Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol 74 Issue 13 i Australian Motorcycle News

Rarely have we seen such an abrupt reversal of fortunes. As Europe’s largest bikemaker, KTM was riding the crest of a wave a couple of years ago but entered self-administration in November to gain protection from creditors as high investment and borrowing clashed with declining sales. Austrian financial laws gave the company 90 days to get a restructuring plan approved by a majority of its creditors. That plan has now been presented and, according to Austrian journalists, asks creditors to accept 30 percent of what they’re owed, payable within two years, to allow KTM to continue. If they don’t and KTM goes into liquidation, the sale of assets is expected to recover less than 22 percent. Outside investment is key, with three potential saviours identified so far. The first two…

Motorcycle of the Year Hello and a Happy New Year to all the hard-working team there at AMCN. I’ve just received the much-anticipated Yearbook. Surprise, surprise! A $40k+ lump of lard wins ‘Bike Of The Year’. It was always going to be a BMW or a Ducati. My choice would have been the CFMoto or the Royal Enfield Bear. I could have two of each (different colourways) for the money required for the BMW. I could be accused of being a whingeing old geezer (I’m 77 years old) but it’s obvious the changes I’ve seen in bikes since my youth have been immense. I had no choice but to learn to ride without any aids whatsoever and I have no idea what’s going on with the handlebar switches/toggles seen on…

WITH THE 2025 ASBK season only weeks away, Robbie Bolger has announced plans to expand his Stop & Seal team this year, headlined by the signing of ex-YRT Superbike rider Cru Halliday. The move puts three Superbikes in the Stop & Seal stable, with Halliday joining the resurgent Arthur Sissis and young gun Tom Toparis. It’s one of the most ambitious team projects put forward in recent memory, supplemented with three fully supported entries in the Supersport class. Archie McDonald and Jack Mahaffy will return for 2025, with Queenslander Glenn Nelson expected to be announced as the third rider. When asked to reflect on the 2024 season, Bolger was immediately drawn to Mahaffy’s performances to close the year out. “The dark horse for 2025 is Mahaffy,” he told AMCN. “If Archie…

LOCAL MITCH Rees has taken out the popular New Zealand Suzuki Suzt International Series after afte: visiting Isle of Man TT heroes here Peter Hickman and Davey Davi Todd crashed out. The Tl three-round series, which whi1 featured Adventure bike racing as a support class, came alive in Round Two atM Manfeild when Hickman and Todd lost vital points in separate crashes. Ten TE days later, drizzle on Whanganui’s V famous Cemetery Circuit had all competitors anxious. However, Ho½ the track dried out and local father-son duo Tony and Mitch Rees dominated the Boxing Baxi Day classic. Mitch M won the Formula One/Superbike title for the fourth SupE time in a row (it was cancelled due to Covid in 2021), with Tony second followed by Todd and Hickman. Mitch backed that…

I will never forget experiencing cornering ABS for the very first time. It was a decade ago on the skidpan at Sydney Motorsport Park on a BMW S 1000 RR and it was groundbreaking. I accelerated up the side of the pad, shut the throttle off, then tipped the bike into what was essentially a quick U-turn before going against every instinct in my body and reefing on the front brake. To both my and the assembled group of onlookers’ amazement, the bike remained composed and on-line while slowing predictably. It was revolutionary at the time – and expensive – but it was technology reserved for top-level superbikes and high-end adventure machines. Now, a decade later, I’m ripping through Lake Eildon National Park 100 kays northeast of Melbourne on the…

Quite possibly the best kept secret in the entire world of classic motorcycling is an event that takes place every two years, is restricted to just 120 riders and their machines (which must have been built before 1970), encompasses 10 days of riding and covers some 2400km over near-deserted but well-paved roads, through some of the most scenic and diverse countryside on the planet. It used to be held every three years, given that the organisers arrange it all in their spare time. But ‘due to popular demand’, as they say, their recovery time was cut back to two years from the 2020 event onwards. This little-known landmark event is so consistently well supported that all 120 places for its seventh staging were filled within 41 minutes of online registration…

Have you ever heard about an upcoming junior race meeting – be it speedway, dirt track or long track – and decided not to attend because “it was only juniors”? I have watched, and been announcer at, plenty of junior meetings over the past two decades and I believe that fans who avoid junior meetings are missing out on two counts. While everyone loves watching those who are racing at the elite level and riding the fastest machines, junior competition has much to offer. Sure, the races are slower because they feature smaller-capacity machines but the various age brackets of junior classes inevitably provide close competition that should satisfy any onlookers. More than that, though, is the important question: Who are these riders? And where will they be in say…

There’s no dressing it up: 2024 was a slog for Honda, MotoGP’s most successful manufacturer. It finished fifth in the Constructor’s Championship while Johann Zarco, its highest placed rider, ended the year 17th overall. But changes are on the horizon. As well as expanding its test team to three riders, HRC signed Romano Albesiano, formerly of Aprilia, as its new Technical Director. AMCN sat down with Honda Factory Team Manager Alberto Puig to find out more. How would you assess the 2024 season? We cannot deny that it was really, really bad. The only thing a company like Honda can do when this situation happens is to keep on trying. And this is what we’re doing. We never give up. We’re still looking for solutions. In terms of results, it…

With its first riders WorldSBK title under its belt, sales success for the S 1000 RR and M 1000 RR, and rumours swirling about a future entry to MotoGP, BMW is well on its way to becoming a performance market leader alongside the likes of Ducati. We’ve got our hands on some inside info on new aero tech being developed and can also reveal two bold new models that are on their way to our showrooms. Let’s start with the aero tech, which uses internal ducting to allow smaller, sleeker bodywork rather than the outrageous wings seen on the 2025 S 1000 RR and M 1000 RR we showed in October. Recently we’ve seen a particular focus on aerodynamics from BMW – both with the production M 1000 RR and…

After replacing the 955cc Superquadro in the new-generation Panigale V2 and Streetfighter V2 models, Ducati’s new 890cc V-twin engine is superseding the 937cc Testastretta 11° twin – starting with the all new 2025 Multistrada V2. It’s clearly part of a rationalisation that will see the new 890cc engine – simply called the ‘V2’ – become Ducati’s sole V-twin apart from the 803cc aircooled twin in the Scrambler. We expect other Testastretta-equipped models like the Hypermotard 950 and DesertX will make the switch to the new V2. The new engine nearly matches the Testastretta it replaces. Power peaks at 85kW (114hp) instead of 83kW but needs substantially more revs to get there – 10,750rpm rather than 9000rpm. Torque is down slightly from 96Nm to 92.1Nm and peaks at 8250rpm instead of…

KTM IS JUST part of the wider Pierer Mobility AG group, which also holds brands including Husqvarna and Gas Gas and suspension maker WP, as well a 50.1 percent stake in MV Agusta, 50 percent of design agency KISKA and an array of subsidiaries within those brands. Inevitably, there’s discussion as to which brands should be retained, and already it seems that MV Agusta is back on the market. Being largely independent of KTM in terms of the components it uses, it could be sold relatively easily. Husqvarna and Gas Gas’s machines are deeply connected to the KTM model range, sharing engines and chassis parts, so those brands would be much more difficult to split. European sources say the insolvency administrator wants KTM to with draw from MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3,…

REIGNING AUSSIE Post-Classic champion Beau Beaton will take on America’s best in the NASCAR-style Super Hooligan championship on a specially-prepared 1600cc Irving Vincent V-twin, with the 100 per cent Aussie-built bike debuting at the midseason Laguna Seca round in California on 11-13 July. He will be up against reigning champion Harley-Davidson’s Cory West. Indian’s Tyler O’Hara finished second in 2024 with teammate Aussie Troy Herfoss fourth. Beaton’s spectacular riding aboard the 1300cc Irving Vincent over several years of Phillip Island’s International Challenge should translate well to the US series. The Irving Vincent team will go head-to-head with the factory-backed Indian and Harley-Davidson Super Hooligan teams and their liquid-cooled multi-valve V-twin racebikes with an air-cooled motorcycle with just two valves per cylinder operated by pushrods. But they’ve already been there, done…

BSB’S JOSH BROOKES joined Mike Jones and Glenn Allerton at a weather-threatened Motul Summer Night Series double-header at Sydney Motorsport Park on 11 January. In a night of red flag chaos, Jones (Yamaha Racing Team) drew first blood in the Pirelli Unlimited F1 class and ended up with two victories for the evening after battling with Allerton (Superbike Advocates Racing - Ducati) and Brookes (DAO Honda). This was the first race meeting for Allerton on the Ducati V4 R, having made his much-publicised switch from BMW during the off-season. Two-time British Superbike champion Brookes picked up one victory, acclimatising to the Fireblade after spending two years with the FHO Racing BMW Motorrad outfit. The top four lapped within a few tenths of one another and also included 2024 ASBK Supersport…

“Rummaging through a dimly lit corner of the archives dungeon, the cover headline of issue 55-09 practically jumped out and bit me. I remembered this one hitting the newsstands, knowing it would be a good seller. I parked myself on the wooden crate containing Wootton’s testicle clamp and began flicking through the pages. “Issue 9 means it’s a November issue, and Volume 55 places it in 2005. Back then, the Bali Nine case dominated the news headlines. Their case gripped the nation and led to significant public outcry. “The Howard government was pushing its controversial WorkChoices legislation, which sparked national protests. The public backlash was strong. “In sports, the Socceroos had clinched a spot in the 2006 FIFA World Cup after a historic win over Uruguay. Australia triumphed in a…

"THERE IS ONE KIND OF CRASH – FALLEN RIDERS HIT BY OTHER BIKES – WHEN ONLY LUCK DETERMINES THE OUTCOME" LET’S START BY stating the obvious. Any grand prix season that ends without any serious injuries merits a sigh of relief. Thankfully, that means most of them – thanks to the active safety of ever-improving rider gear and the passive safety of Dorna’s insistence that circuits are sufficiently safe, in terms of run-off, protected barriers, and so on. Thankfully again, 2024 was one such season. Motorcycle racing is intrinsically dangerous and surviving intact is a matter of getting away with it, time and time again. Because there is one kind of crash – fallen riders hit by other bikes – when only luck determines the outcome. MotoGP came close twice…

TESTED/VOL 73 NO 13 BIKE SPOTLIGHT TRIUMPH SCRAMBLER 1200 X ENGINE 1200cc parallel twin POWER 66.2kW (89hp) @ 7000rpm TORQUE 110Nm @ 4250rpm WEIGHT 228kg (kerb, claimed) PRICE $22,600 (ride away) “Shorter suspension travel and a lower seat make the 1200 X far less intimidating than before” TESTED/VOL 74 NO 11 BIKE SPOTLIGHT MOTO GUZZI STELVIO ENGINE 1042cc V-twin POWER 84.6kW (113.5hp) @ 8700rpm TORQUE 105Nm @ 6750rpm WEIGHT 246kg (kerb, claimed) PRICE $32,890 (ride away) “Grunty, hot-rod V-twin, cutting-edge radar tech, terrific ride, handling and comfort” Check out the website for the latest reviews at amcn.com.au…

FINALLY, BMW is making the cafe racer it’s been promising for a decade. It pays homage to the glory days of the 1970s when stars like Reg Pridmore, Steve McLaughlin (who went on to establish WorldSBK) and Gary Fisher took on American Superbike racing while Helmut Dahne won the 1976 Isle of Man TT 1000cc Production class. It’s been a long road that dates back to 2013 – even before BMW launched the first-generation R nineT retro bike. It first teased with American custom king Roland Sands’ Concept Ninety, which channeled the R 90 S of 1973. Then everything went quiet despite more than a decade of R nineT production and developoment. Now that changes with the launch of the R 12 S, based on the R 12 nineT that…

HONDA’S GB350 is a successful attempt to grab a slice of the affordable retro market established by the likes of Royal Enfield’s 350 range – and now a bigger GB500 seems certain after Honda applied for trademark rights to the name. The GB500 title has been used before, last seen at the dawn of the 1990s when the GB500TT – a single-cylinder cafe racer launched back in 1985 – disappeared from sale. Looking back, that bike, with an engine derived from the company’s SOHC, air-cooled XR off-road models, seems ahead of its time, with a retro style that would look right at home next to bikes like the current GB350. There are two potential routes Honda could take to power a new GB500. The easiest might be to adopt the ubiquitous…

A HECTIC FEW WEEKS for speedway saw history made in the WA Solo Championship at Pinjar Park with the youngest ever champion in Mitchell McDiarmid, who beat defending champ Luke Killen in the final, with two Queenslanders – Jacob Hook and Cordell Rogerson, who did a 45-hour drive across the country to get there – chasing home the two locals. McDiarmid is a former Australian Under 16 250cc champion and had his first meetings as a senior in the Polish Under 24 League competition late in 2024. The final of the South Australian Championship at Gillman had to be re-run without defending champion Justin Sedgmen, who reared up and brought down young Brit Sam Hagon. In the re-run, NSW rider Mitchell Cluff got the better of local third-generation rider Fraser Bowes.…

BOB MACLEAN, who came to prominence with his WCM Red Bull Yamaha Grand Prix team in the late 1990s and early 2000s, has died aged 87. The American former racer founded World Championship Motorsports in 1991 and it operated until 2005, straddling the two-stroke/four-stroke change in MotoGP. His founding partner, ex-pat New Zealander Peter Clifford, paid tribute to MacLean, saying “he enabled us to do fantastic things as WCM, becoming the best privateer 500cc team”. Those years saw a roll call of rising Australian and New Zealand stars compete against the big-budget factory teams with WCM. Names include Aussies Troy Corser, Garry McCoy, Peter Goddard, Kirk McCarthy and Mark Willis, as well as Kiwis Simon Crafer and Andrew Stroud. Other prominent riders included Brits Niall Mackenzie and Neil Hodgson. Behind…

When it comes to choosing a Husqvarna, you’re spoilt for choice these days, thanks to the KTM-owned manufacturer’s habit of providing not just one but two variants of each new model. Should you opt for a single-cylinder 125 or 401, or this, the all-new twin-cylinder 801, you get a brace of options: Vitpilen or Svartpilen. Essentially the same bike but in different clothes and with a subtly different attitude to life, it’s a proven recipe that has served Husqvarna well for the last decade. And so it is that the new Vitpilen 801 now follows on from the Svartpilen 801 launched in the summer to complete the doubleact of 799cc twins. While the Svartpilen arrived in showrooms wearing traditional Svart scrambler styling, the 2025 Vit drifts away somewhat from its…

MotoGP had never seen domination like last season in three quarters of a century. Ducati didn’t win every grand prix in 2024 (like Honda in 1997, with its wondrous NSR500, and MV Agusta in 1968 and 1970, when the Italian marque had zero factory opposition), but Ducati won 19 of 20 GPs and filled 53 of the year’s 60 podium places! How is this possible at a time when MotoGP’s technical regulations are written specifically to equalise the grid in the hope of creating crowd-pleasing crowd-] racing? Because Becai Ducati introduced new technologies that transformed MotoGP, most notably downforce aerodynamics and ride-height devices. And once you’re ahead of the pack with new tech, it’s very difficult for your rivals to catch cater up. “When I worked with Ross Brawn in…

“FROM A LIFETIME OF EXPERIENCE, I KNOW THAT MIRACLES CAN HAPPEN. YOU JUST HAVE TO PERSIST” THE KING farted and died. No, this isn’t an Elvis/Las Vegas thing, just an easy 500k chug to Uralla to spend a couple of days riding with the old mates. Having just come back from a week in Tassie two up on “The Appliance” GS, I figured some Harley-style soul would be nice. Not much point owning a shed full of bikes if you don’t mix and match a bit, eh? Or is that just justification for not being able to get my bike life sorted? To being stuck in the past, lugging around the ghosts of a lifetime’s motorcycling instead of moving with the times? Now I wasn’t bloody moving at all. Okay, scenario…