Indholdsfortegnelse for January 2023 i Australian Motorcyclist

AS YOU MAY OR may not be aware by now, we’ve gone quarterly. Life has taken over and I just couldn’t continue the busy schedule of a monthly magazine, hence we’ve gone to an easier to manage quarterly roster. We had sent out emails to our current subscribers with many asking if I’m okay and so on – yes, I’m fine, thank you. So, new bikes abound and there’s some exciting new models heading our way in 2023. I personally am super happy with my 2011 Suzuki Bandit 1250 non-ABS version. When the devil’s horns pop out, I can have a bit more fun (if you know what I mean) and not worry about the front or rear chattering its head off because the ABS unit is trying to take control…

Bidders were back in force for Shannons last auction for 2022. The Spring Timed Online Auction achieved a solid clearance rate of 89 per cent, with a total result of $12.9M. Amongst the 38 classic motorcycles and scooters, a superb 1928 Indian 101 750cc Scout sold for an excellent $82,000, while a 1982 Ducati 900 SS was pursued by enthusiasts before selling for $37,000 and a 1956 Piaggio Ape ‘ACI’ 150cc three-wheeler sold for $16,525. Check out all the latest in the coming auctions at shannons.com.au…

BROKEN HILL One of the state’s largest and most sophisticated inland cities, The Hill is an interesting place with art galleries and good cafés as well as plentiful accommodation. Doesn’t sound much like a down-at-heel mining town, and it isn’t. The place has reinvented itself quite successfully as a tourist destination. Ask someone who’s been around for a while where the Honda Motel is; Honda used to test cars and bikes here, and the test teams always stayed in the same motel. Unlike most places where they fence off the old mining equipment, you can ride right up to it and get some interesting photos with your bike. QUONDONG PUB No such thing anymore, sadly. The pub was the town, and when the pub closed the town completely disappeared. It’s…

Muttaburra (S)Exchange Hotel is a total blast of authenticity and friendliness. I mean, fair dinkum, this is fair dinkum. The pub’s rooms are a mix of doubles and twins and mine cost me a ridiculous 35 bucks. Bar prices are similarly rock bottom. You can throw a tent or swag around the back for nix if you eat and drink inside and the pub owns the adjoining motel if you are a more delicate soul. Apart from the pub, don’t miss organising a tour with Marguarite (ask for her at the pub) of the old Arratta Hospital and the old Cassimatis General Store. Plus of course the Muttaburrasaurus Museum right across from the pub. Rain on the night before forced the last-minute cancellation of Muttaburra’s major annual event and fund-raiser,…

I DIDN’T KNOWTHAT IWAS going to be hit by an Atlantic Ocean storm cell when I was sorting out the gear for my recent trip to Europe, but I was only too aware of the need for rain protection that would last for a while. On a previous trip my wet weather gear had literally disintegrated, and the expensive two-piece I bought less than a year ago leaked from the first time I wore it. Time to get serious. The obvious top choice, given my experience over the years, was one of the suits from BMW. Never the cheapest, they have always been the best and I only disposed of my previous one because I had carelessly torn it. According to BMW Motorrad, the Unisex ProRain overalls provide protection against…

I CAN’T QUITE WORK OUT why Australian motorcyclists are so reluctant to head off overseas on those tours that they have been putting on the back burner since Covid stopped so much travel. It’s time to get up and head off again, folks. The world is open, and waiting for you. Where the bloody hell are you? Here is a slightly edited article I originally wrote for the US website ADVrider.com because almost all of the travelers I encountered on a recent European trip were from the US. Two exceptions: one was a Canadian bloke, the other from Venezuela. It’s always interesting to discover how people find out about products and services and how they decide whether to use them. Talking with my fellow-travelers on a recent ride with Edelweiss…

Our good mate, ‘Lukey Luke’ the stunt rider has officially retired. His final show was at the Phillip Island World Superbike round in November 2022. After a professional stunt career spanning nearly 20 years, the father of two has elected to finish on his own terms. In recent times, his own business ventures have, by necessity, taken more of his time and taken away from the vital stunt rider training and practice that staying at the top of the sport demands. “Lukey” Luke Follacchio: “I feel particularly blessed to be able to end my career this way. While the old body isn’t 100%, I am still able to give my everything at shows. It’s been an amazing journey and there are so many people to thank. If young me could…

Not content to rest on their award laurels, Cape York Motorcycle Adventures, who recently took out the Outdoors Queensland Award for Adventure Tourism, has just announced a first of its kind partnership with GASGAS Motorbikes. Having used Suzuki bikes for their tours for 20 years, the move to a more fuel efficient, better riding bike from GASGAS signals yet another innovation from this tourism industry leader. “We’ve been looking to move away from carburettors to a fuel-injected bike for a while now, but couldn’t find anything that really met our needs. GASGAS is a lot lighter, which means better handling in technical conditions, the suspension is better for the type of riding conditions we do, the handlebars are stronger and the rims a heavier duty, so they can take our…

BACK IN ISSUE #110 I rode the Suzuki GSX-S1000 at the Australian launch and was blown away with how good this bike is for the little amount of money it retails for. At that launch everyone was also talking about the GT version, “coming in a few months’ time” and trying to guess what the price would be. Well, those months have passed and here is the amazing GSX-S1000GT. Priced at only $19,990 ride away, which is a stunning price, the bike I tested also had the accessory panniers. These retail for $1740 and well worth adding to the bike, they’re also keyed to the ignition key. Suzuki has gone all-in the sport-touring segment with the GSX-S1000GT and the company has leaned heavily on sport while sacrificing little on touring. Yeah,…

Here’s a list of the thirteen highest motorable roads in the world. Khardung la is the highest motorable road you can ride in India unless you have ‘special friends’ in the right places to go and ride the highest, Umling la Pass at 19,300 feet (5883m). For ‘normal’ people the army will not let you ride Umling la as it’s classed as being too close to the Chinese border. If you try and go ride it without your special friend approval, be prepared to get arrested – not something you want in a foreign country! You might notice the height claimed for some passes are varied to what is actually claimed at the site, or in other media. The measuring of the passes/mountains is claimed to be done by a…

PINK ROUTE A straightforward run from Broken Hill to Menindee. Since the Quondong pub closed, there is nothing much along here. Not even traffic, since it’s a kind of dead end. Don’t be too tempted to exercise the wrist; there is occasional Highway Patrol presence and sightlines are long. The other potential problem is the abundant wildlife, particularly emus and kangaroos. BLUE ROUTE Part of Route 32, the Barrier Highway, this is a main road and has appropriate traffic. Little Topar provides the only fuel/food/anything else. Wildlife is not as much of a worry as it is on the pink route because the goats have displaced a lot of the native fauna, and they are generally too smart to get themselves run over. GREEN ROUTE Sealed all the way to…

A single long bar with Blackfish, Whitefish, VB, Gold and Bitter on tap plus a ginger beer and with schooner near the bottom of the scale out here at $6.50. Meals every day and there’s an, er, interesting café just up the road for breakfasts. The five accommodation rooms in old shearers’ quarters that have been trucked in from no-one knows where, include 3 twin rooms and 2 doubles with a single. None with an ensuite. In the ex-TAB building beside the pub, there’s a queen double, a single and a sofa bed that converts to a double plus a kitchenette and an ensuite. Free camping for pub patrons is beside and behind the hotel and there’s a Council amenities block next door open all hours but there are no…

IT’S NO SECRET TO you, if you’ve been following my tales, that IMTBIKE is a tour operator whose work I have enjoyed. It is no accident that they are offering a tour for Australian Motorcyclist readers. My most recent experience with them leads me to suggest that you could hardly do better than to sign up for it! I did the ‘Essence of Portugal’ tour, a short (8 days, 7 of them riding) and intense experience. Our guides were Roger from Barcelona and Mikel from the Basque country; Paulo, the perpetually cheerful Lisbon IMTBIKE agent from whom we collected the bikes turned out to be from Timor, with his family scattered all over Australia. Heading out of Lisbon, we made it to the Ponte 25 de Abril, the older and…

AS A SHORT TERM replacement for the Royal Enfield Classic 350, the great folk at RE sent me a Scram 411. I’ve had a nice little play on it for the past couple of months and can honestly say it’s a great mid-small capacity motorcycle that will do just about everything. Mostly I rode it throughout the suburbs, but I also took it for an adventure ride and did the quick run to the shops for some basics with a bag strapped to the pillion seat quite a lot. The best thing I loved about the Scram is its no-fuss attitude. There’s no mucking around, just jump on and twist the throttle to the stop. Chuck it into corners and thanks to its low 185kg weight you’ll be whipping along far…

RESPECT IS A fascinating concept, is it not? There’s so many of you yammering for it, it’s like a monkey cage at banana time. You’re actually demanding it. Personally. Because in your world-view, respect is something you are entitled to. Automatically. Just because. And yet, in my experience, people who demand respect are usually the least worthy of it. Now please note the difference between demanding and commanding respect. There are people who command respect because of their deeds. So respect is a result of something rather than an automatic provision based on an their expectation. And yet, the monkey cage makes its demands, imagining it’s entitled to respect just because the monkeys ride. The hell you say? So because you ride a bike one has to respect you? Yeah…I…

What could further enhance the already widely popular V-STROM line-up? The answer is a new addition to the family: the V-STROM 250SX. The 249cc quarter-litre sport adventure machine (with the‘S’ standing for sports and the ‘X’ for crossover) blends rugged versatility with stylish, modern adventure-inspired looks – including the legendary front‘beak’ that has been a staple of V-STROM styling since 2002. A slim, nimble chassis makes it extremely agile to get around, and narrow side panels provide an easy reach to the ground. On unpaved roads the 19-inch front wheel and ample ground clearance (205mm) add a sense of stability alongside the reassurance of dual-channel ABS on the 310mm (front) and 240mm disc brakes. A functional windscreen and knuckle covers make it an ideal touring proposition and, if pillions and/or…

I RECENTLY GOT THE THICKEST marker pen I could find and gave a big fat tick to a bucket list ride – riding the Himalayas and some of the highest motorable roads in the world. Riding the Himalayas has long been a dream ride for me. Whenever there’s movies on Mount Everest and the highest peaks in the world I’m all over them – I’d one day love to climb one of the highest 14 peaks, but riding some of the highest motorable roads in the world is something that turned from a dream to a reality with a big thanks to Royal Enfield Australia and Royal Enfield. Thanks to Royal Enfield and Royal Enfield Australia I participated in Moto Himalaya 2022. I was one of three Aussie magazine Editors to…

RATED 5 OUT OF 5 HELMETS Exchange Hotel 12 Bruford St, Muttaburra 4732 T: 07 4658 7125 FB: Muttaburra Pub – The Exchange Hotel THE CRAMSIE ROAD STRETCHES for a bit over 100kms north from the Landsborough Highway about 6 kms west of Longreach, to the Hughenden Road, just west of Muttaburra – the town closest to the geographical centre of Queensland. By the time this edition of AMM hits the streets, there’ll be a miniscule section – around 2kms - left to seal of this track and when it’s done, it’ll be the final link in what, for lovers of paved roads in red dirt country, (and good, very good pubs), will be an incomparable 400km outback loop. (And if dirt is more your style, check the sidebar for a…

WHEN THE TINKERING GENE and a love of RZs are passed on to a younger generation, the force can be strong. When your bike is left behind by newer machines with better handling, huge brakes and tons more power it’s probably smarter to just trade your old bike in and go new. But when you have a passion for Yamaha 2-strokes this is simply not on. The answer is to modify your older bike with some newer goodies so it can compete with the newer bikes and give you a whole lot more street cred at the same time. This was the case for Adelaide’s Ron Steinmuller who has kept his passion for early Yamaha strokers alive with a couple of highly modified RZ500s, a Kenny Roberts replica and a trick…

“Not long ago in South East Qld the word went out to the biking community that a rider had gone missing,” writes Peter Davis, founder of Bloodbikes Australia (information from Peter at bloodbikersaus@gmail.com or phone 0401912798). “Bikers from the region were mobilised to search. Sadly, some weeks later the rider and his bike were found down a ravine.” This happens way too often, Peter says. He goes on… “this situation is so common, and it haunted me a bit that it could happen to one of our volunteers. So when approached by Realsafe Technologies with a solution I jumped at it.” Realsafe Technologies, a public safety technology company that develops and maintains smartphone technology connected to the emergency services worldwide. The company’s smartphone app ‘REALRIDER®’ has the potential to save…

I’VE BITTEN THE BULLET and dusted off the wallet. I called my mate Harley at RB Racing, who is a YSS suspension dealer, and ordered a shock for my Bandit. The YSS shock has a hydraulic preload adjuster, rebound and ride height adjustments. I did need the heavier accessory spring which totalled $1020. With the standard spring the shock is $950. A quick blast through some very familiar twisties and the YSS shock has totally transformed the Bandit. Where before it would ‘walk’ the rear tyre around and squat when pushed hard, now turn in is lighter – thanks to the rear sitting up more --and traction is far improved. Overall ride over bumpy bitumen has also improved, with more comfort. For what is not a lot of money when we’re…