Australian Motorcycle News

HOW THE HELL will Yamaha’s MotoGP riders find their way back on track mentally after that fortnight? Two of the scariest uncontrollable racing incidents – being collected from the blindside by a crashed machine and losing your brakes – are the stuff

Editor: Sam Maclachlan Deputy Editor: Kel Buckley Sub Editor: Phil Branagan News Editor: Hamish Cooper Staff Journalist: Pete Vorst Founding Editor: George Lynn Art Director: Paul Andrews Designer: Joe Ferrara Sir Alan Cathcart, Matt O’Connell, Micha

Triumph’s first Trident was the air-cooled performance triple it sold from 1968 to 1975. A factory-supported race program saw wins at major races around the world. The reborn Triumph brand sold its liquid-cooled, DOHC, road-focused Trident in 750cc a

YAMAHA MOTOR EUROPE has teamed up with Yamaha Austria Racing Team (YART) and Petronas to create a new limited-edition, track-only version of the YZF-R1 that apes the look of the Petronas Yamaha MotoGP bikes ridden by Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbi

NOT LONG AGO Chinese-built motorcycles had a reputation for sloppy design and low-tech engineering. Not any more. CFMoto’s new 700CL-X range has obviously been carefully developed to challenge the standards set by the world’s biggest players. Just on

HONDA’S NEW WINGED CBR600RR arrives in Australia in January 2021 with pricing announced closer to the release date. Although performance is similar to the existing model, the new version has a raft of electronics that include traction control and an

1.34 seconds The time difference between a $2.5m MotoGP racer and a $250K Superbike lapping Spain’s Aragon circuit. Read all about it on Page 54 ■

MotoGP’s official commentator Matt Birt tells AMCN contributor Mat Oxley how the passion has gone out of a race paddock with no spectators allowed. ■

The compressed seasons of MotoGP and WSBK have produced multiple winners and some amazing races. Motorcycle Holdings Ltd is defying the pandemic and its growing share price has investment advisers talking. An online government quiz has found many Q

For around 15 years motocross has had a simple version of MotoGP’s launch control. Called a Holeshot Device, a locking pin temporary compresses the front fork to reduce wheelies. ■

What a year 2020 has been. We’ve had just about everything thrown at us. We’ve all had our ups and downs and our dads are always there to pick us up and guide us through. It’s time to consider rewarding him with something other than cheap socks and t

The hugely popular DGR is throwing out the ultimate Covid challenge, urging participants to ride solo or with a pillion on 27 September before posting the experience on social media. Let’s all do it together… but separately! ■

One of the world’s rarest GP racers, Ducati’s 1965 in-line four-cylinder 125, failed to sell at Bonhams' most successful auction, with a top bid of AU$605,000 not meeting the reserve. It was expected to easily fetch AUD$700,000. ■

MELBOURNE ELECTRIC motorcycle start-up Savic Motorcycles has announced nearly half its first production run has been pre-ordered and it has finalised the powerplant for this model. Founder Dennis Savic says that after five years of design development

You may notice that the pages of Vol 48 No 07 of AMCN seem somewhat budget. Our scanner has not packed it in, and you didn’t miss anything due to your missed visit to Specsavers. This was courtesy of the Victorian Gas crisis that was caused by an exp

Win a pair of Cobra II Long gloves valued at $99.95! Include your full name, address and glove size in your letter, via post or email. Long letters will be cut to fit, so don’t ramble. Oh, and the views expressed by readers here are not necessarily t

I can help Roger Wallis ( Access AMCN Vol 69 No 25) who was asking after a copy of issue number 29 of Streetbike magazine. I know where there’s a copy and I can arrange to photocopy if he hasn’t got onto one yet. Gavin Gonsal Via email ■

Why no inclusion of a Kawasaki in your 10-bike adventure comparo (AMCN Vol 70 No 03)? I ride a Kawasaki Versys and I’m very satisfied with it. Barry James Via email It’s a great bike, Barry! Unfortunately Kawasaki didn’t have a test unit for us to in

If you have some free time between teaching the kids algebra and recording cooking blogs, we have a crossword for you. Put on your thinking lids and go yer hardest! AN AMCN NECK SOCK (IT DOUBLES AS A FACE MASK!) EMAIL YOUR NUMBERED ANSWERS TO COMP

Even bad boys go to church on Sundays! #confederate #wraith #custombikes #amcn_mag 100 motorcycles on display. Has to be worth a look. https://www. qagoma.qld.gov.au/whats-on/exhibitions/the-motorcycle

MT range’s model designations now firmly indicative of their engine’s capacities, it’s strange to think that six short years ago, the MT-03 was a 660cc single. With a horizontally-mounted off-set shock and a pair of underseat pipes, the not-that-long

Capacity 321cc Type Parallel-twin, DOHC, four valves per cylinder Bore & stroke 68.0 x 44.1mm Compression ratio 11.2:1 Cooling Liquid Fueling EFI Transmission Six-speed Clutch Wet, multi-plate Final drive Chain Power 30.9kW @ 10,75

Aprilia Tuono V4 1100 Factory $27,190 (plus on-road costs) Ducati Streetfighter V4 S $33,900 (ride away) Kawasaki Z H2 $23,000 (plus on-road costs) KTM 1290 Super Duke R $26,195 (plus on-road costs) MV Agusta Brutale 1000 RR $52,190 (ride aw

I don’t know why I’m being constantly surprised by the Aprilia; it has historically been a brilliant bike, and just because there are now a raft of new models, nothing has changed – it is still brilliant. The person who developed the fuelling, thrott

Here is a bike which produces the most power and smoked the line-up in the track component, yet in Street mode it’s so easy to ride. It’s so impressive for a bike that behaves like a Panigale at the top of the rev range in Race mode. The Streetfighte

For 2020 KTM is claiming its supernaked offering is 90 percent new, even though it looks remarkably similar to its predecessor. Where possible, every aspect of the bike has been reviewed and improved: wheels, brakes, bodywork, chassis and electronics

It always takes a while to get going on the MV – you can’t stop looking at it to be able to get on it. Yes, the others are attractive, but for me this is the beauty queen. The dash is lovely – the best looking of bunch – but it’s too close to the rid

Capacity 1078cc Type 65º V4, DOHC, four valves per cylinder Bore & stroke 81 x 52.3mm Compression ratio 13.6:1 Cooling Liquid Fueling EFI, 4 x 48mm Marelli throttle bodies Transmission Six-speed Clutch Wet, multi-plate, slipper-type F

Sydney-to-Darwin safari was promoted as a unique chance for any well-equipped vehicle to explore Australia’s remote outback. “An adventure suitable for anything on wheels,” spruiked promotor and entrepreneur Hans Tholstrup. Sidecar trial veterans Des

“It must be Daytona, because there were so many firsts; my first victory with Yamaha in my first ever race for them, and the first race with a two-stroke, first with the big 700, first time in America, and first time on the banking – so this was a ve

“This three-cylinder MV Agusta 500. It’s not easy to ride, but I started with it in 1964, and finished with it in 1973. I was the first one to test the three-cylinder – Count Agusta said he wanted an Italian rider for the new bike, so I could make it

$13,990 (2001) $12,990 (2009) $2850 – $5700 The ZRX1200R is a robust, well-engineered motorcycle with a bulletproof engine. According to the trade, there’s no pattern of known problems. Because the 1200 motor is remarkably quiet mechanically, treat a

I WRITE THIS just days after the opening round of the British Superstock 1000 championship with two trophies and joint leader in the championship after an unbelievable weekend. By the time you read this I will have already competed in the next round

THE SIGHT OF Andrea Dovizioso, Joan Mir and Jack Miller on the Red Bull Ring podium being ‘protected’ from those presenting the prizes with careful don’t-touch congratulations and conscientious social distancing was one of the more bizarre moments of

“Immediately as soon as I rolled out in FP1 here I felt a night and day difference between the feeling I had in Brno and the feeling I had here. We didn’t change all that much on the bike throughout the weekend. Today was a hectic race with the resta

4.318km MotoGP 86.360km Moto2 56.134km Moto3 99.314km Maverick Viñales looked like a happy man after qualifying on pole position. And so he should have; his time of 1m23.450s was the quickest lap of the first weekend in Austria, and represented a han

KTM. A week after the win at Brno, getting two bikes in the top five was on the cards. Then, oh, they got trouble, right there in Red Bull City! With a capital ‘T’, that rhymes with ‘P’, and that stands for ‘Pol’. ■

Valentino Rossi wasn’t alone in accusing Johann Zarco of being responsible for the crash that so nearly claimed his life. “In Italian we say to brake in the face [brake check]. Zarco is very wide, and he braked in the face of Franco, maybe to not let

R GARDNER 1m28.681s (T NAGASHIMA 1m28.718s, 2019) J MARTIN 1m29.102s 1 MARINI 78, 2 BASTIANINI 73, 3 MARTIN 59, 4 LOWES 59, 5 NAGASHIMA 55, 6 CANET 43, 7 BEZZECCHI 40, 8 VIERGE 36, 9 ROBERTS 35, 10 BALDASSARRI 33, 11 SCHROTTER 32, 12 GARDNER 25, 13

R FERNANDEZ 1m36.277s D BINDER 1m36.670s 1 ARENAS 95, 2 McPHEE 67, 3 OGURA 65, 4 SUZUKI 50, 5 FERNANDEZ 43, 6 VIETTI 41, 7 ARBOLINO 40, 8 MASIA 39, 9 RODRIGO 35, 10 FOGGIA 32, 11 ALCOBA 30, 12 BINDER 27, 13 ANTONELLI 21, 14 MIGNO 19, 15 FENATI 14. ■

Three MotoGP weekends in a row is rare. So what if we consider the Brno-Austria swing a ‘separate series’? Who came out on top? The points are quite interesting; Brad Binder 46, Jack Miller 43, Andrea Dovizioso 41, Miguel Oliveira 35, Joan Mir 33, Va

“I just tweaked my shoulder whatever way I hit the gravel in FP3. As soon as Q2 finished yesterday afternoon I just sat on an ice machine until about 11 last night. When my shoulder was bent, while my elbow was bent I could use more of the front musc

P ESPARGARO 1m23.580s P ESPARGARO 1m23.877s 1 QUARTARARO 70, 2 DOVIZIOSO 67, 3 MILLER 56, 4 BINDER 49, 5 VIÑALES 48, 6 NAKAGAMI 46, 7 ROSSI 45, 8 MIR 44, 9 OLIVEIRA 43, 10 P ESPARGARO 35, 11 MORBIDELLI 32, 12 ZARCO 30, 13 RINS 29, 14 PETRUCCI 25, 15

A consequence of the extraordinary near miss at the turn three hairpin was an added barrier and fence on the inside of the track, with the idea to catch a wayward bike that would cut across turn three and collect a hapless rider. “We had to react,” s

A CANET 1m28.787s M BEZZECCHI 1m28.687s (L MARINI 2019, 1m29.018s) 1 MARINI 87, 2 BASTIANINI 79, 3 MARTIN 79, 4 NAGASHIMA 68, 5 BEZZECCHI 65, 6 LOWES 59, 7 VIERGE 46, 8 CANET 43, 9 GARDNER 41, 10 ROBERTS 39, 11 SCHROTTER 37, 12 LUTHI 35, 13 BALDASSA

G RODRIGO 1m36.470s A SASAKI 1m36.103s 1 ARENAS 106, 2 OGURA 81, 3 McPHEE 67, 4 VIETTI 66, 5 ARBOLINO 60, 6 SUZUKI 59, 7 FERNANDEZ 51, 8 RODRIGO 48, 9 MASIA 31, 10 FOGGIA 37, 11 BINDER 37, 12 ALCOBA 30, 13 MIGNO 22, 14 ANTONELLI 21, 15 NEPA 20. ■

ANY LAST-MINUTE chances of Marc Marquez retaining his title have ended after Repsol Honda confirmed he will return to action no sooner than two months’ time. This was the first official Marquez news since he underwent surgery on his right humerus for

IT WAS ANOTHER day for the FIM Stewards to take a verbal kicking. All weekend riders were expressing dismay at a lack of consistency in recent decisions, with the decisions of ex-500cc champ Freddie Spencer – Chairman of the FIM Stewards – coming und

FROM 2016 TO 2019 Suzuki’s best finish at the throttle-happy Red Bull Ring was sixth place, 8.6s back of the leader. But the Japanese factory has made real progress. “They have more grip in acceleration. When they open the throttle they are able to e

THREE RIDERS HAVE secured berths in the 2021 Speedway Grand Prix series when they came out on top in the SGP Challenge Meeting, but Aussie Max Fricke was not one of them. Current SGP rider Matej Zagar, Swede Oliver Berntzon and former world number tw

AUSSIE RED BULL Rookies Cup rider Billy van Eerde sits 13th in the title chase after the first four races were contested over the previous two MotoGP race weekends in Austria. Improving his qualifying from 20th during the opening round up to eighth i

ONLY A FEW days after the Portuguese dust had settled on the vast grandstands of the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve some of the top WorldSBK names and one WorldSSP instant superstar arrived in Motorland Aragon in northern Spain to take part in a

“It’s great to be back on track because the club has been smashed with the closure of Wanneroo Raceway and with Covid. It is the first race meeting we have run in a bloody long time, and we are all a bit rough around the gills.” “After three tough y