Innehållsförteckning för Aug 2017 054 från Australian Motorcyclist

IS THE END NEAR? Have the Powers That Be finally got their thumbs pressed down on our heads so hard that we can’t lift them back up? It seems as though it is pretty close, judging by some of the reactions to the recently run 2017 Isle of Man TT. You see, some ‘motorcyclists’ seem to think the TT is too dangerous and the loss of life (which has occurred for more than 100 years) shouldn’t be allowed in this day and age. Have these ‘motorcyclists’ been brainwashed by the Government so much that they too are now nannies, and think that everyone and everything should be wrapped in cotton wool? Don’t go over the speed limit and so on and on. Have these people ever heard the expressions, “live…

REMEMBER WHEN the ‘beastly’ KTM 1290 Superduke R was released? I think a lot of naked bike-loving motorcyclists needed a change of underwear when The Beast first hit the streets with its endless amounts of aggressive V-twin power. Now KTM has refined The Beast with the release of version two point O (2.0). Styling has been refined to show off more of the angry trellis frame while the headlight has been trimmed down for an even more minimalist look than the original. Design company KISKA in Austria is where all KTM motorcycle styling is done, and they have had that job for more than 25 years. I’ve been drinking with their head designer, Craig Dent, who is a top bloke. He understands the passion of motorcycling and I feel this…

IT’S TIME TO GET down and dirty again. We haven’t done an adventure specific map for a while but after Ralph had such a great time with maschine (issue #53) I thought it appropriate that we do an adventure map around Bright in Victoria. This particular route can be a little tricky (as in direction wise) so please use a GPS or highly detailed maps from Hema Maps. I have tried to be as specific as possible with turns but a GPS or detailed maps are the way to go for this one. I recommend filling up at Mount Beauty if you’re riding a bike with smallish fuel capacity. BRIGHT The town of Bright is spectacular most of the year round and is situated on the scenic Great Alpine Road…

“TI JEAN JOHN L. KEROUAC Mar 12 1922 – Oct 21 1969 He Honored Life -” YEARS AGO, I came across a poem by Alan Ginsberg. It was called, ‘Howl’ and it began: “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix, angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night…” I was transfixed by that first verse. For a bit over 2000 words, this work had everything. Well, almost everything. It didn’t have a single full-stop. It ejaculated into my pubertal consciousness with exclamation marks and commas to gather breath, but not a full-stop, not one – just endless cascading images of some…

IF YOU KNOW me at all, you know that I’m not keen on preaching. I’d much prefer people to make their own decisions about all sorts of things, including motorcycling. When I do get carried away I sometimes overshoot the mark – some time ago I suggested that if you saw someone riding in obviously unsafe clothing, you should have a word with them about it rather than write to us and preach to the converted. I’ve now had a letter telling me that the writer had witnessed a mature age motorcyclist (or, as he put it, “a wrinkly old dude with a long grey beard”) loudly abusing a young scooter rider who was wearing a short skirt and runners (presumably plus a top of some kind). Clearly that wasn’t…

THE RACE IS ON 2017 IOM TT After a pretty much washed out practice week at this year’s Isle of Man TT, the rivalry between Ian Hutchinson and Michael Dunlop never really came to a head. The only thing to come out of this rivalry is that Hutchy now has 16 TT wins and Dunlop 15, with Dunlop taking the premier Senior TT race on the new Suzuki GSX-R1000R. But the man of the meeting had to be Peter Hickman who got five podiums from five races and was awarded the Joey Dunlop trophy, an amazing effort from everyone involved. Of the Aussies racing on the island this year, Dave Johnson and Josh Brookes were riding the factory Nortons and both placed in the top ten. In the sidecar event,…

THOSE BLACK and round things you ride on are pretty important pieces of kit. Having the best possible tyres you can get (considering the limitations of your budget) should be a high priority for every rider, no matter what, where or how you ride. No matter how good your bike is, if it’s running on the wrong tyres you’re asking for trouble. As we’ve always done here at Australian MOTORCYCLIST, we tell you about the latest and greatest in the world of motorcycle tyres at least once a year, with up-to-date information from the distributors who want to show you their new products. Consider that when making your purchase. METZELER www.cassons.com.au ROADTEC 01 A sport touring tyre with increased grip on a wider range of tarmac surfaces due to new…

“A DAY OF TRAVELLING WILL BRING A BASKETFUL OF LEARNING.”VIETNAMESE PROVERB WE’D TAKEN a moment to stop and admire the view of the breathtaking Ma Pi Leng Pass in far, far northern Vietnam and suddenly I’m aware of a small Hmong girl staring at me. She can’t be more than 8 years old with her baby brother on one hip and another brother in tow. Clearly, she hasn’t seen too many big, weird, white guys and so she’s walked up the road to check us out, as nine of us on CRF250s stop to admire the eye-watering view, gazing over mountains all the way to China in the distance. If there was one thing I’d learned from being unexpectedly widowed at just 46 years of age, it was make bloody…

OUR LONG TERM bikes have been updated very recently and both of the new ones come from Indian manufacturer, Royal Enfield. The first is the sweet Classic 350 and the second is a Himalayan, which The Bear liked so much after his jaunt through Tasmania that he refused to give it back. PUSHING OUR BUTTONS Royal Enfield Classic 350 First up, let me introduce you to the Classic 350. Royal Enfield’s range has always been about retaining “original” charm, or characteristics if you prefer, and the Classic 350 is about as original as you could be, except for the modern electric start. There is a kick starter, but I’m a Technical Boy so I am not going to use it when there’s a button to push. Call me a non-traditionalist,…

THERE IS AN aftermarket accessory which has been available for some time in America to riders of very large motorcycles like the monstrous, 420Kg (920lb!)1800cc shaft-drive, six-cylinder Honda Gold Wing, its later iteration the 2003 Rune, and some of the other over-large Tourers from Japan and elsewhere. The accessory of which I write is an electrically-operated centre-stand, a device which I suggested way back in 1974 should have been a standard fitting on just about every motorcycle on earth over the size of 750cc. I carried out a full road test report on that first GL1000 Gold Wing for REVS in late 1974, and suggested at the time that the bike would be greatly enhanced if a press-button, electrically-operated centre-stand were fitted as standard equipment. If not, I made a…

DUCATI’S MULTISTRADA 1200 has been a notable success since its launch some years ago. We’ve seen various versions and updates with the current model being a really sweet ride. But one thing was lacking for it to live up to its “4 in 1” philosophy, and that’s the fitting of a 19-inch or 21-inch front wheel. Roll on the release of the new 950 Multistrada, and Ducati has come to the party – a 19-inch wheel sits in the front forks and will give many riders the freedom to hit some more serious off-road trails. Okay, I’m going to try to avoid comparing the 950 to the 1200 because it really is a different bike in a lot of ways, and is aimed at a different market. Adding a 19-inch…

YES, I KNOW that I’ve made this idea up, but I keep telling myself that a trip that starts with cold rain will turn out to be mostly dry and warm. My friend Guido, who had kindly picked up the Indian Springfield from Head Office and delivered it to me in Minneapolis, was encouraging was well. “Don’t worry,” he said. “By the time you get to Prescott it will be clear.” He was right, too. And not only did the weather pick up, but the little diner in Prescott did a perfect version of my favourite American breakfast – eggs over easy with crispy bacon and proper hash browns, not the preformed patties spat out in the rest of the world. Things were looking good. Fifteen hours in the air…

ON ONE OF Melbourne’s finest bitterly cold winter mornings I signed in for the launch of Suzuki’s mid-sized naked GSX-S750. I’m happily subscribing to the less is more scenario for today, especially as the roads are as slippery as my ten-year-old son’s tongue when downing chocolate ice-cream. I wouldn’t like my ride to end up like the extremely messy aftermath he leaves. Less power, less weight, less bulk than a big-hitting litre monster add up to more fun (even though many Australian riders would never believe that) and more control. There’s maybe even added safety on this traction-reduced day belting around the western outskirts of our single digit temperature southern capital. This is of course if you are comparing the latest 84kW 750 against a bucket load of 100kW plus…

MV IS WORKING HARD at improving its bikes with every year’s new models and the Brutale 800 which was once quite ‘rough around the edges’, so to speak, has been refined in a big way. So much so that I am mightily impressed with this sexy looking machine. The big update for me is the calibration of the fly by wire throttle. Where the previous Brutale was indeed a brute with a throttle that would nearly have its own mind, it is now one of the smoothest and most ‘connected’ fly by wire throttles on the market. This also translates into the quickshifter which has been calibrated to be silky smooth on the up change. Sadly it is still a little clunky on the down change, unless you’re up it…

SEPTEMBER 2016, the original time slot for the 9th Far Cairn Rally was a time of great rains in that part of NSW west of Bathurst. It rained so much that a great deal of the State west of the Newell Highway went under! This included the Tottenham Racecourse, the site of the rally. As this is a motorcycle rally rather than a boat rally, the BMWTCNSW was forced to postpone to a date to be advised. So we waited. Then joy of joys, a new date was announced. Then it wasn’t – a clerical error at Council level had caused a double booking and the horses had right of way, it is a horse racecourse after all. Postponed again. Then a new date was announced and the eager herd…

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