Australian Road Rider

WORDS: NIGEL CROWLEY It’s been exactly 10 years since I last slung a leg over a Speedmaster. In fact it was one of the first fuel-injected versions to arrive on these shores and there was some confusion in the office as to whether they’d sent us the

STORY: SPENCER LEECH On my initial outing with the new Benelli TRK 502, I stopped for a breather at a service station just west of Melbourne and a punter with a paint-stained shirt and wrap-around Oakley sunglasses approached me. Not looking for tro

Harley-Davidson has elected its new local main guy. Paul Skarie has got the top job. In his role, Skarie will provide senior leadership and direction across operations within Australia and New Zealand and manage the Harley-Davidson leadership team re

STORY: NIGEL CROWLEY It’s been three years since we tested a Scrambler, in the shape of the original Icon, and as I plonked my backside down onto the low (790mm) seat of the Mach 2.0, I was reminded of the model’s dinky proportions. Lifting your feet

STORY: GREG LEECH If the Batman franchise is looking for a bold beastie for its next cinematic attempt at making people rich, BMW may well have delivered the very contraption, right outta the box. Indeed, such are the swoops, wings and mad compound c

These are best described as a sports touring summer glove, walking the fine line between good comfort and feel and decent weather protection. Those are two opposed yet desirable attributes. They do a reasonable job of that. I find winter gloves take

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STORY: JOE GROFF The Isle of Man TT has been run and won this year, but there’s another event rapidly capturing the imagination of riders worldwide: the Isle of Man Festival of Motorcycling, which includes the Manx GP and the Classic TT. The program

STORY: GREG LEECH PICS: STOCK The K 1200 GT first hit Australian shores in 2003. The mission statement from BMW at the time was to blur the lines of sports touring to come up with a mount that offered all the trappings of a luxo-tourer, and one that

STORY: JACINTA SIRACUSA Here’s a question for the pub. Who is considered to be the world’s longest-standing motorcycle manufacturer? Harley-Davidson? Triumph? Nup. Free schooners for those who went with Royal Enfield. At least this much is true — Roy

Dear ARR, Brian Healey’s letter “Age Shall Not Weary Them” in ARR #143 could also have had the rejoinder “Nor The Years Condemn”. Take my wife Carmen, 68 years young, who was riding a Honda 90 Step Through when we started going out together in 1974 (

STORY: ANDY (STRAPZ) WHITE Life is full of fascinating twists and turns and the generosity of mates regularly astounds. Combine both and amazing things happen. Reared a Sandgroper, the lure back to old stomping grounds couldn’t be resisted for more t

SHOEI claims that every detail of the X-Spirit III has been carefully designed, tested and fine-tuned. The X-Spirit III features the world’s first rotating inner liner so you can tailor the X-Spirit III to the street or the track in an instant. The l

STORY: BRIAN RIX The queue of trucks at the border between Russia and Kazakhstan is kilometres long, but they wave us through. We’re now travelling with French Canadian Damien Fauchet and his BMW R1200 GSA fitted with a Ural sidecar. He wanted compan