Practical sportsbike magazine

Anyone on here a fan!??

I like it, but I have cut down bike magazines to fund building and riding bikes instead.

£3.95 for a mag is a lot of dough when a book can be bought for the same amount.

My friendly neighbour "Alan the biking pensioner" shoves all his bike magazines and MCN through my letterbox about 4 days after he gets them. I have read a couple of Practical Sportsbikes and they're ok I suppose, but I wouldn't buy it.

As an aside, my friend Martin Ratcliffe (Ratty - No Limits Trackdays instructor) had his blue TDR250 in the last issue, I've ridden that bike a few times and it is a bloody scream to ride.

My vfr400 is in this months issue.

I enjoy it as a mag. Quite a lot of stuff to learn and pick up. Also good it's about everyday bikes you can work on rather than 2010 600 and 1000cc sports bikes which are a mirror image of it's competitor.

Originally Posted by hannakournikova

My vfr400 is in this months issue.

I enjoy it as a mag. Quite a lot of stuff to learn and pick up. Also good it's about everyday bikes you can work on rather than 2010 600 and 1000cc sports bikes which are a mirror image of it's competitor.

I'll take issue with the last comment. The 1970s and 80s 4 cylinder bikes weren't nicknamed UJMs for nothing. The GS550/750/1000 was almost identical in design to the Kawasaki Z550/750/1000, and then the Honda 4 cylinder range wasn't taht far behind with their CBX550, CBX750, CB750 and CB900s. They all looked the same as each other back then too, so nothing is so special about them really. They all went over to disc brakes around the same time, they adopted alloy wheels about the same time, they went to CDI ignitions etc etc about the same time.

Where people get this misty eyed view that biking was better in the old days is beyond me... if truth be known it was actually pretty crap being stuck at the side of the road every time it rained because the plug leads were arcing out, or you couldn't ride anywhere near fast or safe in the wet because tyres hadn't really been developed past 1955. I didn't enjoy having to rebuild 2-strokes all the time because the oil back then wasn't anywhere near as good quality, and I didn't particularly enjoy having to rebuild Honda top ends because after almost 50 years old Soichiro's mob still couldn't make a bloody camchain tensioner that was worth a squirt.

Biking is better now than it has ever been. It's ok to reminisce about the good times you had as a youth with your biking mates, but in truth the bikes were pretty much all sh1te.

[squirrel_hunter]

Originally Posted by hannakournikova

Anyone on here a fan!??

Yes.

Originally Posted by hannakournikova

My vfr400 is in this months issue.

Which one is yours?

Originally Posted by hannakournikova

I enjoy it as a mag. Quite a lot of stuff to learn and pick up. Also good it's about everyday bikes you can work on rather than 2010 600 and 1000cc sports bikes which are a mirror image of it's competitor.

Yep some very interesting things in there, particularly like the tips and how to's in the workshop sections. I to like the fact that they don't have the latest bikes in there where they simply show you how to fit rim tape as a performance upgrade. I used to read the big bike mags for a good few years, I learned a lot until they all just started to review the same old bikes every month saying how the latest model is .0004 seconds faster so you must have it.

But I do fear they will just feature the usual suspects. So far its been a good spread, I just hope they continue this as not all of us have a LC, Z1, or GSXR in the garage... But please don't see that as a criticism of those machines.

Oh I dunno my mates got a gorgeous LC with a GSXR400 front and swing arm.





and I must admit I quite fancy an FZR1000

[littleoldman2]

Originally Posted by Lozzo

Biking is better now than it has ever been. It's ok to reminisce about the good times you had as a youth with your biking mates, but in truth the bikes were pretty much all sh1te.

+1
I had several 1970s &1980s 2 stroke twins and they were wonderfull back then, but compared to post 2000 bikes, its a different world. BTW I'm still on the look out for a Benelli 250 2C, just like Lozzo's got a TS250.

I've only got the TS250 because it was free and I will use it as a winter hack to save my Versys from getting damaged or corroding. The only reason I still have an RD400 is because I am a sentimental soppy old sod really and have a 'thing' for RD400s because I bought a new one 4 weeks after passing my test in 1979. Truth be known I am always woefully disappointed whenever I ride one nowadays, which is why I haven't had the urge to put mine back together in the 19 years it's been in bits.

If you want to throw the RD400 bits my way feel free