Australian Motorcycle News

Editor Dean Mellor Deputy Editor Kel Buckley Sub Editor Hamish Cooper Digital Gun We’re hiring! Founding Editor George Lynn Art Director Brendon Wise Sir Alan Cathcart, Michael Scott, Ben Purvis, Mat Oxley, Neil Morrison, Adam Child, Gold&Goose, Gord

AND SO it begins! Thanks to a ripper weekend of WorldSBK and ASBK action at Phillip Island the 2024 racing season is well and truly upon us. Next stop? Qatar, for Round 1 of the 2024 MotoGP World Championship. After preseason testing it looks like th

Back in January we got the first clues that Harley-Davidson was to bring back the Hydra-Glide nameplate when American approval documents emerged for a 2024 ‘Hydra-Glide Revival’. Now there’s more flesh on those bones as new European certifications ha

TRIUMPH HAS type-approved two new Rocket 3 models both wearing the name ‘Storm’ and sharing the 134kW (180hp), 2500cc triple that was previously reserved for the limited-edition Rocket 3 TFC. Dubbed the Rocket 3 Storm R and Rocket 3 Storm GT, the two

A E-BIKES, which has been distributing the lightweight Talaria on- and off-road bikes in Australia and New Zealand since 2021, was another outfit at the expo. Managing partner Vanessa Rocchi was at their stand and told AMCN that A e-Bikes was gearing

THE REVIVAL of the small four-cylinder sportsbike class continues apace as Kawasaki’s Ninja ZX-4RR and Kove’s 450RR are set to be joined by little-known Chinese brand Yingang. The Yingang 400RR was originally shown at the Chongqing Motorcycle Show la

Gone but not forgotten is an often expressed phrase when someone near and dear is lost, and it will certainly be the case that Warren ‘Wazza’ Monson will never be forgotten. Monson’s record in speedway sidecar racing extended well beyond being the gr

ANSWERS WILL BE REVEALED IN THE NEXT ISSUE AN AMCN NECK SOCK EMAIL YOUR ANSWERS AND ADDRESS TO AMCN@AMCN.COM.AU FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN! COMING SOON! (no, this doesn’t count as a change) ■

BIMOTA UNVEILED a new model at last year’s EICMA motorcycle expo in Milan called the Tera. It’s a sports-tourer with a supercharged H2 SX engine and a hub-steered chassis that is the evolution of the Tesi H2. The steering employs a knee-type link tha

THE ARRIVAL of the GSX-8R confirms how awesome it is to see an exciting new class of affordable, middleweight sportsbikes emerging, one that didn’t really exist just a few years ago. Arguably this class was created when racers started modifying their

$13,995 (ride away) $14,790 (ride away) $14,990 (ride away) $15,649 (ride away) $22,690 (ride away) ■

ONE TOPIC dogged the end of last season: front-tyre pressures. A rule was enforced mid-season to penalise those below the stated minimum pressure for more than 50 percent of the race. Riders would first receive a warning, then a time penalty. Fabio D

CAL CRUTCHLOW had few doubts. “I have always said if Marc goes on the Ducati the rest may as well not turn up – it could well be completely boring,” said the Englishman last October. Some figures in the know agree than Marc Marquez’s sensational swit

Title top 3: Pecco Bagnaia, Marc Marquez & Jorge Martin Threat: Brad Binder Dark Horse: Fabio Di Giannantonio Title top 3: Marc Marquez, Jorge Martin & Pecco Bagnaia Threat: Brad Binder Dark Horse: Pedro Acosta Title top 3: Marc Marquez, Pecco Bagnai

If Bagnaia displayed a never-say-die attitude to claim the 2022 MotoGP title, it was his ability to withstand crushing pressure which resulted in him retaining the crown a year later. A flawless preseason, in which he has displayed unerring calm thro

SERIES ORGANISER Dorna hopes the struggles of Yamaha and Honda will be a temporary malaise after drastically revamping the MotoGP manufacturer concessions for 2024. So profound were the struggles of the Japanese factories in the first half of last ye

AUSTRALIA WILL be represented in all three categories of the 2024 MotoGP World Championship with 2023 Moto2 European Champion Senna Agius gaining a berth in the well-appointed Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP squad in Moto2 to ride alongside South Afri

Ducati may have scored 96 percent of all constructors points last season but second in the championship was KTM, contesting only its seventh season in MotoGP. The Austrian brand, massively backed by Red Bull, shows no signs of giving up the chase. Th

There was an army of HRC engineers at Sepang, suggesting Honda has finally got the hint: MotoGP has changed massively in recent years and now needs huge investment in engineers and hardware. The current RC213V is very much a development of the bike u

MASSIVE CHANGES to one single component had a profound effect on racing. In 1949, front tyres were ribbed and rear tyres had a block tread. For impecunious privateers a single set might last half the season. Maybe longer. In 2024 each rider is alloca

FOR THE FIRST 16 years of the world championship, there was at least one fatality every year – in 1951 six riders died, in 1953 and 1964 there were five. The annual toll resumed in 1966, with a peak in 1976 of seven – six on the Isle of Man, scene of

THE ATTRITION rate for motorcycles can’t be good. Everything has its day but bikes seem to have theirs sooner rather than later. Not much you can do about it, I guess, but it does make the survivors more interesting. Seeing an old bike, I often wonde

IT’S THE curse of promising young racers: to be described as “the new…” whoever it might be at the time. Sometimes it works out. John Surtees was the new Geoff Duke, until he became himself; Valentino Rossi the new Giacomo Agostini, although not for

EVEN BEFORE PITLANE opened for the year’s maiden practice session, the Phillip Island race weekend was full of uncertainty. The first WorldSBK tyres for the official test earlier in the week only turned up the night before the rescheduled single test

THE FIRST WorldSSP race of the year overflowed with drama. First Bahattin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) was dragged to the back of the grid for under-pressure tyres. Then pole man and potential debut winner for Aruba Ducati, Adrian Huertas, had

JOSH WATERS began his 2024 mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship campaign on the freshly resurfaced Phillip Island track just as he would have hoped, riding away from the opposition in the opening race after starting from pol

JONATHON NAHLOUS had several standout podiums in 2023 on his Complete AV Yamaha YZF-R6, but a busy preseason has paid dividends and elevated his performance after the Sydney-based rider seized pole position, took three dominant race wins as well as t

SEVERAL ASBK Superbike riders and teams were left on the back foot before the first race at Phillip Island over a directive from Motorcycling Australia that was delivered only hours before the first race. The directive stated that all bikes were to b

SOUTH AUSTRALIAN Ty Lynch was forced to sit out the opening round of the ASBK season in what was also meant to be his Superbike debut after sustaining injuries in training. Lynch busted his wrist a few weeks out from the opener, but admitted it would

TOM TOPARIS is the latest Aussie announced to ride at Daytona after getting a last-minute call-up from a previous team he has raced with in BSB Supersport. Toparis (pictured above and below) will ride a GSX-R750 under the Astro-MAR Suzuki banner with