MCN COLUMNIST
McGuinness on the good, the bad and the ugly bikes for 2019
‘Is that Niken a bike, a trike? I don’t get it. Can I have a go though?’
JOHN McGUINNESS
I’ve been checking out the new bikes at the shows because I like to keep up to date and love seeing what’s coming up. Some of them are a bit odd though!
I’ve seen MCN doing quite a lot with that three-wheeled Yamaha thing and now I see from the shows that it is coming out in a GT version with luggage and more bulk. What the hell is it? Does it fall over? Is it a bike or is it a trike? I don’t understand. It’s a motorbike, with three wheels; so it’s not a motorbike! Having said all that, I’d like a go on one but I wouldn’t run over hot coals for it. I don’t really get the idea. That new Suzuki Katana looks more like it. The thing was an icon back in the day and they’ve done a tidy job bringing it back to life. I reckon it will sell pretty well. That whole retro thing still seems to be strong with bikes from Triumph, Ducati and even good old Royal Enfield getting in on the act (although they’ve always been retro anyway). And another thing; when are Honda bringing out a proper hardcore Fireblade? They need another RC30, that bike smashed the world when it came out, won world titles and everything but right now it’s not really happening for Honda, is it? The bike world has changed a lot in my lifetime. These huge adventure tourers are the big thing these days. They’re impressive, but I’m not a huge fan of them to be honest.
I’d love to see someone bring back performance two-strokes for the road. KTM and Husqvarna still have them off road and if you fuel inject a two-stroke is it really that bad on emissions compared to a four-stroke? A decent stroker with top-notch tech to keep clean would sell like hot cakes on a cold day. I’d buy one like a shot.
‘WITH A BIT OF TECH YOU COULD MAKE A CLEAN STROKER’