Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol 73 Issue 24 i Australian Motorcycle News

“A ROADSTER PACKING A STONKING 2.0-LITRE BOXER TWIN THAT LOOKS SET TO BECOME A REALITY” IT’S BEEN a hectic first half of the year with so many new motorcycles hitting the market so far in 2024. As well as new-bike launches – both domestic and international – we have been busy conducting Quick Spins, performing full tests and trying to squeeze in a few shootouts. The new models have covered the full gamut of the motorcycling landscape, from a 180cc scooter to a 2300cc muscle cruiser, from a commuter to a highway hauler, and just about every capacity and genre in between. And there are no signs of a slowdown when it comes to new bikes, with manufacturers from Europe, the US, Japan, India and China all getting in on…

It’s probably been since the GFC that manufacturers started pushing out as many models from the one R&D spend as they can and Royal Enfield, like plenty of others these days, is very good at it. Once it was a faired version and a naked version from the same base; these days it makes better economical sense to appeal to the broadest customer base as possible. So, in the case of Royal Enfield’s 650cc parallel-twin range, that platform currently consists of a nakedbike, a cafe racer, a cruiser, this latest bobber and, in the not-too-distant future, a chrome-laden Classic and all-new scrambler. And there’s probably even more in the pipeline. But the thing Royal Enfield has the ability to do, maybe better than any other manufacturer, is to give each…

Heading into the 2024 Isle of Man TT, Michael Dunlop sat second in the all-time list for TT successes with 25 wins, having registered his first in 2009 in the Supersport class. Along the way, he not only became the first rider to lap the 37.73-mile Mountain Course in under 17 minutes in setting an outright lap record on his BMW Superbike in the 2016 Senior TT, but had the fastest lap of 135.531mph (218.116km/h) to his name. And, while the 35-year-old will be battling hard with Peter Hickman, Dean Harrison, Davey Todd et al on the latest Honda Fireblade in the big-bike categories this week, his success on the Paton S1-R, an Italian-built bike with a Japanese engine on which he’s so far won three Lightweight TT races in…

IN THE MEDIUM term at least, there’s little prospect that the combustion engine will be disappearing from production or the roads. Battery-powered electric motorcycles have shown, so far, that they’re well suited to smaller, lower-performance, shorter-range roles, and – despite plenty of attempts – there’s little indication that any company is about to launch an electric motorcycle that will have a ‘Tesla effect’ on the market and become an instant, convincing alternative to a petrol-powered machine. The established end of the motorcycle industry, whether it’s the Japanese ‘big four’ or Europeans like Ducati, Piaggio and BMW, are still pushing the boundaries of combustion engine development and working towards ideas like synthetic fuels or hydrogen power alongside their work on electric models. Hedging their bets? Maybe. But more logically they’re embracing…

“THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SERIAL SUCCESS AND ALSO-RAN DESPAIR IS A HAIR’S BREADTH” BEYOND ALL the tears and hugging, there was something revealing about Aleix Espargaro’s retirement love-in at the Barcelona GP. It was about close margins. We’ve seen it with the motorcycles, in tenths and hundredths of seconds, but Aleix’s long walk to stardom reveals how the same is true between riders. The difference between serial success and also-ran despair is a hair’s breadth. It took more than 300 races, 19 years and more than 10 different teams, in every grand prix variation except Moto3, for Aleix Espargaro to achieve the full respect of fans and rivals… 284 starts before his first win in any class, in Argentina in 2022. He remained a serious title contender for most of that…

IT WAS AS though the silly season was injected with amphetamines at Mugello. The buzz around the rider market intensified in the lead-up to Round 7 when sections of the Italian media reported Ducati had decided on championship leader Jorge Martin to be its factory rider next year over Marc Marquez in the wake of his second place in Barcelona. “For sure the deal is not done,” said Martin in Mugello. “It was a first contact and I think it went well. It’s with my manager now. I think it’s going the way that we want, which is important. My job is to ride so I will try to be really focused. On Monday, Tuesday after the race, we will have time to speak and let’s see what happens.” The…

KEEN TO make up for his crash in the opening round, Sam Clarke (Suzuki GSX-R1000) has bounced back big-time at Round 2 of the WA State Road Racing Championships held at Collie Motorplex on Sunday 19 May. Clarke was on pole for the opening Superbike race. He grabbed the holeshot and was never headed for the eight-lap bout. Ben Stronach (Yamaha YZF-R1) and Bronson Pickett (Yamaha YZF-R1) had a race-long duel for the remaining podium places, with Pickett eventually securing second ahead of Stronach and Adam Senior (Yamaha YSF-R1). Stronach leads the championship with 83 points, Clarke moves into second (75) ahead of Senior (73) and Jack Langley (Yamaha YZF-R1 – 68). A racing incident in the Supersport race, the fourth event in the 18-race schedule, required a rider to…

Well done on Australian Flat Track Nationals being granted official Australian championship status. That’s a huge achievement going into your third year. To be rewarded by becoming a national championship feels good and it was something we were working towards. It feels like there is a real change sweeping in and Motorcycling Australia has been big a supporter of this type of racing. Everybody seemed to enjoy the series in the last two years; there’s a lot of laps in it and everyone is having fun. It also seems to be a good way of going racing without breaking the bank? Don’t get me wrong, every form of motorsport is expensive and if there’s a way to go faster, someone will spend the money to do that. That’s always going…

BMW has a special code when it comes to show bikes – when they’re called ‘Vision’ then they’re pure design dreams but when they carry the name ‘Concept’ that means they’re heading for showrooms. So expect to see something very similar to the new BMW R 20 Concept on the road sooner rather than later. What is it? Quite simply it’s the biggest motorcycle engine that BMW has ever made, shoehorned into a retro-styled chassis that’s barely larger than the svelte R 12 nineT’s. The result is a model with proportions that hover somewhere between perfection and caricature, certain to attract attention at every turn. The engine is, of course, based on the 1802cc air-cooled boxer twin from the R 18, but as the R 20’s name suggests it’s been…

When Ducati launched its ‘Next Gen’ Scrambler range in 2022 there were two glaring omissions: the off-road-styled Desert Sled and the nose-cowled Café Racer. Now they look set to be revived after Ducati showed two concepts at a London custom bike show, perfectly filling the gaps they left in the Scrambler line-up. While the old Café Racer was simply a scrambler with wire wheels, a tiny nose cowl, side number boards and a hump-like cover over the pillion seat, the concept, dubbed CR24I, looks more like a 1970s race replica than a traditional 60s café racer. A fixed front fairing is added, for a start, and the fairing cleverly melds into the fuel tank without changing any major components. Alloy wheels rather than wires emphasise the more modern approach, and…

While it’s a very good problem to have, the middleweight adventure bike market is a buyer’s dilemma. With offerings from KTM, Husqvarna, Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Triumph, Ducati, Aprilia, CFMoto and MV Augusta, the decision will come down to your budget, needs or, possibly, brand loyalty. BMW needs no introduction to either the adventure scene or the mid-capacity class for that matter as its F 800 GS and the more recent F 850 GS have proved to be both reliable and capable all rounders for riders of all walks of life. My dad rode an early F 800 GS halfway around the world, predominately solo through some of the most remote and harsh terrain imaginable. And he did so with zero mechanical failure. A couple of years back I was assigned…

Despite prolific success both on track and in showrooms, Honda pulled the plug on the CBR600RR in Europe in 2017. A maturing and fast-changing market allied to tightening emissions regulations made the decision relatively easy for the Japanese manufacturer, but sportsbike fans from Madrid to Melbourne were gutted because the CBR was a fantastic bike. A highly evolved, mass-centralised RC213V for the masses; a pocket rocket that oozed HRC thinking and quality. By 2021, however, there was hope on the horizon when Honda reintroduced the 600cc inline four to the Japanese market, and bikes started to appear in racing – notably in WorldSSP and on the roads at the Isle of Man TT. And now Honda has reintroduced it, with this MY24 model set to land in Australia in the…

FOR FOUR DECADES, Giuseppe Pattoni – aka ‘Peppino’ – dedicated his life to constructing the distinctive green Paton racebikes. But it was only after his death in 1999 that Giuseppe’s dream of seeing his bikes become serial race winners finally came true. This happened after son Roberto, now 64 years old, dusted off the designs for the eight-valve version of the 500 Bicilindrica in order to resume manufacture of further examples of it for classic racing. The first of the 34 examples constructed to date was built in 2004, and is now the weapon of choice at the highest level of classic racing worldwide. It was repeatedly victorious in the Classic TT in the Isle of Man in six out of the seven pre-Covid years from 2013 to 2019, most…

RACING WHAT, WHERE & WHEN ROAD RACING AUSTRALIAN SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP Rd4 12-14 Jul, Morgan Park Raceway, Qld Rd5 7-8 Sep, Phillip Island GP Circuit, Vic Rd6 4-6 Oct, One Raceway, NSW Rd7 8-10 Nov, Shell V-Power Motorsport Park, SA BLU CRU OCEANIA JUNIOR CUP Rd3 12-14 Jul, Morgan Park Raceway, Qld Rd4 4-6 Oct, One Raceway, NSW Rd5 TBA Rd6 8-10 Nov, Shell V-Power Motorsport Park, SA AUSTRALIAN SIDECAR CHAMPIONSHIP Rd3 6-7 Jul, Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW Rd4 15-16 Sep, Phillip Island, Vic INAUGURAL SOUTHERN CROSS CHALLENGE CUP 6-7 July, Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW SOUTHERN CLASSIC 9-10 Nov, Broadford, Vic AUSTRALIAN HISTORIC ROAD RACE CHAMPS 15-17 Nov, One Raceway, NSW NATIONAL BEARS CHALLENGE Rd3 6-7 Jul, SMSP, NSW Rd4 14-15 Sep, Phillip Island, Vic Rd5 12-13 Oct, SMSP, NSW (provisional)…

“SMALLER, LIGHTER, DOES EVERYTHING, ANYWHERE AND JUST PLAIN FUN TO RIDE” TOUGH ASK, KEL. “We need a column by Friday. Are you okay with that?” Normally? No problem. Sit down at the computer and write. Just like building a brick wall. Chuck down some bricks. Keep going. It’s like that for people who’ve made a living out of writing. The best writers can construct entire worlds from their imagination but everyone starts the same way. Chuck down some words and keep going. This is sounding like the legendary Mr Smith. Pete once wrote a thousand words on why he didn’t have time to write a column. It kicked off with him explaining his week, all the things he’d done and how long each had taken. Being Smithy it was hilarious,…

HOME IS WHERE the heart is. That much is true for Pecco Bagnaia (Lenovo Ducati) and the Ducati factory after both produced a whitewash at their home Grand Prix to banish all thought that any rival manufacturer is even close to placing a glove on them. Bagnaia was beaten to pole position by Jorge Martin (Pramac Ducati) on Saturday morning. But aside from that, he was close to faultless, asserting the kind of relentless control over affairs that is quickly becoming his trademark. Ducati’s other charges could never get close enough to lay a glove. Most of the talk coming into Round 7 centred around the engaging fight between Martin and Marc Marquez (Gresini) to become Bagnaia’s teammate in factory red next year. Almost to the extent the current No…

IT TOOK 24 years, but Michael Dunlop has become the first person to draw alongside his late uncle Joey Dunlop and match his record of 26 wins at the Isle of Man TT. The historic win came in the curtain-raising opening Supersport race of the 2024 Isle of Man TT. His victory was far from a foregone conclusion leading into the race even though 11 of Dunlop’s TT wins at the iconic event had been in his preferred Supersport category. The rival who pushed Dunlop all the way and who was on form all qualifying week was Davey Todd (Powertoolmate Ducati), who is considered a star of the future. He put in an impressive showing given he only made his TT debut in 2018 and was riding the unknown Ducati…

THERE WERE plenty of Aussies in action at the second round of the Spanish Superbike Championship held at Valencia over 1-2 June. In Supersport, Harry Khouri had an encouraging weekend, qualifying in ninth and finishing the first race in fourth. Riding a Yamaha YZF-R6 for Andotrans Team Torrento, Khouri backed that up with seventh in Race 2 and said he was happy with the progress made. “A few mistakes on the opening lap caused me to lose position and while my pace was faster than yesterday, I just couldn’t match the riders in front to improve my position,” Khouri said. South Australian Cameron Rende picked up a 9-10 result while Taiyo Aksu (Arco Sash), Jonathan Nahlous (MRE Talent), Jack Favelle (PS Racing) and Declan Van Rosmalen (IUM Motorsports) all lined…

SLOVAK STAR Martin Vaculik joined an illustrious group of riders when he won the Speedway GP of Czech Republic in Prague on 1 June – his third victory at the longest running venue to host an SGP round. Vaculik joins three triple world champions in Jason Crump, Nicki Pedersen and Tai Woffinden as a three-time Prague winner. While he has yet to go ‘all the way’ in the championship, winning at the venue where he watched the sport as a child is still special to him. After 20 heats Vaculik had dropped only one point when beaten by Bartosz Zmarzlik, who in turn lost out only to Auseies Max Fricke and Jack Holder. Fricke impressed in his SGP return after replacing Jason Doyle, who is out of the series after…

The evolution of KTM’s range involves the adaptation of its first variable valve timing and lift system – a Shiftcam-style set-up that’s similar to a design used for several years on Audi car engines. We’ve got spy pics of the latest engine on test in two upcoming models. Every few years each KTM model gets a performance and capacity hike represented by a designation that jumps by 100. Now the latest Super Duke is a ‘1390’ and it doesn’t take a genius to predict KTM’s other big twins will adopt the same engine. That’s exactly what we can see in these spy photos, which show the upcoming 1390 Super Adventure alongside a more extreme off-road-oriented machine that might go under the name 1390 Rally. Our spies also caught an early-stage…

“A weird feeling of numbness – I knew this wasn't right” After a promising start to the season, former world champ Jason Doyle will miss the remainder of the 2024 Speedway Grand Prix series after suffering four broken ribs, a lung contusion, a torn rotator cuff and two snapped tendons during a British Premiership match at King’s Lynn on 23 May. The Aussie tangled with another rider on the opening lap of his first ride, crashed over the safety fence and landed on concrete. Here’s to a speedy recovery… INDIA OUT, KAZAKHSTAN IN The 2024 Indian Grand Prix slated for 22 September has been replaced by the Kazakhstan GP, which was postponed in June due to flooding in the region. The postponement of this year’s Indian GP was, according to…

It wasn’t so long ago that it would have been unthinkable to conduct a direct comparison of a motorcycle from the Land of the Rising Sun with another forged in the furnaces of the Red Dragon. The gulf in quality between Japanese and Chinese machinery was just too great. Well, those days are mostly over, with China now producing high-quality, well-priced motorcycles that can compete on the world stage. After living with the CFMoto 450SR in our long-term garage for several months, we decided it would be a formidable competitor for Kawasaki’s new Ninja 500. The old guard versus the new it may be in terms of the Aussie market, but CFMoto is a 35-year-old company that has an annual production capacity of more than 600,000 units – so it’s…

THE NEW HONDA CBR600RR made its racing debut at Navarra, Spain, for the opening round of the 2024 British Supersport Championship. Honda Racing UK re-entered the championship for the first time since 2013 with an official factory entry in the hands of Jack Kennedy. The former British champion qualified fourth on the bike’s debut. Race 1 ended with a credible third position, followed by a fifth in Race 2. Honda is also planning to campaign the Supersport class at the upcoming Isle of Man TT and North West 200. The same bike will now be in the hands of three-time TT winner Dean Harrison.…

The surprising worldwide decline in electric motorcycle sales after years of sustained growth has left the world’s motorcycle manufacturers on the horns of a dilemma. Should they continue to pour R&D dollars into the development of EVs that might not appeal to real-world customers or pursue alternative means to achieve similar environmental goals? Both electric motorcycles and electric cars appear to have hit a sales glitch at the moment, with take-up dropping in many countries after long periods of steady growth. Whether it’s down to a lack of engagement from mainstream manufacturers, hitting a saturation point where the desires of early-adopters have been satiated but the broader market is still sceptical, or something more prosaic like the reduction or elimination of government subsidies on EVs in many countries, the fact…

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“I DIDN’T GET A LOT OF EXPOSURE TO COMPETITION AT A NATIONAL LEVEL” AFTER A STRONG ProMX round at Maitland I’ve come away leading the MX1 points, but as I write this we’ve got a very busy couple of weeks now with the Manjimup 15000 and the King of the Sands at Wanneroo Park. These races are not only a good chance to fill the gaps in between ProMX rounds, I also get to visit my mum and dad. I grew up in Perth but my family didn’t move here until I was about 10 years old. Mum and Dad were both born in South Africa and we all moved to England when I was about six years old. They weren’t liking South Africa so much; it’s not the safest…

THE FASTEST man ever to lap the Isle of Man’s Mountain Course, Peter Hickman had a relatively quiet opening week of the TT as he battled with the injured hand that forced him out of the Donington round of the British Superbike Championship. He had a relatively quiet start to the six-lap Superbike TT, too. The opening lap set up a battle between Michael Dunlop (Hawk Racing Honda) and Davey Todd on his Milwaukee BMW as the pair exchanged fastest sectors. At the line at the end of the opening lap, it was Todd who had put 2.254sec between himself at the 26-time TT winner with an average speed of 134.4mph from a standing start, with Dean Harrison just half a second behind and over two seconds clear of Hickman…

ONE RIDER CERTAIN of a place on a grand prix grid next year is Joel Kelso. The 20-year-old made a surprise announcement in Italy that he’ll join the Angelus MTA KTM squad in the Moto3 class, with whom he competed in the Italian Championship after moving to Europe from Australia. “I’m really excited to join MTA,” Kelso told AMCN. “It’s a great environment and I really get on well with Alessando Tonucci, the team manager. We’re going to get on well so I’m excited. I think it’s a step in the right direction and can provide a good year for us next year. The plan is to move up to Moto2 (in 2026), which I think I’ll be more suited to, because I’m faster when I’m running alone. At the moment…

$35K THE LEGACY of the late Warren Monson continues to live on through large donations to charities in his honour. Last month a presentation was made to the two charities nominated by Monson who were to benefit from the originally planned testimonial meeting that turned in to a memorial meeting after his death at a drag racing event. After all the proceeds were finalised the Full Noize Racing team handed over two cheques, each for $17,600, to Mildura children’s charity Chaillis and Angel Flight. The significant contribution to these two charities comes after that memorable night at the Warren Monson Memorial Meeting honouring a legend of motorcycle speedway racing and the money raised has gone into good hands – just the way Wazza would have wanted it.…