Innholdsfortegnelse for September/October 2019 i Motorcycle Mojo Magazine

BMW is at it again with concept bikes, this time showing off its Vision DC Roadster electric motorcycle. BMW thought retaining design elements for which the company has become renowned – horizontally protruding cylinders – was important, so the Vision DC Roadster has horizontally protruding cooling fans. The fans cool the centrally located battery, which is the largest single component on the bike and mounted vertically and oriented longitudinally in line with the frame. The frame is milled from aluminum, and carbon fibre is utilized throughout to reduce weight. A duo-lever fork and single shock comprise the suspension, but no details have been released on electric motor output, battery size or range.…

DEATH VALLEY ADVICE As someone who has gone to Vegas umpteen dozen times and who has rented bikes and ridden out to Death Valley several times, I was interested in Clayton Bellamy’s “Rockin’ it in Death Valley” story [July 2019]. No, I have never achieved a higher state of consciousness or spiritual awareness, but Death Valley is a great place to visit and enjoy. I’ve visited and seen most of the places and pictures in the story. Brought back many memories. What scares you the most riding out there is the wind-blown sand on the road. You can see most of the sand and ride it out, but in the corners, you have to be really careful. Never went down, but came close a few times. The real reason I…

It took me a moment to realize that the rat-a-tat-tat sounds on my helmet were from sleet. My visor, usually one to stay dry and clear, was fogged up and wet inside and out. My visibility was blurred, and I, even with earplugs, couldn’t miss the thunder – which sounded very angry – that let me know that the weather had gone from bad to worse. Then, a white light almost immediately illuminated the outer edges of my visor. Lightning. Behind me. And close. Drat! I was riding west out of Canso, N.S., and had climbed up to a windswept plain where the trees were stunted and many had few or no leaves at all. The highway seemed like the highest point. Wait a minute. I was on the highway.…

Almost 25 years ago while on holiday in the town of Sidney, B.C., Steve Tayler was walking down a street when he noticed an old motorcycle at rest behind a dusty, unwashed window in a small commercial building. Tayler opened the door and stepped inside what appeared to be a custom paint shop. He spoke to the proprietor about the bike, which turned out to be a 250 cc 1966 Ducati Scrambler that definitely looked the worse for wear. While Tayler wasn’t specifically looking for an old Ducati, the motorcycle was for sale. “I was aware of what a Ducati single is, thanks to having been a reader of vintage motorcycle magazines,” Tayler explains. “While this one was together, it wasn’t running and it was in really rough condition. “In…

My buddy Alan Burns asked me in December 2017 about going to the 2018 Canadian Superbike Championships series racing (CSBK) event at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP; formerly Mosport) with him. He was trying to entice me to race again, but instead of declining, I told him I’d happily hold the umbrella for him. I was getting pretty excited about riding up to CTMP on my VFR with all my camping gear. I’d be back at the track just like in the good ol’ days, except I wouldn’t be racing. My road-racing days were a lot of fun for me and I have a lot of good memories of racing at Mosport, so I was pretty excited to see the place again. In the end, Alan was too broke to…

Australian expat motorcycle journalist Rennie Scaysbrook took the top spot in this year’s Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, riding an Aprilia Tuono V4 1100. This year’s trip was the fourth time he participated in the famed hill climb to the top of the 4,302-metre mountain, having taken the runner-up spot in each of his previous attempts. He bested his 2018 time by almost 15 seconds, crossing the finish line with a time of 9:44.963 and setting a new heavyweight record. Unfortunately, tragedy struck at this, the 97th running of the hill climb. The defending champion, Carlin Dunne, perished after crashing within 20 metres of the finish line. Dunne, 36, had won last year’s event with a margin of less than 0.7 seconds ahead of Scaysbrook. Dunne was riding a Ducati…

Not that long ago, if you were just getting into motorcycling and were looking for the affordability and easy operation of a small-displacement motorcycle, you had to settle for diminutive cruisers such as the Honda Rebel 250 or the Yamaha V-Star 250. Those were tiny bikes, and if you were looking for a sportier option of more adult-sized proportions, there really wasn’t much out there. Fortunately, there is a renewed interest in small-displacement bikes these days (notice we’re not calling them small bikes), and now a much wider selection of normal-sized sport bikes displacing less than 400 cc is available. Honda has the CBR300R; Kawasaki, the Ninja 400; KTM, the RC390; Yamaha, the R3; and Suzuki – at least, for 2018 – had the GSX250R (which isn’t in the 2019…

Depending on which way you decide to travel the Duffey Loop, it is one of the most loved and known rides on British Columbia’s Lower Mainland and almost all riders have travelled on it or are planning to ride it some day. My usual count is three times a season; often, my first of the year is just to see how early in the year I can make a full loop. My preferred direction to ride it in is clockwise; others like doing it counter-clockwise. I’ve done it both ways, but for this article, we’ll go clockwise to make it easy to follow. Leaving Vancouver, you have the choice of taking either the Lions Gate Bridge from downtown or, if coming in from East Van or Burnaby, the usual choice…

I had just received the Aerostich Darien jacket and AD-1 jean-cut pants and was excited to try them out while on a two-day motorcycle trip. I was expecting to ride through rain, sand and hot weather, so the ride would make for the perfect test of this riding gear. The Darien jacket is made of tough, abrasion-resistant 500 denier Cordura with a GORE-TEX lining, while the AD-1 is fully seam-taped HT500 denier nylon with a three-layer GORE-TEX lining. I started off in temperatures of about 10 C. With the jacket’s vents zipped closed, I was incredibly comfortable and found the gear breathed but didn’t allow the wind to affect my core temperature. The temperature slowly rose past 23 C and I began to feel the heat. Opening the pit-zips while…

Yamaha has made some revisions to the YZF-R1 for 2020, including changes to the engine, suspension, electronics and bodywork. Engine revisions include a new cylinder head, rocker arms, fuel injectors and revised cam profiles. While throttle control on the 2019 version was already ride-by-wire, a revised system replaces the mechanical throttle-grip assembly and associated cables with a lightweight throttle position-sensing throttle grip. ABS now includes brake control, so a rider can choose between optimum straight-line braking or optimum cornering braking. The addition of engine-braking management means the rider can choose from among three levels of engine braking. Brake settings and ride-mode settings are adjustable either onboard via the instrument panel menus or by Yamaha’s Y-TRAC app on Android smartphones or tablets. The YZF-R1M features revised Öhlins electronic suspension, which now…

The Motorcycle & Moped Industry Council (MMIC) released sales figures for 2018. Although there was a slight drop in overall motorcycle sales compared with 2017 (-0.87%), street bike sales rose by 651 units to 45,608 units. Overall sales rose by more than 2% in the two years preceding 2018, so a slight drop isn’t drastic. Quebec remains the biggest motorcycle market in Canada, with 20,092 new units sold in 2018, followed by Ontario with 14,349, and British Columbia with 10,397.…

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the iconic Ducati 916. The bike, designed by the famous Massimo Tamburini, was introduced in 1994 – and its timeless design still looks fresh today. The 916, which became the 996 and finally the 998, was produced for a decade, and more than 45,000 units were sold during that time. To commemorate the historically significant supersport 916, Ducati will offer 500 numbered units of the Panigale V4 25° Anniversario 916. Among the unique features found on the Anniversario 916 are a frame built to Ducati Corse specifications, an Öhlins NIX-30 fork and a TTX36 shock, magnesium wheels by Marchesini, a dry clutch, Akrapovic titanium exhaust, a full suite of race-ready electronics, adjustable billet aluminum levers and foot pegs, carbon-fibre fenders and trim pieces,…

Yamaha Canada offered a race-prepped R3 for test rides at Shannonville, and that bike had some significant upgrades versus the street-legal version. First, all of the street gear was taken off — mirrors, side stand, turn signals and other stuff that’s not essential for track use. This reduces weight and makes the bike more crashworthy. Suspension upgrades include fully adjustable Öhlins cartridges to replace the stock fork internals up front, and the OEM shock absorber is swapped out for a fully adjustable K-Tech unit. The stock suspension is adjustable only for rear spring preloads. A Hindle exhaust drops weight and adds some sound, while the engine mapping is tweaked through the addition of a Dynojet Power Commander. Adjustable foot pegs and lower clip-ons are added, and the stock plastic is…

While KTM is already Europe’s largest motorcycle manufacturer, it continues to ramp up its sales. One of its palpable hits that helps to drive that increase is the most expensive model in its entire range: the 1290 Super Duke GT, which first launched three years ago. KTM, an Austrian company, offers a unique take on sport touring – with emphasis on the “sport.” The sales figures indicate that this model completely addressed KTM president Stefan Pierer’s concerns before it appeared. “I don’t think a sport tourer in the classic way matches 100% with KTM’s brand identity,” he told me. “Our customers expect something sporty made the KTM way – not like other manufacturers do it.” Well, that certainly describes the GT, which since its 2015 launch has provided its owners…

The Toronto Motorcycle Film Festival is back for its third year with a brand-new group of international films that aim to showcase universal stories told through the lens of motorcycling. The 2019 edition of the festival will be held Oct. 3 – 6 at the historic Revue Cinema in Toronto’s vibrant Roncesvalles Village. The festival features film premieres, meet-and-greets with filmmakers, jury and audience awards, Q&A panels and receptions. More than 50 films in total were submitted to the festival from 15 countries; from that list, a select few will be screened this year, including a few world premieres. Some of the standouts include: Oil in the Blood, directed by Gareth Maxwell Roberts, is the first film to catalogue the builders, riders and artists who are driving the custom motorcycle…

November 2019 FAR WEST TEXAS Exploring West Texas and, more specifically, the Chisos Mountains that rise more than 2,000 metres above the desert floor still means riding in 33 C daytime heat; but keep the woolies handy, as it gets quite chilly at night. The ride went along excellent paved surfaces that twist and turn, and rise and fall rapidly, which required the rider’s full attention in this land of unbending beauty. HARLEY-DAVIDSON’S LIVEWIRE In the next issue, we ride the Harley-Davidson Livewire, the Milwaukee motorcycle maker’s first-ever electric motorcycle. It boasts some promising performance and a reasonable range and charging time. Do you think you can get accustomed to plugging in your hog instead of filling it up with gas?…