Mark Lancaster
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Q&A: Beware of ‘Operation Snap’
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Q. I have been a biker for the last 40-odd years and had all sorts over the years from BSAs to VFRs. Now I am a bit older and have a bit more money, I entered the Gold Wing era of my life about two years ago. It was something I thought I would never…
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ROYAL ENFIELD: Bear 650
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Named after the Big Bear run desert race, which Royal Enfield won back in 1960 with 16-year-old racer Eddie Mulder, the Bear 650 is a softish street scrambler, based on the Interceptor 650. The Bear uses the same air-cooled 47bhp 650 twin as the firm’s other classically styled upper middleweight machines, but with a scrambler…
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KEEP WARM with Zerofit base layers
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Winter is the time for extensive base layer use, and these Zerofit garments are now being distributed by top kit firm Feridax, so will be much more widely available. The Zerofit Heatrub Ultimate kit claims to provide five times more warmth than standard base layers thanks to ‘heat thread’ technology within the material itself. And…
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AGV: Pista GP-RR Performance Carbon helmet
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AGV says this is an exact replica of the lids worn by the folks in MotoGP – which goes some way to excusing the chunky price tag. It’s the top-end 100 per cent carbon fibre FIM-approved race lid from the Italian helmet brand and is packed with high-end features. You get a titanium double D-ring…
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TECH TALK: More revs, more power
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Alan Dowds has had his brain fried by 221bhp at 15,250rpm… He explains: Ducati’s Panigale V4R makes massive power, thanks to a sky-high rev limit. How does it do it? And why are revs so important for power? Let’s find out. I freely confess that I’m a bit jaded and cynical these days. It takes…
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ARCHIVE: The frames of the 1993 GP season
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VJMC’s Steve Cooper remembers… The best-laid plans of mice and men – things went a little sideways for Yamaha at the start of the 1993 season and didn’t end well either. With everyone pretty much happy with the revised big bang motors, the factory decided to focus on the chassis. Using extruded alloy sections rather…
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BUYING A USED Kawasaki ZZR1400
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Jon Urry tells us what we need to know… If you want serious performance, you need a ZZR… There is an old adage that goes, ‘There is no replacement for displacement’ – a statement that rings very true when it comes to Kawasaki’s mind-bending hyperbike, the ZZR1400. Although when the supercharged H2 SX was launched…
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TORQUING POINT: Single-Sided Rear Swingarms
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An unravelling from Alan Dowds… Ever seen a red squirrel? Unless you live in the right part of Scotland, it’s unlikely; the ginger rodents have been outcompeted by their dull sciuridaen relatives from North America, the eastern grey squirrel. And we all prefer the tufty-eared red variant over the grey, don’t we? Why is that?…
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RIDDEN: Keeway V302C
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Andy Bell brings us his verdict on the lightweight cruiser: If you’re into your cruisers and want a lightweight one at that, the Keeway V302C could be right up your street. What is it? With its low stance, wide bars and feet forward riding position this bike certainly falls well into the cruiser class. Styling…
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RIDDEN: Royal Enfield Super Meteor
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The Super Meteor is, in Enfield’s own words, one of their flagship models, featuring upside-down Showa suspension, an LED headlight and a Tripper navigation system as standard. The 648cc parallel twin is lifted from the Interceptor/Continental models, but with revised mapping to give a wider spread of torque with 80 per cent available at just…
