Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol 70 Issue 08 i Australian Motorcycle News

DUCATI’S UPCOMING Multistrada V4 will use a new 1158cc version of the four-cylinder engine. Documents filed with the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have revealed the new engine’s existence. The identification code indicates an 1158cc, four-valve-per-cylinder, liquid-cooled, four-cylinder engine. The new document doesn’t specifically list the Multistrada V4 model, but does reveal the existence of three new projects, due in production soon, under code names. We believe these are the Multistrada V4, the new aluminium-framed Monster and possibly an updated Panigale V4 R homologation superbike.…

ON THE FIRST Wednesday of May, Ron Tauranac would take a train from Bondi Junction to Canterbury to attend Sydney’s annual Motorcycle Old Timer dinner. It might not sound remarkable, but the famed engineer and racing-car designer was nudging 90 and it was a decent walk from Canterbury station to the venue. Once there, Tauranac was happy to talk – on topics as broad as hitch-hiking from his flight training base in Canada to New Orleans in 1945, to Bernie Ecclestone short changing him on the agreed sale price of the Brabham racing team in 1971. What was the motorcycle connection? For starters, the early Ralt cars (an acronym for Ron and Austin Lewis Tauranac) used 500cc bike engines and a Vincent 1000 powered Ralt IV. Ron made his own…

Looks are subjective, but I’ll put it out there and say that Indian’s Chieftain Limited is one of the coolest stock-standard sleds I’ve seen. Yes, the marque’s awesome Challenger that we tested back in Vol 69 No 22 will outperform it in most regards, but I reckon it just doesn’t sit with as much attitude as the Chieftain. It’s a real head turner, and to back my claims, I’ll cite the Chieftain’s recent, unseasonably hot, twilight photoshoot in the Northern Sydney suburb of Manly as evidence. I have never had so many people come up and say, “that’s an awesome-looking bike”, as I did that evening, never! They are right, I thought, as I admired the Chieftain while it sat illuminated by a neon sign that hung over the entrance…

Bimota’s announcement one year ago that Kawasaki had acquired a 49.9 percent share in the born-again TO BE ABLE TO UNVEIL IT SIX MONTHS LATER AT THE EICMA SHOW WAS AN INCREDIBLY SHORT TIME Italian boutique manufacturer, and that the first model created by the new partnership would be the supercharged Tesi H2 made headlines. Production of the 250 examples of the limited-edition Kawasaki Ninja H2-powered model is slated to begin this month at the rate of five bikes a week, thus reviving the Tesi name exactly 30 years after it first reached the marketplace via the Ducati-engined Tesi 1D launched in 1990. It wants to bring the claimed handling improvements of separating the suspension, braking and steering functions by means of the firm’s trademark hub-centre design format, to a…

had Reed is our very own Michael Jordan. The guy who put us on the map and laid down the solid path for fellow Aussies such as Andrew McFarlane, Brett Metcalfe, Michael Byrne and, more recently, the Lawrence brothers and Mitch Evans. But nobody has managed to stay on that path to international success anywhere near as long as Reed has, right the way to the pointy end where it narrows to two or three riders going to war for the number one spot. And to then finally get there. To be recognized as the best there is. Chad accomplished that multiple times, while we all rode on his coattails in living rooms across Australia. But it wasn’t all champagne and caviar for the kid from Kurri Kurri. I watched…

Start here STEP 1 While you can often purchase a preassembled hose set to suit your requirement there is more choice if you buy the components separately. There are many combinations of hose and fittings available and you will need to identify to which existing fittings you need to connect. STEP 2 Hoses range from basic rubber in colours like black or blue through to stainless-steel braided hose. A good-quality option is a black nylon braided line, which is lighter than the others. STEP 3 The range of fittings available will depend on your application and choice of hose. There are various angles and colours. You will need to know whether you are connecting to a barbed connector or a thread, as this will dictate the use of either a…

FABIO QUARTARARO (Petronas SRT Yamaha) had to contend with a lot since his last victory in July. From being outperformed by his teammate (Brno) to a hotheaded crash (San Marino); from braking issues (Austria) to a post-race penalty that took away a podium (Misano II, Emilia Romagna). “I suffered a lot in the last month,” he said here. “It wasn’t easy for my head.” But the ultimate ignominy came three days before the Catalan Grand Prix when reigning World Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) gave only his second interview since re-breaking the humerus bone in his right arm. Among other topics, he discussed the state of the 2020 title race. “Honestly, I expected more from (Andrea Dovizioso and Quartararo). Especially Quartararo,” he said in an official team release. “He won…

THE RUMOURS FIRST emerged before the Catalan Grand Prix that Red Bull was ready to pull the plug on its sponsorship deal with Tech3 Racing for 2021. In truth we have learned this was decided before the season restarted. Red Bull will continue as a title sponsor for KTM’s factory team and up its backing for the Repsol Honda Team. But stories reporting Repsol’s imminent withdrawal from the sport are wide of the mark. Despite its contract ending at the close of 2020, the Spanish oil giant will renew its arrangement as HRC’s title sponsor that dates back to 1995. But in the current economic climate, the news Red Bull is withdrawing from Tech3 comes as a blow to both KTM and team boss Hervé Poncharal. It’s believed Tech3 have…

Living in central Queensland you’ve been spared the travel restrictions while studying for the Higher School Certificate. You’ve even been able to get in some seat time. I’m in Year 12 at Emerald, about an hour from home at Blackwater, so it’s been difficult to do any riding during the week, particularly over winter, though I get in a fair bit of running and cycling. Other than local bush tracks there aren’t many places to ride near Blackwater, so we have to travel on weekends to practice on a proper motocross track. What about racing? There was a long break after Coolum at the end of February but the Sunshine State Championship resumed at Kingaroy in late July. I was competing in the Expert class and won all three races.…

SHARPEN HANDLING An 11.7mm longer, and more adjustable swingarm combines with a revised 23.6-degree head angle to increase wheelbase 16mm to 1457mm. Brake calipers, designed with Nissin, grip thicker front discs. REDUCE WEIGHT A titanium Akrapovic exhaust is the main contributor to a weight reduction to 192kg wet. It’s 3.657kg lighter than the stock exhaust, weighing just 7.78kg. New carbon fibre wheels are 1.7kg lighter than the stock alloys. ADD POWER A 4kW power boost from 152kW to 156kW doesn’t reveal the full extent of changes to the ShiftCam engine. New pistons are each 12g lighter, with longer titanium conrods to reduce lateral loads. Lighter, slimmer rockers and revised valves and springs help increase the rev limit to 15,100rpm, while compression rises to 13.5:1. IMPROVE AERO Carbon-fibre fairing winglets contribute…

THE MOVE FROM small-capacity, cheap Chinese models to larger machines capable of taking on the world’s leading brands heralds a potential seismic shift in the international market. It’s a challenge the current market leaders will have to handle carefully as they balance price, technical specifications and brand desirability. BENELLI’S BIG BRUISER 1200GT IT’S BEEN FOUR years since we first revealed Benelli’s plans to revive its classic three-cylinder engine in a new 1200cc form for a big touring bike. Now it’s been unveiled in China. Called the 1200GT, it’s a direct rival to the CFMoto 1250 TR-G that was launched on the very same day, with both bikes sporting similar performance figures and high technology, but with a different approach. Benelli’s machine is fractionally less powerful, although with 100kW on tap…

Aussie bed blockers? Can someone please tell me what’s happening with the Australian Superbike Championship for 2020? With so many changes, do you reckon there’s enough races to still be able to crown a Aussie champ this year? Any info would be great. I’ve been following the series since the Troy Corser and Anthony Gobert days and, apart from those few years where it was run by bean counters instead of racing enthusiasts, has been full of close and entertaining racing. I can archive each as I finish reading, then pull a back issue up at will – no storage issues But maybe this long break in proceedings might give teams and riders some time to rethink their rider line-ups for next year. I know they’re all talented and hungry…

And last but not least, why on a bike that gives you the capability to throw your shit in a set of generous sized bags and head for the hills, and one that costs the better part of $40,000, does it not have heated grips? My 13-year-old son wouldn’t talk to me for a month after I made him ride pillion for the 550-odd kilometres from Cowra to Sydney and back. And when he did finally break his silence, he muttered to me that the Chieftain’s pillion seat is by far the worst seat he has ever had the misfortune of sitting on – and he’s ridden pillion on a lot of bikes. In contrast, the rider’s portion of the rogue-style seat is awesome and combined with the Chieftain’s comfortable…

BIMOTA’S INFLUENCE ON motorcycle design over the past half-century has been completely disproportionate to its size and production volume. Its small Rimini factory has been the crucible for a vast amount of technical innovation coupled with trendsetting styling, which has resonated around the world. The first Yamaha-engined Bimota Superbike, the FZ750-engined YB4 which first appeared in 1986 and won the 1987 TT F1 World Championship, was also the first production streetbike to feature the GP-style aluminium twin-spar frame design that later became universal on volume production sportsbikes. Bimota’s YB4EI was also the first four-cylinder sportsbike to be equipped with EFI, another of the many leading-edge design features Bimota was first to bring to the street. These include upside-down forks, floating brake discs, four-piston brake calipers, composite wheels, digital instruments, full-enclosure…

Fifteen years ago, electronic rider aids had the sophistication of cutting hair with a chainsaw. Consider how an old Nokia phone was considered cutting edge 15 years ago, and how archaic it seems today compared to the latest iPhone. I remember when playing Tetris on my phone was mesmerising, and that was before displays were colour… Like phones, rider aids such as traction control and ABS have also evolved and, in recent years, accelerated in their development and effectiveness. The advancements in MotoGP and WSBK have filtered down to the end user, me and you. Take Yamaha’s 2020 YZF-R1, for example, which is equipped with remarkably similar technology to that used by Yamaha in MotoGP in 2012. The list of rider aids has increased from simple traction control and ABS…

The roll call of Men Who Really Mattered in 20th century motorcycle design is short but illustrious. And alongside such giants as Carcano at Moto Guzzi, Irimajiri at Honda and Kaaden at MZ towers Ducati progettista Fabio Taglioni. For 30 years Direttore Tecnico of the Bologna-based company, Taglioni is reputed to have designed over 1000 different engines in a professional career packed full of innovation, and sporting success. ‘Doctor T’, as he was memorably christened by 1977 Daytona Superbikewinning customers Cook Neilson and Phil Schilling, held the racetrack to be the finest proving ground for the development of Ducati models, and the demonstration of their worth. Taglioni was born exactly 100 years ago on 10 September 1920 in Lugo, 60km southeast of Bologna. He designed his first motorcycle engine as…

THIS 130KM SECTION of road between Nowra and Braidwood used to be mainly unsealed, rough and the sole domain of riders who liked a bit of a challenge with their touring. After years of major roadwork this all changed about a decade ago, with several sections of the newly finished bitumen looking like they were possibly even designed by a motorcyclist. To be entirely accurate, there a still two short sections of road yet to be sealed at the Braidwood end of this route, but they are easy gravel and dirt which should not cause any problems for roadbikes in dry weather. Heading south from Nowra the road passes between Yalwal and the Morton National Park along fairly straight and fast roadways, with occasional good views across to the Budawangs.…

1 Loop the hoop Cassons From $179.95 (02) 8882 1900 cassons.com.au Metzeler’s RACETEC TD slick is suited to both trackday and race use with the optimal construction reducing cold tearing and uneven wear, as well as facilitating an extremely fast warm-up time. The rear TD slick’s symmetric structure and seamless construction allow the tyre to be reversed on the rim. 6 Suit yourself Ficeda Accessories $1549 1300 437 711 ficeda.com.au Ixon’s new Vendetta suit has been designed to optimise ventilation and movement. The pre-formed leather and laminated fabrics construction features removable elbow and knee sliders, strategically placed flex leather and perforated panels, stretch cuffs with thumb loop and hydration compatible aerodynamic hump. 3 Put a lid on it McLeod Accessories From $729.90 1300 300 191 mcleodaccessories.com.au The Shoei NXR helmet…

FROM FRIDAY MORNING’S first practice Barcelona was always going to be a showdown between championship leader Luca Marini (Sky Racing VR46 Kalex) and Sam Lowes (Marc VDS Kalex). Between them the pair topped every session bar one, and started first and third, with the Italian racing to the first back-to-back poles of his career on Saturday. Lowes’ chances were dealt a blow at the start. The Englishman got away poorly, ending lap one in fifth place behind Marini, Speed Up teammates Fabio Di Giannantonio and Jorge Navarro and Marco Bezzecchi (Sky Racing VR46 Kalex). But by lap eight he was through them all and behind the Italian. A mistake passing Di Giannantonio for second at turn 10 pushed both men wide and handed Marini a 1.2s lead. But that was…

As Triumph prepares what could be a masterstroke of timing, meeting a new market demand for affordable mid-sized all-rounders, it won’t reveal the model’s specifics. Last week it teased again with staged, spy-like shots of the Trident wrapped in camo colours. Triumph won’t even divulge the engine capacity but says the model is all-new and has been in development for four years. We asked our industry sleuth Ben Purvis to give us his take. “THE HEART OF the new model – and the key to its bargain price – appears to be the use of Triumph’s existing LAMS-legal 660cc triple,” he says, noting the distinct crankcase cover design and bolt pattern of the model. “But from the official pictures, it appears to use the old-generation small-capacity triple rather than the…

BENELLI HAS ALSO announced a host of new engines that will form the foundation of future model ranges. Most interesting is the plan to make a 1000cc four-cylinder, which is understood to be a derivative of MV Agusta’s F4 engine. MV Agusta has signed a deal with Benelli parent company Qianjiang to distribute and market MVs in China and collaborate on future engineering projects, with a focus on engines. It’s easy to imagine Qianjiang’s smaller twin-cylinder models forming the basis of entry-level, lower-cost MV Agustas, and Benelli used a pixilated image of MV’s old-generation four to hint at its future 1000cc motor. Elsewhere, Benelli has confirmed it’s working on a revived 900cc triple for a new-generation of TNT899, while the current 750cc parallel twin is also to be hiked to…

THE LATEST TO re-join the large-capacity leaning three-wheeler fray is Aprilia, whose parent firm Piaggio kicked off the whole tilting trike trend with the MP3 scooter. It’s now developing a leaning trike based on the rear end of the discontinued 839cc Mana V-twin allied to an all-new front end. The Mana’s engine might not be remarkable – a 55kW, SOHC V-twin – but it’s tied to a scooter-style twist-and-go transmission. Compared to Yamaha’s Niken, the Aprilia could be the perfect combination of ‘enough’ performance and ease of use. The tilting front end is similar in principle to both Piaggio and Yamaha’s designs, but different enough to merit its own patent. The front wheels lean with the main body via a pair of parallel mounts attached where you’d normally find the…

MOST MANUFACTURERS USE a similar Bosch system, which is an off-the-shelf item. The Bosch system is the brains, and each manufacturer tailors that system to work on their bike, to their parameters/algorithm – no, you don’t simply bolt it on and hey-presto. The Yamaha system, however, is vastly different: everything is done in-house and produced by Yamaha using the technologies and skills learned in MotoGP. Each manufacturer’s system is different as they use different technologies and parameters. For example, manufacturer-A might allow two percent of wheelspin before any traction control intervention, and manufacturer-B may allow five percent of wheel spin. Secondly, the level of tech may be different, again some using the very latest, some using two- or three-year-old tech. And finally, the power and the way a bike makes…

OPEN-FACE LIDS are cool on the right type of bike – I mean, open face helmets go with cruisers like 3am and dirty kebabs. What’s not so cool as I’m sure anyone that’s ever spent time in one would agree, is smiling at the servo attendant with your teeth covered in bug guts or getting 100-percent organic acupuncture when it rains, and that’s why Shark’s S-Drak helmet kicks goals. What we like The S-Drak keeps your mug covered while still keeping the cool-look levels up with the use of a removable clip-in chin bar and a tinted internal retractable screen that fits nicely in place on top of the chin bar. The chin bar is there to protect your face from debris and not from grinding it off if you…

NEVER MIND MOTOGP; does anyone want to win the 2020 Moto3 World Championship? Coming into the weekend the top three in the title race scored a combined total of five points in Barcelona and Darryn Binder executed the final lap to perfection to claim a maiden grand prix win, making the South African the seventh different winner in nine races. It’s as open a year as any, largely thanks to the incident on lap seven. The championship really came to life as John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Honda) misjudged his braking into turn four. Sure he would hit the back wheel of race leader Tony Arbolino (Snipers Honda), the Scot lost the front, taking title leader Albert Arenas (Aspar KTM) down with him. In their absence, Arbolino made the running as…

AS IF HRC’S season couldn’t get any worse, two of its technicians have tested positive for Covid-19 since the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. One did not travel to Barcelona after receiving the positive test results in Italy and the second, who works with LCR Honda, got his result on Friday. “Unfortunately a member of the HRC team working for LCR Honda has tested positive for Covid-19, being immediately isolated,” read an official team statement. “The three members with Category-1 contact have been isolated and tested, returning negative results.” The entire team was tested again, including Cal Crutchlow and Takaaki Nakagami. “The situation is still complicated, and we have to take care,” said the Japanese rider. “It’s a difficult situation for everyone. Anyway, I’m fully concentrated on racing.” On Friday Crutchlow…

TASSIE’S NEXT-GEN ARRIVES IF ROUND TWO of the 2020 Tasmanian Road Race Series at Symmons Plains is any indication, the sport is becoming a family affair in the Apple Isle. As many as seven racers were competing alongside their children – a huge turnaround from 18 months ago when the rising average age of riders was causing concern. Martin Long was one of the strongest advocates of encouraging a new generation, even buying Junior-spec motorcycles to help the cause. Now Martin and Mathew Long race in the Supersport class. Among the family groups at Symmons Plains were Superbike racer Jason Wyllie and his son Chad, competing in the Juniors; Grant and Ben Boxhill in the classic classes; Trevor Renton and twins Leah and Eleanor; Martin and Mathew Long in the…

JOHN BOULGER SPENT his teens riding the Tennyson sand dunes northwest of Adelaide at the time when scrambles was morphing into motocross. But after a few practice laps of Mildura’s Olympic Park, John swapped out his BSA for a Jawa, on which, and under the guidance of International star Merv Harding, his talent was readily apparent. However his first race meeting – at Broken Hill – proved a disaster when he seized the engine after losing the oil tank. Yet, only a few weeks later at Melbourne’s Northern Park Raceway, the promoter allowed the rookie to start from the back of the grid in the handicap race simply to make up the numbers. And was as stunned as the spectators when he broke the lap record on his first ride.…