Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol 75 Issue 4 i Australian Motorcycle News

We’ve known for a while that Triumph has been planning a half-faired cafe-racer version of its hugely successful Speed 400 single. We’ve already run spy shots of a prototype on test alongside the recently-launched Scrambler 400XC. Now it’s confirmed for India. Why India before the rest of the world? Because that’s where Triumph’s 400cc singles are build and, at least in part, developed with the help of the company’s manufacturing partner Bajaj. The same occurred with the Scrambler 400XC earlier this year. It was launched in India six weeks before being confirmed as a global model. Although it would have been simple to screw a Speed Triple 1200RR-style nose cowl to the front of the Speed 400 along with some low, clipon ‘bars, and then head to the pub…

FOR 2025 INDIAN introduced its first motorcycle-mounted radar systems on its new range of PowerPlus models but the company opted only to use rear-facing radars for blind-spot monitoring and rear collision warnings rather than adopting a front-facing unit that would allow adaptive cruise control and crash-mitigating braking systems. That’s sure to change soon as Indian has filed multiple patents for rider-assists using front radar sensors. One shows how the company plans to hide the radar itself. Radars pose a challenge for bike designers, particularly at the front. They need a prominent position on the nose to get an unobstructed view ahead, and can only be hidden behind flat, radar-transparent panels, which means they tend to be obvious and mounted in clear sight on the bikes that currently use them. Indian’s…

IT’S BEEN AN unusually busy month in between mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship rounds, and as the series heads back south to Phillip Island there will be several major changes to the rider line-up in the SW-Motech Superbike field. Here they are: Stauffer departs Yamaha Racing Team mid-season Max Stauffer, one of the biggest young talents in ASBK, joined YRT this season to begin his fourth campaign on a Superbike, but that partnership dissolved directly after the QR round. The break was amicable, with Stauffer expected to link back with his family-operated team with Yamaha support. Stauffer rode the previous three years with dad Jamie and Heath Griffin at the helm and last year competed in Penrite colours following the involvement of Deon Coote. By the end of 2024, Jamie…

KYLE RYDE took a vital race win and is the new points leader after the latest British Superbike Championship round held at the undulating Cadwell Park circuit over the UK Bank Holiday weekend of 22-25 August. The Yamaha rider was consistent all weekend, taking second place in the opening two races by small margins before he broke through in the final race to gap the two factory Hondas of Andrew Irwin and Tommy Bridewell by almost three seconds. “It’s been a great weekend! It has been long, quite sweaty, and that last race was very tough but it was nice to have a good bike under my belt for 12 laps,” Ryde said of his Nitrous Competitions Racing Yamaha R1. His championship rival, Bradley Ray (Raceways Yamaha), took the opener with…

AFTER FINISHING runner-up last year to Judd Plaisted as a 10-year-old, Chaz Williams has put in the hard yards to remain undefeated in 2025. “The No.1 thing I cared about this weekend was protecting that winning streak!” Williams told AMCN after his landmark victory. “I’ve really had to improve my braking this year. I worked on that a lot during the off-season, as well as getting back on the throttle quicker and not trailing the brake for too long entering a turn. Judd’s lap records from last year were a target.” During the year, Williams has developed a strong rivalry with Austin Attard. “At Cameron Park and Oakleigh I had to really push hard against Austin. (At) Monarto, I knew he wasn’t fully fit and it took the shine off the wins…

If you’re in the market for a luxury tourer, you probably know who you are; if you’re thinking big, heavy, fully equipped touring bikes are piles of junk, I’m guessing you’ve never ridden one any distance. Bikes like the BMW K 1600 GTL defy conventional thought. A bike this big, this heavy, this long should not be any fun on twisty roads, it should not have you searching for the winding route to where you want to be… yet it does. At the same time, its size, its bodywork, its length and its luggage capacity means having all this touring fun with a passenger on the back isn’t the trial of a relationship it is on so many other machines. It’s another reason why couples who have been together a…

JAN STEFANEK has clocked up 84,000km on the Interceptor 650 he bought in mid-July 2019. The mileage has included local “fanging around” and two big return trips from Adelaide to Sydney. “I just love riding it, anywhere, anytime,” he said. Stefanek, a former Sydney motorcycle shop employee who returned to riding after a long absence, added: “It’s so easy to ride, it’s like cheating.” He listed the few repairs he has done to it as the kilometres mounted: two headlight globes, steering head bearings at 50,000km, replacing the back brake’s pressure switch, repacking the aftermarket mufflers and a few sets of new tyres. Stefanek does his own maintenance on the Interceptor and has improved it with some minor modifications. The most extensive came at 15,000km when he replaced the suspension…

Simon was on his way to work, taking the same route he always had. Two cars passed safely through the intersection ahead of him and he slowed as a third vehicle waited at a stop sign, just to make sure the driver had seen him. He was barely doing 50km/h when the driver pulled out. There was no time to brake. He remembers going up, remembers coming down. He landed hard, somersaulted and skidded into the middle of the intersection. His Suzuki SV650S commuter was barely three weeks old. Simon’s left ankle was dislocated, his heel shattered and his knee ligaments torn on both sides. His right little finger was crushed. He lost skin from both shins despite wearing full protective gear. His leg, he says now, feels like it’s…

When WorldSBK GOAT Jonathan Rea calls time on his full-time WSBK riding career, we really should try to reappraise the depth and breadth of his astounding accomplishments. And, maybe more importantly, understand how and why he achieved what he did. It was no surprise that the undisputed stats champ for the ages would hang up the gloves, boots and leathers at the end of this year because the last few campaigns have delivered an ever-reducing total of wins per season. It seems that there has been a realisation that he would not get on a sure-fire championship-winning package again anytime soon. Rea will also have his own unspoken personal reasons for leaving after the final round in Jerez, of course, but we must also note the reality that his most…

RACING WHAT, WHERE & WHEN ROAD RACING AUSTRALIAN SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP Rd6 6-7 Sep, Phillip Island, Vic Rd7 3-5 Oct, One Raceway, NSW Rd8 7-9 Nov, The Bend Motorsport Pk, SA AUSTRALIAN SIDECAR CHAMPIONSHIP Rd5 8-9 Nov, CARGO Raceway, WA BLU CRU OCEANIA JUNIOR CUP Rd4 3-5 Oct, One Raceway, NSW Rd5 7-9 Nov, The Bend Motorsport Pk, SA AUSTRALIAN MINIGP SERIES Rd5 12-14 Sep, Port Melbourne, Vic AUSTRALIAN HISTORIC ROADRACE CHAMPIONSHIP 13-16 Nov, Broadford, Vic MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Rd15 5-7 Sep, Catalunya, ES Rd16 12-14 Sep, Misano, IT Rd17 26-28 Sep, Motegi, JP Rd18 3-5 Oct, Mandalika, ID Rd19 17-19 Oct, Phillip Is, AU Rd20 24-26 Oct, Sepang, MY Rd21 7-9 Nov, Portimao, PT Rd22 14-16 Nov, Valencia, ES MOTOGP 2025 IN-SEASON TESTS 15 Sep, Misano, IT SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP…

OFFICIALLY, HONDA still calls its CB1000F – shown earlier this year – a ‘concept’ despite overwhelming evidence the model will reach showrooms soon. Now a second version dubbed CB1000F SE Concept has been revealed and is also certain to be a 2026 production bike. Revealed at the Suzuka 8-Hours, the CB1000F SE is identical to the CB1000F that Honda showed back in March, but with the addition of a small nose cowling, a more luxurious seat and extra equipment including heated grips. It was shown in two colour schemes, the silver-and-blue of the previous CB1000F concept and a black-and-grey variant, while the naked CB1000F was displayed alongside it in both silver-and-blue and silver-and-grey schemes. Since the March unveiling of the original concept, both version have gained production-style elements including indicators…

SEVEN YEARS of effort was rewarded with an upset win at the Manx Classic TT as Mike Browne rode Kiwi Peter Lodge’s Norton ES2-based racer to a close win in the Senior Classic. The Irish roadracing specialist beat Adam McLean (Flitwick MC Royal Enfield) by just 0.268sec after early leader John McGuinness (Team Winfield Paton) retired with a puncture. The race was shortened from four to two laps after a two-hour delay, with damp conditions adding to the tension of a closely fought duel to the flag. After McGuinness retired, McLean inherited a 2.8sec lead over Browne. Both had just lapped from a standing start at over 175km/h. McLean extended his lead to 4.7sec but Browne hit back on the top-speed run down Sulby Straight to Ballaugh Bridge. In practice…

A DISQUALIFICATION has blown up Troy Herfoss’s title hopes after two relentless, clinical rides at the Mid-Ohio round of the AMA’s Mission King of the Baggers had put him back into points contention. His S&S Indian Challenger was found to have contravened ballast regulations and an appeal by his team against the decision was overturned by the governing authorities. This means Herfoss, who had built on a photo finish on the Saturday by taking the Sunday win to jump to second in the standings, faces an almost impossible task to retain the crown he won last year. Points leader Kyle Wyman (Harley-Davidson Factory Racing) now has a massive advantage with 227 points, ahead of Herfoss’s teammate Loris Baz (130 points) with Herfoss languishing on 124. If he just finishes all…

THE ALBURY-Wodonga Motorcycle Club hosted the third and fourth rounds of the 2025 Yamaha bLU cRU Aussie Flat Track Nationals (AFTN) at Diamond Park over 23-24 August, where Daniel Wicks showed a strong return to race-winning form on the flat track and Cam Dunker mastered the TT layout. Diamond Park was another new venue for AFTN, where the flat track round was run during the evening under lights. Wicks, who won the opening race of the evening, qualified second behind Dale Borlase (Burdekin Motorcycles – Yamaha). “Starts are really important in AFTN, you need to be quick off the line,” Wicks told AMCN. “It’s even more important on shorter tracks like Albury where there isn’t a long straight to wind the bike up.” Wicks (Beard Brothers Motorcycles – KTM) went…

In a largely unheralded move, BSA – now owned by Indian giant Mahindra Group’s Classic Legends subsidiary – has relaunched one of the most famous models in the two-wheeled history books, of which half-a-million examples were built in the historic British brand’s golden years. However, the new BSA Bantam isn’t a smoky 125cc two-stroke single like before, but a DOHC 350cc four-stroke with class-topping specs. I spent a day riding the 2025 Bantam 350 around the Warwickshire country roads that were once the proving ground for factory testers from the huge BSA Small Heath factory in southern Birmingham. But first, a history lesson, and the topic for today is: BSA 101. BEGINNING WITH A BANG When Britain’s largest gun manufacturer Birmingham Small Arms, founded in 1861, decided to start building…

ROYAL ENFIELD has employed clever marketing strategies to keep the Interceptor 650 relevant. These involve custom competitions and racing. It built a dirt-track-styled custom version for the 2019 EICMA show in Milan. Soon after, a heavily massaged, bored-out 750cc version was fitted to a Harris Performance chassis, now owned by Eicher, and won a Production Twins flat-track race in the US. The engine’s horsepower had been doubled and the redline raised to 9500rpm. Meanwhile in Australia, Melbourne dealer Mid Life Cycles built a land speed racer and entered it in Royal Enfield’s 2019 Busted Knuckles custom competition. The engine featured locally developed parts Mid Life Cycles intended to offer to road customers. These included a ported head with racing-profile camshafts, high-compression forged pistons and modified throttle bodies. Andrew and Charlie…

Motorcycling is one of my great passions. I have been riding for almost all of my adult life. I moved to Brisbane in my early 30s, and I am 60 now. During my years in Brisbane, I have made a regular thing of riding from Brisbane to Sydney. Whenever I have cause to travel to Sydney, if I can possibly spare the time, I choose to ride. I have taken every possible combination of the winding mountain roads that traverse the Great Dividing Range, and I have done it on a variety of awesome motorcycles. These trips have become a necessary part of my wellbeing. I try to do them at least four or five times a year, and I take my time, allowing two days for each direction. I…

Few teens get the chance to juggle two world-class championships, but Carter Thompson has made it look natural. After writing his name into the history books with Australia’s first WorldSSP300 victory at Misano in June, he’s also emerged as a regular frontrunner in the Red Bull Rookies Cup thanks to his raw speed and sharp racecraft. Now a genuine dual-threat, Thompson is learning to manage the contrasting demands of a stiff, lightweight Rookies KTM and the heavier, flex-happy Kawasaki 300, all while proving he has the tactical nous to survive the chaos of a 15-bike freight train to the flag… Great to catch up with you, Carter. Firstly, congrats on your results, they were definitely something special. How do you feel 2025 is going overall? Thanks, yes, it’s been not…

DID YOU KNOW? Latin America has suddenly become the world’s fastest growing motorcycle market. In the first half of this year, sales jumped nearly 19 per cent. Argentina led the charge with a 48 per cent rise after the government reduced tariffs. “I’ve rode it, my brother (William) rode it, and it’s close to my heart this wee bike” An emotional Michael Dunlop explains the significance of the 250cc Honda that he won the Lightweight Classic TT on. Back in 2006 he won the Newcomers race at the Manx Grand Prix on a 125cc two-stroke and ever since had wanted to add a 250cc win to his long list of TT victories. Read our Manx Classic TT coverage on Page 30 FLATOUT COOL BMW BMW has released an accessories package…

INSPIRED BY the mastery of former EnduroGP champion Andrea Verona, Italy took an early lead in the 2025 ISDE, increasing the winning margin all the way to the final chequered flag. Defending World Trophy titleholder France was pre-event favourite ahead of Sweden, however Italy was said to have a home-ground advantage. Certainly regular EnduroGP competitors possess a better understanding of the terrain than riders from Argentina and Australia – or even team USA. But a narrow, snotty, rock-strewn hillclimb presents the same challenge to every competitor. Nothing proved this more than the conditions on Day One. Consistent rain had rendered the special tests intractable. Mud-covered tree roots and slippery rocks made the steep ascents and descents equally treacherous, resulting in numerous crashes. The cross tests were covered in sheets of…

IT EMERGED in Hungary that Yamaha made a late play to sign Moto2 championship leader Manuel Gonzalez to partner Toprak Razgatlioglu in the Pramac team in 2026. But after some discussion it appears they will persist with Jack Miller instead. Miller’s frustration at Yamaha’s indecision was on display on Thursday. “I’ve been more than patient enough. If you want me, you want me. If you don’t, you don’t,” he said. And there was a hint of dismay when he learned of their interest in Gonzalez. “The more time goes on, yes, I feel that (they don’t want me),” he said. “The more names that you hear coming on to the list. I’m looking forward to develop – I was looking forward to developing the V4 and working closely to try…

The Interceptor 650 has been a mainstay of Royal Enfield’s range since its launch in 2018. It took the company from single cylinder 350s into the middleweight twin-cylinder segment. The model remains a strong seller, despite only having had minor updates. Intrigued to see what continues to attract buyers to such a basic model, AMCN jumped on one for a couple of weeks of winter riding. FIRST IMPRESSIONS Threatening rain, the temperature hovering around 13°C but the wind-chill factor making it feel like 7°C. Not the ideal time to coax an unfamiliar motorcycle into heavy traffic on a major arterial road. However, as soon as I let the clutch out, the Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 I’d just fired up felt like a bike I’d been riding for months, not seconds.…

A new sportsbike is always lighter and faster than the previous model, especially a red one made by Ducati, the MotoGP world champions. More power, more torque, more speed… the thought of ‘progressing’ without ticking those boxes is almost unthinkable. But that is precisely what Ducati has done with the 2025 Panigale V2 S. Some numbers: the new, 2025 V2 is 35hp (26kW) down on the 955, making 120hp (90kW) compared to the 155hp (115.5kW) of the Superquadro-powered bike. But, of course, power doesn’t tell the full story. Ducati engineers have been hard at work. To compensate for the power reduction, they’ve worked some magic and vastly reduced the weight of the new V2 S by 17kg, or approximately two large bags of groceries. The new 90-degree V2 engine, which…

“ONE OF THE BUSIEST, CRAZIEST, MOST JAM-PACKED WEEKS I’VE HAD IN RACING SO FAR – AND I COULDN’T BE MORE EXCITED” YOU EVER LOOK at your calendar and think, “This is going to be one of those weeks I’ll remember forever”? That’s exactly where I’m at right now. One of the busiest, craziest, most jam-packed weeks I’ve had in racing so far – and I couldn’t be more excited about it. By the time you’re reading this it’ll be fully underway, but standing here at the startline, I know it’s going to be one of those weeks where all the planning, training and behind-the scenes hustle finally come together. It all kicks off this Saturday with Charli Stephens, and the plan is simple: tear around the local kart track on our…

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