Indholdsfortegnelse for October 2019 i Australian Motorcyclist

Concerned SMALL capacity motorcycle/ scooter sales are propping up the industry at the moment thanks to the influx of Uber Eats, Deliveroo and so on food deliveries. What is rather concerning to me is the skill of the riders delivering the food. They seem not to care very much about motorcycle maintenance or what it takes to actually ride a motorcycle/scooter on our roads. I’ve seen too many of these riders crash, laugh it off (when they could) and continue on their merry way, with no doubt, your food a little more minced up than expected. First thing I’d like to know – how are they getting their motorcycle licences when they are so crap at riding? Or is it these people are relying on an overseas licence to ride…

PRICE: $32,190 (ride away) WARRANTY:Two years, unlimited distance SERVICING INTERVALS: Every 15,000km or 12 months ENGINE: Liquid-cooled L-twin cylinder, 4-stroke, Desmodromic Variable Timing, 4 valves per cylinder BORE x STROKE: 106 x 71.5mm DISPLACEMENT: 1262cc COMPRESSION: 13.0:1 POWER: 116.4kW @ 9500rpm TORQUE: 128Nm @ 7500rpm TRANSMISSION: 6-speed, wet multi-plate slipper clutch, chain final drive SUSPENSION: Front, 48mm inverted fork, DSS Evo electronically adjustable, travel 185mm. Rear, monoshock, DSS Evo electronically adjustable, travel 185mm. DIMENSIONS: Seat height 860mm, weight 254kg (wet), fuel capacity 30 litres, wheelbase 1592mm TYRES: Front, 120/70/R19. Rear, 170/60/R17 FRAME:Tubular steel trellis BRAKES: Front, twin 320mm discs with radial mount four-piston cornering ABS calipers. Rear, 265mm disc, two-piston cornering ABS caliper. FUEL CONSUMPTION: 6.7 litres per 100km, premium unleaded THEORETICAL RANGE: 447km COLOURS: Sand, Ducati Red VERDICT: SERIOUS…

AS OUR SPECIAL feature this month is about adventure touring, we decided to get you dirty and give you a chance to test out all those new products you just bought! This route can be easy or you can mix in the endless amount of more difficult trails that run off this ‘main’ route to really get as filthy as you like. Bear in mind, during winter months there can be snow, making the trails rather slippery and, if it’s deep enough, nearly impassable. Depending on where you’re coming from, you can either start at Heyfield from the east or Warburton to the west. HEYFIELD Heyfield, originally named, “Hayfield” is a quiet rural town which has been partly sustained by the reliable water supply from the Glenmaggie Reservoir. In 1841…

Richard Millington from Motorrad Tours just couldn’t keep Patagonia a secret. As he says, it’s time to go now, or risk missing out on a unique place. IT’S A CLICHé, BUT Patagonia will take your breath away again and again. A true wilderness destination with a vast spectrum of landscapes and cultures. Come two thousand or so kilometres south of Santiago de Chile and you’ll find Patagonia. A region which consists of the bottom third of Chile and Argentina, with the Patagonian steppe, the Argentinean Lake District and the Andes. There are iconic roads, views so good people end up veering off the highway (no really, it happened) and cultures ranging from an entire German-speaking town to sheep farms with no Internet, phone signal or mains power. Oh and a…

WE LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU, the letters are among the most keenly read parts of the magazine. Please try and keep letters down to no more than 300 words.Then you can read many, not just a couple.We do reserve the right to cut them and, unless you identify yourself and at least your town or suburb and state, we will print your email address instead. Please address letters to contactus@ausmotorcyclist.com.au or Australian Motorcyclist Magazine, Suite 4b, Level 1, 11-13 Orion Rd, Lane Cove West NSW 2066. All opinions published here are those of the writers and we do not vouch for their accuracy or even their sanity. TOO HORNY? Dear Ed, Great pics Ducati Stealth AM #79. Are my eyes playing tricks or photographic illusion? Have Ducati located the horn…

LET ME MAKE my understanding plain. I understand electric motorcycles are coming. Some are already here. Some are even being raced. I understand that as far as the environment is concerned, electric motorcycles, and indeed electric vehicles, are the bright and shining future that will stave off the melting ice-shelves, pump water back into our dead rivers, succour the honey bees, and allow Hollywood starlets to feel #empowered – more empowered even than when Harvey Weinstein could no longer ask them for massages. And all of this is important as Hell. And I care very much about all those things. I really do. But I will never buy an electric motorcycle. I am not even interested in riding them. Four years before Harley launched its acclaimed-by-people-who-need-Harley’s-advertising-dollars Livewire, it spent some…

DOWN TO THE WIRE Aussie TT racer, Davo Johnson won the Classic Superbike TT riding a Kawasaki ZXR750. The race came right down to the final minute which saw Michael Dunlop leading only to have machinery issues with a couple of miles to go. Completing the podium were Derek Sheils (Kawasaki) and James Hillier (Ducati). GO AND GET ROUTED Get Routed has put together an itinerary for a semi-guided tour to the Isle of Man for the Classic TT/ Manx GP in 2020. Participants will be taking their own bikes, shipped from Australia to the UK. Initially you’ll have 2 weeks touring England visiting many places of interest to ‘yer average addict’ - The ACE Cafe, the London Motorcycle Museum, Sammy Miller’s Race Bike Museum, Beaulieu Motor Museum, Haynes International…

DUCATI www.ducati.com.au or your local dealer Explorer Full-face helmet - $824.26 Created in collaboration with Arai, this is perfect for enduro and off-road use. The light, resistant ScLc fibre shell is equipped with an air vent on the chin and an efficient venting system with air vents which can be easily removed for cleaning. The Dry-Cool inner liner is completely removable and washable. Atacama Fabric Jacket - $1122.70 and Pant - $813.70 Designed by Aldo Drudi and developed with the support of Ducati test riders, this is specific for touring adventures. Consisting of 3 modular layers including a thermal lining and removable H2Out membrane that can be worn separately, it incorporates all the best solutions of the category. An all-season jacket has a big task: it has to keep warm…

IF YOU HAD SAT ME down and told me how the 2019 Roof of the World’ tour with Aussie Bike or Hike would change my perspective on life…. I probably wouldn’t have believed you. Or even laughed at you. This trip was only the second time I have ridden abroad you could say that I’m a bit of a ‘newb.’ The first was in the comparatively civilised USA, so probably doesn’t rate a mention. Let’s just say you could consider me an ‘adventure’ first timer and quite unprepared for what lay ahead. My riding background certainly isn’t lengthy. I fell in love with motorcycling in 2014 and began racing the following year. I met Alex Cudlin from Aussie Bike or Hike in 2016 at the track and he eventually became…

WHEN FRIENDS ASKED why we were going to ride Alaska, it was appropriate to re-work the classic George Mallory 1923 quote about climbing Everest – “because we think it’s almost certainly there”. We had never really considered the endless wilderness of the most northerly US state as a motorcycling destination, particularly due to my memories of reading about early explorers in the Yukon literally going mad with the relentless swarms of mosquitoes in summer. The likelihood of congress with huge and hungry grizzly bears didn’t add much additional comfort during the unfounded perceptions development stage, but when the opportunity to be cold and miserable and itching all over presents itself, we rarely take a backward step. Well, unless we know that’s what it will be like in advance. Several points…

SINCE THE GREAT Alpine Road (GAR) was opened in 1998 countless motorcyclists have traversed it. For many the road itself is the purpose of the ride, while for others it’s part of a bigger plan and time limitations prevent further consideration of what it may have to offer – “Gotta to get to Phillip Island for official practice!” There are many ways to access this road, all offering a good ride, some history and in the case of the King Valley, delicious food, wine and craft beer. I hope this article will encourage motorcyclists to take the time to explore all that a journey along and around this road has to offer. “TO TRAVEL HOPEFULLY IS A BETTER THING THAN TO ARRIVE.” ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON APPROACHING FROM THE SOUTH Who…

Paul has carefully thought out his top ten bikes and for this gets the prize. Send me your postal address and T-shirt size, mate. SW TOP TEN Stuart, you are generous giving us ten choices. Here are mine… DUCATI 1992 888 SP4 (White frame) One of the most beautiful motorcycles ever built. One roared past me on a quiet Rome Italian back road when I was a young bloke. It changed me forever. TRIUMPH 2018 Thruxton R. In its exquisite engineering and simple harmonized elements I think it’s a future classic. Look at those mufflers. HARLEY DAVIDSON 2019 114 Fatboy The new model has clean lines and retains the signature Fatboy cool look. Ultimate street cruiser. Well balanced for a big bike. DUCATI Monster 800. (Pearl white with red wheels).…

Fuel – Heyfield, Jamieson, Woods Point, Warburton Distance – 304km Head north out of Heyfield on Licola Road where the bitumen soon turns to dirt. Once you’ve passed through Licola the same road is named Jamieson-Licola Road which you need to follow all the way to Jamieson. In Jamieson, navigate your way (almost impossible to get lost) onto Mansfield-Woods Point Road and head south to Woods Point. I’ve always considered Woods Point to be one of those long lost towns where zombies come out to try and grab the fresh meat rolling into town – you’ll understand what I mean when you get there! LOL! A few kilometres past Woods Point you come to a T or Y type of intersection – stay right and continue heading west on Warburton-Woods…

THINK BACK TO the eighties when the German-designed Suzuki 1100 Katana was King. Only the coolest of the cool rode a Katana and the cult following of the name ‘Katana’ is as strong today as it was back then. I should know; I restored an ‘84 1100 Katana at the beginning of the year. I regret selling it, now, but that’s how life rolls sometimes. Much hype has surrounded the release of the 2020 (which is what Suzuki are calling it) Suzuki GSX1000S Katana. There has been shouting from both sides of the fence on the subject of the new Katana – some love it, some hate it. There are also many who are angry that the new Katana looks nothing like the original, and “how could Suzuki use the…

THE LATEST Multistrada Enduro has just hit the market and despite what I thought in the beginning – that it was just fitted with the larger 1260 engine and a new dash - there’s so much more to this new Enduro version. I headed out in the pouring rain and mega slippery tracks to give it a whirl. The main changes you don’t see with the new Enduro are in the chassis and riding position. The standard seat height has been reduced to 860mm (versus 870mm on the Enduro Pro which this bike replaces). Ducati does offer lower (840mm) and taller (880mm) accessory seats for those shorter or longer in the legs. The steering head is angle is now 25-degrees with 112mm of trail, which gives the new Enduro a…

PUBS IN THE BUSH face any number of challenges and issues and I smugly thought I knew most of them. Then I met the pub that lost its postcode. I rock up to the Railway Hotel at Bribbaree at the end of a day that started with three hours in the mist around Goolagong and then ended with fierce southerly headwinds off the Alps. I’m not just looking for a warm welcome, I’m looking for warmth. It’s very obvious very soon that I’m in the right place. I’ve arrived before what passes for the midweek afternoon rush has begun and Kim’s behind the bar with a smile and time to chat and in the corner a log fire is glowing gently with its heat filling the entire room. I tell…

SNUG AS A BUG AEROSTICH R-3 ONE PIECE SUIT PRICE – FROM $US1197 THE FIRST ADMISSION I have to make is that I have a crook shoulder with rotator cuff damage, which means it is painful to peg the washing out on the Hills Hoist. Raising my arms above shoulder height sends a sharp reminder of too many racing spills and operating pneumatic rock-drills while underground mining for Scheelite - neither were among my best life choices. This makes squeezing into a leather one-piece race suit a chore (while still extremely worthwhile) and reviewing my latest American made-to-measure Aerostich R-3 suit equally difficult to comment on compared to a fit and flexible ‘normal’ dude. When I pulled it out of the FedEx box from the States and hurriedly raced to…

HAVING GOT THE Z900 back on its wheels I started building the engine. Everything was going along nicely until I spun the gearbox in the casing and it felt a little rough. Upon closer inspection, I found that third gear on the input shaft had a tooth missing. Apparently third gear is an issue in the Z1/Z900s so the hunt was on to locate one. This turned out to be relatively easy from a friend in the Netherlands – a big relief! While I waited for the gear to turn up I fitted the crank, pistons and barrel as well as the front discs. This is basically where I’ve got up to this month. I do plan to fit third gear a few days after I’m writing this, so hopefully…

KAWASAKI Z900RS CARBON BREATHING OUR KAWASAKI Z900RS has been the one getting the most love lately. This last month we’ve fitted up an awesome DNA air filter ($166) and a set of Barkbuster single point carbon handguards. Ever since we first got the Z900RS I’ve wanted to fit a DNA air filter to it. The benefit of fitting a DNA will always bring a big smile to your face. Ease of maintenance and performance are the two obvious advantages. After fitting the DNA to the RS (about 30mins) and combined with the already fitted Booster Plug and Akrapovic slip-on the result is a rather swift and very smoothly performing Z900RS. DNA makes air filters for a wide variety of models so you really do need to check them out and…