Motor Boat & Yachting — November 2017

Sven Cycles portable bikes

JL Audio M12IB6

A seriously stylish pack-down bike for your boat

Plug in and rock your motor boat

The mere mention of Reynolds tubing

immediately teleports me back 35

years to a time when one’s position

in the social strata of Torquay Boys

Grammar School was determined

almost exclusively by how many gears

your racing bike had. At a lowly six on

my Puch Pegasus, it was clear even

then that I wasn’t destined for life’s

executive lounge. Then again, the

presence of a discreet ‘Reynolds

tubing’ sticker on the front forks of

your metal steed was the passport

to the very upper echelons of bike-

shed bragging rights.

Today (perhaps scarred by the

lack of a front derailleur), I have zero

interest in cycling, yet I find myself

Fusion isn’t the only company

bringing premium hifi into our

aquatic world. JL Audio has been

making huge strides with a range of

dedicated marine products designed

to rock your boat in a good way.

The latest from this American

manufacturer is a heavyweight

addition to M-Series, its top-end

speaker line – a 12in subwoofer.

Often maligned by those that equate

subwoofers to teenagers in cars with

broken suspension doing their level

best to sonically turn their insides to

mush, the reality is that a subwoofer

is a vital element of a serious hifi

setup, and arguably even more so in

a motor boat, which often produces

a great deal of low-frequency noise.

Configured properly, you shouldn’t

really be aware of its presence until

you turn it off and experience a gaping

hole in the soundscape that you

previously didn’t even realise was

there. Weighing in at almost 11kg, the

new unit boasts a 4in voice coil and a

rugged suspension system designed

to deliver ‘optimum linear excursion’.

or collapse). The weight varies

depending on model, from 7.7kg

through to 11.3kg.

The least expensive is £2,500 and

then you’ll need to add £600 for the

modifications and another £200 for

the backpack or £400 for the hard

case. But rest assured, you’ll be

unpacking the coolest bike in the

marina. And if anyone doubts that,

just discreetly point out that Reynolds

tubing sticker.

Contact http://www.svencycles.com

The result is double the displacement

of JL Audio’s next biggest sub, the

10in N10IB5, creating a significant

6db more bass output. From £799.99.

Contact http://www.jlaudio.co.uk

strangely drawn to Sven Cycles.

Handmade in Dorset, each one is

constructed from Reynolds tubing

and bears that hallowed sticker. Even

the names of the different semi-

custom models (from fast road

through to mountain bikes) are

brilliant – the Wayfarer, the Roadster,

the Pathfinder. Built to order, all are

beautifully retro styled yet feature

technology like powerful disc brakes.

Think of them as two-wheeled self-

propelled Eagle Speedsters

(the modern incarnation of the

E-Type Jag) and you won’t be far off.

All of which probably leaves you

wondering quite how I’m going to land

this particular flight of nostalgia on to

the gently heaving deck of HMS MBY.

Sven now offers the facility to modify

any bike from its semi-custom

collection so that it can be quickly and

easily disassembled, fitting into either

a rucksack or hard case, the size of

which is dictated by the wheels (the

only part that can’t be made to fold

Mid-range

Garmin

Garmin launch a new

fi xed-mount VHF radio

With a list price of £459.99, the

VHFm 210i fills the price and features

gap between the entry-level 110i and

the flagship 210i AIS. The new radio

is outwardly identical to the 210i AIS.

It has the same slightly angular look,

the same big display and soft-key

operation, with a twiddle-knob for

channel selection and another

controlling the volume and squelch.

Like the more expensive version, it

has a 25W transmitter, integral DSC

Class D controller, NMEA 2000 and

NMEA 0183 interfaces, plus the

option of adding a command mic

• a rather pricey £279.99 extra –
  for dual-station installation.
  Supplementary functions include
  user-controlled ATIS, a variety of
  scanning and multi-watch options,
  and a 20W foghorn/loudhailer.
  The only thing missing is the AIS
  function. Contact http://www.garmin.com

86

NEWTECH BOAT MASTER

JL Audio’s M-Series are designed

to look as good as they sound

It’s all about the

bass thanks to this

new 12in subwoofer

A full size bike that packs down

into a portable hard case

Retro looks

meet modern

technology