Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol 70 Issue 25 i Australian Motorcycle News

DID YOU GET enough racing last weekend? Three days of ASBK action from Hidden Valley in the NT and three nights of MotoGP excitement from the Sachsenring in Germany was enough to keep the telly glowing from Friday morning through to Sunday night. While the racing was fantastic, it was not all good news from Darwin, with Troy Herfoss sliding into a displaced air fence after his bike had dislodged it. It was a horrible crash that resulted in Race 2 being declared and Herfoss reportedly breaking a right humer us and femur. We wish him all the best for a speedy recovery. Race 3 from Darwin was a different story and watching a 17-year-old Oli Bayliss take the win was gripping, as was seeing the emotion on the faces…

THERE’S GROWING AGREEMENT among the world’s motorcycle manufacturers that battery-swap technology is the answer to making convenient electric scooters. Now Piaggio is the latest on the scene with its new ONE scooter. Piaggio, along with KTM, Honda and Yamaha, is part of a worldwide consortium to agree a standard for swappable motorcycle batteries. While we don’t know yet whether the ONE’s cells will be compatible with other companies’ products, it seems the obvious end destination. Another consortium, made up of Japan’s big four manufacturers, recently agreed to a set of battery standards, so we appear to be on the verge of a single protocol for removable bike batteries. This will open the door to inter-compatible networks of battery-swap stations working across a whole gamut of different electric bikes and manufacturers.…

AUSTRALIAN VEHICLE APPROVAL documents have revealed MV Agusta will launch a specced-up RR version of its recently updated F3 800. We’ve already reported on the 2021 F3, with the new ‘Rosso’ version as the entry-level version. It features a cleaner, Euro5-compliant version of the three-cylinder engine, a more rigid chassis and tweaked electronics. The F3 RR, confirmed by MV’s paperwork filed on Australia’s Road Vehicle Certification System, uses the same engine and weighs the same as the Rosso at 188kg wet, but expect it to be loaded up with electronics and other high-tech trickery. MV already offers ‘RR’ versions of the Brutale and Dragster 800 models with a semi-auto ‘SCS’ clutch system, made by Rekluse. The rpm-dependent auto-clutch allows the rider to come to a halt and then pull away…

These are my three beauties. A 2000 Aprilia RSV Mille R signed by Troy Corser, 1989 Honda RC30 and 2016 Kawasaki Ninja 1000. I ride them all regularly even though I’m 70 this year. I’m taking the Ninja around Australia at the end of June on a fundraiser for the Stephen Walter Foundation, if I can get out of Victoria! Colin Bateman Here are a few pictures of my bikes. The first is a 2000 model Kawasaki ZX-7R and the other is my 2019 Ducati Hypermotard 950 with Mupo shock and fork springs etc, with suspension setup courtesy of Glenn Allerton. Metzeler M9 RR tyres, Zard exhaust cans and 11,000 km in one year! It’s an absolutely brilliant bike on all roads. Mike Harrison I wanted to share a shot…

WHILE I ONLY had a relatively short ride on the LiveWire, there’s no doubt it left an indelible impression on me. Firstly, it’s a Harley-Davidson, so it’s meant to be loud and lumpy, yeah? But, of course, it’s anything but. Sure, I expected the electric LiveWire to be smooth and quiet, yet its near-silence was still startling at first. While there was a whine from the motor when I cracked the throttle open and wound it up, it’s everything else I could hear that was a revelation; the rush of air around my helmet, the sound of the tyres over different surfaces, the suspension and frame doing their thing over bumps, brake pads gripping discs, the ability to clearly hear the cars and trucks around me… and then when I…

AS WE HEAD towards our celebration of 70 years in publication, our thoughts at AMCN are starting to turn back through the decades. In my lifetime there have been radical changes in both motorcycling and how it was reported. It’s almost impossible to explain to younger readers how journalists and photographers used rat cunning and lateral thinking to meet deadlines ‘back in the day’. I’m talking about the era of typewriters and Fujichrome Velvia 50 slide film. About going to a racetrack where often there was only a single phone line available. Against the odds we managed to get our race reports and photographs into print. There were times when a photographer would hand me rolls of film on his way out of a racetrack. I would then head over…

Round 3 Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, Italy. 11-13 June 2021 WorldSBK Championship FOR TOO MANY years they say WorldSBK had been dominated by the old guard. Jonathan Rea (KRT), Tom Sykes (BMW), Chaz Davies (Go Eleven Ducati), et al. With Rea the only really dominant one for the past six years, there has been discussion recently about who will finally replace him. Both double Misano race winner Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Ducati) and race-two finale winner Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha) have won races in WorldSBK before this season, but add in MotoGP and BSB refugee Scott Redding (Aruba. it Ducati), plus a few new forces like Garret Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) and we could be looking at a game of who will be the one to take the baton away…

Round 8 Sachsenring, Germany, 18-20 June 2021 MotoGP World Championship AS HE CLIMBED the top step of the podium at the final race of 2019, little was Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) to know that a global pandemic would rank fairly far down his list of worries over the subsequent 581 days. It has been a long, painful road back from the career-threatening injury sustained on 19 July last year, and there is still some way to go. But at his beloved Sachsenring, each and every trait that has earned him eight world championships was on display. The 28-year old was sensational around the German venue’s tight, condensed curves as he brilliantly seized the initiative midrace during the briefest of showers, before resisting a spirited Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM) to…

IN ROUND ONE of the State Production Championships at the Collie Motorplex long track earlier this year, Martin qualified second, then won Race 1 after the pole-sitter, William Wasley, crashed out. Wasley took Race 2 with Martin third. However Martin struck back to win a thrilling Race 3 to take the overall round win. The next round at Wanneroo Raceway in late May saw Martin crash in practice and again in Race 1. He battled back to finish third in Race 2, then a close second in atrocious conditions in Race 3 to sit second overall in the championship. The next round is late July.…

A MORE EDGY-STYLED replacement for Suzuki’s GSX-S1000F is on the way with European type-approval documents revealing its dimensions, performance figures and name. It’s called the GSX-S1000T and will be heavily based on the recently announced naked GSX-S1000. As well as a full fairing and tall windscreen as standard, we expect its styling to include key elements of the new GSX-S1000, along with its instrumentation. Straight edges and flat planes will replace the curves and bulges on the current model, and there will be small LED lamps instead of oversized halogens. However, it’s also looking likely to put more emphasis on its touring role, with a taller screen as standard along with a longer, more luggage-friendly tail design. Dimensions revealed on the bike’s type-approval documents show that it’s 1215mm tall, up…

PRICES OF CLASSIC motorcycles have skyrocketed, especially since the Covid pandemic hit and sent enthusiasts back to their home workshops. Nowhere was this new surge in prices more evident than at Shannon’s recent Timed Winter Online Auction. After frenzied last-minute bidding a 1938 Matchless Model X sold for double its pre-auction estimate after 50 bidders pushed the final price to $70k. Powered by a side-valve V-twin, the Model X was sold across two decades but nearing the end of production in 1938. This example was described as being complete and in original condition, but requiring work to get running again. This price is at least $10k more than what a restored example sold for at a UK auction in 2019. Another eye-opener was the $17,500 paid for a 1961 Lambretta…

THE BMW SAFARI has been running in Australia since 1994. The first-ever GS Safari was a ride from Sydney to Fraser Island and it has been going strong ever since – even the dreaded Covid couldn’t curtail it! They just ran simultaneous events in different states. With different versions to choose from like the TS Safari, GS Safari Enduro and regular GS Safari, there are multiple events on each year, and mostly range between five and seven days. The location changes every year and even if a similar area is used again, the route is new using previous experience and local knowledge. With a cult following by some, it is great to see guys wearing their GS Safari shirts from years gone by like a trophy. The GS Off Road…

HERE I AM back in the UK with just a few days to go before the first round of the British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park over 25-27 June. We flew out of Sydney on 22 March and had to do five days home quarantine when w arrived which went quickly catching up with jobs at home having been away for a few months. We were then allowed back into daily life with a clear Covid test. It’s been a long time since the last race in October 2020, having not ridden a racebike in that period. The VisionTrack Ducati Team and I started back testing in April with a rare warm, sunny day at Knockhill in Scotland. Then the official BSB tests started with two days at Silverstone. My…

I WAS LAYING in bed last night and I knew I could win, I had the confidence to win. I was close to tucking the front going into the hairpin on the second last lap, but I wanted the win. My heart rate went up a bit there but I was in a good space and felt comfortable going at that speed. It’s unfortunate that Jonesy had the crash in qualifying, that does bring it down a bit, and Herf as well. We’re good mates at home, we cycle and train together - so all our thoughts are with him. I’m stoked for the team though, they worked really hard to get me going fast on the bike.…

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. Just like Pete does when he’s sitting on a foot-high Talbingo dunny or falling off a KTM in the snow. Or like Deano does when he’s being pelted with snowballs bigger than he is. Or even like Phil Harlum when he’s trying to get the most out of the Meteor by slipstreaming a B-double. But the photographer really should have, too, especially before Pete used the back wheel of the 390 Duke to cover his T-shirt-wearing ways in filthy, cold, snowy sludge. Sorry, Watto! Sort of.…

HARLEY-DAVIDSON IS the only major manufacturer with a performance electric motorcycle on sale worldwide. But how committed is it to an electric future? H-D has just finished investing many millions of dollars into an Adventure model, the Pan America, which goes head-to-head with longstanding players in this market segment, notably BMW. That confrontation could extend to electric models, as BMW has 11 trademark registrations, including nine related to the Vision DC prototype it revealed before Covid. BMW is still quietly working away on a range of electric-powered prototypes. But what happens if no other mainstream rival challenges H-D in the electric market. Has H-D hived off the operation as an option to make it easier to shut it down if it doesn’t work? The firm has a history of jumping…

50 In honour of Jason Dupasquier, who died after a qualifying crash at Mugello, the number 50 has now been retired from use in the Moto3 class. MELISSA THE MENTOR Melissa Paris, the first woman to participate in the Island Classic’s International Challenge (in 2020), is mentoring a group of female riders in Royal Enfield’s Build, Train, Race program. The participants are customising Continential GT twins, then going racing at selected rounds of the AMA MotoAmerica Superbike championship. Hot & Not AMCN’S THERMOMETER Bumper TT 2022 Isle of Man TT organisers have announced a spectacular return in 2022 with a new race program that includes a wider range of motorcycles to enter. She’s back Nine months after a potentially career-ending injury former WorldSSP 300 Champion Ana Carrasco wins again and…

The year was... 002007 We brought you the first-ever pictures of Bimota’s almost-production ready Tesi 3D. The pictures confirmed that the previous model’s alloy front swingarm had been replaced by a trellis-style unit and the 3D copped a horsepower increase with the addition of Ducati’s 1100 DS air-cooled engine. The sexy Italian was draped in carbon bodywork and although an odd-looking unit, if you’ve ever seen one up close you’d have to admit the Tesi was a rolling work of art. NEWS We brought you news of Buell’s intention to enter the dirt bike market by producing a 450cc motocrosser by 2009. Word on the street was that the new Kawasaki-coloured off -roader would be powered by a liquid cooled Rotax engine and carry the fuel in its frame. The…

Facebook Post of the issue AMCN has copped a bit of a serve for running tests of Chinese-built motorcycles... Instagram Don’t Forget #amcn_mag Comment of the Issue Wayne Johnson sees nothing odd about Fabio’s post-Catalunya look That’s how a lot of riders in Perth “suit up” over summer. Except with the added PPE of double pluggers Reaching out Want to see your pride and joy featured in AMCN? The only thing we love more than writing about bikes is looking at your bikes. Tag your social pics with @ aumotorcyclenews on Facebook or @amcn_mag on Instagram, or fire them off in an email to amcn@amcn.com.au And don’t forget to tell us why you love it. Get it off yer chest! Got something funny, new, old or wise to say or…

One of the CFMoto 650NK SP’s main competitors will be the more affordable base-model 650NK; just how many LAMS riders will want to stump up an extra grand for better rubber and suspension remains to be seen. Other than that, nothing comes close on price for a 650 twin… CFMoto 650NK $6790 ride away CFMoto 650NK SP $7790 ride away Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 $9990 ride away Suzuki SV650 $10,490 ride away Honda CB650R $10,849 plus on-road costs Kawasaki Z650L $10,299 plus on-road costs…

THE TC MAX may have run out of battery in the heart of Sydney, but the LiveWire very nearly left me stranded outside of Bathurst, in central NSW. I wanted to see what the LiveWire was like when you got away from its natural hunting ground under the city lights, so I tied some gear to the back and headed for Cowra, just under four hours up the road from my abode. The 275km trip required two stops; one at Lithgow, one at Bathurst – both with public BEV fast chargers – and I arrived in Cowra with 12 percent battery left. Add charging time into the mix and the three-hour 40-minute trip blew out to five hours door to door. The LiveWire offers four different pre-set ride modes. In…

THERE ARE VARIOUS different ways a rider’s championship challenge can come undone. Seldom does it happen so literally. It is obviously far-fetched to say that Fabio Quartararo’s Catalunya wardrobe malfunction – which ultimately dropped him from a potential 25-points fourth win of the year to a mere 10-points sixth – is more than a temporary blip on his so-far very convincing progress. But stranger things have happened. The dust may have settled since the race, but at the time of writing there’s been no plausible explanation of the mysterious unzipping that led to his downfall. He has proclaimed his own innocence; Alpinestars likewise affirmed “no malfunction” with the zip. But something definitely undid it, then he ripped out the padded chest protector (held in only by the leathers), finishing the…

WHILE TOBY PRICE did not compete in the motorcycle category at Finke this year, he did create history by becoming the first former motorcycle champion to win the car division. Price hammered his six-litre V8- powered Red Bull Mitsubishi Triton to a sensational victory, making the six-time bike champ the first Finke allrounder. There is already talk of Price returning to the bike category in 2022 attempting to take out the Finke double victory in the same event. He’s come mighty close before and he has proven that just about anything is possible.…

BEFORE THE WEEKEND had ended, there were paddock rumours that talks were already underway to plan more 2+4 events. ASBK Operations Manager Simon Maas said more events were definitely possible. “They’re keen [Supercars], we’re keen, It’s about making ASBK the biggest and the best it can be,” he said. Most riders reported the track surface wasn’t tin issue over the weekend when racing alongside the Supercars and Stadium Trucks. Three street sweepers were on duty to clear any debris. “The main thing I noticed was that they used a different powder to clean up any spills, it was different to ride our but other than that there were no issues,” said BC Performance rider Josh Waters. Veteran ASBK official Sam Phillips remarked that the combination of Supercars and Superbikes was…