Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue#120 - December 2015 i Australian Road Rider

The birthplace of the first Indian motorcycle is not Springfield, Massachusetts, but Middletown, Connecticut, according to a local historian. In an attempt to get Indian to locate a dealership in the town, Chris Hinze started researching the location for the first prototype Indian motorcycle and found that it was built in Middletown. He claims the factory where the prototype was made was on a now-closed section of Hamlin Street on property belonging to Wesleyan University. His discovery has been verified by university archivists and the site now features a commemorative plaque. The origins of the first Indian trace back to company co-founder Carl Oscar Hedstrom, who used to race bicycles and built “pacers”, which are motorised bicycles used for cycling races. Businessman George Mallory Hendee contracted Hedstrom to make the…

This Bolt M-1 hipster electric moped could be the template for a similar-styled electric motorcycle. Bolt Motorbikes founder and chief scientist Nate Jauvtus says he started commuting on a moped when he moved to San Francisco and designed the M-1 with fellow moped commuter and engineer Zach Levenberg. “We definitely have our eyes on the motorcycle market,” he says. “We don't have much of an attraction to scooters as we know them, but we have some cool ideas in the pipeline. I have a motorcycle licence and I’ve been riding since October 13, 1990, starting on the dirt and then graduating to street in 1996. I’ve got motorbikes in my blood.” He says they have already had interest from Australia. “It is on our roadmap, but our focus these days…

The Chinese seem immune to international trade laws that bind other countries and their latest blatant rip-off is an electric Honda Goldwing. We all know the Chinese make cheap copies of well-known brands and many of us probably have a plastic Gucci belt made in a sweatshop in China. However, the Chinese have also made many copies of bigger and more expensive products such as cars. Some of the cars copied include the Range Rover Evoque, Smart ForTwo, Hummer, Porsche Cayman, Audi A6, Jeep Cherokee, BMW X1, Rolls-Royce Phantom and MINI Cooper. Some car manufacturers tried to stop the Chinese copying their cars, but failed in an obstructive and partisan legal system, so they formed alliances with Chinese companies to make their products for the local market. Motorcycles have also…

Honda is powering a project track day car with its MotoGP-derived four-cylinder engine from the exclusive RC213V-S sportsbike. It’s called the Honda Project 2&4 and it was unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. In road legal form, the RC213V-S engine has 118kW of power and 102Nm of torque, which is much less than the CBR1000RR at 127kEW/106Nm, but the sports kit that powers the concept car ramps up to a phenomenal 158kW/118Nm. Like KTM’s tram-day X-Bow, it is an open-cockpit car to give the driver an open-air motorcycle feel. The project is the result of a company-wide creative competition between all of the automaker’s global design studios. It was developed with Honda’s motorcycle design centre in Asaka and its automobile design centre in Wako, Japan. Whether it will…

It’s surprising that a twin-cylinder RS BMW has been out of the catalogue for a few years now. From the release of R100RS in 1976, the series wrote the book on long-legged sports tourers. The all-new R1200RS has been worth waiting for, worthy of a new chapter with a refined blend of comfort and performance tailor-made for covering vast distances at whatever speed you like, just as the old ones did. The new RS features the same 1170cc 92kW liquid-cooled boxer engine fitted to the R, RT and GS models. Almost 125hp in the old money, this is a seriously powerful bike but can also be as gentle as a lamb at lower revs and throttle openings. Being a twin, it is always soulful, no matter how you get your…

The journey around the world on a KTM 690 Enduro R was a long one, more than three-and-a-half years actually. We climbed mountains, crossed rivers, jarred and knocked ourselves down countless rough rigid roads. Through the freezing cold of northern Russia and Alaska to the deep, dark heat and humidity of the Amazon rainforest, we did the hard yards together. But the time came to officially retire my dear friend, the KTM 690 Enduro. That little single-cylinder motor ticked over until it couldn’t tick no more. It travelled well through 46 of the 49 countries we visited. I have nothing but praise for the bike I chose to take on that journey. But those last three countries seemed to take their toll. There didn’t seem to be anything we could…

Talk of visiting Cuba one day has been bandied around my family for years. I remember heading to the movies to see The Motorcycle Diaries with my old man when it was first released, then reading the book to find out more on Che Guevara, before eventually becoming infatuated by the Cuban revolution. A lot of mystery surrounds the country, with some making it out to be a dangerous society ruled by a communist regime. Yet speak to any Canadian and they’ll tell you it’s their equivalent of our Bali — cheap beers and women. With so many differing opinions, taking that giant leap to book the trip was daunting. A lot of research is needed, which is made harder by the rather basic websites produced by the underdeveloped nation.…

$1,770,000 The eye-watering amount the world’s most expensive motorcycle sold for at auction Known by bike nuts and movies buffs as the Captain America chopper, the Stars-and-Stripes-clad Harley-Davidson ridden by Peter Fonda in classic road movie Easy Rider is arguably the world’s most famous and instantly recognisable bike. In actual fact, there were two Captain America choppers. The bike sold at auction last year was reportedly the one used in a crash scene at the end of the film. Some Hollywood memorabilia experts claimed the bike wasn’t the real deal. If it wasn’t, that’s one hell of a con. If it was, which a lot of other experts believe it was, then this is a bike that’s staked itself in the history books for all the right reasons. 500,000 BMW…

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 WHAT THE PROBLEM IS I have to admit that I read Chris Morison’s letter (ARR #116) a few times, which I usually don’t do, and it triggered writing…

The boss and I had taken three months off to ride around Europe, UK and Ireland. At the time of the failure of the red fuse we were only just over a week from going home. We had been as far as Spain, southern Italy, Albania and had just returned from Ireland. The Foxy Suzuki had transported us nearly 14,000km on this ride and had done nearly 70,000km at the time of the incident. The motorcycle in question is a 2012 Suzuki DL 650A that is, according to Suzuki, painted a “Foxy Orange”. Hence the name. This story is the saga of the Foxy Orange Suzuki V-Strom. We know just how reliable the Suzuki is; they just don’t break down. However, occasionally they will be inflicted with a virus known…

Adventure seekers have a new destination to explore by motorbike, with motorcycle tour company Extreme Bike Tours launching its first Cuban tour in 2016. It will be the first tour outside Asia offered by the company since it was started by Zander Combe in 2011. His company will offer 13-day tours from February 21 and March 6, 2016, with small groups of riders on Harley-Davidsons, Suzuki V-Stroms and BMW 800s. The exotic Caribbean island has recently eased relations with the US, so now is the perfect time to explore the time-warped country with its colonial buildings, cigar factories, salsa clubs and 1950s American classic motorbikes and automobiles before it is spoiled by tourists. “It has about five years left before it becomes Disneyland and we wanted to get in there…

BMW is introducing the world’s first blind-spot monitoring system for motorcycles as part of the upgrade of its C650 maxi-scooters. Side View Assist (SVA) gives the rider a visual warning if there other vehicles in the rider’s blind spot, showing warning lights at the bases of the mirrors. SVA uses four sensors around the bike that detect other vehicles within 5m of the bike, but it only gives the rider a warning if there’s at least 10km/h difference in speed of the vehicles. Its operating range is between 25 and 80km/h. BMW’s intention is to prevent riders from moving into the path of other road users after failing to check their blind spots, and the company makes the point that it is "only designed to assist the rider: it is…

Indian and Victory motorcycles are updating their painting processes after learning a costly lesson in how fastidious riders are about their motorcycle’s paint. Polaris had updated the motorcycle paint facility in Spirit Lake, Iowa, but cut about $11m in costs and found the quality of paint was not good enough for its discerning customers. Now they are having to rely on old painting equipment as well as outsourcing to get the high-quality paint that riders demand. Polaris CEO Scott Wine says they hired a Minneapolis consulting company which recommended they spend $41m on a new painting system for their motorcycle plant. However, he admitted to The Wall Street Journal that his managers decided to cut costs to $30m by leaving out some of the recommendations such as an infra-red dryer…

Sixty-five Australians rode in the first international Black Dog Ride in the USA in September. They rode Harley-Davidson Touring motorcycles 7000km from New York to LA, visiting 18 cities in 21 days to kick-start conversations about suicide prevention. Black Dog Ride founder and BMW rider Steve Andrews says their mission in America was to engage US military veterans and first responders (firefighters, police, paramedics) in conversations around suicide prevention. Due to the nature of their work, US military veterans and first responders are at high risk of developing depression, anxiety and PTSD, and they subsequently have a tragically high rate of suicide, says Steve. Black Dog Ride across America partnered with Mental Health First Aid USA to raise awareness and funds for Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training scholarships for…

The term ‘adventure bike’ is a broadly used label these days covering everything from 21-inch front-wheeled dune blasters to 17-inch wheeled, 120kW sports-tourers that look ready to cross Australia For all the machines in this class there is a select group that, in my mind, make the perfect roadbikes for Australia. Shod with 17in wheels, they are more like sports-tourers than adventure bikes. They have heaps of power, great handling and are comfortable to boot. Their long travel suspension makes perfect sense on our generally crappy roads and if you need to add a stretch of dirt in between, you can. Kawasaki doesn’t have a large-capacity “adventure bike” or any sub-species within this class aside from the small-wheeled one — its Versys 1000. In a hugely popular and rapidly growing…

I’ve put a bit over 1200km on the V7 in the last month through a mixture of commuting, longer-distance rides and some posing at the coffee shop. It has remained a fun, comfortable and easy-to-live-with bike as well as being 100 per cent reliable. What’s more, its abilities as a lane-splitting tool seem to have only improved with familiarity. However, the time has come to start its transformation into a scrambler. Originally the idea was to do the pipes and the tyres at the same time, but given how dramatically the knobblies will change the look of the bike we might leave that till last on the list, a sort of final reveal. Besides, the pipe alone makes a dramatic enough statement so we’ve just done that this month. Removing…

The plan was simple enough — ride from Toowoomba to Melbourne, the scenic way. Hug the coast, soak up the sun, go inland for a bit and avoid the Pacific Highway as much as possible. But that plan needed much planning before we could jump in the saddle. This was to be a point-to-point journey so our two bikes needed to be shipped to our starting point, which was Toowoomba. Since one bike was a daily ride and some gear was still needed before we left, it was a logistical exercise to determine what to send and what to keep and carry on the plane. Full marks to Peter at Here And There Motorcycle Movers, who handled our rides with care and was very accommodating with our extra baggage. Everything…

PERFORATED PROTECTION I don’t wear leathers much on the road anymore. They’re just too hot and I prefer the multi-functionality of good textile gear that can keep you warm and dry in winter and yet, with the removal of internal layers, allow you to stay cool in summer. Well, with the arrival of my new jacket in the shape of the Spyke Top Sport GT, that might change. This is definitely a product aimed more at the warmer months than the cold ones, but given that summer in Sydney lasts for about three-quarters of the year, I expect to get some serious wear out of the thing. Not only does this jacket have a very sporty cut, with its tight fit (particularly in the arms to help hold the armour…

ON THE BIKE We ride Victory’s limited-edition Magnum bagger, BMW’s superbikeengined adventure-sports S1000XR,Yamaha’s too-cool Bolt C-Spec and Suzuki’s faired GSXS1000F sports tourer. RIDE TIME Exploring South Africa on an Indian Roadmaster, the run from Karanda to Kyogle and the Aussie Moto Giro in Queensland. ORIGINS In part five of our Origins series we look at the beginnings of Custom Culture born from the ingenuity of returned US war veterans. NOT FORGETTING All the other beaut stuff and regulars you expect to see in each and every issue of ARR. See you next month!…

Motorcycle registrations have increased by 22.3 per cent in the past five years, according to the Motor Vehicle Census. Registrations stood at 807,215, compared with 660,107 in 2010 and 780,174 in 2014, which is an annual growth rate of 4.3 per cent. That compares with light rigid trucks at 4.1 per cent, campervans 3.9 per cent and light commercials 3.5 per cent. Motorcycles represent 4.5 per cent of the more than 18 million registered vehicles in Australia and over the past five years the average age of bikes has increased by one year. Top two-wheel state is NSW with 222,111 registrations, followed by Queensland with 187,167, while Western Australia and Tasmania have recorded the highest growth rates, up 35.4 and 30.2 respectively. JACKETS GLOVES TYRES…

Airless tyres are already used in many applications, from bicycles to trucks, but they have yet to come to production motorcycles and cars. However, it may not be long before they are. No more worrying about getting the tyre pressures right or being stranded with a puncture! Airless tyres are not a new concept — they have been widely used in industrial and military vehicles, and in 1932 English dirt-track rider Les Blackborough used a back wheel with wooden balls mounted on the rim to “broadside rapidly on hard surfaces”. Polaris has also released its WV850 ATV with non-pneumatic tyres with a honeycomb interior. The puncture-proof tyres have even been tested by the US army, which fired live rounds into them. However, non-pneumatic tyres are heavy, expensive and limited to…

Draggin Jeans is taking a technological step to prove its jeans are made of real Kevlar. Now you can scan the Izon Security label on the company’s Draggin Classics with an I-nigma App on your smartphone, which will direct you to a link which certifies the product for the registered trademarks of Dupont and Kevlar. American chemical company DuPont invented the strong and lightweight synthetic fibre in 1965 and now many motorcycle products claim to contain Kevlar. However, DuPont has brought in the lawyers and hundreds of products have been removed from the market for falsely claiming they include DuPont Kevlar. Melbourne-based Draggin Jeans was the first licensee to be approved to use the DuPont Kevlar Preferred Licensee logo. Sales manager Wil Cope says it means customers can be assured…

Anew world wheelie champion was crowned, a woman topped the speed trials and a motorised garden shed and world’s fastest toilet took honours at the Motorcycle Wheelie World Championship in August. The new wheel champ is Gary Rothwell of Liverpool, who carried the front wheel of his turbo Hayabusa aloft for a kilometre at just over 197.879mph (318.455km/h). He beat 30 of the world’s top wheelie riders from Finland, France, Holland, Ireland, Sweden, the UK and the US at the Motorcycle Wheelie World Championship on August 16 at Elvington Airfield, North Yorkshire. Second was former champion Egbert Van Popta from Holland riding a Hayabusa Turbo to 195.805mph (315.117km/h), and third was Paddy O'Sullivan from Ireland riding a Suzuki GSX-R1000 at 189.822mph (305.488km/h). There were also nearly 30 of the world’s…

Norton Motorcycles plans to increase its current single-engine and four-model line-up to three engine platforms and seven or eight models. It will also break with tradition and produce bikes with a 1200cc V4 engine and smaller parallel twins, says design head Simon Skinner. The announcement comes after a £7.5 ($A16) million investment at the company’s Leicestershire headquarters last month, creating 600 new jobs. The investment includes a £4 ($A8) million government grant. Norton Motorcycles announced it would use the grants to increase its current single-engine and four-model line-up to three-engine platforms and seven or eight models. The company says it plans to produce a 200bhp (150kW), 1200cc V4-powered sportsbike and a new 650 parallel twin. Currently, all Nortons are powered by a 58kW/90Nm 961cc parallel twin. “It has been something…

Having had numerous bike adventures across the world, I’ve experienced a fair number of difficult situations — from crashes and medical emergencies to torrential floods and ferocious bushfires. We need to understand from the beginning that preparation and attitude is part of the solution. Research, planning, understanding and even visualising the potential problems help keep you ahead of the game. We in the west do live a particularly sheltered life. Let’s face it — we have a lot of rules. Apart from the odd idiot here and there, the rest of us ride and drive reasonably safely, we stop at red lights, our road surfaces are pretty good, even non-slip, for goodness sake. But when you arrive in Marrakech or Johannesburg, you’ll find things can be a little loose in…

Riding the Tuono is like sitting astride an angry predator whose diet consists solely of petrol, tyres and the occasional side dish of demerit points — and it’s always starving. Prodding the starter elicits an evil snarl from the extremely loud standard pipe, the throttle giving an automatic blip as the motor fires up, making unprepared onlookers flinch. Lovely stuff. First gear engages with a solid crunch and the bike lurches forward an inch against the brakes, as if eager to get on with the hunt. The new bodywork is a killer too — much more aggressive than the previous goggle-eyed Transformer look and more effective at parting the air. It now mimics its racier sibling, the RSV4, more closely and is a whole lot better for it. From the…

The R1200RT felt no different after having its 10,000km service. To me that’s a good sign. There’d been little or no deterioration of anything over months and many kilometres. That doesn’t mean things didn’t need attention, of course. If that were the case there’d be no need for routine servicing. So it had an oil change and the usual bits and pieces that the schedule demands, as well as a change of brake fluid. All-up price for this service was a bit over $400. Considering this is an annual service for many owners, that’s pretty low running costs. The techs at Procycles looked at a small ding in the front rim and pondered whether it was bad enough to require replacing the wheel. I’d spotted it a while ago but…

For all the joy of a ride up the Putty Road or the pleasures of the wineries, I reckon no ride in the Hunter Valley starts until I have the Hunter River behind me. North of this old waterway, away from the new freeway that cuts quickly across the land, there is a network of little roads that will entertain anyone who seeks unbeaten tracks. Although I say unbeaten, some of these tracks are rather beaten up, but what’s a good ride in the country if you don’t hit a few bumps, potholes and patches? This is a ride that’ll keep you on your toes but it’s scenic, twisty, hilly and fun all the way. This area has been a favourite place for me to ride since I lived in…

SHOCKSTRAP ShockStraps are a shock-absorbing tie-down that incorporates three tie-down principles into one system. It is quick and easy and has the reliability of a ratchet system and versatility of a shock cord. When stretched, the strap maintains tension on the webbing, locking it into a buckle. ShockStrap stretches with road vibrations, acting like a shock absorber, and contracts with the load, keeping it secure. Rated at 227kg, the 6ft (183cm) ShockStrap is recommended for securing your bike on your truck or trailer. If you need a longer ShockStrap there are 10ft (305cm) and 19ft (579cm) sizes. The hooks and buckles are zinc coated and the hooks have wide openings to allow for more connection options. Sizes: 6ft, 10ft and 19ft Price: From $US19.99 Visit: shockstrap.com Email: sales@shockstrap.com. CCCS…

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…