MOTORCYCLE NEWS

Royal Enfield Himalayan
 

Video images of the long awaited Royal Enfield Himalayan have just been posted on the Royal Enfield website. But very little is known about the new bike beyond the fact that it's an OHC single-cylinder adventure motorcycle. The consensus of opinion is that the displacement is 410cc, and that the engine will produce around 28bhp. The road tester on the video is CS Santosh, who we understand is the first Indian rider to finish the Paris-Dakar Rally. Santosh has been quoted as saying:  "For a common man, [the Himalayan] will not be intimidating at all. The power is there but it's not gonna be aggressive." [More...]

Matchless Andrews Boots
 

Nobody ever called us fashion junkies. That's because we buy our clobber mostly from our local army surplus store. And if that's shut, there's always Primark, Tesco or Shoe Zone. But these Andrews Boots from the fashion house, Matchless, have put a huge dent in our sartorial perspective and made us realise that we're missing out on something wonderful. [More...]

KTM record sales figures
 

Austrian motorcycle marque, KTM, has just posted details of its 2015 sales figures, and the news is that the numbers are hitting impressive new highs. Motorcycle sales for the brand have for the first time exceeded ‎€1 billion with 180,801 units sold worldwide. That's 14 percent up on last year, and it represents a fifth consecutive year of growth. And to put that into a wider perspective, it means that KTN built and sold around 30,000 more bikes than BMW, and around 120,000 more bikes than Triumph. [More...]

2016 Speed Triple prices
 

Triumph Motorcycles has just released details of the 2016 1050cc Speed Triple S and Speed Triple R prices. The bikes are currently "enjoying" a press launch in Southern Spain, and early road tests suggest that the 104 engine changes haven't exactly elevated the new Speed Triple onto the next level of motorcycling combat. Not that there's anything significantly wrong with it. The engineers at Triumph have clearly dialled in a lot of refinement. [More...]

Evotech Performance
 

Evotech is the trading arm of Drury Precision Engineering. The firm is based in Alford, Lincolnshiere. Drury was founded in the mid-1970s by Rob Drury. He began by manufacturing sheet metal parts for motorcycles. Evotech/Drury has facilities for CNC machining, vacuum forming, powder-coating, metal forming plus design & prototyping. The range of motorcycle parts include handlebar bar-end weights, radiator guards, engine guards, levers, tail-tidies/fender eliminators and crash protection systems. Most of the major motorcycle brands are catered for from Aprilia to Yamaha. The company is very much up-to-the-minute, and it can produce designs within weeks of the launch of a new model. [More...]

Claymore Wax Cotton gear

Claymore Jackets in Yorkshire is owned and run by Carl Wilson. The wholly British company was founded in 2003. Its remit is to create bespoke, stylish waxed cotton jackets at realistic prices for people who prefer not to wear gear created in a Far East sweatshop and/or off the peg items from established brands. Instead, Claymore's jackets are cut, machined, finished and despatched right here in the UK. [More...]

Electrex World Ltd
 

Electrex was founded 25 years ago by Peter Houghton, and he's still the MD. We know little about this business. However, the firm's name has come up a few times in biking conversation, and we can't remember that anything negative (pun intended) was said about them. In fact, it was all positive (and yes, that's another sad pun). However, we're happy to feature the company on Sump because it reckons that 99 percent of its product is made right here in the UK. Electrex manufactures electrical parts, much of it being original equipment for major manufacturers. The parts cover a wide range of motorcycle marques including Kawasaki, Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, KTM, Ducati, BMW, Moto Guzzi and ... well, you get the idea. But they don't sell wiring looms/harnesses, and they carry very limited parts for Harley-Davidsons.  [More...]

Cymarc Bike Parts
 

We have to confess that we know very little about Cymarc. So if you're interested in doing business with this North Lincolnshire-based firm owned and run by Mark Hooton, you'll have to ask some sensible questions and/or do a little detective work of your own. However, we've been looking at Cymarc's website and reading the copy, and we like the sound of this guy. He's says that he's invested in a £300,000 Trumpf Trumatic laser profiling machine plus a lot of other equipment, and it looks and sounds like he's a dyed-in-the-wool biker happy to develop new products and scratch whatever creative itches he's got.

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Unity Equipe Cafe Racers

Unity Equipe specialises in Manx Nortons, Tritons, Norvins, Tribsas, Norbsa and pretty much all varieties of classic British cafe racers. The firm was was founded by the much respected John Newby. For many years the business was based in Todmorden, Lancashire which is in the Rochdale area. But now Unity Equipe is based near Chesterfield, Derbyshire, and the current owner is John Phelan, aka "Bantam" John Phelan.

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Hagon shocks and wheels
 

Hagon has been around for so long that it's easy to take the firm for granted. The business was created by well-respected grasstrack and drag racer Alf Hagon, and is currently managed by his son, Martin. Alf Hagon made his name and racing reputation back in the 1960s and was regularly in the news. Martin Hagon raced too. He was a very active and successful competitor in the 1980s and 1990s. Currently operating from an industrial unit in Hainault, Essex, Hagon picked up where Girling left off and bought the original  shock-absorber/damper tooling.  [More...]

Knox leather jacket system
 

Planet Knox is the parent company which trades under the Knox brand. The business was founded in 1981 and claims to have launched the world's first commercially available back protector for motorcyclists. And we're taking Knox at its word for that. In 1988, the company developed the Pro-Tek Elite Suit; said to be the world's first motorcycle jacket with back, elbow and shoulder protection built-in. [More...]

Davida crash helmets

Dave Fiddaman is the man behind Davida. He founded the firm around 30 years ago and has built the business into one of the most respected crash helmet manufacturers in the world. Most of the products are aimed at the classic and custom end of the market. But you can wear these lids (all of which are open faced, so far) on whatever bike you choose, including sports bikes. And Davida customers do wear these lids on everything from sports Ducatis to GSXRs to what-have-you? [More...]

2015 bike sales news
 

The headline news is that in 2015, British dealers sold 114,160 new motorcycles. That's a jump of 12,883 on 2014 which makes it a 12.7 percent increase. So who says so? The MCIA (Motor Cycle Industry Association). We're advised that this is the highest annual increase since 2008 and marks a general upward trend. It's hard to see the figures reflected on the street. But then, you'd need a much bigger jump to make a really obvious visual impact.  [More...]

Brough's UK dealer network
 

Mark Upham, the man behind the revitalised Brough Superior brand, has announced that the firm is now ready to establish a UK dealer network. At present, the company is focussed on its 997cc SS100 V-twin which was unveiled in the UK in November 2013 (see Brough Superior unveiled). Three UK customers are reported to have now bought an SS100, each machine costing around £36,000 each (which is the starting price before extras and upgrades). Originally, much higher prices were being mooted by the biking news media, but it looks as if the firm has done much to bring the costs down to more realistic/achievable levels. [More...]

"Chat with your Volvo" watch
 

Here's more evidence that the tech is taken over and the human race is becoming redundant (cue Zager & Evans: In the year 2525). Volvo has joined forces with Microsoft to develop a Microsoft Band 2 wristwatch that allows owners/drivers to tell their car to unlock, or heat up or switch on the lights or tune to their favourite radio station. Talking to your car ain't exactly news, of course. We've been talking to our cars and bikes for years. And we once knew a woman who regularly talked to her watch, or house plants, or passing lamp posts (usually whilst yelling about the bloody Germans). But this, as you'd expect, is a whole new world of madness. [More...]

London Motorcycle Show
 

Here's a reminder that the London Motorcycle Show is almost upon us. Organised by Motorcycle News and backed by Carole Nash Insurance, the show starts on 12th February 2016, and ends on 14th February 2016. The venue is Excel London which is in Docklands, East London, and if you haven't attended, it's a pretty soulless place. But it's probably better than nought. Advance ticket are £17, and on the door, you'll pay £21. [More...]

Mustang saddle for Ducatis
 

Classic tuck-n-roll upholstery with detailed seam lines. That's the pitch from US firm, Mustang, creators of this new saddle for 2015 Ducati Scramblers. But the fact is, the technology hasn't changed much in decades, and you'll buy this saddle simply because you like the look of it. [More...]

Street Triple RX Black
 

Yes, it's another special edition motorcycle from Triumph. And why the hell not? Everyone else is at it, and if you don't keep raising the stakes, you're out of the game. This bike's a new twist on the 675cc, 12-valve, 105hp Street Triple Rx. Triumph calls it the Rx Black. But it ought to be called the Rx Black-with-a-bit-of-girlie-pink-thrown in. Not that we've got anything against pink, and we've certainly not got anything against girls (neither the pink ones or the black ones). [More...]

Oil price forecast for 2016
 

According to leading oil industry pundits, the price of oil is set to continue its fall leading to cheaper prices at the pump. It is just a news  prediction, remember. But there is credible evidence to support the claim. Currently, the average petrol pump price in the UK is around £1.04 - £1.06 per litre. It's reckoned that within a few months, we'll be looking at around 90 pence per litre, or less. [More...]

200+ classics to auction
 

We ought to make it clear from the start that many of these motorcycles are modern classics, as opposed to ... well, old classics. We're talking about machines ranging from a 1917 Wanderer 620cc V-twin (Lot 147; est £30,000 - £35,000) to a 1938 Rudge Ulster (Lot 142; est £10,000 - £12,000) to a 2001 Ducati MH900 (Lot 195; est £18,000 - £20,000) to a 1964 Bianchi 500cc Bicilindrica Bialbero (Lot 191: est £120,000-£140,000). All the bikes are going under the hammer courtesy of Coys Valuers and Auctioneers at the Carole Nash MCN Show on the 13th February 2016. The venue is the Excel Centre in London's Docklands, and we're advised that it's the first time that an auction has been held there. The auction kicks off at 2.30pm. [More...]

Harley-Davidson Breakout
 

First the sexy details of this new bad-ass motorcycle from Harley-Davidson:

Screamin’ Eagle Twin Cam 110B engine

Screamin’ Eagle Heavy Breather Elite open-element intake

ABS
Hydraulically operated slipper clutch
43mm inverted forks
Dual front floating discs

Reduced reach front brake lever
"Wind-cheating speed screen"
Electronic cruise control

H-D's Smart Security System
Smoke Satin Chrome & Scorched Chrome finishes
Black blunt-cut mufflers

Two round wheels

And a saddle to sit on

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Bajaj V150 Valor launched

The word "launched" is perhaps very appropriate when used in connection with the new Bajaj V150 Valor. That's because this Indian motorcycle, currently being teased out by the manufacturer, is fabricated using steel from a recycled aircraft carrier, specifically INS (Indian Naval Ship) Vikrant. This ship was originally ordered as HMS Hercules, UK number R49. It was a Majestic Class light fleet carrier. The vessel was laid down in 1945 on the banks of the River Tyne by UK shipbuilders Vickers-Armstrong Ltd. But with the war over, defence procurement suddenly changed, and Britain was in any case skint. So construction stopped in 1946 and Hercules was mothballed.

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