Innholdsfortegnelse for June 25, 2015 i Australian Motorcycle News

DESPITE THE KTM-BRANDED rider and lashings of orange paint, this spied prototype is actually an early mule for the forthcoming Husqvarna Vitpilen which was unveiled by the company as a concept bike last year. The Vitpilen and its sister bike, the scrambler-style Svartpilen (meaning white arrow and black arrow), are both already confirmed for production, with the concept versions heavily based on KTM’s Duke 390. However, these new spy pictures of the bikes testing in Spain reveal prototypes fitted with the smaller 125cc and/or 200cc single-cylinder engine, as well as the 373cc motor from the Duke 390. This proves Husqvarna is getting back into the road bike game and it’s going to have a whole range of KTM-based models on offer. Given the bikes are mechanically identical to the small…

CFMOTO HAS LONG been at the forefront of Chinese bike manufacturers wanting to compete against the established big-capacity brands, and these new leaked CAD/CAM images reveal it’s about to revamp its parallel twin 650NK. Looking remarkably like the recently released 150NK single, the new-look 650 appears to carry over the existing bike’s tubular steel frame and parallel twin engine, both of which were clearly originally inspired by the Kawasaki ER-6n, right down to sharing an identical 83mm bore and 60mm stroke as well as the same 11.3:1 compression ratio. Even the wheelbase and seat height of the original 650NK were both within 5mm of the ER-6n. Although it is mechanically similar to the outgoing bike, the new version appears to be getting a far sharper look and has a family…

FOLLOWING THE SUCCESS of last year’s event, the South Gippsland inline 4 Café at 96 Ridgeway St Mirboo North in Victoria will host its second annual Blessing of the Bikes on Saturday, 10 October starting at 9am. Last year’s gathering saw more than 2000 motorcycles blessed during a non-denominational service conducted by Pastor David Holt. This year, Pastor Holt will be joined by Reverend John McMahon. The family day will also include bike displays, live music and safety talks by the Bass Coast Highway Patrol. Event organisers are anticipating more than 5000 motorcycles will attend this year to be blessed, so they are offering a limited number of camping spots to those wanting to make a weekend of it. For more information head to the Inline 4 Café web page.…

THERE’S NO MISTAKING the Boulevard C50T with its classic cruiser styling, staggered chrome exhaust, two-tone paintwork and whitewall tyres. Throw a leg over and you’re instantly comforted by the idea of touring the open road. The plush studded step-up seat makes you feel like you’re sitting in your favourite chair, while the wide swept-back ’bar puts you in a position that only a cruiser can. But the Boulevard C50T isn’t just about comfort and looks. Its 45-degree 805cc V-twin powerplant is a very versatile engine, digitally tuned with a throttle-position sensor to produce plenty of lowdown torque, and the high fifth-gear ratio makes highway cruising a breeze; it’s ideal for touring and long days in the saddle. Too bad I spend more time on congested urban roads than I do…

No, it’s not Groundhog Day, but yes you have already seen this controversial machine in the pages of AMCN. The reason it’s back? We’re motivated by the polarised opinions of the many avid observers, who have either hailed the H2R as the superbike of the century, or purely as an exercise in cultivating a media-fed frenzy of motorcycle fantasy. Some say it’s a marketing gimmick, where rideability has no real relevance. We’re here to find out. Away from the sterilised environment of an official press launch, we took a genuine production-model H2R straight out of the crate and on to the sort of wide open race circuit it was born for. So, what purpose does the H2R have? Apart from quite obviously being a showcase of Kawaski’s engineering prowess and…

To keep its hitherto supreme V4 Tuono naked musclebike one step or more ahead of the competition from Austria, Germany and Italy, rather than nominally updating it with a few more stickers and a couple of revised engine maps, Aprilia has taken the most straight forward route to delivering extra power and torque, and simply added cubes. It’s taken the uprated 999.6cc 65º V4 motor found in the new RF/RR superbike duo, and maxed out its already radically over square 78x52.3mm dimensions with a 3mm overbore to 1078cc, thus increasing power to 129kW (173hp) at 11,000rpm, up from 126kW (169hp). But the biggest gain is in torque, with 121Nm now available at 9000rpm, compared to 115.5Nm on the previous one-litreversion. Even more to the point, there’s already 15kW more than…

WHEN THE TRIUMPH Tiger 1050 made its way to Gassit HQ some seven months ago we were chomping at the bits to take it through its paces and see if this is as Triumph say, an all-round do-it all motorbike, great for commuting, your favourite bit of twisty bitumen, and even the road less travelled. It’s a nicely packaged sportsbikemeets tourer. And we’ve made use of its luggage system by taking it camping, travelled a 1000km in a day to test its comfort, even a stint of interstate two-up to see if it’s pillion friendly. We’ve ironed out some kinks with its throttle response and had it tuned to its new Arrow pipe. All that’s left to do it take it on its final foray – a mid-week overnight 16…

BEING ONE OF the more stylish riders within AMCN team (evidenced by my choice of wearing an adventure helmet on a Suzuki Gladius), I’m always keeping an eye out for good looking gear to in order to keep up my appearances. So when a pair of the latest Falco Shiro Urban Shoes arrived, I knew I was onto a winner – in the style stakes at least. What I love is that they offer a lot of the protective qualities of a shorty riding boot, with but with all of the style and hipster look I’m, ahem, used to. The Shiros are made from from a full-grain leather, which has apparently been put through a hydrophobic treatment. In layman’s terms, they’re now water resistant. They also have a canvas section…

At what point does the 2015 season stop being about whether Marc Marquez can resume his domination, and come back to make it three titles in a row? It might have happened already, quite suddenly, on the third of 25 laps of the 4.727km Montmeló circuit outside Barcelona. Jorge Lorenzo’s Movistar Yamaha led away, as for the past three races. But this time Marquez was in hot pursuit, setting a fastest lap on the second. It looked like he was ready to attack at the end of the back straight: the notorious Turn 10, the most crashed-at corner on the calendar. But it was a mistake, or as the champion preferred to describe it, “a small problem”. Instead of diving inside, Marquez just clipped the back of the Yamaha and…

Johann Zarco started from pole, and finished first. But what happened in between was unusually intriguing for the one-make/hybrid class, with the podium decided only on the final two laps amid high drama. Until then, the race had been dominated by defending champion Tito Rabat (EG Marc VDS Kalex), under serious pressure from class rookie Alex Rins (Paginas Amarillas Kalex). Rabat had qualified third, with Jonas Folger (AGR Kalex) between them, but the German was punted wide into the first corner by Zarco, who had in turn been pushed out by a determined Sam Lowes (Speed Up). Lowes took the lead from Rabat on lap two, with Dominique Aegerter (Technomag Kalex) in close attendance. Rins was fourth, but vaulted up to second when Rabat regained the lead from the English…

IT USED TO be simple: the Catalan Grand Prix took place on Sunday, and the new parts came out on Monday. But with both Ducati and Suzuki trying to get their bikes fully up to speed, and Honda fighting to correct an over-ambitious start-of-the-year upgrade, many parts went straight onto the bikes on the Thursday afternoon before practice. Honda TOP PRIORITY IS to settle the behaviour of the wayward 2015 bikes. To match the new Ducati, Honda boosted the power of their engine for 2015, but that seems to have resulted in a very peaky delivery and a throttle that doesn’t always feel “connected”. This can be fixed if you change parts like cams and pistons, but Honda competes in the Factory category where engine designs were frozen after the…

AUSTRALIA WAS WELL represented on the podium at round four of the British Superbike Championship (BSB) at the Snetterton 300 circuit on 21 June. Reigning champion Shane Byrne (Kawasaki) took an emphatic double victory for the UK, but the best of the rest was an all-Aussie affair. Milwaukee Yamaha’s Josh Brookes managed to tally two send place finishes despite encountering troubles with the bike’s electronics in the second race. Taking third place on both occasions was Jason O’Halloran (Honda Racing), making his BSB podium debut. Both Brookes and O’Halloran are inside the top six, crucial to making the end-of-year BSB title shootout. Brookes’ Yamaha teammate Broc Parkes will be hopeful he has broken his poor run of early season luck with a welcome pair of 11th place finishes, but is…

A DECADE OF domination of the FIM Speedway World Cup by Poland and Denmark came to an end in this year’s final at Vojens, Denmark on 14 June – but it was Sweden and not Australia on top. Australia qualified for the final by winning their meeting at Kings Lynn on 8 June, but it took until the penultimate heat to wrap it up – Australia (47 points) beating Great Britain (43), USA (22) and Latvia (9). Nick Morris (12) justified his inclusion alongside regulars Jason Doyle (13), Chris Holder (11) and Troy Batchelor (11). The Race-Off meeting, also staged at Vojens, was won by Poland (48) from Great Britain (43), USA (22) and Russia (11). All of the Polish team scored double figures, while a 21-point maximum from Tai…

GIVEN THE DEVELOPMENT path of Yamaha’s enormously-successful MT-09 and its conversion into the sports-touring Tracer model, it’s no surprise the same treatment is being given to the smaller, parallel twin-cylinder MT-07. These new spy pictures reveal a prototype MT-07 Tracer, but it’s not known if it will carry over the bigger bike’s name or get a name of its own. Like the MT-09 Tracer, for the MT-07 version Yamaha has taken the base naked model and added a new nose fairing, side panels, seat and a high, touring windscreen to add a hint of adventure bike about its stance. It will not only rival bikes like Kawasaki’s Versys but also take a bite from the market of Honda’s CB500X and NC750X models. The engine, frame, fork and wheels all appear…

The year was... 001992 Romper Stomper is released, Paul Keating is PM, Lang Hancock dies and his widow Rose Porteous is fined for forging a prescription. Dr Victor Chang’s murderers are tried, convicted and sent down for 20 years. One- and two-cent coins are taken out of circulation. How much? Reduced from $269.95, these traditional Brando-style rebel jackets were from RJays Leathers. Era tech Remember when Nokia ruled the mobile phone world? Well one of the bricks for that empire was laid down in 1992 when the Finnish company released the 1011, the first mass-produced GSM phone. Measuring 195 x 60 x 45mm, the Candy Bar, as it was dubbed, could hold up to 99 numbers, featured a pull-out antenna and a two-line screen. That’s right, it didn’t even come…

NOT THAT IT was uncharted territory, but it was a bloody long way between Brisbane and Ballaugh. It still is. Nonetheless Kevin Murphy believed his BSA Golden Flash was made for the job, though BSA themselves were less than enthusiastic. “While we do not desire to discourage you” they wrote. “We would point out your proposed trip to England on your A10 Golden Flash BSA Motor Cycle would be somewhat of a formidable nature.” Intent on attending the Isle of Man TT, Murphy was by then already halfway between Brisbane and Sydney but was stopped in his tracks by the need to put up 250 quid for a carnet. Mum came to the rescue with a money order, and aptly it was April Fool’s Day 1953 when Murphy sailed from…

I’VE BEEN LUCKY enough to ride every factory Ducati V-twin racer each year for the past three decades, and none of them was remotely as fierce accelerating and violent in its response as this one. Crack the throttle a tiny bit lining up the exit of a slow turn, and you’re practically in the next time zone once you’ve caught up with how fast the F15 accelerates; thanks to the lightened crank and all-new Akrapovic exhaust, the thrust is extreme. Wind on the gas and hold on tight as the rear Pirelli digs in and the Ducati catapults forward, though without the front wheel reaching for the sky. It hovers just above the tarmac in the lower gears but it never gets out of hand, and the anti-wheelie control is…

Boing! Increasingly wider gaps between the coils identifys this as a progressive spring, with a softer sring rate at the start of travel, then progressively firmer. Comfy, but not so good for track use Sponged The RC390’s track day at Phillip Island a few months back ended with a severly spongy brake lever at the end of the day. Although not a track where there is constant heavy braking, the combination of heavy braking followed by high speeds creates extreme heat fluctuations. The disc can get quite cold due to the high wind flow around it between each arrival at Honda hairpin, where temperatures instantly skyrocket. This can play havoc with thin solidly mounted discs like the KTM’s. The KTM RC390 race series bikes are fitted with a race quality…

It was a lap-scorer’s nightmare, a tactician’s playground, and an astonishingly mature fourth win of the year for Leopard Honda rider Danny Kent, who was able to parlay his remarkable speed into a win that was as decisive as it was narrow: 0.035 of a second over pole man Enea Bastianini (Gresini Honda). It was a strategic triumph. Kent had started the first lap at the back of a sextet, drafting past into second at the first corner, taking the lead three corners later, and holding it all the way around the rest of a lap that must have seemed thousands of miles long. It was almost a Honda lockout for the first six, all across the line within less than a second. Efren Vazquez (Leopard Honda) was third, Niccolò…

WITH THE MOTOGP world championship coming down to a Yamaha showdown between Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, there are increasing concerns that Marc Marquez could influence the title outcome – for all the wrong reasons. With his dreams of a third consecutive title shattered after just seven races, Honda golden boy Marquez is refusing to moderate his edgy, all-or-nothing style. Not even the nervous front-end manners of the latest RC213V has shaken Marquez’s belief in his dynamic but risky late-braking strategy. Marquez crashed out of last week’s Catalunya GP after losing control on the brakes in an overtaking lunge at Lorenzo that came within millimetres of putting both riders in the gravel. Marquez’s dramatic move on lap three of 25 saw him score zero points for the third time in…

THE 2015 WATSON Demolition and Earthworks Australian Supermoto Championships staged along the Foreshore of Newcastle Harbour on the weekend of 13 and 14 June was more than a motorcycle race meeting – it proved to be a memorable ‘event’ in what was surely the most picturesque racing venue in the country. An estimated 20,000 people witnessed the exciting racing and took in other top level entertainment like Yamaha stunt rider Dave McKenna and the spectacular air display by Red Bull ace Matt Hall in the skies overhead. The course featured spectacular backdrops, with the road section within metres of the busy working harbor and the challenging motocross styled dirt section constructed in an amphitheatre underneath the historic Fort Scratchley, looking towards some of the city’s iconic landmarks. As well as…

AIDEN WAGNER HAS become the latest in a long line of Australian road racing talent to win the RK Chains Samurai Award, in recognition of his stunning season in 2014 and of his achievements since. The inaugural prize was won by Grant Hodgson in 1987, and ever since has been awarded annually to an individual voted by a judging panel to be the most promising young Australian road racer. The award now boasts a roll call which is a who’s who of Aussie racing stars over the last three decades. Wagner has just debuted for the Pedercini Kawasaki team in the FIM Superstock 1000 World Cup race at Misano, and intent on forging a career overseas despite some serious setbacks. Although he has quickly found out what a difficult sport…

MOTOREX KTM OFF-ROAD Team’s Toby Price has taken the E3 class and overall victory in round 7 and 8 of the 2015 Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship at Aratula, Queensland on 20-21 June. Price won despite an ankle injury sustained in his Finke Desert Race victory two weeks earlier, and was pushed hard throughout by E2 class winner and overall runner up on both days CDR Yamaha’s Chris Hollis. Active8 Yamaha squad team mates Josh Green and Beau Ralston took the final overall podium spot on Saturday and Sunday respectively, with Green also taking the E1 class victory on both days. Yet more silverware went the way of Yamaha Racing’s Tayla Jones, with another win in the AORC Women’s class to go with her Finke Desert race 250cc four-stroke second place…

You come from a fine motorcycle pedigree. My father Max started a motorcycle workshop in Hobart in the early 50s. He also raced, and when Geoff Duke came out to race at Longford in 1955, my dad had a few scraps with him. Geoff offered to help him in Europe if he could make his way over, so Dad sold his 350 and 500 to a bloke who never came good with the money. He was so devastated that he gave road racing away. I got my first bike when I was six, an 80cc Suzuki Bear Cat farm bike, and started riding trials. After the 80, I got a Suzuki TC90, then my first real trials bike, a Montesa Cota 123, and won an Aussie Junior Trials title on…

BMW HAS TAKEN its R nineT model to the beach and given it a Surfer Sam makeover. While the Concept Path 22 is said to be a concept, it’s really little more than a preview of the soon-to-be-announced production R nineT Scrambler. Interestingly, the USD fork on the R nineT has been replaced with a standard fork on the Concept Path 22 and the Monobloc Brembo brakes have been replaced by units from a lower shelf. These moves by BMW indicate the R nineT Scrambler may retail at a lower price than the existing model when it’s released. It is believed designer Roland Sands has been working with BMW on the new R nineT Scrambler and the RSD logo is clearly visible on the boxer twin engine of the Concept…

PGM 2.0L V8 When you're a talented engineer working for MotoGP and World Superbike teams, what do you do with your down-time? If you’re Victorian Paul Maloney, you whittle away the hours designing your own dream bike – a V8-powered motorcycle. Like Drysdale, Maloney’s early designs featured a smaller engine, in Paul’s case it was two ZX-7RR engines to make a 1500cc power unit. When the 2004 YZF-R1 was released, the opportunity to build a 2000cc V8 engine was just too much to resist. What’s it got The 90-degree V8 engine is made up of two YZF-R1 cylinder blocks for a capacity of 1996cc. The 2004 YZF-R1 cylinder head design features a DOHC and five valves per cylinder. Fueling is handled by a Motec M130 ECU and 8 x 45mm…

Letter of the issue Supersized Adventures bikes? I’ve had an affinity with dirtbikes going way back to the pre-history of my riding days. Fast forward many years and I’m older and wiser – though some may debate the wiser bit. Being short of stature and light of weight (170cm, 64kg) means some modern adventure bikes and trail bikes are, literally, well out of my reach. Current manufacturers seem intent on selling the dream of adventure on large heavyweights with all the trimmings. I’m amused by adverts for big-bore adventure bikes with the rider shown up on the pegs sliding speedway style or pulling a huge mono. If one was to look at what bike actually works well on rough dirt tracks, it would more likely be a small to medium-sized…

THE ONCE-UBIQUITOUS Yamaha SR400 has become a collector’s item among the café racer set. The simple little single-cylinder motorcycle makes a perfect blank canvas for a cool custom project due to its simple and timeless design. Jason Gasoline has built a number of SR400 based projects, naming all of them to reflect their personality. Tomahawk I and Tomahawk II are just two of his well-known SR400-based projects, but his latest custom creation has a darker personality. It’s been christened La Sombra, a Spanish word meaning The Shadow. Its centrepiece is the shiny black pearl finish on the petrol tank, tail and front guard. “I think every bike needs a character, there’s no point building something unless it has a character, right from the beginning,” Jason says. “We give each of…

AJAP V-twin took the world record for the first time in 1924, at 118.98mph (188.8km/h), and took it back for the seventh time in 1937, at 169.98mph (271.968km/h). As war loomed, a bunch of plucky JAP enthusiasts tinkering in their sheds took on the combined might of BMW and Gilera, whose fascist backers were hell-bent on creating illusions of national superiority. In 1937 Gilera then BMW pushed the record to 170mph (272km/h). But it was far from over… In 1923 genius development engineer Claude Temple rode a British Anzani to a new record of 108mph (172.8km/h) at Brooklands, but soon bikes were getting too fast for the confines of a suburban speed bowl. So over the next 15 years speed freaks congregated on smooth and straight roads across Europe: most…

Upper Hunter Valley , NSW ESSENTIALS Fuel is available at Maitland and Singleton. The Paterson servo has PULP, and is open on weekends. There’s an almost unlimited range of food and drink options in the region and you don’t have to look far to find somewhere good to stop for a feed. Paterson has plenty with the Paterson Hotel, the Courthouse Hotel, and the Country Café on the main street through town. Fix It Singleton Motorcycles on John Street are a helpful crew when you have a problem. (02) 6572 3620. If you are stuck with mechanical issues in the Paterson area, try to find Mark who owns the local servo and is a keen rider himself. Fuel Up Coles Express 233 High St, Maitland (02) 4933 5395 Paterson Servo…

I RECENTLY TRAVELLED to Europe to attend the launch of TomTom’s latest GPS unit. It’s one the Amsterdam-based company is particular proud of because it’s aimed fairly and squarely at motorcyclists and, if it does what it says it does, it ought to be a handy bit of kit for adventurous riders. I was given the opportunity to test a unit through Spain, however it was a follow-the-leader type ride and, well, that’s not a very good test for a GPS. The new TomTom RIDER’s (I’m not yelling, that’s how it’s spelled) features are vast. It says if you choose your start and finish point, you can then choose between three different levels of twisty roads and three different levels of elevation and then, depending on your choices, it will…

On a day when the name on the lips of almost all the claimed 32,192 raceday fans (62,540 weekend fans) was Max Biaggi, the green giants from the Kawasaki Racing Team were the ones with the biggest voices all round after the two 21-lap races at Misano. It was a perfect day for racing, with the frisson created by Biaggi’s presence and strong practice showings palpable to all. But it was the regular duo of Tom Sykes (race one) and Jonathan Rea (race two) who did all the winning. Their tag-team with the top trophies showed that Misano was a day of two very distinct races, with fortunes waxing and waning as we went from a morning race on a track measuring 32°C to a lunchtime race with the mercury…

Any rider who sets a new lap record (a 1min 38.239s, on lap six) of a 19-lap WSS race is not cruising his way to a victory. Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) was clearly not easing up at Misano, and he had no opportunity to, as second-place rider PJ Jacobsen (Core Motorsport Thailand Honda) was only 1.525sec down at the flag. But compared to many past WSS races, Cluzel had this one under control. “We had some luck today so we have to take that and continue in this way,” he said. “We have to make no mistakes and we can come back. I am happy with that race and it was not easy but I won so I am happy. After Thailand and Aragon I forgot my chance…

THE ASC RETURNS to Sydney Motorsport Park (SMSP) on 26-28 June for round three of Australia’s most competitive domestic road-racing series. Six weeks on from round two at Mallala, Team Yamaha will have had time to develop their new R1 superbikes even further, and will attempt to put an end to Honda’s early-season advantage. The signs that the Blue army was on the rise were already showing at Mallala, with the number one plate of Wayne Maxwell taking the round win from Team Honda’s Jamie Stauffer and Troy Herfoss. With round-one revelation Aiden Wagner now overseas – despite scoring an impressive superbike debut win while deputising for an injured Jamie Stauffer – Troy Herfoss holds a slender two-point championship lead from Maxwell. He’s followed by Kawasaki’s Sean Condon and ASBK…

DEFENDING E3 WORLD Enduro Champion Matthew Phillips (KTM) celebrated his birthday in great style by snatching the round win in Italy last weekend to move to within 16 points of Frenchman Mathias Bellino (Husqvarna) at the head of the championship table. The Tasmanian had to play catch up early on, but turned deteriorating track conditions in his favour, overhauling Bellino after the second test stage and steadily increasing his gap to finish 34 seconds ahead of his rival. Following his inspired performance Phillips said, "Winning races on your birthday is a pretty good way to top off a great weekend. I just concentrated on my times, got my nose in front and managed to pull away for the win.” The penultimate round of the Maxxis FIM World Enduro Championship is…

THE MAGIC HAS gone, and Marc Marquez has won just one of the seven races in 2015, a stark contrast to his 13 wins of 2014. With unshakeable confidence, Marquez did amazing things with the RC213V’s braking stability on lean angle in 2014. In a bid to boost his primary strength – stable and precise braking – it seems Honda has a too-rigid front end in the 2015 chassis. The imbalance has impacted rear grip and Marc is contemplating a return to his less-stiff 2014 chassis for the Dutch TT. Honda’s 2011 world champ Casey Stoner, who tested Marquez’s 2015 RC213V at Sepang in February, reckons chassis balance is key. AMCN talked to Stoner and HRC boss Shuhei Nakamoto about the Marquez situation. What is Marquez’s great strength as a…