Indholdsfortegnelse for January 2021 i Australian Motorcyclist

I DON’T KNOW IF I’VE gone mad, or just love something a bit wild? My immaculate Honda CB1300S has been swapped for a wild, cranky, bucking bronco Suzuki GSX1100. Now, this isn’t just any sort of GSX1100 – it is a full house 1260cc race spec bike. You could slap a set of numbers on this and go and win Period 5 Unlimited club races – it’s that good. My mate, Chris (yes, he’s a bad influence!) bought the GSX not long ago and when I saw the silver and green paintwork with golds wheels, I was instantly interested. Then when I was told about the engine, 17-inch wheel conversion – the front from a GSX-R1100, six piston Tokico calipers and rear end from a Kawasaki ZRX1200 I was sold…

PRICE: $23,750 (ride away) WARRANTY: Two years, unlimited distance SERVICING INTERVALS: Every 16,000km or 12 months ENGINE: 937cc liquid-cooled L-twin cylinder, 94x67.5mm bore/stroke, DOHC, 4 valves per cylinder POWER: 82.5kW @ 9000rpm TORQUE: 96.2Nm @ 7750rpm TRANSMISSION: 6-speed, wet multi-plate slipper clutch, chain final drive SUSPENSION: Front, 48mm inverted fork, electronically adjustable, travel 170mm. Rear, monoshock, electronically adjustable, travel 170mm. DIMENSIONS: Seat height 840mm, weight 204kg (dry), fuel capacity 20 litres, wheelbase 1594mm TYRES: Front, 120/70/ZR19. Rear, 170/60/ZR17 BRAKES: Front, twin 320mm discs with radial four-piston adjustable ABS calipers. Rear, 265mm disc, two-piston adjustable ABS caliper. FUEL CONSUMPTION: 6.64 litres per 100km, premium unleaded THEORETICAL RANGE: 301km COLOURS: Ducati Red, GP White VERDICT: Holds its head high…

Introducing the perfect combination of dedicated 850 Tiger triple engine setup, and tailor-made high specification equipment and technology, for intuitive and all day easy-riding capability. Developed from the latest generation Tiger platform, with all of the dynamic poise and agile handling that the Tiger is known for, combined with a new ‘tailormade’›performance and specification set-up, designed to deliver an even more manageable, accessible and intuitive road-focused adventure riding capability.Two exciting new contemporary Tiger 850 Sport graphic schemes, with a category-leading level of premium finish and detailing. 60 plus Genuine Triumph Accessories, for capability, style and security, including luggage. The most accessibly priced Tiger in the line-up, at just $15,990 plus on-roads.…

WHEN YOU THINK OF Finke, you probably instantly think of the Finke Desert Rally, which the great Toby Price has won a bazillion times (it seems). But if you want a bit a of a challenging adventure ride, heading along Ghan Heritage Road from Alice Springs is just what the Doctor ordered – and there’s certainly no virus out there – just dust, sand, ruts, corrugations and bulldust holes to keep you on your toes. ALICE SPRINGS Alice Springs is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (née Alice Gillam Bell), wife of the telegraph pioneer Sir Charles Todd. Now colloquially known as The Alice or simply Alice…

A great kick-back after a long day in the saddle pub. It’s open from noon “til ‘late” 7 days a week and there’s four beers and a cider on tap with a Victorian schooner costing you $6.50 on six of ‘em. Saturday is ‘happy day’ when you’ll save a buck a glass all day. There’re no gambling screens or keno destroying the ambience but there’s a bloody good jukebox and of course a pool table in the bar and a ramped up beer garden out back. The restaurant’s open 12-2 and 6-8 every day with pizzas available whenever you want them. Eight accommodation rooms come in various combos of singles, twins and doubles and a lone rider’ll cough up $60 and a second in the same room is just $10…

WE’RE ALL DESPERATE TO ride, and there is no better place than the South Island of New Zealand. It seems a little less likely – though it’s still not impossible! -- day by day whether our Rider’s Tour will go ahead, which is a real shame as it would have been one of the best to be a part of. However, the genius folk at Paradise Motorcycle Tours have created an alternative... With the amazing colours of the Autumn trees, and a dusting of snow on the mountains it’s a magical time to tour the South Island. To book your spot you must hurry and contact Paradise Motorcycle Tours at paradisemotorcycletours.co.nz , email info@paradisemotorcycletours.co.nz or phone +64 274 765 035. Overview Arrive 3 April 2021 Saturday Christchurch Tour starts 4…

A friend from the US sent me a note about Ron Finch’s METALife collection, which is precisely that: life reproduced in metal.That jogged my memory: I met Ron once in Milwaukee and took photos of some of his motorcycle creations. Ron is multi-talented if anyone is. He is known world-wide for his outrageous custom motorcycles and his mastery of color and design in paint, and he’s won numerous prizes for that. So here are some of my photos; I hope you enjoy them!…

GO GO GO! Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) has opened the world exclusive exhibition ‘The Motorcycle: Design, Art, Desire’, featuring 100 exceptional motorcycles from the 1870s to the present. Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) Director Chris Saines said ‘The Motorcycle’, showing until 26 April 2021, celebrated 150 years of motorcycle history and included multiple interactive experiences for all ages. ‘Curated by US-based design curator and physicist Professor Charles M Falco and writer and filmmaker Ultan Guilfoyle in collaboration with QAGOMA, the exhibition features pioneering motorcycles and classic commuters, off-road bikes and speed machines, as well as custom creations and numerous electric bikes heralding the future,’ Mr Saines said. ‘The exhibition has a green screen motorcycle riding experience, a motorcycle design studio for building and customising…

2020 was a bit of a crap year…well, for many it was a terrible year. 2021 on the other hand is looking rosy for motorcycling.All the main players have no doubt been working hard behind closed doors to give us some awesome new motorcycles. Here’s what’s what for 2021 and as soon as they arrive and we get our hands on them, we’ll have the reviews for you! Aprilia RS 660 With its sporty personality and stunning contemporary lines, the RS 660 (left) brings the winning Aprilia track experience to the road. Its unique design shapes a lightweight, compact bike with sleek, agile lines. Delivering stability at high speeds, it is all about creating a fun, pleasurable riding experience. TUONO V4 X All of a sudden, there is a pitched…

LIL’ RIPPER! Super Soco TC Max Stuart kindly let me borrow the electric Super Soco and I have been riding it for a few weeks now. Here is my perspective on this little ripper... My first visual impression of the SS was Jetsons. It’s a cool looking bike with its rocket-like intake and sharp detailing. The tyres are a cack with a tread pattern like a 1970s Dunlop or similar, even though as I later found they gripped pretty well. I was initially a bit nervous about riding it, as I had never ridden an electric bike before. Leg over, the first thing I noticed was how light it was. Truth is, I’m a short-arse and not particularly strong and I immediately felt comfortable on the bike. The start-up procedure…

SYDNEY HAS SIX PUNTS. What, you say, only six? I know several more than that meself… ho ho, very funny. One of these, and possibly the least-known, operates on the harbor – or perhaps I should say the lower reaches of the Parramatta River – between Greens Point and Putney Point. I suspect you didn’t know that. I didn’t know it for many years. Admittedly some of those years were spent in Melbourne, where the river is solid enough to cross without the use of a punt. The Mortlake Ferry, as it is known, is not easy to find if you re just noodling around. I suppose that once this route was an important artery in Sydney’s commercial traffic, but these days most people use Concord Bridge, which is not…

BMW SHOULD BE APPLAUDED for the improvements they’ve been making to their models lately, and the new F 900 R is one of those. It replaces the F 800 R, a naked bike that was competent but never really lit the flame inside (if you know what I mean). The F 900 R stirs the soul, performing just right to bring a big smile to your chops. I picked the BMW F 900 R up from Worthingtons BMW on the Central Coast, NSW. I opted to come back home via Mangrove Mountain and Wisemans Ferry – an overall rough ride with heaps of twisties to really test out the F 900 Rs handling and performance. The F 900 R really is a serious improvement over the 800 from a design…

WHEN IT COMES TO places around the world to ride motorcycles, there are so many possibilities for epic riding, sensational scenery and fascinating culture. To help you pick one and inspire you to get out and find your ultimate riding adventure, we’ve compiled destination guides for some of the best places in the world to ride your bike. Central America has its breathtaking ancient cities, Alaska has vast wildernesses and Vietnam has dramatic pointy mountains; yet even in the company of such exotic destinations, Scotland holds its own as a truly awesome place to tour on a motorcycle. The roads are wild, challenging and thoroughly enjoyable; the scenery is stunning and the whisky is pretty damn good too. The Scottish weather, has a somewhat legendary reputation for epic amounts of…

THE LATEST ADDITION TO the Multistrada family is the long-anticipated 950 S with its electronic suspension and more serious spec. The 950 S is packed with top-spec kit, in fact there are more settings available via its sparkly new 5” TFT display (pinched from the 1260) – rider modes, traction control settings, damping, more than you’ve probably got time to scroll through, not to mention the time to try them all! At first glance you’d be correct in missing the upgrades. Aesthetically, not much has changed from the regular 950 we tested some time ago, other than some tweaks to the bodywork to bring it in line with the bigger Multistrada 1260 but there hasn’t been an ‘S’ model of this smaller Multistrada before, and the new machine adds much…

The future of individual mobility in an increasingly crowded metropolitan areas is a hotly debated issue, with titanic social and economic considerations at play. BMW sees the electric scooter as urban transportation, though that’s not a particularly controversial solution. And BMW Motorrad is serious about scooter design-its first electric scooter debuted in 2013 - with a keen eye toward technological solutions.With that, BMW shows the Definition CE 04 concept scooter, a production-ready evolution of the BMW Motorrad Concept Link from 2017. Expect a possible 2022, or 2023 production release.…

MY LOCAL WATCHMAKER’S SHOP is more like Aladdin’s Cave. She sits at the back of the shop, watchmaking or whatever, and the front features all kinds of weird clocks but also models of all kinds and other decorative items too unusual to classify. When my watchband came apart the other day, I took my problems to her and got a lecture on how metal watchbands need ultrasonic cleaning on a regular basis or the little screws come apart. Okay, fine, but… I wasn’t really paying attention because I couldn’t help staring at the wooden packing case at the door of the shop which appeared to contain… a Harley-Davidson Single. It was obviously not an original, but I wondered: was it a reproduction, or simply a lovingly-assembled fake? The engine was…

REMEMBER A LIFE WITHOUT borders? For over a century – shit, that’s before even the Bear started riding - since the nation’s founders, spurred on to a great extent by the river dwellers along both sides of the Murray, removed inter-state tariffs and restrictions on trade and movement, we’ve been pretty much oblivious to state land borders. You can throw the leg over your bike, turn the key and head out, out to the bush, to the back of beyond, past the black stump and stay completely oblivious to any border other than the impediment of the waters that we’re girt with. Welcome to 2020. Special Times: Tick. Special Needs: Tick. Special Solutions born from special Visions: Yeah nah. Rather than formulate plans and solutions based on regional needs, dangers…

STEVE ALWAYS WANTED A Spondon but did it his way instead. Employment in the bike industry hasn’t diminished Steve Warnes’ passion for working on and riding motorcycles. Steve also has a bit of a ‘bent’ for modified bikes and making bikes the best they can be, whether it be a Spondon or a CBX1000. Steve tells Australian Motorcyclist about his special Honda CBX. “I’m 57-years-old and have been riding since the age of 13. I started on bikes that are now popular in Vintage Motocross, but back when they were new. My decisive penchant for parties rather than being serious at racing is probably why I stayed in C grade, not making the lofty heights to A grade status,” said Steve. “My destiny would turn out to be being a…

I HAVE REACHED THE POINT of no return with those disgraceful old dodders who tutt-tutt their way around my beloved motorcycling like slew-arsed jackals too scared to hunt their own food. Piles of wrinkled, ageing rubbish they are. They have been riding, badly, since Christ wandered the desert, and now, in their dotage, they still are – sadly. My point of no return with these onerous twats was reached one sunny Sunday morning at the Colo Heights end of the Putty Road. I’d ridden up there on a Beemer to shoot some photos, and felt a cup of coffee at the servo would assist proceedings. At an adjoining table were four old he-molls – sipping coffee out of their own cups and thermoses. Man-Karens to a man. One of them…