Shannons are giving motoring enthusiasts the chance to win a trip for two to London for the 2023 Goodwood Revival, the world’s greatest historic motor race meeting. The 11-day trip includes premium economy airfares, luxury accommodation in London and Hampshire, Mercedes-Benz car hire1, exclusive Goodwood Revival hospitality tickets and $10,000 spending money for eligible Shannons Club Members2. Plus win the all-new Indian Motorcycle in Ruby Smoke! Including up to 12 months Shannons Comprehensive Bike Insurance and Shannons Roadside Assist3. You could win over $98,000 in prizes!
UNMISTAKABLE
UNMISTAKABLE
TOP TeN BIKes
We hope you like what we like for 2023
THe MaGNIFICeNT seVeN
Who are the top seven australian motorcycle racers?
BMW MOTORRaD R18 CLassIC aND HIGHLINe
Boris and Nick go cruising
saVIC MOTORCyCLes C-seRIes
Riding the lightning
KaWasaKI Z1 New york steak
HaRLey-DaVIDsON BReaKOuT Breakout Bulks up
C aRRy ON uP THe aTLas spectacular scenery and great riding lures The Bear
PuB OF THe MONTH stonehenge Queensland is a long way from stonehenge LOOK uP! Warrumbungles, NsW
WONDeRFuL WaLCHa Join us in 2023
LOVe IN THe aGe OF COVID Chris on her Indian getting along at a good clip
a CHaNGe OF PLaN OR TWO Wozga goes a wandering
Way B aCK THeN Pass us the Box Brownie
ROuND THe WORLD Pete’s new book
NeW
BeaR
BORIs What roadworks?
BeaRTOON
Publisher: Tony Clemenger
Editorial Manager: susan Plunkett susan.plunkett@clemengersalesmedia.com.au
australian Motorcyclist magazine is published by australian Motorcyclist Magazine Pty Ltd. Level 1/397 Chapel st, south yarra VIC 3141, australia
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A Welcome from the Publisher
Earlier in 2023, the ownership of Australian Motorcyclist was taken over by myself as head of Clemenger Media Sales. I would like to thank and recognise Stuart Woodbury for his many years at the helm and his dedication to our community.
As the new owner, we all wish to thank the fine and experienced contributors that have supported the publication and am gladdened that many have remained with us.
Our desire is to invest in print and digital – to give you more of what you love : Australian motorcyclists and motorcycling stories, reviews and news.
Best / Tony
Australian Motorcyclist Magazine www.ausmotorcyclist.com.au
rePlAcing letters to the editor
During 2023, we are replacing Letters to the Editor with Your View. Subscribers are welcome to send their views on any topic regarding Australian motorcycling to the following address.
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hot off the P ress - n e W m odels
Due in as we speak are some very nice offerings from Moto Guzzi, Royal Enfield and Yamaha.
The Moto Guzzi V100 Mandello will be here shortly, and we are sure it will win accolades and fans with its real-world ability and historical links. The transverse v-twin remains so different in this world of across-the-frame singles, twin, triples and fours.
As you will see later in #118, the Royal Enfield will be on sale and in showrooms about now. A worthy addition to the 650 twin cylinder platform for learners and experienced riders.
Yamaha are upping the ante in the explorer world of ADV motorcycles and the $25,000 Tenere700 World Raid will make its mark. With a 23 litre dual fuel tank, upgraded suspension, and a 5 inch TFT screen, the 700 will now have better long distance potential.
A dirt Y W ee K end !
Sister magazine Adventure Rider is hosting the highly anticipated ‘2023 Congregation’ on the weekend of October 14th and 15th at Grey Gum Cafe on the Putty Road a couple of hours north west of Sydney. It is an ideal camping site where
the event is located behind the wellknown Grey Gum.
AdvRider and Kim from the cafe are putting on music, prizes and a heap of fun. Getting there will be almost as much fun as participating, as there are incredible roads north, south east and west of the site!
Contact-susan.plunkett@clemengermediasales.com
cos Y toesies
Andy Strapz are attacking winter feet-first with their waterproof, windproof Sealskin socks. Perfect for adventure and road riders, the Sealskins are a three layer sock with Merino/Acrylic/ Polyester providing a snuggle inner layer. While Sealskin socks have been around for a decade or more, this new generation has had the ‘wetsuit’ feel engineered out to make them feel much more err...sock like. They have zonal elastication, four way stretch, and a padded footbed. They are $85 a pair in S, M, L and XL.
rennie
’ s ride
Got
a ticket to the isle of Man
This industry good-guy and journo will be heading over to the Isle of Man for the TT in June. Taking up the ‘bars for the Wilson Craig Racing Team on a Honda Fireblade, Rennie Scaysbrook will be giving us an exclusive in a future issue. We wish him good fortune and success.
t he u nbe A r A ble l i K eness of b eing
Will Royal Enfield actually go ahead and call their new scrambler-styled 650 ‘The Bear’? Will the Bear offer up his signature in order to boost sales? Will it be the biggest selling RE model to date despite its unfortunate name? The next few months will tell! RE has drip-fed the proposed new model 650 and we wait to find out if will make our shore this year.
ePicness AchieVed THE RUNNING
Words – BorIs MIhaIlovIc •
OF THE BIMMERS
t his is W h At h APP ens W hen Y ou tAK e A n r 18 c l A ssic, A n r 18 h ighline, A nd A l A rge P rofession A l P hotogr AP her A long for A ride
the concept was siMple...
Take professional snapper, Nick Edards, a pair of righteous BMWs, and two mates in case terrible things happened, and spend a weekend blasting some great roads.
The result would be epic images of magnificence and glory.
BMW Motorrad liked the concept, but probably because I did not tell anyone there about the likelihood of terrible things happening, and promptly sent me a pair of 2023 R18s.
One was the R18 Classic – which I immediately allocated to Nick because it had saddlebags
Main: Consider German cruisers perfectly addressed by BMW. Insert: Nick told me to stop touching him after this was taken.
where he could carry his cameras, and a screen to assist in him being less wind-blasted.
I took the other one – the Highline, dubbed so for a few reasons, and not just because it had a bigger front wheel. It also came with a lockable fuel cap, hill start control, and Headlight Pro (which includes Adaptive Headlight and Daytime Riding Light), as well heated grips, reverse gear, cruise control, an anti-theft alarm system, a high passenger kit (710mm), and footboards. And to sweeten it even further, mine had the option 719 wheels.
Obviously, BMW lets you deck your base R18 out with all sorts of goodies, and not just the ones mine and Nick had fitted – so make sure you spend some quality time with the catalogue when you set out to buy one.
I love me some bling. And having ridden all the R18 iterations over many miles, I knew this larger-diameter wheel would make an appreciable difference in corners. And it was also decked out in this killer matte gray-green paint scheme (called Manhattan Metallic, no less), boasted burnished alloy rather than the chrome on Nick’s Classic, and fielded a pair of Akrapovic mufflers with clever little end-caps designed to look like the BMW propellor logo. But of all the things it had, it also had nowhere to strap a bag on.
Obviously, Nick’s camera gear took priority over a change of clothes, wet-weather gear, a healing bottle of whiskey, and all the usual things a man needs with him when he goes motorcycle-riding for two days. So, I put what I could fit into a small back-pack and reconciled myself to the way of the pack-mule for 1000-odd kilometres. Just quietly, I hate backpacks. They are
stupid, and dangerous in an accident. I can’t quite put my finger on when they became a thing, but they are now quite popular, presumably because people are too dim to grasp the wisdom of the ocky strap, and bike manufacturers don’t always provide a model with anchor points for luggage.
Given I ride all kinds of bikes, I am forced to occasionally use a back-pack. But I always ensure it has nothing hard and nothing heavy in it, so that if terrible things happen, my spine has a chance of making it through.
Nick arrived at my place the night before departure and
“ when i Asked bmw if it hAd uPgrAded the susPension, i wAs told it hAd been “sorted” rAther thAn uPgrAded.”
cast his jaded, Speed Triple- and Fireblade-riding eye over the R18 Classic. Nick’s a big, tall man with crap knees and no great love for cruiser-type bikes, so I was very keen to see how he’d deal with the R18 for 1000 kays.
“You might hate me quite a lot an hour after we leave tomorrow morning,” I said to him as he sat on the bike, trying it out for size.
“It may not take that long,” he grumbled, but avowed the seat was quite comfortable.
Happily, BMW had fitted both bikes with the “comfort” seat – a thicker-padded affair that helped deal with a less-
than-sensational rear suspension, which I had interestingly only encountered on the very first variants of the R18 I rode.
As it turned out, the suspension on these latest versions is, put simply, spot on. It’s great. When I asked BMW if it had upgraded the suspension, I was told it had been “sorted” rather than upgraded. The first models released had not been optimally set-up, and while the suspension was adequate, it was not great. And now, as we discovered, it
was great. In fact, Nick was full of praise for the suspension. The next morning we collected Aaron (Yamaha FJR) and Duncan (Kwaka ZX-10), and set off for Goulburn. The route was Singleton, Putty Road, Bells Line, Jenolan Caves Road, Duckmaloi Road, Oberon, Black Springs, Abercombie River, Goulburn. It’s a beaut ride, but one which I have not done in a while, and it would offer Nick many chances to spaff forth gigalitres of photographic creativity so as to achieve full epicness as per my instructions.
Insert: The ground-clearance is pretty obvious. Main: Most cruisers would be leaving a trail of sparks at this stage.
“So what am I shooting?” he asked.
“Epic stuff. Glorious vistas. Righteous men contending with the road. General awesomeness and splendid magnificence. Vast skies, endless roads, and majestic panoramas.”
“And you have to be in it?”
“Most of the time, yes.”
“What about the bike I’m riding?”
“Aaron will ride it for the photos.”
“Epic, huh?”
“Think National Geographic.”
That’s really all the briefing one needs to give to a professional photographer. They only hear every third word you say anyway, and will invariably do what they want to do, and tell you later it’s what you wanted the whole time. I am wise to them.
Halfway down the Putty, it was obvious to me the R18 Highline was somewhat quicker through corners than Nick’s Classic. We’d enter a corner at the same speed, and as Nick hit approached the apex, a cascade of spark would fan out from his footboard. There would be no sparks from mine. So obviously the ground clearance was improved on the Highline. And with greater ground clearance comes faster corners.
Nick brought up the scraping issues at the first petrol stop.
“I’m very worried about wearing away the footboard,” he said. “The hero-knobs are halfway along, and after that it’s all footboard.”
“You just carry on,” I told him. “BMW knows full well what appalling swine bike reviewers are. Some of them don’t even ride the bikes they’re given. At least when BMW looks at ours the people will know we have been trying.”
We made if off the Putty and onto Bells Line of Road, which was once one of the great riding roads of NSW.
It is now rubbish. Not only is it packed with tourists driving 20km/h under the limit as they seek a coffee/bag of apples/ fruit-picking experience in one of the many orchards along its length, but it’s also redolent with Highway Patrol cars –some obvious, some rather well-hidden. Thankfully, we got flashed by a truck and dropped the pace back a touch.
About the pace then – as you can imagine, the ZX10 can get a wiggle on. As can the FJR. I was genuinely curious how the R18s would go in comparison. I am very
“ we rode on, And very soon the light left Altogether to be rePlAced by rAin. A lot of rAin. An entirely ePic Amount. visibility wAs down to metres.”
pleased to tell you they were remarkably able to keep pace. A solid riding pace for me and my mates is usually around the 140 mark. Sure, the Kwaka would gap us when the road got very twisty, and Duncan can certainly motor when he’s of a mind, but Australia has very few roads where the R18 won’t be able to maintain a solid, manful pace.
There’s a lot of integrity in the R18. It works, despite the way it’s styled. Nick was actually impressed.
“It’s actually very good at doing what it does,” he said to me when we pulled over for a bout of epic photography.
“So you don’t hate me?”
“How did you draw that conclusion from what I just said?”
“How about we put the bikes in front of that tree over there? It’s a nice tree.”
“You do what you want with the bikes. I’m not taking
any photos of them near that tree.”
We ate lunch in Oberon, and had a further discussion about epic photography.
“How about the next corner you pick to take pictures on isn’t a potential death-trap?”
“I do light. If you crash then I’ll photograph that in great light.”
“No, I mean the turn-around points either side of the corner. That last one had me doing U-turns over doublelines and praying a truck didn’t come over the rise.”
“The light was really good.”
We left Oberon and started heading towards a purplecoloured sky that promised us nothing but soggy everything. I stalled pulling over as long as I could, hoping the road might just skirt the rain that was certainly coming, but eventually pulled over.
Duncan put on his wet-weather gear. Aaron put on his wet-weather gear. Nick put on his wet-weather pants. I just stood on the side of the road and stared at them.
“Did you not bring any wets?” Aaron asked.
“Do you see me putting any on?”
I was wearing a beaut Held jacket lined with GORETEX, and it was summer, so I figured my suffering would be minimal. I suggested Nick take some epic images
Main: You can’t tell, but both Aaron and I are soaking wet in this image. Insert: “Why is Nick climbing into that tree?”
of the impending Rainmageddon.
“The light is wrong,” he said.
We rode on, and very soon the light left altogether to be replaced by rain. A lot of rain. An entirely epic amount. Visibility was down to metres, and it was clear no photos could or would be taken while this was happening.
Which was a shame, because the run from Oberon to Taralga and Goulburn is very scenic. It runs past pine forest plantations, and along ridgelines with stunning views of rolling, gently-hilled, and golden-coloured country Henry Lawson wrote poetry about.
The road surface itself was a lottery. The recent heavy rains had eaten the tarmac in many places, and we did our very best to thread the needle between potholes. But now and again, we failed. We initially failed because we were rain-blind. We later failed because the dappled shadows on the road hid many holes. There were times I was sure I’d done a rim, but the R18 just motored while my spine healed itself.
Quite honestly, no suspension on earth can deal with such potholes. You’re gonna take a hit no matter what you’re riding. Still, the way the R18 dealt with what I threw it into was very impressive. BMW really has sorted the suspension out.
The sun came out just as we were approaching the descent to the Abercrombie River. The vistas were grand and majestic, so we stopped to do some photos and dry my private parts. You’ll recall I was the one without wetweather gear.
“I just saw a deer,” Aaron said, pointing up the road we’d just ridden, as Nick busied himself with epicness.
“Sshh! He’ll hear you,” I said to Aaron. “If he hears you, he will want to photograph it, and we could be here for hours.”
Nick, if you don’t know, is one of the greatest bird and animal photographers I have ever seen. His bike stuff is so good because he cut his teeth photographing all sorts of winged and clawed vermin that moves in unpredictable ways. Bikes are easy by comparison he tells me.
“How you finding the ergos?” I asked him, convinced his six-foot-three frame and porridge-filled knees might have had enough by now. I was fine, but I spend a lot of time addressing the squat rack and associated iron precisely so I can do things like this without weeping. But I needed my photographer uncrippled until all the epic there was to capture was captured.
“You know what?” Nick said, “It’s surprisingly good. I’m not at all uncomfortable and I fell into the same potholes you did. We were belting along at about 140-150 back there and it was fine.”
“So no hate for me then?”
“Not as far as the BMW is concerned, no.”
By the time we got to Goulburn it was hot and sunny. We were all smiling and our motel was clean. The sheets smelled of soap rather than trucker-sweat and call-girl, and there was a place quite close by that sold ribs lathered in a delightful sauce.
I only like Goulburn when its full of ASBK racers and fans. The rest of the time it’s got far too many police academy recruits and mean-eyed sheep farmers to have any appeal. We had a few pre-dinner beers at the Empire (it was as
far as we wanted to walk) and it had little to recommend itself. Sure, there was a table of champions drinking away a decent poker-machine win, but that was about it on that Saturday night.
We were away early the following morning, and I was keen to get the images the rain stopped us from getting the day before.
We stopped a few times, Nick did his sorcery, and it was just after noon when he declared all the epic there was to be photographed, had been photographed.
“ bAck Along bells line of roAd, which wAs now filled with sundAy tourists – who, As you know, Are mAny times worse thAn sAturdAy tourists, And even more coPs.”
All that was left to us now was a hot and mindless drone back along Bells Line of Road, which was now filled with Sunday tourists – who, as you know, are many times worse than Saturday tourists, and even more cops.
We made it all the way to Bulga, sweating and weary, the temperature hovering in the high thirties, only to be told the road ahead of us into Singleton was closed.
Apparently, a bike rider in his later years had been belting along at about 140 on his Freedom Eagle, and was setting up to overtake a car. Just as he was about to gun it past, a police car came along the other way. Old mate, for reasons only known to himself, chose to turn his head and see if the police car was going to do a U-turn and pursue him. Which is when he hit the back of the car he was going to overtake.
Which in turn hugely inconvenienced those of us who don’t do such dumb stuff.
But a 20km detour later, and we were home being kissed by air-conditioning and wives. Well, I was. Nick still had a two-hour drive back to Sydney.
He sent me the images a few days later and once again, they blew me away. I trust you’ll enjoy them, as much as I enjoyed banging the R18 Highline around for a weekend. They are a remarkable motorcycle, in my view, and one which BMW has every reason to be proud of.
Nick’s second opinion of the R18 follows, as do a few exchanges he and I had over the two days...
WE’RE PROFESSIONALS!
Me: “What about that gate over there?”
Nick: “You want me to take pictures of the gate?”
Me: “No, I was just telling you about the gate in case you wanted to walk further into that field to get more of the sky into the picture.”
Nick: “I have lenses that do all of that.”
Me: “Is there enough epic here?”
Nick: “Do you plan on violating that dead kangaroo?”
Me: “The pine trees are awesome. It looks like Bavaria.”
Nick: “It looks nothing like Bavaria. And the light’s wrong.”
Me: “Shoot it anyway.”
Nick: “The light’s actually not too bad.”
Me: “I told you!”
Nick: “ You said it looked like Bavaria.”
Me: “We should get some shot in front of the Police Academy.”
Nick: “No.”
Me: “I’ll just pull up at the front gate, drop my pants, and...”
Nick: “No.”
WhAt nicK thought
So here it is, a cruiser review by someone who doesn’t rider cruisers...
I ride an old round-eye Speed Triple and an older FireBlade so 1000km on the BMW R18 was always going to be a combination of “oh, now I get it” and “I really don’t get this” moments.
To be fair, the former outweighed the latter so on balance, it won me over. Sort of.
First impressions. It’s huge and aesthetically, it’s all about that motor, two skull-sized cylinder heads poking out from either side and everything about the bike IS meant to focus your attention on just how huge they are. The rest of the bike, even the engine casings themselves are stripped back and unremarkable to look at. So, you look at the engine and Main: It really is about the open road.
That’s all it’s ever been about.
Insert: The engine is a masterpiece, and the screen works very well.
TEST
that has all the remarkable you need.
And then I had to ride it. The first couple of hundred kays were not what I would call a pleasant experience. I just couldn’t feel what the bike was doing, what gear it wanted to be in or what incantations I needed to recite to make the front brake do something akin to slowing the bike down.
The brake thing was fairly easily resolved, I’m used to being able to get a bike slowed down with one finger on the front brake and ignoring the rear unless things get fraught but, with the R18, you need at least two fingers, and preferably all of them, on the front lever and you need to use the rear [i did say you have to use the rear brake, but what do i know? i know you only hear every fourth word when i speak that’s what i know – Boris]
Once I got the hang of that, slowing down became less of an issue, although there were a couple of times when I went back to just covering the front brake with one finger and then found less happening than I would’ve liked when I pulled on the lever.
The engine really feels like it was designed to have a propellor and not a drive shaft attached to it. To call it lazy is an understatement, 100km/h in sixth is 2500rpm and it pulls like a train in most gears from idle. It just took a while for me to figure out which gear it wanted me to be in. Generally the answer was ‘any of them’ as there’s torque everywhere.
Gear change is a heel-and-toe job [it doesn’t have to be. i told you that too, but you were once again not tuned to my channel – Boris]. Up-changes with the heel, easy, slick, no need to use the clutch and invariably accompanied by a little bit of a torque induced twitch that was never unsettling. Downshifts were slightly more fiddly as the toe shift is under the back of the left cylinder and just a little awkward for people with troll-sized feet like mine to get to [Did you hear the bit when i told you i know a surgeon who can sort that? – Boris].
A couple of highlights. The seating position was actually pretty comfortable. I’m six-three,
so I’m used to feeling cramped on most bikes, but the R18 fitted me pretty damned well. Foot position is slightly constrained by the cylinders and I would’ve liked to have stretched my legs a little at times but anyone shorter than me, which is about 98 per cent of you, wouldn’t have had an issue.
The other highlight was the suspension. The roads we travelled were a mess, the road surfaces were rutted, lumpy, uneven, scarred, and generally crap, but the R18 soaked it up and kept on trucking even when it was being ridden in a way probably more suited to a Speed Triple than a cruiser. The comfortable riding position and effective suspension meant I didn’t feel like I’d been beaten with a meat mallet at the end of either day’s riding. I didn’t expect that. I thought I’d be totally wrecked.
My biggest issue with the bike was ground clearance or lack thereof. In fast sweepers, no issue, but the tighter the corners got, the earlier I’d be grinding away the hero knobs to the point, after two days on the road, the hero knob was
gone on one side and I was grinding away the footplate. On twisty roads like Mother Putty, the tighter corners became very wearing, especially after a long day in the saddle, as so much speed would have to be washed off to get around the corner and the slower the speed, the heavier the bike feels [there is a reason i didn’t let you ride the highline with the extra ground clearance, and yes it has everything to do with my cruel and impish nature – Boris]. But in fast sweepers where only moderate lean-angles were required, it was actually quite entertaining to ride, and it was hard to upset its balance so long as choosing a line and getting the braking out of the way was done early enough.
Did I fall for its charms? Not entirely, but that’s more a function of the fact I’m not a cruiser-guy than any fault of the bike. It acquitted itself far better than I expected it to even when pushed quite hard. It is way more capable than it has any right to be, and that monstrous engine, the focus of the whole bike, does deliver an experience
that’s way different from any other bike I’ve ever ridden and I’m glad that I had the opportunity to give it a proper run out in the country.
Bravo BMW, I was a hard nut to crack but the impressions the R18 left with me were a lot more positive than I expected them to be. But can I have an M1000R instead please? Amm
Main: Always check for Highway Patrol cars. Always.
t r a V e L
MOROccO PaRT 1
cArrY on uP the AtlAs
t he b e A r l A st sle P t under m orocc A n s K ies ne A rlY 45 Y e A rs A go, so he thought it WA s high time to tAK e A nother snooze. e r, loo K . An in V itAtion from motorc Y cle tour org A niser imtbi K e .com to join its m orocc A n Ad V enture t our in mA rch of this Y e A r c A me just in time, then.
Fortunately, the mud caused by recent rains had been scraped off the hillside roads.
Transport staGes are aMonG my least favourite ways of spending time on a bike, although skimming the e3 motorway behind the costa du sol’s grimy beaches on the way to algeciras and the ferry to africa is not too bad. You get a choice here between the tollway and a somewhat slower motorway, and we were using the more expensive option because we didn’t want to miss the ferry. My rental F 750 Gs was happy enough at 130km/h.
Inevitably, toll collection points cause problems for motorcycle tours. In this case I was the (first) sufferer as the machine stubbornly refused to accept my credit card. There had been no problem a couple of days before, but now that there was a chance to hold everyone up – yee ha! I finally gave up and moved to the next gate, which was fine.
Getting a motorcycle onto a ferry in Spain and Portugal is like playing three-dimensional PacMan in the terminal. You go in, say, that direction, then do a 90 degree turn, go a little further, do another 90 degree turn,
ride on again and lose sight of the bike in front of you among the towering containers. Someone with a whistle and a near-terminal (sorry) case of apoplexy emerges from between the containers and furiously waves you over to somewhere where you can do another right-hand turn before finding
Above: Mint tea is the go-to drink in Morocco. Well, except the locals mainly drink Coke.
Below: Guarding the ancient mosque in Rabat is a full-dress job.
Top right: Who needs an ignition switch when he has a plug cap?
Right: That tower is 44metres high, and was due to be twice the size.
yourself lined up a hundred metres from the ferry.
Once aboard I found the ferry plain but pleasant enough, and spent most of the short trip across to Tangiers queuing to have my paperwork checked at a little office cubby with its Moroccan official. This seemed like a good idea but turned out to make bugger all difference once we were
“ getting A motorcycle onto A ferry in sPAin And PortugAl is like PlAying threedimensionAl PAcmAn in the terminAl.”
on African soil, where there were three more detailed examinations by different officials. Once through that, I resumed battle with cash machines and finally got some money – from the last of the half-dozen ATMs.
Roger, our lead guide, collected the money for our group’s cash float to
cover fuel, coffee stops and lunches. This float is a great idea. It speeds up stops, and reduces cash anxiety.
One final roadblock and check by the Royal Constabulary – there are many of these stops – and we were on our way. Morocco is one of those wonderful places where you always
get at least one answer per head to casual questions. Asking why there were so many police checkpoints, I was informed that it was: 1) because of bad people; 2) to control smuggled drones; 3) because Algerians came across the border to kill tourists and hurt the Moroccan travel industry;
and finally 4) why not, at least they’re getting some exercise.
We were always waved through, so I guess the Royal Constabulary didn’t have any concerns about us being bad drone-bearing Algerian killers. I did get stopped once, but the officer only wanted to shoot the breeze. We exchanged information in mutually poor French, and I rolled on.
A new country and a new culture are always interesting, but this was still a delivery stage, down to the national capital Rabat. There is a limit to what you can discover from looking at the sides of the motorway. Apart from the shepherds, a regular coterie of watchers lined the road – not an unusual feature in countries with high unemployment and a flexible sense of time – and small bands of beggars roamed the petrol stations. They didn’t look too badly off. Probably the most interesting novelty was the Berber alphabet which has joined the French and Arabic signposting. Based on an ancient local script, it looks a little like a combination of Greek and Korean.
As we rode into Rabat alongside the main royal palace on a very good
road, I noticed bunches of uniformed blokes gathered at each entrance and guard house. There seemed to be half a dozen different uniforms, and I finally worked out that each of the branches of the military, as well as the police forces, must supply guards. A good way for them to keep an eye on
Above: Lunch usually featured tasty salads followed by cut-up fruit.
Below: The original Moroccan ‘motorcycles’, camels. They will go just about anywhere, too.
Top right: Bear dons helmet ready for a day’s ride outside the hotel in Rabat.
Right: The owner of this copper and brass shop was not keen on photos. Oops, sorry...
each other! Mind you, they didn’t seem to have this guarding business sorted; all they were doing was smoking, laughing and telling each other lies about their soccer prowess.
Like other developing countries, Morocco has its architectural statement building – in this case, the 250-metre Mohammed VI Tower, the tallest building in Africa. Looking like a stretched version of London’s Gherkin, it is designed to be visible from 50 kilometres all round. It is not quite finished, but already looks quite elegant if also totally out of place in a city that lacks other high rise.
“ imtbike.com hAs A sure touch with selecting hotels; they Are invAriAbly high stAndArd And either new or older but unique in some wAy.”
Our group of 16 had begun to become familiar by now. Made up of Americans, Germans, Poles, Portuguese , a Spanish couple from the Canary Islands and an Israeli as well as Terry from Wollongong plus the guides Roger and David (both from Barcelona) it settled easily into English for
Turning into our hotel driveway, I was nearly cleaned up by a Goldwing ridden with more elan than caution or, dare I say it, skill.
The Dawliz Resort & Spa turned out to offer both cool halls and outstanding displays of art, both paintings and sculptures. IMTBIKE.com has a sure touch with selecting hotels; they are invariably high standard and either new or older but unique in some way. The Dawliz punches both tags.
Above: Marrakesh’s Djemaa el-Fna in the evening light. All kinds of entertainment.
Left: Going home, effendi? Moroccan taxis are usually based on three wheelers.
communication and flexible bunches of people for conversation. The ideal setup, really, and we spent dinner getting acquainted.
Our first real contact with Morocco and its culture came the next morning when we rode over to look at the square red tower on the hill across the river. This is the Hassan Tower, a 140foot red stone minaret built during the reign of Yacoub El Mansour, a sultan of the Almohad Dynasty. Construction began in 1195 AD and was intended
to produce the largest mosque on Earth. Four years into construction, however, the sultan died and, as so often when the boss snuffs it, his project died with him.
Today only columns showing the intended layout of the mosque surround the Hassan Tower, which was supposed to be twice the height or nearly 90 metres tall. Here’s a fun fact: each of the six levels inside the Hassan Tower is a single room with ramps to allow the muezzin to ride a horse to the top for the call to prayer. Everywhere else the muezzin has to climb stairs – this was clearly going to be classy!
Back on the road and past the moderately thick Rabat traffic, we got our first taste of Moroccan corners. The road was in surprisingly good shape considering that recent rain had clearly (or rather grubbily) dumped huge amounts of mud on the surface. That had simply been scraped up and dumped on the other side of the Armco, making the road feel like some kind of channel. In many ways, the Moroccan countryside reminded me of New Zealand:
NEW!
• Cordless Re-chargeable tyre inflator
• Built-in torch
• Set and store four separate pressures
• Sturdy EVA bag
• Product size: 107mm wide x 83mm high x 33mm deep.
• Weight: 471g
DESIGNED IN AUSTRALIA
Cordless Re-chargeable Mini Tyre Inflator
• Ideal for inflating motorcycle, ATV, car and bicycle tyres. Pressure range from 3 to 120 PSI and accurate to +/- 1.5 PSI. Pumps a 90/90 R21 tyre from 0 to 32 PSI in under 3 minutes.
• Set and store up to 4 separate pressures. The pump will automatically shut OFF when a pre-set pressure is reached.
• Can be recharged from most USB outlets. (charger not supplied). We recommend a 2A outlet. Charge times are between 3 and 5 hours depending on the state of the battery.
erosion still has a lot of work to do. We stopped in Rommani for mint tea, a drink I was beginning to appreciate. I’ve always thought mint’s flavour was too strong to blend well with other herbs, but in a glass of tea with sugar it tastes wonderful, whether you’re hot or cold. Looks like I’ll be adding mint to my little herb garden at home.
There was not much in the way of scenery for the rest of the day except for the growing presence of the Atlas Mountains in the distance. At least we had a chance to get used to the endless police checkpoints.
At a fuel stop I admired the premix pump and then found myself confused by a moped with its plug cap unattached. Someone noticed my attention and the owner came out of the café to explain things to me. See here – he pointed to the ignition lock without a key in it. Now watch – he replaced the plug cap and swung the kickstarter to start the engine. And presto – he disconnected the plug cap again and the engine stopped. Aha. He didn’t have an ignition key, so the ignition stayed on, and he used the plug cap as a kill switch. Bravo. He smiled modestly.
I had the first of several offers to swap bikes at the same fuel stop and sadly had to let the opportunity
go. Somehow, his Highlander moped would not quite have served me as well as the BMW F 750 GS, not to mention IMTBIKE.com’s disappointment.
That brought back some memories. Forty-odd years before and a hundred or so kilometres south of there I had a seriously scary swap proposal. The policeman who wanted to trade his BMW R 50 for my (borrowed) Yamaha XS1100 became pretty insistent. It didn’t help that he looked like Idi Amin and, unlike me, was heavily armed.
not sure what
Below:
are everywhere, mostly with brand names that you’ve never heard of.
I think he really just wanted a ride, but the thought of letting a stranger head off on Mrs Bear’s and my only transport there in the desert really was distinctly scary. Even if he was leaving the well-worn R 50 as security... He gave up in the end, and shook my hand with roars of laughter before
Above: No, I’m
kind of animal that is that’s being offered for dinner at the Djemaa.
Scooters
Right: Dinner in a restaurant high above the square allows views of the ACTION BEDLOW.
removing his scissor-spread road spikes and waving us on.
Back to today, where we turned out of the Marrakesh traffic – a bit more serious than in Rabat – into the Palmeraie. This is an ancient forest of date palms with several hundred thousand trees. It measures five miles (8km) in length, and covers 54 square miles (140 sq km). It is known for its eponymous palm trees and resorts including the Palmeraie Rotana Resort, where we were staying. It’s also the place if you can’t wait to try a camel ride. Just sayin’.
But we had plans for an evening in another part of Marrakesh, the Djeema el-Fna. Time for a bit of background. Like any other country you’re likely to visit, Morocco has a certain number of attractions which you should not miss. Some of these are natural like the Atlas Mountains or Todra Gorge; some are human-made like the Kasbahs or the medina of Fez; and some are humans themselves, like the crowds that make up the nightly theatre of Marrakesh’s main square, the Djeema el-Fna or “assembly of the dead”. Better not to ask for too many details there, I suspect.
This place has been going since the 11th Century in various incarnations. Once, its main evening attraction would have been the storytellers
whose wares were the communal memory of the Berber tribes. For centuries, it was a vast food market with farm traders coming down from the mountains to set up their
“ he Pointed to the ignition lock without A key in it. now wAtch – he rePlAced the Plug cAP And swung the kickstArter to stArt the engine. And Presto –he disconnected the Plug cAP AgAin And the engine stoPPed.”
canvas tents each day. The hikayat or storytellers have gone along with the whispering fortunetellers, unable to compete with the more spectacular attractions made possible by electricity and the internet. The farm market has mutated into a food market offering
local delicacies, although you can also buy everyday groceries –especially olives.
So the Djemaa is not what it was, but as Lonely Planet says, it’s “nightly carnival continues to dazzle. Amazigh musicians strike up the music and gnaoua troupes sing while henna tattoo artists beckon to passersby, and water-sellers in fringed hats clang brass cups together, hoping to drive people to drink. This is a show you don’t want to miss, and it’s a bargain too: applause and a few dirhams ensure an encore... The square’s many eclectic exhibitions are not without a darker side, though; you are likely to see monkeys dressed up and led around on chains for entertainment.”
We were set to wander around the square for a while ourselves and then to have dinner at one of the restaurants overlooking the action. Unfortunately, though, I had a problem to solve before heading to the Djemaa from the hotel. The bag that the support van was supposed to have been carrying for me was nowhere to be found. That meant my CPAP machine and my medical backups were missing. And that was not good news. Could the bag have been sent to the wrong room at the hotel, or could it somehow have been lost completely? Amm
the toP ten
W e W hittle do W n this Y e A r ’ s ne W entries to just ten !
SMall, MeDiUM anD larGe theY all haVe soMethinG in coMMon we are alwaYs GoinG to Get More than we haD this tiMe last Year anD isn’t that FaBUloUs?
Europe and Japan throw a party at the end of every year showcasing new models to tempt us. The 2022 party threw up some new, some updated and some almost bizarre. We sorted the list and offer what the top ten of what we consider to be the more eagerly anticipated ones. For us, it’s about power, comfort, touring and a touch of being green! Oh, and adventure touring as well. Let’s start with some muscle and work our way through some delectable offerings!
Words – boris mihAiloVic
dUCati diaVeL V4
the de V il W ill m AK e Y ou do it !
The New 1260 Diavel is a major update to the Ducati that was first introduced in 2017, and the biggest surprise is that it has added two extra cylinders – sometimes!
The Diavel’s party trick is that when cruising under 4000 rpm, two cylinders cut out, but the moment you twist the throttle, they come roaring back in. The added complexity however does not come at the cost of increased maintenance, in fact the recommended service interval is now 60,000km.
And in adding two cylinders they have still managed to pare 13 kg from the V twin, making the Diavel even more nimble, and from all accounts, a delight to ride with added mid-range and a counter rotating crank ensuring smoothness, while a range of comfort and handling settings are adjustable to anyone’s wants.
The look of the bike is big, with the styling now including underseat rear tail and stop lights. This iteration of the Diavelle is part cruiser, part superbike, part naked muscle. It is a lot of bike, a lot of fun, and it costs a lot of money.
Honda XL750 transaLp
l APP ing u P A continent A nd Attention
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking the new Transalp is just a version of the Suzuki V-Strom with a different colour scheme. Both a near on 800cc, 755cc for the Transalp, and both feature a versatile parallel twin. Honda have a lot riding on the Transalp name, synonymous with travel and adventure since the 80’s, and we think the Transalp will deliver as promised with ease.
The setup offers good travel at 200mm on the front, with a 21-inch wheel and 190mm at the rear on a 18 inch. This indicates a balance between road riding and gravel roads rather than pure off-road ability. Along with a narrow 16.9 litre fuel tank and ‘Dakar’ looks, Honda is going in swinging in a crowded mid-sized adventure market.
The Honda is well specc’ed with a 5-inch TFT dash and riding mode. Top box and factory panniers are available as an option. Pricing will need to be competitive. Based and the looks and the strength of both the Honda brand and the Transalp name, we think there will be many happy owners soon to swing a leg over a motorcycle like this. It is a much needed plug in model between the CB500X and the Africa Twin 1100.
Honda CB750 Hornet
A mid - size stinger
Honda is again making noise in the 750cc market where they established their reputation with the first superbike back in the 1970s. This 750 however, has a different pedigree, moving away from the four cylinders that were the staple of their lineup for so many years, the Honda CB750 Hornet embracing the low-tech/high tech dichotomy to compete in the growing middleweight sportsbike market.
Two cylinders instead of four, and with its 755cc fuel injected, liquid cooled configuration unearthing 91.8 horses sitting inside a lightweight frame – plus inverted Showa forks and CBR styling – the Hornet is no slouch and is a serious contender in the burgeoning streetfighter stakes.
Reviews indicate the Hornet’s nimbleness comes at the cost of high-speed stability, but this is a lot of motorcycle for the money featuring many high-tech aids as standard, and the accounting department has also worked hard to slim the Hornet’s retail price to a very affordable $13,474, making the Honda a very attractive proposition.
HarLeY-daVidson BreakoUt 117
big birthd AY br AW n
In the world of the Cruisers, Harley Davidson has always been king, and in celebrating their 120th birthday this year, it was a no brainer that there was something special coming from Milwaukee.
While most manufacturers rely on whiz-bang tech to push their sales, Harley has chosen to double down on what it does best: a big air/oil cooled V twin with gobs of torque and a mountain of cubes – 117 cubic inches or as good as 2000cc, and lots of chrome.
The increase in cubes has made the Harley Davidson Breakout an even more impressive street performer, and while much of the package is standard Harley fare, there has been some effort put into ergonomics, increasing rider comfort and control. The Breakout features traction control, which can be turned off by the rider, but the electronics are not the headline, with its 21-inch front wheel, larger fuel tank and choice of colours, a lot of work has gone on image... and did we mention the chrome.
HUsQVarna norden 901 eXpedition
W h At ’ s A ustri A n for con Q uering the W orld ?
Norden 901 Expedition is the answer. If you were thinking four out of ten on this list could travel around the world on almost any roads you would be 100% correct. Adventure touring represents the biggest slice of the road market pie and Husqvarna wants a small piece of the action.
The Norden is probably more niche than mainstream like the ubiquitous BMW R1250GS or its popular KTM cousins but we are okay with that.
The 890cc parallel twin from the KTM platform is well known for offering up great tech and plenty of performance and the Expedition adds more to the equation with a stack of extras.
Apart from the standout corporate look of blue, white and yellow, the 901 features panniers, a heated seat and handlebar grips as well as a centrestand. WP Xplor suspension will enhance its off-road capability.
At $27,840 on road, the very well-equipped Expedition might become more mainstream than you would expect.
moto
gUZZi V100 mandeLLo
m A dello on the m A rch W ith A ne W m A chine
It was a very slow gestation period for the brand new liquid-cooled eight valve 1043cc V-twin from the Italian firm from the shores of Lake Como in Italy. Surfacing at EICMA in 2021, it was slated as the new model to celebrate the Moto Guzzi centenary in 2022.
If ever a sports touring machine ticks every box for most AMM readers, then this is it. The V100 offers shaft-drive, electronically semi-active suspension in the S model and what looks like all the power and grunt you will ever need here in Australia, well away from the Auotstradas of Italy/ Europe. Early reports from Europe are indicating brilliant comfort and how the Mandello looks way better in the flesh.
The aero-wings, or adaptive aerodynamics, found either side of the front of the fairing, raise up from 40 kph and are said to offer more comfort and less wind turbulence. That alone gives us the excuse to try out the transverse V-twin.
Like every other new creation, the V100 has all the usual technology to keep you safe and comfortable. Apart from the ABS, traction control riding modes and a six-axis IMU there is a standard cruise control to manage the 115 hp and 77 lb-ft and save your licence.
dUCati mULtistrada V4 raLLY
W hen Y ou need to c A rrY A tonne of ge A r A nd
W in A r A ce
Ducati doesn’t do things by half measures these days. They enter multiple bikes in the MotoGP class, win races and championships by the bucketload in the Superbike class, and cash in on the cool with the Scrambler and Monster Models.
They Rally is loaded with equipment and new levels of sophistication. The panniers and the 30-litre fuel tank means distance will be your friend and the electronics, which include four riding modes, four power modes plus the usual traction control and ABS, will keep you safe.
We think there won’t be a faster, more comfortable, better equipped all-roads tourer on the market this year, although the main things that will come into question will be the cashflow to manage tyre consumption.
The adaptive cruise-control may help!
If the relatively ‘simple’ Royal Enfield (see below) requires a few pages in the owner’s manual to cover all the ‘how to’ aspects of operation, then the V4 Multi will be at least a 120 page book! Even the rear cylinders shut down in traffic to reduce heat around your lower body.
Probably the short-priced favourite for Motorcycle of the Year!
roYaL enFieLd sUper meteor 650
shooting for the stA rs
Royal Enfield has come a long way since emerging as a curiosity from the embers of its English parent company.
At first offering 1950’s simplicity, a bit of nostalgia and a low price, the bike’s retained an appeal despite their outdated tech, but as the years rolled on, small advances on every front have led to the Super Meteor 650.
The Super Meteor 650 appears to be another nostalgic side-step, and while the company has used the same engine as their Interceptor and GT, the Bosch ECU-equipped fuel-injection with new mapping, has produced a touring power curve, with most of your maximum torque kicking in at 2,500 rpm and a long flat power delivery that impresses on the road, if not on the dyno charts. Inverted Showa forks, brakes by ByBre (an Indian subsidiary of Brembo) and integrated Turn by Tripper navigation developed in conjunction with Google, which interfaces with your smartphone are standard features on the Meteor. Learners and mature riders will never be offered so much for so little.
sUZUki V-strom 800e
the PA c K et re A ds ‘V for V ers Atilit Y’ Suzuki, on paper, is offering up a seemingly mild mannered middleweight with the V-Strom 800DE which will hopefully hit our shores in July. This Adventure Tourer boasts modest specs such as just 62 kW (83hp) power, a radical move away from the previous v-twin to an all new parallel twin with the now standard 270-degree crank providing smooth power and plenty of torque, while making the engine run cleaner as well. There are a host of tech aids on this ride-by-wire bike, but the most practical enhancements are more utilitarian. Increased ground clearance and the enhancement of SIRS - Suzuki Intelligent Ride System, with settings like Gravel-Mode – which allows for more wheel spin and slides - you can also turn off the rear Traction Control when hitting the dirt – something many adventure riders will applaud. These additions also make the V-Strom a tempting offering for an upgrade for riders on smaller or less sophisticated machines in the burgeoning adventure touring market.
kawasaki HeV HYBrid
green in colour
A nd dis P osition
From saying they had no interest in electric motorcycles in 2019, Kawasaki has come full circle, and the President of Kawasaki Motors, Hiroshi Ito announced that they would have 10 electric bikes by 2025, and would be all electric in some, mainly western markets, by 2035. The speed of development has taken many by surprise as Kawasaki displayed their electric prototypes at last year’s Suzuka 8 Hour race.
Of most interest was the HEV (Hybrid Electric Vehicle). Most journalists were surprised at how far advanced the prototypes were at the unexpected preview as the eagle-eyed journos surmised that the Kawasaki HEV seemed to be based on the Ninja 400 motor with Ninja 650 running gear.
The Ninja motor was traditionally installed with an electric motor above the gearbox. The electric motor had a separate electronic clutch, allowing the motors to act independently or in unison. The summation was that the Kawasaki HEV would have the power of a 650, and the fuel consumption of a 250, with the electric motor doing most of the city work and the combustion engine eliminating range anxiety on longer runs, and both motors working together when punched, to getting moving in a hurry.
Though still slated for delivery in 2024, the pace of pre-production and Kawasaki planning might surprise us this year as Kawasaki’s thirst for innovation might push the HEV out a little earlier. This is one bike many are waiting for.
A nd let ’ s not forget
There are more coming including the Australian made Savic EV (see Boris Mihailovic’s review) which will be virtually sold out for 2023 given their low production numbers. And what of the market leaders like Yamaha and BMW Motorrad? BMW are bringing the M model to the S1000R naked and Yamaha have the T7 Rally coming. CFMoto is launching the 450SR shortly. The sporty fully faired twin should appeal to the younger, entrylevel riders. Sporty and nice! Amm
RATED 5 OUT OF 5 HELMETS
The Stonehenge Hotel
11 stratford st, stonehenge, Qld T: 07 46585944
FB: stonehenge Hotel
OkaY, so let’s Get this sorted from the start: Queensland’s stonehenge, 150 odd kilometres south from longreach has bugger-all to do with the one on in england. wasn’t named after it, doesn’t resemble it, and well, the aussie one’s not quite so basic and primitive.
When I was there last year it was weirdly green from the unusual rains but there was still no resemblance to the Salisbury Plains. If you come from south from Longy – now a real desert for good hotels - your arrival here is heralded by a 44 gallon drum painted in XXXX regalia atop what might be an old telegraph pole on one of the few rises in the place. Have a short
breather, get a picture, and take time to sign the address book.
Coming in from the south you’ve got a different spot pause at the Swanvale Jump-up about 40kms out of Jundah for a stunning view of the ‘sunlit plains extended.’ Then on the outskirts you’ll pass three minions on the left at the entrance to the rock quarry – the town’s biggest industry and then the metropolis beckons.
The highway now bypasses the town so it’s a very short squirt on the access road and then I pull Super-Ten up out front of the pub, get a couple of shots of the place, perch on a bench out front and upload them to the Facebook page – five bars on Telstra - and walk inside where the
only customer – work shirt under an oil-skin vest, peaked cap and well used jeans - is just finishing a non-alcoholic ginger beer before intending to head out with his takeaway lunch.
He turns to me and says dryly but friendly like, “Well you must be Mister Nothing but the Pub.” Dumfounded – coz I travel in mufti – I ask how he worked that out and right when I was pulling up he was checking his phone and got a notification that my page had changed its banner so he clicked, saw it, looked outside, recognized Super-Ten and, being a bloke who knows how many beans makes five, had me immediately sorted.
Hey, I’m big in Stonehenge!
The Flying Doctor’s in town and
Scott here has been in to see him for some blood tests – nothing serious –he’s just collected a load of rock from the quarry south of town and is headed into Longreach so was easy to park the road train down the side street and see the medics.
After a few laughs, he gives me a mud map of the ruins of a handful of old pubs along the Thomson which flows (more or less) to the west of town and he heads out, cranks up his beast, hangs a left around the pub and leaves me on my pat on lazy side of the bar. Leaning on the other side the there’s a grizzled old mate, glinting eyes under Bob Hawke brows, sideburns down past his lobes, hair kept in a semblance of place with probably
Above: Roly
Brylcreem, a shadow that’s way more than just 5 o’clock, a face which could be a topographical map of the channel country out back,and above a stubbled chin which flows seamlessly into his chest there’s a bottom lip that pouts out like a kid who’s just been told they’re not getting an ice-cream. In short, a dead ringer for Roy Rene –Old Mo McCackie himself.
This is Roly – “Old Roly” – not, as he assures me, “Holy Roly from Blackall. He runs the Church of Christ up there and I serve a different sort of communion.”
He’s been ‘in’ pubs for a fair slab of seventy-seven years. He ran the Tatt’s in Blackall for three years in the ‘80’s before taking over the Commercial up in Longreach for ten The place was
destroyed by fire in 1990 shortly after a drunk bloke in bar had been bignoting how many people he’d saved from burning buildings. Roly was in Hervey Bay at the time but headed straight back and ran the pub from the bottleshop until it was rebuilt.
Eventually he sold the pub because there was only so much money he could lose and for now, he’s helping out the two new owners here at Stonehenge.
As the sun lowers I take Super-Ten out down the side of the pub then a left at Warbreccan Road for a 2km stroll on the friendly gravel to the Thomson River crossing where a weir and a fish ladder have been put in to control any flow that might me manageable and on the way back my
mirrors show an outback sunset at its classic best developing so I stop in the middle of the track, turn the bike sideon and kick back for almost an hour and watch the show.
Back at the pub, Grant’s rocked up. He’s one of the two young blokes who own the place and he’s just come in from a full day of boiler-making. And now he has a shift here. He’s been a local for about six years since his father bought the quarry to the south of the town and where his mum now drives the rock-crusher and does the accounts. He and old mate Tom knew that Tony Jackson was looking to sell the pub and one night toward the end of 2021 the two young fellas got on the turps and said they were interested in buying the place.
Above: Grant
Long story short, they’re now allegedly the two youngest publicans if not in Australia, then in Queensland. Neither had ever worked in a bar and it didn’t take long for them to wonder ‘what the hell we’d done.’
But they got the place on its feet, snagged a couple from Brisbane who’d planned to stay for two months and ended up running the place for seven and, with the camping area which they lease from the Council, the pub wasn’t needing them to tip in from their day jobs.
Then, a week before last Christmas, came the storm and 100kph winds ripped the roof off the pub and flooded the kitchen, but the accommodation was unscathed. The place wasn’t insured for such things but Jacob
rolY With some steAm uP:
“sothis bloke Gerry, was an old opal miner and was head man at a pub in Mt Isa when I had it and he was like one of those magicians who could steal your watch when he was talking to you and could read playing cards and deal them from the bottom of the deck.you never wanted to play cards with Jerry.
But anyway, he was in the pub on a day off and was on the piss with his mate Drago and they’d both had too much by the time they had to head home but Drago – who didn’t have a license -got into their old unregistered bald-tyred Holden ute and anyway a copper comes along and pinches him. unlicensed, unregisterd and DuI.
It’s all very civilized and the copper’s friendly but he won’t let them drive the last bit home. so Drago’s real apologetic and says sorry to the cop for causing any trouble and Gerry shakes the cop’s hand and tells him he understands he’s just doing his job and they part company.
and they’re walking back to town and Drago says, “Jerry I’m in big trouble here,” and Jerry says, “no your’re not in any trouble at all, relax,” and Drago says, “mate, you might be okay but I was the one driving and he’s done me for unlicensed, unregistered, unroadworthy and under the weather. I’m done.”
But Jerry tells him again to just relax, it’ll be okay. Tells him that he’s not done. so they keep walking and Drago says, “what do you mean I’m not done?” and Jerry reaches into his shirt pocket and pulls out a little pad, “Coz when I shook his hand I stole the bastard’s notebook.”
Close, a schoolmate organized a Gofundme page with the aim of ten grand. It soon raised 25% more than that and some meaningful contributions were pushed across the bar. An old builder friend and his apprentice from Longreach came down and worked for mates rates and the Mitre Ten up there supplied materials at cost. Took a month all up and not a single grey nomad from the carpark across the road - you know the ones – they’re always saying how they like to support country pubsoffered to chip in.
A few travelers come in and I enjoy an honest meal of chops and veges, more than fair in price and quality, and then take my leave.
Out back of the hotel there’s an
accommodation block with 8 rooms –six king singles and two doubles, all with air con, screened windows, good hooks for your gear and shared amenities.
(There’s no undercover or lockup parking unless you want to jump it up the two stairs to the central area of the accom block.)
Next morning I beat the sun and head out to the cemetery to once again appreciate the loneliness of unmarked earth-mound graves as the morning proves it’s at least an equal of its crepuscular cousin. Then down the street beside the pub to where a truck’s backed into the cool box. Up in the box Hailie, who manages the box with her father is helping Bindy, the truckie, load
150 roos into the refrigerated trailer.
Hailie’ll be called mostly in early mornings by one of the local pro shooters after their night shift and she’ll open the box, weigh each carcass -the shooters are paid by the kilo - and hook up the headless carcasses in the cold box.
The temperature’s kept in a narrow band between zero and .7 of one degree so the headless bodies are kept sterile but don’t freeze. (They’ve been decapitated out in the field by the shooter to allow some air to get into the bodies.)
Bindy – or one of his workmates - comes by every ten days or so to collect a load and takes them up to Longy to be processed into pet food which is then distributed nationally and overseas.
The skins – currently mainly red roos and black wallaroos - are, Hailie thinks, used for shoes and stuff like belts and wallets. It’s a major, wellmanaged and totally sustainable local industry which helps sustain this flyspeck town.
Then back to the pub for a brew
and breakfast. Roly’s been up cutting gidgee firewood but he’s now done and cleaning up the bar.
More tales of suspicious fires, sleight-of-hand merchants stealing police notebooks, an ex-staffer who measured the trip to Longreach in terms of beers (5 stubbies) and cigarettes (three), arguments with yuppies about putting steak on top of the chips, never breaking a tin plate, a well-known cop dudding him over
accommodation, the joys of being on the Longreach Council for twelve years and why the roos out here don’t have worms.
Totally sated, I saddle up and prepare to head north, telling Roly I’ll see him again. Maybe I was wrong, Maybe, just maybe the two Stonehenges have some common strands: their myths, stories, legends and the magnetic attraction that pulls people back.
stonehenge hotel
The Longreach-Windorah-Bedourie-Boulia-Winton loop is 2,000 kms of real Qld outback and has a number of very good stops and this one, an authentic, no bullshit, no cliché, no exploitation outback pub is one of the standouts. From its $7.00 stubbies (compared to the 9 buckers down
the road at Windorah) to the properly cooked meals, to the more than adequate accommodation and camping to the staff and the owners, this place is the real deal.
Out back of the hotel there’s an accommodation block with 8 rooms – six king singles and two doubles, all with air con, screened windows, good hooks for your gear and shared amenities.
(There’s no undercover or lockup parking unless you want to jump it up the two stairs to the central area of the accom block.)
The camping area across the road works on a weird system. Powered sites are 20 bucks but come with a $10.00 voucher redeemable at the bar and unpowered sites cost ten bucks with no voucher. So everyone pays the same. Go figure.
Fully justifies two nights to completely recharge.
Rated 5 helmets, 5/5 on the unique character scale and 170 on the value for money scale where 100 is PH7.
IN THE WaLcHa REGION OF NEW ENGLaNd HIGH cOUNTRy AdVenture riding
i
m A ges: Bugsy Plowman Photogra P hy
On anY GiVen DaY, the beckoning sound of motorbikes riding through the laid-back rural streets, or the vision of bikes parked up outside one of the many motorcycle friendly cafes, pubs or accommodation houses, is a common sight in the small regional town of walcha, and one that the town fully embraces and welcomes.
With over 590 kilometres of gravel roads to explore, spectacular high-country scenery, waterfalls, gorges and world heritage national parks, it’s pretty hard to go past this region for adventure riding.
Walcha is also located at the crossroads of two of the great sealed road rides, being the Oxley Highway and picturesque Thunderbolts Way, making it a terrific destination for all kinds of bikes.
To really put Walcha on the map for two-wheel adventuring, the town runs an annual event, the Walcha Motorcycle Rally, which is now in its third year and growing every year. The organised adventure rides, run by passionate motorcycling locals with local knowledge, are held both Friday and Saturday during the Rally. Rider camping, trade exhibitors, skills demos, hilarious postie bike events, a multi-bike challenge, live music, barrel racing and more, are all part of this grass roots event. Combined with some great unique country events like dog jumping, working dog demonstrations, a good old demolition derby, as well as champion axemen displaying their incredible athleticism and skills, and there really is
something for everyone to enjoy.
To find out more about the event you can register your interest to stay updated via the website www.walchamotorcyclerally.com.au/ or follow the event on Facebook or Instagram. Tickets start from $35 for a Day Pass or $60 for the 2-Day Rally Pass: both of these passes include the organised adventure rides (bookings essential), where you’ll be able to enjoy some great riding with like-minded people.
warrumBunglEs, nsw
LOOK UP!
toorAWeenAh
With a population of about 250, this is not anybody’s idea of a metropolis but it’s a kind of nice little place.
coonAbArAbrAn
This is the big smoke up around the Warrumbungles, with motels and restaurants and service stations –none of which can be guaranteed in any of the other places mentioned here. It’s not over-touristy and has a pleasant, low-stress feel to it. It’s probably best to eat at the Imperial Hotel – I tried the Golden Sea Dragon last time I was there and was, er, underwhelmed.
Depending on the way you go, it’s just under 500km from Sydney – an easy day run unless you want to check out something along the way. Believe it or not, there is a CFMoto dealer in
warrumBunglEs,
PinK route
This is the special road for this month – it allows you to take in Warrumbungle National Park without doubling up your ride. Going north on the Newell Highway, keep an eye out just short of 40km along where there is a turnoff to the left to Tooraweenah. This is a nice little place anyway, but in this case it marks the beginning of the back road into the national park.
The Warrumbungles are an astronomers’ and star lovers’ dream, and not only because they hold the Siding Spring astronomical observatories. Apart from eastern grey kangaroo, emus, wallabies and koalas which are seen regularly, it is Australia’s first Dark Sky Park (an honour bestowed on only 13 places in the world) with zero light pollution. The volcanic mountain landscapes and starry skies are out of this world.
The best bet is to camp in the park. Options include Balor Hut campground which offers secluded heritage accommodation in an historic walkers’ hut or tent camping and is close to walks and lookouts; walkin Burbie Camp, with remote bush camping near a natural spring with wildlife, birdwatching, scenic views, and stargazing; Camp Blackman,
a popular base equipped with barbecues, picnic tables, hot showers and resident kangaroos. There’s also Camp Pincham, rustic walk-in camping with scenic views, walking, wildlife and wildflowers and Camp Walaay for large groups and schools, with a nearby education centre excellent for bush camping, functions and conferences. Park entry fees apply.
blue route
This is a very short run up from the Pink Route to Siding Spring Observatory. You’ll be doing it twice – it’s a dead end – but you might be tempted to do it more often. The corners are classic motorcycle surveying; I do wonder if the original surveyor was a rider!
Siding Spring Observatory (SSO) is Australia’s premier optical and infrared astronomical observatory. SSO is open to the public seven days a week, from 8:30 am to 4:00 pm. The Café and Exploratory are open 6 days a week; they close on Tuesdays. The AAT Visitor Gallery is open 7 days a week. Guided tours of the AAT and SSO are available.
Since opening in 1964, The Australian National University has
operated the observatory site hosting research telescopes from the ANU’s Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics (RSAA), Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO) and many other institutions from around the world at this spectacular location. Research is varied, from probing the depths of the cosmos in search of “Dark Energy” to searching the Milky Way for other planets and signs of life.
YelloW route
This is my favourite way to get to Coonabarabran. It is the most relaxed route which brings you up from Sydney via the Putty Road, the Golden Highway and Coolah and Binnaway. You even pass the Black Stump. Just recently this has not been in good shape due to the floods.
green route
Should you be in a hurry, this is the way to go. The floods have affected this route as well, but not quite so badly. From Willow Tree just past Quirindi you’re on the New England Highway, and you can pick up the Hunter Freeway to allow you to hustle down to Beresfield where the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway beckons. If you’re into freeways.
town, namely Coona Small Engines. Closest alternative bike shops are in Gilgandra or Mudgee.
binnAWAY
There isn’t much here, a bit like Tooraweenah, but I like the pub and the kind of Wild West feel of the main street.
gilgAndrA
At the junction of the Newell, Castlereagh and Oxley Highways, Gilgandra sees a substantial amount of truck traffic. One of the motels that’s popular with the truckies is the Gilgandra Motel, and I like it as well. Nice people in the office, a good Chinese restaurant on the premises and a pleasant little pub just a block away make it convenient and relaxing. Get a room at the back; some of the reefer trucks can be a bit noisy at night.
gulArgAmbone
Got to love the wire frame bullock team that’s probably ‘Bone’s main tourist attraction, along with the corrugated iron cockies. There are also some murals and such, making it worth a stop.
sAndY holloW
Not particularly close to the subject of this map, but there’s a good chance you’ll be passing through on your way there; it’s on the Golden Highway. For years I’ve been eating the servo’s hamburgers and been reasonably happy with them. Then on a recent trip I thought I’d give the Tourist Hotel, across the road, a go. I now know why I eat at the servo. Amm
loVe in the Age of coVid caTcHING THE cURVEBaLLS
bY c hristine Keeble
Atale oF personal eVolUtion, vision, and never-ending joyous adventures. the Barbering Biker.
Seven years ago, I jumped the Harley-Davidson ship and went over to Indian Motorcycles. It started a love affair that’s taken me to places I didn’t expect to see.
Don’t get me wrong, nothing wrong with the H-D’s that I had in my life, but being a marketing brand strategist, I just saw more potential with having an
Indian brand and its novelty helping me to create something unique.
I’m an arty farty type at heart and I have a love for creating projects and stories. Indian didn’t have much of a presence here in Australia and H-D seemed to come with a lot of backstories already plus a brand perception that in my experience was hard to break.
No, I wasn’t any type of bad girl (such was the marketing at one time). No, I wasn’t having a mid-life crisis.
No, my H-D wasn’t a hand me down from an ex-boyfriend who belonged to an outlaw club.
Enter my new lifestyle choice, a unit to build my own unique brand, the 2016 Chief Vintage. Thunder Black, 111 cubic inch and 1800 cc. The biggest bloody bike I’d ever ridden let alone owned. But my vision was clear and while it’s not my favourite of the Indians, it had the bones to become what I wanted. I styled it into a steampunk, western, equestrian styled custom that would not be like anything else seen anywhere in Australia, if not the world!
Calamity Jane has been evolving over the past six years to be the steel horse she is. I was going to bike events and showing her off, enjoyed travel and pulling into towns where she would draw a crowd and I was so happy to share my adventures and the stories behind the bits and
Left: With her dream to become a full-time travelling barber, Christine hits the road.
pieces I’d collected along the way. You have heard of The American Pickers?? Well, I’m The Aussie Scab. I find, pounce on, and repurpose ‘stuff’ and somehow can always find another spot for something. Some may see eccentricity; I see the birth of a story and a journey of exchange and communication.
People who see me more than once will often come up and say, “Don’t tell me, let me see what’s new and what has been added since last time!” It’s become a running joke among my followers.
Added to my line-up, I also purchased a little pod trailer and customised that to look like a corrugated, old, little out house being dragged behind me. I find it easier to tow that little outfit rather than stack my bike up. I want to explore the life of camping, and while this does make my fuel consumption a bit crap, it allows me to take a decent chair and bed (among other things)!! The name for the trailer is, of course, Billy the Kid!
We are quite the show these days and this has also evolved. I’m a travelling cartoon character and while I had some detractors in the early days who just thought the whole thing was ridiculous, once I meet them and they see what I’m about, people come to understand and respect both the whimsy and the dedication to both a presentation and a lifestyle. I love converting the doubters and haters into lovers and advocates.
Fast forward to 2020 when I was a writer and a producer of shows and events. I was in the thick of launching a world record breaking motorbike event at Silverton NSW. I had four shows I’d written on tour. I was just starting to kick some goals. Then the world stopped spinning and the lot was gone. Life happens. Some of you may well relate.
Job keeper wasn’t enough for me to pay the bills. Somehow, someone found out I was an old hairdresser and barber and I was thrown a lifeline to do hair in aged care. I took the gig and having not picked up the tools in over 30 years, was a bit anxious. I needn’t have worried! I was like Edward Scissorhands; I still had it!! That gig was so rewarding and getting older is not for the weak!
From this period of initial difficulty and then insight, The Barbering Biker was born.
Above & below: All ready to start snipping with the leather barber’s apron.
WH a T ELSE?
I started doing the odd makeover in country pubs. I’d reach out to the town via social posts and tourism offices. I would explain what I do and if those contacts knew any local legends who could do with a makeover and have some fun with the community. That’s what this is really all about. Bringing the community together.
They all feel like they have been responsible in some way for me choosing their town and, in terms of Community Health, it’s amazing what bringing laughter and a sense of togetherness can do for everyone, and who doesn’t like a wickedly good before and after!
My dream is to be able to travel full time and do this barbering work. At the moment it’s more a good deed and I have a day job that pays the bills. I’ve pitched the idea to TV and the
main feedback I get is, “You are very charming; we love your energy but we have enough middle-aged white people”. I still think it would make great TV. Meeting the people, hearing their stories, points of interest, history both European and Indigenous, a makeover and cementing the community belief that, ‘Their town is the best town in Australia! ‘
I’ve extended my repertoire and done Men’s Sheds, Correctional Centres along with pubs, clubs, events, and charity functions. I’ve done a few TV appearances and funnily enough I’ve been asked to do Australian Survivor and Goggle Box. But I couldn’t get the time off and had to pass, but 2024 might have something for me.
This July 2023, I’m shipping my Indian Chief Vintage along with my
partner’s JD Limited Edition Indian Challenger (old school and new school) to the USA for a 3-month tour. I am a special international female guest at Sturgis Biker Belles Rally and other venues around the town, in particular Buffalo Chip. I have meet and greets set up at various stops and even appearing in Vegas on the strip at a bike night!! It’s epic and ambitious and I’ve been dreaming of this for the past few years. I have been solo for a long time, but now with a partner thanks again to Covid, he will join me and nice to share this adventure.
I’m in my 60’s now and having had some tragedy recently with the loss of my younger sister, I feel you can’t wait around, you have to catch the curveballs, you have to love with passion and my favourite sayings are “Well behaved women
Left: Later this year, Christine is special international female guest at Sturgis Biker Belles Rally and other venues around the town, in particular Buffalo Chip. Above: Even Silverton had seen very little like Christine’s setup.
Top right: Finance is always a problem, but her YouTube channel is taking off.
rarely make history” (Elanor Roosevelt) and “ There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in” (Leonard Cohen).
Given Australian TV does not have a place for this middle-aged white person with her own show, I started a YouTube channel and that’s slowly growing. I’ll be documenting the entire 3-month trip starting very soon about the paperwork, and shipping of the bikes as episode 1. That’s been quite exhausting with all the different interpretation of rules both in USA and Australia. As the US dollar is a shocker, I’ve set up a ticketing system where if people want to watch the
adventure and shout me a tank of fuel, they get private and unlisted videos during the trip and probably until the end of the year while I catch up with all the editing etc. Plus, I will give you a shout out during one of the episodes. The other stuff on my
channel is free and there is plenty to watch on there now.
I’m a very proud grandmother to two girls, I also have two grown daughters and as long as I leave a positive legacy that women can be independent, free, brave, and a little crazy, I’m happy.
Bio notes: I love painting abstract faces too and can see myself as a slightly eccentric, wild, grey-haired motorbike riding older lady who paints and creates things while bringing communities together. I’m now thinking how I can incorporate my artwork into my motorbike world. Maybe after I do a makeover, I can also do their portrait. Now that’s good TV!
You can follow me on all socials and all information and links etc. are on my website barberingbiker.com
I’ll be back with a story and update from USA!
Until then... be safe out there.
RIdE THE
s AV ic motorc Y cles c - series
P re -P roduction ride lightning
Words – boris mihAiloVic
StUFF like this neVer really happens in my world. the chances of someone not attached to a factory riding a pre-production model of its new bike just doesn’t happen.
But then it did to me.
A few weeks ago (from the time of writing), Dennis Savic contacted me and asked if I’d be interested in riding the prototype of his C-Series (C stands for “café”).
Heh. As if that’s a question that has more than one answer.
I was at the airport the following day and in Melbourne shortly after. I was picked up by Adrian Vinovrski, the project’s Chief Technology Officer and lead engineer – a quiet, gentle, and very committed soul – and taken to Savic Motorcycles HQ in Melbourne.
Savic Motorcycles, as you probably know, is Australia’s own and only high-performance electric motorcycle manufacturer. At the moment, and after six years of titanic effort, it only makes one model – the C-Series. But there are others in the works and already at an advanced stage of design. So once the C-Series bikes are sent to their owners later this year – and there are 240 of those owners who’ve bought the bike sans test-ride – there are other twowheeled electric wonders slated to appear in the next year or so, including a series of LAM iterations.
“ i wrote A Piece stAting riding electric bikes wAs like riding tinnitus, And for me, such A thing wAs not ever going to be A thing.”
This has all been made possible by the company’s most recent successful capital raise of 1.8-million bucks – and Dennis’s unwavering commitment to making this work for the medium and long-term. He’s talking a production target of 1000 bikes in 2025 and beyond.
I’ve seen the drawings. And Dennis and I have chatted on many occasions in the last few years. It’s impossible not to be impressed by this quiet, laser-focussed bloke, and the vision he has actually succeeded in creating.
Our relationship began when I wrote a piece stating riding electric bikes was like riding tinnitus, and for me, such a thing was not ever going to be a thing. And it won’t be.
The kind of riding I do simply doesn’t gel with electric bikes – which, at this stage in their development are not suited for long-distance touring. Their hunting ground is purely urban. But as battery technology changes, and our EV infrastructure improves, that will change. Electric vehicles are not coming. They are here.
So while I’m not a potential customer, and my laments about how alien riding an electric bike feels for someone like me still hold true, I am certainly able to appreciate and admire what Dennis and his team have created. But I’m not sure the Australian motorcycle community does.
But it should and it must.
Because the creation is astonishing. And brilliant. And quite a hoot to ride, to be perfectly honest. I have ridden
Top: Brembo brakes come standard with both models.
Above: The single-sided swingarm allows for fast and easy replacement of the rear wheel.
Below: With a ‘hidden’ Level 2 charge port, the C-Series comes with an adapter and can be charged on a standard home powerpoint.
Harley’s Livewire, and the Savic Motorcycles C-Series is better in every way that a bike should be better. Does it have issues? Yes, it does, and I will come to them shortly.
So my first ride of the C-Series happened in Melbourne on the famous Kew Boulevard. I was sworn to secrecy about the ride. Dennis and his team wanted some feedback from someone not involved with the project, and there was a press launch coming up, so no thunder stealing, as it were.
I’m good with that. I keep secrets well.
Adrian, Adam Wilson (the tech who assembles the bikes), Sam Carter (the in-house photographer), and I beat the storm clouds out there, and I managed a few zesty passes before rain called a halt to proceedings. I’m over asking Melbourne to explain why it’s 12 degrees and pouring with freezing rain in January.
My first impression of the C-Series surprised me. I came
armed with a few preconceptions, and no great desire for electric bikes. But I was very keen to try this one for all sorts of reasons.
Was I about to ride something a man had spent six years of his life creating, only to discover it was crap and he would have been better off using that money to play the stock market? This is literally a bike built in a shed – albeit
“ here’s the thing – i cAnnot comPAre it to Anything you’d be fAmiliAr with. it’s not like Anything else.”
a pretty nice shed. There is no giant motorcycle company funding this and supplying all the engineers, build facilities, and resources needed to – and I can’t overstate this –produce a brand-new never-made-before motorcycle, created from the ground up.
Think on that for a sec. Imagine the mountain Dennis has had to climb to get to where he is. I may not be an EV fan-boy – I’m far too far down the dinosaur road for that to change – but I am certainly a Savic fan-boy just for the sheer balls and brains it takes to do what he has done.
But – and this is a big but – if what he’d made was shit, I’d tell him that. I’d have to. At the end of the day, the C-Series is a motorcycle. And it has to be a proper motorcycle. Its motive power aside, it has to be viable in that regard.
Above: The backbone has been designed as a stressed member between the motor and the rear-facing surface of the SM1 battery enclosure.
Below: The signature three-spoke wheel does sits share of achieving the minimalist design aesthetic of the C-Series.
Bottom left: The dash features a customisable seven-inch display and touchscreen to provide control as well as instant access to a world of information.
And it cannot and must not look like it was built in a shed. You’ll be pleased to know it doesn’t. I sure was. It’s legit.
The prototype C-Series has some weight to it. It’s 300kg. But it’s not physically large. Like, it’s the size of a 1000cc naked. But it carries its weight so well, you’d swear it’s not that heavy. Heaving a Royal Enfield off its sidestand is harder than levering the C-Series upright.
Another good tell that will quickly let you know about balance and weight is to get on the bike, ride 20 metres and do a feet-up U-turn. See how that goes on a poorlybalanced heavy bike.
I did just that on the C-Series ten seconds after riding off. I was stunned. It was effortless.
Sure, there’s the whole “WHERE’S THE ENGINENOISE?” thing, because all you’re suddenly hearing is the suspension and brakes at work, but this was certainly a motorcycle – and pretty good one, at that. I have ridden far worse-handling bikes from major factories.
Here’s the thing – I cannot compare it to anything you’d be familiar with. It’s not like anything else. You ride it the same way as you would a normal bike and all the same laws of physics apply. But there’s no clutch, lots of instant torque which is seamlessly constant, and on the prototype, no regenerative engine braking. On the production bike, you’ll be able to dial up the amount of engine-braking you’d like.
It’s a bit of a head-fuck when you first set off and encounter your first corner. I was a bit wide-eyed approaching one of the Boulevarde’s finest bends. I don’t want to be the first person to trowel a C-Series, but I also need to see what happens when I’d fold it into a bend.
Cue another surprise. It is carrying a fair bit of inertia, unmitigated by any engine braking, but its front Brembos are well up to pulling you up. So I set up for the bend, and felt I might need to apply a bit of manliness to the corner, then instantly realised the bike was more than happy to turn in, and then it held the line beautifully. Stable, and sure-footed, and the line I chose was the line it held.
Pushing a little harder, I found the suspension was underdone. It was at its limit, and despite developmentrider Jed Metcher’s (you’d know Jed from his ASBK glory) best efforts, the suspension on the prototype bike was not up to its job.
This was compounded by the unsprung weight, and a fork-length that needed to be changed to give the bike more trail. When I started explain my thoughts to Adrian and Adam, they nodded knowingly. They were well aware of the issues. And busily implementing the fixes for the production version.
So longer forks with better springs (there’s the extra trail), much lighter wheels and swingarm (which would see a 20-plus kg wight-saving on the production model –10kg on the unsprung side and 10kg more on the sprung stuff), were all the go.
“The dash is...um, kind of invisible,” I said, when they asked me what else could be improved.
“Yes, we know,” Adrian smiled. “We have already ordered a new dash which is twice as bright and coated with non-reflective material, and if that doesn’t solve the issue, we are working on a design update.” Currently, the dash sits pretty flat, which is part of the problem.
I also felt the side-stand could be longer. But now I
Top: Featuring a liquid cooling system that gives riders more time at maximum torque.
was just nit-picking. The ergos were spot-on. I’m six-feet tall and...um, solidly built, and I found the handlebar-seat-pegs dynamic pretty spot-on.
The seat was firm and not suited to long miles – but then it’s not a touring bike, so that’s not a problem. And neither is the starting procedure. At the moment it has a fob. The production version will be started by an app on your phone (settle down, dinosaurs. Hush. This is not our world anymore). So press the fob, the bike wakes up. Press the red button on the right-hand handlebar, and the bike is on. Press the button again, and it’s now in “gear” and ready to roll. Press it again, and you can have a reverse gear to help you if you’ve parked awkwardly and are weak and frail. Simple.
Three weeks later, I was invited to try the bike again. This time up and down the Old Pacific Highway, along with three other motorcycle media types. The bike had been fitted with its lighter production wheels, and I was now very much looking forward to lashing it a little harder along a road I know well.
The lighter wheels made a huge difference. The C-series steered much better, but that threw up a new issue. On right-handers taken with enthusiasm, the front of the carbon-fibre belly-pan would lightly kiss the tarmac.
This scared the shit out of me when it happened. You expect the footpegs to touch first, but this was the bellypan. Sure, it was an enthusiastic entry, but I was not there to have sex with spiders, right?
Obviously, this was relayed to Dennis and his team, and they’re already working on a solution with the new suspension and some tweaks to the belly-pan. And I have no doubt it will make a difference. You see, one of the
reasons it’s taken so long to get the bike out to the public is Dennis’s insistence that it be “right” – and more than right.
And it has to be. There’s a lot at stake.
I’m of the view that Dennis and his team have nailed it. And I’m a little in awe of that. This small team of committed designers and engineers have created Australia’s first and only performance electric bike. It works and its viable and it has integrity. It does nothing weird, and behaves like a bike – although it requires you to ride it bearing in mind you have no clutch and no engine-braking – again something the production version will have in the form of regenerative engine-braking which you’ll be able to dial up or down. No, you still won’t get a clutch. You get that, right?
And of course it goes. The current prototype is a somewhat down on power from what the production version will offer, but turn that throttle and it picks up its pretty carbon skirts and honks on with aplomb. It’s no Panigale, but I’m no Peco Bagnaia either. You will be pleasantly surprised and not a little thrilled, I’m betting. Why? 200-plus Nm is 200-plus Nm, baby.
Aesthetics are always so subjective, but I am a fan. The designer has produced a classically-shaped café racer, albeit with some modern touches, like the headlights and their bracket. I think that’s the only place it looks a little awkward. I really love the rest of it. The big tank, the cool tail-piece, and the resultant stance is spot-on. It’s right, to my eye. And it’s won a bunch of design awards, so I’m not an island.
I guess this is where I stand up and applaud Dennis and his team. The C-Series is an amazing achievement, and they deserve to be congratulated for what they have made. Yes, it’s strange seeing a bike ride off in total silence.
Above & right: The SAVIC C-Series comes in two colours Atomic Silver (above) and Dark Matter Black. However for an extra cost you also have the option of Radiate Aluminium or Carbon Fibre (right).
But I’m a big boy. I can deal with new things without whining about how something is “shit” just because it’s unfamiliar. I remember people making the same noises when two-strokes were removed. I will bet they made the same noises when electric starters and disc brakes were introduced.
The world is constantly evolving. You may decry that fact, but that evolution will continue, because life’s only constant is change. You can yell at clouds all you like. They’re just gonna cloud.
When I ride the C-Series I am fighting decades of hard-wired motorcycle expectations and preconceptions. My programming, as it were. But this in no way stops me from appreciating an amazing engineering achievement, and enjoying the ride it offers. Why would it? The C-Series is a bloody motorcycle. And I happen to love bloody motorcycles.
I am looking forward to spending some time on the production version when one becomes available. And I am very, very much looking forward to what else Savic Motorcycles will produce. If this is the prototype of its first offering, I’m pretty sure what’s coming will be even more special.
freQuentlY AsKed Questions
So there are two iterations of the C-Series – the Alpha and the Delta. The Alpha is the more powerful one.
what’s the range?
alpha – 200+ km combined (City/Highway), or 150km highway
Delta – 150+ km combined (City/Highway), or 100km highway
what’s the charging time?
alpha
• 5hrs – Level 2 (15amp/3.3kW)
• 8+hrs – Level 1 (Standard wall plug)
Delta
• 4hrs – Level 2 (15amp/3.3kW)
• 7+hrs – Level 1 (Standard wall plug)
where can i charge it?
Anywhere you can charge your phone, you can technically charge your motorcycle. The bike will come with a standard Type 2 (iec 62196) charger with a 10amp plug.
Most customers will charge at home or work, but the Savic Motorcycles App will also have Level 2 chargers listed for customers looking for public charging stations.
can i just plug it into a wall socket at home?
Hell to the yes. The C-Series does not require any special charging equipment, so you can charge it off any standard wall socket at home. If you have a 15amp outlet at home, you will be able to charge your motorcycle at an increased rate.
how much is it?
alpha – $26,990 Ride Away
Delta – $19,990 Ride Away
Above: Above: The gloss of the optional carbon fibre finish makes for a standout look. Below & bottom: With the optional pillion seat and rear-sets, customers can convert their C-Series bikes to suit themselves.
Specs
s AV ic motorc Y cles c - series
Specifications
Price*
Price Disclaimer
Power
Torque
Performance (0-100km/h)
Horsepower
Estimated Range**
Range Disclaimer
Weight
Estimated Charge Time Level 2 - 15 amp/3.3kW
Estimated Charge Time Level 1 - 10amp/240v
Battery Capacity
Motor
Final Drive
Frame
Swingarm
Seating Configuration
Front/Rear suspension
Front Brakes
Rear Brakes
Front Tyres
Rear Tyres
Lights
Screen
Alpha
From $26,990 Ride away*
*Prices listed are Ride away prices.
Options are available at an additional cost. Ride away price includes
Registration, Duties and CTP insurance where applicable. savic Motorcycles reserves the right to vary colours, specifications and pricing at any time.
$100 Pre-Order Build slot Purchases are fully refundable.
60kW
200+ Nm
3.5 sec
80 HP
200 km+ combined city
**actual range achieved will vary according to factors such as terrain, weight of rider, riding conditions and riding style.
*Prices listed are Ride away prices. Options are available at an additional cost. Ride away price includes Registration, Duties and CTP insurance where applicable. savic Motorcycles reserves the right to vary colours, specifications and pricing at any time. Pre-Order Build slot Purchases are fully refundable.
40kW
140+ Nm
4.5 sec
54 HP
150 km+ combined city
**actual range achieved will vary according to factors such as terrain, weight of rider, riding conditions and riding style.
naMe is ross and i have been a motorcyclist for nearly 30 years and i’m also the co-producer of the Youtube channel Biker torque. www.youtube.com/@ BikerTorque/featured
I’m a fan of riding older motorcycles. There is a unique charm and character that you just don’t get from riding a modern machine. It’s not to say that they are better, because on paper, clearly, they are not. They are just different, enjoyable and at times thrilling if you get a gear shift wrong or overestimate how good the brakes are.
The Kawasaki Z1 is a bike that I have long admired. I remember seeing one as a kid and being blown away, by both the looks and the sound. Nothing much has changed since then. To me that is what a motorbike should look like, and I knew if I ever had the chance to ride one, I’d be straight onto it.
I’ve ridden and reviewed Kawasaki’s modern offering, the Z900RS. It is a fantastic motorcycle that very much pays homage to the Kawasaki’s from the 1970s. But, I’ve always wanted to have a go on the original or as close to the original as I could get my hands on, in this case one of my very good mate’s 1976 KZ900, that’s like a Z1 only better. I will have to do a story with Tim at some point on the channel because he has a beautiful collection of bikes, including a Z900RS, and an awesome GPZ900.
The Kawasaki Z1 was made from 1973 to 1977 and was one of the flagship models in Kawasaki’s
line-up during the 1970s. These days it is considered by many to be one of the most iconic motorcycles of that era and for very good reason.
The 1970s was a decade of intense competition between Honda and Kawasaki. Both companies were at the forefront of innovation and technology, and both wanted to release a large capacity in-line 4 cylinder. Honda dominated the market in the early part of the decade releasing the revolutionary Honda CB750 in 1969. It was the first production motorcycle to feature a single overhead camshaft with a four-cylinder engine and disc brakes. It was a groundbreaking motorcycle that set the standard for performance and technology at the time.
Kawasaki went back to the drawing board not wanting to release their own 750cc in-line four. Japanese pride dictated that their offering had to be bigger and better and in late 1972 Kawasaki announced the mighty Z1. A 900cc in-line four cylinder that was code-named during development as the New York Steak project. It signaled Kawasaki’s entry into the super bike era and featured a double overhead camshaft, which was very unusual for the time.
The Z1 was released to the public in 1973 and in 1976 there were some slight tweaks to the bike, such as the carburettors which went from 28mm to 26mm, a lockable fuel cap and a squared off tail-light. It was renamed the KZ900 for that year until it was replaced in 1977 by the KZ1000.
the mechAnicAl stuff.
So, let’s look at the technical specs of the 1976 KZ900. Out of the factory it had a 903cc inline 4-cylinder engine that put out a claimed 82 bhp at 8500rpm. Still pretty good by modern standards but it made for a brute of a bike in the 1970s. The engine was fed by four 26mm Mikuni carbs which gave it better low and mid-range power.
On the front there is a conventional telescopic fork set up with a 19-inch spoked rim and a single 11.5-inch disc. A single disc was specific to the model released in the US. European and Australian delivered bikes had a twin disc set up. On the rear there is dual sided swing arm with twin shocks and an 18-inch spoked rim with a drum brake, which was pretty standard for the time.
It weighs 232 kilograms dry, has a fuel tank which is just under 18 litres and came in two colours for the 1976-year model, Diamond Dark Green and Diamond Brown
The Z1 and later the KZ900 were awarded the MCN ‘Machine of the Year’ from 1973 to 1976, therefor affirming this bike as the iconic bike of the 1970s and it is just as desirable to own and ride some 50 years later.
one doWn four uP.
There is so much to like about bikes like the Kawasaki KZ900, but like riding any classic bike there are a few things you need to consider. Firstly, take time to get familiar with the bike, learn about its specific nuances. Be mindful of maintenance. Classic bikes may require more maintenance than modern bikes, so stay on top of regular tasks like oil changes and tune-
ups and check things like tires and brakes before each ride to ensure they are in good working order.
Take it easy, well at least at first. You need to get used to the handling, the acceleration, and the brakes, or in some cases lack of brakes and above all enjoy the ride. Riding a classic motorcycle can be a unique experience, so take the time to enjoy the ride and appreciate the history and charm of the bike you are riding.
So, what are the unique things about the KZ900? Firstly, that drum brake on the rear is ordinary, no big surprise there. I noticed a slight fuel leak when I parked up, so I had to be mindful to turn off the fuel tap. This was probably due to a float being stuck in one of the carburettors. But let’s be honest it wouldn’t be a classic bike without a leak of some description, and as my dad used to say, old bikes don’t leak they just mark their territory.
On the upside there was heaps to like about the bike. Number one, there was a very pleasing and satisfying thunk as you put it into first gear. It let you know that the bike was ready to rock-n-roll. It wasn’t a slick snick like so many modern bikes, there was an old-school mechanical charm at play, that evoked a real sense of nostalgia.
Secondly, it’s a head turner. There were no shortage of people wanting to chat about the bike when either stopped at a set of traffic lights or when I parked it up. Old bikes like this are conversation starters and surely that’s a good thing.
Design wise it is stunning. It looks like a proper motorcycle. The 4 headers running into the 4 exhaust pipes are a work of art. It is probably my favourite design element on this bike although
the classic tank and iconic Kawasaki duck tail are brilliant. The duck tail has become a hallmark of Kawasaki’s design language that continues today on bikes like the Z900RS.
And finally, you have to ride it. There is no electronic wizardry or rider aides to rely on. You hit the start button or use the kick start if you want to show off, twist the throttle and off you go. You can feel the mechanics at work, you can hear the pistons and smell the oil and the fuel, although that fuel smell could have been because of the leaky Mikuni.
AnYWAY, let’s ride.
There are plenty of reasons you’d look at owning one of these classic machines, but above all else, it is just a pleasure to ride. The KZ900 was known for its smooth ride and excellent handling when it was released, and that still rings true today.
Now because of the YouTube channel I am lucky enough to ride a lot of different bikes. Most of them I get for a few weeks to review. For me, any day on a motorbike is a good day and it would be very unusual if I found a bike that I had nothing good to say about. On the other hand, there are very few bikes that I just click with straight away, but the KZ900 is definitely one of those bikes. It just suited me, my style of riding and I felt from the very first kick completely in sync with this bike. If I wanted to kick back and cruise it would putt along without any complaint. On the other hand, if I wanted to wrap on the power, I could feel the four Mikunis working, and the four pistons pumping to the point where the bike would be screaming along but without any complaints.
I covered a variety of roads on the KZ900, country roads, a beautiful ride through the Royal National Park and I even commuted into the office on it and across
the Sydney Harbour Bridge to a little spot called Lavender Bay to get some photos.
It was a great bike to hit some twisty roads on, the suspension for what is nearly a 50-year-old bike is pretty good, and it soaked up the bumps with ease.
When it was released, it was one of the fastest motorcycles around, with a top speed of around 120mph/193kph. Now obviously I didn’t get it to those kind of speeds, but it will very quickly get up to the legal speed limit and will stay there with absolutely plenty in reserve. This is a bike you could rack up some big kilometres on. In fact my mate Tim is thinking about taking it around Tasmania next year, and if he does that, I’ll join him on my 1972 Laverda. It’s comfortable, has plenty of power and looks the goods. It was great bike to ride, although if I owned one, I probably wouldn’t use it as a commuter, firstly because the clutch is quite heavy so in traffic you are really working those muscles, but mostly because of how special it is. It’s the kind of bike you’d take out for a coffee with mates on the weekend or head off on a weekend away.
The only downside is trying to find one at an affordable price. They have very quickly become a bike that gets snapped up on the rare occasion you see one for sale, mostly by older blokes who are feeling nostalgic and reminiscing about the past, or by younger riders looking to get into classic machines that they may have heard about when they were younger.
The charm of the KZ900 is in its simplicity and elegance. It evokes a sense of yearning for a time when craftsmanship and attention to detail were highly valued. Above all the Kawasaki KZ900 is one New York steak, that is not over-cooked. Amm
BREaKOUT bulKs uP
Austr A li A’s s A les-to PP ing hero ro A d bi K e gets A beef-u P A nd m AK eo V er for 2023
Words – r od E rick Eim E
Photos – m ark watson/ h arl E y- d avidson an Z
“ it’s the quintessentiAl hArley-dAvidson silhouette - the long, rAked-out choPPer look And low slung to the ground.”
SoMe MiGht tell YoU the rise of Breakout began when the controversial V-rod (Vrsc) was deleted from the harley-Davidson line-up in 2017 after nearly 20 years.
Ah, but wait. Breakout (FXSB) first appeared as a special build CVO Softail 110 twin-cam model in 2013, well before the appearance of the Milwaukee-Eight engine and the allnew Softail chassis that would come to define the entire cruiser segment from 2017.
Such was the response to Breakout even at that early stage, a ‘base model’ 103 was produced for MY14 mass production and set the critics back somewhat by proving that a Harley-Davidson cruiser could deliver performance as well as curb side glamour. Breakout quickly became a favourite among custom builders who utilised its modern, raked chopper demeanour and the plentiful supply of OEM and after-market hot-ups.
“I think if you gave the average person a pencil and a piece of paper and ask them to draw a motorcycle, they’re probably going to draw you a Breakout,” said Luke Mansfield, Vice President of Motorcycle Management of Harley-Davidson at the launch, “It’s the quintessential HarleyDavidson silhouette - the long, rakedout chopper look and low slung to the ground.”
So, while V-Rod and its numerous derivatives would continue to hold great appeal with a certain segment of the Harley-Davidson client demographic, something needed to fill the gap in the new bike line-up and Breakout was only too happy to
step in, catapulting the model to unchallenged best-seller status in Australia ever since.
The deletion of V-Rod and the introduction of the all-new Softail chassis with the Milwaukee-Eight signalled a new era not just for Breakout, but the whole Harley-Davidson range. Breakout (FXBRS) immediately took on ‘rockstar’ status in the line-up with the fitment of the largest factory engine then available, the whopping 114ci Milwaukee-Eight.
Curiously, Breakout also disappeared from the US line-up in 2020 but remained in production for some export markets, thankfully including Australia, where dealers were selling every unit they could lay their hands on. But for MY23, it seems the US has rediscovered Breakout and when the new model (FXBR) with 117ci installed as standard was launched in March, it was easy to see why.
mustered into groups and escorted on a route through undulating and circuitous roads that would not normally be the domain of Breakout, but H-D had a point to prove.
In the company of riders with more experience than this writer, it was clear that there had been something of a transformation with the long-raked, drag racinginspired machine.
“ breAkout Also disAPPeAred from the us line-uP in 2020 but remAined in Production for some exPort mArkets, thAnkfully including AustrAliA”
Harley-Davidson used the opportunity to showcase the MY23 incarnation at the regional Brighter Days Festival in the glorious Victorian High Country where we were
“It goes around corners!”, one grey-bearded old hand was heard to remark.
Apparently, the clues to this remarkable development are some subtle but significant changes to the geometry.
Below left: Chromed heavy breather intake fulfils both form and function.
Below Right: Right and left grips retain the familiar format.
Compared to the 2017 model, the wheelbase is down from 1710mm to 1695mm, making the overall length 2370mm accordingly. One degree has been removed from the rake (caster angle), now 34deg and 1mm from trail, now 145mm.
These tiny adjustments have made our spirited traverse through the winding alpine roads around Mt Beauty all the more enjoyable, as evidenced by the satisfied grins behind the weather-beaten whiskers of my learned colleagues. This is despite the popular conception that big nasty 240/40R18 wide rear tyres do nothing for nimble handling.
We weren’t going hard enough (well, I wasn’t) to exercise the standard equipment ABS, but it’s there along with cruise control. Traction control is currently an option, but we’re told it will soon be fitted as standard.
Softail models all have preload adjustment on the rear monoshocker and it’s wise to sort this before you set off on any big ride. The Breakout has an external dial for quick adjustment making it handy if you or your pillion had the extra serving of French Fries at the last stop.
The compact 2.1-inch LCD display built into the fork stem may take some getting used to if you’re not familiar with the unit from other models. Nevertheless, it displays your speed along with gear selection, odometer, fuel level, clock, trip meter, range, and tacho.
Truth be told, you wouldn’t be buying a Breakout for its mountaineering skills, as capable as they may now be. This is an urban cruiser that makes an unmistakable curbside statement with its gleaming chrome and vivid new-for-2023 colour schemes – Vivid Black, Black Denim, Baja Orange and Atlas Silver Metallic. For me, the Baja Orange is the one but it comes at a premium, adding $365 to an already weighty price tag.
So, apart from the obvious cosmetic enhancements, what else is new on the 2023 Breakout?
The big talking point, of course, is the massive Milwaukee-EightTM117, the largest factory-fitted engine available across the entire Harley-Davidson range. This throbbing powerplant delivers a claimed 102hp (76kW) at 5020rpm and a maximum torque of 167Nm at
Below left: Drive belt is the sturdy 24mm.
Below Right: Tank emblem is the recognisable bold text strip.
Specs
ENGINE:
Type: Milwaukee-eight 117 V-twin. Pushrod-operated, overhead valves with hydraulic, self-adjusting lifters; four valves per cylinder
Displacement: 117ci (1923cc)
Bore x stroke: 103.5mm x 114.3mm
Compression ratio: 10.2:1
Fuel system: electronic sequential
Port Fuel Injection (esPFI)
Air intake: Heavy Breather intake with synthetic media, washable exposed element
Exhaust: 2-into-2 staggered; catalyst in muffler
PERFORMANCE:
Maximum power: 76kW at 5020rpm
Maximum torque: 167Nm at 3500rpm
TRANSMISSION:
Type: 6-speed
Final drive: Belt
Clutch: Mechanical, 10 plate wet, assist and conventional
One of the criticisms of the early Breakouts was the tiny 13.2-litre fuel tank which meant your riding buddies were always waiting for you to make that extra petrol stop. Now at 18.9 litres, and with a fancy low-profile chrome console, you can keep up. Fuel economy, by the way, is claimed at 5l/100kms on a combined city/highway cycle.
The handlebar riser is also about 2cm higher which, had you not told me, I probably wouldn’t have noticed as it blends seamlessly into the improved handling and ergonomics of the new bike. And, as a bloke carrying a bit too much middle-aged spread and a dodgy back, I found I could walk without a Zimmer frame at the end of a day’s energetic riding, a courtesy my old Sportster would never grant me.
The 26-spoke cast aluminium Turbine wheel design makes a welcome comeback. These wheels first appeared on the original Breakout back in 2013, only they now feature alternate black and polished metal spokes for a new take and they look the goods.
To summarise, if you are a cruiser fan - and I get that many are not - then you should at the very least consider the Breakout. Yes, it’s true, that just like every other model in the H-D line-up prices are creeping up as the machines are progressively enhanced. So, take a deep breath and dive in.
hA rle
Y- dAV idson Austr A li A / nz Peo P le’s c hoice b re AK out Winner 2023
This
stunning Breakout is a testament to the work and dedication of Kane Swan, this year’s People’s Choice winner.
“This is my 2016 Harley-Davidson Breakout built from a completely stock bike. Not a thing has been left
untouched. Everything has been chromed including every nut and bolt. It’s pro-charged motor has been built. It’s got custom wheels with matching discs and pulley. Air ride front and rear. Fully built by me and painted a custom Candy teal by me as well.”
There haVe Been a number of top-notch australian motorcyclists across our history and across all racing events and types. In this piece we offer a top 7 (in no particular order) and invite you to submit your votes for the additional two. Details at the end.
1. m ic K d ooh A n
Mick Doohan, an Australian former Grand Prix motorcycle road racing World Champion, is widely regarded as one of the greatest racers in history. He won five consecutive 500 cc world championships from 1994 to 1998 and was the first rider ever to win more than four in a row.
Doohan was born in Queensland, Australia and started his professional career racing for a full factory Yamaha team. After three successful seasons with the team, he signed with Rothmans Honda and became part of the Honda Team. It was here that Doohan achieved his first world championship victory in 1992 and won those five consecutive grand prix titles from 1994 to 1998. Mick went on to become one of only two riders ever to win five consecutive world championships, alongside Italian great Giacomo Agostini.
Doohan became the first rider to win all of his 10 grand prix victories on Honda machinery during his career. His record-breaking achievements have made him one of the greatest racers ever seen. Mick Doohan’s career came to an end in 1999 following a crash that left him with severe injuries that ended his racing career; however, he remains an iconic figure within motorcycle racing circles around the world and is remembered for being one of Australia’s most successful riders ever by winning 12 grand prix races over a 10-year period.
Mick’s son Jack Doohan is currently competing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship with Invicta Virtuosi Racing.
2. WAY ne gA rdner
From a $5 dirt bike to top international rider, Wayne Gardner AM was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1991 as an Athlete Member for his contribution to the sport of motorcycling.
Gardner began his racing career in 1977 at age 17, riding a second-hand 250cc Yamaha bike in the Australian championship, finishing second on debut at Amaroo Park (Sydney). He went on to record his first win a few weeks later at Oran Park Raceway (Sydney). He immediately stepped up to 350cc and continued the season with his ‘win or crash trying’ attitude. His aggressive racing attitude caused Gardner some issues but it was something that he became known for across his career.
In 1981 Gardner finished fourth in the Superbike at Daytona Speedway in the United States before winning his first race on arrival in England. Within weeks he was at Donington, racing against his heroes Kenny Roberts, Randy Mamola and Barry Sheene. He crashed in May, fracturing his ankle, which looked like putting him out of his first Japanese race at Suzuka. Unperturbed he simply removed the plaster and won the event!
A highlight of Gardner’s career was his win at the inaugural Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Phillip Island in 1989. This race captured the hearts of the nation as the titanic battle between four of the world’s top riders resulted in a thrilling victory for one of Australia’s favourite sons. Against almost impossible odds, he repeated this victory in 1990, riding with a broken wrist bone as well as a broken fairing which had worked lose.
He had also acquired a new teammate, Aussie Mick Doohan who went on to become world champion five times.
Gardner announced his retirement from Grand Prix racing in 1992, ending his illustrious career with a win in the 1992 British Grand Prix. His career record includes 18 Grand Prix wins and an unequaled four victories in the Suzuka 8-hour Endurance Event in 1985, 1986, 1991 and 1992. Gardner stayed closely involved with the sport, helping various riders like Daryl Beattie early in their careers.
3.
t ob Y Price
Toby Price is an Australian motorcycle racer, most notably known for being the first Australian to win a stage in the 2015 Dakar Rally. Price was part of the KTM team, and on his first attempt at the rally achieved third place overall. He was also able to win Stage 12, making him the first-ever Australian to do so. His impressive performance earned him a spot on KTM’s factory team rider list and he has been with them ever since. In 2016, he returned to the Dakar Rally and despite suffering from a broken wrist during Stage 2 (which he won!), he still managed to finish overall third in his class and 10th place overall. In addition to winning Stage 2 he also won Stages 5,6,8 and 9.
Toby has achieved four top 10 finishes at the Australian OffRoad Championship and three top 10 placings in the Australian Road Race Championship. In 2015, he won the Adelaide Rally and followed this up with his first FIM Cross Country Rallies World Cup win in 2016, taking out the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge (another first for an Australian).
Toby Price became known as ‘Champion Toby’ after winning ten rounds of the 2017 FIM Cross Country Rallies World Cup to take home a welldeserved World Championship title with KTM Racing Team. His record stands tall amongst some of world’s best off-road racers and riders; his ability to not just finish but win Desert Races has made him an icon for Aussie fans around the world!
Toby Price is the reigning 2019 Dakar Rally Champion, who won his third world title after a thrilling final stage in the last edition of the race. It was an epic finish, with Toby taking first place only 12 seconds ahead of his KTM teammate Matthias Walkner. The Aussie put on a stunning show as he crossed the finish line and became the first-time winner from Down Under. He crossed that line as one of only three riders to ever win back-toback titles in both motorcycle and car categories, cementing himself as a true champion and an inspiration for off-road racers around the world.
The Aussie Ben, Toby Price, is a
KTM teammate who went above and beyond in 2020 to secure his second consecutive win at the Dakar Rally, a gruelling desert race. He drove his Red Bull KTM 450 Rally bike to victory on what was an incredibly difficult race course. Toby also had some assistance from fellow Aussie and Mitsubishi Triton driver Ben Grabham for part of the race, which proved instrumental in helping him secure the win. The two Australians worked together to navigate their way through the deserts of Saudi Arabia and ultimately finished first in the rally and secured another remarkable victory for KTM. Toby’s determination, hard work and skill behind the wheel helped him finish first amongst fierce competition from some of the world’s best off-road racers. His victory marks yet another incredible feat in his impressive racing career!
2021 Price won Stage 1 and 3 of he 2021 Dakar Rally, 2022 he won Stage 10 and came 10th in the 2022 Dakar Rally and 2023 Price came second after winning the Prologue.
4. jA son c rum P
BornJason Phillip Crump on 6 August 1975, Crump is an international motorcycle speedway legend who has competed in the FIM Speedway World Championship since 1998. He won his first world championship title in 2004 and has gone on to win three more titles since then. He has also been a six-time Australian International Motorcycle Champion and was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2010 for his achievements in motorcycling. He currently holds the record for most wins at Bristol between 1999 and 2018, having won 15 times during that period of time.
Jason Crump is an Australian speedway legend and one of
Caseythe most successful Australian motorcycle racers of all time. With a 21-title haul throughout his year career, including 7 world championships, he’s a true action hero and role model to many. In his latest role, Jason has come a long way since starting out as a young speedway rider in 1994. He has achieved incredible success in world championship races across Europe, Australia, and New Zealand over the course of two decades. His accomplishments have cemented him as one of Australia’s greatest motorcycle racers ever.
Jason Crump became Australia’s third World Speedway Champion since Jack Young in 1954 when he won the 2004 Speedway Grand
Joel Stoner was born on October 16, 1985 and is an Australian professional motorcycle racer. He was a test rider for Honda Racing Corporation before he made his debut in the MotoGP World Championship with the LCR Honda team at the 2006 Spanish Grand Prix. During his time with MotoGP, he recorded 38 Grand Prix wins, 69 podiums, and 48 pole positions. He achieved this feat while riding for Honda, Ducati, and Repsol Honda in the MotoGP prototype class.
On Stoner’s 14th birthday, he won the Australian Superbike Championship, becoming Australia’s youngest legal road racer. Stoner quickly gained fame for his speed and skill on the track and many considered him a polished mature rider for someone so young. In 2007, he won the World Championship with Honda, racing full-time in MotoGP for the first time. He then went on to win two more world championships before moving to Ducati in 2010. That same year, he won his second title with Ducati before retiring from motorcycle racing in 2012 due to injuries. Casey Stoner will always be remembered as one of MotoGP’s all-time greats, having won two world
Prix. He successfully defended his title the following season, becoming only the second rider to win successive World Championships since Swedish racer Ove Fundin in 1961-62. During his decade-long international speedway career, Crump went on to become a 21-time world champion and was coached by Bruce Lamberts at the start of his career. In 2008 he won his third Grand Prix season Championship and the second successive World Championship title of the decade.
On June 4, 2016, Jason Crump announced his retirement from speedway grand prix. His final appearance was at the opening five rounds of the 2016 Speedway Grand Prix series.
championships over an impressive 11-year career in motorcycle racing.
His greatest success came with Ducati, where he won the 2007 rider title on a factory bike and then again in 2011 giving Ducati their first world rider’s title. Stoners most successful race was the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, where he achieved six straight wins between 2007 and 2012.
5. cA se Y s toner
Chad Reed is a two-time AMA Supercross Championship winner, and a former Motocross Championship runner-up. He has two podium finishes in the AMA Supercross series and one podium finish in the AMA Motocross Championship. Good Chad Reed was always up for a battle against his long-time rival Ricky Carmichael, both on the track and off it. Reed battled Ricky for many years, earning one moto win along the way. In 2015 Chad Reed was still going strong, competing in his second race of the season with hopes of winning his third AMA Supercross championship however the year ended poorly for him. Despite not being able to win another supercross championship, Chad Reed still holds an impressive career that includes multiple championships and several grand prix wins in Europe and around the world.
He is one of the closest to an AMA Supercross champion, having won the AMA Supercross title in 2004 and 2005. His chief rival was Ricky Carmichael, who won the championship in 2006. Reed’s career has been filled with great battles and race wins, including a heat race crash that nearly ruined his chances of winning in 2004. Despite this, he went on to win the championship that year. In 2006, Reed joined MDK Motorsports and was teammates with Josh Grant and Marcus Burnham. The team had a successful year and Reed won the British GP that year as well as the AMA Supercross Championship for a second time. His success continued into 2007 when he made it to the final event of every Supercross championship round and finished second overall for the season in points.
Chad Reed is popularly known as the “Reed” of motocross racing. He announced his retirement in 2020.
7. s te P hen gA ll
Stephen Gall is an Australian motocross legend. He has won five Australian Motocross Championships and was the first to be crowned Mister Motocross, a prized title awarded for excellence in the sport. Throughout his career, Gall competed in 30 state motocross championships and some of the earliest supercross events. In addition to competing in these races, he also held three Australian Dirt Bike Championships titles and raced in various international motocross series. His dedication to fitness enabled him to be successful in this physically demanding sport; as well as being an excellent rider, Gall also increased his fitness levels so he could compete with the best riders around the world.
Gall was the Australian Motocross Champion from 1977 until 1981 and was a Yamaha fan favourite during the late 1970s and early 1980s. He was also an avid supporter of Anthony Gunter, who won the MX series in 1979, and became known as infamous Mister MX. Gall’s glory days continued into the mid-1980s when he competed in several international events as part of Team Australia. The combination of his fitness levels and incredible skill saw him become one of the best riders on the motocross world series circuit at that time.
Stephen Gall’s career spanned over three decades and he became a legend in the sport of motocross, both in Australia and around the world. His work as a promoter saw him bring many of his own ideas to life, such as helping to bring US Motocross legend Kenny Roberts to race at Phillip Island against other top riders from around Australia. His management skills were also invaluable when it came to helping champion Kenny Roberts win his first Australian title at Tamworth in 1988. With his passion for motocross and commitment to excellence, Stephen Gall left an indelible mark on the sport that will never be forgotten.
Who W ould Y ou P ut into those fin A l 3 P l A ces? e m A il Y our 3 nomin Ations to: Y our V ie W @clemengermedi A s A les.com. A u t hose res P onses W ill be P ublished in the next edition. Amm 8? 9? 10?
Gregg hansford
troy corser
andrew pitt
kevin Magee
a cHaNGE OF PLaN
EVerY MotorcYcle trip has the prospect of going pear-shaped. the variables in planning a trip, whether a day’s ride, weekend ride or longer, can be numerous (depending on how spontaneous you are!) if you become entrenched in all the things that can go wrong, you will never venture out and your motorcycle will never show you what’s its capable of. whatever happens, a motorcycle that rarely leaves the safety of the garage floor is an underutilised resource.
Many motorcyclists understand the value of adaptability. The ability to respond to changes in plans, ideas, expectations as well as solving problems. With adaptability, resilience can develop; the ability to recover from
WORdS PHOTOS – b ob Wozg A
changed conditions, changed plans, hurdles or just breakdowns
Everyone has their own way of dealing with setbacks. To clear my head, I choose a couple of drinks beside the fire pit and mentally go over what needs to be done to resolve an unforeseen mechanical issue. In this case, needing to change a well-worn chain on a DR650. The one I ordered was an incorrect fit and a new tool is also required to rivet the master link.
Once my bike was in order and paniers packed to head to the Alps, another obstacle reared its head. The planned trip taking a week in the Alps
was modified to an overnight trip, then forced into a day trip to a completely different region. Maybe the Gods were trying to tell me something.
Some years ago, stopping at the Royal Hotel in Capertee after taking some friends for a weekend exploring Glen Davis, the publican told us about the ruins of a village at Mt Arlie. With all the setbacks encountered, this seems to be the prime time to scope it out. A perfect distance for a decent day ride.
Setting out on a May morning, (the month is called May because it may rain, it may snow, it may be dry, it may be cold, it may be hot) the traffic Gods were kind with a smooth flow through the Blue Mountains. Golden leaves swirled in the cool breeze
filling gutters of the tree lined streets through Springwood and Blackheath. Pulling over at the Sunset Rock Lookout, Mt Victoria, the sun lights up an unexpected shoe sitting in the fork of a shrub. Someone’s idea of a feature garden I guess, or, suggesting if you stay too long you put down roots?
Gliding down Victoria Pass, the temperature begins to rise, and traffic starts to increase leading into South
Above: There are places around here where it pays to have a full tank before setting out.
Below left: Odd “crop circles” are only visible in photos from a drone.
Below right: Still water and reflections: is that a vampire bike since it doesn’t show up?
Bowenfels where a welcome cup of coffee and a sausage roll warmed cold bones. Lithgow is often overlooked as a place to visit with so many choosing a generic stopping point to refill the tanks and eat in what I think of as cholesterol corner.
For history buffs, consider a visit to the Lithgow Blast Furnace, the Small Arms factory, anti-aircraft guns, the Glow Worm Tunnel, the State Mine National Park, and Hassans Walls Lookout to visit. This is a rich area for attractions, and you could easily spend a few days here.
Riding past Wallerawang, skeletal remains of the former power station stand in a paddock, a monument to an
earlier energy industry in place here. Built in 1957, it was closed in 2014 due to high running costs, age, and its inefficiency. Demolition began in 2021 with community consultation assisting in future usage of the site.
Reaching Capertee, I turned down Glen Davis Road in search of Mount Airly camping area. Signs indicated the road was closed to vehicles over 4 tons. Given I had traversed numerous potholes and two bridges under repair, I guess I was forewarned. With no signs on the road and enjoying the ride, I realised I’d travelled too far and needed to turn back and stop at a road crew for directions. They told me I had missed the turnoff a few kilometres
Right: There is more than one abandoned house on the western side of the escarpment.
Middle right: Whoever lived here had a great view of the escarpment.
Bottom right: The track looks great, but such routes can be tricky when you’re alone.
further toward the highway. They also knew the area well and explained that there were two roads to explore. One that would take me to Genowlan Point, and the other to Mount Airly campgrounds. They recommended
The Genowlan Point for its views.
Taking their advice, I turned into a gravel road that led to a clearing with an abandoned weatherboard house. Time and the elements had taken their toll. Windows were shattered and timbers rotting, a home now to wildlife. The entrance of any place gives a first impression of the person behind the door. Nailed to the open front door was a sign that read, “Welcome to the humble abode of Old Col.” Looking at the majesty of the escarpment from the now shattered windows and noting the sign of his front door, I bet Col must have been a friendly soul who reveled in the serenity.
The track leading up the escarpment had a few ruts and steep bends and loose gravel. About a kilometre up, I lost traction on a bend and slid backwards toward the edge of the track.
It might be time to recommend that tackling roads in remote places are
Above: Another drone shot, this time of another abandoned property.
best done with a second rider. Having a fear of being pinned under my bike and having my legs nibbled on by a giant goanna, a second rider always helps with the safety aspect. They can always assist with up righting the bike especially on loose gravel on a hill, taking the micky out of you for downing the bike as well as taking photos of the giant goanna gnawing your legs to get that million-dollar shot.
After rightening the DR and patching up my leg, the afternoon sun began to sink lower toward the escarpment, so I took it easy and returned to the Royal Hotel at
Above: The Capertee pub is always welcoming and friendly for motorcyclists.
Below: Long shadows make it clear that it’s time to head back to the pub.
Bottom right: And here we are back at the Capertee pub, ready for a game of pool.
Local pubs and their inhabitants are an invaluable source of information, steering you to places unseen by the usual tourist as well as providing the history of the area. They can also tell you if places might still be private property and the owners won’t be happy if you ride their land. Over a beer, a map was scribbled on a piece of paper by an old guy that looked like he’d just spent a week in the wilderness, showing places to see and what to look for - remnants of mines, gold diggings and an old diamond mine. For obvious reasons, I am unable to share this map.
The Capertee area is absolutely a place to revisit; definitely with a mate next time and definitely with more than a couple of hours of daylight to explore. Mt Airly was originally a
is yet to be discovered so this is a great area for
general fossick.
The Royal Hotel caters for motorcycle riders, providing all the essentials, good food with a welcoming atmosphere and a whiskey distillery out the back.
While planning rides or more so when on them – stay adaptable and stay resilient. You’ll be surprised where detours may take you. Even if it’s in a country pub listening to “Always look on the bright side of life.”
Bob wozga
Between work and taking photos/ writing, Bob makes slide shows of rides and when he can, restores old furniture.
Capertee.
shale oil mine from the late 1880’s until the mid 1920’s. Relics still dot the landscape. More
a
Way BacK When
Austr A li A n m otorc Y clist mA g A zine c ontributors A nd f riends
Check out some of our contributors and magazine friends, way back when they were out there showing the way.
j richArd Peter “the beAr” thoeming Columnist and tour adventurer
Top left: Chillin’ with one of the boys, a fellow journalist and all! Somewhere in Norway.
Top: High in the Sierra Nevada during the launch of the first of the new Ducati Scramblers. It was this ride that convinced me to buy one.
Left: At Oktoberfest with Gretchen Beach (of Beach’s Motorcycle Tours) and a couple of fellow tourers.
Below: I’ve reached the Pacific Ocean on my round-the-world ride! BTW, the revised book of the trip, Around the World on a Small Motorcycle, is available now online (Amazon etc) for $29.99! P.S. Check out the boots!
boris mihAiloVic
Columnist and reviewer for AMM. Always in style; always doing it his way.
Top: GSX-EX cranked over in a corner. This is Borrie on the Old Pacific Highway before it was a 60km/h zone and the Highway Patrol started using it to pay the State’s debts.
Above left: Three blokes and a black triumph speed triple. When Triumph resurrected itself and offered the world the first Speed Triple, we, Harley riders to a man, took it out into the bush and did bad things to it.
Above right: Red bike at gate. This is Borrie’s XJ650 Yamaha waiting for the Barrington Tops dingo gate to open. He spent an hour yelling: “Open Sesame!” at it to no avail. Then he just opened it and went through.
Below left: Wheelie with helmetless rider. Borrie teaching himself how to do wheelies at a time when helmets weren’t compulsory.
Below right: Pic of me smoking and leaning on a bike. Surely you remember when smoking was as cool as denim vests and drinking a Tooheys at a footy match?
rAlPh leAVseY-moAse
Contributor
Top: We realised, way before Australia Post did. Total nonsense.
Above left: Orange flavoured.
Above: Snappers need to be as quick!
Left: Ok, me, properly Way Back When!
Below: A super unit; both bike and family!
stuArt WoodburY
Former owner and editor of AMM. Who knew he was a founding member of the motorcyclist style council!
Above left: There was a time when the concept of being a male model appealed. Check out the hand on the hip!
bob WozgA
Columnist and super curious traveller.
Above right: There was a time when Stu was really confused about power-ups. Below left: Sweet!
Below: Always willing to meet and greet the locals.
Below: In the days when motorcyclists liked to merge with their environment. Onya Bob!
Right: Former pumphouse or now a jail? Bob wondered why his mates brought him here. Amm
the beAr’s AtW booK
= aROUNd THE WORLd.
YoU’Ve reaD aBoUt his round-the-world adventures here; now buy the book!
Back in the late ‘70s, it was far less common than it is now to ride a motorcycle around the world. It was probably more interesting, too. The Bear described his trip in his best-selling (and now just about unobtainable) hardback book “Motorcycle Touring”. Now he has updated the book and re-released it in paperback and ebook as “Around the World on a Small Motorcycle”. If you have wondered how all the snippets of stories he’s written about the trip tie together, this book is the answer.
The Bear has been described by well-known motorcycle writer Alan Cathcart as “the doyen of Australian motorcycle writers”. He launched four motorcycle magazines including this one, edited another, and wrote for the likes of The Bulletin, The Australian, Playboy and The Sun Herald as well as numerous other publications in Australia, the USA, Britain, Germany and New Zealand on the subject of motorcycling.
This book covers the around-theworld ride as well as a months-long ride on the very opposite of a small bike – a Yamaha XS1100 – with Annie, the shipboard romance who became his wife. This took them through Europe, North Africa, Asian
Turkey and finally back to England by way of Eastern Europe. But the heart of the book is the long ride on the XL250 which ended on the edge of the Pacific Ocean in Los Angeles. Alternately funny and pensive, it is both an affectionate picture of the times and a still-relevant source of useful tips for long-distance riders.
With well over a million miles under his belt on two wheels, The Bear is one of the world’s most experienced motorcyclist. And last but far from least, as you may have noticed, he has a terrific sense of humour. The many colour photos bring the book to life, and “Around the World on A Small Motorcycle” makes a happy gift to any
Left: The book’s cover.
Above: Swapping helmets while fuelling up in Pakistan.
Bottom left: The Bear with a hospitable family in Algeria.
Below: Annie doing the shopping in Morocco.
motorcyclists you know, anyone whom you’d like to convert to motorcycling – and of course yourself.
“around the world on a small Motorcycle”
J Peter “The Bear” Thoeming Bear Face Books, ISBN 9780645612318
Perfect Bound a$29.99, eBook a$9.99
aprilia
aprilia.com.au
* All Aprilia prices are ride away
Rs660 LaMs $20.830
Rs660 $21,230
Tuono 660 LaMs $20,530
Tuono 660 $20,430
Tuono V4 $28,830
Tuono V4 Factory $33,330
RsV4 $31,830
RsV4 Factory $38,930
Tuareg 660 LaMs $22,230
Tuareg 660 $22,230
Benelli
benelli.com.au
*All Benelli prices are ride away
TnT 135 CBs $4590 502C $10,590
TnT 600 $11,790
Leoncino 500 $9890
Leoncino 500 Trail $10,390
752 s $12,990
Leoncino 800 $13,490
Leoncino 500 Trail $13,990
TRK 502 $9990
TRK 502X $10,890
BmW
bmwmotorrad.com.au
*All BMW prices are PLUS on-roads
G 310 R $7990
F 900 R $15,420
s 1000 R $22,090
s 1000 RR $25,750
M 1000 RR $52,440
R nineT $25,490
R nineT Pure $20,210
R nineT scrambler $21,410
R nineT urban G/s $21,260
R 1250 R $26,320
R 1250 R HP $27,040
R 1250 R exclusive $26,065
R 1250 R spezial $26,765
R 1250 R $22,540
R 1250 Rs $27,240
R 1250 RT $37,840
K 1600 GT $42,820
K 1600 GTL $44,520
R 18 $23,140
R 18 Classic $25,840
R 18 BDelux $35,400
R 18 Transcontinental $37,940
F 900 XR
s 1000 XR
G 310 Gs
F 750 Gs
F 850 Gs $22,005
F 850 Gsa $23,830
R 1250 Gs $31,320
R 1250 Gsa
Ce 04
street Bob 114
$26,250
sportster s $26,495
sport Glide
BrougH superior broughsuperioraustralia.com.au
cfmoto cf-moto.com.au
* All CFMotoprices are ride away 150NK
Ducati
ducati.com.au
*All Ducati prices are ride away
scrambler Icon $15,600
scrambler Icon Dark $14,900
scrambler urban Motard $18,900
scrambler Nightshift
$18,300
scrambler Desert sled $20,000
scrambler 1100 Dark Pro $19,100
scrambler 1100 Tribute Pro $21,300
scrambler 1100 sport Pro $24,200
Monster 659 $13,500 Monster $19,200
Monster + $19,800
Monster sP $23,200
Hypermotard 950 $23,100
Hypermotard 950 RVe $24,700
Hypermotard 950 sP
supersport
$28,900
$20,900
supersport s $23,200
X Diavel Dark $31,800
Diavel 1260
$32,800
Diavel 1260 s $38,400
Diavel V4
Streetfighter V2
$41,100
$23,200
Streetfighter V4 $34,700
Streetfighter V4 S $43,900
Streetfighter V4 SP2 $56,900
Panigale V2 $24,900
Panigale V4 $34,000
Panigale V4 s $43,600
Panigale V4 sP2
$56,900
Desert X $24,700
Multistrada V2 $23,200
Multistrada V2 s $25,700
Multistrada V4 $30,800
Multistrada V4 s $35,000
Multistrada V4 s sport $42,900
Multisrada V4 Pikes Peak $45,000
HarleY-DaviDson
harley-davidson.com
* All Harley-Davidson prices are ride away
softail standard $22,995
Nightster $23,995
$29,750
Low Rider s $30,750
Fat Bob
Low Rider sT
Fat Boy 114
Breakout 114
Heritage Classic 114
Road King special
KaWasaKi kawasaki.com.au
$31,750
$35,250
$31,750
$36,250
$36,250
$39,495
Road Glide special $41,995
street Glide special $41,995
ultra Limited
$43,995
Road Glide sT $44,995
street Glide sT $44,995
Freewheeler
$49,250
Tri Glide ultra $59,250
Pan america s $33,495
Livewire
$49,995
street Glide $58,250
Road Glide $58,750
Road Glide Limited $61,750
Tri Glide $76,250
HonDa
honda.com.au
*All Honda prices are PLUS on-roads
CB125F $2999
CB300R $7199
CB500F $9499
CBR500R $9999
CBR600RR $27,599
CB650R $11,699
CB750 Hornet
$12,099
CBR1000RR- RsP $52,999
Goldwing DcT $41,999
Goldwing Tour Prem DCT $49,998
NT1100
$21,690
NT1100 DCT $22,699
CMX500
CMX1100
$9349
$18,549
CMX1100 DCT $19,649
CRF300La $9199
CRF300 Rally $9399
CB500X $10,199
CRF1100 africa Twin $22,999
africa Twin adv s $26,199
africa Twin adv s DCT $27,499
africa Twin adv s DCT es $28,899
HusQvarna
husqvarna-motorcycles.com/au
*All Husqvarna prices are ride away
Vitpilen 401 $7975
svartpilen 401 $7975
701 supermoto $18,490
701 enduro $19,490
901 Norden $25,050
901 Norden expedition $27,840
inDian
indianmotorcycles.com.au
*All Indian Motorcycle prices are ride away
KYmco - scooters see kymco.com.au
lamBretta-scooters see lambrettaaustralia.com.au
moto guZZi www.motoguzzi.com.au
mv agusta
mvagusta.com.au
*All MV Agusta prices are ride away
F3 800 Rosso $36,990
F3
Brutale
Brutale
Dragster
Dragster
Dragster
Turismo Veloce Lusso sCs $43,990
Brutale 1000 RR $63,990
Brutale 1000 Rs $51,990
Rush
piaggio-scooters
see piaggio.com.au
roYal enfielD
royalenfieldaustralia.com
savic motorcYcles
savicmotorcycles.com.au
*All
sYm scootascooters see symscooters.com.au super soco
supersoco.com.au
*all super soco prices are ride away
TC Café $5490
TC Max alloy wheel $7990
TC Max wire wheel $8290
suZuKi
suzukimotorcycles.com.au
*All Suzuki prices are ride away
GsX-s125 $5440
DR-Z400sM $10,490
sV650 Normal HP LaMs $11,490
GsX-s750 $14,390
GsX-s1000 $17,990
GsX-s1000GT $19,990
GsX-s1000 Panorama GT $20,590
GsX-s1000 Katana $21,990
GsX-R1000 $24,990
GsX-R1000R $27,990
GsX1300R Hayabusa $27,790
Boulevard M109R $21,990
V-strom 250sX $6480
DRZ400e $11,390
DR650se $10,390
V-strom 650 XT $14,490
V-strom 650 XT LaMs $14,490
V-strom 800 De $18590
V-strom 1050 De $24,690
sWm-off roaD swmmotorcycles.com.au
triumpH
triumphmotorcycles.com.au
*All Triumph prices are ride away
Trident 660 $13,150
street Triple s 660 $14,990
street Triple R $18,140
street Triple Rs $19,950
street Twin 900 $16,190
street scrambler 900 $18,590
Bonneville T100 $18,290
Bonneville Bobber $22,490
Bonneville T120 $20,890
speedmaster $22,490
speed Twin $21,090
street Triple 765 R $18,140
street Triple 765 Rs $20,590
Thruxton Rs $25,990
speed Triple 1200 Rs $28,490
speed Triple 1200 RR $32,490
Rocket 3 R $34,450
Rocket 3 GT $35,490
Tiger sport 850 $18,250
Tiger 900 GT & GT Low $21,150
Tiger 900 Rally $22,390
Tiger 900 GT Pro $24,250
Tiger 900 Rally Pro $24,890
Tiger 1200 GT Pro $29.990
Tiger 1200 Rally Pro $31,800
Tiger 1200 GT explorer $32,600
vespa scooters see vespa.com.au
TOUR OPERaTOR dIREcTORy
Get out there! The who’s who in domestic and international travel. We’ve travelled with many of them and know them all, so they come highly recommended. In alphabetical order, they are:
centrAl otAgo motorcYcle hire
And tours – new zealand www.comotorcyclehire.co.nz info@comotorcyclehire.co.nz
– spain, Portugal, morocco, europe and thailand www.imtbike.com tours@imtbike.com
a PUzzLE FOR yOU, FOR 2023 a L e s
WhY Do i see so few motorcycles on the road?
Where are you all? When I ride overseas, even in countries which do not have the ideal motorcycling weather that much of Australia has, I see bikes everywhere. In Italy many of them are scooters, in California many are choppers, in Britain they’re often cafe racers and in Germany I overwhelmingly see GSs. What do I see in Australia? I see cars.
Some years back, I did a lot of serious research to establish the relative number of motorcycles registered in some key countries. Yes, I
providing parking to encourage more two wheelers to use the city’s streets, one of the things I was hoping to see was an increase in the number of bikes on Sydney’s roads. But while the parking lots and street spots are full to bursting, I only ever see the bikes and scooters on the road at commuting time, and hardly at all on the weekend when I presume the spaces are used for shopping or to attend the movies. I have not seen an increase in the number of bikes in normal, all-day traffic.
I do see a few touring bikes out in the country. But the operative term
AustrAliAn motorcyclists – you – Are not using motorcycles much, if At All. do you not enjoy riding?
know some people own more than one bike but I’m happy to let that average out between countries. No, I don’t remember the actual figures and I am not about to do all that research again because I have enough anecdotal evidence. And yes, I realise that many of you will own bikes but leave them in the garage much of the time. That’s part of the problem.
You will be amazed to know, unless you read my story all those years ago and actually remember it, that the country with the largest number of registrations per head in the world is... Switzerland. Yes, snow-and-ice, short-ridingseason, conservative Switzerland. Australia didn’t even make the top ten. What is going on? Where, I ask again, are you all?
When I wrote the draft of the City of Sydney’s motorcycle and scooter policy, which concentrated on
here is “a few”. On a recent ride out to Coonabarabran and back with a mate I saw all of seven bikes. Seven, on a ride of 1200 kilometres. Three individual riders and a group of four. Okay, it was in the middle of the week but can it really be true that NSW motorcyclists – I don’t want to involve others I have not looked at – are strictly weekend warriors?
Australian motorcyclists – you – are not using motorcycles much, if at all. Do you not enjoy riding?
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to suggest to anyone that they should be out there, in city or country, if they don’t want to or if it doesn’t suit them for whatever reason. Your life is yours to lead, no matter how dull, flat and uneventful that might be. I just want to know why, for instance, there are far more motorcyclists on the back roads of Portugal, the country lanes of England and the freeways of the US than there are here.
Do these people know something that Australian riders don’t? What keeps you from buying a bike, assuming you don’t own one and are reading this out of casual interest, or riding the one you own? Is it fear? Do you see Australian roads as too dangerous, more so than those in overseas countries? They are often bad, but believe me Italian roads are worse. Is it lack of the readies? Can you not afford the fuel, the tyres, the servicing costs? Are you not confident of your ability, or embarrassed by the possibility that you might get a gearchange wrong? I know this is getting progressively sillier, but I simply cannot think of a reason myself. So here is the payoff. I want you to write to me and tell me why, as Professor Julius Sumner Miller would have said, “this is so”. Write to The Bear, the.bear@optusnet.com.au and tell me: where are you all?
subscribe to australian Motorcyclist magazine and win an adventure rider Magazine t-shirt* and a copy of the 10th anniversary edition magazine, while stocks last.
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WHaT ROadWORKS?
At this point in australia’s history, i could mount a very compelling argument that would see many of our local, state, and federal politicians herded into re-education camps like the Bat empire has in Xinjiang.
“Transformation through education”, bitches.
It will get shit done. And shit needs to be done, because right now, shit is not being done. All that is being done is signs are being put out declaring shit is being done, when any mouthbreathing idiot can clearly see no such shit is being done at all. There are just signs telling lies.
These signs state “ROADWORKS”. And they are serious signs. But they lie.
I have ridden many thousands of kilometres in the last few months through NSW and Victoria, and these ROADWORKS signs are everywhere – as they should be because our roads are gob-shittingly shit.
They have always been kinda shit, but a succession of bushfires, floods, and boss-level rain, have seen our roads simply fall apart and become shit on a medieval Mongolian level.
The problem is so large, our various parent-clusters – local, state, and federal – have seemingly thrown up their hands (along with a whole bunch of bullshit-laden signs), and we can all just go and root ourselves and our bikes.
Australia is a country that needs good roads. It does not function otherwise. Like, I get we aren’t able to build a high-speed rail-network in 2023 (or any time in the near future), because we’re just a country full of shouldershrugging idiots.
I am reconciled with that.
But how about we do the road-thing then? I know we aren’t the best at that either (presumably because of our aforementioned shoulder-shrugging idiocy), and we think building two-lane expressways
instead of three-lane expressways like the rest of the First World, is the go.
And I am reconciled with that as well. We don’t deserve three lanes anyway. It’s not like we are able to deal with two. Three would only confuse us further. Let the rest of the world have one lane for slow-moving vehicles, one for normally-moving vehicles, and one for vehicles that wish to overtake other vehicles – we will make do with what we have.
But here’s the thing – how about you government gronks fix the wretched roads we have? It’s not too much to ask, so don’t say it is, given the groaning giga-tonnes of money you leech out of us with every litre of petrol we buy.
We pay 47.7 cents to the government for every litre of petrol we buy. This financial year, we will spoof $13.7 billion into the governments’ cavernous maw, and more than $60.1 billion over the next four years. This is what that number looks like: $60,100,000,000. A groaning gigatonne of money, as I said. You could buy a whole other country for that –and enslave its population into fixing our roads for us.
That money, as you know, is meant to be spent – and they crossed their hearts and hoped to die when they promised this – on road infrastructure.
But that’s not what happens. Only 59 per cent of that money is being spent on road infrastructure projects – most of which seems to consist of putting up ROADWORKS signs. No-one knows what the swine are
seemingly doing very little for a few hours a day.
But most of the time and in most places, there’s just lying signs and damaged pavement.
What’s wrong with us? Why are we unable to address this issue in any meaningful way? The Bat Empire can build a hospital in a week, dig an undersea tunnel in a month and jam a six-lane freeway through it a week later, and belt around their country on trains that do 600km/h.
We’re supposed to be better than them. We’re constantly told that we’re heaps beauter/freerer/internationalrules-based orderer than they are, and yet they have re-education camps and we don’t.
I’m sure some of you think I’m overly given to hyperbole in this regard. Shut up. It’s every bit as bad as I’m telling you it is.
Let’s look at my local proving ground, the Mother Putty. There are several sections of this magical road which have been book-ended by ROADWORKS signs for more than a year now.
There are no roadworks going on. None. There’s just those super well-paid traffic control champions sitting on chairs in the shade of their pergolas, 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week, while automated traffic lights deal with the imposed contraflow of traffic.
No men with shovels. No bulldozers. No trucks full of hot-mix. Just sleepy, well-paid people in fluoro, keeping the ROADWORKS signs company. Meanwhile, the road surface keeps degrading, making the eventual repair more costly and more extensive.
Bitches, please! Are we a First World country? Serious question. Our road network is as crucial to our nation as stable golden poles are to hot strippers. We, like they, cannot function without such a thing.
Fix the damn roads! Let the sad, complacent serfs trundle their way around this vast land without destroying their cheap Korean cars and their budget-priced Indian bikes. Let the less-poor merchant class go sight-seeing without veering off the road in horror at some chasm that has appeared before them.
