Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol 65 Issue 24 i Australian Motorcycle News

Every rider who lines up to tackle the 60km Snaefell Mountain Course knows the dangers WHY DO THEY KEEP running the races? That’s the question I field most from my non-motorcycle friends every time a life is lost at the Isle of Man TT. The tragic accident which claimed Australian Dwight Beare during the Sidecar TT on Sunday morning was especially hard to accept because it involved a young man many of us in the industry knew or knew of. The AMCN photograph folders contain many images of Dwight, resplendent with his bushy beard and a grin any Cheshire cat would be proud of. The photos leave you with no doubt he loved racing and he especially loved the Isle of Man TT. Every rider who lines up to tackle…

PROBABLY NOT. But more accurately, maybe. You see, the problems experienced by the RC45 when it came to winning superbike titles came down to one thing: Ducati. The rules that allowed 1000cc twins to battle against 750cc fours seemed to favour the Italians, and Honda eventually followed suit with the VTR1000SP1 and SP2. Under Honda’s internal naming convention, the VTR couldn’t be called RC since its capacity was over 899cc, and road-going bikes in that class were given SC codes rather than the ‘RC’ numbers that appear on 750-class models. (Meanwhile NC related to 400cc bikes, PC to 500s and 600s and MC to 250s.) So the VTR1000SP’s internal name was SC45, with 45 simply being a sequential number in the sequence; it’s purely chance that it matched the number…

“On the second lap of the race, I’ve hit a bump bad and my foot twisted the wrong way breaking my fibula in half.” Yamaha rider Tayla Jones laments talking about her accident in the WXC class in America’s Grand National Cross Country. “I managed to push through the pain and finished the race and I am happy with what I managed. It’s only a minor setback.” Tayla Jones again, explaining how she still came second. “Tell Yamaha I’ll still be right to ride that roadbike for them.” Yep, Tayla Jones again. This time speaking on her way to the medical centre. She’s riding in the next round of the R3 Cup. Tayla, you’ve got the heart of a lion!…

SINCE BEING REVIVED by Claudio Castiglioni in the 90s, MV has been owned by a couple of sugar-daddy firms. First came Malaysian car company Proton, which forked out €70 million for MV in 2004. A year later it sold its holding for one euro to investment firm GEVI SpA. Come 2008 Harley-Davidson stepped in to buy the firm for US$109 million, just in time for the worldwide financial crisis to bite. After little over a year, and after investing heavily in new models, Harley returned MV ownership to Castiglioni for a token sum. Most recently Mercedes AMG invested, taking a 25 per cent stake in MV in 2014 as a response to Audi buying Ducati. Again, it’s not been a happy pairing, with Mercedes’ latest annual report disclosing its equity…

What: The Mobile Drop-off When: Saturday, 25 June. 10am - 12 noon Where: Robertson Pie Shop The Mission Australia and AMCN teams will collect jackets from local motorcycle clubs and riders. Last year a number of riders dropped in on classic motorcycles, more of that please! What: The Sydney Warmth Ride When: Monday, 27 June. From 9am Where: Victory & Indian Motorcycles, 554 Parramatta Rd, Ashfield Group ride leaves at 10am to ride into the CBD where Missionbeat will distribute jackets to those in need. What: The Melbourne Warmth Ride When: Monday, 27 June. From 9am Where: Victory & Indian Motorcycles, 544 Elizabeth St, Melbourne. Group ride leaves at 10am to the Synergy Repairs workshop in North Melbourne, where riders will see some of the work Mission Australia does to…

The year was... 001995 OUR POPULATION WAS around 18,000,000 and depending on who you talked to, we were either the richest country in the world per capita (with a net worth of $1.9 million!) or on the verge of an economic meltdown brought on by the enormous current account deficit. Paul Keating was PM, but the man who would replace him – John Howard – became the opposition leader. There was plenty of talk of a republic, which heightened when the UK failed to support Australian in its dispute with France over nuclear testing at Mururoa atoll. Mel Gibson scored another massive hit at the box office with Braveheart, while Kevin Costner’s Waterworld flopped massively. And Gregg Hansford died in an accident during a Supertouring race at Phillip Island, just…

CASA LAMBRETTA IS a tribute to the dedication of one man, Vittorio Tessera, and his love of all things scooter – particularly the products of the Innocenti company. Vittorio fell in love with Lambrettas at 15, opened the first scooter restoration business in Italy four years later, and started a classic scooter club two years later still. His collection is housed in Rodano outside Milan. Apart from an example of almost every Lambretta model made, the collection includes scooters from every imaginable nation. Even the great rival, Vespa, has its own display. In addition to over 160 scooters, Vittorio has gathered a mountain of Innocenti documentation including films, negatives, engineering drawings and brochures, mostly sourced from the Innocenti family itself. THE 1954 JUNO K was Honda’s first scooter and was…

GIANCARLO MORBIDELLI’S PRIVATE collection is in Pesaro on Italy’s Adriatic coast, in a large, modern museum. Two bikes flank the stairs to the viewing area. One is the first motorcycle Morbidelli built, a 50cc two-stroke GP bike from 1967. The other is the last complete bike he built, the 1997 850cc V8 sports tourer. In those 30 years he made a fortune building wood working machines, ran a GP team that won four world titles with bikes he designed, set up a factory (MBA) that built privateer GP bikes in quantity (winning two world crowns) – and he collected motorcycles. The museum’s 1940s and 50s hall houses fabulous machines like this 1952 MV Agusta 125 Bialbero Competizione, similar to the 0ne Cecil Standford used to win MV’s first world title.…

What’s the idea behind Trooper Lu’s open day? My vision was to create a place where all riders were welcome and to provide a level of expertise and networking that meant customers could get all their needs met at one location. The open day brings this together in a really family-friendly environment. We have plenty for the kids to do, stunt shows and heaps more. So it’s really showing the sport in all its shapes and sizes. How’d you manage to get the big names involved? We were really, really lucky to get the support we received from all those involved. Some of the people contacted us to take part, others I approached and some Yamaha Australia have arranged. What is great is that they have done it purely out…

“Café racers are never really comfortable. There are simply levels of pain or its absence.” WHY DO RACE replicas have to be so bloody uncomfortable? This question flickered through my mind recently as I thumbed through an old motorcycle mag from the mid-1970s. Like many former seventies longhairs who’ve ridden motorcycles continuously since they were teenagers, I just don’t understand the logic of making race replicas as uncomfortable as the real thing. My magazine browsing uncovered an American journalist’s comment on race-replica ergonomics, written in December 1974: “Café racers are never really comfortable. There are simply levels of pain or its absence.” He was describing the soon-to-be-released Norton 850 John Player Special, basically a standard Commando with clumsy fibreglass bodywork, clip-on handlebars and rearset footpegs. It was built to cash…

BEN BURKE (SA Kawasaki/BCperformance/Kawasaki Motor Finance) wasn’t quite unbeatable at the second round of the Swann Insurance Australasian Superbike Championship held at South Australia’s Mallala Raceway on 29 May, but he did prove to be the best at being in front when it mattered – at the chequered flag. Despite having a fight on his hands in all three 10-lap Superbike races, the ZX-10R mounted Burke was in front of his determined SA Kawasaki/BCperformance teammate Robbie Bugden on the final lap every time. While Bugden led at various stages, including the first nine laps of the opening 10-lap race, the Queenslander had to settle for three seconds. The dicing duo led home another Kawasaki rider in Matthew Walters (Kawasaki Connection/Repsol/Kawasaki Motor Finance) who claimed a trio of third place finishes.…

Unhooked The bizarre case of the missing riders continued at Donington, this time inside the Grillini Kawasaki team. Josh Hook, the team’s contracted season-starting rider has returned from injury recently, and scored points twice in Sepang. He was cleared out for the Donington round by his team and replaced by South African Sheridan Morais. The trouble is that Morais had arrived at Donington with an injury and he was declared unfit to ride before the first race on Saturday. Superstock The Donington Park Superstock 1000 FIM Cup race was won, in a clear fashion, by Raffaele De Rosa (Althea BMW). He finished 3.3 seconds ahead of Leandro Mercado’s Aruba.it Junior Team Ducati Panigale. The first Yamaha Superstock 1000 podium of the year went to Niccolo Canepa (Pata Yamaha Official Stock…

Jack Miller MotoGP 10TH Jack Miller started the weekend with a couple of crashes, but bounced back for one of his best races and his first top 10 finish. “I had a big fight throughout the race and really enjoyed it. I definitely feel I got the most potential out of the bike today. My first top 10 is a big boost for me after a difficult start to the season.” Remy Gardner Moto2 15TH “I had an okay start, but nearly got run off on the first lap. I stayed where I was and as people dropped off I was moving up to battle with Vierge and Viñales. Vierge and I touched and he fell off, and I beat Viñales. The race was a big confidence and experience booster…

TEENAGE POLISH SPEEDWAY rider Krystian Rempala has died in hospital six days after a crash in a Polish Ekstraliga match at Rybnik on 22 May. The Tarnow rider collided with Rybnik rider Kacper Woryna going into the first turn of the opening heat with the impact of the fall ripping off his helmet. The meeting was immediately abandoned. Despite surgery to treat swelling and bleeding on his brain, he succumbed to the injuries. Krystian had been part of the Polish team that won the European Junior Team Championship as he followed in the tyre tracks of his father, Jacek Rempala, and three uncles.…

“I still want a licence, but I’m just too scared” What do you like most about racing bikes? Girls? No, no, seriously the adrenaline of speed – this excites me every time I get on the bike. The bike itself is not something that I’m really interested in. I also love travelling and that’s a part of it. What would you be doing if you weren’t racing? I never really had a plan B, but most probably I’d be a truck driver. Before I started racing professionally I worked for my father driving a truck and most probably I’d be working in a company there. I was driving the biggest trucks and we delivered so many different things – like engine parts and food for big ships. I did it…

MAXWELL LEADS Yamaha rider Wayne Maxwell is now leading the Australian Superbike Championship after a second and first-place finish during the recent round of the series in WA. See page 116 for details. ROCKER ROLLS Aussie rock legend Ian Moss is supporting the Black Dog charity and will participate in Indian Motorcycles’ Ride Back To Alice event this weekend. Moss will use the ride to launch his new album. CHARITY CLOSED The Riders for Health charity has announced it no longer has the financial ability to continue and will be closing its UK-based HQ. Some operations transferred to African control will continue. RIP SALOM Adding to one of the darkest weeks in motorcycle racing, Spanish rider Luis Salom was fatally injured in a high-speed crash during Moto2’s FP2 session on…

ACT Shannons Unit 20, 2 Yallourn Street, Fyshwick, 2609 New South Wales Shannons 65 Reserve Road, St Leonards, 2065 Victory & Indian Motorcycles 554 Parramatta Rd, Ashfield 2131 Southern Highlands Motorcycle Centre 214 Old Hume Highway, Mittagong, 2575 Robertson Pie Shop 4400 Illawarra Highway, Robertson, 2575 Northern Territory (Blankets only) Shannons Hidden Valley Motor Sports Park, Hidden Valley Road, Berrimah, 0828 Queensland (Blankets only) Shannons 5B 305 Montague Road, West End, 4101 Victory & Indian Motorcycles 632 Wickham St, Fortitude Valley, 4006 South Australia Shannons 863-865 South Road, Clarence Gardens, 5039 Tasmania Shannons 337-341 Argyle Street, North Hobart, 7000 Victoria Shannons 321 Warrigal Road, Cheltenham, 3192 Victory & Indian Motorcycles 544 Elizabeth St, Melbourne 3000 The Waves Apartments 1 The Esplanade, Cowes, 3922 Western Australia (Blankets only) Shannons 152 Burswood…

Tasmanian TT Dear Chris, In response to pic of the issue in Headcheck, Vol 65 No 22… The 1967 Tasmanian TT run by the Tasmanian Motor Cycle Club at Symmons Plains on 12 March was the fourth annual running of the event. Although the TMCC started Longford on the March Long weekend in 1953, the importance of the bike racing was being diminished, so that by 1966 bike racing was all conducted first thing Saturday morning only. This was in fact the first meeting at Longford without the bikes. So the newly built Symmons Plains was run the following weekend with many of the top national car drivers staying for the two events. A very large slice of the great prize money was because the state premier, Mr Eric Reece,…

Few races in TT history have started so tamely and finished in so dramatic a fashion as did the 1956 Junior. The winner, after a ride of brilliant consistency, was Ken Kavanagh of Australia, on an Italian Moto Guzzi machine.” That’s how leading British weekly The Motor Cycle opened its report on the 350 TT 60 years ago. The publication was read avidly in Australia and local enthusiasts knew it was the first Australian TT victory, after almost half a century of trying. The drama came from the weather conditions on 4 June and the contest building as the seven-lap race progressed. It was almost the upside down TT – wet roads at the start and the Guzzi team’s decision to start its four entries with 24kg of fuel to…

THE NATIONAL MOTORCYCLE Museum holds about 800 bikes and a vast array of memorabilia in three large halls. Some bikes are on loan, but most belong to the Kelleher family who started collecting in Canberra in 1990, before moving to Nabiac, 280km north of Sydney in 2000. There are hundreds of British machines from AJS to Vincent and Velocette, with Harley-Davidson and Indian leading the US charge. Euro marques are represented by exotica from Magni and MV Agusta as well as Benelli, Laverda, Guzzi, Gilera, NSU and DKW. There are some Russian and East European names, plus the Japanese Big Four and examples from lesser-known brands such as Marusho. One end of the main hall is filled with speedway, short circuit racers and sidecars, with a huge amount of related…

DUTCHMAN COR DEES has long been a fan of Laverda, and his collection of over 80 bikes and items of agricultural equipment, brochures, film and print documentation are on display in a purpose-built facility outside the rural Dutch town of Lisse, about 40km from Amsterdam. Cor has had a deep involvement with the marque and was able to purchase many of the bikes and associated paraphernalia directly from the factory itself over many years. Not all Laverdas were orange! A blue 1984 1000RGA stands out among the many road-going triples and big twins on show. And a fully optioned red 1000RGS makes a spectacular sight above them. In the background can be seen the line-up of racers that includes one of the three remaining ’75 Space Frame triple endurance bikes…

WHILE THERE’S A NEW entrance around the corner, these are the historic gates to the Moto Guzzi factory in Mandello del Lario, on the shores of Lake Como. The museum fills two floors of the 1920s building, and is a low-key affair which starts up two flights of worn stairs, with the first Guzzi built, the ‘GP’ of 1919. Not many firms have the first bike they built! Carlo Guzzi was an aircraft mechanic during WW1 and good friend of pilots Giorgio Parodi and Giovanni Ravelli. The three resolved to make motorcycles after the war and, despite Ravelli’s death, after hostilities ended, Guzzi and Parodi built the company. The air services eagle emblem is a tribute to Ravelli. Financial backing was provided by Parodi’s industrialist father. He owned the company…

RC 390 THERE WAS A veritable bonfire of midnight oil as Youngy prepared the Kato to ride in the ASBK round in WA. Turn to page 116 for a full race report, and stay tuned for details of how he got the bike into race trim. BMW S1000XR DON’T BOTHER LOOKING for the key to our BMW long-termer on the Gassit Garage key hanger – so far it has been one of our busiest rides, mostly for commuting duties in weather that has suddenly turned very wintery. AMCN’s long termers are kept clean with a range of Ipone products…

Top 3 TV 1 H-Dtv 4ME On demand Anytime If you can’t get enough big-twin action then you’d better log on to the 4ME website and catch up on episodes of H-Dtv, the show about Harley-Davidsons and the H-D lifestyle in Australia. Check it out at 4me.net.au. 2 WSBK Rd8 Misano LIVE Fox Sports Sat 18/Sun 19 From midnight Round 8 of the world Superbike Championship will be aired live on Fox Sports. The Race 1 flag drops at 10pm on Saturday. Sunday action commences with the WSS at 8.20pm followed by Race 2 of WSBK at 10pm. All times are AEST. 3 Red Bull Minas Riders Red Bull TV On demand Anytime If you like Hard Enduro you won’t want to miss the coverage of the 2016 Red Bull…

At least that’s not as bad as stopping at the trackside surrounded by a smelly cloud of smoke RACING IMPROVES THE breed? Breeding improves the race? Improving breeds the racing? All or none of the above are true; it depends on interpretation. My personal justification for a lifelong interest in motorbike racing veers away from mere boyish hedonism. Of course that’s the main thing. Speed, danger, and the basic idiocy of risking life and deploying vast engineering resources simply to get back where you started quicker than the next guy. (I mean, why not just stay there?) But shouldn’t racing be worth something more? Something useful? Once it was. Early races like the TT led to great strides in performance and reliability. After that, along with some cross-breeding from aviation,…

The scene was set for a wild west showdown. After a stunning lap in Superpole, Mike Jones (Ducati Aust./Motul/Pirelli/QBE/Australian Outdoor Living) took pole position with a lap of 55.029s on the Ducati Panigale. In second spot was Wayne Maxwell (Yamaha Racing Team/Yamaha Motor Australia), with teammate and championship leader Glenn Allerton starting from third. In Race 1, Honda man Troy Herfoss (Crankt Protein Honda Racing/Motul) got the holeshot and led the race for the first two laps before Maxwell edged past him to run at the front for the next eight. While this was unfolding Jones was working his way through the field. After a poor start from pole position he was as far back as fifth in the early stages, but at the halfway mark he hit the front,…

Anthony West WSBK Grid 17th, R1 10th, R2 12th 17th overall 28 points IN RACE 1 I had just passed De Angelis so I was setting up to pass the guy in front of me. Chaz was in front of me and he has opened me up a little bit, which is fine. But I was trying to turn back in and De Angelis thought there was a gap there that was not there and just cleaned me up. He hit me from inside from the back a bit and I was lucky I didn’t go down. I went off track and did a bit of motocross out on the gravel, and came back on. That sort of pissed me off because it was a bit silly to try and…

Márquez signs Two more contracts were confirmed at Catalunya – with only one of them reflecting any degree of surprise. The first had been considered merely a matter of time: the announcement that Marc Márquez had signed up to stay two more years with the factory Repsol Honda team. He said the delay in signing was a matter of confirming details of the make-up of his team. “The technical [aspect] is the most important, then the money. Then – I am a rider always together with my team, and that takes time, because there are many mechanics.” KTM complete The second announcement was two-fold: firstly that Pol Espargaró would be leaving Yamaha after three slightly patchy seasons with the satellite Monster Tech 3 team. Earlier expectations were that he had…

THE REVISED TRACK layout effectively made a new circuit, with a section that riders would have to learn from scratch. Accordingly, all Saturday’s morning Free Practice sessions were extended by 15 minutes, to make a full hour for MotoGP and Moto2, and 55 minutes for Moto3. The layout was not exactly as for F1, with track staff working late into the night to make small revisions. One was to remove a temporary barrier that was too close to the trackside at the entrance to the revised Turn 10; another to add paint to restrict track width on the entry to the final chicane – also to avoid proximity to the trackside barrier. While finding the braking points and lines were well within the grasp of World Championship-level riders, the matter…

Hot dates The 2017 calendar should be again 13 rounds, as a starting point this time rather than the number the rounds drop to after the annual phantom race is discounted. The first ever WSBK round in India should be in place, but there is most likely to be only one Spanish round. Guintoli on ice Sylvain Guintoli attended Donington on Thursday, complete with a large cast on his still injured left ankle. His big highside at Imola was still adversely affecting his ability to ride, as was the general body trauma he endured. He is still unsure of his status for the Misano round, but anecdotal reports indicate his injury is worse than some suspect. Booted off Aussie rider Anthony West (Pedercini Racing Kawasaki) had another strong showing in…

AUSTRALIA HAS QUALIFIED for the final of the FIM Speedway Under 21 World Cup after finishing the closest of runners-up in one of the two semi-finals staged last Saturday. Both winners and the higher scoring second placed team progress to the final to be staged at Norrkoping in Sweden on 20 August. As hosts for the final, Sweden were seeded. They will now battle Denmark, Australia and Poland for the world title. Significantly for Australia’s hopes they have retained three of the four riders who rode in the 2015 final at Mildura, whereas Poland have only one survivor from that event and Denmark needed an all-new line-up for their semi-final team. At Holsted, the host nation Denmark (41) edged out the Aussies (40) in the final heat with Great Britain…

Australian Motorcycle News road test photographs are posed for by skilled, professional riders under controlled circumstances. Attempting to imitate their actions may be dangerous. Australian Motorcycle News supports and endorses rider training and wearing protective riding gear. We recommend earplugs too, especially if you’re going on a long ride, or sitting near ace designer Darren Kersey while he’s got the tunes on. According to him he likes both types of music: Barnsey and Chisel. Whatever happened to variety is the spice of life?…

WHILE HONDA’S 2018 V4 is certain to carry the ‘RVF’ badge (as indicated by the firm’s recent renewal of the trademark) its illustrious predecessors were better known by their internal RC designations. The RC letters were made famous by the VFR750R, launched in 1987. Of course, we all prefer to call it the RC30, since the internal code gives an appropriate distance from the run-of-the-mill VFR750F that was sold alongside it. And it really was different. The RC30 was perhaps the first serious example of a homologation special – a bike designed first and foremost to meet racing regulations. Putting the bike into production was simply done to make it eligible for what would become the World Superbike Championship one year later in 1988. Sure, other firms had made race-special…

HARLEY HAS A habit of digging into its past when looking for a new derivative of its seminal V-twin cruisers, and it’s set to do the same again with the launch of the Sport Glide. From 1983 until 1993, Harley had the FXRT Sport Glide, a ‘bagger’ version of the FXR, itself the predecessor of the modern Dyna models. Now Harley has applied for a new trademark on the Sport Glide name, and history shows that such trademark applications are usually swiftly followed by the launch of a new bike. The original Sport Glide was a faired bagger – very on-trend right now – and was based around the FXR chassis, which sat between the heavy FL machines and the XL Sportster models, combining Harley’s largest engines with a lighter…

DRAY MAKING HISTORY Sixteen-year-old Rosie Dray will become the youngest ever female to tackle the gruelling Finke Desert Race in the 41st running of the event this weekend. Hailing from Mudgee, NSW, Rosie is entered in the 250cc class riding a KTM 250 SX-F and has been preparing herself physically and mentally for the past nine months. Rosie will have the support of her father Jeff who finished 77th in the 2012 event and who is lining up in this year’s Masters class on a KTM 500 EXC. You can follow the pair’s progress via instagram by searching @jeffdray_zeromx in the people tab. STONER’S SECRETS He’s been a vocal critic of excessive electrickery in racing, but on page 80 Casey Stoner reveals how he used the rev limiter on his…

Congratulations Roger, you’ve scored a Mini Road Chain Lube ($12.90) and a Mini Chain Clean ($11.90) kindly supplied by Link International. Send an image and details about your two-wheeled pride and joy to access@ amcn.com.au Giz a squiz Rider Roger Frei Ride 2009 Ducati 848 He says My brand new 2009 Duc 848. 1040cc only one of this calibre in Australia I believe. Over $45-50k of modifications, possibly more horses than weight. I will most likely get bigger front and rear brakes. Why? Because of the supercharger kit I will be putting on plus a few little things but that will be the bulk of it. Hmm I don’t know how a 125-140kg bike with a possible 200+ bhp goes. But I’m not doing it for…

“MAKE IT GOOD value, but you only have $5699 to cover it all,” I imagine someone at Yamaha decreed when taking the R3 to the MT-03. So the engineer responsible just shrugged and got on with it. The grab rails and pillion pegs may well be superfluous for a bike designed for people who can’t actually carry a pillion legally, but it gives them something to aim for, and the perch is more useable than it first appears. I kept the bike for a week after the launch, and convinced my regular pillion tester onto the seat. Although staying there would have stretched the friendship, it is definitely at least a 30-minute ride set-up. The gauges look great and the all-important gear indicator is easy to read. The fuel gauge…

IT’S BIG. REALLY big. Five levels and 13,500 sq metres make it officially the world’s biggest motorcycle museum, and a new building with 8500m2 more space will be added in October. The collection has over 1300 bikes, with about 700 on display at any one time. They’re rotated at about eight to 10 per month, so the display is always changing. The basement houses the restoration workshops – they’re not open to the public but are viewed from the spiral central concrete ramp, which is the spine of the museum. George Barber raced cars in the 70s before taking over the family dairy business and going into real estate. Race cars were restored beside milk trucks before he began collecting motorcycles in the 80s. Things snowballed until the present museum…

THE DEMM COMPANY name came from the three owners and their city of Milan: Giacomo and Dino Daldi and Luigi Matteucci (Daldi e Matteucci Milano). The company made gears, machine tools and measuring instruments. It entered the motorcycle market in 1953 with a 125cc two-stroke. The same year saw an advanced 50cc two-stroke engine, which was supplied to other companies. In 1956 DEMM produced a moped, the Dick Dick. While the company built over 800,000 50cc two-strokes, it also made a range of two- and four-stroke singles up to 175cc, farming equipment and three-wheel delivery trucks. DEMM held several world speed records during the late ‘50s and won the Italian 50cc Championship in ‘61 with a DOHC single. Motorcycle production ceased in 1983 but the company went on making machine…

SAMMY MILLER IS a motorcycle legend, having raced for the Mondial GP works team in 1957, taking third in the 250 title and fourth in the 125 class before riding trials for Ariel the next year. He won 11 consecutive British titles, two European titles and nine ISDT gold medals. In 1964 he worked for Bultaco, then Honda in 1977, developing their trials bikes. Over the years he collected significant motorcycles, and all but four run. The museum houses more than 400 bikes, including many prototypes, rarities and racebikes. One is a 1935 Scott Model 3S of which only eight or nine were built before the start of WW2. The 986cc water-cooled two-stroke triple had interesting features, like an oil system where one pump controlled oil supply depending on the…

Youngy finally gets his wish, and AMCN gets a big mover Fiat Ducato Maxi Professional 3.0L Multijet diesel 130kW & 400Nm Six-speed GVM: 4250kg Payload: 2065kg Volume: 15m3 $52,500 + ORC NEARLY MY WHOLE life has been spent either riding bikes or driving vans to take bikes somewhere to ride them. I only took my driving test so I could legally drive vans crammed full of bikes all over Australia. Thirty-five years on from passing that test I’ve still only ever owned one car, and that was for just three months. The rest of the time my only four-wheeled transport has been a van of one type or another. My motto is: “A man with a van will always have ‘friends’ and never be homeless.” Since I started at AMCN…

...some beaut sections of bitumen to get your heart pumping ESSENTIALS There’s plenty of fuel available at either end of this route, in the towns of Cooma, Bega and Cobargo. Food and accommodation can be found along the way at Nimmitabel and Bemboka. Keep a wary out for Highway Patrol on the Monaro Highway as it’s a hotspot for the policing of motorcyclists. Fix It There are no workshops or bike shops along this route so make sure you carry what you need. However, there are options at either end in Cooma and Bega. Monaro Motorcycles and Power Equipment is located at 61 Sharp St, Cooma (02) 6452 4040 and can help with tools and some spares. Fuel Up Caltex - Lot 21 Bombala St, cnr Massi St –…

Show time 12 JUNE Mild to Wild Charity Bike Show, Corrugated Café, 780 Peats Ridge Rd, Peats Ridge, NSW. Loads of categories, trade stalls, live bands, kids’ entertainment and more. Presented by Firebird Classic MCC. Free entry; bike entries $20 first category then $10 per subsequent category. Proceeds to Trike 4 Kate, local RFS and Debra Australia. For enquiries call 0423 490 460. 17 JULY Centenary Rocks! Festival, Rocks Riverside Park, Seventeen Mile Rocks, Qld. The ‘Carfest’ component includes more than 50 bikes, cars and 4WDs. All vehicles welcome; plenty of awards and trophies, market stalls, live music, kids’ activities, helicopter flights and more. $10 entry with proceeds to the local community. For more information see new.centenaryrocks.com. 28 AUGUST Matt Smith Memorial Car & Bike Show, Tomago Bowling & Sporting…

As far as I’m concerned, I have some unfinished business over there THE 2016 SEASON has so far been very exciting. I am racing a Yamaha R3 in the Over 300cc Production Championship as support to the ASBK this year. Last year I raced a Yamaha R6 bike in the ASC. Why step down from the 600cc bike? Well, for a number of reasons really. In 2015 I also competed in the Asian Road Racing Championship (ARRC) on a Yamaha R25. The season was tough to say the least. I had to learn a lot of new tracks, help develop a new bike and work with a new team. I loved the experience, but to be honest I was not happy with the results I achieved. I had hoped to…

SALOM’S CRASH WAS atypical, in that it happened at a corner where falls are uncommon. More than that, it was a freak accident. His trajectory was beyond any predictions, well wide of the usual line. As a result, he passed narrowly to the left of a gravel trap that might have slowed him down and saved his life. Instead, his bike continued at high speed across a paved area, in place in the interest of Formula 1. It struck the air fence, and bounced back … but before it had come to rest the sliding rider arrived at barely reduced speed. Salom ploughed into his own bike and sustained the injuries that – in spite of commendably prompt and sustained medical intervention – would prove fatal. A statement from the…

JUST AS HE was becoming one of the TT’s best sidecar drivers, Australian Dwight Beare has died after a crash in the event’s first race of the 2016 TT. Beare and passenger Benjamin Binns (right) had qualified 10th but crashed near Rhencullen on Saturday. Binns was airlifted to hospital with a broken ankle. As the tributes flowed in on a day that also claimed Brit Superstock racer Paul Shoesmith, veteran Australian TT racer Cameron Donald tweeted: “Today was a dark day of racing, blessed to have good people by my side.” Dwight Beare, aged 27 and originally from Melbourne, certainly had good people by his side. He made his TT debut in 2014, finishing an amazing 12th in only his second race on the island. His father Noel was his…

THE QUEST FOR berths in the Speedway Grand Prix series for 2017 is underway and three of the five Australian riders who contested qualifying meetings are still in contention. There are four qualifying meetings, leading to two semi-finals and then the SGP Challenge Meeting, from where the top three earn spots in next year’s SGP line-up. King’s Lynn in England hosted the first of the qualifying meetings with Brady Kurtz and Sam Masters finishing seventh and sixth respectively to progress. At Slangerup in Denmark, both Nick Morris and Rohan Tungate failed to make the cut. Finally, Max Fricke rode in the round at Abensberg, Germany which was curtailed after three rounds of heats with Fricke one of two unbeaten riders to that stage. Even better news for Australia came when…

THE MXGP CHAMPIONSHIP headed to Spain’s clay covered Talavera De La Reina for Round 9. In the premier class Tim Gasjer (Gariboldi Honda) scored his second double win of the season after hunting down Max Nagl (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) in both races. Gautier Paulin (HRC Honda) showed consistent form in his second race back after a serious injury to take third overall. In the MX2 category Jeffrey Herlings carved his way through the competition to win both races. Benoit Paturel (Kemea Yamaha) made a good start and held on to second overall, while Pauls Jonass (KTM Factory Racing) came third. Hunter Lawrence (Monster Energy Kawasaki) had a forgettable Round in the EMX250 class when he crashed out of contention early on and then came together with his teammate in the…

A WARM DAY in May provided the perfect setting for the NSW Senior Track Championships, hosted by the Tamworth Motorcycle Club (TMCC). The healthy crowd enjoyed close racing through the day and into the night, with the championship races a fair dinkum lottery! Although some riders may have been dominant through their preliminary rounds, it wasn’t possible to pick a winner as the title contenders lined up at the tapes for the one that counted! Taylor Poole in the Pro Open class was the only rider well clear of his rivals, and short of a mishap, was almost certain to prevail. While it seems unfair to single out any one winner in the championship classes, Queensland young gun Jarrod Brook deserves a special mention after taking out multiple classes, in…