That coat involved stroking the motor out to 1,441cc, giving the lump a whole host of internal revisions, treating 50 per cent of the frame to new components, sticking new springs in at each end and then giving this fire-breathing beast an electronics package to be proud of.

The results are spectacular. The engine is the first to impress. Thoroughly usable, but still capable of devastating speed figures, it works as well at 2,000rpm as it does at 11,500rpm - spitting out all of its 200bhp. The KTRC traction control system ensures that you get the best from the motor. It’s not a normal nanny-state TC system, as it allows for slippage and spin, so you really do feel like you’re making progress everywhere. But that’s still not the most impressive bit.

No, the changes to the chassis and suspension really breath new life into the ZZR, and turn add beauty to this beast. Having tested the bike at the Nardo proving grounds, it is astonishing that a bike of this bulk can corner as well as it does. Add in great brakes, a slipper clutch and half-decent ground clearance and you’ve got yourself a trackday botherer…

Then we rode it flat out around the Nardo ring. I scored a GPS verified 184mph on the limiter, so it’s pretty rapid. What this means in the real world is debatable, but at least it talks the talk and walks the walk – plus we got to ride flat out for over 5kms.

You’ll read more in the March issue of Fast Bikes, and watch out for it on YouTube and on the Bike Channel. Head to the Kawasaki website for more information.

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1. 2012 Honda Fireblade First Ride
2. 2012 Kawasaki Versys 1000
3. 2012 Honda NC700X Review

As far as design goes, the NC700X is a resounding success

It’s hard to argue with data, especially when it doesn’t argue back. Numbers just sit there, smug in the knowledge that they’ve been researched, collated and calculated.

So in trying to understand biking’s current malaise, Honda sent a team of researchers into the field to understand how bikers use their machines, in the hope of being able to present a more applicable product. The numbers that came back were interesting. According to the stats, 90 per cent of all riding is done below 140kph and an engine only ever revs above 6,000rpm just 20 per cent of the time. Though the logic deduced from these figures is skewed (uncontroversially implying that riders are by and large law abiding citizens, and that the largely unused potential of a bike is unimportant), it certainly makes sense that a bike should be built for these very conditions.

The Crossover style is all the rage in 2012

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1. 2012 Honda Fireblade First Ride
2. 2012 Honda Fireblade Wallpaper
3. 2012 Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade Wallpaper

Nearly 20 years after the original was released, KTM has launched the fourth-generation Duke. The previous incarnation of the 690 was bloody hard work, so the Austrians wanted to broaden its appeal with a more user-friendly approach. And they have.

Drive-by-wire is the highlight of its 90% new components, with a throttle unlike any other KTM – smooth and progressive. The LC4 mono-pot is also silkier and backs-up why the company persists with the single life.

Click above to watch the video

Also added for 2012 is the Bosch ABS system fitted to the firm’s SM-T. You can read all about how the new 690 Duke coped with the mountains in Gran Canaria in the next issue. In the meantime, here’s some moving images – in both senses of the phrase…

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KTM’s RC8 R has always been synonymous with hedonistic circuit skulduggery, yet grids worldwide have been bereft of orange-flavoured Bavarians. In truth, the RC8 just hasn’t got the gonads to compete with the four cylinder brigade under FIM rules, but the chassis remains among the elite in the game. There have been a few attempts at running them in Euro Superstock and BSB, but the KTM has never reached its full potential.
Meanwhile, over in neighbouring Germany, the factory has been putting some serious effort and money into winning the IDM Superbike championship. And they did, with veteran-spec-wearing Martin Bauer onboard, backing up the companies ‘Ready To Race’ tagline. KTM were so ecstatic, they invited us to thrash the title-winning RC8 R after the final round at Hockenheim. Oh go on then.

As you can imagine, the grid is riddled with S 1000 RRs and wieners, but the rules favour KTM with a production-based ethos – so no engine tuning, except airbox mods and free roam with exhausts. The camshafts, pistons, cylinders and heads must remain standard, and valve timing can only be tweaked via cam gears. IDM ruling allows a change in head gasket. That’s your lot. But, being a factory team, every internal component can be selected from a medley for the perfect balance, aka blueprinted.

It’s a similar narrative for chassis work. While a small semi-detached in Croydon could be substituted for 16.5-inch rims, WSB-spec forks, and Kenny Roberts swingarms seen on full-blown Superbikes, IDM use standard fork outers, swingarms and road size wheels. The only areas for exquisiteness are electronics and use of carbon fibre.

WSB-spec electronic package feeds the Magneti Marelli dash (below)

Before letting us loose on the factory goodness, KTM had to change the exhaust on Bauer’s bike. IDM changed the noise limit to 115dB, which ain’t far off a MotoGP soundtrack. And due to the ‘test’ day landing on a public trackday, the slightly more accommodating 105dB twin-exit system was fitted.

For obvious reasons, and simplistic rules aside, this is the most exotic RC rolling on rubber. Taking full advantage of the open electronics, KTM use top-shelf Magneti Marelli (like the majority of WSB teams), so dash, wiring loom and rider aids – launch control, traction control, and you could probably set your Sky+ with all the sensors onboard. Engine braking, one of the areas that could improve on the road bike, is looked after by opening the butterflies slightly, coaxing you into the turns with confidence.

More than your average amount of buttons to press…

As I ausfahrt the pitlane, it’s refreshing for a Superbike to feel so closely related to its road-goer. The bars are wide and pegs set high but there’s clear correlation here, and the 17-inch rims don’t alienate handling beyond road bike recognition. Jeremy McWilliams was also at Hockenheim. He’s been highly influential in the development of the bike and warned me of just how sexy the front-end is. Jezza is one of the honest faces in the global paddock but there may have been a little sense of KTM ‘commercialism’ talking. There wasn’t.

Whatever geometry settings Martin Bauer’s bike has installed, they need installing on KTM’s road bikes. Dunlop NTEC slicks invest massive confidence from the off anyway, but I’ve never, ever ridden a bike with as much mechanical grip from the front. It was like I was mowing the lawn with an old-skool Flymo, chucking the thing wherever needed – good job, as Hockenheim isn’t the easiest place to learn. Not only does it steer with neutrality but you can also bet your bollocks on the front like no other. And I mean trail braking like a GP God deep into a turn. Fully wet, the bike weighs 180kg and feels poised and ready. WP forks (KTM owned) boss the front but an Ohlins shock is used to support the rear. The WP’s action contributes to the fluidity of the nose, super-progressive and as if I’d set them up myself over the year. The balance on and off the throttle is sublime, and activates the weight in all the right places, at the right time.

The other standout feature of the factory RC is the gearbox, and just how slick it is. KTM boxes are (sometimes) renowned for being made of cheese. When I quizzed the crew chief about the complete lack of false neutrals and the super-liquid action, he put it down to the quickshifter and “the main focus of meticulous assembly and optimum exploitation of production tolerances”. Basically, picking the premium components for a slick box.

Burying it into a turn with the front brakes on hard, the fork at the
bottom of its stroke – don’t try that on your road bike

The motor itself, unsurprisingly, is unmistakeably an RC8, just with a healthy dose of ‘roids injected. KTM claim 190bhp, which ain’t far off when you consider Martin Bauer doesn’t get smoked by the 200bhp+ Beemers on the straights. KTM admit that, at some circuits, they were 8km\h down on terminal speed. The delivery has a broad spread of power, boosted at the bottom for instant hit during corner exit (backed up by TC), and the power keeps churning at the top-end.

If Jesus and The A-Team combined to make an RC8 R, Martin Bauer’s Motorex KTM would roll out of the magic shed in heaven. Yes, she’s straight out of the factory, but KTM’s handy work and the IDM rules mean it’s one of the friendliest superbikes out there, yet still a ballistic riot. Expect to see the Austrians in WSB and BSB very soon…

Words: Alastair ‘A-Force’ Fagan
Photos: Courtesy of KTM

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Designed for life on the street (where most accidents occur), the kit is the Motorcycle Kit (MKit) and an outer waistcoat or jacket (where the airbags reside). The MKit lives on the bike and uses a pair of accelerometers to detect a crash. The airbags themselves have a volume of 12 litres. The two separate pieces of equipment are connected via a two-way radio link and automatically switches on with the ignition.

Designed to protect the spine, when the airbags are released they limit movement of the neck, protecting the upper abdomen and chest at the same time. Once triggered, it takes 45 milliseconds for the airbags to inflate and a pillion can also use the same MKit, so long as they’re wearing a D-air garment.

Available in three styles (outer waistcoat, Gore-Tex jacket and textile jacket), each piece also has a fitted back protector, and CE protection at the shoulders and elbows. The MKit D-air Street is priced at £389.99, D-air Street Waistcoat is available in sizes 40/60 and priced at £639.99, D-air Street Tex is available in sizes 44-60 and priced at £849.99 and the D-air Street Gore-Tex is available in sizes 44/60 and priced at £1,309.99. You’ll need the MKit too. Not cheap, but what price do you put on safety?

Click here to see the Dainese D-air Street system in action.

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We’ll have 5 copies of TT3D to give away on its release – so watch this space.

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Click the cover to read the whole French Alps Route Guide

Simply plug your Garmin sat nav in, open up the Connect site, and download them now. That way you’ll have them stored for when you head south next summer, and you can follow the very routes we rode!

Here they are:

Miussy to Fry

Les Cours to Valloire

Allemond to Alpes d’Huez

Scionzier to Le Grand Bournand

La Clusez to Flumet

Beaufort to Bourg St Maurice

Ugine to Megeve

Bourg St Maurice to Pre St Didier

La Coulee to La Chambre

La Chambre to Le Bourg-d’Oisans

Valloire to Saint Martin d’Arc

Termignon to St-Foy-Tarentaise

Isn’t technology great?

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Elsewhere, the bike gets a new frame, new Marzocchi forks, a new Sachs shock, new aluminium wheels, new Brembo brakes and a new rear tyre size of 180/60. So while it looks like a Streetfighter, there are plenty of changes to crerate a bike in its own right.

But what do all the new changes mean? Well, first off, the bike gets a £9995 price tag, which is about as good as it’s going to get for Ducati. This puts it a grand above the Monster 1100 EVO and a grand under the 848 EVO. In other news, the stock big Streetfighter gets put out to graze, leaving the S as the sole representative in the big class.

The launch was held at the brand new Autodromo di Modena, not far from Ducati’s Bologna HQ. The track is as twisty as it gets, but the bike faired well, depsite it being not built for this sort of malarky. Ducati see the bike as more of a styled all-rounder, leaving other bikes in the range to be dedicated track weapons. At least Ducati stuck Pirelli Supercorsa SC2s on, and adjusted the suspension to suit. Let’s just say it was a lot of fun, even though most of the other journos hated the track – I loved it, right down to the gear and brake lever!

After lunch in the Ducati MotoGP hospitality unit (sensational!), it was a road ride, putting the bike through its paces in its more natural environment. The bike shone as brightly as the weather, without any chinks in its armour arising. Alright, the yellow isn’t Ducati’s finest hour, but at least the bike comes in red and black, too. The only sticking point is the price. With rivals like the Street Triple easily undercutting the Ducati, the SF848 will have to rely on its looks more than it would really want.

Check out Ducati’s video here, and look out for the full report in the December issue of Fast Bikes.

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We use one of these almost daily – for collecting and delivering bikes, moving a couple around at a time, and on almost every test as a support vehicle. We’ve done 14,000 miles in Primastars in the last eight months – so we know how good they are.

Click the image read all about it…

Find the right one for you at Nissan Commercial Vehicles

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