Looks aren’t everything
I’m told I’ll hit puberty one day, but in the meantime thank God for fake moustaches. Without one I would never have made the cut for this month’s ‘enlightening’ retro test, where Boothy, Fagan and myself got dressed up in some purportedly fashionable garments and did our best to ride like respectable gentlemen for at least 32 minutes. The retro scene is a massive one, which appears to be getting bigger with the arrival of every new day. So fearing that we were missing some enormous trick, we got stuck in, Fast
Bikes- stylee, and put BMW’s classy-looking R nineT Racer and Yamaha’s ‘wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing’ XSR900 to the test.
As highlights go, that experience will take some beating, and not just because Fagan got chatted up by a bloke wearing severed (as in, he’d chopped the wires off) earphones. As funny as that scene was, it was a mere blip of hilarity, when paired up against the joys of blitzing around with open face lids, casually catching flies in our teeth and being choked by our ever tightening helmet straps. I tell you, those hipster folks certainly don’t have it easy, and that’s without factoring in the hard decisions they have to make on a daily basis regarding beard oil and flat cap options.
Naturally, I felt much more comfortable on Boothy’s track toys test, where we rinsed a load of really cool sportsbikes around Cadwell Park circuit. It made for an interesting test on four very different machines, with the end goal being to sample the sheer variety of track weapons out there on the market. Whatever your age, riding competence or wallet size, there’s a bike out there for you, and hopefully this test will help you make the right call on what to buy, and what you need to know before parting with your dollar. The main thing to remember is that you do need a track bike in your garage… even if the better half claims otherwise.
Did you make it to the NEC? It was great to see 2018’s new bikes in the flesh, and check out all the new riding kit that’s set to stock shelves. But more importantly, it was great to meet some of you guys who took the time to swing by our stand and give us your take on the mag. Lastly, I just wanted to thank you all for your continued support. I’ve been in this job a year now and it’s been even more awesome than I’d hoped. Of course, the real challenge is to make sure next year’s even more awesome, so get sending your ideas in. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.