On a scorching hot weekend at the end of June, Ragley Hall was the venue for the Adventure Bike Rider Festival or ABR.
Set in 450 acres of beautiful parkland, in the heart of Shakespeare’s England, the Ragley estate overlooks the unspoilt Warwickshire countryside.
Some bikes just fit, like your favourite pair of shoes or your favourite T-shirt.
Suzuki’s GSX-S1000GX is my new favourite band T-shirt.
Based on the GSX-S1000GT, it shares a host of parts; frame, engine & gearbox, subframe, rear plastics, exhaust and so on. The GX sits taller than the GT with a more comfortable riding position and crucially, It has a full and comprehensive electronics package with more acronyms than you can shake a stick at.
Engine:
At the heart of the Triumph Tiger 1200 GT Pro is a retuned version of the Speed Triple's 1160cc triple-cylinder engine. While it delivers a slightly more modest 148bhp @ 9,000rpm and 130 Nm torque, it remains the most powerful shaft-driven adventure bike on the market.
Moto Guzzi is a renowned Italian motorcycle manufacturer, boasting a rich history dating back to 1921.
Founded by WWI comrades: The story begins with two Italian pilots, Giorgio Parodi and Giovanni Ravelli, and their mechanic, Carlo Guzzi, who dreamt of building motorcycles after the war. Sadly, Ravelli passed away shortly after, but to honour him, the iconic Moto Guzzi eagle logo was created.
Ducati is a brand close to my heart. They are one of the most recognisable and aspirational brands in the world. They have achieved incredible success in both motorsport and on the showroom floor, creating some of the best and most beautiful bikes ever to grace the highways and byways.
I was recently given the opportunity to ride the Desert X and Hypermoto Mono at a Ducati media day, That’s an invitation I’m not going to turn down.
When Ducati first released details of the Desert X, I presumed it would be a styling exercise based on an existing platform; Multistrada perhaps. How wrong was I?
I’ve only managed a brief 45-minute ride so far, so this is just my initial thoughts and some technical details.
Honda’s Africa twin is one of the most iconic adventure bikes ever made, first showing its face in the late ‘80s. Here we are in 2022 and The Africa Twin is still going strong and better than ever.
With 158bhp on tap, Ducati’s Multistrada 1260S is a fast bike. It blurs the boundary between an adventure bike and a sports tourer, and I love it.
The Multistrada 1260 uses the 1262cc engine is a Diavel-derived motor with new mapping and exhaust. What a great engine this is, characterful and bags of power and torque, making 85% of its 130Nm torque from just 3500rpm.
The Africa Twin is a legend in its own lifetime. In 1986 Honda decided to tackle possibly the most arduous endurance race on the planet, the Dakar Rally (formerly the Paris–Dakar Rally). To do this, they built an exceptional and now legendary 1986 NXR750. The Africa Twin was born. This bike went on to win the Dakar 4 times in a row.
There are rare moments in life where you can tangibly see the enormity of “Mother Nature” and feel incredibly small set against such an epic landscape. This is what I experienced as I stood looking upon the crystal clear water of Lomnicky Pleso (Mountain Lake) from a rocky outcrop at around 1,800m. Reflected in the glacial waters was Slovakia’s second tallest peak Lomnicky Stit at 2,634m, just one more cable car journey away.
