Yes – it’s that time again. Guy Fawkes and Halloween are done, I’m a Celebrity is polluting your telly with shyte, and the bike racing is done for another year. Time to hibernate with an electric blanket and a bottle of JD until spring? No! There’s one bright light on the horizon, and in this time of oncoming trains, it’s a good ‘un, promise.
We’re talking about Motorcycle Live at the NEC of course, which kicks off this weekend. Now, it might be a little hard for us jaded, cynical hacks to get excited about another bike show – especially when we’ve done the hard yards around both the Cologne and Milan showgrounds. But when we think back on all the hot new metal that UK riders will get their first chance for a perv at in the metal, we cheer up instantly. Here’s the first half of our alphabetic pick of the bikes that you simply must get along to Birmingham to look at, sit on, and work out the finance deals to buy…
Aprilia
RSV4 RR
The sweetest-looking of all the litre bikes – and the teeniest – sticks with the tried and true format of a nuts 201bhp engine in a track-happy chassis and gorgeous styling. The real beauty is on the inside for 2017 though – it’s had a massive electronics upgrade, with the revised traction control, engine management and smart ABS all adding up to faster lap times for us mere mortals…
BMW
HP4 Racer concept
Did the Munich massive really rush this out when they saw the Ducati 1299 Superleggera coming at them? We’re not sure to be fair – but we’re not bothered either way. We’re just happy to see anything that cranks up the mental litre bike class another notch, especially when it involves serious weight loss and MotoGP-spec suspension gizmoids. The HP4 Racer is a concept at the moment and we won’t see it in action until 2018 probably. A full carbon frame, wheels and bodywork grabs the headlines, but the Öhlins FGR front gas forks and Brembo M.50 calipers will knock the cognoscenti’s socks off we reckon. A megabucks, track-only plaything for the Plutocrat’s Motorcycle Club? Yes, at the moment, but once Bee-Em gets its carbon fibre production line sorted out, we’ll all reap the benefits in time…
S1000RR, R and XR
BMW’s ‘base’ 200bhp superbike has only had ‘detail’ mods for 2017, but if we’re honest, we only had ‘detail’ complaints about the old one. Much of the changes are centred on Euro IV compliance it seems, but there’s a big old riding aids update inside the ECU. Sharper, leaning ABS and traction, plus track toys like launch control and pitlane speed limiter will make your trackday experience 19 per cent more MotoGP-y, or your money back (we imagine).
The RR’s naked sister, the S1000 R gets 5bhp more power, all the better to take on KTM’s Super Duke, and it’s 2kg lighter, as well as having more electronics options, including BMW’s ace up- and down- quickshifter setup.
Finally, the S1000 XR adventure bike also gets 5bhp more power, and like the R, has an even wider range of factory options and electronics. Phew!
RnineT range
The original Roland Sands-designed RnineT has been such a hit for BM, that it’s extended the range up, out, down and round. Which is fine by us. This retro Racer version was pick of the crop at Cologne, and its natty round-headlamp’d bikini fairing floated the boats of both the beardy-weirdy hoary hipsters, and the less fashionable riders out there.
BMW had kept something back for Milan though, and the Urban G/S was another hit. It’s a bit of a weird notion at first though: make a bike that harks back to the original G/S Paris-Dakar racer, with the same paint job and styling. But then call it an ‘Urban’ bike? Under the styling, it’s pretty much an RnineT in a party frock, with slightly taller stance (but with an optional lower seat too).
Anyway. The recipe of a good-looking bike, with decent performance, that also tugs at the nostalgic heartstrings is a simple, and effective one. The Racer and Urban G/S both tick all the boxes…
THE REST!
BMW’s luxo-barge K1600 range gets a makeover, and there’s a new mini-GS, the G310.
Ducati
1299 Superleggera
Wow. This is probably the most striking thing on show at the NEC, and it’s a properly audacious piece of kit. Honda’s new Fireblade will make the biggest difference to the most people, but just like its RC213V-S from last year, the Ducati Superleggera is the most jaw-dropping thing in Birmingham this year. Not only has Ducati taken its full-beans superbike motor, and pumped it up to 215bhp (in road trim!!). But it’s thrown all the old steel trellis and cast aluminium chassis work in the bin, and given the 1299 SL a carbon fibre frame, swingarm and wheels, for a dry weight of 157kg. Eek!
The motor has the ultimate electronics setup, as seen on the firm’s Anniversario superbike earlier in the year, but turned up another notch. Inside the V-twin is a set of 116mm, two-ring racing pistons, with enormous titanium valves, high-lift cams and titanium rods.
The downside? Of course, it’s the price and the limited nature of the beast. You won’t get much change from £70k (depending on how the pound is doing next year), and there are only going to be 500 made. But, as with the HP4 Racer concept from BMW, the tech on the 1299 SL will trickle down to the rest of the firm’s range over the coming years.
Monster 1200R
The 1299 might grab all the headlines (rightly so!), but Ducati’s big-bore Monster had us all fired up too at Milan. The original classy naked roadster has come a long way in the past couple of decades, and this is the current state of the art. The competition is stiff, and Ducati’s response has been impressive. For 2017, the new flagship Monster gets a heap of power increases, chassis upgrades and weight loss mods, putting it right back in the fight with the likes of KTM’s Super Duke and BMW’s S1000 R. Power is up to 160bhp, mass down to 180kg dry, and the chassis has proper Serie ‘A’ spec: 330mm front discs, Brembo M.50 calipers, 48mm Öhlins forks, TTX rear shock, and forged Marchesini rims. The classiest fighter in the naked roadster sector? Quite possibly.
THE REST!
There are another few hundred options in the soft’n’cuddly Scrambler range, but you have to pass a gorgeousness test and live in San Francisco or Martha’s Vineyard to be allowed to buy one. Well, that’s what it looks like in all the promo videos anyway…
Joking aside, Ducati’s entry-level sub-brand is going from strength to strength, and if that (plus the secret Marlboro cash) means Gigi Dall’Igna gets another bazillion quid to give Lorenzo a title-winning MotoGP machine, then fair enough!
Away from Scrambler, we get a natty entry-level Multistrada, using the 113bhp 939 engine from last year’s Hypermotard, and the Supersport 939, also using that engine. The Supersport was a tiny bit disappointing in the flesh – we love the idea of an everyday sportsbike that can commute, tour, scratch and trackday, but the SS had a few rough edges on the show stands. Check it out yourself, but little things like unadjustable levers felt a bit like unnecessary cost-cutting.
Honda
Fireblade, and its SP and SP2 variants
We’ll be upfront, and say we’re probably happier about this than we have been about any new Honda in quite a long time (RC213V-S excluded, since it’s such a pricey fantasyland thing). Honda’s big-bore superbike is a genuinely legendary beast, but it’s been overshadowed by the competition for quite a while now. The CBR1000RR’s never been the most powerful, or the lightest, or the highest-tech in the big boy’s class, but over the last year or two, it’s been farther than ever from the top. But that looks to have changed for 2017. A wheels-up revamp has given it a weight reduction that would please Slimmer of the Year, and a power trip rivaled only by Nigel Farage in the lift at Trump Towers. And it’s finally got an electronics package from the top drawer, as well as hot-poop suspension and chassis jewellery in SP and SP2 form. The SP2 is for racers only, but the SP will be common enough on the streets, and the middle class version only really misses out on a hidden WSB-friendly tunable head (which will be moot when you fit the nitrous bottles anyway). Whichever one you go for though, the new ‘Blade looks a million dollars, and even better in the flesh. If it rides as well as it looks, Honda dealers (and racers) will have an amazing 2017.
THE REST!
Honda has splurged on the Fireblade, quite rightly, but there are another few highlights in the 2017 range. The CRF250 Rally looks amazing, and if you’re happy with the limited BHP on offer from the wee single cylinder motor, and have the inside leg to suit, it could be the hot-poop lightweight adventure trailie to beat next year. The CB1100 retro-styled premium roadster looks sweet as hell, and comes with some lovely running gear. And anyone who says Honda only does middle-of-the-road Dadcore bikes these days, we direct you to the ADV-X adventure scooter. A 750cc parallel-twin, with an autobox, long travel suspension and bashplate, in step-through scooter format. It’s either genius or the end of times. You decide!
