06 Postbag
Wow, these four weeks are flying by now that summer’s here and we’re all out and about riding through this great country of ours, smiling away. And we’ve had a postbag full of positives this month without one moan among them. That’s not strictly true...

10 The undernoticed
We say undernoticed (which isn’t a real word, we’ve made it up) because it’s the best way to describe two terrific middleweight motorcycles that a lot of others might not have on their ‘great bikes’ tick list. We’ve gone and got out on the BMW F800R and the Suzuki V-Strom 650 – and yes, we really liked them and we’re sure you will too. Here’s why.

16 News
Lords, ladies and gentlemen. It is our intent here today in the pages of this very magazine to outline the case for the Norton defence. In which statement we shall hear from those concerned exactly why their TT return isn’t, in essence, a workshop special made by just bolting bits from other factories together.

22 Subscribe
Not only do you get money off the usual price, but by subscribing you also get MSL delivered to your door before it gets to the shops. So that’s a win/win all around. Makes it an easy choice, doesn’t it?

26 The overlooked
When was the last time anyone took a look at a Yamaha Ténéré? We bet it’s quite some time, so we’ve got up close and personal at the adven-chewer-cum-roadster to see if it’s still a viable option given the recent big releases in the sector.

36 One to One: Mr Isle of Man TT
Mr Trevor Hussey is the top man for sport on the Isle of Man. He’s got his finger on the big buttons and in all the pies. Mixing metaphors aside, MSL sat the man down for an exclusive chat on the eve of the world’s greatest motorcycle road races.

40 The TT perspective
We introduced you to Conor Cummins in the last issue of MSL, now here’s a look at this year’s TT event through his eyes. Why Conor? Well he’s Manx, which means a lot, and he’s literally come back from the brink of death to be a serious TT racer once again. His views on The Island are therefore very worthy. Very.

46 The big one: Suzuki’s GSX-R1000
Yes, yes, yes it’s fast. Yes, yes, yes we could write the top 25 reasons why this bike is impressive. Yes, yes, yes we could stick it on the cover with a photoshopped picture and claims about it warping universes... but you know what? We’re not doing any of that. We’re going to do what no one else does – we’re going to actually ride this thing every day and ask the question you really want answered: should you ever go back to superbike riding? Are they actually relevant any more?

60 Modern retro: Triumph’s Daytona 955i
Big, comfortable, decent engine that’ll bumble along all day long, good brakes, touring and sporty. Why on earth wouldn’t you want to take a closer look at this modern retro wunder-motorcycle?

64 Claude Fior. The clever man.
Funky front ends were what Fior is probably most remembered for in the modern era, but there’s a lot more to his legend than that. Fior was a man who looked at motorcycles and more often than not asked: why are we doing it like that?

73 MSL Touring
You’re getting the idea of this section by now. We’ve got MSL readers’ touring tips and info, an alternative touring motorcycle and your touring stories from rides in the UK, nearby foreign lands and much further afield jaunts.

90 Sam Manicom
MSL long-timer Manicom is back with his own unique view on how to get the most from any touring trip you’ve got coming up – and how to make sure you don’t get worked over by the less desirable types when in some of the more remote places on planet earth.

98 Long Term life
Anybody fancy a set of luggage for just 50p? It’s all brand new and is bolted to our V-Strom – and all you’ve got to do to get it off the bike is a bit of loose change in your pocket. Riiiight...

110 Reflections: Kawasaki’s Z1300.
The big kahuna. The legend that was more of a handful than a herd of cats. The bike that also gave Mad Max its post-apocalyptic look for bad-ass bikers on a rampage.