Australian Motorcycle News Vol 73 Issue 01

“MATHO TELLS US THAT IN HIS FIRST PROPER JOB HE WAS HAMISH’S COPYBOY. OY. SMALL WORLD, EH?” I WAS up in Queensland riding Suzuki’s fabulous new GSX-8S midsize nakedbike last week when news came through that Triumph had ripped the covers off a new 400cc single-cylinder retro machine that will, like Royal Enfield’s similarly sized single-cylinder retros, be built in India – firstly to cater to that country’s massive and still rapidly growing market before then being shipped off for consumption around the rest of the world. And a good-looking machine it is, too. Under that retro skin lies a thoroughly modern motorcycle with a liquid-cooled 398cc DOHC engine, a slipper and assist clutch, switchable TC, USD fork and monoshock rear-end with an alloy swingarm. Initially there will be two…

It appears the new era of Moto Guzzi will spawn a new range of 1042cc water-cooled V-twins after we spotted an unfinished adventure touring version on test in Europe. We know it’s definitely going to be called the V100 Stelvio, after Piaggio recently trademarked the name, reviving the adventure touring moniker after an eight-year hiatus. From that we can deduce it’s closely related to the sports-touring Mandello, with the two models sharing the same engine and transmission. The exhaust looks identical to the Mandello’s, which is a strong indication that the two bikes will share the same state of tune in terms of power and torque, which is 84.6kW (115hp) at 8700rpm and 105Nm at 6750rpm. While it will most certainly sport the six-axis IMU of the Mandello to afford…

QJMOTOR IS about to launch another inline-four cylinder sportsbike in the form of the SRK800RR. Part of the Qianjiang Group, which owns Benelli, it means this 778cc DOHC machine could get Italian styling to become a Tornado 800 at some stage. Although not officially launched yet, the SRK800RR has emerged in Chinese type-approval paperwork, which shows its performance is certified at 75kW (102hp), with a kerb weight of 207kg including fuel, and a top speed of 220km/h. The SRK800RR’s shares the same bore as Honda’s CBR650 engine, and the chassis is visually similar to the Honda’s, too. The 1450mm wheelbase is identical to the CBR650R’s, and even some minor components like the chain guard appear to be straight from the Honda parts bin. Where the SRK800RR steps clear of the CBR650R…

CHINESE BRAND Zeths has plans to expand into new markets and this – the ZFR500R (below, left) – is the first indication of how it will do it. It’s the 1980s-inspired bodywork that grabs the attention first, with overtones of old endurance racebikes. Behind the circular headlights set in a bullet-nosed fairing, the Zeths’ bodywork is all-enveloping and relatively free of angles. Underneath lies an aluminium beam frame, with an USD fork and a single-sided swingarm, plus Brembo brakes and the inevitable colour TFT dash.. Power comes from a Zeths-made 494cc parallel twin engine rated at 39.6kW (53.8hp), so no superbike performance, – but with a wet weight of 194kg it should be adequate. The Zeths isn’t the only retro-inspired, alloy-framed sportsbike to appear in Chinese type-approvals. The AW500N (below, right), which…

ZONTES IS another of those up-and-coming Chinese brands that is starting to get noticed. With many rivals shifting to parallel-twin engines, Zontes is planning to leapfrog them with a self-developed three-cylinder engine due to appear in a range of bikes later this year. Prototypes of a sportsbike, a roadster and an adventure bike have all been spotted testing the engine, which will appear in a variety of capacities from 650cc to 1000cc. The engine takes design cues from Yamaha’s MT-09 with the cylinders cast as one piece with the upper crankcase rather than being a boltedon part. Zontes says its will have higher-performance than the Yamaha triple, with a 13.5:1 compression ratio and the ability to rev beyond 13,000rpm. Like the MT-09, the Zontes uses a two-piece cast aluminium frame. As…

These new TR-Series singles represent the company’s boldest leap in decades. The first single-cylinder and sub-500cc Triumphs of the John Bloor era they’re aimed not only at introducing a whole new generation of younger riders to the brand but also at the mainstream sections of the vast Asian and Indian markets. In 2017 Triumph announced a tie-in with India’s Bajaj, one of the world’s biggest bike manufacturers, already a stakeholder in KTM’s parent company, and started developing a range that would appeal in both India and the rest of the world. Bajaj has helped with development and production, but the designs are Triumph’s, not rebranded versions of Indian bikes. Triumph Speed 400 THE SPEED 400 is the foundation of the new range and the debut platform for the 398cc TR-Series…