New Bike News
Sales Snag Pause for breath or beginning of a fall from grace? Overall UK bike sales and visitors to the Bike Show in Birmingham were down a marginal amount over last year. The best seller so far, this year, the Thai-manufactured CBR125, despite costing more than two and a half times what the better CBR150 (from which it is derived) retails for in Thailand. The GSXR1000 ain't far behind, followed by the CBR1000RR... perhaps the most depressing detail, the horrible Honda 100 Lead in number seven position - a machine totally inferior to the 125 Wave which needs to be imported in huge quantities at half its current price! Hard to tell what the market is going to do next... Meanwhile, UK trail-riders are likely to be banned from most of the countryside although exactly how the plod are going to enforce the law remains to be seen - as it will obviously be equally illegal for the police to speed across the countryside on off-roaders. Oh well, another ten-percent on bike prices to pay for the helicopters and SWAT squads? Talk about taking a sledge-hammer to crack a very, very minor problem
- another case of too many politicians having too little to do to justify their existence. And I say this as someone who actually prefers to walk in the countryside rather than risk breaking limbs on a motorcycle... And, the UK's Motorcycle Sport magazine was much improved in its Jan '06 issue, as the new editor gets into his stride; just hope someone gives him a big red pencil for Xmas which he'll maybe have the guts to apply to the PR-speak in a couple of the road tests. Getting there and now, once again, worth a look.
Books & Mags Knowing only too well how tough things are for small scale publishers, I am always happy to give a free plug to anyone who sends me details of their new motorcycle books or magazines (unless they have seriously pissed me off in the past!)... Jeff Meeham has a couple here - Ray's Rides - Circular tours of Cheshire and North Wales - and Profile of a Scott Owner.
Fickle Fame The American Motorcycle Museum's Hall of Fame well worth a look, featuring bikes right back to the nineteenth century as well as much more recent stuff. Some of the choices a touch bizarre, such as the
1966 Honda CB450 Police Special, the 1985 Honda VF1000R and the 1976 Suzuki RE5 Rotary... but I suppose there was some oddity value to the last two.Back 2 Front Fanaticism is fine and extremism is okay, but when it all strays into mindless ideology and repetition of the same old thing over and over again it becomes, what? Well, boring for a start. Time was when the acquisition of certain motorcycles drove me to distraction but these days I enjoy the ride for the ride's sake and all I really ask is that the motorcycle beneath me neither fails, explodes nor disintegrates, within the context of a certain power to weight equation. What makes me smile, these days: blues skies; a bright sun, open snaking roads with little traffic and an Oriental babe (who makes a teenage Kate Moss look rather plain, thank you very much) clinging on for dear life - and no need to wear a bloody crash-helmet, dismal, useless, blood-sucking politicians please note. Bottom line... just say no!.
JRD Jag
JRD a large Malaysian industrial company with factories all over Asia (including Thailand) but not exactly yet focused heavily on motorcycles
- the JRD 110RS the kind of low end step-thru that has little going for it other than its sub four hundred quid ex-factory price. They are of note, though, as they have developed a 125cc off-road version of the eternal if not infernal step-thru that is rather more useful than it sounds and likely to retail in Asia for as little as five hundred sterling. Worth keeping an eye out for future, larger capacity, models including a neat 200cc thumper roadster that could make it into Western markets for half what the Jap's charge for their rather joyless 125 singles such as the Honda CG125.
Vincent Variations
Phil Cotton Classics in Cumbria are selling brand new, upgraded Vincent engines that even have electric starters. These are available for fitment into either Egli or cut-down Norton frames, with variations in cycle parts although there doesn't seem to be an option for those who require proper handlebars... most likely needed for anyone old enough to front up the 25-30k sterling cost. Not convinced, though, that the engine is placed far enough forward for sublime handling.
Just a small part of: