Bike Devil’s Week on Two-Wheels: 26 October 20
Bike Devil’s Week on Two-Wheels: 26th October 2020
It’s that time again, Bike Devil’s Week on Two-Wheels and hasn’t a lot happened since the last time we sat down to write this!
Various race championships have been sewn up, areas of the country are back in lockdown and the weather has most certainly taken a turn towards winter. In a world filled with what feels like uncertainty, we hope our update brings you a little smile and gives you the opportunity to think about all things two-wheeled for a little while!
Where shall we start? How about with the racing – with both the BSB and WSBK Champions having been declared over the last few weeks…
Ducati’s Josh Brookes won his second British Superbike Championship at the final round at Brands Hatch – the last time he was BSB Champ was back in 2015. At the beginning of the year when we were uncertain as to whether any racing was going to be happening this year, it must be even more special! Congratulations to all the BSB organisers, riders, teams and fans for showing immense spirit and commitment to making the racing happen. We just hope that next year, we’ll be able to be there as spectators once again!
Onto the World Superbikes now and it was – you guessed it – Jonathan Rea who secured the WBSK Championship once again at the final round at Estoril, Portugal. Six. Times. In. A. Row. Rea won 11 races this year and now has 99 career wins under his belt – he certainly found his flow with the Kawasaki Racing Team! Kawasaki were once secured the Manufacturer’s Championship. Rea is the most successful rider in World Superbike history and further extends his gap over Foggy as the rider with the most WSBK Championship wins – his six in comparison to Carl’s four. 2019 BSB Champ, Scott Redding wasn’t giving up easily though and was just 55 points behind Rea on the WSBK Ducati, followed by his teammate, Chaz Davies on 273 points. It was announced in June that Rea would continue with KRT, so can he make it seven next year?!
Talking of signings, it has been confirmed that fan-favourite Leon Haslam will remain with Honda for 2021. But it was sad to hear that Chaz Davies is out of a ride for 2021 as it stands after finding out he will be replaced by up-and-coming Italian rider, Michael Ruben Rinaldi. Davies has put in a strong performance on the Ducati this year – as in previous – so it’s a shame to see him leave the final race of the season without definite plans for 2021.
The MotoGP Paddock was over at Aragon for the second weekend in a row – with three races to go, it’s tight at the top with just 32 points separating the top six. Morbidelli took the top step of the podium, followed by Alex Rins in second and championship leader Joan Mir finished in third. Rin’s closest rival in the Championship race, Quartararo finished the race in eighth place.
Onto new bikes now and since the last update there have been more models unveiled and updates announced – here are the headlines: The 2021 Honda Forza lineup has been revamped, Ducati have unveiled the Granturismo version of its V4 engine which will be used in the Multistrada V4 and Zero announced a number of updates to its range of electric bikes including colour changes and detail and spec updates. The Ducati Streetfighter V4 S is also now available in black, is now Euro 5 compliant and peak power is now 250rpm higher than before, now at 13,000rpm.
We’re not done yet…
BMW has revealed the new R1250RT with radar cruise control – fancy pants! – they are the second manufacturer to reveal a production bike with this capability. We brought you the news of Ducati piping them to the post in our last update. It has also launched the R18 Classic – a version of the new R18 with more comfort and cruising style features. Over the R18, you’ll get cruiser control as standard, thicker padding on the seat and a pillion seat and pegs as standard – there are some other additions too so check out the full spec if it’s your kind of thing. BMW has also updated the R nine T range including some rider aid additions – such as ABS Pro, Dynamic Brake Control and a ride-by-wire throttle.
Over in the orange corner, KTM has launched a new 890 Adventure which is set to arrive in dealers in January – not long to wait! The iconic Honda ‘Grom’, now officially known as the ‘MSX125 Grom’ has been given a major update – with a new Euro 5 125 engine and a five speed gearbox (instead of the four it previously had), it can now apparently do 150mpg!
Zontes has announced three new models coming to the UK – all of which will be priced at under £3000. The ZT125-U is a naked roadster, the ZT125-U1 is more of an adventure sport machine and the ZT125-G1 will appeal to those who like the look, and ride, of a retro roadster. And last but not least, the Langen 250cc two-stroke cafe racer was launched just over a month ago, it seems to have been very popular with orders coming in thick and fast for the British-built £28k machine.
Phew! Think that covers everything! So there you have it – our two-wheeled update. Let’s see what this week has to bring!
#StaySafe, #StayAlert, #StayPositive and keep washing those hands (yes, it’s still important!).