AMM AUGUST 2022 MOTO GUZZI V9 BOBBER CENTENARIO / YAMAHA NMAX 155 / TRIUMPH TIGER 660 SPORT / MAP: COOMA / POTM: DIMBOOLA / IOMTT / SF: TYRES / HIMALAYAN
Authentic heritage meets modern technology for power, style, and the unadulterated riding experience – around town, on the freeway, or along country roads.
Book a test ride
H-D.com/Test Ride
DEATH IS UPON US! Say bye bye to petrol TYRES Make sure you’ve got the best you can
MOTO GUZZI V9 BOBBER CENTENARIO 100 years old and getting better all the time
TRIUMPH TIGER 660 SPORT So good it tricked him!
YAMAHA NMAX 155 Surprise packet
ROYAL ENFIELD HIMALAYAN Mud, slush, snow and more
LAND OF VINEYARDS
I HAD TO STOP RIDING MY MOTORCYCLE FOR A WHILE – THE TYRES GOT DIZZY –Stuart
Editor Stuart Woodbury
Contributing Editor J Peter Thoeming
Sales Manager Chris Pickett chris@ausmotorcyclist.com.au
Designers FriendsLoveDesign.com, Kevin Kearney
Photographers Nick Wood Creative, Half Light Photographic
Contributors Nick Edards, Robert Lovas, Boris Mihailovic, Ralph LeavseyMoase, The Possum, Colin Whelan, Nick Wood, Bob Wozga
Editorial contactus@ausmotorcyclist.com.au
Subscription enquiries ausmotorcyclist.com.au, contactus@ausmotorcyclist.com.au
Printer
PRINTED IN AUSTRALIA USING RECYCLABLE PAPER
Distributor Ovato
Australian Motorcyclist magazine is published by Australian Motorcyclist Magazine Pty Ltd. 17 Weeroona Place, Rouse Hill NSW 2155. Phone 0412220680
This publication is copyright. Other than for the purposes of research, study, criticism, review, parody or satire and subject to the conditions prescribed under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted without the prior written permission of Australian Motorcyclist Magazine Pty Ltd. Opinions expressed within this publication do not necessarily represent those of Australian Motorcyclist Magazine Pty Ltd. No responsibility is accepted by Australian Motorcyclist Magazine Pty Ltd or the editor for the accuracy of any statement, opinion or advice contained in the text or advertisements. Readers should rely on their own enquiries in making decisions tailored to their own interest.
*Recommended retail price
Copyright © Australian Motorcyclist Magazine Pty Ltd ACN 161 432 506 ISSN 2201-5442
We encourage you to keep or recycle this magazine.
flattering when other writers/ journalists/ring-ins and the like copy or take parts of what you’ve written and use it in their own articles. Of course, they rewrite it just enough so it’s not copyright (well, sometimes), but when I read the articles where my words have been used it’s almost like me talking to myself - funny. It doesn’t bother me in the slightest as it shows my thoughts on how a motorcycle rides are classed at a high level technically. It also shows that others in the industry come to Australian Motorcyclist for confirmation or to get some information on a motorcycle they might have reviewed. I guess that’s why we’re the leading motorcycle magazine of our kind in the country (Yes, shameless plug). My mate Chris and I pulled the engine out of the Period 5 GSX1100 race bike and stripped it down. Last time it was raced, Alex came in during a race and said it started vibrating. As Chris and I stripped the engine everything was looking sweet until we got to the gear on the crank. Some of the teeth look like they’ve been chewed by a Rottweiler. So, as this crank has been welded, I’ll have to grind the welds off to press some of it apart so I can change the gear. Luckily, we have a spare straight cut GS750 gear, which is needed to run the GSX-R1000 slipper clutch this engine uses, but pulling the crank apart is going to be, ‘fun’. No free lunches.
Apparently it’s official! La Nina is over and been placed on the “watch” list. This is what the Bureau of Meteorology has said. The Eastern Seaboard has been smashed with more rain than many can remember the last few months. Although the BOM also say some models suggest La Nina may re-form in the southern hemisphere during spring for the third consecutive time. How contradictory is that! The rain has gone, but it might not have stopped? Whatever Mother Nature decides the recent, cold, but sunny days are simply great for riding. Rug up in the morning and by lunchtime you’re nice and toasty basking in the sunshine at a pub / café somewhere. Can life get any better than that!
I must give a little shout out to current ASBK Supersport racer, Jack Passfield. Jack broke his wrist at Phillip Island earlier this year (you might have seen his crash on the tele?) and while on the mend, then broke his heel! This has obviously ruled him out of any serious contention for ASBK. Jack is keen to get back on the bike and get some speed flowing. You might remember Jack raced The Beast so I’m thinking a perfect way to get him motoring again is to have him race at the Australian Historic Titles in October at Morgan Park. Jack will have a very good chance of being Australian Champion, so let’s see how things pan out.
In the meantime, get out riding while the sun is shining! I certainly will be on my Suzuki 1250 Bandit.
Enjoy!
Cheers, Stuart.
6.5” TFT COLOUR INSTRUMENTATION FIND
More technology, more comfort and more convenience. The Supercharged Ninja H2 SX is the first mass-production bike to be fitted with Bosch’s Advanced Rider Assistance System (ARAS), providing real world benefits including Adaptive Cruise Control, Blind Spot Detection and Forward Collision Warning. The Ninja H2 SX also features improved seating for greater comfort on long rides, plus a new 6.5” colour TFT instrumentation panel featuring Kawasaki’s advanced SPIN Infotainment system.
VHA - VEHICLE HOLD ASSIST
TFT COLOUR INSTRUMENTATION
KAWASAKI SPIN INFOTAINMENT SYSTEM
KIPASS - KAWASAKI INTELLIGENT
PROXIMITY ACTIVATION START
FCW - FORWARD COLLISION WARNING
ESS - EMERGENCY STOP SIGNAL
KQS - KAWASAKI QUICK SHIFTER
ARAS - ADVANCED RIDER ASSIST SY STEM
TPMS - TYRE PRESSURE MONITORING SYST EM
ACC - ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL MAINTAINS SPEED & DISTANCE
HEATED HAND GRIPS STANDARD FITMENT
BSD - BLIND SPOT DETECTION
Where will we buy fuel when everything goes electric?
TT’S A DATE THAT WILL live in history: for good, or for evil. The 29th of June 2022 marks the beginning of the end for the internal combustion engine (ICE). Environment ministers from the 27 countries of the EU have agreed to sign the ICE’s death warrant. The ban refers to sales of new cars and vans powered by gasoline and diesel engines, although you can bet that they will add motorcycles when they remember that such things exist. It took more than 16 hours of negotiation to reach an agreement at the meeting in Luxembourg, but the result is crystal clear.
“The Council… agreed to introduce a 100% CO2 emissions reduction target by 2035 for new cars and vans.” The European Parliament also wants to outlaw sales of used ICE-powered vehicles, but that has not been decided on. Not that the idea is dead; further negotiations will take place, but the new vehicle sales ban is now written in stone.
Given the size of the European vehicle market, the ban on ICEs there means their eventual disappearance in all developed countries. The ramifications will go way beyond the borders of the European Union
since it won’t be feasible for the likes of Volkswagen or BMW to develop ICE cars they won’t be able to sell in the EU. Internal combustion engined vehicles may, and probably will, continue to be manufactured and sold in developing countries after 2035 but even so, the end is inevitable.
Technically speaking, the 2035 ban calls for a complete reduction of emissions, without mentioning the combustion engine. This theoretically leaves the door open for ICEs running on alternative fuels such as the synthetic fuel being developed by Porsche, but it is interesting to note that most of the research and proposed manufacturing for that will take place away from the First World, except for Australia.
This decision will have huge consequences across the vehicle industry as manufacturers accelerate the switch to EVs even further. Serious as this is for automakers, motorcycle manufacturers will be affected even more because major companies’ shift to electric power is not as advanced. There are also staged targets in 2025 and 2030 that will be difficult for motorcycle manufacturers to reach; once again there is no mention of bikes
in the legislation, but automakers will have to slash CO2 emissions by 55 percent for new cars and 50 percent for vans by the end of the ‘20s.
Negotiations between the Parliament and EU member states later this year will determine the final shape of the law, but let’s not beat about the bush: with no more than a couple of exceptions, all motorcycles currently built by major manufacturers will gradually disappear from the market until they’re all gone by 2035.
German industry groups and other car lobby organisations have said the European Parliament’s decision is a blow to climate protection and consumer choice. Germany wavered on banning the combustion engine in 2035, threatening to derail the talks until it was placated with a vague promise from the Commission to look into future options for e-fuels.
Italy would also like to see changes, particularly concerning small-scale production vehicles from manufacturers like Ferrari, Lamborghini, Pagani, Ducati, MV Agusta and Aprilia all contribute not only to the financial economy of Italy, but also its cultural presence.
Despite that, Italy has signed the death warrant.
The ban refers to sales of new cars and vans powered by gasoline and diesel
Cardo Systems, Midland and Uclear, have jointly announced the launch of the ‘Open Bluetooth Intercom’ (OBI) – an open industry-wide Bluetooth Intercom standard, allowing seamless cross-brand Bluetooth Intercom connectivity. The partnership will help overcome many of the common frustrations experienced with traditional ‘universally connected’ devices and foster a new era of significantly improved cross-brand experience.
Yamaha Day 2022 celebrates the 67th birthday of Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd.
While ‘universal connectivity’ enables pairing between cross-brand communicators, the experience for users is often inferior when compared to if they were connected to a device from the same brand. The pairing process can often be complex, previous connections forgotten and not always possible to make phone calls or listen to music in parallel to the intercom connection. All of these challenges are overcome with the introduction of the ‘Open Bluetooth Intercom’ agreement.
Speaking on behalf of the partners Shachar Harari, VP
of Business
Following the extraordinary debut of the all-new 800MT adventure-touring range, CFMOTO Australia has introduced a limited-edition version of the 800MT Touring in a premium-paint ‘Sandstone Yellow’ livery.
As well as the lustrous new look, further differentiation from the original Ocean Blue 800MT Touring will also come in the shape of standard-fitment aluminium panniers and top case (in black), as well as Barkbusters for the ultimate in hand and lever protection. All the items will be fitted during the pre-delivery process.
Otherwise, the limitededition model is the same crackerjack 800MT Touring that was launched in Australia six months ago, with features such
Development of Cardo Systems, explained: “Having just launched our ‘Universal Communication Solution’, the announcement of our ‘Open Bluetooth Intercom’ further cements our commitment to providing motorcyclists with the best solutions to communicate while riding. The new partnership will enable riders to fully enjoy seamless Bluetooth intercom connectivity across the brands and will further foster the penetration of communication solutions among riders worldwide.”
‘Open Bluetooth Intercom’ describes various extensions to the ‘Bluetooth Handsfree Profile’, designed for direct duplex communications between Bluetoothcapable devices – enhancing the interoperability of different partnership brands in the Bluetooth communicator market, meaning that riders no longer have to agree with fellow riding partners on a brand to buy.
The day commemorates the birth of Yamaha Motor Company, formed on 1 July 1955 when the first Yamaha motorcycle - the YA-1 Red Dragonfly, rolled off the production line. Included in this year’s celebrations is a Yamaha Day competition. Open from 1 July until 31 July 2022, entrants have the chance to win one of three $500 ShopYamaha gift vouchers. Full competition details - including Terms and Conditions - are available from the Yamaha Day 2022 Competition page –see yamaha-motor.com.au
Happy birthday Yamaha!
as tyre pressure monitoring, wirespoked wheels, centrestand, two-way quickshifter, alloy bashplate and steering damper.
Only 50 units of the limited-edition model in Sandstone Yellow will be coming to Australia, priced at $16,490 ride away – a saving of over $300 if the accessories were purchased individually. The dedicated 800MT microsite has been updated with the limited-edition model, where customers can begin ordering via a simple stepby-step process – as they can continue to do for the 800MT Sport and Ocean Blue 800MT Touring. There are also options to accessorise during the ordering phase. No money will change hands: the customer will simply nominate their preferred dealer and the dealer will follow up on the enquiry.
Of course, customers can bypass the website and place an order directly through a dealership.
Triumph Motorcycles is delighted to unveil a new and exciting range of colour options for the entire MY23 Modern Classics range. Building on the great success of last year’s Gold Line Editions,Triumph has responded to customer requests for brighter, more distinctive, and more elegant colour options across its legendary Modern Classics line-up.
The new colours coincide with the introduction of new names for two of the class-defining 900cc models, chosen to better represent the family connections across Triumph’s iconic Bonneville line-up, and their specific engine capacities. From model year 2023, the Street Twin is re-named Speed Twin 900, and the Street Scrambler is re-named the Scrambler 900.
Boris has kindly offered MotoGP racer, Jack Miller to conduct his bucks party.Yes, if you didn’t know, Jack is getting married. It will be held on July 30 at Singleton, NSW.
Boris sent us these details…
“We’d like to invite you to the social event of the year. Jack’s getting married, and we can’t let that happen without a proper celebration of his buck-dom.
Jack is aware we are doing this, and we have his blessing. And what better way is there to pay tribute to him and to say thanks for blessing the MotoGP circus with his talent?
Yes, that’s right. With copious applications of beer, girls with no shirts on, and your favourite podcast – all in one beaut spot. Here’s the deal…
WHEN: Saturday, 30 July, 2022. WHERE: Singleton Rugby Club HOW MUCH? $160
WHAT DO I GET FOR MY MONEY?
You get topless waitresses, a strip show, a killer DJ, on-going hot food arriving, us doing a live podcast, a special guest, and lots of door prizes.
CAN I BRING MY GIRLFRIEND, WIFE, OR MUM?
Of course you can. They would be very welcome.
I’M NOT CONVINCED. WHAT ELSE?
We have arranged for buses to take you to the Buck’s Night venue from the pre-party venue (Horse & Jockey Hotel), and then to the after-party venue (The Albion Hotel) after the show.
WHAT’S THE GO, BITCHES? SERIOUSLY. So, it works like this. If you want a great ride, you can meet Freido, Tugs, and Borrie at the Grey Gum Café on the Putty Road before 11am.
They will depart Grey Gums at 11am.You can ride with them or make your own way to the Horse & Jockey in Singleton.
We would like you to have lunch there, because the Horse & Jockey will be catering the Buck’s Night and providing the courtesy buses to take you to the Buck’s Night and later to the Albion Hotel.
So have lunch at the Horse & Jockey, and a few beers. It’s the polite thing to do. Sort your own accommodation out. There’s lots available.
Buses will be waiting to take you to the Albion Hotel if you wish to kick on. Why the Albion Hotel? Well, it has a 3am licence, that’s why.
After 3am, you’re on your own. Mind you don’t fall over in the darkness.
SOME OTHER STUFF
Our last event in Singleton was a great success. Everyone had a great time, and the publican and staff at the Horse & Jockey were blown away by how well-mannered and polite all our guests were. This is why that same publican has offered to provide his courtesy buses to move us around.
We would like to encourage you all to not drop this ball on this occasion.Yes, there are girls with no shirts involved, but if that’s too overwhelming for you and you’re going to turn into a dickhead, best you don’t come.
We’re all keen to have a great night with lots of laughs, and that’s what going to happen even after you’re ejected from the venue for being a dickhead. But not for you. You’re going to have another kind of night.
So, it’s simple. Enjoy yourself, but don’t be a dickhead to any of the staff working on
YOU MAY BUY TICKETS AT THIS LINK
https://motopg. square.site/
CAN YOU BELIEVE IT, Moto Guzzi is 100 years old! Yep, 2021 saw 100 years of production making Moto Guzzi the oldest European motorcycle manufacturer in continuous operation.
Let’s take a little look back at Guzzi’s history…
On March 15, 1921, the “Società Anonima Moto Guzzi” was established with the goal of “manufacturing and sales of motorcycles and any other activity pertinent or connected to the metal mechanical industry.” And on that day, to honour one of the founders’ brothers in arms, the iconic image of the eagle with spread wings was chosen as the new company’s symbol.
For the past century, every Moto
motorcycle has been built at the headquarters in Mandello del Lario, on the idyllic shores of Lake Como.
The company’s long history includes numerous milestones and firsts, such as Giuseppe Guzzi, brother of founder Carlo, riding a 1928 GT 500 Norge to the Arctic Circle, and the introduction of the Galletto in 1950, which contributed to mass motorization in the postwar period.
It was after World War II that Moto Guzzi built its legendary wind tunnel, the first one in the world used for motorcycle testing. Over the years many talented engineers, including Umberto Todero and Enrico Cantoni, developed innovative designs and technologies.
Milan native, Giulio Cesare Carcano
was the father of the incredible 177mph “Otto Cilindri” (Eight Cylinders) in 1955 and the prototypes which, between 1935 and 1957, won no fewer than 15 world speed titles and 11 Tourist Trophies.
In the 1960s, after the Stornello and Dingo light motorcycles, Moto Guzzi breathed life into its iconic “flying” 90-degree V-twin, with its longitudinal crankshaft and its air-cooled cylinders jutting out into the wind. The 700cc V-twin sent power to the rear wheel through a cardan shaft final drive and served as the powertrain for bikes like the V7 Special, V7 Sport, California and Le Mans.
Evolved steadily over time, the “flying” V-twin architecture is still used
Green was also the first colour worn by the first model, and probably the most iconic of the today, enhanced by state-of-the-art electronic control features. It powers modern versions of the V7, the V9 and the V85 TT.
the GMG – Guzzi World Days are back, and they join the Città Della Moto Guzzi International Motorcycle Rally.
Due to covid, celebrations were shelved for 2021, but 8 to 11 September 2022 will be an unmissable occasion
Events attended by tens of thousands of “Guzzisti” and enthusiasts. This year’s 100th anniversary event will be a unique and unforgettable event, made possible by the collaboration between Moto Guzzi, Motoraduno Internazionale Committee and the municipality of Mandello del Lario. If you have the opportunity, get over there and enjoy!
To commemorate Moto Guzzi’s 100 anniversary, an exclusive colour scheme
inspired by the company’s heritage, in particular that 1955 “Otto Cylindri,” an extraordinary motorcycle created to compete in the World Championship 500 class. This milestone in motorcycle history has an elegant colour scheme in its purely racing essence, combining the satin-finished metal of the fuel tank with the green of the fairing and the leather on the seat. Colours that also characterised the 350 Bialbero, one of the most victorious bikes in history, unbeatable in the 350 class in World Championship GP Motorcycle Racing, with the amazing record of 9 consecutive world titles (5 Rider and 4 Manufacturer) from 1953 to 1957.
Green was also the first colour worn by a Moto Guzzi with the Normale, the first model, and probably the most iconic of the Eagle’s colours. The Style Centre reinterpreted it with a matte finish and associated with metallic colours that evoke authenticity of the Larian brand. The body colours are matched with a saddle covered with a natural-coloured material, like that of leather, to highlight the typically Italian attention to detail. Other distinguishing details are the eagle in a gold finish and the dedicated logo that graphically celebrates Moto Guzzi’s 100 years.
MOTO GUZZI V9 BOBBER CENTENARIO
MODEL: Moto Guzzi V9 Bobber Centenario
PRICE: $19,330 (ride away)
WARRANTY: Two years, unlimited distance
SERVICING INTERVALS: Every 8000km or 12 months
ENGINE: 853cc air-cooled V-twin cylinder, 84x77mm bore/stroke, 2 valves per cylinder
POWER: 47.8kW @ 6800rpm
TORQUE: 73Nm @ 5000rpm
TRANSMISSION: 6-speed, dry-plate clutch, shaft final drive
SUSPENSION: Front, 40mm telescopic fork, non-adjustable, travel 130mm. Rear, twin-shock, adjustable preload, travel 99mm.
DIMENSIONS: Seat height 785mm, weight 210kg (wet), fuel capacity 15 litres, wheelbase 1465mm
TYRES: Front, 130/90/16. Rear, 150/80/16
BRAKES: Front, 320mm disc with four-piston ABS caliper. Rear, 260mm disc, two-piston ABS caliper.
FUEL CONSUMPTION: 5.36 litres per 100km, premium unleaded
THEORETICAL RANGE: 279km
COLOURS: Centenario, Black
VERDICT: Be special
One of these ‘special’ models is the V9 Bobber Centenario and while the bike itself is virtually unchanged from the last time we rode one, we thought it would be a good time to reacquainted ourselves for this special 100th year anniversary.
I remember the first time I experienced the torque twist of a Guzzi twin back in 2008 I think it was. The Bear raved about how good Guzzis were. After my first ride I didn’t really walk away convinced they were as good as The Bear made out, however over the years of riding a variety of Guzzis I’ve come to really like the brand, the styling and the torque twist as something unique, and that’s what you want –something that stands out from the crowd.
Jumping on the V9 Bobber Centenario a lot of the torque twist felt of a few years ago is almost nonexistent, so does that mean the Bobber has lost some character – not really, as there’s what I consider to be just the right amount of torque twist and this isn’t overpowering, where you’d almost have to change your riding style to compensate for it in the past.
Power and torque from the 853cc V-twin is progressive and what you’d expect from this engine configuration and size. It’s now also Euro 5 compliant. Handling is relaxed and with the fat front tyre there is a tiny bit of understeer if you’re pushing it a bit quick, but the single Brembo caliper up front pulls you up nicely and matched with the powerful rear the V9 pulls up well.
The thinnish seat rules the V9 Bobber out from being an all-day tourer, but short blasts of 100-200km will be totally fine and that’s what I did with my time on the V9 – a nice 100km round trip to a café with plenty of twisties along the way.
I love the throwback colour scheme and especially the ‘eagle’ LED daytime running light and the gold eagle on the tank. If you can’t get your hands on the Centenario version the V9 Bobber does come in a nice matt black with silver tank detail.
You know, I’ve speculated in previous editorials and articles about the next collectable bike, and the Moto Guzzi V9 Bobber Centenario could just be one of these collectables of the future. Special bike and a special occasion. D
With SW-Motech’s Rear And Side Luggage Racks
With SW-Motech’s Rear And Side Luggage Racks
IT UP With SW-Motech’s Rear And Side Luggage Racks
With SW-Motech’s Rear And Side Luggage Racks
With SW-Motech’s Rear And Side Luggage Racks
Whether your bike is a sports bike, cafe racer, cruiser or retro bike, SW-Motech's extensive range of luggage racks and bags offers a solution for your ride.
Whether your bike is a sports bike, cafe racer, cruiser or retro bike, SW-Motech's extensive range of luggage racks and bags offers a solution for your ride.
Blaze Arms
Blaze Arms
Blaze Arms
Blaze Arms
Innovative way for mounting low weight soft panniers to naked and sports bikes.
Innovative way for mounting low weight soft panniers to naked and sports bikes.
Innovative way for mounting low weight soft panniers to naked and sports bikes.
Blaze Arms
Street Rack
Street Rack
Street Rack
Street Rack
Street Rack
SLC Side Carrier
SLC Side Carrier
SLC Side Carrier
SLC Side Carrier
Innovative way for mounting low weight soft panniers to naked and sports bikes.
Innovative way for mounting low weight soft panniers to naked and sports bikes.
Seamless intergration with the rear of the bike. Suitable for carrying soft and hard luggage.
Seamless intergration with the rear of the bike. Suitable for carrying soft and hard luggage.
Seamless intergration with the rear of the bike. Suitable for carrying soft and hard luggage.
Seamless intergration with the rear of the bike. Suitable for carrying soft and hard luggage.
Seamless intergration with the rear of the bike. Suitable for carrying soft and hard luggage.
The most versatile luggage rack on the market. Suitable for hard and soft luggage.
The most versatile luggage rack on the market. Suitable for hard and soft luggage.
The most versatile luggage rack on the market. Suitable for hard and soft luggage.
The most versatile luggage rack on the market. Suitable for hard and soft luggage.
The most versatile on the market. Suitable hard and soft luggage.
April 11-25, 2023
The weather is 18-25Cbeautiful spring riding and everything is green – what more could you want!
AFTER CONSULTATION WITH THE GREAT FOLK at IMTBIKE we’ve decided to postpone our Land of Vineyards tour until 2023. It appears as though many of you are still not happy to travel overseas –I guess the mainstream media in this country has done its job by putting the fear of Godzilla in you. I can tell you that every European based tour operator I’ve spoken to has said their bookings are now better than ever and the general population in every country is back to pre-covid life. Australia is a bit behind the 8-Ball, unfortunately. So, here we go…join our Land of Vineyards tour with the awesome IMTBIKE crew and of course, Stuart will be heading along for you all to have a great laugh with. This tour will be one not to be missed. Only Aussies know how to have the best time, so book now and reserve your spot. You know you want to do it, so book it!
Tour Facts
Start / End – Madrid
Total Distance - 1,770 miles / 2,850 km
Total Time - 15 Days
Riding Days - 13 Days
Rest Days - 2 Salamanca, Porto
Breakfast - 14 Included
Dinners - 11 Dinners
Daily Mileage - 165 miles / 275 kms.
Hotel Overnights - 14 Nights
Riding Season - Spring, Autumn
Highlights: 6 cities declared World Heritage by UNESCO: Segovia, Ávila, Ciudad Rodrigo, Salamanca, Porto and Guimarães. All of them connected by the best imaginable roads. Wine, wine and more wine! This tour goes through the major wine regions of Spain and Portugal.
Accommodations: Awesome hotels.
First-class historical Pousadas and Paradors plus a few specially selected boutique hotels with local flair. Pousadas and Paradors are Castles, Palaces & Fortresses converted into motorcyclefriendly hotels.
*All IMTBIKE lodgings are hand-picked for their quality of service, local charm and strategic locations.
Included in Tour:
• Airport pickup on the first day of the tour.
• Overnight accommodations in high quality hotels
• A gourmet evening meal every night (except on rest days).
• Complete buffet breakfast every morning.
• New model BMW motorcycle fully equipped with 3 BMW cases.
• Tour handbook (normally about 70 pages-very comprehensive) and highlighted map.
• Expert multilingual guide on a motorcycle.
• Multilingual guide in support vehicle which will carry your luggage, any oversized purchases you make; or even a passenger or two.
• Tour Souvenirs.
Not included in Tour:
Air ticket, lunches, gasoline, drinks, tolls, personal spending and tips
The Bear Says Seriously, folks, that’s cheap for the experience of a lifetime.
IMTBike says…
THIS DREAM TOUR WILL lead you through some of the most prestigious wine regions in Spain and Portugal. You’ll begin
capital, and travel through charming wine regions such as La Rioja, Ribera del Duero, Rueda, El Bierzo, Douro, Porto and the area in which “Vinho Verde” is produced. This magnificent motorcycle route will wind you over
and through infinite vineyards. You will also visit millenary villages, castles and fortresses that still remain as proud vestiges of the once mighty region of Castile.
Combine amazing wineries with fun twisty roads with impeccable asphalt and you are in for an amazing vacation! On this journey you will see for yourself why this route is designed for connoisseurs of great motorcycle roads, wine, history and gastronomy.
Transfer from the Airport to the Hotel is included. You will have free time to rest or visit the city until the welcome meeting at the hotel in the afternoon.
We will enjoy a welcome dinner after the meeting at a typical Spanish restaurant. The first and last day in the itinerary correspond to the arrival and departure days of the tour. You may have to leave a day early depending on your country of origin. Please book your flights taking this into account.
Day 1: Madrid Arrival
Day 2: Madrid – Soria
Day 3: Soria – La Rioja
Day 4: La Rioja – Ribera del Duero
Day 5: Ribera de Duero – Salamanca
Day 6: Salamanca – Rest Day
Day 7: Salamanca – El Bierzo
Day 8: El Bierzo – Bragança
Day 9: Bragança – Guimaraes
Day 10: Guimaraes – Porto
Day 11: Porto – Rest Day
Day 12: Porto – Ciudad Rodrigo
Day 13: Ciudad Rodrigo – Ávila
Day 14: Ávila – Madrid
Day 15: Flight home
The price
€ 5645 - The base price of every tour is calculated for a single rider on a BMW G310R and sharing a double room
IN AN EARLY SCENE of Dimboola the movie, the visiting English writer asks the two blokes at the train station where he’s just arrived, what the town’s like.
“Ordinary,” replies one to which the other adds, “Dead ordinary”.
This place on the Western Highway, midway between Melbourne and Adelaide, was known to its ancestral owners, the Wotjobaluk, as “Watchegatcheca”, meaning “wattle trees and white cockatoos” but was given the name “Nine Creeks” when first surveyed by whites in 1862.
A few years later a new surveyor arrived in the Wimmera. J.G.W. Wilmot - likely a bastard offspring of an English baronet - had lived in what’s now Sri Lanka making coffee and he arrived in Sydney by boat in 1852. Maybe because he was white, his boat wasn’t towed back into international waters and he ended up in Melbourne, and then Nine Creeks.
He figured the place’s name was ordinary, was impressed by the fruit trees at a station up the road and so changed the town’s title to a modification of the Sinhalese ‘Dimbula’ which meant “Land of Figs”.
Anyway, Jack Hibberd’s original play, Dimboola, was set around the wedding
Each performance’s audience was cast as the wedding guests and shared the wine, the toasts and the cake
of Protestant Morrie McAdam and Maureen Delaney, a Catholic – what was once termed a ‘mixed marriage’ - and the play examined, as Hibberd put it, “the testing of strengths of the newly conjugated tribes.”
Because, see, Catholics didn’t marry Protestants back then.
Each performance’s audience was cast as the wedding guests and shared the wine, the toasts and the cake. The cast included Knocka the father of the groom, Dangles the best man, Darkie, father of the bride, Bayonet and Mutton, described as the local wits and drunks and Shirl, a bridesmaid and town bike. (Wikipedia helpfully has a footnote explaining that last term.)
There was also Leonardo Radish, reporter for the ‘Mildura Trumpet’ –based very loosely on Leonard Radic, long time theatre reviewer for The Age. The play’s first production was at the Tarago Hall, just west of the Loaded Dog where it was played to an audience of around 80 students from ANU who’d arrived by steam train as a culmination to a liver and kidney endangering seven days known as “Bush Week”. Akin to an extended Foundation Day at other unis,
Bush Week – created in the 1960’s has sadly, like so much, slowly withered in these humourless and PC times.
By the time this admirable play had been turned into a movie in 1979, the examination of the religious divide and inter-faith animosities had disappeared, replaced with jerky slapstick, the characters with caricatures, and Leonardo Radish into Vivian Worcester-Jones, a writer for the London Times played terribly by Max Gillies. Chad Morgan was skincreepingly horrible as Bayonet, Bruce Spence wasn’t much better as Morrie but Max Cullen was almost believable as Mutton, the drunk.
Wiki is succinct in its appraisal of the movie’s success: “The film was a box office disaster.’
Meanwhile back in Dimboola, half a century later, the play – seen live now by over 500,000 people - is still performed – Covid willing – every year. And it’s London to a Brick that I’ll be at the next show.
The town’s stunning double storey
“Movie was shit.”
“What about the play?”
“Play was great.”
Victoria Hotel didn’t feature in the film – the externals were shot outside the Dimboola Hotel up the road (which burnt down in 2003) and the internal pub scenes were done up at the Hindmarsh Hotel in Jeparit. It’s now also not operating.
Now I didn’t really need to pay Amazon Prime to watch the shocking movie and I didn’t really need to background the play because when I rock up to the pub there’s a red mobility scooter out front and inside sits its owner – on his personal pew at the left end of the bar in a beanie. And he’s done all the research for me.
“Movie was shit.”
“Which bits didn’t you like?”
“Dunno, never saw it. (pause) But it was shit.”
“What about the play?”
“Play was great.”
“So which parts about it did you like?”
“None. Never saw it.”
It’s just one of the many coincidences in the warps and wefts of
this story that this 88-year-old goes by “Mo”, because (“what sort of name is ‘Maurice’ for a man? My uncle called me ‘Mo’ very early and it stuck.”) It’s the same name as the Bruce Spence’s character in the play and movie.
He was born down in Horsham and after a few years of school headed to Melbourne looking for work but hated the city and came back to Dimboola in 1956, working as a train – steam train – examiner.
For the first 14 years he boarded at this pub, in barracks out the back and then had a decade at the ‘big pub’ –the Dimboola – before getting his own place up near the station.
But that’s just one of his ‘places’. This stool at the end of the bar is his other place. “I come in around 3 each day and if you were in my seat I’d arsehole you because this is my seat.”
“How’s that?”
“Well, have a look at that,” tells me pointing to a sign on the wall. It
reads “Grumpy Bastard’s Corner”. Mo smiles just a bit, and adds, “and I’m the grumpiest bastard around so I deserve it most.”
We’re just getting on to the 17 publicans who’ve run the pub since Mo had his first drink here when Meran, whom he rates as one of the best, joins us.
Geoff, another old mate who’s got his Dimboola VRI beanie pulled down low and who’s had ‘maybe 7 or
8 publicans’ interjects that she’s not ‘one of the best’ she is the best. She has a break and is free for a chat and to give a tour so Mo lays his glass on the bar and heads out.
“We were living in the town, and I was working in Horsham and Stoph was working with a Civil
Contracting group and we’d come here on weekends and just we’d be hungry and the people running it would go, sorry, we don’t feel like cooking tonight so tea’s off and I’d just go I don’t want to live in a town with a pub like this.”
The kicker came soon after: “One Sat night we had friends over from Horsham and we came here and they said they didn’t feel like cooking and I just said, what is going on here?
And not long after that ‘Stoph’ “came home one day and I’d just had our 3rd child and he said, ‘you want to buy the pub?’ and I’d just had 3 kids in 30 months and I told him that
I probably wasn’t ready for a pub and he sort of looked down and then up at me and said, ‘um, I think I might have already bought it’, and …… well here we are!”
She takes me and Aaron – a train driver who’s just piloted the “Overland” up from Melbourne and passed it to a colleague for the second half of its trip to Adelaide - on a tour of the place and, well it’s breath-taking.
Extraordinary Victorian-furnished (as in Queen) bedrooms upstairs and the memorabilia filled wonder of the “Elbow Room” downstairs.
Clean carpets, spotless bathrooms, plenty of powerpoints and hanging space and hooks. This place is a benchmark setter.
We’re accompanied for part of it by Syd, their eldest, (now 8) who took the pub to heart from the start.
Meran: “He kicked a patron out of the pub when he was 3. This fella’d been really rude. He wanted a TAB in here and we told him that we weren’t getting a TAB and he became really
rude and aggressive and Syd just went up to him and said, ‘You’re not welcome here and I want you to go.’”
Later, we take dinner in the ‘Elbow Room’, named after a longer existing etching in the door’s glass window of a raised lady’s hand hold a bottle of bubbly, elbow elegantly bent.
Four courses between two from chef Brendan: A prawn entrée, a stuffed mushroom entrée and mains of kiwifruit infused lamb and of pork belly and every one in the top ten pub meals that I’ve ever had. Just incredible.
Back out front for a nightcap and Trout (‘because he’s got a trout mouth’), resplendent in a Collingwood sleeveless footy jumper is creating mayhem in the bar until Abby behind
the bar’s had enough, calls time and we’re all outta there.
Next morning, after a brew in the sun on the verandah, it’s off to the other end of town where the Dimboola Imaginarium stands across from the resuscitated site of the burnt Dimboola Pub. Out front Jamie, one of the owners with partner Chan, is taking his 5-year-old turkey for a stroll. But
Sarajevo, Mostar, Adriatic coastal road, Zadar, Hvar Island, 5 UNESCO World Heritage Sights: Plitvice National Park, Durmitor National Park, Kornati Archipelago, Kotor, Dubrovnik, Split.
if that’s a tad out of usual, the inside of this converted Nat Bank building what’s inside is out of the realm.
A quirky, idiosyncratic conglomeration of old, of new, of tasteful, of outrageous, of useful, and of not so; of furnishings and fittings, of tools and decorations and extraordinary books – (including 4 copies of my latest which they get me to sign under the belly of a giraffe) - but nothing’s not colourful. Not a single thing is dull or not just a wee bit wacky.
This pair has been in town developing their crazy dream for three years. Soon there’ll be accommodation upstairs and a place for high teas and a Pimms.
A perfect counterpoint to the pub at the other end of town but it’s not their only contribution to the town. This is and was a railway town – a steam railway town. Mo arrived on a steam train, those ANU students who
attended the first performance arrived in Tarago by steam train. There’s an old steam train on exhibition up at the station still.
So back in April, through inspirational efforts of Jamie and Chan, Dimboola hosted the first Wimmera Steam Punk Festival. (A mix of Victorian era and the future, ‘imagine Queen Victoria in a spaceship’ explains Chan).
Eighty percent of the town turned up and three quarters of those were in dress. The main street was closed with bands and street markets and almost 3,000 turned up. The thing was covered by the press in places from Sth Korea to Spain and it’s on again next April. I’m working on my costume as we speak.
So Mo was right, the movie was shite. It got so much wrong but nothing was more wrong than that early exchange.
Because, led by Meran and Stoph’s Victoria Hotel and Jamie and Chan’s Imaginarium, not to mention the stunning Pink Lake 9km out of town and the Sidney Nolan Museum, Dimboola’s not dead and it sure ain’t ordinary.
Disclaimer: Contrary to what seems common industry practice I neither sought nor was I offered any discount, freebee or special consideration during my stay. D
This is a hotel that’s been pulled up by its tenuous bootstraps by two people with vision, commitment, imagination and infectious energy.
With an almost untouched front bar where locals and old-school feel comfortable, the totally unique “Elbow Room” lounge, classic dining room and beautiful upper verandah all backed by enthusiastic staff in both bar and kitchen, this is my new pin-up pub.
Four beers on tap including specially made Nine Creeks Lager and Wild Goat draft with schooners setting you back $8.60.
Eight rooms of unique accommodation including 4 doubles, 2 king doubles, a queen and a family room with a double and two singles, with prices starting at a measly $75.
There’s bike parking around the back and though not lockable, it’s all covered with CCTV.
And being midway between Melbourne and Adelaide – and less than 10km from the Pink Lake - it’s perfectly positioned for riders who think that life is about unforgettable experiences.
Comfortably 5 helmets
Unique character? Well what do you reckon?
Value for money? I’d have been happy paying 50% more for my room, and the same for my brilliant pork belly which, at $28 was cheaper than some oily fish and chips I’d had at Robe earlier on the trip. That being said, the beers, though not the wines are more costly than other places. 180 on a scale where 100 is good.
Moroccan Magic
It’s hard to believe, but this iconic image is now more than 20 years old. It’s a bit grainy; we took it on our first Andes tour, waaay back in the late 90’s.
World On Wheels, Leading the way for 27 years
TO MY AMAZEMENT,
AS soon as I jumped on the Triumph Tiger 660 Sport, I realised how good it is. I emailed Triumph Australia and asked if it was a full powered version or not. He (the Marketing Manager) who shall not be named, decided to play a little trick on me, he replied with, “Full POWR!” (sic). I took his word for it, but after some discussion on our Facebook page I re-asked the question. Mr Triumph came clean – bastard! LOL!
As a LAMS powered machine with 41.5kW and 62Nm, I can only imagine how sweet this bike would be with the full 60kW of power of the non-LAMS version. We’re not getting that one but after spending a couple of weeks blasting
around on the LAMS model, I’d be more than happy with what it offers.
As a mid-sized touring bike, it is a standout in this category. Built on the 660 Trident platform by adding a modern top fairing, windscreen, wider handlebar and more everyday comfort with plush suspension, when you compare it to the Japanese competition, the 660 Sport stands out with its electronic features, impressive build quality and finish.
Talking of the competition, the Tiger 660 Sport is competing against the Yamaha Tracer 700, Kawasaki Versys 650, CFMoto 650 MT and to a certain extent the BMW F 750 GS and Suzuki V-Strom 650. That’s certainly a list of great bikes.
Just like the rest of the Tiger range, this 660 offers a lot of comfortable touring pleasure, but it can handle some serious sporty riding as well. The Michelin Road 5 tyres provide excellent grip in all conditions while the front end is much sharper than you would expect from any bike in this segment. Combined with the grunty triple-treat engine, this bike truly is the Street Triple ‘ST’ Triumph never built… which might leave some more experienced riders begging for a 765-version – we can only wait with fingers crossed to see if that comes off in the future.
When perusing the accessory range, three items would be top of my list - heated grips, panniers and a quick shifter. ‘Luxury’ items I’d also consider
would be tyre pressure monitoring, hand guards and I think the bellypan would add a nice touch to the look of the 660 Sport. Colours on offer are the Graphite model we tested, Korosi Red and Lucerne Blue – take your pick.
Triumph’s 660 three-cylinder is a reworked version of the 675 threecylinder that we know from older Street Triples and the Daytona. The engine was given a shorter stroke, which reduced the displacement – that
Just like the rest of the Tiger range, this 660 offers a lot of comfortable touring pleasure, but it can handle some serious sporty riding as well
distinct triple cylinder exhaust note, and torquey performance are both still there despite this being a ‘LAMS’ model. For 2022 this engine meets Euro5 and to finish it off, the gearbox is definitely up to Japanese standards with a very smooth action and short ratios. As you would expect from a bike in this category, the clutch feels very light, although an adjustable clutch lever would be a valuable addition for riders with small hands.
Handling feels light and the front is sharp and agile. The wide handlebar offers great leverage to deal with the tightest twisties, while high speed midcorner stability is sweet.
Although the suspension settings are aimed at comfortable touring and therefore softish, you’d never really know when you get into some sporty cornering action. During hard braking, the non-adjustable front dives a little too much for my liking, although I’d
When it comes to comfort, I can be brief with this bike: it has everything you’d expect and more, simple as that
assume the bike’s target audience won’t be as ‘enthusiastic’ as me. At the rear, preload is adjustable, which is great for heavier riders or when running luggage. When it comes to comfort, I can be brief with this bike: it has everything you’d expect and more, simple as that.
Braking up front is taken care of by twin Nissin two-piston calipers with 310mm discs and ABS, with a 255mm disc and single-piston at the rear. That sounds like a modest brake setup in this
day and age, but you get excellent feel and power, and the ABS will help those young players if they get a bit squeeze happy.
Electronics play a big part on just about any motorcycle nowadays and Triumph has given the 660 Sport a simple but very complete package with, above all, highly intuitive operation. Six buttons on the left side of the bar are enough to navigate between two rider modes (Rain & Road), traction control (that can be switched off), and the usual dashboard information such as tripmeters, an odometer, gear indicator and consumption meter. A nice added extra is that you can easily switch in between dashboard layouts - a touring layout with tripmeters, fuel consumption and so on, or one for sporty riding with nothing but a gear indicator, tacho and speedometer. Triumph has produced one of the sweetest LAMS touring bikes currently available. No matter if you’ve got a full licence, a Learner’s or your Provisional. D
TRIUMPH TIGER 660 SPORT
MODEL: Triumph Tiger 660 Sport
PRICE: $14,690 (ride away)
WARRANTY: Two years, unlimited distance
SERVICING INTERVALS: Every 16,000km or 12 months
ENGINE: 660cc liquid-cooled in-line three cylinder, 74x51mm bore/stroke, DOHC, 4 valves per cylinder
POWER: 41.5kW @ 8750rpm
TORQUE: 62Nm @ 6250rpm
TRANSMISSION: 6-speed, wet multi-plate slipper clutch, chain final drive
SUSPENSION: Front, 41mm inverted fork, nonadjustable, travel 150mm. Rear, monoshock, adjustable preload, travel 150mm.
DIMENSIONS: Seat height 835mm, weight 206kg (wet), fuel capacity 17.2 litres, wheelbase 1418mm
TYRES: Front, 120/70/17. Rear, 180/55/17
BRAKES: Front, twin 310mm discs with two-piston ABS calipers. Rear, 255mm disc, single-piston ABS caliper.
FUEL CONSUMPTION: 5.62 litres per 100km, premium unleaded
THEORETICAL RANGE: 305km
COLOURS: Graphite, Korosi Red, Lucerne Blue
VERDICT: Damn it’s a good bike
A R O U T M A P # 1 1
WORDS / PHOTOS THE BEAR
SITTING HAPPILY ON
THE high Monaro Plains, just to the west of the Great Dividing Range, Cooma is the starting point for many excellent motorcycle runs. The classic way to get there via Goulburn and Queanbeyan, however, sees the unfortunate confluence of two factors: not-terribly-interesting roads and a significant presence of the boys and gals in blue. Goulburn has the police academy, and I’ll never forget a tale from a friend who was coming around a corner near Wakefield Park to find himself faced by more than a dozen radar guns, held by students of that noble institution.
“I thought I’d died and gone to hell,” he says.
There is an alternative, apart from the Princes and Kings highways. You can turnoff the former in either Nowra or Tomerong (but I recommend Nowra) and take the
back road via Nerriga to Braidwood, followed by the Cooma Road (pretty obvious, really) down to Cooma.
Back in the dim dark ages, I worked for the RAN at its air stores in Sydney. We supplied parts to HMAS
Albatross in Nowra. My most vivid memory, apart from the redhead working in the next office, is of the time the Navy tried out new floatation bags on a helicopter. To avoid inappropriate inflation from rain, these were set to go only when they hit salt water. The chopper was
Do not turn right in the middle of Nowra where there is a sign directing you to HMAS Albatross. This is an annoyingly complicated route. Continue south along the Princes Highway instead until you are well out of town and see a sign pointing to BTU Road to the right. No, I do not know why the road is named after British Thermal Units. Perhaps you could find out and let us all know. It is possible to continue yet further along the highway to Tomerong and to take what I think is called Link Road there. This connects to Cooma Road. I don’t see the point of staying on the highway.
Some six kilometres along this rather pleasant route (which incidentally has one corner that could catch out the unwary) you will reach the airfield. Turn right at the roundabout and the left at the sign to Cooma. You will pass the actual HMAS Albatross a little way down this road before it sets out through the bush. From here to the Kings Highway at Braidwood you are on an enjoyable back road that does have a few kilometres of easy gravel and some pretty awesome potholes, but is generally in fine shape.
Along the way there are worthwhile stops, mainly Tianjara Falls, only a few metres off the road, and Nerriga with its old but serviceable pub. One notable place is where the road cuts through the range and there are some sizeable rocks off to the western side. This is marked as the Old Wool Road, but if my memory serves me it is nothing of the sort. The Old Wool Road was a tortuous, narrow track. Maybe they just blew up all the rocks that were in the way.
Fill up in Braidwood and then carry on down Wallace Street. Head for
Captains Flat until you reach the Cooma Road turnoff. Over the years, Cooma Road has seen considerable upgrading and even the short bit that is still gravel is in good shape. Once again, there are potholes. Oh, are there potholes…
Don’t expect any services until you get to Cooma, but do expect some enjoyable views to both sides. You will cross the Great Dividing Range on the sealed bit of the road between Countegany and Cooma. And there you are! The world’s your oyster from here on.
sitting on the tarmac when a dog peed on one of the bags, which inflated and flipped the helicopter over on its side. Dog pee apparently has a similar chemical composition to seawater.
Nowra has everything you might need, including several motorcycle dealers and lots of accommodation.
Once upon a time Nerriga had a servo, but that has long closed. Nowadays it has the pub, a convivial sort of place, and a house for sale. But what more do you need?
A weekend getaway from Canberra, Braidwood has a couple of pubs, several cafés and some pleasant eateries, the most enjoyable of which is Provisions Deli and Creperie at the intersection of the Kings Highway with Lascelles and Wallace streets. It also has Torpy’s Motel, an odd little place tucked away in McKellar Street. There’s fuel, too, the last before Cooma.
No, nothing to see at any of these
places which exist more by dint of not leaving a blank spot on the map than anything else.
Nothing much here, either, except that there are some houses. No food, fuel or anything else, though. But you’re nearly at
As a service town for the ski trade, Cooma has lots of ski rental and equipment places, but there are also
a couple of bike shops. Plenty of motels, fuel, a selection of cafés and the outstanding venue, the Alpine Hotel. This has been extraordinarily motorcycle-friendly, with the publican allegedly inviting riders to park their bikes in the ballroom. I can’t vouch for that, but I’ve stayed here more than once and recommend it happily. Last time I was in Cooma I stayed at the IMotel in Bombala Street, a cheap and most unusual place where the owner helped me to store my bike in the laundry.. D
If city and outer urban scooting in a small and lightweight package is your thing ... read on ...
WHENEVER I JUMP ON one of the smaller capacity scooters I’m always prepared for ‘scooter rage’ from tintop drivers, but after riding the Yamaha NMAX 155 for a couple of weeks I was pleasantly surprised that there was none of that. I put this down to the NMAX being able to zip away at traffic lights and hold a decent speed without slowing down at the first sign of an incline.
In fact, I was constantly having to slow down as I’d be sitting well over the posted limit in most areas I rode… without realising it.
VVA is the secret. What is VVA? Variable Valve Actuation (or Variable Valve Timing) is what this means.
A two-valve engine offers better low and mid-range torque than a four-valve engine, which generates better top end performance. This is where Yamaha’s VVA comes into play, it offers the best of both worlds. VVA makes the engine more flexible, offering better low-end grunt without compromising on top end performance. The system works by shifting between two different intake
cam lobes - one for low engine revs and the second for higher revs.
VVA uses the first cam between zero and 7400rpm. This cam offers better low-end grunt. At 7400rpm, an actuator pushes a pin in the rocker arm to activate the second cam profile with a larger lobe. The second camshaft also opens the intake valves by an additional 2mm, letting in more air and fuel for higher combustion. The mechanism disengages the pin when the revs drop below 7400rpm, shifting back to the first cam.
VVA in simple terms gives the performance of a much larger capacity scoot. The NMAX can hold its own against most tintops to around 105km/h, which is basically unheard of with this sized engine.
Braking is the same as with just about every small capacity scoot I’ve ridden. The front brake slows the bike, whereas the rear brake has the power…obviously when combined together they pull up the NMAX swiftly. The rear ABS does come on pretty easily, so this is something to keep in the back of your mind.
An excellent, 23.5 litre underseat compartment fits gloves and a full face helmet easily, or a 3-litre milk container and some basic shopping – great! Handling is awesome for a scoot and the NMAX now has preload adjustable gas charged rear shocks, and despite the smallish 13-inch wheels there was no smashing over bumps driving the seat up through your spine. And nor did the NMAX try to get all out of
shape when I’d flick it from side to side through some left-right corners, this is thanks to a stiff frame using 60.5mm and 45mm tubing. Traction control also contributes to keeping things on the straight and narrow as you don’t get the rear out of shape on slippery corners.
Apart from traction control and new rear suspension, the 2022 NMAX remains largely the same as earlier. Other key features available with the NMAX 155 include engine stop and start system for improved fuel efficiency, which can be turned off, smart key system for touchless ignition, hazard lamps, mobile charging port -- and it has an all-LED setup with cool designs for the headlamp and tail lamp.
A multifunction full digital speedometer that displays a range of info such as fuel gauge, speed, clock and real-time fuel economy and you can access a range of connectivity features via the Yamaha Myride app. It includes maintenance recommendations, malfunction notification, fuel consumption tracking and parking location (using your phone’s last connected location, not GPS).
Yamaha even has a great range of accessories for the NMAX. Things like topboxes, screen lip, heated grips, foot panels, comfort seat and much more are well thought out accessories to have available.
If city and outer urban scooting in a small and lightweight package is your thing, I must recommend the Yamaha NMAX 155. It is top of the class. I’ve not ridden as good a small capacity scoot like this before. D
YAMAHA NMAX 155
MODEL: Yamaha NMAX 155
PRICE: $5399 (ride away)
WARRANTY: Two years, unlimited distance
SERVICING INTERVALS: Every 10,000km or 12 months
ENGINE: 155cc liquid-cooled single cylinder, 58x58.7mm bore/ stroke, SOHC, 4 valve
POWER: 11.1kW @ 8000rpm
TORQUE: 14.4Nm @ 6000rpm
TRANSMISSION: CVT V-belt automatic
SUSPENSION: Front, telescopic fork, non-adjustable, travel 100mm. Rear, twin-shock, adjustable preload, travel 85mm.
DIMENSIONS: Seat height 765mm, weight 127kg (wet), fuel capacity 7.1 litres, wheelbase 1350mm
TYRES: Front, 110/70/13. Rear, 130/70/13
BRAKES: Front, 230mm disc with single-piston ABS caliper. Rear, 230mm disc, single-piston ABS caliper.
FUEL CONSUMPTION: 3.81 litres per 100km, premium unleaded
THEORETICAL RANGE: 186km
COLOURS: Milky White, Matt Grey
VERDICT: It will surprise you
YOU WOULD THINK
AFTER three long years away from the fabled Isle of Man TT course, riders would ease into things and maybe speeds would be slower than before Covid halted proceedings in 2020 and 2021.
But no! Some speeds went higher, records were broken and Peter Hickman, star rider of the Gas Monkey FHO Racing BMW team, would become one of a very small group of riders to have ever won four TT races in one week.
Back in the day the only way you could watch the TT, other than being there, was to buy a VHS or DVD to watch it when Duke Video brought one out a month or so after the event.
In recent years, a team of over 100 TV people brought you the day’s action that evening in a one-hour show.
For 2022 the TT would be live streamed. For a cost of 30 something dollars you could log in and watch it live. I (and Stuart) chose to go that way and although the first few days were a bit patchy here and there due to internet issues on the IOM, by the end of practice week it was great. You got to watch up to three hours of action each day, plus previously filmed interviews. If you are a TT enthusiast, you probably already knew about it but if you didn’t get on it next year. You do also get to re-watch anything you may have missed for many months after.
The other big news prior to this year’s event was Michael Dunlop riding a Ducati V4R. Personally I was excited at the idea of the mad Irishman racing a Ducati at the IOM. He’s my favourite racer. I love his passion and the only time I ever met him he was a friendly bloke. You’ve got to have someone to barrack for. The other rider I was very keen to see do well was Dominic Herbertson, a Geordie Boy from Newcastle in the UK. My son Alex and Dom are good mates and he’s steadily risen up the ranks to become a seeded rider. The top 20 riders are ‘seeded’, essentially meaning that no matter where they qualify, they front the starter at their allotted starting spot. For example, John McGuiness qualified around seventh or eighth, but carried the number one plate, so he was first on the road. Dom carried the number
16 plate, and was the fastest privateer rider in the ranks, on board his personally bought BMW M 1000 RR.
For Ducati lovers though, the euphoria of MD on a V4R was shortlived as he pulled out of the deal, siting no testing time as the main issue. He basically said he wasn’t going to risk his life at the TT without having tested and adjusted the bike properly beforehand. Hawk Racing is who he returned to, this time it was a Suzuki GSX-R1000 he’d be riding.
For practice week, the Manx fairies were smiling as the weather was pretty good and the speeds gradually increased and increased. The two fastest riders in the 1000cc classes were Hickman and Dan Harrison on the DAO Racing Kawasaki ZX-10R, a brand he’s ridden at the TT for some time now. Both were well over the 130mp/h mark, but Hickman was fastest with a 133.22mp/h lap.
Dunlop was fastest in the Supersport class with a 126.662mp/h lap on his self-prepared Yamaha R6. In the Supertwin class there was nothing between Dunlop on the Kawasaki powered Paton and Hickman on another Paton with both riders in the 120mp/h range
The Birchall brothers were the fastest sidecar team with a 117mp/h lap. TT sidecar stalwart Dave Molyneux was out to shake up the class with a KTM 890cc twin cylinder powered outfit of his own design and manufacture. ‘Moly’ is in the twilight of his career but got permission to showcase his new budget conscious idea at the TT, hoping it will attract more people to sidecar racing. Even though he was well down on power compared to the mainly R6 powered outfits, he was still around the top 10, highlighting his sheer TT course knowledge and ability at the controls.
Two other notable performances during practice week was John McGuiness on the Team Honda CBR1000RR. At 50-years-old, ‘McPint’ still nudged 130mp/h during the week. A great result for the second most successful TT racer of all time.
The other was Padgetts Honda rider Davey Todd who continued to impress, with a lap in the 131mp/h range at only his second TT.
The Superbike TT could be titled ‘The Usual Suspects’, as it was
Hickman winning, with Harrison 39 seconds behind and Dunlop a further 19 seconds behind Harrison. It was a good effort from Dunlop who had struggled to find the ‘sweet spot’ on his Hawk Suzuki during practice week. But there was no doubt that ‘Hicky’ was the dominant rider. He had been all practice week and it didn’t look any different after the first event.
In the first Supersport race it was all Dunlop on his self-entered Yamaha R6, winning from Harrison, Kawasaki ZX-6R mounted and Hickman in third on his Street Triple based 765 machine. For 2022 TT organisers had started to move in line with WSS rules, which allow bigger capacity motorcycles, more in line with what’s being sold throughout the world. Not
and Mickey D came past me on his Suzuki XR69 like I was on the brakes. It was bloody awesome to watch.
Sidecar racers Tom and Ben Birchall pushed out a 119mp/h lap to win the first sidecar race convincingly from Callum and Ryan Crowe, and Peter Founds and Jean Walmsley in third.
The Birchall’s were once again victorious in the second race; the Founds/Walmsley and Crowe teams swapping places for second and third.
The Superstock TT is always one of the most closely fought classes, with a number of riders opting to ride Superstock machines in all three big bike races. Factory teams usually have highly modified bikes for the Superbike and Senior TTs, but the cost of such machines are
better. He then decided to go Aprilia RS660, but late in the day went with the PHR Performance Paton.
The race was unbelievable to watch, with literally nothing between ‘Hicky’ and ‘Micky D’. That was until Dunlop broke down. I felt almost as bad as Dunlop, watching it live on TV. There’s a great and sad pic of Michael with his head in his hands. I was near as devastated as him I reckon.
Hickman literally smashed the competition, so far ahead was he and Dunlop from the rest. In the end Lee Johnston was some two minutes behind on his Aprilia RS660. Paul Jordan was third.
Poor weather put paid to the Senior TT being run on Friday and this caused no end of drama for the
For a cost of 30 something dollars you could log in and watch it live
many 600cc supersport style bikes are being sold, but bikes like the Ducati 899/959 and the Triumph 765 are being sold in much higher numbers. These bikes though, are required to be ‘nobled’ in some way so the class remains competitive for all.
Dunlop would also win the shortened second Supersport TT, but this time Hickman got his Triumph sorted and was right up Dunlop’s clacker, finishing only three seconds behind the Irish maestro. Harrison was again third. This would give Dunlop 21 TT wins, third overall behind his uncle Joey and John McGuiness. But did you know that with his Manx GP and Classic TT wins, Michael is the most successful IOM TT course rider in history? Neither did I until they mentioned it on TV. I raced the Classic TT in 2013 on my Ducati 851
forcing more teams to use Superstock bikes only. This usually allows less fancied runners to shine because the machinery is more equal across the field.
This year ‘Hicky’ was again the man to beat but Manx local Conor Cummins was doing his usual ‘Grey Man’ trick, cruising under the radar until it mattered. He took second on the Padgetts Honda some 12 seconds behind Hickman, with fellow Padgetts rider Davey Todd in third.
Hickman had planned to ride his own Norton Supertwin in this year’s Supertwin TT, but the organisers had other plans. Because the Norton was no longer manufactured it was not eligible. That’s a real shame, it would have been great to watch. ‘Hicky’ actually personally owned the machine too, which in my mind was even
organisers. There are a huge amount of volunteers required to run the TT, especially track Marshalls. Many Marshalls usually catch the Saturday ferry home and usually it all works out okay. Clerk of the Course Gary Thompson takes up the story. “With the weather against us on Friday we had no choice but to put the race back until the following day. At that moment in time, we were 50 marshals short of what we needed across all sectors to run the Senior TT Race. So, we put out the request and credit has to go to the Chair of the TTMA Jane Corlett and her board of directors for the efforts they put in enabling the event to run an extra day. We were inundated with applications and what was pleasing was the response, especially amongst the sidecar fraternity in answering the call. Not
just anyone can marshal, there has to be a level of competency, therefore everyone who came to sign on had to complete two online modules and then take a test at the end of it. In fact, there were so many signing on that the system crashed and there was a period of time while we were offline until the IT experts got everything up and running again. By the end of it, we had an extra 284 marshals signed up in a four-hour period which meant that the only thing that could have stopped the Senior going ahead would be the weather. It was a marvellous response from the TT community.” And the show must go on.
Peter Hickman would go on to power his way to victory yet not many knew he had issues throughout the race. “My brake pads kept rattling so every time I pulled the lever nothing was happening,” he admits. “Therefore, I had to pump them a couple of times before the brakes kicked in. The other issue I had was the bike was overheating a lot, so I was managing that by short shifting the gears to keep the revs down which meant I wasn’t on full throttle most of the time.” His victory in the Senior
meant he’d now won nine TT races. Having made his 100th race start earlier in the week, John McGuinness was first on the road eventually going on to finish ninth and while he made it to the chequered flag his Honda Racing team-mate Glenn Irwin, who was making his Isle of Man TT debut, was forced to call it a day at the end of lap four. His consolation? Posting a lap of 129.849mp/h in the Superbike TT a week earlier and becoming the fastest newcomer ever. Whether this was the last appearance of McGuinness at the Isle of Man TT Races remains yet to be seen.
2019 Reigning Senior TT champion, Dean Harrison, had to be content with second place this time while behind him there was a tremendous battle between the Milenco Padgett’s Pairing Conor Cummins and Davey Todd. The team-mates tossed third place between them like the proverbial hot potato and at one stage, incredibly there was less than half a second between them.
At the end of six laps, it was Cummins who once again found himself standing on a Senior TT podium while Todd was reportedly
bitterly disappointed in missing out by less than three seconds.
The issues Hickman had with his bike stopped him from eclipsing the fastest ever lap of the TT, over 135mp/h, set by him in 2018. There’s always next year I suppose. A number of riders pulled out of the Senior TT too. Strong winds made it difficult, and some riders thought it was unsafe to continue.
How did young Herbertson go? Well, he had plenty of top 10 finishes throughout the week, and set his fastest lap of over 129mp/h. That was early in the Senior TT, but the wind caught him out and he crashed at Glen Helen on the last lap while going strong. He broke his pelvis and beat himself up somewhat but he’s okay. As for the BMW he had on tick, it’s seen better days by all accounts.
I should also mention Aussie rider Rennie Scaysbrook. It was Rennie’s first TT, and he chose to ride in the Supersport class only. He had a couple of strong finishes. In the first Supersport TT he had machine issues and failed to finish, but in the second Supersport TT he finished 37th with a fastest lap in the 116mp/h bracket. D
$399.95
I’LL NEVER FORGET AS A YOUNG PLAYER riding my Fireblade sportsbike, thinking I was the coolest cat there could be with my race boots, sports leather jacket and racing gloves, no matter what time of year it was – yes, young and dumb, as we all were. After a couple of trips away with my father on some rather bleak and freezing cold days, I realised I needed some winter gloves. These served me well until I rode a motorcycle fitted with heated grips – the whole world changed! Where had these
heated wonders been all my life…right there on the shelf at the local bike shop I’d walked past a thousand times! From memory they were Oxford heated grips, which at the time were rather bulky to grip onto, but warm hands in winter were like being handed a golden ticket to motorcycling heaven.
Roll on many years and heated gloves hit the scene, and of late many new models with tiny lithium batteries are starting to become more and more common. The majority of these heated gloves have two or three preset heat settings, just like heated grips, however Ixon has released the IT-Yate Evo gloves which (to my mind) are a possible game changer in the world of heated gloves.
The IT-Yate Evo gloves are ‘smart’ gloves, which means they realise when they need to run less and when to heat up more to maintain the pre-set heat setting, no matter the outside temperature. So, for example, I headed out into the bush and it started snowing! Zero degrees was showing on my weather app and I wouldn’t have known it was so cold except for the falling snow which caused me to check my phone. Where your fingers would normally be feeling like they want to fall off, mine were toasty warm.
How does this all work, you say! Well, the gloves are setup through an app called Clim8 (ha ha). In the setup phase you enter your age, height, weight, how you respond to the cold and the discipline
you’re using them for – motorcycling, skiing and so on. The app works out the ideal temperature for you. The ideal temperature it decided upon for me was 29.5 degrees.
To turn the gloves on, you simply insert your hands into them and they automatically turn on – how good is that! No messing about pressing switches or buttons.
During the freezing conditions I rode in I stopped a couple of times to see how the gloves operate to keep the temperature at the pre-set level. 33 degrees is where they ran until I got back closer to civilisation and warmer temps.
I will note that the standard 1950mAh batteries chewed through the power within two and a half hours. This said, it’s rare you’ll be riding in such freezing conditions for long anyway and if you are simply crazy and ride in sub zero temps a lot, grab the accessory 3000mAh batteries for longer lasting power! You can also get a plug into your bike system for all day heat.
Riding during what I would call ‘normal’
cold weather – around 12 degrees -- the standard 1950mAh batteries lasted a little longer to three hours. Again, the 3000mAh batteries are the way to go for longer lasting heat. And I did just that… the 3000mAh batteries arrived in the mail and I headed back into the bush for more punishment in the cold. This time the temp got down around four to six degrees and the heat lasted much longer – around four hours. During a 15-degree day the batteries lasted just up to five hours. Five hours on the road for most motorcyclists would cover most of the day’s riding.
Without any batteries fitted the IT-Yate EVO gloves are still a warm pair of winter gloves, so don’t fret that if you run out of power, your fingers are going to snap off from frostbite. On my first ride after the batteries ran out during zero degree temps my hands were still warm, but as with even the thickest and toasty warm winter gloves your fingers will still get a bit cold.
Details on the gloves: they’re made from Softshell and goat leather and I can
confirm they are one hundred percent waterproof. Inside there’s 170-gram Primaloft One insulation, which is what makes them a warm glove anyway. The heat wires run across the top of the hand and fingers, which are the parts that get blasted with cold air. There’s also plenty of protection as you’d expect – knuckle protector, slider on the palm and a reinforced sidewall. The gloves also feature a long cuff with a drawstring to keep both water and cold air out. An elasticised wrist with Velcro closure keeps the glove snug on your hand and you even get touch screen capability and a visor wiper, which is handy, though a little small to my mind.
Opening the box, you’ll find a charger and the two 1950mAh batteries.You can get the accessory 3000mAh batteries for $129.98 and the connection to bike kit for $79.95. If you lose or need to replace the standard batteries, they retail for $99.95. The Ixon IT-Yate EVO gloves are available in sizes S-3XL. Grab a pair and experience a new world of heated amazement. SW
WEARING BASE LAYERS DURING WINTER
to keep you warm help you to ride further for longer, but most base layers will only work well on the bike with a jacket that’s already got some sort of winter/thermal liner. My Klim adventure jacket has no winter liner, so I have long been searching for a puff jacket or something super warm, so I don’t have to worry about wearing twenty jumpers and being restricted in movement while riding.
The people at Zerofit Australia must have been spying on me; I get an email from them and subsequently get sent their Heatrub Ultimate and Heatrub Move base layers.
The Ultimate base layer claims to be twice as warm as a sweater and five times warmer than traditional base layers, so I put it on and my Klim jacket – heading off up the mountains into six-degree temps with a medium amount of wind, no doubt helping reduce the actual riding temp even further.
The Ultimate base layer felt cosy after a minute of putting it on. The mix of unique fabrics and fibres instantly heat up your body – you certainly warm up much faster compared to a traditional base layer that I find usually just feels like a long shirt until you warm up.
For sizing I opted for an XL over my normal 2XL as Zerofit mentioned the Ultimate is very stretchy and you want it firm
against your skin anyway. Freedom of movement was unrestricted so it’s already better than wearing twenty jumpers!
The magic fabric and fibres of the Ultimate use your own body’s movement to create heat. This can be hard to do while riding as on long boring sections of bitumen you won’t really be moving but I never found this to be a problem – I was warm the entire time.
I did head into the bush where you tend to work a little harder riding the bike and when things got hot, I noticed there was no sweat, whereas my normal base layer would allow me to sweat and then freeze when things cool down as the sweat dries. The Ultimate just kept me warm –excellent!
My next test was to wear the Ultimate under a traditional jacket with winter/thermal and I must say I was super toasty, so much so when it got to 16-degrees I was quite hot.
So, if you feel the cold, love being warm on the bike or you’re like me and your adventure or normal jacket doesn’t have a thermal liner I highly recommend the Zerofit Ultimate as your new best winter friend. While at the time of writing the Ultimate was only available in sizes XS-XL, I was informed sizes 2XL and 3XL were on their way. I would more than likely opt for the 2XL as this is my normal size, but I was totally happy running a smaller size. Three colours are also available in the mentioned sizes – Navy, Black or Grey. Visit zerofit.com.au to purchase. SW
MOVING ALONG TO A MORE TRADITIONAL base layer, the Heatrub Move base layer is thinner in construction compared to the Ultimate you just read about. The Move works amazingly well under my road winter jacket with its thermal liner, and I was comfortably warm from four to twenty degrees, which is a typical winters temp range if the sun is out.
Made with a two-layer construction the Move also gets rid of cold sweat and keeps you warm. Zerofit call it their ‘unique’ LABO fabric which removes any sweat, placing it on the outer shell of the garment – smart stuff, and it worked! To really test this out I also wore it on a mountain bike ride. While the sweat was coming out, I was not cold whatsoever, where I normally would be around the chest area.
Available in sizes XS-2XL I got my normal 2XL size and it fits perfect like any other base layer you may have used. Colours available are Black, Titanium or White. I have to say I’m so glad I’ve now heard of Zerofit base layers as they’re the best thing since sliced bread! Visit zerofit.com.au to purchase. SW
I’VE GONE AND DONE it to myself again. Got rid of a perfectly good bike and bought myself an orphan that needs some TLC.
My wife and I were about to move to Perth and basically had the bikes just about loaded for the trip over. A mate of mine who I’ve done some ‘horse trading’ with before sent me a message asking what I had for sale, so I mentioned what I would sell. He didn’t want either of those but was tempted by one of my other bikes.
Hmm, I might sell it, but I’d want ‘X’ amount for it. Premium dollars for sure but it was a nice example of it. He broached the subject of trading his 2004 Aprilia RSV1000R and cash. I told him if it was going to happen it had to happen that day otherwise the bike was headed to Perth on the back of my trailer.
The deal was done, and I got an 18-year-old European V-twin with an average to poor spares back up, a questionable reputation, a flat battery, hard tyres and a liberal coating of dust. It also had not been started for three years. Nothing too hard for a committed tinkerer like myself, I hoped.
I put together a mental list of what I would need and started checking stuff out on YouTube and forums etc. First up would be to actually get the bike going and then service it. Then ride it and decide if I was going to keep it.
A quick look over the bike revealed the chain was a bit rusty in spots but other than that was okay. In other words, it wasn’t worn out and didn’t seem to have any tight spots. Likewise, the sprockets were fine.
Front brake pads were ok but would need replacing in the not-too-distant future. One fork seal was weeping like
a Newcastle Knights fan (that’s me by the way), and the coolant and brake/ clutch fluids would need to be changed. Luckily the clutch and brakes worked fine. Often when a bike has sat for some time the clutch and brake master cylinders fail and even the fluid can turn to jelly. It’s a real pain in the arse. Obviously, the oil would need to be changed, as well as the cartridge filter. Did you know there is a short and a long cartridge oil filter, depending on the year of the bike? Neither did I until I saw it on the interweb. Mine has the short one. It helps to know these sorts of finicky details otherwise you tend to order the wrong parts. Yes, that’s happened to me on more than one occasion (and us all, I reckon – Ed). I was able to procure the correct battery from the local Triumph dealer. There is an Aprilia dealer in Perth, but they are at least an hour away so scratch that idea unless it’s a necessity. And here’s another thing I learned from the net regarding Aprilia starting and batteries. Apparently, the standard battery struggles to start the big Rotax V-twin and this isn’t helped by weedy battery cables. A fix according to ‘Griff’, a UK based Aprilia expert, is to
upgrade the cables and put a battery in with more Cold Cranking Amps. I’ve seen this in the past while working of a friend’s Ducati 999S. It was hard to start and when it did, struggled to run sweet. A simple upgrade of the battery cables fixed it.
I put the new battery in and when I turned the ignition key there was nothing
I put the new battery in and when I turned the ignition key there was nothing. No power anywhere. “Bloody hell, I’ve bought myself a headache”, I thought. In true Dad’s Army fashion, my brain yelled out, “Don’t Panic” and I went looking for fuses. They seemed okay and then I noticed a plug not connected and it had big red wires coming from one end. Plugged it in and there was power to the people. My mate I got the bike off had told me there was some sort of battery drain with the ignition key. Once again, Dr Google came up with the method of resetting the ignition, so the key resisted
constantly, trying to find the ECU or some other such wizardry. Apparently, you turn the ignition on and leave it for at least 15 seconds and turn the ignition off. By all accounts, that stops the battery drain. I did all that and was anxious to kick it in the guts. Then I realised I better check the fuel quality and the oil level. I couldn’t see either, but I could ‘smell’ the fuel. That bike was not going to start on that fuel, let me tell you. And I
for some time, and underneath the dust the bike appears to be very ‘clean’. I’m also looking forward to getting the bike on the road. It has a set of Michelin Pilot tyres which are a few years old no doubt, but they have plenty of tread. I’ll need to change them before I get carried away.
Getting carried away though, is what this bike is all about. I don’t think it was ever designed to tootle around in traffic but there’s definitely more traffic around than 18 years ago when this bike was new. Another mate of mine bought
one new back in the day. I took his VTR1000F off his hands and he bought himself an RSV1000R in exactly this colour scheme. I wonder if this is the same bike because it was bought in the same area. I remember a trip to Phillip Island for WSBK or MotoGP back in the day. There were a heap of us on the trip, and somehow, we got talked into going down a particular road, turning off near Tallangatta on the border area of Victoria and NSW. There was some dirt, a bit rougher than we were advised, and his battery decided to purge some of its contents, permanently etching the swingarm. He wasn’t best pleased I can tell you and the swingarm was replaced under warranty. It’s hard to believe that was nearly 20 years ago but I do remember the bike being a beautiful thing to ride, especially at high speed.
Next month I’ll let you know how the initial start went and whether I’ve bought myself a lemon
Little did I know this would be the truth!
OKAY, SO THERE SEEMS to be some conjecture about Royal Enfield’s Himalayan and whether it’s a proper adventure bike that can handle some rough stuff, so I decided to take it on a route that can throw in some rather hardcore sections and see whether we both came out the other side in one piece (each)! Throw in the masses of rain we’ve had over the last few months and the route in the Blue Mountains National Park was a lot more difficult than I could have planned for. In fact, many sections were so soaked the mud was ready to swallow both of us!
The latest iteration of the Himalayan sees it fitted with a Euro 5 compliant 411cc single cylinder engine. There’s not much power (it has relatively decent torque) but unless you’re a speed demon that won’t worry you too much. The only time I wanted a little more was on steep inclines – on the road in 100km/h zones and steep slippery dirt hill climbs.
A few important changes have been done to the ergonomics for this new model. For taller riders, Royal Enfield reduced the size of the upper side crash bars by a few centimetres to create more leg room. While I
I found it comfy for my day trip into the bush and back
overall still found the Himalayan a little small for my 193cm frame the extra legroom is simply beautiful to have. A set of bar risers would help while standing in the dirt. I also found the pegs to be a little small and my right heel continuously resting on the exhaust heat shield.
A newly revised rack is much stronger and also lower profile. Carrying capacity more than doubles from 3kg to 7kg. The bike we tested also had accessory panniers fitted. They stood up to tree lined single trails and both made it back to civilisation. Other accessories
available include handguards (fitted to this bike), engine guards, oil cooler guard, master cylinder guard, touring rider and pillion seats, braced handlebar kit and more.
The seat foam has been updated to be slightly firmer. For those spending long days in the saddle, you will appreciate it. I found it comfy for my day trip into the bush and back. And while we’re talking about comfort the revised screen works very well sitting and while standing.
Tripper navigation (powered by Google) as first seen on the Meteor 350 is now standard on the Himalayan. I tried it out and it worked, just as I’ve found previously. It’s not a full-on navigation system which will guide you through the dirt, but as an aid to get you places you’re not sure of getting to via bitumen and main dirt roads, it works perfectly.
Fitted to the Himalayan are CEAT Gripp XL tyres. I was quite surprised at how well they worked off-road. One particular light beige coloured clay hill climb really tested the tyres. Ideally a full-on knobby would be best, but when you’re adventure riding you deal with what you have and the
Which way did I go?
CEATs gave just enough grip to get me up and over the top – this was a big relief on its own, because if it had stopped on the climb I would have slid back down to the bottom with both of us on our sides! As is always the case photos never do the height of something justice. On the bitumen
I had to jump a large tree that had fallen across the track and some of the sections of waterlogged and chewed up mud saw the Himalayan trowel its sump guard and lower one-third section through
they were okay most of the time, on some wet roads I needed to slow down, but if I was to be riding more road than off-road, I’d change them out.
Braking is one area that I’d like an improvement, a more powerful front brake. Even in the dirt the front brake will slow but not give you power when you come up on a section where you’re travelling a little quick and need to wash off speed fast. You can switch the rear ABS off with a firm five second push of the button near
Think slippery and steep
the speedo.
The 200mm of travel on the front and 180mm on the rear was very much welcome on the route I took. I had to jump a large tree that had fallen across the track (many thanks to my Trials riding training) and some of the sections of waterlogged and chewed up mud saw the Himalayan trowel its sump guard and lower one-third section through. I think I was lucky in some aspects to have got through two sections and while having a sip from my Klim Nakpak on the other side, I imagined trying to get through there on a heavier adventure bike, or, well, not getting through there and having to try and drag the bike out somehow!
On one particular section of trail I stopped to have a quick bite to eat and wouldn’t you know it, it started snowing! If only the water in the puddles had frozen over I would have been laughing and not had a black bike that was now beige from all the mud.
The route I took is one I’ve written about before and one that Ralph
broke his wrist on – now that was an ‘adventure’! If you’ve ridden in the bush before you’ll know it has its own climate system. It can be freezing when it’s only cold elsewhere and it can even be extremely hot when perfectly nice nearer to civilization. On the high plain above Lithgow this is exactly what you get, which is why it snowed and didn’t anywhere else!
If you’re coming from Sydney turn in at the Zig Zag Railway near Lithgow. (As a quick mention, work has commenced to get the Zig Zag train back up and running). The route I take brings you out on Wolgan Road where you ride up to Blackfellow Hand Trail. This brings you back around to the same trail that brought you in and if you remember to turn back towards Zig Zag you follow the same trail out. If you happen to miss the turn, which I’ve done before, there’s no stress as the trail you’ll be on takes you into the back of Lithgow. There’s a lot to be said for a relatively lightweight adventure bike. The Royal Enfield Himalayan went places (and out the other side) where many more fancied machines would be bogged. It surprised me and it will do the same for you. D
MODEL: Royal Enfield Himalayan
PRICE: $7990 (plus on-road charges)
WARRANTY: Two years, unlimited distance
SERVICING INTERVALS: Every 8000km or 12 months
ENGINE: 411cc air-cooled single cylinder, 78x86mm bore/stroke, SOHC, 2 valve
POWER: 17.8kW @ 6500rpm
TORQUE: 32Nm @ 4250rpm
TRANSMISSION: 5-speed, wet multi-plate clutch, chain final drive
SUSPENSION: Front, 41mm telescopic fork, non-adjustable, travel 200mm. Rear, monoshock, adjustable preload, travel 180mm.
DIMENSIONS: Seat height 800mm, weight 191kg (wet), fuel capacity 15 litres, wheelbase 1465mm
TYRES: Front, 90/90/21. Rear, 120/90/17
BRAKES: Front, 300mm disc with two-piston ABS caliper. Rear, 240mm disc, single-piston switchable ABS caliper.
FUEL CONSUMPTION: 5.63 litres per 100km, premium unleaded
THEORETICAL RANGE: 266km
COLOURS: Dual Red, Dual Blue, Mirage Silver, Pine
VERDICT: Tractor on!
The 270 Super Classic features a classic, full aspect ratio sawtooth design. Perfect for your cool custom or old school restoration. With the addition of two new 18” sizes set to be available soon in the 270 Super Classic, the 270 should be the go-to tyre for your classic restorations or cool custom builds.Features include a full 4 ply rated nylon carcass for extended wear with a classic appearance and available in white sidewall and double white sidewall. These tyres do require a tube.
Black, round and full of scientific stuff; the genius that goes into those black and round things that help you stick to the roadway, whether that’s bitumen or dirt is a bit like the weird and wonderful magical potions of Severus Snape from Harry Potter. As motorcycles have a very small contact patch on the road you need to have top quality tyres no matter what bike you ride. If you skimp on tyres, don’t skimp on spending up big at the local Chemist for bandages – you’ll need them. SW
-PIRELLIpirellimoto.com.au
Diablo Rosso IV Corsa –from $269.95 Front, from $299.95 Rear
Diablo Rosso IV Corsa is the ideal choice for motorcyclists who love a dynamic riding style on winding roads and mountain passes and want a tyre to match the sporty performance of their motorcycle; motorcyclists who are passionate about corners, who look for performance upgrades and take care of the bike set-up and aesthetics. These riders seek the most out of their motorcycle by upgrading to highperformance equipment. The new Corsa is a fiercer version of the Diablo Rosso IV, which Stuart tested back in issue #108. Look for a test on the Corsa shortly.
Angel GT II – from $249.95 Front, from $299.95 Rear
An amazingly good sport touring tyre in line with Pirelli’s interpretation of Italian Gran Turismo (GT). Angel GT II features development that’s been focused on consolidating the former Angel GT’s strengths – already a benchmark for mileage and versatility. Outstanding grip and confidence in wet conditions thanks to the high-silica compound level through to a tread pattern derived from Pirelli’s racing Diablo Wet and Rain technologies to ensure mechanical grip and water drainage; the innovative tread design and compounds ensure wear regularity to the last mile (which we’ve proven during our test – Ed). The durable rear compound coupled with a tread pattern featuring twin longitudinal grooves and with a specifically dedicated profile, ensure the longest lifespan in the segment.
Scorpion Rally STR - from $199.95 Front, from $249.95 Rear
Scorpion Trail IIfrom $199.95 Front, from $279.95 Rear
New revolutionary tread pattern with a patented 0° steel belt technology in radial sizes provides maximum stability and excellent handling on every kind of terrain even when fully loaded. The latest generation of materials for a new compound provide maximum grip in all weather conditions, the ideal balance between mileage and grip for dual purpose bikes.
Designed specifically for the latest generation of adventure, dual purpose and Enduro model bikes, Pirelli’s Scorpion Rally STR manages to blend all the benefits of a rally competition tyre with that of an enduro D.O.T tyre. The Rally STR balances off road performance with excellent handling, grip and stability on the road. The compound is high in silica content providing excellent grip in any conditions of use and high mileage. Street type profiles and structure help guarantee top notch handling on the road and the innovative tread pattern provides both traction on dirt roads and stability on asphalt.
Diablo Rossa Corsa IIfrom $259.95 Front, from $339 Rear
Pirelli’s first multi-compound motorcycle tyre transferring racetrack performance into street versatility, Pirelli technology developed within the World Superbike Championship. The new tread pattern design features a bi compound solution for the front tyre - applying the two compounds in three different zones and with triple compound on the rear distributed in five zones you can lean further than you think.
Diablo Rosso IVfrom $209.95 Front, from $229.95 Rear
THE supersport tyre for road use. Superb grip while braking, thrust boost in extreme lean angles, lightening handlebar response and brilliant traction exiting corners are what you’ll get from the Diablo Rosso IV. WSBKderived structures and contours, Silica-enriched multi-compound for both front and rear tyres with simply the best performance on road use, on both wet and dry roads.
-BRIDGESTONEmcleodaccessories.com.au
Battlax T32
-DUNLOPficeda.com.au
The RoadSmart III is the latest addition to the Sportmax family, taking over from the hugely successful Roadsmart II. Whether it’s long-haul touring or demanding road-riding; RoadSmart III offers precision handling and stability without compromise. The innovative new tread design and nano technology compound provide maximum grip and performance on both wet and dry roads whilst delivering improved mileage. From heavy large-capacity GT’s to the latest spritely mid-size twins, Dunlop’s RoadSmart III offers it all. Designed to offer high mileage, comfortable feel and excellent handling, the Roadsmart III reduces rider fatigue, while the MT3, multicompound technology allows for superior grip in the wet or dry, no matter how steep the lean angle. -PIRELLI -
The Battlax Sport Touring T32 is Bridgestone’s newest Sport Touring flagship model. The T32, alongside the dedicated T32GT line-up for middleweight and heavy motorcycles, brings together everything the category needs in terms of performance, confidence and contact feel in all weather conditions. The technical upgrades on the T32 are not only visual, with the implementation of the Pulse Groove pattern technology, but also secretly hidden inside its black shell thanks to the tremendous efforts done in terms of construction and compound combination.
One of the Battlax Sport Touring T32’s standout benefits is its improved overall wet performance versus its predecessor, the Battlax Sport Touring T31. This is thanks to several new and innovative features in the tyre’s design and compound technology. The Battlax Sport Touring T32’s wet weather accolades unite to give the tyre a wet braking performance that is 7 per cent shorter than its predecessor, with no sacrifice on wear life. Tremendous efforts in terms of construction and compound combination have also been done for dry performance with outstanding handling capabilities in the dry and wet, plus excellent high speed, straight and cornering stability.
-HEIDENAUheidenautyres.com.au
The acclaimed K60 Scout dual sport tyre is a true “50/50″ dual sport tyre. The K60 range of tyres bring a proven balance of performance on- and off-road. With an improved tread and compound, the tyres deliver better cornering stability and wet weather grip on the pavement, while delivering off-road as well. The K60 Scout is the most unique tyre tread on the market with varying patterns between the sizes. The K60 Scout is manufactured to cater specifically for the needs of each different fitment. Through changes to the tread and carcass, the Scout brings better performance on and off road over the K60 Enduro. With the improved tread and compound, the Scout delivers better cornering stability and wet weather grip on the pavement, but like his predecessor delivers off road as well. The newest development in the Heidenau range is the CCC (Cool climate compound) tyre, which has been specifically developed for fitment on larger bikes taking a 17” rear wheel. The CCC offers a high mileage tyre that is more suited to cold climate and wet conditions compared with its higher mileage brother, the RSA (High mileage) version of the Scout. With an approximate 20% difference in mileage the CCC is a great alternative for increased grip and feel in cooler conditions.
The off-road evolution of the TKC 70 to a more aggressive adventure tyre. The ‘Rocks’ version is a rear tyre only and is the perfect balance that sits between the TKC 70 and venerable TKC 80. Pleasantly quiet and provides great levels of grip both on and off-road. Match with either the TKC 70 or 80 front depending on your requirements.
Maximum grip with Black Chilli performance for accurate and easy handling for even most powerful superbikes. Available in a wide range of sizes including the original CBR900RR 16-inch front!
Modern performance tyre for cruisers and heavy touring bikes. With Mileage Plus technology that significantly extends tyre life the ContiTour has great wet and dry performance for cornering and maintains its performance throughout its life.
Capra X –from $219.64 Front, from: $228.25 Rear
+15% more grip than MICHELIN Road 5 in wet conditions thanks to 100% Silica Technology and a brand-new tread pattern. The new high-tech compound increases the longevity of the tyre by 10%more grip, longer life – excellent.
Unbeatable performance in the most punishing conditions, on all types of terrain. Like all Motoz products they are designed by experienced Australian off-road riders for Australian off-road riders. Technically 25% stronger than many other adventure tyres. Deeper Tread than most adventure tyres. Special compound designed to withstand the harshest of conditions found in Australia, USA, Baja, South America, South Africa, Israel, Spain, Morocco, etc. Tread is designed to self-protect for long milage and superior offroad cornering.
Balanced performance on the road and easy off-road terrain. Designed for 80% on-road and 20% off-road use.
Capra X is especially designed for off-road use but with superb on road capabilities when necessary. It’s claimed, no other “off-road” tyre with a similar knobby tread pattern can beat Capra X’s low noise level or its handling properties. Capra X is claimed to be the only tyre on the market that comes so close to the performance of street tyres, while being one of the best off-road tyres.
Sportec M9RRfrom $229.95 Front, from $309.95 Rear
Sportec M9 RR integrates the versatility of everyday use with the Road Racing experience, building on the heritage of the former test winner
Sportec M7 RR. Sportec M9 RR is a Supersport tyre featuring 100% silica in all compounds for both front and rear sizes that offers a quick warm up with plenty of grip and outstanding handling even in cold, wet and greasy conditions. Dual compound for both front and rear sizes optimises abrasion resistance and extends mileage by more than 10% compared to Sportec M7 RR with performance throughout the entire lifespan of the tyre.
Roadtec 01 SEfrom $259.95 Front, from $299.95 Rear
Complementing the range of the multiple test winner Roadtec 01 with a range dedicated to sport tourers, and owners of naked and supersport motorcycles. Improved sporty riding benefits whilst keeping the outstanding sport touring characteristics for mileage and wet conditions. Increased grip in full lean angle thanks to a new slick shoulder. Enhanced handling through new carcass construction.
Karoo 4 - from $179.95 Front, from $239.95 Rear
Karoo 4 is the evolution of the heroic Karoo 3: a comprehensive product for Adventure Bikes and maxi Enduro, designed to overcome the boundaries of adventure touring. Scoop-shaped knobs enable exemplary off-road traction whilst in bottomless dirt and promote tread self-cleaning; knob layout ensures a continuous support at any lean angle also on hard-packed terrains. Stiffer carcass structures and new multi-radius profiles promote enhanced road handling regardless of the load case, with dual-compound rears and their lateral knobs shaped to enhance rubber response even under heavy loads. Claimed best in class for wet performance and rider-aid integration thanks to new tyre profile and new compounds enabling safety in lashing rain, cold temperatures and dodgy road surfaces; extreme abrasion, cutting and tearing resistance thanks to tread rubber formulation and knob shaping, which enhances compound thermal and mechanical stability.
The evolution of the legendary Tourance Next, a newest road-oriented benchmark for riding pleasure that dares you to challenge any road. Agile and neutral behaviour leading accurate control feeling and solid all-grades handling sets a new benchmark for wet and braking performance. 1.5m shorter stopping distance at 85km/h in the wet thanks also to Metzeler Hyperbase compound layout. Immediate and durable performance, throughout the entire tyre life cycle thanks to new compounds and Dymatec technology. Outstanding comfort and safety whilst riding with or without pillions or luggage.
Okay, none of these things are available in any bricks-andmortar shops, but that’s all right these days because the interwebs is as good a shop as any. Better, in some ways, although very much worse in others. The main “worse” way for me is that it’s so easy to order stuff. But enough of stuff, and let’s get onto the delightful news I have for you.
On occasion I have been described as an obscurantist, but Mike Ferris of motorcycle tour operator World On Wheels is better by an out-of-country mile. He has been busy during the Covid-enforced travel hiatus and has at long last done what so many people have demanded over the years (this is what he says, you understand). He’s written his first book, and its title appears to have nothing whatsoever to do with the contents. Go to the webpage, WorldOnWheels.tours, and order yours now. That’s what I say. After all, I wrote an introduction for him which says (this is a freebie, you don’t have to buy the book just for my words):
“It is a good thing that Mike Ferris has kept a diary over the years he has
been running his tours. Nobody could remember so many funny, outrageous and downright scary stories. We would be the poorer for it if any had been forgotten. Read the book and marvel at the things that can happen on tour, and how they can be dealt with successfully. It is just as well that what happens on tour – does not stay on tour!”
The book consists of 80,000 words and 320 pages, 70 photos and 50 plus stories from 27 years on the road and here’s a bonus: the book weighs as much as half a brick and is therefore
ideal for beating rabid pi-dogs to death. That alone makes it worth the thirty bucks it costs. Buy it or be sorry next time you’re in India and confronted by a rabid pi-dog. I mean it.
I am not the only reptile of the motorcycle press to endorse Ferris; regularly published author (often by himself) Boris Mihailovic is also on side and that guarantees a good read. And just being serious for a moment, Mike doesn’t just open his diary, he also opens his heart. Buy the book. PT
You know you’re onto something when the comments on a website congratulate the maker for goods bought three years ago. That’s what you get for Naz (Narelle Lyons’) Nazbags products. Just in case you need reminding, Australia is a tough place and Naz’s bags suit the place perfectly. I have been playing around with her tool and gear rolls, and I can see why she is congratulated on the longevity of her work. The workmanship (workwomanship, really) is outstanding. It helps, too, that her extensive range of bags is made from strong, long-lasting Australian canvas.
of our Himalayan on the group and our business page and website have the panniers on standard racks. We have the Large Panniers on ours, which do take some care to ensure that they do not get near the exhaust. For that reason I recommend cutdown jerry
“I am a mad keen rider and camper”, she writes on her website. “But I also have a design degree so you can see where the mix works for the business. Some years ago I was riding all over our great country on my own, on a dr650 and camping most of the time… While I was travelling I was always wishing I had been able to make my own luggage... At Naz Bags we are planning an entire luggage
cans in them, which makes a great semi-hard shell that if you add a rope handle means you can pull them out at camp.
“That said, the Standard Panniers fit great / better and are a bit smaller. They don’t sag as much due to the less depth. You cannot fit the cutdown 20L jerry cans in them but some people have used other things. Much of it is in the way you pack them.
system that is hard wearing but good looking. Pieces that work together.”
Her blog is worth quids. Here’s a customer question, complete with Naz’s answer: “Do your pannier bags work well with the standard RE pannier racks?”
“They sure do. A lot of the pictures
“Gary, on the Royal Enfield Himalayan Australia group, has the Stubby Panniers. I didn’t recommend them due to extra depth so they sag but he has the cutdown jerry cans in them and they seem to be working well.
“Our panniers, as far as fitment goes, are made to fit most bikes / racks. They are generic, in that the throwover straps are adjustable and there are 6 loops at the back so you can work out how to best fit them. A pair of small flat straps is my recommendation and are an option with panniers. But we also provide 4 double sided Velcro loops that you can use to attach them to the racks so they don’t move about whilst riding.
“I hope that helps. Always happy to answer questions and you are welcome to call, during business hours, if you like.”
Can’t get much more straightforward than that. If you have any queries, including custom orders, you can reach her at naz@nazbags.com.au or on the phone, 0439 724 957. “We do not have a physical store or facilities,” she writes. “Please do not visit the postal address (on the website) as it is protected by guard dogs and visitors are NOT welcome without an appointment.”
Right. Okay. By the way, I’m going to give the tool and gear rolls to Stuart and get him to offer them as a prize for best letter of the issue. So get writing.
PT
“An all-new Aerostich Supplement catalogue is now available! The 36page print catalogue is filled with the finest selection of gear and equipment for riders. View all of the options for Aerostich suits, jackets, pants, messenger bags, tank panniers and more, all made in America. Also view a curated arrangement of gear ideal for Spring and Summer riding, selected from the thousands of available products online at aerostich. com.” Don’t contact Aerostich to have a print catalogue sent to you, because the mail from the US is execrably slow at the moment. “Download the free pageable, clickable online catalogue immediately from the website.”
To get this new catalogue, go to aerostich.com/catalogrequest . The website is aerostich.com.
PT
WHEN – 11-20 MAY 2023
10 DAYS VACATION
8 DAYS RIDING
OKAY, SO OUR MOROCCO tour for the second time now has been a bit of a non-event. Whatever is behind this – covid, travel restrictions, nervousness or whatever it has been, we’ve now decided to abandon Morocco for the time being with our Readers Tour now going to Italy!
I know many of you will be super delighted to join this tour and after speaking with the great folk at Edelweiss Bike Travel, they are super excited for this one too!
Just imagine…traditional pizza, pasta, wine, historical sights, beautiful roads and of course, great like-minded Australian Motorcyclist riders. What more could you really ask for?
Book now with peace of mind and let’s go have a good time!
Edelweiss Bike Travel says…
This tour through the land of the Etruscans and Romans is a dream for motorcycle riders and fans of culture, history and great cuisine. In 10 days we will discover the most beautiful sights of Italy –curve fun included!
Our tour starts in Rome, the “Eternal City”. From there, we will ride East to the “backbone” of Italy, the Apennines and the Monte Sibillini national park, before we will get enchanted by the Medieval city of Assisi. After a night in the microstate San Marino, we will ride over the mountain passes of the Alpe di Serra and Casentino and on to Florence, the “pearl of the renaissance” at the Arno river, where we will also have our rest day. A ride to the Mugello race track or rather some culture in Florence – you decide! The next day, Pisa’s leaning tower, the Mediterranean Sea and San Gimignano with its many towers are our highlights. Our next stop then is Siena, where we will marvel at one of the most beautiful squares of Italy, the Piazza del Campo. After a side trip to Chianti and a glass of good wine we will eventually reach Pienza, from where we will ride back to Rome.
Day 1: Arrival in Roma (Rome)
Day 2: Roma (Rome) - Assisi
Day 3: Assisi - San Marino
Day 4: San Marino - Firenze (Florence)
Day 5: Firenze (Florence)
Day 6: Firenze (Florence) - Volterra
Day 7: Volterra - Siena
Day 8: Siena - Pienza
Day 9: Pienza - Roma (Rome)
Day 10: Departure from Roma (Rome)
Included services
All overnights (comfortable middle-class hotels) during entire tour
Breakfast every day
2 picnics/lunches
8 dinners
Motorcycle rental with unlimited mileage
Third party liability insurance for motorcycles
Comprehensive vehicle insurance for motorcycles with deductible according to the booked motorcycle model
Tour information package in English or German including safety tips, details about the hotels, the route and the sights
English and German speaking tour guide on motorcycle
Support van for luggage transportation (1 piece per person) and space for passengers (limited) on entire tour
Services not included
All services not mentioned as included and all items of a personal nature.
Optional Services
Optional deductible reduction on included motorcycle insurance (Cover All / Cover Plus) additional rental options prior or post tour on request and availability
Please note
This group tour is not suitable for people with limited mobility.
Price for rider in double room
$5130
BMW G 310 GS
BMW G 310 R
Honda NC 750 S
Honda NC 750 X
Suzuki V-Strom 650 XT
Yamaha Tracer 700
Price for rider in double room$5220
BMW F 750 GS (LSP)
Yamaha Tenere 700
Price for rider in double room$5370
BMW F 850 GS
BMW F 900 R
BMW F 900 XR
Ducati Monster 821
Ducati Multistrada 950 S
Honda CRF 1100 L Africa Twin
KTM 890 Adventure (LSP)
Suzuki V-Strom 1050 XT
Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro
Yamaha Tracer 900
Price for rider in double room -
$5500
BMW R 1250 GS
BMW R 1250 GS (LSP)
BMW R 1250 R
BMW R 1250 RS
FOR THE MONEY THIS IS A LAY-DOWN MISÈRE! WISH I COULD GO.
BMW S 1000 XR
Ducati Monster 1200
Ducati Multistrada 1260 S
Harley-Davidson Pan America
Special
KTM 1290 Super Adventure S
Triumph Tiger Explorer
Price for rider in double room$5650
BMW R 1250 GS Adventure
BMW R 1250 RT
Price for passenger in double room - $3430
Single room supplement - $490
OPTIONAL:
Guided City Tour in double room (Minimum participants: 1) - $440
Single room supplement - $60
IHAVE RIDDEN QUITE A few three-wheeled scooters in the past few years and I have enjoyed them – a lot. What has always concerned me is whether they would be accepted by the market. Generally – and sadly – I have thought that this would take a while. In Australia, this has been true. Both Piaggio and Yamaha sell some three wheelers, but not many. Things are different in Europe. Especially in France. Helped along by draconian restrictions on internal combustion-engined vehicles, scooters just, er, scoot out the door in France. One primary market is welloff businesspeople.
With a novelty like three wheelers, initial uptake is vital. Once you see a few of them around, you are far more likely to consider buying one yourself. The motorcycle industry has picked up on that and is offering a variety of three-wheeled scooters to attract just about anyone. Piaggio has not been backward in this.
Originally, the top-of-theline three-wheeled Piaggio scooter was branded as a Gilera and named the Fuoco 500. I had the pleasure of riding one of these around Lake Garda and up into the Dolomites. Once I started using the amazing stability, it was a pleasure to ride. When I came around one corner and found myself faced with ice, I pirouetted away like the princess in Disney on Ice, laughing like a maniac. I have liked these three-wheelers ever since.
Piaggio must be counting on similar reactions – perhaps not the princess part – from a lot of other potential buyers because the three-wheeler series, with all models named MP3, is getting some serious upgrades. The Piaggio MP3 400 hpe and Piaggio MP3 400 hpe Sport are equipped with the 399cc engine that produces 35.4hp, while the Piaggio MP3 530 hpe Exclusive is the most powerful in its class with more than 44hp. Compared to
the previous 500 hpe engine, the main advantage of the re-bored engine is that it delivers higher torque.
Power output is important because keeps Piaggio ahead of the three-wheeler competition from other manufacturers. But it is perhaps not as significant as the added technology, which will make the scooters even more palatable to their upmarket target buyers. The Piaggio MP3s will be the first scooters in the world to be equipped with ARAS (Advanced Rider Assistance System), employing radar technology. In addition, they offer a 7-inch TFT color display, keyless start and connectivity including navigation. The MP3 530 hpe Exclusive adds cruise control as well as reverse complete with reversing camera, Blind Spot Assist and Lane Change Assist. It has three engine maps: Comfort, Eco and Sport.
The Gilera Fuoco 500 looked quite brutal, but the new models are far more elegant. The redesigned front fairing has been aerodynamically optimized, which is not just a matter of looks but will also improve driving dynamics. There is a new, horizontal headlight group, all LED along with the new taillight. The new air intake is covered by a wide and imposing car-like honeycomb grille. The rear of the MP3s, on the other hand, has been tidied up and is now much slimmer.
In Europe, three-wheeled scooters have a significant attraction for car drivers: the standard class B driver’s license is sufficient to ride them, without a scooter or motorcycle endorsement. Combined with the added security of the twin front wheels, that makes them a highly practical alternative to a car, for even a well-off
commuter. In France alone, 11,000 three-wheelers are sold a year. This is not cheap. Recommended retail price is 10,799 euros for the MP3 400 hpe; 11,299 euros for the MP3 400 hpe Sport; and 13,299 euros for the Piaggio MP3 530 hpe Exclusive. You can probably save a significant percentage of that in parking fees or fines per year if you’re riding in Paris. Will the attraction spread to Australia’s cities? We can but hope. D
TWENTY TWENTY TWO…
THANK God it’s not Twenty twenty too.
We have for the most part survived bush fires, covid 19, lockdowns, mouse plagues, floods and a federal election. We still have a lingering La Nina that looks to have us soaked till August or September. Nevertheless, we will stoically come out of this stronger and make better decisions for the future.
After a long break from the saddle, a mate, Rod Pedemont had organised a trip with Craig Morgan and me to Lake St Clair near Singleton to get the cobwebs off his Deauville and check their camping gear in preparation for a planned ride to the South Australian and Victorian boarders next year. Testing their steeds along the Putty Road through Broke and into Singleton, they had one of the few days of sun this year and made the most of it.
for about thirty years, and it does not look like it has changed over that time.
Me being a diligent worker, I had organised to meet Rod and Craig a day late at the Lake St Clair campground. This wasn’t such a bad thing as it gave me time to take the scenic route via Windsor, Wisemans Ferry and St Albans before heading through Broke and beyond.
River is still brown. The people will persevere.
I haven’t been to Wisemans Ferry
From the perspective of a history buff, that’s probably not a bad thing. At the end of Old North Road, cars are already aboard the ferry waiting to be shipped to the distant shore. It’s a quiet day today, however, I can imagine this crossing would be incredibly busy in the summer months.
Crossing the river, the aftershock of the March floods is readily evident. A landslip has closed half a section of road and traffic lights manage the vehicle flow. Further along, mounds of sand have been pushed to the wayside reopening the road for residents and travelers. This side of the river has an atmosphere of “oldness”, if that’s a real word. Colonial buildings behind old fences dot paddocks as I follow the narrow dirt road. On the walking track of Great North Road ghosts of convicts in a chain gang sit on the side of the road, I can hear one of them, “There must be some way out of here,” said the joker to the thief.
“There’s too much confusion, I can’t get no relief.” Bob was ahead of his time.
Approaching a bend, weathered headstones of the St Albans Old General Cemetery come to view. The remains of those who pioneered the Hawkesbury lie here. Many inscriptions have weathered away; a couple belong to First Fleeters. At a time where we have heard so much about people demanding freedom, crying about isolation and a need to be defiant, when you stop in here, have a look around and think “Man, some of these people stole a handkerchief or a loaf of bread to feed their family and were transported halfway around the world and made to build a road to God knows where. Others came to virgin bush and defiantly created an existence for themselves and their families”. You have to admire the stoicism of these people.
The Village of St Albans sits on the banks of the Macdonald River. Once its spirit was centered on the church, now the spirit is centered in the bar of the Settlers Inn. Originally called The Travellers Rest, the establishment
nowhere and a welcome stop for an ale.
A glowing fire warms the room in the bar and a schooner glass is always half full. During the March floods, the pub provided shelter, food and Wi-Fi to several stranded residents for eight to 10 days. Relics of the past decorate the walls
while ghosts walk the halls. Rules of the tavern state “Four pence a night for bed, Six pence with supper. No more than five to sleep in one bed” – I didn’t think there were that many women in St Albans at that time.
Artefacts of a bygone era lie around the village. A broken-down Jeep rests on the roadside – in its natural state. It’s now home to a brood of chickens while a moss-covered Kombi lies in the beer garden. Once an important agricultural area for the colony, the Macdonald Valley later went into decline due to the expansion of railways and greater tracts of farming land west of the Great Divide. The valley became a backwater and was referred to as the Forgotten Valley.
On the outskirts of town, I come across St Albans Common. Commons were established nearly two hundred years ago for the commoners’ “locals” to collect firewood and spell or graze stock. Covering an area of 1000 hectares, the common was issued by Governor Brisbane in 1824 to the locals as compensation for their small blocks. It runs for 10 kilometers from Mogo Creek along Wollombi Road.
In keeping with the colonial atmosphere of the track, a herd of cattle followed by half a dozen people on horses is being driven along the far tree line. I stop to take some photos, but they are too far away to get a decent shot. It’s things like this you only see on TV. The distant crack of a whip and moo-ing of cattle really transport me to a distant past. Entering Yengo National Park, the road follows the meanderings of Mogo Creek before rising out of the valley and meeting the Great Northern Road. Wisemans Ferry to Bucketty along Settlers Road and Wollombi Road is not a challenging road but it’s picturesque with plenty of photo opportunities.
The next convenient fuel stop after Wisemans Ferry is the Laguna Village Providore and Old Northern Trading Post. Not only can you fill the bike, but you can also get a coffee, listen to live music, get a bottle of shiraz or stock up on local produce to cook at your campsite. You won’t be disappointed stopping in.
Through Wollombi, Broke and into Singleton, the road is still mainly potholes in sections. With the inclement weather we are experiencing, as soon as the roads are repaired, they are washed out and damaged again. A note to first timers riding through Singleton in the afternoon. The traffic is as bad as Parramatta Road on a weekday. A half hour ride on undulating hills and fine drizzle gets me to Lake St Clair campground.
No visit to Singleton would be complete without visiting the Australian Army Infantry Museum. The exhibitions show a history of Australia’s operations from 1885
Named after the homestead lost beneath the water in 1983, Lake St Clair is a manmade lake created as part of Glennies Creek Dam to help manage water flows along the Hunter River. It’s now a popular fishing, boating and water-skiing playground for the region. The campgrounds are very well maintained with a shop at the gate that sells fishing gear, firewood, ice etc. Bookings are essential and must be made online at https://bookings8.rmscloud. com/Search/Index/10480/1
Luckily, Rod and Craig had secured a prime camp site overlooking the lake with a short walk to the showers and BBQ facilities. Covering the fire was a tarp that makes tapping sounds as it stops the rain from dousing the flames. There is nothing more calming after a long ride than to sit beside a crackling fire with a cold ale and listening to your mates’ stories of their rides and dad jokes. In the distance, dull music drifts from other campsites and a group of kids kick a ball in the rain. The guys are more than satisfied with the way they had prepared their bikes and camping equipment. They should be ready for the Broken Hill adventure.
No visit to Singleton would be complete without visiting the Australian Army Infantry Museum. The exhibitions show a history of Australia’s operations from 1885 when we were deployed in Sudan to current deployments in
Afghanistan as well as a collection of small arms and training aids. There are so many forgotten deployments Australia has been involved in: the Boer War, Boxer Rebellion, Japan, Korea, Malaya, Borneo, Vietnam, Somalia, Rwanda, Cambodia, East Timor, Solomon Islands, Iraq, Afghanistan. The Australian Infantry has a huge history of keeping the world safe.
Following Rod back to Sydney via Broke we pull into the Wollemi Pub for lunch. Surprisingly, very little traffic on the road. It may have something to do with the election or just that it is raining. A detour on the return home takes me to Terrigal to visit family and watch the sun go down over the bay with hot fish and chips. There is a lot you can pack into a weekend ride out of Sydney with loads to discover. You don’t need to travel a
thousand kilometres to be in wilderness, you don’t need to be interstate or overseas to ride fantastic roads. You don’t even need to complain about lack of freedom. When you see the hardships our early settlers endured or when you
realise where our infantry has been deployed to help those countries keep their freedoms, we have it pretty darn good here.
Thanks to Rod for organizing the ride. Craig, I still owe you for the firewood. D
PART OF MY WISH list for the sweet little Classic 350 has been filled. Royal Enfield Australia read about my wishes in issue #112 and they swiftly sent up the Black Octagon Engine Guards and Black Deluxe footpegs. My wish for the seat springs was another matterapparently, they’re only a cosmetic item and do nothing for comfort so we decided against them. Fitment of the Deluxe footpegs requires a pair of collar pin pliers and the job of replacing the pegs took about ten minutes. I did have to adjust the gear lever as the Deluxe pegs have
a much larger base than the stock pegs. A set of instructions comes with the Octagon Engine Guards but after a five second read I knew how they went together. Fitment was perfect with all the holes lining up and the use of high-quality stainlesssteel bolts gives a good quality feel. Fitting the guards took around twenty minutes. Check out the entire range of Royal Enfield genuine accessories at royalenfield.com.au SW
JUST A QUICK MENTION that we’ve bought a Pyramid Plastics / Puig flyscreen for the Z900RS. Custom painted in the Candytone Brown / Orange with a nice ‘RS’ logo in the middle, this is really going to make this bike look super special.
Dealing with Pyramid Plastics, based in the UK was very easy, with great communication and your purchase is protected with their Trusted Shops guarantee. As I type this the flyscreen has just been paid for, so in the next issue we’ll have it fitted up and can fill you in on freight times. Check out the extensive range of accessories Pyramid Plastic has to offer - pyramid-plastics.co.uk SW
APAIR OF THE FIERCER Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV Corsa tyres has turned up for me to fit and test on the Bandit 1250. I have absolutely loved the Diablo Rosso IV, so the even stickier Corsa version will be right up my alley. Look for the review shortly. Check out linkint.com.au for more about the entire range of Pirelli tyres. SW
You might remember, back a couple of years ago, that we featured the highly impressive ‘New York’ bike produced by the very talented folk at Game Over Cycles. Well, they have produced a sister machine, which is a uniquely modified Harley-Davidson Street Bob motorcycle, adorned with impressive
gold and unique brass. The structure includes many handcrafted elements such as the rear fender and the surprising brass sheets on the tank. In addition, the motorcycle is decorated with a custom leather seat and the paintwork features hand painted pinstriping.
Thanks to the logistics support from the Rzeszów-Jasionka airport,
the official premiere of the machine took place in April in the US (Trenton, NJ).
If you don’t remember the New York bike, it was inspired by the cities of New York and Rzeszów.
The motorcycle was made for a Pole who came from Rzeszów and lives in New York. In principle, the machine is to express the local patriotism of both homelands for the vehicle owner. It is manifested by the unique construction of the motorcycle. The structure includes the characteristic features of the architecture of a given city. These are not only elements of ornamentation, but also fully functional parts of the motorcycle.
An example of structural elements containing the architecture of a given city is, for example, an exhaust pipe in the shape of the Chrysler building or a seatback in the form of a Tadeusz Mazowiecki bridge - the largest bridge in Rzeszów.
Rather than rabbit on about the bike, enjoy the photos which speak volumes…D
Game Over Cycles (GOC) is a Polish custom motorcycle manufacturer formed in 2012. The company is known for its original creations, such as The Recidivist – the world’s first tattooed motorcycle and Behemoth Bike - a custom motorcycle created in collaboration with global Polish metal music legends Behemoth. Machines created by Game Over Cycles have won awards at some of the world’s biggest custom bike competitions. The company has already won 23 awards, including 16 international ones, of which as many as eight trophies were received at the European Bike Week (EBW), the largest motorcycle festival in Europe. The company also won awards in the US. In 2017 The Recidivist received first place trophy in the “Most Unusual” category at the Rats Hole Custom Bike Show - the most prestigious custom bike
competition in the world organized every year at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally - the world’s largest motorcycle rally. In the same year The Recidivist also won the first place in the “PRO” category in the Harley-Davidson Museum Custom Bike Show organized in the seat of Harley-Davidson, the city of Milwaukee. The company operates GOC Harley-Davidson Rzeszów, the largest Harley-Davidson dealership in Poland and Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the Game Over Cycles showroom. gameovercycles.com
WE LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU, the letters are among the most keenly read parts of the magazine. Please try and keep letters down to no more than 300 words. We do reserve the right to cut them and, you do need to provide a name and at least your state, if not, town or suburb. Please address letters to contactus@ausmotorcyclist.com.au or Australian Motorcyclist Magazine, 17 Weeroona Place, Rouse Hill NSW 2155. All opinions published here are those of the writers and we do not vouch for their accuracy or even their sanity.
IF YOU’VE ALWAYS WONDERED what it’s like riding outback Australia, take a read through Jeff’s following words. It really is what adventures are made of.
For Jeff’s efforts, he wins the Motul Chain Pack. Send me your postal address, mate.
For all your lubrication needs, check out the extensive Motul range – linkint.com.au SW
Bear, Although I only know of our paths crossing once we have been to a few of the same out of the way places.
We have previously had correspondence about Rabbit Flat and now you have written about Kinchega National Park.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s I spent some time at Kinchega (and a month at Sturt National Park in the NW corner of NSW) as practical work for my Uni degree.
I have slept in and under the Kinchega shearers quarters with other uni students, I have had a number of meals in Maidens Hotel and I’ve caught lots of Perch in the Darling. I also had a ‘religious experience’ (alcohol induced) at Lake Cawndilla, but that’s a story for another time.
Hello Jeff, and thank you for your letter. Kinchega certainly played a part in prompting my love of arid Australia.
I think I camped there four times, and once across the river at Pooncarie.
My recent visit showed me that it is still one of my favourite places, even though I took a seriously wrong turn at one point.
I’m planning more outback rides.
Might see you out in the dust at some stage.
Cheers, The Bear
Hi Stuart
As pedestrian as it sounds, thanks for a great motorcycling magazine. Before I arrive at my main agenda, kudos to the genius who made the call to put the issue number in a red box in the top corner of the mag, my missus usually picks up my copy from the local newsagent, all bikes look the same to her, so the number really helps.
Moto model where mention was made of the LED headlight as fitted to the bike and that the headlight has adaptive aspects to its operation. This prompted me to look online for an adaptive 7-inch round LED headlight, that I could fit to my SV 1000 N. I bought a headlight but found that I needed extra pieces to be able to install into the headlight housing, I ended up buying a whole aftermarket housing assembly to get the rings that clamp the headlight and make it a straight swap in for the H4 halogen light. I have had the light on the bike for several weeks now and I find the light quite brilliant to ride with, the main beam is very good, and I find the side lights that activate at low speed in a turn and illuminate the inside of the corner of the road very useful. I’m wondering about the legalities of using this light, do you know?
By the way, I agree with Boris’s latest article, it’s great fun to ride in the bush. Before the Suzuki came along, I was riding a pre-Tupperware KLR 650, on which I had some great fun riding in the bush around the Perth foothills. However, as a dodderer I would warn all riders to be aware that they are most likely not the only ones tearing up the tracks and another rider, or tin top may be coming the other way.
Kind Regards
I think my time at Kinchega and Sturt National Parks gave me my love of arid Australia, the reason I have spent 40 years in Alice Springs.
Thanks for a blast from the past.
Jeff Cole Mparntwe (Alice Springs)
I was surprised recently to find that what may be a stalwart of Australian dual sport motorcycling is hanging up its boots. I write of the great Suzuki DR 650 which is to be discontinued from this year, how about a memorial article for a great and popular bike.
Now to the main point, after reading a recent article about a CF
Glenn Carne Baldivis WA.
Hi Glenn, Great idea re the DR. I’ll put it on the list…
Another excellent idea re the headlight on
continued on page 108..
by our friends at Motorrad Garage
to improve my biceps
continued from page 104...
to improve my biceps
...
Hi Harry,
to improve my biceps
Hi Harry,
Hi Harry,
I’m sure your legs look fine to the ones that care…your family. As for your bike not being a very good exercise machine, you better get an adventure bike and do some hillclimbs, that will get the muscles burning! - Cheers, Stuart.
your SV. As for the legalities, unless it’s an ADR approved headlight you could (and I mean a slim chance) be pinged for it – as silly as that sounds.
too bad, but will certainly consider Mick at MJM. I know a few people who have had their seat done by him. Thanks for the kind words. Merry Xmas!
I’m sure your legs look fine to the ones that care…your family. As for your bike not being a very good exercise machine, you better get an adventure bike and do some hillclimbs, that will
Cheers,
Hi Stuart, Firstly, great mag, love it each month. The Kawasaki Versys 1000 S you reviewed in the
I’m sure your legs look fine to the ones that care…your family. As for your bike not being a very good exercise machine, you better get an
Hi Peter/ Stuart,
Braidwood. Purpose to ride, have a social get together and have some food whilst out. Now, no such trips.
have to go out for work or food and essentials.
Paint” goes in real life. Regards, Mark, QLD
the ACT except those who by necessity have to go out for work or food and essentials.
There is nobody much on the roads in the ACT except those who by necessity have to go out for work or food and essentials.
long”. I remember back a few years ago when you ran a cover shot with a girl and a rusty bike and the reaction some ‘special’ people wrote into you about. They all need to relax and just realise times were different and a bit of history every now and again is a good thing.
I have been managing to use the bike for essential trips within the confines of the ACT border but that is a big change from our weekly ride group where we would usually ride out of the ACT to, say, Goulburn or Boorowa or Yass or
I have been managing to use the bike for essential trips within the confines of the ACT border but that is a big change from our weekly ride group where we would usually ride out of the ACT to, say, Goulburn or Boorowa or Yass or
Hey Stuart, You must be a sucker for punishment. It seems you always get the bikes that are stuffed, rebuild them and someone buys them without you really enjoying them! Sounds like you’ve got another one with that GSX1100 racebike you and your mate Chris have?
Cheers
Adam
Newcastle NSW
Braidwood. Purpose to ride, have a social get together and have some food whilst out. Now, no such trips. I know there has been panic in terms of buying up of products like loo paper, tissues, hand sanitizer, pasta, canned tomatoes and other products. This panic buying has been ridiculous in my opinion and created a problem of store supply where there was no need to stockpile goods at home. I note that the news reports say that a small supermarket group Drake’s has refused to buy back 150 x 32 roll packs of toilet paper and 150 x 1 ltr sanitizer. I am GLAD they refused a refund as the individual concerned was having about 20 people chase these products and then he attempted to re-sell on E-Bay. Serve the bugger right for being a scungy individual!
deaths, however this pandemic of COVID
Braidwood. Purpose to ride, have a social get together and have some food whilst out. Now, no such trips.
I know there has been panic in terms of buying up of products like loo paper, tissues, hand sanitizer, pasta, canned tomatoes and other products. This panic buying has been ridiculous in my opinion and created a problem of store supply where there was no need to stockpile goods at home. I note that the news reports say that a small supermarket group Drake’s has refused to buy back 150 x 32 roll packs of toilet paper and 150 x 1 ltr sanitizer. I am GLAD they refused a refund as the individual concerned was having about 20 people chase these products and then he attempted to re-sell on E-Bay. Serve the bugger right for being a scungy individual!
I know there has been panic in terms of buying up of products like loo paper, tissues, hand sanitizer, pasta, canned tomatoes and other products. This panic buying has been ridiculous in my opinion and created a problem of store supply where there was no need to stockpile goods at home. I note that the news reports say that a small supermarket group Drake’s has refused to buy back 32 roll packs of toilet paper and 150 x 1 ltr sanitizer. I am GLAD they refused a refund as the individual concerned was having about 20 people chase these products and then he attempted to re-sell on E-Bay. Serve the bugger right for being a scungy individual!
I would like to throw in my two bobs worth regarding exhaust noise. 10 years ago I decided that I would do mobile machine servicing throughout NSW and beyond (if they pay) 98% of my work traveling is by motorcycle. After about 2 years I decided to fit a set of Staintune exhaust which raised the decibels slightly, and I did find that it did catch the attention of surrounding vehicles better than with the standard exhaust, this was a good safety feature for me as I am constantly traveling slightly quicker than surrounding traffic and being noticed certainly helps you do it safer. I must say 98% of the motorists on the road weekdays are very accommodating in allowing you to do your bit without adding extra pressure on your riding.
deaths, however this pandemic of COVID
etc you can catch from shaking someone’s
etc you can catch from shaking someone’s
So, comparing normal worldwide deaths to COVID19 deaths is like trying to compare
So, comparing normal worldwide deaths to COVID19 deaths is like trying to compare apples and oranges.
COVID19 deaths is like trying to compare apples and oranges.
everyone updates as I go along. Cheers, Stuart.
All the people dissing Boris “Get a Life”. Don’t read it, you know where it is. Last page! Ignore it!
I felt your editorial came across as dismissive of the seriousness of Covid19 and smacked a bit of self-centredness in highlighting the inconvenience it has caused you. I like bikes and riding too, but many people have had to alter travel plans etc for the greater good.
I felt your editorial came across as dismissive of the seriousness of Covid19 and smacked a bit of self-centredness in highlighting the inconvenience it has caused you. I like bikes and riding too, but many people have had to alter travel plans etc for the greater good.
I felt your editorial came across as dismissive of the seriousness of Covid19 and smacked a bit of self-centredness in highlighting the inconvenience it has caused you. I like bikes and riding too, but many people have had to alter travel plans etc for the greater good.
I too am really enjoying riding out in the bush lately. Bit more freedom out there amongst the gum trees, and yes, you must always keep left as that pesky four-wheel drive will, right at the wrong time, be coming around that corner you decided to cut. Cheers, Stuart.
I have been managing to use the bike for essential trips within the confines of the ACT border but that is a big change from our weekly ride group where we would usually ride out of the ACT to, say, Goulburn or Boorowa or Yass or
Cheers, Peter
I haven’t enjoyed a bike mag like this since the old Two Wheels that as a kid I’d eagerly pedal my pushy to the newsagents for every month and read every page once I got it home. I love all bikes and respect anyone
All that said, I think your quoting of figures of the people that die daily from cancer, heart disease, diabetes, mozzies and murders is an unfair comparison! Yes to date the total numbers of COVID19 deaths World Wide would be exceeded by a week’s worth or less perhaps of the
who shares the passion, regardless of their ability or choice of machine. So, I have subscribed, to most of the magazine, but thanks for the spare shit paper at the end :)
A couple of little tips from someone who does traffic riding every day whilst concentrating on zipping through the traffic you tend to not remind yourself of speed camera locations and they are becoming very savage nowadays (been booked 4 times
All that said, I think your quoting of figures of the people that die daily from cancer, heart disease, diabetes, mozzies and murders is an unfair comparison! Yes to date the total numbers of COVID19 deaths World Wide would be exceeded by a week’s worth or less perhaps of the
All that said, I think your quoting of figures of the people that die daily from cancer, heart disease, diabetes, mozzies and murders is an unfair comparison! Yes to date the total numbers of COVID19 deaths World Wide would be exceeded by a week’s worth or less perhaps of the
Hi Adam, LOL! It does seem that way at times, doesn’t it! No, I’ve made money off the bikes I’ve bought and had to do any work on to improve them, which is always the name of the game. With the GSX racebike, Chris and I have always said that one day we’d give it a birthday and now is the right time to get it on the go. It is going to take quite a bit of time to get it back ready to race as many design changes are needed for what we want, but I’ll give
Hugh Jorgan
Don’t ruin a top read because of one page, personally I love his column (even though I feel he has a firm grip on his nether region). Be a boring read if we succumb to the lowest common denominator. No name provided BORIS 2
I think that all the media reporting though is worrisome for Australian people as it is repeated and repeated and like the bushfires you do not get a break from it. Every time you turn on the T.V, look at Facebook, listen to the radio it is in your face or ears.
Stuart, I don’t always agree with what Boris has to say but I am well aware of how he writes to get a reaction.
Regards
Hi Stuart, I never really thought that it could be difficult for you to enjoy a holiday. When you work for the man, it is a given that holidays will be taken, it’s not until I sat down and thought about you working for yourself and the constant deadlines you must face and that it would be harder than most to enjoy a break. Good on you and I hope you had a good time.
I think that all the media reporting though is worrisome for Australian people as it is repeated and repeated and like the bushfires you do not get a break from it. Every time you turn on the T.V, look at Facebook, listen to the radio it is in your face or ears.
I think that all the media reporting though is worrisome for Australian people as it is repeated and repeated and like the bushfires you do not get a break from it. Every time you turn on the T.V, look at Facebook, listen to the radio it is in your face or ears.
I try to reduce my listening/reading/ watching to once or twice a day to keep up with developments - more than that is
I try to reduce my listening/reading/ watching to once or twice a day to keep up with developments - more than that is
I try to reduce my listening/reading/ watching to once or twice a day to keep up with developments - more than that is
Hi Bear, I had a really good laugh at your comment “somebody stop me before I modify another perfectly good motorcycle” (AM #105) - as this is so quintessential of me! If you view the included pictures of my last two bikes you will see that I could not help myself trying to make my BMW F700 into what I considered the best tourer for exploring out of the way places. Likewise my poor Suzuki GSX S750 was piled up with all kinds of add-ons to make it into my perfect road tourer. I just can’t help myself – LOL.
Grant Jameson Melbourne, Victoria
As for the couple of blokes that sent letters in the last issue, I think
Hey Stu,
Great mag, I love it. It seems to have been some time since you ran a test on an Indian, so it was great to see you got your hands on the Challenger. I’ve been patiently waiting for you guys to do a test and my thoughts of it being a good bike are correct. I’ll be popping into the local dealer and checking one out for sure now.
Thanks Peter Wollongong NSW
Hi Peter,
Excellent. It has been a bit of a challenge to get an Indian as they’ve been selling every single bike, they could get their hands on during the madness that has been covid. Cheers, Stuart.
Hi guys,
Like you I fell in love with the looks and simplicity of the Triumph Street Twin (in polar blue), but was told by the dealer after paying a deposit that it will not arrive here in South Australia until May or June. The years (2 years your junior) have not mellowed my impatience (I too am “considering the end” and have a “timescale for planning”). The dealer suggested the limited edition EC1 as an alternative ($17,150 vs- $16,590) which is due to arrive in January – so I forgo the polar blue model (you lucky lucky bastard –a nod to Monty Python) and ‘settled’ for the EC1 in matt aluminium silver. Now we come to the most important part of new motorcycle ownership – what modifications to make? I have similar views to yours on the evolution of my Street Twin – I have outgrown any unrealistic views on my abilities to be a café racer (my ex son-in-law stirs me about the ‘chicken-skin’ left on the edge my tyres). So, I concur with you that my Street Twin will become more of a Tearoom Twin. My daughters and wife caution me about ruining the looks of a such a good looking motorcycle (how well they know me)!
Due to delays in obtaining parts here in Adelaide I have ordered the
Loved reading about the Husqvarna Hack in the latest issue (#113). The question I have, isn’t all sidecar motorcycles hacks anyway? Someone at some point in time must have put a bathtub or a lounge chair on a homemade frame for a bit of fun around a paddock. This makes them
ADRIATIC MOTO TOURS
– Europe
www.adriaticmototours.com
info@adriaticmototours.com
CENTRAL OTAGO
holders/bags (particularly the lockable
tank ring mounts) to my bikes but this
• a sidestand extender plate (I had the unfortunate experience of the side stand on the fully loaded BMW GS 700 sinking into soft ground and crushing my ankle and breaking a few bones)
all hacks in my mind, just like anything cobbled up in the farm shed with a welder has been hacked, whether that’s two, three, four or more wheels. Great mag by the way. Keep it up.
Onya, Jack Pearson Tamworth NSW
Hi Stu,
• A RAM mirror mount to screw into the hole vacated by the standard mirror to mount my Garmin GPS I currently have an expandable Nelson Rigg seat bag which will serve as storage for non-touring riding, but I plan to fit rear bags for touring and am impressed with the quality and fitment
Can you thank Colin Whelan for
MAGIC MOTORCYCLING
MOTORCYCLE HIRE AND TOURS – New Zealand www.comotorcyclehire.co.nz info@comotorcyclehire.co.nz
EDELWEISS BIKE TRAVEL
– Worldwide tours*
*Guided, Self-Guided + Rental www.edelweissbike.com
IMTBIKE TOURS & RENTALS
– Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Europe and Thailand www.imtbike.com tours@imtbike.com
his Pub of the Month about Hillston. Sounds like a top place and me and my mates are already planning a trip there. That is, as soon as this bloody rain pisses off. Cheers, Ryan
Hey Mike, we just did the photos for my Tearoom Twin today, so you should be able to read about my alterations and additions in the next issue. I agree with most of yours, but I’ve taken it a bit further. I reckon it would be great for the two of us to go no a ride together to compare our changes. Send me your email address and maybe we can sort that. I seem to spend a lot of time in SA lately –
The Bear D
Hi Ryan, Colin reads each issue so I’m sure he’ll see your letter. I think he had fun doing this trip as well, so you’re sure to have a great one too. Cheers, Stuart.
The guide to the stars - The who’s who in the zoo of motorcycle travel worldwide is what you’ll find here. We’ve travelled with many of them and know them all, so they come highly recommended. In alphabetical order, they are:
– Thailand and Croatia www.magicmotorcycling.com tour@magicmotorcycling.com
MOTORRAD TOURS – Worldwide office@motorrad-tours.com www.motorrad-tours.com
PARADISE MOTORCYCLE
TOURS – New Zealand & European Alps www.paradisemotorcycletours.co.nz
RIDE THE WORLD
MOTORCYCLE TOURS www.ridetheworldmotorcycletours.com david@rtwmotorcycletours.com
ROMANIA MOTORCYCLE
TOURS – Europe www.romaniamotorcycletours.com office@romaniamotorcycletours.com
SOUTH PACIFIC MOTORCYCLE TOURS – New Zealand www.motorbiketours.co.nz office@motorbiketours.co.nz
TEWAIPOUNAMU MOTORCYCLE TOURS – New Zealand www.motorcycle-hire.co.nz nzbike@motorcycle-hire.co.nz
WORLD ON WHEELS
– Europe, Iceland, South America, India, Asia, Mexico, Africa & Himalaya www.worldonwheels.tours Adventure@WorldOnWheels.Tours
IT LOOKS AS IF the machines don’t even need to send Arnie back from the future to ensure their victory. My recent alertness test in hospital demonstrated that I was kidding myself; I had several microsleeps and even a couple of full-on, although only seconds-long, sleeping episodes during the four tests. Sleep apnoea really is affecting my waking hours. So now my life, or at least the night-time part of it, is ruled by an implacable machine. The sinister black cube of the CPAP machine has pride of place on my bedside table and wheezes quietly away to itself as it maintains pressure on my airway.
I, meanwhile, look like that old bloke with the leather straps over his face from that science fiction show on TV. My straps are augmented by a clear plastic cup that covers nose and mouth. As always there is a sunny side to this physiognomic bondage experience. Not only am I less likely to unexpectedly go to sleep out on the road, but I have also stopped snoring. The whole thing therefore meets with Mrs Bear’s unqualified approval, not least because it is dark at night and she doesn’t have to look at me while I am thus encumbered.
Why am I telling you this in a motorcycle magazine? Well, partly because I have to do my whining somewhere – there’s no point in appealing for sympathy at home –and partly as a warning. If you fear that you might have sleep apnoea yourself, don’t put off getting tested because you might not like the idea of that Fisher & Paykell (yes, same manufacturers as your fridge) machine ruling your sleeping hours. Those daytime sleeps are real, and they can easily cause serious problems. Like
running off the road and dying.
On a considerably more immediately cheerful note, I am making plans for my first OS trip in nearly three years. Edelweiss, the world’s largest motorcycle tour operation, has been trying to get me to ride the Alps with them for quite a while and in early July I am off to do just that.
The tour I am joining is one of Edelweiss’ most popular ones, Ultimate Alps. This might sound odd considering the amount of riding I have done in Europe, but I have sampled few Alpine passes. That will be set right with this tour; I am only going to be duplicating one pass I’ve already ridden, and that is Stelvio.
“Why am I telling you this in a motorcycle magazine? Well, partly because I have to do my whining somewhere – there’s no point in appealing for sympathy at home…”
I cannot wait; not only do the Alps offer indescribably (although I will be trying) good riding, but Edelweiss has never disappointed me. I can’t really understand why other Australian riders are so reluctant at the moment to head OS, but I’ll be trying to convince you to go.
Not that there aren’t odd difficulties, impossible to imagine back in pre-Covid days. I am tacking on a short ride into Czechia at the end of the Edelweiss tour. Trying to book my own accommodation, I have been told by one hotel that they can’t accommodate me because they don’t expect to have enough staff. My pleas that I will cheerfully make my own bed have been met with silence.
Oddly, it is one pass that I have long considered to be overrated. Maybe this ride will change my mind. Whatever happens, you will read about it in Australian Motorcyclist. And you know, odd as it may sound, I enjoy writing about my rides almost as much as doing them. It’s all about sharing the joy of getting out on a motorcycle to try new roads and see new sights, as well as trying new food and drink. There are more different varieties of beer out there than there are of wine, and they all await my palate. Something to truly look forward to, even if that black cube awaits me at night.. D
E W B I K E P R I C E S
G 310 GS
F 750 GS
F 750 GS Tour
F 750 GS Low Susp
F 750 GS Tour LS
F 850 GS
F 850 GS Rallye
APRILIA
aprilia.com.au
BENELLI
F 850 GS Rallye X
F 850 GS Tour
F 850 GS Low Susp
F 850 GS Rallye Low Susp
F 850 GS Tour Low Susp
F 850 GSA
R 1250 GS
R 1250 GS Rallye
R 1250 GS Rallye X
R 1250 GS Exclusive
R 1250 GS Spezial
R 1250 GSA
R 1250 GSA Rallye
R 1250 GSA Rallye X
R 1250 GSA Exclusive
R 1250 GSA Spezial
SCOOTER
C 650 Sport
C 650 GT
CE 04
BROUGH SUPERIOR
broughsuperioraustralia.com.au
SS100 (Euro3)
SS100 (Euro 4)
Pendine Sand Racer
Lawrence
$8090
$13,590
$17,305
$13,840
$17,005
$17,990
$18,390
$22,305
$21,805
$18,240
$18,640
$21,505
$TBA
$23,490
$24,940
$29,890
$28,140
$31,390
$25,490
$26,390
$31,590
$30,790
$30,540
$14,150
$14,990
$TBA
ducati.com.au
*All Ducati prices are ride away ROAD Scrambler Icon
$105,000
$110,000
$105,000
$119,000 Anniversary
AMB 001
CAN-AM (BRP)
can-am.brp.com
Ryker
Spyder F3
Spyder RT
CF MOTO
cf-moto.com.au
ROAD 150NK
$168,000
$185,000
$13,799
$29,299
$39,299
$31,445
KAWASAKI
kawasaki.com.au
ROAD
lambrettaaustralia.com.au
MOTO GUZZI
www.motoguzzi.com.au
HUSQVARNA
KTM
S
S SE
S Café
900 Classic
ktm.com.au
piaggio.com.au
PEUGEOT
peugeotmotorcycles.com.au
royalenfieldaustralia.com
*All Royal Enfield prices are ride away
ROAD
Meteor 350 Fireball
Meteor 350 Stellar
Meteor 350 Supernova
Classic 350 Halycon
Classic 350 Signals
$7890
$8290
$8690
$7990
$8290
Classic 350 Dark $8690
Classic 350 Chrome $8790
Interceptor 650 Classic $10,790
Interceptor 650 Custom $11,090
Interceptor 650 Chrome Mk2 $11,390
Continental GT 650 Classic $10,990
Continental GT 650 Custom $11,290
Continental GT 650 Chrome $11,590
ADV TOURING
Himalayan 410 E4
TRIUMPH
triumphmotorcycles.com.au
*All Triumph prices are ride away
ROAD
Trident 660
Street Triple S 660
Street Triple R
Street Triple RS
Street Twin
Street Scrambler
Bonneville T100
$7690
Himalayan 410 Base $8190
Himalayan 410 Mid $8390
Himalayan 410 Premium $8590
SUPER SOCO
supersoco.com.au
*All Super Soco prices are ride away
ROAD
TC Café $5490
TC Max alloy wheel $7990
TC Max wire wheel $8290
SCOOTER
CUX $4990
CUX Special Edition Ducati $5490 CPX
SUZUKI
suzukimotorcycles.com.au
ROAD
GSX-S125
/ LAMS $10,490 GSX-R750 $17,490
GSX-S1000
GSX-S1000GT
GSX-S1000 Panorama GT
GSX-S1000 Katana
GSX-R1000R
GSX1300R Hayabusa
1050 XT
$12,840
$14,990
$18,140
$19,950
$16,190
$18,590
$18,290
Bobber $22,490
Bonneville T120 $20,890
Speedmaster
Thruxton RS
Speed Twin
Tiger Sport 850
Speed Triple 1200 RS
Speed Triple 1200 RR
SPECIAL EDITION
Street Twin EC1
$17,150
T100 Goldline $19,190
T120 Goldline $22,090
Street Scrambler Goldline
Bobber Goldline
Speedmaster Goldline
Scrambler 1200 XC Goldline
Scrambler 1200 XE Goldline
T100 Bud Ekins
T120 Bud Ekins
Thruxton RS Ton Up Edition
Tiger 1200 Alpine
Tiger 1200 Desert
Rocket 3 R 221 Edition
Rocket 3 GT 221 Edition
LIMITED EDITION
Street Twin Goldline
Street Scrambler Sandstorm
T120 Diamond
T120 Ace
Scrambler 1200 Steve McQueen
Daytona Moto2 765
CRUISER
$19,490
$23,790
$23,790
$24,690
$26,090
$18,000
$19,900
$27,150
$27,250
$28,750
$35,850
$36,850
$16,900
$18,990
$20,350
$20,650
$26,100
$28,990
Rocket 3 R $34,450
Rocket 3 GT $35,490
ADV TOURING
Scrambler 1200 XC $23,450
Scrambler 1200 XE $24,890
Tiger 900 GT & GT Low $21,150
Tiger 900 Rally
$22,390
Tiger 900 GT Pro $24,190
Tiger 900 Rally Pro $24,790
TRIUMPH FACTORY CUSTOM (TFC) triumphmotorcycles.com.au
*All TFC prices are ride away ROAD
Thruxton TFC $33,990
Bobber TFC
WORDS BORIS MIHAILOVIC
IMISS THOSE OLD HARLEY
dealers from time to time. I’m not sure many of you do, since most of you weren’t riding Harleys in the late 80s, so your concept of a Harley dealer is rather modern.
And this is no bad thing. For you. You’re probably retired, and you’ve bought a Harley because you’ve always wanted one, and you were given membership in a “club”, scored a bunch of H-D garments to go with the bike, and the whole dealer experience was very holistic, positive, and cheerful.
That ain’t the way it used to be. Which is a shame. Because the way it used to be meant only the people who really wanted to ride Harleys ended up doing so. And since most of those people also wanted to join or were in outlaw clubs, the buying experience and after-sales service reflected this.
Which was only right and proper. Because buying a Shovelhead in 1984 was serious business. It helped if you were mentally unstable. And I certainly was, so it was like Kismet for me.
There were no fancy, shiny, mood-lit Harley dealerships back then. Most of the Harley dealers – and there were
fight with the police, and ride around drunk on cheap liquor.
Unlike the ersatz “lifestyle” current Harley buyers think they’re purchasing today, in 1984 you were buying into the real deal – and if that meant the tattooed monster behind the counter could not be arsed going to look for a clutch-cable you needed, then you came back when he was.
Back then, it really was a Fit In or Eff Off, kinda deal. Not like the cute FIFO badge thingy the Hoggers wear today. And you fit in, or you did indeed eff off, or were effed off with a broken jaw. It was fantastic.
Visceral, wicked, and full of sin, those old school Harley shops were truly places your parents wished you’d never visit to hang with people your parents also warned you about.
But once you’d become a regular, and if you owned a Shovelhead, or a Panhead, or even one of those lunacyinducing iron-head Sportsters, you would be a very frequent visitor, then things changed.
You and the beast behind the counter would be almost-friends. Like, he’d still kill you if the need arose,
you’d originally come in for.
Sometimes, you’d be asked around the back. You’d be offered coffee, or a beer, a joint, or maybe a line of tearinducing speed. There might be a few other evil-looking blokes out there, who would stare at you with suspicion, but if the beast vouched for you and brought you back there, then all would be cool. Most of the time.
There was an active sense of menace to a Harley shop back then. But there was also a genuine camaraderie. None of this confected marketing department bullshit HOG wallows in. You had to be mentally unstable in all the right ways to buy a Shovelhead back then, and only other mentallyunstable people would want anything to do with you.
As you might understand, none of these operations were great business models. They all limped along, the owners making just enough to get by, but the owners didn’t really want to do anything else – and were fundamentally unemployable in any case.
Nowadays, it’s very different. And very successful. Once Harley began making reliable bikes and offering them to normal people, things had to change. Big Business took over. And Big Business made a success of the Harley business. Harley did its bit by making bikes that didn’t shit themselves every week, and then brilliantly marketing them at people who wanted to look like vaguely outlaws, but not spend any time being
Which is a lot of people, I guess. And thus did something very unique pass from this world – a bike shop that sold bikes to people who wanted to buy those bikes (and only those bikes), and were more than happy to pay whatever price needed to be paid to do so.
And no, I’m not talking about money.
JOCK’S WORLD…
Haven’t we all encountered this! (insert face plant!)
Shannons are giving motoring enthusiasts the chance to win ‘The All-American Sports Car’ – a 1974 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible and a heritage-inspired 2022 Scout Indian Motorcycle! Including up to 12-months Shannons Comprehensive Car and Bike Insurance and Shannons Roadside Assist1. Plus $5,000 cash for eligible Shannons Club Members2.
The Corvette combines the road-holding and handling qualities of a true sports car with the grace and refinement of a personal luxury car. The car on offer is sympathetically restored and in the original left-hand drive configuration. Finished in classic white with black vinyl upholstery. Under the bonnet, a factory original 350 V8 motor with a 4-speed manual transmission provides great driver engagement.
The Scout Indian Motorcycle is where heritage-inspired design meets modern performance. Featuring a low seat height and lightweight frame for an easy ride and a liquid-cooled, 1133cc, 94-horsepower V-twin for punchy acceleration. You could win up to $103,000 in prizes!
