Australian Motorcyclist Issue #46 by Tony Clemenger

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Editor Stuart Woodbury

Editor Emeritus J Peter Thoeming

Sales Manager Ralph Leavsey-Moase ralph@ausmotorcyclist.com.au

Designer Amy Hale

Photo Editor Nick Wood

Photographers Nick Wood Photography, Half-Light Photography

Contributors Robert Crick, Mike Grant, Jacqui Kennedy, Robert Lovas, Phil Gadd, Boris Mihailovic, Lester Morris, The Possum,Guy Stanford, Stuart Strickland, Michael Walley, Colin Whelan

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EDITORSPEAKS

what’s he blabbing on about now?

Isn’t it funny how some bikes get a ‘tag’ as being boring, or not ‘up to the job’. A prime example of this is BMW’s R 1100 R between the mid to late ’90s and the changeover to the 1200 engine in the early 2000s. It is not the prettiest, but damn, it is such an underrated machine. Not only does it handle, but there’s enough power to keep up with just about any other bike. My father owned one a few years ago and it was great to round up much more fancied machines and teach them a lesson on ‘Dad’s bike’. Of course he had a sneaking suspicion that I used to ﬂog his Beemer because the tyres would always come back a bit worse for wear, but I used to enjoy this underrated bike and when it came time to tour, whip the panniers on and travel the country!

BMW of course continued the naked, R model until only a couple of years ago and has now reintroduced it to the lineup, so if you want a great second hand or new stealth machine, check one out. Dad unfortunately decided to sell the Beemer for something better looking. He bought a Honda VFR800F, but always missed the more relaxed riding position of the R.

My mate Chris runs Classic Gas Motorcycles and I caught up with him the other day for a coffee and he was riding an R 1100 RS – the ‘sportier’ version of the R – actually much the same bike with a sportier riding position. I’d not ridden this model bike before with its ‘cushioned’ handlebars, so we swapped. When Chris had taken off on the PTR Suzuki (which you’ll read about in this issue) and I was still rolling the bike off the centre stand, I thought he’d stitched me up with a dud when the handlebars started moving up and down! This was kind of off putting until I got used to leaning into corners and having the handlebars waggle away. Chris has this great looking machine for sale for only three and a half grand, which brings me to my point.

Older machines are well capable of mixing it with the current crop of bikes.

This RS would tour Australia as easily as something with another two zeros on the end on the price tag. I’m sure many of us get caught up in having to have the latest and greatest. I’m not saying that having the latest bike is bad, but just because one of your mates has an older bike, he/she will still get to a destination at much the same time you do and most likely just as comfortably –the RS proved this to me.

Another friend (Martin) recently ask my advice on what type of bike would suit him. He recently sold his BMW R 1200 GSA and was now looking at cruisers, namely the Suzuki M109R. Martin doesn’t mind holding a decent pace through the twisties and I didn’t think a cruiser was the right ﬁt for him. He only has ten grand to play with so I recommended buying a second hand Yamaha MT-09. It’s nice and upright for his tallness, there’s more than enough power and it is a fun bike through the corners. Then, when he wants to get away for a couple of days, he can sling a set of throw over panniers on and enjoy.

If you’re buying a bike, new or second hand, think outside the box. I even knew a guy who used to do adventure touring on a 1000cc sportsbike and covered 18,000km before selling it for a bike with a bigger topbox so he could ﬁt his coffee machine inside!

As my father always says, “Run what ya brung”. Spot on, I reckon.

Enjoy!

Cheers, Stuart.

GRIZZLING FROMTHEBEAR

UH (BZZT) OH!

This month’s column is effectively a reprint of a Federation of European Motorcyclists’ Associations (FEMA) press release. Read it and weep.

Another one of the boys gets a steady job, in this case rescuing toy boats from the pond at the local park in Kirribilli. Never underestimate a bear!

A traffic accident in Norway, involving a Model S with Autopilot engaged, two other vehicles, and a motorcycle, has prompted questions as to whether testing of Tesla’s Autopilot system sufficiently took into account two-wheeled vehicles. This follows recent official tests in Germany that characterized this feature as a “traffic hazard.”

FEMA… has issued a formal letter to the Dutch vehicle authority RDW inquiring whether testing procedures of autonomous vehicles take into account two-wheelers.

Similar action had been undertaken earlier by the Norwegian riders’ organization NMCU, directing questions towards the transport minister, Ketil Solvik-Olsen, and Tesla co-founder and CEO, Elon Musk. This was sparked by an accident on the E18 road to Drammen, Norway, where a Tesla Model S with Autopilot engaged rear-ended and seriously injured a female motorcyclist on July 27.

The reason for this action taking place in the Netherlands has to do with EU policy. Any manufacturer wanting to import a vehicle into the EU needs only to obtain a European whole vehicle type approval in one member state; this documentation is then automatically valid throughout the Union. Tesla obtained it (in Holland), hence… the country’s vehicle authority being the primary recipient of the letter.

to Tesla’s Autopilot.

Merely a week before the FEMA letter, a small scandal was unfolding in Germany after the magazine Der Spiegel published a previously unseen report from the Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt) on the Tesla Model S Autopilot.

The German tests had started as soon as the ﬁrst fatal accident involving the system was reported in May in the US.

With an estimated 3,000 Tesla Model S cars sold in Germany, the authorities were understandably obliged to look deeper into the matter.

After many thousands of kilometres of testing, BASt reportedly concluded that Autopilot represents a significant traffic hazard. Judging that is was not designed for complex urban traffic situations, the report declared that the car’s sensors are too short-sighted to cope with the reality of German motorways.

The federal agency in charge of motor transport evaluated the research institute’s results and responded swiftly, proposing that the government provisionally suspend Tesla’s type approval. Although this didn’t happen, German Model S owners are reported to have received ofﬁcial federal correspondence urging them to remain vigilant while the Autopilot system is engaged.

passenger cars.

It then proceeds to demand that Advanced Driver Assistant Systems (ASAD) must always be tested with twowheelers as well, especially since there are several other manufacturers currently developing self-driving technology. Taking it one step further, FEMA suggests that Tesla should have its approval suspended until it can guarantee the safety of other road users.

And just as things are heating up for Tesla’s Autopilot in Europe, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (CDMV) has ordered Tesla to cease and desist from advertising said system as self-driving, automated or autopilot. As a vehicle rated at level two in ASAD technology in the US, it is not ofﬁcially considered capable of self-driving without the driver paying any attention – that is reserved for levels three to ﬁve, according to a scale adopted by the US federal government and the auto industry. Claiming to do so would therefore be misleading on behalf of Tesla, argues CDMV.

According to FEMA, it had reached out via email to the RDW on the same subject in March, without ever receiving a response. For motorcyclists the problem is the lack of evidence that Tesla’s self-driving hardware and software were developed in tests that included motorcycles. Instead, actual events seem to be proving otherwise, as Dutch (rider groups) are claiming knowledge of a number of other accidents or near-accidents directly tied

The question posed by Der Spiegel to the German transport minister Alexander Dobrindt asking why he knowingly – according to the magazine – ignored the report, is very similar to the one that FEMA is asking the Dutch authorities. Actually its letter contains a series of queries, culminating to the ﬁnal question that sums it all up: why a car equipped with advanced safety elements that may be insufﬁciently tested was allowed on public roads?

FEMA supports its arguments (with) American research conducted by John F. Lenkeit of Dynamic Research, which concludes that forward collision warning systems for automobiles fail dramatically to detect motorcycles, providing inadequate results in 41 percent of tested cases, against only 3.6 percent for

Tesla’s response to the above? After suggesting that is has always been clear that its Autopilot does not make a car autonomous any more than its namesake makes an aircraft autonomous, on October 19 the company announced that every Tesla produced from this point on will include full self-driving hardware, which will allow fully autonomous capabilities to be bestowed upon the vehicles via a software update, once it has been developed.

I can’t wait…

Peter ‘The Bear’ Thoeming

BEEZAS ARE BACK

We hope, anyway Indian car and truck company Mahindra has bought the rights to the BSA and JAWA names. Presumably they’ve seen how well Royal Enﬁ eld is doing and intend to do the same – we’re told they’ll have new models within two years. Let’s hope they’re well advised regarding models, engines – and of course looks. We certainly welcome this move.

OILY STUFF

campsite organised by the tyre brand to accommodate motorcyclists at the heart of the Isle of Man TT. For the ﬁ fth consecutive year, Metzeler will welcome motorcyclists to the National Sports Centre in Douglas, the multi-purpose facility that allows guests to experience the thrill of the TT from a privileged yet low-cost position, located right next to the famous Quarterbridge corner. To book your spot and for more information, visit www. metzelervillage.com

Suzuki Ecstar-sy Suzuki Australia has announced the launch of ‘Ecstar –Suzuki Genuine Motorcycle Oil’. It’s a premium product available from authorised Suzuki motorcycle dealers. For the ﬁ rst phase of the launch Suzuki will introduce R7000 and R9000 product lines. R7000 is a premium semi-synthetic oil, while R9000 is the top-of-the-line premium fullysynthetic oil. Both oils will be available in 1-litre and 4-litre bottles. They are SAE 10W40 grade and formulated to meet the demands of the latest generation of high performance Suzuki engines. See your local Suzuki dealer or visit www.suzukimotorcycles.com.au

ROLL ON IN

Metzeler Village: 2017 IoMTT

Registrations are open for the 2017 Metzeler Village, the special

MONKEY BUSINESS

The Monkey Run

The Monkey Run took place for the ﬁ rst time this April and involved

fourteen brave/stupid guinea pigs being led blindfolded into the Sahara desert, twelve hours from Marrakech, and told they had to get to a destination on the Atlantic Coast, 1000km away, six days later. The slight glitch? They had to travel the 1000 unknown kilometres on a 49cc Monkey Bike. Are you mad enough to give it a go? For more details or to sign up for a future Monkey Run visit www.theadventurists.com

ROUND AND BLACK

Michelin Australia launches new motorcycle website Michelin Australia has launched a new motorcycle website for all bike owners. The new website www.moto.michelin.com.au caters for every motorcycle type (commuting; adventure; touring, off-road, racing and retro) and features an array of utilities which you can use to search, research and compare when making your next purchase. Jump online and check it out. D

Incase you were worried that the motorcycle industry as a whole was losing its mojo, as I must admit I was, relax. Take comfort in the surge of innovation and spirit in the Japanese camp, and feel the joy of an industry in full cry among the Europeans and Americans. Everybody had something new and exciting at INTERMOT 2016, even the Italians who often hoard their new models for the EICMA show in Milan in November.

You might think that European motorcycle shows would all be pretty much alike, but that’s not necessarily so. Follow me as I begin accumulating the 11,304 steps that I took on the 4th of October, this year…

Beauty might be in the eye of the beholder, but everyone agreed that Ducati’s Super Sport is a lovely thing to look at.

HELLO, BREAKFAST

The 8.30 press breakfast consists of huge and tasty hors d’oeuvres accompanied by juice and reasonable coffee. While I’m still getting my head around the fact that I’m awake, the opening press conference starts and turns out to be surprisingly interesting. Who would have thought that the German motorcycle industry adds as much value to the economy as the entire furniture manufacturing business? Not impressed? Well, what about the growth of the industry in the past three years? German exports over all have grown by 11%. The motorcycle industry has grown by 46%! All good stuff, and they kindly give us a USB card containing the speeches so we don’t have to start scribbling so early, or mix up the ﬁgures.

As usual the crowd of journos ranges from representatives of conservative magazines like MOTORRAD to the wildest tattoo titles. I try to pick out my usual mates as we straggle over to Hall 6 and the 10.00 BMW presentation and say hello to Roland Brown and a couple of South Americans whose name I can’t remember. The “boulevard”, the huge corridor that links the main halls, has been dedicated to touring bikes and accessories, and it’s tempting to stop and check them out; but the Bavarians call!

BAVARIA BRINGS IT ON

We surge into Hall 6, to be greeted by BMW’s usual huge stand. One of the things I like about this is that there

are always nooks where different things are on display, like the Classic department’s offering. This time it’s a beautiful R 50.

But the drums are rolling, and so is the pair of new bikes based on the R nineT. Following the original bike and the Scrambler, we now have the Pure and the Racer. The Pure is what someone with less style might have called the Basic; clearly intended for customisation, it even comes in Catalano Grey which resembles an undercoat. A lot of people will be tempted to use the Pure to create their own vision of an R nineT. This is the ﬁrst new bike I’ve seen at Intermot, and I’m already one of them. What couldn’t you do with this! And here comes precisely what you might want to do with the Pure, except BMW

has

has already done it. The racer, its colour scheme reminiscent of BMW’s R Series race bikes, is simply beautiful. It has a Rickman-style fairing and takes me back to the ‘70s.

R It me to Heritage an transmission. to of pollutant both and

Both bikes, now called BMW Heritage models, feature the 1170 cc air/oil-cooled boxer engine with an output of 81 kW and a 6-speed transmission. They are both designed to meet the requirements of the EU4 pollutant class. ABS is standard and both Automatic Stability Control and wire-spoked wheels are factory options. Front suspension is by a conventional telescopic fork while a Paralever suspends the back. There is a long list of accessories, and BMW pointed out that the modular steel tubular space frame from the R nineT Scrambler provides ﬂexibility to change the appearance of both of these bikes, for example by adding different seats from the range of Original BMW Motorrad Accessories. No increase in performance but EU4 compliance and even more comfort

mark the new K 1600 GT. BMW reckons that it has taken the concept of the 6-cylinder high-performance touring bike further and has given it an

Touring by Vespa is not a bad idea, but why all the baggage?

Touring ﬂagship K 1600 GT has been upgraded even further.

Pure by name, somewhat plain by nature – but all ready to be customised.

BMW’s latest variation on the R nineT, the Racer, rolls onto the stand.

even more sophisticated, dynamic and comfortable form. And it’s got reverse! The starter motor takes care of moving the GT backwards. Dynamic Electronic Suspension can be changed while you’re moving, the fairing and instruments have been improved and a quick shifter is on the optional list.

“Intelligent Emergency Call for rapid assistance in the event of an accident or in emergency situations” is also an ex-works option for a number of bikes, but I suspect we’ll wait a while here before it is available in Australia. The same is true of the dynamic brake light available with ABS Pro, only in the EU. The S 1000 RR, R and XR have seen a number of upgrades, too many to list here, which include more power for the latter pair and DTC as standard for the RR. Various other models have seen upgrades, and we’ll ﬁll you in on those when we test the bikes. There is also BMW’s usual range of new riding gear, looking crisp and cool.

There’s a Gary Larsen cartoon of a schoolboy raising his hand and saying something like “Please Miss, may I go home? My brain is full.” I’m almost at that point after the ﬁrst presentation! But it’s time to head back out into the boulevard and on to Hall 8 and the ﬁrst of the Japanese launches.

RACE AND ROAD

This is as good a time as any to repeat just how impressed I was by the Japanese effort this year. Kawasaki alone announced no fewer than 12 new models in this coming season, and four of them saw the light at Intermot. Before we got to them, Mr Kenji Tomida, President of KHI’s

Motorcycle and Engine Company proposed the interesting concept of motorcycles that have “what you might term a personality and can grow along with the rider. Using an Emotion Generation Engine [a what?] and a Natural Language Dialogue System, this AI-controlled system can understand and interpret the rider’s intent and emotional state.

“Enabling rider and motorcycle to communicate and share an understanding of purpose will open the door to a new world of unprecedented riding experiences,” he continued. “Eventually both rider and motorcycle will be able to improve and grow, offering an all-new kind of riding enjoyment.”

Science ﬁction or the near future? We’ll have to wait and see.

The Ninja 650 with its trellis style frame, twin-cylinder liquid-cooled engine tuned for low and mid-range power and distinct Ninja style saw its European debut. It is intended to offer both sporting performance and commuting versatility.

The company unveiled a third machine in its outstanding line of Supercharged motorcycles (yes, we’ve got one!), the Ninja H2 Carbon as well as updates for the road focussed Ninja H2 and track-only Ninja H2R.

The Carbon edition is limited to 120 units world-wide and features a carbon ﬁbre upper cowl, a new paint treatment and – like its H2 and H2R stablemates for the 2017 season - an IMU measuring 6 degrees of machine attitude and a raft of electronic rider aids such as Kawasaki’s innovative cornering management function. And just in case you’ve got attention to spare when hooking it, each model is

now equipped with a bank angle display that displays (and records) lean angles when riding.

The Ninja ZX-10RR, with a maximum of 500 units to be sold to Superstock and Superbike teams as well as road riders in Europe, has

a modiﬁed cylinder head ready for racing camshafts, a more durable crankcase, an electronic up and down quick shifter, Brembo M50 calipers,

The ZX1000 received a bundle of upgrades, making it even more desirable.

Marchesini lightweight forged aluminium wheels and optional adjustable header pipe and rear pivot point.

The new version of the Z1000SX offers “silky smooth power delivery, more rider protection thanks to a wider cowling and higher screen plus plusher seating for both rider and passenger.” Can’t ask for much more than that, unless it’s the revised suspension, adjustable gear shift light, an assist and slipper clutch and easily adjustable rear pre-load. Let’s go!

Ninja 650 is going to be hard to resist; the look is far ‘bigger’ than the capacity.

The

Just when you thought the H2 had reached the pinnacle of exclusiveness, here comes the Carbon.

ENGINEERED WITH LOVE

Well, of course in this case that means “let’s go to the next stand”, which happened to be Suzuki, next door in Hall 7. Suzuki, like BMW, annoyed me by providing a card with a website listing for their press kit, instead of a USB stick. These damn sites often don’t work outside Europe, although to be fair both BMW’s and Suzuki’s did. A major problem remains: we don’t have easy access to information or images, and when the manufacturer closes down the ﬁles we don’t have any. No, we can’t download everything; not when some images are 160mb… All right, enough complaining.

Suzuki’s offering was headed up by two new GSX-R versions; the GSX-R1000 and 1000R. Introducing the all-new, 2017 Suzuki GSX-R1000 and GSX-R1000R, launched three decades and more than a million sold since the GSX-R line was born and, Suzuki says, a decade and a half since the ﬁrst GSX-R1000 changed the open sports bike class forever.

Suzuki is taking these bikes, the sixth generation, very personally. “It embodies the life work and professional ambition of Suzuki engineers who are passionate about the GSX-R1000 and its place in motorcycle history. Men who love riding and racing, enthusiasts determined to restore the GSX-R1000 to its proper title of The King of Sportbikes.”

With that sort of dedication, I can hardly do anything other than continue

to quote the press release. This bike “is the most powerful, hardestaccelerating, cleanest-running GSX-R ever built,” it says. “It is also the most compact, the most aerodynamic and the best-handling GSX-R1000,

with smoother throttle response and better combustion efﬁciency. With a supremely effective electronic engine management system that doesn’t require a degree in engineering to understand--and doesn’t need constant

adjustment by a squad of computer technicians to work.”

“Both versions come fully equipped for the street, ready for licensing. But take off the mirrors and the license plate and tape the lights and they’re also ready for closed-course fun. The heart of a racebike beats in every GSX-R1000 and GSX-R1000R.” There is also a GSX-R125 with ABS.

according to Suzuki. The engine offers 84kW output, improved acceleration, compliance with Euro4, class-leading fuel economy at 20.4km/L and much more, including a few nice touches like “a more appealing swingarm design… New air box inlet (to) produce a more exciting intake sound…” and “an added cover to hide the “hole” behind the engine.”

It is also a spectacularly goodlooking bike, something I’m happy to say about the new-look V-Stroms as well. Both the 650 and the 1000 have beneﬁted from a redesign that makes them look right up to date as well as being reminiscent of the famous DR-BIG. They also have a number of updates which make already popular models even more attractive, including wire wheeled versions of both bikes. An interesting addition is a “Low RPM assist” system to reduce unexpected engine stalling.

SLINGSHOT FIRES

By now it was High Noon, a terriﬁc time to be heading over to the Polaris stand, featuring Indian and Victory among other products such as the spectacular Slingshot threewheeled sports “car” which was being launched into Europe. Along with new powersports models, that was pretty much it for news from Indian or Victory, but the stand was a beauty.

The next presentation was actually in the same hall, a blessing for feet that were beginning to ache.

Backing up the GSX-S1000 launched last year, the 750 is intended to be “The aggressive looking Street bike with friendly character”

Suzuki’s GSX-S750 was received most enthusiastically.

Designed and built with dedication: the ‘King of Sportbikes’, Suzuki’s new GSX-R1000.

Memories of DR BIG came ﬂooding back when the new 1000cc V-Strom made its debut.

The Polaris stand (in the background) was well worth a look.

FASTER SONS, FASTER

A lot of Yamaha’s news was about colour changes; perhaps not earthshaking, but it’s interesting to see how a different colour or colour scheme can cast new light on a bike. That was by no means all, though. There was also a bike which made it obvious that Yamaha is keeping up with the market trends – the SCR950, one of the socalled “Sport Heritage” models. “Yamaha's Sport Heritage models have truly captured the imagination of those riders who appreciate characterful motorcycles that combine authentic heritage with modern technology and timeless style,” says the company. “Each one of these motorcycles has been developed using our 'Faster Sons' philosophy, in which we create exciting and individually styled bikes that pay homage to classic designs from our past while giving you modern performance and riding experience.”

Few bikes are as versatile as BMW’s F series GSs; I found this one close to ideal

Beaming

The ever-efﬁcient and ever-friendly BMW system swung into action to have an F 800 GS waiting for me at Frankfurt airport, as requested. You’ll read more about my ride to and from the show in Cologne in another issue, but I would like to thank everyone in Melbourne and Munich for their help. The 800 turned out to be exactly the right bike for my travels; it is ideal on Germany’s well-made back roads both wet and dry.

Not so much on some of the Autobahn, where lack of speed limits means that cars travel over 200km/h even in the middle lane. But then I was trying to stay off the Autobahn anyway, and nobody has ever claimed that a bike like the 800 was intended for this brutal environment. I did have a couple of close ones, and you’ll read about them here in MOTORCYCLIST; but I lived to tell the tale, and I’m more impressed by the mid-sized GSs than ever.

This is where they build new Yamahas. Maybe. Well, maybe not. The ‘workshop’ looked terriﬁc.

The SCR950 is just begging to be customised, isn’t it? That’s Yamaha’s hope, anyway.

for the typical stop-start urban environment. A well-produced little video later, and we are on our way across the boulevard to Hall 9 and Triumph.

The bike to do that is the new SCR950, “a stylish and purposeful looking V-twin that captures the timeless spirit of the iconic street scrambler.”

The bike has just a little bit of a Harley-Davidson Sportster look, but is generally rather neutral in appearance which makes it clear that customising is the major use that Yamaha has in mind. Before you change them, it has wide, braced handlebars, aluminium rims and spoked wheels with heavy-duty tyres and front fork boots for that scrambler look. Many metal parts reinforce the styling. I could see from the slightly unfocused eyes of many of my colleagues that they were already considering ways of customising this bike. And why not… I could be tempted myself…

The 60 degree V-twin layout looks good. It’s equipped with lightweight forged pistons in its 4-valve heads with pent roof combustion chambers, and delivers 79.5 Nm of torque at just 3000 rpm. That means strong acceleration from low revs, ideal

THE CUP RUNNETH OVER

Other manufacturers might have girls scattered over their bikes (and I’m not complaining) while yet others again show off their current race-winning riders. Not Triumph. The bloke perched on the new Street Cup is –you’re kidding, Carl Fogarty? What’s Foggy, the most successful Superbike racer of all time, doing on a street scrambler? Well as it happens his rugged looks and self-deprecating grin made him the perfect choice to emphasise the tough “street racer” look of this Street Twin derived machine.

Triumph has made it quite clear that the bike is intended to offer riders more choice and build on the Street Twin’s placement as the fun and accessible contemporary Bonneville, the Street Cup is not only meant to be a contemporary urban sports custom street racer; it looks the goods as well. I especially liked the yellow-and-grey version, but the black one is a knockout too.

The bike combines “street racer”

attitude with the stripped back style, clean lines and minimal bodywork of the Street Twin and adds an authentic bullet seat and removable ‘cafe racer’ seat cowl, racing inspired ﬂy screen and bar end mirrors. The seat is low at 780mm, the sound is raw (in a polite kind of way) and mod cons like rideby-wire, switchable traction control, ABS and a torque assist clutch mean that the bike is up to date. Triumph does more than just pay lip service to customising, with more than 120 accessories for “even more sporty attitude, style and comfort”, as they say. The 900cc ‘High Torque’ Bonneville engine is perfect for urban blasts and twisty mountain roads.

But that ain’t all! Two other Bonnevilles equipped with the 900cc engine join the range. The classically styled T100 and T100 Black are lighter and even more accessible than Big Brother T120, while offering plenty of

Isn’t that… yes, it is Carl Fogarty. His rugged looks set the new Triumph Street Cup off very nicely.

torque, better fuel economy and a rich, deeper exhaust note. They are also provided with a huge list of accessories.

“Inspired by the legendary ’59 Bonneville and styled to incorporate more of the iconic design, silhouette and character of the original, the T100 and T100 Black each have their own distinctive character,” says Triumph. If it wasn’t for the fact that I immediately fell in love with the Street Cup, I’d be very tempted to look at one of these bikes.

MANY ORANGES

KTM announced a whole new generation of Enduro bikes for 2017. The bikes get new chassis with new suspension including the WP XPlor 48 upside-down split fork by WP, the R&D team in Mattighofen, Austria has also delivered new engines with improved performance, reduced weight and a more compact size to assist with better machine handling.

More to the point for you, our

readers, is the new KTM 1290 Super Duke GT, which we also have a review of in this issue. “With its unrivalled amounts of performance and levels of sophisticated rider assistance, KTM

was a centre of attention too.

looks set to rewrite the expectations of the Sports Touring motorcycle class when the new 1290 Super Duke GT arrives in dealers,” says KTM. But the Super Duke was far from all set new

Another look at the Street Cup. It’s also available in black, but why would you go past the Racing Yellow?

Two new Bonnevilles, both with the smaller engine, look British enough to hark back to last century.

The 1090 Adventure R all-rounder

KTM’s uber-tourer 1290 Super Adventure S, looking schmick in traditional black and orange.

that was interesting on the Austrians’ stand. A veritable pack of Adventure and Super Adventure bikes was vying for attention. The 1290 Super Adventure R offers everything from lean angle sensitive ABS to electronically controlled cornering lights, and 118kW. Its 92kW stablemate, the 1090 Adventure R, has multi-mode ABS and traction control among its electronic goodies, and the plain 1090 Adventure has most of the technology. The 1290 Super Adventure S rounds out this segment. You should be able to ﬁnd what you want there.

BONEHEAD BIKING

Harley-Davidson had the new touring models, equipped with the Milwaukee 8 “Bonehead” engine. I really liked these when I rode them in America a few weeks ago. But you’ve read all about them in these pages, so I’ll avoid repetition; but the Harley stand is always worth visiting, not least for the liberal dispensation of beer and the inventive ﬁnger food. The new engine received a great deal of interest from people who seemed unlikely to be journalists. Maybe I’m just narrowminded. Nah. After all, attention is attention – and H-D, as usual, got plenty of that.

IT’S CB, SEE

Still in Hall 9, Honda had a half-hour “warm-up” before its presentation. I exchanged pleasantries with Alan Cathcart while we admired the blanket-covered bikes on the side stage, as well as the single bike in the main spotlight.

The wait was worth it.

“Old school has very much become new school,” says Honda about the two new CB1100s waiting for us under the blankets on the right. Two new CB1100s? Yes; it seems that Honda is going to take the retro movement seriously, and has created the CB1100 EX to satisfy the Old School fans, with “extra layers of retro style” but also with “several performance upgrades”. The CB1100 RS get a “new kind of more sporting appeal”.

What does that translate to?

“As with past CBs, we understand the timeless pleasure that our customers get from owning and riding

an air-cooled inline four-cylinder motorcycle,” said Large Project Leader M. Imada about both bikes. “So building on the CB1100’s desirability and joy of ownership, while adding functionality and quality to deepen the sense of fulﬁlment, were very important elements for us to consider. With the CB1100 EX we hope many riders get to appreciate and understand a very traditional motorcycle structure.”

Many special touches do indeed make the bikes stand out, not least the “curvaceous” fuel tank, made without seam-welds, the single round headlight and the pair of instruments. Differences between the models? Well, the RS gets somewhat sportier styling, sharper geometry and a different riding position. To be honest, at ﬁrst

the bikes look different primarily because of the tank stripe of the RS. But anyone looking at them closely will ﬁnd many more touches.

But the real eye catcher on the KTM stand was the 1290 Super Duke GT, ready to travel.

Harley-Davidson had two stands at Intermot: the usual one, and a Dark Custom version.

Some sharp graphics set off the new Fireblade very successfully. This is the SP2 version.

And then of course there was the Fireblade. The Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP, says the factory, “goes to the next stage of Total Control.” How does it do that? Well, the bike is equipped with semi-active Öhlins Electronic Control suspension, plus Honda Selectable Torque Control, Selectable Engine Brake, new ABS, Quickshifter, Downshift Assist, Riding Mode Select System and Power Selector. Much of this is derived from the RC213V-S MotoGP bike. A 15kg weight reduction and 8kW power boost improves the power to weight ratio by 14%.

There was no shortage of interest in the exclusive RCV, but the CBs had their share too.

And once again that ain’t all. There’s a hot version – the CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2, which is a road legal homologation special using the Fireblade SP as a base, ready for race use. It gets Marchesini wheels; revised cylinder head: valves, combustion chambers and pistons; and much else. Of course a Race kit will be available.

I always liked the CB1100, so I’m looking forward to riding the EX. I rather imagine the SP2 will have Stuart, who races an older Fireblade, champing at the bit.

Has BMW found the right combination of moderate power and unlimited pleasure with the R nineT Racer?

Hello... anybody home?

One of the new CB1100s, the historically themed EX model.

The 10 top selling bikes (or rather PTWs, powered two wheelers) in Europe do not include a single sports bike. That’s from the 2014 figures, the most recent comprehensive ones I can find. More recent partial figures support the trend. And it doesn’t just apply to the whole of Europe; it is also true in the individual French, Italian, British, German and Spanish markets. Many favourites were scooters, but top selling bikes were BMW’s R 1200 GS, Yamaha’s double of the MT-07 and MT-09, the BMW R 1200 RT and Kawasaki’s Z800.

Despite that, sports bikes were the centre of attention at many stands at Intermot. The four Japanese manufacturers and Ducati, BMW and Aprilia all featured new or seriously updated sports machines as central attractions at the show.

What’s going on?

And this is its companion, the faster RS.

Might it be time to rethink priorities in R&D and shift the emphasis to the bikes people are actually buying? Of course everyone else has been trying to outdo or at least match BMW’s staggeringly successful GS for years, so full marks for trying there. But who else is working on the moderately sized allrounders that seem to be so popular? Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against sports bikes. Two of the bikes I loved best from among the dozens I’ve owned were sports machines – a Ducati 750SS and a Kawasaki 750T. I guess the Silk 700S and the Gold Star BSA were sports bike, too. But with all the speed restrictions these days I must admit I have joined the mass move to dual sports and all-round machines. And I’ve kept my licence…

What can I say about the Horex range? The bikes do not take my fancy, sorry.

HMM… HOREX

Only its mother could love one of these 6 cylinder Horex models. And on top of that they’re staggeringly expensive. If you really want one, make sure you have a good friend in New Zealand who will import one and pass it on to you when the Australian law allows.

MEET AND GREAT

Very politely, the Italians are not calling their presentation a launch or a new product introduction – essentially because it isn’t. We will see the new stuff in Milan, in November. But the canapes are nice, the prosecco ﬂ ows freely and the day is nearly over.

As beﬁ ts a group that shelters at least six substantial brands under its wings, there are nevertheless some new machines. The Vespa GTS 125 and 150 are equipped with the new Euro4 compliant i-get engines with electronic fuel injection, four valve timing and liquid cooling, offering lower fuel consumption and increased performance. As well, the new Piaggio patented Start & Stop

system called RISS (Regulator Inverter Start & Stop System) made its début. This system does away with the traditional starter motor, which is replaced by a brushless “direct mount” electrical unit installed directly on the crankshaft. It automatically switches off the engine 3 to 7 seconds after the vehicle stops and a slight twist of the throttle instantly restarts it, in complete silence.

Over at Moto Guzzi, meanwhile, designer Miguel Galluzzi is pretty happy with the Audace. “Moto Guzzi's desire to grow is perfectly

Audace Carbon, a new skin for one of Moto Guzzi’s 1400s. The designer was happy.

Vespa introduced a completely new engine for the Vespa GTS 125 and 150, meeting Euro4.

Back to the future, or the past, or whatever ; the V9 series is looking good and doing well.

The winners of the AMD customising competitions celebrate. There was some staggering stuff there.

summed up in the strong and uncompromising character of the new Audace. I believe that this bike, today, speaks louder than any words about the more modern soul and future of the brand from Mandello... Audace is a perfect interpretation of the most genuine Moto Guzzi spirit.” The Touring, on the other hand, is “the California in its most classic expression, unequalled in terms of style, comfort, performance and reliability. Success

driven by a rare quality: knowing how to reconcile the comfort and cargo capacity of a custom bike with the dynamic performance of a powerful cruiser.”

There is action at Aprilia, as well, with improvements to both the RSV4 and the Tuono V4. I’ll have more to say about that in my report of the Milan motorcycle show.

Chop that puppy

One of the most impressive things about INTERMOT this year was the standard of customising. The ideas being presented by the many bike builders were just outstanding – and in most cases truly new and different. I suspect that the promotion by AMD with its World Championship has played a large part in raising standards. Anyway, more (much more) on this in a future issue.

BIG SCOOTING

Well, if an AK 47 is good, imagine how good an AK 550 would be… well, yeah, they are kind of different. For one thing, you don’t need ammunition for the Kymco 550 – only a bit of fuel for the liquid cooled twin cylinder DOHC 8 valve 550cc engine. It’s intended to be a leader in the Super Touring Maxi Scooter category (although the Burgman will be a tough opponent), and let’s face it: with the aging of much of the motorcycle community, it couldn’t come at a better time. It meets Euro4, has 15 inch wheels and ABS and two power modes: full and rain. There is even a tyre pressure monitoring

Big Vee Twin tourers do not need to come from the US; try this Mandello beauty.

system. This could be just the right time for this scooter. I look forward to riding one in Australia.

SUPER SPORTING

Okay, it is now 6pm and time for the last launch of the day. Naturally the marque is Ducati; for some reason, the Bolognese have an afﬁnity with the

night. And among the many Scramblers and other bikes on the stand, they launch what is probably the most important bike of the show. Yes, I know I keep plugging away at customising and classic designs as the major inﬂuences in motorcycle design at the moment, and I’ve even gone so far as to question the various manufacturers’ preoccupation with sports bikes. But the SuperSport and the up-specced SuperSport S are not just sports bikes. Available as they are or ﬁtted with

either the Sport or Touring pack of accessories, the SuperSports are pretty much all-rounders that look like sports bikes. That’s not to say that they aren’t sports bikes; they are. But they’re a lot more.

Instead of creating a motorcycle with more, more and more of everything, Ducati has drawn back and built a bike that has a good amount of power and all of the other Ducati virtues, like leading edge electronics, superb handling and braking and looks to die for – in a package that ordinary (and I

Competition for the Burgman in the Huge Scooter market –meet Kymco’s AK 550.

You even got to play with the Super Sport, although no starting the engine!

Ducati’s new Super Sport S; the cynosure of all eyes.

say that in the politest possible way, and include myself) riders can use happily. Ducati calls it “an instinctual machine that can be ridden by everyone”.

We will probably still be buying more bike than we can really use with the SuperSport, but it won’t be like trying to live up to a Panigale. When you’re ﬁtting a bike to a rider, there will be many more potential riders for the SuperSport; I keep thinking of my old 750 Sport.

I know I should be going into detail about the technical side of this bike, but let me leave that until we have one in our hands. In the meantime, if this looks good to you, you might like to consider placing an order. I suspect the queue will be quite long… And yes, this is the bike of the show for me.

PACING IT OUT

TAKING THE 5TH

Ah yes, and here it is – another day. Fortunately, Kölsch does not appear to cause a hangover so I’m fresh and rarin’ to go on Wednesday the 5th, this “trade day” at the show. Most of the people I’m interested in talking to are therefore available and I expect a useful day –which I get.

all the space I’m ﬁlling in the magazine, so I’ll write about all that stuff at another time. Let’s just recap the show.

DO IT IN 2018

And then it’s well after eight and just over the Rhine, the Red Ox with its outstanding food and freely-ﬂowing Kölsch is calling… yep, 11,304 steps tick over as I subsequently climb into bed and draw the doona over me. Tomorrow is another day…

This is the day when I need to catch everybody, because I have to head off tomorrow morning. I start in Hall 10 among the glitter of the Custom displays. My long-time friend Robin Bradley, who runs the AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building, is in his usual ofﬁce overlooking the displays and is just as knocked out as I am. We chat for a while and then I need to get on. The rest of the show, to be honest, passes in a bit of a blur. I have been asked to spend some time on the Rizoma stand to suggest ways that they can increase their Australian presence, and admire their display bikes while I’m there; likewise, Felix Wunderlich wants to talk to me about his BMW-focused brand. It’s always a pleasure to catch up with Marilyn Simmons at Mustang Seats, and I bump into Rick from Motoz Tyres among other Australians. But Stuart is looking a bit worried about

Some 220,000 visitors came from 95 countries to experience the show. That was considerably more than ever before. They saw more than 40 bike launches. "INTERMOT 2016 was a mega event with outstanding results," said a delighted Gerald Böse, President and Chief Executive Ofﬁcer of Koelnmesse. "We have heralded in a new era with new concepts and especially with the integration of the customizing world, underpinned by individuality, emotionality and enthusiasm." It is important to remember, too, that Intermot is a trade show as well as a public event. “The industry and the scene always meet up at the most important spot and that is Cologne for the motorcycle world," noted Katharina C. Hamma, Chief Operating Ofﬁce of Koelnmesse. I haven’t even written about the many outdoor activities and the e-bike displays, but my conclusion would have to be – go and see Intermot if you can manage it. And go especially if you’re in the business, buying or selling. The trade element is very strong. The share of trade visitors was around 26 percent,

was something for everyone at Intermot, and there were plenty of people looking.

42 percent of them from outside Germany. I noticed that the Draggin Jeans stand, for example, was absolutely packed on the trade day. Okay; now keep an eye out for my in-depth report on the customising part of the show, down there in Hall 10! D

The girls will still be there tomorrow…

BMW, like Harley-Davidson, had a special stand in the custom area.

There

BiKetest KTM 1290 SuperduKe GT

ExprEss Touring

Ifyou’ve ever ridden KTM’s 1290 Superduke R or read about how beastly it is you might be a bit apprehensive when thinking about this GT version, but fear not. The 1290 Superduke GT is an express train taking you to your destination at Warp 10 in total comfort.

KTM has designed the GT from a sporty angle and it has incredible dynamism. You’ll never be the one buying the beer for being the last one at the pub, in fact I dare say you’ll be the one with cash ﬂowing out of your pockets from never buying beer! Although, such an invitingly fast tourer might mean those dollars will be “donated” to the Government’s coffers. I guess you can’t have the best of both worlds!

The highly advanced LC8 1301cc two-cylinder engine, as it appears in the RC8R, Adventure travel enduros

Stuart is wearing a Shoei NXR helmet, Dririder Scrambler jacket, Dririder Rapid gloves, Draggin Next Gen jeans and Sidi Vertigo boots.

and the Superduke R naked bike, also shines in the GT. The power and torque have been refocussed on the low to mid-range. Rather than being an angry beast like the R, the GT’s performance makes it a beast that has tucked his shirt in, but is ready to untuck it if you so desire. There’s even a quickshifter for upshifts that make touring this bike a smooth experience.

Ergonomics play a huge part in making the GT something you’d want to travel on and KTM has done a great job with them. The seat looks sporty, yet gives all-day comfort. I was really surprised about that. The handlebar has a nice width and reach in its standard position, and this can be adjusted over 22mm and four positions for a tailored ﬁt – see what I mean by ‘him’ tucking his shirt in! Seat to peg height is roomy and you can also change the position of the brake and shift levers in three positions. An adjustable screen works well and allows you to personalise the amount of wind ﬂow you like. I found the mid setting to work best, which pushed wind away from the body, but didn’t buffet my helmet, whereas on full height I’d get a little movement. And helping to make the GT an easy to use package, KTM has made the GT 228kg fully fuelled (23 litre capacity), ready to ride. Speaking of fuel capacity, from a mix of commuting to day touring I achieved 7.14L/100km giving the GT around 322km fuel range. Not bad for such a large capacity V-twin!

To compliment the great ergonomics is the electronic WP suspension. WP has worked hard to make the electronic forks and monoshock outstandingly smooth and they actively work to give you the best possible damping for what’s on hand. You can set the suspension up through the instrument panel for preload, then you can switch between Comfort, Street and Sport via the button on the left side of the handlebar. I ended up having preload on ‘rider and pillion’ and Street, which was a good all-round setting. I tried to get the electronic suspension upset by riding into rough patches of roadway but it didn’t falter.

Looks inviting, doesn’t it!

A beast with his shirt tucked in.

Be quite surprised at the comfort and you’ll notice the bike is ready for panniers.

SPECS

KTM 1290 SUPERDUKE GT

If you compare this to the 1290 Super Adventure’s electronic suspension which I found to be a little ‘off’, the GT’s is ﬁne wine and cheese; a better package.

Braking is as you would expect from such a powerful tourer – um, well… powerful! And you even get ‘lean angle’ ABS, or cornering ABS in other language. The traction control system also works in combination with the lean angle sensors to give you high levels of safety and you can match the engine modes to your liking, too!

Other great touring features ﬁtted to the GT standard are, cruise control, heated grips (why isn’t every bike ﬁtted with these as standard!), tyre pressure monitoring system, LED cornering lights combined with LED indicators with automatic reset and an extended rear subframe with integrated mounts for the optional panniers.

This obviously brings me to the range of KTM Powerparts (accessories) available for the GT. The extensive range available includes 30 litre (each) panniers, iBracket for smartphone, GPS bracket, tinted screen, Ergo heated rider and pillion seats, four rear seat bags to choose from, Hill Hold Control (HHC) and Motor Slip Regulation (MSR). They are the touring accessories you might like to look at. There’s also a wide range of performance parts, but this bike is all about touring and it already has quite high levels of performance from its donor bike, the R.

Using, or should I say, getting used to how the instrument panel works will take you a few days of riding. It has a quirkiness about it, but once you’re up to speed, is easy enough to scroll through to ﬁnd what you’re after. You can also setup a Favourites screen, which I really like! I had all the information you’d normally have to dig for on the one screen and easy to read at the same time.

Riding, touring, enjoying KTM’s 1290 Superduke GT is like going to the fun park and ﬁnally getting the courage to ride that mind-boggling fast roller coaster you’ve always just stared at, then getting on to ﬁnd out it’s actually not so scary; in fact, a beautiful thing to relish. D

PRICE: $26,995 (plus on-road charges)

WARRANTY: Two years, unlimited distance

SERVICING INTERVALS: Every 15,000km or 12 months

ENGINE: Liquid-cooled V-twin cylinder, 4-stroke, DOHC, 4 valves per cylinder

BORE x STROKE: 108 x 71mm

DISPLACEMENT: 1301cc

COMPRESSION: 13.2:1

POWER: 127kW @ 9500rpm

TORQUE: 144Nm @ 6750rpm

TRANSMISSION: 6-speed, wet multi-plate slipper clutch, chain ﬁnal drive

SUSPENSION: Front, 48mm inverted fork, electronically adjustable, travel 125mm. Rear, monoshock, electronically adjustable, travel 156mm.

DIMENSIONS: Seat height 835mm, weight 228kg (wet), fuel capacity 23 litres, wheelbase 1482mm

TYRES: Front, 120/70/ZR17.

Rear, 190/55/ZR17

FRAME: Tubular steel

BRAKES: Front, twin 320mm discs with radial mount four-piston ABS calipers. Rear, 240mm disc, dual-piston ABS caliper.

FUEL CONSUMPTION: 7.14 litres per 100km, premium unleaded

THEORETICAL RANGE: 322km

COLOURS: Orange, Grey

VERDICT: All aboard! Choo, choo!

WP electronic suspension. Winner!

Stuart is obviously enjoying himself, he didn’t even stop, just kept riding!

TRAVEL BEATING THE BRIDLE

BEGINNER ADVENTURERS SIGN HERE

WORDS/PHOTOS – NICK WOOD

When I moved to Bilpin ﬁve years ago, I never knew what an enclave of motorcyclists I was going to rub shoulders with. Virtually every weekend there is a pack that leaves for some off-road adventure and with all the mountain tracks that we have on our doorstep, it makes for some interesting rides.

When the boys meet up, there is usually chatter about a certain trip that is being organised and one particular ride pricked my interest. One of the chaps, Campbell was reaching for the grand old age of 45, so every man and his dog was invited on an off-road adventure that would take us to Hill End and back on a very convoluted route using the Bridle Track as the draw card. This was to be a very enjoyable but testing ride for me with

my, let’s say, limited off-road experience. It becomes apparent that you are riding with some pretty experienced guys when you are going at your limit and one of the boys passes you on a track no wider than your bath tub.

Our journey began outside Campbell’s place on the Bells Line of Rd just on the fringes of Bilpin. To my amazement, bikes started pouring into his drive and there ended up being more than 40 riders of various skill levels, which for a slightly nervous off-road rider, became a bit more settling. My mate Patto had just gone out and bought a Tenere 660. I knew that he would be taking it a bit easy, so hanging back with him was my plan. With the likes of the Barrett Bros, Shawn Giles, Jimmy Newton, the Wilson brothers (who own Lithgow Bike

Stop) and a whole load more riders, all of whom are guns, it was a case of just keeping out of the way.

The route was carefully planned with military precision. Each corner of the route would be manned by one of the riders (Corner Man System – Ed) so no one would get lost. The route I have mapped out for the readers is marked to a certain extent but one would have to do their own research to follow an identical route.

Reaching Bell on the Bells Line of Rd we took our ﬁrst turn off the bitumen. Pulling off onto Sandham Road and then onto the track that runs along the railway line, it led us into the Newnes forest and following the telegraph poles, we made it over the Wolgan Rd and into the Ben Bullen State Forest. Our ﬁrst pit

stop was going to be the Capertee Pub where a well-deserved lunch awaited. I felt a tad sorry for the cook who had 40 odd dirty and dusty riders rock up and order lunch but the coffers were swelling which I’m sure keep a small town like Capertee ticking over.

After lunch we headed up the Castlereagh Highway for about 10 clicks and then peeled off to the left onto Razorback Rd and heading towards the Iford Sofala Rd using the Tara Loop Rd. It was on the Tara Loop Rd with its wide sweeping bends of loose gravel that I found myself on - as the Romans put it - terra ﬁrma sans motorcycle. I think it was the big lunch that had me lazily

sitting on the seat instead of standing up and hunching over the bars hence the front wheel lost it’s grip and the inevitable happened. With a quick reset of the clutch lever thanks to Jimmy Newton, who incidentally was riding

my old XR650R, I was on my way with nothing more than a bit of skin and riding cred missing.

The ‘infamous’ spot on the Bridle Track.

Time to catch your breath.

After the little mishap I happened to start up a conversation with Dave Wilson and he was happy to give me some great advice on riding the ﬁre trails. I’m glad to say the advice was taken on board and my skills have improved tenfold. I think this brings me to a point that I see quite regularly. Many of us think we are Toby Price but the truth of the matter is we are not. Falling off a bike doing 80km/h on an unsealed road is not pleasant so ride within your limits and take advice from others who have been doing it a lot longer than you. Dave’s advice was to counter lean on the bike as you approach a corner. In other words… if you are approaching a left hand bend put the lower body weight on the right hand peg. This enables the back wheel to move more freely with the upper half of your body leaning over the bars to keep traction on the front tyre. It worked like a treat and my conﬁdence grew steadily as the weekend wore on.

Our final destination was going to be Hill End but before we got there we would have to meander up the Warrangunia Rd, right onto Crundline Rd back out onto the Castlereagh Hwy then turning left onto Aarons Pass Rd. Down Aarons Pass Rd for about 10 clicks and then turning right onto Bocoble Rd and then left onto Campbells Creek Rd up towards Windeyer. After a much needed schooner of Australia’s finest beer, (it could have been any old muck but after a day of riding behind 40 bikes sucking up their dust, it tasted like nectar) at the Gold and Fleece, we then rode down south on the Pyrmul Rd, right onto Aarons Pass which turns into Sallys Flat Rd and then onto Hill End Rd. Bingo… I had made the first day with only one spill. We had some accommodation at the Hill End Ranch booked, which was perfect for a large bunch of dirty and dusty riders. They have some rather novel train carriages, which have been converted into cabins, and provided a hearty breakfast to see us on our way in the morning. I must also mention the steaks served up by the crazy Pommie who runs the Hill End General Store. If you want the biggest steak in your entire life, this is the place to visit. Not the place to be a cow.

Beer ‘o’ clock?

Ah! The beautiful taste of Aussie dust.

Some riding experience right here!

My riding buddy, Patto

Day two was to be my highlight as we were to ride down the Bridle Track. I did the trail a long time ago in a fourwheel drive, and I was keen to do it on a motorcycle. The track is now impassable for a car so the only way of doing the whole length is on a bike. Making our way down with yours truly holding up the rear we ﬁnally came to the spot where you can only now pass with a bike. After some photos we carried on down towards Peel. Even now, writing this it brings a smile to my dial when I think about charging down the Bridle Track. The view is amazing and deﬁnitely one for those who own an adventure bike.

At the junction of Duramana Rd and Turondale turn left and head up until you get to Rivulet Rd, turn right towards Peel. At Peel turn left on Sofala Rd for a short while and at Pymonts Lane turn right where you will meet up at Limekilns Rd. Head up towards Limekiln and then take the aptly named Mount

Horrible Rd. We stayed on the MHR until it became Dark Corner Rd and then onto Sunny Corner Rd towards Yetholme. I think this is where the funniest moment of the trip happened. In a vain attempt to overtake local hero Kev Tame on his V-Strom 1000 (which used to be Shawn Giles’s bike - you can see a pattern here), a Mr. Mike Sproule

on his Yammy TT600 got pushed off the track and ended up with his bike stuck in the bushes like some cartoon character. Sorry mate but I’d been chewing on your dirt for two days and seeing that cheered me up.

Sunny Corner Rd brings you out on the Great Western Highway. I must say that popping out on a major highway after all the small trails we had traversed seemed strange but it wasn’t long before we crossed over onto Diamond Swamp Rd towards Tarana and then onto Sodwalls Rd, past Lake Lyell and then onto the last leg of the journey back towards Bilpin.

So I had done my ﬁrst weekend away adventure riding and to be honest I was buggered.

My trusty new Suzuki

DR650SE had been outstanding for my abilities and I never felt that I would not be able to get through where other more dedicated off-road bikes could. We had some punctures and a couple of other spills but on the whole everyone made it back in one piece. If like me you are relatively new to this ‘adventure riding’ stuff, the things you will need are simple. A decent bike, a Suzuki DR650SE is a perfect beginner bike with a long-range tank and maybe, if the bank balance will stretch, a Barrett pipe to give you some more oomph. I would strongly advise the best riding gear you can afford. Boots are very important, as they will kill your feet if they don’t ﬁt properly. A good jacket with elbow protection is vital…I can testify to that. A Camelbak is well advised as you sweat like a Turkish taxi driver in all that gear.

If you live in Sydney this would be a great two-night ride. Maybe spend the ﬁrst night in the mountains and then head off from there in the morning. If you are keen to get back into Sydney, miss out the last section and just head home when you pop out at Sunny Corner Rd.

My deepest thanks goes to Campbell Lewis who not long ago went through a ﬁght with cancer and has now recovered, is back out riding his beloved XR650R, who organised the ride and provided the information for me to write this article. D

The mighty Suzuki DR650SE!

biketest ROYAL ENFIELD 500 CLASSIC

The seconds’ hand can’T go any fasTer, even downhill

WORDS ral P h PHOTOS rl M

Everyone has a favourite, right?

Lester Morris has always been my ﬁrst go-to column, chasing maybe wisdom or some wry humour, but mostly his observations and connections with days long gone. Simple days. Days when the ride was everything and days when riders spent as much time fettling their iron horses as they did riding them. I can remember those days too. The time when you were always taking a gamble, throwing the dice and betting that your motorcycle would get you home. My Italian electrics or Japanese ‘Posi-Force’ lubrication wasn’t going to let me down with the right prayer

and held breath. I avoided treading the British path, let alone allowing something made in Russia or even India into the garage, like my ‘70s riding friends who found heartbreak and lost opportunities on their too-foreign steeds. Some memories are never erased and my Royal Enﬁeld recollections are olfactory. Oh that smell. Worse than the burnt odour from the handle of a frypan that’s caught ﬁre. Mix the toxicity of burnt Bakelite and oil with some copper wire and that stench will never go away.

I still recall the last time I touched an Indian built ‘RE’.

But things change. My Lazarus

moment was this Classic 500 in matt (Squadron) blue which helped me celebrate the rites of spring. Its Lesterlike charm and quaintness is augmented by electric start.

And she is a pretty handsome beast, all 499ccs of her, and three tradies in a row (while I was lane-splitting) said much the same: “nice job mate, she looks great,” referring to what looks like a full restoration job rather than riding ability. Undeniably the ﬁrst thing that anyone would be attracted to on the 2016 Classic 500 would have to be The Look. Certainly not the pace.

If this isn’t one of the best attempts

to keep the ‘what is old, is new again’ philosophy alive then I’ll go and ﬁnd a pipe and slippers. From the sprung single seat through to the triangular tool boxes and the bulbous fuel-tank with its rubber kneepads, the Classic’s look is almost unmolested right down to the two little parking lights above the (admittedly halogen) headlight. The frame is dominated by the tall, largeheaded Single, and the openness this creates gives way to some neat curves and straight tubing at the rear. The long track of the inlet manifold cants slightly to the right-hand side and the dual pull of the throttle cable drum operates the

fuel injection butterﬂy.

Is that out of place? Hardly! The benefits of fuel injection far outweigh the lack of a Mikuni or an Amal. The Classic wouldn’t be as manageable as it is without controlling the fuelling in such a precise and soft metered way in what would be the normally awkward temperament of a big single. She even starts every time. The long muffler is quiet, non-offensive in the traffic snarl of Ryde Road, while second gear with a little bit of clutch action does away with the staggered use of first and second. There is enough polished alloy and chrome to catch the eye of the car-

zombies stuck in 2016, too, while I sail past in what feels like 1955 with a muted pumff, pumff, pumff.

My commute is 110 kilometres each way and if there is any downside to travelling the way I might have a century ago it is that about two thirds of my trip is on a freeway, where even the trucks roar past on the inside of the cars which hog the outside lane. They threaten me in my supposedly safe inside lane; I’m reluctant to press the 27kW LAMS legal Single too far out of its or my comfort zone. By 95km/h the smooth, engaging

A peaked cap if you would, Sir.

It takes a while to wind around.

and capable commuter cum softback-roads-tourer is suffering from lack of ‘real’ power and the throbbing vibrations take me back to 1972 and my Ducati Desmo Single. The throb is unrelenting, while the wind pushes me back to the rear edge on what was a very comfortable seat. The ride quality is great, almost cosseting with subtle absorption of bumps and joints. Potholes are mitigated by the sturdy forks and the short well damped rear shocks. Besides, the ‘Old Road’ is down there below me; normally I’d give it a miss because of the too-slow 60kmh limit. But I exit the freeway and cheat, dialling up eighty and leave her in ﬁfth to play a game of momentum with a spot of sightseeing.

Handling? You would have to turn back the clock and dial in Lester to help out because in 1980 he nailed the handling of the Royal Enfields, even though he was waxing lyrical about a Triumph Bonnie. He said of the Enfield’s handling that ‘it meant staying firmly in the saddle, instead of hanging off the inside of the bike in fast corners like a badly-packed bag of spuds’. Yes, not much has changed and as stable and precise as the Classic is, you are wasting your effort weighting the ‘pegs or trying to muscle the bike around. Just steer in gently and hold a line and keep that throttle rolling along on that imaginary hundred mile an hour plus lap of the Isle of Man… Avon Roadriders are sticky enough and while I didn’t over exert them I

can tell the grip they produced in some decent downpours they would take some nice cornering angles. I trusted them enough to play with some clean lines and lean angles. Even the braking, despite the rear drum, is up to 2016 requirements, if only just. My day job has me in constant contact with thirty odd tour and adventure operators, most of whom I’m sure have the resources to choose or source more modern machines, but they go for the Indian-built Royal Enﬁeld. The quality of the latest bikes must be reassuring for the operators as well as their clients and suits the ‘step-back-in-time’ nature of traversing mostly Third World countries in at leisurely fashion. She’s a beauty, Lester. D

SPECS

ROYAL ENFIELD CLASSIC 500

PRICE: $7490 (plus on-road charges)

WARRANTY: Two years, unlimited distance

SERVICING INTERVALS: Every 6000km or 12 months

ENGINE: Air-cooled single cylinder, 4-stroke, SOHC, twin spark

BORE x STROKE: 84 x 90mm

DISPLACEMENT: 499cc

COMPRESSION: 8.5:1

POWER: 20.28kW @ 5250rpm

TORQUE: 41.3Nm @ 4000rpm

TRANSMISSION: 5-speed, wet multi-plate clutch, chain ﬁnal drive

SUSPENSION: Front, 35mm telescopic fork, non-adjustable, travel 130mm. Rear, twin-shock, adjustable preload, travel 80mm.

DIMENSIONS: Seat height 790mm, weight 187kg (wet), fuel capacity 14.5 litres, wheelbase 1370mm

TYRES: Front, 90/90/19. Rear, 110/80/18

FRAME: Tubular steel

BRAKES: Front, 280mm disc with dual-piston caliper. Rear, 153mm drum. FUEL CONSUMPTION: 4.04 litres per 100km, premium unleaded

THEORETICAL RANGE: 358km

COLOURS: Classic Black, Classic Lagoon, Classic Tan, Squadron Blue, Desert Storm, Battle Green, Chrome

VERDICT: Got the look!

Tried and tested in the roughest of conditions.

Ralph has the look, sirrah.

BIKETEST

YAMAHA MT-03

LITTLE, BUT FIERCE WORDS STUART PHOTOS IKAPTURE

“Though she be but little, she is ﬁerce.”

Bill Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Yamaha just seems to get it right with every bike released with that magic “MT” designation. The “Massive Torque” range consists of very exciting motorcycles, which explains why they rate so highly in every set of quarterly sales ﬁgures.

The bike we tested here is the smallest of the range, the MT-03. It is a great little naked bike which also offers the ‘fun factor’ that the rest of the range has.

You may remember reading about the fun I had on the Yamaha R3 launch, back in issue #30. The MT-03 is essentially the same bike with an upright handlebar and sharp styling.

The major focus of this bike is its natural upright riding position: with a wide lock-to-lock steering angle offering 68 degrees, it’s an urban warrior ready for everyday use. I found there to be plenty of room for a giraffe like me, yet the seat is narrow enough and low enough (780mm) to suit any size rider, while providing

enough comfort if you want to get away for a couple of days.

Being a slim motorcycle also makes it awesome to carve up trafﬁc while commuting. Where other bikes might be held up, the MT-03 can carry on through some smallest of gaps. Handling is extremely light and agile as you would expect and the forks and rear monoshock handle day-to-day riding well.

The 321cc inline twin cylinder has been sourced from the R3. Its focus is excellent power throughout the rev range, but responsive torque is what makes this bike so much fun. And the

fat amount of torque it has makes the MT-03 easy to ride. Styling is sharp and in-line with

Pies are for softies. Give me beef!

Own the road.

the rest of the MT range. There are slick looking 10-spoke wheels, also taken from the R3, and to add to the quality of the package there’s an LED position light and LED tail light. A comprehensive instrument panel continues the high spec level which includes a digital speedo, analogue tacho, shift light, fuel gauge, water temp, average fuel, clock, two tripmeters and an oil change indicator for those who might not think of this kind of thing!

Braking is progressive and perfect for the street and a bike of this size. ABS is standard and a great addition for the majority of the riders who will own this bike.

The MT-03 is an awesome bike for a Learner or Provisional rider and also for those experienced riders looking for a hugely enjoyable second bike, or a fun commuter that is economical to run. You will ﬁnd that you’ll have a big smile on your face whenever you ride it. D

SPECS

POWER: 30.9kW @ 10,750rpm

TORQUE: 29.6Nm @ 9000rpm

TRANSMISSION: 6-speed, wet multi-plate clutch, chain ﬁnal drive

SUSPENSION: Front, 41mm telescopic fork, non-adjustable, travel 130mm. Rear, monoshock, adjustable preload, travel 125mm.

PRICE: $5699 (plus on-road charges)

WARRANTY: Two years, unlimited distance

SERVICING INTERVALS: Every 10,000km or 12 months

ENGINE: Liquid-cooled in-line twin cylinder, 4-stroke, DOHC, 4 valves per cylinder

BORE x STROKE: 68 x 44.1mm

DISPLACEMENT: 321cc

COMPRESSION: 11.2:1

DIMENSIONS: Seat height 780mm, weight 168kg (wet), fuel capacity 14 litres, wheelbase 1380mm

TYRES: Front, 110/70/17. Rear, 140/70/17

FRAME: Tubular steel

BRAKES: Front, 298mm disc with dual-piston ABS caliper. Rear, 220mm disc, single-piston ABS caliper.

FUEL CONSUMPTION: 4.77 litres per 100km, premium unleaded

THEORETICAL RANGE: 293km

COLOURS: Midnight Black, Race Blu VERDICT: Fun and practical

YAMAHA MT-03

TEAROUTMAP#46

HIGHLAND DELIGHTS

This particular ride is one I’ve done a number of times with my mate Col, and I’ve never really taken much notice of where I was going (if you know what I mean?); rather I’ve soaked up the atmosphere from all that lovely scenery along the way. The ride does cover a bit of distance in the one day so if you’re on for some activities off the bike, and there are plenty of options, consider splitting it into a two day ride.

CAMPBELLTOWN

This is the meeting point, so there’s no need to go right into the town itself, just meet/start out at one of the off/on ramps to the Hume Highway.

PICTON

Coffee, a great pub and an atmosphere that takes you away from the big city. The ‘Botanic Gardens’ are a terriﬁc picnic spot.

BERRIMA

Berrima is widely recognised today as the best preserved example of a Georgian village on the Australian mainland. A fortunate series of events created the Berrima we see today. From 1831 to the 1860s was a time of promise and growth, which came to an abrupt end when the railway bypassed the village in 1867. For the next hundred years there was little or no development there and much of it remains this way today. Mind you, there has been an amazing amount of development since but that just means lots to see, lots to do.

SUTTON FOREST

There are plenty of things to see and do around Sutton Forest, too. Visit beautiful historic houses, churches and cemeteries as well as a B&B that was once

www.hemamaps.com.au

I’ve made Campbelltown the start and finish point for this ride. Normally our group will start out from a service station at Liverpool, but there’s no need to include the boring first and last few kays I reckon. I suggest starting out near the Hume Highway as there’s no need to go right into Campbelltown itself – you’ll only be coming back along the same road to start the ride. Get onto Narellan Road and head west, veering left onto the Camden Valley Bypass. Follow this all the way, which turns into the Old Hume Highway for the run down into Picton. Depending on how coffee ‘hungry’ you are, stop for a refreshment or keep going. Continue on the Old Hume Highway to Mittagong, and avoid the entry to the freeway by carrying straight on, still on the Old Hume Highway. Continue through Berrima and as you cross the old stone bridge out of town you’ll see an old church on your left – turn left here! This

TEAR-OUT MAP #46

is Oldbury Street which turns into Berrima Road. When you get to Moss Vale, turn right onto the Illawarra Highway and head to Sutton Forest. Just through Sutton Forest you’ll get to “Highlands Delights” with its distinct cream/ burgundy roof – turn left here. This is Exeter Road which will take you to…Exeter! Continue on, this is now Bundanoon Road, which takes you to… you guessed it, Bundanoon. Continue through Wingello and Tallong where this will bring you out onto the busy Hume Highway. A short blast down the highway to the BP service centre for some fuel and continue on a couple of kays taking the Marulan South exit, which is Jerrara Road. Follow this to its end at Bungonia. Turn left onto King Street and continue on Oallen Ford Road. Follow along for many kilometres with this road changing its name to Oallen Road. When you get to the end, turn left onto Nerriga Road and head to the Nerriga Pub (on your left) as you get into town. Once you’ve had a big lunch

COLLECT THEM ALL

continue your heading north onto Braidwood Road and when you reach the end, turn left onto Albatross Road. Once you get to the main road in Nowra, turn left and follow a couple of kilometres or so turning left at the roundabout taking the Kangaroo Valley/Moss Vale signed road. This is Moss Vale Road which you follow through Kangaroo Valley, Barrengarry and up to Fitzroy Falls, making sure you take the right turn onto Sheepwash Road. This leads you into Bowral where you jump back onto the Old Hume Highway and back to Picton. Almost at the other side of Picton, turn right onto Picton Road, then a couple of kays out, turn left onto Menangle Road, through Menangle and back to Campbelltown and you’re done.

Fuel – available at many points along this route: Campbelltown, Picton, Mittagong, Moss Vale, Marulan, Nowra and Bowral to name a few.

Distance – 443km total, so leave early in the day!

a colonial inn. Explore pretty gardens and shop for antiques and country wares.

BUNDANOON

Follow the well-marked bushwalking trails in one of NSW’s largest national parks and admire waterfalls that plunge into valleys below – or keep riding.

WINGELLO

The name ‘Wingello’ comes from the Aboriginal term to burn. Sadly enough there have been a number of devastating ﬁres that have hit the region over the years.

MARULAN

Mainly just a landmark for this ride, but Marulan is another historic town along this wonderful route. It is also home to the Marulan Driving Centre, which holds rider training from time to time.

BUNGONIA

Bungonia is an outdoor adventure playground offering caving, canyoning, rock climbing, abseiling, hiking and impressive views if you have the time to stop and check it out.

NERRIGA

The pub is the main attraction in this very small town. The steak sandwich is good and the beers, um I mean, the ‘drinks’ are cold.

KANGAROO VALLEY

A popular spot for Sydneysiders to make a day visit. There arelots of antique type shops, cafes, rich green pastures, sparkling creeks and rivers, lush rainforest and a variety of native ﬂ ora and

fauna to enjoy and preferably not to run over.

FITZROY FALLS

Take the reasonably short walk (depending on your motorcycle boots that is!) out to view the falls which extend around 100 metres to the canyon ﬂoor.

BOWRAL

Bowral is famous for its country gardens and ﬁelds of tulips in spring. Stunning private gardens, part of grand old estates, are a delight in spring and autumn while shopping experiences are varied - from antiques to home wares, jewellery, arts and crafts – and tea. Of course there are plenty of fancy cafes to choose from as well. A highlight for cricket fans is the Sir Donald Bradman Oval and the International Cricket Hall of Fame. D

2016 CHRISTMAS GIFT GUIDE

COMPILED BY STUART.

N o matter whether you’ve been naughty or nice, Santa is in a good mood and has a gift for every motorcyclist this Christmas. All it takes is for your loved one, friend or even yourself to browse the following pages for one of the great gifts we’ve found for you.

PETER STEVENS MOTORCYCLES www.peterstevens.com.au or 03 8340 9495

DAINESE STREET

worn in any weather thanks to a waterproof, breathable membrane. Whether you’re a cafe racer, a true rocker or a fan of vintage gear, Street Rocker D-WP shoes are ideal for you.

helmet, from the 2015 MotoGP in Misano. Awesome top level helmet with Rossi’s comical theme.

SHOES – BLACK - $299.95

These versatile shoes are made from high quality cowhide but can be

AGV CORSA LIMITED EDITION VALENTINO ROSSI – “MIND THE SHARKS” - $1299.95

Limited Edition AGV Corsa Helmet Valentino Rossi “Mind The Sharks”

PEEWEE AND KIDS MX GEARSETS FROM FOX / SHIFT / ALPINESTARSRANGING FROM $159.95 - $315 Gear up your young racers in the

best and newest racewear. Available with matching jersey, pants and gloves to fit any rider from PeeWee to teen, girls and boys. Long wearing sublimated graphics stay bright even with regular use, and garments provide a race ready fit. Complete the look with a set of goggles or armour, or mix it up your own way with the bold and fluoro colours of 2017.

HONDA GENUINE MERCHANDISE www.merchandise.hondampe.com.au or from your local Honda Dealer.

printed Honda HM Wing graphic, available in sizes S-2XL.

CASSONS available through your local bike shop or visit, www.cassons.com.au

waterproof liner, removal thermal liner, various adjusters and boys and girls colours. Youth sizes XS-Xl available.

HONDA GENUINE OILS

VINTAGE T-SHIRT - $35

Quality 100% cotton black t-shirt, featuring distressed style screen printed Honda Genuine Oils graphic, available in sizes S-2XL.

TEAM HONDA RACING

VINTAGE T-SHIRT - $35

Sizes: S, M, L, XL, 2XL

Quality 100% cotton grey t-shirt, featuring distressed style screen printed Team Honda Racing graphic, available in sizes S-2XL.

HONDA HM WING VINTAGE T-SHIRT - $35

Quality 100% cotton navy t-shirt, featuring distressed style screen

ARAI RX-7V – FROM $1099.95

All-new with a completely new PB-SNC outer shell, the revolutionary VAS (Variable Axis System) visor design, Eco Pure liner with an even slimmer frame, new ducts, improved diffuser and integrated air channels. Every part shows the attention to detail that is so typical of Arai. Arai has continually improved the ‘glancing off’ performance by learning from real scenarios. Thanks to the new stronger and smoother shell and VAS, the RX-7V is closer to the ideal helmet shape than ever. Available in various colours and graphics and a large range of sizes.

RJAYS EAGLE YOUTH

JACKET - $149.95

Taking your kids on the bike normally means risking the ride for them without proper protective gear. Rjays now has them covered with this Eagle youth jacket, which has CE approved protectors, 100%

DAINESE MIG GLOVES - $169.95

Modern and refined style, but also practicality and comfort, distinguish this glove with polyurethane inserts on the knuckles and researched ergonomics for luxurious comfort, conceived for summer tourism. Sizes XS-3XL available and black or black/white.

SCORPION BANDIT HELMET - $99.95

It’s got it all: ABS shell, D-Ring

Let’s put it this way: Now the road isn’t the only thing that can go on forever. MORE MILES IN MORE COMFORT. WHAT MORE COULD YOU ASK FOR.

The new special edition open-face CT-Z marries Arai’s newest comfort and fit features to our unparalleled six decades and three generations of the Arai family’s obsession with your protection and comfort. The result is a helmet that feels like it disappears when you’re wearing it.

HIGHLIGHTS: A radical peak design channels air while providing day-long shade . The upper-vent diffuser system (from our top-of-the-line race helmet, the Corsair-V) gives you greatly-improved airflow and helmet stability . Arai’s vented neck roll uses the airflow under the rider’s neck to further enhance ventilation by extracting more interior heat and stale air . The groundbreaking patent-pending FCS cheekpad design actually cradles and supports your head — while providing an exceptionally quiet ride by muffling more wind noise coming in from below your ears (the main source of helmet noise). FCS also has Arai’s exclusive 5 mm peel-away custom-fit layer, giving you even more ability to craft the perfect fit and comfort for your face The fully removable liner is easily washed and fresh for the next day. And the unique flip-up faceshield actually moves up and under the peak. It’s a helmet you may never want to take off … once you remember you’re actually wearing it.

Patent-pending FCS Cheekpad Design

Station gauges are. Most are woefully inaccurate and impossible to get onto a motorcycle valve stem. Enter the MotoPressor Tyre Gauge… simply attach the MotoPressor Tyre Gauge to your valve stem, attach the petrol station chuck to the inline fitting on the gauge and get an instant and accurate reading in PSI or KPA.

MCLEOD ACCESSORIES

available at your local bike shop or visit www.mcleodaccessories.com.au

Shoei GT-Air Pendulum$949.90

The popular Shoei GT-Air is available in two new colours for 2017 – white graphic or grey graphic. The GT-Air makes it easier to adapt to the ever-changing conditions on the road ahead. Features like the convenient flip-down internal sun shield, free-flowing ventilation system, superior aerodynamics, and free Pinlock EVO anti-fog system (included in the box) ensure greater comfort and encourage more time in the saddle than ever before!

d ririder Air- r ide

4 j A cke T - $199.95 Maxtex 600D polyester and

abrasion resistant mesh jacket with Reissa waterproof and

breathable removable liner available in ten men’s colours (XS-8XL) and four ladies colours (6-22).

d ririder c lim AT e c on T rol Pro 4 - $349.95

This jacket lets you decide the temperature with an outer shell made from polyester 600D, 900D reinforced shoulders/ elbows and 500D high tenacity mesh and featuring a Dri-Tec H2O removable waterproof and breathable liner (10,000mm/5000mm), removable 85 gram thermal liner, CE armour with hi-density foam back pad, shock absorbing air hump with airflow channels, shoulder air-vents and a mesh comfort lining. Available in a wide range of men’s and ladies sizes.

HARLEY-DAVIDSON available from your local dealer.

h o G B A nk - $69

Collect that cash for your next Harley with this black glazed ceramic ‘Hog’ bank. Size 11” x 7” with Harley-Davidson tank decal.

r e S in e n G ine c lock - $59

Sculpted resin engine clock with realistic detail and aged silver finish. Clock is removable to insert battery. Approx. 5’ x 8.5’ x 3”. AA battery not included.

h - d m o Tor SP or TS V-neck T- S hir T - $36.95

Harley-Davidson Black Label summer collection V neck men’s tee

shirt in white. Motorsport graphic on front.

KTM

available from your local dealer

PEGSCRATCH JACKET - $470

Robust nylon, all-round jacket. Fabric stretch zones in shoulder area, waterproof front fastener, suitable for use all year round thanks to the removable thermal lining. Built for riders who know once the visors down it’s time to race.

BARKBUSTERS

available from your local bike shop or www.barkbusters.net

LED - $69.95 EACH SET

Pictured on a black VPS Barkbusters guard are Barkbusters

LED white light (position) and Barkbusters LED amber light (indicator).

BBZ - $119.95

The BBZ is a large fabric handguard providing maximum cold weather protection – built for blizzard conditions.

CARBON - $159.95

Barkbusters Carbon guards made from genuine hand-laid carbon fibre

and look super stylish on any motorcycle.

YAMAHA available from your local dealer

MT ENGINE T-SHIRT - $45

100% cotton T-shirt with the heart of the beast blazoned on the front. Sizes S-3XL available.

who do not want to make major modifications to their stock exhaust system, this Slip-On exhaust delivers great looks as well as increased performance for the bike. Weighs 1.4kg less than stock and gives an extra 1HP and 0.8Nm.

XSR CAP - $29

Adjustable wool cap with flat peak and a metal XSR badge. One size fits all.

ANDY STRAPZ www.andystrapz.com

CHAIN MONKEY - $55

An ingeniously simple chain tensioning tool. Get it right first

time every time. Just pop it over the chain, wind up the knob to the required mark, then set the chain to tight and straight. Remove the Chain Monkey, crack a beer and dream of a road somewhere... exotic.

AIDE FIRST AID KITS - $55-$120

Packed in a roll top waterproof bag the contents unfold like a tool roll to give a clear view and access to the various items. There are two kits on offer: Comp - A

smallish, compact kit at $55, and the Adventurer – designed for those a bit further from more immediate help at $120.

BUCKET BAGZ - $98

Bucket Bagz are courier style shoulder bags designed around a 17 inch lap top. Made to the very highest standards and constructed from the same tough Australian made 16 oz ripstop canvas as Andy’s famous Expedition Pannierz.

SCOOTERIA www.scooteria.com.au

VESPA HELMETS - $400

A great, casual open face helmet and an ideal present. The Christmas stocking is easily filled, with a range of Vespa helmets and you can choose from the 70th Anniversary or the eye-catching Emporio Armani

models. All at Scooteria, Australia’s largest scooter only dealer.

RADGUARD

www.radguard.com.au or call 02 6658 0060

MOTORCYCLE RADIATOR AND OIL COOLER GUARDS – FROM $145

Rad Guard radiator guards are the essential aftermarket addition to your motorcycle. With a robust frame system to ensure the expanded mesh sits off your radiators core to take the brunt of rocks and other road debris. The guards are mounted to existing mounting points on the bike where possible and are all model specific with easy to following fitting instructions supplied. Over 350 different makes and models available.

BIKIECHIC

www.bikiechic.com.au or call Diane: 0409 421 594

KIM T-SHIRT - $34.95

It’s all about the Sparkle! This design is Kim, a pretty Rhinestone heart design. A nice, flattering t-shirt that’s a great ladies cut, not too tight and a good length. 100% combed cotton with a narrow neck band. Sizes 8–24 and available in Black or Red.

JW SPEAKER

www.jwspeaker.com/adaptive

ADAPTIVE SERIES HEADLIGHTS -

$699.95-$799.95 (USD)

The Adaptive Series headlights are designed with advanced electronics and embedded sensors calculating bank angles on a realtime basis, automatically directing a light array up or down in the foreground as the motorcycle leans. This new technology solves the fundamental problem of night-time visibility, eliminating dark corners of the road.

Available in black or chrome, 7” or 5.75” round sizes.

www.armadilloscooterwear.com.au

HOODY - $250

Performance soft shell fabric gives the Armadillo Scooterwear Hoody total wind proofing, breathability

and waterproofing. A summer throw-over like no other perfect for around town riding.

TRIUMPH MOTORCYCLES

available from your local dealer

LEATHER MESSENGER BAG - $230

Made from 100% tumble leather with internal secure zip pockets and tablet holder, not to mention uber cool styling.

Table T Case - $105

Made from 100% tumble leather with a protective padded inner, ideal for iPads/tablets.

Heri Tage C H ronograp H - $495

This super stylish Triumph watch has a textured dial base, 100% genuine leather padded strap, high contrast Triumph logo, Japanese chronograph movement, 46mm diameter case and is water resistant.

HELD BIKER FASHION

www.heldaustralia.com.au

s lade o nesie - $115 (Kids), $145 ( a dulT s)

Now you and your kids can sleep

easy dreaming about motorcycles all night long in your Held onesie. Design based on the popular Slade one piece racing suit, this onesie is made from 100% cotton, has 2 external pockets, stylish patches, integrated hood and comes in a black-red colour and adults sizes S-5XL, kids sizes 128, 140, 152, 164 and baby sizes 68,74,80,86,92,98.

r ain p ou CH - $45

This backpack/helmet pouch is made from 80% PVC, 20% polyester (waterproof coating) and has a

28 litre volume to keep your contents dry when the skies are falling. The pouch is also large enough to carry a helmet or other items that might not fit in a regular pack. Available in black or fluoro yellow.

d eser T summer glove - $130

A full length cuff summer glove made with a kangaroo leather palm, mesh fabric (100% polyester), leather detailed back which is colourfast and sweatproof. There is Velcro adjustment at the cuffs, elasticated leather panels on the back, thumb and fingers and perforated finger panels and sidewalls of the fingers in lightweight mesh fabric for cooling. Available in sizes 6-12.

SUZUKI

available from your local dealer s uzu K i m o To gp gs X- rr

Kiddimo To b alan C e bi K e - $199

The Suzuki MotoGP GSX-RR balance bike is the perfect tool for youngsters to develop the necessary skills required before riding a motorcycle for the first time. This balance bike comes with non-toxic exclusive designs, comfort grips, upright riding position, 30 degree restricted steering lock and 12-inch slick tyres. A matching helmet is included to keep the little ones safe.

DRAGGIN JEANS

www.dragginjeans.net or your local bike shop

REVZ - $319

Revz are made from the latest denim and form part of Draggin’s innovative NextGen range. Revz are a

INDICATOR AND POSITION LIGHTS

• Increase your visibility to other road users

• Can be retro ﬁtted to Barkbusters JET, VPS and STORM guards

Mini Pump

» Select pressure, switch ON and the pump automatically switches OFF when the pressure is reached

» Displays in PSI, BAR or KPA

» Pumps to 50 PSI

» Actual Pump size: 13 x 17 x 5.5cm

» Light weight and portable - weighs only 497g

The Kit includes the MotoPressor Mini Pump with Digital Pressure Gauge and all the power leads and connectors to run from your motorcycle battery or a mini jump starter, packed neatly into a sturdy carry case.

• Indicator and Position Lights are E mark approved

• 15 Super Bright LED’s per light MORE

quality stretch blue denim slim leg jean, have a silicone coating, yet breathe like traditional jeans. These innovative jeans will mould to individual body shapes and over time, will age and develop their own unique creases and curves. A sports liner keeps you comfortable all year round and they come with both hip and knee pockets sewn in ready for protectors. Available in men’s sizes, the Revz are designed to be worn on and off the bike. The fit is lower at the waist than at the back to ensure both comfort and skin coverage whilst riding.

DUCATI available at your local dealer

ORANGE TRACK JET HELMET - $259

This helmet is the result of a design collaboration between Ducati Scrambler and Bell.

CHECKERED SCR SHIRT - $79

An essential check shirt with

Scrambler style that will never go out of fashion.

HIPPY DIPPY T-SHIRT - $49

A 100 cotton tee with graphics reminiscent of the Sixties and Seventies.

BMW MOTORRAD

available at your local dealer

LOGO T-SHIRTS - $45 (KIDS), $65 (ADULTS)

100% cotton t-shirts for kids, ladies and men, featuring an embroidered BMW logo on left sleeve, small side label with a classic round neck style. Available in kids’ sizes 98-164, ladies XS3XL and men’s S-4XL.

LOGO WALLET - $90

High-quality, classic leather wallet with functional compartments comprising 2 pockets for banknotes and a coin pocket with stud fastener, 10 card compartments and 1 concealed compartment for credit card as well as flip-open mesh compartment for ID card. BMW Motorrad logo, stamped, as well as a BMW logo metal badge.

RALLYE TEDDY - $55

Teddy bear with BMW Rallye motorcycling suit and removable enduro helmet. Approximately 28cm high. D

WhenHenry Lawson left Hungerford in 1893 after a stay of possibly just one but probably two nights to walk the 220km back east to Bourke, he turned his back not just on the town, but also on the bush.

The day after arriving here in 1893 with his mate Jim Gordon, Henry wrote to his Aunt Emma. He told her that she could have, “no idea of the horrors of the country out here. Men tramp and beg and live like dogs…The ﬂies start at daylight and we ﬁght them all day till

dark – then mosquitoes start.”

Describing himself as a, “beaten man”, he vowed to, “start back tomorrow… (and) never to face the bush again.”

Before he left the most westerly, the most outback town he would ever visit, Lawson took in the sights. Hungerford’s only real claim to fame was the gate on the main street where the rabbit-proof fence traced the border line.

He wasn’t impressed.

The fence was just a bad joke for him, a symbol of waste and stupidity: “(A)n

interprovincial rabbit-proof fence – with rabbits on both sides of it – runs across the main street,” he wrote, “The fence is a standing joke with Australian rabbits –about the only joke they have out here.”

In the morning, Henry Lawson, for once, kept his word, turned his back on Hungerford and the far outback and began the trek to Bourke. He never returned to the outback.

Anyway when I eventually turn off the Wanaaring Rd and get to the famed fence, I park the bike and open the gate

PUBOFTHEMONTH

and the Royal Mail’s ﬁfty metres up on my left.

I nod to the old couple on the roadside seats, but they ignore me. They both look totally stuffed.

Graham’s behind the bar yacking with a trey of the locals and since this is a stubbie pub, I order a shortie of Coopers Ale and grab a stool outside.

Henry had “asked for an English ale…. (but) got a glass of sour yeast (for)

I would walk 500 miles…

Seven years ago Graham and a mate decided they’d had enough of being civil engineers on the Gold Coast and embarked on a pub crawl to make even Henry Lawson envious.

After four days they’d been in 69 pubs and after 15 separate trips, each about 20 days, they’d visited 988 hotels. Hungerford was their favourite and they came back three times before putting in an offer and getting it six years ago. He has no plans on leaving, (“Oh I’ll die here.”) and he mans it seven days a week, serving cold beers, decent wine and good lunches and ‘teas’ every day and he’ll close when you stop drinking. Since the council ordered him to close the concrete and iron bunkhouse due to it being a ﬁre risk (ever tried burning either of them?) there’re just four rooms with various combinations of singles and doubles, all with air-con and oil heaters. ($65 for one, $75 a pair).

There’s swag space all around and coin run showers down at the camping ground.

You won’t ﬁnd a better haven after a day spent riding red sand roads but try not to come in January. In the bar is a photo of the thermometer which sits in the shade at the pub’s side. It measured 52ºC on two consecutive days when the road temp got to 70º!

sixpence” at the then Royal Hotel but my beer’s perfect, as is the afternoon. I watch a full moon rise over the old corrugated place opposite and a 4WD pulls up right out the front. An old bloke, a very old bloke, crawls out. He can hardly walk and needs to lean ﬁrst on his truck and then on the fence and then on the walls of the pub.

But he’s not too crook to say, “g’day” which I return and then when the bottle’s empty I follow him inside.

Graham points out the safest stool to park on, gotta be careful not to perch on a local’s seat! It’s on the eastern wall beside Aldon, who asks what the hell I’m doing in this part of the world.

I tell him about Henry. He splutters and puts down his beer.

“That fucking pisshead imposter! He never walked out here, he was just on one of his bloody pub crawls!”

Aldon hates Henry, hates his maudlin sad grim stories. He’s read every word Lawson ever wrote, all the works of Banjo too.

“He never wrote anything bloody happy!”

Al reckons there was a shanty or a pub every day’s walk from Toorale and that Henry and Jim were just out for a rural pub crawl and ended up here, hating everything he saw, the country and the people!

He wrote that all the trouble in the town was on the Queensland side where the pubs were but placed a caveat on the claims saying, “(a)t least, I believe that’s how it is, though the man who told me might have been a liar. Another man said he was a liar, but then he might have been a liar himself – a third person said he was one. I heard there was a ﬁght over it, but the man who told me about the ﬁght might not have been telling the truth.

(Here, he might’ve been onto something. When I chat with publican Graham a bit later I do my usual spiel about being happy to turn off the recorder if there’s anything he wants off the record.

“I don’t give a shit,” says Graham, “I’ve always got two answers for every question, the truthful one and the bullshit one. I’ll leave telling the

difference to you.”)

Aldon meanwhile seems more dedicated to truth.

“The ﬁrst thing you have to know about the fence,” Al conﬁdes from his corner at the bar, “is that it’s not on the border. It’s a chain inside Queensland and it’s in pretty good shape. Keeps out all pests except Victorians”. He smiles.

At the far end of the bar, past Graham’s partner Carole, and locals Craig and Tony sits the old bloke from the ute:

Mac’s about to turn 90 and he’s been in Hungerford for the last 30 or so, ever since his ex-wife sold the family home without his knowledge, kept all the money but sent him an envelope with a gift voucher inside.

For a cofﬁn.

Mac’s not in great health but he’s still not close to cashing it in. The joints don’t bend so well and the bones are no longer strong. He could do with a few more teeth over which to pour his favourite Bells whisky and his hands eloquently tell stories of a life spent working.

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On the fourth Thursday of every month, the Flying Doctor Service touches down on the all weather strip just out of town and the doctors head for the medical centre next to the pub. In one morning they can check out Mac and the other ten people in town plus any who come in from off the surrounding properties.

“We get the very best doctors in Australia out here,” reckons Graham, “every medical student in the country wants to have RFDS on their resumé and they ﬁght like crazy to get accepted. Only the very best get a shot at treating us relics.”

Like the tops of many wooden ceilinged bush bars, this one is spotted with ﬁve, ten, twenty and ﬁfty dollar notes drawing-pinned to its lid, chucked up there by drinkers and by Graham himself on the other side of the bar. Every couple of months he takes them down and adds them to the contribution to the RFDS. Each harvest is around a grand for the outback’s favorite cause. By around 7pm all the locals have gone back to their homes and Carole serves me up a whopping steak sanger ‘n’ chips for tea and then I head out to photograph two icons of the bush in one frame: the dingo fence and the southern cross.

In the morning, after one of Carole’s big breakfasts, I head up to Mac’s place. He wants to show me around the 1925 T Model Ford which he drove around town up until about four years ago.

I ﬁnd him standing with his walking

frame which’s got an old Globite school case on its seat. He makes me a brew and then we head out to check the beast.

There’re three pedals for the driver. The left is to go forward, the middle for reverse and the other is the brake. The petrol tank’s under the seat and there’s no fuel pump meaning that if you need to get up a steep hill, you have to turn around and reverse up keeping the tank higher than the engine.

“It’s never been registered and, well, things aren’t quite as relaxed about that sort of stuff as they were back in the day.”

We go back inside to our brews and Mac opens his old Globite. It’s an original, his own school case complete with internal wooden frame. It contains a jumble of photos, remnants and testaments to a life well lived. He digs out some shots of the T model laden with kids and guests and visitors and tourists.

“It’s brought a lot of fun that car.”

Back at the pub, Graham’s been up for hours. He’s the postman, the rain-gauge checker and the river-level documenter. No rain’s fallen in town but the river’s rising almost to the top of the pipes and he reckons it’ll cross the road in three days’ time after big falls upstream. (I ring the pub four days later and it’s a full metre above the road surface.)

I settle my slate and crank up the Super-Ten, open the gate and park slap in the middle of it and set the Garmin GPS. It puts me at S28 59.939, just a tick north of the 29th parallel which is the

border. Al was spot on about the fence being a chain inside Queensland. I push the bike forward so I can close the gate and Henry’s in my head.

If the outback had been some sort of liquor, some fermented concoction, he would’ve persevered, gone back for a second and a third swig, staying with it till he got the taste and learned to love it.

But you can’t get drunk on the hardships of the bush for it’s a different elixir, and at the wrong time he chose to abstemious. Lawson was wrong. You don’t “face the bush” in some adversarial battle. You immerse yourself into it, let it surround you, and as you become part of it, so it becomes part of you.

And pubs like the Royal Mail in towns like Hungerford will give you a high without a hangover, intoxication without crapulence!

Standalone pubs like Middleton or Mt Hope aside, there’s not too many places where you can relax in a pub after a day’s riding and meet every single resident of the town.

And very deﬁnitely there’s very few where every local from the publican to the local cop is as friendly and entertaining as in Hungerford.

I’m searching for something that a true outback pub needs that’s lacking here and I can’t ﬁnd anything.

Four helmets on our scale, 5 from 5 for unique character although the 65 bucks for a single bed bring down the value rating to 140 ish.

I challenge any rider to do a Henry and not like this place. D

Photos TOMAS z Pu LSAKOw SK i

Hard Rock Cafe in Krakow, Poland, recently unveiled one of its rarest and most unusual exhibits - a custom Harley-Davidson, adding it to their collection of rock and roll artefacts. The Cafe Racer, developed by Polish custom bike company Game Over Cycles (GOC), shows just what happens when the motorcycle world and the music world collide – or perhaps mate.

Known for groundbreaking ideas, the GOC crew started this creation with a Sportster 883 and built it up into an amazing symbol of the rock and roll lifestyle.

The rear swingarm has been transformed into a guitar fret board;

the battery box is shaped to look like a guitar amp. In fact, the bike is laden with custom parts that have been modiﬁ ed to represent instruments and music gear -- but are also fully operational elements of the motorcycle. For example, the coil cover is in the shape of a guitar, and its tremolo arm can be used to drop pressure and suck fuel into the carburetor.

The only standard part in this bike is the Sportster 883 engine. And, aside from the leather seat, all the motorcycle’s parts were created in the GOC workshop speciﬁ cally for this project.

Founder and owner of GOC,

Stanislaw Myszkowski, explains the concept of the motorcycle.

“With every theme bike we make, we try to make it to express the philosophy of our company. Detailed thoughts on concepts are as equal a part of the process as the precise execution of technical design.”

“In creating the Cafe Racer no detail was coincidental. The ideas for custom parts, their formation and their positioning all have a precise meaning within the concept of the bike. This requires creativity and unusual solutions, and the GOC team all played their part in making this unique bike a reality.”

The identity of the Hard Rock Cafe

can be found deep within the guts of the Cafe Racer.

The gearshift, for example, is in the shape of a turntable’s arm — the bike shifts through gears in the same

way a music fan switches through the tracks of a favourite record. And the bike’s wheels, blackedout and etched with track names, spin like records on a turntable.

The exhaust system is designed like a saxophone, and the musical references go even deeper into the way the bike operates. Movable openings on the bike’s exhaust can adjust the sound of the bike, in the same way a musician adjusts the sound of a saxophone. The bike’s engine breathes life into the exhaust just as a musician breathes life into a sax.

Game Over Cycles

The bike's air fi lter has been made in the shape of a classic vocal microphone. The air fi lter's sponge interior allows adequate air fl ow - its design is informed by a microphone's sponge fi ller which prevents external contamination and allows for greater clarity of recording.

References to the world of music are also present in other parts of the motorcycle.

The leather seat has been engraved with notes from the chorus of the classic AC/DC song "Highway to Hell". This artwork is a direct representation of the highways leading into the city of Sydney, AC/ DC’s home town. The iconic 666 emblem metaphorically emphasizes the infernal imagery of the song.

Even the graphic design of the bike itself is unique and interwoven

GOC is a Polish custom motorcycles manufacturer formed in 2012. The company is known for its original creations, such as The Recidivist - 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. In just four years, they’ve received eight awards at European Bike Week, having won the prestigious “People’s Choice Award” no less than four times. European Bike Week is Europe’s largest open and free bike festival and one of the biggest in the world. The event has been organized annually in the Austrian village of Faaker-See and according to organizers’ data in 2016 the event saw an attendance of more than 120,000 visitors and 70,000 bikes from around the world.

Game Over Cycles: www.gameovercycles.pl

with symbolism. The graphics and painting by AEROGRAF Piotr Parczewski have an unusual, porous texture, giving the bike a tactile look, making you want to reach out and touch it. The gold ﬂ akes used for the Hard Rock Cafe logo evoke the US automotive industry’s “pin striping” technique and are informed by the gilding of sacred structures. But ultimately, the Hard Rock Cafe is a place to eat, drink, listen to music and rock out. And the GOC designers have created a bike perfectly suited to its environment. Indicators for measuring the speed and oil pressure imitate the dials of a coffee machine, while the ﬁ ller of

the fuel tank looks and works like the closing of an old fashioned whiskey fl ask. Furthermore, the bike’s metallic parts are designed to complement the famous ceiling at the Hard Rock Cafe in Krakow. Covered in drum cymbals, the ceiling refl ects a golden light from their brass surfaces, and this is complemented directly by the metallic fi nish of the bike itself. Finally, the GOC team has hidden subdued ambient bulbs in the bike’s lights to generate a cosy, glowing feel for the Hard Rock Cafe. Every part of this bike will contribute its own unique element of rock and roll energy to this world famous venue. D

Awards

Already winning on the show circuit, here’s a list so far:

- First place in the “Sportster” category and prestigious audience award — “People’s Choice Award” in the HarleyDavidson Custom Bike Show contest organized at the European Bike Week 2016 (Faaker-See, Austria)

- First place in the „Modiﬁed Harley” category in the Custom Chrome Europe Faaker See Championship at the European Bike Week 2016 (Faaker-See, Austria)

HELD BIKER FASHION

CELEBRATING 70 YEARS WORDS/PHOTOS BORIS

“W ould you like to attend

Held’s 70th Anniversary get-together?” Ray asked the day I dropped by to grab a set of gloves before sallying off to murder marsupials in the outback.

“Sure,” I said. “I love parties. Is it at your place?”

“No,” Ray grinned. “It’s in the Tyrol.”

“The Tyrol? Out near Lithgow?”

“No. The Tyrol out near Austria.”

“You’re gonna ﬂ y me to Europe to go to a party?”

“Yes.”

Two years after Held’s debut into

Australia, I still get strange looks when I mention the Held brand, or someone asks me about the gloves I happen to be wearing.

Ray is not the kind of bloke who gives up. He knows he imports a great brand. The trouble he has is getting other people to know that. Australian motorcyclists are isolationists. Most would have heard of maybe three brands, and think that is the sum total of all the good gear there is on this earth. Trying to introduce this market to really good gear it has never heard of before is

like introducing children who have only ever eaten Paddle Pops to a really good chocolate gelato. They scream in refusal until they try it. Then suddenly they don’t eat Paddle Pops anymore.

But inviting me to Germany to look around and then write about Held was certainly a double-edged sword.

“If it’s shit, then I’m gonna say it’s shit. I’m serious,” I said evenly.

Held began its life 70 years ago as a premium glove manufacturer, and now boasts a 350-page catalogue of motorcycle gear, and a slew of Boris

prestigious product awards. It is distributed in 52 countries and in its long history can point to a series of world-ﬁrsts in its comprehensive catalogue of motorcycle products.

Its association in 1983 with Anton Mang, ﬁve-time 250GP and 350GP World Champion, formed the basis upon which all racing and sports gloves are now made. By everyone.

The ﬁrst use of carbon ﬁbre in gloves? Held.

The ﬁrst use of metal rivets on the palm of the glove? Held.

The ﬁrst magnetic tankbag? Held.

The ﬁrst all-kangaroo one-piece suit? Held.

The ﬁrst two-into-one glove? Held.

The ﬁrst two-into-one textile jacket? Yep. Held.

I knew all of this when I got on the plane. And I had also used the gear, and held it (pardon the pun) in very high regard.

But then, I hold pretty much everything made or designed in Germany in high regard. They don’t seem to make much shit in Germany, do they?

I can point to the cars they produce, the bikes they create, or more importantly, the beer they brew (the purity of which is protected by a 529-year-old law), and the fact they mow and edge the entire bloody country every Saturday so it always looks like a postcard.

I think it takes a special national mindset to be like that. And I was curious to see how this mindset translated to motorcycle gear –especially given that most Australians had never heard of the brand.

Of course, we have heard of BMW, right? And we’ve all heard how its motorcycle gloves sit on the top-shelf looking down upon all the other gloves and being very expensive and effective, yes?

Would you care to guess who makes those gloves for BMW?

Yep. Held.

My ﬁrst port-of-call was the Held store, which is in the town of Sonthoffen, in the stunningly beautiful Allgäu region of Bavarian Swabia. Well, to be honest, I did stop at a servo ﬁrst

Yes, there is magic in this place.

How to make a leather suit.

Old school sewing machines are still used.

to see if the beer was still adhering to the purity law. It was and I moved on, refreshed and at peace.

The Held store is relatively new and modern. And somewhat refreshing and peaceful in and of itself.

Everything that Held makes is inside. Everything. And it makes a whole lot of stuff.

The store sits astride a road motorcyclists frequent like fleas on a tip-dog. All sorts of alps, insane bends and liberal speed-limits are literally a few kilometres from its doors. The ride-past-drop-in traffic is huge, and the place reflects that fact and welcomes riders with air for their tyres, wipes for their visors, easy parking and a deal with BMW.

This deal means the entire range of BMW motorcycles is at the store. If you wanna buy a jacket, or gloves, or maybe a helmet and you want to try the garment out, why not treat yourself to a relatively cheap rental BMW and do a dash into Switzerland with your soonto-be-new Held gloves on?

Clever marketing, huh? I thought so.

Anyway, there’s also a bar and a museum on the top-level, but in a country where you can buy beer in vending machines, this is not such a big deal. The Germans looked at me like I was weird when I enthused about it.

Australia makes a big deal about drinking beer. The Germans, who are far more civilised and adult than us, not so much.

I really enjoyed the museum too, but I didn’t drink any beer lest the jetlag jellied my brain any more than it already had.

It has leather samples of almost everything that walks, runs or swims –

It also has the old sewing machines, the old presses and the old cutting dyes, as well as yellowed accounting and order books from 70 years ago.

This retention of history is made possible because Held is still owned and run by the family that started it in 1946. Edgar and Erhard Held, sons of the founder Bruno, own the company, and their sons and daughters work as part of the 100-strong team that designs, manufactures and stringently maintains the traditions of quality they are all justly proud of.

I saw this ﬁrst-hand the following day as I walked through the factory. Much of the gear is manufactured in the company-owned facility in Hungary, but all the quality-control, testing, development, research, repairs and special orders are made in the Bavarian town where it all began in 1946.

But I didn’t see anything resembling a high-volume production line. What I saw was meticulous attention to detail by craftsmen and craftswomen. I handled razor-sharp glove-dyes. I peered at their machines (they prefer to use the older machines because they simply work better and are more robust than the latest stuff), and I watched as Uschi, a cheery Bavarian lady checked clothing, gloves, and luggage for ﬂaws, as another lady with a killer manicure pre-stretched high-end racing gloves and checked their measurements. I even watched one bloke making custom-ﬁtted gloves for various customers.

The whole place didn’t feel like a factory at all. It felt like a rather accomplished workshop, where skilled Germans expertly made special motorcycle gear.

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0022 + years

formerly Ferris Wheels Safaris

because at one time or another, Held has made gloves from it.

Check out the nails.

EVENT

My guide was Axel, who heads up Export – and is a veritable encyclopaedia of everything the company makes and how it makes it. He is a childhood friend of the two brothers, Marcus (Head of Marketing) and Stefan (Head of Research & Development), both of whom I spent some time with over the next few days. There was no mistaking Held’s strong family vibe. It’s a very German business model and many German companies, big and small, are owned and run by the families who started them. It’s very good when it works, and probably not so good when it doesn’t. But the Germans do make it work most of the time, and this may also be something unique to their national character. I spent a good deal of time at Held’s corporate headquarters as well – a place which fascinated me, because I am a bloke from a country that’s never actually seen war. Held’s corporate HQ is a former army barracks that has been re-purposed as ofﬁces, design studios, showrooms and warehouses. It even has a bunker where the kids now running the place played as children. The walls are thick, the stairways wide and it has the feel of stolid permanence. On the walls are signed posters of Anton Mang, who played a big part in the company’s success, as well as Euro-speciﬁc promotional posters (you don’t market to Europeans the same way you market to Australians), and a fascinating exploded view of a racing suit and all its many components and panels. The walls also display the multitude of awards Held gear has won from a slew of motorcycle publications, most notably Motorrad – a 100-year-old motorcycle magazine (established in 1903) that is still Europe’s largest-selling (135,000 per month) and its most respected.

I spent three days in the HQ, the store and the factory. I saw it all. Nothing was verboten or off-limits. Three very full days to view Held’s 2017 range before heading off to the Tyrol, falling off a wall, tearing all the ligaments in my foot, and limping around some castles, before heading off to see more of Europe on a bike more crippled than an orthopaedic surgeon’s dreams.

At the end of those three days, as I soaked my swollen foot in an ice-cold mountain stream outside my hotel, and a pretty girl in a dirndl brought me beer each time I rang a cow bell, I wondered what I was going to tell you about Held.

Sure, the Australian importer had paid for me to come and see how it all worked. And I had done that. Was a free ticket to Europe something that would colour my take on Held?

No. If I saw weird shit, I would tell you I saw weird shit.

If Held didn’t like that, well so be it. So yeah, I saw some weird shit. What I saw surprised me, actually. The way Held rolls is not what I had expected. I thought it would be…well, other than what it was. My expectations were informed by an Australian mindset. The actuality had to be parsed with a German mindset.

Held is German-designed gear conceived of and developed by Germans who ride motorcycles around Europe.

That’s the hard-edged bottom-line. Europe gets just as hot as Australia and is a lot colder for four months of the year.

Some of Held’s gear is made in Germany. Some of it is not. What’s not made in Germany is made in Hungary in a factory owned and operated by Held. This is rather different to manufacturers who subcontract their production out to say, Pakistan.

There is a dizzying variety of gear available (especially when it comes to gloves) – and it comes in different price ranges. There is top-end Held stuff you’ll pay serious money for and midrange stuff that is not as expensive. But all of it is very well-designed to be user-friendly, totally practical, innovative and durable.

There is no bottom-end, bargain s hit. Sorry. You’ll need to shop elsewhere for that.

In the last two years, Held has made a big effort in the cool stakes. It realised that a lot of the stuff it made worked well, but didn’t quite “look” as good as some of the competition’s gear. And this was true. The Italians do make some pretty sexy stuff, and

the Germans have never been the epicentre of looking shit-hot.

The solution? Simple. Hire Italian designers. Maintain German quality and inject some Italian style. The 2016 range and the new bits of the 2017 range very much reﬂect this new direction.

So Held is entirely German. With everything that qualiﬁer entails. It is well-made. It is very practical. And a lot of it does look pretty damn good when you put it on, but then I could make a ﬂour sack look hot.

Germans, are not small people (though there are certainly very few fat ones), and they are considerate, so the sizing reﬂects that. Some of the jackets and pants can even be ordered with ﬂared gut-areas in case you’ve been overly keen on indulging your belly over the years.

This consideration extends to the ladies. Much of Held’s vast range is also offered in a speciﬁc ladies’ cut (or style), to make room for things like boobs, smaller waists and ovaries. There is innovation in its range as well.

It works. It’s German. I thought the gear was pretty damn good before I went to Germany. I now understand why it is as good as it is.

Congratulations Held for being in business for seventy years. May you grow stronger, worldwide!

FULL DISCLOSURE

Held Australia paid for my return ticket to Munich and four days’ accommodation and meals. The Australian importer wanted me to see what the company was all about, how it works, what it does and how it does it, and share it its 70th yearanniversary celebration.

And it wanted me to tell people what I saw and what I did. Nothing more. Nothing less.

I was also the only person at this event who was not a distributor. I had access to everything and everyone. I was introduced to the assembled distributors as a “journalist” and was welcomed with open arms and smiles. D

WHEN: From Tuesday May 2 – Tuesday 11 July, 2017 (or longer by arrangement with Get Routed)

Dave Milligan dave@getrouted.com.au 0412 689 849 and/or 03 5625 9080.

Cam Donald

Alex Pickett

FLASH GORDON LIVES!

SHARK SKWAL HELMETS

Price - $399.95

Ralph and I both got new helmets recently – both Shark Skwals.

Ralph has the Instinct version and I’ve got the Matador. Ralph opted to keep the clear visor and use the drop down internal sun visor, while I opted to go with the accessory dark tint visor and remove the internal sun visor.

Both have a neat recess inside the visor to ﬁt the standard Pinlock, which makes things very tidy and better, vision wise.

Here’s Ralph’s take on the Skwal –I don’t know where to start? Well I do because before I get exceptionally excited about the fit and comfort of my new Shark helmet, the best place to start is the most unusual and hugely beneficial aspect of the Skwal helmet. It is the LED neon green lights. Claiming to be ‘the World’s first LED lit helmet’ it is an innovation I embrace and even some of my lycra-wearing cycling mates agree.

I am proactive in maintaining my longevity on a motorcycle and the bright green lights across the rear of the helmet combined with the other two that shine equally brightly above and below the visor at the front will help me get noticed in trafﬁc and along the dark freeway I seem to inhabit after hours.

They can be switched on to strobe but I don’t want to look too much like a push bike rider so I leave them glowing like an alien spacecraft. The

lights last for hours and are charged by USB from my computer. Shark claims “up to 5000 recharge cycles and a battery life of ﬁve hours on a continuous basis, 10 hours while ﬂashing”.

My usual run-in time for a helmet can be a few days to a week (I go through about one helmet a year and either purchase my own or in this case get given one to appraise) and the Sharky took about 90 minutes of my usual commute to feel super comfortable. It is a difﬁcult helmet to slip on with a tight opening but that only makes it more likely to reduce the wind and road roar. It does and the internal layers and padding surpassed the comfort level of helmets I’m use to which cost at least twice as much.

Quietness is better than almost any other helmet I have owned, but the absolute test for me is at very high speed on a race-track, and nothing is planned in the immediate future. I can at least tell you that vison is great although the shape of the chin and overall size makes head-checks a little more deliberate than with my last three brain-buckets.

Okay, the matt-ﬁnish is not on the top of my athletic sensibilities and I can’t image the look will stay fresh forever but I’m rapt in the

shape and look and especially the Pinlock anti-fog system. I’m sold on the retractable tinted visor and after my ﬁrst month wearing the Skwal, I am wondering how the venting will handle the really hot weather which is due.

For the price and features the Shark will be hard to beat and it is a brand I have noticed more and more. If you are chasing relatively light weight with comfort, a Shark in summer shouldn’t be avoided. Available in a wide range of colours and graphics, along with sizes XS-XL. See your local bike shop or visit, www.ﬁceda.com.au RLM, SW

BETTER THAN THE TRACK

OXFORD ESTORIL 2.0 JACKET

Price - $219.95

In need of an everyday mid-season jacket? Look no further than the Estoril 2.0 from Oxford. As we ride all year round here at AMM, jackets for summer, winter and mid-season are essential. My mid-season collection was lacking a versatile unit so when I noticed the Oxford Estoril 2.0 I thought it would ﬁt the bill – and it does. It’s a jacket that can be used most of the year round with the

exception of very cold days and anything much over 24 degrees.

The Estoril 2.0 features a ﬁxed waterproof membrane, which makes it unsuitable for the hot days, but there is front ventilation via a zipped vent on each shoulder and a vent on the back to let the hot air out. For the colder days, the removable thermal liner is nice to have.

CE armour in the shoulders and elbows could help in the event of a fall, but the removable back padding is only a couple of mils thick, so if you like a back protector, look for a replacement. Adjustable waist, hips and arms with neat elastic and button tabs help make this the versatile jacket I was after – when the liner is in, I can loosen the adjustments – hotter, tighten them for the correct ﬁt. But one of the features I like with any jacket is the open collar. I’m not overly a fan of collars with Velcro or button closures. I always seem to ﬁnd they get in the way of moving my head properly.

An internal smart-phone pocket that allows me to still use the touch screen is nice and the two external pockets are just the right size when standing around and putting your hands in them.

Being a pommie product, you’d expect this Oxford jacket to be waterproof and yes, it most certainly is – great job Oxford!

All of this comes in at a low price tag and really, it’s hard to go past. Try one on at your local bike shop and see what I mean. Or visit www.ﬁceda.com.au SW

COMIN’ RIGHT ATCHA! IXON RS TRIGGER HP GLOVES

Price - $139.95

Another great everyday product is the Ixon RS Trigger HP gloves. They are a short cuff with some perforation, comfort and loads of safety – great for wearing every ride

Not only is the Trigger CE certiﬁed, but they feature knuckle protectors, slider on bottom of the palm, numerous reinforcements, all while offering excellent feel. Printed leather brings a hint of modernity and originality, too.

The Trigger is a little more expensive than most short cuff gloves, but you do pay for quality. Once you’ve worn them for a few rides you’ll notice just how ‘personal’ the Goat leather becomes. Check them out at your local bike shop, or visit www.ﬁceda.com.au SW

PROP-ER RIDING IN THE RAIN KELLERMOBILE WATROPROP

Price: 11 Euros plus postage

Many motorcyclists… actually, I suspect most motorcyclists – enjoy the spectacle we put on for the muggles who see us on the road and (hopefully) on our wheels. It doesn’t have to be a stoppie outside the girls’ school or a slide at the bus stop; quite simple things can stir them up and amuse them, bless their innocent little pointy heads.

And I’ve found a beauty. After seeing it reviewed in a German magazine I wondered for a moment whether it was a joke – but it seemed too complete and convincing. So I wrote to Albert Keller, the bloke listed as the inventor. Not only did he write back, he sent me a ‘Regenschutzscheibe’ kit, with instructions in German and English. Now before I try to describe this, let me just say that I have seldom had as much fun on a motorcycle as I have had with this amazing invention! The Regenschutzscheibe consists of a propeller and a spinning disc, held on your helmet visor by a suction cup. There’s a lanyard to make sure you don’t drop it in case the suction cup lets go, but I haven’t had any trouble. The

propeller is designed to spin the disc up, which in turn is intended to shed any rain drops that it encounters. Got that? A propeller held on the front of your helmet with a suction cup and a spinning disc.

I presume you have heard of Heath Robinson. If you haven’t, google him – he was a hilarious cartoonist who created complex but nevertheless workable devices. That’s pretty much what the Regenschutzscheibe –commercial name Watroprop – is.

Not only does it work - it revs from about 15km/h and clears the screen from a little more - but the looks you get are just wonderful! Not just from muggles, either. I tried it around some motorcyclists who gather at a cafe near my home, and the reception was universally hilarious. This thing will not only make your ride safer in the rain, it will gain you a lot of smiling friends. It seems that it will work up to a speed of 130 or 150km/h, when it may develop a noticeable droning. Cost is very reasonable at 11 euros for the kit, plus postage and half a euro for a distance sleeve which you may need to space out the disc. Take a look at the video at www.regenschutzscheibe.de or keep an eye out for me on a rainy day. Go ahead, order your Watroprop from kellermobile@arcor.de. It’s the perfect Christmas (or any other) present for any motorcyclist!

If you’re a basically serious (or even humourless) person, forget it; but if you have a sense of humour AND want to see better in the rain – here’s a chance too good to miss. PT D

bookreview

VINTAGE MORRIS

SIP THIS VINTAGE!

Nearlytwo hundred pages of Lester Morris sounds as if it might almost be too much. And it is; read this book in sections or you will suffer from serious (if I can say that) laugh cramps. Lester is simply one of the funniest people writing in the often all-too-serious world of motorcycling. Fortunately, the book is a collection of his columns in various magazines, so you will know when to stop reading and put it aside for another day!

Seeing you’re reading this, it’s unlikely that you haven’t seen Lester’s work. Someone has told me that it’s the only reason he buys MOTORCYCLIST, which I think is a bit unkind… but not entirely unbelievable. I don’t think there is anyone writing in our ﬁeld who has gathered such a devoted readership. Mind you, there are also people who will tell you that he’s wrong more often than right, and it is possibly true that he won’t necessarily let the literal truth stand in the way of a good tale. I’ll let those who know more about the history of motorcycling in this country make that call!

But of course I don’t believe it for a moment.

As I mention in the book’s introduction, which he kindly asked me to write (the introduction, not the book…) Lester’s sense of humour is

very gentle, but you’re still not likely to miss the joke. He makes sure of that… Not only does he bring the past alive, but whether he’s being washed away in a flash flood at the Bathurst races or nearly being squashed by his (then) wife’s sidecar exploits (see the cover), Lester finds humour in everything. Would that we could all do the same; we might enjoy our lives as much as Lester enjoys his, always with a unique take on things.

Here’s a sidecar rider taking his ﬁrst excursion on a solo bike: “He made his way to a set of narrow bifold doors that lead into the narrow laneway outside the shop, then suddenly opened the throttle as he thrust his legs out in front of him like a pair of soft battering rams.” That soft battering rams image will stay with me forever.

And he isn’t only a writer. Lester was a race commentator for many years at Bathurst and at Amaroo Park; he owned a bike shop and ran a motorcycle rider training business long before such things were common; he published a motorcycle newspaper. And even that wasn’t all. Show business has almost as much to thank Lester for as motorcycling. He directed operas. He trod the boards here and in New Zealand, toured his own show, livened up ﬁlms and even brought a

Tell ‘em the price son

Price $29; the book will be launched on our stand at the MotoExpo show in Melbourne at the end of November. Buy your copy there and get Lester to autograph it on the spot, or get a quote for postage from lm2@tpg.com.au .

touch of class to advertisements. Many people remember his electricity ads with a lot of affection.

But it’s motorcycling that gave him the stage in print that he has used so effectively and so amusingly for so many years. In the process he made other people famous, like his riding companion Fred. And while he took no prisoners when it came to listing his own and other people’s follies, he always did it gently and with respect. However… don’t expect political correctness from Lester. Keep in mind that some of these stories were (unmistakably) written quite a while ago.

Lester and I share another bond beside the fact that we often agree on the subjects of bikes and human frailty. He began work in the motorcycle business the same year I was born…

There is one thing we will never agree on, though. Despite all the wonderful machinery Lester has ridden over those many years, he claims the Moto Guzzi 850T as his favourite bike. Lester, Lester, how could you…

But as he says in the Foreword, “So come along for the ride and you don’t need to own a bike at the moment to do so. In fact, even if you haven’t ridden for many years, have never ridden a motorcycle at all, or are in the process of thinking that one day you might, then come along as well. There are said to be more than a few giggles within these pages; but there might also be a loud belly laugh or two.”

Or three, or four or more. You will know that you’ll love this book if you already know Lester; give a copy to someone else for Christmas or whatever, and introduce them to his hilarious world. D

Bahco

Jetboil

Scoota Bag

Bucket Bag

Sholda Bag

FLY TO THE BIRDS

OMAKA CLASSIC FIGHTERS

AUSTRALIAN MOTORCYCLIST MAGAZINE / SOUTH PACIFIC MOTORCYCLE TOURS

We’ve

had a lot of requests for our 2017 New Zealand tour and here it is! We’ve picked South Paciﬁc Motorcycle Tours to run this one, speciﬁcally because of this fantastic tour they offer, including the Omaka Classic Fighters event. So if you’re a petrol-head, or have a love of aircraft and classic vehicles of all descriptions, this is the trip of the century for you. Imagine ...

Wending your way around snowcapped Southern Alps, rivers, lakes, ﬁords, and rainforests, on trafﬁcfree roads full of endless sweeps and bends;

Riding with a great bunch of people, led by an equally great Kiwi motorcycle tour guide, followed by a van for all your luggage;

Relaxing in quality hotel/motor lodges for 10 nights with breakfast provided each morning. You’ll have a chance to do some amazing activities like jet-boating up the canyons, whale-watching, helicoptering over the Alps and landing on a glacier (weather permitting) and seeing two fabulous aircraft museums. If any of that gets you going, you’d better hurry and book your spot! You also get Peter “The Bear” Thoeming as your special host rider.

TOUR BOOKING & DATES…

South Paciﬁc Motorcycle Tours www.motorbiketours.co.nz ofﬁce@motorbiketours.co.nz

Ph: +64 3 312 0066

Skype: ride.nz

Depart - Christchurch Saturday 08 April 2017

Return - Christchurch Monday 17 April 2017

KEY POINTS FOR THE TOUR ...

RIDING TIMES: 9am-4pm approx with breaks throughout the day for lunch, coffee, activities etc.

DISTANCE: 2500kms approximately REST OR RIDE: Blenheim for Omaka Classic Fighters Airshow – video: https://youtu.be/QGwi3ogieNU RIDER COMPETENCE: For riders with safe motorcycle control in all situations

ROUTE GRADE: 100% asphalt, some challenging sections, multiple mountain pass switchbacks/hairpins

MOTORCYCLES: South Paciﬁc Motorcycle Tours has late model bikes from various manufacturers for you to choose from, in different sized to suit all types of riders.

SUPPORT VEHICLE INFO: Tour guide on a motorcycle plus support vehicle with enclosed luggage trailer.

WHERE YOU’LL GO…

10 Day Omaka Classic Fighters Fully Guided AMM Tour - Easter 2017

Arrival Day: Fri 07 April

Christchurch Hotel Check-in and Happy Hour

Day 1: Sat 08 Christchurch to Mount Cook National Park

Day 2: Sun 09 Mount Cook National Park to Queenstown

Day 3: Mon 10 Explore Queenstown/ Queenstown to Wanaka

Day 4: Tue 11 Wanaka to Franz Josef Glacier Village

Day 5: Wed 12 Franz Josef Glacier Village to Punakaiki

Day 6: Thu 13 Punakaiki to Nelson

Day 7: Fri 14 Nelson to Blenheim

Day 8: Sat 15 Spectacular Omaka Classic Fighters Airshow

Day 9: Sun 16 Blenheim to Kaikoura

Day 10: Mon 17 Kaikoura to Christchurch D

Platinum VIP Pass to the fabulous Omaka Classic Fighters Airshow is included!

classic Building the Best Z1 Jaffa Part 3

EnginE and FraME

After many months of sourcing parts, making sure the engine paint was factory correct and restoring every nut and bolt to concourse condition,

Where’s the beer! Owner Nigel is on the right with mates Steve and Mike after ﬁtting the engine into the frame.

The ﬁnished product. Ready to build.

All about the detail.

Be stunned.

Carbies were in poor condition

LONGTERMERS

YAMAHA MT-09 TRACER

WE’VE GOT THE KITCHEN SINK, NOW LET’S MAKE IT COMFY!

Our long term Yamaha MT-09 Tracer is proving to be one of the best ever long term bikes we’ve had. Not only can it carry out day-to-day duties with loads of fun, but with the decent luggage capacity it now has, touring anywhere in this big brown land is covered. We’ve already done a couple of trips which you’ll read about soon but this instalment is all about making the Tracer as comfy as we can get it.

COMFORT SEAT - $393.53

The Comfort seat from Yamaha’s genuine accessory range includes both rider and pillion seats for the price. They offer a softer feel by dispersing pressure, giving both the rider and pillion some additional comfort on longer rides. The standard

seats aren’t too bad, but they are not allday touring seats that I’d be happy with, whereas the Comfort seats have made the Tracer comfy for all day travel. Constructed of a dual, harder bottom/base and a ﬂexible, lowrebound upper, double layer urethane foam both seats have a grippier material which allows you more comfort, also. There is a tasty ‘Tracer’ logo in the front of the pillion seat and they took about two minutes to replace – loads of “bang for your buck”, let’s say! And if you do have a Tracer and are wondering how to get the front seat off, there’s a small rubber type block with a big arrow on it, remove this and push the lever and the seat will pop right off.

HIGH SCREEN WITH MOUNTS - $256.61

Keeping wind, bugs and debris off both you and your pillion makes touring much more comfortable. Now, while this particular Yamaha accessory high screen isn’t the prettiest screen in the world (it sort of looks like a ﬂat piece of plastic) it does its job effectively, which is what we aimed for, and seeing that the screen can be changed in a couple of minutes I keep the high screen for touring and put the standard screen back on for day-to-day riding. In playing around with both the standard screen and the high screen I’ve learnt two valuable things for any Tracer owner. First thing is the support brackets that mount just above the headlights behind the fairing. These are included in the brackets supplied with the high screen and what I found is that they stiffen up the entire front section, resulting in much less buffeting and movement of the screen – both

0022 + years

standard and high screens. The second thing I learnt is to put an extra washer under the two bottom screws of the screen (between the screen and the mount). This kicks up the screen and adds a little more pressure, making the screen more sturdy – resulting in virtually no buffeting. This applies for both standard and the high screen and without this twin combination of the brackets and the washers both screens vibrate too much resulting in buffeting. There is a downside to this high screen though. As it is broader and taller than the stock windscreen in every dimension you do need to remove the outer part of the standard handguards. It takes away some of the stylish looks, but when changing back to the standard screen, the two outer parts are easily bolted back on.

Remember, we’re going for function here and having the option to change back to the more stylish standard screen is a great option to have.

For all of Yamaha’s genuine accessory range, visit - https://yshop.yamahamotor.com.au SW D

20 days: Cape Town, Kruger Johannesburg, Lesotho, Swaziland

Spectacular South Africa

formerly Ferris Wheels Safaris

This factory shot shows the touring screen and hand guard change better than out in the open.

The standard screen is used for the majority of the time, other than long distance touring.

biketest

Renowned Suzuki tuner and race engineer, Phil Tainton has built some insanely sweet motorcycles, and he’s not stopping. His Suzuki race team dominated the Australian Championship a few years ago and his workshop, Phil Tainton Racing, has built a few special road bikes for Suzuki in the past. The ﬁrst of these was a B-King 1300, the second a torquey 1250 Bandit and

then came a crazy fast Hayabusa. Now Phil has done it again with this GSX-S1000, building the fastest road registered motorcycle I’ve ever ridden. To use the word ‘ballistic’ is being mild. Try 204.62 rear wheel horsepower (158.58rwkW) and 104.80 rear wheel foot pounds (142.08rwNm) of torque all carefully tuned into a package that can be ridden as per

normal, or used to blow every single other motorcycle off the road, and again, this is being mild, let me tell you.

The base GSX-S1000 used for this build is already a super sweet motorcycle, one I would own because of its easy nature, strong motor and sweet handling. But now I’ve ridden this PTR special, if I had the eighteen

odd thousand thrown at the bike, I would do it – every single dollar and cent of it!

And Phil hasn’t just done the motor, he’s put some very sweet suspension in the bike which makes it handle even better, if that’s at all possible with

Do you dare to take it by the horns?

204.62 rear wheel horsey powers! Yeowww!

such a great base package. Ohlins and PTR suspension has been ﬁtted. All tuned by PTR; there are no unwanted rear slides or unwanted feelings of unsureness from the front end. This PTR special rides bumps well, is midweighted with turn in and can handle the crazy amounts of power being put down to the ground. You do need to make sure the rear tyre is warm before really twisting that throttle, but you’d expect that!

Here’s the rundown of what magic lies within this very deceptive bike from the outside. If not for the PTR and Yoshimura stickers plastered on the bodywork, or the barking scream from the open Yoshimura exhaust, you’d never know.

• Bore - taken out to 77mm from the standard 73.4mm. Cost: $2200 (includes custom CP

forged 13.1 piston kit ready to assemble).

• Stroke – crankshaft redone to 63mm from a standard 59mm and ﬁtted with custom stroker “H” beam Carillo rods. Cost: $4000.

• PTR billet cams with adjustable cam gears. Inlet: 10.6mm from 8.65 and exhaust: 9.2mm from 8.6mm. Cost: $1399

• Heavy duty valve springs: Cost $264.96

• PCV Power Commander. Cost: $540

• PTR custom ECU reﬂash using Woolich Racing software. Cost: $275

• PTR custom remap on dyno. Cost: $390

• Yoshimura full stainless R11 exhaust system with Carbon mufﬂer. Cost: $1699.95

• BMC air ﬁlter. Cost: $110

• PTR fully ported and ﬂowed cylinder head including all seat cutting, machining and assembled ready to install.

Cost: $1800

• PTR front fork modiﬁcation with separate compression and rebound circuits. Cost: $899

• Pair Ohlins fork springs with preload spacers. Cost: $250

• PTR custom Ohlins rear shock with compression/rebound and spring preload adjustment.

Cost: $1899

• Labour to put the engine together: $2500

• TOTAL: $18,239 plus cost of brand new GSX-S1000: $14,990.

Yes, that makes this a 30K plus motorcycle but it is one unlike any other on the road and one that will

How can you command all this power!

If only it were clear to see the goodness within. Quickshifter! Mmm…

Sweet ﬂaming beauty.

leave you speechless every time you ride it.

One area that didn’t get a licking over by PTR was the brakes and you’ll only notice that the standard arrangement is lacking when you’ve really been hitting numbers that will get you front page news. Add in around $400 to make them better, I’d say.

Special mention needs to be made of the remapping done by PTR on the dyno. The fuelling is bang on and super smooth no matter how you ride this bike. Even loping along in sixth gear at 60km/h, when you twist the right wrist it pulls strongly and smoothly. No hiccups, no messing about, it accelerates (fast) better than any other bike I’ve ridden. And when you get this insanity up high in the rev range it sounds just like a set of ﬂatslide carbies with their unique induction zing.

Without a doubt this is the craziest (but at the same time such a super sweet) motorcycle I’ve ever ridden. As I type this review for you, I’m

P 02 9252 8746 M 0401971390 tax@waterhouselawyers.com.au

shaking with just how exciting it is to ride this motorcycle and that I haven’t lost my licence, I’m not in gaol, I haven’t made the front page of every newspaper in the country and I’m not smiling at you on the six ‘o’ clock news on every TV channel. If you’ve got the bucks I cannot stress highly enough that you MUST get Phil Tainton Racing to turn your already fast bike into a supersonic boom! D

Email: info@ptr.com.au

Web: www.ptr.com.au

Business Meets Leisure

This is one of our series of “bleisure” or business/leisure stories; they tell you how to ﬁll the days off that some of you can get when you travel for work in Australia or overseas. Naturally, they involve motorcycling…

AN AUSSIE BREAK IN… CANBERRA

Did I hear someone say that the Nation’s Capital was dull? Not if you have a bike!

For some reason I seem to head for Canberra quite frequently. Apart from the trouble I always have trying to get a cab, I don’t recall much about these visits. Time to change that, with a day ride to remember.

If you’re coming from the political centre of Canberra, the new Parliament House, take Adelaide Avenue in a westerly direction. Not that you have any choice; that’s the only way it runs. Bear right at the end and you will ﬁnd yourself on Cotter Road, which is just the road

you want. From anywhere else in Canberra, it might be easier to just get yourself onto the Tuggeranong Freeway and turn off that onto Cotter Road.

Cotter Road is pleasant, especially after you’re out of the main builtup area. Watch for the sign to the right pointing to the Mt Stromlo Observatory. This is a short but highly enjoyable bit of road which takes you up to scenic views and the observatory itself to check out. It’s open from

Observatory has never been fully rebuilt after the bushﬁres, but it’s still interesting.

7am to 6pm every day of the week. There’s a café open Tuesday - Friday 10am - 5pm and Sat - Sunday 8am -

Paddys River Road is a real gem, even aside from the attractions accessible from it.

Stromlo

5pm which claims the best views in Canberra. It could be right. All right. Back on the road. When you get back to the corner of Mt Stromlo Road and Cotter Road, turn right and continue on your way to the west. This will take you to Cotter Dam over an enjoyable if occasionally bumpy road. The land around the dam is acknowledged as one of the best places to see autumn foliage, I believe. After a stop to check it all out, continue on the same road which now turns south and becomes more twisty. It is now called Paddys River Road, and some way along you’ll see some radio telescope dishes ahead and on your left.

This is the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex. You’ll come to a road that takes you down there, and I would suggest you don’t miss this. Some of those big dishes are part of NASA’s Deep Space Network which listens to space probes that are further away than Pluto. Open from 9am to 5pm every day, with a nice little café that opens from 9.30am to 4pm. An interesting little museum adjoins the café.

Back out on Paddys River Road, continue south until you reach Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve nestled at the foot of the Gibraltar Range. The Visitor Centre, which is open all week from 9am to 5pm, sells basic snacks

and has lots of information about the reserve.

“Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve is home to a wide range of Australian animals… habitats support a wide range of wildlife including kangaroos, koalas, platypus, potoroos, wallaroos, possums, wombats, echidnas, emus, lyrebirds as well as many other birds and reptiles” says the blurb. The reserve itself opens from 7.30am to 6pm in winter and closes at 8pm in summer. There is a pretty little drive you can follow.

Unlike most other Canberra attractions this is not free, but the admission charge goes towards maintaining and improving the reserve.

After another highly enjoyable stretch of what is now called Tidbinbilla Road but which is really Paddys River Road under another name – you actually cross Paddys River along this run – you get to Tharwa. Here it’s time to turn left into Tharwa Road and return to the hustle and bustle (sorry, I got a bit carried away there) of Canberra. That was fun, wasn’t it?

WHERE’S MY RIDE, DUDE?

The rental offer in Canberra seems to change pretty frequently, so consider

the three suggestions below as just that –suggestions. If you’re staying in a four or ﬁve star hotel, your concierge is probably the best place to start looking for a rental bike. But try these three: MTNS to Coast Motorcycle Tours in Kaleen, 0422 303 704

Capital Motorcycle Hire, Tuggeranong, 02 6293 4111

Fun Motorcycle Tours, Jerrabomberra, 02 6255 9352

Keep in mind that these places and the various attractions will almost certainly be closed on Christmas Day, and possibly on other holidays. After all, Canberra is a government town… D

Back roads around Canberra are usually pretty empty during the week.

The Vietnam monument is worth a stop; if you didn’t go, there’s a good chance you might have.

DREAMS OF SEX, ER… SIX

WORDS LESTER MORRIS

While I was the proprietor of the Lester Morris Motorcycles store in Ryde in 1972, I heard on the grapevine of the existence of an all-new 750cc six-cylinder OHC Benelli Sei and decided that a machine like that would make a nice motorcycle to import and display on the showroom floor; if I could squeeze some money out of my so-called ‘backer’, that was. Honda was not to build its DOHC six-cylinder, 1000cc CBX until some six or more years later, which meant that the new Benelli was to be the first ever six-cylinder productionseries motorcycle. The Benelli could hardly have been said to up-stage the later Honda, it must be said, for the Italian bike’s existence was (unintentionally) kept a wellguarded secret for some years thereafter, with its existence still little known in Oz.

And no, I was not responsible for keeping the machine’s existence in this country a deep, dark secret, for I was to carry out an extended, indepth road test report on the Benelli 6 for Revs at a later date: but more of that anon.

Of course Honda had made the six-cylinder 500cc Honda which Mike Hailwood campaigned so well in the 1966-67 World Championship, a bike he described as ‘handling like riding a camel at any speed, and damned dangerous at full whack”. Apparently, fast though the bike was, it was clearly a projectile when under fire and it was undoubtedly only Hailwood’s great skill as a rider which allowed the bike to be as successful a racing machine as it was. Nobody else mastered that awful projectile quite as well as

‘Mike the Bike’ did.

Naturally, I wanted to know a whole lot more about the Italian Benelli Six and so, very carefully checking the different time zones, I rang the factory in Italy from home, to be told by the girl with that warm, glorious Italian accent (she commented upon my ‘luvverly’ Ossie airkacent’ as well, I might add) that it was then 9.20am in Italy –which I knew - but that no-one was in the factory but her!

It would have been great had I been able to call at the factory gates at that time in person to find no-one there but her, but then I thought that, even with such an inviting voice she could have been short, dark, fat and have un-shaven armpits, so I remained content to hear that warm, enveloping voice and dream on. Of course she could have looked like Sophia Loren for all I knew, now that I come to think about it.

The girl on the switch in Italy suggested I should ring again ‘a leetell abitter lairter’, which I did, to be told by the same girl that it was by then 11am - which I also knew - and that everyone had gone ‘awffa to a’larnch”. Off to lunch, did she say? Yes, that’s what she said. I was gob-smacked because she answered my next query by saying they wouldn’t be back from lunch again until 2pm in the afternoon! I doubled-checked to be sure I understood her aright, but she assured me that was correct, but added that they would continue working until 8pm that evening. Strange working hours to us, no doubt, but seemingly the norm in Italy.

When I rang later in that Italian day the fellow I spoke to - whose English was almost flawless - said that there had recently been an agent appointed in Melbourne to import the machine, along with other models in the catalogue, and that I should address any enquiries to him. Of course, as he told me, everyone knew Victoria was the centre of free enterprise in Australia, as well as being the largest State in the country and with the biggest population as well (?) Clearly, someone down there had been gently pissing in the poor Italian’s pocket and buttered him up, for the name the bloke at the factory gave me was unknown to me at the time, and remains so to this day. Centre of free enterprise, did the Italian say; was it in fact the largest State in Australia; the most densely populated? With due regard to Victoria, we all know that is not the case, so some unknown person had certainly given the bloke in Italy a bum steer. I had to reluctantly leave it at that, and try to forget that fact that the Benelli Sei (6) ever existed. My non-backing ‘backer’ at the store left me with no alternative but to storm out of the place, grab the job offered as Advertising Manager and Assistant Editor of the now-defunct NSW newspaper “Motorcycle Sports”, and then to audition for, and accept, a gig in a new musical which was to open in Melbourne in May 1973.

Many months later the show had folded prematurely and I was still living in Melbourne and working with some success in theatre and TV, while the first in my series of road test reports for Two Wheels –

the 850T Moto-Guzzi – had been published in late 1974.

Some months after that I was astonished to hear on the grapevine that there were two Benelli Sei motorcycles which had arrived in Melbourne as if by magic (!) and that one of them had already been pranged in a Big Way by a newby motorcycle writer. The other sixcylinder Benelli, finished in a very trim mid-green colour, appeared (once again as if by magic) at the road race circuit at Sandown while, as the motorcycle compere for the ABC TV ‘Torque’ program, I was conducting a road test report on the all-new, Wankel-engine RE5 Suzuki.

I couldn’t believe it, but there it sat; a genuine Benelli 6, as large as life, gleaming in the sunlight, its six megaphone-shaped silencers dominating the machine’s exciting design. The bike I thought be a myth did exist after all, because there it was! Gasp!

As the crew adjusted the lights between takes for some close-ups

of the Suzuki’s odd-looking engine and my own close-ups for an earnest summation of it, I spoke to the fellow who was riding the bike, telling him that I wanted to ride the machine right or wrong, and that I was sure ‘Revs’ would be interested in publishing a full-length, in-depth report on it: they were, and they did, in the June 6-19th, 1975, edition.

I asked the ABC director if he was in any way interested in filming the rare six-cylinder Italian motorcycle while it – and I – happened to be there at that time, and he declared his interest at once. Of course he would have to clear it with his producer, which he thought unlikely: he was right, for the producer of the Torque programme proved to be less than interested in any idea which wasn’t his own.

The fellow who was riding the Benelli was not too sure about loaning me the rare machine initially, but whether it was the fact that I was filming the Suzuki for the ABC program or that he had accepted my

self-proclaimed notoriety, I don’t know, for a day or so later I was perched upon that awesome bike and ready to put it through its paces. I must say it never crossed my mind to ask the fellow from Peter Steven Motorcycles (the company’s sticker was emblazoned across the rear mudguard) who was straddling the Benelli at Sandown if they were the people who had contacted the factory rep in Italy just over three years earlier, but I instantly recognised the engine – or at least its genesis. The powerplant was clearly designed by adding two extra pots and a longer crankshaft to the 1971 four-cylinder Honda CB500K! I was later to learn that the Benelli engine employed exactly the same bore and stroke of 56 x 50.6mm and that the split con-rods used the same big-end slipper bearings, the same overhead cam-chain drive and the same main bearings as the CB500K. Clearly, as indicated in the detailed technical drawing of the powerplant, the design also employed the same

CLASSICMORRIS

multi-row primary-drive chain to the clutch and gearbox. There were just three, 24mm dual-manifold Dell’Orto carburettors fitted, the engine poking out a very respectable 71BHP at 9000rpm.

To save the development costs of a brand-new design, why not duplicate an existing engine’s components? Other Japanese factories had already done this many years earlier, by pinching British and European designs, so they could hardly complain about. If the Italian machine’s engine was all-but identical to Honda’s Four, the major difference between the two powerplants lay in the placement of the alternator, which was moved from the side of the Honda crankshaft to a position directly behind the Benelli engine in an effort to minimise engine width.

When it came to (finally) riding it, the long- awaited bike was no disappointment, for it was a real gem although, at 235Kg, it was on the heavy side. The engine was

turbine-smooth and very eager, the gear-change a bit lengthy but fast and very positive, the twin Brembo front discs a genuine ‘two-finger’ brake, with a drum brake at the rear. The rear brake was very small, but didn’t need to be any larger because engine-braking with the sixcylinder design was every bit as effective as the rear brake would ever need to be, simply by rolling the throttle back.

And the sounds from the six megaphone-type mufflers was almost symphonic: Mozart or Beethoven would have loved to compose a great masterwork by using that marvellous sound as their basic theme!

But it wasn’t all sweetness and light, not by a long shot!

I took that great bike for a hard blast through the marvellous corners in the Dandenongs as part of the test and enjoyed the buzz of pelting the device about from one footrest to the other, revelling in the great handling which was

always the near-exclusive province of the Brits and European marques. Marzocchi suspension on both ends, with Borrani alloy rims and Pirelli ‘Phantom’ tyres were a great help, of course.

It was during that furious ride down the Dandenong Mountains that I came a cropper. No, I didn’t drop the bike but, as I slowed to a crawl through one of the small villages in the Mountains a police motor cyclist on a white CB 750 Honda zoomed up alongside and angrily waved me over. He could hardly be blamed, I suppose, for I must have given him a hard time trying to catch that ﬂ ying Benelli. He of course lectured me on the evils of riding a motorcycle at those ‘outrageous speeds’ in such a populated area – some of which was not populated at all - but then he strolled over to the bike shaking his head. He had never heard of a Benelli before, he told me, then he took his helmet off, kneeled down behind the bike and asked: “How

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many cylinders does that bike have?”

“It’s the world’s ﬁ rst six-cylinder production bike,” I told him, “and it’s made in Italy. It’s the only one in Australia,” I added, hoping to impress him. “I’m doing a road test report for one of Australia’s foremost motorcycle publications.” He seemed mightily impressed with the bike, and asked could he sit on it for a moment, so I thought I might be OK, but I then (as some sort of bribe, perhaps, thought I?) suggested he might like to ride it. Hmmm? He plonked his helmet back on, ﬁ red the bike up and shot off like a rocket, back in the direction from which he had come. I could hear the glorious sound of the six exhausts as he wound the bike out through the gears and swiftly disappeared. He was gone for a while and I thought he might have pinched the thing, but he returned some time later to climb off and lift the bike onto its centre stand.

“What a great bike,” he enthused. “Thanks for the ride. Wish I had

one like that to chase you blokes on.” He then returned to his Honda, removed his dog-earned book, came back and, to my horror, chagrin and dismay, promptly booked me for speeding!

What a living, breathing oriﬁ ce that copper was! Had I known he was going to do that I would have told him nothing about the bike, and would certainly never have allowed him to sit on it, much less take it for a quick squirt.

It was only as matter of an hour or so later that the bike was being photographed at speed with me in the saddle for the REVS report, but unfortunately I was wearing the most miserable looking face: as evidenced by the photo of me on the sixcylinder Benelli which accompanies this story!

In fact, I was to have that rare bike for my personal transport for almost three weeks thereafter, which proved to be very handy indeed because my dearly-beloved had just given me my marching orders and had made off

into the sunset with my son and my over-sized Rambler ‘Rebel’ station wagon.

‘It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good’, as John Heywood suggested when he penned those words way back in 1546, for I would have been lost without that bike as basic transport until I could make other arrangements.

Among those ‘arrangement’ I made included a number of ﬁ rst-class motorcycles. The Honda GL1000 Gold Wing; 500T OHC twincylinder, Triumph-like Honda; 650cc twin OHC Benelli ‘Tornado’; 750 and later 900SS Ducati Sports; the all-new R90S BMW; the monstrous Munch Mammoth and a string of other motorcycles I managed to scrounge – or be offered - for a series of later road test reports for Two Wheels, Revs, AMCN and a couple of other specialist publications.

Oh, what a hard life it was, but someone had to do it… way back in the mid-seventies! D

WHATSAYYOU

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. Then you can read many, not just a couple. We do reserve the right to cut them and, unless you identify yourself and at least your town or suburb and state, we will print your email address instead. Please address letters to thebear@ausmotorcyclist.com.au or Australian Motorcyclist Magazine, PO Box 2066, Boronia Park NSW 2111. All opinions published here are those of the writers and we do not vouch for their accuracy or even their sanity!

GOT TO HAND IT TO YOU…

Strapz’ website at www.andystrapz. com. Cranky he (or she) might be, but at least s/he will have warm and dry hands no matter what the weather!

CRANK IT UP

Dear Bear & Wanna “B”

The spooky but highly effective three-ﬁngered wet weather gloves this month go to Cranky (don’t forget to send us your postal address and glove size, which you can work out from info on Andy

BACK TO THE SERVOS

Hi Stuart

I can relate one experience that I had with a service station in Ryde, Sydney recently. As I use a motorcycle for doing machine servicing I am often filling up and away without taking off my helmet or gloves. I use a Shark Evo 3 (is there a better helmet for all round riding?). I always open up the chin cover to an open face when I go into the service station to tap and go (what a great device for the busy motorcyclist). Well, this particular day the attendant said to me as I entered the store, “did you see the sign on the door which states you must remove your helmet before entering?” I replied yes, I saw the sign but I did not see the sign that said please remove your burqa before entering the shop, with that the attendant and other customers just looked at me in horror and as I swiped my card. I said “gee look at that it still took my money whilst I was wearing a helmet it would probably take it if I was wearing a

How about letting up on this bullshit “Why do I have to take my lid off at servos”. You sound like the same mob who can’t take their hats off in cars. I don’t ﬁ nd it a problem, I think it’s a case of common decency. Much the same as taking one’s sunnies off when speaking to someone. I like the magazine but this petty

burqa as well,” and promptly left never to return to that fuel station again. Yes, Stuart, I have filled up many times wearing my helmet and this is the only time it was an issue. Keep up the good work Stuart and I am very happy that you have consigned the white boots to the track, long live black boots and motorcycles.

Yes, Stuart I have seen your wet weather gear it looks good, I too have a black and ﬂ uro helmet and my friends say it is good because when we are riding they can tell it’s me whether I am a long way behind or in front of them.

While I have got your attention have you tried these toe warmers, they work fantastically well. You stick them on the bottom of your socks and they work for about 5 hours. I picked them up at Suttons Forest servo $3.95 each (there are 2 in a packet) since then I have seen them at Blooms chemist Goulburn for $1.95 a packet. They also sell ones for the ﬁ ngers, I have never tried those. As the old Bear can conﬁ rm

crap grates on my nerves. Don’t say, ”Why should I”, SHOUT “Why shouldn’t they” (If in fact that other people aren’t required to).

Spleen vented sufﬁ ciently, Cranky

G’day Cranky, I wasn’t writing about a full face helmet here and you’ll also fi nd that I mentioned that one of the service stations in question wanted me to remove my helmet just to fi ll the bike. I always take my full face helmet off, but not my open face. Time to fi ll up the spleen again and let us know if we do something you dislike or even like again, soon. Cheers, “Wanna B”.

the older you get the colder your toes get which makes these a godsend. I will be trying them next week with a quick overnight to Canberra

Yours in motorcycling, Ian Gregory Regents Park

Ian, I’m not sure that picking on Muslim customers is fair (even by implication) when your complaint is about servo personnel. But I understand what you’re saying and I agree – about the cold toes, too – The Bear

MULTI MEDIA?

Bear, I like the magazine a lot, and it has even convinced me to take an overseas trip. Three friends and I are off to California, and we will be following some of your travels. Why not all? Well, we will be there in the winter!

But why do you not have some race coverage, and results? The way it is I have to buy another magazine which is mainly rather

dull, apart from the racing. And in case you are wondering, no I do not think I am related to “that” branch of the Villiers family.

George Villiers

Carlton Vic

George, the racing we feature is the racing we do ourselves. As for the big national and international meetings, they are covered much more quickly on the web than we could even begin to report them.

But thank you for your kind words, and are you sure you’re not related to the Villiers of two-stroke engine fame?

– The Bear

JOIN THE BEAR ARMY

Good evening Bear, I just wanted to drop you a short line to let you know how much I enjoyed the get together last Saturday, at The Alpine Hotel in Cooma. The two dozen or so folks who attended, had a wonderful time, meeting new friends & chatting about all things

“bike.” I met some amazing people & made friends that I will get to see & ride with in times to come. It was a fabulous night. I am already looking forward to the next one.

Cheers

Eoin

The Bear Army biannual manoeuvres seem to be working out, don’t they, Eoin. I’m really glad that you and so many others enjoyed the most recent one. I’m planning the next one now – The Bear

NORTHERN TROOPER

G’day Troopers,

It was nice to make it to one of these events from North Queensland where troopers are a little rare as yet. We made it home yesterday after catching up with family etc in Southern Queensland. Great time hope we can met again some day. If you are passing through Mackay give us a yell we

RIDE NEW ZEALAND RIDE NEW ZEALAND

would be happy to show you around. I was reading No 44 and the news page with Welcome to Ralph. I see he is wearing an AM shirt. Looks good. Any chance we the readers could buy shirts? Want to tell the world we belong. Anyway just a thought.

Peter Hopper

Trooper #10

We could certainly order shirts for anyone interested, Peter. They’re high quality microﬁ ber (I think) so they won’t be cheap, although the actual cost will depend on the number we order. Anyone else interested?

– The Bear

COLLECTING LESTER

Gentlemen,

While I enjoy most of MOTORCYCLIST, except for the rather dull columns by The Bear and Boris at the end, it is Lester Morris’ writing that really makes it worth my while haunting the newsagent’s every month. Congratulations on keeping his wonderful stories alive.

Is there any thought that you might produce a compendium of Lester’s work?

M Mulvihill

Elizabeth Bay NSW

Well, M, you’re in luck. As you can see from the accompanying picture, a book called “Vintage Morris” which is precisely what you’re asking for is in the ﬁ nal stages of production! – The Bear

Unfortunately Jan recently took a tumble from a ladder while carrying out work on her shed, and as a result is currently unable to throw a leg over her V7 Stone. The good news is that she is recuperating well to be ﬁ t enough for an operation on her left knee ACL early next month. What all this means is that I am required to remain on the farm to render appropriate support and assistance to the wounded. We will be thinking of you next Saturday, hoping you all arrive safely and enjoy an excellent time.

BUT SOME MISSED OUT

Dear General Bear, It is with sincere regret that I have little option other than to advise that Jan and I have had to cancel our attendance at next weekend’s Cooma Manoeuvres.

Before signing off General I would like to say how much I am enjoying the latest AMM, especially your colourful account of the Green Spain tour. News of the Omaka Classic Fighters Tour has also been cause for some serious consideration in our household. As a classic warbirds tragic since childhood, that is one tour I would really like to be part of. However, as of today we just cannot justify the expense, sob, sob :-( But don’t worry, it’s not all doom

• Helite airbag technology – the future of motorcycle safety is here today!

• European designed/CE approved Helite vests and jackets all with airbag built in

• For the price of a helmet, Helite protects your neck, vertebrae, chest, hips, abdomen, internal organs and tailbone – a helmet for your body

and gloom here. My Scrambler has clocked up close to 8000km in just under a year and is proving to be the light and versatile machine I had hoped for. In addition to my Ikon suspension front and rear, and a few other mods for the sake of personal comfort, my Scrambler is now shod with Pirelli Scorpion Trail 2 rubber (including an under-sized 100/90 on the front) giving improved turn-in and feedback, and hopefully far better mileage than the MT 60s. Now, if I could only ﬁ nd a not-too-expensive little slip-on pipe for some weight saving and a fruitier note… Best wishes, Gil Schilling

Well, Gil, as it happens we are looking for a not-too-expensive little slip-on pipe for some weight saving for our Ducati Scrambler as well; let us know if you have any success! As for the NZ tour, we’re making it as affordable as possible! In the meantime, all the best to Jan – The Bear

PICTURE BOOK

Hey Bear

To be honest, yes, you do look tired (Grizzling, AMM 45), more so than being tipsy. Also, the picture of the Munch Mammoth is a blast from the past. “I remember...”

Anyway. Hope you get this email and all is well. And as we use to say back in the ‘80s, “Stay upright” (though I do believe it remains applicable even today).

Edward Hawkins Camden South NSW

Thank you for your good wishes, Edward, and all is indeed well. You stay upright, too – The Bear

GO BIG OR… HELLO!

Good day Bear

It was good to run into you at the motorcycle show in Cologne, almost literally since I was looking at my tablet! You avoided the collision just in time. While we are on the subject of colliding, do you think that the new Kymco “touring” scooter (photo attached) will be coming to Australia? I liked it, and must say I think it would do well here.

Kevin Alexander Ballarat, Vic

Don’t know yet, Kevin, but I’m hoping it will make it to our shores. You’ll read about it in MOTORCYCLIST, don’t worry. Your photo was a little fuzzy, to put it mildly, so I’ve substituted one of mine. Hope you don’t mind… The Bear D

NewbikePriCeS

New motorcycle prices go up, they go down. It can be hard to keep track of all the changes. Australian Motorcyclist Magazine supplies you with all the latest up to date prices

from all the manufacturers currently in the country. Things like special deals, cashbacks, factory discounts and bonuses are what you’ll ﬁnd. Bear in mind

BMW www.bmwmotorrad.com.au Road

G 310 R

F 800 R

F 800 GT

S 1000 R

S 1000 RR

R nineT

R nineT Scrambler

R nineT Racer

R nineT Pure

R 1200 R

R 1200 RS

R 1200 RT

K 1300 R

K 1300 S Motorsport

K 1600 B

K 1600 GT

K 1600 GTL

BIMOTA www.bimotaaustralia.com.au Road DB5R

3D Naked

Race Café

$TBA

$13,100

$16,300

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$TBA

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$37,590 adv SpoRt

S 1000 XR

$22,190 adv touRing

F 700 GS

F 800 GS

F 800 GSA

R 1200 GS

R 1200 GSA

ScooteR

C 650 Sport

C 650 GT

CAN-AM (BRP) www.brp.com

*All prices are ride away Road

Spyder RS SM5

Spyder RS S Red SE5

Spyder RS S Wht SE5

F3S SM5

F3S SE5

Spyder ST S SE5

Spyder ST Ltd SE5

Spyder RT SM6

Spyder RT S SE6

Spyder RT Ltd SE6

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$16,940

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all prices (unless indicated) exclude dealer and on road costs and some prices may have changed at the last minute as we went to the printer.

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Brutale

Lusso 800.

Brutale 1090

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$19,999

Brutale 1090 RR $22,999

Brutale 1090 Corsa $27,999

F4 $24,499

F4 RR $33,999

F4 RC $55,880

NORTON MOTORCYCLeS

www.frasermotorcycles.com.au

Commando 961 Sport

Commando 961 Café

Commander 961 SF

PGO

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sCooTer Ligero 150

X Hot 150

PIAGGIO

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*Some Piaggio prices are ride away

sCooTer Typhoon 125

Fly 150 3V

Liberty S 150 3V

150

300

ROYAL eNFIeLD

www.royalenﬁeld.com.au

MV AGUSTA

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SUZUKI

URAL

www.imz-ural.com.au

VESPA

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SCootER

Primavera 125 3V

TRIUMPH

www.triumphmotorcycles.com.au

$5590

Primavera 150 3V $6290 Sprint 150 3V $6390 Sprint 150 3V SE $6490

GTS250ie FL

GTS300 Super Sport

VICTORY

www.victorymotorcycles.com.au

*All Victory prices are ride away

VIPER MOTORCYCLES

BEARFACED

LTHREE FOR ME, SEE

ast month I told you about getting a job at typesetters Wallace & Knox, riding a WLA Harley-Davidson with a sidecar delivering type and proofs. I also admitted that I was a stranger to outfi ts. This, declared my new fellowworker Tom, was no problem. Tom had been fl inging one of the outfi ts around for a few months and knew all about them.

We rode in cautious convoy to the nearest empty space, a car park in, I guess, Waterloo. Tom showed me what to do – cornering left and right, using the throttle and the brake to control the outﬁ t and braking safely. The heavy sidecar had no brake, so slowing the outﬁ t from speed was complicated by the way it wanted to keep going.

With my heart and possibly several other organs in my mouth, I ventured out on what was to become “my” outﬁ t. Tom talked me through the various manoeuvres, and the whole thing turned out to be easier than it looked. The sidecar wheel did have a tendency to lift in sharp left-hand corners, but the heavy sidecar wanted to stay down and made this less of a problem than it is with lighter ones. All in all I was pretty pleased with myself after an hour or so. Then Tom said, “Follow me.” He took off in a crazy slalom around the car park, and I thundered after him. I was doing well, too, until he set the bike into a tight left-hand circle and the sidecar wheel lifted. A long way up.

So did mine when I joined him in the circle.

I was white and, I suspect, would have been close to losing my lunch if I’d had any when Tom ﬁ nally pulled out of the circle and stopped. But obviously I’d passed some kind of test. “Off to work,” Tom said, and we headed down to Sussex Street and Wallace & Knox.

A bench just inside the linotype room held packets of type and envelopes with proofs in them, along with destination slips. There were also work sheets for Tom, the van driver and me. You’d park the bike out in the street, duck in to assemble a delivery route from the jobs waiting on the bench and then head out into the trafﬁ c. This was of course far less dense than it is now, but there was something else that made life easier for Tom and me as well as, I presume, the van driver. Wallace & Knox was a big supporter of the Police Citizens Boys Clubs, and it was not at all unusual to see a large sergeant in the workroom being handed an envelope by Vince the foreman. At the time, there were no parking police; their duties were handled and infringements were handed out by the uniformed police. The donations meant that with our Wallace & Knox signwriting we were untouchable and could park anywhere we damn well liked.

We did, too, although we never chose anywhere dangerous or just plain stupid; we didn’t want to lose our exclusive status. We were, however, usually in a hurry. Not because Vince or anyone else chased us; we used to compete as to who could make more deliveries in one day. That meant a bit of pretty slick riding, and was what actually taught me to ride an outﬁ t properly, and to realise how much fun it can be.

Not that we set what you might call any kind of good example out on the

road. One of our favourite tricks required nothing more than a bit of rain to make the street slippery, but it was a corker.

The Druitt Street bus stop outside Sydney Town Hall was further up the street than it is now. It was directly opposite York Street, and there were as yet no trafﬁ c lights on that corner. Now, there would usually be people waiting for their bus there. We would come belting down York Street, straight towards the queue at the bus stop, the exhaust of our bike howling like a tinny banshee. Once level with Druitt Street we would stand on the rear brake and turn the handlebar hard right. The bike would spin and slide as the crap tyres lost traction, looking totally out of control and still sliding towards the waiting bus passengers. We’d catch it when it pointed down Druitt Street, let off the brake and accelerate as hard as we could. The rear tyre would bite and the bike would continue at right angles to its previous heading. If you looked back quickly enough you could still see people leaping over the low wall into the Town Hall grounds… Actually we, er, never did this. Would I lie to you?

There was an unexpected advantage to the job, as well. We were allowed to take the outﬁ ts home after work and over the weekend. Nobody among my friends had a car, except for my ﬂ atmate Bob whose Fiat 500 had its engine on the footpath more often than in the engine bay, so after the pub you had to walk to the party. That wasn’t so bad if it was nearby, but a bit of a pain when it was further. The Bear to the rescue! I could carry one person on the rear mudguard of the bike (those WLA guards are solid steel and strong) as well as another four in the sidecar box. No helmets, no breath tests… and I didn’t kill or even maim anyone… D

BORIS

SOME CLARIFICATION

I read with wry amusement young Editor Woodbury’s editorial in Issue 45. I don’t normally read his editorials, but I spotted my name and gave it a scan.

Well, whaddaya know, I thought to myself, here’s another editor making excuses for something I wrote in his magazine because he’s drowning in an avalanche of hate mail calling me names and wishing harm upon my house.

Oh dear. However shall I sleep at night? Probably the same as usual. Dosed up on good whiskey and snoring in a ﬁeld entirely barren of any shits that I might ever give about what people think.

But I do, on rare occasions, give a shit about what my various aggrieved editors think. And because I like Stuart, and it gnaws on me when he is wrong, I will make an attempt to put him right, so that he sets his feet to walk upon the path of righteousness, he shall do so in conﬁdence that he is actually right.

I understand that Stuart is labouring under the impression that I write to “get a reaction”. He also said something about playing a violin, but I honestly have no idea what he’s talking about in that regard.

I cannot ﬁddle to save my life, nor

do I ever seek any sympathy for my normally self-inﬂicted woes.

But just so we’re clear. I do not write to “get a reaction”. There is no intent. No mens rea, as it were. It’s not murder. It’s manslaughter. I didn’t plan to kill you. You just happened to die (metaphorically, of course) as a result of reacting to something I wrote.

That a reaction sometimes occurs as a result of what I have written is therefore simply a by-product.

I think in this instance, a whole bunch of readers got all bent out of shape because I stated in Issue 44 that one must take responsibility for one’s actions on a motorcycle and stop seeking to lay the blame for what happens to you on the road on other people.

In this view, you soggy tribe of wank-socks, I am supported by no less than the High Court of Australia.

The case of Sibley v Kais (1967) 118 CLR 424, the judges explained how the law views those who would abrogate their personal responsibility because some other idiot failed to comply with the law…

“These regulations in nominating the vehicle which has another vehicle on its right as the give way vehicle are undoubtedly salutary and their breach is deservedly marked with criminal penalties. But they are not deﬁnitive of the respective duties of the drivers of such vehicles to each other or in respect of themselves: nor is the breach of such regulations conclusive as to the performance of the duty owed to one another or in respect of themselves. The common-law duty to act reasonably in all the circumstances is paramount. The failure to take reasonable care in given circumstances is not necessarily answered by reliance upon the expected performance by the driver of the give way vehicle of his obligations under the regulations; for there is no general rule that in all circumstances

a driver can rely upon the performance by others of their duties, whether derived from statutory sources or from the common law.

Whether or not in particular circumstances it is reasonable to act upon the assumption that another will act in some particular way, as for example by performing his duty under a regulation, must remain a question of fact to be judged in all the particular circumstances of the case.”

If you’re struggling, what that means is that when you spout off about you spearing into the side of a car that went through a red light as being “not my fault”, you’re just demonstrating what an utter idiot you are.

Sanctimoniously yowling on about how you obeyed all the rules and thus had no part to play in your injury, demonstrates a total lack of understanding of your ‘duty of care’ under the law and how personal responsibility is bound up in the laws of negligence.

Naturally, I have not read any of the poorly-written missives of anguish and lament that must have ﬂ ooded Editor Woodbury’s Inbox in the wake of my column. I have far more interesting things to do with my time. Like maybe stare at a wall or ﬂ ea my dogs.

But I do know one thing about those dreary complaints. Each of them will be an ad hominem attack on me. It will be the usual cacophony of namecalling, intelligence-questioning and doubts about my ancestry, all typed from the safety of some dandruffﬁlled keyboard by idiots too dim to offer a counter-argument; and perhaps put forward a case that tells me why I’m wrong and how it’s not my responsibility for what happens to me on my motorcycle.

They would rather play the man and not the ball.

That being the case, rest assured there is not a level of contempt that I am not capable of holding you in. D