Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol 71 Issue 13 i Australian Motorcycle News

A PROTOTYPE naked café version of Norton’s V4SV superbike, called the V4CR, has been revealed in the UK. It is the first prototype to be designed, engineered and built at the recently opened global headquarters in the UK that we reported on in AMCN Vol 71 No 11. Sharing the same basic elements of the superbike’s 1200cc V4 engine it also features a more compact polished aluminium frame and carbon-fibre fuel tank and body panels. CEO Dr Robert Hentschel says the prototype “is the next step in Norton’s journey to becoming the world-leader in luxury handcrafted motorcycles.” Norton was the centre of attention at December’s Motorcycle Live, the UK’s biggest motorcycle expo. Prototypes of the V4SV and CR were on display along with an air-cooled Commando from the updated and…

SUBTLE UPGRADES to Ducati’s Panigale V4 have resulted in major improvements to performance and handling for trackday riders. Changes include new aero, updates to the engine and ergonomics. Ducati claims dramatic improvement in lap times of over one second during back-to-back track tests between the 2021 and 2022 models. New double winglets achieve the same downforce but with less drag, while air vents are redesigned to get heat away from the engine more efficiently. That engine is still a category-busting 1103cc V4 and it’s slightly more powerful for 2022 with revised gearing and electronics boosting overall performance. A reshaped tank and seat help rider ergonomics when ridden hard. The Panigale V4 ($34,000 ride away) and V4 S ($43,600) will be available from February.…

POURING RAIN COULDN’T prevent a turnout that would have made founders Carlo Guzzi, Giovani Ravelli and Giorgio Parodi proud as owners celebrated 100 years of Moto Guzzi. More than 150 motorcycles met at Harry’s Cafe de Wheels at Tempe in early December for a ride down through the Royal National Park to the Headlands Hotel at Austinmer. The run, organised by the Moto Guzzi Club of NSW and Motociclo of St Peters, attracted a cross-section of models with some beautiful examples from all eras on show and being ridden. AMCN’s chariot, a shiny new 2021 Moto Guzzi V85TT Travel, was the perfect bike for the ride and shows how this famous Italian brand has reinvented itself for the future. Comfortable, with good weather protection and sporty enough to carve up…

When you think of modern iconic motorcycles, Suzuki’s Hayabusa and Kawasaki’s ZX-14R will feature in just about anybody’s list of dream bikes. Riders of all ages and skill levels dream of at least having a ride on one, perhaps even owning one. And they have been pitted against each other since their respective inceptions. The ZX-14R is nearing the end of its lifecycle, but does that mean it has been left behind by the newly updated third-generation Hayabusa? There’s still some fighting left to do. The ’Busa and the ZX-14R share a similar basic architecture. Large-displacement inline four-cylinder engines, alloy frames (although the ZX-14R has a monocoque rather than a twin spar), and a sportsbike-style riding position with a little extra comfort. They go about things in slightly different ways,…

CONTINUING ON the Qianjiang theme, the Chinese brand’s European off shoot – Benelli – is also set to benefit from the deal with MV Agusta. Benelli’s range is set to expand massively over the next few years, with the company developing a host of new models and engines, including 700cc and 900cc parallel twins to sit alongside the existing 754cc unit used in the newly-launched TRK800. It also has its high-spec 1200cc three-cylinder tourer in production in China now, along with an 899cc triple that powers the reborn TNT899, but most intriguingly the company is expected to launch a new 1000cc four-cylinder machine using MV’s engine. What sort of bike will the 1000cc model be? That remains to be seen, but inevitably there are hopes that it will be a…

THE UPDATED KTM Duke parallel twins might well find themselves up against new competition in the form of Honda’s reborn Hornet – teased at EICMA this year with a wireframe computer model but expected to appear in 2022 in the metal. We understand the new Hornet will debut a high-revving, high-performance 755cc parallel twin that Honda is developing as the basis of an entire line of models. Just as the CB500 is offered as a nakedbike, a sports model and an adventure machine, as well as powering the Rebel 500 cruiser, and the Africa Twin’s 1084cc motor is used in the new NT1100 and the Rebel 1100, the new 755cc twin will appear in several bikes. Most important, perhaps, will be the much-rumoured Transalp adventure middleweight. Unlike the 745cc twin…

YAMAHA HAS a matching R-branded sportsbike and MT naked model at every capacity from 125cc to 1000cc – with one major exception. The MT-09 has no faired ‘R’ equivalent. But that’s going to change very soon, as Yamaha has already trademarked the R9 name worldwide and the 2021 revamp for the MT-09 gave it a Deltabox beam frame that’s just crying out to be wrapped in a full sports fairing. The resulting R9 could be the most interesting new sportsbike in years. The 890cc three-cylinder engine already makes as much power as the first-generation Honda Fireblade could muster, and in the MT-09 it’s packaged in a bike that’s more compact and lighter than the 90s Blade that set new standards for such things. With uprated suspension, a MotoGPstyle fairing and…

Eight years and countless yen already down the gurgler, it’s difficult to believe HRC parted ways with 2021 Dakar Champion Kevin Benavides due to rumoured budget constraints. Particularly when Honda immediately secured the services of Pablo Quintanilla, formerly on Husqvarna. Some speculated that the Honda marketing corporates wished to see Ricky Brabec take back-to-back wins in 2021, but Benavides had a mind of his own. Anything seems possible when the results of the final stage of the 2021 Dakar are scrutinised, and it appears his defection to KTM may not have not been amicable. “My heart was always orange. I started with KTM Argentina in 2008 and always used KTM bikes until 2015,” Benavides said. “Back home in Argentina I have a KTM dealership and now I’m a KTM Factory…

Please explain how you will use control electronics and dyno testing to maintain a level playing field, no matter what engine configuration or displacement is used? The majority of the balanced performance is done by the electronics and a lot of it is done, effectively, by the throttle position. You will have a limited amount of throttle available to you, which is the main way of controlling the torque on all these racing engines now. If we just stick an air restrictor in we can cap peak horsepower, but actually you would just produce an engine that makes that peak horsepower for thousands of RPM, which would give you the most incredibly torquey, grunty and weird-to-ride engines. That is not our goal. We have a bunch of software that when…

TRIUMPH’S ALL-NEW Tiger 1200 beats its number one rival – BMW’s R 1250 GS – in virtually every measurable way. But the big question is if that is enough to sway customers away from the big-bore adventure market’s default choice. A clean-sheet design, the Tiger 1200 is powered by a new 1160cc engine based on the latest Speed Triple. A big-bang-style ‘T-Plane’ crankshaft, with uneven spacing between the firing pulses, adds more character and low-rev grunt. At least 25kg has been shaved off overall weight, compared to the old Tiger, with a completely new shaft final drive system helping lighten the load. With 110.4kW at 9000rpm and max torque of 130Nm at 7000rpm, the Tiger beats the R 1250 GS by a healthy 10.4kW, although it’s 13Nm shy of the…

IN A BOLD ATTEMPT to trump retro adventure models from MV Agusta (Lucky Explorer 9.5), Moto Guzzi (V85TT) and BMW (R NineT Urban G/S), Ducati has launched the DesertX. It’s a revised version of the prototype we revealed back in 2019, with the liquid-cooled 937cc Testastretta engine replacing the air-cooled 1100cc V-twin first shown. Already used in the Monster, Hypermotard, Multistrada V2 and Supersport, this engine produces 82kW at 9250rpm and 92Nm at 6500rpm, while an optional Termignoni pipe and reprogrammed ECU promises a seven percent boost in power and torque. Much thought has gone into the overall design with lower gear ratios from first to fifth for off-road work and a long sixth gear for the tarmac. A new steel trellis frame has been developed specifically for the DesertX.…

TWO DECADES after Yamaha’s TMAX established the maxi-scooter class its revamp for 2022 gives an aggressive new look and technology you’d expect to see on a high-end sports-tourer. New headlights sit on a pointier-looking nose, above triangular air intakes that mimic MotoGP winglets. A new screen reduces rider wind blast and virtually every body panel has been reshaped. The riding position is more aggressive, light alloy wheels improve performance and handling while revised suspension settings match the TMAX-specific Bridgestone Battlax SC2 tyres. A seven-inch TFT dash offers three display styles – Sporty, Intelligent and Authentic – and has map-based navigation. Keyless start is standard. The 560cc twin-cylinder engine and cast-alloy frame are unaltered but these updates certainly make the TMAX more motorcycle than scooter.…

“I SET THE SAME TIMES AT VALENCIA AS I DID ON THE MOTOGP BIKE” Recently retired MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi surprised even himself after testing an Audi GT3 last month. Perhaps he needs to hear a cautionary tale from Wayne Gardner, who won races but also earned the nickname ‘Captain Chaos’ in the shark pool of V8 Supercars. Beware, GOAT! $236K The rat 1949 Triumph The Fonz used to look so cool on in the TV series Happy Days has just sold at a Hollywood auction for $US231,562 ($A326k). It was one of three Triumphs Hollywood motorcycle wrangler Bud Ekins put together for the 1970s series. All disappeared but this one resurfaced in 1990 when Ekins cleaned out his warehouse. RULES RE-FINKE Marked exclusion zones, additional fencing, mandatory desert racing…

MID-1978, AMERICAN journalist John Ulrich sent a message to colleagues in Australia, asking in effect, ‘what have you guys done with Wes Cooley?’ Cooley was about to turn 22 and Ulrich reckoned he made a clear step forward from the ’77 season. What ‘we’ had done was expose Los Angeles-born Wester Steven Cooley to new circuits, competition and thinking from the likes of Warren Willing. He’d ridden 15 races across five meetings in the summer New Zealand International Series. The day that series ended, Arthur Blizzard signed him to ride the 1978 Australian GP at Bathurst – taking him further from his comfort zone, with races in teeming rain and dry conditions on a daunting circuit. Prior to those Down Under trips, Cooley had never finished an AMA road-race national…

I get it, to some punters, looks, heritage and nostalgia are more important than performance and technology. That’s why the likes of Harley-Davidson and Royal Enfield are still doing well in the sales charts, I guess. To lots of diehard fans, the 2021 Ducati Monster is no longer worthy of carrying the Monster name. The traditional steel-trellis frame that has long been the centrepiece of the Italian firm’s most iconic model’s design is gone. And some Monster fans aren’t happy. Ducati has sold more than 350,000 Monsters since the original model was released in 1993, and it’s the bike credited with saving the floundering Italian manufacturer that has always been defined by its tubular-steel trellis frame housing a laid-forward V-twin. But that can’t be the only reason for the model’s…

As we explode into 2022 it’s increasingly clear that motorcycling is reaching several key turning points that will change the bikes we ride and the way they’re used over the next few years. For a long time, many of the world’s biggest brands have been long on promises but short on action. Their approach to electric bikes is a great example, but that’s finally changing as major bike makers finally realise it’s not enough to make battery-powered concept bikes and vague promises of future production. Finally, we’re seeing some firm promises on when to expect the real, production models, not to mention plans to combat the range anxiety that accompanies the switch to electric power. In the meantime, disruptors like Zero are stretching a lead on the electric tech while…

A CHINESE-MADE V-TWIN CRUISER? FIRMLY ESTABLISHING itself as a kingpin in the process of western brands shifting to new smaller-capacity markets, Qianjiang’s 2022 plans also include manufacturing the smallest capacity Harley-Davidson in decades. Promised for years, the Harley 338R is due to be based, like the MV Agusta Lucky Explorer 5.5, on an existing Qianjiang/Benelli chassis and parallel engine, albeit with tweaked capacity, although the deal between the two companies could well extend to more machines in the future. In particular, QJMotor’s newly-launched 300S – a V-twin cruiser that looks every inch like a miniature Harley Sportster – might well prove a good basis for a future collaboration between the brands. What’s more, Harley has a separate deal in place with Hero Motocorp in India, giving that massive company (reckoned…

BAJAJ ISN’T just a key player for Triumph, as the firm is also the crux of a range of future plans for KTM and Husqvarna including both petrol-powered and electric models. The former, widely expected to be introduced in the form of a ‘490’ range of 500cc twins, has been in the pipeline for years, having first been mooted back in 2018. The pandemic might have been a stumbling block, but the first Bajaj-KTM 490 models are likely to be shown at some stage in 2022, filling a noticeable hole in the company’s range. Bajaj is also partnering with KTM, and sister firm Husqvarna, in an electric bike project based around a common battery-swappable, 48V architecture. The Husqvarna E-Pilen concept, shown earlier this year, previewed the result while simultaneously giving…

STICKING WITH China but looking at a more well-established brand on the worldwide scene, CFMoto has upped its game in 2021 – launching the KTM-based 800MT adventure bike. Its next step looks all the more interesting, as it’s being teased by the SR-C21 concept model. While technical details are scant, even non-existent, the SR-C21’s styling and parallel-twin engine point to a new midsized sports model, potentially rivalling the likes of Yamaha’s R7 or Aprilia’s RS660 and adding more fuel to the idea that parallel twins are set to become the standard for middleweight sportsbikes.…

Imagine shoehorning an engine into the chassis of a modern Indian Chief, replacing its OHV motor with a smaller-capacity yet higher performance powerplant aimed at securing bragging rights over Harley-Davidson. That’s exactly what happened over 70 years ago, when Indian combined with Britain’s illustrious Vincent marque in 1949 to create the one-and-only Vindian prototype. The fact Indian even survived the Great Depression, which left only it and Harley still standing out of the 20-plus American motorcycle manufacturers in 1920, was thanks to wealthy investor E. Paul DuPont, who bought the company in 1929. In his hands, Indian matched Harley for production and profitability throughout the 1930s, with 8883 bikes built in 1939, 500 more than Harley. But after building 42,044 Indian Scouts for use in WWII – 9000 of them…

THE SELL-OUT success of KTM’s super-expensive, rack-only RC8C appears to have inspired an affordable road version. If so it would be KTM’s first out-and-out sportsbike since the demise of the RC8 in 2015. The smaller RC8C was derived from the Kramer GP2 890R, which was developed by ex-KTM engineers around the 889cc LC8c engine from the latest 890 Duke. Limited to just 100 examples, it sold out in less than five minutes despite a $60k price tag. While this prototype has the same bodywork, which replicates KTM’s MotoGP racers, a simpler steel-tube frame and cast-alloy swingarm replace the exotic Kramer chassis. We’ve already spotted this frame and swingarm on prototypes for the next-generation 890 Duke. This suggests the faired model will be launched alongside it, probably for 2023. It’s…

Letter of the issue Bending the rules When I heard that Jack Miller was going to race at The Bend, me and a couple of mates rode over from Melbourne. The Bend is an amazing place, with the feel of a European GP circuit. We walked around to the grandstand between the last two corners. There was a marshal’s post right in front of us but, as the circuit was surrounded by a barrier, the flag marshals couldn’t get onto the circuit. The next day we went to the same grandstand to watch the races. Wayne Maxwell was dominating in the Superbikes. In the first race, a rider highsided in front of us. He lay motionless at the side of the track apart from waving his arm, and the race…

AMONG THE first of those machines is the newly revealed MV Agusta Lucky Explorer 5.5. While the larger-capacity Lucky Explorer 9.5 is a significant machine, debuting the new 930cc version of MV’s three-cylinder engine that will surely spread in future to the Brutale, Turismo Veloce, Superveloce and F3, and simultaneously marking MV’s first attempt at the unstoppable adventure bike market, its smaller Lucky Explorer 5.5 sibling may turn out to be even more important. The first fruit of a tie-in with China’s Qianjiang – owner of Benelli and QJMotor – the bike may be little more than a set of well-cut MV clothes on an existing Chinese-made chassis and engine, but it means there will finally be a truly affordable MV Agusta, and one that can be manufactured in large…

IT’S NOT just Harley that’s tied in with an Indian brand to pad out its range – Triumph’s deal with Bajaj is forging ahead and will see the British brand gaining a range of machines that will target rival Royal Enfield head-on. We may well get the first look at a Bajaj-Triumph in 2022, with the Indian firm understood to have prototypes already on the road. Details are thin on the ground, but the bikes are expected to be from 250cc to 700cc. While Harley’s Hero-made machines might be retained for the Indian market so as not to dilute H-D’s high-end reputation elsewhere, Triumph’s Bajaj-made machines are going to be sold worldwide, with mass production likely to start in 2023. Another middleweight Triumph expected in 2022 is the Tiger 660…

YAMAHA’S MT-09 has been the direct inspiration for another three-cylinder machine that’s expected to take a bow in 2022 – from an unexpected source in the form of China’s Zontes brand. While Zontes only makes single-cylinder bikes at the moment, the firm teased its upcoming triple earlier in 2021, showing finished engine components including cylinders and crankshafts. Two versions have been announced, 650cc and 1000cc, and early sketches show the bike as a sporty naked machine – although Zontes modus operandi means the same chassis and engine will probably appear under a variety of different bodies. The firm is promising high performance, claiming that the 1000cc triple will be the most powerful Chinese-made machine in that capacity class and revealing that it’s using a higher compression ratio than any rival…

HAVING MADE a name for itself as a company that steadfastly refuses to move with the times, Royal Enfield is out to turn that image around – after launching its successful parallel twin Continental GT and Interceptor 650 models the firm’s next target is to create a range of cruisers around the same engine. There’s a none too subtle nod in the direction of the firm’s future machines in the SG650 concept that was shown at EICMA in November. It clearly revealed the production chassis that will be used on the cruiser range, which is eventually expected to include a spectrum of models including bobbers, like the SG650, and more traditional cruiser-style machines. These bikes are already well advanced in the testing process in India, so they’re sure to appear…

The first time I met Remy Gardner was in February, 2011. I was in Australia to do a series of interviews with Aussie racing legends: his dad Wayne, Mick Doohan, Casey Stoner, Troy Bayliss and 1960s 500cc GP winner Jack Ahearn. We arrived at the Gardner residence – perched grandly atop the cliffs overlooking Manly beach in northern Sydney – just as Remy returned from a swimming expedition, with surfboard and speargun in hand. Right away it was obvious – this kid enjoys action. Remy and his dad had recently completed their first season of racing in Europe, commuting back and forth from Australia to take in rounds of the 125 Metrakit Mediterranean championship and a few other races in Spain. Remy, 12 at the time, had finished the series…

DAMIAN FAULDS and Brett Simmonds (Kawasaki ZX-10R) put in a dominant performance to win the annual Michelin Motor Works Two-Hour race at Baskerville Raceway near Hobart in December. However, a giant-killing effort from Matthew Long and Marcus Delaney (Yamaha YZF-R6) brought them home third in the Superbike class and first in the Supersport class. Perfect summer weather greeted riders for the Le Mans-style start. Faulds pulled clear of the pack and quickly found his groove to lead, while a battle ensued between Delaney and Jeremy Huddlestone (Yamaha R1). The first red flag came 19 minutes in after a crash on Turn Six, and soon after Faulds performed a classic Marc Marquez-style save when he tucked the front-end. Most teams changed riders around the halfway mark and, as the race progressed,…