Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol 74 Issue 11 i Australian Motorcycle News

HERE’S ONE from left field! No one expected Suzuki to reinvent its old DR-Z400 range but the S street enduro and SM supermoto get a huge redesign to become the DR-Z4 in 2025. While the essential recipe is familiar – a 398cc liquid-cooled single in a simple, offroad-oriented chassis – the changes are so significant they can return to the European market after 15 years. To meet current pollution laws the engine has been redesigned, dropping power a fraction to 28kW at 8000rpm, while torque peaks at 37Nm and 6500rpm, with a five-speed transmission and assist-and-slip clutch. Electronics now include three riding modes and traction control settings. A new steel frame has an aluminium subframe, with suspension developed individually for both models. The DR-Z4 models retain the low weight that…

ANNIVERSARY LIMITED editions aren’t unusual in motorcycling but Moto Guzzi’s Stelvio Duecento Tributo might be the first that marks the bicentennial of the opening of a road. The road in question is Italy’s Stelvio pass, a popular test route which snakes through the alps and gives the Guzzi Stelvio its name. It opened in 1825 and is famed for its 88 hairpin corners. The Duecento Tributo model gets special paint and is ‘limited’ to a pretty large run of 2758 examples – one for each meter of the Stelvio Pass’s altitude. The bike is also the launch platform for Piaggio’s PFF Rider Assistance Solution system based around radar tech to offer lane change assist, forward collision warning and blind spot warnings, but the same kit can also be had on…

 KTM WILL not directly replace Fabiano Sterlacchini, its Technical Director who left in June. Instead, it will combine the expertise of existing staff in a bid to re-energise its MotoGP program in 2025. “Fabiano was working at home (in the factory) and at the racetrack, trying to do everything,” said Motorsport Director Pit Beirer in Barcelona. “Now we’ll have Sebastian Risse (Project Manager) at the track making decisions with Aki. Then at home we have a very strong team with Kurt Trieb on the engines and Wolfgang Felber on chassis. They’ll take clearer responsibilities. All these names will make decisions and there’ll be no one-man show.”…

AFTER GOING 68 races without claiming a Moto2 victory, Aron Canet (Fantic Kalex) is finally making a habit of finishing on top. Even if Ai Ogura (MSI Boscoscuro) took the title, the Spaniard proved he was the class’s fastest rider in the season’s second half, taking out the top spot for the fourth time. Canet took control and broke clear of Manuel Gonzalez (Gresini Kalex) on lap four, with Ogura and Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Kalex) farther back. Yet as the laps ticked by, Gonzalez made a fight of it, slashing tenths out of Canet’s 1.1s lead, to begin the final lap just 0.2sec behind. Ogura and Moreira’s late rhythm meant they were only 0.9sec away at the end in a finale high on tension. Yet Gonzalez never quite got close…

AUSTRALIA HAS its first ever four-time Superbike champion after Josh Waters produced three solid rides to take out the round and the Mi-Bike Motorcycle Insurance ASBK title at The Bend on November 10. It was his first title in seven years. Waters, competing for the second year on the McMartin Racing Ducati V4R, was pushed all the way by Yamaha Racing Team’s Mike Jones on a grid that was boosted by the return of Desmosport Ducati’s Troy Herfoss. Showing the gains made over the previous 12 months, Anthony West (Addicted to Track – Yamaha) dominated practice but it was Jones who clinched pole position, with Waters and Herfoss with him on the front row. With an extra nine-lap sprint race on the program, riders lined up on Saturday afternoon for…

At the end of 2023, Troy Herfoss was certifiably the best motorcycle racer in Australia. Having battled back from the lows of a devastating injury to climb the mountain again in an epic battle with Mike Jones, he then flipped the script and announced he would be racing in MotoAmerica’s King of the Baggers series for the Indian factory-backed S&S Cycle team in 2024. The response in the paddock was mostly positive and, with Herfoss’s experience and reputation as a tough competitor, expectations were high. Yet, there were questions. Why Baggers? Wasn’t it a novelty class? Why not Superbikes? He doesn’t know any of the tracks. The competition is incredibly tough. By the end of the year Herfoss had answered all these questions and more to clinch the title at…

1 PRECISIONHEAT Link International $599 (07) 3382 5000 linkint.com.au The LA CORSA V5 Digital Tyre Warmer Set is designed for 17” sportsbike and track bike tyres, featuring Hot Rim Technology for prolonged heat retention. With a temperature range of 30-99°C, a removable display, and a 12-month warranty, it ensures optimal performance – and comes with a convenient carry bag for storage. 2 PLEASE HOLD Pro Accessories $129.95 (07) 3277 0675 proaccessories.com.au This Phone Charger and Holder from Pro Accessories offers both wireless and USB-C charging for devices up to 90mm wide. It includes all necessary wiring for motorcycle battery connection, a secure 25mm handlebar ball mount, plus anti-vibration damping. With IP65 rating and easy one-handed operation, it’s perfect for riders. 3 LET’SROLL! Kriega Australia From $245 0409 959 737 kriega.com.au Kriega Rollpacks offer…

With a claimed 220hp (164kW), the 2025 Aprilia RSV4 and RSV4 Factory are now the world’s most powerful standard production bikes – thanks to a power hike achieved via new throttle bodies and a revised exhaust. The RSV4 gets 52mm throttle bodies, up from 48mm, while the catalytic converter is repositioned in a tweaked exhaust system. A wheelie control joins the already-strong set of IMU-controlled rider assists, which the factory says analyse onboard data to anticipate what the bike is about to do next. In effect the bike learns the rider’s style. The Factory model, with its electronic Öhlins suspension, gains GPS-based, corner-by-corner traction control and wheelie control adjustment for track use, letting you pre-set your preferences for each section of a circuit. MotoGP-style winglets are part of a redesign…

BMW may claim its new Concept F 450 GS is still a work in progress but, make no mistake, it will become a showroom F 450 GS late in 2025 and be the start of a whole new model range. It’s a logical route to take as sales of sub-500cc bikes are booming in markets from Europe to Asia, even tempting customers who would previously have bought big boxer GS models. The all-new 450cc parallel twin engine, which puts out 35kW (47hp) and has an unusual firing interval to get a distinctive character of its own, is surely going to power road models as well. We’re going to have to wait before BMW reveals more details of that, and the rest of the bike’s technology, but it’s instantly clear that…

01 ROYAL ENFIELD FLYING FLEA THE OLDEST global motorcycle brand in production has jumped on the EV bandwagon with the all-new C6. And even though 200 engineers have been working on Royal Enfield’s electric Flying Flea sub-brand for the past six years, the approach from the top down is rational, reflective and refreshing. “We’re not betting the entire farm on this, if for some reason it doesn’t work, we’re good – we’ve got the balance sheet (to support it),” Royal Enfield’s head honcho Siddartha Lal told AMCN, adding later that, “we are continually wedded to our lovely petrol bikes”. Extensive market research from would-be electric RE owners has resulted in an electric commuter that blends technology with legacy. “Honestly, we really think we can disrupt the market,” Lal said. 02…

SERIES ORGANISER Dorna was keen to press that MotoGP was ‘racing for Valencia’ after flooding devastated the region in late October, with the final round moved from the Ricardo Tormo Circuit to the Circuit of Barcelona-Catalunya. Riders and teams were pushing to raise funds for relief efforts at an auction in the paddock on Friday, with several high-profile items for sale. Among them was Maverick Vinales’ title-winning Moto3 KTM from 2013, which he donated. “I feel it’s a correct thing to do, especially because the meaning of the bike and also because I won in Valencia,” he said. “And we are always very close to Valencia. When I was a kid, most of the championships were there.”…

A FABULOUS 14. David Alonso (Aspar CFMOTO) ensured this was the most victorious campaign in Grand Prix history (across all classes) by triumphing in another multi-rider fight to win his 14th race of the year, and his seventh in succession. There was an air of inevitability once the 18-year-old had posted the fastest lap with four to go and moved toward the front of a 12-rider lead group. Yes, there were a few nervy moments, not least when he was elbowed wide and back to fifth by Dani Holgado (Tech3 GASGAS) on lap 16 at Turn 4. But he could successfully defend from Holgado after a penultimate lap move at Turn 12 put him out front, even if his pursuer posted the fastest lap the final time around. Angel Piqueras…

SUPERSPORT JONATHAN NAHLOUS has taken his Complete AV Yamaha R6 to a convincing Michelin Supersport title, but it was the Stop and Seal Yamaha of Archie McDonald that picked up the spoils at the final round. Ollie Simpson (Simpson Crash – Yamaha) was the first to strike, taking pole position on his home track and the early lead in race one, with McDonald and his teammate Jack Mahaffy in hot pursuit. The trio put on a show, battling almost too close to the edge at times after McDonald veered into Simpson on the main straight. “I put my hand up for that one. That isn’t normal, not meant to happen,” McDonald said, adding, “If we go down, we go down together and that’s not smart.” McDonald came away with the…

Honda stunned the two-wheeled world at the October 1968 Tokyo Show by revealing its in-line four-cylinder CB750, the first series production Superbike of the modern era. But barely six years later – and five decades ago on September 21, 1974 – the Japanese company unveiled something completely different and almost as significant at Cologne’s IFMA Show: the GL1000 Gold Wing. It was the first in a family of bikes which continues in production today, albeit in six-cylinder 1833cc guise versus the original flat-four 999cc model. More than 650,000 motorcycles later, the Wing continues to be a cornerstone of Honda’s range. Yet initial sales of the GL1000 were frankly underwhelming, with less than 5000 finding American owners in 1975, far fewer than hoped for in the model’s debut year in its…

THE SEASON produced unbelievable highs but also some very challenging times, none worse than when Charlie Hallam was kicked out of the US for visa issues right before the COTA MotoGP round. “My first feeling was that I’d let Troy down,” he said. “My job is to let him feel capable and confident, to be a motorcycle rider. We’d only had one race and we were heading into back-to-back race weekends. It was the most stressful time of my life; I thought my whole world was caving in. When I was stuck there at San Francisco airport waiting to be sent home, I didn’t know what was going to happen, I didn’t know if I would have a job or if I would be unemployable afterwards. It was a bad…

TESTED VOL 73 NO 21 BIKE SPOTLIGHT HONDA CBR1000RR-R SP ENGINE 999.9cc four-cylinder POWER 160kW (214.5hp) @ 14,000rpm TORQUE 113Nm @ 12,000rpm WEIGHT 210kg (kerb, claimed) PRICE $38,996 (ride away) “A huge step forward in performance. Not only quicker but easier to ride fast on track” TESTED VOL 74  NO 07 BIKE SPOTLIGHT BENELLI TRK 702X ENGINE 698cc twin-cylinder POWER 51.5kW (69hp) @ 8000rpm TORQUE 70Nm @ 6000rpm WEIGHT 218kg (dry, claimed) PRICE $13,590 (ride away) “Astonishing bandwidth of abilities, characterful engine, wickedly versatile, fantastic bang for buck” Check out the website for the latest reviews at amcn.com.au…

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… Much like Spain’s Aleix Espargaro, who after nearly two decades of thrilling races has decided to retire, claiming he wants to spend more time at home and less time in the hospital.…

NOT LONG ago the idea that a homegrown Chinese superbike could compete in WorldSBK would have been met with incredulity but CFMoto is planning exactly that and has unveiled both the new V.04 engine that will power the project and a stylised sculpture of the bike that’s intended to house it. The V.04, shown as a cutaway at EICMA, is already a real, running engine that’s been undergoing tests in China for months. The 1000cc V4 puts out 156kW (209hp) at 14,500rpm and 114Nm at 12,500rpm, numbers that put it on a par with the best of today’s European and Japanese superbikes. The bike it will bolt to, previewed as the ‘Master of Speed’ sculpture, features production-likely elements including CFMoto’s signature light set-up, a GP-style nose intake and some of…

DERIVED FROM Aprilia’s racing version that triumphed in the recent Africa Eco Race and Italian Motorally champs, the Tuareg Rally looks set to hit Australian shores around July 2025. Touted as the most specialised Tuareg on the market, this off-road beast features a high front fender, sturdy aluminium skid plate, robust handguards, plus raised seat and handlebar ideal for standing rides. High-strength forged aluminium spoked wheels run with enduro-tuned KYB suspension boasting 240mm of travel. The Rally is powered by an updated engine with off-road mapping and a lightweight SC Project titanium exhaust that brings the entire package down to just 199kg.…

 JACK MILLER was left to reflect on his two years with KTM. The Australian had enjoyed a strong start, scoring a podium in his fourth round aboard the RC16. Yet 2024 never got going, scoring just three top six finishes in both the Sprints and feature races. “I’m disappointed,” he conceded. “Disappointed for everybody. It’s not what we wanted from all parties. I came in here with 25 podiums, was on the podium fighting for the championship the last year in Ducati, and then it hasn’t been what I imagined or envisioned.” Pressed to pick a highlight of his time with KTM, he added, “I think Valencia last year; leading the last race was a nice feeling.”…

ALEIX ESPARGARO conceded he was never among the most gifted riders racing in MotoGP after his farewell to the class in Barcelona. But the Catalan, who racked up 254 premier class starts, felt his application made up for his lack of searing speed. “Hard work beats talent,” he said when asked how he’d like to be remembered. “I believe this is true. I always felt in my career I had less talent than many of my fellow riders. But I soon realised that working very hard, and using all the resources of my team, you can do what you want. “I’d like to be remembered as a rider who never gave up. I’m very proud of my journey. Maybe I wasn’t patient enough but I wouldn’t change many things.” Asked…

MotoGP Round 20 Sprint 12 Laps AUSSIE J MILLER 19 POLE POSITION F BAGNAIA 1m38.641s FASTEST LAP F BAGNAIA 1m39.171s MotoGP Round 20 24 Laps AUSSIE J MILLER 13 POLE POSITION F BAGNAIA 1m38.641s FASTEST LAP M MARQUEZ 1m40.088s STANDINGS AFTER 20 OF 20 ROUNDS 1 J MARTIN 508, 2 F BAGNAIA 496, 3 M MARQUEZ 392, 4 E BASTIANINI 386, 5 B BINDER 217, 6 P ACOSTA 215, 7 M VINALES 190, 8 A MARQUEZ 173, 9 F MORBIDELLI 173, 10 F DI GIANNANTONIO 165, 14 J MILLER 87 Round 20 21 Laps AUSSIE S AGIUS 12 POLE POSITION A CANET 1m42.003s FASTEST LAP S GARCIA 1m43.299s STANDINGS AFTER 20 OF 20 ROUNDS 1 A OGURA 274, 2 A CANET 234, 3 M GONZALES 195, 4 S GARCIA 191,…

LETTER OF THE ISSUE Making a difference Hi gang. Please see, above, my eight-year-old stepson’s entry into this fortnight’s Spot the Difference competition. I’m a regular reader for a mix of plain enjoyment as well as wurk (rhymes with ‘urk’) reasons. There is another reason, though, why I always pick up a copy. The kiddo (Idris is his name) is a high-functioning, specialneeds lad with a complex diagnosis. IQ off the planet. Emotional regulation, however, can be a significant challenge for him. One thing I try and keep up my sleeve as a ‘back-down-to-Earth’ switch is the Spot the Difference page. It’s something where he will often just go, ‘click’ and sit down with me to find the five. That’s how we found this five today. He’s on suspension from…

Dare Jennings is the fertile, creative mind behind two of Australia’s most recognised brands, Deus Ex Machina and Mambo. His love of surfing and motorcycles led to the establishment and ultimate success of both brands. As Dare likes to say, it’s all the same juice. We caught up with Dare at his Camperdown Deus Ex Machina store and sat down for a coffee and a chat. Tell us about Deus; what are the origins of the globally recognised brand? The origins of Deus now stretch back almost 20 years. In the early 2000s, I had another company called Mambo, a surf-style business that used a lot of graphics. I’m passionate about surfing. When I sold Mambo, I looked to my other passion, motorcycles, for inspiration. I grew up with motorbikes…