Indholdsfortegnelse for Issue 174 i Australian Road Rider

It took a 9-day trip with a new friend for me to realise it’s been around 18 years since I did a long trip with a pillion. We had a blast, taking my ageing FJR1300 up the NSW North Coast and into Queensland for the launch of the Honda Transalp, catching up with numerous friends along the way. I had no real intention of writing about the trip – I didn’t need to take my job on the road this time – although look out for an article about Waterfall Way, the road from the coast to Dorrigo, sometime soon. It’s been extensively repaired since storms and floods basically destroyed it, so it should now be on your bucket list. Like most of the winding mountain roads in NSW, there…

Last year, Ivan Cervantes won the trail class at Baja Aragón, beating second place by more than an hour… so in 2023 Triumph is celebrating that with two special-model Tiger 900s featuring unique liveries and specifications. The changes aren’t extensive, but the unique colours will make the Rally and GT specials stand out. The Tiger 900 Rally Aragón dons a triple colour of Matt Phantom Black, Matt Graphite and Crystal White, featuring distinct Racing Yellow accents paired seamlessly with Triumph Tiger and Aragón Edition detailing, as well as a new and unique twin colour seat design. The GT Aragón follows suit with Triumph Tiger and Aragón Edition detailing, in addition to a refreshing twin colour seat design, but instead features a triple colour scheme of Diablo Red, Matt Phantom Black…

Harley-Davidson has built new CVO Street Glide and CVO Road Glide models to introduce what Australian Road Rider believes will be a new platform for the touring models moving forward. Featuring changes to nearly every part of the bikes, there seems to be little left other than the names and the iconic silhouettes we associate with these models left over from previous ones. There’s the new 121-cubic-inch engine — that’s 1977cc — producing 115hp (86kW) at 5020rpm and 183Nm at 3500. Controlling that torque is Showa suspension, now upside-down at the front and allnew at the back, adjustable for preload and rebound damping and with more travel. But that’s only scratching the surface of the changes. There are new Brembo brakes, better aero, improved comfort in the seats and riding…

RIXY There’s something about bike riders. You can see it in their eyes. Even old riders who, for whatever reason, have retired from throwing a leg over. We’ve all encountered them; they come along when you’re parked, tell you about what they rode in their day and usually some of their exploits. It’s good to take the time to chat. They love it and it does you good to bring some joy to someone else’s life. Sharing that joy of riding or swapping stories with past, present and future motorcyclists goes with our territory. That generous spirit often spills over into worthy causes that bikers gather to support. Maybe it’s the feeling of freedom we get from riding. The camaraderie of the road, the knowledge that one small error can…

2023 CFMOTO 450SR ROAD RIDER LAUNCH Wheelspin, slide, highside… but not this time. This time it came back from the slide after stepping out on the wet track, so it was more spin, slide, survive. It might be “only” a 450, but the new CFMOTO 450SR is more than capable of providing a heap of adrenaline-pumping sports excitement, especially on a wet track. The rear wheel had spun and come around heading towards full lock, towards disaster. It wasn’t violent, but certainly forceful, and faster than my brain could respond. Thank heaven for decades of reflex conditioning; my hand eased back the gas as my internal gyro alarm went off… and the wheel gently came back into line. My first day with a CFMOTO 450SR will be forever burned into…

ROAD RIDER TEST HARLEY-DAVIDSON STREET BOB While Peter Fonda’s chopper became the iconic bike from the iconic movie Easy Rider, Dennis Hopper’s Harley-Davidson was the more practical bike — and very much the inspiration for the current Street Bob, decades later. There’s a low seat, high handlebars and, as the lightest of the 114-cubic-inchpowered Harleys, an ideal place to start your customisation dreams… so you could turn your Bob into Hopper’s Easy Rider. Except you’d have nearly twice as much power and torque, rear suspension, tubeless tyres, LED lighting, ABS brakes, traction control, modern electronics… the list of improvements from the factory is almost endless, as it should be some 70 years after Hopper’s bike was built. Despite the movie being made in the late ’60s, the bikes were nearly…

STATE OF THE MARKET RETROS With many manufacturers pointing to their histories with machines inspired by the style of yesteryear, but with modern performance and reliability, Australian Road Rider thought it was about time to have a collective look at what’s available. Our idea of a retro is a bike that isn’t a cruiser (that’s a story for another time) and has styling and design inspired by yesteryear. BENELLI LEONCINO Available as 500 or 800 in both standard road or “trail” configurations, these parallel twinpowered machines are capable, affordable and attractive, although their styling is very “modern classic”. The trail versions are looking to take a slice of the scrambler market popularised by Ducati, at a lower price. The smaller versions are LAMS approved and are priced affordably at around…

Honda’s brand new XL750 Transalp is set to arrive in Australia real soon and Motorrad Garage already has a full line up of new SW-Motech products designed to make the mid-size Honda even better prepared for outback battle. Check out www.motorradgarage.com.au to view a huge range of accessories for bikes of all kinds.…

SW MOTECH SYSBAGS WHATZ NEW The SysBag WP system is SW-Motech’s premium soft luggage solution that can be mounted as either panniers, on a rack as an alternative to a top box, and there are three different sizes. Attachment is by either SW-Motech Pro or EVO frame mounted carriers. The bags differentiate themselves from most other options by offering durability rivalling hard luggage, with the damage resistance of soft luggage. At their core, they work as a roll bag would and this is a proven way of doing waterproof luggage. They’re much better than roll bags though as they come with a steel backing plate for a solid mount to the carriers. This design features quick release catches making attachment/removal fast and easy. Additional storage is provided in the cover…

Elsewhere in this issue we document some of the history of two incredibly long-lived and important motorcycles — the Yamaha R1 and Suzuki Hayabusa — but I’d like to indulge in a little personal history with both bikes. The R1 was one of the first world launches I attended. It was in Spain and I was young, naive, a green-as-they-come motorcycle journalist when my then editor on Two Wheels magazine, Jeremy Bowdler, signed me up to be Johnny on the spot. I managed to make my way to the hotel Yamaha was using as its base, a magnificent old place on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. On the morning of the launch I was simply told, “Those guys [local journos] know where the track is, just…

UPFRONT 25TH ANNIVERSARY HAYABUSA It’s been the flagship road bike for Suzuki for 25 years… a magnificent motorcycle built to be fast, fun and capable. Suzuki has sold more than 200,000 Hayabusas across just a handful of generations, the model displaying a resilience to change which is rare these days, although it might have something to do with how every generation has been a great bike. The 25th Anniversary model features primarily cosmetic changes to the 2023 model. The special features are an orange and black-based body, and special colours for the drive chain adjuster and front brake disc inner. Original engravings have been added to the muffler body and drive chain, and a 25th Anniversary emblem and a three-dimensional “SUZUKI” logo on the tank. The single-seat cowl is standard…

UPFRONT SMALL BATCH OF KTM 790S COMING SOON KTM has announced there will be a batch of Austrian-made, Philippines-assembled 790 Adventure and 790 Adventure R machines available soon at very affordable prices. “This run of 2022 models has been assembled in the Philippines utilising components that have been 100 per cent produced in Austria, identical in both appearance and specification to previously manufactured 790 Adventure and 790 Adventure R motorcycles. The sole variation is that this line has Anakee tyres as standard fitment,” KTM announced in its press release. Anyone looking for a solid mid-range adventure bike might want to have a look at these bikes, although eclipsed in performance by the 890 models, because the opportunity to save thousands of dollars doesn’t happen often enough. The 790 Adventure will…

Is the Royal Enfield Super Meteor an overweight, underpowered, mishandling lump of lard or an easy-to-ride comfy mile muncher? Of course, if you believe no bike can be any good if it doesn’t have 150 horsepower and can’t smoke its rear tyre from traffic lights, the Super Meteor isn’t for you. But if you’re in the market for a good-looking, affordable mid-range cruiser to enjoy the ride — what Royal Enfield describes as Pure Motorcycling — maybe it’s what you need. BUT HAVE THEY GOT IT RIGHT? The Super Meteor is a new bike wrapped around the existing parallel twin we’ve experienced before in the Interceptor and Continental GT. Other than the motor it’s pretty well all-new, from the loop chassis to the alloy triple clamps to the USD forks…

LAUNCH REPORT ROYAL ENFIELD SUPER METEOR SPECIFICATIONS ENGINE Type: Parallel twin, 4 stroke, SOHC, air-oil cooled Capacity: 648cc Compression ratio: 9.5:1 Engine management: EFI — Bosch PERFORMANCE Claimed maximum power: 47bhp (35kW) @ 7250 Claimed maximum torque: 52.3Nm @ 5650 Fuel consumption: N/A TRANSMISSION Type: 6–speed Final drive: Chain Clutch: Wet multiplate CHASSIS AND RUNNING GEAR Chassis: Steel loop frame with steel swingarm Front suspension: 43mm Showa USD nonadjustable USD forks with 110mm of travel Rear suspension: Twin shocks, preload adjustable, 101mm of travel Front brake: Single 320mm disc, twin-piston floating caliper, ABS Rear brake: Single 300mm disc, twin-piston floating caliper, ABS Tyres, F: CEAT 110/90-19 R: CEAT 150/80 B16 DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITIES Rake: 27.6° Trail: 119mm Claimed wet weight: 241kg Seat height: 740mm Wheelbase: 1500mm Fuel capacity: 15.7L ELECTRONICS,…

ROAD RIDER LAUNCH HONDA XL750 TRANSALP The back tyre started sliding, breaking traction as I fed the power of the new Transalp’s parallel twin through the gearbox and into the Metzeler Karoo Street rear tyre, until a quick flick of my boot fired the bike up a gear through the quickshifter. The higher ratio combined with a steady throttle allowed the tyre to grip and push the bike forward, the slide fading and the wheel coming back into line with the front. It’s a buzz to ride like this, feeling the back end break traction and move around, and it’s pretty easy and fun to do so on the loose gravel of the Gold Coast hinterland where launch ride leader Daryl Beattie had brought us for our day on the…

ROAD RIDER LAUNCH HONDA XL750 TRANSALP SPECIFICATIONS ENGINE Type: Liquid-cooled OHC 4-stroke 8-valve parallel twin with 270° crank and Unicam Capacity: 755cc Compression ratio: 11.0:1 Engine management: PGM-FI electronic injection PERFORMANCE Claimed maximum power: 91.8hp (67.5kW) @ 9500rpm Claimed maximum torque: 75Nm @ 7250rpm Fuel consumption: 4.35L/100km (23km/L) claimed TRANSMISSION Type: 6 speed manual Final drive: Chain Clutch: Wet multiple, assist slipper clutch CHASSIS AND RUNNING GEAR Chassis: Steel diamond Front suspension: Showa 43mm SFF-CA — 200mm travel, non-adjustable Rear suspension: Monoshock damper, Pro-Link swingarm, 190mm travel, preload adjustable Front brakes: Dual 310mm x 4.5mm ‘wave’ discs with axial-mounted 2 piston calipers, ABS Rear brake: Single 256mm x 6.0mm ‘wave’ disc, single-piston caliper, ABS Tyres: F: 90/90-R21, R: 150/70-R18 DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITIES Rake: 27° Trail: 111mm Claimed wet weight: 208kg…

The Super Soco is somewhat of a landmark design, offering a glimpse of what personal urban mobility in a resource-starved world may look like. While its primary purpose is to provide an A-to-B transport solution, there’s a crazy amount of torque available to push around a lightweight bike, and that’s a formula for fun. WHAT’S INCLUDED The TC MAX is a basic e-bike with enough performance to manage the cut and thrust of city peak-hour traffic. The design is simple, light, and constructed from minimal scarce resources (a major issue with most electric vehicles). This makes it affordable, and it’s quickly recharged from a standard 240V outlet. Most EVs require a three-phase, high-amp charging station for an acceptable recharge time. In short, it makes a solid attempt to get around…

THAT BIKE OF YOURS KAWASAKI ZZ-R1100 I have a friend (hi Dave) who will quite happily buy a $500 motorcycle on Thursday, fix it up on Friday using nothing but bits and pieces he finds in his shed, and then ride it from South-East Queensland to Melbourne and back starting on Saturday. He’s been doing this for the best part of 40 years and he usually makes it back under his own steam. “Hmm, the XJ900 I bought has a rusty tank” Rattle clang bang. “This old Z650 tank should do the trick.” And so on. I’m still not sure if he’s a mechanical genius or the luckiest man alive. I suspect it’s a little from column A and a little from column B. I’m the flip side (the Yin…

LS2’s MX701 Explorer Carbon lid dropped on my desk just in time for the launch of the Honda Transalp… and I almost left it behind. I’ve been wearing a large helmet from every brand (including an older LS2, about a decade ago) but the Explorer Carbon was tight — so tight I was concerned it would give me a headache in use — and I didn’t have time to take it for a decent ride to test it out or ask for an XL. I’m glad I took the punt and used it though, for the snug fit didn’t get oppressive and the lining is super-comfortable, so I quickly forgot I was wearing a new helmet and was able to concentrate on the ride and the bike. While the Explorer…

I can’t believe it was 25 years ago I went to Spain to ride the first-ever Yamaha YZF-R1 … yet here I am a quarter of a century later still writing about the same model, one which has truly stood the test of time and stands out as one of the best sportsbike lines ever produced. The first R1s followed an age-old formula of being lighter, shorter and smaller than earlier sportsbikes. Yamaha achieved this in 1997 (although it was released as a 1998 model) by ‘stacking’ the gearbox — instead of having the crankshaft and two gearbox shafts in the same plane, the centre shaft was raised up, so the whole engine could be built shorter. Like earlier FZ models the cylinders were still canted forward to put more…

At last the Moto Guzzi Mandello has come to Australia. The sports-tourer, which was announced years ago, features a new engine and some interesting tech in a modern package. Moto Guzzi describes it as a naked, but there’s a frame-mounted small fairing and screen. The bike is powered by a longitudinal V-twin — like every Moto Guzzi for decades — but this one is quite different. The most unusual feature is the wind deflectors on the side of the fuel tank which alter in position for aerodynamic efficiency — adaptive aerodynamics, while the screen height is powered and rider-adjustable. The adaptive aerodynamics join a host of modern electronics we’ve never before seen the likes of on board a Guzzi — cruise control, cornering ABS and traction control, riding modes, USB…

UPFRONT SHANNONS DREAM BIKE VIDEO SERIES In conjunction with custom bike building shop Purpose Built Moto (PBM), insurer Shannons has produced a series of videos about what it takes to create a classic custom bike. When the proposal came up, PBM simply slotted the idea into its line-up, with a customer already having commissioned the firm to find and build a classic cafe racer. Over six episodes on YouTube, the team found a bike, rebuilt the engine, fabricated custom parts, painted the machine, assembled it all and created a final reveal movie as the climax to the story. It was, by no means, a simple or easy job — there were some big issues, especially with the motor. The result, however, is a credit to the team at PBM, the…

Scan to see the route that Robert and his friends took to ride around Tasmania links.roadrider.com.au/NakedTasMap Despite being told to enjoy the light of Tasmania, I was still shocked: nothing can prepare you for the breathtakingly beautiful evening glow as the sun sinks in the west. It’s all the more beautiful because it’s lighting a fabulous dinner of Tarkine oysters (which are so good you’ll realise Sydney Rock oysters are terribly over-rated), crayfish mornay and a scallop pie, a seafood feast that almost made up for the dramas getting to Stanley, on the north-west coast of Tasmania, worthwhile by itself. From a cramped finger caused by too many hours in the saddle without cruise control to awful cross-winds riding down the Hume Highway to catch the ferry across Bass Straight…

I’d found Skyline Drive on YouTube before leaving Australia to ride Colorado — a narrow strip of bitumen edged by steep drop-offs on both sides with a speed limit of 25km/h… it was so hair-raising I didn’t tell my travelling companions about it, but just led them on a rollercoaster-like razorback ridge of a road and hoped they wouldn’t panic. Skyline Drive turned out to be one of the many highlights of our ride through and around Colorado, a state with great roads, spectacular scenery and where the weather would be friendly. Colorado ticked all the boxes. The majestic Rocky Mountains run through Colorado, making it a very mountainous state with over 50 “fourteeners” — mountain peaks higher than 14,000 feet (4267m) — and is well known as a skiing…

SPECIFICATIONS ENGINE Electric, frame-mounted Power continuous rating: 3.9kW Power peak output: 5.1kW Torque: 180nm PERFORMANCE Type: Lithium Pouch Cell in heavy-duty weather-proof case Capacity: 3.24kW/h Voltage: 72V Electrical output: 45-amp/hour TRANSMISSION Direct drive with no gearbox Final drive type: Gates Carbon Belt CHASSIS AND RUNNING GEAR Chassis: Steel Swingarm: Aluminium Front suspension: Telescopic upsidedown fork Rear suspension: Shock with ring-style preload adjustment Front brake: 3-piston floating calliper, linked operation from rear brake, single 240mm disc Rear brake: Single-piston calliper, single 240mm disc Tyres: Front: 90/80 – 17; Rear: 110/70 – 17 ELECTRONICS RIDER AIDS Brake control (ABS): No Engine power modes: 3 modes DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITIES Rake: Not given Trail: Not given Claimed weight: 103kg with battery Ground clearance: Not given Seat height: 770mm Wheelbase: 1320mm Fuel capacity: N/A ETCETERA…

SPECIFICATIONS ENGINE Type: Milwaukee-Eight 114 — pushrodoperated four-stroke 45-degree V-Twin. 102 bore x 114.3 stroke Capacity: 1868cc Compression ratio: 10.5:1 Engine management: Electronic Sequential Port Fuel Injection (ESPFI) PERFORMANCE Claimed maximum power: 94HP / 70kW @ 4750rpm Claimed maximum torque: 161Nm / 119ft-lb @ 3000rpm Fuel consumption: 5L/100km (20km/L) TRANSMISSION Type: Chain primary drive to 6-speed cruise drive Final drive: Toothed belt Clutch: Mechanical, 10 plate wet, assist & conventional CHASSIS AND RUNNING GEAR Chassis: Mild steel, tubular frame; rectangular section backbone; stamped, cast and forged junctions; MIG welded; aluminium forged fender supports. Mild steel swingarm Front suspension: Dual-bending valve 49mm telescopic with aluminium fork triple clamps; dual rate spring; gaiter covers, 30mm of travel Rear suspension: Hidden, free piston, coilover monoshock; 43mm stroke; cam-style preload adjustment. 86mm of wheel…

The months are warming up and for hotter rides I’ll be wearing new Falco boots, the shorter Airforce for urban rides and the Atlas 2 Air for touring. Looking a lot like a fashionable basketball boot, the Airforce boot is Falco’s protective yet highly breathable motorcycle boot. There are D3O ankle cups — they’re CE-approved and the panels are highly breathable, so your feet don’t cook. They lace up high enough to allay concerns about catching on gear or brake levers, and there’s a loop at the back to help get them on and a padded gear change tab. Italian made and priced at just $199. The Atlas 2 Air has Air-Tech ventilated uppers and a 3D-Mesh liner to keep the air flowing and your feet cool on hot days.…

If you don’t pay over $5000 for an R1, you’re probably buying something dodgy, bent or worn-out. That said, bang-for-buck, an early R1 can be a great way to get incredible performance for a fraction of the price of a modern sportsbike. Prices vary a lot, partly because sportsbikes often don’t rack up high mileages so owners think their values shouldn’t be dropping — and we’re still suffering from the Covid hangover, where people think their bike is worth a fortune, but the buyers aren’t there now. $10–12K should get you a 2009–2011 model but a 2012–2014 will only be $1–2K more, and they’re better. If you can splash for a 2105 or later, I doubt you’ll regret it. From $15,000.…

MOTUL CARE PACK WINNER…