southwalesbiker

Yamaha

Admin — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:39:25 GMT

Yamaha BT1100 Bulldog

The Bulldog breed is tough, resilient, and hard as nails. But this Bulldog is the Yamaha BT1100, and if it were a dog it would be more likely to roll over and beg you to scratch its belly than rip your arm off.

Think faithful Labrador and you get the picture - but who'd want to buy a bike named after the nation's friendliest old dog?

The Bulldog doesn't look like a big softy. Aggressive styling with a thick-walled tubular backbone chassis caging a 1063cc V-twin ...

Suzuki

Admin — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:28:49 GMT

Suzuki DR-Z400

The DR-Z400S is Suzuki's answer to the search for the perfect all-rounder, a motorcycle capable of taking you to work on weekdays and performing on the berms and ruts of a motocross track at the weekends. Hey, you could even fulfil that dream and finally ride around the world on one of these.

With lights and a proper silencer this is a fully street legal version of Suzuki's dedicated DR-Z400E off-roader. The punchy liquid cooled 398cc, four-stroke DOHC single grunts out ...

Harley Davidson

Admin — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:37:50 GMT

Harley Davidson Dyna Super Glide

A bike with a top speed of just 110mph may sound stupid with a Sport label, but the FXDX is really Harley's sportiest cruiser. And it looks pretty cool.

That's to say it looks like a cruiser but handles and stops like a sports bike. Sport also means serious paint, with a black crinkle finish engine.

The engine is that smooth, rubber-suspended 1450cc Twin Cam 88, developing maximum torque at less than 3000rpm. So it's hot potato-potato-potato off the ...

Ducati

Admin — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:31:07 GMT

Ducati 900SS

Ducati say that the Supersport family represents tradition more than any other in its line-up: "At the same time, it is characterised by a constant evolution aimed at fulfilling the needs of sport bike riders who seek excellent handling combined with a smooth and tractable power output rather than top-speed performance."

That translates into: you're not going to get WSB developed engines. But these mid-priced Dukes, available in half-fairing and full fairing versions, ...

Triumph

Admin — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:36:17 GMT

Triumph 1200 Trophy

Launched as a sports tourer, the four-cylinder Trophy 1200 was an oddball in the three-cylinder Triumph line-up until the TT600 arrived. The big change came in 1996 when the massive two-valver was reborn as a pure tourer, with power reduced from a claimed 125 to 108PS.

Still capable of over 130mph, the fully-faired Trophy is a classy British alternative to the more expensive Honda Pan European, a Kawasaki GTR1000 or BMW. The Trophy has a relaxed riding position for ...

Cagiva

Admin — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:27:15 GMT

Cagiva Gran Canyon 900

An amazingly capable adventure touring V-twin, the Gran Canyon is a 904cc version of the stylish and popular Canyon 600 and 500 (33PS) singles.

Overshadowed by Cagiva's newer 996cc Suzuki-engined Navigator V-twins, the Ducati-powered Gran Canyon is still a terrific ride that offers comfort, handling and big trailie style. It hardly seems to matter that the 900 runs out of steam at over 95mph because smooth torque rather than race replica speed is what it's all about.

With ...

Kawasaki

Admin — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:16:33 GMT

Kawasaki EL125 Eliminator

This low, light and easy-to-ride Kawasaki gets the cruiser look with tank-top instruments mounted in a chrome housing and foot-forward controls for a laid-back riding style.

Easy handling, learner legal and with an ultra-low seat height of just 680mm, the Kawasaki Eliminator 125 is a good choice for a first bike. The sweet changing five-speed gearbox means that you can make the best of the 12.5bhp available at 8000rpm.

This is a learner bike with a decent seat ...

BMW

Admin — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:13:54 GMT

BMW F650 CS

BMW realised that, in spite of success in the tough Paris-Dakar rally, their 650cc Funduro singles spent 99 per cent of their life on city Tarmac and less than one weekend a year on the rough stuff they were designed for. BMW introduced the Starda (Street) version with road wheels a couple of years back, but now they've shaken the desert sand right out of the big single and introduced the F650CS.

With Supermoto styling and bug-eye headlights incorporated in the neat fairing and ...

Moto Guzzi

Admin — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:25:25 GMT

Moto Guzzi V11 Sport/Le Mans

If you still have fond memories of the gorgeous V7 Sport with its metallic lime green tank and red frame or the 850 MkI Le Mans with its bikini fairing, then you are just the person Guzzi was looking for when it produced the V11 Sport.

Moto Guzzi made its mark in the early Seventies with the shaft drive transverse V-twins that could out-handle anything from Japan and still cruise all day at 100 without spilling their guts all over the autostrada. And what's ...

Buell

Admin — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:19:43 GMT

Buell M2 Cyclone 1200

With its tweaked Harley-Davidson 1200cc Sportster engine and nimble chassis, the Cyclone is the all-rounder in Buell's line-up. The torquey Thunderstorm V-twin engine is housed in a rigid chrome-moly steel tubular perimeter frame.

Wheelbase is an ultra-short 55.5 inches (1410mm), and combined with a steep steering head angle, this makes the Cyclone a blast through back lanes and city streets.

This is a Harley that handles well enough to keep ahead of sportsbikes ...

Honda

Admin — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:32:38 GMT

Honda CB250

Light, low and nimble, the CB Two-Fifty is a fuel-sipping commuter bike bought by people who wouldn't be seen dead on a twist'n'go scooter.

What keeps the parallel twin's top speed down to 80mph is a single 26mm Keihin CV carb. That's the bad news. The good news is an average of 75 miles to the gallon, giving the Honda a useful 275-mile range for longer trips at the weekend.

Derived from the 194cc CD200 twin of 1980, the Two-Fifty's power unit is a single overhead camshaft ...

Aprilia

Admin — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:05:27 GMT

Aprilia Caponord 1000

Aprilia's big Mille sportsbike has been a stunning success on road and track, so you can bet that the 1000cc CapoNord is a stonking bike. The Italian company has taken its Austrian-built 60-degree twin, tuned it for more mid-range and less top end, and produced a super-trailie to take on Honda's Africa Twin and Suzuki's V-Strom and come out laughing.

The CapoNord makes a brilliant all-rounder, whether commuting or long-distance touring. Design is refined, not futuristic ...

A top North Wales biker has a starring role in a new all-action PlayStation2 game.

jason — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 15:50:46 GMT

One of the virtual riders in the game is based on speed king Paul Owen, from Llangollen.

Paul, 36, is fresh from competing in the legendary Isle of Man TT series for the 12th time.

Bike fans will be able to see his collection of powerful TT motorbikes and trophies in real life soon.

Hes going to be putting them on display at the Motorbike Show in his hometown in August.

But Paul can next be seen in action on the small screen thanks to Jester Interactive, developers of TT Superbikes ...

Golf lol

cyberwolf — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 12:42:40 GMT

A Catholic Priest, an Indian Doctor, a rich Chinese Businessman and an Aussie were waiting one morning for a particularly slow group of golfers in front of them.

The Aussie fumed, 'What's with those blokes? We must have been waiting for fifteen minutes!'

The Indian Doctor chimed in, 'I don't know, but I've never seen such poor golf!'

The Chinese Businessman called out 'Move it, time is money'

The Catholic Priest said, 'Here comes George the greens keeper. Let's have a word with him.'

'Hello, ...

IT Technical support issues

cyberwolf — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 01:25:01 GMT

Dear Technical Support,

18 months ago, I upgraded to Girlfriend 1.0 from DrinkingMates 4.2, which I had used for years without any trouble.

However, there are apparently conflicts between these two products and the only solution was to try and run Girlfriend 1.0 with the sound turned off.

To make matters worse, Girlfriend 1.0 is incompatible with several other applications, such as LadsNightOut 3.1, Football 4.5, and Playboy 6.9.

Successive versions of Girlfriend proved no better.

I ...