Australian Road Rider

I haven’t been to Tasmania in a decade. Too long. Same for north of the Sunshine Coast or South Australia. A planned tour in WA was killed by COVID restrictions. I’m starting a bucket list of tour destinations within Australia. I’ve already got one f

Not long after this issue goes to press, Ducati will release full details of the DesertX, a new off-road/adventure machine designed to delight those looking for a capable, powerful, open-class machine most at home fitted with knobbies. Ducati teased

Suzuki and Honda have announced new sports-tourers while KTM and Kawasaki are significantly upgrading their machines for 2022. Each of the four bikes is significantly different to the others and represents different paths to the same destination – mi

He holds more world titles than anyone else, more race wins and still rides, despite being nearly 80. Giacomo Agostini is a living legend and a nice guy, too. Most of his world titles were won riding MV Agusta four-stroke machines, and the company is

The sweet spot is where everything doesn’t just work, it comes together in a way that feels right. In motorcycles, that’s the Yamaha MT-09SP. Can you buy cheaper or lighter or faster? Sure. Can you get all of that in one package? That’s what I mean w

It’s difficult, if not impossible, to completely avoid a boring straight road on the way to Lightning Ridge, but the journey is rewarding in many other ways: huge expanses of uninterrupted views left, right, forward, backwards and up is just one of t

You could save some cash and get four cylinders, but you won’t get the same level of suspension performance. Another four-cylinder bike, the new Suzuki offers more power but in a bulkier package. The freshly minted new-model Monster is a fun package

While no-one who has taken in the svelte and sexy lines of an Italian Superbike would describe any adventure bike as sexy, KTM has done a good job of making the latest Adventure S attractive. Even the most ardent traditionalist would struggle to find

The adventure bike which is still the bike against which all big-bore adventure bikes are judged against. Great balance, shaft drive, not as high performance. The new boy on the block. Capable, interesting, different. With the optional DCT transmissi

Arguably the biggest improvement in motorcycle technology over the past 50 years has been in braking systems. Tyres come close, but that’s an argument best had at the bar. From the mechanical side, the technology started with the then state-of-the-ar

Exhilarating sums up my six-country “Best of Europe” ride with Edelweiss Bike Travel in 2017, made more so by a BMW Motorrad 1250 GSA loaner. The real fun had begun south of Baden-Baden as the Schwarzwaldhochstraße – acclaimed as one of Europe’s top

Twenty-five years have passed since I cruised from Key West at night like smuggled human freight in Ernest Hemingway’s To Have and Have Not and rode my BMW R 100 GS PD around Cuba as a licensed professional journalist. Thanks to President Obama’s loo

The pillion in a million reckons she never saw the scenery on our many rides on the Black Spur in Victoria. I’d get “in the zone” and her concentration had to match mine. You know how it is; you get tunnel vision and don’t see much else. Riding at ni

A good Maxi scooter will cruise all day at highway speed limits with more available for overtaxing, jump from traffic lights like a greyhound on speed, carry two people in comfort and a week’s worth of groceries. They are easier to ride than a motorc

It was a year ago almost to the day. After immigrating to New Zealand with my Kiwi wife and son in April of 2016, we started with nothing and built our little business, Beatnik Moto, to a point where we were poised for some great success. I had just

Honda, the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturer, doesn’t offer many big bikes for sale these days. There are a couple of Gold Wings, a good variety of Africa Twin adventure bikes and the new NT1100 coming soon. Even the famous Fireblade is now tra

Tested last issue and heaps of fun, Triumph’s Bobber has more traditional style, similar performance and works well. But you can’t get an auto and it only has one seat. Heavier than a CMX yet still easy to ride, all of the Indian Scout models offer A

Unlike most automobiles (which use a planetary gearset automatic transmission), Honda’s Dual Clutch Transmission is essentially an automated manual transmission. DCT has been around since 2010, with more than 100,000 riders choosing to pay the extra

It’s like walking into a crowded pub with music playing. As you enter, the music stops, the talking stops, everybody looks in your direction, a girl puts her hand to her mouth… a glass drops on the floor… a cliché, I know, but it’s like that when arr

The Sportster is dead, long live the Sportster. One of my all-time favourite motorcycles, the Harley-Davidson Sportster is no more. There’s an all-new model to replace it called the Sportster S, which, apart from the name, has exactly nothing in comm

There’s nothing quite like a pair of bright-red lights to give you pause, to make you think... in this case, maybe I’m a bit close to the vehicle I’m following. I was riding a BMW F 900 XR equipped with Ride Vision, a rider alert system designed to p

I recently bought a set of Sidi Adventure 2 boots, adding to my collection of five other pairs for track, touring and sport riding. Us motorcyclists tend to stick with what we know! Adventure boots have come a long way over the past 10 years, with de

Riding around the ACT and neighbouring NSW on a Suzuki V-Strom 650 XT with a bright-yellow Watsonian GP Manx sidecar attached always attracts attention. Complete strangers at service stations come up and ask, “Can I take a photo?” or offer compliment

EMAIL YOUR BIKE PHOTOS TO ROADRIDER@UMCO.COM.AU Every issue we’re giving away this beaut pack of Motul cleaning gear worth $49.95. All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is send us a pick of your shining steed and we’ll pick what we thi

In 1987 we didn’t get to watch Wayne Gardner enjoy a home race on the way to his 500cc World Motorcycle Championship title, the one subsequently renamed MotoGP when it went four-stroke nearly 20 years ago. And we didn’t get to see his son Remy race a

I’ve nearly worn out the Mitas Touring Force rubber supplied to ARR for evaluation, and I must say I’m pretty impressed with the value equation. Fitted to my BMW R 1250 RT, they’ve now done 6000km and I reckon they’ll hit the wear limit at about 8000

The new Pan Am landed in the Strapz driveway recently and the owner was more than happy to allow us to use it to design our soft pannier support frame. The plan was to ensure both rider and pillion have plenty of luggage space. The straps of our Avdu

If you’re looking for a weekender or you’re on tour around NSW, Bundanoon is worth a visit for its history, the nearby Morton National Park and the great roads in the district. From open sweepers to switchback hairpins, from expansive vistas to water

There’s nothing like the feel of a good leather jacket, and the Merlin Cambrian takes it a step further with a waxed finish for top-level style and feel. Made from 1.0-1.1mm cowhide leather, perforated in the front, back and sleeves and with zippered