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road test///the top four nakeds

is life more fun when

you’re naked?As technology continues to drive the sportsbike to

greater and greater excesses bike buyers are turning to the naked for their thrills. Is less really more?

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words jon urry pics paul bryant

KAWASAKI Z1000New for 2010 and with almost 130bhp at the wheel and a proper chassis, is this a credible Zed Thou?

HONDA CB1000RFireblade-engined, single-sided swingarmed pose machine that promises real performance.

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For the last decade sportsbikes have dominated the UK, but this situation is changing. We’re not living under the all-seeing eyes of Big Brother yet, but it is getting harder and harder to get our kicks. Speeders are easy targets for the lobotomised robots sat in the backs of their vans ‘gunning’ for any and every offender. The world is changing, but are big, powerful nakeds the real answer?

Each of these bikes runs an engine that wouldn’t be out of place in a sportsbike and delivers the kind of acceleration and thrill riders crave. They’re quick enough for the fast group and let you wheelie like the most irresponsible stunt monkey. But they do it all at lower speeds. Yes they can all go over 100mph, but to do so requires effort and an awareness about what you are doing. On a modern litre bike exceeding the speed limit simply requires changing into second gear.

But can naked really replace sportsbikes? Are they an acceptable substitute for our performance addiction? To find out PB took the four best naked bikes currently on sale and let them loose on the East Coast.

Could the Honda CB1000R, MV Brutale 990R, Kawasaki Z1000 and Triumph Speed Triple convince the PB test team that naked bikes are the future?

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TRIUMPH SPEED TRIPLEThe benchmark naked is now five years old. Is it still the one you should buy?

MV AGUSTA BRUTALE 99ORThe pose machine. Upgraded and restyled for 2010, is there substance behind the syle?

Your PB testers are...

Kev Smith41 year-old Kev refuses to ride like an adult. Has thrashed every bike of the last 20 years.

John macSmooth, fast and safe Johnny was billed by MCN as Britain’s most-crashing racer in 1993. Fools…

Jon UrryJon has ridden every great bike since 2000. Likes sports nakeds for the way they make power.

LUKe bracKenbUryShow-off former PB staffer likes nakeds for posing and wheelies. Luke-at-me…

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pb100t h e b i k e s t o r i d e b e f o r e y o u d i e

‘In an age when even 180bhp superbIkes are user-frIendly the rs250 Is arrogantly 20th century’

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In an age when even 180bhp superbikes are user-friendly, the RS250 is arrogantly 20th century; no rider aids, no all-forgiving, do-what-you-like-with-gearbox powerband, no electric start. It’s more Yamaha RD than BMW RR, thankfully.

As wet behind the ears as a lobster, I once hopped aboard a ’98 RS full of jumping-tummy excitement only to ‘enjoy’ a couple of hours of abject humiliation. I turned the key, prodded the ‘starter’ and succeeded only in flashing the lights. Eventually I found a protrusion beside the engine that, when heaved upon as a pre-war pilot might his biplane’s prop, brought about similarly reluctant combustion. This reluctance continued until the engine was warmed through, forcing me to stand there and blip the throttle for what seemed like days, this with one of the loudest bikes my neighbours have had to endure. Even then the instruments screamed at me to go easy. And when the engine was finally happy, it became clear the motor was the least of my troubles. Here was a bike so light and responsive my poor brain required re-calibration. Like an amputee getting used to a lost limb. ‘Input doesn’t bring about response, input is response,’ as someone once wrote of Lotus’ similarly direct Elise.

This of course on a bike with little else to recommend it but its unfettered riding experience: 80-mile tank range, riding position bred for Misano not motorways and a paucity of power that means just holding 80mph is as demanding on your grey matter as threading Craner. So why bother? Because the RS250 looks, sounds and feels astonishing. Race bike for the road? It’s a cliché as tired as most RS250s, but appropriate.

For while the silhouettes may have been right (the original looks like Max’s bikes; the face-lifted machines Marco Melandri’s), the notion that the RS250 production bike was a clone of the Italian firm’s mighty GP racer is laughable. Endlessly evolved through the Nineties by gifted Dutch engineer Jan Witteveen, Aprilia’s all-conquering race bikes used disc valves (the Japanese had long since gone to reeds for the smoother delivery they offered; Witteveen wanted the performance advantage only discs could bring and relied on advanced engine management and Max Biaggi’s glassy riding to do the rest), Öhlins suspension and an aluminium frame and swingarm tuned to work with GP-spec Dunlop slicks. The road bike used a mildly re-worked, reed valve RGV engine courtesy of Suzuki, Showa forks (on the later bikes; Marzocchis on the original) and a frame that was engineered to withstand potholes and years of vibration and work with the far lower grip levels of road-legal rubber. At least both bikes used Brembo brakes, though with carbon-shrouded carbon discs on the racer, the similarities started and finished with the logo on the calipers.

But none of this matters, the RS is still the extreme alternative it’s always been, and the only choice for riders of a certain age for whom there’s never been a better time than when the KR-1S and RGV fought it out on back roads. There really is nothing like an on-song two-stroke for bringing on sensory euphoria, just as there is nothing like clicking with a light weight, firmly-suspended chassis for satisfaction, or the joy of owning a bike so evocative of the now-defunct 250 Grand Prix class that just tucking behind the screen can prick your eyes to tears.

The two-stroke 250’s dying words. Persuasive

words justin carter Pics PB archive

56bhpat rear wheel

£7kfor still-born 550cc four-stroke successor

80mile range

rs250 1995-2003

aprilia

pb100

101

PB’s Kev Smith moonlighting for

MCN. He was short of cash, not talent

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Your bikemade faster

full sYstems

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AKRAPOVIC WORX CResCeNt suZuKI BsB full tItANIum ■ PRICE £NA ■ WEIGHT 4.75kG ■ NOISE 105dB ■ POWER INCREASE 30-40BHP+ WITH FULL ENGINE TUNE ■ CRESCENT SUZUkI 01202 820170 ■ WWW.CRESCENT-SUZUkI.COM

Gorgeous isn’t it? As in lick my welds, finger my seams and flick my springs gorgeous. Shame you can’t buy one, as this is a 4-2-1-2 full titanium prototype developed by Akrapovic and Crescent Suzuki for the Worx Crescent Suzuki BSB bikes. Starting at the headers, they’re tapered at the top to accelerate the evacuation of spent gases from the engine. The thickness of each pipe is varied to offer the same effective tuned length in each and the middle two have a tiny pipe linking them to further help iron out any imbalance and stop the gas pulses conflicting with one another. You’ll notice that the exit pipes are tapered too. The high-level cans are relatively short at around 360mm. They’re a lot flatter on one side than any we’ve seen from Akra before; this will be to do with ground clearance and another thing that’s new to us is that the end caps turn in towards the rear of the bike, we assume for aerodynamic reasons. This system would be no good on your road bike, regardless of how much you desire one, because it’s designed to run as close as possible to the factory swingarm, which has more cutaway than stock, again improving ground clearance. Akrapovic do a full titanium system with different silencers for the GSX-R1000, the Evo II, at £2197. Expect some or all of the Worx Crescent system’s new features to find their way onto Akrapovic’s mainstream offerings.

YOsHImuRA stAINless steel 4-2-1-2 full RACe (GsX-R1000 K9/K10 )■ PRICE £1712.79 ■ WEIGHT 9.2kG ■ NOISE 101dB ■ POWER INCREASE 8-12BHP ■ CRESCENT SUZUkI 01202 820170 ■ WWW.CRESCENT-SUZUkI.COM

Once again this Yoshimura is a high-level system for better ground clearance and is marketed for race-use only. At 9.2kg this stainless steel system is nearly twice the weight of the titanium Akrapovic but still almost 5kg lighter than the stock monstrosity. The headers are stepped rather than tapered which offers a similar venturi effect to the Akra pipes even if they are obviously less sophisticated and attractive. Like the Akrapovic, the Yoshi does away with the exhaust valve and, of course, the catalyser but it does retain provision for the Lambda sensor for connection to the stock ECU. Crescent Suzuki sell a lot of these systems to the Superstock race market. The longish Tri-Oval cans help to keep power up and noise down, although at 101dB compared with a stock system’s circa 97dB it’s not exactly stealth. You can buy dB killers for this system at £71.16 a pair. The Tri-Oval cans combined with the high-level pipes offer greatly improved ground clearance over stock. The cans are repackable and rebuildable. With its longer cans the Yoshi system is less prone to sacrifice midrange than some although the fitting of a Power Commander to combat the inevitable fluffy bottom end will yield further benefits here, too.

£1712

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words alan seeley Pics John noble

c h o o s e rfull systems

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Stock, aftermarket or full-race. Here’s what you get…Over the last few years stock exhaust systems have become about so much more than merely getting spent gasses away from the engine as quickly as possible, without deafening or suffocating the rider with carbon monoxide in the process. A whole new list of efficiencies dictated by a raft of noise and emissions regulation has seen them grow in complexity and, most worryingly of all to the weight-watching performance bike rider (that’s the bike not the rider’s beer gut), size and mass.

However, the manufacturers can’t blame the current crop of exhaust complexities entirely on a legislature hell-bent on spoiling everyone’s fun with their draconian Euro III compliance. Their pursuit of top-end power to the ultimate neglect of bottom end and midrange has made the addition of power valves in exhausts essential. This has added to the complexity of stock systems and compounded the

extra mass issue thanks to larger and longer silencers required to get decent power out while keeping noise down.

The level of sophistication in a standard exhaust is now such that it’s not just a matter of whacking on an end can and hoping for the best if you fancy a bit more power. Or noise.

And if you’re looking to replace a stock system because of crash damage or an exhaust valve has stuck, then the aftermarket offers an awful lot for the £5008 (including VAT but not gaskets, we shit you not) that the standard system for a K9/K10 GSX-R1000 you see over the page would rush you. Admittedly, you probably wouldn’t need to buy the whole system but you get the point. The cat box containing the exhaust valve is £804.88 on its own.

Aftermarket and a Power Commander it is, then, with change over for a trackday bike.

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words jon urry pics john noble

028

B R I T A I N ’ S

kawasaki 1400gtr

Forget the Blade and the R1, it’s the GTR that’ll get you arrested

First ride

FASTEST ROAD BIKE

The key to getting the best out of the GTR is whether the screen is up or down

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When it comes to getting from A to B, Kawasaki’s new 1400GTR is the fastest bike in the world. There isn’t another bike in production that combines the wind protection, long-legged gearing and stupid power that makes going at insane speeds feel sensible. Want a bike that’s so comfortable cruising at 150mph you are free to let your mind wonder what’s for tea? You’ve got it with the GTR.

Updated for 2010 the GTR gets linked ABS, traction control and fancy electronics designed to improve range. And it works. At PB we love the GTR, it’s the best bike for destroying miles with minimal hassle at outrageous speeds, but the old machine was hampered by a tank range that was little better than a sporksbike. It defeats the purpose of going quick if you have to stop all the time to refill.

Blatting down the motorway at 90mph the GTR is hardly ticking over at just 4000rpm with ‘eco’ lit up on the LCD display signifying the engine is running its new ‘eco-friendly’ leaner fuel map, boosting fuel economy. Over several long motorway stints I found the GTR averaged around 45mpg, giving it a tank range of 200 miles at 90mph with at least another 40 miles added to this total through sensible riding. It’s an improvement.

But this is PB and there is more to the GTR than being sensible. The GTR is dominated by its engine which serves up smooth, effective, heavy-cranked power right from 3000rpm, pulling with understated violence straight to the 12,000rpm redline. There’s so much roll-on power and torque that it even makes the 200mph overdrive top gear seem like fourth on a ZX-10R.

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MV AgustAF4 1000

First ride

words guy martin pics milagro

018

We sent truck fitter Guy Martin to find out whether the new MV Agusta is more than just fodder for bonus-laden city boys

What’s the point of the neW mv f4?

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MV AgustA F4 1000PRICE £14,250 otrENgINE 998cc, four-cylinder, four stroke, 16 valveCLAIMED POWER 186bhp@12,900rpmCLAIMED tORQuE 84lb.ft@9500rpmBORE X stROKE 76mm x 55mm RAKE & tRAIL not disclosed/100.4mmtYREs Front: 120/70 ZR 17Rear: 190/55 ZR 17WHEELBAsE 1430mmCLAIMED DRY WEIgHt 192kgFuEL CAPACItY 17 litresWEBsItE www.mvagusta.co.ukPB RAtINg ■■■■■■■■■■

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It is a difficult time for MV Agusta. For years they held the mantle as the only big bore four-cylinder superbike manufacturer in Europe. If you wanted huge power, stunning looks and didn’t want to go Japanese, this was your only choice. Then the world changed. Last year Aprilia introduced the stunning RSV4 and now BMW has launched the S1000RR – a bike so brilliant that it makes every other performance bike seem lacking.

MV has responded with the new F4. Restyled by Adrian Morton (the first major tweak in 12 years) with a host of engine, chassis and electronic mods, it is a bike that must succeed. MV owners Harley are on the rocks and the firm needs to pay its way.

On paper it might not be enough. It is slightly less powerful than the model it supersedes and, also on paper, it doesn’t seem to have any real technical edge over its rivals.

The new MV needs to be more than a plaything for a handful of rich enthusiasts – it needs to be a bike that chips away at mainstream litre bike ownership. This bike needs to be special.

We sent Guy to the launch at Almeria Circuit in Spain.

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000

Project bikes

03 sUZUki GsX-r750HOWNER Matt WildeeBOUGHT FOR Can’t rememberMISSION STATEMENT To make it work (I’ve done it)BUDGET PassedDEADLINE PassedMOST USED TOOL BrainBeen devoting myself to the Mito this month, so no news. Haven’t sold it.

it.

04 2004 YamaHa r1OWNER Kar LeeMISSION STATEMENT Spruce upBUDGET £1000DEADLINE MarchMOST USED TOOL THIS MONTH Michelin twin barrel pumpWith last months test ride postponed due to the snow, slush and salt, I manage to find a day free from kids and work to have a blat on the freshly-assembled R1. The temperature is zero degrees. It’ll have to do. With the trusty Acumen conditioner unplugged, an extra 5psi in each Bridgestone tyre (they lose a single psi per month), two neck warmers and a last minute fumbling check of various bolts we’re ready for a shakedown run. I fire her up and she sounds glorious. Months of inactivity mean I’m straining at the leash as much as the bike is, though the iced-up car windows are a reminder to take it easy.

It doesn’t take long to acclimatise to the bike again, except it seems to steer a little easier than before, almost like it’s got a spring in its step. I’ll point the finger

O u r r e l i c s m a d e f a s t e r *

pics pb team

Kar Lee

MarK WhITe

JOhN MCaVOY

SI MarTIN

KeVIN SMITh

aLaN SeeLeY

of credit at the revalved Maxton forks. It’s a subtle difference and only just noticeable on this brief frosty road ride but there’s definitely an improvement. To be brutally honest I’m just pleased I screwed everything back together in the right order. For a proper fettling session, I’ll be needing much warmer days and a fruitful trackday.

05 kawasaki ZXr 750r (k1) OWNER John Mcavoy MISSION STATEMENT To sort the tiny details and get project ZXR finished. BUDGET As little as possible. DEADLINE april 1st (honest) MOST USED TOOL THIS MONTH Battery Charger.

The offensive gold painted panel is at Altamura getting sprayed white. A dozen stainless fasteners have been ordered, to rid the ZXR of the last of its ’90s anodised tat, along with some OE indicators. Pseudo carbon indicators have no place on my ZXR. Nitron are coming up with a solution for the rear shock which currently stops me adjusting preload – the problem is the adjuster is buried one and a half inches inside the swingarm tunnel. The answer would normally be to fit a longer spring but this won’t help as the top of the available thread is also inside the tunnel. Either a hydraulic preload adjuster needs to be fitted to the shock or a whole new shock needs to be built with different proportions.

However, there has been some progress with the rev counter that reads 5000rpm too high. It seems that cleaning the unit’s connectors may have done the trick. With a fully charged battery the ZXR fired into life and the needle settled on its normal tickover rpm. However, I remain unconvinced as there’s nothing more annoying than fixing a fault and not actually knowing how you did it. Time will tell if indeed I did fix it or if I’m dealing with a dreaded intermittent annoyance.

pbmetal

034

MaTT WILdee

* a n d u s m u c h s k i n t e r

01 YamaHa YZF-r1 5PwOWNER Mark White BOUGHT FOR £3500, 2005 MISSION STATEMENT To live up to its moniker, The Furry Fury BUDGET Not as much as I’d like DEADLINE The first ride I can wear teabag leathers for MOST USED TOOL THIS MONTH StopwatchThe engine’s out, for what I think is the twelfth or thirteenth time since I began making this bike my own… but they are just numbers to me. Each time I set myself a new personal goal which hopefully means I do it quicker and quicker. From on the bench to engine out is down to 42 minutes now. For a fuel injected bike Yamaha really thought about the mechanic’s job satisfaction with this one and kept the wiring neat, tidy and logical. Try that with a 2009 CBR6. Likewise stripping the engine is mechanical joy. The exciting part of all this is I’ve plenty to get ready for the serious tuning work and hopefully there will be opportunities to lose a few more grams. The lightweight battery I have planned is nearly finished too – I’ve had a mate in Oz build a nice framework to house the cells.

02 Honda cbr600rr OWNER Kar LeeMISSION STATEMENT Repair, modify and improveBUDGET £1700DEADLINE March 2010MOST USED TOOL THIS MONTH Phone book of contacts

I’ve found my paintshop to work on the CBR’s new livery and repair the crack in the fairing. Paul at KAS Racepaint is a knowledgable chap with over two decades in the painting industry. He’s worked on cars, bikes, scooters, helmets… the lot. As KAS’s top man he employs three staff on the two-wheel side of things and when I arrived in the workshop there was an RC30 being prepped, an RD350YPVS bikini cowl hanging up, a scooter with Gulf livery in progress and some Lucky Strike RGV250 bodywork ready for collection. A lot of their current work is in the scooter market and while I’m there a Union flag scooter arrives and parks up next to a twin-carb, 200cc racing scooter worth £7000. As with the rest of the work on display the paint scheme is beautifully executed. KAS are clearly a busy company and I’m confident in their ability. Over to you, Paul. www.kasracepaint.co.uk

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035* a n d u s m u c h s k i n t e r

06 Simoto XBR500 OWNER Si MartinBOught fOR £2000 MissiON statEMENt To achieve reconciliation with the best bikes built by yours truly. This is number three BudgEt £500 dEadliNE Schmeadline, but must not sully reputation for actually finishing PB projects... MOst usEd tOOl this MONth Step ladder, to facilitate access onto bandwagon

Built around 20 years ago to compete in Sound of Singles. Serialised in PB. Featured comprehensive chassis adjustability which was never required due to modest output of Honda Single. Been in bits for ten years, but that’s enough about me.

I have 80% of the original parts and sufficient random wheels, brakes etc. knocking about to be getting on with. Requires new exhaust system and maybe a rear shock, though I will attempt to revive the original air sprung item.

Not sure what use a limp wristed race bike would be to me in its original spec. I quite fancy wire wheels, flat bars, high pipe and a dollop of Dues Ex Machina/Wrench Monkees/Sideburn attitude.

07 YZF750/1000 OWNER Kev Smith.BOught fOR Still in negotiationMissiON statEMENt More power!BudgEt So far nothingdEadliNE SummerMOst usEd tOOl this MONth Wiring Diagram

After fitting the engine it was a simple matter of offering up the Thunder Ace rad, exhaust, carbs and air box. All of which bolted straight on. But the original YZF750 wiring wasn’t quite so willing. Although very similar to the Thunder Ace you can’t just plug it straight in. For example, the 1000 has gear sensors that talk to the carbs and EXUP. The 750 doesn’t. The fuel pump piggy backs on the engine of the 1000 but sits in the fuel tank of the 750. The 750 has a reserve switch that the 1000 doesn’t and the right hand switchgear is different. As I’m not an electrician I opted for the easy option and transferred the complete wiring loom from the doner bike. Along with all its black boxes, ignition and even

the clocks, as the 750 revs to 13,000rpm and the 1000 to only 11,500rpm. The only problem I had was the corrosion in the wiring behind the clock – the donor bike they came from was an unfaired street fighter. But once I cleaned up the connecting faces it all worked perfectly. So I quickly plumbed in the fuel tank and with a short stab of the button she burst into life! This build is coming together too easily. All I need to do now is fit the tank properly and find some fairing panels.

08 SUZUKi SV650OWNER Alan SeeleyBOught fOR £2000 in 2003MissiON statEMENt To build a tasty Thunderbike racer BudgEt A grand. TopsdEadliNE The next PB trackdayMOst usEd tOOl this MONth The trusty vernier caliper. Again

With the SV’s yokes out for comparison with the CBR600RR ones that will replace them, the transplant doesn’t look as tough as I had feared… thankfully. The Suzuki and Honda stems are just about the same height and even have identical diameters at the bottom bearing race. The diameter where they pass through the top race is the issue, the Honda being 1mm fatter than the Suzuki. Which is a pain.

I had contrived a convoluted plan involving having the stems swapped over to let me use the original Suzuki top bearing, retaining ring and top nut. That would have meant making a top hat spacer for the Honda top yoke. Then Kev Raymond suggested trying to find a top bearing to match the Suzuki headstock and Honda stem. There may be some clearance issues requiring spacers, but it’s worth a go. Cheers for the idea Kev.

09 CAGiVA mito 500OWNER Matt WildeeBOught fOR £600 in 2007MissiON statEMENt To finish itBudgEt Erm…dEadliNE About three years ago if the truth be toldMOst usEd tOOl this MONth Anne Summers Rampant Rabbit. You’ve got to get used to the vibration somehow…n Turn over to read more about Project Mito

new bike

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