Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue#123 - April 2016 i Australian Road Rider

Stolen motorcycles may continue to be shipped out of Australia at an alarming rate after the government rejected moves to help stop the illegal trade. Half of the thousands of motorcycles stolen in Australia every year are never recovered, says Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party Senator for Victoria Ricky Muir. “I suspect many of these end up in shipping containers. That’s long been a view of many in the motorcycle industry,” he says. His defeated motion in the senate called on the government to require all vehicle exporters to provide to the relevant authorities a clean Personal Property Securities Register report as a mandatory compliance component of the export process. Senator Muir says stolen motor vehicles are being exported with no checks and controls. “How is it possible to export a…

“There have been other phone cradles before for motorcycles, but this is the first time a motorcycle company has designed its own” Smart phones are adding functionality to riding, replacing GPS units and even motorcycle instruments with their own accurate accelerometers and other useful apps. Now BMW Motorrad has designed a handlebar cradle suitable for phones up to 15cm that swivels for horizontal or upright format. It will arrive in the second quarter of 2016, but price has not yet been announced. The BMW Motorrad smartphone cradle uses its Navigator V holder and is made of hard plastic for dust and water-proofing with a shockproof gel pad. It also has an antireflection flex foil see-through vision panel. You can charge on the run via a micro-USB to an optional onboard…

Ferris Wheels Motorcycle Safaris has grown into a worldwide motorcycle travel company and relaunched in 2016 as World on Wheels, with annual tours to nine destinations and 15 countries. After 21 years, Ferris Wheels Motorcycle Safaris owners Mike and Denise Ferris have decided to re-name the business to reflect their global reach. “The name Ferris Wheels has served us very well over this time, and has given the desired impression that we are a very personal and ‘hands-on’ business,” they say in an email newsletter to more than 5000 loyal customers. “But we are now in an expansionist frame of mind and to portray a more global presence, we are expanding our tours portfolio and re-launching as World On Wheels.” It sounds like the best job in the world guiding…

Yamaha has unveiled Motobot, a motorcycle-riding robot at the Tokyo Motor Show, sparking concerns about the extent of electronic intervention for “rider safety”. The robot was one of several interesting displays on the Yamaha stand including electric bikes and even a car powered by a motorcycle engine. Yamaha says its goal is for Motobot to be able to ride an unmodified motorcycle on a racetrack at more than 200km/h. It also says it wants to apply some of the technology to safety and rider support systems and “pioneer new lines of business”, which could mean the company is planning to follow Bosch and Continental into electronic rider safety systems. Meanwhile, Yamaha’s concept car, the Sports Ride Concept, is similar to the Honda track day car powered by its MotoGP-derived four-cylinder…

“This bunch of machines might look similar but couldn’t be more different” Do you remember when the choice of what motorcycle to buy was a lot easier to make? A time when bikes were simply either for the road or for the dirt? These days there is an ongoing fragmentation of motorcycle classes as we knew them and things like cruisers, for example, are now attached to the labels bagger, tourer, sports, power, custom and the like. It seems like you can’t get anything plain these days, and this group of adventure-sports bikes are the same. We’re calling them adventure-sports bikes but they could be classified as sports-tourers or even adventure-sports-tourers, except that the latter is just too much of a mouthful. They are either based on adventure bike platforms…

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 ON REFLECTION I loved Mr Seddon’s column in ARR#120. For me there’s nothing better than cruising the highways and byways with my partner of 31 years and pillion…

ON THE BIKE We farewell the BMW R1200RT, ride Harley’s new Slim and Fat Bboy, and take a blast on Yamaha’s high-output MT-07 HO. RIDE TIME Hold on tight for an epic five-day TransTerra adventure ride. We ride for a cause with a father and son across Australia for charity and explore Canada on a BMW F800GS. TALK TIME We sit down and talk to Danielle Murdoch, young adventurer of the year and a woman who knows and has experienced a thing or two adventure riding around the world. NOT FORGETTING All the other beaut stuff and regulars you expect to see in each and every issue of ARR. See you next month!…

The motorcycle community is celebrating the moves by most states and all territories to allow international-standard helmets to be worn, as well as the Federal government decision to allow their legal sale throughout the nation. However, the Australian Motorcycle Council (AMC) warns that issues such as tinted visors and fitment of action cameras still need to be resolved. According to AMC Helmets Committee chair Guy Stanford there are many people to thank for the bureaucratic changes, but they will also have to keep working for more reform. “More is required to finish the task, with a new, uniform National Road Rule 270 to replace the disparate variations with many unbelievable stupidities, impossibilities and allowance of whimsical enforcement,” he says, referring to police in NSW and Victoria who have fined riders…

The rumours have been around for a while that Apple is planning an electric car, but its latest recruitment drive could start rumours the company is also planning an electric motorcycle. Apple has poached so many key staff from electric motorcycle start-up company Mission Motors that they have been forced to file for bankruptcy. The company’s assets are now controlled by its largest investor, Infield Capital. Mission CEO Derek Kaufman told Reuters that they had a “great group of engineers, specifically electric drive experts. Apple knew that — they wanted it and they got it.” The report claims about six engineers from the San Francisco-based start-up have been recruited by Apple since May. Mission was established in 2007 and never developed a motorcycle for public sale, but its Mission R…

The leading manufacturer of ABS equipment for motorcycles, Bosch, has unveiled its smallest, lightest and most effective unit yet as it suggests that mandating ABS is coming closer to reality. The new Bosch ABS10 motorcycle unit is up to 30 per cent lighter and 45 per cent smaller than the current ABS9 unit. Bosch board of management member Dirk Hoheisel says it is a cost-effective solution for the price-sensitive small motorcycle segment as legislators around the world move closer to making ABS mandatory. More than one in three new motorcycles manufactured in Europe is now fitted with ABS and Japan, Europe, India, Brazil and Taiwan have already mandated ABS on designated motorcycles from as early as 2016. Mandatory ABS for motorcycles is also on the political agenda in Australia and…

Distracted drivers who don’t look for motorcycles are being blamed for a spike in rider deaths, increasing our status from “amber” to “red”. The annual Australian Automobile Association National Road Safety Strategy (NRSS) performance report shows motorcyclists represented nearly 18 per cent of the 1189 deaths on the nation’s roads in the 12 months to September. There have been 201 motorcyclist deaths on Australian roads over the past 12 months, an increase from 194 in the corresponding period for 2014. This is a 3.6 per cent increase. This has caused the annual report to upgrade riders’ status from amber to red, which means fatalities are above the national NRSS target. Australian Motorcycle Council secretary Tony Ellis says rider fatalities are increasing mainly because there are more motorbikes on the road.…

“The lean and muscular Ignition Concept represents the future of Victory Motorcycles’ production machines” Victory Motorcycles has confirmed earlier suspicions that it is heading towards a younger market with the unveiling of the Ignition Concept muscle cruiser. It is built around the water-cooled V-twin engine from the Project 156 race bike that attempted an assault on the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb in June. The engine is an unspecified capacity, but it appears to have similar architecture to the Indian Scout 1133cc engine that has also now been modified to 999cc for the new Scout Sixty. When we spoke in Denver with one of the Roland Sands Design mechanics who helped build Project 156, he let slip that it was “almost 1300cc” so the engine architecture seems to allow for a…

“Just like the bobbers roaring around in 1948, the Forty-Eight has shortened mudguards, fat tyres, a tiny fuel tank, a lot of black and an engine that dominates its profile. It’s a good looker” All the fuss is over nothing, or at least as close to nothing as you can get. Nothing fancy. Nothing flash. Nothing extra. Nothing unnecessary. Nothing but the bike. The quest to strip bikes back to the bones is strong these days, especially on the Sportster’s side of town where younger riders and urban confines define the parameters. It’s a reaction against lives that are cluttered these days: full of gadgets, commercial imperatives, bright lights, demands on your time, constant intrusions, never-ending connectedness. Sometimes you’ve got to jump on your bike, disappear behind your sunnies and…

Think back to when you were much younger, maybe getting your first bike. What did you dream of doing on it? Did it include travelling to north Thailand, crossing rickety wooden suspension bridges the likes of which are only seen in movies, or eating crickets and various larvae at a market stall? No? Pity, it’s a hell of a ride and unlike any other you’re likely to do. This 10-day tour with Asian Motorcycle Adventures was over some of the most entertaining, winding, steep and sometimes broken-up roads you can find and is no place for the inexperienced. While AMA does offer big bikes mainly for those who want to go two-up, the bike of choice is the KLX 250 — nimble, light on the hairpins but still with plenty…

The Bathurst 1000 has been on my bucket list for a long time, so when my youngest daughter’s partner, Mitch, asked me to ride down, I didn’t hesitate for long. Despite being a motoring journalist for more than 15 years and ghost writing weekly newspaper columns for V8 Supercars superstars Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup, I hadn’t been to the Great Race. It was a glaring omission in my curriculum vitae. Quite frankly, I’d rather stay home and see the whole of the track than sit at the track and see a small portion of the race. However, having been to other great motorsport events such as MotoGP, world Superbikes and F1, I was relishing the atmosphere of such a high-octane, high-adrenaline event. After all, petrol heads are petrol heads…

“There has been ‘exponential growth’ in female registrations” The number of female riders has doubled from 2003 to 2015 in the United States, while in Australia, where such official figures are not kept, there has also been a significant increase. The American Motorcycle Industry Council’s Motorcycle Owner Survey shows female riders account for 14 per cent of the riding population. In 1998 it was eight per cent, in 2003 it was 10 per cent, and since then the numbers have doubled from 600,000 to 1.2 million. Estimates of Australian female riders seem to vary substantially from six to 10 per cent. MCCNSW chair CJ Burns says he believes it is about six per cent and that there has been “exponential growth” in female registrations. “Probably double what they were 10…

This Spanish electric scooter docks in a solar charging station and switches on and off via an iPhone app that also controls navigation and a speed limiter. The fast charger under the seat can charge the scooter in three hours for a 100km range. The Xkuty also comes as a battery version that can be charged by conventional mains power. The manufacturer, Electric Mobility Company of Spain, is seeking crowd funding to develop its 320-Wp Spark solar parking dock. The Xkuty scooter also uses your iPhone as the instrument pod. A special app allows you to turn the scooter on and off, display charging and navigation information, and even set a top speed limit. Not that you are likely to cop many speeding fines as the maximum speed from the…

Mandate alcohol locks, ABS, visibility says road safety researcher Every motorcycle should come with an alcohol interlock, ABS and other electronic rider aids, while riders should be “lit up like a Christmas tree”, according to a controversial road safety researcher. University of New South Wales Transport and Road Safety Research Centre professor Raphael Grzebieta has told the NSW parliament’s Motorcycle Safety Inquiry that technology would help reduce motorcycle crashes. He says there should be immediate legislation for mandating ABS, an assisted braking system, and “any other systems that keep a motorcycle upright. I currently have an iPhone which, when I turn on, identifies my thumbprint and turns on. I think every single motorcycle should have a thumbprint to prevent illegal riding,” he says. “I also believe that each motorcycle should…

“The history of the Royal Enfield is rich, and the bike’s current stylings draw heavily from its past” At 26-years-old, I found myself walking casually down the street in a town that stood at the gateway to the highest mountains on Earth. I was in Pokhara, Nepal, in the Himalayas and I had been solo travelling for the previous 10 months through South-East Asia and India, freefalling through whichever random experiences those countries chose to present to me. At the beginning of this trip, I had discovered the joys of scooters and motorcycles as a means of travelling and exploring whichever area I was passing through at the time. It suited me and the style in which I liked to journey, giving me the excellent combination of adrenaline, exploration on…

“When I was offered a couple of days on the 2015 run I didn’t hesitate to shine my Shoei” Twenty-one is a special age. I actually have no memory of being 21 (it was a big year, a long time ago), but recently I helped celebrate the 21st birthday of the BMW GS Safari which began in 1994 — I’m impressed I could do that math given I hit my head a lot. I’ve been on two Safaris thus far and the experience was such that when I was offered a couple of days on the 2015 run, I didn’t hesitate to shine my Shoei (that’s not a euphemism) and do whatever I had to do to get there. I was, in fact, on a long ride the two days…

“The motivations for or reasons behind these adventures varied greatly. For some it was a personal challenge or toraise money for charity, or to travel to a new and distant destination, but in many cases it was for the pure and simple pleasure of motorbikeriding” Regardless of the destination for your next adventure ride, either in Australia or overseas, it is most likely you will find a Horizons Unlimited member who has been there or knows someone who has. HU members are an interesting and diverse group of adventure motorbike riders who meet to share knowledge, ideas and stories ranging from basic motorcycle maintenance to the perils of sleeping rough in Afghanistan. Recently about 180 riders gathered on the outskirts of Boonah in Queensland for one of several Travellers Meetings…

New bike prices can go up and down like the stock market, so in every issue we’ll bring you the sticker prices. To be completely up to date with things like factory discounts and incentives, check the Road Rider website (www.roadrider.com.au) where we will bring you all the special deals, bonus offers and cashback promotions we can find. We have included the importers’ websites, which is the place to go if you’re looking for more information. You’ll see that we haven’t listed every bike on the market (yet) but we aim to get there with all of them. Sometimes even we struggle to find the details of the smaller, newer importers. Meanwhile, enjoy this most meaningful of Australian bike listings, covering the bikes you’re interested in. The prices are the…

HITS AND MISSES Remember the Elf 500s of the ’80s and ’90s? The melting pot of Grand Prix racing’s technical innovations, the Elf 500 was both good and bad. Expectations were high when Elf, responsible for the revolutionary turbo-charged F1 Renault in its day, sought to expand its development involvement from four-wheel racing to two. After being involved from the early ’70s in smaller sponsorship rolls, Elf put in a bigger effort financially and developmentally from the late ’70s for a decade. From the angular dustbin fairings — Gilera CX125 — through to the swingarm front-end — Yamaha GTS1000, Bimota Tesi — and underslung rear shock — Buell — the influences of the Elf racer’s innovations have been brief but impressive. Then there’s the really beaut stuff. A carbon-fibre chassis…