Australian Motorcycle News

ORDINARILY, RIGHT ABOUT the time you are reading this, I would be at the Island. Phillip Island, that is, the great, currently silent monument to motorcycle racing situated just off the coast of Antarctica. I’m missing it badly. And not just the raci

A TWIN-CYLINDER engine, based on half a Superbike V4. Chassis, suspension, brakes and electronics developed from the larger racer. A road-focused riding position and rider aids to help get every last dollop of power to the ground. Welcome to the new

BIG POWER ADVENTURE bikes will be the talk of 2021 and Honda is planning to supercharge its CRF1100L Africa Twin. Patents have emerged clearly showing how Honda is aiming to fit a ‘blower’ just above the transmission, with intake air pipework from th

OVERALL SALES of motorcycles, quad bikes and side-by-side offroaders have continued their year-long upward trend. The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) show sales figures up 26.4 percent for nine months ending September 30, 2020, compar

The interim CEO at Norton has promised to honour deposits placed before the company’s meltdown in January despite the fact that the new owners aren’t legally obliged. John Russell, appointed by new owners Indian firm TVS, says: “In this initial stage

When The Doctor called the doctor. Nine-time world champ Valentino Rossi has tested positive for Covid-19, and has been ruled out of both Aragon rounds. ■

THE LATEST R 1250 RT’S adaptive cruise system is BMW’s take on the much-vaunted Bosch system, featuring a radar sensor mounted in the restyled nose. The ACC is similar to the setup Ducati is using on its new Multistrada V4. The radar monitors the roa

Honda made an improved last-minute offer to 500cc World Championship hopeful Wayne Gardner in an attempt to stop the Wollongong whiz from defecting to the Lucky Strike/ Kenny Roberts team for 1987. Gardner had rejected the Rothmans-backed Honda team’

“WE’LL SUPPLY AND maintain the Tesi 1DR Corsa,” Bimota CEO Giuseppe Morri said to AMCN’s long-time contributor Alan Cathcart in October 1990. “You take care of the running expenses and race it wherever you wish. You’re free to publicly comment about

Access, AMCN, PO Box 20154, World Square, NSW, 2002 access@amcn.com.au Please excuse the handwritten letter, but I still live in the dark ages when life was simpler as were motorcycles. I don’t have a computer or a smart phone and I still write lett

DEAR FRED, THIS was my new ‘purchase at 16 and still too young to ride’ Norton 850 back in 1977. This was a first-year apprenticeship purchase, paid for in just 12 months as I put everything I had into it. A few bikes in between but my latest is what

NO SOONER HAD the Indian’s unique tread hit the driveway at my place, than we introduced it to its peers via a nine-bike retro bike group test. Geez, no pressure, then. For this reason, we left the bike bog-stock standard, which was one of our rules

The Öhlins suspension allows riders to choose from three ‘active’ modes – A1, A2 and A3 – and three ‘manual’ – M1, M2 and M3 Familiar V4 donk might have fewer kilowatts than some of its rivals but all that power is usable Frame allows adjustments to

Last year BMW Motorrad sold 175,162 motorcycles worldwide – nearly six percent more than 2018 for its ninth successive record year. KTM still sells more units annually, but each predominantly at much lower cost, so in terms of Euro volume, BMW is sti

The radical Nard Ultra 6 Moto2 racer, with its wishbone front suspension and ultra-minimalist chassis format, sits in the paddock of the Croix-en-Ternois race circuit in northern France waiting for me to ride it. Created by retired hydro-electric civ

The 2020 MotoGP season is special. It’s the first to be staged in the midst of a global pandemic. It’s the first that hasn’t featured the reigning world champion, since 1960 500cc champ John Surtees switched to Formula 1 the following year. And it’s

‘Pecco’ Bagnaia came into MotoGP last year as reigning Moto2 world champion, but he had a tough rookie season, crashing more than anyone apart from Pramac Ducati teammate Jack Miller and KTM’s Johann Zarco whose horrid season forced him to tear up hi

WAYNE GARDNER BRAVED a freshly broken scaphoid and a flapping-in-the-wind fairing to take a hugely popular victory at Phillip Island in 1990. Grand Prix legend Daryl Beattie was granted a wildcard entry in the 250cc grand prix on board a Honda and hi

Loris Capirossi became the youngest-ever rider to become 125cc world champion when he won the Australian round of the 1990 125cc Grand Prix ahead of Bruno Casanova. In 1997, Max Biaggi qualified on pole position, finished second to Ralf Waldmann and

The 2006 MotoGP World Champion is standing in a corral petting a pair of miniature donkeys that have no names. The donkeys share a field with a miniature pony, llamas, and horses. “My dad likes animals,” Nicky Hayden says, the evanescent smile that l

TRIUMPH LAUNCHED ITS Speedmaster cruiser in 2003 in a back-to-the-future move. British Triumphs had been part of the original Southern California modified-bike scene in the 1950s and ’60s, the era whose early bobbers, customs and choppers inspired to

1953 The Triumph brand’s central role in the American biker scene is portrayed in themovie The Wild One with Brando riding a Thunderbird. 1982 After the management buyout from AMF, Harley-Davidson’s new models set the stage for the growth of the cr

From $219.95 (02) 8882 1900 cassons.com.au The G. Rocket boot’s microfibre upper construction is integrated with Gaerne’s exclusive compound rubber sole that improves grip and maximises wear. Ankle reinforcement, heel protection and a shift pad inc

A-Z OF NEW BIKE PRICES* Claimed / ** Measured 1 KYMCO AGILITY 50 Priced at $2190 (plus on-roads) Kymco’s Agility scooter is powered by an air-cooled 49cc two-stroke engine capable of 2.6kW. It has a seat height of 785mm and tips the scales at just 9

I FELT SLIGHTLY nervous as he walked into the implement shed of my fixer-upper farm. Over in the corner near the workbench was the Chinese knock-off Honda water pump I’d used a couple of times, then decided to sell. I really wanted the genuine articl

HI EVERYONE. IT’S usually the time of year when I’m getting ready for my home race at Phillip Island. But here I am in Europe thinking about the run up to the final MotoGP round in Portugal, a brand-new track for me, so a big challenge for sure. I ho

IN A FULLY WET weekend, reigning world champ Jonathan Rea made the best possible start to notching up six world titles by winning the two opening contests, from his front-row starting positions. And yet, in a damp third and final race, Rea had to wat

AS WELL AS a healthy dose of natural talent, competing at this level requires near sociopathic levels of self-belief. In an era of unparalleled competition, confidence in one’s ability is more critical than ever. In this weirdest of seasons, a bad da

THE WEEKEND WAS still in its infancy when the championship was turned on its head. Clipping a damp patch with slick tyres on a drying track, title leader Luca Marini (Sky Racing VR46 Kalex) was flung from his machine at great speed and height through

AS THE FIFTH race of 2020 came to an end, Celestino Vietti was contemplating a season that was getting away. At that point the Italian had failed to live up to his billing as a title contender, and languished some 54 points back of the championship l

WorldSBK championship win on his KRT Kawasaki may have been his best one but the ending was not a classic weekend that many had expected. His record-breaking title aside, this will be an unforgettable Estoril for many others, with action to spare and

Round 10 Ciudad del Motor de Aragon, Spain, 16-18 October 2020 MotoGP World Championship AS 2020 HAS passed from spring to autumn, we’ve learnt to take nothing as a given. Take the health of the sport’s biggest and best, for example. Valentino Rossi

ASK ANY RIDER to point to Motorland Aragon’s most demanding corner, and the majority will say turn two. A fast right attacked in third gear, it’s the first occasion the right side of the front tyre is used in over 40 seconds around this anti-clockwis

MOTOGP WAS HANDED a fresh blow by the news Valentino Rossi tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday, meaning he missed the double header in Aragon. Rossi confirmed via his Instagram page early on Thursday evening that he had two medical tests on the

A CONSEQUENCE OF ending the season in Europe with six races over October and November means track conditions are colder than anything we’ve seen before. Saturday and Sunday’s schedule was pushed back after the Moto3 grid endured track temperatures of

ANY HOPES OF Aprilia’s Andrea Iannone returning to competition in 2020 were served a further blow on Friday when the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) announced it wouldn’t finalise its decision on the Italian’s case until mid-November. Iannone’s a

HE DID IT in 2015 and has done it again in 2020! VisionTrack Ducati’s Josh Brookes has become the 2020 Bennetts British Superbike Champion in a hotly contested Brands Hatch GP Championship deciding round over 16-18 October. Brookes entered the weeken

RORY SCHLEIN HAS become the first Australian rider to win the British Speedway Championship. Schlein top scored in the 20 heats and progressed directly to the final, which he led all the way. His inclusion in the line-up attracted some criticism but

BARTOSZ ZMARZLIK PUT his name in to elite company as he made it back- to-back world championship victories as the 2020 Speedway Grand Prix series wrapped up. Max Fricke ended his first full season as part of the SGP with his first round win and he wi

THE WINGED WARRIORS of ASBK have gone head to head in Queensland’s state titles, giving a fascinating preview of what to expect when the main game resumes at The Bend in late November. In his first outing on the 2020 Honda Fireblade CBR1000RR-R SP, T