Innholdsfortegnelse for 2015 Issue 24 i Australian Motorcycle News

FOR THE FIRST TIME in decades, Ducati will offer a proper feet-forward cruiser for 2016 in the new XDiavel. The name suggests a derivative of the Diavel, but little is shared between the two machines. At its heart lies a new version of the Testastretta V-twin derived from the Multistrada’s “DVT” version, with variable valve timing, but there’s a 3.6mm longer stroke to bring capacity up to 1262cc. Despite the capacity increase, power is lower than either the Diavel or the similarly powerful Multistrada, although at 116kW it’s well ahead of traditional cruisers. The highlight here is torque, which peaks at 128.5Nm at a mere 5000rpm. The chassis is a new, conventional steel trellis, and the suspension consists of a 50mm Marzocchi fork and a Sachs monoshock. The brakes are…

YOU KNOW HARLEY-DAVIDSON is changing with the times when its marketing gaff quotes the bike’s stylist as saying, “It’s always been my vision that this bike will look better with some dirt. As it is ridden, it may get some scuffs, scratches or character marks. We can’t do this at the factory, that is the privilege of the owner.” At less than $15,000 ride away, the 2016 Iron 883 is likely to be purchased by a first-time Harley buyer with an eye for custom. Not only is the Iron one of the smallest capacity bikes in the firm’s line-up (at 883cc), with its Dark Custom styling it’s aimed squarely at a younger market. The thing you initially notice sitting on the Iron 883 is the super neutral ergonomics. The ’pegs…

IF THE VOTING patterns for MOTY 2015 have a story to tell, it’s that there’s no substitution for perfect execution. Regardless of what each of these 10 bikes are capable of on paper, on the road the BMW S 1000 XR punches above its weight, and performs its duties at a level far beyond what is expected. Even those riders who have a greater invested interest in the more alternative areas of motorcycling, a tendency to go against the grain, and who would usually opt for soul over substance, were forced to succumb to the compelling businesslike brilliance of the BMW S 1000 XR. The XR appeared in more top three lists than any other bike, with only one of our judging panel failing to nominate it for a podium…

NSW LED THE way in July 2014 with Australia’s first lane filtering laws. The decision followed a 2013 trial in Sydney’s CBD. As the majority of NSW motorcyclists already filtered, motorists didn’t notice any major change in driving conditions. Due to the location of the ACT (it’s a territory located within NSW if you are unsure) it made sense for Australia’s Capital Territory to follow suit, and it did, but only with a trial of the NSW rules. The rest of Australia was expected to allow filtering, but do far only Queensland (2014) and Victoria (2015) have done so. Complicating matters further, each state has its own unique set of lane filtering laws... Undecided While not specifically illegal, riders can be (and often are) fined for a range of traffic…

1 The seat is comfortable enough for the pillion, though the suspension can struggle over bumps 2 The 18L tank makes touring a real option, and can stretch as far as 400km for daily commutes 3 The classic, pared-back look won plenty of fans in the LAMS market 4 As ABS brakes were an option on the CB400, many buyers chose not to fork out the extra $1000 Some interesting bikes arrived in Australian dealer showrooms for the first time when our licensing authorities dropped the old 250cc limit for learners and novices in favour of LAMS machines. Honda’s hi-tech middleweight, the CB400, is a perfect example. Since 1992 it has been a top seller in the Japanese domestic market as the CB400 “Super Four”. Over time it has been…

LOOKING THROUGH THE range of GoPro accessories we spotted this great little mount called The Jam. Designed to allow the camera to be mounted onto musical equipment, it’s also brilliant for mounting a camera onto a motorcycle. Apart from a little vibration when the road surface becomes rough, The Jam is a brilliant addition to our collection of mounts. Multiple pivot and hinge points allow the camera to be moved in any direction and the clamp is designed for delicate musical instruments so it won’t damage motorcycles. PROS Light East to mount Pivots and swings CONS Vibration Delicate Easily lost (bugger!) Colour: Black only Comes with selection of mounting feet and sticky mounts $109.95 GoPro (02) 8679 8644 vsport.com.au…

RACE RESULTS 2015 MACAU 1 Peter Hickman GBR BMW 29m22.021s 2 Martin Jessopp GBR BMW +6.267 3 Michael Rutter GBR BMW +15.600 4 John McGuinness GBR HON +17.711 5 Gary Johnson GBR BMW +18.807 6 Ian Hutchinson GBR KAW +19.279 7 Conor Cummins IOM HON +19.990 8 Horst Saiger AUT KAW +28.280 9 Lee Johnston NIR BMW +49.604 10 David Johnson AUS BMW +53.864 Every year Macau throws up a little piece of motorcycle magic in its tiny, casino-fuelled enclave on the edge of the Chinese mainland. Last year 27-year-old Peter Hickman made his debut on this tough street circuit (think motorcycles racing at the Monaco Formula One GP) but crashed out before the main event, totalling his BMW. This year he won the 49th edition of the Suncity Group…

THE RACE FOR the 2016 title starts now. The factory that can develope the most effective response to the new control tyres and control software starts 2016 with a massive advantage. For the factory bikes there will be more fuel and more engines per year as well. So we suddenly have more power and more revs at the same time as we get control tyres we don’t yet fully understand and less-effective software. It’s a challenging mix, and it affects every aspect of the bikes. We haven’t had this much change all at one time since the four-strokes arrived back in 2002. Control tyres are important – the factories are going to have to redesign their bikes to get the best out of them. Tyre design affects every aspect of…

DANIEL “CHUCKY” SANDERS has won Australia’s most technical off-road event, the Wildwood Rock Extreme Enduro aboard his Factory KTM 300EXC. Despite the late withdrawal of English contender Graham Jarvis, his countryman Ben Hemingway looked threatening as he wrested the lead from Sanders on lap two. But after the early challenge, it was all Chucky, with the 21-year-old ISDE E3 Championship winner storming to victory in the Pro class almost 5 minutes ahead of KTM Off-Road Race teammate Matt Phillips. Former winner Mitch Harper finished third on his Husqvarna TE300, just two minutes behind Phillips. Ben Hemingway (UK Factory Beta) and Broc Grabham (FE350) rounded out the top five.…

FOR THE FIRST time in 17 years, Andrew Stroud has raced a Britten V1000 – and the return was a victorious one. Stroud came home first on Jim Hunter’s multiple-Daytona Pro-Twins winner in the Next Gen Superbike race at the Barber Museum’s Vintage Festival. “On the spur of the moment we decided to enter the Next Gen Superbike race,” Stroud later revealed. The Barber event was a celebration of John Britten’s life and Stroud only intended to demonstrate the Britten. “We were a bit apprehensive as it’s been 17 years since I tried to ride one at any kind of racing speed,” he said. “The huge crowd certainly appreciated us being out in a race. To top it off we went on to win by less than a bike length…

MORE THAN 80 RIDERS from the Sidecar Racing Club of Victoria, Preston MCC, Sandringham MCC, Newport-Braybrook MCC, Gippsland Centre, and the Harley Club of Victoria turned up to Broadford’s State Motorcycle Complex on 15 November to battle out the season decider of the 2015 Interclub series Championship. This grassroots Victorian motorcycle racing competition developed from humble beginnings in the 1970s and has since grown to action-packed five-round championship. Throughout the series racers compete as individuals, and for their club in the Team Shield. Spectators were treated to some close and fast contests during the 18-race program, with several class titles decided on race-day. The Team Shield Trophy was won by the Sandringham Motorcycle Club at the previous round but that didn’t stop its team riders from engaging in some fierce…

AT THE CLOSE of 2014, despite the hangover of a broken ankle that possibly cost him the Australian Off Road Championship (AORC) and hand injuries that put him out of the International Six Day Enduro (ISDE), Daniel “Doogs” Milner was on a career high, having just signed up with the AmPro Yamaha Team to contest the Grand National Cross Country Championship (GNCC). “I had the option of going to Europe or staying with Craig Dack Racing here in Oz, but the opportunity to race in the USA with off-road legend Randy Hawkins was a dream come true,” says Milner. Hawkins was equally enthusiastic, stating Milner would be a contender to win the GNCC in his first year. Yet after an encouraging top 10 finish early in the series, Milner faded…

HEADLINING SUZUKI’S MILAN presentation was the 2017 GSX-R1000. Since the release is so far off, technical and performance figures are scant, but the firm revealed enough to prove it’s aiming to leapfrog from the bottom of the tech-toys ratings to the very top. As well as having 10-level traction control and a rev-matching quickshifter, it’s promised to feature race-style launch control and a drive mode selector allowing multiple engine maps – one of the few pieces of tech the current GSX-R offers. The killer blow came when Suzuki announced that the 2017 GSX-R1000 will be the first in its class with Variable Valve Timing. While we’ve seen VVT on Ducati’s Multistrada and now the new XDiavel, four-cylinder superbikes haven’t jumped on the technology yet. That’s because the systems currently available…

JUST WEEKS AGO Kawasaki revealed a new version of its supercharger technology at the Tokyo Motor Show in the form of the Balanced Supercharged Engine. Now Kawasaki has hinted that the bike set to carry the BSE will be a smaller capacity model than the 998cc H2 and H2R. Dubbed the SC-02 Soul Charger, the new design looks like an evolution of the shape revealed in the SC-01 Spirit Charger – drawings of which were also revealed in Tokyo. But while the SC-01 is a sports-touring derivative of the H2, the SC-02 is set to be a smaller-engined machine, fitting with rumours that the next supercharged Kawasaki will be a 600cc four-cylinder. It’s set to feature the Balanced Supercharged Engine, which includes a new supercharger with variable intake geometry to…

CHOOSING ONE BIKE from 2015’s bumper season of fresh produce is no easy task. It may sound like a cop-out, but there really are no losers here. And that’s just the problem when awarding such an important honour as the AMCN Motorcycle of the Year. Bad motorcycles genuinely are increasingly hard to find these days, because there is just too much at stake to risk releasing a dud onto the market. As well as this being an age of litigation and heightened corporate responsibility, in which companies are often held accountable for lack of due diligence, it’s also true that modern development and manufacturing practices have made tolerances tighter, which subsequently helps to drive quality higher. What makes choosing a winner even harder is the ever-broadening scope of motorcycling genres.…

Racing improves the breed, right? Yet the increasing performance of E-superbikes has until now been almost exclusively driven by the success of American companies in the world’s major E-races. MotoCzysz has won the Isle of Man four times, Lightning Motorcycles holds the world land speed E-record and has an overall trophy from Pikes Peak, and Polaris Industries, with its gearbox-equipped Victory Empulse, is a US champion and now a TT Zero contender. In the absence of Italy’s Energica Ego, it’s taken Japan’s Mugen to finally break the American dominance of this growing racing category by posting one-two finishes at the past two Isle of Man TT Zero events, courtesy of Kiwi Bruce Anstey, runner-up both times, and his victorious teammate, John McGuinness. So when I was offered the opportunity to…

Yes! Swift and affirmative as you can get. The gig didn’t sound easy on paper, but there were some seriously tempting perks. There would be quality Tasmanian roads made for cornering par excellence with scenery to match. Joining us would be an entourage of celebrity chefs and their motorcycle-loving crew, bound to be a good laugh. Some luxury accommodation and a few surprise culinary treats chucked in ... and Triumph jumping on board with a selection of touring iron. If that wasn’t enough, there was also the feel-good prospect of helping with the AMCN jacket drive (in Hobart), and being involved in the behind-the-scenes filming of a TV show. Plus, the clincher: I could take my other half and enjoy an Apple Isle getaway that you don’t get offered twice.…

New merch... Your three favourite T’s are back for a limited time only! Available in black – from Medium to 3XL! XMAS PRESSIES Lightweight neck socks Can be used as a scarf, beanie, headband, facemask and polishing cloth, for $14.95! Stubbie holder Keeps your hands warm and your drinks cold, only $5! NEW! STOLDERS AND NECK SOCKS! Polo shirts Hoodies On yer noggin’ Buy over $50 worth of merch and receive a free gassit T-Shirt (while stocks last) TO ORDER please go to www.magshop.com.au/gassitgear…

Comic book cruisers Ghost Rider’s Flame Bike You’d think people would have learnt by now not to make deals with the devil. But no, faced with the prospect of losing his adoptive father and stunt-rider mentor to cancer, Johnny Blaze makes a bargain with Mephisto to save him. The Prince of Liars cures the cancer, only to let Crash Simpson die while attempting his greatest motorcycle feat ever. Putting to one side the fact that a guy called Crash shouldn’t have been trying to jump 22 cars ayway, Johnny is left fatherless – and consumed by demonic fire. At night, he turns into the ghost rider, host to the demon Zarathos. At first the brimstone biker did his deeds on his own stunt chopper. Later he summoned up the Flame…

MICHELIN’S SOFT AND grippy rear will make initial acceleration easier, but the far trickier front will extend braking distances and make corner entry braking a more ‘upright’ action - the days of braking to the apex are definitely over. Having a grippy rear tyre will mean different braking strategies too, if the bike can be held with the rear tyre on the ground the rear wheel can do more of the work of stopping the bike; the trick will be to do that without upsetting the suspension. Yamaha, Suzuki and the latest Ducati have backward rolling cranks to help corner entry and to hold the front of the bike down on acceleration. Typically these bikes have very heavy crankshafts to help smooth out their throttle response. Unfortunately for the new…

Stoner: the numbers MotoGP Ducati (2007-2010)Wins: 23Championship: 2007(10 race wins)Honda (2006 & 2011-2102)Wins: 15Championship: 2011(10 race wins)Total MotoGP starts: 115MotoGP wins: 38 STONER’S ROLE WILL be official test rider and brand ambassador for Ducati – he remains committed to his retirement from MotoGP. An appearance at World Ducati Week, scheduled for 1-3 July, is part of Stoner’s Ducati deal that will also encompass a selected number of MotoGP tests. “Ducati fans have Casey in their hearts as a hero so this is a special gift to our customers and fans,” said Ducati sporting director Paolo Ciabatti. “But Casey has made it very clear that he doesn’t like the idea of racing full time and the tension of the paddock. No one should count on Casey being a full-time rider.” The…

RACING RETURNED TO Jimboomba last weekend for the highly anticipated main event battle between Matt Moss (Team Motul Suzuki) and Dan Reardon (CDR Yamaha). The event lived up to the hype, with the two riders clashing throughout the night on the technical Gold Coast track. In the final Reardon found the front, before Moss made an early pass, only for the two to swap positions the next corner. A cutthroat pass attempt by Moss then saw him hit the deck on lap two, and Reardon pulled away for the win. Moss fought through the pack to get into second ahead of Reardon’s teammate Kade Mosig. In the lites class American Jimmy Decotis (Penrite Honda) was three from three heading into Round 4 with a field of locals on the chase.…

A CROWD OF around 2000 people were at the Gillman Speedway on 7 November for the Darcy Ward Benefit Meeting. A stellar line-up of both solos and sidecars entertained the crowd, as around $40,000 was raised for Ward’s treatment fund. Chris Holder won the solo final ahead of Troy Batchelor and German Kai Huckenbeck after Justin Sedgmen was excluded. Australian Sidecar champions Justin Plaisted/Sam Harrison won the final from Mick Headland/ Jesse Headland, Trent Headland/ Darryl Whetstone and Mark Mitchell/Dale Knights. Meanwhile, Darcy Ward remains in an English hospital, paralysed from the chest down. He has limited movement in his arms but is improving and can operate a wheelchair. Donations can still be made to his treatment fund by visiting: https://pledgie.com/ campaigns/30061.…

SYDNEY MOTORSPORT PARK will play host to the decider for the Swann Insurance Australasian Superbike and Supersport titles from 4-6 December. Troy Herfoss (MotoLogic Team Honda) and reigning Champion Wayne Maxwell (YMI Yamaha Racing Team) are now on equal footing in the litre class, and it couldn’t have happened at a better time. Harsh words were exchanged by the pair during at the last round where Maxwell levelled the scorecard by qualifying first and winning all three races. With the gloves now off, Maxwell is hungry to seal a third consecutive national superbike championship with a different manufacturer, after winning the 2013 ASBK title on a Suzuki, and the 2014 ASC title on a Honda. But let’s not forget Glenn Allerton. Lying in wait on Yamaha’s widely acclaimed 2015 YZF-R1M,…

YAMAHA UNEXPECTEDLY THREW its hat into the supernaked ring when it unveiled an inline-four 1000cc nakedbike. But the bigger shock was that the MT-10 is powered by a retuned version of the 2015-spec YZF-R1. The engine has been detuned with different pistons, a new crankshaft, changes to the intakes and exhausts as well as new settings for the engine management. The result will be reduced power, although Yamaha hasn’t revealed any specifics. Expect at least as much as the BMW S1000R (118kW), though. Like the bodywork, the electronics have been stripped away. Where the R1 gets all the bells and whistles for its traction control including an inertial measurement unit, the MT-10 makes do with three-mode traction control. There are also three selectable engine modes, and a slipper clutch has…

YAMAHA AUSTRALIA has just anounced the new XSR700 is headed Down Under as a 655cc LAMS model. Having attended the international launch of the full-blooded version of the XRS700, I can assure Aussie riders that this is great news. The first thing that catches the eye is the styling, so much so that I decided to have a quick game of word bingo. Hipster, scrambler, fashion, customisation, retro… yes, the XSR700 is another bike designed to appeal to a fashion-conscious buyer. To achieve this, Yamaha has taken the MT-07 as a base and bolted on a few extras to create a modern take on the XS models from the 70s. For a small premium over the standard bike you get brushed aluminum covers, a new speedo, round lights, taller bar,…

FIRST TIME RIDING the bike was here at Motegi, and it was a frosty morning with ice on the track. I was well nervous, with loads of people everywhere waiting to see the bike run. I didn’t really know what to expect, but you just get on with it, don’t you? Apart from my teammate Bruce [Anstey], I’ve never seen anyone else ride the bike until you and some others did today. But it’s backed up what I’ve always said – anyone can just jump on and ride an electric bike because it’s such a simple, easy thing. Twist and go – it’s just a big racing scooter, really, with a linear power delivery from a pretty small motor that I wish I could understand better. Me being a bricklayer,…

This feature requires audience participation. I also hope it’s informative and entertaining, but without your involvement it becomes an exercise in preaching to the converted. The plan is to spread the word about the benefits of lane filtering, and encourage drivers to out of their cars and onto a motorcycle for their daily commute to work. Apart from benefits to the individual – who will spend less time in traffic – it will cut down congestion for everyone. Plus, coaxing a car driver onto a motorcycle (even if it is just for a short time) will allow him or her to see the world through bike rider’s eyes, and become more aware of two-wheeled traffic. The end result will be more effective traffic flow and safer roads. So here’s my…

This title fight was special in so many ways. Jorge Lorenzo failed to even make the podium in the first three races, while Rossi was rejuvenated and taught youngster Marc Márquez a lesson or two in ruthlessness. But it all climaxed in the most poisonous way possible at Valencia, with Rossi hurting from his Sepang punishment and accusing his Spanish rivals of colluding against him to keep the title in Spain. Did Márquez ride shotgun for Lorenzo? Did Rossi trigger the whole debacle by attacking the reigning champion at the Sepang press conference? Who can be sure? All we can say without doubt is that Lorenzo won seven races to Rossi’s four. ROUND 1 Qatar, Losail April 29 QUALIFYING Lorenzo 6th Rossi 8th -0.140s RACE Rossi 1st Lorenzo 4th -2.707s…

It was a big ask – borrow two standard F3 800 roadbikes straight out of the MV Augusta demo fleet, prep them in a couple of weeks, take them endurance racing, then have them back in street trim ready for demo duty a few days later. It started several weeks earlier, with a text from Steve Martin to MV Agusta Australia’s head technician and highly accomplished racer Chas Hern, saying: “We should do the Adelaide 3 Hour!” But things said half in jest often come back to burn you, and a few weeks later Steve found himself riding a 45-minute stint around Mallala Raceway on an MV Agusta F3 800 in stifling heat, having only flown in the night before straight from the La Minz 24-Hour Scooter Race on the…

QUALIFYING ON THE fifth row of the grid (of 10 rows) certainly wasn’t where I’d planned to be. I came into this meeting hopeful of a top five result but you can’t take anything for granted at Macau, even with a brand-new BMW. I’d missed two major sessions in practice/qualifying due to a persistent problem with a freak’n gearbox issue so I only qualified 13th. We found out the return spring had bent so I couldn’t select any gears. This sucks as it was a brand-new bike before Macau and had only done a few kays being run in on the dyno. So sitting on the grid I had my helmet on early and was pumping myself up for a “top 10 or bust” effort. The massed start on this…

NINE ANXIOUS WEEKS after the Australian World Trophy Team mounted the top step of the ISDE podium in Košice then turned their backs on proceedings, justice has finally triumphed. Australia has been confirmed as winner of the 2015 ISDE. Forget the rousing cheers for the Aussies, forgive the raspberries for the French and the punch up in the pub; objectivity carried the day when the judge appointed by the International Disciplinary Court, the Czech Republic’s Jan Stovicek, rejected the appeal by the French. Mr Stovicek has yet to detail the reasons for his verdict, however, let’s recap the facts. A group of eight riders, including three members of the French Team failed to have their time cards clipped at an obligatory route control. Over 500 fellow competitors followed the correct…

THERE IS NO definition of “long track” racing in the Manual of Motorcycle Sport, but in Australia it is historically regarded as racing on big showground tracks of around 800 metres, many of them currently or in the past used for harness racing. On Saturday 14 November the Panorama Motorcycle Club celebrated the 20th anniversary of its first ever promotion at the Bathurst Showground with the 2015 Australian Long Track Masters, once again being well supported by local businesses. The venue is acknowledged as the premier long track venue in Australia and competitors responded in massive numbers with six heats needed for both the Pro 450 and Pro Open classes, while sliders and track sidecars were also there in lesser numbers. Even a lengthy delay after mid-afternoon rain could not…

THIS YEAR’S SOUTHERN Classic was run in near perfect conditions with some brilliant racing in all classes. Record attendances, both on the hills and on the track, saw the evergreen 85-year-old former IOM racer Ken Lucas put on a very impressive display, racing in three different classes on his 1962 Manx Norton 250, his very fast 1928 IOM Douglas 690, and his 1955 G45 Matchless. Jed Metcher completed yet another clean sweep of the points table on the weekend, riding the potent 1982 T-Rex Harris 1100 Honda in the Unlimited Forgotten Era class and breaking his own old track record with a flawless 58.110 seconds. Lachlan Hill on the 1979 Ron Angel 256 Rotex also set a new lap record in the 250 Post Classic/Forgotten Era class recording a very…

“I’M NO LONGER working for money, but I always seem to have a lot to do,” says former international road racer and Graeme Crosby sponsor Ross Hannan from his home near Port Stephens. So, that covered, just what’s the latest project for the 76-year-old? In fact, rebuilding the famed blue-grey Kawasaki Z1-R for next Easter’s Broadford Bike Bonanza Superbike celebration, that’s what. Some history... Ross Hannan raced Hondas and Triumphs in the 1960s. He rode a Cotton 250 in the 1965 Manx GP and went full time on the Continental Circus in 1969, with a Yamaha 250 and a Manx Norton 500. In June 1970 Hannan was the prime casualty when Isle of Man TT organisers experimented with a massed race start. He crashed on the first lap and was…