Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol 69 Issue 23 i Australian Motorcycle News

MY FIRST MEMORY of wanting to ride motorcycles, and perhaps not the first time I actually thought it, was the hazy glimpse of my dad on his Honda CB350, through the rain-soaked window of our car. He was wet, probably cold, but it just looked so cool and more fun than I imagined was legal. The fact it was ‘only’ a CB350 mattered not. I just knew I wanted to do THAT! A week later, I burned my leg on the exhaust, after bumming a ride down the driveway with him – it didn’t put me off one iota. It was just part of it all; leg burns and precipitation are the prices to pay for the majesty of riding a motorcycle. All totally worth it. A lifelong fascination with…

A NEW BLACK-and-gold colour option gives MV’s Superveloce 800 a radically different look. Officially called ‘metallic carbon black and dark metallic grey’, MV Agusta says the scheme “provides a sophisticated sober feel, synonymous with the Formula 1 racing of the 1970s, providing a rich yet restrained alternative to the corporate MV Agusta colours.” Of course, that Formula 1 look they’re referring to is from the famous Lotus cars that ran JPS sponsorship during much of the 1970s, not to mention the JPS rotary Norton racebikes of the late 1980s. If the black scheme is a departure from the norm for MV, the other new scheme for the Superveloce is firmly in the company’s comfort zone. It’s the classic red, silver and gold combination that’s been used across a host of…

To err is human… Alan Thorsager, whose motorcyclist son Jordan was killed in a head-on crash during a police chase in Perth, says his family bears “no bitterness or any anger” towards the driver responsible. Two for change Motorcycle lobby groups combine to urge the various UK governments to acknowledge the role motorcycles can play out as the Covid-19 pandemic continues. Dopey bugger A Singaporean motorcyclist has been charged after allegedly breaching lockdown laws, by inviting a friend home for alcohol, then taking him home riding drunk. Tassie a no-go Australia’s best roads remain out of bounds for interstaters. Even if restrictions are lifted, a predicted wet winter isn’t likely to entice riders over from the mainland.…

ENGINE Capacity 562cc Type Parallel-twin, DOHC, four-valves Bore & stroke 70 x 73mm Compression ratio 10.9:1 Cooling Liquid Fueling EFI Transmission V-Belt, CVT Clutch Not applicable Final drive Belt PERFORMANCE Power 35kW @ 7500rpm (claimed) Torque 55.7Nm @ 5250rpm (claimed) Top speed 185km/h (est) Fuel consumption 5L/100km (measured) ELECTRONICS Type Not given Rider aides Traction control, ABS CHASSIS Frame material Die-cast aluminium Frame type Twin spar Rake Not given Trail Not given Wheelbase 1575mm SUSPENSION Type Yamaha Front: Upside-down 41mm fork, non-adjustable, 120mm travel Rear: Monoshock, link-type, nonadjustable, 117mm travel WHEELS & BRAKES Wheels Cast aluminium Front: 15 x 3.5 Rear: 15 x 5.0 Tyres Bridgestone Battlax…

AS RIDERS, WE often find it a tough gig being on the back. There’s a bunch of reasons why I prefer to ride my own bike rather than be on the back, but one of the biggest of those is comfort, and that’s especially true of sportsbikes. The Kawasaki’s rear seat is generous in size and large grab rails are provided each side, if that is your thing. The seating position is good and doesn’t have you towering above the rider compared to your normal sportsbike nightmare. An afternoon loop down to the New South Wales Southern Highlands started with motorways and main roads to escape Sydney’s rat race. In these conditions, as I was getting used to the seat and space, the Ninja offered such a smooth and comfortable…

THE VOTES HAVE been tallied and Kawasaki’s bold supercharged roadbike of 2014 earned the most votes from you, the buying public. When we are asked to contemplate the most significant motorcycle of a particular decade, one we’ll look back on in years to come as the decade’s stand-out machine, one that signifies the 10-year period or best represents the bike most coveted, then it’s easy to understand why it won many of you over as the most deserving MOTD winner. “It’s the stand out for breaking the mould,” said Ben Murray. “Timeless design,” offered Denis Slaviero. “An instant classic,” according to Rachel Mortimer. And they’re all exactly right. As well as representing a clever solution to the challenge of emissions which faced each and every motorcycle manufacturer last decade, it…

MOTORCYCLING IS A skill that requires balance, coordination, rapid reactions and an acute sense of your surroundings, all of which are encompassed by neuromuscular function and neurophysiology. Motorcycling, frankly, isn’t possible without function of these systems. All the body’s senses play a part in riding, however one overlooked sense, known as proprioception – or the sixth sense to some – is highly important for normal functioning. By definition, proprioception is “the process by which the body can vary muscle contraction in immediate response to incoming information regarding external forces”. It utilises stretch receptors in muscles to keep track of joint position in the body. In layman’s terms, it allows every part of our body to know where it is without having to see where it is. For people like us,…

“WELL”, SAID THE millennial I was talking to. “It’s better than nothing.” No, I replied. It’s worse. We were discussing that easy topic for a dissent between curmudgeons like me and everyone else in the world: virtual reality. In particular, Dorna’s febrile attempt to keep the so-called MotoGP family around the table by staging virtual grand prix events at virtual tracks – Jerez, a couple of real weekends ago, and shortly another one at Misano. For another layer of dullness, this latest one adds MotoE to the three classes. NASCAR, my ‘better-than-nothing’ correspondent said, had been doing the same; likewise with real drivers piloting avatars of themselves and their cars… and in one race, one of the drivers had thrown a hissy fit and walked out. Whereupon his sponsors withdrew…

DNF A ESPARGARO (SPA, APR), F MORBIDELLI (ITA, YAM), I LECUONA (SPA, KTM), P BAGNAIA (ITA, DUC), T NAKAGAMI (JPN, HON), T RABAT (SPA, DUC), J MIR (SPA, SUZ), J ZARCO (FRA, DUC). POLE POSITION M MARQUEZ 1m40.450s FASTEST LAP B BINDER 1m41.101s STANDINGS AFTER 4 OF 12 ROUNDS 1 VIÑALES 53, 2 DOVIZIOSO 49, 3 MIR 47, 4 P ESPARGARO 46, 5 MILLER 44, 6 RINS 39, 7 CRUTCHLOW 38, 8 A MARQUEZ 26, 9 PETRUCCI 25, 10 ZARCO 23, 11 QUARTARARO 23, 12 BINDER 20, 13 A ESPARGARO 19, 14 M MARQUEZ 11, 15 MORBIDELLI 11…

THE MARKET FOR Superbike-style sportsbikes has contracted over recent years. However, AMCN believes it does have a future that revolves around reinterpreting the original era that started the genre. MV Agusta’s Superveloce 800 and Kawasaki-owned Bimota’s upcoming KB4 hark back to the 1970s and early 1980s. Here’s what our industry sleuth Ben Purvis said when he first spied the Superveloce 18 months ago: “Yes, it’s an F3 800 under the skin, but oh what a skin it is. The Superveloce is so well-proportioned that it could redefine the long-running neo-retro genre.” MV has broken new ground by combining the curvaceous shapes of the past with modern design elements and applying it to a full-on sportsbike. Will the Russian-owned Italian company inspire a mass manufacturer? If Kawasaki’s effort with the KB4…

Dakar and Finke legend Toby Price speaks for all of us as he heads out on his first dirtbike ride in weeks (go to his facebook page for a great video of his big day out) “There’s no feeling like it, just get the mullet flapping in the breeze… it makes you feel free” MAKE A MARC MotoGP champion Marc Marquez and younger brother and new Repsol Honda teammate Alex Marquez, have donated equipment to their local hospital in Catalonia, Spain. E FOR EFFORT The parent company of FIM Enel MotoE World Cup bike manufacturer Energica – CRP Technology – has switched from motorcycles to manufacturing functional prototypes of emergency valves for resuscitation devices. The valves are currently being tested in a hospital in Lombardy, Italy. SHOW US YER SHED!…

Susie shocker The decision to print the Susie really is a shocker, yes we do live in extraordinary times but the name of the game is solidarity, not divisiveness. As an old retired pensioner and motorcyclist that has always tried to encourage younger people to enjoy motorcycling, I wonder how many of the younger generation think that the Suzie Q is in bad taste, and that’s putting it mildly. This magazine is probably finding survival difficult and, judging by the number of feature articles from the past, I assume it is trying to rely on us old blokes to survive. Well, it is really going backwards when people like me are appalled at this editorial decision. I wonder how many of the younger generation think that the Suzie Q is…

ENGINE Capacity 1043cc Type Inline-four, DOHC, 16 valves Bore & stroke 77 x 56mm Compression ratio 11.8:1 Cooling Liquid Fueling EFI, 4 x 38mm throttle bodies Transmission Six-speed Clutch Wet, multi-plate Final drive Chain PERFORMANCE Power 104.5kW @ 10,000rpm (claimed) Torque 111Nm @ 8000rpm (claimed) Top speed 280km/h (est) Fuel consumption 5.48L/100km (measured) ELECTRONICS Type Mitsubishi ECU, Continental ABS, Ride-by-wire Rider aides Bosch Cornering ABS, Traction Control, Cruise Control, Modes Sport, Road, Rain & Rider CHASSIS Frame material Aluminium Frame type Twin beam Rake 24 degrees Trail 98mm Wheelbase 1440mm SUSPENSION Type Showa Front: 41mm fully adjustable telescopic USD fork, 120mm travel Rear: Fully adjustable monoshock, remote preload adjustment, 144mm travel WHEELS…

WITH THE FINKE track in their backyard, Territorians riding big-bore two strokes dominated the first 30 years, with 22 victories and all but domination of the podium. Then, having tasted the champagne, a second or even third win seemed almost assured, with Geoff Curtis, Randall Gregory and Stephen Greenfield each taking multiple and consecutive wins. It’s not that the carpetbaggers weren’t serious, but the cost of critical suspension testing, which required endlessly pre-running the course, proved prohibitive – until KTM saw the marketing value of a win; taking eight of the last 10 victories. This could be attributed solely to the talents of Ben Grabham and Toby Price, but there’s no doubting the KTM 500 EXC has proven to be the dominant off-road racebike of the past 10 years. And…

THERE’S ALSO A Uniflow engine, a project which enticed Irving back to Vincents. This is a 497cc two-stroke motor with three cylinders, six pistons and two crankshafts, coupled together by chain, with the outer cylinders the power ones, and the centre one a scavenging pump. Each power cylinder contains two slightly oversquare opposed pistons with uniflow piston-porting. The engine was designed to power 10-man lifeboats, to be dropped out of search and rescue aircraft to rescue shot down RAF aircrew. The British Defence Ministry stipulated a range of 1600km at six knots on just 50 gallons of fuel, and the engine had to be waterproofed, and be able to withstand a 5G deceleration as it hit the water. Only 50 were built, and between 12 and 15 engines survive today…

AFTER TWO MONTHS separated from my motorcycles, I’m still holed up in the middle of bike riding heaven, while my bikes lay idle on the other side of the planet. Sheltering from this joyless transcontinental stoolstorm with my family in Victoria, I have tried my best to appreciate the wonders of backyard botany, and the sense of accomplishment from a DIY job well jobbed, but all I am actually appreciating is just how intense my two-wheeled addiction really is. It’s serious. What makes it all the worse, my new year’s resolution for 2020 was simply to ride more bikes, more places, more often. And I was doing pretty damn well, too, until this feculent viral pandemonium broke out. If it weren’t for the blessing that I get to pre-read AMCN…

FIM Drops a bombshell It seems the ‘bring back twostokes’ protests have found their way to the ears of the FIM and that the governing body is taking the idea seriously. On Sunday night it announced that a working group has been formed to hear submissions to expand the grid beyond the current size. Would a 500cc stroker be even vaguely competitive against factory four-bangers? Probably not – but so far, no one in a position of authority has said they will actually be ‘only’ 500s... One Aprilia With the ongoing mysteries surrounding the whereabouts of Bradley ‘Carmen Santiago’ Smith, Aprilia ran only one bike, for Aleix Espargaro, in France. But the team has promised two for the next race at Mugello, and rumours continue that Max Biaggi has been…

BLURRED IMAGES OF the new Kawasaki Z1000-powered Bimota KB4 show that the retro is on-track for a full unveiling later this year. Kawasaki holds a 49.9 percent share in the Italian company and the good news of a more affordable Bimota is starting to emerge. More affordable doesn’t mean ‘cheap’, but when Bimota unveiled the vastly expensive, supercharged, 170kW Tesi H2 at last November’s EICMA show it also showed design sketches of a more conventional KB4 model using Kawasaki’s 104kW Z1000 engine. With a steel-trellis frame and an off-the-shelf, mid-range engine from its new sugar daddy, the KB4 looks likely to be a natural successor to earlier ‘affordable’ Bimotas like the popular DB2 of the 1980s. Now the first photographs have emerged to show the KB4 is more than just…

75 MV Agusta, winner of 38 Grand Prix world titles, turns 75 this year. The company that evolved from the Agusta aeronautical company which formed in 1923. BMW Motorrad WorldSBK team principal Shaun Muir spills the beans on a series that has five manufacturers competing for top honours. “THERE ARE NEGOTIATIONS CURRENTLY UNDERWAY WITH BMW MOTORRAD IN MUNICH ABOUT POTENTIAL CUSTOMER TEAMS” YABBADAPPERDOO! Brooklyn’s Dapper Tours has stepped up to turn its Ural sidecar tour business into a ride-share service for New Yorkers, including medical staff, fighting in the US epi-centre of coronavirus. H-D, LOOK AT ME! Tony Gilroy, of Queensland’s Purpose Built Moto, has shown Harley-Davidson how to interpret the popular Sportster model for a new generation. Not only did he build this beauty from scratch, he then put…

The year was 3... 001999 1999, THE YEAR of the wabbit and the International Year of the Older Persons. The 1000th year of the second millennium saw the Euro currency kick in throughout Europe, China announced new restrictions on its citizens using the internet, while the world freaked out over the dreaded Y2K bug that would cause our computers to burst into flames (or some such disaster). Music downloading site Napster changed the face of music forever and NASA tried to pull an insurance job by crashing its Lunar Prospector into the surface of the moon. Meanwhile, the Colombian government announced that it would include the estimated value of the country’s illegal drug trade in its gross national product figures. Back in our sea-girt home, we chose to keep the ol’…

PREVIOUSLY KNOWN AS the Ninja 1000 here in Oz, the Ninja went by Z1000SX in other countries. To bring name unity, SX has now been added to the back end of the Aussie moniker and the 2020 model is now known as the Ninja 1000 SX globally. Along with the new name, the 2020 Ninja receives a fresh set of clothes, a 4.3-inch TFT colour dash with Bluetooth connectivity, a two-way quickshifter, cruise control and a ride-by-wire throttle rather than the old cable setup. There are now three riding modes available and a customisable fourth, rather than the old model’s basic low or high power level adjustment. The Ninja’s chassis and engine remain the same, as do peak power and torque figures; although peak torque is made 700rpm higher now…

It’s funny how you think about a bike when there can be only one winner. It’s easy to pick a handful of standouts when it comes to significant motorcycles across a 10-year period, but having to pinpoint the single most significant motorcycle of the last decade is far harder than it sounds. The criteria we’ve used to determine AMCN’s Motorcycle of the Year since its inception back in 2010 has been critical, but motorcycling is as much a heart game as it is a head one, and it’s the heart bit that very often determines a motorcycle’s success. We’ve been overwhelmed with responses to our call out for votes for the Readers Choice Award – that’s revealed on page 54. But before you find out, check out our four finalists…

IN 1952 THE FIRST COMPETITOR ON A 125CC CZ HEADED INTO THE GLOOM With the Jubilee Day parade commemorating 50 years of federation fast approaching, Alice Springs motorcycle enthusiasts saw an ideal opportunity and, on March 9 1951, formed the Alice Springs Motorcycle Touring Club. And to avoid throwing the small community into a tizz, declared the club had no intention of engaging in speed races. Theirs was to be a purely social club for arranging tours, picnics and family outings. The local newsagent, Gordon Nichols, was elected president and his wife Victoria would act as club secretary. Not only did the ASMCTC members take pride of place in the Jubilee Day Parade of gaudily decorated floats, they also provided a display of trick riding on the town’s oval. Low-key…

1976 Geoff Curtis/Yamaha 250 1977 Phil Stoker/Suzuki 370 1978 Geoff Curtis/Yamaha 500 1979 Peter Stayt/Yamaha 500 1980 Geoff Curtis/Yamaha 400 1981 Phil Lovett/KTM 390* 1982 Phil Lovett/KTM 495 1983 Stephen Gall/Yamaha 490 1984 Peter Stayt/Yamaha 490 1985 Phil Lovett/KTM 495 1986 Stephen Gall/Yamaha 500 1987 David Armstrong/Kawasaki 500 1988 Alan Roe/Honda 500 1989 Mark Winter/Honda 500 1990 Mark Winter/KTM 540 1991 Randall Gregory/Honda 500 1992 Randall Gregory/Honda 500 1993 Randall Gregory/Honda 500 1994 Randall Gregory/Honda 500 1995 Randall Gregory/Honda 500 1996 Dan Ashcroft/Honda 500 1997 Stephen Greenfield/Honda 500 1998 Stephen Greenfield/Honda 500 1999 Rick Hall/Honda 500 2000 Stephen Greenfield/Honda 500 2001 Michael Vroom/Honda 500 2002 Rick Hall/Honda 500 2003 Darren Griffiths/KTM 540 2004 Stephen Greenfield/Honda 450 2005 Jason Hill/Honda 450 2006 Ryan Branford/Honda 450 2007 Ben Grabham/Honda 450 2008 Ben…

WE DON’T BELIEVE anyone should buy or not buy a motorcycle based on how you feel on it when you’re stopped – that’s not what motorcycles are for. While a lot of confidence can be gained with more experience, rider training or practicing slow-speed manoeuvres, we also understand that in some situations, there’s no substitute for being able to plant two feet firmly on the ground. There’s more than one way to achieve it – there’s aftermarket seat options and even electronic ride height adjustment available on some modern machinery, but modifying your suspension is often overlooked as too hard or reducing your bike’s performance capabilities. But that’s not always the case. Read on. Start here STEP 1 Firstly, determine the amount of reduction required. This is done by evaluating…

IT’S TOUGH NOT getting back into the 2020 season of road racing as I had a big year planned with a great UK team. OMG Racing had planned a big assault on the North West 200 and Isle of Man TT in the Superbike and Superstock classes on the BMW S 1000 RR and the Supersport class on the Yamaha YZF-R6. But there are positives to take out of my current situation. It’s the first time in 18 years I’ve been home in winter so I’ve finally been able to celebrate a birthday with my family, not to mention Mother’s Day! I got married, but the honeymoon had to be postponed with the travel restrictions. I’m also very appreciative that my new team is still supporting me financially. As I’m…

Circuit length  4.185km Race distance MotoGP 112.995km 2019 winner MotoGP Marc Marquez 41m53.647s Le Mans; a brief history The city of Le Mans is about 210km south-west of Paris, and the trip takes about an hour by TGV, or high speed train. Oh, for Australian readers, a ‘high speed train’ is a publicly-accessible transport system that allows multiple passengers to traverse long distances at speeds of over 200km/h. Also for Australian readers, ‘over 200km/h’ is a speed at which your head will not explode and limbs will not vaporise, nor will the sky fall. Planning for the TGV system started in the 1950s, and construction in the 1970s. It has operated for 39 years. When the first TGV ran, Malcolm Fraser was Australia’s Prime Minister.…

REPSOL HONDA’S MASTER and apprentice teammates have switched roles in the latest virtual round of MotoGP, with category rookie pipping his six-time premier-class champ to the post. In what AMCN – and a lot of fans – sincerely hopes is a sign of things to come when on-track racing finally returns, Alex and Marc Marquez put on a thrilling last-lap show at the fourth virtual event, this time at the Misano circuit, while ‘crowd’ favourite Valentino Rossi made the most of a last-lap crash by Fabio Quartararo to celebrate on the final step of the podium. “I’m so happy, so happy,” said the triumphant Marquez. “I was so nervous because Pecco [Bagnaia] had one [win], and Maverick [Viñales] another one, and we were all equal so I said, ‘wow, this…

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 since restrictions are slowly being lifted around the country allowing us to legally return to our favourite mountain roads without a well-rehearsed excuse about essential whatevers and whatnots. Go free, dear reader, and go long. You’ve bloody well earned it.…