Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol 74 Issue 02 i Australian Motorcycle News

“NO MORE CRINKED NECK, SORE WRISTS OR ACHING KNEES, EVEN AFTER A FULL DAY IN THE SADDLE” IN THE last issue of AMCN I wrote about the pleasure of riding old analogue sportsbikes with no electronic rider aids to distract or detract from the experience, yet in this issue we feature two high-tech ‘digital’ bikes that are so good I would be happy to have either of them permanently housed in my shed. The thing I love about the Suzuki GSX-S1000GX and the Yamaha Tracer 9 GT+ is that they both offer sports-bike-like performance but combined with genuine all-day-long touring comfort. This versatility is achieved thanks to their comfortable ergonomics, high-end hardware and clever electronic packages, the latter allowing riders to quickly and easily change engine and chassis performance at…

ROYAL ENFIELD’S days as a niche manufacturer of 1950s throwbacks are fast disappearing and the Guerrilla 450 is another leap forward. It has slotted the engine from the Himalayan 450 into a modern roadster to compete with bikes such as the Triumph Speed 400, KTM 390 Duke and Husqvarna Vitpilen 401. The Guerrilla had been previously teased by RE’s two biggest bosses, with MD Siddartha Lal and CEO B. Govindarajan posting pictures of themselves with the new bike on Instagram. The day prior to this issue hitting newsstands, the bike was officially unveiled at a global launch in Barcelona (right). Here are the main technical details. Power comes from the 452cc single cylinder that breaks with Enfield tradition by adopting liquid cooling and a double overhead camshaft design, making it…

YAMAHA HAS filed several patents in recent months relating to an electric motocross bike it’s developing and the latest reveals ideas for a simulated clutch using a bar-mounted lever to give riders another layer of familiar control. While Yamaha’s TY-E electric trials bike does use a mechanical clutch and a flywheel to give the low-speed control trials riders need, the ’crosser won’t, and Yamaha has developed a torsion damper to fit between the motor and the single-speed transmission. This torsion damper softens transitions between on-power and off-power. Thanks to springs between its input and output sides it can also be used as an energy store to give a brief boost of extra thrust to help get a holeshot. The latest patent shows that, despite not having a clutch, it will…

WHILE THE TRACER 9’s 890cc inline triple is no match for the GX’s 999cc inline four, it’s still a willing and potent engine that is well suited to the sports-touring role thanks to a tractable bottom end, a strong midrange and decent top-end punch with claimed peak output of 87.5kW (117hp) at 10,000rpm. Oh, and it has such a tasty induction howl you’ll just want to rev it hard every chance you get. As well as selectable ride modes, the Tracer 9 offers adjustable suspension modes, one firming up the damping for sporty riding and the other backing it off for comfortable touring; easy to do and effective. On bumpy roads the Tracer 9 doesn’t quite match the GX for compliance – it has less suspension travel – but when…

“IF SOMEBODY IS on a bike that is faster than yours and it’s within the rules and they beat you, then sometimes that’s just the way it is and you have to accept that. But there have been times when I’ve been on a slower bike and I’ve won – and that feels amazing! “It’s a very difficult subject because sometimes creating a level playing field defeats the purpose of going racing. Racing is supposed to be about who has the best equipment, who is the best rider and who can bring that package together in the best way possible. Sometimes when you have a guy who is the better rider but not on the best bike – or vice versa – that can produce the most interesting racing. So…

RACING WHAT, WHERE & WHEN RIDE DAYS & SCHOOLS Phillip Island Ride Days / 0490 281 840 Phillip Island, Vic Sydney Motorsport Park Ride Days / 0490 281 840 SMSP, NSW Murray Valley Training Co 0459 415 787 Barnawartha North, Vic Champion’s Ride Days (07) 3287 4144 Broadford, Vic Collie Motorplex, WA Morgan Park, Qld The Bend, SA Trakdayz 0401 484 898 Wanneroo, WA California Superbike School / 1300 793 423 Phillip Island, Vic SMSP, NSW Broadford, Vic Morgan Park Qld Mount Gambier MCC Coaching / Ride Days 0448 951 163 Mac Park, SA Ride-Tek MTA 1300 788 382 Sandown, Vic Ridedays WA (08) 9409 1002 Wanneroo, WA  Collie, WA Top Rider 1300 131 362 Various venues, Qld Phoenix MCC Junior Coaching 0403 386 788 Tailem Bend, SA Mallala, SA…

TWO YEARS is a long time in motorsport. Back in 2022 Pecco Bagnaia (Lenovo Ducati) left Germany in a pit of despair having thrown away a victory challenge at the Sachsenring’s notoriously tight Turn 1. Twenty-four months on and the Italian’s sworn enemy, Jorge Martin, (Pramac Ducati) was forced to contemplate his own shortcomings after the almightiest of blunders. If anything, Martin’s mistake was more egregious than Bagnaia’s from the past. The Spaniard had managed the round to perfection until then, claiming pole position, comfortably winning the Sprint and leading Sunday’s outing with a degree of control before he tipped off at low speed with just two laps to go. Of course, it was Bagnaia who was on hand to pick up the pieces. Out-thought by Martin in the Sprint,…

BEFORE THE WorldSBK paddock even arrived at Donington, it looked like Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad) was going to be the toughest nut to crack and this proved to be the case. He was fastest in combined practices on Friday, then set a new Superpole pace that heavily scarified the old track best. His 1m24.629s was the only time under 1m25s mark, and 0.573sec up on the next quickest rider, Nicolo Bulega (Aruba Ducati). The one relatively low point for Razgatlioglu was when Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha) took the best lap in FP3 (1m25.823s) just before Superpole qualifying started. Scott Redding (Bonovo Action BMW) was third in Superpole and converted that into early podium pace in Race 1. Alex Lowes (KRT) was pinged for exceeding track limits in Superpole…

YAMAHA RACING Team’s Mike Jones has prevailed for a clean sweep in the mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship at Morgan Park, but not without drama and a superb challenge from Desmosport Ducati’s Broc Pearson. Qualifying turned into carnage when Max Stauffer (Penrite Racing Yamaha) hit the air fence at the fast turn three, bringing out the red flags. Soon after, Friday’s fastest man Glenn Allerton (GT Racing BMW) did the same, causing the session to be halted prematurely with Pearson reaping the rewards of banking an early hot lap for pole. Pearson then capitalised with a great start to the opener, only to be shuffled back by the wounded Stauffer and Jones. Looming in fourth was the McMartin Racing Ducati of Josh Waters, the championship leader no doubt aware of…

MARC MARQUEZ will change crew chief for a second time in as many years when he moves to the Ducati factory team in 2025. The eight-time champ will work with Marco Rigamonti, who is currently Enea Bastianini’s crew chief. “When you move to a team, a winning team and to a crew that is working in a good way is something that you have to respect,” he said. “And when I did the move to Ducati, I only really asked for one person with full confidence, that is Javi Ortiz, that is the one that followed me to Gresini. “Of course, I’m feeling super good with the Gresini team, but also I felt super good with Honda and with the team of all my life. But I’m arriving in a…

FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO has indicated he is edging toward renewing his contract with VR46 Ducati despite increased interest from Pramac Yamaha to lead its new venture in 2025. The Italian revealed he was considering those two options, plus a back-up option, on Thursday before the German round, when he was sitting next to Fabio Quartararo in the press conference, with the Frenchman pushing him to join the Yamaha operation. AMCN understands he’s negotiating the use of a GP25 inside VR46, an outcome that has opened up with the defection of Prima Pramac to Yamaha. But on the Friday he said, “Plan A is for sure to continue this project. But in case we don’t have this opportunity, for many reasons, in case we don’t have the right project with this…

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… and regardless of the six visible ciggie logos in the above pic, as Yul Brynner said, “Don’t smoke. Whatever you do, just don’t smoke.”…

A new design registration from Royal Enfield’s parent company depicts an electric bike derived from an unreleased concept model the company created back in 2022. While Royal Enfield went public with a prototype for an electric version of the Himalayan last year, 12 months before that in November 2022 leaked photos emerged showing a glimpse of an electric retro model wearing the name ‘Electrik01’. The new design registration that’s been published in Indian government documents appears to match the Electrik01’s design language and shapes but includes aspects that hint it could be destined for production. The overall shape of the bike has a neo-retro style, with a lightweight, single-seat design that suggests it’s a low-performance model, perhaps equivalent to a 125cc petrol bike. Important for Royal Enfield is the retro…

The modern motorcyclist could be forgiven for feeling a tad confused about recent developments in market segmentation. No longer are we asked to choose between pure sport, touring and adventure bikes because so many do a bit of everything, and often do all these things very well. There are sportsbikes that are all-day comfortable, touring bikes that can tear up the track, and many adventure bikes that can – and do – both. It stands to reason that new categories are being created by marketing departments to reflect this versatility. The new GSX-S1000GX is one such bike, which Suzuki calls a ‘Supreme Sport Crossover’. This is, we are told, a model with “super-bike-level performance, confidence-inspiring controllability, optimised comfort, functionality, connectivity and attention to detail” combined with a “comfortable upright riding…

“I’VE GOT REALLY strong thoughts on this. With the Mectronik issue, MA failed to follow their own process. I see the same thing happening with the Ducati issue because there is no process in place to performance balance. If there was a prescribed process in place, then I’d have no problem following it – but we don’t have that. I also feel there is a distinct lack of respect from our organisers for the money being contributed by teams. “ In this case, for MA to change rules at a whim shows a lack of respect for the Stop & Seal investment. Do they change things at the end of the year? Well, that’s what they should do. I don’t feel the organisers have the capacity to effectively manage their…

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EIGHT MONTHS ago and Moto2 was consistently the dullest race of the day. Not any more, as the new Pirelli era served up a corker once more with Fermin Aldeguer (Speed Up Boscoscuro) making up for his misdemeanours of the previous week by taking a much-needed second win of the year. This was a duel more reminiscent of Moto3 in the first half as Aldeguer fought it out with pole sitter Celestino Vietti (Ajo Kalex), Tony Arbolino (Marc VDS Kalex), impressive rookie Senna Agius (InatctGP Kalex) and Jake Dixon. Positions changed continually in the first 14 laps. But Aldeguer made the decisive move on lap 15, passing Arbolino for the lead. The Italian had a huge rear slide, which sent him off track three laps on, allowing Vietti and Dixon…

ADRIAN HUERTAS (Aruba Ducati) romped away to win his fifth Saturday race of 2024, ending up over four seconds ahead of his closest rival. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Ducati) got the holeshot in the first but one lap later Huertas was back in front and eased away at lap record pace. Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate) finished second with Montella third. A four-rider accident on lap two stopped the second race, which was restarted over 12 laps, not 19. Huertas and Montella fought it out but this time Montella crossed the line first, after another great battle of the top Ducatis. He lost his ‘win’ to Huertas, however, after straying onto the green paint at T9 on the last lap. Third place went to the ever-improving Navarro, who started…

JONATHAN NAHLOUS held on for a tight round win to extend his lead in the Supersport championship, but it wasn’t without drama after Luca Durning inadvertently dropped oil on the track after a crash at Turn 1. With his engine case cracked, nobody noticed oil leaking until he had completed another lap. Chaos ensued with early leader Tom Bramich (Apex Yamaha) hitting the deck the hardest, destroying his bike and bruising his ribs. Behind him more fell including the Stop & Seal trio of Tom Toparis, Jack Mahaffy and Glenn Nelson as well as Olly Simpson (Simpson Crash Yamaha). After a lengthy delay, the field was allowed to restart. Toparis and Nahlous seized the moment to build an early buffer with McDonald over two seconds behind. Toparis looked to be…

AUSTRALIA STUMBLED at the final hurdle of the 2024 FIM Speedway of Nations, losing out to Great Britain in Manchester, England on 13 July. Two semi-finals were staged earlier in the week where seven countries raced for a top-three finish to join the seeded host nation in the final. All meetings were on a pairs format using a 4,3,2,0, scoring system. The two bests-coring teams in each semi automatically progressed to the final with the next two having a race-off to determine the last qualifier. In the first semi, Sweden (38), Poland (37) and Germany (33) all progressed with well-balanced teams while Finland, Italy, France and Ukraine all relied on one rider for the bulk of their points. In the second semi Denmark (40) and Australia (34 - Jack Holder…

THE HONDA Motocompo has become an iconic 1980s machine despite being a sales flop, and a new patent shows Honda is reconsidering the idea of including a motorcycle in the boot of its future cars – but with a hybrid twist. Honda has recently revisited the Motocompo idea of a tiny, folding motorcycle that can be packed into a car as last-mile transport, introducing the Motocompacto in the US as a modern, electric equivalent. Sold only in car dealerships and requiring no licence as it falls under the same rules as power-assisted bicycles, the Motocompacto has been a runaway success with dealers struggling to keep up with demand. But Honda’s latest patent shows a variation on the idea. The patent illustrates the original Motocompo – unlikely to be truly representative…

THE RELEASE of Ducati’s new Panigale V2 Superquadro Final Edition gives the first indication that the days of its V-twin sportsbikes may be coming to an end. Officially, Ducati says that the new model, which will be made in a limited edition of 550 examples and reach Aussie dealers later this year with a ride-away price of $38,300, marks the final chapter in the history of the Superquadro twin-cylinder engine that debuted in 2011 with the introduction of the 1199 Panigale. Since then it’s grown to 1285cc for the 1299 Panigale and shrunk to 898cc for the 899 Panigale, and it ends its life in 955cc form in the Panigale V2. The Superquadro name lives on in the Superquadro Mono single, used on the new Hypermotard 698 Mono, but the V-twin…

Role playing I refer to Deano’s comments in Ed’s desk AMCN Vol 73 No 25: “EV’s might be on the way, but ICE ain’t dead yet!” So I’m 62 had lots of performance bikes and cars and I have finally jumped to an EV car; sustainable, climate aware, clean energy but a little naughty this one. You see, its an MG4 XPower and it hooks up 0-100km/h in 3.8 seconds. My latest bike is a loud and proud Harley Sportster 1250 S – how opposite are these vehicles? Yet they’re both exciting and fun. Oh, and functional… My point is that electric bikes are at a stage of infancy compared to the cars – range compromised, charging and, to be honest, in most cases they still look like science projects,…

Okay, I admit it. I wasn’t exactly frothing at the mouth when I picked up the Tracer 9 GT+ sports-tourer. I mean, I knew that its lower-spec sibling, the GT, was a good thing, but the excitement factor still wasn’t all that high. It was explained to me that the additional kit that makes the top-spec Tracer special includes (for the first time on a Yamaha) adaptive cruise control (ACC), a new seven-inch TFT display, redesigned height-adjustable seat and revised third-generation quickshifter, as well as something known as a radar-linked Unified Brake System (UBS). All stuff I’d experienced before on far more exotic machinery. Surely the Yamaha would be disappointing in comparison… but first up, let’s talk first impressions. Styling-wise, the GT+ leaves me a bit cold. I know it’s…

In November 2022, MV Agusta and Pierer Mobility AG – KTM’s parent company – reached an agreement that the Austrian giant would acquire a 25.1 percent stake in the famous Italian brand. As well as a capital increase of $A48 million, KTM took charge of purchasing all components needed to manufacture the MV range, as well as responsibility for marketing, distribution and after-sales service on a global basis. Last October a call option was granted to KTM AG to acquire a majority stake in MV Agusta, which it exercised on 15 March this year – two years earlier than envisaged. It bought a further 25 percent of the shares to take outright a 50.1 percent control of MV Agusta for an unrevealed amount of cash. Hubert Trunkenpolz, 62, a long-time…

“I THINK WHAT’S happened with the Mectronik issue is no one’s fault, really. Maybe more development and research needs to be done in the preseason – but that’s difficult in itself; that takes time, money and people. “Performance balancing is one of those things that you might always be chasing a correct answer for, it’s that tricky. With the Mectronik situation, I can see why Robbie did it and if I was in his position I would have done the same thing. But it does make it hard for the mum-and-dad teams that don’t have that kind of budget. “I wasn’t really aware we could even run that ECU. We didn’t look that closely into the rules. As for a performance advantage, over one lap you would barely notice anything…

COME AT THE king, you best not miss. Just as it appeared he may have the upper hand on title rival David Alonso (Aspar CFMoto), Collin Veijer (IntactGP Husqvarna) fluffed his lines, crashing out of the lead, while the Colombian went on to post an emphatic sixth success of the year. It had been a messy weekend in the junior category, as 13 of the grid’s 26 riders entered the race with either a single or double long-lap penalty, or pitlane start. Veiijer’s tactics were clear: break away from pole position and establish an early lead. But the Dutchman tucked the front at Turn 11 on just the second lap. By lap four, Alonso had assumed control but wasn’t having it easy with Taiyo Furusato (HTA Honda) and Jose Antonio…

ANA CARRASCO (Evan Bros Racing Yamaha Team) won the qualifying war in Superpole on Friday, ending up over half a second clear of Maria Herrera (Klint Forward Factory Team). Saturday’s 12-lap Race 1 saw Carrasco win a thriller from two other Spanish riders, Beatriz Neila (Ampito/Pata Prometeon Yamaha) and Sara Sanchez (511 Terra&Vita Racing Team). Herrera was fourth, despite being a convincing leader for several laps, but she addressed this issue with even greater conviction on the Sunday. In Race 2, the Spanish Armada regrouped to fight out a dry race under the characteristic grey skies. Herrera got revenge by beating Carrasco in a close-fought duel. Sanchez was third. Aussie Tayla Relph was a strong sixth on her TAYCO Motorsport R7, after riding with the leading Spanish riders for some time in…

THE AMERICAN Flat Track championship took to the first mile track of the season at DuQuoin, Illinois, with Indian Motorcycle’s Jared Mees emerging the winner out of a SuperTwins pack of four. Mees and the chasing pack of Dallas Daniels (Estenson Yamaha), Brandon Price (Yamaha) and Briar Bauman (Rick Ware Racing KTM 790) were in a class of their own, finishing five seconds ahead of fifth-placed Davis Fisher (Indian). “I knew going out there if I could string my corners together good and create some separation, if I could just hit my marks and build a gap, we were in with a chance. That’s exactly what we did,” Mees said afterwards. Aussie Max Whale made his return to competition on the Latus Motors Harley-Davidson XG750R after several weeks on the…

RIDERS UNITE MORGAN PARK definitely delivered some terrific on-track moments in every class, but there were some dark moments – particularly the Superbike qualifying crashes. We’ve been told the circuit will receive ‘major upgrades’ in the next 12 months, but we’re not quite sure what that entails. All these happenings have prompted a section of the paddock to move to form a riders alliance to improve communication with MA, so riders and teams get a greater say in things like rules and when and where they race. After all of the Supersport ECU saga, you’d probably be expecting fireworks between the Nahlous and Stop & Seal camps at Morgan Park. There was a little bit of tension at the beginning of the weekend, but basically zero animosity and a desire…