WRIST:Ari Henning
MSRP (2015): $17,840 (as tested)
MILES: 1643
MPG: Not a concern!
MODS: None

Five months on, Zero wants the S back. “Our” bike is one of several units allotted to Southern California dealers for demo rides, and there’s a line of riders waiting for a chance to sample Zero’s e-locomotion. In other words, it’s time for us freeloading editors to give the bike back so actual customers can give the S a try.

Several weeks before the bike was due to go back we had a local dealer install the optional Givi luggage (21-liter E21 top-loading side cases and a 33-liter Trekker top case) and a windscreen so we could try the Zero in touring trim. Total cost for the side cases including mounts is $600. The Trekker top case is $550 including mounts. Both setups can be purchased at your local dealer or through zeromotorcycles.com.

The added utility the luggage offers is great, and although none of the three cases is shaped right to hold a full-face helmet, there’s ample room for a weekend’s worth of clothes or three bags of groceries. The tinted windscreen, designed in collaboration with MRA, costs $190 and bolts to the handlebar. The windscreen offers good wind protection for your torso while leaving your head in clean air.

The accessories are functional, but they don’t do anything to help the look of the bike or its highway performance. Editor in Chief Marc Cook observed that the parts’ aerodynamic drag reduced the bike’s top speed on the freeway and made the motor run hotter. Range likely suffered as well, though we didn’t do any back-to-back testing. (See EIC Cook's Zero S update HERE)

Our time with the Zero S was shorter than the usual 12-month term, but I feel I had ample time to get to know it. The truth is, it doesn’t take much seat time to assess the Zero’s capabilities, focused as they are. Its prime purpose is as a commuter and around-town errand runner, and to a lesser extend a plaything for joy rides, the length of which will depend on how aggressive you are with the throttle and how hilly your local terrain is. The most I ever got between plug-ins was 75 miles, but I’ll admit that all of my rides included plenty of high-speed highway travel, which is the least ideal scenario for an e-bike.

Several staffers took the Zero’s key to see if it satisfied their daily needs, and it worked—with varying degrees of convenience—for everyone. Online Editor Brian Hatano found that his 48-mile commute (see update 2 HERE) meant he had to plug the bike in once at the office if he wanted to make it home, while Cook’s 29-mile commute drained a fully charged battery to a little over 50 percent and my 13-mile jaunt let me go several days on a single charge.

As a daily rider, the Zero S is excellent. The only significant complaints pertained to the hard seat and a lack of off-the-line acceleration. On the plus side, I love how simple this single-speed, direct-drive bike is to operate and that I get to delete gas stops from my weekly routine. If you’re after ease of use, it doesn’t get much better than the Zero: Plug it in when the battery gets low and keep air in the tires, but otherwise just ride it and enjoy a smooth and green means of getting around. With no fluids (besides brake fluid), filters, or spark plugs to change and a low-maintenance belt final drive, the Zero is about as easy to take care of as a houseplant.

If you’re looking for a dynamic riding experience, however, the Zero may leave you dissatisfied. Depending on what you want from your ride the Zero’s silky smooth and silent power delivery may intrigue you or bore you; a diminishing charge may serve as a challenge or a source of anxiety; the high price may strike you as a worthy investment for state-of-the-art technology or a sound argument for sticking with internal combustion. It all depends on your perspective and expectations.

Zero made lots of improvements for 2015. This latest bike has better brakes (with ABS standard), improved suspension, higher spec tires, and refined throttle response. It’s a big step above its predecessor. Is it on par with an equivalently priced gas-powered bike? No. Not even close. But the all-electric Zero S is a viable transportation option and one of the most refined machines in the category.

You change your bike’s engine oil regularly, but when was the last time you changed your fork oil? The oil in your fork loses lubricity, gets dirty, and should be changed every 10,000 miles or once a year. Here’s the quickest way to do it—and, yes, we know there’s a better way to do a cartridge fork. Just not a quicker way.

RELATED VIDEO: Suspension Tech: How To Rebuild Your Fork

1. Lift the front end of the bike off the ground with a rear stand and a triple-clamp stand or with a rear stand and a jack under the engine. Remove the front wheel, fender, calipers, and any other parts attached to the fork legs.

2. Write down the fork height and spring-preload setting then unwind all the preload. With the upper triple-clamp pinch bolts still tight, crack the fork caps loose. Place a paper towel under the socket to prevent marring the aluminum fork cap.

3. With the fork removed, unscrew the fork cap, noting that there will likely still be some preload on the spring. For a traditional upright fork like the one shown here, you’ll be able to fish out the preload spacer and spring. Lay the components out in the order they were removed.

4. On a cartridge fork, like the one shown here, the spring and damper assembly will remain in the fork. For both kinds of fork, empty the oil into a graduated receptacle, pumping the fork leg repeatedly to expel all the old oil.

5. For both types of fork, measure the amount of oil removed then refill your receptacle with the correct quantity and weight of fresh oil; then pour that into the fork. Pump the leg several times to expel air bubbles from the damping circuitry.

6. Change the oil in the other fork leg then reassemble the fork, reinstall the fork tubes on the bike, and reinstall the wheel, calipers, and other parts, ensuring that all fasteners are properly torqued. Torquing the fork caps is best done once they’re installed in the triple clamp.

CLICK HERE for more helpful how-to tips and videos from the MC Garage

The past three installments of “Making Sense of Suspension” (CLICK HERE for Parts 1-3) were geared toward educating you about suspension theory and function. Now, in the final part of this series, we’ll give you some guidelines for applying that knowledge to your motorcycle so that you can optimize the suspension already on your bike.

What’s wrong with the setup your bike came with? Maybe nothing, but odds are it’s not optimal for you and your riding style, and if you have complaints about your bike’s ride quality or handling, you may be able to eliminate or moderate them by tuning the suspension. Invest a little time in setting up your suspension now, and it will pay dividends for thousands of miles to come.

The most common complaints are also the broadest: The suspension is either too harsh or too mushy. Let’s define the terms. When we say suspension is harsh that means it’s unyielding and road irregularities are transmitted almost unfiltered to the chassis and the rider. The worst cases may feel like there’s no suspension at all. The handgrips quiver in your palms and your backside gets kicked out of the seat. That’s harsh.

Harsh is when the suspension doesn’t move as much as it needs to. Mushy is the opposite, where the suspension moves too much—that is, it uses too much of its travel too easily or does so in an uncontrolled way. The bike may feel “floaty” like a boat. Hard braking makes the fork crash to the stops and the rear of the bike rise substantially.

The ideal suspension setup would see the wheels following the road perfectly and the chassis and rider remaining stable. Perfection isn’t attainable, but with careful setup and good components, it’s possible to minimize the compromises between comfort and control.

When it comes to straight-line ride quality, you’ll want to focus your attention on your springs and damping, with softer, looser settings offering a more comfortable ride. If you’re a fast, aggressive rider, a firmer setup is likely advisable, but beware going too stiff, which will impede traction; the reason we have suspension at all is to keep the tires in contact with the road.

Bear in mind that changes to spring preload will also affect steering and cornering behavior by altering ride height, rake, and trail. We’ll discuss that later, but first let’s look at a testing strategy for getting familiar with your bike’s range of damping adjustments and zeroing in on the best settings for you.

There’s no way to directly measure damping like we can with sag and travel (see “Travel Monitor” sidebar below for tips on monitoring suspension travel). Getting a baseline on your rebound damping was covered in “The Lowdown On Damping” (CLICK HERE), but compression damping is difficult to feel when shoving on the seat and tank, so some dedicated testing is needed to figure out what works best.

RELATED VIDEO: How To Dial In Your Damping

How should you test? The same way we do: on familiar roads that offer up the kind of curves and bumps that tax suspenders. The idea is to standardize conditions so the changes to the suspension are the variable. Riding the same road is critical so you can track changes accurately. Speaking of tracking changes, take copious notes. Check out the “Notes For Success” sidebar below for some tips. And resist the urge to change more than one parameter at a time!

Pack any tools you’ll need to adjust your damping and spring preload and head out to your test route. Now set all of your damping adjusters to the recommended baseline settings, which you’ll find in your owner’s manual. Now ride your route, taking note of how the bike responds to bumps, behaves on the brakes, steers, and tracks through corners. Then reduce the rebound damping at both ends to something close to the minimum and ride the route again. How does it feel? Now increase the rebound damping to something close to the maximum and ride again. Now go through the same process with compression damping. These large changes ensure that you feel them, and they will also reveal what your bike’s effective range of adjustment is. Once you know which of these very coarse settings you like best, you can go back and refine them until you’ve honed in on the optimal settings.

Once you have your damping figured out, you can play with ride height to alter rake and trail to see how that affects handling. Rake is the angle of a bike’s steering head from vertical, while trail is the distance from the front tire’s contact patch to an imaginary point where a line extending through the bike’s steering head meets the ground. Rake and, to a larger extent, trail influence the general steering behavior and stability of the bike. Less trail results in lighter steering but reduced stability, while more trail will improve stability but make steering heavier.

The easiest way to alter trail is to change the front ride height, which can be accomplished most easily by changing the spring preload. Remember, spring preload effects sag and thus ride height. By playing with front spring preload you can cant the chassis forward or back to alter your bike’s steering and cornering behavior.

Remember to recheck sag to ensure you’re within range, and if not you should shift the fork tubes in the triple clamps to achieve the ride height change you liked and then reset the preload to your original setting to restore sag. As a general rule, you would raise the fork tubes 1mm for every turn of spring preload you took out to achieve a desired trail setting or lower the fork tubes if you ended up spinning preload in. Be cautious of how much you raise the fork legs in the triple clamps so the wheel can’t contact the radiator or exhaust header.

We’ve mentioned this several times throughout this series, but if any adjuster is at its minimum or maximum, that’s a strong indicator that internal changes are required. Also be aware that damping rates don’t change in a linear way relative to adjuster position. If full in is 100-percent damping, one turn out might be 90 percent and two turns out could be 50 percent. Once you’ve played with the adjustments and noted the bike’s reactions, you’ll gain an idea of your machine’s particular non-linearity.

We developed the flow chart at the top of the page to help you work through some of the more common handling complaints, but bear in mind that the suggested fixes assume proper spring rates for your weight, as well as ballpark sag figures.

A reader recently wrote in to inquire if he should adjust his bike’s shocks to accommodate luggage. The answer is yes. You’ll want to check sag and tune damping any time your load changes significantly. Even changing tire brands or models may necessitate some suspension adjustment. Our hope is that you are now armed with the understanding and knowledge needed to tackle the challenge yourself.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN: The Pre-Test Checklist
Hopefully you’re excited to get out there and dial in your suspension using the procedure we’ve outlined, but there are some things to consider before you begin.

Is your bike up for the challenge? Tires play a huge role in how your bike handles, so it’s important that they’re in good shape with plenty of tread and the proper pressures. How about your chain? Does it have sufficient slack, and is it properly lubricated? Your fork and shock(s) should be in good condition, with healthy seals and smooth action. If your fork oil is ancient, check out the How-To HERE and change that fluid! Your swingarm and shock-linkage pivots need to rotate smoothly as well, so if there’s any binding in the back end, check out last month’s How-To for a rundown on servicing those parts.

Other important and often overlooked items that can have a huge effect on bike handling are the steering-head bearings. They should be properly lubricated and torqued so your front end swings smoothly, without any friction or slop.

NOTES FOR SUCCESS
When testing suspension, a systematic approach and good note-taking habits are key. Make changes one at a time, and write them down! At a minimum you should record your starting settings so you can return to them if you get lost, but the more info you take down, the better. CLICK ON THE PDF LINK BELOW for a printable suspension setup sheet.

mc_suspensiontuningsheet.pdf

RESTRICTED TO REBOUND: Just the Basics, Sir
Many budget bikes only offer adjustable spring preload and rebound damping and often only on the shock. Why? While the manufacturers are trying to cut costs they also want to offer some tunability, and changes to spring preload and rebound damping are the most noticeable and have the greatest effect on handling, ride quality, and the rider’s sense of traction and control.

TRAVEL MONITOR
A zip-tie around the fork tube is an easy way to see how much travel you’re using. Make a line with a dry-erase marker on the shock shaft rather than using a zip-tie, since the zip-tie could damage the shock seal at full compression.

When it comes to the now-nebulous “adventure bike” category, consumers have the ability to balance the scales of compromise just about any way they like. From globetrotting, knobby-tired tanks like BMW’s R1200GS Adventure to tire-smoking sportbikes on stilts like the Ducati Multistrada, there’s a long-legged, do-it-all ADV out there for nearly every kind of rider.

For those who want a mile-eater without the heft of a full sport-touring machine or the cost of an exotic European ADV, we have these three bikes. Kawasaki’s new Versys 1000, Suzuki’s revamped V-Strom 1000, and Yamaha’s new FJ-09 reside in a subcategory of the ADV segment that we’re calling “ADV Lite.” Lite because of these bikes’ lower price tags, smaller engines, and more reasonable curb weights.

In essence, these are slimmer, taller interpretations of full-faired sport-tourers with some ADV attributes to suit the times: hand guards, not to deflect branches but to block the wind; longer-travel suspension, not to handle rocks and logs but to tame scarred pavement and provide a commanding view; and minimalist (or at least smaller) fairings to offer a modicum of wind protection. These bikes have room for your stuff, the comfort to cover hundreds of miles at a time, and enough poise to properly assault corners along the way.

To see how well these ADV Lites work we stuffed the saddlebags (the Kawasaki’s factory equipped, the Suzuki’s and Yamaha’s installed as factory accessories) and set our emails to the “out of office” auto-responder for a 72-hour period. Over the next three days we traveled from Irvine, California, to Santa Cruz and back on a mix of freeway, flowing coastal and back roads, and forgotten, battered single-lane ranch roads.

In other words, we took these bikes on exactly the kind of adventure their manufacturers designed them for, demanding the same mixed-use versatility that’s made the ADV category such a success. By the end of our 1,000-plus-mile tour we came to know each bike and its strengths and weaknesses well. Here’s how they finished.

From the loping demeanor of its 1,037cc engine (a relative of the TL1000’s but extensively updated in 2014) to the relaxed way with which it bends into corners, the Suzuki is a mellow machine. A bigger, retuned V-twin and updated chassis and brakes bump the big ’Strom’s performance to a new level, but the bike still favors general competency over excellence in any one area. “It’s a great all-rounder,” EIC Marc Cook said. “It does everything well but nothing spectacularly.” The V-Strom is certainly a Swiss army knife of a bike, but none of the tools is particularly sharp.

The engine cranks out copious amounts of low-end thrust to the melodic whir of gear-driven cams, but the gearbox is clunky and off-idle fueling is fairly abrupt. With all that torque on tap (the peak of 67.3 pound-feet arrives at just 4,000 rpm) the resultant surge of power when cracking on the gas can be disconcerting while banked over. That’s a shame because the Suzuki is otherwise a very calm and composed corner carver; it doesn’t offer the agility to flick from curve to curve and has slightly numb steering, probably due in part to the 19-inch front wheel. But it goes exactly where you point it and always feels composed.

The Suzuki’s ergonomics felt awkward in this group due to its tall 7/8-inch bar and forward-set footpegs, but the bike is in no way uncomfortable. The Suzuki’s seat scored high marks thanks to its good contours and just-right padding, and except for the muffler impeding on the right case’s capacity, the luggage is excellent and fairly tidy. The only real complaint about the V-Strom (besides blandness) pertains to the turbulent air that swirls from the windscreen’s edges. Every tester lamented the noise, not to mention the fatigue that accompanies having your helmet buffeted incessantly.

That helmet jostling might be remedied by buying the Adventure model, whose $13,999 price includes a taller windscreen, the hard luggage shown here, plus hand guards, a centerstand, a bellypan, and accessory bars. We would have included that version for this test, but Suzuki didn’t have one in the press fleet. The Adventure is a good value compared to the $12,699 base model, but compared to the Versys ($1,200 less) and the FJ-09 ($2,251 less as tested) it’s expensive. And since the V-Strom is “stuck in the middle and in the shadow of both,” as Associate Editor Zack Courts put it, the Suzuki finished third.

But if your intended path includes any dirt or even a sizable helping of bumpy back roads, the V-Strom should jump from the bottom of our list to the top of yours. With its 19-inch front wheel and longer-travel suspension, the Suzuki is the only bike here with any off-road DNA. Its tire sizes—same as the previous BMW GS—give you access to a much wider range of dirt-capable tires. And the V-Strom is easily the most flexible when it comes to variable riding surfaces, coping with small and large bumps alike thanks to more finely tuned (and fully adjustable) suspension that’s a step above the Kawasaki’s and the Yamaha’s setups. Besides adding spring preload to the shock via the hydraulic adjuster, we didn’t feel the need to make changes.

There are things we like about the ’Strom: The traction-control settings are saved when you remove the key—so TC stays off—and you can adjust the windscreen angle on the fly. The Suzuki also has the most sophisticated suspension and the best brakes by a fair margin. Bottom line, though: It’s more expensive than the others but not necessarily better. That’s a third-place finish to us.

Because it’s built on the bones of the rambunctious FZ-09, we knew one thing about the FJ-09 before we even threw a leg over it: We’d love the engine. Yamaha’s 847cc triple is charismatic and punches way above its weight—our test bike belted out 104 hp and 60 pound-feet of torque at peak—and it’s more enjoyable than before thanks to revised fueling that’s done away with (most) of the FZ-09’s annoying abruptness. In fact, the FJ has, overall, the best throttle response here.

Other aspects of the ADV-themed transformation include reworked suspension (with nearly double the baseline damping front and rear), a new fairing with an adjustable windscreen, a longer subframe, a new adjustable-height seat, LED headlights, centerstand, a 1.1-gallon larger fuel tank, traction control, ABS, and more. The factory saddlebags we added cost $974 including mounts and key, and our bike came equipped with Yamaha’s excellent heated grips, a $284 accessory. The bike’s base price is just $10,490, but all told this adventure-ready FJ rings in at $11,748—still the least expensive bike here by more than $1,000.

Overall the FJ-09 is more comfortable and better behaved than the FZ-09, but in this company it’s still the rowdy bad boy. Compared to the recliner-esque V-Strom and the long Versys, the FJ-09 feels almost supermoto-like in its control arrangement, with a compact, upright riding position. And it feels wonderfully light, at a standstill and in motion. With the same geometry as the FZ-09 and an even wider handlebar, steering is immediate if not completely composed. “It’s the sportbike of the group, no question,” Zack said. “I like the directness and responsiveness,” Marc added. “I just wish the chassis were a bit more settled.”

Considering the FJ uses the same suspension components as the FZ-09 and still has very soft springs, it’s no surprise this bike required the most fettling. We ended up maxing out the rear spring preload and adding a fair amount of damping to improve chassis support, but that left the bike feeling jittery over sharp-edged bumps, and everyone complained about a lack of feedback at full lean. “I’m not sure the ideal setup is in there with the stock components,” Marc said, “and while it’s better than the FZ, the FJ doesn’t have the overall refinement you get with the V-Strom.”

That lack of refinement extends to several other aspects of the FJ, such as crummy aerodynamics, fussy windshield adjustment, and balky luggage latches. The factory side cases hug the FJ’s flanks neatly, but they require a second key to open and the hasps were frustrating to operate. Lubricating the pivots and lock mechanism helped, and chamfering the edges of the stamped-steel locking tab would likely improve the action as well. As they come, however, the latches elicited complaints every time we used them. We definitely expect more from a $974 luggage set.

The accessory heated grips, on the other hand, integrate seamlessly and crank out major heat. If they were included on the base model the FJ’s value proposition would shoot sky-high, but even as it stands the bike is still a good deal. It’s the most affordable and offers the liveliest character, least weight (at 497 pounds fully fueled), and the best performance of the bunch. As Zack put it, the FJ-09 is “the immature choice in a mature category.” The Yamaha isn’t the best mile-eater of the group and feels unfinished in some ways, but if you’re drawn to sporty handling and love a powerful, lively engine, you’ll learn to live with the FJ’s shortcomings.

This part of the ADV category is all about compromise, and when it comes down to it, Kawasaki’s new Versys 1000 LT offers the best balance of comfort, performance, and price. As Zack put it, “It’s calm but powerful, comfortable but sporty, and all at a cost that isn’t outrageous.”

Fit is a concern when your destination is on the other side of the state, and the Kawasaki suited us all the best. It’s big and roomy, with well-positioned controls, a soft seat, and the best weather protection and aero here (though that’s not saying much). The suspension is calibrated well for the mission, offering up good compliance and adequate support. “It’s reasonably supple most of the time and keeps the big chassis on a fairly even keel,” Marc said. We liked the suspension despite the fact that we had to resort to almost max damping adjustments (rebound only) to get the ride we wanted.

Compared to the Ninja 1000 on which it’s based, the Versys has a slacker steering-head angle (by 2.5 degrees) and nearly an inch more suspension travel front and rear, which provides a cushier, more relaxed ride. The engine was updated with milder cams, a lower compression ratio, revised transmission ratios (shorter in first and second and taller everywhere else), and more vibration-damping rubber engine mounts in place of the Ninja’s rigid fittings.

The engine is a freight train, pulling hard off idle and offering up a buttery smooth and torque-rich midrange and an exciting top-end rush. It’s not as thrilling as the FJ’s engine but more dynamic than the V-Strom’s and more powerful than both. Kawi’s inline-four dishes up 110.3 hp at 8,800 rpm and 70.6 pound-feet of torque at 7,000 rpm. Vibration creeps into the seat above 5,500 rpm and gets stronger as the revs rise, but with 5,000 rpm putting an indicated 80 mph on the speedo in sixth, there’s rarely reason to rev the bike out. The only interruption in the Versys’ seamless flow of power is at off/on and on/off throttle transitions, where there’s a big hiccup. And we all noticed a throbbing sensation in the clutch lever during initial engagement.

In terms of handling, the Versys splits the difference between the laid-back V-Strom and the frenetic FJ. Steering is heavy at single-digit speeds but lightens appreciably once underway and feels light and accurate at higher speeds. The chassis felt the best in fast sweepers, but the bike handles tighter stuff too; you just have to respect its considerable heft. With the 5.5-gallon tank full, the Versys weighs 570 pounds. It’s the heaviest rig here by more than 60 pounds, but it carries its weight well.

Offered as the Versys 1000 LT in the US, the Kawasaki comes with hand guards, a centerstand, three-level (plus off) TC, ABS, two ride modes, and luggage standard. Priced at $12,799, the Versys slots in between the other two bikes while equaling both in most respects and even surpassing them in others. We’re a fan of Kawasaki’s simple electronics interface and easy windscreen adjustment, and the luggage is the best, hands down. You can fit more in the bags and they’re easier to use.

“Kawasaki has produced a real alternative to the Concours 14 as a sport-touring machine,” Marc said of the Versys. Indeed, this bike certainly hews to the touring end of the spectrum but still maintains a high level of day-to-day practicality and enough sportiness to satisfy you on weekends. And compared to both the V-Strom and FJ-09, it’s the best all-around performer. In a category that’s slightly nebulous already, the Versys navigates the compromises best. That’s a winning combination to us.

Off the Record

ZACK COURTS
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
AGE: 31
HEIGHT: 6’2”
WEIGHT: 185 lb.
INSEAM: 34 in.

This group of bikes is inherently limited by compromise. The FJ is a fun and lively adaptation of the naked FZ-09, but you’ll only be surprised how low the price is until you feel the brakes and suspension. It’s a surprisingly rowdy choice in this category, so if you want a sport-touring bike with a splash of immaturity, that’s your choice. On the flipside is the white-muzzled black lab of motorcycles, the V-Strom, which loped along obeying commands all day without any spring in its step. Yes, it has arguably the best off-road capability, but for that money why not buy a BMW F800GS? The Suzuki is extremely competent and amazingly boring.

Kawasaki’s Versys 1000 is the best balance. It’s calm, poised, and all-day comfortable, plus it has the best saddlebags by far. It’s also got lots of torque and plenty of sporting pedigree, with shared DNA from the Ninja 1000. Yeah, it’s big and heavy, but for someone my size it fits just right and has the best aerodynamics of the group. I just wish it were available in green!

MARC COOK
EDITOR IN CHIEF
AGE: 51
HEIGHT: 5’9”
WEIGHT: 190 lb.
INSEAM: 32 in.

On our three-day trip, I kept fussing with the FJ-09’s suspension to find compliance over small bumps along with mid-stroke control. (By “mid-stroke” I mean that the bike felt under-damped in the middle of the suspension’s travel, which made the chassis move too easily and feel unsettled.) I never found the sweet spot. We adjusted the Versys once or twice and basically left the V-Strom on the baseline settings. I know that the Suzuki can be made a little better with some fine-tuning, but it was already so far ahead of the others we just didn’t bother.

Far worse a transgression is the FJ’s aero coverage. As someone who owns the torso of a 5-foot-6 man (got it at Costco), I’m right in the war zone as the windblast, accelerated as it comes up the nose and past the over-styled demi windscreen, gets deposited straight onto my face shield. As such, this is one of the most aerodynamically boisterous motorcycles I’ve ridden in a long time. Not turbulent, just insanely loud. I’m going to experiment in the weeks ahead with the Yamaha accessory touring screen and might just see if trimming the stock shield can reduce the noise. (Look for an update on our website.) Why would I bother? Because otherwise this is my favorite of the three in this comparo.

ARI HENNING
ROAD TEST EDITOR
AGE: 30
HEIGHT: 5’10”
WEIGHT: 175 lb.
INSEAM: 33 in.

I’m not sure if it’s the price point we’re working with here or the bikes’ provenance, but the Kawasaki and Suzuki just don’t do it for me. They’re both adequate and entirely functional motorcycles, but they don’t excite, and neither machine is without its flaws. Within the context of this test the Versys is objectively the best all-rounder, but it’s too big and goofy-looking for me. I’d likely choose the Ninja 1000 instead. And while I respect the V-Strom for its stoic efficiency, it’s too pricey and too boring to ever live in my garage.

When it comes down to it I’m the kind of guy who straps a tail pack and tank bag to a 600cc supersport and calls it a sport-tourer. I favor performance over comfort and always try to find the twistiest route from Point A to Point B. That being the case (and due to the fact that I love triples), I’d take the FJ. I’m as disappointed with the Yamaha’s shortcomings as my fellow testers, but at least it gets my heart rate going. And, to me, motorcycling is as much about the excitement of operating the machine as it is about the pleasure of the journey

ERGOS
The Versys ranked highest in terms of ergonomics with its spacious yet sporty layout and adequate weather protection. A long reach to high bars and forward-set footpegs make the V-Strom feel awkward. The FJ-09 sticks to the sporty side of things with its compact cockpit arrangement.

DYNOS
Kawasaki’s 1,043cc inline-four charts the smoothest, tallest curves. That’s 60 pound-feet of torque available off idle. The FJ-09 doesn’t achieve that figure until 8,300 rpm, but its light weight and quick-revving engine make it feel plenty fast. The V-Strom’s big V-twin offers a stout bottom end, but power trails off fast beyond 7,000 rpm.

TECH SPEC

THE WINDSHIELD FACTOR

YAMAHA

The FJ-09’s windscreen has height adjustments covering a 30mm range. This bike’s small fairing and a narrow windscreen that tapers from top to bottom allow a fair amount of wind to reach the rider. Something about the complex angles of that front end creates light tubulence and a lot of wind noise. Note the tidy luggage.

SUZUKI

The short, wide windscreen on the V-Strom is three-position angle adjustable (on the fly) and three-position height adjustable with tools. Weather protection is adequate, if the least of these three, but turbulence behind the screen is excessive. We ran the screen in the lowest, steepest position in an attempt to minimize the discomfort.

KAWASAKI

The Kawasaki’s wider nose, more extensive fairing, and tall, well-shaped windscreen offer up the best weather protection, though turbulence is still an issue. The Kawasaki’s windscreen is easily adjustable through a 75mm range via threaded knobs. Standard hand guards are simple and effective.

©Motorcyclist

1 // BIKEMASTER THIN-HEAD LIGHT All the light in the world is useless if you can’t shine it where it’s needed. This light-on-a-stick from Bikemaster can slip into the tightest of spaces, and the head is slim enough that you can still see past it. A magnetic tip makes it perfect for retrieving dropped fasteners, and the magnetic holster adds even more convenience. Pick one up for $30. Batteries included! bikemaster.com

2 // TRAIL TECH LED DRIVING LIGHTS
Light up the road with these universal LED driving lights, which crank out a combined claimed 2,500 lumens on high. Each unit contains a trio of LEDs in a machined-aluminum housing that’s capped with a hardened-glass lens. Current draw is 30 watts on high and 15 watts on low. The $320 kit includes two lights, a switch and wiring, and mounts to fit 7/8- or 1-inch handlebars or crashbars. trailtech.net

3 // FLYING TIGER MOTORCYCLES 2-STROKE CANDLE
This candle emits a mellow light—and an authentic two-stroke-exhaust aroma! According to Eric Bess of Flying Tiger Motorcycles in St. Louis, Missouri, “The scent is as close as you can get and still have the candle burn correctly.” Made in the USA using soy wax and real two-stroke oil, this 16-ounce $20 candle is designed to capture the scent of the ’70s. The container even resembles a vintage oil can. flyingtigermoto.com

4 // ADMORE LIGHTING LED LIGHT BAR
Increase your conspicuity with this $129 light bar from AdMore Lighting. It bolsters your taillight, brake light, and turn signals’ effectiveness with an array of 78 super-bright LEDs. Functions include integrated progressive amber turn signals and a modulated brake light that’s sure to get noticed. Mount it to your license plate or anywhere on the back of your bike with the included bracket. twistedthrottle.com

5 // FENIX UC35 FLASHLIGHT
Need lumens on the go? Fenix’s UC35 LED flashlight pumps out a claimed 960 lumens in the brightest of its five digitally regulated intensities. At less than 6 inches long the UC35 is small enough to fit in your pocket, and its lithium-ion battery is rechargeable via an included USB cable. Waterproof, shockproof, and blazingly bright, the $90 UC35 is the superbike of flashlights. fenixoutfitters.com

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When your riding gear gets too dirty or smelly to wear...

Gear gets dirty—bugs and grime gunk up the exterior while sweat funks up the interior. A moist cloth is great for spot cleaning (and the only safe way to clean leather), but when it’s time for a deep cleaning, it’s time for immersion in soap and water. We use a jacket in this example, but the process is the same for pants and other textile gear as well.

Get more handy how-to tips from the MC Garage HERE

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1. Remove the armor from the shoulders, elbows, and back of your jacket, and unzip and remove any interior liners. Mark similar-looking pads so they go back where they came from. Check your pockets for earplugs and other items, and then zip them closed, leaving the main zipper open.

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2. If you live in a buggy region or do a lot of off-road riding, your gear may need a little extra attention before the big wash. Pre-treat especially dirty areas with a brush and diluted detergent.

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**3. Hand-washing your gear is the safest option, but a front-loading washing machine (on gentle) will work. Why such care for an ostensibly tough piece of apparel? While the jacket’s chassis can take a thrashing, the fabric’s exterior coatings and interior laminations can be fairly delicate. Most laundromats have industrial-size front-loading washers that are perfect for the job. **

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4. Over time the water-repellant coating that’s applied to the exterior of many textile jackets will wear off. Adding a waterproofing solution such as Nikwax to the wash will restore your jacket’s water-beading ability. Refer to the instructions on the bottle.

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5. Air-dry your apparel on a hanger or lay it flat on a dry towel. Never put motorcycle gear in the dryer unless the manufacturer explicitly allows it. (See number three’s note regarding coatings.) Pointing a fan at your jacket will accelerate the drying process.

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6. Once your gear is dry, slip the armor back into place, reinstall any interior liners, and revel in the brightened colors and neutral aroma of your freshly washed apparel.

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Kreiga US 20 Dry Pack

1 // KRIEGA US 20 DRY PACK
Kriega’s best-selling US 20 universal tail pack doesn’t come with a rain cover, and it doesn’t need one. The bag’s waterproof lining and roll-top-closure ensure your belongings stay dry, while an innovative webbing and buckle design make the bag easy to mount and remove. An included shoulder strap allows you to wear the $139, 20-liter pack as a courier bag off the bike, making the US 20 a great option for commuters.
kriega.us

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Rokker Revolution Waterproof Jeans

2 // ROKKER REVOLUTION WATERPROOF JEANS
Wait, waterproof jeans? Yep, you read that right. The Revolution jeans from Rokker are hewn entirely from Schoeller Denim-Dynatec fabric (a blend of denim and Dynatec, a tear-, wear-, and heat-resistant textile) and backed by a “c-change” membrane that’s waterproof and breathable. The Revolutions incorporate D3O armor at the hips and knees and are cut to fit like Levis 501s. They’re fantastic in so many ways except one: price. At $549, they’re eye-wateringly expensive. therokkercompany.com

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Sidi All Road Gore Tex Boots

3 // SIDI ALL ROAD GORE-TEX BOOTS
Wet feet are never fun, so keep yours clad in these All Road boots from Sidi and you won’t have to worry about soggy socks. The boots’ Technomicro and Cordura chassis is lightweight and breathable, while a full Gore-Tex lining guarantees waterproofness. The simple and rugged design of the taller-than-standard All Road boots is well suited to any form of riding. Pick up a pair for $325. motonation.com

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Shark Vision-R Helmet

4 // SHARK VISION-R HELMET
Visibility is reduced in the rain. Give yourself a fighting chance with Shark’s Vision-R helmet, which offers the largest field of vision in the Shark lineup via a massive eyeport. There’s also an antifog visor, removable breath guard, adjustable chin curtain, and a lever that lifts the visor slightly to clear any humidity that’s accumulated. The Vision-R features a fiberglass shell, along with a flip-down sun visor and a removable liner, all for $380. shark-helmets.com

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Metzeler Sportec M7 RR Tires

5 // METZELER SPORTEC M7 RR TIRES
Balancing dry grip, wet grip, and mileage is a tricky endeavor, but Metzeler says it’s done it with the new Sportec M7 RR tires. Featuring revised tread designs, race-derived profiles, and newly developed compounds, the M7s are specifically designed for sporty riding in inclement weather. The front features a 100-percent silica compound with a lower land/sea ratio to clear water, while the rear tire has a dual-compound design with a harder, slick center for maximum durability. Sets start at $356. metzeler.com

MORE MC GARAGE GEAR TESTS AND NEW PRODUCTS HERE

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The fuel systems on older carbureted bikes require regular maintenance. This includes tending to the petcock, fuel filters, fuel lines, and the carburetor(s). This month’s How To walks you though the process of cleaning a carburetor.

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1 // Drain the carburetor and remove it from the bike. This might require displacing the airbox. Take note of hose and cable routing. Look for dry, stiff, or cracked flanges on the intake and the airbox, and replace anything that looks suspicious.

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2 // Clean any grime from the exterior of the carburetor with a soft brush and an aerosol carb cleaner then remove the screws that secure the float bowl to the bottom of the carb. If the float bowl is stuck in place, give it a firm tap with the handle of your screwdriver.

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3 // The float bowl may be full of gunk and scale. (This one, ironically, was spotless.) Clean out the bowl with a brush or by scraping the deposits with a pick or small screwdriver. Really thick or stubborn deposits could require submersion in a stronger chemical cleaner, often available at auto parts stores.

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4 // Remove the float by pulling the hinge pin. Inspect the float needle and shake the float—any liquid inside is evidence of a leak and necessitates replacement. Inspect the slide piston for wear, and on constant-velocity carbs check the rubber diaphragm for tears or damage, and replace if necessary.

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5 // Remove the jets. The main jet is in the center and the pilot jet (sometimes a non-removable fixed unit) is the smaller one next to it. Seat the air screw—noting the number of turns to closed—and then remove it.

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6 // Spray cleaner through the jets and the orifices they screw into.

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7 // The bores of the jets and all emulsion holes must be clear. Remove any stubborn obstructions with an appropriate item. The kinky bristle from a brass brush is ideal for this purpose. Do not use drill bits to clean jets.

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8 // Give all the parts a final rinse with carb cleaner and reassemble the carburetor. Make sure to reset the air screw to its original position. Reinstall, add gas, and go for a ride!

MORE TECH TIPS FROM THE MC GARAGE HERE

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On any given day, Americans burn through some 368 million gallons of gasoline. We have a serious appetite for the stuff, but besides fussing over its price, how much thought do you give to gasoline? When so much pride and concern is fixed to your bike’s performance, how much do you know about the flammable liquid that makes it all happen?

Strap in, kiddos, because in this issue and the next you’re going to get a crash course on gasoline.

Despite terms like “dinosaur juice” and “fossil fuel,” petroleum products aren’t formed from the remains of prehistoric reptiles. According to people who study this stuff, we have ancient marine plants like plankton to thank for all the black gold we burn.

Before it gets to your bike’s tank, gasoline must be refined. Raw petroleum is pumped out of the ground as crude oil that’s composed of a stew of hydrocarbon chains of various lengths. These chains vaporize at different temperatures, with the shorter, lighter chains going gaseous first. At the refinery the crude is distilled and the various chain lengths are boiled off and collected. They run the gamut from gases like propane to solids like paraffin, with the volatile liquids that make up gasoline residing near the middle of the range. On average, a barrel of crude oil (42 gallons) yields about 21 gallons of gasoline.

There are currently 139 refineries operating in the US, and those facilities are responsible for providing the base fuel that’s sold to various retailers and distributed to the nation’s 160,000 or so service stations. “The base gas is shared among marketers,” says Jim Macias, fuel technology manager at Shell. “It has to meet very stringent industry standards, so the quality is good.”

It’s what’s added to this fungible base stock that differentiates the gas that’s sold at a name-brand station versus what you pump at the no-name quickie mart on the corner. In addition to government-mandated detergents (as well as ethanol, but we’ll get to that next month) intended to reduce tailpipe emissions by keeping engine internals clean, many companies blend their own additive package into the tanker trucks before they depart for the service station.

These chemical cleaners cost money to develop and produce (and market), and not every retailer pours in the same amount. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has a minimum concentration, and “about 50 percent of the market only puts in the minimum,” Macias says. “But we’ve found that amount to be ineffective in keeping the engine clean.” Many auto manufacturers agree, which is how the so-called Top Tier gas standard came to be.

Top Tier fuels contain a higher concentration of detergent additives (2.5 times more at minimum for all grades of gas) and are free of metallic additives that can damage catalytic convertors. Some 30 retailers in the US have jumped on the Top Tier bandwagon (see toptiergas.com for a list) since the standard was introduced in 2004.

So there’s a difference in additive concentrations among retailers, but even after you decide on a brand you still have to make a decision at the pump: regular, mid-grade, or premium?

Octane is the main difference between the three grades of gas. Octane is a family of hydrocarbons, but it’s more commonly used as shorthand for octane rating, the index of a fuel’s ability to resist detonation. Detonation, or “engine knock,” is when the air/fuel mixture in the combustion chamber ignites spontaneously ahead of the normal, uniform flame propagating from the spark plug. (That is, after the spark plug has fired. A spontaneous burn before the plug fires is called preignition and occurs as the result of a hot spot within the combustion chamber, often a piece of carbon.) Detonation creates a massive pressure spike in the combustion chamber that manifests itself as a ringing sound as the engine literally resonates from the shock. Detonation is bad news. It hammers the piston and can pit the piston crown, crack ring-lands, and do all sorts of other nasty stuff.

The octane rating of a gas is determined in a laboratory using a single-cylinder “knock” engine with a variable compression ratio. Technicians run the engine on a test gas and increase the compression ratio until knock occurs and then compare the results to pure octane, which has an octane rating of 100. Two different tests are employed when settling on an octane rating, the Research Octane Number (RON) and Motor Octane Number (MON). The tests follow slightly different parameters, and in the end neither is used as the sole indicator of knock resistance. Instead, the two numbers are averaged to get the fuel’s Anti-Knock Index (AKI), which is the number you see at the pump. The equation (R+M)/2 is even visible below the octane number.

So which number should you go with? Whatever your bike’s manufacturer calls for. But a higher-octane gas is better, right? No, at least not in terms of power or throttle response. A higher octane rating, by itself, does not increase engine power unless it prevents detonation. If an engine does not experience detonation on 87-octane fuel, it won’t make more power or run any better on 91.

But as far as keeping your engine clean, premium gas has “the highest concentration of the good stuff,” Macias says of Shell’s premium gas. “It has five times the cleaning agents required by the EPA.” The idea here is that a vehicle engineered to run on high-octane gas is likely built to a higher state of tune, so internal cleanliness is essential for proper performance. So if you frequent the quickie mart for discount gas, the occasional tank of premium from a name-brand station may do your engine some good.

We’ve never heard of anybody intentionally running their bike on a lower-than-specified-octane gas, but what if you had no choice? “Keep the revs down and listen for detonation,” says Brad Puetz, Kawasaki’s media relations supervisor. And if you hear that telltale pinging, pull over and let the engine cool down.

Check back next month to learn about ethanol, stale gas, and fuel stabilizers.

BIG BANG vs. PROGRESSIVE BURN

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When most folks think about combustion, they assume that when the spark plug fires the air-fuel mixture inside the combustion chamber explodes all at once like a firecracker. In reality, it’s a controlled burn that originates at the spark plug and progresses toward the cylinder walls. The image above was taken inside the combustion chamber of a test engine and shows the “flame kernel” expanding from the plug 13,707 microseconds (call it 0.014 of a second) after ignition.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO MAKE A DEPOSIT?

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Gas companies make a big deal about engine deposits, and plenty of aftermarket chemical companies sell potions intended to purge your engine of sediments. So what are these residues made of, and where do they come from?

Colloquially known as “gunk,” the black deposits found on intake valves and piston crowns are primarily carbon. This crud accrues as gas vapor breaks down as a result of coming into contact with hot engine parts. It can also form as the result of excessive oil in the combustion chamber—from leaky rings or worn valve seals or guides. Carbon deposits impede gas flow, just like cholesterol buildup slows the flow of blood through your heart.

Photo: CaliPhotography

The Proguard integrates neatly onto the end of the right handlebar and shields the brake lever from being depressed. The Race version shown here has a curved mount that positions the guard out of the way of your hand so you have more freedom of movement at full lean.

You’ve seen them in MotoGP—a curved appendage extending forward from the bar end to shield the front-brake lever. Brake-lever guards are mandatory in motorcycling’s premier class and they’re a good idea for anyone looking for a little added safety since any contact with the front brake lever can be disastrous. Think lap one of the MotoGP race at Catalunya in 2006, the final lap of the Daytona 200 in 2011, or clipping a mirror while splitting lanes. (For those of you here in California.)

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Rubbing is racing! This incident at Sonoma Raceway (caught on camera by the rider in front of us) convinced me to put a brake-lever guard on my racebike. Thankfully nothing touched but our elbows, but a few more inches and things might have gotten ugly. This is exactly the type of scenario the Proguard was created for.

I usually spend one weekend a month at the track on a small-bore bike with not a lot of horsepower, so drafting, last-minute passing, and cornering in close proximity to other riders is the norm. And seeing as I’ve made contact with competitors in the past, I figured adding a brake-lever guard to my CBR300R was a wise idea.

Rizoma’s Proguard lever guard is available in two configurations, a Street version and a Race version. Both models replace your existing bar end and use the same rigid plastic guard arm, but they have different guard mounts. The Street model has a straight aluminum base and can be used on either the left or right handlebar. The part is designed to protect the levers from unintended application and also provides some protection for the pinky finger. It retails for $103, and most bikes will require a $10 adapter, usually part LP200.

The Race version has a more complex construction and is for the brake side only. It was developed in cooperation with MotoGP riders to provide more freedom of movement, more finger protection, and easier evacuation in the event of a lowside crash. It uses the same bar end but it’s made to fit a 7/8-inch clip-on, and the guard base is curved so the guard angles up towards the brake lever, leaving more room for your hand while leaning off. The Race piece costs a whopping $311, with the price difference said to be due mostly to the more complicated machining process required to make the curved base.

Photo: Brian MacLean

I probably could have used the Street version (Rizoma says many riders use the more affordable Street version for the track) but I hold the throttle like a screwdriver while leaning off in right-hand turns, so the added freedom of movement offered by the Race version was appealing.

Installing the part was straightforward. The bar end slipped right into my Woodcraft clip-on and secures with an expanding aluminum plug. The bar-end bolt also secures the guard base, which is adjustable for a small amount of up/down and left/right angle so you can place the guard right in front of the end of the brake lever. The guard itself was longer than needed, so I simply cut off an inch with a hacksaw.

A year and over 30 races later, I’m happy to report that I haven’t put the Proguard piece to the test. I can say that I don’t notice it at all while I’m on the bike and that it’s never once gotten in my way nor needed any tightening or attention. If you trailer your bike using a Canyon Dancer or similar over-the-grips strap system the lever guard with make loading and unloading the bike a little trickier, but it’s a worthwhile complication in my opinion.

RIZOMA PROGUARD RACE BRAKE GUARD

PRICE: $103 (Street version), $311 (Track version)
CONTACT:rizoma.com

VERDICT: 7/10 STARS

Pricey, but smartly engineered, well made, and presumably very effective.

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WRIST:Ari Henning
MSRP (2015): $5499
MILES: 1,890
MPG: 54
MODS: K&N oil filter, Motorex oil, Hot Cams valve shims

I’ve been hard on the RC390, and neglectful too. We got the bike with just 63 miles on the odometer and immediately ran it wide open on the dyno and then took it to the track for our 2015 Small Sportbike Shootout and On Two Wheels video. We blew by the initial 620-mile break-in service during testing, and as you can see in the spec box above the bike has nearly 2,000 miles on it now.

That initial service—particularly checking the valve clearances—is important in insuring a bike’s performance and longevity. I would never recommend ignoring the first service, and I’m not proud of the fact that I’ve put it off for this long. Sorry KTM, I was just having too much fun riding the bike to work on it! I did change the oil at about 1,000 miles, however, slipping a K&N filter ($9; knfilters.com) into the crankcase and pouring in the recommended Motorex synthetic oil ($20/liter; motorexusa.com) prior to Editor-in-Chief Marc Cook taking the bike to a track day.

RELATED READING:

• Long-Term RC390 Update 1
• KTM RC390 Fender Eliminator Kit

Getting to the valves requires removing the seat, tank cover, side fairings, battery, and fuel tank. I also disconnected the battery lead from the starter solenoid so I could flop the whole fuse box/battery tray off to the left side of the bike. There’s precious little room to work within the RC’s engine compartment so I spent a few minutes zip-tying wires out of the way to give myself a clearer view of the work area. This is all pretty standard stuff—on most bikes the hardest part of the procedure is just getting to the valves.

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Here’s what the worksite looks like. The yellow arrows indicate the best angle of attack for checking the valve clearances. To access the right-side valves you need to slip the gauge between the cylinder head and the cam holder, as indicated by the shaded portion of the arrows.

With the valve cover removed and the engine at top-dead center, I tried to slip my feeler gauge in between the follower and the shim on the intake side, and immediately became frustrated. The cylinder head is tall and the gap you’re attempting to check is an inch down and completely out of site below the cam lobe. I hadn’t wanted to remove the radiator, but I was having a heck of a time accessing the exhaust valves with it in place, so out came the coolant and off came the cooling array. That made things much better. So did having the bike up on a lift; I helped my buddy check the valves on his RC with the bike at ground level and the job was a lot more difficult.

Putting a 45-degree bend in your gauge makes checking the left-side valves fairly easy, but to check the right-side valves you have to slip the gauge through the gap between the cam holder and the head. And on the right exhaust valve you need to make sure you slide the decompression device over so it doesn’t interfere with your reading. If you’re unfamiliar with how to use feeler gauges or how much drag is the right amount, check out this MC Garage video.

KTM calls for a 0.003-0.005” gap on the intakes and a 0.005-0.007” gap on the exhausts. On my RC the left exhaust was on the snug side of spec (0.005”), and the other three valves were all tighter than spec. (The right exhaust was at 0.004” and the intakes were both at 0.003”.)

Since two of my coworkers have personal KTMs that use the same 10mm shims as the RC (and because I may put performance cams in the bike at some point), I went ahead and ordered a full shim kit from Hot Cams ($75.95; hotcamsinc.com) rather than ordering individual pieces from KTM. The RC uses shim kit HCSHIM31 and comes with three shims each in thicknesses from 1.85mm on up to 3.25 mm. The stock shims were all in the 2.40-2.50mm range, so the Hot Cams kit will likely cover any conceivable clearance an RC owner might encounter.

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Hot Cams shim kits include three shims each in thicknesses from 1.85mm to 3.25mm in 0.05mm increments. Ordering the complete kit insures you have any size you might need, and it’s a good value too. The $75 kit contains a total of 84 shims, which works out to about $0.90 per shim.

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There’s a decompression device built into the exhaust cam to assist with startup. To check the valve clearance on the right-side exhaust valve you need to pivot the weight towards the cam lobe, which moves the decompression tab away from the follower.

Finding valves out of spec may make your heart sink, but having come this far swapping the shims isn’t that much more work. You need to remove the cam-chain tensioner, spark-plug tunnel (it’s a slip fit with O-rings, wiggle it and it will eventually come free), cam holders, and cams, and then flip the followers up and snatch the shims up with a magnet. I measured all of the shims I took out and replaced them with thinner discs so the clearances are all at the loose end of the spec. I figure since the valves tightened up during that first 2,000 miles, they may continue to do so.

Overall the procedure was a bit more trying than I’d expected, but I think I’ve been spoiled by the simplicity and ease with which I’m able to check and adjust the clearances on my CBR300R racebike. Compared to the Honda, the KTM is half again more difficult to work on, and anyone looking to tackle the procedure themselves should set aside a full day for the project. And if you’re on the fence about checking the valves yourself, consider that I’ve checked the valves on lots of bikes and found this particular machine pretty tricky to work on. The RC is a great bike for beginners in terms of size, price, and performance, but the same doesn’t apply for some of its maintenance procedures.

Thankfully, the next valve-clearance check is 9,300 miles down the road. I’ll make sure to be on time with that one!

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Racer Mickey Glove

I prefer the safety of long-gauntlet gloves, but for convenience and comfort, especially in hot weather, “shorty” gloves are hard to beat. And as far as protection goes, the Mickey gloves from Racer are pretty comprehensive.

Protection starts with the chassis, which is a complex patchwork of textiles (stretchy stuff and mesh), leather (natural and synthetic), and armor. The combination of materials keeps the gloves very light and breathable, while likely impact and abrasion areas are thoroughly shielded. The outside edge of the pinky fingers is covered in double-thick leather, as are the heels of the palms, which also feature robust “Super-Fabric” sliders. The same hard material covers the knuckles, and there are small leather pads extending down the finger joints. I haven’t crashed in my Mickeys, but I’m confident they will do their job if I do.

The fit of the Mickeys is snug and superb, and I love the control feel offered by the thin synthetic-leather palms. I’m also very fond of the cuff design; they’re all leather with over-the-top closure, and they’re just long enough to slip under the cuffs of my jacket so there’s no exposed skin while I’m riding. After a year of regular use, the little silicone diamonds on the underside of the fingers have peeled off, but all the seams are still sound, the palms haven’t worn thin, and the Velcro wrist straps are still tenacious.

I’ve worn the Mickeys while commuting, touring, and dual-sport riding. They’re incredibly comfortable and very versatile. The only drawback is the price, but considering the quality, fit, and features, it’s well worth it. Oh, and free shipping helps.

RACER MICKEY GLOVES

PRICE: $116
CONTACT:racerglovesusa.com

VERDICT: 9/10 STARS

Light, comfortable, highly breathable, with excellent protection. Great summer gloves.

SEE MORE MC TESTED MOTORCYCLE PRODUCTS HERE

Screws, bolts, plastic rivets, tabs, posts and grommets, and dual-lock pads are just some of the strategies manufacturers use to keep bike bodywork in place. Peeling off body panels can be like playing with puzzles, but these tips will reduce your frustration and minimize your risk of damaging costly components.

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Threaded Fasteners– Shouldered bolts are often used to secure bodywork to metal brackets, and they might all look the same until you unscrew them. Take note of bolts with different thread diameters and different shoulder diameters and lengths. These shoulders have a specific purpose; using the wrong bolt can leave the bodywork loose or promote cracking. Bagging similar bolts together is a good idea.

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Friction Fittings– Posts and grommets and dual-lock pads (essentially industrial-grade Velcro) are often employed for side panels and tank trim. They’re easy to deal with—just pull them apart. Applying a little silicone lubricant to grommets will ease installation and help to preserve the rubber.

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Tabs– Tabs and friction clips often hold overlapping panels together. There’s always an order of operations to removing overlapping panels, and it usually starts with a screw or bolt. Once you’ve removed all the obvious fasteners, gently pry back the panel to determine where else (and how else) it’s held in place.

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Rivets– Push the center in with a pick or small screwdriver to release tension on the fastener. Then pull the rivet out with your fingernails or a small flat-blade screwdriver. Once you’ve removed the rivet, pop the center back above the surface. When you reinstall it later you’ll press the center home to secure the fitting.

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Damage– Snap a tab? You can order up a new piece, or you can try fixing it with superglue, epoxy, or a specialized product like PlastiFix. Stripped or cracked threaded tabs can be repaired by filling the threads with epoxy, securing the boss with a zip-tie, and then drilling the cured epoxy to accept the screw.

Get more how-to tips from the MC Garage HERE

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KTM // POWERPARTS

KTM // POWERPARTS
Crash protection, luggage, and performance parts like fully adjustable suspension and exhaust systems are just some of the things KTM lists for the RC390 and Duke 390 in its extensive PowerParts catalog. This 300mm wave rotor from Galfer is sure to be a popular upgrade. Offering a full-floating stainless-steel rotor on a lightweight aluminum carrier, it’s a nice performance and aesthetic modification for $260. shop.ktm.com

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YAMAHA R3 // EXPANDABLE SEAT BAG

YAMAHA R3 // EXPANDABLE SEAT BAG Luggage that doesn’t detract from a bike’s appearance can be hard to find, but Yamaha nailed it with its expandable seat bag for the new YZF-R3. This tail pack replaces the stock passenger seat and has a seat cowl for a top, so it looks slick when collapsed and still appears pretty sporty when it’s expanded and full of your stuff. This seat pack costs $260 and is available in Raven (black) or Team Yamaha Blue. yamahapartsandaccessories.com

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KAWASAKI // ACCESSORY WINDSCREEN

KAWASAKI // ACCESSORY WINDSCREEN Want more wind protection on your new Ninja 300? The factory accessory catalog has you covered. This $86 windscreen is 30mm taller, so it offers more coverage, and the “double bubble” profile routes oncoming air away from your torso while maintaining a sporty look. This screen does not come with the stock “Ninja” decal, but you can order it (part #56054-1088). kawasaki.com

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VORTEX // SPROCKETS

VORTEX // SPROCKETS Proper gearing is critical when horsepower is in short supply, as it is on small-displacement bikes. Most little motorcycles come geared low for optimal acceleration, and gearing taller will make for more relaxed freeway riding by lowering your cruising rpm. This is especially appealing for Honda CBR300R riders. Vortex sells steel countershaft sprockets for $29 and aluminum rear sprockets for $71 in your choice of black, silver, red, or blue. Long-lasting steel rear sprockets are also available for some bikes in black for just $55.
vortexracing.com

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SHINKO // SR 880/881 TIRES

SHINKO // SR 880/881 TIRES Hey, new rider! Guess what? Motorcycle tires wear out way faster than car tires. You’ll need a set sooner than you think, and when you do you’ll get a lot of bang for your buck with Shinko’s new SR 880/881s. These radial tires promise good performance and durability and are offered in sizes suitable for smaller bikes. Fronts are listed as starting at $113 and rears at $149, but web shoppers can expect to score a set for about $200.
shinkotireusa.com

They say:For those that make performance their lifestyle.

We say:Another impressive R model for the Ducati history books.

When Ducati introduced the totally redesigned Monster 1200 in early 2014, the bike represented a paradigm shift for the 21-year-old model line. It was larger, more comfortable, and more usable than any of the compact and feisty machines that had come before. All good things for sure, but in becoming a more mature and practical Monster the 1200 and up-spec 1200S sacrificed some sporting prowess.

Meet the 2016 Monster 1200R, the latest addition to the Monster family and a bike designed and built for those who want a little more athleticism from their iconic Italian naked bike. The R sits on new Öhlins suspension that’s 15mm longer, raising the bike’s stance for some much-needed cornering clearance. Ducati also blessed the R with more power—a claimed 160 hp and 97 pound-feet of torque compared to the S-bike’s 145 hp and 91.8 pound-feet—by way of a higher compression ratio, bigger throttle bodies, and a redesigned exhaust. It’s also rolling on lightweight forged-aluminum Marchesini wheels shod with the same track-ready Pirelli Supercorsa SP tires as the 1299 Panigale superbike.

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2016 Ducati Monster 1200 R

Other notable additions and improvements include an adjustable Öhlins steering damper that resides behind a new mini-fairing, a carbon-fiber front fender, separate rider and passenger footpeg assemblies with new knurled footpegs, a higher seat, and a totally redesigned and attractively compact tail section. Ducati says the bike is 5 pounds lighter than the 1200S, weighing in at a claimed 456 pounds with a full tank of fuel.

Since the 1200R is tuned for performance, Ducati invited journalists to the beautiful 3.4-mile Ascari circuit in southern Spain to put the new machine through its paces. Ducati isn’t presenting the 1200R as a track bike, but rather as a sporty naked that is as at home on the track as it is on a twisty back road. And Ascari represents those two environments beautifully, combining the tight features of the best Alpine pass with fast turn combinations plucked from the finest racetracks in the world. It’s a stunning facility, and the Monster 1200R was a fantastic bike on which to enjoy it.

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2016 Ducati Monster 1200 R

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A full-color TFT dash changes the display based on the ride mode selected, and it now features a gear-position indicator! (We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Every bike should have a gear-position indicator.) The Monster’s many systems (engine mode, traction control, ABS, etc.) are all highly tunable, though the interface can be frustrating until you master the menu systems.

The R’s handlebar is the same wide, comfortably high setup as on the other bikes, but the taller seat puts you further over the front of the bike in a satisfyingly aggressive yet still fairly upright riding position. Your feet now rest on grippy textured-aluminum racing-style footpegs instead of rubber-clad pieces, and there’s ample room for your boot heels now that the passenger footpegs hang from their own separate brackets. The new mufflers don’t crowd your right foot like they do on the 1200S, either, but the baritone beat coming from the dual cans sounds as exciting as ever.

Cornering clearance is greatly improved on the 1200R—we ground the heck out of the footpegs and the servo-controlled exhaust valve on the low-riding 1200S we tested at the Streets of Willow circuit during our 2014 naked-bike shootout—but as the pace picked up the sidestand and footpegs occasionally kissed the ground. That’s not to say bike has low-hanging parts, rather, it’s a testament to the Pirellis’ grip and the bike’s rock-solid feel at full lean.

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As with the base 1200 and more powerful 1200 S, the 1200 R is powered by a version of the 11° Testastretta engine found in the Diavel and the previous-generation Multistrada. The R-bike’s engine benefits from a higher compression ratio (13.0:1 vs. 12.5:1 for the 1200 S) larger oval throttle bodies (up 3mm, from 53mm to 56mm), and fatter header pipes measuring a full 58mm, up 8mm from the tubes used on the 1200 S.

The 11° Testastretta engine has always been a performer, but this latest version feels even better. Power is strong off the bottom, kicks in hard in the midrange, and carries through to the 10,500-rpm redline without losing much intensity. I was downshifting to second for some of the hairpins, but later discovered that the bike pulled just as hard in 3rd, leaving more revs to drive out of the corner before having to shift. And unlike the last few Ducatis we’ve ridden, throttle response is excellent even in Sport mode, the most aggressive of the three available engine modes.

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New Marchesini wheels are forged from aluminum and then machined to exacting tolerances to save weight. The Monster now runs the same Pirellis as the 1299 Panigale superbike. That means a huge 200-series rear tire for optimum traction. The brake package is the same as the superbike’s too. That means Brembo M50 calipers and 330mm rotors.

Ducati’s eight-level traction control is at the ready when you get greedy with the throttle at full lean, as I did numerous times while savoring the nirvana that is Ascari. The Monster turns surprisingly quickly considering its long wheelbase (lighter wheels and a higher center of gravity surely help) and it has great front-end feel that encourages you to trail brake all the way to the apex. Braking from the superbike-spec Brembo setup is gentler than expected but plenty powerful. The rear brake is particularly soft; I prefer it that way but others might not like how far the lever travels and how little braking it yields.

As you might expect, the premium suspension components ensure that the tires follow the road and chassis movements remain smooth. (We did add some compression damping to the fork later in the day to offer more support while braking.) The gearbox (and gear spacing) is great, clutch action is smooth, there’s just enough engine braking, and the ABS is acceptably lenient for track work. Overall I was impressed with how well the bike’s systems are calibrated and how they work together to make the R-bike easy and really fun to ride. For the average sport rider, the Monster 1200R is going to be a treat at the track.

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Ducati wanted to minimize the Monsters’s tail and give it the classic mono pisto look, and they nailed it. The R’s posterior is shorter front-to-back and visually much slimmer. The seat cowl comes stock and is removable, and some cowls removed themselves during the intro when their plastic mounts broke. The non-adjustable one-piece seat now rests 32.7 inches above the pavement, 0.8 inches higher than the S-model’s seat in the higher of its two positions.

All of the changes that make the 1200R what it is yield a positive outcome in terms of performance and fun. More cornering clearance is a big plus, the higher seat improves the riding position, the new footpeg layout allows greater range of movement, the mini fairing and reshaped tail look great, and who doesn’t like more power? None of the changes should impact the bike’s practicality, but we haven’t actually ridden it on the street yet. The only obvious downside is the price. The 1200R is $18,695 in red and $18,895 in black. That’s nearly $3,000 more than the 1200S, and that price slingshots this newest Monster past every other bike in the big-bore naked-bike class. That includes the current class leaders, the wickedly powerful $16,999 KTM Super Duke R and the ridiculously fast and ultra refined $14,950 BMW S1000R.

Can the Monster 1200R compete with the other brutes in the class? It’s not likely to perform as well as the category’s front runners in terms of outright performance (or price!), but this latest evolution of Ducati’s naked bike certainly keeps it in the race. And considering it’s not based on a superbike like many of its competitors, the new Monster 1200R is a pretty impressive track machine.

tech SPEC

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2016 Ducati Monster 1200 R

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Ethanol, is a grain alcohol that is derived from corn here in the US.

In the first part of Gasoline 101 (see Part One here), we embarked on a journey down the hydrocarbon highway, exploring the origin of gasoline , examining gas quality and additive packages, and talking about octane and detonation. Now we’ll circle back to a fuel additive that we breezed over last month but that warrants further scrutiny: ethanol.

Ethyl alcohol, or ethanol, is a grain alcohol that in the US is derived from corn. America is the world’s largest producer of ethanol (Brazil is the second), but despite our thirst for beer, most of that alcohol is going into our gas tanks, not down our gullets. Why is it in our gas? According to Congress and the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), corn juice is blended into our gasoline to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and to help cut tailpipe emissions. The politics, economics, and environmental impact of ethanol are all subject to debate, but we’ll steer clear of that controversy and instead stick to the facts and focus on how ethanol affects your motorcycle and thus you.

Ethanol’s role in gasoline is that of a biofuel filler, an octane booster (pure ethanol has an octane rating of 130), and as an oxygenate. Oxygenates are compounds that contain oxygen in their chemical structures and contribute it to the combustion process, in essence leaning out the mixture as it burns. Oxygenates help eliminate unburned hydrocarbons by, well, helping them burn. Along with that comes increased exhaust-gas temps and thus stress on the exhaust system. Engines burning blended fuel will also be slightly less efficient because alcohol is only about 66 percent as energy dense as gasoline.

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Always check the label! E15 fuel hasn’t been approved for use in motorcycles yet, so steer clear of any pump showing this sticker.

Nearly all of the gasoline sold in the US contains up to 10 percent ethanol by volume and is referred to as E10. E10 has been around since the mid-2000s and is approved by the EPA for use in all vehicles. For the most part E10 works fine as a fuel, but it’s known to cause problems for the fuel systems on older bikes and also complicates long-term storage. Ethanol is a corrosive liquid and can damage parts not meant to come in contact with it, causing hoses and gaskets to swell, deteriorate, and distort. You might recall the rash of warped plastic gas tanks on Ducatis and Aprilias in the mid-2000s—ethanol was to blame. For the most part manufacturers have adapted and now use ethanol-resistant fuel-system components, but older bikes (pre-2000) that were never designed to flow blended gas are susceptible to issues. If you ride an older bike, check out the “Learning To Cope With Ethanol” sidebar to see how you can combat alcohol-induced fuel-system failure.

Even if your bike is equipped to cope with ethanol, blended gasoline may still cause complications when the kickstand is down for long periods of time like it is during the winter. That’s because ethanol is hydrophilic, meaning it attracts and binds to water, including water vapor in the air.

“When the ethanol absorbs enough water,” says Helix Racing Products’ Benson Greer, “it falls out of suspension and sinks to the bottom of the tank. This is called ‘phase separation,’ and it can begin to happen in as little as 30 days.” And since ethanol is a primary octane ingredient and is now bound to water at the bottom of your tank, “the gas that’s left may have an octane rating that could be in the low 80s,” Greer says.

Preventing phase separation—as well as delaying oxidation, the chemical process responsible for making gas go stale—is one of the things modern fuel stabilizers like Helix’s 5-in-1 Ultimate Fuel Stabilizer are designed to do. If you plan on storing your bike for a month or more, make sure to mix in a quality fuel stabilizer and fill your tank completely to reduce the volume of air and thus water vapor present in the tank.

See Gasoline 101 Part One, Origins, Additives and Octane HERE

Increased engine heat, reduced mileage, fuel-system corrosion, and a shorter shelf life are the direct problems motorcyclists face with today’s ubiquitous E10, so it’s easy to understand why the introduction of E15, a 15-percent ethanol/85-percent gasoline blend, is cause for further concern. E15 is currently available at about 80 stations in 12 states, with efforts underway to make it available nationwide. There is also a lot of effort going toward halting E15’s spread, at least for the time being.

Leading the charge against E15 is the AMA (American Motorcyclist Association). Pete terHorst, a spokesperson for the AMA, says that “the AMA doesn’t oppose E10 or ethanol as a fuel additive in principle, but we believe the EPA has rushed E15 into the marketplace without studying its potential to damage engines. The EPA has also failed to adopt adequate measures to ensure that fuel purchasers do not inadvertently fuel with E15.”

No manufacturer has stated that its motorcycles can safely use E15, and most owner’s manuals state that doing so will void the warranty. In recognition of this fact, the EPA responded by publishing a list of vehicles—including motorcycles—not approved to use E15, even going so far as to say fueling a motorcycle with E15 is illegal.

The problem is, little is being done to educate consumers or inform them that they are at a pump that dispenses E15. E85, an 85-percent alcohol blend known as “flex fuel” that is available nationwide, is clearly marked with a separate, yellow handle (just like diesel pumps have a green handle). Pumps that dispense E15 on the other hand are only distinguished by a small decal on the pump facade that’s easily overlooked in the collage of notices, warnings, and labels found on most gas pumps. “The opportunity for inadvertent misfueling is high, given the confusing labeling,” says terHorst, which is why the AMA is pushing to halt the sale of E15 until further studies are conducted.

For more information on E15, visit americanmotorcyclist.com, and in the meantime, steer clear of pumps displaying the black-and-yellow E15 label.

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Are you concerned about the fuel that runs out of the hose before you start pumping?

HOW MUCH GETS LEFT IN THE PIPES?

We’ve received numerous letters about it in the past, and it’s a hot topic on car and motorcycle forums—how much regular (or E15, for that matter) gasoline are you putting in your tank if you select premium but the previous customer bought the cheap stuff? And is it enough to dilute your purchase?

The gasoline retailers we spoke with didn’t have an answer, so we turned to one of the nation’s largest gas-pump manufacturers, Bennett Pump Company, for more information.

The engineer we spoke with explained that pipes for all three grades of gasoline feed into a manifold at the top of the dispenser, right where the hose exits the unit. The typical hose length is 10 feet, though some models use a 12-foot or even a 15-foot tube. The industry standard for the inner diameter of that hose (whether it’s in a coaxial vapor-recovery setup or a plain pipe) is 5⁄8 of an inch. A little number crunching yields a volume of 304.8cc for a 10-foot hose, which works out to 0.16 gallon. That volume rises to 0.19 gallon for a 12-foot hose and to nearly a quarter of a gallon for a 15-footer.

Assuming your bike’s capacity is 4 gallons, the 15-foot hose’s 0.24-gallon volume is only 6 percent of the tank’s capacity. For the more common 10-foot hose it’s just 4 percent—in other words, negligible. And that’s assuming the hose is completely full from the manifold to the nozzle valve, which is may not be. Our advice? Forget about it.

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VP’s T4 fuel is 100-octane, unleaded, and ethanol free, but it’s not technically legal for road use.

LEARNING TO COPE WITH ETHANOL

If you ride an older (pre-2000) bike, the ethanol in today’s gasoline may well cause you trouble. You can cope by replacing or upgrading your fuel-system components with ethanol-resistant parts. Helix (helixracingproducts.com) and Motion Pro (motionpro.com) sell ethanol-resistant fuel hose, and more gaskets and seals are being offered in nitrile and Viton, both of which withstand ethanol just fine.

If you can’t find aftermarket chemical-resistant alternatives for your bike, your best bet is to replace your old parts with new OEM components. They might not be designed for E10 gas, but fresh parts have a lot more fight in them than old ones, and it’s not like the parts will disintegrate overnight.

If you want to avoid ethanol entirely, some places still sell E0 (pure gasoline), though such stations are few and far between. Another option is VP’s T4 fuel, sold in 5-gallon pails and 54-gallon drums through vpracingfuels.com. T4 is 100-octane, unleaded, and ethanol free, but it’s also more than $10 a gallon and not technically legal for road use.

This year’s MotoAmerica Superbike championship came down to the wire. Entering the last race weekend of the season at Thunderbolt Raceway in Millville, New Jersey, factory Yamaha teammates Josh Hayes and Cameron Beaubier were separated by just 18 points. Cameron came out on top, securing his right to run the #1 plate on his Monster Energy Graves Yamaha YZF-R1 next season. (Click here to see the MotoAmerica season finale race results.)

The day after the races though, the team had already applied #1 decals to the stunning black-and-yellow 60th anniversary livery on 22-year-old Cameron’s R1 superbike. I was fortunate enough to be there to witness it first hand, and shortly afterwards I had the rare opportunity to wrap my hands around the grips on the champ’s bike and rip it around the Thunderbolt circuit for a handful of very intense laps.

Weighing in at just 370.5 pounds (the class weight limit is 370.0 pounds), putting down somewhere around 200 horsepower, and carrying a six-figure price tag, this is one focused, uncompromising version of our 2015 Motorcycle of the Year.

What was it like to ride? Watch the video below to find out.

If you’re at all familiar with Ducati, you’re aware that from time to time the company releases special R bikes—machines with titanium engine internals and other performance parts, and often a bit more displacement than the stickers on the fairing suggest.

Ducati’s new Monster 1200 isn’t built to be a homologation special but it is equipped with some special parts that set it apart from the rest of the Monster family, components that are aimed at increasing the naked’s sporting potential. That includes a retuned engine making a claimed 160 horsepower, new lightweight forged wheels, revised ergonomics, and taller Öhlins suspension for greater cornering clearance.

Since the Monster 1200 R is tuned for aggressive riding, Ducati invited us to the exclusive Ascari circuit in southern Spain. Curious to know how this latest Monster did on the 3.5-mile, 28-turn circuit? Watch the video above to find out, and then read the First Ride to learn more about Ducati’s most powerful Monster to date.

CLICK HERE for First Ride: 2016 Ducati Monster 1200 R

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Alpinestars Yari Drystar Gloves

ALPINESTARS 
YARI DRYSTAR GLOVES
If winters are mild where you live, Alpinestars’ $110 Yari Drystar gloves might be the perfect fit. These understated mitts are great for commuting and urban riding where dexterity, comfort, and convenience are key. The goat-leather and Spandex chassis incorporates hard knuckle armor and touchscreen-compatible fingertips, plus light insulation to add warmth and Drystar membranes to ward off the wet. alpinestars.com

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Rain-Off Overgloves

RAIN-OFF OVERGLOVES
Rain-Off overgloves were born on New Zealand’s North Island, parts of which receive as much as 160 inches of rain a year! These overgloves pack down small and have welded seams to ensure complete waterproofness. As their maker says, “They simply can’t leak!” The Rain-Offs aren’t just for riding in the wet; slip them on in cold weather to help insulate your hands. Pick up a pair for $47. rain-off.com

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RS Taichi Heat Generator Gove Liners

RS TAICHI HEAT GENERATOR GLOVE LINERS
Glove liners are an easy way to improve the cold-weather capability of your existing gloves. Many liners are made from silk, but RS Taichi’s glove liners are made from a blend of polyester, polyurethane, and polyacrylate—that last ingredient absorbs and stores moisture to help keep your hands from getting clammy. These super-stretchy, one-size-fits-all gloves are only $15. RS Taichi also offers socks, leggings, and undershirts made of the same “heat generator” material.
rs-taichi.com

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Tour Master Winter Elite 2 Gloves

TOUR MASTER 
WINTER ELITE 2 GLOVES
The Winter Elite 2 gloves pack a ton of features into a $140 package. A water-resistant goatskin chassis with an integrated visor squeegee is wrapped around a Hipora waterproof membrane and 6.5-ounce insulation that incorporates an aluminized liner designed to reflect body heat back at your hands. The extra-long gauntlets have inner skirts with drawstring closures and also contain built-in “polar cover” overgloves for extra insulation. Nice. tourmaster.com

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Venture Heat Carbon Street Gloves

VENTURE HEAT CARBON STREET GLOVES
When it’s really cold out, it’s time to create some supplemental heat with a pair of Venture Heat’s heated gloves. The Carbon Street gloves incorporate all the best features of winter sport-touring gloves (leather chassis, waterproof membrane, insulation, long gauntlet, etc.) and have flexible, super-thin heating elements that extend from the back of the hands up to the tip of each finger. These $200 gloves have built-in temperature controllers and draw a total of 2 amps. ventureheat.com

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Stock handlebar setup (top) and Driven top triple clamp and Halo clip-ons (bottom). The Halo clip-ons now reside below the triple clamp, positioning the bars about an inch lower than stock and with a bit more downward angle. Yes, those are Andreani fork caps. More on those later.

WRIST:Ari HenningMSRP (2015): $5499
MILES: 2,100
MPG: 54
MODS: Driven Racing top triple clamp and clip-ons

There’s no doubt that the little RC390 is more a sportbike than anything else in its displacement category. Besides its high tail, fat inverted fork, and radial-mount front caliper, the RC390 has the most extreme ergonomics in the small-sportbike class.

The clip-ons, though, have an awkwardly flat angle (referring to their downward slant from horizontal) and limited sweep (referring to how much they angle back) that’s non-adjustable thanks to the fact that the bars bolt into recesses cast into the top triple clamp.

One could unbolt the stock bars and slide some aftermarket clip-ons onto the fork tubes below the stock triple, but then you’re left with the unsightly bar bosses staring you in the face. Driven Racing (drivenracing.com) recognized this dilemma and set about machining a top triple clamp ($220) to go with its existing 51mm Halo clip-ons ($199).

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The goods! Driven’s Halo clip-ons have reference marks laser engraved on them to assist with matching handlebar length and rotation. It’s a useful detail, as is having the torque specs for the pinch bolts engraved on the triple clamp.

The top triple is shaped from a solid chunk of aluminum, and it’s beautiful as well as functional. The edges are artfully beveled and the torque specs for the pinch bolts are laser engraved into the face of the part. Nice. The Halo clip-ons are similarly detailed with various reference marks and they have two-piece clamps for ease of installation.

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If you want to retain your stock ignition you’ll need to get this $80 accessory. It bolts to the bottom of the Driven top triple and positions your ignition in the original location.

Removing the stock top triple clamp is easy, but it’s a good idea to put a rag under the socket before you crank off the steering-stem nut, just to insure you don’t mar it. The stock ignition-switch holder is cast into the stock top triple clamp, so I picked up Driven’s bolt-on holder (an $80 option, since most folks that race the RC won’t retain the ignition switch) and transferred the switch over. Drilling the aluminum clip-on tubes to accept the stock switch clusters requires careful measurement. I measured twice but I still ended up drilling the holes too far outboard since I didn’t factor in the length of the stock bar ends. Woops!

The Halo clip-ons have quite a bit more downward angle than the stock parts, and I dialed in a bit more sweep. And because the clip-ons now reside below the top triple, the bar height is about an inch lower, which I appreciate. Now the bike really feels like a sportbike, with a crouched, forward-biased riding position that’s ideal for attaching corners. I can’t wait to try the new setup out at the track.

Here’s an added bonus: The Driven parts are quite a bit lighter than the stock components too. Our scale showed a weight reduction of 1.8 pounds—nearly a 40 percent weight savings. The stock steel bars and huge, heavy bar ends are responsible for most of that weight, so you’ll get the majority of weight-saving benefits with just the Halo clip-ons. But it’s hard to imagine any RC owner installing clip-ons and then not springing for the top triple too. It just looks so good!