2003 Honda Gold Wing Touring on 2040-motos

Moto blog

475cc NS400R. Marquez and Spencer.

Winter may be here but I seem to be as busier than ever, maybe the economy is finally turning around. At my last UK track day of the year I had some fun testing this little beauty.  It’s a late eighties NS400 triple bored out to 475cc and it felt sweet as I zinged round the GP Arena track at Silverstone.   Being stripped bare to reduce weight gives it a very respectable power to weight ratio which means it could live with 600s (on the twisty bits at least).

The future. But we can't have it

It's no secret that we motorcyclists are getting older. We're ageing because less people are passing their bike test each year (roughly 30,000 last year compared to 50,000 for the 10 years before the new two-part test) and so not only is the pool not growing it's not even being replenished and so the average age isn't being diluted down by yoof. When the going gets tough in any situation, you really get to see who's got their shit-sorted and who's light enough on their feet to adapt to change.

Stoner to Miss Brno for Surgery – Title Defence Likely Over

Casey Stoner has withdrawn from the Brno, Czech Republic MotoGP round to undergo surgery on his injured ankle. Trailing Yamaha‘s Jorge Lorenzo by 39 points and Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa by 21 points with seven rounds to go, Stoner’s hopes of repeating as MotoGP champion before retiring at the end of the season are all but dashed. The Repsol Honda rider injured his ankle in a high side crash in last weekend’s Indianapolis Grand Prix.