Motorcycle Tests by Biking Press

[porter_jamie]

The thing that made me realise journalism was just bunkum was a trip to Mallory for an acu test day in Wednesday.
Mate had a tigcraft dr800 mono with 63hp
There was a journo from superbike mag on a 748 (I think)
Now we didn't realise until article came out when my mate was on the cover with this 748 in front of him coming out of the bus stop. In the article he was going on about how he was over taking 600s race bikes and how it was fast and can carve thru the traffic blah blah blah.
My mate lapped him in 7 laps!!! On a very crashed 63hp dr800.

[The Spin Doctor]

The thing that made me realise journalism was just bunkum was a trip to Mallory for an acu test day in Wednesday.
Mate had a tigcraft dr800 mono with 63hp
There was a journo from superbike mag on a 748 (I think)
Now we didn't realise until article came out when my mate was on the cover with this 748 in front of him coming out of the bus stop. In the article he was going on about how he was over taking 600s race bikes and how it was fast and can carve thru the traffic blah blah blah.
My mate lapped him in 7 laps!!! On a very crashed 63hp dr800.

Back in my Compuserve days we had a former Bike journo along for a week's group trip to the Alpes Provencal in about '99. He was regaling us with his exploits on all the hundreds of bikes he'd tested, the tracks he ridden on, and how he could ride anything anywhere.

A few days later, the group split into the 'fast' and 'slow' halves for a ride up Mt Ventoux. I led the fast group, and showed the dozen or so riders my Suzuki GS500 so they knew who to follow. Our scribbler looked very put out that he was going to be stuck behind a 'learner bike', because he was on a Blackbird.

Back then Ventoux was relatively clear of middle-aged cyclists crawling up its flanks, and the ride got 'spirited' on the way up.

As we rolled into the carpark by the TV station at the top, I had two bikes still right behind me - Wim, a former Dutch racer with some national level experience riding a VFR800, and a totally mad French guy on a T959 who's name I've forgotten. A minute or so later, another brit rider came in on his 600 Bandit with the rear suspension so overheated it was pogo'ing across the car park.

The bulk of the group arrived over the next four or five minutes... the journo on the Blackbird was at the back of that group.

When he thought I wouldn't notice, he went over to my bike and had a good look at the engine. He obviously thought I had done something to it... the only changes were uprated springs in the front and the heavier shock off a GSX600F on the rear.

On the way down, I took it easier so he could keep up

[KungFooBob]

Shane Byrne was a road tester for Fast Bikes, he was so slow he only won 6 British Superbike Championships.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

I think I know the Tigcraft DR800 mentioned above, it wasn't fast, but it was a torque monster.

[The Spin Doctor]

Shane Byrne was a road tester for Fast Bikes, he was so slow he only won 6 British Superbike Championships.

But he wasn't a journalist.

He also wrote a few of their test bikes off.

[KungFooBob]

I have a good friend who was a journo for The Comic and then PB. I'd say he was above average.... almost as fast as me

I don't think people really want riding reviews from 'gods', they want to know what everyday people think of stuff, hence all the rise of the youtube influencer.

[Yorick]

I remember about 20 years ago, some muppet was doing a review on the new R1.

He was amazed by the extra 2 BHP at 7,000 revs. Totally transformed the bike

[MyLittleStudPony]

When I were on t'mags, back in t' day, many of them were impartial. And some of them were proper quick. And some were one or the other; and some were neither. IIRC there was only one magazine which had a blanket policy in which editorial copy was dictated by advertising spend.

It's probably all gone to shit since I left to decarbonise the net zero low carbon economy. Good degrees.

[The Spin Doctor]

I remember about 20 years ago, some muppet was doing a review on the new R1.

He was amazed by the extra 2 BHP at 7,000 revs. Totally transformed the bike

He'd probably saved a couple of kgs too, by forgetting to have his fry up that morning.

[Noggin]

I have a good friend who was a journo for The Comic and then PB. I'd say he was above average.... almost as fast as me

I don't think people really want riding reviews from 'gods', they want to know what everyday people think of stuff, hence all the rise of the youtube influencer.

Totally - but when an everyday person turns their nose up at others cos the everyday person 'thinks' they are a riding god, it's fun when they can't keep up Written as someone who regularly had people turn their noses up at me when I turned up to ride out - especially when I was on the bigger "not for girls' bikes I extra loved it when I could keep up at the front and leave the snotty ones behind

[Yorick]

I remember about 20 years ago, some muppet was doing a review on the new R1.

He was amazed by the extra 2 BHP at 7,000 revs. Totally transformed the bike

He'd probably saved a couple of kgs too, by forgetting to have his fry up that morning.

Or a reet good dump

[mboy]

The thing that made me realise journalism was just bunkum was a trip to Mallory for an acu test day in Wednesday.

The thing is though, and hear me out here... The fastest riders ain't necessarily any good at talking about bikes! Much as many road testers are/were wannabe racers that couldn't make it, the ability to ride a bike fast and talk coherently about the bike are two totally different skills. There is the odd exception, someone who can do both well enough to a degree, but there's bike reviewers out there who in the grand scheme of things can't ride for shit who can wax lyrically about a bike for ages and make exciting content to read or watch... Also, the opinions of some riding god who could lap a pit bike round Donington faster than any of us could ride a pukka race bike round it are largely irrelevant, especially when the bike being reviewed will never end up on track anyway!

Besides... Most motorcycle racers are really dull people that can't tell any kind of a story... I mean there's the obvious Jonathan Rea or Leon Haslam to start picking on here, but even less obviously... Guy Martin... Bereft of an incredible production team and some fantastic situations they put him in, he's about as interesting as watching paint dry. Don't get me wrong, really pleasant and humble guy (met him twice briefly), way more talented on a bike than me, got some serious graft in him too. I'd bet my house that I could write more interesting motorcycle related content than he could! But then I have written articles for magazines over the years (not motorbike), I have a knowledge and understanding of creating interesting content (consumer base considered). I bought one of Guy Martin's books cheap in WHSmiths a few years ago the day before going on holiday thinking it would keep me entertained for a few days... It read like a 5yr olds description of what they got up to during the summer holidays. "And then we did this"... ""And so I did that"... "And this happened"... I got about half way through the 3rd chapter and gave up, it was painful, and he was talking about a topic that was supposed to be incredibly exciting (racing bikes at the TT).

The key to finding good journalism these days is understanding what you want out of it, and the bias within... There are good road testers out there. Yes, they all have some bias, they all have sponsors, but they're usually pretty open about this at least... The 44T boys are fantastic cos they are absolutely open about it all. They're quids in with Bridgestone, so they don't really do tyre opinions/reviews, but obviously they plug Bridgestone in every video. Chris is a massive BMW GS fan, so in the big Adventure Bike test he laid his cards on the table and said he was always going to pick the GS, so at least the viewer understands his bias.

This is worth a watch...

I like Michael Neeves anyway. He has an obvious track bias which you have to take into account (he's a wannabe racer like many journos) but he's always honest that there's better riders out there than him, as well as trying hard to take the fact his audience is far more road biased into account. The video above is quite good, him describing the best bike launch he attended and getting misty eyed about it, but also when he talks about other riders on the press launches too.

[Horse]

The thing is though, ... The fastest riders ain't necessarily any good at talking about bikes! Much as many road testers are/were wannabe racers that couldn't make it, the ability to ride a bike fast and talk coherently about the bike are two totally different skills.

And FWIW many good instructors are not particularly brilliant riders.

I've never claimed to be the fastest (or one of), or to have knee down, wheelying, stoppying, slip slidin' skills.

[porter_jamie]

I agree with you. My point was he was bragging about how fast the bike was and by implication he was when in reality he was borderline dangerously slow
If he has been honest I would have respected him more

[Bustaspoke]

The key to finding good journalism these days is understanding what you want out of it, and the bias within...

^^^This ^^^^
This pretty much rules out reviews by journo's swanning it up in some sunny location with perfect roads,but I might watch the video to get a (very) basic idea of the bike,specification etc.
When I'm looking at a bike I want to know what it's like to own & run on a everyday basis,the fact that if you ride it like a twat it'll power wheelie in 3rd & you can back it into corners has no relevance to me.I'm more concerened about what tends to fail,how expensive & often the service intervals are.
This is where I find YT owners reviews & reading the comments gives me a more informed picture than a press launch.
I don't really like 44 teeth,Boothy & Fagan are alright in small doses,but I've hit the mute button once to often.
That said BBB was often entertaining & obviously involved everyday used bikes

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

What a modern bike is like to own and run, they're reliable and everything works and carries on working if you look after them, at high mileage the suspension gets saggy and bushes and bearings wear, but the engine will do high mileage if it's serviced. If you don't look after them they fall to bits. Running costs and service intervals can be found with a little research.

There you go, that's what you need to know, it doesn't make for interesting reading, where as "feck me this things quick and handles superbly" grabs the attention.

[KungFooBob]

You're forgetting the all important 'character'!

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

You're forgetting the all important 'character'!

Doesn't that mean it's a bit shit but the magazine wants the advertising revenue?

[KungFooBob]

You're forgetting the all important 'character'!

Doesn't that mean it's a bit shit but the magazine wants the advertising revenue?

...from Ducati.

[Horse]

You're forgetting the all important 'character'!

i.e.

- you'll need AA membership
- ideally live close to dealership
- have deep pockets and lots of patience when it's out of warranty