • Do you lie awake at night fretting about how many bikes you own, what to buy next or, heaven forbid, which to sell. You aren’t alone…

The in-house appreciator

The single garager

The race bike accumulator

The penitent reformist

Bike-aholics

WSB lessons learnt • Success on the track makes the regenerated ZX-10R a much better bike. But is it good enough?

Newton can sod right off • Ducati’s physics busting XDiavel is revamped, restyled, and still as bewilderingly good fun…

TO BOLDLY GO… • … where no Monkey bike has gone before. Last summer 24-year-old André Sousa set off to ride round the world on his motorcycle. Nothing unique in that you might say, and you’d be right. However, Andre decided to do it on a 125cc Monkey bike. That’s not normal…

Have we met before? • A familiar bike with a new name shows that fancy spec lists don’t affect the riding experience

It’ll just be our secret… • It’s not got Öhlins or 200bhp, but you’ll fall for Honda’s Forza 750. Don’t worry, we’ll not tell anyone

Was it a Mir-age? • Joan Mir shocked the racing world last year when he won the MotoGP title at only his second attempt. But he did so in the absence of MotoGP king Marc Marquez, so was his 2020 success mirage, or can he win again in 2021?

More gizmos, more fun • Rarely does a revamp emerge with less tech than before. The new MT-09 doesn’t buck the trend

BMW F900XR • BMW’s mid-capacity parallel twins are overshadowed by the German firm’s faster and flashier offerings, but six months spent with an F900XR TE shows it to be staggeringly competent and fun too…

TRIUMPH SPEED TRIPLE • All new, big power but still bug-eyed, Triumph Speed Triple tested

Tool of the month

EXPERTS IN THIS ISSUE

Yamaha BT1100 • An utter failure… and great used buy

BMW R1200GS • The German twin was the adventure datum when launched in 2004, has dominated ever since, and has now become an affordable preloved...