Honda CBR1000RR

Honda's Fireblade revolutionised the sportsbike market in 1992, setting new standards in performance, handling and excitement, but over the years - like all of us - it has become slightly more civilised, and now even comes with optional luggage. Could the Fireblade's fire be fading? Chris Moss finds out.
Racetracks are the only place to test the latest generation of road-going superbikes. Their huge power and speed dictate no other environment is sensible enough to sample them to the full in any sort of safety. That's clearly what Honda thinks too. and the Losail MotoGP track was the venue chosen for the press to ride its new 2008 Fireblade.

Kymco Super 8

KYMCO have gained quite a stronghold on the UK scooter market in recent years thanks to their competitively priced and well-built scooters. The latest offering to land on our shores is this Super 8, an attractive 125cc with a price tag of just £1699 on the road.

One of the reasons behind KYMCO's UK success is the experience of their importer, Shrewsbury-based MASCO. The well established firm operates from a unit located close to Ironbridge Gorge, the birthplace of Britain's industrial revolution. From their HQ a dedicated team oversee the spares and technical backup for the UK dealers and new machines are put through their paces around the leafy lanes and open countryside of rural Shropshire.

Custom Scooter

Normally the guys from BYS choose to customise scooters that aren't so popular here in the UK and are more widely seen in European countries such as Holland and Germany. They have previously customised a Suzuki Street Magic, Yamaha Slider and Yamaha Aerox. But this one is a well-known UK scooter model -the Piaggio NRG mc3.
If you haven't heard of Boost Ya Scoot, then where have you been for the last COUple Of years. Just Mick through previous T&G issues and you'll see other creations that they have built. This NRG belongs to Sam Eaton, son of the owner of BYS, who along with his brother Adam and dad Kevin created this little beauty.

Ducati Multistrada

Living with the Multistrada.
Don't worry about choosing correct lines, the Multistrada knows them all and can alter mid-corner to suit any poor decision made by the rider. The trademark, steel trellis frame may not look as sexy as the huge alloy items found on most other machines but this minimalist design works better than most. With high spec Showa upside down forks holding the front end up, the handling is beyond reproach. Hanging off those long travel forks are a pair of Brembo Goldline calipers and massive 320mm discs, without even pulling a lever you just know that baby is going to stop with bags of feel and power, and it does every time.

Superbyke SBS125

The recent influx of budget machines from the Far East has made it relatively cost effective to start biking and, in fine style too. Using much technology (and thinking from the Japanese sector, in this case, the Honda CGI25 line), these small capacity machines offer much of the reliability and practicality of the original article, just at a far lower price.

Black Nightmare

A typical home-grown custom scooter will be nothing more than a fancy paint job and a few engine mods and maybe a bit of polishing. In the rest of Europe paintwork is secondary to a host of well thought out and carefully executed modifications. Time trouble and money are spent creating eye-catching details rather than simply relying on the talents of a sprayer to provide the eye candy.
Twenty-one-year-old Barrie Bone may only be a youngster, but the Belgian lad has built this show-stopping MBK Nitro - a scooter with more details to feast your eyes over than most British custom autos put together. Barrie's English is about as good as my Dutch, so bear with me because things might get lost in the translation...

Government Issue

Love the smell of diesel in the morning ?
You're a sniper and have to sneak up on a target you've been assigned to eliminate. You have a long distance to travel and must go undetected by the enemy for some 200 miles to the targets lasl known sighting. You've parachuted into hostile territory and have no ground support except for the HDT M1030MI diesel-powered motorcycle that made the air-drop with you.
At least that was the scenario going through my head as 1 made my early-morning rendezvous with HDT's Fred Hayes and Bryon Schmidt-who arrived in a diesel Sprinter van-in the high-desert at 0-dark-30 for a ride of the Marine Corps-issue diesel dirtbikc. Shortly after we rolled up, Clark Jones, our guide and IIDT's hired-in suspension engineer, arrived. As the 61 lec diesel Single warmed up in cold crisp morning air, its industrial clackity cadence made it clear that this was no ordinary enduro.

BMW HP2 Sport

ONCE A BASTION OF TWO-WHEEL CONSERVATISM KNOWN PRIMARILY for sensible, durable touring bikes with superior saddlebags and high technology, BMW has done something strange: It's added plastic sliders to the cylinder heads of its latest, most performance-oriented bike ever. Further, those plastic, replaceable inserts are mounted in carbon-fiber valve covers. Crazy times, yes. but, get this: those covers enclose dual overhead cams. And there wasn't a saddlebag to be found at the recent BMW HP2 Sport press launch.

Symply 125

Sometimes testing scoots can be tough. You'll put a day or two aside to go out and get a few miles on a new machine, then the weather scuppers your plans and messes up your photos. If you happen to be reading this copy of Twist & Go overseas you'll probably be basking in some February sunshine, while we'll still be wearing our wellies and winter coats!

BueLL XB12S

THANK GOODNESS MOTO insanity is a fully cross-cultural disease. It means that idealistic and inventive stateside maniacs like Erik Bucll get to make
their start building strange sportbikes in their garages using big, air-cooled American engines, and then get hired into the Bigs by none other than Harlcy-Davidson for mass production. And that an equally mad Frenchman named Ludovic Lazareth, working half a world away, gets to take the product of Buell s innovative mind a step farther.

Aprillia Mana 850

FOR SOME 20 YEARS, Piaggio has been toying with the idea of an Ultimate Scooter. Through that time, the project had moved forward, then been killed, then brought back only to get killed again. Finally, though, with Aprilia's new V-Twin 750 and 1200 engines (the smaller as fitted in the Shiver) the company thought it had the right powcrplanl to use as a basis for a production machine.

Peugeot Geopolis 250

Although not very popular with British riders, big wheeled scooters represent a commuter proposition. Peter Henshaw argues the case for Peugeot's Geopclis
What is it about the British and big-wheeled scooters? A nation that seems quite happy to ape our Transatlantic cousins when it comes to bigger being supposedly better, prefers its scooters with tiddly 12 or 13m wheels. Which is a shame, because big-wheeled scooters handle far better than the small-wheeled ones, and one's first ride on a big-wheeler can be a revelation of stability by comparison. Just three inches on the wheel size makes that much difference. A lot of motorcyclists say the reason they don't like scooters is that they don't handle very well on their little wheels. And yet they don't buy big-wheeled scoots either, and nor do many of the commuter types, who you'd think would welcome the extra stability.

BMW R1200GS

SENSE OF ADVENTURE. In the right hands, BMW's GS can be a formidable overlanding tool, but we're not all Dakar experts and something as sizeable as the BMW can be a tad intimidating to those less experienced. Chris Moss took on a steep learning curve at the launch of the 2008 R1200 GS Range.

Honda CB600F Hornet

The Hornet 600 is one of Honda's better known and best selling bikes, and it's easy to see why. The first advantage it has is style, and plenty of it. Accepting that the colour of our test bike in its divisive Marmite-esque hue certainly won't please all eyes, few could argue that the Hornet isn't one of the better looking bikes from Japan. The sharp, yet flowing lines of its bodywork are bang up to date and the hi-level exhaust can add to the modernity. With mast of its mechanicals also on view to give it extra life and individuality, it makes a refreshing change from many of the plastic-covered and more anonymous offerings we usually get from the land of the rising sun.

Scooter Buyer's Guide

Never go alone; always take a mate, preferably a knowledgeable one, and take off the rose-tinted specs.
Do your homework on the particular model before you go - little pointers here and there can make all the difference when you see it in the flesh. Don't make rash decisions and be prepared to walk away from anything that simply doesn't sound right.
If it sounds too good to be true then the chances are that it will be. There are plenty of bikes out there, so don't be frightened to miss this one. Make sure the name on the logbook ties in with the guy who is selling and the venue you are viewing it at. After all, who really does let a mate sell a bike on their behalf? And yet the amount of times that story is used is beyond belief.

Suzuki Intruder M1800R

Ride an M1800 and you'll leave behind a trail of onlookers sore from rubber-necking. It's no wonder really, as the Suzuki is as outlandish and eye-catching as a Las Vegas casino. It simply can't be ignored. A neighbour of mine who witnesses just about every bike I bring home to test, a collection that's included exotica like MVs and Ducatis, is rarely moved to give them more than a passing glance, but when I rolled up on the Intruder he just about tripped over his own front door as he rushed out to get a better look.

Vespa SS 180 Rebuild

ONE of the most iconic scooters of the 60s was the son of the legendary GS 160 - the SS 180. Ignore it you can't, with its brave new world styling of angular facets and the minor upset it caused with the Mod set of those days - they still wanted the GS! The arrival of the SS 180 is just about summed up with a quote from a Vespa enthusiast: "I think the SS180 is to scooter fans what Mick Jagger is to women - a bit ugly but somehow irresistible!"

Suzuki GSX-R750

It's a two-year-old model so what's it doing here? Can Suzuki's middle Gixxer match new contenders?
Try as the Honda and Triumph might, but there's no kicking sand in this reluctant bully's face. Even though the pair dance round the Tarmac track and take to the local roads like natives, the Suzuki feels like it can deliver a knockout blow at any point of its choosing.
But rather than the GSX-R750 feeling like a clumsy blunderbuss, blasting its way past its diminutive but daring rivals, the Suzuki somehow feels every bit as cultured as the Honda and ultimately delivers a kick that not even the Triumph can match.

Terminator 3 - Rise of The Machines

THERE are many reasons for producing a custom scooter. For many people, it's the desire to create an eye-catching machine to enter shows, or simply ride to rallies. For Russ Keating the idea was to create a custom scooter that would showcase his newly set up business, Custom Scooter Art. For anyone who hasn't seen Russ with his stall at a rally or event then Custom Scooter Art offer an alternative to both graphics or expensive spray jobs for your scooter. Instead, they wrap your scooter with vinyl that has been printed with the graphics/design of your choice. Hence the building of Terminator 3.

Vectrix The Electric

DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC BIKES ?
Electric bikes seem like they could be the answer to air pollution and disappearing oil reserves. But will we ever see an electric superbike to match the performance of current bikes? we will investigates the possibilities.