I joined 30 motojournalists from around the globe at Magny-Cours, France, on the Monday following the final round of the 2010 World Superbike Championship with the intention of riding all of the factory Superbikes. Heavy rain throughout much of the day cast a dark cloud over the media event. The Provec Racing Team was the only squad willing to risk a bike in the slick conditions. A few of us were brave enough to toe the waters and got brief three-lap stints in the saddle of Provec’s Kawasaki Motocard.com ZX-6R World Supersport racer.

While it would have been better to have ridden the seven different brands of factory racers as planned, I was grateful to throw a leg over the Kawasaki and have a look around the spectacular circuit. It took serious restraint, however, to pull in as directed on my third lap. I was just getting familiar with the track’s layout and gaining trust in the Pirellis’ grip.  Sometimes, though, a taste is all you get. 

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What’s a host to do when nasty weather blows through and puts the day’s planned mountain road ride on hold? Well, the Continental tire folks had a perfect answer to getting a grip on said situation at the ContiRoad Attack 2 press intro this past week in Hannover, Germany.  Following lunch at a diner located in the middle of one of the largest multi-line motorcycle dealerships in all of Germany, our group headed over to Ralf Schumacher’s Kart & Bowl.

None among us elected to bowl. The indoor kart track was sweet, and the karts were quick enough to leave me with sore ribs after completing a pair of 10-minute sessions.  There was plenty of bump-and-grind going on out there between rival moto mags with fast time going to Sport Rider’s John Olsen.

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Every motorcyclist has likely experienced the frustration of being stranded at a traffic signal that hasn’t detected your bike’s presence. When this happens, your options are to wait at the intersection until a larger vehicle arrives to trip the signal, or take your chances in running through a red light. Gasp!

That second option can be costly on many levels, so I’ll recommend checking out this informative WikiHow article pertaining to our very plight; How to Trigger Green Traffic Lights. Now you’ll be armed with a few tricks to try the next time you find yourself stuck at a stubborn signal.

From the very first day we rode our 2010 Ducati Streetfighter testbike, we have been less than pleased with its power delivery at minimal throttle opening in the lower part of the rev range. The fueling issue we experienced is directly related to a lean fuel mix created by the bike’s EPA approved fuel map and a common complaint among Streetfighter owners. Finding an affordable aftermarket solution wasn’t as simple as one might think, but we have good news to share with the Streetfighter community following a hands-on evaluation of the Bazzaz Z-Fi fuel control unit that is now available for Ducati’s naked superbike.

Before returning our borrowed Streetfighter test mule to Ducati North America, I was tasked with putting the bike back to stock form. Although we hadn’t performed the Z-Fi install, a fist-full of zip-ties (I clipped 38 in all) securing the Bazzaz wiring harness provided a breadcrumb trail to follow while tracing the ivy vine of wiring routed throughout various parts of the bike. Even with the added complexity, effort and wire ties needed to tuck the Z-Fi wiring somewhat out-of-view on the naked Duc, we found the improved performance to be well worth the trouble.

It’s my turn this month to submit a “25 Years Ago” installment for Roundup in the print issue we are currently working on. It so happens that October, 1985, was a Ten Best Bikes issue. While the category names have evolved over the years, Best Cruiser has endured and was in place a quarter-century ago. Today we’ve revealed the Triumph Thunderbird 1600 as Best Cruiser of 2010. I don’t mean to intrude upon the T-bird’s perch, but can anyone guess what bike won took the honors in ‘85?