Innehållsförteckning för #349 18-08 från Just Bikes

An Australian-delivered Vincent Black Lightning made motorcycle history this past January when it sold for US$929,000 (AU$1.1 million) at Bonhams Las Vegas Motorcycle Auction. As previewed in JUST BIKES #346, the 1951 Black Lightning was originally purchased by Tony McAlpine, but became better known for its racing and record-setting efforts - as both a solo and sidecar outfit - with Jack Ehret behind the handlebars. LIMITED LIGHTNING As the Black Shadow was an advance over Vincent’s Rapide, so the Black Lightning was an advance over the Black Shadow. Built purely for racing, the Black Lightning was a stripped-back, faster version of the Shadow, which itself was pretty handy, with a top speed close to 200km/h. Introduced in 1949, the Black Lightning was available only by special order and it’s estimated…

A new Indian Scout motorcycle is part of a huge prize package in Shannons major competition for 2018. Valued at $19,995, with 12 months Shannons Comprehensive Motorcycle Insurance Cover included, the Scout is part of a $50,000+ ‘Pebble Beach’ competition that takes in classic motoring events, automotive collections and other attractions on the US west coast. The winner and their partner will spend two weeks touring California, the highlight of which will be Monterey Car Week in August and the world-famous Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Behind the wheel of a Chevy Camaro SS convertible (subject to availability), the 18-night fully-escorted self-drive tour starts in Los Angeles, taking in classic motoring collections like the Blackhawk Museum, Mullin Collection, Nethercutt Collection and other attractions, as well as California’s Napa Valley wine region,…

With a Vincent recently setting a new world record price for a motorcycle sold at auction (see lead News item), it’s timely that Vincent will be celebrated at the 2018 Shannons Insurance Broadford Bike Bonanza (SIBBB). This year marks the 90th Anniversary of Vincent H.R.D., with the milestone to be acknowledged with Vincents on show and on track at Victoria’s State Motorcycle Sports Complex in Broadford. A full range of classic Vincents will be on display, along with Neal Videan’s wild supercharged Black Shadow and the Irving Vincents of Ken and Barry Horner. If you’ve seen the Irving Vincent solos or sidecar, you know they look awesome standing still, but on track and at full noise, they’re even better, so to see the Horner brothers’ modern take on the iconic…

If the lines of the bike featured here ring a bell, it’s likely you’re thinking of the ‘Bronco Racer’ that was featured in JUST BIKES back in 2015. That bike, in turn, was inspired by the Lotus C-01 concept that debuted in early 2014, but disappeared off the radar soon after. Frustrated, as many others were, by the C-01 never advancing past the idea stage, the crew at Smoked Garage in Bali and Sovereignty Smoked Motorcycles in Brisbane (now known as Smoked Garage Australia) decided if Lotus weren’t going to build the bike, they’d do it themselves! The Bronco Racer (so named because it was bought by Brisbane Broncos star Josh McGuire partway through the build) was the result. A radical departure from the latemodel Kawasaki ER-6n it was based…

After an introduction in late 2015 and solid 2016 in the local market through the original distributors NF Importers, responsibility for Norton motorcycles’ presence in Australia and New Zealand has been transferred to Brisbane Motorcycles. The reasons for the switch have not been revealed, but the fact that only around 100 bikes have found local buyers so far and no new Nortons were sold in Australia last year (according to VFACTS data) may have been a factor. Prior to taking on the Australian distributorship, James Mutton of Brisbane M/C visited the Norton factory in England and said the motorcycle maker’s values aligned strongly with both his own and that of his business. “We are confident that the boutique, handcrafted motorcycles that Norton produce will be highly sought-after in our markets.…

In a bombshell dropped just days before the first official MotoGP test for 2018, Monster Energy Tech3 Yamaha’s Jonas Folger announced that he would not be taking any part in this year’s racing season. Last year, Folger was diagnosed with a condition known as Gilbert’s Syndrome that affects the liver and causes extreme fatigue. The 24-year-old German missed several races in the latter part of 2017 while the condition was being diagnosed, but there’s also been a belief that Folger has found MotoGP hard to handle mentally. In a statement released on 17 January, Folger revealed that he didn’t feel ready – physically or mentally - to race and had decided to preclude himself from the entire 2018 season in order to fully recover “without pressure”. “I wasn’t able to…

In 2016, an Australian won the moto division of the Dakar Rally for the first time. Last year, Sam Sunderland was the first Brit to achieve the same feat. In 2018, it was Austria’s turn to break its duck when Matthias Walkner took the victory. While Walkner’s win was a first for his nation in rider’s terms, “Austria” has been a Dakar champion for much longer, as every moto winner since Fabrizio Meoni in 2001 has been mounted on a KTM. More recently, Marc Coma and Cyril Despres have dominated the moto division before the debut victories for Price, Sunderland and Walkner, all of which came in spite of concerted efforts from Honda and Yamaha to break KTM’s stranglehold on the event. THE CONTENDERS This year, Honda came to the…

My brother, Bother Silverback, once declaimed that “Every man must own a Moto Guzzi at least once in his life”. And this is true. To combat the vagaries of the world, a man must bear the scars of struggle. He must be annealed by strife and forged by conflict. War was good at this. It either killed you, made you crazy, or you emerged from the other end made anew. Owning certain motorcycles has had much the same effect on men. Moto Guzzi was one of these motorcycles. Certainly there have been others. Harley’s Shovelhead, for example. Anything made by Ducati before 1990 was also right up there. And then, as the British bike industry faded away in the years before Mr Bloor would resurrect Triumph, there were all them…

Scammells Auctions have unearthed classic motorcycles, memorabilia and garagenalia for a new auction this March. Dubbed the ‘Great Collector’s Auction’, the sale will include some interesting veteran motorcycles, like a very rare 1904 Advance single. This British marque was only in the business of building bikes for a few years, starting around 1902 and ending in 1909, but during that time their machines came to be well regarded. Advance also had a connection with the Adelaide-based Sphinx motorcycle brand, which explains why the Advance to be auctioned comes from South Australia. Sphinx combined Advance engines with locally-built cycle parts in some models, while other units were apparently rebadged versions of complete Advance motorcycles and ‘tri-car’ three-wheelers. The Advance being offered comes from a deceased estate and is described as being…

After limited involvement in Australian motocross and supercross competition at a factory level for the past two seasons, Suzuki are ramping up their presence for 2018. In January, Suzuki Motorcycles Australia announced a new partnership with NSWbased KSF Racing, who will run Suzuki’s local MX and SX operations, under the banner of ‘KSF Ecstar Suzuki Racing Team’. The yellow bikes will be back in MX2 / SX2 for the first time in years, with Jesse Madden and Isaac Ferguson confirmed for the team, while in MX1 / SX1, a two-rider lineup was due to be announced after this issue of JUST BIKES went to press. KSF, which only started last year, will also be involved in a junior development program, and it was that commitment to nurturing and assisting future…

When Pepo Maria Rosell, aka XTR Pepo (Extreme Pepo), builds a bike, you can be certain of two things: it’ll look awesome; and it’ll be raceinspired. This latest creation is no exception. Last year (JUST BIKES #337), we featured Pepo’s ‘Rocket’, a BSA-styled, Triumph-based machine inspired by BSA’s Rocket 3 Daytona racers of the early 1970s. Creations from the early days of XTR Pepo mix café racer styling with racing inspiration, particularly endurance racing, as evidenced by the ‘Monty’ and ‘Suzuka’. More recently, though, Pepo has developed an interest in off-road competition, with the likes of the ‘Chico Malo’ (Bad Boy) and ‘Tracker Mk2’ from 2017 showing scrambler influences That trend has continued with the build featured, which was completed late last year. FRENCH AFRICAN With the 2018 Dakar just…

I’m not sure if you care, but there was never an Air Stream I glove. No, I do not know why. Because Germany, OK? The Air Stream II is the replacement for the hugely popular warm-weather uber-glove, the Held Air Hero. And if you live where it’s hot, and most of you do (except those frozen unfortunates in Moe, Cape Barren Island and Tasmania, for whom nothing can or even should be done), you need to consider these gloves. It has already been established that the Germans in general, and Held specifically, make superb gloves. Arguably the finest in the world. But you won’t be convinced of that until you try them for yourself. So that’s on you. I just want to tell you about these Air Stream IIs because…