Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol 67 Issue 17 i Australian Motorcycle News

A NEW TRADEMARK application from Harley-Davidson has reinforced the firm’s plan to have an electric bike on sale next year, revealing the name ‘Revelation’ for its power unit. The Revelation name follows Harley’s tradition of naming its engines. It’s clearly a play on the old ‘Revolution’ engine that powered the V-Rod, but this time it’s due to be applied to an electric power source. The trademark application says the name will be used on “batteries for vehicles; electric batteries for powering electric vehicles; battery chargers” as well as “powertrains for vehicles; engines for motorcycles; transmissions for motorcycles; electric drives for vehicles”. Harley’s application, dated 15 February 2018, comes soon after the news that Harley’s LiveWire electric bike prototype will lead to a production model within 18 months. The firm’s 2017…

AMCN Perfect match In early 2011, a few days after I’d bought my Ducati GT1000, I boarded a flight from Mildura back to Melbourne and sat down next to a handsome stranger who was engrossed in a Ducati article in your magazine. I interrupted him and blurted out that I’d just bought a Ducati, and he replied that he owned a 916. We chatted the whole flight and made plans to go for a ride together next time I was in Mildura. Last month, after more than five years together, we were married on my 50th birthday, and for our honeymoon we went to the AMCN Island Classic at Phillip Island. If it wasn’t for your magazine we would never have spoken – a big thanks from both of us…

THERE WAS A time when racy meant hard to start, daunting for learners and difficult to keep on the boil, but what Yamaha has achieved with the latest iteration of its popular WR250F is nothing short of brilliant. This WR is the closest thing you’re going to get to a road-legal motocrosser. But unlike its YZ250F cousin, it’s just so damn easy to ride. Yamaha focused on three main areas in a bid to make the 2018 model better than its predecessor; more mid-range to top-end power, refined chassis to improve handling, and a new look. Sometimes you feel that when a new year ticks over, a model is revised for the sake of change. But every detail modified on this year’s 250F serves a purpose. The cylinder head has…

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AFTER TWO DECADES, arguably the most successful satellite pairing in grand prix racing will part ways after Yamaha and the French-based Tech3 squad announced the 2018 MotoGP season will be their last together. Few details have emerged regarding what instigated the surprise move, except that it was driven by the owner of the successful squad, Hervé Poncheral, and appears to have caught Yamaha itself somewhat by surprise. “We’ve been offered a deal that includes something we’ve been waiting for almost since we started with Tech3 and I couldn’t say no,” Poncheral revealed on motogp.com. “Tech3 is a small company, which has to think about the future and has to weigh the different options.” Yamaha has supported the Tech3 team with machinery since its debut in the premier class back in…

A FUNDRAISER to support Newcastle rider Tommy Edwards as he departs on his quest to win the World Supersport 300 Championship was held on Thursday 22 February at Mavericks Sports Bar. Local motorcycling identities spoke on the night including Stephen Gall, Jamie Stauffer, Broc Parkes, Todd Wiltshire and Keith Davies. Corporate support on the night was overwhelming, with great prizes up for grabs including a trip to France to watch the final round. Competing businesses put rivalry aside to help the young Novocastrian. Brisans Motorcycles is running a GoFundMe page, while Graeme Boyd Motorcycles Bikebiz are onboard as sponsors. Tom and his mum Donna leave for Holland on Thursday, basing themselves in the Netherlands with the team mechanic. Tom will be able to work three days a week in a…

THE 2018 SOUTHERN Downs Road Race Series kicked off with The Motorcycle Sportsmen of Queensland holding Round 1 at Morgan Park on 10-11 February. The popularity of the series has increased once again with a record 156 entries being accepted across all classes. In the Formula 1 category Ryan Yanko took the round win in his first race meeting with the new Ducati 1299S, edging out Craig Clarke and Corey Turner. It was a strong result for Yanko, who does most of the bike set-up himself. Turner used the opportunity to dial in his new Suzuki GSX-R1000, picking up one victory in the process, and spectators were able to check out Troy Bayliss aboard his Desmosport Ducati in his final hit-out ahead of the ASBK. A late Sunday afternoon storm…

“The feeling I get in the pits is very similar to the feeling I have when I’m racing” You’ve recently broken your wrist, will you be ready to begin your title defence? The plaster comes off very soon, but I’m getting some pain in the other side of my wrist so I’m not real sure until the plaster comes off. I’ve had a few crashes over the years but this is only the second bone I’ve broken in nearly 20 years of speedway. Who prepares your bikes and what frame and engine combination do you prefer? I prepare my own bikes, build all the engines. I use a Mitch Australia frame that is built in Queensland by Bernie Koppe, which is what I won the world title with. I run…

OVER THE LAST few years there’s been no shortage of ambitious start-ups showing electric bike prototypes promising to change the world. Most come to nought, but Indian newcomer Emflux is hoping to buck that trend with its Emflux ONE. It’s an impressive-looking creation, packing a claimed 53kW (71hp) and 75Nm of torque. The motor itself is capable of a fraction more – 60kW (80hp) and 84Nm – but it’s been performance-limited by the electronics. It’s a liquid-cooled, three-phase AC induction motor powered by a 9.7kWh lithium-ion battery built from proven Samsung cells. Those numbers and details might not mean much to those of us brought up to understand petrol engines, but the performance figures sound promising: a top speed of 200km/h and a 0-100km/h acceleration time of three seconds. Range…

INDIAN HYBRID FIRM TVS has revealed a near-production prototype of a petrol-electric hybrid cruiser it calls Zeppelin. While the TVS name is little-known outside India, in its homeland it’s one of the biking heavyweights. In the wider world, the firm’s tie-in with BMW – it builds all the G310 models for the German company, and makes its own G310-based Apache RR310 sportsbike too – means TVS is an increasingly important player. So its new hybrid prototype is an interesting development. The Zeppelin is no power-cruiser, despite its Diavelesque proportions. The petrol engine is a mere 220cc single-cylinder, making 15kW. It’s backed up with an electric motor of the type more commonly associated with small, cheap scooters. At 1.2kW, it’s not going tto increase the bike’s performance a huge deal, but…

AMCN AND ITS sister magazine Australasian Dirt Bike love giving away prizes, especially when it’s something as incredible as a brand new motorbike with riding gear – all valued at more than $15,000! So you can imagine our frustration when we couldn’t track down the winner of our AMCN/ADB subscription prize! But because we are good and fair blokes, we persisted, and persisted, and finally managed to track down the lucky bloke, Chris Paterson, last week. “This isn’t one of your AMCN April Fool’s Day jokes, is it Dobie?” was Chris’s first response when we called him. When we advised it was only February, and we were not pulling his leg, Chris went into a bit of shock. “Mate, I can’t say you have made my day or my week,…

WHEN PAUL CARTER let slip his next project would be to ride a motorcycle around Australia, his wife Clare was quick to point out that while Paul may be a successful author, he was no movie star and his old Harley hardly screamed adventure. Paul’s mates working in video production were enthusiastic, but cooking, renovating and motorcycling were mutually exclusive. And a ride around the continent couldn’t be cheaply produced in an inner-city studio. Then came Betty; a 1998 Cagiva W16 Enduro into which an Italian-built Yanmar 6kW single-cylinder diesel irrigation pump had been shoehorned. Drive was by means of a Comet Series 500 CVT connected to the drive sprocket through a custom-made idler shaft. A conventional chain completed the drive line. An Italian beauty this was not. At peak…

Kawasaki has blended retro with modern exactly right with this machine The appealing thing about old bikes is that they look cool, stir memories of lustfully wanting what you couldn’t have, or that you did own and wish you still did. These are all very human feelings and fair enough. The realities of a mid-’70s, spaghetti-framed sportster, though, are the realisation that motorcycle development has continued at such a rate since then that you wonder what all the fuss was about when you jump on board. Well, I do anyway. I like old cars and new bikes – that’s just the way I roll. I like my bikes new because they are more likely to stay underneath you and with things where you left them, rather than something falling off…

The Dakar Rally is arguably the world’s longest, toughest and most challenging off-road rally. The race is held in South America and for the 40th edition it traversed 9000km across three countries. Peru, Bolivia and Argentina provided their own geographical challenges for the competitors, including massive dunes, rocks and of course the extreme altitude of the Andes. Finishing this race is a challenge in itself, so why would Scott Britnell from Bowral, NSW enter the event for the first time in the Original by Motul (formerly known as Malle Moto) class? For the uninitiated, Malle Moto competitors ride and maintain their own bike for two weeks. No motor homes, no mechanic, no masseuse, no support. Just man and machine against the elements, the environment and, of course, the clock. Referred…

THE LAST HONDA we reviewed here was the brand’s diminutive CBR250RR baby ’Blade. Now from the opposite end of the CBR scale comes its much bigger brother, the CBR1100XX Super Blackbird – Team Red’s hot sports-tourer. When launched by Honda in 1997, the Blackbird’s top speed of 280-290km/h made it the fastest production motorcycle available – until it was nudged off the top step in the speed stakes in 1999 when Suzuki unveiled its 1300cc bitumen burner, the GSX-R1300 Hayabusa. While times and opportunities for fast riding have changed, the Blackbird’s overall competence and rider-friendliness (as well perhaps as an owner’s knowledge of its ultimate performance potential) ensure that it remains a favourite of experienced motorcyclists. At the heart of the Super Blackbird, housed in the alloy twin-beam frame, is…

NAME HARRY KHOURI AGE 13 CLASS 300 PRODUCTION EVENT MOTOSTARS ROUND 1 Harry Khouri continued his progression through the road racing ranks in fine style by taking a clean sweep of victories in the hard-fought 300 Production class at the opening MotoStars round held at Port Macqaurie on 11 February. Khouri finished ahead of the hard-working Lachlan Epis, who was using the event to gain track time ahead of the Supersport World Championship. MotoStars founder Damian Cudlin described it as a “giant-killing performance” because he had to fight off other hard-charging young racers such as Benny Baker and Zylas Bunting. The 2018 MotoStars series continues at Newcastle Kart Racing Club’s Cameron Park Raceway on 10-11 March. See motostars.com.au for details.…

LEADING ASBK RIDERS and two-time World Superbike Champion Troy Corser have thrown their support behind the Black Dog ride at Phillip Island over the curtain-raising weekend. David Peach, CEO of Black Dog Ride, was on hand in the WSBK paddock and explained there were about 40 rides occurring around the country on 19 March. “About 7000 riders will be on the road for a day, raising awareness of mental health problems. If you can get in early to register before 9 March you can win a Scout Bobber. Indian has been great with its support this year.” The length of the rides vary from short 20km affairs to longer 150km jaunts and participants will generally share a meal together following the event. David went on to explain the rides are…

AUSSIE SUPERCROSS VETERAN Chad Reed set a new record during last weekend’s AMA Supercross event held in Tampa in the US, when he made his unprecedented 228th main event start. The 35-year-old from Kurri Kurri in New South Wales, surpassed former star Mike LaRocco’s record of 227 starts in the feature race, and remains top podium getter with 131 to his name. He has more top-five finishes than any other rider with 158 and sits fourth overall in Main Event wins with his tally of 44. The 450 main event was won by Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac, his fourth victory for the 2018 season, ahead of KTM’s Marvin Musquin and Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson. Anderson still leads the points tally ahead of Musquin and Blake Bagget (KTM). Austin Forkner claimed victory in…

PHIL CRUMP’S CAREER trajectory may well have taken a totally different track had the teenage motocrosser not successfully completed a few thrilling laps of Mildura’s Olympic Park Speedway on Phil Sedgmen’s BSA. Within months, Crump was carving up the local competition and, less than a year later, found himself in the UK under the guidance of his future father-in-law, Neil Street. “It was all so unexpected. I never knew anybody and really knew nothing about the sport. It was the thrill of riding the thing without being tipped off,” recalls Phil. That said, the top British riders he was beating had no idea who this so-called Mildura Marvel was either – except that the young Aussie kept winning. Within the next two seasons the speedway community on both continents became…

SUZUKI’S NEXT-GENERATION Hayabusa will feature a semi-automatic transmission that dispenses with a conventional hand-operated clutch but keeps a familiar foot-operated gearshift lever. The company has filed a host of new patents around the system, clearly showing the set-up attached to a version of the existing GSX1300R engine. While images show an outline of the existing Hayabusa, the drawings are more likely to be accurate in their depiction of the engine, since a large number of the patents’ elements relate to the way the semiautomatic gearshift system is attached, keeping it compact while preventing engine heat from damaging the electronics. That fits with rumours from Japan that the next-gen Hayabusa will retain elements of the existing model. Engine capacity is expected to be increased to around 1440cc. Importantly, the new semi-auto…

ONE DAY YOU’LL be able to buy a new bike by simply clicking an online link, entering some credit card details and sitting by your door waiting for a big, motorcycle-shaped parcel to arrive a few hours later. This is not that day. Ducati’s new Scrambler Hashtag is a machine you can only buy online, but those opting for it still have to go through much the same process as any other buyer. And at the moment it’s not for Oz; only buyers in Germany, Italy, France, Spain and Portugal can get one. While there’s an online element to the purchase – buyers need to pay €500 ($A785) for a voucher on Ducati’s website to reserve one – the rest of the buying experience sounds familiar. You take the voucher…

To see and hear a full field of strokers launch in anger at the International Festival of Speed will be soul-stirring Lovin’ the stinkwheels I’ve just read Steve Martin’s two-stroke article in AMCN Vol 67 No 16 – it was excellent, thanks. Are you aware that at the International Festival of Speed in March there is going to be a two-stroke-only series of races, for two-stroke GP bikes from the golden years? To the best of my knowledge, this will be the only exclusively two-stroke historic GP bike series of races (not parades) in the world at present. To see and hear a full field of strokers launch in anger will be soul-stirring. I cannot understand why on page 114 there is a full-page ad for this meeting, with no…

IF AN AUSSIE puts their mind to something, one way or another it will happen. And Victorian boy Craig Rodsmith is living, breathing, punk-rocking proof that this is true. After relocating to the very un-Australian climes of North Chicago, Craig has garnered more than a little attention in American motorcycling circles. After the suitably gigantic splash that his now famous Moto Guzzi Dustbin Racer made at the 2017 Handbuilt Show, his main thought was... “if only they could see the engine.” Problem solved. The words ‘master builder’ get bandied around a lot. But when they’re used in reference to Craig and his bikes, you tend to think that they’re more than justified. “I’ve been building bikes for almost 40 years,” says Craig, with the typical Australian lack of pretence. “I’m…

FANS CHEERING ON Ant West at last weekend’s WSBK round may have noticed the Aussie is the latest big name to switch to Furygan leathers, joining MotoGP rider Johann Zarco. The French brand may not be instantly recognisable to many, but the company’s been involved with Grand Prix racing since 1972. Australian distributor Bruce Collins Enterprises sent me a set of leathers six months ago, and I have been giving them plenty of track time since. Thankfully, I have not needed to call on the safety features – maybe they are my lucky leathers? This Full Apex Perfo is Furygan’s top-of-the-range race suit; differing only slighty to the custom suits worn by Zarco. Manufactured from full-grain 1.4mm cowhide, the suit feels light and soft, which assists with its overall comfort…

If we didn’t have somewhere else to be, we would have turned around and done it again One of our favourite reasons to ride there is the variety of routes you can take across the hills and myriad interesting destinations throughout the region to visit while you are there. As we were riding north across the hills on this trip, towards the Barossa wine region, we pieced together a series of the best stretches of corners we had ridden previously, with a couple of interesting looking link roads we identified on our maps. We started out from the small town of Crafers at the bottom of the Mount Lofty Summit Road and cruised up the hill towards the lookout. Beyond Mount Lofty House a few tighter downhill corners lead…

Gears and steers THE DROP IN revs for WorldSBK manufacturers this year may have been designed as a way to limit the runaway success of Kawasaki in recent times, and make more of a season-long contest, but in some ways the winter tests in Europe demonstrated Ducati may have more to worry about than Kawasaki. It was all about gearing, and the rules that make you pre-select one set of internal ratios per season. Allied to the reduction in top-end power, 2018 is going to be all about getting your gearing right-ish. A narrower power band, and only sprocket changes to alter final gearing, will play a part in many races, and it started in Australia. Jerez and Portimao are both much smaller, tighter circuits than Phillip Island, and just…

TAYLA RELPH WAS looking forward to posting some strong results with her new fluro pink Yamaha YZF-R3 during the opening round of both the Supersport 300 Championship and R3 Cup, but that all turned sour when she was struck by another bike in the opening race on Saturday. On the opening lap at turn two another bike made contact with her, which resulted in the brake disc burning through her leathers and into her skin, causing a deep and nasty gash on her leg. “There were no pain killers and I need surgery when I go back to Brisbane on Monday,” she revealed. “But at the moment I’ve got some stitches in there, and that kept my knee together so I could finish the weekend.” The tough-as-nails Queenslander carried on…

FORMER AUSTRALIAN SUPERBIKE champ Mike Jones has signed with Team Speed Racing to compete in the Superstock 1000 category of the Spanish Championship after his aruba.it Ducati squad withdrew from the Superstock 1000 category of the World Superbike Championship. Jones, 23, will be riding a Kawasaki ZX-10RR, the latest iteration of the bike he rode to championship victory in the Australian Superbike Championship in 2015. “The whole team is excited about the signing of Mike Jones,” the team manager José Regaña said. “This year we have our experience and Mike’s experience, and that will undoubtedly make us much more competitive. Without a doubt, it will result in good results and podiums. “Jones is a great professional who has already demonstrated his value as a rider in Australia. I really want…

IT’S THE TIME of year when sidecars take over the domestic speedway spotlight in the lead-up to the Australian Championship at Tamworth held over 13-14 April. A dramatic conclusion to the Victorian Championship at Mildura on 26 January saw Andrew Buchanan / Denny Cox run out of fuel but just get home ahead of Trent Headland / Dav Whetstone and Mark Plaisted / Ben Pitt; with Warren Monson / Andrew Summerhayes going infield as they tried to sneak past the ailing leaders. The meeting was marred by a spill that left Broken Hill rider Rick Howse with a neck injury. Darrin Treloar (pictured, above) won his 20th NSW Championship, taking the final at Tamworth on 10 February with passenger Jesse Headland ahead of Andrew Buchanan / Denny Cox, Hamish Golding…