Australian Motorcycle News Vol 65 Issue 22

Running into Brayden was a reminder of the commitment and sacrifice many families make to allow one member to chase his or her dreams BECAUSE OF THE stupidly long hours I work, I often find myself on the road between Melbourne and Sydney at some ungodly time hoping to complete the 1000km journey prior to sunrise so I can get a couple of hours sleep before getting back into it. Pulling in to one of my self-imposed mandatory stops along the way I blearily staggered inside the 24-hour establishment. The place was deserted except for a solitary figure sitting among a group of chairs on tables. Initially my tired brain struggled to put a name to the familiar face, then I realised it was young Superbike racer Brayden Elliott. As…

With a completely new generation of water-cooled Bonnevilles now on sale it’s only a matter of time before the rest of Triumph’s Bonnie-based models also get replaced – and here’s a photograph of the next-generation Scrambler on test. While the firm is already offering a scrambler-style ‘inspiration kit’ of bolt-on parts for its new water-cooled, Bonnie-derived Street Twin, that kit is little more than a replacement seat and a non-road-legal Vance and Hines exhaust. The new real Scrambler will be the offspring of the prototype in these pictures. This prototype is clearly based on the Street Twin, which means it has the smaller, 900cc version of the new water-cooled engine rather than the Thruxton or Bonneville T120’s 1200cc unit. That makes sense, since it’s aimed squarely of rivalling Ducati’s 803cc…

THE ONSLAUGHT OF new Triumph models is continuing with yet another version of the new water-cooled Bonneville. The next bike set for launch is this Street Cup. As the name suggests, it’s derived from the 900cc Street Twin but gains a sporting twist. In fact, Triumph hasn’t had to develop many new parts to create the bike. The seat and headlight come from the new Thruxton, as do the clip-on bars, giving a café racer style. Unlike the retro, wire-wheeled Thruxton, the Street Cup keeps the alloy wheels from the Street Twin and gains a new exhaust system with black end cans. The front brake is new, with a floating disc instead of the fixed version on the Street Twin. The Street Cup name was leaked along with a handful…

THIS IS THE first image of Triumph’s next-generation Street Triple which is tipped to get a 90cc capacity boost for it to become the Street Triple 765. The extra cubes will help it gain performance despite being redesigned to meet tougher emissions laws. Triumph plans to offer four versions; a base model with 82kW, Kayaba suspension and axial Nissin brakes which will be joined by an 85.7kW R version – the bike seen here – using radial Nissins and Showa suspension. A touring ‘RT’ model with an optional half fairing and more gadgets will join the range using R-spec suspension and an even more powerful 93.2kW engine. The same high-end motor will also power a new RS version that gains Öhlins suspension and Brembo Monobloc radial calipers. Although we only…

LAST YEAR IN Milan, Benelli surprised us with its pretty Leoncino scrambler and 500cc adventure bike – but it looks like the Chinese-owned firm has more tricks up its sleeve. These are the first, leaked pictures of a forthcoming new model, codenamed BJ750GS. Given that the TRK 502 was developed under the BJ500GS code, it’s pretty clear that the ‘750’ bit refers to its capacity. That’s actually a surprise, since the engine is visually identical to the old three-cylinder unit featured in the Tornado, TNT and Tre-K, and that in previous incarnations has been offered in 898cc and 1131cc forms. So 750cc suggests it’s been either de-stroked or sleeved down significantly. It also means that the same basic bike you see here could just as easily be offered with either…

SUZUKI AUSTRALIA HAS raided its genuine accessories catalogue to create an Australian-specific Grand Tourer edition of its 1000cc adventure bike dubbed the V-Strom 1000GT. The GT variant adds $4500 to the standard bike’s $15,490 (plus on-roads) price tag but comes equipped with a swag of made-to-fit touring equipment and accessories. Similar to what the Australian subsidiary did with its adventure-spec V-Strom 650XT, the 1037cc machine has been equipped with a 35-litre topbox matched to a pair of hard panniers, it gets a centrestand as standard, a lower engine cowling, crash bars, a large adjustable touring screen, plastic hand guards, a tank protector, and a dedicated set of Ground Tourer decals. “The GT-Grand Tourer model is simply the complete package, ready to ride away from the dealership with nothing more to…