Superbike Magazine May 2012 Zurück Ausgabe

First Ride: Ducati Panigale. We rode the long awaited Ducati Panigale superbike at the launch in Abu Dhabi. A bike that, on paper, should outperform all before it, including the mighty BMW S1000RR. Did it live up to the hype?

Group Test: Kawasaki ZZR1400 vs Suzuki Hayabusa vs BMW K1300S. We tested the new ZZR1400 against the stalwarts of the ‘big fast sports bikes’ class. All of these bikes are fast, but only one of them could literally ride rings around the other two.

Feature: Ducati Panigale Ahead of the launch of Ducati’s new superbike next issue, we took the opportunity to drape a pretty lady over one in front of a camera and have a look at how much this bike means to Ducati.

Feature: Track bike makeover part 2/2 We take a perfectly good Triumph Daytona 675 and turn it into… a perfectly good track bike. If you’re considering making the leap and turning your road bike into a track only machine, step this way.

Feature: Two stroke engines – With two-stroke engines now ruled out of all MotoGP classes, John Hogan spent some time in a shed figuring out where the fascination with two-stroke engines comes from. With a derelict old two-stroke motor, a manual and a tool kit, Hogan set out to see if this dying breed of engine could win his four-stroke heart.

Long term test bikes: 1998 Honda CBR900RR, 2012 Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2012 Husqvarna TE449 our long term test bikes abused and rated. Kenny gets a reality check riding the GSX-R 1000 around sunny London, while Chris tries to bury the Husky 449 enduro bike in a snowdrift. John has spent the month blubbing about his broken Honda Fireblade stunt bike and is holding Chris entirely to blame. For the record CHRIS. IS. INNOCENT.