Since taking this role I have received a few emails complaining about the inclusion of Harley-Davidson bike in this magazine.
One thing I share with each correspondent is that H-D are incredibly generous with their test bikes. This means that most reviewers can have the bikes for a fortnight and really put them through their paces in different conditions.
It’s obvious I believe that this is preferable to a few hours or day loan unless a reviewer makes it clear their time spent was limited.
But in terms of offering a realistic riding experience, H-D is one of the top brands.
They also put a load of work into initiatives to demonstrate their regard for growing market sectors.
This edition offers Pete Vorst’s analysis of the 500. H-D’s response to a growing urban market where the 350 and 500 may gain particular traction, is important to report upon. It’s a new market choice so, professional feedback on the model can be invaluable to those looking at the range of selections in those power sectors.
In addition, seeing H-D as the domain of ‘outlaws’ is just ridiculously old-school. H-D’s are ridden by riders from all walks of life in 2024 so, from this angle alone, complaining about coverage seems retrograde.
Tu G ’s fING e R sAL u T e (Issue 122)
Please see Views pp. 8 for reader comments on this topic.
Well, this drew the strongest responses yourview has so far received – certainly for people willing to put their name on their feedback.
Columns are, and traditionally have been, a place of relative free speech. The more credible media outlets enable their columnists or key writers the freedom to express their views on a key topic; in this case relating to the motorcycling lifestyle.
As editor, I minimally censor columnists however, this said, I have moved writers from always presenting motorcyclists as males with a pretty female as pillion. As equally, repeatedly writing in a negative and biased fashion.
With regard to Tug’s column in issue #122, I don’t agree with him about the finger salute. In fact, it’s something I have enjoyed for decades.
When I read the following, I just smiled. Probably my mood at the time. On another day I may have been pinged at the suggestion my self-worth is on the line via enjoying a wave:
I have little interest in making friends, or fluffing my own self-worth by being acknowledged as cool by someone else who is also desperate for me to wave at them to fill their cup with validation to replace the usual self-loathing they feel when they get home and take their leather jacket off.
But then I think about it, and maybe it is. But hey, we all tend to align our self-worth with some ‘thing’ external, so, what’s the big deal.
Pot shot narratives and discourse about life’s irritants are everywhere.
I regularly come across similar treatises about people leaving their shopping trolleys at the checkout for the next customer to deal with. Or, someone at reception chewing gum. Or, someone claiming something is sexist, close-minded or an element of working-class suppression.
It’s been a lengthy tradition for columnists to express themselves in a way that draws commentary and in an era where being PC is such a powerful and often influential principle, I encourage a variety of opinions.
In our magazines, contrary views are enabled. Feedback always welcome to yourview@clemengermediasales.com.au
By the way, next time I lift a finger and the other party doesn’t respond, I’ll probably think of Tug’s need to be in a relative space of solitude and move on. I may put him in the grumpy old person category, which shows how hard it is not to be biased.
Contributors: Bob Wozga, Steve Tite, Nick Edards, Tug McClutchin, Aaron Clifton, Boris Mihailovic, Tom Boissel, Nigel Crowley, Pete Vorst, Sunny Motographer, Game Over Cycles, Andy Strapz
Photographers: Nick Edards, Tug McClutchin, Rob Mott, Tom Boissel (Cus’Tom Motorcycle), Matt McIntyre, Nigel Crowley, Ollie Khedun, Luke Tscharke, Krista Eppelstun, Sean Scott and West Coast Council (Tasmania), Motohead, Sunny Motographer, Game Over Cycles, Paweł Olearka, Andy Strapz
Distributor Ovato
Australian Motorcyclist magazine is published by Australian Motorcyclist Magazine Pty Ltd. Level 1/397 Chapel Street, South Yarra VIC 3141, Australia.
This publication is copyright. Other than for the purposes of research, study, criticism, review, parody or satire and subject to the conditions prescribed under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted without the prior written permission of Australian Motorcyclist Magazine Pty Ltd. Opinions expressed within this publication do not necessarily represent those of Australian Motorcyclist Magazine Pty Ltd. No responsibility is accepted by Australian Motorcyclist Magazine Pty Ltd or the editor for the accuracy of any statement, opinion or advice contained in the text or advertisements. Readers should rely on their own enquiries in making decisions tailored to their own interest.
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Views
WTFAustralian Motorcyclist..??
What a load of bigoted, self righteous bullshit (so much so it should be printed on toilet paper). You say, ‘We’re for the rider’ yet you publish articles like Tug Mcclutchin’s ‘Who are you’...!!
Why you are waving (or nodding) is very simple. Who gives a shit who they are...for whatever reason they are on two wheels which is enough. They take their life in their hands every time they put a helmet on just like you do. They battle the elements and the road, put up with dickhead drivers and make their way on a machine that takes years to learn and are always at the mercy of the police and traffic cameras, just like you do.
The fact that you don’t know who they are is completely irrelevant. Why, where and how they ride is irrelevant. I’ve ridden bikes for over 30 years and remember a time when it didn’t matter if you were a plumber, a waiter or an open heart surgeon, first and foremost you were a biker and all walks of life and cultural backgrounds used motorcycling, among other things, to come together and forget, if only for a moment, we live in a cold and indifferent society.
All you’re doing is making sure that over time we will all be judging each other and never coming together. And using the excuse that we don’t nod at each other in KFC or that Camry drivers don’t do it is so narrow minded it’s bloody laughable.
How can you compare biking to such things...!!?
Making a comparison between being on a bike and these things, at the very least, diminishes the whole reason we all enjoy two wheels in the first place.
So keep your self righteous, elitist and frankly ridiculous views to yourself. Especially if you’re not man enough to even put your real name to it (that’s even if you are a man). And why use a pseudonym in the first place (how old are you..5..)..!?
You don’t wave or nod because you’re still a bigot at heart and can’t bring yourself to do so just in case they aren’t worthy in your tiny world.
If you would like to contribute to this discussion or provide views on any other motorcycle rider content, please email: yourview@clemengermediasales.com.au
It’s people like you who reinforce the fracturing of motorcycling into factions that pretty soon will be like everything else in the world.
Seems to me like you probably used to nod or wave but you couldn’t handle it when someone doesn’t do it back so your fragile ego was hurt and now you argue why it’s not cool to do so. Either way, sprouting this elitist self righteous crap should have no place in good journalism and I’m ashamed you use the term Australian Motorcyclist for your petty points of view.
If the magazine truly is ‘for the rider’ then articles like this show that you aren’t ‘for the rider’ unless they conform to the idea of what makes them worthy of your childish contributors recognition.
It’s easier to pass judgement and break things down than it is to rise up and set an example that elevates motorcycling to the truly amazing and unique thing it really is. One that is worthy of recognition between us, with at the very least a wave or a nod to show it.
Dave Welham Taringa QLD
Asa rider who only ever rides alone, who doesn’t worship bikes, who doesn’t understand black vests and patches, and who never gravitates to groups of riders when I arrive at a destination, I found the article, “Who are you?” highly amusing in places.
But for me the best bit was the antepenultimate paragraph: “(t)here’s plenty of pretenders in motorcycling, and plenty of people wishing they were something other than what they are.”
This coming from an individual hiding behind a bloody alias makes the author not just a coward but a hypocrite as well. And for someone who claims to ride alone, they sure seem to spend a fair bit of time riding with others or their partner. But let’s put that aside and let me share a story:
I’m sitting out front of the Warrego
Hotel at Hungerford, enjoying a slow lunch-time beer with Peter the boss and his dog. Both the other residents of the place are away. A red jeep hurtles past heading west and Peter sucks on his tailor-made and rasps, “you’d think the bastards would at least wave.” He’s not looking for an answer so I just nod, take a swig and swat away another fly.
Three hours later we’re still outside, still yarning, when a 4WD pulling a tradie’s trailer pulls in heading east. Two blokes jump out and grab some beers for the road back to Bourke. They tell us there’s a bloke broken down about 70kms west, can Pete sort anything for him, maybe a tow back to town.
“No problem,” says the publican, “leave it with me.”
Before adding, “What sorta car is it?”
“Red 2-door Jeep,” comes the reply and they jump back in and head off on the 300 metre stretch of bitumen which is Ford Bridge’s main street.
Pete looks at me and smiles. “Want another beer?” he asks as he rolls another fag and we settle in for the afternoon.
Our country comes in four zones: city, country, bush and outback. Somewhere once you’re into the bush, drivers start giving you the one finger wave without lifting the hand from the steering wheel. For me, that’s the signal of moving into the real red heart of this land. Where things are tough, the people tougher, and they all share a feeling of “we’re all in this together”.
So, Tug or whoever you are cowering behind your nom-de-turd - and not understanding the difference between “waving at” and “waving to”, other travelers - try riding the Canning Stock Route or the Strzelecki Track or the Chillagoe loop and don’t wave to, or acknowledge, a single other traveler. Ride them alone, with your hand un-held. And if you crash or puncture or breakdown and get ‘red jeeped’, you’ll understand why.
Colin Whelan
HAMO d CON f IRM s CROWN
The 2023 Australian Supersport 300 championship was a hotly contested series, with a number of riders still capable of winning as the series came to its final round at The Bend in South Australia. Marcus Hamod, Cameron Swain, and Brandon Demmery were all battling for the crown.
At the completion of Race 2, Marcus Hamod lodged a protest against Cameron Swain for passing under yellow flags. The MA Stewards upheld the protest, and demoted Swain a position in the race results, resulting in a narrow championship win for Hamod.
Following the event, Cameron Swain lodged an appeal against the Steward’s decision, which was referred to an independent review tribunal for determination. After hearing evidence from officials and both riders, as well as reviewing video evidence, the panel upheld the decision of the Steward, thereby confirming Hamod as the series Champion.
Marcus, riding for MotoCity Motorcycles at Wollongong in NSW, has stepped up to the Supersport 600 series for 2024, while Cameron Swain has headed to Europe to contest the Yamaha R3 World Cup.
JOIN TH e JO e L
ke L s O fAN CL u B
Aussie Moto3 racer Joel Kelso has launched a fan club, with exclusive giveaways and content available to members. There are numerous membership levels available, ranging from a Junior membership for $200, which scores you a Joel Kelso sticker kit, poster, key ring, flag and access to an exclusive blog, right through to Elite and Corporate memberships where you get extras, such as autographed knee sliders, extended post race interviews and other goodies.
It costs a lot of money to score a ride in the world championships, and most of the riders in Moto 3 are not paid riders, they actually have to pay to have the ride. Joel is in that boat, and needs to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars every year to fund his racing.
Joel had a good start to the year with an 8th place finish in Qatar, despite a tyre issue that saw him unable to run with the lead pack after mid-race, but he’s a contended to win races this year. So get behind an Aussie and help him remain on the world stage. Head to www.joelkelso.com.au for more information.
du NLOP CL e AN s W ee P
Some weekends everything goes right. And so it was for Dunlop at the opening round of the Pirelli ProMX series at Wonthaggi for Round 1 on March 17.
Every rider on every podium in every male class was using Dunlop tyres.
Honda ace Kyle Webster went 1-1 for a perfect weekend in the Thor MX1 class, with Jed Beaton (Yamaha) and Dean Ferris (Yamaha) along for company on the podium.
The Pirelli MX2 class was also a Honda win, with Brodie Connolly taking the win from fellow Honda
rider Noah Ferguson, and Ryder Kingsford taking the final podium step for Yamaha.
Maxxis tyres sponsors the MX3 class for under 18’s, and that was won by Koby Hantis (Yamaha) from Kobe Drew (Yamaha), and Kayd Kingsford (Yamaha).
Queensland’s Charli Cannon set a blistering pace to win both races in the Ezilift MXW class on her Honda, while the NSW duo of Taylor Thompson (Husqvarna) and Danielle McDonald (Yamaha) filled the podium places. Taylor, knows as Fuzzy around the pits, was the first rider home on something other than Dunlop tyres. She was running Michelins. AMM
2023 model run outs are on. Triumph has announced massive savings on bikes across their entire range, so there’s something here for everyone.
The biggest savings come on one of their most lusted after models, the Tiger 1200 Rally Explorer, which will now head out the door for $29,390.00, and the Tiger 1200 Rally Pro drops to $27,190.00, both saving you a cool $5k.
There’s even something for the learners, with the Trident 660 LAMS model slipping under your bum for $13,240.00
For those with a lust for torque, there’s some Rocket 3 variants on their way to your garage as we speak for $4500 off the regular price.
See your nearest dealer for all the details.
k TM TA kes CONTROL O f MV
We all knew it was going to happen, it’s just been sped up a little. Back in 2022 KTM AG (a subsidiary of PIERER Mobility AG) purchased roughly a quarter of MV Agusta. That initial buy-in led to KTM taking control of the purchasing and supply chain management for the Italian brand, because purchasing power is a very real thing.
KTM was also given an option to take a controlling stake in the company, depending on financial performance, in 2025. Given the impressive performance of the company since 2022, that process has been brought forward, and KTM now has a controlling share of MV Agusta.
MV has certainly made progress in recent times, introducing numerous
new models, and selling out of every limited edition bike they produced. They are also looking like being able to record a net profit.
on Lake Como in Italy.
With KTM’s further investment will come more control, with KTM taking over the management of MV Agusta Motor S.p.A, and the production site
Timur Sardarov, whose family will retain the remaining 49.9% of the company, will step down as CEO and remain with the company as Board Vice-Chair and will also maintain a consultancy role.
H e R f O ss INVA des AM e RICA
Three-time Australian Superbike champ Troy Herfoss will be working overtime this year. Not only is he racing his XXXX Ducati in the Australian Superbike Championship, he will also spend he “off weeks” heading to the USA to race for Indian in the King Of The Baggers and Super Hooligan classes.
These classes are quickly gaining popularity in America, and Troy is looking to add to his tally of American Championship titles. The Americans don’t like to be reminded, but Troy won a Supermoto title there some years ago.
“We’re excited to welcome Troy to the Indian Motorcycle family, as he’s a seasoned road racer with a wealth of experience competing at a high level,” said Gary Gray, Vice President Racing and Service for Indian Motorcycle. “Backed by the performance capabilities of Indian Motorcycle, we feel we have three riders who could each win a championship in 2024… Our team has put in the
work this offseason, so we’re excited to get the season rolling and head out to Daytona.”
The other two riders he’s referring to are Tyler O’Hara, who will be Troy’s teammate, and ninetime American Flat Track championship winner Jarred Mees.
“To have the opportunity to don Indian Motorcycle Red leathers and compete on behalf of such a historic brand is a true honor,” said Herfoss. “As a motorsports enthusiast in Australia, I’ve been envious of all the bagger racing taking place in the states, and I’m extremely grateful to have the opportunity to pilot an S&S Indian Challenger and ride for a factory team who has a championship to its name.”
MOTO G u ZZI V85 BARGAIN s !
F or those of you toying with the idea of adding a new Moto Guzzi V85 to your garage, now might just be the time.
Until stocks last, you can score a cool $2500 off any MY22 Moto Guzzi V85 TT and V85 TT Travel. This includes the funky Evocative Graphics model and the Centenario.
The V85 TT are often overlooked by those after a middleweight soft-road tourer, but they are well worth your time. Go and have a look at your nearest Guzzi dealer.
HARL e Y de AL e R
O f TH e Y e AR
H-D has announced their Dealer Of The Year awards, and the top gong has gone to Mackay Harley-Davidson. Harley uses a mixture of measures to determine their award winners, including customer satisfaction and their commitment to staff training. Obviously sales gets a gig in there too!
Scott Gralow of Mackay Harley-Davidson, said, ‘We are honoured to receive this award and want to thank Harley-Davidson for recognizing our team effort. 2023 was an exceptional year for us, and this award is a testament to the advocacy and loyalty of our customers and local H.O.G. (Harley Owners Group) Chapter.”
“Our dealers are instrumental to the success of Harley-Davidson,” said Nigel Keough, Harley-Davidson ANZ Managing Director. “They are as much a part of the brand as our motorcycles and riders. To be titled ‘Dealer of the Year’ is an outstanding reflection of the staff providing the best service and customer experience that makes Harley-Davidson the premier brand that it is today.”
The Harley-Heaven stores in Ringwood, Dandenong, and Melbourne were also recognised for racking up 40 years with the American giant.
TAYLA CHA ses INA u G u RAL WORL d CHAMPION s HIP
TheFIM announced late last year that they would institute a Womens class in the Road Racing World Championships this year. The class will be part of the World Superbike Paddock, and will compete at certain European rounds.
All riders will race Yamaha R7 machines, which will all be identical and fully race prepped, with teams unable to make technical changes other than small things such as adjustments to suspension settings. This is in an effort to ensure parity between teams, minimize costs, and ensure close racing. This format works very successfully in other series, such as Red Bull Rookies, the Oceania Junior Cup, and others.
And Australia will have our own First Lady Of Speed, Tayla Relph, out there battling for the top step of the podium. Tayla will be doing it the hard way, running her own
privateer team against some big budget outfits.
“I am going head first against females backed by factory teams. But, I am more confident than ever before that TAYCO Motorsports, consisting of Ted Collins and my dad Steven Relph, … have the ability to show the world what Aussies can do and put the #8 R7 up the pointy end to fight for our first ever world championship”.
Ted is Tayla’s partner, and is putting his own racing career on hold to be beside Tayla as they prepare to move to Europe to chase her new goal.
Tayla began riding dirt bikes as a young girl, and eventually progressed to road racing, where she honed her skills and built her considerable determination racing, and sometimes beating, the boys in the Supersport 300 class.
Now she takes on her new challenge, racing against the
fastest women in the world, including former Supersport 300 World Champion Anna Carasco. Make no mistake, womens’ racing in other parts of the world is far more advanced than it is here in Australia, and Tayla will need every ounce of ability and tenacity she has to take on the ladies at World Championship level. But nobody who knows her doubts that she has what it takes to do well.
Tayla anticipates that the championship tilt will require a budget in the order $250,000, and like all riders, she’s on the hunt for sponsors. If you’d like to help out, there is a Go Fund Me page set up at www.gofundme. com/f/get-tayla-to-the-womensworld-championship
If your business is interested in supporting our next World Championship contender, you can get in touch with her at taylarelphracing@hotmail.com
Soft Luggage for the NeW TIGeR 900 RALLY PRO
ThE AnDy STRAPz
CREW have the new Tiger 900 Rally Pro covered with their lightweight and rugged soft luggage. Their in-house made Avduro Panniers and Pannier support frames weigh in at a whisker over 4kg for the whole shootin’ match. yep… Bags, frames, the lot!
The whole package or just the lightweight frame set can be purchased at andystrapz.com
Price:
$415 for frames
$990 for Pannier, Liners and Frames, plus post
PHOTO COMPETITION
T H e B es T PHOTO WILL WIN $250
In ISSuE 124 we will be running a photo competition under the theme of “touring”.
Please send your best photo (no more than two entries per person per competition) to yourview@clemengermediasales.com.au along with a paragraph explaining the ride you were on and where you took the photo.
The BEST photo will win $250. Two runners-up will win $50 each. Judging by Nick Edards, Tony Clemenger and editor.
TRIP
aNNouNCeMeNt
A CRO ss A C ONTIN e NT: sY d N e Y TO Pe RTH AN d.....?
WORds ANd IMAGes: suNNY ‘MOTOGRAPHeR’.
AuSTRALIA hAS ThE PRIvILEgE to be a continent and a country at the same time. It makes for much grander communication when you hear roadtrippin’ across a continent. And it makes for an even grander one when you can say you have gone around this country of a continent not once, but three times. yes! I have done three big laps of this insanely vast country that was once part of ancient gondwanaland. First in 2007 with two relatively modest hyosung gT650Rs, then in 2013 with a Ducati Multistrada 1200, and then in 2017 with a Kawasaki ninja h2 and a Ducati Panigale1299. Each time at least 20000 kms, the big lap and the center included.
And here we are, six years later, still flippin’, still twistin’ and still wanting to have another go at this land with two of the world’s ‘best’ motorcycles.
Starting from the megapolis of Sydney, the lure of the highlands of NSW and VIC gives way to the beautiful, albeit over-marketed, Great Ocean Road. And then the nothingness slowly builds up as we will leave Adelaide and enter into the Nullarbor. The beautiful Great Australian Bight, Australia’s longest straight road and more such curiosities on a vast plain treeless landscape makes for an otherworldly road trip. We will end this relatively shorter ride in Perth. Or will we ?
There are two things. The first one, that we will ride back to Sydney and not ship the bikes back. Turns out its cheaper and we just want to do it, less paperwork. The other, we will do an Iron Butt on our way back. Almost 1700 kms in much less than 24 hours.
The bikes would be a bit odd when you talk about touring, but as long as they have two wheels. A 2017 Kawasaki Ninja H2 and a 2022 Aprilia Tuono V4. Four cylinders each but with vastly different natures. Let us continue with the preparations. We will catch you in the upcoming issues of the ADvR magazine! AMM
WANTed!
On PAgE 16 oF this publication, Sunny Motographer will be heading off to Perth from Sydney on March 20th 2024 on a special ride to explore our glorious land. he plans to arrive in Perth around 1st April and will return to Sydney around 14th April. To be in the draw you will need to take a selfie with Sunny anytime after March
20th until Sunny returns to Sydney. You might be in Port Augusta or at the Nullabor Roadhouse - but if you spot Sunny ask to take a selfie and then send your photo to: yourview@clemengermediasales.com.au
Sunny will select from the draw via a random selection process and we will announce the lucky winner on May 1st.
The difference is astonishing!
Loud pipes may save some lives but in a built up area loud percussive sounds reflect off many surfaces and become omni-directional. Meaning that interpreting the direction of travel of a bike by audible means alone is virtually impossible.
Drivers get 95% of information from their eyes and recognition of other road vehicles requires either large physical size, movement or contrast.
Valdarez jackets give you instant high-viz contrast that helps counteract the lack of physical size of motorcycles and riders becasue being seen is everything. There's no snake oil, no sales pitch, only science, facts & stats
You wont find anything else built quite like a Valdarez.
Valdarez is the only brand specialising in high-viz fluro safety and built like a brick sh#t-house with unbeatable thickness
There is no "entry level" range and then you need to step up to get additional the protective features Any jacket you select comes fully loaded
All 100 series jackets feature same specifications;
* 1000D fabric thickness - nearly twice thickness as industry average
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* External CE rated hard ABS plastic armour - shoulders & elbows
* Over-size YKK metal zips - main front & pockets
* Easy zip-out inner thermal liner covering body & arms
* Inside & outside zip pockets
* High-viz fluro panels with integrated reflective silver accents
* Waterproof construction
Rickman series 100
Nighthawk series 101
Blackhawk series 102
KiCKStartiNg
THe kIds
O HVAL e f IM M INI GP
WORds: NICk edARds PHOTOGRAPHY: NICk edARds ANd ROB MOTT
BIKE RACIng AT ALL levels is an expensive sport and the costs involved are a hindrance to getting young riders into the sport at the earliest possible age to maximise their chances of developing into national or international grade competitors. it’s no secret that getting them young is part of what makes countries like Spain and Italy such prolific sources of racing talent.
The FIM MiniGP Series, a global series that had its first Australian outing in 2022 and goes from strength to strength as the 2024 season gets underway, has become a compelling option as a development series for younger riders.
FIM MiniGP is part of an overarching program of rider development with the top riders in the local series having the opportunity to participate in the FIM MiniGP World Series final which will take place during the week of the final round of MotoGP in Valencia. The winner of that series will secure a place in one of the FIM Road to MotoGP programs subject to age and regional compliance.
Ohvale Australia runs the FuSport FIM MiniGP Australia Series which has a calendar of five events across NSW, VIC, QLD and SA with the first round having kicked off at Oakleigh in Victoria, March 2-3. Ohvale Australia’s Dim Papaconstantinou, looking ahead to the new season said: “Wayne (Maxwell), Nick (Angelopoulos) and I are pretty excited about the 2024 season. It’s fantastic to have FuSport Boots as our main sponsor in 2024 as they’re as passionate about junior development and racing as we are. With almost half of our field being new to the Ohvale Series for 2024, it’s going to be amazing to see the fresh talent, alongside the returning riders shape the competition this season. ” : :
The circuits used for MiniGP are generally karting tracks with short straights and tight corners which place high demands on the riders. The Ohvale’s require real skill to race, skills that are directly transferable to bigger bikes and bigger circuits. Not only are they a great development tool for young riders but they’re an accessible training tool for riders, like Cam Dunker, who are already racing at the highest level of national competition in the Australian Superbike Series on.
Dunker the current 190cc Australian MiniGP champion will be taking on a whole new challenge in 2024 as he steps all the way up to the premier Australian roadrace series, ASBK Superbikes where he’ll be riding the Penrite Yamaha R1M. Dunker clearly has a great affinity for the MiniGP series as he told us ahead of Round One of the 2024 season - “I had an amazing season last year in the FIM MiniGPAustralia series racing for the Livson Racing Team. It was such an honour to take out the 2023 title and representAustralia at the World Final in Valencia, Spain.”
There’s two classes within the series, 160cc for 10-14 year olds and 190cc class for 12-16 year olds. Engines are sealed, so no modifications are allowed which ensures a level playing field for all riders.
There’s also four support classes which, which make for an entertaining weekend of small-track, close racing.
Multple ASBK champion Wayne Maxwell, now with Ohvale Australia has put all his weight behind the series -
“After two full seasons, including two trips to the World Series finals in Spain, the newly named 2024 FuSport FIM MiniGP Australia series is going to be exciting. We are very happy to have Bruce (Collins) & FuSport onboard supporting both the series and the development of the junior racers here in Australia. We have a bunch of new kids starting this year and with the 2023 champions returning it will be a really great space to learn and develop as racers .”
Round One saw Levi Russo take out FIM MiniGP 190cc class ahead of brothers Bodie Paige and Jake Paige. In 160cc, it was Judd Plaisted that took top honours with Cooper Horne and Isaac Ayad taking out second and third. The series moves to Cameron Park in Newcastle NSW for Round 2 on April 13th-14th. AMM : :
TOUR DATES 2024
JUN 8 - 22, SEP 7 - 21
COUNTRIES
Serbia, Bulgaria, Republic of North Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo
Badge of
HONOuR
H ARL e Y I s BAC k IN TH e LAM s GAM e AN d THI s TIM e IT ’s se RIO us.
BACK In 2020, WhEn the world lost its mind over the Rona, harley-Davidson discontinued its last learner-legal bike available in Australia, the Street 500. It was a sad day for many, the Street had enjoyed immense popularity after its release, with harley-Davidson selling bucketloads of these bikes to riders seeking a learner-legal experience, complete with the iconic harley logo. Now, may whatever sky-God you believe in strike me down for saying this, but the Street 500, although a ridiculously popular bike,
was, well, not a particularly good motorcycle, but such is the way of things with a Harley badge on them riders still bought the sucker.
“ Is It an Improvement on the street 500? You bet It Is, and I reckon the moco Is goIng to sell boatloads. ”
Four years have passed, and the tears of loss have dried. HarleyDavidson has now introduced the new X500 to soothe the masses. Is it an improvement on the Street 500? You bet it is, and I reckon the MoCo is going to sell boatloads—it sure as hell performs better.
If the X500 looks somewhat familiar to the eye, you’re not imagining things. Harley probably wouldn’t want me to mention that the X500 is essentially a Benelli Leoncino 500 with a few Harley insignias, a single binnacle gauge, and a Sportster-inspired rear
LAM s L e GION
BIKE: Benelli Leoncino 500
PRICE: $9,390 ride away
SEAT hEIghT: 785mm
WEIghT: 170kg (Dry, claimed)
BIKE: Kawasaki Z650RS
PRICE: $13,876 ride away (ex NSW)
SEAT hEIghT: 800mm
WEIghT: 186kg (Kerb, claimed)
end, so I won’t. However, even if the X500 happens to be a rebadged Benelli, which I’m not explicitly saying it is, that wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. The Leoncino is, after all, a damn fine motorcycle for its $9,890 asking price.
In comparison with the X500, Harley’s Street 500 weighed more, had less poke, and handled like a shopping trolley with a bung wheel. Setting looks aside, as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the X500 is a superior bike in every metric you care to measure.
At the heart of the new Hog is a 4-valve parallel-twin engine, featuring double overhead cams and a 500cc capacity, snugly nestled within a steel
BIKE: Triumph Speed 400
PRICE: $8,990 ride away
SEAT hEIghT: 790mm
WEIghT: 170kg (Wet, claimed)
trellis frame. Its LAMS approved status means it won’t ever deliver blistering performance, but with 35 kW of power (47hp) and 46Nm of torque, it provides enough oomph to get you both into and out of trouble.
It’s a highly usable mill, almost as content screaming down the highway as it is causing trouble around town. Grunty enough down low, it truly thrives when lashed; keep the revs up, be slick with your gear changes, and you can cruise along with vim. This engine can and will maintain speeds of 100-plus on an open road without revving its freckle off, allowing you to embark on a weekend of shenanigans with your big-Harley-riding mates without feeling totally shamed. The top speed is rumoured to be above 150 km/h, or so I’m told.
The engine is paired with a 6-speed gearbox that exhibits an affinity for false neutrals if you don’t shift with conviction. To be fair, the X500 I was riding had minimal kilometers on the clock, so its penchant for neutrals might subside with a few more clicks under its 17-inch rims. It could even perform better without a savage like me banging through the gears with a size 15 boot.
Keeping the 208kg package on the road is a chucky set of 50mm USD forks and with mildly adjustable monoshock on the rear. It’s not top-shelf kit, obviously, and anyone expecting such luxury for the $11,495 ride-away asking price is in for a disappointment and should be lined up and flogged. Having said that, both ends do a fine job until you start asking too much of the X500, but that comes at a fair clip. When you do get excited, you’ll notice some wallowing through fast bumpy corners and larger road imperfections can smash your internal organs and wrists.
One might easily assume that the X500’s suspension is on the harsh side with such comments. However, it’s more a matter of suspension that is too soft for my size and speed. With my substantial frame on board, half of the suspension travel is consumed before even setting in motion, and the perceived harshness is simply the X500 exhausting its available travel. This is nothing a visit to a suspension tuner wouldn’t fix, and every bike would benefit from some suspension love.
With the exception of Harley’s
Pan America, The Motor Company’s bikes aren’t known for their ability to take a corner without grinding millimetres and grams of metal away.
THuMBs uP
3 Big bike looks, big bike comfort.
3 Peppy engine performance.
3 It has Harley logos on it.
dOWN
7 $2105 premium over a very similar bike from another manufacturer.
7 The single-binnacle gauge is junk.
7 Its weight and seat height may daunt shorter riders.
The X500 is miles ahead in this regard, but you will strike bare metal if you’re playing hard.
If you are prone to cornering at a respectable clip, you’ll need to get that arse of yours off the seat – motorcycle isn’t a passive sport anyway. Body position is king if you want to get the X500 around a corner with enough pace to impress the other boys and girls and if not the sidestand bracket will get eaten by the road in left turns and the exhaust on the rights.
This is despite the fitment of Maxxis Supermaxx ST tyres which offer the feel of a vinyl condom. They work ok in the wet, and you’ll probably get 100,000 kilometres out of them thanks to their stone-like construction, but as
a sport tyre they’d make a great set of quoits. If you fancy going fast through corners, chuck them in the bin and buy something better.
The X500 features a meaty-looking set of front brakes, boasting fourpiston radial calipers gripping onto a pair of 320mm front discs. At the rear, there’s a single 260mm disc paired with a single-pot caliper. Naturally, both ends are infused with ABS.
The front brakes, while perfectly adequate for run-of-the-mill riding, could do with a touch more feel and an added dose of power as your riding ventures into realms where loved ones frown and coppers rub their hands in glee. Personally, I’d lean towards installing a sportier set of pads, which I
believe would address the brakes quite effectively. On the flip side, the rear brake performs admirably, delivering ample power and offering good feedback through the pedal—ideal for stabilising operations and fat skids if only you could turn the ABS off.
Despite the X500s nakedness and it’s intended purpose as a fine city tooler, the X500 is way more comfortable than I thought it would be. There’s plenty of leg room, and the reach to the wide mx-style bars won’t have your gut draping over the tank if you are adorned with such an asset. It’s rider triangle puts you in an upright but ready-for-action stance for traffic carving duties around town, but also works on a long haul. With a small
screen, you could rip out some fairly relaxed kilometres on the X500.
The X500 is a properly sized bike. It’s not so small that it’ll become wedged between your arse crack, and at least from a size perspective, there’s no need to swap it once you’ve paid your dues to the LAMS lords.
But the X500 isn’t all cupcakes and unicorn farts. Harley has gone with a single binnacle gauge setup that suits the overall look, I guess, but offers sweet FA in terms of information; you don’t even get a fuel gauge. What I really (don’t) love is how the speedo needle flops around while you’re riding along. Yes, you can tell what speed you’re doing, but it’s more about feeling like you are riding a quality
“ despIte the X500s nakedness and It’s Intended purpose as a fIne cItY tooler, the X500 Is waY more comfortable than I thought It would be. ”
piece of kit. The gauge just looks and works like it’s a cheap and nasty part on a bike that, overall, has an excellent level of fit and finish, especially for the price. Apart from ABS, you get no electronic sorcery, but you do get LED lighting, including the neat little headlight resplendent with illuminated Harley-Davidson script.
“ the X500 Isn’t all cupcakes and unIcorn farts. harleY has gone wIth a sIngle bInnacle gauge setup that suIts the overall look, I guess, but offers sweet fa In terms of InformatIon; You don’t even get a fuel gauge. ”
The numberplate bracket could be repurposed as scaffolding or used as a club for beating your opponents and surely weighs a few kilograms –chuck it in the bin with the tyres and fit a fender eliminator for maximum sexy bum.
And my final whinge is about the weight and seat height. Neither of these affected me at all, as I am tall and large. This is a public service announcement for short, weak, or new riders. The X500 has a claimed wet weight of 208kg ready to ride with 13.1 litres of petrol in its steel guts and a seat height of 820mm, which may deter a few people from the new machine. To put that weight into perspective, let’s look at some of the competition vying for your buck.
Kawasaki’s Z650RS has a claimed weight of 186kg, Triumph’s new Speed 400 has a claimed wet weight of 170kg, and even Benelli’s Leoncino 500 has a dry weight of 170kg. Now, allowing for the 12.7 litres of fuel the Benelli carries and allowing a couple of extra kilos for other fluids, that puts the Leoncino in at roughly 185kg wet, meaning Harley has managed to unleash an extra 23 kilograms – remarkable.
Sure, there are a few niggles, but it scores high when judged through the lens of what Harley intended the bike to do. Not that niggles will matter for some; if you absolutely must have a Harley and you’re new to biking, then you probably won’t give a shit about a few minor issues.
Apart from the nasty dash, my complaints centre around the X500’s limitations as a sports ride, and to be fair, it isn’t meant to be a sports bike. If sporty riding is your preference, there are better bikes for you. If you still decide you need a Harley, you’re going to be very disappointed when you try to follow your mates on their sports
bikes through a series of corners when you graduate to a big twin – the X500 is like a MotoGP compared to any of the big twins.
Filter out the sooking of an experienced rider with big proportions, big ambitions and big expectations (me) and you’ll realise that the X500 does exactly what it says it does on the tin and a little bit more. It’s a great way to get involved with the legendary brand while you learn your craft, and it’s versatile enough to play on, big enough to feel like a proper bike, comfortable enough to get away for a weekend of debauchery and perfect for fanging around town looking shit-hot. AMM
SPeCS
ENGINE
Capacity: 500cc
Type: Parallel-twin, DOHC, four-valves per cylinder
Bore & stroke: 69 x 66.8mm
Compression ratio: 11.5: 1
Cooling: Liquid
Fuelling: EFI
Transmission: Six-speed
Clutch: Wet, multiplate
Final drive: Chain
PERFORMANCE
Power: 35kW (47HP) @ 8500rpm (claimed)
Torque: 46Nm @ 6000rpm (claimed)
Top speed: 165km/h (est)
Fuel economy: 4.85 1/100km
ELECTRONICS
ABS
Lights: All LED, low beam, high beam and signature position lamp. All LED Tail/Stop, front signal lights and rear turn signals.
Gauges: Combined electronic instrument stepper motor indicating vehicle speed, digital indicates rpm, hour, total trip, two trips (A + B), km/mile indication
CHASSIS
Frame material: Steel
Frame type: Trellis
Rake: 24.5°
Trail: 100.4mm
Wheelbase: 1485mm
SUSPENSION
Type: H-D
Front: 50mm, rebound adjustable. Rear: Monoshock, rebound and preload adjustable
TYRES & BRAKES
Tyres: Maxxis Supermaxx ST
Front: 120/70-ZR17
Rear: 160/60-ZR17
Brakes: H-D
Front: Twin 320mm disc, four-piston caliper
Rear: Single 260mm disc, single-piston floating caliper
DIMENSIONS
Weight: 208kg (wet, claimed)
Seat height: 820mm
Length: 2135mm
Ground clearance: 153mm
Fuel capacity: 13.1L
COST AND COLOURS
Price: From $11,495 ride away
Colour options: Dramatic Black, Dynamic Orange, Supersonic Silver or Pearl White
CONTACT:
www.harley-davidson.com/au
sOMe OTHeR VIeWs
CLoSE youR EyES FoR a second. Well, not right now, obviously, because you’re trying to read. But maybe when you finish here, close your eyes, and picture yourself as a 17 year-old, back at high school.
It’s Monday, and you’re on your way to school on a fresh Spring morning. You’re only on your Learner’s permit, but that doesn’t stop you from riding your motorcycle to school. Because motorcycles rock. You rumble into the school carpark and find a spot between all the teachers’ Corollas and Teslas.
You park your bike and get off, and as you remove your helmet you notice the sun glinting on the tank, the Harley-Davidson logo gleaming. You look across to the edge of the carpark, where a group of girls are standing, looking at you like you are some kind of supermodel, emerging from the ocean in slow motion, water dripping from your muscular physique and onto the sand.
You’re not, of course. You’re just walking through the carpark at school, but you just got off a Harley, so you’re the coolest thing those girls have ever seen in the flesh. Imagine how
Right: Liam found the bike interesting, but too small and not sporty enough for his tastes.
Above: There’s real value in that logo.
different school life would have been. Now imagine you’re a girl. You are now the coolest chick in school. Shit like this was important when we were 17. And that, my friends, is entirely the point of this motorcycle. You can complain that it’s built in China (so is your iPhone), and you can complain that it’s not a V-Twin. You can even complain that the damping rates on the rear shock are not flash, and that there’s a few little bits on this bike that probably don’t scream “quality”. But none of that matters much.
Because this bike is all about creating what marketing people call a “touch point” between Harley and new riders. The Street 500 died a few years ago, and that didn’t sadden me, because it was an ugly shitbox. Sorry, but it had to be said. But there are thousands, neigh, tens of thousands of people around the world who don’t currently ride a motorcycle, and would love to ride a Harley. This new bike, along with the new X350, gives those riders that opportunity.
It’s not built for me. If I want a Harley I’ll buy a big one. But it is absolutely for people who don’t ride now. And anything that gets more bums on bike seats is a great thing.
As for how good it is, that’s always a hard thing for experienced riders like me to judge. We have unfair expectations. It wouldn’t stand up to the riding I want to do, but then no LAMS bike would. So I asked a couple
of people who are restricted to riding LAMS bikes what they thought.
Liam Golden came for a ride with me, and while he thought it was a nice enough looking thing, it wasn’t really his go. But then Liam is 6ft 2inches tall and was a little large for it. He also likes his bikes on the sporty side.
Then I asked my friend Gina what she thought. She’s been on her P plates in NSW for almost a year, and as an older rider who has driven a car for a long time, she can upgrade to a non-LAMS bike soon.
Gina was pissed off. Pissed off that this bike came out a couple of years too late for her to have bought one as her first bike. She spent her time on a Yamaha R3, and while she loves it, hindsight is a wonderful thing. She freely admits she may have found learning to ride a little easier on something with higher, wider bars, a more upright riding position, and with less need to rev it’s heart out to make progress.
She thought the X500 looked “sweet” and said she would have love to be riding around on a Harley, with everything that comes with that. And that, my friends, is the ball game.
Harley isn’t out to impress experienced riders with this bike, although some may choose one if they’re looking for bike for town duties. They are out to impress new riders, and in the main, they will succeed. Particularly with the older ones who
value the brand highly.
Is it a good bike? Yeah, it is. It’s built to a price, so you get what comes with that, which is fair. Sure, there are bikes that may offer better value for money, but they are not Harleys, and whether you like it or not, there is a tangible value to that.
The engine pulls nicely without needing to be whipped like a lame mule, and for the purposes for which it was built, the bike is a good thing.
It’s not for riding through the countryside at lose-you-learnerspermit speeds. That’s when you will find its limitations, which are mainly the tyres and the suspension. The tyres seem to have a very stiff carcass which contributes to some harshness in the ride quality (even lowering the pressures didn’t help much), but that’s an easy fix. Put some more supple tyres on and it will be transformed.
The suspension can be fixed too if it bothers you. It may not.
My only other real gripe is the adjustable levers are a bit too far from the bar for some riders, even on their closest setting. They have four available settings, but there’s not much difference between them, and small-handed riders will struggle a little. But they can be swapped for better ones too. The levers, not the hands.
If I were a new rider, this would be on my short list.
TuG’s HOT TAkes
Thumbs down for the cheap brake and clutch levers and the tiny fuel warning light that’s easy to miss. It’s also pretty heavy, and quite tall, so will not suit small riders. But that’s ok, the X350 might.
Thumbs up for the warmblooded engine, reasonably comfy seat, and the ability to sit on freeway speeds happily. It’s more than fast enough to keep most new riders smiling, and even some experienced riders.
And a bigger thumbs up for making Harley-Davidson ownership available to novices once again. You’ve been missed from the LAMS market.
a Brough LooK oN Life, MOTORCYCLes ANd COCkATOO IsLANd
On An ISLAnD In Sydney surrounded by the luxury of harbourside mansions and parklands sits the remains of a long past convict penal establishment and an industrial complex that maintained Australia’s submarine fleet.
This space was once thriving with the sound of clanging metal chains and cranes lifting giant crankshafts and the voices of craftsman working on enormous metal lathes and mills machining their pieces to precise specifications. The sandstone buildings and iron workshops are now silent except for the sound of the footsteps of tourists on the concrete paths and wind rattling an old window
in the empty workshops. Somewhere ahead the fluttering of a pigeon’s wings echo in the hall, while the sun’s rays’ stream through a break in frosted glass highlighting the dust swirling from the wind.
These empty halls of Cockatoo Island and harbour backdrop are a perfect location to host the Sydney Harbour Concours D’Elegance for 2024. A display of over 80 vintage, classic, super cars, motorcycles and motorboats sponsored by Ampol. The three days in March also showcased the elegance of fine cuisine prepared by celebrity chef Sean Connolly, complemented with Champagne Pommery and Chateau La Gordonne rose. The he gorgeously dressed ladies walking around turned as many heads in admiration as the cars that were on display. It highlighted the mastery of design, the workmanship of engineers and craftsmen and
WORds ANd IMAGes: BOB WOZGA WITH THANks TO sTeVe TITe fROM BROuGH suPeRIOR
Left: The line up.
Below right: The turbo charged 997cc AMB 100. Bottom right: Each motorcycle has a number on the fuel tank denoting its production run. For example 2 of 19.
Right: Also on their stand was the British designed electric ARC Vector. (Right)
Below right: Every bike is personally signed by the builder.
Bottom right: The highest quality of machining is used throughout these motorbikes.
“ brough superIors are now an eXclusIvelY french produced motorcYcle beIng created In toulouse. wIth onlY 3000 motorcYcles produced over 20 Years. each Is unIque, each IndIvIdual buIlder stakIng hIs reputatIon bY havIng theIr sIgnature on the frame. ”
imagination of artisans. A meld of engineering excellence and luxury. In amongst the Jaguars, Bentleys, Porsches, Ferrari’s are the Brough Superiors.
Founded in 1919 by George Brough, he clearly knew the target market he wanted to produce his motorcycles for. Built with the specific goal of producing luxury motorcycles that capture the heart of the adventurer and the rich and famous, they are not merely collectors’ pieces to be displayed in a cabinet, they are designed to be ridden and appreciated. The first SS100 was created in 1924 and was the first motorcycle to break the 100-mph barrier.
Stylish lines and an unblemished finish coupled with performance and speed that lesser motorcycles could not match, George achieved his goal of producing a motorcycle that gained a mythical reputation. They were the Rolls Royce of motorcycles.
The company stopped production in 1939 due to World War 2 and the unavailability of quality components and materials. In 2004, Mark Upton -
an Englishman with a vision - bought the brand and with Frenchman Thierry Henriette from Boxer Design revived the brand ensuring it maintains the same luxuriousness that George Brough envisioned.
Brough Superiors are now an exclusively French produced motorcycle being created in Toulouse. Only 3000 motorcycles have been produced in 20 years. Each is unique, each individual builder staking his reputation by having their signature on the frame. Each motorcycle has a number on the fuel tank denoting its production run. For example 2 of 19.
The most prominent collector of the Brough Superior motorcycles was TE Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). With an unbridled passion for the motorcycles, he owned seven SS100’s and named each after King George, naming them George 1 to George 7. The eighth, he had on order when he died after swerving to avoid hitting children on bicycles while racing along a country lane near his home in Dorset.
The motorcycles in the range are the Lawrence with only 188 made in celebration of Lawrence’s year of birth – 1888. Then there is the Dagger, a 1000cc roadster, a Lawrence variant
as is the Nefud. The bodies of these, in keeping with the influence of Lawrences Bedouin dagger he was gifted and carried on his belt after capture of Aqaba during the Arab revolt in 1917. The SS100 with its classic1920’s style. The Pendine Sand Racer that continues the folklore of the recklessness of racing on Welsh beaches, and the Anniversary with only 100 handcrafted motorcycles produced to commemorate 100 years of motorcycling heritage.
The motorcycles are sleek and
aerodynamic.
Recently, Brough Superior collaborated with Aston Martin to create the AMB001, the first ever Aston Martin motorcycle. Only 100 of these have been created and produced as a track bike. The second AMB model, the AMB001 Pro, of was on show on Cockatoo Island, inspired by the Aston Martin Valkyrie with its iconic side stake incorporates the design running along the top length of the bike from the fuel tank to the rear accentuating its fin. The
aerodynamic wings to the cowl on the front of the are taken from the S-curve found on the front of Aston Martins that create aerodynamic downforce when riding.
Powered by a turbo charged 997cc water cooled DOHC 8 valve 88 degree V-twin with 4 valves per cylinder and composite chain/gear cam chain, it delivers 134kW at a dry weight of 175kg. The engine covers are machined from a solid aluminium billet ensuring uniform heat distribution.
A 6 speed gearbox with an APTC clutch – (this slipper clutch assures maximum rear wheel grip during acceleration and anti-hopping during downshifting resulting in a softer clutch leaver giving less clutch spring load and no clutch lever vibration when disengaging the clutch).
The chassis is CNC machined from a solid block mounted to the V-twin engine with a subframe comprising titanium and carbon fibre completing the innovative chassis.
The front suspension utilises Fior-type CNC machined aluminium forks with twin articulated links and preload and rebound adjustable mono-shock with112mm travel. The double wishbone front suspension is designed to stop braking dive resulting in precise steering and stabilization when cornering. Rear suspension is a CNC machined aluminium swingarm pivoted on the engine crankcases. A mono-shock allows adjustable preload and rebound damping and progressive rate link with124mm travel. With a length of 2119mm,
width of 645 and a comfortable seat height of 851mm, the AMB001 Pro is a nicely proportioned package.
When you get close and personal to the Brough Superior, look at the quality, attention to detail and sophistication, and you can understand the mystique they hold and why they command the prices they do. The AMB 001 retails for $185,000.
I Spoke with Steve Tite from Brough Superior Australia, the Australian distributer, about the Brough Superior brand at the Sydney Harbour Concours D’Elegance and in particular, the AMB001.
how did the collaboration of Brough motorcycles and Astin Martin to design the AMB001 originate?
“We were introduced through a
Petroleum company), sponsor of Aston Martin in Endurance, Sponsor and oil provider for Brough Superior (through its motorcycle oil Elf). We were invited to the AML HQ having been introduced by this common partner. We met with their management and the idea of making a motorcycle in partnership came naturally.”
how long was it in design before the final product?
“About 18 months, design over the first 6 months and then one year of development.”
The AMB001 Pro was designed as a track bike, are there plans to create a road version?
“This Turbo charged track bike ends with the Pro, making 188 units in total
impossible to develop a road version from this base, that was clear from the start of the project. This is why the bike is so sculptural and optimized, no need for the rigors of ADR for example in Australia.
What is the targeted market for the AMB 001 and being hand crafted, are the Brough Superior motorcycles made to order and modified to customer’s requirements?
“It is a designer bike, the first hyperbike ever, a creation without concessions, completely free, free from the classic requirements for a production motorcycle (cost price, competition, homologation approval, etc.). This is why the bike is so sculptural and optimized. Its exclusivity and rarity make it a collector’s motorcycle, the majority of buyers are collectors of exceptional cars and motorcycles.
As to the customization of the motorcycles. Absolutely, one of the great opportunities for potential Brough Superior customers is that they can customize their motorcycle in whatever way they wish in terms of colourways, finishes etc. There are no two
Brough Superiors the same worldwide.”
Which Brough Superior models are available in Australia?
“The SS100, Lawrence, Dagger and Pendine are available in stock in Australia these are the stock motorcycles within the range. All Brough Superior motorcycles are available to purchase in Australia and all Road types have passed through the ADR process.
how are these motorcycles ordered and what is the wait time for delivery?
“We discuss all of the customers
desires regarding their customization options through meeting with them and going through the options available for their model of choice. All models can be ordered simply through our website but generally with this type of machine it is a process to achieve a desired end result. From order placement to delivery is generally between 3 to 6 months depending upon the desired requirements.”
“Brough Superior Australia are the Australian/New Zealand Distributors based in Brisbane and we have appointed two Dealers to date in N.S.W. and Victoria whose details you can find on our website.“ www.broughsuperioraustralia.com.au/dealers/
National Distributor is Brough Superior Australia at Yeerongpilly, Qld.
Sydney Dealer is Gasoline Motor Co at Waterloo, NSW.
Melbourne Dealer is Antique Motorcycles and Naked Racer Workshop at Cheltenham, Victoria. Designed to turn heads as they ride past and desired by those that dream of riding one, the Brough Superiors hit the mark.
2024 MOTuL fIM
r1 - PhiLLiP iSLaNd
N IC k e d AR ds HA s se L e CT ed s OM e O f HI s fAVO u RIT es TO s HAR e WITH O u R R e A de R s.
Above: Photographer Nick Edards
Below: Locatelli leading the field
A R u BA . IT R ACING – fACTORY d u CATI
Double-WorldSBK
champion Alvaro Bautista’s attempt to win the series for a third time in a row is made a bit more challenging by the new combined bike/rider minimum weight limit. This requires his bike to carry around 6kg of additional ballast and whilst he’s clearly not happy with this development, his performances at Round One, despite a crash in Race One, seem to suggest that he and the team are working the problem well. Even bigger news was 2023 World SuperSport champion Nicolò Bulega’s elevation to a factory seat in Superbikes and almost instant adaptation to the bigger bike. New lap record and pole position in Tissot Superpole, a win in his first race in the series and strong performance through the weekend put him in second spot in the series points going to Round Two at Catalunya. Exciting? Oh yes
Jonathan Rea leaving KRT at the end of season 2023, after nine years and six WorldSBK titles, was a seismic shift for KRT. The pressure was on Alex Lowes to step up to the lead rider role and he did so magnificently at Round One with two wins and a fourth place which saw him leading the series going to Round Two. New signing Axel Bassani will take time to adapt to the new bike and will need to settle down a little and calm his fiery instincts, but he does have huge potential. Punting Remy Gardner out of Race One and getting a long-lap penalty didn’t help endure him to Australian fans.
Alvaro Bautista
Aruba.it Ducati garage
Nicolò Bulega
Alex Bassani
Alex Lowes
Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK
RO kI T BMW M OTORRA d W ORL d s B k
Te AM – fACTORY BMW
Toprak Razgatlıoğlu’s move from Yamaha to the consistently underperforming BMW at the end of 2023 surprised many, but he clearly saw untapped potential in the BMW where perhaps he’d taken the Yamaha as far as it could go. His performance at Round One provided some very positive signs although the engine blowing up in Race Two wasn’t the way he would have wanted to end the weekend. It’s also worth considering that PI isn’t your typical WorldSBK circuit so it will take a few more rounds to see how much progress has really been made especially with regards to tyre wear in full-length races. Michael Van der Mark stays with BMW for another year and if he can stay injury free, he could pull off a few surprises on the BMW as well.
PATA P ROM e T e ON YAMAHA –fACTORY YAMAHA
Whilst Yamaha’s highest profile rider is now Jonathan Rea since his defection from KRT, exWorldSBK Supersport champion Andrea Locatelli may be the man to keep an eye on. Now in his third season on a Superbike, he’s quick, consistent, appears to have learned a lot whilst Toprak was his teammate and can be expected to score podium finishes, and hopefully some wins, during the 2024 season. Round One performances showed Rea was struggling to adapt to the Yamaha whereas Loka was on a roll although a roll that was marred by his highside whilst in second place in the final race of the weekend. Rea also crashed in Race Two and whilst both riders avoided serious injury, it wasn’t a fairytale ending to the weekend.
Toprak Razgatlıoğlu
Michael Van der Mark
Above: Toprak Razgatlıoğlu and crew chief Phil Marron
Jonathan Rea
Andrea Locatelli and Jonathan Rea
Team GoEleven took what some might have considered a huge gamble by signing Andreas Iannone given that he’d been sidelined for four seasons as a result of a positive drug test in 2019. But based on Round One performance,
the team’s decision was an inspired decision with ‘The Maniac’ riding like he’d never been away, consistently on the pace and unlucky to have dropped points when a tech issue dropped him from first to fourteenth in Race Two.
B ARNI sPAR k R ACING
Te AM – sAT e LLIT e d u CATI
Barni Racing’s signing of ex-MotoGP star Danilo Petrucci’s at the start of 2023 has worked out magnificently for the team and for Petrucci. Petrux is enjoying his racing more than ever and that’s translating into strong performances capped off, at Round One, by a third place on the podium and lots of smiles. Petrux smiles a lot. And waves. There’s a reason he’s a fan favourite.
Team GoEleven
Andrea Iannone
Danilo Petrucci
Danilo Petrucci
e L f M ARC V ds R ACING
Te AM – sAT e LLIT e d u CATI
Sam Lowes, coming to WorldSBK from Moto2, would have already had a good insiders view of the series as his twin brother Alex has been a fixture since 2014. Sam and the Marc VDS team still have a fairly steep learning curve but their performances at Round One showed that they were already adapting quickly.
GYTR GRT YAMAHA W ORL d s B k Te AM
–
sAT e LLIT e YAMAHA
GRT
Yamaha kept the same rider lineup for 2024 with 2022 World SuperSport champion Dominic Aegerter and ex-MotoGP rider Remy Gardner. It’s a strong lineup and it was unfortunate that Gardner’s progress at Round One was hindered by incidents in both Races One and Two when he was the innocent party.
Right: The heart of the Marc VDS Ducati V4
Sam Lowes
Remy Gardner
Right: Dominic Aegerter
sAT e LLIT e d u CATI
At the end of 2023, Michael Rinaldi lost his seat at Aruba.it factory Ducati to Nicolò Bulega but Bassani’s move to KRT opened up a seat that was perfect for Rinaldi at MotoCorsa Ducati. Very fast on his day, Rinaldi just needs to find a bit more consistency and perhaps the (slightly) lower pressure that comes from being with a satellite team might work to his advantage.
Scott Redding would likely not have been much impressed to lose his seat with the factory BMW team to Toprak but a shift to the satellite team wasn’t the end of the world. Both he and Gerloff will want to demonstrate some real progress on the bike this year. Toprak’s already raised the bar showing what the BMW is capable of and Van der Mark ran strongly at Round One as well. Garrett Gerloff and Redding won’t want to be languishing in midfield if the factory riders are fighting for podiums.
Michael Rinaldi
B ONOVO A CTION BMW – sAT e LLIT e BMW
Scott Redding
Garrett Gerloff AMM
TAKE THE RIDE OF YOUR LIFE
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oN the BoNeS of
fAsCIsTs
WORds BY BORIs MIHAILOVIC IMAGes BY MATT MCINTYRe
T H e uRAL I s
ARG u ABLY ON e O f TH e MO s T CAPABL e A d V e NT u R e V e HICL es e V e R MA de. T HAT IT WA s B u ILT ON TH e MO u L de RING BON es O f fA s CI s T s ONLY MA kes IT e V e R MOR e s O APP e ALING …
ILovE ThIS ThIng. I cannot help myself. Look at it. how can a man not smile when he beholds such a creation? This is absolute function over form. If it had “I go bloody everywhere”, written on it, no-one would be in any doubt. It even comes with a goddamn shovel.
The Ural outfit makes utter sense when you want to ride across the endless Russian steppes, its boundless taiga forests, fording mighty rivers, and wondering if the bears will eat your head first or last. And you thought that shovel was just for digging, huh?
So, if it makes sense in that environment, then it makes just as much sense here in Australia –where we have far fewer bears, and the temperature doesn’t quite get to minus-60 in the winter – but we have enough rugged outback to make a Ural a smart choice.
So let’s get a few things out of the way first, shall we?
It is pronounced “Ooh-rhal”, not “You-ral”, and the name is taken from the Ural Mountains in Russia, which stretch north-south from the islands of Novaya Zemlya in the Arctic, all the way south to the Ural River in Kazakhstan. This is the range that is traditionally viewed as the geological separation of continental Europe and Asia.
I’m only telling you this so you’ll sound like you know what you’re talking about when someone asks you about your vintage outfit – which is not vintage at all.
What it actually is, is stupidly capable of getting you to places and along roads you might very well not have the skill to ride a bike to or along.
“ the worst scenarIo Is that You wIll shIt Yourself, button off, trY and put Your feet down, and the whole eXtravaganza wIll crash to the earth, tearIng off one of Your legs, and death-wobblIng You Into a tree. not lIke a motorcYcle at all, huh?”
And after all, this is not a bike, is it?
There is no counter-steering involved and when you stop, you don’t have to put your feet down because it will just sit there.
It handles differently in left-handers than it does in right handers. Pushing hard in right-handers can be a full upper-body work-out. There’s lots of traction, some crabbing, but if you plan your exit and entry, you should come out the other end.
Left-handers are very different. The sidecar will lift quite easily if you enter the bend sharpish, and several things may then occur.
The best scenario is that you will float the boat majestically and skilfully, safe in the knowledge that it will not tip all the way over, and that you “have this” – which admittedly comes with practice.
The worst scenario is that you will shit yourself, button off, try and put your feet down, and the whole extravaganza will crash to the earth, tearing off one of your legs, and death-
wobbling you into a tree.
Not like a motorcycle at all, huh?
Then there is the two-wheel-drive aspect of it.
A simple lever on the right-hand side engages the sidecar wheel via a dog-clutch set-up, and if you thought one-wheel drive was pretty good in the rough stuff, prepare to be amazed. On sealed surfaces, just leave it in one-wheel drive and you won’t be fighting its tendency to want to overtake itself.
Nothing happens quickly in terms of acceleration. There are 41 horses and 57Nm of torque. There are only four gears and a reverse (also activated by a lever on the right-hand side of the bike), and while it will sit on 100-110 all day, it takes maybe until lunchtime to get there. Yes, they will do 120-anda-bit, but they are not happy at those speeds, and neither will you be.
At the speed limit, they are relatively neutrally behaved in a straight line, and you’re not really fighting it so much as keeping a guiding hand upon the tiller as it were.
Of course, it really is about the dirt – and this is where the Ural shines. Mud, ruts, rocks, steep descents and ascents, and trails which you would never even attempt on a bike, are the Ural’s meat’n’taters. The ease with which the outfit manages off-road work is truly brilliant.
But be prepared to ride it and engage with it. The laws of physics remain constant, and in rough terrain, you are required to abide by those laws and understand the whole sidecar paradigm.
It is very unlikely something will go pear-shaped, but if it does, understand it will be on a scale you could scarce
believe possible. With any luck, you will be crushed and maimed, and death will be quick.
But like I said, this is highly unlikely. You are far more likely to brutalise yourself on a normal bike out on the scrub than you are on one of these.
As you might expect, change and development on the Urals is glacial –and much of it is governed by emission laws – which will explain the beaut steam-punk look of the exhaust system.
The seat is very comfy, but it has a gel-layer on the top. This gel turns into lava when you leave the bike in the sun, and does move under your arse in spirited riding, which is initially offputting, but you get used to it and just go with the squirming effect.
There are no ride-modes, but there is a hand-brake.
The headlights work but you really have no business riding around at night in the wilderness because something may well eat you. Let’s just say the lumens are legal, and be at peace.
The blinkers and lights are all vast and may well be seen from space if they were brighter.
The tank holds 19 litres, with around four in reserve, and that is good for more than 300km.
It is shaft-driven – as is the sidecar wheel when you decide to engage two-wheel-drive, the shocks are Sachs, the brakes Brembo, and the knobby tyres are German Heindenaus, a company which specialises in rugged off-road hoops, perfect for the Ural.
It has a huge boot in the back of the sidecar, a very extensive tool kit, a jerry can to carry extra fuel, the anti-bear shovel I mentioned earlier, and a spare tyre and wheel which replaces any of the three wheels you might destroy in your travels. There’s even some touch-up paint.
There have been some marked improvements this year, with better casting and more precise machining of the all-new crankcase. The twopiece front-bearing housing has been redesigned and comes with a bolt-on oil-squirter, and there’s new rubber seal between the case and the rearbearing housing.
The flat-head tappets have been replaced with roller tappets, which has reduced wear, and permitted more consistent adjustment of the valve-clearances.
THe PeOPLe sPeAk
Childrenwave at you when you ride this this. People stare. Motorcyclists of my vintage smile and pore over every detail – and there are lot of details – and wonder how such a thing is still made in this day and age.
The reaction of passengers varies. And I know this because I once worked as a side-car-driving tour-guide for tourists keen to experience the sights of Sydney inside the Ural’s rather roomy boat.
My clientele varied from older English ladies, still jet-lagged and drunk from the plane, to starryeyed Asian couples keen to try something new while their tattooed tour-guide yelled at them to sit still and keep their arms inside the sidecar.
And you can take two people – one in the boat and one on the back of the actual bike.
The whole outfit weighs 331kg, but it can happily chug along, fully loaded, at 600kg. The operative word there you will note is “chug”.
My wife, Lynette, hates being a side car passenger. She says it terrifies her, and while she is quite happy to sit behind me at 200km/h on a normal bike, her time in the sidecar is an exercise in naked fear.
Mates I’ve carted around usually laugh. When I float the boat (lift the sidecar into the air), this laughter either increases or stops, depending on the mate.
So, you either like it or hate it.
I took Aaron’s young daughter, Maisie, for a spin around the bloke, and she kept telling me to go faster, as if the poor child imagined that was any kind of option available to me.
In terms of riding such a thing… well, you can either do it or you can’t. I have seen experienced motorcyclists like Aaron hop on, and almost immediately get the third wheel into the air on left-hand turns. I have also seen experienced motorcyclists wobble around paddocks for ten minutes before hopping off, trembling and swearing they would never attempt such a thing ever again.
The Ural is, by any measure, an acquired taste. AMM
And all the U-joints on the side car have been replaced with CV-joints.
So it is a better mousetrap. The over-arching feel of the Ural remains one of serious robustness. I have seen these things ford fastrunning Siberian rivers submerged to the top of the petrol tank, and emerge the other side with the rider hooting and laughing. They are uncomplicated, very ruggedlymade and able to cope with a fair amount of extremely trying conditions and roads.
It is very much the ultimate kind of Adventure vehicle, but it is not for everyone, and nor should it be.
Well, yes. And no.
The first Ural was modelled on a BMW sidecar called the R71. Legend has it five of these were secretly purchased by helpful Swedes and brought to Russia in the late Thirties. In all likelihood, the Germans (ironically, as it turned out) simply supplied their Russian thenallies with the drawings.
In any case, Soviet engineers created or reverse-engineered the Beemers, and in 1941 showed Papa Stalin the Dniepr M-72 – one of which still exists in the IMZ-Ural factory in Irbit, Russia. IMZ stands for ‘Irbitsky Mototsikletny Zavod’ (Irbit Motorcycle Factory).
But where is Irbit?
It’s a few hundred kms north of Kazakhstan in the Sverdlovskaya Oblast region of Russia – which is sort of in the middle there. If you get to the town of Alapayevsk from Yekaterinburg and turn right, you’ll find it. If you hit Verkhnaya Sinyachikha, you’ve gone too far.
The Ural factory was there because that’s where Stalin moved it to so it would not fall into German hands as the Nazis advanced into Russia. And it was left there after the war. Probably in case the Germans ever decided to come back for another crack.
So, the state-owned IMZ was
transformed into a private entity in 1992, then in 1998 it was bought by a Russian-Georgian businessman called Kakha Benukizde, and promptly started going broke. Production stopped in 2000. Benukidze sold the company to the current CEO, Ilya Khait, a Russianborn American and two of his mates, and after some major restructuring, Ural was back in business, focusing entirely on building sidecars.
When Russia’s Special Military Operation in the Ukraine kicked off, the resultant sanctions forced Ural to relocate its assembly facilities to Petropavl in Kazakhstan, some 600km south of Irbit.
And here we are today.
IT’s RussIAN, RIGHT?
“We’Re eNdING fAsCIsM ANd dO YOu HAVe PANTs?”
Ninth
of February 1700 hrs.
A Ural pulls up in my driveway. Its unmistakable sound made me quickly swallow the last mouth full beer, before removing myself from the lounge and heading outside.
It was a warm summer afternoon, and I was greeted by Boris and Matt McIntyre (photographer), and the Ural was surrounded by children admiring/pondering it.
After Boris took my daughter Maisy for a spin, he looked at me and said: “Come on! What are you waiting for? We are off to defeat fascism and do you have pants?”
Fair enough I thought. Fascism will not easily surrender to a beer-breathed Aussie in a pair of board shorts.
I went in search of the most military, antifascist gear I had. As I dug through the clothes in the wardrobe, Maisy came in and told me the Ural was fun, and that she told Boris to go faster but disappointingly, he didn’t. Maisy and her brother, Owen, race motocross, and don’t mind going quick.
I re-emerged from the house, semi-ready for conflict. the resounding “Is that what you’re wearing?” My wife asked as I bid her farewell.
I didn’t answer Boris and I headed toward the setting sun in search of fascism, and we found an abandoned coal field, which was close enough. And it was here the Ural showed its true self.
I was the passenger. But I’m not a good passenger on or in anything, I am a rider, and I’d rather be in control of my own fate. That being said, and this being only my second time as a passenger in a sidecar, I felt the Ural was pretty damn good. Previous memories of being in a sidecar haunted me. I’d hated it. And at times I felt it would be safter to just jump out and walk home.
To my surprise, I had no such feelings in the Ural’s boat. Did I trust Boris as a rider? Yes, of course. But that wasn’t the issue. We were in some pretty difficult terrain; rough surface, steep inclines, water washouts. Hugely challenging on any bike or in a 4WD.
The question, was on the Ural, could I comfortably sit at ease, while Boris navigated such terrain?
The answer was quick in coming and it was a resounding “Yes!”
The Ural is all about real, offroad practicality and ability. It goes places; even places you would not think it will go. It just goes there.
After we had done some laps on the old coal pad for photos, Boris commented that “There’s nothing wrong with the seat on the bike, it’s quite comfortable”.
“There’s nothing to complain about in the sidecar either,” I replied, as the big bastard threw the chair in the air to see if I would scream. I did not. I race motocross. I’m hard to scare.
The boat’s seat is actually comfortable, and the quality materials and heavy-duty frame the sidecar is made from feels quite substantial and secure, and at no point did any part of me feel vulnerable or cramped. If I did have a request, it would be that the suspension be a little friendlier for the sidecar passenger, but we were off road on some proper terrain.
All in all, the passengers experience on the Ural was acceptable, and even quite pleasant. I was comfortable, I was never overcome with the need to bail from the boat in fear of my life, and one could sit relatively at ease and allow the rider to do the worrying.
As for the fascists, they were not at ease, judging by their quick retreat from the coal pad. Cowards, to a man. As expected.
PLaN Your uLtiMate TAssIe TOuR
WORds: TuG MCCLuTCHIN
PHOTOGRAPHs: TuG MCCLuTCHIN, OLLIe kHeduN, Luke TsCHARke, kRIsTA ePPeLsTuN, seAN sCOTT & WesT COAsT COuNCIL
Main: Parallax error on the road to Gordon Dam. Insert: Queenstown is well worth a visit.
“ there’s also no sIngle rIght waY to have a motorcYclIng holIdaY In tasmanIa. there’s lots of waYs You can do It, and dIfferent approaches wIll suIt dIfferent people. ”
MoST MoToRCyCLISTS
PRoBABLy hAvE
“Tour Tasmania on A Motorcycle” written on their bucket list somewhere. If you don’t have a bucket list (I don’t), maybe you should start one and just write “Tour Tasmania on A Motorcycle” on it, then don’t bother writing anything else. That is all you need.
I have recently returned home from my first trip to Tassie, more than 20 years after I first decided that I would go “one day”. Yeah, I know, what took me so long? I guess life gets in the way.
I’m going to assume that most readers probably have the same intent as me. You’ll get to the apple isle someday but may have not found
yourself ready to go yet. The point of this story isn’t to convince you to go, or to provide you with a travelog to sell you on the idea, but to help you plan to go. Because once you start to plan it, you’ll probably actually do it.
But in the planning, there’s some big decisions to make that will affect your entire holiday, so it’s important to get the basics right to ensure maximum bang for your buck.
There’s also no single right way to have a motorcycling holiday in Tasmania. There’s lots of ways you can do it, and different approaches will suit different people. So, before you start planning your holiday of a lifetime, here are a bunch of things you should consider in order that your holiday outcome is the best it can be.
What type of holiday do you want?
There’s three ways to consider this. You can have a full-bore riding holiday, a sightseeing holiday, or something in between. We had 5 full days in Tasmania including a day off the bikes
Top right: The wildlife is an ever-present danger.
Left: Port Arthur.
in Hobart, so 4 days of riding. They were reasonably big days, and we averaged well over 400km a day. It was the “something in between” type of holiday, but we didn’t really nail it. We had a great time, and rode plenty of great roads, but we feel like we missed out on seeing some things we’d liked to have seen.
I can tell you 5 days is not enough to do Tasmania properly if that’s the type of trip you are planning. If stopping to look at interesting things and taking pictures isn’t your thing though, then 5 days, or even 4, is a fine holiday duration for the “full-bore” type of trip. You can easily do a lap of the island in 4 days, or even 3, but there’s lots of roads to ride that aren’t necessarily part of doing the fastest lap.
If you want to see everything there is to see, you’ll need a fortnight, at the very minimum. We met another couple in a café at Tullah who had been travelling the island for around a month. They were loving every minute of it.
So, do you want to spend 8 hours a day riding great roads, or only a couple of hours a day riding in between interesting stops? It’s entirely your call.
Take the boat, or hire bikes?
Are you going to fly to Tasmania and pick up hire bikes, or put your bike on the Spirit of Tasmania ferry?
For me, that one is a no-brainer. I much prefer to have my own bike and luggage. I’m not really a fan of the stress that comes with hire bikes, always worrying about them being stolen, or the cost of them falling off their sidestand. But then there are plenty of you who are quite happy to hire bikes, and in the interests of efficiency, hiring a bike might be the perfect solution, particularly if the
bike you own might not be ideal for the trip anyway.
It’s probably even more economical for those coming from further away, like Western Australia or Queensland, or from overseas.
Flying down to Tassie and jumping on a hire bike is certainly faster than taking the boat. And airfares from most capital cities are generally cheaper than the cost of getting yourself and your bike on the boat, so that would subsidise your bike hire costs to some extent.
But at the same time, taking the Spirit of Tasmania is, for us at least, part of the experience of going to Tasmania. We had an enjoyable cruise both ways, although the sail to Tassie was a little rough and kept me awake most of the night. Kellie slept straight through though, so maybe I’m just a sook. The trip home was as smooth as Phillip Island’s newly resurfaced front straight.
There are two ferries plying their way back and forth across Bass Straight, so most days you will have a choice of sailing at night or during the day. The trip takes roughly 10 hours, but from the time you check in to the time you get off will be more like 12 hours. I would recommend sailing at night, as you can basically use the
ferry trip as a night of accommodation, and there’s no need to waste two days of your holiday at sea when you could be riding. Coming from Sydney, we took three days to get to Geelong where the Spirit of Tasmania departs, via the NSW and Victorian alps, and then headed west to Port Campbell on the Great Ocean Road before making our way back to Geelong to join the check in queue at about 4pm.
I also highly recommend booking yourself a cabin. You can get a cabin with a queen bed (which isn’t cheap), a twin with two small single beds, or a cabin for 4 with two sets of bunks. We took the cabin for 4, even though there were only two of us, as the two extra beds are handy for putting your gear on. The cabins are small and you can only bring one bag each on board; the rest of your luggage has to stay on your bike.
The other benefit of booking the four-berth cabin when there’s only two of you is you get 4 towels. Each cabin has a small but quite good bathroom with a shower, and every motorcyclist knows how good a shower can be, depending on the weather you experienced during your ride to the ferry terminal before boarding. The waiting area before boarding at Geelong is undercover,
but in Devonport you are exposed to the elements while you’re waiting. We were lucky, but waiting to board could be a very unpleasant couple of hours if the weather is bad.
When it is time to board you will be called onto the boat in groups. The bikes will generally all be called on together and parked together in the same part of the boat. You park your bike where directed by the crew, put it on the side-stand and leave it in first gear with the steering unlocked, then take your bag and head for the stairs up to the higher decks. The crew will then tie the bikes down for the trip. On both of our crossings there were at least 60 bikes, and none of them moved through the journey. The crew know their stuff.
We headed for our cabin and had a shower, before wandering off to one of the bars for a few wines before dinner. There is a smorgasbord restaurant where the food is decent and not as expensive as you would imagine. Bar prices are acceptable as well.
If you don’t want to pay for a cabin, you can book a recliner to sit or sleep on, but we had a look at them and it didn’t look like somewhere I could sleep all night. But then I’ve done long haul flights in much worse seats. If you were sailing during the day, it may well be a good option. Day sailors can also sit at the many tables and chairs scattered around the upper decks at the bars.
Overall, we enjoyed the boat trip very much and found it to be a fun part of the Tassie holiday experience. For two of us, plus two bikes, and a four-berth cabin, we paid roughly $1900 for the return trip. The earlier you book, the more you can save. We booked only
three weeks before leaving.
One little tip, if you are sailing at night on the way back to the mainland, The Argosy Motor Inn Bistro is a great place for a feed before you board if you don’t want dinner on the boat. It’s only a few minutes from the port.
Roads?
You’ve heard all about the riding in Tassie. Whether you’re an adventure rider looking for good dirt roads or someone looking for fun tarmac, you’ll find what you’re looking for in copious quantities. It really is motorcycling nirvana.
Google maps is definitely your friend when planning your routes. The street view feature quickly tells you when roads that look like they’re probably fairly main routes and should be tar are actually dirt, and that happens quite a bit. Google maps will also help you plan fuel stops, and we’ll get to how critical that is in a moment.
Tassie roads are categorised as A, B, or C roads. The important roads all have a number designation, preceded by one of those letters.
“A” roads are generally the main
highways. They might be dual lane freeways, or single lane each way country highways. You will find them generally in good condition (especially the freeways). That doesn’t mean A Roads are straight and boring. Some of the best riding roads in the state are A roads.
“B” roads will all be tarmac, and mostly well maintained. There is plenty of motorcycle glory to be had on these roads.
“C” roads look on the map to be some of the most entertaining, and often can be. But some of them will be dirt. They will be well maintained though, so they won’t stretch a road bike, as long as you’re happy with it getting grubby.
If you are an adventure rider, the C roads are your friend.
What not to miss?
Gordon Dam. That’s the big one for me. Partly because it is a mindblowing engineering marvel that you can actually climb down to and walk across, but also because the road in and out is 100km each-way and is an exemplar of motorcycling
wonderment. The scenery is varied and epic and seems to change from one landscape to an entirely different one around every bend. One minute you’d swear you are in Switzerland, towering cliffs spiring above you, and then you round a bend and feel like you are on the moon. It is Australian wilderness at its best.
A lot of people miss it because they’re doing the trip from Strahan/ Queenstown on the West Coast to Hobart, which is already 300-odd kms, and the Gordon Dam detour takes it to over 500km in a day, which is a bit much for some. But our choice was worth it. We both thought the trip to the dam was the highlight of the trip in terms of riding. You can also do it as a day trip out of Hobart, which is a 340km round trip. Beware though, there is no fuel available once you take the turn off and head to the dam 100km away, and, of course, you need to get there and back. Fill up at the little servo at the turn off.
Strahan is beautiful, if a little weird. It’s a tourism town that looks to have been taken over by one company, who seems to own just about every building along the waterfront plus the big hotel on top of the hill. We spent a night in that big hotel, and it was lovely. The buffet dinner at their restaurant was the stuff of legend. We do wish we’d taken an extra night there so that we could have taken one of the boat tours up the river, as just staying overnight does leave you feeling like you missed some good stuff.
Cradle Mountain is one of the most
famous attractions on the island. We got close to it, but the weather and visibility was poor, so we turned back to continue our journey. The problem with a flying visit to Cradle Mountain is that you have to enter the National Park, pay your entry, leave your bike at the parking area, then catch a bus into the park to go and see what you want to see. The bus drops you and you trek along your path of choice (there are a few options) to your chosen vista. One choice is Dove Lake, where you can see the famous boat shed with Cradle Mountain in the background. But that is all very time consuming and fiddly. We decided that with the weather as it was, we wouldn’t be able to actually see Cradle Mountain from Dove Lake as it would be shrouded in cloud and fog, so there wasn’t much point to it all. We chose to put it on the list for our next trip.
If you really want to see Cradle Mountain, I’d recommend staying overnight at one of the accommodation options and taking some walking shoes and comfy walking clothes.
Top left: Tasmania runs at a different pace to the main land.
Bottom left: Cradle Mountain rising above Dove Lake.
Below: If you get lucky you may see the Aroura Australis.
Jacob’s Ladder is stunning, and well worth the ride. It’s probably a little intimidating for some road bike riders, as it’s a dirt road up to Tasmania’s only snow skiing resort, and is made up of switchbacks, mostly with sheer drops to a potentially ugly demise if you get it wrong. Some people on off-road bikes may find it intimidating too, but it’s easy enough to get up there on a road bike assuming the weather is ok. Getting back down if it’s muddy
and slippery might be a little tough on road tyres, but it’s possible.
“ anImals are everYwhere. You’ll see more sIgns warnIng of anImals than warnIng of upcomIng corners. even the bIrds are dangerous. a magpIe commItted suIcIde on mY face. ”
The Frecinet Peninsula is gorgeous and worth a visit. If the weather is hot, go for a swim at Honeymoon Bay or Wineglass Bay. The only thing negative about the Freycinet Peninsula is the cost of accommodation. It’s nuts. The best thing to do is go and visit, then stay at Bicheno (pronounced bish-e-no) about 20 minutes up the coast. We stayed at a hotel where our room had a balcony overlooking the water, and the beach is gorgeous. We had a swim when we arrived then went to dinner in the adjoining pub. Much better value than Coles Bay or any of the other options on the Peninsula.
MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) is a tourism staple in Hobart, and worth a visit. Just make sure your phone is fully charged before you go. The museum does not have information plaques on exhibits, instead you download an app to your phone that uses Bluetooth to know where you are and gives you the info
for each exhibit right to your phone. Beware though, it chews your battery. Port Arthur needs to be visited once by everyone. Firstly, to pay respects to those lost in the horrible massacre in 1996, but also to take in the other terrors that were perpetrated there, in what was one of Australia’s earliest prisons.
dangers?
One of the things that really stands out when you ride around Tasmania is the amount of roadkill on the sides of the roads. It is carnage out there, and I often found myself actually feeling quite sad at the number of animals killed on the roads. We saw a Tasmanian Devil carcass on the southbound freeway out of Hobart, no more than 10km from the CBD.
Animals are everywhere. You’ll see more signs warning of animals than warning of upcoming corners. Even the birds are dangerous. A magpie committed suicide on my face, leaving me with a sore neck for a couple of days. They’re not huge birds, but not
Above: The 99 bends out of Queenstown. Right: This is a Wombat pretending to be a Tasmanian Devil.
small either: when you hit one at over 100Km/h they feel rather heavy. I’ve never been happier to be wearing a full-face helmet.
But for those planning on heading to Tassie with the goal of speeding everywhere, the array of roadside carcasses should give you pause for thought. License demerits aren’t the only things that can hurt you. Or that you can hurt.
You will see plenty of signs advising of substantially lower speed limits in some areas after sunset. This is to try and protect the wildlife, and I’m told the police do target this pretty heavily. I always plan to be off the road and at the bar by sunset, so it wasn’t a worry for me, but there’s plenty of wildlife around during the day too.
While we’re talking about police, I’ve had plenty of people tell me over the years that the Tasmanian Police are nowhere near as rabid as their mainland counterparts. I’d have to agree with this. In our time there we didn’t see a single highway patrol car. The mobile speed cameras are large
white trailers parked on the side of the road that are hard to miss.
Don’t get carried away though; I know a few people who have found police officers that were not so approving of their speeding ways and have received tickets.
All in all, Tasmania seems to be a state that treats people like responsible adults, which is refreshing.
One other danger on Tasmanian roads is the lack of fuel stops, particularly on the west coast. The North, East, and South of the state is pretty well served, but it’s still not the “servo on every corner” that you get on the mainland.
When riding on the West Coast, take fuel stops where you can get them, even if you still have half a tank left. It’s easy to get caught out.
For example, even a place as famous as Strahan doesn’t have a service station. The only fuel available is an unmanned affair 5 kilometres out of town at the airport, where you use a prepaid machine terminal to get fuel. And you won’t find high octane stuff there.
Accommodation type.
So where are you going to stay? There’s all sorts of accommodation, including the usual pub rooms, motels, and Air BnB type places. My advice here is make sure you book before you go.
And do a little research. It’s possible that the place you want to visit and are thinking of staying might be very expensive, and yet just 20 minutes up the road you will find bargains.
Time of year?
We travelled in mid-February and were blessed with 5 days of mostly beautiful
weather. We saw a little drizzle on the morning of day 1, but nothing too bad. The locals told me February and March are the peak times to go for the best chance of good riding weather. But don’t let that stop you from going any time of year. Adventure riders who like to camp might find July enthralling and challenging. Sounds like fun to me.
What gear should I wear?
Whatever the hell you like. I’m all about freedom of choice. But there are some things that will make you more comfortable, and your trip more enjoyable.
Tasmania can be cold any time of year, especially up high, so pack for the worst if you’re heading for the hills. I wore my Held Kevlar jeans with skins underneath every day, with wet weather pants I could throw over if it became wet or extra cold. That was warm enough.
On top I wore my Held Hakuna 2 textile jacket over a t-shirt. The Hakuna 2 is waterproof, has a removeable liner for cold wet days, and has awesome venting front, rear, and in the arms that you can open up when it gets warm to keep the air flowing through the jacket to cool you. It works extremely well. I also took a wet weather over-jacket in case it rained. While the Hakuna 2 is waterproof, it’s a textile jacket so it gets wet when it rains, it just doesn’t let the water get all the way to your skin. I prefer to throw a wet weather outer over the top to keep the rain out completely, then my jacket is still dry the next morning when I go to put it on, rather than being wet, cold, and heavy.
Kellie wore her Dainese 2-piece
leathers, with Held wets over the top when it was a little wet and cold. The wets keep the wind out too, which helps keep you warm.
We both wear Daytona touring boots for rides like this. They are completely waterproof, and super comfortable to ride and walk in. They’re the best boots I’ve ever owned in my 30+ years of riding. Don’t take boots that are uncomfortable for walking, because you will find yourself walking around a bit to look at things on a trip like this.
If you have space in your luggage, take 2 pairs of gloves. Even waterproof gloves get wetand may not dry overnight. It’s always nice to put warm, dry gloves on in the morning.
What to take?
I always take a camera on trips. Partly because I like photography, but also because phones aren’t cameras, and no matter how good they have become at taking photos, they have their limitations. There’s some excellent pocket sized compact digital cameras around that will take much better shots than your phone.
This will sound ridiculously obvious, but if you take medication regularly, don’t forget to have enough for your trip, and pack it. Yes, I’ve been that guy. Trying to get hold of prescription medication while on holiday is a pain in the arse.
Throw in a plastic garbage bag too.
They can be handy for separating dirty clothes from clean ones, putting wet stuff in, or even keeping everything dry if your luggage leaks.
Navigation?
There’s a million options, but I use an app on my phone called Ride With GPS. It allows you to plan your routes on your computer on the app’s website and transfer them to your phone for use on the bike, and it’s great for those into adventure riding too. I then have the option of switching to Google maps if I need to get myself out of a pickle, such as finding the nearest service station, which happened once.
Tools on a trip?
Carry a puncture repair kit with compressed air cartridges and know how to use it. You can be waiting a long time for a tow truck in some
parts of the state.
If you don’t have a Leatherman, get one now. I also carry screwdrivers, a small socket wrench with common sockets, and spanners to suit the common nuts and bolts on the bikes. Then throw in gaffer tape, cable ties (small and large), and don’t forget Allen keys in sizes that suit your bike.
Bike preparation?
Service it before you go. That’s pretty obvious. And if you have a tyre that’s half worn, it will be dead well before you get home. I planned, based on the kilometres we would travel, that I’d need a new rear tyre by the time I arrived back in Geelong off the boat, but I actually had to find a bike shop in Hobart that could fit one a couple of days earlier than that. A big thanks to the guys at Motorworks Motorcycles for squeezing me in and throwing a
new Michelin on the Multi for me. The roads are great, so your tyres will suffer, especially if you carry as much luggage as me. By the time I arrived home in Sydney the front needed replacing too.
Remember that once a tyre looks like it’s half worn, it’s probably 2/3rds of the way gone. That last half seems to wear much quicker than the first half. And don’t forget that motorcycle batteries don’t like cold weather. Make sure your battery and charging system are in good condition before you go.
My recommended Itinerary?
We did roughly a lap of the state, traveling counter-clockwise as you look at the map. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t things in the middle of the state worth seeing. My suggestion is to look into all the things you want to see while you’re there, then plan your route based on those things.
If you ask around amongst friends and Facebook forums about roads that you should make sure you ride, you will get answers like Hellyer’s
Gorge, Elephant Pass, and the 99 Bends near Queenstown. My advice is don’t sweat it too much. Yes, those roads are great fun, but they’re preceded and followed by other fantastic roads too. Don’t get too hung up on the roads. Look for the squiggly lines on the map, check that they’re not dirt if dirt’s not your thing, and go.
Budget?
That’s entirely a matter for you. Adventure riders who spend a lot of time camping can do it on a shoestring. A couple like us who enjoy nice hotels, wine, and food can rack up the bills pretty quickly. Set your budget and plan your trip accordingly.
Fuel in Tasmania isn’t cheap, but it isn’t ridiculously expensive either. It was generally a little over what you pay on the mainland.
For many riders, the biggest single bill will be the ride on the Spirit of Tasmania.
And add the cost of a set of tyres, if you want to be realistic about what it’s all going to cost you.
Is it worth it? You only live once.
Top left: Go in search of mountains. They’re fun. Bottom left: Honeymoon Bay is a fine place for a dip. Above: Gordon Dam is a must, of only for the road in and out.
BuRN
Words: Game over CyCles ImaGes: Game over CyCles & PaWeł
olearka
GBelow: The team from Game Over Cycles.
Bottom: James Hetfield of Metallica and his 1936 Auburn 852 Boattail Speedster “Slow Burn”.
Top right: The bike in it’s raw steal during the build process.
Bottom right: The stunningly smooth lines of the hand made frame and the boattail rear end is just a work of art.
AME ovER CyCLES, A custom bike company from Poland, won 4 awards at 2 competitions organized during Daytona Bike Week 2024, one of the largest motorcycle festivals in the world organized annualy in Florida, uSA (over 600 000 participants in 2023).
In the prestigious Boardwalk Bike Show, the GOC motorcycle won first place in the “Extreme
Bagger” category and the “Best of Show” award for the best vehicle in the competition. In the Rat’s Hole Custom Bike Show, the oldest custom competition in the world, the Polish vehicle again won the “Extreme Bagger” category and one more time was recognized by the jury as the best motorcycle in the entire competition winning “Best of Show” for the second time.
The Boardwalk Bike Show was attended by 136 motorcycles from the USA, France, Germany and Australia, while in the Rat’s Hole Custom Bike Show, the vehicle from Poland was recognized as the best motorcycle, beating competition from the USA and Canada.
The winning vehicle is a custom motorcycle, inspired by James Hetfield of Metallica and his 1936 Auburn 852 Boattail Speedster “Slow Burn”.
Designers from Poland built the custom bike as a sister vehicle to the classic car belonging to the famous musician.
The body lines of the motorcycle exactly mirror the shape of the Slow Burn, and its construction echoes the components of the car.
The front lamp imitates the front of a car with a radiator, the rear lamps look like car lights, and the steering wheel and levers are made in the style of the windshield frame. Additionally, the front fender is finished with a chrome cover, just like the Slow Burn’s fenders, the 30” front wheel is inspired by the appearance of a car wheel, and the entire rear of the motorcycle forms a symmetrical line with the rear of the car.
The biggest technical challenge of the project was reproducing the lines of the car on the motorcycle. Game Over Cycles’ designers took care of every detail, visually connecting the vehicle’s exterior (the elements mentioned above) and interior (the leather on the motorcycle reflects the car’s upholstery). Another challenge was scale. The motorcycle had to have large enough proportions to reflect the shape of the Slow Burn’s line, and considering who the owner of the car is, the Game Over Cycles team adjusted the proportions of the bike to James Hetfield’s height (185 cm/6 ft 1), which was a particular challenge in the context of maintaining the proportions of the entire vehicle.
At the same time, the entire structure had to be kept in the spirit of the style in which the original vehicle was built, the 1936 Auburn Speedster has a characteristic Art Deco style.
This style, both in art and architecture, was expressed in an ordered and coherent form. It is characterized by symmetrical patterns, arcs, ovals and ellipses. The team were inspired by the form and function of the Art Deco movement, from vehicles, fashion and interior design, in which works were distinguished by their unique aesthetics, craftsmanship and the use of high-quality materials.
The entire structure of the motorcycle is made of steel. It does not contain any plastic elements. The vehicle is characterized by a clean body line, which means that all screws are covered. The machine is 3.3 meters long (10,8 ft) and weighs 400 kg (880 lb). The time spent on building the vehicle amounted to 7,000 man-hours.
Rick Dore, an American custom car designer, who together with James Hetfield restored the Auburn 852, said:
“When we’ve seen the pictures of the motorcycle that Game Over built,
we were knocked out. It’s an incredible vehicle, especially when you compare it to James’ car. The body, the wheels, color, even the levers, everything was right on with the Slow Burn. My hats off to Game Over, they did a great job and the craftsmanship was out of this world.”
Stanisław Myszkowski, founder and owner of Game Over Cycles, explains the genesis of the project:
“Metallica has always been a huge artistic inspiration for me. I am a fan of both the band’s music and the visuals that accompany their art. James Hetfield is a huge automotive fan, he collects and restores vintage cars, so we decided to combine these two worlds and build a motorcycle inspired by James’ vehicle.”
The video presenting the project can be seen on Game Over Cycle’s YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@GameOverCycles
“ the 1936 auburn speedster has a characterIstIc art deco stYle. thIs stYle, both In art and archItecture, was eXpressed In an ordered and coherent form. It Is characterIzed bY sYmmetrIcal patterns, arcs, ovals and ellIpses.”
Te CHNICAL
s P e CI f ICATION s O f
TH e MOTORCYCL e:
Items purchased:
1. RavTech 115’’ engineCustom Chrome Europe (CCE)
2. Rav Tech 5-speed gearbox - CCE
3. BDL clutch - CCE
4. Mikuni carburettor
5. Footrests with accessories –Performance Machine CCE
6. Handlebar accessoriesPerformance Machine (PM)
7. Meter with electronics – Dacota Digital
8. Front and rear lamps with turn signals - CCE
9. Front suspension - Legend Air
10. Brake callipers - PM Works
Elements made by project partners:
1. Painting: Novol + Anest Iwata
2. Leather seat: WB-Line
Elements made by goC:
1. Front wheel 30’’
2. Frame
3. Rear suspension with swingarm
4. Front fender, rear fender, side boxes, tank, console, headlamp, handlebar, levers, brake discs, front suspension cover, clutch cover, filter cover, air suspension system, oil tank, exhaust, ignition switch.
Additional vehicle features and functions installed by goC:
1. The exhaust system integrated with side boxes
2. Seat made of the same leather as the Slow Burn’s upholstery
3. The trunks open electrically
4. The license plate is electrically retractable
5. The flap on the tank covering the fuel filler, which contains the meters, is opened electrically
6. The air filter cover is made in the Slow Burn style
7. Front and rear suspension are pneumatically adjustable, just like in the car
Design: GOC + Lfant Design
In the video below you can find on our YouTube page: www.youtube.com/@GameOverCycles
GameOver Cycles (GOC) is a Polish custom motorcycles manufacturer formed in 2012. The company is known for its original creations, such as The Recidivst - world’s first tattooed motorcycle. Machines created by Game Over Cycles have won awards at world’s biggest custom bike competitions. The company has already won 29 awards, including 22 international ones, of which as many as 8 trophies were received at the European Bike Week (EBW), the largest motorcycle festival in Europe and 8 awards at both Daytona Bike Wee and Sturgis Motorcycle Rallyworld’s two biggest motorcycle rallies: www.gameovercycles.com
WORds ANd PHOTOGRAPHs: TOM BOIsseL
So, A CoMPLETELy oRDInARy 125 Suzuki gn, in its Japanese mini custom style, full stock.
The idea, to make it a fun little café racer, with a complete and unique preparation (due to its parts from the workshop and the careful finishes. It bears the “Rage” coat of arms which represents the complete and unique preparations from Cus’Tom Motorcycle. The aim was a change in general style, a complete rebuild of the motorcycle, an increase in power, custom parts made in the workshop, and the details that mark the preparations (X-stitched leather
Creation of a custom upper tee using traditional machining to accommodate a motogadget speedometer, a “neutral” and a “full headlight” indicator light.
The front wheel has been kept despite a new tire size and painting of the original hub.
The front disc has gained 20 mm in diameter and the single-piston caliper has given way to the double-piston caliper of the 250cc version. Note in passing, the small front wheel spacers “Cus’Tom details”. There is a new front mudguard and mounting bracket.
The fork has not undergone any modification, however its caps were re-machined (“Cus’Tom detail”).
We replaced the original 16” rear wheel and its drum brake with an 18” disc rim borrowed from a MUTT 125 Akita.
It was necessary to adapt a rear brake master cylinder mounted on a custom plate welded to the frame, and to modify the brake pedal to connect it to the cylinder with the right lever arm proportions and a caliper housed on a machined support, coupled to a custom connecting rod fixed to the frame. Note a stainless steel tube covering the master cylinder rod in order to streamline the details.
Rim spokes are replaced by stainless steel models.
The rear part of the original GN frame does not have a “straight” line. It was necessary to cut after the tank and rebuild this entire part of the frame, and in the process, raise the tank a little.
We installed two Shock Factory shock absorbers 10 mm longer, in order to abandon the original mini custom line, and added “Cus’Tom detail” washers which hide the rubber of the shock absorber eyelets.
engine:
A “Rage” must also be faster, in addition to an engine and carburetor repair which only brings a small gain. The camshaft has given way to a “racing” model which gives a greater opening time of the valves - the power goes from 10 hp to 15 hp. Also a stainless steel line made to measure in the workshop, in halfmoon shape welded with Tig.
The fun part:
We created a light gray powdercoated frame.
Body paint in similar shade with “dynamite” and “Rage” logo under varnish, done with an airbrush stencil.
The plastic side covers have given way to steel covers made in the workshop, with 90° bends on all their contours.
The naiman is moved to the front, in one of the headlight supports, with an aluminum “Cus’Tom detail” nut.
And to increase the fun, a combo: saddle (support + foam + leather covering) + tailor-made “X” stitched leather handles in fatal orange colour.
Yes I know this is Cadwell but it was too good a shot to leave out.
MoSt BoNKerS WeeKeNd ever:
THe HOMeCOMING
TH e se CON d O f TWO d AY s RI d ING
TH e du TCH TT CIRC u IT PL us A MANIC BLA s T HOM e
WORds: NIGeL CROWLeY
In CASE you MISSED the first part of this tale a quick summery of the story so far: Six of us rode from London to Assen for two days of track time at the legendary Dutch TT circuit. I left my newly pregnant wife at home in tears. I got life threatening blood poisoning from a cut in my foot. I witnessed an enormous crash right in front of me. no-one died...yet.
The start of day two dawned bright and sunny, which is a rarity I’m told in these parts.
Not only that but no part of my foot had glued itself to the bedsheets overnight with unwelcome oozings from my hideous blood poisoning. Things were definitely looking up.
I was feeling, if not exactly normal, at least way better than the day before.
After an amuse-bouche of three penicillin, I proceeded to shovel down as many different kinds of salami, cheese and tiny pastries as I could stomach from the Continental Breakfast buffet, washed down with many mugs of black coffee strong enough to clean engine parts.
All was much brighter in my world.
We strapped our gear to the bikes, as we would be heading home straight from the track and headed off at a lick for our second day at the Cathedral of Motorsport...and what a day it turned out to be.
My first port of call was to enquire about the wellbeing of the instructor who had binned it beside me in a spectacular triple-digitmph crash at the end of the previous day.
Right: My 24-year-old Mille in all its faded glory. One of the best things I’ve ever owned and still in my garage to this day.
Bottom: Quite possibly the best rider’s circuit on the planet. We were lucky enough to be about the last people to ride it in this configuration.
Far right: Once I’d got the suspension set up by someone who knew better than me this thing would run rings round most of the competition.
The reports were pretty good aside from the usual issues associated with being washing-machined through a gravel trap.
At least nothing was permanently broken, apart from his self-esteem and most of the CBR he had been riding. Best of luck to you mate.
As we stood around in the pits gathering our thoughts and courage for the day, the weather was doing its best to piss on our parade...literally.
my brake pads to boot.
“ at least nothIng was permanentlY broken, apart from hIs self-esteem and most of the cbr he had been rIdIng. best of luck to You mate. ”
Like the previous day, dark clouds were brewing everywhere around us and sizeable rains storms were evident in every direction.
At points in the day we witnessed torrential squalls happening just the other side of the perimeter fence, but by some miracle not a single drop of rain landed on the track.
Good job too because by halfway through the day I had absolutely destroyed what was left of my Super Corsas, and the majority of
I remember coming out of Blockbusters (yes it was that long ago) the following week to find two blokes absolutely pissing themselves at the state of my rear tyre, which pretty much had ribbons of rubber hanging off it. Luckily neither of those two fine gents was a copper and I wore those tyres as a badge of honour for as long as I dare. Probably should have hung them on the wall of my garage because I’ve never come close to abusing a tyre to that level of extinction since.
Open pit lanes are both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because noone flags you in the lap after your tyres and brain are up to temperature, and a curse because no-one flags you in to give either a breather.
To say we abused the situation would be an understatement and to this day I’m not sure any Aprilia 1000 has spent so long hovering around
the redline without grenading itself into a zillion pieces of Noale’s finest aluminium. I lost count of the amount of guilders I spent on Dutch petrol that day but the fuel light was about the only thing which made me come into the pits. Later that day I’d be berating myself for not paying more attention to that little orange light.
I’d never done two days back-toback at any circuit before but if you ever get the opportunity to do so... do so. By the afternoon all of us were flying round the place and the faster we went the slower it felt. It was practically Zen like and was one of the best feeling I’ve ever had riding a motorcycle. If your drug of choice is a speedball of lean angle and milesper-hour then the Assen circuit is your opportunity to overdose. Riding this place is exactly why I love being on a motorcycle. Massively fast, ballsy as fuck and just the biggest adrenalin rush imaginable at every corner. The consequences of getting it wrong were severe, as the day before had proven, but the satisfaction of getting it right was incredible.
At the lunch break about half the other attendees left to make their way back to wherever they called home and so our merry band of brothers had the place almost to ourselves for the rest of the day. It was like having our own glorious private track and many dicey manoeuvres occurred between us that day.
Looking back now it seems very old fashioned that not one of our bikes
had electronic aids of any kind, not even ABS. Suspension was adjusted with clickers rather than a joy-stick or a touch screen and the only traction control was in your right hand, or in my case also via an annoyingly slipping clutch. The pitiless abuse we handed out to those bikes over the whole trip was frankly amazing and yet mine and a few of the others went straight back to normal commuting duties the following week. Incredible what motorcycles can put up with.
And the abuse didn’t stop once we’d left the track either.
As the afternoon wore on we began to think about getting back to the ferry port in time to watch the England vs Germany football match that was on that evening: always a must-watch by Poms regardless of whether you love football or not.
We had an overnight boat to catch and figured we’d find a pub close to the dock where we could drink strong foreign beer and shout at the telly before our 11pm departure time.
The trackday organisers packing up around us was our cue to re-strap our gear to the bikes and bid a sad farewell to what was the best circuit any of us had ever ridden.
I was obviously feeling much better as I had enough spare brain capacity to be mightily pissed off by the scratches left on the tail-hump of my bike by the transponder that had been taped there the day before. To this day I still get aggravated when I look at them.
We rolled out of the circuit and onto the adjacent motorway at around 5pm that afternoon, giving ourselves almost exactly an hour not-enough-time to catch the kick-off. Bugger.
Back in the day, Europe was a glorious place for riding fast motorcycles because getting caught for speeding resulted in a hefty fine but no actual points on your UK license.
(By the way the points system works in reverse in the UK in that you start with none and then accumulate them as your naughtiness adds up...the magic number being thirteen before your license is worthless paper)
So, deep pockets were a gateway to exuberant continental riding with no real consequences, apart from perhaps a terse conversation with a man in uniform...or so we thought.
Armed with less than all the salient facts about Dutch road laws, and with a pressing football-based deadline, we hit the A28 motorway like we were fleeing the apocalypse.
Now, before you judge us too harshly about what follows, bear in mind we’d all just spent the last two days riding as fast as our bikes could go, for hours on end, and were therefore somewhat dialled in to seeing the scenery moving past at a rate of knots.
But, what started out as a brisk but respectable pace quickly descended into something very different indeed. To this day I cannot imagine how we didn’t end up on the wrong side of a heavily armed police road block.
Lane discipline on European
“
ordInarIlY
You feel a bIke start to mIss or the throttle go a bIt featherY as It sucks down the last of the vapours. not at 150mph You don’t. one second I was blastIng along, throttle on the stop, and the neXt I nearlY went over the ‘bars. ”
motorways has always been the stuff of legend if you’re from the UK. If you came up behind someone in the fast lane they would almost always get out of your way well before you needed to slow down, and doff their cap with respect as you blasted past. There’s no stupid ego related bullshit to contend with like there is over here: if you’re going quicker, well bonne-chance to you mate. If you do ever get held up on a European motorway the chances are it’s by a foreigner to that land.
Having all ridden many miles on the continent in the past, we were very well aware of this great mind set, but to say we slightly took the piss that day would very much be understating the case.
Imagine if you will, six 1000cc motorcycles in staggered formation across the fast-lane, all with high beams on and all doing a pretty constant 150mph. Yes, you read that right, and yes that’s 240km/h in new money.
The noise alone must have been audible in Belgium and certainly every single car we came up behind...which was all of them...moved over to allow us safe passage. A combined ton-anda-half of metal moving at that speed must have sucked the very air out of the vehicles we flashed past and I for one would love to know what it looked like from the driver’s perspective. Even old-mate on his 748 managed to stick to the tail of the group, I imagine helped by the enormous vacuum in our wake and the fact he was probably delirious from breathing all our exhaust gases.
What I can say is that I have never seen the numbers on the odometer move at such a rate of knots and it was kind of mesmerising after a while.
Of course, nothing is for nothing and we were chewing through fuel like mad. At some point I recall the aforementioned petrol light coming on and thinking I had about 20miles to absolutely empty.
I’m willing to bet my last quid that not one person reading this has ever run out of fuel while doing 150mph, but let me tell you it’s fucking intense. Ordinarily you feel a bike start to miss or the throttle go a bit feathery as it sucks down the last of the vapours. Not at 150mph you don’t. One second I was blasting along, throttle on the stop, and the next I nearly went over the ‘bars.
The engine had just instantly stopped making power and with absolutely zero warning. The combination of engine braking and aerodynamic drag nearly put me through the windscreen and I was lucky the bikes behind didn’t jam themselves right up my plumber’s crack. Even the 748 came up the inside of me like I was going backwards.
By this time I’d managed to grab the clutch so at least the bike was now freewheeling, my arse had reacquainted itself with the saddle and I was no longer staring at the front headlight, but my mates had all instantly vanished over the horizon of course.
I was starting to wonder if a long evening pushing a dead bike along the hard-shoulder on my own was in store for me when I crested a rise to see, like Lawrence Olivier emerging through the heat haze, a petrol station up ahead.
I veered off the exit ramp, rolled to a stop at the fuel bowser like I’d planned the whole thing to the inch and stepped off the bike trying to look
Full noise on the Mille.
as composed as I could on slightly wobbly legs. A few minutes later, a considerable amount of guilders lighter and the bike some twenty litres of fuel heavier, I was back on the freeway doing a slightly more sedate speed and feeling like I’d dodged a massive bullet. As I was thinking I’d lost contact with my mates for the rest of the day, and that there was little chance of finding the same pub as them later on, I saw another servo in the distance where lo and behold everyone else was in the process of filling up. Brilliant.
The remainder of the trip to the ferry was only slightly less manic but we did our best to keep to a rather pedestrian 130mph most of the time. We did, however, manage to roll up to a bar across from the port with about ten minutes to spare before kick-off. We certainly didn’t have time to go looking elsewhere so gear in hand and helmets still on heads we fell through the front door hoping they’d have a TV on.
Sadly they did not...what they did have on was a full scale disco with half
the pub on the dance floor bopping away to some Europop nonsense.
We attracted a bit of attention it’s fair to say, as if a Power Rangers tribute band had just just arrived to fight off Dutch Godzilla with interpretative dance moves.
Luckily the locals turned out to be a very friendly bunch and within minutes we had commandeered a massive table, filled it with beer, food and helmets and somehow got them to turn the TV on to the game.
Now, earlier I said that watching an England vs Germany match was pretty much required by law in the UK. However, my 748 riding mate absolutely hated football, which I put down to him having gone to a very posh rugby playing private school. Anyway, he wasn’t at all into the idea of sitting in a random pub, in sweaty leathers, eating weird food and drinking dubious quality red wine (he didn’t like beer either) for a couple of hours watching a game that bored him. To be honest I don’t even know why we were friends.
Fast forward 90 minutes, and with
the scoreline at 5-1 to England, he was on the table screaming at the TV with the best of us and acting like he’d been an avid fan forever. To be clear it was a pretty momentous game and was just about the perfect end to what had been a weekend filled with incredible highs and lows and more adventure than any of us thought possible: and still no-one was dead. Bonus.
In the aftermath of the game, as we chatted to our new best friends about the mad ride we’d had to the pub, we discovered that in Holland, if you get caught for reckless speeding the cops not only give you a massive fine but also impound your bike and leave it in a field for six months whilst waiting for your court case to be heard, and charge you storage fees to boot. Apparently, many is the tail of riders returning to their bikes to find them pretty much a pile of rusty junk. In seems we had flirted with disaster on our blitzkrieg of the Dutch motorway system and had somehow evaded the justice we so clearly deserved.
Just about sums up the entire trip really. AMM
kNOWN AssOCIATes the LooP, the Suit, aNd the heat
I’ M fAIRLY su R e THI s WA s A GR e AT WAY TO P u T H ON d A’s H u G e LY PL e A s ING NT1100 THRO u GH IT s PAC es.
“WE ShouLD go,” BIFF said. “They’re just fifteen minutes late,” I replied.
“You’ve left without them before.”
“I have, but then there were twenty people waiting. Now there’s just you and me.”
“I’m not waiting,” Biff declared and pulled on his helmet.
I had no problem with this.
Both of us were keen to get onto the Snowy Mountains Highway and we had some awful Hume slabbing to grind through before that happened.
Also, the Kursed Brothers were grown-ups whose feelings were of no consequence to us. The pair of them had never been on time for a departure in all the decades I’d known them, but they both rode fast enough to catch up, and everyone knew were we had to end up on the day if that wasn’t quite fast enough.
So Biff and I rode out of Pissant’s Nest and made for the high country.
Biff had just acquired a low-kay KTM
NAMe: Biff
RIdes: KTM Superduke R WORks WITH: People, some of whom are out cold. Or screaming.
OVeRVIeW: Carved from the very meat of the Ginger Ancients, there is no finer man to rush into battle with. He is hoary, and cheery, and drinks his beer from a glass, for he is civilised. It pleases me greatly that he has persisted in the folly of motorcycles, and has duly acquired a skill-set which now prevents him over-cooking corners and being maimed. Which was pretty much going on when he and I first went riding up the Old Pac many years ago.
NAMe: Rob
RIdes: KTM Superduke GT WORks WITH: Lightning and sparks.
OVeRVIeW: He has the hands of a strangler, but the happy and gentle soul of a platypus splashing around its billabong. Rob is capable of building and wiring an entire house (including the pouring of the slab), assisted only by beautifully-rolled cigarettes, and buckets of coffee. He even understands how those pod-coffee jiggers work, so there’s something of the wizard about him.
NAMe: Whitey
RIdes: BMW SW1000XR Carbon WORks WITH: Wood and rifles.
OVeRVIeW: I’m thinking he has the pulse-rate of Komodo Dragon and talks about as much. These qualities are hugely helpful when hunting large animals for their meat. Rides fast and clean and knows to wait at turn-offs. Silences with him are never uncomfortable for me, but some fools do tend to run off at the mouth when Whitey feels he has nothing worth saying. It never ends well for them.
NAMe: Lloyd
RIdes: GS1250 Adventure
WORks WITH: Retired
OVeRVIeW: Lloyd is Whitey’s fatherin-law and this was the first time I met him. That is always fraught with peril, since we may have disliked each other and there may have been tears. But it went well, instead. Lloyd doesn’t talk much either, but he rides well, and at no time was there any need to search for him, wait for him, or ask him why he didn’t fill up his bike at the last servo.
“ mY bIke looked and sounded lIke an accountant’s brIefcase. bIff’s orange-hued austrIan was unmIstakeablY a crIme agaInst the verY fabrIc of our socIetY. ”
Superduke R with a pipe that sounded like an artillery barrage. This made me happy for several reasons.
Firstly, I rejoice when my brother acquires a new bike that sounds like hatred. Secondly, the bog-stock Honda NT1100 I was on was instantly invisible to any cops we might attract along the way – both aurally and visually. My bike looked and sounded like an accountant’s briefcase. Biff’s orange-hued Austrian was unmistakeably a crime against the very fabric of our society.
The Superduke R consumed petrol at a greater rate than the Honda. Clearly, the noise it made contributed to its thirst, and our petrol stops were frequent.
At the first one, we discovered the Kursed Brothers were in the grip of delusional confusion.
Biff had called Rob while I sat in the shade of a petrol station awning. I couldn’t hear what Rob was saying, but this is what Biffa was saying...
“Where are you?”
“No, it was today. Check your messages. I told you and Daz three times. I’m looking at the message now. I’m also looking at your messages which say you’ll both be there.”
“Yes, that’s Friday. No, it’s not Saturday. Yes, today is Friday.”
“That noise? That’s Borrie laughing.”
He hung up.
“Good thing we didn’t wait,” Biff grinned.
“How they are able to function in this world remains a wondrous mystery to me,” I said, wiping tears from my eyes.
“Rob says he’s leaving now.”
“Now” was noon.
“Guess we’ll see him in Jindabyne just this side of midnight then,” I smiled. “Or in Cooma hospital on the Sunday when we’re going home.”
Then we laughed some more and rode on.
The weather was stunning. The sky was that stupid depthless blue that spoke of searing heat, and circling vultures would be seen for miles if something terrible happened. But the searing heat was still a day or so away according to the forecast, and the most terrible thing that had happened so far was that could not raise the screen on the Honda no matter what I tried.
“Is there a button?” Biffa asked in Yass when we were filling up.
“No. It’s manual.”
“What’s this here?”
“The USB port.”
“Have you asked YouTube?”
“Several times.”
“What’s the Star button do?”
“It doesn’t raise the screen.”
Normally I don’t give much of a shit about something like this. But with the screen down, the wind-noise was astonishingly loud. There was no buffeting, just wind-roar. If I stood up on the pegs and exposed myself to the direct blast of the oncoming air, it was
Bottom left: A quick selfie stop on the way to Cooma.
Right: Biff discussing the legalities of his impending ticket.
Bottom right & far right: First refeshments at the end of first days ride.
heaps quieter than sitting on seat. I was actively seeking ear-plugs in every servo we stopped at.
Other than that, the Honda was lovely to ride. It is indeed an Africa Twin with a suit on. And that makes it very competent, rideable, and predictable.
Sure, unkind observers have observed it has a touch of the munt about it, and I get the feeling Honda is just aesthetically spitballing the NT concept before maybe committing some serious design to its appearance. I guess it’s waiting to see if it sells well enough to give it a makeover. I hope it does, because it’s a beaut bike.
We pulled out of Tumut freshly fuelled and ready to behold the manifold faces of Jesus as we cast aside the nonsensical demands of the Motor Traffic Act. And then I lost Biff in the first few corners.
I waited. Then I turned around and found him on the side of the road two kays back.
“The bar-end fell off,” he said, pointing at a piece of ruined alloy he’d tucked under an ocky strap holding his luggage on.
“Rizoma?” I asked.
Biff nodded.
“You know Ferghal has seeded most of NSW and parts of Victoria with many kilos of Rizoma accessories that have parted company with his Yamaha? He was gathering them up for a while as well. Now he just shrugs and rides on as they fall off.”
But it doesn’t take long for the magic of the Snowy Mountains Highway to make you forget everything except riding. Our pace was measured, but it could not be called slow. Biff was still getting used to his bike and I was slowly going deaf but hugely enjoying the ease with which the Honda went about its business. It lacks hard punch out of corners, so you do need to work the gearbox a little, but it handles so predictably and confidently, you can carry a lot of corner speed.
We stopped for some pics just shy of
the Kiandra turn-off and yelled at some Brumby vermin off to the side. They really are everywhere up here, but they don’t respond to yelling, despite being feral. One of the bastards was even sporting dreadlocks in its mane.
Shit got interesting on the other side of the Kiandra turn-off to Cabramurra. The speed limit was now 80 and the corners were tighter and thus more awesome. And we weren’t what any rational human being would call speeding. Our pace was perfectly suited to the conditions.
Except the condition that threw an oncoming police bike at us. I throttled off instantly and saw my
speedo numbers tumble into the low hundreds. Biffa was behind me and we both slowed down and stared at our mirrors for a while expecting the cop to appear in them with his lights flashing.
That didn’t happen, so we dialled it up a touch, and that was when the BMW Highway Patrol came around a corner towards us.
We again instantly buttoned off, but very few corners later, lights and sirens had us pulled over.
I had my licence out first. I was the lead rider. This was on me for sure. But the cop was not interested.
“Not you,” he said, walking past me. “Him.”
Left: Biff next to his ridiculously loud KTM Superduke R.
Biff had been clocked doing 107 in an 80 zone. But how he had been clocked and not me can only be explained by the fact that his bike looks and sounds like it’s constantly committing crimes, and mine looks like it putts around dispensing kindness and responsibility. I don’t look like that, but there was a wind-sock covering my neck tattoo, and Biff looks every bit as fearsome as a thick-bearded ginger looks on a KTM Superduke R. The cop, seeing the situation simply, went with what was obvious.
Biff was surprisingly philosophical. “I’m OK with this,” he said as I tried commiserating while being simultaneously and somewhat guiltily
pleased it wasn’t me. “I haven’t been booked in ten years. I have all my points. How many you got?”
“Less than three but more than one last time I looked.”
We fuelled up again at Adaminaby, chucked a right at Middlingbank Road to avoid Cooma, and were soon engrossed in the lovely sweeping and fast approach into Jindabyne from Berridale.
I always suffer an onset of cringe coming into Jindabyne.
Unable to come to terms with not having any true European snow “kultur”, does not stop us carrying on as if we did. We have a Tyrolean Village on the approach to Jindy.
Left: We stop off at Dead Horse Gap.
Bottom left: The “Known Associates” Rob, Whitey, Biff and Lloyd.
Right: RBT set up by the same cop that booked Biff the day before.
Far right: Early break.
Bottom right: Tumut Pond Dam.
We do not have a Tyrol. But we have its village, apparently. It looks nothing like any Tyrolian village I have ever seen (and yes, I have been there), but boasts a Chesa St Moritz Chalet. It’s like we think calling something anodyne a sexy Euro name will make it irresistible to tourists. That and the insane price-gouging that goes on year-round in Jindabyne can’t help but make it a ski-mecca for powderpigs from all over the world, who will doubtlessly eschew the slopes of Japan, Canada, Italy, and Switzerland, and head for fucking Jindy the second they hear of its Tyrolean Village.
Here we found Whitey and his father-in-law, Lloyd.
Whitey is an old and beloved brother from Bombala. He holds sway in the local sawmill and hunts big animals. He is quiet, self-possessed, and very smart – perfect qualities for a hunter. He also rides an S1000XR Carbon Sport like a thousand talented bastards. I love him. But I cannot catch him. Depends on what I’m riding I may keep him vaguely in sight. But the NT is no match for the XR. It’s the same kinda bike, but it just does not bang like the Beemer.
Biff had rented out a house, and bedrooms were allocated in the traditional manner – according to neck tattoos, propensity for violence, and snoring volume.
Rob joined us at 10.30 that night on his KTM Superduke GT, and recounted terrifying tales of wombats the size of grizzlies that threatened to end him in the darkness outside Berridale.
The next morning we embarked on our loop, and it was one of the best rides I’d had in ages.
The company of men you know well, whose friendship you treasure, and who can all ride without shaming themselves, is a blessing in my world.
The police which bedevilled the roads in that area are not.
The servo lady in Khancoban was not a fan of them, either.
“There are six cars and two bikes running around out there,” she told us. “And they hide, the sneaky bastards. You’d think if it was about safety, they’d be out in the open.”
“It’s not about safety,” I said to her. “I know,” she nodded. “It’s just money-grubbing.”
And it was during this ride that Whitey solved my non-raising screen issue. I had complained endlessly about the fact no-one could work out how it could be raised. Whitey would try at each stop. His is the patience of a hunter. Where I had sworn, shrugged, and surrendered, he persisted. And at the Tumut Pond Dam, he got it, by using both hands, pulling it gently out and then up. And the wind-noise was gone. I offered
to kill a Brumby in his honour and hugged him with genuine gratitude.
We lunched in Berridale because the pub in Adaminaby no longer serves meals, which might be the fallout from Covid. Some businesses just didn’t bounce back.
We returned in good order to Jindabyne and went to drink beer in the brewery rather than the pub. The beer was still viciously over-priced, but it was very nice.
And it was now hot. The following day, promised to be even hotter, and no-one was looking forward to that. Which is maybe why I managed to get away early while the others slept in or faffed around.
It was 12-degress when I rode out of Jindabyne. It stayed under 20
“ bIff had rented out a house, and bedrooms were allocated In the tradItIonal manner – accordIng to neck tattoos, propensItY for vIolence, and snorIng volume. ”
“ there are manY such loops You can rIde In the hIgh countrY. thIs Is one I can hIghlY recommend. ”
all the way past Cooma, but hit 30 at Bungendore and then 36 at Goulburn. The Honda’s ambient temperature gauge was showing me 42 when I turned onto the John Hunter Expressway for the final run home. I had certainly earned some airconditioned couch-time.
THe LOOP
A “loop” in this context is a ride that brings you back to your original starting point feeling like you’ve ridden something special, perhaps beheld the face of your particular god, and enhanced your life a little bit.
And there are many such loops you can ride in the high country. This is one I can highly recommend...
Begin at Jindabyne – and set your wheels upon the Alpine Way.
Proceed through the magical smooth sweepers that take you to Thredbo. But do not go into Thredbo. It is expensive and pretentious. Ride past and commence the climb up to Dead Horse Gap.
Note the speed limit now becomes 60. And you’re going downhill. The road surface is good, but the road itself is narrow and heavily shaded, so the light is dappled. Most of the corners are tight, and there is a preponderance of oncoming idiots on your side of the road. Mind yourself.
The scenery is stunning, and you might stop at Geehi to bathe like a nymph if it is hot. It’s rarely hot up there, though. But if you must nymph, then you must nymph.
Eventually, you will run into Khancoban. It has petrol, a coffee
Left: Limiting these beautiful roads to 60km has nothing to do with saftey.
Bottom left: Taking some time out from the heat of the day.
Right: Well because you just have too.
Bottom right & far right: Temperature finally maxed out on the run home at 42 degrees.
shop, and a pub. On the day we stopped there, it also had an RBT, manned by the same cop who’d booked Biff the day before. He had the temerity to wave. None of us waved back.
We leave Khancoban, and turn right at Swampy Plains Creek Road.
Now you’re going uphill again, and you’ll eventually find Cabramurra, the highest town in Australia. Petrol is never guaranteed there, and it’s a weird place. Hard to say why. But it is.
The road is spectacular, and very tight in sections, and the surface is mainly good, but not on the descent to the Tumut Pond Dam. Once again, you’ll find people heading towards you on your side of the road. Many of them will be on bikes – yes, I’m looking at you, you Gixxer-riding dickhead. You do not have to go into Cabramurra, but do not take the Kiandra turn-off (Kings Cross Road) even if that’s the place you’re going to (and you are), unless you want to ride dirt. You wanna turn-right on the Link Road posted to Cooma maybe a kay further on. If you turn left there, you shall ride the awesome Elliot Way. But you’re going back to Jindy this time. Once again, bend after beautiful bend, with a new surface, and it’s only a short 19-km stretch to the Snowy Mountains Highway. The last five kays of this run are simply divine. Mind the bloody brumbies – there are herds of them in this section.
Turn right, and go to Adaminaby (the pub no longer serves lunch), then another right to Berridale, eat some food at the pub that does serve lunch all day, and then you’re back in Jindabyne.
DISTANCE: 319km
THe suIT
I have characterised Honda’s new NT1100 as an Africa Twin in a suit. That is what it is. Aesthetically, it’s somewhat anodyne, but it’s such an excellent bike in so many ways, I can forgive it that. The panniers are vast
(though why they are silver is beyond me), the seat is firm and all-day comfortable. It’s roomy, and that engine is sweet and strong just where it should be. It redlines at 8000, but if you sit it on four, it will do 120km/h, and then pull hard enough to pass most things without a down-change. You can overcome its relative lack of bang out of a corner by downshifting more often, so that’s not really a negative. It has awesome build-quality, runs like a Swiss watch even when the world is oven-hot, and is quite an accomplished tourer. It very much does what it says it does on the box. It has both Android Auto and Apple Car Play, Honda Selectable Torque Control, cruise control, a colour touchscreen, and two programable rider modes and three pre-set ones. It weighs 238kg wet, has an 820mm seatheight (but the seat is tapered and allows you to get off it in corners), carries 20.4-litres in its tank and is as frugal as hell (you’ll get way over 300km to a tank), with 100horses and 105Nm of torque.
It’s rather a fine package, I feel.
PRICE: $23,435 ride-away for the standard model (the one I had), or if you want the DCT version it’s a grand or so more. Prices may vary a touch depending on where you are in Australia.
NEW PRODUCTS
N 2 ort :
of them?
Assumed they were a cheap overseas make?
Fusport was founded in Adelaide in 1988 by chief boot-maker, Peter Fuss. Peter’s aim was to create the highest-quality boots on the Australian market. The boots were made here and have been tested by Kevin Magee,
When the GFC hit in the early 2000s, the Australian factory was closed down, but now it’s back making
To be completely honest with you, I’ve been loyal to a specific brand of boot for at least the last two decades; comfort, protection, durability, and aesthetics are all important to me. The boots I’ve been loyal to tick all these boxes, and yes, I said aesthetics. I know it’s
So, when the champions at Fusport sent me a pair of
The Rennen V2 boots feature TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane) heels, shin protection, a sole that is resistant to water, oil and petrol, and are designed to have a non-slip grip on the foot pegs. They also have articulated ankle protection, and a nifty ratchet that tightens the top of the boot perfectly
When I first unboxed the Rennen V2s, they looked like everything a quality boot should. My wife, who only has a passing interest in motorcycling, said: “ They look really
As I’ve mentioned, protection and comfort are important to me. My previous ankle and leg injuries make it so. I’m certainly not going to hurl myself down the tar for the sake of testing out all of the safety features designed into these things. Contrary to popular
It is worth considering that even though you may only ride on-road, a race-orientated boot can be beneficial. This was perfectly demonstrated by my mate, Bill, who fearlessly took
TON
a flying chunk of timber (large stick) to the shin while we were riding. I saw it all unfold; the log took out the righthand blinker on his bike then smashed him in the shin.
We’d both pulled over to assess the damage and observed a substantial amount of blood oozing from his shin. If he had been wearing boots with shin protection this would have been avoided. If he was wearing the Rennen V2s, there would have been no issue at all, apart from the broken right indicator on the bike.
If you’ve ever worn uncomfortable boots for any length of time, you’ll understand why I value comfort so much. Boots that pull tight across the toes or dig into the side of your foot make for an unpleasant riding experience.
When I first put on the Rennen V2s, I was a little apprehensive. While not quite as comfortable as my other boots when they were new, after about an hour of riding and walking around in them they started to settle in nicely. It was obvious the Fusport leather was some good quality hide, supple, yet holding its integrity.
There’s not much about this boot I don’t like. If I had to find a fault, maybe I’d rather a flatter sole? Maybe the heel is fractionally high? I don’t wear skirts, so I don’t need elevated heels. But that’s only a minor detail, and not even a complaint.
From what I can tell, and based on more than 25 years of wearing motorcycle boots, the Fusport Rennen V2s are second to none. The ratchet thingy works beaut, there’s good ankle support, and the moulding, the leather, and the stitching ticks all the boxes.
For road or track, touring or commuting, the Rennen V2s are worth a look. AMM
www.fusportboots.com or at AMX superstores.
NEW PRODUCTS agvSPort
HAnDS uP IF you remember AgvSPoRT. you should. It used to sponsor and provide top-end riding gear to just about every Aussie and American Superbike rider worth his leathers.
Just be aware AGVSPORT is not AGV Helmets. It was once part of the Italian helmet company, but became its own, American-based motorcycle gear company under the stewardship of Michael Parrotte.
Michael has been riding all his life, and takes great pride in the gear he offers to riders all over the world under the AGVSPORT brand. And so he should. It’s great gear.
AGVSPORT is looking to make its way back into the Australian market and has kicked off with a few products on an Amazon page, which you can see here:
www.amazon.com.au/s?k=agvsport
Michael and I have been mates on Facebook for a while, and I actually had no idea what he did for a living. His motorcycle journeys to active warzones are what intrigued me. So, we got to chatting about that and other things, and he asked if I’d be interested in reviewing a pair of summer gloves.
“You make gloves?” I asked.
“Not personally, no,” he replied. “I have them made. I get all sorts of things made. It’s how AGVSPORTS works.”
“You work for AGVSPORTS?” I asked. I was aware of the brand but had not seen it for years in Australia.
“Sorta,” Michael replied. “I own it.”
In due course the Mayhem gloves arrived. In fact, three days after I ordered them on Amazon. I figured I was Size Large and hoped the AGVSPORT sizing was consistent with other glove brands. It was.
I was a bit concerned about the price. Could $59.95 gloves actually be much good?
I put them on. They fit perfectly. Snug and stretchy, exactly as a summer glove should fit and feel. And for a $60 glove, they’re carrying all the features gloves twice the price have.
The cut is pre-curved to your fingers, so they fit right. All the highimpact areas on the palm are double-stitched with top-shelf Mil-spec thread. The finger-joints are reinforced with Lycra stretch
panels, and you get hard metalmesh armour and shock-absorbing memory foam on the knuckles. Intake vents are on all the fingers and the top of the hand, and yes, you can finger your Smartphone with them on.
And they look very cool – which is what a glove simply has to do, apart from protecting you if you fall off.
Because you’re not an idiot, you’ll understand they don’t offer the same level of protection a full-on race gauntlet does. But they do offer amazing feel, and are simply awesome on a warm day. Oh, and I got mine soaking wet the other day, and not a single dye-stain appeared on my skin.
You could pay twice as much and not get a glove as good.
Tug McClutchin
A BIG BMW eLePhaNtS, aNd
BY TuG MCCLuTCHIN
ShALL WE DEAL WITh the elephant in the room? yes, let’s.
It seems my previous column upset a couple of you. Only a couple though. The editor passed your feedback on to me. It ranged from casting aspersions on my character, to demanding me be sacked from writing for the magazine. Jolly good. I’m still here. And you’re still reading my column. Because that’s how this works.
I’ll simply make two points. Firstly, who on Earth buys any publication
with the expectation that every word written will ascribe to their own point of view, then when it doesn’t, demand the writer be sacked? What warped world do you live in? Secondly, perhaps the story cut a little close to the bone, huh?
But I do appreciate your passion. It’s why we’re all here, after all. Thank you for that.
Here’s the deal. As a writer, it is my job to inform, to entertain, and to challenge you. To make people think. To get them to look at the way they view their riding and motorcycling
generally and wonder if there’s more to it. Will you always agree with me? I certainly hope you don’t. That would be boring for all of us. The funniest part is one of the people who complained was one of my fellow contributors to this magazine. And it’s someone whose copy I can’t bring myself to read because it’s boring as hell. Like I said, not every part of every publication suits every reader. It was ever thus.
Oh, and as for calling me a coward because I use a pen name, I’ve used this name for over 30 years. Many people know who I am. It’s not a huge secret. But it’s fun. And it allows me to stay employed. I’m not hard to find if you try.
Anyway, onto this issue’s mental gymnastics!
And that is, simply, how often do we change the style of bike we ride? And why don’t we do it more often?
I’m generally a “sporting” type of rider, so my bikes are all either sports bikes for the track, dirt bikes for fun, or my Ducati Multistrada for touring. I don’t own an adventure bike, or naked bike, although I have previously owned both, but I have never owned a cruiser. Thankfully I do get the opportunity to ride a variety of bikes by virtue of the work I do. And so it happened recently that my mate Steve at BMW offered me the use of a new R18 Roctane for a week. Steve’s known me for a long time, and was convinced I’d like it, despite the fact that I’m not really a cruiser kind of guy. He knows this, but cared not.
And it’s not like I have never tried a cruiser. I’ve ridden probably 20 different Harley-Davidsons, a few Yamaha Virago 1100s (and even a 250) and a couple of Bolts, a Kawasaki Vulcan or two, and that really ugly cruiser-type thing that BMW produced years ago with a boxer engine in it. I can’t even remember what it was called, but I may have subconsciously wiped it from my brain, it was that ugly. Even BMW people shudder when reminded of it.
I once toyed with the crazy idea of buying a lovely Fat Boy from a mate but I knew I would never keep it perfectly clean like he did, so decided against it, lest he shame me over the state of the bike every time I saw him. I’m one of those horrible people who spend a lot more time riding bikes than cleaning them, so it’s rare to see one of my bikes shiny.
The only bike that’s ever really made me like a cruiser to the point that I thought I could really own one was a Yamaha V-Max, but now we’re talking muscle-cruisers, which some would argue isn’t a cruiser at all. And perhaps rightly so. I’ll leave that argument for another day.
Steve assured me the Roctane is a good thing and that I’d love it. I knew it would be a good thing, because BMW does not make shit, but I was never sure it would be my thing. Or that I’d love it. Appreciate it, sure. But love is a big word where I live.
I’d seen the Roctane before, but never thrown a leg over one. Nor had I ridden any of the other new R18 incarnations, so I was looking forward to it. Mainly because there is always something about a bike with a massive engine. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a big Harley or Indian, a Rocket 3, or
anything else with huge, relatively slow-moving pistons. Long stroke engines are a great way to power a motorcycle.
I love screaming 4-cylinder sports bikes and mental sporting twins, but torque is where it’s at for eating country miles effortlessly.
I picked the bike up from my local dealer, where you are always dazzled these days with how lovely BMW showrooms have become. They really do have their shit together. The bike is an impressive thing to look at, partly because of its sheer size, and also because of its external simplicity. There’s a lot going on under the hood, but it looks unfussed. It looks like a big bike with a big engine with not much else happening, but in truth there’s a whole lot more going on here than that.
Let’s get the engine part out of the way early. It’s massive. 1800cc of glory, a pair of 900cc cylinders with pistons smashing left and right. It is brutal, yet refined. Now let’s be honest, emmissions and noise regulations make every new bike “refined”, but not always in a good way. Some just feel like they’ve been gutted of all power and character. This bike is not one of those.
Open the throttle and it will roar for you, but the lion has been tamed. Not stifled though, it has been tamed in a very BMW way. It is civilized, classy, yet still very effective. If you go and change the pipe and tune it, it won’t be because you need more power. It has plenty. Some more noise would be nice, though. That’s what most owners will go hunting.
All BMW boxers have that delightful idiosyncrasy of trying to fall over when you blip the throttle at standstill, due to the gyroscopic forces of the rotating components in the engine. The Roctane does it too, but with substantial intent. You better be holding onto it, or it will fall over. It’s a sweet trait.
The same effect can be felt while on the move, every sudden twist of the throttle exacting a twist that can be felt through the chassis. It’s one of the things I love about boxers.
It handles wonderfully, for what it is. I can happily say it’s the best handling cruiser I’ve ever ridden. Now I can’t claim to have ridden them all, and I’m looking forward to trying out H-D’s new big bike offerings, but for now, the
Roctane leaves every other big cruiser I’ve ridden in the glow of its tail lights.
I’m informed the suspension came in for some fettling when the Roctane was birthed out of the R18 line, and it shows. I did a few hundred kilometres with my lovely wife on the back, and while she is a disgruntled passenger at the best of times as she has her own bike and much prefers to ride than be a pillion, she took one for the team in the name of research. She gave it the thumbs up, although after a few hours she did think the pillion seat wasn’t something she’d want to spend long days on regularly.
The Roctane certainly inspired a lot of confidence, and scraping the footboards at will is a joy. Although it could prove expensive eventually. They can’t be cheap to replace.
But this isn’t a bike review.
It’s more about the fact that even though my choice of riding, and the bikes I do it on, is reasonably broad, it’s sometimes good to step out of your zone and try something different.
Riding a cruiser opens up a new way of thinking about riding, and about motorcycling in general.
That would be the same for someone who has never ridden on dirt stepping onto an adventure bike for a trip away in the backblocks of any State in Australia.
Or someone who has always ridden cruisers jumping on a sports bike and tackling a track day.
Motorcycling is many things. It is different things to different people. For some of us, it is multiple things all at once.
Is it time you stepped out of your zone and experienced motorcycling in a new way? AMM
GeT YOuR GROMIT ON
sI de CAR s AN d A CC ess IBILITY
TWo FAT LADIES BoughT the glories of the sidecar to millions and to children via the animated series Wallace and gromit.
Motorcycling couples and riders who have significant physical/health issues can come to consider sidecar outfits as an option for both togetherness and a pillion option not dependent on the same ‘climb on/over’ movement a usual pillion requires. And of course, some simply desire the sidecar combo because of its funky, travelling appeal.
But how do you know if a sidecar unit will be accessible for anyone with physical issues?
Of course, the ultimate way is to give it a go. Try it out and see. However, there are other ways to determine if a sidecar is likely to suit you and if modifications you can make to the outfit will provide the ideal entry and egress to match your needs.
If you look around at people using a walker, a walking stick, or those who have a marked limp – and then watch them attempt to step on or off a kerb, or to sit down at an outdoor café table, you observe the more limited flexibility and often the need to hold on to something whether that be a table edge or a light pole.
Many people with say serious
arthritic issues seek a seat height that enables them to sit and stand with little additional assistance. Anything much lower can strain hips and knees and lead the individual to feel unstable; needing to grab something to hold onto. Too high isn’t that much of an issue as long as your feet can reach the floor if you move your butt to the edge of the chair.
Let’s say your usual ideal height is 47cm from the floor. Already you have a guide to begin to assess how appropriate a particular sidecar seat is going to be for someone.
Then there is the issue of standing. Depending on both your size and disability, the grab bar may be enough to help you stand.
For others, modification of the sidecar needs to happen either via a hinging of the front of the ‘car’ so that is lifts directly up and provides significantly more room to stand. If the seat can move forward, the passenger can also use the extra space created via the hinge to swivel and move out on the side as they would in a car. Modifications can be expensive but to continue being able to enjoy motorcycling for some years to come is often a great justification for the cost.
Of course, some sidecars are purpose built for wheelchairs. Note these modification can cater for both riders and passengers.
Remember that modifcations will need to pass registration.
