Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue#122 - March 2016 i Australian Road Rider

A company which has supplied night-vision goggles to armed forces has now turned its attention to producing a hi-tech night vision motorcycle helmet. Ninox has received a world patent for its Ninox Genesis helmet technology, designed to increase the safety of motorcycle riders by improving vision at night and in poor weather conditions. Inventor “Patrick S” says it will provide “significant safety and efficiency features for motorcycle riders. This technical invention allows users to have better visibility at any time of the day and even during various weather conditions. With so much high technology and modern features built in, the Ninox Genesis is something that every motorcycle rider should own,” he says. The Ninox Genesis helmet will not only include night-vision capability, but will be packed with hi-tech features such…

The United Nations, an Australian government department and VicRoads are calling for the increased use of anti-lock braking systems (ABS) on motorcycles to boost road safety. A joint report by VicRoads and the Federal Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development found that the use of ABS could reduce motorcycle fatalities and severe injury crashes by more than one-third. The research found that ABS could help in 93 per cent of crash situations and could reduce the rate of death and serious injury from motorcycle crashes by 31 per cent. “ABS technology could be as significant for motorcycles as the introduction of seatbelts in cars,” director of Vehicle and Road Use Policy at VicRoads, Robyn Seymour said. “ABS is available now, both as standard and as an option, however we want…

Social riding group BOOBs (Babes Out On Bikes) is raising money for one of their riders to buy a trike so she can bring her wheelchair-bound daughter on rides. Katie is a beautiful, smiling and intelligent 22-year-old trapped in a body that has been slowly deteriorating from a baffling disease since she was six months old. She has required intensive therapy and operations ever since and every day her body works a little less. She is now trapped in a body that won’t let her walk or talk. However, her mother Caro wants her to enjoy a full life and is trying to buy a trike so she can take Katie on rides with the BOOBs ladies. “When we get the trike, Katie wants to ride everywhere with me,” Caro…

How long will it be before air-pollution Nazis around the world follow the lead of the Paris mayor who wants to ban old motorcycles? In an effort to curb air pollution in the crowded city, mayor Anne Hidalgo had sought to restrict the bikes registered before 2000 in major areas of the French capital between 8am and 8pm. Harsher bans throughout the country are now being considered by some French politicians. However, the French are well known for protesting and some 15,000 riders on 10,000 bikes blocked the capital’s outer ring road recently to make a stand against the bans. They were joined by tens of thousands of riders in 34 other French cities. The protests were organised by Biker France and the Federation Francaise des Motards en Colere, which…

Roly Orr from Wilder Motorcycles in Young, NSW, has won Yamaha’s prestigious 2015 Motorcycle Technicians Grand Prix. Yamaha’s Tech GP is an industry-leading initiative that recognises excellence in the motorcycle service industry. Together with Yamaha Technical Academy training, the Tech GP helps to motivate, develop and retain skilled technicians in the Yamaha network. Roly will now represent Oceania in the 2016 World Motorcycle Technicians GP to be held in Japan in October 2016. Tim Dowbnia from Peter Stevens in Adelaide, SA, was runner-up. Dowbnia, who has earned an automatic placement in the 2017 Tech GP, joined Peter Stevens specifically to compete in the well-recognised event. The nine finalists were only separated with 11 per cent difference in their final scores. Roly and Tim were separated by only two per cent.…

“For years we’ve been riding motorbikes, listening to the roar of the engine and the wind rushing past our helmets. However, unless you were wearing ear defenders, your hearing was probably being damaged incrementally — and often beyond repair” Do you say “what” so many times you give up and pretend you heard someone? Has it become “normal” not to hear people in busy, noisy cafes or bars? Do you avoid noisy places now? Well, I certainly connect with some of the above. The problem, of course, is hearing damage. For years we’ve been riding motorbikes, listening to the roar of the engine and the wind rushing past our helmets. However, unless you were wearing ear defenders, your hearing was probably being damaged incrementally — and often beyond repair. Even…

“Kayla, 22, adds to her GP experience by drawing portraits of the riders, 45 at last count with 39 signed by the subjects” They’re a weird mob, the motorcycle community. But don’t we just love ’em. Take a trip to Phillip Island and the breathtakingly beautiful 4.4km circuit perched on the edge of Bass Strait and you know you’re somewhere special. You instantly become part of some strange two-wheeled fraternity. Just nod. A lot. Whether you’re a marshal, medic or one of the thousands of gloriously mad campers, it’s all about the island, the bikes, the racing and well, yes, the bikes really. For five days at MotoGP time, the island becomes a place to embrace, relax and enjoy. For starters, take the time to get to know the marshals,…

If ever there was evidence that in 2015 there is a motorcycle for everyone, it’s the new C-Spec or Cafe version of Yamaha’s 942cc V-twin Star Bolt cruiser. 52hp pushing a wet weight of more than 250kg in a chassis with a 1570mm wheelbase is not everyone’s idea of a cafe racer, even if it does have clip-ons. It shouldn’t work but it does, at least for me. Changes to the base-model Bolt are few but make for a very different look and riding feel. Apart from the clip-ons, the main change has been to relocate the rider’s foot pegs 38mm higher and 150mm further back to compensate. Tank graphics are also new. R-Spec remote-reservoir shocks are standard, while fork gaiters and a solo seat cowl add to the cafe…

“If you’re travelling solo it’s easy to use the back end of the seat in conjunction with the rack to carry larger items like, say, a tent or sleeping bag as the seat and the rack are in line horizontally” I always ride with earplugs, which is just as well given how much volume has been liberated by removing the dB-killer from the high-level Arrow pipe on the V7. Seriously, this is now properly rowdy and feels particularly so when leaving home early in the morning. Not only that, but to overcome the V7’s tendency to stall on small throttle openings when stone cold, it needs to be revved a bit too. Fortunately it’s actually a lovely sound and seems much more fitting than the polite gurgle it used to…

I’m on assignment in sunny Spain except it’s not too sunny. It’s bloody freezing. My hands are numb from the cold, turning the camera mount on my tripod into a Chinese finger trap. The wind is strong enough to send my rig flying, as already happened earlier in the day — a problem I now tackle by piling rock pyramids around the tripod’s legs. Adding to my problems are thick, fast-moving clouds that drift in and out of the sun, changing the light conditions from sunny and cheerful to dark and stormy and back again in a matter of seconds. When everything’s finally set, I put my gloves and helmet back on, hit the self-timer and make a run for it. I have 10 seconds to mount my bike, raise…

Don’t forget to write! We mean it. We love to hear from you and everyone else does too; these pages are among the most popular in the magazine. Preferably, keep letters under 300 words so we can fit more in, though we will allow the odd exception without taking to it with the editorial knife. Yes, we will chop ’em when we have to. Do include your real name and some contact details, just in case we need to clarify something. Please write to roadrider@universalmagazines.com.au or send mail to Road Rider, Unit 5, 6–8 Byfield Street, North Ryde NSW 2113 — Matho LIVE TO RIDE I enjoyed the story of the two blokes doing a bike ride in Cuba in ARR#120. We were in Uruguay a couple of years ago…

ON THE BIKE We take a blast on five adventure-sport bikes — BMW S1000XR, Ducati Multistrada, Aprilia Caponord, Triumph Tiger Sport and Kawasaki Versys 1000 — and Harley’s big-wheeled Forty-Eight. RIDE TIME We go off-road in New South Wales on the BMW GS Safari and epic five-day TransTerra adventure ride. We also pop over the Great Dividing Range from Sydney to Bathurst and head to Thailand to explore one of the most beautiful regions of South-East Asia. NOT FORGETTING All the other beaut stuff and regulars you expect to see in each and every issue of ARR. See you next month!…

Monash University Accident Research Centre professor Max Cameron says high-visibility speed cameras are only good for reducing speed at a black spot. Mobile speed cameras were originally introduced to reduce speed at black spots. NSW still has very prominently signed fixed and mobile speed cameras, Western Australia is now trialling more visible speed cameras, and England is going all out to make the cameras much more visible. However, Queensland has recently removed the signs warning of mobile speed cameras and a new report by Queensland’s auditor-general has found they are not always deployed at the right time, in the right location, or in the “right mode” (not covert enough). The report says only 16.3 per cent of mobile deployment hours are done covertly because police want to avoid perceptions of…

“We are considering an assembly plant in India as part of our long-term plan” Indian motorcycles could be assembled in India for the local market from 2018 under expansion plans by owner Polaris Industries. Polaris India boss Pankaj Dubey dropped the first hint in July when opening the third Indian Motorcycle dealership in the country and he has been more emphatic at the opening of the fourth dealership. “We are considering an assembly plant in India as part of our long-term plan,” he told India’s The Financial Express. “We are looking at a time horizon of about three to five years to set up an assembling plant in India.” India is the world’s second biggest motorcycle market and motorcycle companies as diverse as BMW, Ducati, Triumph and Harley-Davidson have been…

A young British woman who fell from her motorcycle after a farmer left mud on the road has been awarded £10,000 ($A21,460) compensation. Maurice Blackburn Lawyers principal Malcolm Cummings of Melbourne says there is a lesson in the British case for Australians that the road must be left in a suitable condition for all other road users, including motorcyclists. In the UK incident, then 16-year-old Carrie Dickinson crashed her bike on the mud near Doncaster in 2013. She broke her collarbone, suffered severe concussion and cuts and bruises. Her lawyer alleged the farmer caused or permitted the country road to become or remain in a dangerous, defective condition, and a trap to anyone in that area, failed to fence, guard or warn the rider of the hazard, and failed to…

“When you press the button to convert, the rear wheel retracts and jets on either side fire up” Aussie stunt king Robbie Maddison recently showed you can make a motorcycle ride on water when he surfed in Tahiti, but now everyone can do it. New Zealand inventor Alan Gibbs has unveiled three amphibious recreational vehicles at the American International Motorcycle expo in Florida. They convert to jet skis by retracting the wheels and switching to jet propulsion in less than five seconds. The two-wheel Biski amphibious motorcycle weighs 228kg and is powered by a 41kW twin-cylinder engine capable of 129km/h on land and 60km/h on water. It has a 20-litre fuel tank, sits on tyres 120/70-16 in front and 150/80-15 in the rear and comes in blue only. When you…

A 1934 Indian 750cc Sport Scout once owned by Hollywood star and motorcycle fanatic Steve McQueen sold at auction for £59,740 ($A127,000) in October. That may sound like a lot, but it’s nowhere near the almost $1 million paid for his 1915 Cyclone board tracker in May. McQueen’s Indian was one of more than 230 motorcycles sold at the annual two-day Bonhams Stafford Sale in the UK at the weekend, which realised more than £3.6m ($A7.6m), a record for the sale and the highest grossing motorcycle sale yet in Europe. On the first day of the auction, the Lonati Collection of 60 rare motorcycles achieved £1.3m ($A2.8m), with 91 per cent sold. It also set a new world record for an Indian Four, as the 1930 Indian Model 402 Four…

Ljubljana made me fall in love with it, which is doubly remarkable because I’m not one for cities. All it took was a single afternoon strolling around Slovenia’s small, friendly and stunningly pretty capital. If I’d gone there and not thrown a leg over a motorcycle I’d have loved the trip, but what came next lifted it to another level altogether and expanded my newfound love to embrace the entire country. All this and I was still going to visit Croatia’s Adriatic islands and ride Italy’s Dolomites passes before my holiday was over. One of my friends asked, “What, so you didn’t believe me when I said Ljubljana was beautiful?” It’s not that I hadn’t believed her, it’s more that I couldn’t imagine it might be beautiful. No, I didn’t…

DAY 1: DUBBO TO TUMUT Although the weather forecast was not looking particularly good, the decision was made to head to the south of the state, with Tumut the destination punched into the TomTom. I’d been north a couple of times so it was south along the Newell and into the wilds of the weather. The ride from Dubbo to Parkes and Forbes was uneventful, with the Tiger performing admirably, covering the kilometres with ease, erasing memories of work and putting a smile on my face. At Forbes I followed the TomTom and turned towards Grenfell, the countryside a deep shade of green and contrasting against the ever-increasing grey clouds. About 10km out of Grenfell, drops of rain started appearing on the screen of the Tiger and my helmet visor.…

“The suspension, though basic in spec, is a great balance for around town riding and fast open roads” If you’re in the market for an entry-level sportsbike, it’s hard to look past the CBR500R. A sales success story since 2014 and currently runner-up to the best-selling Ninja 300, it’s no wonder this machine is so popular. It’s an ideal machine to learn on, with easy handling, predictable power and excellent economy. What’s more, this machine’s capabilities exceed what a learner needs. This is a bike riders will keep when they have their full licence. It’s also a machine that experienced riders will enjoy to ride, with plenty of performance and excitement. With a new colour scheme for 2015, the affable parallel twin is stylish. Its design harks back to previous-generation…

Ride from A to B. It seems such a simple plan, but when we’re talking “adventures”, A and B are far apart and there’s usually some kind of trouble between. Take the case of A being sparkly old Paris in France and B being dusty Dakar in Senegal, on Africa’s west coast, with lots of barren, rocky desert in between. That was the crazy adventure which, while lost in the Ténéré Desert in the late 1970s, Frenchman Thierry Sabine thought would make a good long-distance rally, a sport the French have always been delightfully keen on. The first Paris/Dakar Rally was held in 1979 (it was called the “Oasis Rally” in that first year) and though it was a bit of an organisational shambles, in the end the first vehicle…

“Comparing it to similar-looking offerings it’s something of a bargain at $350” RJAYS AVIATOR JACKET With the current retro thing happening, my 20-year-old leather is suddenly looking cool again. However, it’s seen better days and while I was looking for a replacement, this jacket from RJays caught my eye. It’s got a real classic look to it with its low collar and patches on the elbows, helped by the distressed finish to the brown or grey leather. It’s made from 100 per cent A-grade race-weight leather coming in at about 3kg, it also has CE-approved armour in the shoulder and elbows, as well as a foam back protector. All of this is removable and in fact over the winter I’ve taken it out and worn a Finn Moto armoured hoodie…

“When you ride, the adrenaline increases in your body, you become happier and healthier — all good things coming from fear” We can learn from our kids about overcoming fear just by watching them. A few times time a year I take my son to a place where he can take his bike for a run. He has apprehension in his eyes as the ute enters the property. This turns into calmness as the bike is unloaded. His fear turns into caution which in turn becomes enjoyment after a very short time. Yes, he has come off a few times, but the feeling of achievement surpasses the minor scratch and deflated ego when he puts the bike down. Importantly, he gets back on. My wife always tells us to be…

“Kawasaki motorcycles should continue to be fun and rewarding to ride” Kawasaki is supercharging its future after the success of its H2 and H2R supercharged bikes. Speaking at the 44th annual Tokyo Motor Show, Kawasaki president Kenji Tomida unveiled a concept sketch for Concept SC 01, or “Spirit Charger”, a future forced-induction motorcycle. He also unveiled a new balanced supercharged engine with increased fuel economy thanks to electronically controlled flaps at the supercharger entrance. This allows the volume and direction of air intake to be adjusted for maximum efficiency. Just one month later at the EICMA motorcycle show in Milan, Kawasaki unveiled another concept sketch of a supercharged bike, the SC-02 “Soul Charger”. Kawasaki has also confirmed it will continue to make the supercharged H2 and H2R motorcycles in limited…

The Gold Coast may soon join other progressive cities by introducing footpath parking for motorcycles and scooters after the council recently announced plans to investigate the proposal. Footpath parking has been legal in Victoria for some years and has been introduced in more recent years in parts of Sydney and Brisbane, although with varying restrictions. It is also common in many European, Asian and New Zealand cities. Parking on the footpath is not only convenient for two-wheel commuters, but also opens up more parking spaces for cars and encourages more riders to commute to the CBD, which frees up congestion. It makes even more sense in tourist destinations such as the Gold Coast, where a lot of tourists hire small-capacity scooters to get around. Gold Coast Council estimates there are…

“These motorcycles are particularly effective in enabling police to safely filter through congested areas and detect offences that pose risks to the safety of road-users” Victorian police have added smaller adventure bikes to their fleet for lane filtering through traffic, patrolling for speeding motorists. VicPol says the Special Access Motorcycles combine the manoeuvrability of a trail bike with the speed-detection capabilities of traditional road bikes such as their BMW R 1200 models. Road Policing assistant commissioner Doug Fryer says the bikes will be used in areas with high volumes of traffic, where they will be able to filter through slow and stationary vehicles. “Our highway police have traditionally used the larger BMWs during patrols,” he says. “These new additions to the fleet are much lighter, more nimble and well suited…

It seems there is a lucrative market in making limited-edition GP race bikes for super-rich clients, with two European companies making two-stroke racers. While Honda has produced the quarter-million-dollar, road-legal, four-stroke RC213V-S MotoGP replica, German company Ronax and Switzerland’s Suter Racing have gone down the retro two-stroke road. The Ronax 500 is powered by a fuel-injected 500cc two-stroke V4 with 119kW at 11,500rpm but weighs only 145kg (dry) with its aluminium beam chassis, banana-tyre aluminium swingarm and carbon-fibre bodywork. The road-legal bike is based on Valentino Rossi’s 500cc-winning motorcycle at the 2001 MotoGP. Only 46 will be built and the price is $144,000 plus taxes, freight, duties etc. Since that also includes 19 per cent German taxes, it’s going to cost closer to $200,000 to get it landed and ready…

“The company which also makes all-terrain vehicles was unaware of the high-quality paint finish demanded by motorcycle riders” Polaris Industries is patching up its painting facilities after a debacle involving cost-cutting by executives that underestimated motorcyclists’ penchant for a glossy finish. The company is now buying a paint factory near Sturgis, South Dakota, to provide additional liquid paint capacity for Indian and Victory motorcycles made in Spirit Lake, Iowa. This follows the debacle where executives cut about $11m from the estimated $41m upgrade to paint facilities. The company, which also makes all-terrain vehicles, was unaware of the high-quality paint finish demanded by motorcycle riders and the cut-price update of their painting process left them with inferior-quality paintwork on their bikes. Supplies of the highly popular Indian Scout were subsequently held…

We’re going on holiday and want you to join us, but you’d better book in now or you’ll miss out altogether! ARR staff are taking time out to go on overseas rides, and we’re so keen on your company we’ve persuaded our hosts to add in extras exclusively for you. Take your pick between South Africa with Mick Matheson or New Zealand with Matt Shields, both in March 2016. We’re going to have a blast on both trips, which will be featured in ARR afterwards. SOUTH AFRICA South African Motorcycle Adventures March 11–28, 2016 Web: samatours.co.za Ride South Africa’s best roads with ARR in March 2016 when Australian Road Rider joins South African Motorcycle Adventures for an unforgettable experience. Matho has already signed up to do…

I am labouring in 35°C Perth sun. The air around me is copiously dense. Thick, like Cottee’s Cordial running through an old hose. It has become hard to breathe and I have drunk at least 10 litres of water today. This has been instantly sucked out of my system by the fiery demon which rotates above. The endless repetition of this job is getting to me. I dig unendingly in the yellow sand, trying to ignore the heat waves rising around me as this seemingly never-ending jigsaw I am helping create around this cashed-up bogan’s pool slowly comes into being. Sweat drips down from my soaked shirt and wide-brimmed hat to the newly flattened ground beneath. You may ask yourself why such a self-titled travelling and road man would undertake…

“If you want to do any serious miles on a Dark Horse, there’s some useful luggage stuff in there worth checking out” Indian has gone bad-boy minimalist with its cleverly named Dark Horse. It certainly drifts away from the chrome, bright colours and tassels that set the Indian brand apart from Harley-Davidson and stablemate Victory. It also knocks a couple of grand off the price tag of the Indian Chief Classic on which it’s based, and that ain’t a bad thing. To get to that price point, Indian has dispensed with driving lights, oil cooler, analogue fuel gauge, passenger seat and pegs. You can, off course, buy some of those things back through the accessories catalogue, and if you want to do any serious miles on a Dark Horse, there’s…

“I had a fairly heavy load of luggage on board but I hadn’t adjusted the suspension to suit, so the back was sitting low and the light was aiming high” BMW R1200RT The other night I did a 300km stint on the BMW, the first decent after-dark ride I’ve done on it during the many months I’ve had it. All the other night runs have been as short as humanly possible and usually executed in a state of semi-terror thanks to the vast number of kamikaze kangaroos in my neck of the woods. This time, things were different and far more relaxed for it. The R1200RT is a pretty good night rider. The Aussie-spec RT has BMW’s Headlight Pro, which doesn’t feature an LED daytime running light as such, but…

I love the look of street scramblers. Steve McQueen and all that, but please don’t try to tell me these were Adventure bike ancestors. They were road bikes with upswept exhaust pipes. Triumph and Norton both made lovely looking ones, and Honda produced some very presentable efforts with their 350 and 450 twins. Ducati ditto, but we’re talking the 1960s and these were bikes for suburban boys who liked the look. It’s still a great look and I’m glad they’re making a comeback. But the best adventure you’d have on a street scrambler would be later on, with your pillion passenger, once you’d parked it.…

EVO1 ADJUSTABLE LEVERS Available in a range of colours and made out of high-quality billet aluminium, EVO1 branded brake and clutch fold and extend levers are a great way to improve the ergonomics and look of your motorcycle. Both the brake and clutch levers have six reach settings that quickly and easily adjust to suit your size and comfort. The fold attribute of the levers saves them from breaking if your bike unfortunately hits the ground. The levers are also adjustable in length to further refine feel to each rider’s individual preference. Price: $179 Contact: 02 6658 0060 Visit: www.radguard.com.au TOURATECH COMFORT DRIRIDE FOR DUCATI MULTISTRADA 1200 Available in many markets as part of the Ducati performance range of genuine accessories, the Touratech Comfort DriRide rider and passenger seat…