Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2019 i Motorcycle Mojo Magazine

We’ve seen concept prototypes of the new Triumph Rocket III, and Triumph Motorcycles Ltd. finally confirmed that the bike will hit showrooms soon. The redesigned Rocket III will be available in two variations for 2020. The Rocket III GT has a more laid-back, foot-forward riding position; a Rocket III R rider will perch more upright on mid-mounted foot pegs in a power-cruiser stance. The 2,500 cc inline-triple boasts an 11% increase in horsepower (now at 165 hp) and peak torque is claimed to be the highest of any production motorcycle, at 163 ft-lb. Lighting is via LEDs all around, and the bikes feature standard solo and dual-seat setups. The big power cruiser has lost 40 kg as a result of its redesign, which should combine with the added power to…

“The true north, strong and free” – a motto many Canadians take to heart. However, very few of us will have the chance to make it to Canada’s remote Far North in our lifetime. As motorcyclists, we have a leg up on the average Canadian, given our passion to travel and explore new places. This summer, Glenn (my dad) and I were able to fulfill our dream of experiencing the rugged North together after talking about it for more than 10 years. Both of us have travelled separately through parts of Yukon before, but we always have talked about riding the Dempster Highway together. When we met Lawrence Neyando, a local resident and former band chief from Inuvik, N.W.T., this past year, we found a missing piece of our puzzle.…

“There’s no law west of Dodge and no God west of the Pecos.” As I crossed the Pecos River just beyond Del Rio, Tex., the land certainly looked like the old western aphorism could be true. A thread of patched tarmac ran across an arid sheep and cattle range where the soil was little better than crumbled limestone. Aside from the scattered creosote bushes and smaller scrub brush, which somehow persisted despite the climate, I had an entire 160 km of highway to myself. More than once I had to swerve – or duck! – for vultures that were reluctant to leave their coveted roadkill breakfast. As if to bring me back to the 21st century, a white pickup with green lettering stating “U.S. Border Patrol” appeared on the horizon,…

You should be getting accustomed to news about electric motorcycles by now. Several motorcycle manufacturers are looking into electricity as an alternative fuel source, even long-time gasoline burner Harley-Davidson with its LiveWire, which you can read about elsewhere in this issue. Curtiss motorcycles also ran on gasoline once, a long time ago. The company folded in the early 20th century, but the name was resurrected in 2018, when the Curtiss Warhawk, a boutique V-twin custom, was launched. Since then, however, the rejuvenated Curtiss Motorcycle Co. has focused on boutique electric bikes, first launching the Zeus, then the Hera, then a “radial V8” Zeus e-bike. The latest e-bike to be announced is the Curtiss Hades. Despite its ominous moniker, the Hades promises to be gentle on the environment, producing no emissions…

After riding along Highway 7 to Acton, Ont., for the Royal Enfield demo rides, I stopped for lunch at a fantastic vegan restaurant called The Plant Society Kitchen, located at 37 Mill St. in Acton. I ate an absolutely fabulous tofu club sandwich with vegan cheese on amazing sandwich bread. The coffee was perfect and the vegan chocolate-chip cookie was out of this world. I highly recommend this charming little restaurant. Where’s The Food? Your Picks Got a favourite restaurant or pub? Send us an email to editor@motorcyclemojo.com and tell us why.…

Fifty years ago, Glenn Turple was riding his motorcycle in central Alberta when he stopped in the small town of Killam for lunch at a diner. Sitting on the counter was a black-and-white television set tuned to the news, and Turple learned that the Apollo 11 mission had successfully landed on the moon. For centuries, humans had dreamed of reaching the lunar surface, and Apollo 11’s accomplishment awed the world. Just one week later, Turple was riding a brand-new 1969 Honda CB750 Four. The two events are forever linked in his mind – and, not to downplay the importance of landing a man on the moon – and to the motorcycle community, the CB750 was no less a groundbreaking achievement. “The CB750 was an exciting motorcycle that started the four-cylinder…

TAJIKISTAN Long-time readers of Motorcycle Mojo may remember the humorous musings of Paddy Tyson. He’s back in our December issue, describing the breathtaking landscapes and the most friendly, giving people of Tajikistan. JAPAN During a four-week riding adventure on Hokkaido, one of Japan’s largest islands, Shaun Hellmich soon discovers that the oceanside riding is awe-inspiring, Japan’s culture is old and complicated, and angling for salmon can be very rewarding if you find the right spot. You won’t want to miss our SEVENTH ANNUAL WORLD TRAVEL ISSUE that will have you dreaming about extended travels and riding in faraway places. Remember Paddy Tyson? HE’S BACK! - with his take on Tajikistan.…

An important collection of Italian racing motorcycles is up for auction at Bonhams annual Autumn Stafford Sale. The collection includes rare Italian motorcycles that were on display for many years at the Morbidelli Motorcycle Museum, located in Pesaro, Italy. The museum, located on the grounds of the former Morbidelli motorcycle factory, contains approximately 300 motorcycles, many of which will stand on the auction block in October. Giancarlo Morbidelli, founder of the manufacturer, collected the motorcycles over a 40-year period. While the museum contains many Morbidelli Grand Prix bikes of the 1970s, some of which won world championships in the 125 cc class, only two of those bikes are up for auction. One is the 1974 Morbidelli 125 cc GP machine ridden by the late Angel Nieto, which is expected to…

381.857 That’s the new Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) world speed record, in kilometres per hour, in the 1000 cc multi-cylinder class. The record was set by Erin Sills at the Bonneville Salt Flats in late August. She also set the record for the flying mile, at 381.220 km/h. Sills accomplished the feat aboard a modified BMW S1000RR she calls Snoopy. 6.847 That’s how many seconds Calgary’s Ethan Barkley took to blast down a quarter mile at Virginia Motorsports Park. What’s significant about this feat is that, at 333 km/h, it’s the quickest any Canadian rider has run the quarter mile on a street tire. The 18-time Canadian champion did it in the Pro Street class last August at an Xtreme Drag Racing Association meet, riding a modified Suzuki GSX-R1000.…

You know times are changing when the biggest manufacturer of large-displacement motorcycles in North America produces a two-wheeler propelled by electrons. The Harley-Davidson LiveWire is the Motor Company’s first-ever emissions-free electric motorcycle, and it is an important new direction for a company that has been relying on gasoline-powered internal-combustion engines to power its products for more than 115 years. Harley held the international launch of the LiveWire in e-friendly Portland, Ore., where, despite my initial aversion to fume-free motorcycles, I discovered that this electric bike actually makes sense – well, mostly. Electric Heart The heart of the LiveWire is its 78 kW (105 hp) electric motor that produces 86 ft-lbs of torque. The fascinating thing about electric motors is that they produce their peak torque as soon as they begin…

A pingo is an earth-covered, ice-cored mound that is unique to the Arctic and subarctic regions of the world due to permafrost. For centuries, pingos have been used as navigational aids for Inuit travelling by land and water and as a convenient height of land for spotting caribou on the tundra or whales offshore. These hills that rise from the flat tundra provide a distinctive backdrop to the community of Tuktoyaktuk. The Pingo Canadian Landmark area features eight of the 1,350 pingos found in the region, including Ibyuk Pingo – which is Canada’s highest, reaching 50 metres in height and stretching 300 metres across its base. Ibyuk is also the world’s second-tallest pingo and it continues to grow in size.…

KTM is best known for its single-cylinder dirt bikes and for its larger, V-twin-powered road-oriented bikes, including the Adventure models and the Dukes. The firm’s new middleweight adventure bike, the 2019 790 Adventure, breaks new ground for KTM: it’s the Austria-based bike maker’s first-ever off-roader to feature a parallel-twin engine. KTM launched the new 790 Adventure and its off-road sibling, the 790 Adventure R, in Big Bear, Calif., where we sampled both machines in their natural habitats — on winding mountain roads and on rocky, sandy trails. The 799 cc liquid-cooled twin first appeared on the street-oriented 790 Duke last year. Unlike the parallel twins of other manufacturers, which feature either 180-degree, 270-degree or 360-degree crankpin layouts, the KTM twin features a unique 285-degree crankpin arrangement. This gives the KTM…

Nestled in the centre of Okanagan wine country among spectacular rolling hillsides is a racetrack called Area 27. This stunning world-class members-only facility lies just five minutes east of Oliver, B.C., 30 minutes south of Penticton and roughly 4.5 hours from Vancouver. Visiting it has been on my bucket list for a few years now. Construction of this unique facility began in February 2016 and the first laps were completed on Aug 30 of that year. Since then, all I’ve been hearing from people in the motorsports industry is: “You’ve gotta ride that track!” I was finally able to find time last summer to ride it, and I was not disappointed. I loved it so much that since then, I’ve been hoping to get invited back. When a last-minute opportunity…

I’ve been riding Hondas for a long time. I began with this blue one back in high school – it’s the only bike I ever got a speeding ticket on – and I’ve been riding every year since. Last year I traded in my 2003 Gold Wing for this red one, which has a DCT transmission. I began with a Honda that had no clutch lever, and I’ll probably end my riding days on one without a clutch lever. Every time I throw a leg over it - I’m reminded of all the good times riding has brought me. Submissions to Remember When? are always welcome. If your photo(s) is printed we will send you $25.00 High resolution digital photos are acceptable as well as prints. If you wish the…