Bike SA - July 2020

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In this issue

All the latest and greatest in the World of Motorcycling

Zed's Definitely Not Dead, Baby

Kawasaki’s ‘z’ models have been with us since 1972 but who could have foreseen the levels to which they would rise in 2020?

10+ mins

Riding Tips; Carrying A Pillion

A motorcycle is at its best with just the rider on board; this is when it is at its optimum load and balance. However, often we need to carry a passenger - or pillion, to give it the correct term - and this can have an effect on the way the bike reacts out of all proportion to the extra weight.

3 mins

KTM's Stefan Pierer Speaks: Post-Coronavirus Is Full Of Opportunity!

The devastating effects of Coronavirus aka Covid-19 on the global economy are too great to quantify right now. But as things start to struggle towards a new normal, it’s evident that the worldwide motorcycle industry is facing a set of challenges which comprise both rehabilitation, and opportunity. Who better to ask for a frank appraisal of the effects of the pandemic, as well as an assessment of what the future holds, than the majority owner of Europe’s largest motorcycle manufacturer by volume, KTM’s Stefan Pierer.

10+ mins

1929 BMW R11 750

Seeing as how we have featured the very first BMW motorcycle, the R32, in this issue of Bike SA, I felt it might be interesting to expand on that line of thought and take a brief look at BMW’s first volume production model, the R11, that arrived a mere 5 years after the R32.

10+ mins

Fabio Quartararo - The Next Big Thing

Fabio Quartararo is being hyped as the next Valentino Rossi and the future face of MotoGP. Considering his phenomenal rookie MotoGP debut season of 2019, he very well may be.

5 mins

MotoGP - Michael Scott - Pit Lane

The great grand prix thought experiment

4 mins

Great Bikes BMW R32

If there is one defining element of the BMW motorcycle, it has to be the famous ‘boxer-twin’ engine layout that steadfastly refuses to be deleted from the model line-up. But what are the origins of this venerable motor?

2 mins

KTM 1290 Super Duke R - Sensation Overload

When I sat down to write this review of the KTM 1290 Super Duke R, I found myself unconsciously hunching forward over the keyboard to stop the literary front end come up! It has that effect on you, even a couple of weeks after riding it. I am still asking myself if what I just experienced was real or was it just a bizarre dream? Did I fall into some strange other dimension for a few hours? Certainly I achieved warp speed…

5 mins

The MATJIESVLEI TOUR

There are few times I feel unsafe on a bike. But put me in a heavy bank of mist, when my glasses and the inside of the visor mist-up, then I feel about as safe as a bleeding surfer with a Great White shark circling me. It was a miracle I made it across the N2 and onto the Dassiesfontein dirt track to Caledon. I could see virtually nothing and just hoped anybody coming the other way would be travelling slowly and have their lights on.

10+ mins

Gone But Not Forgotten

I intend this to be an infrequent series on a selection of the hundreds of motorcycle manufacturers that have long since disappeared, whether they had been in production a year or two or a few decades. Some possibly deserved to wither and die, while some were very successful but still went out of business; some have faded from memory but many are remembered. They are all part of the rich tapestry of the history motorcycling.