Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol 75 Issue 2 i Australian Motorcycle News

We’ve been expecting Suzuki to launch more models based on the GSX-8S’s 776cc parallel twin but despite rumours of a GSX-8GT sports tourer, the company has opted to add a pair of retro roadsters to the range instead. The GSX-8T and GSX-8TT are closely-related siblings, both mechanically identical to the GSX-8S but trading that bike’s razor-sharp 21st-century styling for 1970s-inspired shapes and colours, evoking bikes like the GS1000S. Both add all-new bodywork, including a larger 16.5-litre fuel tank instead of the 8S’s 14-litre unit, new side panels, tails and a retro face dominated by a circular LED headlight. The GSX-8TT gets a sportier edge by surrounding that lamp with nose fairing and a low screen, while the GSX-8T takes a naked approach, but aside from their colour options and a…

ELECTRIC MOTORCYCLES haven’t hit the mainstream yet but there’s a feeling of inevitability about the technology: as soon as lighter, faster-charging and more energydense batteries become widely available to bring performance parity with ICE bikes, we could see a rapid shift towards electric. Honda clearly isn’t sleeping on electric power. As well as launching battery-powered scooters like the CUV e: and promising an upcoming motorcycle based on last year’s EV Fun Concept, it’s filed patent applications depicting a Fire blade style electric superbike. Honda isn’t without experience in this field. It backed the Mugen Shinden project that competed at the Isle of Man TT Zero races. There are distinct similarities between the new Honda design and the last generation of the Mugen electric racer, which took a one-two finish the…

THERE ARE Sunday cruises. And there are Marc Marquez (Lenovo Ducati) wins at the Sachsenring. While just nine of his pursuers managed to finish behind, the eighttime champ took a fourth straight double victory in commanding fashion without ever getting close to his limits. In his 200th MotoGP start, Marquez dismantled the challenge of Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati) with alarming ease early on, stretching out his lead anytime the Italian had the temerity to attempt to close in. By the flag he was more than six seconds clear as he moved ahead of Giacomo Agostini to second in the premier class winner’s list. The Catalan’s glaring superiority was clear from Friday afternoon. Knowing Saturday would be wet, he decided against a second time attack at the close of Practice,…

FOUR AUSTRALIANS are competing at the upcoming Suzuka 8 Hours on 1-3 August, with Yamaha and Honda putting huge resources into winning this round of the FIM Endurance World Cup. Jack Miller and Jason O’Halloran are riding for two official Yamaha teams, while Josh Brookes joins a leading Honda team and Max Stauffer is back with the Yamaha outfit he raced with last year. O’Halloran will race for the YART team, Yamaha’s official EWC entry, which came second last year. He joins two of last year’s riders, Karel Hanika and Marvin Fritz. Yamaha is also pinning its hopes on Miller, who is in the Yamaha Racing Team that includes 8 Hour veteran Katsuyuki Nakasuga and WorldSBK racer Andrea Locatelli. Nakasuga played an integral part in Yamaha’s four consecutive victories (2015-2018),…

For the past 23 years, the first weekend in August has been the weekend for scream’n tyres of fire in the centre of NSW. The Yellow Mountain Cross Country is back again, on 2-3 August. In a format similar to Finke, riders race flatout for around 230km between Tottenham and Condobolin before camping the night in preparation for the return trip the following day. Each year, the start/finish location is alternated and 2025 is the year for Condobolin to host. A huge thanks goes out to all the landowners who give permission for the race to come through their private properties. This allows unregistered bikes to enter the event, so head over to yellowmountaincrosscountry.com.au or the Yellow Mountain Facebook page for more information. Entries fill up pretty fast and are capped,…

Just months after the stellar launch of the Speed Triple 1200RS, Triumph was back at Portimao circuit in Portugal with a surprise: the limitededition, track-focused RX. Only 1200 of these bright yellow beasts will be available globally. The RX builds on the 133kW (180hp) RS but arrives racier, with lower clip-on ‘bars, higher rearsets, a striking Akrapovic silencer and an Öhlins electronic steering damper to match the EC3 semi-active suspension from the RS. Add in some carbon fibre and a new seat, and it’s yours for $34,490 – $3000 more than the RS. TRACK TIME Back in March, we tested the RS in less-than-ideal conditions (Vol 74 No.19), but the Smart EC-3 Öhlins suspension stood out for its versatility. This time, with sun overhead and fewer media on site, we…

Back in the sportsbike-mad 1990s, when we were all a bit younger and still learning the ropes, the odd crash was regarded as little more than part of the learning process. Trouble was, a replacement fairing for a binned Suzuki GSX-R750 or Honda CBR600 was hugely expensive for under-insured idiots like me and my mates. Instead, we did what thousands of others did: fitted higher, wider ‘bars; longer brake lines and, maybe, ‘treated’ the tank and tail unit to a rattle-can paint job to hide the scratches. We didn’t know it then, but this was the origin of the streetfighter class. Over the decades, manufacturers picked up on and followed this trend by producing naked versions of their sportsbikes. But instead of simply removing the fairing, adding onepiece ‘bars and…

Jorge Martin confirmed his latest bombshell before taking to the track at Brno: the reigning MotoGP world champion will remain at Aprilia in 2026, despite stating the contrary less than two months ago. For a rider who has barely even competed this season, he sure knows how to hog the headlines. Brno was the scene of Martin’s second comeback from injury in a troubled title defence. It was also where he spoke publicly for the first time since it became known clause within his current contract that would allow him to leave Aprilia a year early in 2026. Opening up on his reasons behind wanting to leave the Italian factory, the 27-year-old pointed to the impression that Aprilia’s progress was stalling. Preseason tests in Barcelona and especially Malaysia, where he…

RACING WHAT, WHERE & WHEN RIDE DAYS & SCHOOLS Phillip Island Ride Days / 0490 281 840 Phillip Island, Vic 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 RALLIES & SHOWS 22-24 AUG The 2nd edition of…

Triumph tapped into a rich seam when it launched the Speed 400 and Scrambler 400 X singles for its 2024 model range and immediately reaped the rewards with record global sales for the British brand, so it’s inevitable that more smallcapacity models will join the range. This is the next of them: the 2026 Scrambler 400 XC. To get a handle on how much impact the success of the 398cc single-cylinder models had, you only need to look at the bare numbers. In 2024, Triumph sold more than 100,000 bikes in 12 months for the first time in its 122-year history, and not just by small margin. In fact, some 134,636 Triumphs rolled out of showrooms, a 64 per cent increase over the 84,985 sold in 2023 and well over…

CFMOTO’s 500SR Voom is undeniably one of the Chinese brand’s most interesting models and Australia is among the few countries outside its homeland where the bike is available – but new design registrations in China hint that a sportier version of the model is currently under development. The detailed images clearly show that the basis is unchanged, with the existing 58kW (78hp) four-cylinder, 499cc engine and steel trellis chassis, and no visible updates to the suspension or the bulk of the bodywork. What’s new, though, is a set of aerodynamic add-ons aimed at letting it slice through the air more efficiently. At the front, the brakes – conventionally exposed on the standard version of the 500SR – are wrapped in all-enclosing cowls, with a front intake to scoop cooling air to…

The sports-touring Yamaha Tracer 7 twin was updated for 2025 with new tech and styling but Yamaha left us baffled by not including the option of the Y-AMT automated manual transmission that’s already available on the MT-07 naked bike that the Tracer is based on. Yamaha’s Y-AMT is literally an automated version of its normal six-speed gearbox, with actuators to engage the clutch and shift the gears at the command of the bike’s on-board computer or the rider at the touch of ‘barmounted shift controls. It debuted on the MT-09 triple and the Tracer 9 GT that uses the same powertrain, as well as appearing on the twincylinder MT-07. Since the transmission seems so wellsuited to a sports-touring application, it was surprising to see that Yamaha didn’t include the option…

See our TT round coverage on page 32, and Tarzy’s column on page 102 ‘TRUNK’ LOADED He must be doing something right! Hubert Trunkenpolz, 62, a longtime member of Pierer Mobility management, which has suffered financial turmoil, has been confirmed as Chairman of the MV Agusta Board of Directors by owner Timur Sardarov. 16 With four of the 25 starters at the Donington Park round of the FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship coming from Australia and New Zealand, that meant 16 per cent of the grid was from Down Under. Cool! GIVING SAM WINGS Two-time Dakar Rally champion Sam Sunderland has teamed with Red Bull and Triumph in a world record riding attempt. In September he will try to make the fastest circumnavigation of the world on a motorcycle.…

THE HOT streak continues. Marc Marquez (Lenovo Ducati) ensured his rivals would have plenty to think about over the upcoming threeweek summer break after scoring a fifth straight double victory in flawless fashion to all but wrap up his ninth world title by July. However, the long-awaited return of word champion Jorge Martin, problems with Ducati’s bikes and a resurgence by Aprilia and KTM overshadowed a memorable weekend. Marquez had dominated affairs at the Sachsenring the previous week. Yet the fabulous Brno circuit, back on the calendar for the first time in five years, was a different matter. With a new track surface offering near unprecedented grip, this was a step into the unknown. For once, it appeared Ducati wasn’t the usual all-seeing, all-conquering force. Without years of relevant data to…

THIS WAS always going to be a weird weekend. Just five riders had ridden here in Moto2 before. Rain on Friday limited dry running. And three teams tested here three weeks prior, ensuring certain riders had an advantage. Joe Roberts’ ART Kalex team was the only one to test here for two days after the Dutch TT. Little wonder he was the pacesetter all weekend. Still, the manner in which he kept Barry Baltus (Fantic Kalex) at arm’s length all race long signalled he is back after a slow injury recovery. The pair nearly came together off the line as pole sitter Baltus slid and cut across the American, demoting him to third with Manuel Gonzalez (IntactGP Kalex) also in the victory fight early on. Yet the championship leader settled…

THE AUSSIE Flat Track Nationals (AFTN) series is set to launch its fourth season at Maryborough, Queensland, over 26-27 July and will stick with the successful formula of having the first day of competition on the oval track followed by a switch to the TT course for the second day, with both forming separate rounds. The series has grown hugely in popularity and standing since its inception and now holds official Australian championship status. Last year’s premier class Pro 450 champion, Tom Herrick from West Wyalong, is primed to defend his title following a season that included several tense battles with Sunshine Coast star Jarred Brook. The title fight went down to the final race of the year at Gunnedah, with the winning margin a mere nine points. The pair looks…

TWO WEEKS after proving that he could win a Speedway Grand Prix round, Brady Kurtz showed that it was not a fluke as he made it back-to-back wins by claiming the Virkvarn FIM Speedway GP of Sweden at Malilla on 5 July. Kurtz went through the heats as top scorer on 13 (four wins and a third in a re-run heat where he had led at the first attempt). He was joined by another Australian, Jason Doyle on 12 (three wins, a second and a third) going direct to the final. From the Last Chance Qualifiers, the winners were Bartosz Zmarzlik and Daniel Bewley, who had both scored 11 points from their heats. Jack Holder (eight points in the heats from two wins, then two thirds and a last) was one…

This year marks 80 since Aprilia was established in the northern Italian town of Noale, and 40 years since it began roadracing. Within two decades the brand was a force to be reckoned with on the street and in a variety of motorsport disciplines. Halfway through this MotoGP season, Aprilia sits second to Ducati in the Constructors Championship so it’s timely to take a closer historic look at this innovative brand. BICYCLES FIRST Although the Aprilia brand dates back to 1945, Ivano Beggio, the son of founder Cavalier Alberto Beggio, is responsible for turning it into a motorcycle company. Alberto had started manufacturing bicycles soon after World War II as Italy’s manufacturing industries were being reborn out of the wartime devastation. Quality was his trademark and he wanted that to…

An Italian chief engineer at Honda Racing Corporation would have been inconceivable just a few years ago, but Romano Albesiano is the man it’s chosen to get Honda back to the front of MotoGP and design its all-new 850cc bike. Albesiano is the new face of Honda’s determination to return to the top. He is the man for the job as he has been on both sides of the Japan versus Europe tussle for GP glory. His appointment confirms a huge shift in Japanese GP culture to match that of F1 cars, as he describes. “The change in MotoGP is clearly a culture from Formula 1, developed in Europe, in the slipstream of F1,” says Albesiano, an affable 62-year-old who is easier to talk to than some MotoGP engineers, who…

IN APRILIA-ESE the letter ‘X’ represents expensive track-only machines with DNA that’s closely related to the company’s works racers. Now it looks like Aprilia is upping the exclusivity stakes. We had the RSV4 X in 2019, the Tuono V4 X in 2020, the RSV4 XTrenta in 2022 and the RSV4 X EX3MA in 2024 – each with production numbers as low as their price tags were high. Now another is on the way, as Aprilia has filed trademark applications for the name XGP alongside a logo that borrows the same stylised ‘X’ sported on those earlier models, with the letters ‘GP’ set into it where previously we’ve seen ‘EX3MA’ or ‘Xtrenta’ written. By calling the new bike ‘XGP’ Aprilia is providing the closest association yet to its RS-GP MotoGP racer…

Back at the Osaka motorcycle show in March, Honda took the wraps off its four-cylinder, CB750F-inspired CB1000F Concept – a machine that, despite its ‘concept’ billing, was quite obviously a near-production prototype. Now the company is cementing that idea even further by showing a partfaired CB1000F SE Concept. Making its public debut at the Suzuka 8 Hours race on 1 August, the new CB1000F SE had only been revealed in silhouette form at the time of writing – but it’s already abundantly clear that it’s essentially the same CB1000F design that was shown at Osaka, with the addition of a ‘bar-mounted nose cowl. The fact that the CB1000F shown in Osaka is really an upcoming production model was all but confirmed by the fact that Honda presented not one but…

LETTER OF THE ISSUE Praise for Peter Baker Understandable you’ve become a three-weekly, people don’t buy magazines like they used to. But if you keep producing issues like the recent Vol74 No.20, you’ll get my money every time. The Jack Findlay and Jack Miller articles were excellent, but the Peter Baker one stole the show. It took me back to my youth. I am two years older than Peter, but didn’t discover speedway till 1964, when the family of well-known motorcycling identity Steve Ashkenazi moved from Sydney’s western suburbs to ‘The Shire’. He introduced our neighbourhood gang of fellow 14-year-olds to the sport. From the first time we went to the Sydney Showground, we were hooked – the likes of Jim Airey, Gordon Guasco, John Langfield, Bill Landels, Greg Kentwell…

CHAOS WAS the order of the day in a hectic Moto2 weekend. The grid was thrown upside-down in wet qualifying as title contenders Aron Canet (Fantic Kalex), Manuel Gonzalez (IntactGP Kalex) and Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Kalex) were 10th, 18th and 25th respectively. That was just the beginning. Senna Agius (IntactGP Kalex) jumped the start and ran polesitter Jake Dixon (Marc VDS Boscoscuro) wide at Turn 1, allowing Deniz Oncu (Ajo Kalex), Barry Baltus (Fantic Kalex) and Tony Arbolino (Pramac Boscoscuro) to press on ahead, only for the Italian to fall at Turn 12 on lap seven. But the juicy stuff was happening behind. Moreira was enjoying the ride of his career, gaining nine places on the first lap, and another nine by lap six. Yet inexperience told. Tagging Dixon at Turn…

IT WAS misery for Troy Herfoss and his S&S Cycle Indian Challenger at Laguna Seca over 11-13 July, as factory Harley-Davidson rider Kyle Wyman pulled farther ahead in the points after Round Four of the 2025 Moto America King of the Baggers series. Wyman won both races in convincing style. “I’ve lost this championship three years in a row… it feels like a decade since I won it in 2021,” Wyman said almost in disbelief at the weekend’s result. “James (Rispoli) and Bradley (Smith) have been busting their asses to improve the bike. I’m very conservative on the development side and they will try literally anything. It’s opened our eyes to new possibilities and allowing us to mature as a team.” The opener started in unusual circumstances after Rocco Landers seemed…

AS ONE OF the youngest riders in the line-up, Mitchell McDiarmid scored in every heat in the opening round of the SGP2 competition staged at Malilla on 4 July. He amassed nine points including one race win, then finished third in the Last Chance Qualifier for seventh place overall. Defending champion Wiktor Przyjemski of Poland went through the meeting unbeaten. Meanwhile Aussie women have made their mark in Croatia. Australia was well represented there when the FIM hosted the two-day FIM Women’s Speedway Academy at Speedway Stadion Milenium in Donji Kraljevec. On the following day the line-up in the second FIM Women’s Speedway Gold Trophy event included one of Australia’s best-credentialled dirt track riders, Tayla Street. Even with very little speedway experience, Street scored nine points from her four heats to…

Born out of the idea that street riders wanted the performance of a superbike without the commitment of full fairings and trackday ergonomics, naked bikes have traditionally skimped a little from the spec sheet of their more serious siblings. Reduced peak power, softened suspension, more upright stance – a recipe built, supposedly, for the real world. Then someone, somewhere, yelled “what if we didn’t?”, and the hypernaked was born – bonkers machines like Ducati’s Streetfighter V4, KTM’s Super Duke 1390 and MV Agusta’s Brutale 1000 RR. But until recently, BMW had held back from going all the way. That all changed when Munich at last brought their famed M brand from the automotive world to us two-wheeled heathens. ‘M’ in this context stands for Motorsport, and when you slap the…

The YZF-R9 has finally arrived on our shores and slots itself perfectly in between Yamaha’s 689cc YZF-R7 and the booming 998cc YZR-R1. For us Australians even more so, as in 2024 the YZF-R7 was the top-selling road motorcycle in Australia. To top that off, the YZF-R3 was the second-highest selling bike in the sports category. With the high revving and super focused YZF-R6 quietly and sadly slipping away to ‘track only’ status, there was a gaping hole between the R7 and the R1. It would almost be socially irresponsible to suggest blue-blooded budding racers move from the R3 to the R7 and then step right up to the R1. Well, rest easy Yamaha fans, the R9 nestles perfectly into that void. The R9 heralds the new era of supersport. World…

“I’M HEADING HOME WITH RENEWED BELIEF, A BIKE THAT FITS MY RHYTHM AND A HUNGER FOR MORE” LIFE’S BEEN ABSOLUTELY wild lately, and I’m writing this somewhere over the Indian Ocean, on the last leg of a 13 hour flight from the UK back home to Australia. Since my last column, my first wildcard round in the WorldWCR has wrapped – and what an experience it was! I spent three weeks in the UK. My boyfriend Cameron flew in before my second ride day at Donington Park, and our first adventure together took us north to Knockhill, Scotland. Rainy? Absolutely. But the British Superbikes were electrifying. We even managed a 13 hour coach ride just to soak up the paddock atmosphere, and along the way met legends like Lee Johnston, Josh…

1 SILENCE IS GOLDEN KTM $1416.31 Find your authorised dealership KTM.com Unleash your inner hooligan with the REMUS Slip-On Silencer, forged from high-grade titanium, laseretched like a samurai’s sword and tuned for that sporty growl that says “I mean business”. Featherlight and tough as nails, it bolts on in minutes with zero engine drama. Fits KTM 790/890 Adventure & R models. Warning: May cause excessive grinning. 2 TOP HAT Harley-Davidson From $580 (02) 9886 0600 harley-davidson.com/au Meet the Outrush R Modular Bluetooth Helmet: part space tech, part rock concert, all business. Triple vents keep your noggin cool, while built-in Bluetooth 5.0 lets you chat, jam and command like a road warrior CEO. It fits like a dream, sounds like a stereo, and yes, even has FM radio. Just don’t expect express…