Motorcycle Sport & Leisure

Damon’s spot on!

Dear MSL,

I cheered out loud when I read last month’s column by Damon I’Anson in MSL, at last somebody who thinks the same as me!

Damon was absolutely right in his idea that it’s European motorcycle factories that are taking the upper hand in design and innovation. We’ve only got to look at the new bikes for this year to see that Japan has lost the plot. BMW’s range of bikes have blown away anything from Japan, even the big new VFR from Honda, surely a bike that should be pushing ahead with all the gizmos and gadgets, has ended up as just another disappointing tourer.

I fall for it every year when I go to the big motorcycle shows and dribble all over the prototypes on display but I’m still waiting for my thumb-swipe starter pad, hub-drive systems and 200mpg averages. It’s the equivalent of false marketing in my opinion, here are all these big names promising us bikes of our dreams in the near future and then they turn out the same thing time after time.

Look at what BMW have done over the last 10 years. They have re-invented big off-road tourers and sold loads of them as a result.

Now they’ve got into the superbike market with a bike that’s already doing well in world superbikes. How long before they have a 600cc sportster or even a good, everyday commuter?

Heaven’s help us, surely the proper BMW scooter isn’t too far away!

Chris Bing
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Glad you thought our Damon was on the money with his column Chris, but I’m not sure I agree entirely that all Japanese bike makers haven’t tried things recently.
OK, so the DN-01 from Honda wasn’t what you’d actually call a big seller (or even a moderately successful seller) but it was a touch ‘out there’ as far as the general public were concerned, even though the press about the bike was almost universally positive once it had been shown at the big bike shows. TC

Mr Moss, your assistance is needed

Dear MSL,

 I read with great interest Chris Moss' write up 'the naked Rs' in the last issue, as one of these great bikes has been the object of my desire for some time now – the sexy Triumph Street Triple R.

Having been bikeless for 10 whole, horrible, four wheeled years now I can finally find time in my life for this mistress!

However, a couple of niggling questions have been bugging me since I read the article. First the price, the nice man at Triumph said he could make my dreams come true for seven thousand of my hard earned. Sounds fair I thought, but then shock! Horror! Even glee! Your feature puts the price at £6649 effectively (if true) giving me free goodies like a belly pan and a pair of those cool cafe racer style mirrors! Secondly, is it really worth the extra over the standard streety? And lastly (OK, that's three questions), Mr Moss goes on to say that if he was to buy this bike he would change the OE Dunlop tyres for some better quality rubber. But which ones? Oh please Mr Moss, put me out of my misery! I own two cars that I use for work and dad duties so the bike will be a plaything – mostly in summer. So naturally I'll need ones that work well in the rain...

 Peter Jenkins
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Dear Peter,

 Glad you're considering a Street Triple R; I guarantee if you get one you'll want to ride it every minute of the day! In answer to your questions:

1 – The price is now £6999 – it's gone up for 2010!
2 – I'd only choose the R version if you're a harder rider. The brakes and suspension definitely have an edge over the standard bike's, but you can easily live without them. £700 is quite a saving too.
3 – As for tyres, again it's a question of how hard you ride. For the ultimate grip I'd choose Pirelli Diablo or Diablo Corsa 111s. If it's more of an all round tyre you need, then I've found Avon Strom 2 Ultras to be ideal – especially in the wet. In truth just about all top brand aftermarket tyres perform strongly. It's just OE rubber that's often slightly sub-standard.

All the best,  Mossy

That Commando’s not going anywhere soon

Dear MSL,

While reading through the February edition of MSL, I looked at the Norton Cafe Racer. As an owner of a Commando 850 it is good to see the marque being revived, the Cafe Racer looks, I believe, are not to everyone's taste, but to me, I think it looks great capturing the essential lines of that type of bike, and looks good in the yellow, maybe there will be one in the Norton colours of silver with the red and black pinstripes.

However, just looking at the picture, there is one glaring flaw on the bike; look at the front suspension... upside down forks, they look great, neat sporty mudguard, it looks great, mounting bracket for the mudguard?, fixed to the immovable part of the fork leg!, so when the suspension soaks up a bump the front wheel rises, the mudguard stays where it is, and the wheel demolishes the front mudguard!

I don't really think for one second this is a design flaw, it is probably a bike built in a
hurry for a press shoot, but it should have been done correctly.

Most of us want this venture to succeed and there are, as usual, people waiting to see it fall flat on its face, don't give them any ammunition, if you are putting press releases out make sure everything is correct, a few minutes looking round the bike would have sorted it. More power to your spannering arm, and the same amount to the PR dept!

Cheers,

Robert Smith
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You can catch up with Sam's articles in our Open Road archive>>