Innholdsfortegnelse for 2015 Issue 25 i Australian Motorcycle News

THE DESIGNATION OF SCOUT BRINGS BACK a revered name for the re-invented Indian brand. It’s represented a cornerstone since the first Scout rolled off the line way back in October of 1919. But where does the latest incarnation of the famous badge fit in the urban landscape of 2015? Well, it’s certainly stylish with its modern retro theme, hitting the style marker pretty well. Think “street appeal” here. The Scout is also mechanically engaging. In days of yore that term could read as just bloody hard work. Not so in this case. It’s about things like the gearchange – precise, leaving litle doubt as to its status. The engine likewise speaks of cool rushes of understated power. Every facet falls somewhere between overbuilt and overtly functional. To put it simply,…

JONATHAN REA 2015 WSBK CHAMPION His 23 podium finishes for this year eclipsed the record set by Troy Bayliss in 2002. The 28-year-old Brit ended up with 548 points, the seconds highest in WSBK history, and a massive 132 points ahead of his nearest rival Chaz Davies. PERE RIBA JONATHAN REA’S CREW CHIEF The Spaniard raced in the WSS from 2003 to 2007, 500cc GP in 2002 and was previously crew chief for Joan Lascorz and Loris Baz. His favourite racetrack is Phillip Island and his childhood hero was Mick Doohan, which makes him an honorary Aussie. What was the standout feature during your first taste of the 2016 bike at Aragon? Jonathan Rea: I noticed straight away the riding position was much nicer compared to the previous model -…

When it comes to left-of-centre transport, Ural continues to produce the only factory-made sidecars sold in Australia. And Ural Australia has recently released a new model: the cT. Intended for the urban adventurer, the new machine is wider, lower and has lower gearing. Like all current Ural models, the new bike is an air-cooled and injected 750cc flat twin. Included is a reverse gear and, to accommodate NSW rules, a parking brake that engages both the rear and the sidecar brakes. The brakes on all three wheels are Brembos, the Ural factory happily buying in various components including shocks, alternator and injection system parts. The rotors on the front and sidecar wheels are floating but the rear is fixed. The new model has 18-inch wheels, over the 19s fitted to…

1 A hungry hog Like the 250/350cc Harley GP racers that were so successful, the new 500 was also a watercooled parallel-twin with a 180° crank. Its six transfer/twin intake/single exhaust port cylinders that were canted forward 15º from vertical measured 72 x 60mm for a capacity of 488cc. Seen here are the dual, splayed 34mm Mikuni carburettors (two per cylinder), used on the racebike. On the original machine – and the very limited edition customer version of the bike – Dell'Ortos were used. 2 Full metal gears Ignition was provided by a self-generating Dansi CDI mounted on the left end of the crank with just 21› of advance, and the 89hp (66kW) delivered to the rear wheel at 10,000rpm (with maximum torque of 67.5Nm at just 6800rpm – some…

Imagine a world where you can log into a mobile phone application to find the nearest electric hire bike parked on the street. There will also be a helmet under the seat, so you won’t need to lug your own lid around. You won’t need keys as you simply punch in a four-digit access code on a small keyboard, located under the hinged two-person seat. And best of all you will be able to leave the bike absolutely wherever you want. The phone app will let the next user know where it was last parked. And dig this. If you’re over 27 you won’t even need a licence – of any kind – to blast around on one. If you’re under that age you’ll need a car licence. Sound too…

THE ENDURING MOTORCYCLE of choice for production-based, land-speed records is Suzuki’s Gen One Hayabusa. The GSX-1300R first appeared in showrooms in 1999, and quickly attained cult status. The Hayabusa was named after a Japanese diving peregrine falcon. It certainly gobbled up Honda’s Super Blackbird and Kawasaki’s Ninja ZX11 to become the world’s fastest production motorcycle of the 20th century at over 300km/h. The Gen One ’Busa was powered by a 1299cc, DOHC, 16-valve engine that used ram-air induction and clever but bulbous aerodynamics to effortlessly vanquish its rivals. It remained largely unchanged until the Gen Two version in 2008. Focus groups of owners helped with a cosmetic redesign. A bigger engine, now 1340cc and with higher compression, gave more power. However, the Gen Two ’Busa is heavier than its predecessor…

“IN MEDICINE YOU generally find that the usefulness of a doctor is inversely proportional to the size of the bag that he carries.” Dr John Hinds said with just a hint of a smile as he unveiled the contents of his famous orange kit bags in an interview just before his death. There was a minimal but critical amount of gear in the four pouches strapped to the Flying Doctors’ waists and in the small rucksacks slung on their backs. “We only carry what we need and it has been pared down by experience,” John said. Can the contents of this magic bag bring people back from the dead? Could it raise Lazarus? “That’s what it’s designed to do.” he smiled. Fully stocked the bags weigh 20kg and contain over…

There aren’t many things for which you can thank tobacco, but close racing in MotoGP is one of them. From the dawn of Grand Prix racing in 1949 until the late 1980s, the racing was dominated by a handful of factory riders on cutting-edge bikes, while impoverished privateers followed along at a respectful distance, on inferior machinery. Cigarette sponsorship first arrived in the 1970s, when a discrete Marlboro logo adorned the leathers of racer and sometime matinee idol Giacomo Agostini. Within a decade or so, Grand Prix grids resembled a tobacconist: Marlboro, Gauloises, Lucky Strike, Rothmans, Fortuna, HB, Ducados, Cabin and the rest. Significantly for the racing, this flood of money allowed more teams than ever before to afford factory machinery. Instead of Honda and Yamaha building factory bikes for…

FICEDA HAS SENT us an example of its latest range of French-made leather Segura Retro Jackets to test out. So far the biggest surprise – other than how good it looks – has been how soft it is. The jacket is made from Buffalo hide which you would expect to be hard, but it’s amazingly soft and feels super comfortable to wear. Thanks to its zip-out liner it will get plenty of use during the summer months (no squids here). Look for a full report early in 2016. $649.95 Ficeda Accessories (02) 9827 7561 ficeda.com.au…

IN 2014 WE raved about the AFX/ASC and it deserved all the accolades it got. In 2015 it got even better. Yamaha came back with a vengeance with a competitive bike. And the rivalry between the boys in blue and the red of Honda was spiced up by the coming of age of the boy in green, Mike Jones.In the Supersport class Callum Spriggs, Brayden Elliott, Michael Blair and company kept the thrills coming. And the 300 Ninjas delivered some of the closest racing ever. Kudos to Terry O’Neil for putting it all together – getting the last round live on Fox was a major step towards the mainstream return of the sport. But the series still had some shortfalls. Four rounds of seven in NSW and only one in…

In what was one of the most stacked MX1 fields to date, the MX Nationals saw eight different race winners through the season. With defending champion Matt Moss (Motul Suzuki) suffering an injury-plagued campaign, it was Kirk Gibbs (KTM Australia) who stepped up and won the series, scoring six moto wins in the process. In a standout season Kade Mosig (CDR Yamaha) took his first overall round win and with consistent results finished the series in second place. Gibbs' teammate Luke Styke and Adam Monea (Monster Kawasaki) tied for third. In the MX2 class, Jay Wilson (JCR Yamaha) and Luke Clout (Serco Yamaha) took the top two spots respectively. Takeshi Katsuya (Kawasaki) finished the series in third place. Despite some up-and-down results, the Japanese rider finished just 18 points behind…

THE CLOSEST AUSTRALIA got to world championship glory in 2015 was laying claim to now dual World Champion Tai Woffinden (right) growing up and starting his junior racing in Perth. Woffinden outgunned Greg Hancock and Nicki Pedersen in a Speedway Grand Prix series that showed no signs of adding a new name to the honour roll of champions. It was, however, enlivened by the new blood of Jason Doyle, Maciej Janowski and Michael Jepsen Jensen, while next year will see two young Poles giving the series another boost. Doyle (top right) bookended the year as the top Australian rider. He started 2015 by winning his first Australian Championship, and finished it as the best of our trio in the SGP series. Chris Holder will be part of the SGP again…

a disastrous opening round and a mid-season crash to slowly wear down the gap to Elliott who had taken the championship by the scruff of the neck in only his second full season of road racing. Both deserved to be crowned. was. By the time it was officially announced that Callum Spriggs had won on a countback, the celebration was somewhat subdued. Both riders had ridden a superb season. Spriggs fought back from WHILE THE 2016 Australasian Supersport Championship was run over seven exciting rounds, the championship was decided over six, with each competitor able to drop their worst round from the equation as they headed to Sydney for the finale. What followed was a day of confusion where the two riders and teams battling for the 2016 title, Brayden…

ZX-10). The five of them put on a great display of close racing with the eventual winner Ben Stronach dipping into the 56 second mark with a 56.969 on lap two. Cameron was second with Senior finishing in third place, just ahead of McFadden. Race 2 saw the same five riders at the front but this time after the eight-lap battle it was Cameron Stronach who crossed the line ahead of Senior and brother Ben, with McFadden and Chambers rounding out the top five. In the final race of the season, the Stronach boys made it a one-two at the front with McFadden in third. Senior was fourth with Chambers and Daniel Chadbund (Up n At IT Roof Carpentry Yamaha R1) rounding out the top six. Ben Stronach won the…

THE 2015 EAST Coast Sidecar Roundup (ECSR) was held on 28 November at the very fast 545 metre Wagga Wagga International Speedway track. The series ended as it started back in August at Tamworth, with seasoned sidecar campaigners from the Hunter Valley, Grant Bond and Glen Cox, victorious. From their two practice laps, they had their ever-reliable outfit dialled in and were always going to be a candidate for the all-important ‘A’ Final. The DoctorMak Engines-sponsored team looked at ease as they rocketed around the banked oval, and from an ECSR perspective, they can’t do any better than a 100 per cent record of two appearances and two wins. Another well prepared racer and first time participant in the series, Neale Hancock with passenger Brendan Johnson, was impressive throughout the…

HORSHAM MOTORCYCLE CLUB played host to the Governor of Victoria, the Honourable Linda Dessau AM, who visited the club ahead of the 2018 Junior World Motocross Championships being held at the track. Horsham has expanded its facility in the past 10 years, growing to a National Motocross venue. Now it is set to host an international event. “It’s an absolute honour and privilege that the Governor has visited the Horsham Motorcycle Club,” said Club President Kenny Watts. “She had never seen or been to a motocross facility before, and the tour raised her awareness of the professionalism of the club, members and athletes, with the facilities rising above her expectations." “Horsham Motorcycle Club has an amazing vision to be attracting national and international competitions," said Governor Dessau. "It shows the…

We look back at shocks, thrills, spills and flops of new bike news in 2015! Boost Boost is the buzzword of 2015. As well as Kawasaki’s H2 hitting dealers, rumours of Suzuki’s turbocharged offering culminated with its turbo twin-cylinder engine revealed at Tokyo. As predicted, Kawasaki admitted it has another couple of supercharged machines – a 1000cc naked and a 600cc model – on the way. Meanwhile, patents revealed Honda is developing at least one supercharged machine and Suzuki has its eyes on a four-cylinder, hybrid turbocharged bike (AMCN Vol 65 No 05). Bonnevilles It was as long ago as January (AMCN Vol 64 No 13) we spied Triumph’s new Thruxton R in near-finished form, and our prediction back then that its engine was to be a 1200cc unit proved…

SINCE THE ADOPTION of the single-tyre rule in 2009, the topic of tyres has faded from prominence in MotoGP. But it’s coming to the fore again as Michelin replaces Bridgestone as the sole supplier and brings with it a new generation of 17-inch rubber. Back in the days of multiple tyre suppliers, the MotoGP rulebook didn’t specify a particular wheel size as it does now, and those unassuming bits of rubber were often the talking point of a race weekend. Riders would change wheel sizes, often opting for different diameters front and rear, in their efforts to gain an advantage and tailor bikes to their style. In the latter part of the 500cc era and the first few years of the four-stroke MotoGP championship, the options often included 16-inch, 16.5-inch…

Access, AMCN, 12/20 Edward Street, Oakleigh, Vic, 3166 access@amcn.com.au Maybe the dealer had sneaked the bike onto rain mode before handing it over ... the lower-end punch seemed missing in action Letter of the issue The price of happiness I agreed with your verdict that the BMW S1000XR is the bike of the year – so much so I have one in my shed. As a long-time sportsbike rider I have been looking for a bike that’s exciting, has all the new technology, and can cope with long rides on our Australian roads. The nakedbikes tempted me, but they’re not much much better at long rides and bumpy roads. So too did adventure sportsbikes – I test rode quite a few, but most were practical and a bit dull. So…

SURE, ROCKY ROBINSON may have flashed across Bonneville Salt Flats at over 600km/h. However, all he had to do was hang on to his bike for less time than it takes to down a beer. And Rusty Vaughn may well have covered over 3000km in 24 hours. But he was on auto pilot: round and round and round the smooth, banked Continental Tyre Test Track. But here in the land down under, where women glow and men plunder, 40-year-old iron man Scott Britnell rode a 200kg plus beastie from Birdsville (Qld) to Mount Dare (SA) in less than nine hours. And that was a day after riding from Cape Byron (NSW) to Birdsville in 19 hours. Then, the day after the Simpson crossing, he rode the 820 very lonely kilometres…

THINGS WERE LOOKING dire for Kawasaki at the end of 2008. Having been involved in MotoGP since 2003, the numbers just weren’t adding up. KHI was spending a reported $40 million a year on its GP effort, and with a global financial crisis looming the decision was made to pull out, effective immediately. That left riders John Hopkins and Marco Melandri in a quandary for the ’09 season, but they weren’t the only ones. A plethora of KHI staff were left jobless, including MotoGP Project Leader Yoshimoto Matsuda. After a few meetings and with a new job description, Matsudasan was given the task of creating a competitive ZX-10R. He did so by turning a racebike into a streetbike – a first for a Japanese company. At his first attempt, with…

IN THE FLAMINI years the regulations for WSBK drifted away from the original ideal, which was to buy a bike, put a pipe and some tyres on it, and go racing. Every year the bikes became more focused and racetrack orientated; myriad changes were allowed, essentially removing any mechanical resemblance between the racebikes and their homologated street equivalents. Different frames with different pivots, angles and thicknesses, ride-by-wire systems fitted to bikes that don’t come with it standard, taking a ton of weight off the crankshaft when you weren’t really allowed to … and so on. The bikes were more like GP bikes than streetbikes, and officials were lax when it came to policing the rules. Since Dorna took over the role of WSBK promoter we have seen a lot changes…

1 Picnic packer Extra storage space in the sidecare is one of the cT’s biggest selling points – just think of all the good stuff (and not so good stuff) you could take with you, or carry home. The footwell is huge, the boot has a capacity of 83 litres, and the Ural rig has a Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) of 600kg. You can take it a fair way, too – the 19 litre tank offers decent range and this can be extended with the help of a Ural jerry can. 2 Triple tread The Ural cT comes shod with special Heidenau sidecar tyres, but how “special” are they? They have a flatter profile and a larger contact patch that Heidenau claims distributes drive and steering forces; in other words…

THE RR500'S RACING debut actually came about on 16 March 1975 in two different countries. First, Michel Rougerie took one of the customer bikes to victory on the public roads Rouen circuit in France, in an international 1000cc race run in the wet. He beat a fleet of TZ750 Yamaha riders including Chas Mortimer, Jon Ekerold and Kork Ballington, as well as the TZ350-mounted Patrick Pons. That promising start was backed up by the factory bike’s debut on the same day in the first round of the Italian 500cc championship at Misano. Riding the new Harley twin, Walter Villa led Phil Read’s MV Agusta four for most of the race, until he was forced to retire when it got stuck in gear owing to a broken selector spring. Three days…

For every successful motorcycle design that reaches the market there’s a host of false starts and alternative ideas. Most never get further than the drawing board, but occasionally firms get a long way down the path to production before hitting the brakes or swerving off in another direction. We’re all familiar with the machines that made it, but what of those that fell before the finish line? The designs that came oh-so-close to starring under the bright lights of motorcycle shows but were instead scrapped, leaving little or no trace that they ever existed? We’ve managed to obtain images of an array of machines that have never been seen before in public, but that came close enough to have been built as design studies or prototypes. Originating from design patents,…

At a press conference in Munich on 11 November, BMW Motorrad announced a five-year plan which targets lifting annual sales across all its platforms to 200,000 units by 2020. It also presented the new G310R single-cylinder model which will play a key role in driving that steep increase in demand for its products. While designed and developed in Germany, it will be entirely manufactured in India by BMW’s new partner, TVS Motor Company based in Bangalore. Sales of BMW motorcycles and scooters are already at an all-time high, with 121,622 units sold globally in the first 10 months of this year – up 11.5 per cent on the same period one year ago, and all but reaching 2014’s record 12-month level of 123,495 sales after just 10 months in 2015.…

AS A DIRECT RESULT of experience in treating race injuries, Dr John Hinds, Dr Gareth Davies and Dr Mark Wilson highlighted a previously unrecognised condition called brain apnoea syndrome. The details of the syndrome – and a ground-breaking new approach to its treatment – were discussed during the Trauma Medicine conference in London this year. “When someone receives a blow to the head in an accident they often appear to be dead.” Dr Davies explained. “They can suffer dilated pupils, there may be no pulse and they will stop breathing. You could walk away and say that they have suffered an overwhelming injury and that they are dead and if you do nothing they will die. “This is something that we get to see in bike racing very quickly. Our…

ESSENTIALS Fuel at Moss Vale, Nowra, and Berry. Kangaroo Valley also has a servo, and food options. The café as you head down from Fitzroy Falls boasts the world’s best pies and decent coffee. Fix It At Nowra there are several local bike shops including Nowra Motorcycles and Nowra City Motorcycles on the Princes Highway, and Glen Henry Motorcycles on the Albatross Road. All have workshops and would be happy to lend a helping hand. If you get stuck call Dave at Servinitup Motorcycle Transport and he will come pick you up and take you home Ph: 0404 298 880 – a very handy number to have saved in your phone as you never know when you might need it. Fuel Up Coles Express 55 Kinghorne St, Nowra Ph: (02)…

SOFT, DELICATE SUEDE ... not the obvious choice for motorcycle boots. But in Italy, where these Falcos were made, fashion comes first. The question is, does practicality come second? Falco has been making riding footwear for over 20 years, from serious racing gear to more casual numbers, like these Mod 2 boots. It’s a small but slowly growing family company, and one of the few operations that hasn’t moved to a cheaper country – it was a surprise to look inside the boot and see the “Made in Italy” tag. As far as quality goes, those are encouraging signs. The boots have been made with an array of advanced materials and systems (High Tex, Aircool, Air-Tech, Vibram) to keep moisture out. I’ve copped a couple of good showers riding in…

1 Geared for Africa Touratech Australia From $11.88 0409 236 469 touratech.com.au Touratech has developed a range of gear to suit the Honda CRF1000L Africa Twin. The range includes a pannier system with various sizes and variants, a top case and rack, aluminium luggage rack, GPS mount, long-distance footpegs, engine guard, auxiliary lights, Velcro tabs and much, much more. 2 Devil Time TUDOR $5850 (03) 9654 3988 tudorwatch.com The Tudor Fastrider Black Shield is inspired by the Ducati XDiavel. The self-winding monobloc ceramic chronograph has an easy-to-read white on black contrast. It is waterproof to 150m, has a virtually scratch-proof case and a matt black finish. It’s available with a leather or rubber strap. 3 Cobra Gloves Cassons $89.95 (02) 8882 1900 cassons.com.au The Rjays Cobra II Carbon is a…

WHAT’S NOT TO like about Moto3? Another season of rowdy playground rough-house, and a quite unexpected sense of balance at the end of it. It was all about two riders, and they shared the year pretty equally. The first half belonged to Danny Kent, up until round 12 at Silverstone, where he took win number six on the turquoise Leopard Honda. Several had been by record distances. With strong finishes almost everywhere else, he was supreme. Despite sitting 110 points behind, Miguel Oliveira had already won two tactically acute races, and soon would be getting an upgraded chassis for his official factory Red Bull KTM. And now he was on a roll. Just like Kent had been. It came down to six points at the end, at a nail-biting finale.…

LIKE ROCKY CLIMBING off the canvas against Apollo Creed, in 2015 the ASBK took a first step towards what just might yet become one of the great Australian sporting comeback stories. Season 2014 ended disastrously, with the series looking all but dead and buried. However, just like the great Philadelphian pugilist, the series climbed off the mat, took the event to the people, and made the first steps towards a fairytale revival. Away from the track another tumultuous year ended with a new but impressively credentialed board, and the first woman president in the history of Motorcycling Australia, Tania Lawrence. On the track, except for the Honda boys at Phillip Island, the factories were conspicuous by their absence, but there was no lack of privateers to take their place. The…

After a three-year absence from top level competition, former Australian Motocross and Supercross champion Daniel Reardon (CDR Yamaha) showed he still has what it takes by taking out the SX1 class. The SX2 class title may be heading offshore after American Jimmy Decotis took out the series for Penrite Honda Racing, but the future of Australian supercross racing looks bright after a highly competitive SXD Under 19s series, which ended with Mitch Evans (GYTR Yamaha) and Brock McLeary (Raceline Pirelli Suzuki) tied on points. Evans finally secured the title on a countback.…

As the sun set on the inaugural day/evening ASC round at Sydney Motorsport Park last weekend, Honda’s never-give-up man, Troy Herfoss (Team Honda/Motologic), claimed a thrilling title by a solitary point from Yamaha’s Wayne Maxwell (YRT/Yamaha Motorcycle Insurance). He described the victory as the toughest, most intense and satisfying of his career. Following arguably the most exciting season of domestic superbike racing seen for many years, it all came down to the seventh and final round, with Herfoss and Maxwell locked together on 316 points. The three-race-round format run under a blazing summer sun favoured neither rider, with Kawasaki’s Mike Jones (Cube Racing / Australian Outdoor Living) at almost equal odds with the factory teams for the chance of a round victory. Herfoss took the early advantage by claiming pole…

JASON O’HALLORAN WILL return to the MCE British Superbike Championship with Team Honda in 2016, following his season-ending injury this year at Thruxton in Round 6. The Australian is hungry to impress after a long recovery to rehabilitate the shattered femur he sustained after a collision with Howie Mainwaring-Smart during qualifying. In 2015 O’Halloran attained a promising 5th place in the standings before being taken out of the hunt for entry into the Superbike showdown. He will return to the track in March for testing aboard his CBR1000RR, with 2016 marking the Australian’s sixth year of racing in the competition. “I’m really pleased to be staying with Honda… To have their support after my injury and missing the second half of the season has kept me going and makes me…

NOT THE MOST polished or publicised new machine of the year, but one of the most interesting, is the Vins Powerlight. Revealed at the Milan show, the bike – from unknown maker Vins Motors – was almost lost among high-profile new model launches. While others have largely given up on the two-stroke idea in the face of tough emissions laws, Vins believes modern technology can make strokers clean enough to be sold, allowing their compact dimensions and light weight to give an advantage over more complex four-stroke bikes. Not that the Powerlight is simple. It features a 100cc V-twin two-stroke with direct fuel injection that attempts – as many have – to stop the usual two-stroke problem of fuel entering the cylinder while the exhaust ports are still open. The…

BACK IN THE dark ages, when I obtained my motorcycle licence, new riders were restricted to 250cc bikes. Like most, I did my time on a clapped out, uninspiring old dunga before upgrading straight to a first generation Fireblade – yes, the original learner scheme was well thought out. Fast-forward 20 years and I still enjoy riding, but after taking a look at what today’s learner riders have to chose from, I realise my choice of bike has gone full circle. The LAMS segment is now filled with bikes that learner riders will find easy to master, and experienced riders will enjoy. The king of the kids in the learner market is Kawasaki’s Ninja 300. While we see plenty of young lads getting around on them, I was interested to…

Kawasaki enjoyed a very special year in 2013, the Japanese manufacturing giant managing a feat it had only achieved once before in its long history of four-stroke racing motorcycles: it finally won the Superbike World Championship. Tom Sykes’ WSBK title was the first for Kawasaki since Scott Russell beat an army of Ducatis on his factory ZXR750 in 1993. Sykes had come ever so close in 2012, finally missing out by half a point to Aprilia’s Roman Emperor Max Biaggi. However, his second place finish in what was his debut year sounded a warning to the competition of things to come. There was another second place in 2014, and then this year the fairy tale continued for Kawasaki as new recruit Jonathan Rea decimated the field on the 2015 version…

WE ASKED THE ZX-10R’s creator Yoshimoto Matsuda to sketch a futuristic roadbike that he envisions may be buzzing around on our streets by 2025. We thrust a small notebook under his nose and gave him 30 seconds to draw something. His fun sketch features hub-centre steering. Sure beats our pathetic doodlings down the pub on a beer coaster! we use the high quality titanium as used by Akropovic and are the only company to do so. What single design feature are you the proudest of? We have a resonance system inside the frame, which the previous bike didn’t have. That’s one of the unique ways we have reduced acceleration (intake) noise. It’s really nice because you can’t see this from the outside, just from the inside. Which component took the…

There’s something enormously satisfying about telling people to get stuffed, about bucking the trend and forging your own path irrespective of the status quo. Suzuki has done that with the GSX-S1000F, and it’s not the first time. This all new semi-faired version of the naked 2016 GSX-S1000 is built around the engineering genius of Suzuki’s K5 GSX-R1000 powerplant and designed as a “pure sports roadster”. Like the naked model, it benefits from an upright riding position and the addition of a simple and effective three-stage traction control system. But unlike its sibling, the GSX-S1000F pushes the boundaries of design to create a motorcycle that will long be remembered, and not just for its looks. This seemingly mild-mannered machine is nothing short of a missile on the back roads, and while…

As a home-run two-wheeled Trivial Pursuit question, it has few equals. Exactly 40 years ago this year, Harley-Davidson competed in the 1975 500cc World Championship against Suzuki and Yamaha with a race-winning two-stroke Grand Prix racer of its own design – true or false? Sorry to disillusion the Hog faithful, but however unlikely, it happens to be TRUE! Okay, not exactly a full season of GP competition, more just a handful of races. But during its short life, it did enjoy a measure of sucess. Then, in 1976, the twin-cylinder four-carb H-D RR500 project died away almost as mysteriously as it had been born. That left Harley’s Italian factory – where the bike had been created – to focus on retaining its 250cc world crown with Villa that year, going…

Alongside his colleague Fred MacSorley, John Hinds became famous as one of the Flying Doctors. Mounted on motorcycles and carrying bright orange packs stuffed with medical equipment, the pair provided the fastest medical response in world motorsport, saving countless lives at Irish bike races over the past decade. But tragically, the 35-year-old John was tracking a group of riders during a practice session at the Skerries 100 on 4 July this year when he inexplicably crashed his BMW S1000RR and sustained fatal injuries. The death of the man who had watched over everyone else in the high-risk business of racing on closed public roads stunned the bike racing paddock and left his family and friends devastated. “John always believed there was something that he could do to save lives.” his…

Like the black and white TV or the manual typewriter, the motorised bicycle or “moped” was once thought consigned to the technological graveyard. There were a few of them about, but sightings were rare, the ’ped having long been superseded on roads of the first world by its nemesis: the motor scooter. For many of us, exposure to the moped came during youthful forays into engine-powered two-wheelers. Even the word itself has a sort of teenage pout about it (just drop the “d” to get the picture) evoking memories of clumsy rides across muddy parks trying to gain the attention of distinctly unimpressed girls. Or you encountered them on first holidays abroad, often when your bag was ripped from your shoulder by some cigarette smoking youth who sped into the…

IT WAS – not probably but definitely – the best season since the top class went diesel in 2002. Up until the point that somebody injected a little dose of poison. A scorpion has a sting in the tail. This one stung itself.The dose was not fatal, but it left a sort of stain. Who slipped the needle in first? Márquez, toying with Rossi in Australia? Or Valentino’s unexpected insulting response in Malaysia? If Vale's intention was to devalue Jorge’s looming triumph, it was ruthless, cunning and successful. But also demeaning. The year ended with his final cry of “Not Fair”. And a bad mark for his end-of-year report. A pity, because his racing season had been unforgettable, an absolute inspiration in every way. Crasher of the year Marc Márquez…

THE 2015 FIM Superbike World Championship was such a rout for Jonathan Rea in his first year in the KRT squad that he effectively won the championship at least a couple of times over. He only missed an all-time points record because of a last round, last race, tech failure. And he only didn’t podium in all the races because Pirelli didn't bring his favourite hard construction front tyre to some rounds of the championship. His leather-clad dominate-tricks were very much family viewing, and his Ninja a podium magnet all year. Nobody could compete with him over the season, but amazingly a fair few others beat him on their day. All top five riders won at least once, including rookie Jordi Torres, his Aprilia teammate Leon Haslam (twice) and Tom…

MORE THAN 80 RIDERS did battle at the 2015 Victorian Road Racing Championship on November 28-29 at Broadford’s State Motorcycle Sports Complex. The event ran over two days with qualifying and Race 1 held on Saturday and Races 2 and 3 held on Sunday. Nathan Jones (3J Racing Kawasaki ZX-10R) took his second Superbike title, winning the class by 14 points over Ben Gotch (Total Welding CBR1000RR) and Kenny Redding (YRD Yamaha YZF-R1). Moe-based Jones won two out of three races and finished second in Race 2, where he managed to record a 56.957 lap time on lap four. There was fierce competition from his brother Tyson Jones (3J Racing ZX10-R) who registered a DNF in Race 1 due to his bike throwing a chain but still finished sixth overall…

SYDNEY BASED SA KAWASAKI BCperformance have recruited Robbie Bugden to ride alongside Ben Bourke in next year’s Swann Australasian Superbike Championship. Bugden spent nine years as a factory rider at Australian national level, as well as winning five New Zealand Superbike championships and competing in the Suzuka 8 Hours, British Superbike Championship, Asian Road Race series and German Superbike title series. Evan Byles will remain at the team in the Formula Oz championship. 2015 Kawasaki Insurance FX300 Ninja Cup contender Ryan Masri will move up to a ZX-6R Ninja in the Supersport division with hard charger Kyle Buckley.…

IT WAS AN action-packed finish to the Penrite Australian Supercross Championship last weekend in Melbourne as Daniel Reardon (CDR Yamaha), Jimmy Decotis (Penrite Honda) and Mitch Evans (GYTR Yamaha) took out the SX1 (450cc), SX2 (250cc) and SXD (Under 19) titles respectively. Reardon had his work cut out for him during an exciting penultimate round in Sydney where he faced stiff competition from double World Champion Chad Reed (Yamaha), 15-times AMA Champion Ricky Carmichael (Suzuki), AMA young gun Cooper Webb (Star Racing Yamaha) and two-time SX2 Champion Gavin Faith (Penrite Honda). Reed ended up taking victory by a narrow margin from Faith while an unlucky Matt Moss (Team Motul Suzuki) was forced to watch his championship hopes slip away as he was stretchered off the course after being first pinned…

Your entry into motorcycling was typical of the 1970s I grew up in Taroona near Hobart, and started riding a mate’s Honda 50cc minibike. I played soccer and sailed on the Derwent, but riding that little Honda was something that I enjoyed doing, so I got a TAS minibike. From there it was onto XR75s. When I turned 16 I got a 1973 RD250, and started road racing a Kawasaki Mach III at Baskerville when I was 17, and a TX500. Winston Badcock, Malcolm Campbell and Rob Scolyer were top northerners but Eugene Reed was the guy down south. It was nothing serious, just a bit of fun. That all changed when you started at Bathurst Yeah, I did my first Bathurst in 1978 on a TZ350B when I was…

Is yours the best job in MotoGP? It’s got to be up there, hasn’t it? I love the team I work with, they’re a great bunch of guys. I came in at the time when Casey joined the team and I was specifically drafted in with that in mind, having English as my first language was important. The Malaysia test was when we both first worked together and then he went on to to become one of my best friends. He was at my wedding last year and we’re really close friends now. Obviously he left and we took Marc and it’s been a whirlwind in terms of the championship success we’ve had since I joined the team. It’s just been fantastic to be a part of that. How do…