Just found another copy of TWO magazine and flicked through it. Found an article on the new Kawasaki Vulcan. It produces, according to the mag, 110ft'lb of torque at 10,500 revs.

10,500 revs? Not bad for a two point one litre vee twin, wonder what it redlines at? 15,000 revs?

Cant these people get anything right? Even if the mistake had been read by a bike journo he/she must have thought it was odd to say the least. course, if it does rev above 10,500 revs I will invite anyone to bring a 2,100 cc vee twin vulcan round to my house to show me. Then i will appologise and eat the thirty six paving slabs stacked in my back garden.

What's really sad is that a lot of people base most of their buying decision on roadtests and specs from a mag.

Not to offend anyone here, but I still can't understand how a person can buy a bike without riding it first. All these people who put deposits down on the new ZX-10, R-1 etc without even seeing the bike in the flesh let alone riding it.

I agree Dirty me old mate. Likewise when people give considered opinions on bikes, like a bloke I saw on a bike buying type prog on M&M once. Commenting on a CBR600 he said it had excellent handling and engine that is smooth and with seemless power delivery. he also said the ZX6R was not as good coz it was more race oriented and harsher. He then said he'd never ridden either bike but is looking forward to the chance top do so. he just got these opinions from some mag i reckon, its the only explanation seeing as they plainly didnt come from personal experience.

I reckon the american Galaxy cargo plane is a pig to lift off the runway and the controls have to be wrestled with. Ive never flown one but i did watch a prog about cargo planes once.

I met a guy at the Yamaha/BMW shop yesterday who I had ridden with on a couple of group rides last year. He's got an older BMW airhead. He's looking to update with a Yamaha. We were talking and he said he wanted something he could solo sport tour with. They had a used Fazer1000, 12000kms with an Akro can and the taller windscreen. Asking $8500 Canadian for it. I kept pointing him to that bike but he wasn't interested.

He kept looking at the used FJR1300. Now, admittedly there's nothing wrong with the FJR, but for solo sport touring, $5000 cheaper and less cost for insurance, I'd be looking at the Fazer. I didnt want to be too overbearing so I finally said, take them both out for a blat and see what you think.

Geez, just thought of something. I should get a commission if they sell him a bike!!

This whole compartmentilising of bikes gets on my tits as well. Mags and progs tell us that if you want touring you need a massive arc royal beemer or wing. If you want to tour and go a bit fast you need a Black bird, busa, fjr etc. Apparently even though bikes are so multi purpose by their nature people will say things like 'Id like to tour france but ive only got a hornet 600 so im going to flog it in on a vfr'. yeah the vfr is better for the purpose but it doesnt mean you cant tour on a hornet if you want, whatever the mags and progs say.


Lets face it, some geezer trans navigated america on a fecking lawnmower and forest gump ran it several times, without a faring.

Have to say I wouldn't want to tour foreign climes on a Hornet 6 - damn thing I had on hire had a Very low tank range. But on the other points I agree.

I bought my first bike after reading the mags, but i read the info in UBG as well, decided I didn't need one of those plasticfantastix so I found a low miles 2 yr old ER5 in a Honda shop, it was a perfect bike to learn and take test on - and to ride for a while after as well - wish I still had her at times

Flossieadams did faro on her Z250 eliminator last year along side ZRX1100'S XJR's and the like.

I agree you can tour on anything but the tank range does make a difference depending on where you want togo, doesn't it.

I hapopily went to Normandy on a bike with 100 mile range, but I wouldn't care to use it for my Welsh trips - the petrol stations are too few and far between!

The mags have a lot to answer for, that combined with peoples naivete/belief in the printed word.
I know one guy(who should've known better) who set his triumph up to MC* suspension settings for maximum handling-didnt matter that he weighed less than the journo-100 miles of back wheel skittering later & he wrote it off on a bend, luckily didnt do himself much damage.
Oh & on a more personal note-nobody-but nobody is willing to have anything other than a repaint in original colours up here cos the mags say if its been painted, its been crashed!

Good point DP - I can remember the days when a custom paint job was a selling point! Now we're told it means the bike is a dangerously repaired lemon. Apparently scuffed bar ends are an indication of a write off too - as if replacing a few quids worth of bar end wouldnt get done by a ringer ffs!

A bike mag is there to make money - like any other business. Being honest and upstanding never really coins it in, but glossy pics of the latest Ninja Turtle thing suitably adorned with large breasted model does - apparantly - not that I've ever looked naturally....and neither do the breasts either... Haw Haw. Page after page of meaningless prose stuffed full of moronic metaphors and over used euphamisms also tends to win round the illeterati. Have to say the noble exception to all of this is UBG. Various Internet sits are pretty good too - Preloved etc.

What's UBG?

The current fad of Track Days gets on my nerves as well. The impression I get from the mags and some of the people who frequent track days, is that you aren't much of a rider if you haven't done a track day.

Now way back when, circa 1986, I was involved with some friends who were racing RZ350s. I helped out with setting the bikes up and general duties. After the races were over, I and some other guys would zip around the track and have our own track day until one of the by then, half drunk marshalls came out and chased us off Good fun, and it was nice to ride someone elses bike round the track. Did I learn anything? Ya, I learned that particular track.

Now in defence of 1 magazine called Cycle Canada, a journo there by the name of Max Burns, came out last year with an editorial about track days vs off road riding.

He went on to say how dirt riding, he thought gave you way more skills than any track day. Constant traction changes, not knowing what was behind the next corner and setting the bike up for these changing conditions all made you a better rider. Constant weight shifts to compensate for the terrain plus the workout it gave your body also made it invaluable. I find now that I never panic on a street bike when traction is an issue, I also am able to modulate the brakes and try to avoid, not just stop in front of an obstacle and gravel on a corner does nothing but make me try to be smoother with inputs. Not bragging, because with the amount of years I've been riding I should have learned something and I still have lots of bad habits to work on.

Next challenge to me is a Trials bike. I made the mistake of going to a North American championship round that was held here a couple of years ago. That was intimidating to say the least!!!!!! Those guys are incredible!!! I was thinking of maybe an older Yamaha trials bike just to scale small stuff, not to go up vertical rock faces!!!

remember dougie lampkin? that guy was like a bloody mountain goat.
how on earth he managed to do some of the things he did on that bike defies me

Dougie We get some of the "highlights" of International Trials here on tv.

What I saw that's encouraging around here, is that a lot of kids who BMX are taking up Trials. Nice to see young guys taking an interest in it!

Some of the new Trials bikes are a work of art also. The kind of bike I like to inspect with my eyes about 6 inches away

There's 2 blonde sisters here who compete. They must be around 18 now. They wear those one piece spandex type suits. Very erot...er.........eye pleasing

The indoor stuff is fiendish, whoever designs that stuff must toss and turn on a night.