Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol 71 Issue 23 i Australian Motorcycle News

THERE HAVE BEEN plenty of murmurings recently about the processional nature of the last few MotoGP races. The reason, according to various experts, and several of the racers themselves, can be attributed to Michelin’s front tyre, which is susceptible to overheating and resulting pressure increases as soon as it’s in the slipstream of a preceding bike. This makes it very difficult to overtake when the grid is chock-full of closely matched machines. MotoGP bikes have more downforce than ever before, thanks to more effective aerodynamic packages and various shapeshifters (in the form of front and rear ride-height devices), which is why the Michelin control tyres are struggling to cope. While the racing in MotoGP is closer than it’s ever been, if there is no overtaking then it’s about as exciting…

→MODEL 2018-20 BMW K 1600 →IMPORTER BMW Australia Ltd →NUMBER OF AFFECTED MOTORCYCLES 106 →ISSUE Due to a manufacturer defect, the pivot struts that connect the rear suspension to the frame may break. This could cause the rear of the bike to drop onto the tyre, resulting in heavy deceleration of the rear wheel and instability for the rider. →POTENTIAL HAZARD Loss of control and risk of an accident. →MODEL 2019-21 Indians →IMPORTER Polaris Sales Australia Pty Ltd →NUMBER OF AFFECTED MOTORCYCLES 93 →ISSUE Due to a software issue, the rear turn signal lights may be slightly illuminated when not in use and brightly flash when operating. →POTENTIAL HAZARD The rear turn signal lights are not compliant with Australian vehicle standards.…

Savic in Sydney Aussie start-up Savic has its new C-Series on show at Sydney’s ZEN Motorcycles in Alexandria until 2 June. ZEN stocks a range of high-end sports and retro e-motos. QJMotor e-sport After revealing its first electric sportsbike concept last year, QJMotor has gained type-approval on an updated version for road use. Now called the RX, it weighs 144kg, claims a top speed of 105km/h and the decision to use a conventional transmission, clutch and a chain final drive remains. Ukraine’s e-snipers Ukrainian forces are developing an electric sniper bike that lets soldiers shoot for several minutes then disappear before Russian artillery can respond. The 70kg Atom Military has a top speed of 90km/h, a 150km range and a 150kg payload. Cannonball e-hero Steven Day has set a new…

Access, AMCN, PO Box 6, Bittern, Vic, 3918 access@amcn.com.au Letter of the issue Stromtrooper G’day Deano, you may remember me from some of my previous correspondence like motorcycle clothing – some may say I support nudity (AMCN Vol 71 No 21). These are a couple of snaps of my current journey on the mighty V-Strom 1000XT, which is one of the most underrated motorcycles on the market – the thing hasn’t missed a beat. I left Goulburn in New South Wales on 31 January for a complete circumnavigation of this wide brown land including Tasmania, I’m currently in Townsville in Queensland and I’ll be home on 1 June after a look around central Queensland. Anyway, snap one is Karumba, it’s not bad there. The second pic is the Barkly Highway,…

IN 1992, THERE was a widespread feeling among all teams and manufacturers that it was time to take stock of the previous half-decade of world-level four-stroke racing. No motorcycle currently dominated its own racing category at world level as totally as the Ducati 888, leading to widespread complaints by the four-cylinder faction that the technical dice were loaded against them. So WSBK’s founding fathers established a minimum weight limit of 165kg for four- (and three-) cylinder bikes and 140kg for twins, which could also be of 1000cc capacity against the fours’ 750cc. The basis was laid for a fascinating power struggle between two completely different engineering philosophies – a struggle in which the ultimate winners were streetbike customers around the world, who were able to enjoy its technological fruits. But…

IAN BOYD’S BLACK Lightning drag bike was built at the Vincent factory but never recorded, as the original order had been to build an engine for an open-wheeler car. When that order was cancelled, another buyer requested a complete machine suitable for drag racing. It was built and sent to the US, eventually ending up in Australia. Speedway sidecar ace Tom McQuade heard about it and, always keen to gain an edge on his rivals, bought it and installed the supercharged engine into his outfit. It was raced briefly but the supercharger was unsuitable for this role so it was converted back to a drag racer. It wasn’t unusual for Vincent engines to be exposed to such extreme treatments. Most Australian racers converted them to methanol, with some even experimenting…

New stuff 1 DISTANT THUNDER Whites Powersports $799 (03) 8720 6000 whitesmoto.com.au The FF805C Thunder is LS2’s high-end sport helmet, and features a carbon shell construction in three different sizes. Interior comfort and safety are taken care of by 3D laser cut padding with a removable and washable hypoallergenic liner, emergency release system and a Pinlock ready, optically correct visor. 2 HANDY HEAT Zarkie $359 (03) 9820 0667 zarkie.com.au Komine’s EK-205 heated gloves boast a flexible carbon heating element that warms the back of the fingers and hand. The EK-205s feature three heat settings and are powered by a 7.4v rechargeable battery, and an additional kit that allows you plug into your bike’s power supply is available as an option. 3 SOUND THE ALARM Cassons Australia $104.95 (02) 8882 1900…

ALEIX ESPARGARO IS carefully matter of fact. He’s not thinking about winning the championship, just “enjoying the moment. It might come only once in my career”. Given how long he has had to wait, he doesn’t want to become over-confident about what might prove a fleeting purple patch. But what a moment it is, and how very purple, for the 32-year-old veteran of 288 grand prix starts. Only 36-year-old Andrea Dovizioso is older, and has more – 339. Suddenly, however, one-third of the way into his 19th grand prix season, the Spaniard finds himself a serious championship contender. His first grand prix win is backed by three more podium finishes, more than any other rider this year. So more consistent, as well as faster… Only defending champion Fabio Quartararo has…

THIS RACE WAS thrown into chaos by the briefest of rain showers that arrived on the opening lap. Aspar GASGAS men Sergio Garcia and Izan Guevara, as well as Andrea Migno (Snipers Honda) and Ayumu Sasaki (Max Racing Husqvarna) were among the seven fallers, leading to red flags being shown. The rerun, held over 14 laps, was a corker. Few were willing to push initially on slicks around a track featuring damp patches. A massive lead group quickly formed, which was soon whittled down to five. Dennis Foggia (Leopard Honda) did much of the leading with Jaume Masia (Ajo KTM), Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Honda) and Sasaki never far way. Guevara, meanwhile, recovered from a tepid start to launch a late attack, while an uncharacteristic mistake on the penultimate lap meant…

IN WORLDSSP300 BOTH races were held in the dry and Marc Garcia (Yamaha MS Racing) scored a thrilling Race 1 win over Samuel Di Sora (Leader Team Flembbo Kawasaki). It was Garcia’s second win of 2022 and he used his slipstream and wide-lined passing manoeuvres that took him right to the edge of the asphalt to overhaul Di Sora to win by just 0.041sec. Pole sitter Yuta Okaya beat teammate Victor Steeman (MTM Kawasaki) to third, with a 1.533sec comfort gap back to the usual large chasing pack. The second race was a history maker for Di Sora. Exiled to the back row for a tyre pressure infringement, he made up 30 places to take a unique win, catching the leading group within five laps. Behind him, Inigo Iglesias (SMW…

DURING FRIDAY’S SAFETY Commission meeting, riders expressed concern to Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta over the low salaries in many current MotoGP contracts. Also, the fact that Romano Fenati was fired by his Speed Up team six races into his year-long contract was greeted with unease. Paco Sanchez (pictured), manager of Suzuki’s Joan Mir and Tech3’s Remy Gardner, commented on negotiating terms in the current climate. “Joan will not ride here for zero or for these shit contracts that KTM, Ducati are offering to their riders,” he said. “I know how shit Remy’s contract is and with Joan we will not race for that. Remy accepted, but for me it is unacceptable. “MotoGP racers are the stars of this world. Dorna, the manufacturers, I don’t know; somebody has to pay a…

Did you know? You did not! Lusail International Circuit in Qatar, which is about to get a massive upgrade, made headlines in 2008 when its new floodlights made it the world’s largest lit venue. “DESPITE THE OBVIOUS TYRE MALFUNCTION THAT I HAD AT 197MPH, I HAVE 100 PERCENT FAITH IN DUNLOP” After breaking Ireland’s North West 200 Superbike lap record by over four seconds – which means he now holds lap records at all three major international road races (IoM TT and Ulster GP) – Peter Hickman shrugs off the Dunlop tyre debacle that sidelined him and others from the final race. 3% Good news for Oli Bayliss as WorldSSP Ducati V2 engines were given a threepercent greater throttle opening capability at Estoril compared to the opening two rounds. TOURATECH…

STROKE VICTIM The death knell for the road registrable two-stroke race replica came in 2002 with the discontinuation of the Aprilia RS250. The RS used a worked-over version of the engine from Suzuki’s RGV250, which ceased production back in 1998, making engine supply difficult going forward. Added to that was the looming spectre of Euro 2 emissions rules due to come into effect in April 2003 that effectively made the RS250 illegal in Europe. At $12,793 back in 2002 the 140kg RS250 wasn’t cheap, but if you can find one these days, they are rare, so expect to pay in excess of $15k for a runner. THAT WON’T BUFF OUT No sooner had the ink dried on Colin Edwards’s new contract with Aprilia and the Texas Tornado was out at…

Facebook Post of the issue News of the end of the line for Suzuki’s DR650 prompted a few comments from readers. Instagram Don’t Forget #amcn_mag Comment of the Issue Ben Wrigley was reminded of the times when 500s ruled the world “Awesome, I remember watching Rob McElnea race the Skoal Bandit Suzuki RG500 at Oran Park - Swann Insurance series in, I think, 1986. No match for Wayne Gardner on the Rothmans NSR500. Good days!” 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…

Thirty years ago, Wayne Rainey swept to a third successive world championship, his dayglo-and-white Yamaha YZR500 the current king of the generation of 500cc two-strokes christened ‘the unrideables’. The Californian racer with the surfer-dude looks was on top, in a racing era where courage and determination were at a premium. The following year, 1993, while on course for a classic fourth consecutive title, the beast bit him. A strange crash, which he later explained as “a front-end highside”, sent him looping and tumbling through the gravel at Misano. He didn’t get up. A fractured vertebra left him lucky to survive, but paralysed from the chest down. In the shocking aftermath, while Misano was banned from the calendar for the next 14 years, Wayne spent months in hospital and rehab in…

A SIMPLE ROCK’N song blared out of the old Wharfedale speakers in my home workshop. It was a late autumn afternoon on the fixer-upper farm after another day of hard physical work. No headphones or AirPods for an old-school guy like me. Just dial up the Dual 505 turntable, turn up the volume on the Sonab P-4000 amplifier and let a fat sound reverberate around the big tin shed. No immediate neighbours to worry about lets you live like a former seventies longhair always wanted to live. The song? Should I Stay or Should I Go, from the 1982 The Clash album Combat Rock. Generally agreed by music critics to be “a good rocking song”, but for me the appeal is the plaintive, confused lyrics expressed in a very basic…

CAN THERE BE such a thing as a winner on the right bike, just in the wrong colours? That was the impression given by Ducati bosses on Sunday afternoon in France, as Enea Bastianini (Gresini Ducati) coolly dispatched with factory runner Francesco Bagnaia (Lenovo Ducati) for a third victory of the year, giving the Bologna bosses a headache as contract talks reach a critical phase. The fortunes of the two Italians were in sharp contrast here. In a similar manner to his previous triumphs in Qatar and Austin, Bastianini managed the contest brilliantly, sitting in third behind Bagnaia and Jack Miller (Lenovo Ducati) for 10 laps before a late push took him to the head of the field. It was the kind of mature, measured performance we expected of his…

THREE DIFFERENT RIDERS are sharing the WorldSBK spoils out – unfairly, greedily – between them this year. It’s called racing, and right now almost nobody else except Alvaro Bautista (Aruba Ducati), Jonathan Rea (KRT) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx) can get a look in at the level the top three are producing every other weekend. WorldSBK is very much back in business – show business – as once again the spectacle and racing spirit of production-derived bikes that shimmy and slide at will got tongues wagging and Twitterspats starting. The racing all through was tough and entertaining but the reality is that nobody else got a podium finish at Estoril except those big three, even though some others were in the silverware fights for a while. It looked…

MANAGING DIRECTOR LIN Jarvis revealed Yamaha may only field two machines in the premier class in 2023 with Razlan Razali’s RNF squad heavily linked to a switch to Aprilia machinery. “(RNF) is a new team with a new financial and management structure so we go step-by-step with caution with a year-by-year contract,” Jarvis said. “We have a commitment in June to make the decision. Aprilia’s situation has improved dramatically and Razlan needs an alternative in case Yamaha decides not to continue for whatever reason. “We’d ideally like to extend the contract with RNF for another year. But whether our policy and way to work matches their expectations… I cannot say.” And there are no options for a partnership with a squad beyond RNF? “No. Everybody else has binding contracts already.”…

AT ROUND THREE OF the 12-round WorldSBK championship, it had already been a costly season in terms of rider injuries. In WorldSBK alone, Roberto Tamburini suffered a broken right ankle after crashing on another rider’s oil at a trackday. He missed the Estoril race and was replaced by Marvin Fritz. Michael van der Mark, already carrying a serious right lower leg break, suffered a fracture at the top end of his right femur during a crash on Friday. In FP2 WorldSBK rookie Philipp Ottl crashed his Go Eleven Ducati and broke his right collarbone, he’ll try to be back for his team’s home round at Misano. In WorldSSP Tom Booth-Amos had to leave his comeback Prodina Kawasaki weekend early, as his unexercised lower leg injury was deemed not up to…

AFTER A BREAK of a few weeks, the American Flat Track series continues over the weekend of May 28-29 with a double header to be held at Lexington, Kentucky. Heading in to the ‘Red Mile’, Jared Mees (Indian) leads the standings from Briar Bauman (Indian) and JD Beach (Yamaha), with Aussie Max Whale sitting second in the AFT Singles points behind teammate Kody Kopp. “The big announcement is that we are bringing back Fans Choice TV, so Aussies will be able to watch on set top boxes or devices. We’re also in the process of uploading as much historical content as we possibly can,” said series chief Gene Crouch. The price is expected to be US$7.99 per month or the rest of the season for US$49. Crouch also said series…

Remembering Blake Postponed last year, the annual Ken Blake Memorial Lunch will be held on Thursday 9 June at Laurel Hotel, Ascot Vale, Melbourne from 12.30pm. Mick Cole will be a guest speaker and Blake’s original racebike, the Jesser Triumph, on display. It is 42 years since this great racer died at the Isle of Man TT on 9 June, 1981. All are welcome. Contact Alf Robinson on 0418 377 786. End of year is sale time Keep your eye open for some big savings at your local motorcycle dealer in June. For example, until 30 June Royal Enfield is offering cut-price accessory and apparel kits across its model range. And new Benelli buyers will score a genuine Benelli helmet, jacket and gloves when they order a 502c cruiser. Expect…

BY THE TIME Colin Stewart sailed to London in 1929, his reputation as Australia’s foremost exponent of the broadslide preceded him. Earning up to £50 each meeting (while leading Aussie Rules Football stars were trained and played for £5 a week, the former Geelong Speedway King became an international celebrity to rival established Aussie aces such as Billy Galloway and Buzz Hibberd. Though he’d first raced speedway less than three years previously, Colin had progressed from his own 250cc Blackburne-powered Cotton to a TT Velocette, followed by a sponsored Norton. Then came a four-valve, twin carburettor Indian Prince, which had been modified for American one mile tracks. “It was very fast indeed” Colin recalled many years later. “But a bit of a pig to ride on shorter tracks.” He finally…

On a steamy hot May Monday at Jerez, not much seemed out of place in the Suzuki camp. At a post-race IRTA test, its riders were attempting to work out exactly why their Spanish Grand Prix hadn’t quite gone to plan the previous day. A few things were to be tested, then home for 10 days’ rest before it started all over again in France. Only later in the afternoon did recently appointed Team Manager Livio Suppo and Project Leader Shinichi Sahara learn of a special development from Japan. There was little indication in what was to come. To everyone, including riders and team personnel, it was business as usual. Riders Joan Mir and Alex Rins were readying to sign a contract extension to stay put beyond this year. And…

01 Isle of Man TT, LIVE TT+ 29 MAY-10 JUNE Anytime You can now catch all of the action from the Isle of Man TT live through TT+. Just head to the website at ttplus.iomttraces.com. There’s a heap of awesome free content on there but for all the live racing, you’ll need to subscribe. 02 MotoGP, Rd8 Mugello, LIVE Videopass, Kayo, Foxsports 29 MAY 7pm Jack is on a roll with a fifth and a second in the last two races. Can he take the top spot on the podium at Mugello? Find out live on Videopass, Foxsports or Kayo. Moto3 starts 7pm AEST, Moto2 at 8.20pm and MotoGP at 10pm. 03 MotoGP, Rd9 Catalunya, LIVE Videopass, Kayo, Foxsports 5 JUNE 7pm It’s back-to-back race weekends for the MotoGP circus…

I’M A 39 year-old American and I moved to Australia in 2018. I grew up in a small town in rural Illinois. I work in the mining sector as an engineer at Caterpillar dealing with technology and automation. I’ve been riding with the Motorcycle Sportsmen (club) since mid-2019 and I bought my first trackbike back then, an R6 that I still own. I caught the bug and now can’t let go. I grew up in a very rural area and the closest racetrack was a good three hours away. My parents were very much anti-motorcycle when I was growing up, so I didn’t get to throw a leg over until I was about 18. The riding season is also very short due to the cold winters, so where I lived,…

THIS WAS SUPPOSED to be the race in which Pedro Acosta (Ajo Kalex) announced himself. The reigning Moto3 champion began the year as the bookies’ favourite. Acosta was thrilling viewing here, taking a maiden pole in the class and building an early advantage in the race with Augusto Fernandez (Ajo Kalex) struggling to keep up. The pair streaked clear of a close battle for third, which included Aron Canet (Pons Kalex), Albert Arenas (Aspar Kalex), Alonso Lopez (Speed Up Boscoscuro) – recently drafted in to replace the sacked Romano Fenati – Cameron Beaubier (American Racing Kalex) and Somkiat Chantra (HTA Kalex). By the second lap, the Ajo duo were 1.8sec clear and on the tenth, Acosta was attempting to break his teammate, crossing the line 0.8sec up. But that Moto2…

DOMINIQUE AEGERTER (TEN Kate Yamaha) took pole in WorldSSP, at a record pace, and then after three other riders had a go at leading – Jules Cluzel (GMT94), Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti) and Glenn van Straalen (EAB Yamaha) – the Swiss carved through to take Race 1 by over three seconds from Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros Yamaha). Third place in Race 1 went to Nicolo Bulega (Aruba Ducati). But it was in general not a happy day for the next-generation bikes, with Oncu fourth and only the fifth-placed Federico Caricasulo (Althea Ducati) reaching close to the front. The only two non-600cc fours inside the top 11 places were those two Ducatis. It was very different in WorldSSP Race 2, when the slightly iffy track conditions and the odd droplets of…

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. Even when you ride down to the local primary school to vote. Like democracy, safety should never be taken for granted. Neither should the choice of condiments on your democracy sausage. Have whatever you like. Except for hotdog buns which, on an election day, are the work of the devil!…