Australian Motorcycle News

Editor Dean Mellor Deputy Editor Kel Buckley Sub Editor Mark Fattore Road Test Editor Pete Vorst News Editor Hamish Cooper Founding Editor George Lynn Art Director Brendon Wise Sir Alan Cathcart, Michael Scott, Ben Purvis, Mat Oxley, Neil Morrison, A

THE EXISTENCE of a Vitpilen 901 suggests that a wire-wheeled knobby-tyred Svartpilen 901 will be hot on its heels, but these aren’t the only upcoming bikes to feature the 889cc KTM LC8c engine. GasGas is also developing a pair of bikes around similar

THE INTERNET is starting to go into overdrive aft er a grainy video emerged last week of what is claimed to be Triumph’s new motocrosser being tested. Italian magazine Motocliclismo Fuoristrada posted the short video, which it claims is Triumph’s new

LAST YEAR the BSA name reappeared on a new motorcycle for the first time since the 1970s when the 652cc Gold Star single was launched. Now BSA has applied for trademark rights on a trio of classic names as it looks to expand the range. New applicatio

Never heard of Mark Briggs, aka ‘Stratt’? He was an innovator, facilitator and behind-the-scenes guy who helped many racers as a sponsor and team owner, and former racers as an employer. His nickname came from engine manufacturer Briggs & Stratton. H

ANSWERS WILL BE REVEALED IN THE NEXT ISSUE WIN! AN AMCN NECK SOCK EMAIL YOUR ANSWERS AND ADDRESS TO AMCN@AMCN.COM.AU FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN! ■

The sport pack includes a quickshift er which works beautifully, and is a must in my mind; a fly screen that gives some protection from the elements; trick-looking anodised rider footpegs; and rear seat cowl. The seat cowl looks great but does imping

Engine 754cc parallel-twin Power 56kW (75hp) Torque 67Nm Weight 220kg (dry) From $12,990 (ride away) Engine 693cc parallel-twin Power 55kW (73hp) Torque 68Nm Weight 205kg (wet) $10,490 (ride away) Engine 776cc parallel-twin Power 61kW (83hp) Torque 7

EVEN MORE shocking is that I didn’t know what to expect when I turned up to the launch of the first air-cooled Multi, so I arrived in race leathers, treating the new concept as a sports-touring-supermoto hybrid oddity. I liked the first bike, with it

1254cc boxer twin 268kg (wet) $33,305 (ride away) 1160cc triple 249kg (wet) $31,800 (ride away) 1301cc V-twin 245kg (wet) $33,265 (ride away) ■

AS YOU would expect, the Rally arrives with a lengthy list of accessories, including hard luggage that can be solid-fitted for off-road or floating, and has also been moved further back to create more room for a pillion. The Touring aluminium accesso

THE BROUGH Superior Nefud is powered by the same 71kg, liquidcooled 880 V-twin eight-valve engine as the SS100, Lawrence and Pendine Sand Racer sister models. It was specially developed for Brough by Akira Engineering in Bayonne, France, which is the

Who’s won three of the last seven MotoGP races? Alex Rins, and perhaps the sweetest victory of all was at COTA for his new satellite LCR Honda outfit. Imagine if he was still on the sweet-handling Suzuki!

SATURDAY’S SPRINT in Austin Texas was run in almost double the track temperatures of what riders had experienced previously that weekend, causing many to have difficulties managing front-tyre temperatures and pressures. If riders were following other

WHEN POL ESPARGARO crashed heavily in practice of the season-opening MotoGP round at Portimao in March, the motorsport giant lost far more than one of its satellite riders. Hugely experienced, the 2023 season is the 10th premier-class campaign for th

My R75/5 was built halfway to BMW’s centenary this year but the model was more of a milestone than just being a midpoint. The /5 series was a make-or-break decision for BMW’s motorcycle division, which was fading while the car division was raking in

Fox Sports, Kayo & Video Pass Check website and local guides Welcome back to the European jungle! After visiting Argentina and America, the MotoGP title returns to the Continent where we should get a clearer picture of who’s who. Fox Sports, Kayo & V

Rd4 30 Apr, Jerez, ES Rd5 14 May, Le Mans, FR Rd6 11 Jun, Mugello, IT Rd7 18 Jun, Sachsenring, DE Rd8 25 Jun, Assen, NL Rd9 9 Jul, Sokol, KZ Rd10 6 Aug, Silverstone, GB Rd11 20 Aug, Spielberg, AT Rd12 3 Sep, Barcelona, ES Rd13 10 Sep, Misano, IT Rd14

Phillip Island Ride Days / 0490 281 840 Sydney Motorsport Park Ride Days/0490 281 840 SMSP, NSW Murray Valley Training Co 0459 415 787 Barnawartha North, Vic Champion’s Ride Days (07) 3287 4144 Broadford, Vic Collie Motorplex, WA Morgan Park, Qld The

MICK’S CALL CAME late in the day. When we worked together on bike magazines back in the 1980s I’d hear from him daily. These days it’s rare enough to be a worry. Who’s it going to be? “What’s your postal address for the invite?” “What bloody invite?”

I’VE NOW had five races on a Supersport bike and I think the transition is going pretty good, especially after my first win at SMSP! I wasn’t really expecting that result – but like anyone, I want to win. The transition from 300s hasn’t been too hard

THERE WERE several great takeaways from the US GP – and more than just damaged bodywork from a huge number of crashes. Both Saturday’s Sprint and Sunday’s feature race were tense and unpredictable, and the results added further variety to a so-far in

FINALLY, A SPRINT that was more sedate by comparison to the year’s opening two encounters. This was an exercise in control for Bagnaia, who led from start to finish. Rins harried and harassed him on the first lap, but a mistake braking for Turn 12 sa

IVAN ORTOLA (MTA KTM) scored his maiden triumph in memorable style, fighting back from 23rd to win a dramatic five-way fight. This was a race of two comebacks. Ortola’s was the first that caught the eye. A mistake on the kerbs outside Turn 2 as he ch

IT HAS been a very long seven weekends since the last overheated WorldSBK round at Mandalika in Indonesia, even if we had some significant in-season tests at the likes of Aragon and Barcelona. But testing is testing, and racing is racing, and once ag

IN THE first WorldSSP race, held over the full 18 laps, Nicolo Bulega (Aruba Ducati) only had Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti) as his shadow for a while, but as the Kawasaki rider’s front tyre went off after so much abuse trying to hold onto the clearly

THE FIRST world championship race of the weekend and the action ended in the stewards' room, not the racetrack. A Kawasaki clean sweep, featuring Petr Svoboda, (Fusport-RT Motorsport by SKM Kawasaki), Samuel Di Sora (Prodina Kawasaki) and Jose Manuel

FRANCO MORBIDELLI’S place in Yamaha’s MotoGP team was under scrutiny again after 2021 WorldSBK world champion, Turkey's Toprak Razgatlioglu, was invited to a two-day MotoGP test at Jerez prior to the Grand Prix of the Americas. It was believed Razgat

FRIDAY AT COTA was the first chance for the MotoGP media to meet Dorna’s new Chief Commerical Officer, Dan Rossomondo. The American, who was previously working as Senior Vice President of Global Partnerships and Media at the NBA, expressed his excite

THE FIRST two NSW rounds of the Australian Off-Road Championship at Mendooran saw Shop Yamaha teammates Josh Green and Kyron Bacon tied for the outright lead ahead of GasGas teammates Korey McMahon and Jye Dickson. Then Bacon broke his leg in a local

JARED MEES has ridden his Indian Motorcycle FTR750 to the Super Twins victory at the American Flat Track Devils Bowl Half-Mile, held in Texas on 22 April. Mees was the fastest qualifier and led the most laps, staving off chief rival Dallas Daniels (E

TWO WEEKS after celebrating on the podium of the Australian Sidecar Championships, Warren Monson was fatally injured in an incident at Heathcote Park Raceway in Victoria on Sunday 23 April. The former FIM World Cup and Oceania Speedway Sidecar Champi

AS IT HAS done for the last five decades, Kamfari will kick off on the first Sunday in May with a four-hour enduro that will test man and machine in the perennially tricky Top End terrain. Each lap is approximately 10km, and at the end of each lap ri

AUSSIE ANDREW Houlihan finished fifth outright in the third round of the FIM Baja World Cup to extend his lead in the Veterans' Division to 37 points over Qatar’s Mahommed Al Kaabi. At times exceeding 150km/h on his KTM 450 EXC, Houlihan finished the

THERE HAVE been plenty of exotic new motorcycle models launched over the past couple of years and, as a result, we have run a lot of AMCN covers featuring high-end $20k-plus bikes from the likes of BMW, Ducati, Husqvarna, Triumph and others… but not