Australian Motorcycle News Vol 70 Issue 16

FROM TIME TO time, the Ol’ Wooser appears in my mind. The quirky bugger had a huge impact on my life, the walking motorcycling encyclopedia both inspirational and infuriating to work for, and I enjoyed working through both of those emotions every day I worked with him. The time he asked me to “reply to this knob” by email Okay, maybe not the ‘infuriating’ bit, but there wasn’t much he did that wasn’t simply memorable. Him cornering Mick Doohan in the Phillip Island toilets was one of them. Ken knew there was one place even the most media-shy riders and celebrities had to visit periodically – the paddock dunnies – and cleverly lay in wait just inside the door until he got the words he needed from Sir Mick. Inspirational.…

Suzuki breathes new life into 21-year-old icon CONSISTENT SALES IN Australia helped convince Suzuki that its Hayabusa remained a relevant model, despite being withdrawn from most markets in 2018. Now the faithful have been rewarded with a significantly upgraded ’Busa that remains true to the original but meets all upcoming emission regulations, and at the same time, offering a better base package for land-speed-record and drag racers to develop than the old model. Over the past 21 years the Hayabusa’s only major update has been a capacity boost from 1299cc to 1340cc way back in 2008. While it remained available in Australia, much of the world had to say goodbye to the ’Busa in 2018 thanks to Euro-4 emissions rules. The old second-generation model couldn’t be persuaded to pass, although…

ENGINE CHANGES, WHICH include a revised crank, new pistons and conrods, re-profiled cams and new valve springs, are aimed at longevity and reliability. This was always a strong suit for tuners playing poker with the ’Busa’s mechanicals, and surely a hint that turbos or big bore kits can be applied again. New secondary fuel injectors, credited with some of the midrange gains, align with a ride-by-wire throttle using bigger throttle bodies. That ride-by-wire enables a mind-boggling array of riding modes and adjustments. They include three preset options and a trio of rider-defined settings, each incorporating changes to power mode, traction control, wheelie control, engine braking control and settings for the newly-adopted up-and-down quickshifter. A TFT display sits between traditional analogue gauges for revs and speed, giving access to all these…

IN A CONFERENCE call with selected American investors and analysts two weeks ago, Jochen Zeitz talked about the challenges of Covid, how Australia and New Zealand are key markets, when electric motorcycles will play a major role for H-D and what the real customer base is. Zeitz has totally dismantled the complicated and far-reaching strategies of his predecessor, Matt Levatich, once hailed as H-D’s saviour. However, despite going back to basics, H-D’s upcoming Pan America Adventure bike has a huge job to do, bearing in mind how H-D-owned Buell failed with its Ulysses equivalent in the early 2000s. Here are the highlights of his briefing: KINGS OF COVID RECOVERY “Our team managed COVID-19 impacts, keeping community wellbeing at the forefront, protecting liquidity and achieving significant cash savings. We also successfully…

OUR PREDICTION LAST year that Honda was developing a sports tourer based on the Africa Twin’s 1084cc parallel twin engine has just been confirmed. Honda has applied in the EU to use the trademark ‘NT1100’ on ‘motorcycles and parts and fittings for motorcycles’. This name that harks back to the NT650 and NT700 models that had a 15-year run from 1998 to 2013. However using the Africa Twin engine and its optional semi-automatic DCT gearbox will result in a very different machine. The Africa Twin’s compact, lightweight 1084cc engine is already proving to be versatile. The 2021 Rebel CMX1100 cruiser is the first spin-off machine. Where the Rebel uses a detuned, 64kW version, the NT1100 is likely to use the full 75kW that’s available in the Africa Twin, along with…

A NEW VERSION of the Street Scrambler 900, called ‘Sandstorm’, is coming from Triumph later this year. It is among a batch of new 2022 Euro5-compliant Triumph 900s that have appeared on emissions documents in the EU and US. The Sandstorm looks likely to be a more rugged version of the Street Scrambler than the road-oriented models seen so far. To be sold alongside a normal Euro-5 version of the Street Scrambler, it’s likely to have desert-racer-inspired styling. A high-mounted front fender seems a likely alteration, along with a flat seat, similar to the style already seen on Triumph’s ‘Urban Tracker’ kit of bolt-on parts. Triumph’s emissions filings also reveal that the 900cc Street Twin range will be bolstered by an additional version under the name ‘Goldline’ at the same…