Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol 69 Issue 21 i Australian Motorcycle News

THERE HAS BEEN a noticeable clattering in the Access pages regarding a certain Susie poster. There has been an equal and opposite clattering internally here at Gassit HQ as to whether we should run it again or not. Not least because, since my promise to do so last issue in Access, we realised we may not have the print-happy file… AMCN staffer Pete Vorst and Dep Ed Kel Buckley spent some hours working through prior physical evidence of AMCN – we have used many different forms of publishing in our near-on 70 years of existence – so locating the actual file wasn’t easy. As Pete and Kel scoured old discs, archives and issue files to find it, I pondered the wisdom of running something from another era. Had we gone…

New motorcycles sold in Oz in 2008 before the GFC hit. Last year sales dropped below 90,000. We chat to the FCAI on Page 112 #RIDEC19OUT Gary Beer is on the right track with his 2003 Ducati 1000 Supersport during this crazy Coronavirus lockdown. “Giving the old girl a thorough medical check,” he says. “Changed engine oil and filter, valve clearances checked, replaced timing belts and new steering head bearings. Nothing like some garage therapy when we can’t get out for a ride.” Goodonya, Gaz! SHOW US YER SHED! We want to see how you’re beating the blues in the shed and supporting the bike industry. Send it in – we’ll feature it in a new section in the mag – or post it on social media using the hashtag…

A NEW PATENT application envisages the tail of a possible future roadbike, ditching the usual pillion seat in favour of a downforce-generating tail that also reduces drag. It also sees a revival of under-seat exhausts – bringing them farther forward to improve mass-centralisation and ditching the drag-inducing side-mounted silencer seen on most modern superbikes. To allow air to flow through the tail of the bike the rear bodywork is effectively a loop, with a wing-like upper surface attached at both sides to a flat lower plate. A central strut creates extra structural strength. You might ask what Honda is actually trying to patent, and the subject of the patent application isn’t the bodywork at all. Instead it’s a piece of purpose-made luggage. Honda has realised that as well as ditching…

Stirling Moss died in London on Easter Sunday, aged 90. He was famously dubbed the greatest driver never to win the F1 world championship, a 16-time Grand Prix winner and four-time championship runner-up. He was third in another three championships. Moss’s sense of sportsmanship to fellow Englishman Mike Hawthorn arguably cost him the 1958 title. He asked officials to reinstate Hawthorne, after the Ferrari driver was excluded from the Portuguese GP for receiving outside assistance. The son of a London dentist, Moss made his debut in 1948 in a rear-engined Cooper-JAP 500 F3 racing car. Alfred Moss helped buy the car, with his son paying as much as he could from his winnings riding horses in gymkhanas and selling his possessions. For the next two years, he raced motorcycle-engined cars…

ENGINE Capacity 278.3cc Type Single-cylinder, SOHC, four valves Bore & stroke 75 x 63mm Compression ratio Not given Cooling Liquid Fueling EFI Transmission CVT with torque server Clutch Automatic dry centrifugal with shock absorbers PERFORMANCE Power 17.5kW @ 8250rpm (claimed) Torque 26Nm @ 5250rpm (claimed) Top speed 120km/h (claimed) Fuel consumption 3.31L/100km (measured) ELECTRONICS Type Magneti Marelli ECU, Rider aides Continental ABS, Traction Control CHASSIS Frame material Steel Frame type Sheet steel shell Rake Not given Trail Not given Wheelbase 1375mm SUSPENSION Type Piaggio Front: Single arm with nonadjustable hydraulic shock Rear: Dual hydraulic shocks, four position adjustable preload WHEELS & BRAKES Wheels Die-cast aluminium Front: 12 x 3.0…

A SIX-AXIS IMU is the star of the Honda’s electronic suite, the highly sensitive sensors helping determine the bike’s rear-wheel traction, ABS, wheelie control (which honestly isn’t much of a problem on this bike, it takes a bit of effort to loft the front) and rear lift – again not much of a problem. If you have trouble with impromptu stoppies on the dirt on this thing, you’re doing it wrong. Yaw, pitch and roll sensors and a computer, in this case a Bosch MM7.10, makes sense of all that maths and it’s a powerful set of parachutes for the rider. On- and off-road options abound, influencing the ABS and traction control, as well as the six rider modes: Tour, Urban, Gravel, Off-Road and two User modes that mean you…

2008 ENGINE CAPACITY 800cc MINIMUM WEIGHT Four-cylinder engines 148kg TYRE ALLOCATION Front tyres 18 Rear tyres 22 PRACTICE/QUALIFYING FP1 60m/FP2 60m/FP360m/QP 60m WINTER TESTING LIMIT: 22 days per rider 2009 TYRE ALLOCATION Front tyres 8 Rear tyres 12 2010 MINIMUM WEIGHT Four-cylinder engines 150kg TYRE ALLOCATION Front tyres 8 Rear tyres 10 ENGINE ALLOCATION 6 WHEEL RIMS Only two front wheel widths and one rear wheel width ELECTRONIC SUSPENSION Electronic-controlled suspension, ride height, steering dampers banned PRACTICE/QUALIFYING FP1 60m/FP2 60m/QP 60m ANNUAL TESTING LIMIT: 12 days per rider WINTER TESTING LIMIT: 12 days per rider 2011 GEAR RATIOS Only two ratios for each gear and two primary-drive gears PRACTICE/QUALIFYING FP1 45m/FP2 45m/FP345m/QP 60m 2012 ENGINE CAPACITY 1000cc Four cylinders only Maximum bore 81mm CRT street engines allowed MINIMUM WEIGHT 157…

CAST A GLANCE over the average decade-old sportsbike and chances are the tops of the forks or the rear preload collars on the shock will be unmarked. It’s one of life’s mysteries that a lot of people pay a great deal of extra money to buy bikes with high-quality suspension — and then never get around to twiddling any of it. Often they’ll say the whole thing is a dark art or they haven’t got time. “It’s good enough as it is, why take the chance of messing it up?” In fact, there is a very good reason: not only do you have way more time than you used to as you self isolate, optimising your suspension makes your bike feel nicer – usually much nicer. And you don’t have…

STRETCHING WEST FROM Mittagong in the Southern Highlands to Taralga, the Wombeyan Caves Road is primarily an access road to the Wombeyan Caves recreation area. As a through road it is fairly slow going with a number of natural obstacles along the unsealed route including corrugations, frequent rock falls from erosion, sharp bends, and loose stones. Any motorcycle with a small amount of off-road ability will be suitable for this tour, and it is a worthwhile ride from end to end with great views. From Mittagong, the road heads out through High Range towards the Nattai National Park. Before the road descends the first ridge into the valley you pass through the hand-formed Bullio rock tunnel. From this point the road becomes much tighter and caution is required to avoid…

NEWSPAPER MAGNATE LORD Beaverbrook was recruited by Winston Churchill for a crucial job during World War II – to supervise aircraft production. He hustled through the production of more than 22,000 Spitfire fighters, therefore playing a crucial role in winning the Battle of Britain. On his office wall, the motto: “ORGANISATION IS THE ENEMY OF IMPROVISATION”. Grand prix bikes are peacetime Spitfires – or fighter planes, anyway. Organisation is technical regulations. Today, these fill a rulebook running to more than 300 close-typed pages and covering every aspect from engine design, dimensions and materials to the bike’s passage through the air. Much more is banned than allowed. For the most successful designers, the rulebook has always inspired the creative juices. It is not the letter of the law that matters, but…

Where’s Bradley? Bradley Smith managed to miss another race, for another odd reason. Aprilia’s pre-race publicity that the team will continue to “trust Bradley” was misinterpreted by one US Customs official, who mistook the advice for “Rusty Bradley”, the racing prodigy who was killed at Daytona in 1971. The official took offence at the perceived slight on one of the Lone Star state’s favourite sons and detained Smith for the duration of the event. Going Straight The Ducatis topped the sheets for straightline speed, but is something funny going on? After his Qatar performance Johann Zarco could barely top 340kmh on the 1200m back straight, while the top GP20 of Danilo Petrucci zipped up to 347.7km/h in qualifying. But the other talking point was the speed of the Petronas Yamahas,…

THERE WAS NO doubt that the famous Norton name would survive. The big question was in what form. John Bloor relaunched a similar ‘heritage brand’, Triumph, in the 1990s with just the name and the old factory gates remaining from the original company. Norton’s new owners have bought the business as a going concern. There are plenty of examples of industrial giants from India and China buying and developing heritage brands. In 2008 Indian giant Tata bought Land-Rover Jaguar for $3 billion, making the TVS deal for Norton look like pocket money. After investing several more billions, by 2015 LR-J had overtaken Nissan to become the UK’s biggest car manufacturer. At the moment Norton is much more of a niche product in the market but the potential to use the…

The good oil German lubricants giant Liqui Moly has backed up its ‘corona consolation’ of 1000 euros ($1700) to each employee with a 500 euro ($850) ‘hardship allowance’. No Muc-ing around UK bike care specialist Muc-Off, also a sponsor of Ducati’s WorldSBK team, has switched production to anti-bacterial products for the front-line COVID-19 medics. Good cause AAA Motorcycle Training in Littleport, UK, which has delivered 5000 prescriptions for free during the coronavirus pandemic, has had to launch a crowd funding campaign to stay open. Au revoir, Bertrand Bertrand Cadart, famous for his La Parisienne fairings, imported French Fournales shock absorbers, his moustache, and his role in the first Mad Max film (among many other things), has died, aged 71, from cancer.…

NOTHING CAN SLOW China’s transition to more contemporary and larger motorcycles. Earlier this year we learned of Benelli’s new releases, confirming a new 600N, Imperiale 530 and Imperiale 250 – and now we’ve got patent images that show them. The 600N is based on the Benelli TNT600i, the Imperiale 530 appears to be an updated and enlarged version of the existing Imperiale 400, while the fairly generic-looking Imperiale 250 images suggest it’s not quite as close to production. Meanwhile, the unfortunately-named Benda bike firm is planning its debut. Benda is the trade name of Zhejiang Changling Benjiang. Earlier this year it started teasing plans to launch a transverse four-cylinder muscle bike reminiscent of the Ducati Diavel. Now this image, top, has emerged showing a box of engine blocks. Stay tuned.…

ENGINE Capacity 1084cc Type Parallel twin, SOHC, 8 valves Bore & stroke 92 x 81.5mm Compression ratio 10.1:1 Cooling Liquid Fueling PGM-FI Transmission Six-speed Clutch Wet, multi-plate, slipper Final drive Chain PERFORMANCE Power 75kW @ 7500rpm (claimed) Torque 105Nm @ 6250rpm (claimed) Top speed 240km/h (claimed) Fuel consumption 5.1L/100km (measured) ELECTRONICS Type Bosch MM 7.10 ECU, ABS, Rider aids Cornering ABS, Traction Control, Wheelie Control, Lift Control, Cruise Control, Ride Modes Tour, Urban, Gravel, Off Road and two custom CHASSIS Frame material Steel Frame type Semi double cradle Rake 27.5 degrees Trail 113mm Wheelbase 1575mm SUSPENSION Type Showa Front 45mm telescopic fork, adjustable preload and damping, 230mm travel…

1 It’ll stop you staring ashen-faced at your phone all day long 2 It’ll give you something else to complain about if it’s a few days late (but let’s be honest, dates don’t matter quite as much these days, do they?) 3 You won’t have to expose yourself to any germs to get a plastic-wrapped magazine jam-packed full of informative and entertaining content 4 You actually can’t have your mates around any more to sit around talking about bikes, so this is the next best thing 5 And it just might mean the difference between your favourite magazine weathering this poo-storm and not…

INTO THE SMALL town of Swift’s Creek we passed the local Fire Station only to catch a glimpse of a massive spume of water droplets emanating from the side of the local firetruck, complete with a gaggle of firefighters – and bikers – all around it. We simply had to turn round for such a fine photo op and… of course! The bikers were key members of the official WorldSBK BMW Motorrad Motorsport team, who had been combining on and off road riding on various GSs and showing support for the local fire fighters after all their recent exhausting work. Hence the gushing self-defence water jet display we had glimpsed from the side of the truck as we bimbled past. They were all there, Tom Sykes and Eugene Laverty, BMW…

SEVEN YEARS AGO, George Campbell, Keith’s brother, told AMCN a yarn. He said that in the 1990s himself and his son Keith – the world champ’s nephew – went to the now defunct Oran Park to race. While they were there, they discovered the circuit hosted a 350cc classic race called the Keith Campbell Memorial Trophy which had been run in the south western Sydney circuit since 1976. A couple of years later, they returned to the circuit with a classic 350cc and won the event. When they were given the trophy, they discovered it had been donated to Australia by Campbell’s wife Geraldine – George’s sister-in-law and young Keith’s Aunty – to be raced for in Keith’s memory. It turns out the trophy was meant to be sent to…

WHY IS IT that you can never fully grasp what you’ve got until it’s gone? Or until you can’t grasp it, kick it in the guts, and fang it? I’m talking about riding motorcycles, of course. It’s now been a whole month since I was last able to crack a throttle, caress a brake or dance the two-stroke two-step through a six-speed gearbox with the wind in my face and an apex locked in my sights. It’s not a pleasant feeling. My love, my lifeblood and passion has gone. And there is no sign of when evil ogre Corona von Fuqueface will ever let us rendezvous again. Why not just leather up and pop down to the shops for some essentials, you ask? Well, all my bikes are in Europe,…

MODEL Indian (111 c.i.) 2014-19 IMPORTER Polaris Sales Australia Pty Ltd NUMBER OF AFFECTED MOTORCYCLES 2233 ISSUE The gear position switch may provide an inaccurate signal, with an incorrect gear being displayed on the rider display. POTENTIAL HAZARD Incorrect gear indication during motorcycle start-up can cause unintended movement of the vehicle, increasing the risk of an accident or injury. MODEL Indian Chief, Chief Vintage, Chieftain 2014 IMPORTER Polaris Sales Australia Pty Ltd NUMBER OF AFFECTED MOTORCYCLES 487 ISSUE An electrical defect may cause unexpected loss of forward lighting, including high and low beam headlights and fog lights. If this occurs, the High Beam indicator will flash on the gauge cluster. POTENTIAL HAZARD Reduced visibility. MODEL Moto Guzzi V85 TT 2019 IMPORTER PS Importers Pty Ltd NUMBER OF AFFECTED MOTORCYCLES 73…

IN JANUARY OF MCMXCVIII the arse fell out of Bill Clinton’s world and his marriage, when news broke of an alleged affair with White House staffer Monica Lewinsky. With Hillary now keeping a sharp eye on Bill, Monica was dealt another savage blow when Alabama began to criminalise the sale of sex toys. A dodgy study led by Andrew Wakefield suggesting a link between the MMR vaccine and autism is published and although found later to be utter tripe, the study led to a whole movement of morons who won’t vaccinate their children. India was happily blowing holes in the ground with nukes, while back home Johnny Howard was running the show and, in a display of utter absurdity, declined an invitation to meet the Spice Girls, stopped talking to…

Include your full name and address, via letter or email. Long letters will be cut to fit, so keep ’em short and to the point. Oh, and the views expressed by readers here are not necessarily those of the editor. Subscribe and save Dear readers, AMCN is encouraging readers to subscribe and help save our great mag. I hope you will subscribe and help keep this publication afloat. I’m looking forward to having my magazine arrive fortnightly particularly with the absence of MotoGP, tourism, camping and Sunday riding on hold for the present, we need to maintain some semblance of our lifestyle and keep this essential service in business. It’s going to be a challenge for the team to keep things interesting, however with so many people sitting at home…

VESPA, OR WASP in Italian, released its first scooter back in 1946 with the introduction of the Vespa 98. Developed by Enrico Piaggio, the new scooter was an immediate hit on the streets of Italy. Alongside its street models, Vespa also produced race models, from lightweight alloy body units to record-breaking streamliner creations. Sidecars, military scooters equipped with 75mm guns, even a small car-helicopter-submarine hybrid called the Alpha (right) produced for a film in 1967 all combine to create what must be one of the most famous two-wheel brands ever. Vespa has become somewhat of a design icon and like band-aid is to plaster strips and Glad wrap is to cling film, Vespa has become a name synonymous with any scooter-styled vehicle for the general population. Is there a more…

THE AFRICA TWIN has enjoyed a healthy engine upgrade, but it still sounds like the original Africa Twin. Mostly. This is thanks to the 270-degree crank’s distinctive note, but with more valve lift, 86 more cubes (thanks to 6.5mm longer stroke) and 46mm throttle bodies (up 2mm) among other changes, there’s seven percent more claimed power and six percent more claimed torque, with quotes of 75kW at 7500rpm and 105Nm at 6250rpm. Honda reckons that 70 percent of the engine’s major components are new, with re-profiled pistons and crank, the removal of a sub gear from the front and rear balance shafts, the cylinder sleeve now made in aluminium and a compact Unicam cylinder head. Honda’s engine nerds took to the air intake and exhaust set up, too, playing with…

It was a different world nearly three decades ago. AMCN unleashed a set of time-appropriate posters, most of which would get us lynched these days. None proved as popular as this less-risky one, though: Aaron Slight’s 1991 Australian Superbike Championship-winning Kawasaki ZXR750R, accompanied by Susie Underwood. Many of you have been asking for a reprint and well ... extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures Since we featured Australia’s first road racing world champion in a full-length article this issue, we thought it was high-time to remember the riding style that made our last world champ so damn special. Long before Marc Marquez was doing amazing things on a Reposl Honda, our very own Casey Stoner was doing things like this…

Start here ▲ STEP 1 Remove the front wheel, the mudguard and the handlebars from the bike. STEP 2 Loosen the triple clamp bolts and slide the fork out. STEP 3 Remove the steering head nut and the top triple clamp. ▲ STEP 4 Unscrew the steering head adjusting nut and slide the shaft and bottom triple clamp assembly out the bottom of the frame tube. STEP 5 It is best to replace the bearing races in the frame tube when you do the bearings. Tap out the old races with a pin punch or drift, then fit the new races. STEP 6 Use a wedge or punch under the lower bearing and tap firmly with a hammer as you move around the diameter to keep it moving evenly. Avoid…

WHAT TO LOOK FOR YOU WON’T RUN into many VTR1000Fs that have seen too much track work – although there were a few guys, like Rob Carroll, who could punt one around a track at seriously impressive speeds. As the 2001 model is almost 20 years old, a few examples of ignored cam chain tensioners have been seen, plus AMCN has heard of more than a few water pumps failing. Charging systems are also something to inquire about, check chain and sprocket wear, as well as oil around the fork seals. Many of these bikes were bought by owners who’d had enough of sportsbike riding and wanted to hit the highway, so there can be a few with quite high kilometres. But don’t let that put you off – just…

MotoGP Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas Circuit length 5.380km Race distance MotoGP 116.644km 2019 winner MotoGP Alex Rins 41m45.499s Did you know? Texas is widely known as the American frontier but the history of Austin is rather different. The town was settled in 1811 by Jewish missionaries Ezekiel Austin and Maurice Morris, and quickly became a hub for commerce. But Austin had a secret; he was actually a Russian, whose parents had changed their name from ‘von Ustin’ when they arrived in New York in 1801. Austin managed to maintain his secret until the 1850s, at which point he was found selling homemade vodka to travellers. He was run out of town and eventually, returned to Russia. His son Jona married a French woman and they had one son,…

ALEX RINS HAS become the fifth rider this year to ink a deal for the 2021 and 2022 MotoGP seasons, announcing his contract renewal with the factory Suzuki squad via a live Instagram video on Sunday 19 April. Having joined the official squad as a MotoGP rookie in 2017, the 2021 season will be the Spaniard’s fifth year in the premier class, whether or not the 2020 season ever gets off the ground. Suzuki team boss Davide Brivio said the deal was merely a formality, revealing the 24-year-old had reached a verbal agreement with the squad months ago. “With this agreement we take our relationship to six years, and we believe that this stability will prove positive for all of us,” he said. “As a team, our aim is to…

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. Especially when you’re trying to juggle working from home, making magazines, testing motorcycles and home schooling. Cos if you’re not having to carry enough evidence that you’re actually working when you get stopped and asked about how essential motorcycle riding is, you’re either finding yourself being filmed in a high-school Indonesian class role play or trying to get an answer out of which kid it was who left the icecream upside down in the freezer without a lid and full of hand prints! In hindsight, even our hardest days three months ago had…