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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Team Bike • This magazine is made by the most talented team of bike journalists and photographers in the universe. Here's what they've been doing this month

BIKE

BMW put twelve in nine • BMW reveals its R12 nineT with tweaked engine, multiple styling updates and a fresh name to boot. Bike gets the lowdown from Berlin…

Bourne ready • Franco Bourne is leading the 1000cc National Superstock championship ■ on this Honda Fireblade. Here's how the team turned a stock bike into a winner

How to win a trackday • Ridiculously foxy Ducati World Superbike racer with 926cc motor could be yours…

Reigning in Spain… • Spain's Tamarit Motorcycles is one of the world's most dynamic bike businesses. They build a mean custom too…

Harley with a twisted rear • This American flat tracker has no conventional spring in the rear suspension, just a bloody great torsion bar

Write Off • Bike, Media House, Lynch Wood, Peterborough, PE2 6EA

‘We should refuse to pay road tax’

BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS • Warm roads, scented breeze, light nights. Time to embrace Britain in bloom – and the Honda Hornet and new Suzuki GSX-8S are the perfect tools…

Worthy of the name? • KTM's original SMT blended touring and lunacy. How does the 890 SMT match up?

THE MOST IMPORTANT BIKE IN A CENTURY • BMW are 100 years old, and of the many fine bikes in their history the R80 G/S is perhaps most significant. Bike takes the factory's all-original example for a spin

Today's equivalent…

Sepp's favourite engines

‘Have no fear for the future of air-cooled’ • Air-cooled Boxer engines have been at BMW's core for the last 100 years. Sepp Miritsch – Mr Boxer – tells Bike why this traditional unit is here to stay

THE BMWs THAT STOLE OUR HEARTS

‘If it's not emotional forget about it’ • Edgar Heinrich, Head of Design for BMW Motorrad, talks exclusively to Bike about the firm's past, present and future

The BMW factory • Last year almost 160,000 bikes came out of BMW Motorrad's Berlin plant. That's a lot. Editor Armitage drops by and tries not to get in the way of the robots…

A WALK ON THE WEE SIDE • Sales of smaller cruisers are booming for good reason: they're easy to ride, cheap (ish) to buy, and – crucially – they're fun. So where does Enfield's new Super Meteor 650 fit in?

Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 • Irrespective of their recent runaway success Enfield now want to become Harley-Davidson with their 883-a-like Super Meteor…

Honda CMX500 Rebel • In light of its smooth sophistication, particularly in the engine department, ‘Rebel’ is pushing it a bit. Yet the CMX has been Britain's best selling cruiser and there are reasons for that…

Kawasaki Vulcan S • Vulcan is the Roman god of fire while Kawasaki's Vulcan is merely cheery and zippy. But while short of godliness, the 650's un-cruiser like ride makes it a tempting second bike option

The incredible story of the astrophysicist and the MotoGP team… • Robin Tuluie is an astrophysicist and former bike racer. He is also the visionary genius behind many of the go-faster technologies that have taken Ducati to MotoGP...