Come on out, the summer is lovely
There’s still plenty of time to make the most of this incredible biking summer with MCN’s special guide
Make the most of what’s left of this amazing sizzler. It’s even better than ’76
We motorcyclists are notorious for making plans. As in: one day, I’ll get round to that tour of Orkney/ trip to Mugello/ trackday. But we can’t do that in 2018, because that hazy, perfect summer has arrived: a June and July and hopefully August the like of which we have not seen since 1976. So if you’re not making the most of your bike now, when will you? Hell, we even had a wet spring, so there’s enough water left in the reservoirs to wash the dust off your bike. You couldn’t do that in 1976.
Most people like a bit of heat, but to motorcycle riders this summer is extra special. It’s not about staying warm; quite the opposite, in fact. The best riding temperature is mid-20s, not the mid-30s we’ve stewed in recently.
No, it’s about carefree grip. As any serious rider knows, you need a minimum tarmac temperature before you can stop worrying about the tyres. I’ve no idea what
‘The grip turns even a 125 into a magical leaning machine’
that temperature is; I just know I haven’t had to think about it for months. As long as the tarmac isn’t actually melting, your tyres – almost regardless of their make – will stick like you-know-what to a blanket. Example: after a whole day’s roasting, the car park outside my workshop is one, big, dreamy, swimmy gob of heat. I found I can start my MT-07 and deck the pegs in second gear before I get to the gate. This grip surplus is so delicious even a 125 becomes a magical leaning machine.
It works best for riders in the north: with relatively little traffic they can fill their boots all day long. Down here in the south and midlands, the roads are clogged
by the working day. But that’s the beauty of steamy early mornings. Nip out at 5am and there’s still bags of riding time before all the regular drongos clamber into their cars and vans. Drawn-out evenings are even more popular. I live on a good biking road and riders are out every night of the week. Harley folk, GS enthusiasts, classic buffs, sportsbike freaks; they’re all at it. Just soaking it in, day in, day out, unable to believe their luck. In this summer, a 20-mile ride to the chippy becomes a brilliant blast: the scented dust from the combine harvesters, the wash of warmth from the tarmac, the bruise-coloured sunset.
Heat does strange things to people. In July, MCN columnist Neil Murray bought a Moto Guzzi Le Mans II and rode it to my place to get a new starter switch fitted. He did the entire 300-mile round trip in his shirt sleeves. I’ve even taken to riding in kit that sacrifices some protection for the sake of comfort. For now, it’s too damn hot.
I’ve tried hard to make the most of it in other ways too: I’ve ridden up to the Arctic Circle, thrashed a 959 Panigale round a racetrack, and done a three-day guided trail ride in Wales. Actually, apart from the
‘Riders over the UK are unable to believe their luck’
racetrack bit, that’s not true. I’ve been in the workshop, customising an old British bike to ride to the Classic TT. So no big trips, just lots of short ones, often to the local shop to pick up something obscure. But even those rides, hacking and slashing through the kind of horror traffic which we must now accept as normal, are imprinting themselves on my memory, building a picture of a vintage year. And if all goes to plan, the best is yet to come: an Indian summer on the Island, during which I park the world’s finest Royal Enfield on Port Erin seafront and eat a Kelly’s ice cream.
If there’s a fly in all this lovely ointment, it’s the future. Most of us can remember other hot summers: 1989, 1995 and 2003, for example. But the 2018 heatwave across the northern hemisphere is, climate scientists now agree, partly caused by burning fossil fuels, which includes having fun on motorbikes. It could be that our kids or our grandchildren will look back and think we were insane. What’s certain is summers like this are predicted to be more frequent. Even so, a 2018 might not arrive again in your biking lifetime. It really is something to savour.