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McGuinness Tests Mugen Shinden Electric Race Bike

Isle of Man TT veteran John McGuinness recently got a chance to test the new Mugen Shinden electric rice bike to prepare for the 2012 TT Zero. The test took place at the Twin Ring Motegi in Japan, a world-class racing circuit but perhaps not-coincidentally, a track built and owned by Honda, further fueling the belief the Mugen effort is a front for the Japanese manufacturer. The Honda-contracted McGuinness put the Shinden through its first big test, helping the Mugen team gather data on the electric racer.

Video: Honda Crossrunner v mountain pass

This road (the one in the video) was a previously unseen, super-steep mountain pass which needed first gear for the hairpins and second between them with an occasional grab at third on the quicker sections. It was the sort of road that pumps up your forearms and makes you crane your neck to see what's coming next (mainly cyclists). The surface was rubbish.

BMW 1000RR and the Honda C70, are they indestructible?

I’ve managed 1374 miles on the Michelin Power Pures (mostly on track) and although we’ve had some decent temperatures they still look like new so there’s plenty meat left for another month at least. I’ve been running them at 30psi front and 32psi rear and find they warm up after a few miles but I wouldn’t say the temperature comes any quicker than any of the competition so it has to be four miles before I get brave. I’ve had a few out the seat moments with my BMW but I have got the rear suspension  set pretty hard (8 rebound,8 compression, two turns on pre load) and in slick mode, so 190bhp in first gear at the Knockhill hairpin is always going to be dodgy.