Innehållsförteckning för #342 18-01 från Just Bikes

Indian Motorcycle has announced a new variant of the Scout, which is due to hit local Indian dealerships from October. The upcoming ‘Scout Bobber’ was created with a mantra of “strip it down”. The result is a low slung, blacked out, minimalist motorcycle that Indian says proves less is definitely more. The Bobber is a 2018 model and leads the charge of new and updated Indian motorcycles for the coming year (see breakout), most of which are due for release this October. “The Scout Bobber is our most raw and mean machine to date, and the ultimate in the celebration of what motorcycling is about – a powerful engine, two wheels, and no plans of where to go,” said Peter Harvey, Country Manager – Indian Motorcycle. “It’s an incredibly fun…

The KTM Off Road Racing Team enjoyed a clean sweep of the podium at this year’s Hattah Desert Race near Mildura. Aided in part by the absence of some of the other top flight enduro teams, the factory-backed KTM Off Road Racing Team were the cream of the big field at Hattah, with the three podium finishers – Daniel Milner, Daniel Sanders and Lyndon Snodgrass - all mounted on a KTM 500 EXC-F. Milner, competing in his first Hattah since 2012, found the 38km loop course particularly challenging: “The track was real tough here this year; it deteriorated really quick. “The last time I did it, there were nowhere near as many bikes, so it ended up getting real deep bumps that kicked you about.” Sanders, who’s currently competing in…

The problem, as I see it, is that LAMS riders don’t actually ride any proper distances. They may ride every day (and they should), but not many of them load up their bikes and set out to explore the vast Australian continent. They do not ‘tour’, per se. But they should, because only by touring can you truly drink from the deep well of motorcycling. There could be a few half-baked reasons for this… Reason 1. Riding from Sydney to Darwin on most LAMs bikes will render the rider insane, and he will kill himself with a rock and be eaten by buzzards even before he makes it to Broken Hill. Reason 2. It’s not easy to carry gear on a LAMs bike, and this may prove discouraging to L-platers.…

Even before this year’s FIM Motorcycle World Championship season started, there was plenty to look forward to, like Jorge Lorenzo’s transition to Ducati, the arrival of Maverick Vinales at the factory Yamaha team and KTM’s first full season in the premier class. Behind these “headliners”, there were additional points of interest, including the all-new line-up of Andrea Iannone and Alex Rins at Team Suzuki Ecstar, a similar situation at Monster Yamaha Tech 3, with Jonas Folger and dual Moto2 World Champion Johann Zarco replacing the KTM-bound Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith, Sam Lowes replacing Stefan Bradl at Aprilia and the ‘will-they, won’t-they’ guessing games on whether Ducati will provide a real challenge to the dominant Yamahas and Hondas. VINALES INTO SPACE Nine rounds down and the one undeniable so far…

After four championships in five years, including 2016’s inaugural EnduroGP title, Australia’s Matt Phillips has announced he’ll be retiring from the Enduro World Championship (EWC) at the end of the 2017 season. Citing homesickness and disillusionment with the EWC’s future direction, Phillips announced his retirement in July, but will see out the remainder of this year’s contract with Sherco, where, at press time, he sits third overall with two rounds remaining. In an interview with fan site Enduro21, Phillips said changes in the EWC class structure (pared down to E2 and EnduroGP senior classes this year) favours teams over privateer riders, resulting in fewer competitors at each round. While Phillips is dissatisfied with the EWC’s changes, the 23-year-old has expressed a desire to bring the championship to Australia, particularly his…

With the SMIDSY BMW stripped down and its condition thoroughly assessed for safety, it’s now time to look at what needs refurbishing or replacing. It’s also time to get creative and start trial fitting what new features the finished custom will wear. With the bike - a 1986 model BMW K100 LT - sourced for the SMIDSY Bike Build in June, Antique Motorcycles started disassembling the big Beemer soon after, to see what restorative work was required before the custom work could begin. SMART CHOICE With safety being the driving force behind this build, picking a BMW seemed natural, as the brand has a great reputation for advanced technologies in terms of safety and mechanical innovations. The K100’s flat inline four engine is a good example of the latter and…

After seven rounds of the 2017 FIM Supersport World Championship, the battle for the championship can be broken down into two “eras” – ‘Before Kenan’ and ‘After Kenan’. The absence of reigning world champion Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) from the opening two rounds due to injury, then a crash on his return in Round 3 saw a variety of competitors step up, including veteran Roberto Rolfo (Team Factory Vamag MV Agusta) and WSS debutants, Lucas Mahias and Federico Caricasulo, both of the GRT Yamaha World SSP Team. However, since Sofuoglu’s first complete race at Round 4, he’s been unbeatable, winning four races on the trot and looking likely to take his sixth Supersport championship. Despite Sofuoglu’s dominance in recent rounds, the 2017 World Supersport championship has still been packed…

Lee Munro has followed in the wheeltracks of his great uncle Burt Munro, setting a new Land Speed Record (LSR) on a modified Indian Scout this past July. With 2017 marking 50 years since Burt Munro set a new LSR in the S/A 1000cc class on a heavily-modified Indian Scout streamliner at the Bonneville Salt Flats, Indian Motorcycle invited Lee to compete at Bonneville, in tribute to his famous predecessor. Burt Munro made his first competitive journey to Bonneville in 1962, using the same 1920-model Indian Scout to set numerous class records before breaking the S/A 1000cc record in 1967. That year, Burt recorded a top speed on the flying mile of 191mph (305.6kph) and a two-way average of 183.58mph (295.44kph). The result not only reset the class record, but…

Bikes, trophies and memorabilia from the collection of speedway legend Ivan Mauger OBE, MBE will go to auction in the UK this October, as part of Bonhams’ annual Autumn Stafford Sale. The most successful rider in speedway and long track history, with more than 1,000 international race wins to his credit, Mauger’s achievements are too numerous to list in their entirety, but include nine world championships, six world records and 15 FIM world championship gold medals. More than 50 lots have been consigned for the Autumn Stafford Sale, described as Mauger’s lifetime collection and including speedway championship-winning Jawa motorcycles from 1969,’72 and ’77, the long track world championship-winning bike from 1972, a multiple championship- winning ’64 Rotrax-JAP speedway bike and a ’65 ESO speedway racer that was given to Mauger…

After three decades of evolution driven by Word Superbike competition, Ducati has announced that they’ll be bringing their twin-cylinder desmodromic-engined superbikes to an end with the 1299 Panigale R Final Edition. While the name suggests otherwise, Ducati says this won’t be the last Panigale, nor their last large capacity twin, just the last Panigale with this particular 1285cc displacement. However, the next Panigale is expected to be a V4 design, which will likely make its debut at EICMA later this year. Paying homage to Ducati’s twin-cylinder superbike history that stretches back to the 851 from 1988, the Panigale R Final Edition will be identified by a unique livery and numerous top-end technical features, but it won’t be the hand-built exotica that is the 1299 Superleggera. The Final Edition will be…

When compiling last year’s mid-season World Superbike report, we said the championship had a “green” tinge to it, thanks to the dominance of Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jonathan Rea. The same complexion applies to the 2017 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship, with Rea again in championship-winning form at the season’s mid-point, while the minor placings look like they’ll once again be a battle between Rea’s team mate Tom Sykes and Aruba.it Racing Ducati’s Chaz Davies. Between them, these three Brits accounted for the bulk of the race wins in 2016 and are on track to do the same again in 2017. New faces in the series this year include Stefan Bradl from MotoGP, as well as Ondrej Jezek and Riccardo Russo from European Superstock competition. There’s also been a couple of…