Steve Johnson

Hello and welcome again to the Motos and Friends Podcast. This episode is brought to you by Leod Escapes. My name is Arthur Coldwells.

*  *  *  *  *

Have you ever wanted to ride a real MotoGP track? Well, here’s your chance! Leod Escapes does all sorts of amazing European tours, including the incredible Munich to Mugello tour at the end of June, or you can try the Core of Catalunya or the Portimão Andalusia trips, both in October. These are incredible touring experiences with the very best that Europe has to offer, as well as riding these amazing tracks on brand new BMW S1000RRs. So for the trip of a lifetime, visit LeodEscapes.com, now!

*  *  *  *  *

In our first segment, Nic de Sena tells us all about his recent trip to Spain to ride the new 2027 Suzuki GSX-R1000R. Suzuki did a slightly different spin on this particular launch where they split the journalists into teams of 3, and had a 6-hour endurance ‘race’ to see how well everyone fared. Nic gives us the lowdown on what it’s like to the new Gixxer and for such long track sessions!

Rider Market from just outside Orlando, Florida, is the winner of the recent Royal Enfield BTR Build-Off competition in the Road Race category. Brian Koster is the Parts Director at Rider Market and he tells us briefly about the machine and parts he selected that made this retro-looking Royal Enfield stand out and take the trophy.  

Our guest for this episode is Brian Bentley. A few years ago, just prior to Covid, Brian had a chance to buy a Ducati 916. He’s always been a major fan of the bike ever since it launched in the early nineties. He’d actually been looking for a 748 for a while, but when this great example came to his attention he couldn’t resist. The only snag was that it was completely disassembled. So, Brian did what any reasonable bike-fanatic would do: he loaded all the endless boxes of parts into the trunk of his SUV, headed home to Daytona Beach, and started the build. Brian recounts the story of this incredible machine and what eventually happened to it in the end.   

*  *  *  *  *

Here’s quick reminder to check out our monthly digital magazine. It’s filled with everything you want to read on motorcycling, including some things you’ve probably not seen elsewhere. It’s absolutely free and you will find it on the Apple App Store and of course on Google Play as well.

Don’t forget to leave us your comments on our social media—we’re on all the usual platforms at Ultimate Motorcycling. We love hearing your feedback… so good or bad, please let us know what you think. If there’s something you’d like us to cover, we’d love to hear those ideas too!

  @ultimatemotorcycling

 @UltimateMotoMag

 @UltimateMotorcycling

 producer@ultimatemotorcycling.com