Cycle Torque October 2016

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For the love of motorcycling

Giant LAMS

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OCTOBER 2016

PAGES OF THE BEST NEW BIKES RIDDEN: KAWASAKI Z125, SOL INVICTUS NEMESIS HUSQVARNA TE250 PLUS: NEWS OPINION CUSTOM QUAD

WELCOME

October 2016

cycletorque.com.au OCTOBER 2016 I 2

THIS edition of Cycle Torque is for the Learners with one of the biggest LAMS bike features you will see in any magazine, we cover all the manufacturers’ learner offerings with links to every video and previous tests.

We also test three Learner-approved bikes: Kawasaki’s Z125 PRO screams fun, but it is also a great inner-city commuter. It’s so small and light, you can get out in front of traffic and park it anywhere.

Sol Invictus’ Nemesis has an old-school charm which begs to be customised, and will certainly be popular with those thinking about starting on an old classic. Why buy old, old; when you can buy old, new?

Husqvarna’s TE250 two-stroke enduro is for the more experienced learners out there. The manufacturer’s are seeing a two-stroke revival in the last few years and this Husky is a serious contender for your hard-earned.

EMAIL US YOUR FEEDBACK

Each test has an embedded video to keep an eye out for.

We also look at some of the latest products, reviews, news, columns, books and more.

We hope you enjoy the issue! If you do (or don’t), please let us know.

If you are reading this magazine for the first time make sure you subscribe so we can notify you as new issues become available. The digital versions are a great way to read Cycle Torque, which is brought to you by our advertising partners found within these pages. You can support us by supporting them.

-Ryan Grubb Digital Editor

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TAP ICONS TO EXPLORE

CONTENTS

cycletorque.com.au OCTOBER 2016 I 3

Ridden

TEST HUSQVARNA TE250 24

TEST SOL INVICTUS NEMESIS XY400 33

Features 53 73 78

L

LAMS for all seasons

CUSTOM TORQUE QUAD TORQUE

TEST KAWASAKI Z125 PRO 43

Regulars 5

NEWS TORQUE

22

GUNTRIP

16

SMALL TORQUE

66

BIKE STUFF

19

EDITORIAL

70

USED & REVIEWED

20

DIRTY TORQUE

83

TORQUE BACK - LETTERS

21

RACE TORQUE

85

MARKET TORQUE

It’s not where you’re going ...

It’s how you get there.

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NEWS TORQUE

cycletorque.com.au OCTOBER 2016 I 5

Privateer Pickett

takes out Superbike Classic TT P2 category ALEX Pickett is now an Isle of Man TT winner.

Pickett, 22, took out the P2 category in the Superbike race at the Classic TT, August 29.

The up-and-comer from the Hunter Valley was also the first privateer, taking the victory with a hardfought last lap and win-from-behind.

Seventh outright, too, with only professional racers ahead of him.

This comes after Pickett originally finished the race 11th overall, until post-race scrutineering would see four machines ahead him disqualified from the final result due to technical infringements.

Dean Harrison, James Hillier, Jamie Coward and Horst Saiger were disqualified from the race.

For Cycle Torque contriutor Alex, or ‘Wal’ as he is sometimes known, it was academic.

Pickett had already clinched the first privateer and P2 category win.

The podium, however, was a long time coming.

He’d watched the DVDs with his dad, and in 2006 he saw it first-hand during a family holiday.

In parc fermé, Pickett told Manx Radio, “Ever since I’ve been a little kid, I’ve always wanted to turn right here [into parc fermé].

That dream never left the young motorcycle racer, and when he turned 18, he told his parents he was going to race on the Isle of Man.

“I might not be able to do what these guys do, but this means the friggin’ world to me.”

That’s no mean feat for a kid with no money, no idea how to do it, and living on the other side of the world of the most famous motorcycle road racing circuit in the world.

As 12-year-old, Alex Pickett dreamt of being an Isle of Man TT star.

But with the help of family and friends he did race on the Isle of Man when he was 18, the youngest rider at the 2013 Manx Grand Prix, the launching ground for TT stars.

His dad, the guy who started this obsession, even decided to race himself.

It was a real family affair.

Continued on next page

NEWS TORQUE In his first year Alex impressed, taking his own Ducati 848, built from a wreck, to pole position in the Newcomers race.

He set a time which had the pits in disbelief.

The team were flying blind, not realising they would need a bigger fuel tank than standard to complete two laps of the course.

It’s history now that Alex had to pit three times to everyone else’s once during the four lap race.

Wal managed to finish eighth out of over 90 starters.

His results had a local Isle of Man team come knocking on the door for the young Aussie to ride for them in the 2014 Isle of Man TT, the big one...

A lack of experience on big machines around the TT course and some reliability issues gave him some decent results but it could have been better.

2015 and even the 2016 TT were more of the same.

Opportunities and dear friends were lost.

After Pickett found out about the passing of friend and fellow Australian, Dwight Beare, he wrote in his blog, “My dad, my mate Gaz and I went to the beer tent in the TT paddock to drown our sorrows and all I could see were pissed idiots laughing and drinking, not giving a shit about a rider who had died, and one in a serious condition.

cycletorque.com.au OCTOBER 2016 I 6 “I can’t believe it has happened again, two years in a row.

“My teammate Franck Petricola crashed and was killed on the same section of road last year.

“For f$#’s sake.

“I am devastated for Paul’s wife Janet, and their two little boys Jensen and Hudson.

“I don’t even know what to think let alone say.”

The team he rode for in 2014 were building a classic Kawasaki for the 2016 Classic TT, held of the full TT course.

They wanted Alex to ride it, he had lots of experience with classic racing in Australia.

He did them proud.

All week he was one the fastest privateers in practice, just behind the established TT stars.

It was a close fought affair, right down to the last lap where Alex clawed back a deficit to take the Privateer’s win for him and the team.

“It was like it never happened.

Seventh outright showed how good a rider he really is, with professional riders all in front of him.

“I saw Davo [Johnson] and congratulated him for his great result on the Norton and just went straight home.

This was the first time in the team’s 30-year history they had a rider on the podium, a rider they treat like family. n

“It was then I found out the rider in the solo practice was my great friend Paul Shoesmith, who I rode for last year in the Ice Valley Team.

Alex and his father Chris are the featured riders in Eyes Wide Open, the Cycle Torque doco about their first trip to the Isle of Man. Call 02 4956 9820 or go to www. motobooks.com.au to order the DVD.

NEWS TORQUE

cycletorque.com.au OCTOBER 2016 I 7

Newly-elected NT lefties remove non-limited speed legislation We provide a one- stop shop for all your motorcycle, and ATV needs. Have a browse through our We provide amule onestop shop for all your motorcycle, Virtual Used Bikes Showroom, which displays a cross mule, ATV & jetsection ski needs.

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A recent motoring.com.au report said the newly-elected Northern Territory Labour government has abolished non-limited speed legislation in sections of the state.

The report by Sam Charlwood says NT Labour has undone the work of a two-year evidencebased trial brought in by the previous Country Liberal party.

Charlwood says “more people died on Territory roads (307) in the six years after than in the six years before the change (292).”

The Medical Journal of Australia published an article in July, 2015, by David Read, which says “the available evidence in the literature suggests that the piecemeal reintroduction of open speeds on the highways of the NT will eventually result in an increased number of fatalities and serious injuries.”

A spokesperson for chief minister Michael Gunner spoke to the website, also rejecting research which suggests open speeds improves road safety.

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“The police association, police, medical association and the like have all been calling for this,” he said.

This is a major part of the problem.

The police and medical associations are lobby groups which are relying on their experience in the field to flex their muscles, providing ‘suggestions’ because the evidence doesn’t support their distorted lens.

Unfortunately, it means the current data which suggests open speeds work is hamstrung, and we won’t know if open speed limits work for sure. n

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NEWS TORQUE

cycletorque.com.au OCTOBER 2016 I 8

CFMoto launches 400NK and 650NK CFMoto Australia has officially launched the new 400NK and 650NK to take on the LAMS market head on.

A spokesperson for CFMoto, Michael Poynton, said “CFMoto’s 400NK is an exciting addition to the NK motorcycle range.”.

“It will be a serious contender in the LAMS approved market offering serious bang for buck value.”

The new NK models have aggressive cutting edge styling created by the amazing collaboration of CFMoto and design powerhouse Kiska who have been designing KTM motorcycles since the early 90’s.

CFMoto’s 400NK share the same platform as its larger family member the 650NK, powered by a responsive liquid cooled 400 cc, inline-twin engine with Bosch EFI, putting out 31.5kW of power and 35.4Nm of torque.

The 400NK is available in two models, 400NK at $5,490 ride away and a 400NK ABS version with the addition of Continental ABS brakes at $5,990 ride away.

The Big Brother 650NK also returns featuring KYB suspension front and rear, Continental ABS brakes and powered by a 649.3cc liquid cooled, inline-twin engine, pushing 41.5kW and 62Nm of torque. The 650NK is available in is priced at $6,990 ride away.

CFMoto Australia is giving away a free CFMoto rider jacket valued at $249 with every new 400NK and 650NK purchased.

To find out more about the new CFMoto NK range, visit www.cfmotonk.com.au n

NEWS TORQUE

cycletorque.com.au OCTOBER 2016 I 9

Harley’s Milwaukee-Eight Harley-Davidson has announced its 2017-model tourers will have a new engine – the Milwaukee-Eight – and updated suspension throughout the range.

Scott Miller, Vice-President of Styling and Product Development Strategy, said “these are the most powerful, most responsive and most comfortable Touring motorcycles ever offered by Harley-Davidson.”

“The unmistakable look, sound and feel of Harley-Davidson Touring motorcycles rise to even greater heights with the improvements we’ve made this year.

“You truly have to ride it to feel it – so we’re inviting all riders to go to their local dealer and take a test ride.”

Powered by the ninth generation of Big-Twin motors from Harley-Davidson, the styling is similar but the performance is improved.

Chief Powertrain Engineer, Alex Bozmoski, said “the Milwaukee-Eight engine carries the legacy of HarleyDavidson Big Twins into the future.”

“While respecting the essential Big Twin character, we’ve created an all-new motor.

“Every aspect of performance, durability and styling has been improved as a direct response to the voice of Harley-Davidson customers around the world.”

Importantly, the new engines carry the signature note of Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

As always the configuration is a 45-degree V-Twin.

The Milwaukee-Eight motor runs a single chain-driven camshaft with four valves per cylinder to offer 50 per cent more intake and exhaust capacity.

It is a radical departure from previous Harley-Davidson engines.

The Milwaukee-Eight is powering Harley-Davidson’s Touring models for 2017, but we expect it to be rolled out to other models in the future.

There are three variations on the Milwaukee-Eight, with the number in the name being the capacity in cubic inches: the Milwaukee-Eight 107 (1745cc) and Twin-Cooled Milwaukee-Eight 107 (1745cc) for standard motorcycle models and the Twin-Cooled Milwaukee-Eight 114 (1870cc) for CVO motorcycle models.

The Twin-Cooled variant is used on the top-of-the-range Limited and features liquid-cooled heads for improved reliability.

Although performance improvements vary across the models, expect around 10 per cent more torque, reduced vibration and better heat management to improve both rider and passenger comfort.

Acceleration is improved, with the new bike getting to 100km/h a couple of bike lengths faster than the older model.

Emulsion shocks offering improved comfort and more adjustment, while the Showa SDBV forks are claimed to offer ‘racing-style cartridge fork damping performance’.

Rear preload adjustment is via a simple single hydraulic knob.

Paul James, Harley-Davidson Director of Motorcycle Product Planning, said “pre-load can now be adjusted to match the load of rider, passenger and gear without tools or an air pump.”

“Once set, the pre-load will not leak down or require further adjustment.”. n

NEWS TORQUE

cycletorque.com.au OCTOBER 2016 I 10

MotoGP and World Speedway this month Jason Doyle in action.

OCTOBER in Victoria is both MotoGP and World Speedway month, with the iconic Phillip Island Circuit hosting the bitumen riders and Etihad Stadium seeing the sliders.

The Speedway is running the night before the MotoGP and is supported by QBE and the Etihad Stadium in Docklands.

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As we go to press Aussie Jason Doyle is just five points from the lead of the championship behind American Greg Hancock, so there’s a good chance you’ll see an Aussie crowned World Champion with a bit of home crowd support.

Doyle’s won three GPs this year including the most recent two, so he’s definately on a roll and looking to secure his first title.

“I just loving racing at the moment,” Doyle said recently after winning his third GP in five outings.

“This guy is on a mission” Hancock said referring to Doyle after the German SGP. “45 more heats, I want to get as many points as possible before Melbourne and I want to lift the trophy. I’m very happy with the way everything is going in Speedway.”

The MotoGP racing will be the following day, October 23, and we’ve got a winner on the grid in Jack Miller.

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Miller won the Assen round in the wet, riding masterfully to show what he can do when the playing field is evened out by poor weather, and that’s a real possibility at Phillip Island.

While the Australian circuit doesn’t have the wet weather reputation of Assen or Silverstone, it sure can rain there.

If the weather’s good Miller might struggle on his privateer Honda, but picking a winner this year is a bit of a lottery - we’ve had so many. If the weather’s warm, Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa might be at the pointy end and it probably won’t matter what the weather’s doing for us to see Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi near the front.

The truly dedicated will go to both events, but if you can’t do that, do yourself a favour and get to one.

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Norton Day 2016 The Hunter Valley Norton Owners Club’s annual Norton Day invites all vintage and classic motorcycle enthusiasts to attend Speers Point Park, Lake Macquarie, November 13.

The Club’s flyer says, “Oil leaks ignored … Lies about speed and reliability encouraged,” sounding like a great way to spend the afternoon.

Trophies will be given out in 15 categories.

Food and drinks available on site. n

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NEWS TORQUE Yamaha’s all-Australian SX Nats line-up

cycletorque.com.au OCTOBER 2016 I 13

Yamaha Australia and its factory-supported teams will feature an all-Australian line-up throughout the national supercross championships, being held across the country from September to November.

By the time you read this, the first event at Jimboomba, Queensland will be run and won.

The Australian Supercross Championships then moves onto Toowoomba, Adelaide and Melbourne before the final double header weekend in Sydney, November 11-12.

CDR Yamaha are in the unique position of currently holding the Australian Supercross Championship crown after Dan Reardon won the championship in 2015, as well as the current MX Nationals crown with Dean Ferris winning this years’ championship just a few weeks ago.

Dan Reardon is back in the saddle after undergoing knee surgery that sidelined for the last half of the MX Nationals.

Reardon has gone through an extensive rehab program both on and off the bike and now is six weeks back into full training and starting to feel good about his riding.

Dean Ferris is juggling his supercross preparation while still in motocross mode as he will represent Australia at the upcoming Motocross of Nations, the week following the Jimboomba event.

Ferris, who hasn’t raced supercross in some time has adapted quickly to the smaller confines of a supercross track and invested in his own track to ensure he is well prepared.

Serco Yamaha will field a three pronged attack for this 2016 supercross championship with Jackson Richardson joining current team members Wilson Todd and Wade Hunter.

Richardson, who hails from Cairns in North Queensland, has been in the USA in 2016 but has returned home to contest the championship and looking forward to racing for the Serco Yamaha outfit.

Wade Hunter was drafted into the Serco Yamaha team on the back of his 2015 supercross results and after a disappointing motocross season, Hunter is out to get his season back on track.

Wilson Todd might be the youngest rider on the team but the 18-year-old has extraordinary supercross skills.

At the age of 16, he racked up a Queensland supercross championship win against the established SX2 riders while he missed last years’ championship with a knee injury.

With the SXD category (under 19) not proceeding in this years’ supercross championship, Yamaha’s official development team will step up both their riders into the SX2 division and fast track their supercross skills.

Mitch Evans is the 2015 SXD champion and enters this years’ series confident after winning the MXD class at the MX Nationals just a few weeks ago.

Evans preparation has been interrupted as he has been studying hard while completing Year 12.

Jordan Hill finished with 2-1-2 results in the three rounds he competed last year.

Hill was also the 2014 Australian Junior Supercross Champion. n

NEWS TORQUE

cycletorque.com.au 2016 C Y C L E T O R Q U EOCTOBER FEBRUAR Y 2 0I 14 15

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Have you ever wondered about MotoGP winglets? motoDNA’s Irish explains how they work.

There’s also heaps of modified bikes featured, too.

Rapid Bikes is produced for Universal Magazines by Motorcycle Publishing Pty Ltd (parent company of Cycle Torque). n

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IT’S NOW OR NOW.

Selected 2016 models purchased by 30 September only, at participating dealers in Australia while stocks last.

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SMALL TORQUE

cycletorque.com.au OCTOBER 2016 I 16

BMW’s 2016 run-out sale BMW is celebrating its centenary year with ride-away deals available across its range.

Significant savings are available on new 2016 BMW motorbikes, from the Isle of Man TT-winning S 1000 RR to the iconic R 1200 GS adventure tourer.

BMW Motorrad Australia General Manager, Andreas Lundgren, is excited to announce this limited opportunity.

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“Spring is here, and in many parts of the country this means ideal riding conditions.

“These Model Year 2016 ride-away run-out deals offer great savings across the range.

“Celebrate 100 years of BMW with us and book a test ride at your BMW Motorrad dealer.”

This opportunity is only available on 2016 models until November 30, while stocks last. Terms and conditions apply – please check bmwmotorrad.com.au for more details.

Black Dog Ride’s R nine T Scrambler raffle The Black Dog Ride has teamed up with BMW Australia to raffle off an R nine T Scrambler.

Tickets are limited to 2000 and are $50 each.

The proceeds will be split between the Black Dog Ride and Lifeline.

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SMALL TORQUE

cycletorque.com.au OCTOBER 2016 I 17

Maschine’s ‘4-Day TransTerra’ on-trail coaching adventure

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Maschine’s four-day adventure training program, TransTerra, is being held from Port Macquarie to Armidale, October 14-17.

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This year’s TransTerra 4 day - NSW, Maschine provides the opportunity to book a half day, on-trail rider coaching session for $125.

Also included is a pre-ride phone consultation to determine what you want to get out of the training session.

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ENHANCED ENGINE DESIGN PUMPS OUT A HUGE 147.1 KW (200 PS) facilities and diagnostics for minor to major ‘BALANCE FREEModern FRONT FORK’ DEVELOPED FROM WORLD SUPERBIKE The farmers hope many other advocates will be joiningADVANCED them on the journey which leads to the major mental health awareness event, The Leeton Harley and HORIZONTAL BACK-LINK REAR SUSPENSIONservicing WITH NEW-SPEC SHOWArebuilds.

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The Sydney to Leeton ride will end at the Leeton Harley & Bike Muster event.

kawasakiaus www.kawasaki.com.au Trade-Ins Welcome • Spare Parts Trade Customers Welcome 139 Blaikie Road Jamisontown NSW 2750 (Near Penrith)

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RIDE AWAY INCLUDES BONUS BODY KIT TO THE VALUE OF $1000 WHILST STOCK LASTS LIMITED TIME ONLY

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EDITORIAL

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Make it Free Graeme Boyd has been promoting race events for decades. It’s a hard job, putting together tracks, racers, media, marketing, safety… and it doesn’t really pay very well, either. Boyd has been a big influencer of Supermoto racing in Australia, his efforts to put this radical style of racing in front of sports fans since he built the jumps on the infield of Eastern Creek (now Sydney Motorsport Park) which Jeff Leisk used to great effect back in the 1990s through to today - as we have a look at the Newcastle City Supermoto run-and-won in early September in front of a huge crowd occupying the amphitheatre which is Foreshore Park.

Boyd, through expensive trial-and-error, has realised if you’re relying on a crowd to turn up and fund an event you can end up with a recipe for disaster.

Sure, spectators will come along to watch motorcycle racing if all the stars align – weather, publicity, parking, food, competing events – remember, one of the many Bathurst revivals went broke at least in part because the Superbike World Championship was run on the same weekend at Phillip Island, but because Bathurst wasn’t an international event and it was 800km away, the international organisers didn’t care, but thousands of potential spectators were split between the events, and Bathurst didn’t get enough.

So Boydy, as he’s better known, as a bike dealer in Newcastle since before I started visiting the area as a sales rep selling leather jackets and helmets back in 1989, realised an international event could get backing from NSW Tourism, an event run in the heart of a city is going to have a lot more mainsteam interest than an event run at a dedicated racing circuit. The V8 Supercar series has run an event around Homebush Park and the Melbourne F1 GP is along public streets to raise interest in the event – hell, Homebush is 20 minutes from Sydney Motorsport Park, but when the V8s race there not as many turn up.

Phillip Island can attract a crowd for many events, but not many other tracks around the country ever attract enough spectators to make it worth the promotional budget.

Back when I was young and living in Western Australia the Motorcycle Racing Club of WA would run round-the-houses events in Collie, Bunbury and other parts of the West – and club members would wander around with buckets and stickers, the buckets to collect donations and the stickers proclaiming “I’ve paid – have you?”.

At the Supermoto the tradition continued with bucket-carrying youth raising some cash for next year’s event.

I think it’s a great formula for putting

Newcastle City Supemoto

motorcycle racing into the public arena, but I would - we’ve been giving away Cycle Torque for over 15 years... I love free.

Of course the Internet has changed free, which pretty well everyone now expects media to be free, from what we did get from newspapers to entertainment to music. It’s meant many musicians aren’t getting paid what they may have back in the day, but even in the heyday of records and CDs the musicians only received a tiny proportion of the sales.

As I lay in bed this morning watching Apple’s presentation of its next iPhone, I was left wondering how many people would rather spend their cash on the latest shiny device rather than go to the races – and the answer is Most People. I mean, do you know anyone who is not elderly or a child who doesn’t have a smartphone?

And maybe it’s that market we need to tap, getting promotion onto those devices, in

the face of people so they know the racing is on, know when and where to come to see it, understand what’s happening – another thing the Newcastle City Supermoto got right, having an App you could download for a heap of information. It was by no means perfect, but a great idea.

Of course not all bike racing can be run in cities or large regional centres, but if we can get more people in front of more racing more often, could it be a catalyst for the public to realise it’s worth going out to the tracks and watching, or getting involved?

Maybe.

– Nigel Paterson

Email us your feedback feedback@cycletorque.com.au

DIRTY TORQUE

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Cooper Webb The Next Chapter Cooper Webb’s stellar amateur results were simply a prequel to what turned out to be an outstanding professional 250cc career, and as we look towards season 2017, one can only wait with baited breath to see what the 20-year-old kid from Morehead City, North Carolina can do on a factory YZF450 alongside Chad Reed.

Webb is not your typical American motocross superstar. Webb isn’t loud, he isn’t flashy, and quite often he isn’t even the fastest but if you ask the people closest to him they will tell you that Cooper’s biggest strength is his ability to learn and learn quickly… as well as his burning desire to win.

So how did a kid from North Carolina become the hottest young rider on the planet? Well, it all started when his mum and dad, Bobby and Trent, took their son Cooper to his first race meeting at a place called Kinley MX when he was just four years old and that was the start of a passion that saw their son win titles at Lorettas, Mini Os, World Mini Grand Prix and every major amateur championship on the American calendar culminating in winning the Amateur All-Star race at the Monster Energy Cup at the end of 2012.

Email us your feedback

Webb turned pro in 2013 and signed for the Star Racing Yamaha team

feedback@cycletorque.com.au

and went on to finish ninth in the AMA Motocross Championship behind the likes of Eli Tomac, Ken Roczen and Marvin Musquin. In 2014, Webb finished a credible fifth in his first ever Supercross season before winning several rounds of the AMA Motocross Championship to finish third overall behind his team mate Jeremy Martin and former champion Blake Baggett.

small bone in his wrist called the navicular.

Despite the pain, Cooper was left with little choice but to race Las Vegas and do the best he could. On a mud-infested track Webb scrambled though the 15-lap main event to finish with the 10 points he knew he needed while Savatgy took the maximum 25 points, one point shy of claiming the title.

2015 was the breakout year for Webb by winning the West Coast 250cc Supercross Championship with six wins from the eight rounds to finish 62 points ahead of second place Shane McElrath. But the motocross season turned sour with the Yamaha star having to sit out four rounds due to injury.

With less than 14 days from the end of the supercross season to the opening round of the AMA Motocross Championship at Hangtown, there seemed little chance that Webb would be lining up on the gate. Much to everyone’s surprise the number 17 Yamaha was on the gate with Webb wearing a special wrist brace to get him through the day.

Roll forward into 2015, Webb’s final year on the 250, and he wants to win another supercross title before heading to the 450 class. He feels he needs an outdoor championship to his name so he steps up his training with former South African champion Gareth Swanepoel and it immediately pays dividends. Webb took victories in the first three supercross events at Anaheim, San Diego and Anaheim 2. A dead last in the final at Oakland derailed the Webb campaign before coming back for two second places and two wins over the next four rounds. Heading into the final round in Vegas, Webb had a 16-point lead over arch rival Joey Savatgy.

Then disaster struck, Webb crashed while practicing for the final round and broke a

Webb managed more than credible 4-5 finishes at Hangtown before going 1-4 at Glenn Helen, 3-8 at Thunder Valley and 3-5 at High Point during which Cooper spent his weeks in rehab instead of at the practice track.

The lack of practice didn’t matter. Over the next five rounds Webb would put down seven moto wins and have an incredible 81-point lead in the championship before wrapping the series up with a round to spare at Budds Creek.

Webb’s final ride on a 250cc machine was at the Charlotte round of the World Motocross Championships in front of his North Carolina crowd and after coming second to Jeffrey Herlings. In the opening moto, Cooper stormed from P19 to first place in the second moto, leaving the best riders in the world in awe of his raw speed and determination - two decisive attributes he will need when he officially kicks off his 450 career at Anaheim in January 2017.

– Darren Smart

RACE TORQUE

Black & White The 2016 MotoGP season has been one of two narratives - the fight among the Aliens for the championship; and the emergence of four first-time race winners.

With Maverick Viñales’ long-awaited maiden victory at Silverstone there have been seven different victors, the first time that’s happened for almost two decades. The racing has been frenetic and unpredictable, the riders frighteningly fast and flamboyant, the conditions as changeable as their form.

The most consistent has been Marc Marquez, the gob-smacking 2014 world champion who appeared on track to rack up more world championships than the incredible Valentino Rossi until Honda intervened and decided to build a 2015 bike that he - Magic Marc - struggled to win on. A disappointingly measured rider nowadays, Marquez has taken advantage of Rossi’s mistakes and Jorge Lorenzo’s mysterious form roller-coaster to hold a healthy lead going into the back-end of the season. One-time Alien Dani Pedrosa is now a mere mortal in the twilight of an unfulfilled MotoGP career. Just why Honda re-signed him for the 2017 and 2018 Email us your seasons is one of the feedback true mysteries of the feedback@cycletorque.com.au

MotoGP paddock. No other factory would be clamouring for his signature, save maybe for Suzuki who would value his knowledge of the Honda over his recent form.

Which brings us to Cal Crutchlow. He backed up his historic win at a damp Brno with a fine second place at a dry Silverstone, trading tough passes with two of the best, Marquez and Rossi.

Riding a wave of unbearable Team GB hubris, Crutchlow has been the form rider of the championship. If Honda could, it should tear up its agreement with Pedrosa and make Crutchlow a works Repsol Honda rider. Cal has had a very hard apprenticeship in the premier class via Tech 3 Yamaha and Ducati. He has now proven he can run with anyone and look comfortable doing it. Andrea Iannone has shown incredible pace that brought Ducati’s first race win since 2010, but his continuing trips down the road suggest that he has yet to find the limit on a consistent basis. Cal, a one-time crasher, seems to have found the elusive sweet-spot between risk and return.

His good mate Jack Miller is still very much on that steep learning curve.

Whether he can eventually join Cal at the pointy end is the $64,000 question.

Firstly, he should ditch practising

cycletorque.com.au OCTOBER 2016 I 21

motocross firstly because of the obvious risks and how MX throttle control is worlds away from the requirements of road racing.

Dirt tracking, as Marquez Maverick Vinales leads Aleix Espargaro at Silverstone. and Rossi have discovered, is the those clubs running racing series are perfect preparation for MotoGP. Jack won losing serious money. The rise of track in the wet at Assen but barley cracks the days and changing demographics simply top ten in the dry, drawing comparisons makes road racing an expensive, timewith mudlarks Anthony West and consuming option in an era of instant Chris Vermeulen. Like ex-motocrosser gratification, Facebook and smartphones.

Crutchlow, it will take Miller several seasons to prove that he has the ability Australia has had two major race series to learn, adapt to and finally master a for over 15 years. That has seriously MotoGP bike in all conditions. Let’s hope damaged the sport in the eyes of that Honda or another factory has the competitors, sponsors and fans. The news patience to help make that happen. that ASBK-backer MA is in dire financial If MotoGP is experiencing one of its most successful seasons, the same cannot be said for Australian road racing. Several months ago, we declared club road racing at the local level is dead. You heard it right, Australia, one of the great nurseries for world championship road racers, is no more. There is no grassroots modern tar racing anywhere in the country, and according my sources,

straits and battling the state bodies for control of the sport just add to the horrible mess. The reality is road racing has been on the downward slope for almost two decades. The next five years will determine if we have any modern road racing at all. That’s like Australia without cricket, AFL or rugby league. Tell me it ain’t so.

– Darryl Flack

NOT GUNTRIP

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It’s not the bike It’s funny how you think a motorcycle can make you feel sometimes. I don’t think I’ve felt as alone until I took my first ride, feeling the traffic with every one of my senses on a late ’70s Kawasaki Z200. I have ridden lots of small-capacity machines lately - in ways the manufacturer hasn’t really intended them to be ridden. It has made me come to the realisation the type of bike you are on almost doesn’t matter, fun is an on/off switch and you can have it on anything.

A few years ago I decided to take a Ducati Monster 659, which is LAMS Approved (and has been replaced by the Sixty2 for MY16), halfway up the East Coast. Newcastle to Byron Bay in two days via Thunderbolts and Waterfall Ways, as well as the Gwydir and Bruxner Highways. I took a change of clothes and some wet weather gear in a backpack and set off. More recently I did the trip on a Multistrada Enduro - Ducati’s big-bore adventure tourer. While the bike was more suitable for the trip, the 659 was just as fun to ride.

It didn’t really strike me until after I returned from our biannual Vietnam Motorbike Tours trip riding the Ho Chi Minh Trail earlier this year.

I have to say, it’s one Email us your of the best things feedback I’ve done and I highly feedback@cycletorque.com.au

recommend it to anyone. ‘But you were riding a 150cc cruiser. You can’t have fun on a 150cc cruiser, can you?’.

Following a supply route used by the Viet Cong in the Vietnam War, the Ho Chi Minh Trail is now one of the main roads used to get to and from Ho Chi Minh City (still referred to as Saigon) in the south to Hanoi in the north. The way it winds, climbs and dives in-and-out of the jungle makes it easy to see why it was not only one hell of a guerrilla supply route, but now one of the most scenic rides in the world.

One section of the Ho Chi Minh trail was like riding on a billiard table, if billiard tables were made of concrete and had about 200 on-camber corners. What was a leisurely motorcycle tour only one moment earlier started to get serious. People were tucking their bodies in at times, and hanging off their small-capacity bikes at others. The pace was starting to get faster, and poetic little battles started to break out from the leader to Tail-end Charlie. We weren’t exactly racing, we were pushing these bikes as hard as they would allow us much further than we expected… As soon as we stopped for coffee, everyone in the group had a smile from ear-to-ear, we were high-fiving each other, sharing hugs and laughing. I would have been asked ’how good was that?’ 10 times, and to be honest I would have asked the same question 10 times. You get amnesia when it’s this good

and we were all ecstatic.

At the start of the trip, the group and I were quick to bag the bikes by our Australian standards. We each rode different types of bikes but we could all agree on describ-ing our Vietnamese bikes as boat anchors at best. All that high-fiving and yahooing wasn’t about the performance of the bike or who was the fastest. As different as we were, we all felt the same because not one of us imagined having as much fun on anything else as we did on those Lifan 150cc cruisers. The coffee seriously felt like it tasted better at every stop and the people became nicer…

But we all wanted a memorable adventure on a motorcycle holiday. It didn’t matter what bike we were on. We had the right frame of mind to enjoy ourselves and it’s no surprise we did.

I took that philosophy on a ride to Granya shortly after. Granya is a little town on the border of New South Wales and Victoria. I set off with the Cycle Torque crew - Nigel, Chris and Dave Longbottom earlier this year. Chris was riding a Suzuki Bandit 1250, Nigel was on a BMW R 1200 GSA, Dave had a VFR750 and Little Old Me was severely out-horsepowered on our project Yamaha FZ6R. As we rode through the Granya Gap, which had the same qualities as the

pristine section of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the same thing happened. Heads lowered and speeds increased. Things were going to get fun, but none of my comrades expected me to keep up against bigger and more powerful bikes. I threw a lot at this FZ6R and I stuck to Picko’s rear-end like a fly to a sheep’s dot.

It’s funny how you think a motorcycle can make you feel until you ride one with half the output and have just as much fun as the rest of the group.

Henry Ford said, ‘whether you think you can or think you can’t - you’re right’. It’s nice to be reminded of that from time to time. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you are, what you ride or how fast you go.

When you are in the right frame of mind to enjoy every ride, you will.

– Ryan Grubb Guntrip will return next month.

®

Husqvarna TE250 CYCLE TORQUE TEST

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Next-gen two-stroke

Husqvarna TE250 CYCLE TORQUE TEST

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Has Husqvarna built the two-stroke enduro to take on giants?

Husqvarna TE250

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CYCLE TORQUE TEST

Next-gen two-stroke

WATCH VIDEO NOW

N TESTED BY TODD REED, PHOTOS NIGEL PATERSON

Two-stroke enduro bikes are alive and well, thanks to their easy starting, simple maintenance, lightweight feel, and a fun factor that is often unmatched by any four-stroke competitor. This has all been in the hands of primarily, KTM, although Yamaha is also there. So until recently there haven’t been many options.

The Husqvarna TE250 has been around for years, and has no doubt been a serious player in the market, but it has never managed to take the crown away from KTM. The 2016 TE250 may not be ‘allnew’ and revolutionary but it takes a very serious shot at being the best bike in its class.

Features At the heart and soul of the Husky is its 250cc twostroke engine. Featuring a six-speed transmission, electric and kick starting systems, Brembo hydraulic clutch, dual-curve CDI ignition system, Boyesen reed valve intake, and a spring tune-able power valve system. Low-end torque and manageable high-end power are the product of all the above features, and the adjustability of the power valve and CDI can customise the power output even further to suit almost any rider’s needs.

The chassis is manufactured from chromoly steel,

and is laser cut and robot welded into shape by folks at WP Performance Systems, they’re the same guys who design and build WP suspension in case you were wondering. A polyamide (plastic composite) subframe sits comfortably out the back and is accompanied by a one piece aluminium swingarm. Below that, a Husqvarna-developed linkage rear shock system does its work, offering a combination of comfort and performance.

WP Suspension works with the linkage system in the form of the WP dual-compression control rear shock. It’s a completely adjustable design, updated for 2016 with new internal valving. Up front, WP 4CS front forks get to take on the trail before anything else, featuring a unique set-up where the left side of the fork is designed for compression damping, and the right fork is set up for rebound damping only.

Billet CNC machined triple clamps house the 4CS forks, and are modified for 2016 to include a 22mm offset clamp, down from 24mm. The front axle shrinks in size, down from 26mm in diameter

to 22mm in diameter, and front axle moves 2mm forward in the fork clamp shoes. To breakdown the technical talk, Husky pulled the triple clamps closer to the bike but moved the axle further away. In theory, these two changes cancel each other out so its hard to see why they would do this. Husqvarna says it creates extra flex by pushing the axle out and making the axle smaller, also helping to provide more feel and comfort in the front-end.

An 11-litre fuel tank offers some seriously long range without being too big and bulky. It’s 1.5L larger than the standard sized fuel tank on any Continued on nexton page Continued next page

Husqvarna TE250 CYCLE TORQUE TEST other enduro bike. This alone will be enough to sway a few sales in the direction of the Husky.

Air filter access is easy, with a few simple clips holding the plastic side shroud on. Simply unclip the shroud and the air filter is right there. The air filter is secured in place with another clip-in type system meaning no tools are required to remove or install the air filter. It should also be noted the standard air filter comes directly from Twin Air, meaning a quality aftermarket air filter comes as standard equipment on the TE.

On the trail The TE fires up easily with the electric starter, or just as easy with the kick starter if you forget about the button. The controls are all quite comfortable, with plenty of adjustment in the levers and ’bar mounts. The speedo is tucked away nicely behind the headlight and there isn’t too much in the way of bulky ADR rubbish hanging around the cockpit either.

Out on the trail, the Husky is quite comfortable and easy to adapt to. The suspension is somewhat soft and plush, which takes any potential harshness and vibration away. It has good manners through turns and doesn’t throw up any surprises when you come across holes, edges or any other sketchy terrain often found on the trail.

Moving onto our special test loop, we pushed the TE a bit harder and were very impressed with its balanced and agile set-up. Two-strokes give a lightweight feel through the tight stuff that just

cycletorque.com.au OCTOBER 2016 I 27 can’t be replicated by a four-stroke, and the Husky does that exceptionally well. It’s responsive to changes in direction and handles tight ruts and berms very well, yet remains quite stable at speed.

If you’re into desert racing, blasting dirt roads or going ridiculously fast the standard set-up might be a bit soft and twitchy, that being said if you’re on a TE250 and doing any of that style of riding, you need to take a better look at the Husqvarna range and think about what bike you really need.

Back to the suspension, it will work well in standard form for most people who will throw a leg over the TE. While being soft, it’s not bouncy, deflective or unpredictable. Taking on the odd fallen tree branch or launching off a drop-off is no trouble as the Husky holds up well in the stroke under load and doesn’t want to throw you off as it unloads the fork and shock. The fork offset and axle changes made for 2016 don’t appear to be a big deal, without having a bike back to back it was really hard to notice any differences. Even if we did have the previous model, it’s unlikely any weekend warriors like us will notice.

The engine is everything you would hope for out of a 250cc two-stroke. It’s responsive, builds revs quickly, and requires a bit of aggression from the rider to really make it shine. It’s a machine which produces its power in a pretty well-mannered way for a two-stroke, not quite to the level of the TE300, but good nonetheless. A quick flick of the Brembo hydraulic clutch and handful of throttle really wakes the 250 up and gets you into that fun, revvy part of the powerband. It’s pretty mild off the bottom great for when you’re riding slow - and makes great power through the mid-range. The Husky pulls well

if you have the courage to keep holding the throttle wide open. It’s a fun style of power that won’t go ripping your arms out, but at the same time you have to ride with some aggression if you plan to make the most of the powerplant.

We never got to test how far the 11-litre tank actually went, but with it being the biggest tank in class it’s almost a sure thing you’ll get further than your mates. Standard tyres have to go through ADR regulations and have to be road safe which means the selection is limited for the OEM’s, Michelin enduro tyres do the job but if you’re usually riding in the bush upgrade to a decent set of knobbies and you’ll be rewarded with improved grip and handling. The Brembo brakes are awesome, the feel is unmatched and stopping power is excellent.

Final Say There is just something about a good twostroke that makes it edgy and fun. Whatever that something is, Husqvarna has it. It’s as good as any other 250cc two-stroke enduro bike you can currently throw a leg over. In fact, you could easily make a case to say it’s better than the KTM. It has more standard features than the KTM and comes better equipped. It has equally as good spare parts backup, powerparts selection and a large dealer network too. The only negative we can put against the TE, is the same negative that any 250cc twostroke has, its in a niche where it only fits a certain style and type of rider. Don’t let that scare you off though, as the TE250 is a great bike and is ready to ride, right from your local dealer’s floor. n

Husqvarna TE250 CYCLE TORQUE TEST

I WET WEIGHT: 102.2KG I FRAME TYPE: CHROMOLY STEEL CENTRAL-TUBE FRAME I PRICE (RRP): $12,495 cycletorque.com.au OCTOBER 2016 I 28 FUEL CAPACITY: 11 LITRES

REAR SUSPENSION: WP SHOCK ABSORBER WITH LINKAGE

FRONT SUSPENSION: WP-USD XPLOR 48 WITH PRELOAD ADJUSTER

REAR TYRE: 140/80-18 REAR BRAKES: 220MM BREMBO SINGLEPISTON FLOATING CALLIPER, BRAKE DISC

FRONT TYRE: 90/90-21

FRONT BRAKES: 260MM BREMBO TWIN-PISTON FLOATING CALLIPER, BRAKE DISC

SEAT HEIGHT: 960MM

ENGINE: SINGLE CYLINDER TWO-STROKE CAPACITY: 250CCCC TRANSMISSION: SIX SPEED DRIVE TYPE: CHAIN DRIVE

Husqvarna TE250 CYCLE TORQUE TEST

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Husqvarna TE250 CYCLE TORQUE TEST

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Husqvarna TE250 CYCLE TORQUE TEST

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Sol Invictus Nemesis XY400 CYCLE TORQUE TEST

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Old versus New

Sol Invictus Nemesis XY400 CYCLE TORQUE TEST

Sol Invictus’ Nemesis goes to show you don’t need to buy classic to feel classic

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Sol Invictus Nemesis XY400

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CYCLE TORQUE TEST

Old versus New

WATCH VIDEO NOW

N TESTED BY RYAN GRUBB, PHOTOS NIGEL PATERSON N RYAN WEARS ROLAND SANDS JACKET, DRAGGIN TWISTA JEANS, OXFORD MID-LAYER SHIRT, FALCO SHIRO BOOTS, FIVE STUNT EVO AIRFLOW GLOVES

Who would have thought, in 2016, we would be talking about a bike like Sol Invictus’ Nemesis? Straight from the showroom floor, the Nemesis diverges from most modern retros with its very ‘traditional’ take on classic motorcycling – spoke wheels, drum rear brake, peashooter exhaust, chrome fenders and headlight, black leather seat with vinyl piping, analogue instruments and a kickstart lever.

Unlike Yamaha’s revived SR400 - a similarly styled motorcycle, the Nemesis hasn’t gone all the way. One of the Nemesis’ more modern features is an electric start. So it gets a big tick in that department. Sure, if you want to be more ‘authentic’, you can kick ‘til your heart’s content.

But really, with both kick and electric, why would you bother?

Sol Invictus also do their own customisations, so we picked up the Nemesis you see here aced-up in café racer trim. I must say I do like the cut of the café racer’s jib. The rear rack has been removed, with a custom seat added, as well as upside-down ‘bars, ‘bar-end mirrors, Lucasstyle tail light, exhaust wrap and a checkered flag tank decal.

Sol Invictus’ Nemesis is aimed at someone who likes the look of yore, who may not see the value or possess the mechanical sympathy required when owning a classic.

You know, buying old technology new, cheaper than buying old technology which is old. It starts to make sense.

The hardware “It’s got a fuel tap, I haven’t seen one of those on a road bike in a while,” said Cycle Torque’s Publisher, Nigel Paterson, when he dropped me off at Sol Invictus’ Newcastle shop. Yep, the Nemesis is chock-full of old technology like fuel taps which even have reserve, so when it comes spluttering to a halt you flip the lever the other way and the last few litres can come out, what was known as reserve, back in the day.

The powerplant is a mix of old and new - a carburettor-equipped air-cooled single, with twin pipes going either side of the steel frame’s downtube indicating it has four valves, with a pipe for each exhaust valve.

Four valves are better than two because it creates a cleaner burn, for more efficiency, economy and emission reasons. For those reasons, it seems strange the Nemesis hasn’t been equipped with EFI. Where many a traditional single had points ignition and a drum front brake, sanity has prevailed there, with a digital ignition and front disc.

The frame, suspension, wheel, tank and style is from decades past. Twin shocks, skinny forks, little adjustability… this is not going to handle like a Ninja or MT-03. But it’s not supposed to either, the Nemesis is about style, tradition and class, not high performance and sport.

The ride As I set out from Sol Invictus’ digs in Newcastle Mall, I have to say I was pretty impressed with the performance of the engine - the under 400cc market has seen a shift towards liquid-cooled parallel-twin engines, which make their power higher up in the rev range. The Nemesis’ thumper makes its power much earlier on, so getting out in front of traffic requires less aggression with the throttle. Its solo piston has a bigger bore and longer stroke, plus oil-cooling allows the engine to work a bit harder than an air-cooled engine, but not as hard as the liquid-cooling does. Both modern twins and retro singles

Continued on next page

Sol Invictus Nemesis XY400

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CYCLE TORQUE TEST

will do 140km/h, they just get there in different ways. The kickstart works, too, but as I said earlier, with the choice to button-start your bike, without getting into a big discussion about replacing the battery with a capacitor (when you can quite easily hide a lithium-ion battery under the seat), café racer fanatics will know what I mean… The kickstart lever is essentially ornamental.

I must have been invisible riding back to the office, with SMIDSY (sorry mate, I didn’t see you) occurring on three separate occasions. It’s a bit ironic - on the café racer you can’t help but feel like you stand out from the crowd which if anything, goes to show most cagers don’t discriminate. But the sun was out, my knees in the breeze, the brakes did their thing and I could see from my mirrors I wasn’t going to get cleaned up from behind.

I was happy ... to still be in one piece.

Tipping into a roundabout and around faster bends, the front-end feels quite light and nimble with its 19inch front wheel, making the bike really enjoyable to handle around the 60-80km/h speed limit. In low-speed manoeuvres the Nemesis handles just as well. The long stroke thumper engine means it’s really hard to stall.

The upside-down handlebars emulate clip-ons which are traditionally used on café racers to give the rider a go-fast, sporty riding position. It usually colours the bike with stiffer handling. The good thing is there is still plenty of leverage on the bars so it doesn’t really interfere with the Nemesis’ sweet handling characteristics. They add a certain custom-style which is one of the reasons for buying a bike like this, but gets tiresome after riding longer than an hour due with the pressure converging in your wrists.

In its standard form however, the riding position is great.

The more upright ‘bars add linearity, taking away the strain of the café racer’s upside-down ‘bars. The ‘pegs are in prime riding real estate, but fall in the ‘kick your shin’ zone when coming to a halt. It’s a small price to

pay for the comfort it provides when the wheels are spinning. The ‘pegs are bulky, just like they were back in the day. A set of smaller aftermarket ‘pegs may peak your interest, if you want to make the bike suit you best.

The Nemesis’ brakes do their job acceptably but lack feeling in the lever, although the bike wasn’t fully run-in, they might get better when fully bedded-in. Progressive braking will slow the bike down, up to a point, where harder braking has little to no extra effect. In its intended setting around town and recreational riding most won’t need to push the brakes this far, except for emergency stops, which it receives a pass mark.

I was a bit too heavy for the standard suspension - the Nemesis’ load rating is 150kg, of which I took up just over two thirds. Less noticeable while commuting, but when pushed harder the rear tended to offer little when it came to soaking up the bumps, pogoing at every chance. It will suit those under 85kg much better. If you see a theme developing, you are spot on. Customising bikes is more than just adding bolt on parts and tan leather seats - as cool as they may be. So if I owned the bike, I would either get back down to fighting weight or take it to a suspension expert to spring the Nemesis right for me. It’s not as expensive as you would think...

I might sound like I’m being a bit critical of the bike but it’s nothing history and engineering hasn’t told us already. Overall, I really enjoyed having the bike for a week, enjoying the sound of the thumping single, being able to relax, feel nostalgic and have fun riding the bike for what it is, and the era it represents.

So how can I evaluate it? As a package, Sol Invictus’ Nemesis is outdated, but it does what it is supposed to do well, and riders allured by its looks will fall in love with it. Sure, there are modern bikes which can do it better. But by now, if you don’t get the Nemesis isn’t really supposed to, it’s definitely not for you. One does not simply build a bike with 40-year-old technology and magically free it from its original design constraints. If it did, our appreciation for classic bikes would cease to exist, because everybody would still be riding them.

The big thing you buy with a Nemesis is not just the classic looks, but the piece of mind of buying new - parts, service, warranty, spares - much cheaper than buying it old. Currently, Sol Invictus is offering the Nemesis XY400 for $6,999 ride-away. If you are checking one out for the first time at either Sol Invictus Sydney or Newcastle, make sure you test one to find out for yourself what all that nostalgia and fun is about. n

Sol Invictus Nemesis XY400

I FRAME: STEEL CRADLE I WEIGHT: 151KG cycletorque.com.au OCTOBER 2016DRY I 37 I PRICE: $6,999 RIDE-AWAY

CYCLE TORQUE TEST

REAR TYRE: 130/70-18

SEAT HEIGHT: 790MM (Standard model seat)

FUEL CAPACITY: 13 LITRES

FRONT SUSPENSION: HYDRAULIC SPRING COMPOSITE DAMPING

FRONT TYRE: 100/90-19

REAR BRAKES: DRUM

REAR SUSPENSION: HYDRAULIC SPRING COMPOSITE DAMPING TRANSMISSION: (DOUBLE AFTER FIVE SPEED WET SUBTRACTION) CLUTCH

ENGINE: OIL-COOLED SINGLECYLINDER FOUR-STROKE WITH OVERHEAD CAM AND FOUR-VALVES CAPACITY: 397CC

FRONT BRAKES: SINGLE DISC

Sol Invictus Nemesis XY400 CYCLE TORQUE TEST

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Kawasaki Z125 PRO

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MINIATURE MAGIC

Kawasaki Z125 PRO CYCLE TORQUE TEST

Fun does come in small, cheap packages…

Kawasaki Z125 PRO

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MINIATURE MAGIC

WATCH VIDEO NOW

N TESTED BY NIGEL PATERSON, PHOTOS RYAN GRUBB N NIGEL WEARS SHARK HELMET, SPIDI JACKET, IXON GLOVES AND DRAGGIN JEANS

IT’S a proper motorcycle, in miniature.

It even looks like a Z1000, or at least there’s a family strong family resemblance, and while it doesn’t offer the performance of an openclass bike, it sure provides lots of lowrisk fun.

There’s no liquid-cooled four-cylinder powerplant there, just a modified KLX110 power plant – the capacity is up a bit and unlike its trailbike parentage, fuel-injected.

No, we didn’t expect an air-cooled, two-valve, small capacity single to be this much fun, either. But at $4099, expecting more is a bit silly – the Z125 is offering more bang-for-buck than any other road bike we can think of on the market.

What is cool are the upside down forks, single shock and steering geometry designed to make the Z125 incredibly nimble – quick steering, easy to flick around and great at low

speeds – but because the seat is low and the bike so compact, it really doesn’t feel slow.

As a contrast, bikes like the ZX14R, being long, tall and heavy feel effortless at freeway speeds, to the point where riding one all day at speeds which would get you a jail term in many parts of Australia isn’t just achievable, it’s easy – and a lot safer than our authorities want to admit (otherwise why is the German Autobahn road toll not the shame of Europe?)

But high speed stability isn’t required of the Z125, flickability is, and its got that in spades, made easy to access by the relatively high, wide handlebars.

At first glance you might think the ’bars are simply motocross-style, but look closely and you’ll see there’s a huge rise on them, which is so the bike fits adults.

Realistically, you’ve got to think a little out of the box to get a short machine with 12-inch wheels to fit a grown-up, even if the primary target market are those with maybe still a little growing to do – teenagers.

The seat height is tall considering the size of the wheels, but even if it’s higher than you’d really like the weight – just 102kg, ready to go – of the machine means it is not at all

intimidating, and means the seatfootpeg-handlebar relationship actually makes sense to people over five feet tall.

At six foot I’m a bit tall for the Z125 PRO, but my 15-year old son, a bit shorter but importantly lighter in both build and weight – wanted one. It’s a real shame in this country there’s no way he can be licensed for something like this until he’s near

Continued on nexton page Continued next page

Kawasaki Z125 PRO

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CYCLE TORQUE TEST enough to 17, but that’s one of the prices we pay for living in a Nanny State.

and kits available to increase the performance of the Z125 if that’s your passion, too.

Yes, if you’re tall you’ll struggle with the ’bars banging into your knees while doing U-turns. If that’s the case the Z125 is too small for you, but in general I think Kawasaki has done a good job of making the Z125 fit as wide a range of people as possible.

But yes, you could fit taller handlebars if you are tall and still want a Z125.

In tighter neighbourhoods filtering is easy, parking simple and manoeuvring the bike when it’s not running ridiculously easy.

The 12-inch wheels are cast alloy units finished in stealthy black and fitted with tyres which look fat on such a small bike, which contrast well with the bright green of the paint and alloy underslung exhaust. There’s a boxsection swingarm and engine cowl all finishing off the lower edge of the machine.

On the road The Z125 has the performance to zip around town quicker than the traffic flow. There isn’t a lot of power available, but the four-speed manual gearbox can be worked pretty hard and when you do so most tin-tops will be left in your wake, although watch out for the sportscar or V8 driver who really wants to have a go...

The dirt bike heritage of the machine means there’s already accessory parts

It’s the perfect bike for those who wouldn’t ride a scooter if you paid them but do like the idea of a light, small, fun machine which will fit in the lift to your office.

In a better world we’d be riding these things to work on weekdays and racing them on go-kart tracks on weekends.

Modern touches Many small, inexpensive bikes can disappoint when you look at the details, but not the Z125 PRO. There’s modern instrumentation, complete with a gear indicator, petal discs which offer good stopping performance without being intimidating, a decent range from the small tank but low fuel consumption and the sort of paint we’ve come to expect from Kawasaki.

The tank holds 7.4 litres and we tested the bike for a week and never need to put fuel in the machine. The fuel consumption is somewhere between ‘not much’ and ‘who cares’.

Kawasaki is marketing the Z125 PRO as a supernaked rather than a sportsbike, which probably goes to the lack of suspension adjustability – the forks look great and work fine, but they are non-adjustable. The rear shock has four-position preload, and I strongly suggest you set it up – small, light bikes are more sensitive to handling badly if the static sag is out on the rear – it upsets the front/ rear weight bias for a start – so if you’re heavy, adjust that shock (and especially if you ever carry a passenger, but don’t do that – there might be a rear seat and pillion pegs, but seriously…)

Conclusion

delusion we’re going to take on the outback at any given moment. The reality is different, with cramped cities, overcrowded parking areas, tiny garages and low speeds the norm, a Z125 starts to make a lot of sense.

Which is weird in a way, because we loved it around the office because it doesn’t make any sense – it’s too small for the roads and freeways we have at our doorstep up here in the Hunter Valley.

But you don’t buy a Z125 because it makes sense – if that was the equation, you’d buy a scooter. Nope, buy a Z125 Pro because it’s the most fun you’ll have with four grand and 125cc ever. n

If the whole world was like Australia, the Z125 PRO wouldn’t exist – we like our bikes full-size, under the Continued on nexton page Continued next page

Kawasaki Z125 PRO

I WEIGHT: 102KG WET I FRAME: BACKBONE HIGH-TENSILE STEEL I PRICE: FROM $4,099 + ORC

CYCLE TORQUE TEST SEAT HEIGHT: 805MM

FUEL CAPACITY: 7.4 LITRES

FRONT SUSPENSION: 30MM DIAMETER INVERTED FORK AND 100MM TRAVEL

REAR SUSPENSION: OFFSET LAYDOWN SINGLE-SHOCK WITH ADJUSTABLE PRELOAD AND 104MM TRAVEL

FRONT TYRE: 100/90-12

REAR TYRE: 120/70-12

REAR BRAKES: SINGLE 184 MM PETAL DISC WITH DUALPISTON CALIPER

TRANSMISSION: FOUR SPEED, WET CLUTCH

ENGINE: AIR-COOLED AND FUEL-INJECTED SINGLE-CYLINDER CAPACITY: 125CC

FRONT BRAKES: SINGLE 200 MM PETAL DISC WITH SINGLE-PISTON CALIPER

Kawasaki Z125 PRO CYCLE TORQUE TEST

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CYCLE TORQUE FEATURE

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LAMS for all seasons In the following pages of Cycle Torque, you’ll find information about many of the Learner-Approved motorcycles available in Australia. There are many manufacturers listed, but only road, Adventure and a few trail bikes – we’ve left out the enduro machines and scooters.

We’ve done this for space considerations, and because buyers of those genres tend to be focused only on those styles of bikes, so hopefully we can do a feature on enduros and scooters in future issues.

Also, with a few exceptions due to large engine capacities, scooters are all Learner-Approved, so they don’t really need to be listed here.

Many enduro bikes though, despite being LAMS approved, maybe shouldn’t be listed here, because many of them only pass the LAMS test because they are heavily restricted in performance to pass the noise and emission laws required for street registration, but when de-restricted for off-road use they become rocket-ships through the bush. They aren’t suitable to learn on, but are more than suitable for teenagers who have a background in competition riding and have ridden dirt bikes for many years.

It’s an anomaly of the licensing system that only experience after you get your licence counts towards legal ‘experience’, not actual riding ability.

So we’ve left out the larger enduro bikes from this guide to give more space to machines which are better suited to learners.

That still leaves you with over 70 bikes to choose from in this feature, so the choices available to learners is amazing in 2016.

Which is the best learner bike? Probably the one you want to own the most, given your budget, riding style, the type of riding you want to do, where you want to ride and your physique.

Many learners are being introduced to motorcycles because of their Old-School Cool looks, with the Ducati Scrambler or Harley-Davidson Street 500 fitting the bill. For those wanting to go fast, there’s the venerable Kawasaki Ninja 300. Seeing the world on a LAMS license is possible on a Yamaha XT660.

Whatever you choose, do the training required and then do some more – it’s the best thing to spend money on after your bike and helmet, then get out there and have fun.

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LAMS for all seasons Benelli Benelli is an old name producing economic wellspecified bikes. It has three machines in its current LAMS line-up, the four-cylinder BN600S and BN600GTS and the twin cylinder BN302.

At $5590 the BN302 features modern styling thanks to its trestle frame, side-mounted single shock, underslung pipe, USD forks and twin petal discs.

The BN600 models are both priced at $8990. The GTS is the touring model with a frame-mounted half fairing and panniers, while the 600S is your naked/streetfighter style with high underseat pipes, a banana-shaped swingarm and Metzeler Sportec tyres.

BMW BMW only has one machine currently LAMS-approved, the forthcoming G 310 R naked streetfighter. The new G 310 R is priced at $5,790 plus on-roads, and is expected to arrive at BMW dealerships very soon. BMW has certainly nailed what is arguably the three most important features the LAMS market is looking at – it’s priced well, plus it features ABS brakes and killer looks evoked from the S 1000 R.

BMW G 310 R

BMW’s only LAMSapproved motorcycle for 2017, the G 310 R looks like shakingup the class with aggressive styling, nimble performance and an Asian price tag with European heritage.

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LAMS for all seasons CF Moto With four bikes from 150cc to 650cc in its all-LAMS range, CFmoto is one of the most interesting of the new manufacturers from Asia.

At just $3290 and available in a few different colour options, the fuel-injected 150NK is small, light, very economic and would be perfect for a student or apprentice wanting to get away from public transport.

The 400 NK is a step-up, with naked streetfighter styling wrapped around it’s liquid-cooled fuel-injected twin cylinder engine. With optional ABS, two colour schemes and a price of just $5490, it’s got value written all over it.

The 650NK and 650TK are the biggest Cfmoto machines, still LAMS, but physically bigger machines with more power, torque and road prescence. The NK is the naked, the TK the fully-faired and pannier-equipped touring model.

Ducati Tested in the last issue of Cycle Torque, Ducati’s Scrambler Sixty2 looks like the rest of the Scrambler family but gets by with a 400cc V-twin LAMS-sized engine. With its classic style, classy finish, racing heritage and Italian pedigree, the Sixty2 may be one of the highest-priced LAMS bikes available but it’s also one of the best.

Ducati Scrambler Sixty2

Tested just last issue, the Sixty2 looks like a full size Scrambler, feels like a full sized Scrambler and will fool most people… while being fully-legal for learners.

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LAMS for all seasons Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson calls itself a manufacturer of heavy-weight motorcycles, although the Street 500 isn’t that heavy – and it’s proven to be a very, very popular machine. There’s something about the brand which resonates with Australians, and the popularity of the Street 500 certainly shows it.

The current model received a few updates from the first version and it’s a better bike for it, resale values look good (most will be traded in for a fullsized H-D) and the build quality is solid.

Honda Here at Cycle Torque we haven’t had the chance to ride many Hondas in recent years, current management at Honda Australia making test bikes very thin on the ground – which is a shame, because the range of machine Honda offers to learners is large, and we’d love to be able to tell you about them.

Apart from the inexpensive CB125E commuter, Honda’s range is 300-650cc in singles, twins and fours. They are solid machines, although somehow lack some of the excitement Honda once brought to it’s smaller bikes.

HarleyDavidson Street 500

It’s quickly become one of the most popular road bikes in Australia, because it’s a Harley, it’s cool and it’s a good bike to learn on.

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‌and then there was light

SKWAL’s design has been strengthened & enhanced with the use of integrated LEDs, which makes it one of the worlds first helmets to feature this technology. The SKWAL helmet is part of the Pulse range matching aggressive looks with versatility, comfort & safety.

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7/09/2016 12:54:31 PM

Adrenalin Images

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CYCLE TORQUE FEATURE

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LAMS for all seasons Hunter Hunter motorcycles are small capacity custom-style bikes – four of the range look like customs, while the fifth is called the Café Racer. Built around a concept of bikes the owners of the brand would have liked to have learnt to ride on, the Hunter machines are light, easy to ride and inexpensive.

If you’re looking for somewhere to start and you’re keen on having a customised LAMS machine, especially a cruiser, check out the Hunter range.

Kawasaki Kawasaki has possibly the widest range of learner bikes available today.

There’s the undeniably fun Z125 Pro we’ve tested elsewhere in the issue, to lightweight naked machines like the Z300, trail bikes like the KLX150 and 250 and then on up to the Vulcan cruisers, ER-6nL, Versys 650L ABS, Ninja 650L ABS and one of our favourite LAMS machines, the top-selling sporty Ninja 300.

The Z125 Pro is Kawasaki’s entry into the minibike category – 12-inch wheels offer sharp city-handling, while the air-cooled single-cylinder engine with fuel-injection has enough performance to get you out in front of the traffic. Great for the city living rider who may not have the space for a full-sized motorcycle, or even as a cost-effective commuter the experienced trackday warrior, who may jeopardise their licence on anything else.

Cycle Torque took the small-capacity Ninja to a trackday training school – to push the bike a bit further than we could on the road and it came up trumps, lap after lap. After investing in some quality safety gear, the next most important thing you can do is work on your riding skills. The Ninja 300 has the ability to see you through your restricted licencing phase and the capability for your riding skills to skyrocket in a controlled environment.

With ABS and the ability to take on less-than-perfect roads, the Versys 650L is almost an adventure bike, but if its off-road abilities aren’t quite good enough compared to Kawasaki’s KLR650 - which is also LAMS approved. The Versys features a parallel-twin engine, while the KLR is a single cylinder design. The bigger bore and stoke of the KLR – plus spoke wheels and longer travel suspension – really makes the KLR more at home in the dirt.

Kawasaki Ninja 300

Sporty, capable, good-looking, reliable and cost-effective, the Ninja 300 is one of the most popular bikes in Australia, regardless of class, size or style.

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LAMS for all seasons KTM If it’s orange, it’s probably a KTM. The Austrian brand so well-known in the dirt bike world is also huge in road bikes, with a number of road bikes from 390cc to 1290cc available in Australia.

The two road-going LAMS machines from KTM are the 390 Duke and RC390. The Duke is an impressivelooking naked machine. It’s single cylinder motor produces excellent performance and the styling, trestle frame and WP suspension make it handle well, too.

KTM 390 Duke

With its trick chomoly trestle frame, lightweight build and racing heritage, the Duke 390 from KTM is a really nice bike with a lot of appeal. It’s comfy, versatile and easy to ride, while offering plenty of aroundtown performance.

The RC390 is a supersport machine. Fully-faired at home in the twisties, the RC390 really reflects KTM’s racing heritage of building incredible single-cylinder bikes as home on the track as they are on the street.

Cycle Torque went to the world launches of both these machines, so follow the links to the videos and full tests for their full stories.

The 2017 range of EXC enduro machines is hitting the stores, so if getting dirty is more your style KTM has a lot to offer.

The 250EXC and 250EXC-F are light, powerful machines at the top-end of the off-road performance stakes that we might recommend for the learner. For youngsters with experience off-road before getting their licence, perfect!

If you don’t have quite the skills required for an enduro bike but still want to get dirty, the KTM Freeride – 350cc four-stroke – is a versatile, nonthreatening but remarkably capable machine. Inspired by trials and built for people who want to have fun without entering races, the Freeride is one of the most under-rated machines out there.

KTM RC390

With its full fairing and racetrack styling, the KTM RC390 is one of the sportiest LAMS bikes around.

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LAMS for all seasons Royal Enfield Produced in India for decades, Royal Enfield was stuck in a timewarp, making bikes which were retro before retro was a ‘thing’.

Some of the models still are very old in their style and execution, but in recent times management has moved on and is now building bikes which still carry the classic Royal Enfield style, but with more modern touches.

The Continental GT is the pick of the bunch, but if you want a bike you can work on and learn with, as well as know it’ll be as modern in 10 years as it was a decade ago, there are quite a few Royal Enfield models to choose from.

Suzuki We counted around 13 Suzuki LAMS bikes on its webpage, not including scooters, which means Suzuki has plenty to choose from for Learners.

There’s a bunch of 650s to choose from – road (GSX650F, SV650), Adventure Touring (V-Stroms in ABS and non-ABS versions) and Trail (DR650E). The SV650 was introduced ages ago and discontinued, but re-introduced this year. It runs a V-twin motor like the V-Strom, one of the most popular middleweight machines you could buy over the last decade or so.

Royal Enfield Bullet 350

Genuine old-school cool, the ‘all new’ 2016 machine is heavily based on bikes produced by Royal Enfield for decades. For the enthusiast who wants a new bike.

Suzuki also has faired, naked, retro and cruiser 250s, DR-Z400E and DR-Z250 trail bikes and the DR-Z400SM, the only supermoto LAMS machine we’ve found while researching this article.

CYCLE TORQUE FEATURE

cycletorque.com.au OCTOBER 2016 I 62

LAMS for all seasons Torino Another manufacturer importing inexpensive small capacity machines from Asia, Torino has scooters, a V-Twin café racer and a couple of cruisers in its line-up.

Triumph The Street Triple 660 is the only LAMS-approved Triumph, and it’s a cracker. Offering the highestlevel of performance and still being LAMSapproved, the Street Triple 660 is a streetfighter-style naked machine with enough attitude to be tough, yet it’s not intimidating to learn on.

A full-sized bike, the Street Triple 660 is likely to appeal to those who have completed their teens, partly because it’s at the premium end of the market. For that price you do get an excellet level of fit & finish, a good warranty, ABS, great suspension and a lot more performance than you might expect.

This is the sort of LAMS bike many might choose to keep even after a full licence is obtained.

Triumph Street Triple 660

Offering the highest-level of performance and still being LAMS-approved, the Street Triple 660 is a streetfighter-style naked machine.

CYCLE TORQUE FEATURE

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LAMS for all seasons Yamaha Yamaha understands many of its fans started on its smaller bikes and have stayed loyal, with Cycle Torque’s own Nigel Paterson a good example – he waxes lyrical way to often about the Old Days riding, racing and crashing the two-stroke twin Yamahas he had in his teens and early 20s.

Those two-stroke twins are now banned from learner’s hands and they aren’t being made anyway, but that doesn’t mean there’s much to choose from – Yamaha has a huge range of LAMS bikes.

The small-capacity sportsbike category is now filled with the YZF-R3 and YZF-R15 v2.0. 320 and 150cc respectively, these small, light, fully-faired machines are incredible, offering lap times which will shock for such small bikes. Many a rider on large-capacity machines has been surprised when one of these little machines has whipped past.

The 655cc engine Yamaha adapted for the Australian LAMS market in the XSR700 and MT-07LA is a gem, and one of the reasons the MT-07LA quickly became one of the best-selling machines in the country. We love the MT-07LA and we’re sure we will love the XSR too, when we get a chance to ride one – that’s a test which is coming soon.

The MT-07LA video is one of our most popular and features stunt riding with Dave McKenna.

Similar to the MT-07 but smaller is the MT-03, offering naked good looks, even less weight and a lower price, without compromising on fit too much. A versatile bike which will fit most, the MT-03 looks good and works really well.

While the XSR700 is a modern retro, the SR400 really is retro, right down to its kickstart-only and decompression lever, and it’s absolutely fine for any learner wanting to learn the way Dad – or maybe Granddad – did.

One pot, air-cooled, laced wheels… it doesn’t get more genuine than this.

Yamaha venerable 250 and 650 V-twin cruisers are still very popular, thanks to their bulletproof reliability, value and low seats.

For the off-road riders the XT250 and WR250R are great starting points, while the WR250F is the LAMS-approved off-road weapon for those with a bit of dirt riding experience.

And if you want to go Adventure Touring, the Tenere 600 is forgiving, capable and ready to lap the country. n

Yamaha MT-07 LA

One of the most powerful and physically largest LAMS-approved road bikes, the MT-07 LA was built for exclusively for the Australian market, Yamaha reducing the capacity of the original design to squeeze it into the LAMS requirements.

One of our favourite LAMS bikes here at Cycle Torque HQ, the MT-07 LA offers performance which will eclipse most other LAMS bikes and feels like a big bike without being intimidating to most learners.

Yamaha MT-03

The smallest of the Massive Torque range from Yamaha, the MT-03 offers great value, Yamaha’s legendary quality and is the perfect bike for anyone looking for light, inexpensive and versatile motorcycling.

CYCLE TORQUE FEATURE

cycletorque.com.au OCTOBER 2016 I 64

Read Cycle Torque LAMS-bike Tests

While the printed copies of Cycle Torque which featured many of the bikes in this article are now on the bottom of the budgie cage, the digital versions are still very much alive and kicking.

You can get back issues for your iPad and iPhone via the App Store (just search for Cycle Torque within the App Store), you can read the online version of the magazine via cycletorque.com.au or you can read the test directly on the website.

The digital magazines feature a lot more pictures than the website experience, so that’s what we recommend.

Whichever way you choose to read, it’s FREE. We’ve put together links to all the tests, videos and manufacturer websites at

www.cycletorque.com.au/lams2016

cycletorque.com.au OCTOBER 2016 I 65

A b s o l ut e . Pre m ium. Pro tectio n. www.wileyx.com.au/motorcycle

CYCLE TORQUE FEATURE

cycletorque.com.au OCTOBER 2016 I 66

Bike Stuff Spring fashion

Kawasaki has you covered this Spring with its range of clothing.

From warmer days to cooler nights, Kawasaki’s Baseball jacket, Curved Peak cap and Emblem T-shirt.

There’s a Green Ninja kids tee, too...

Genuine Kawasaki clothing items are available now at your local Kawasaki dealership.

Price Baseball jacket $94; T-shirt $32; Kids tee $30; Cap $24.99 Get them from: Kawasaki dealerships

LAMS breathe easy

DNA air filters are available for a huge range of LAMS bikes, including this one for the Honda Grom.

DNA air filters features a full-contour design and is easy to install, allowing your engine to breathe easier. It’s one of the easiest and cheapest ways to improve engine performance.

The other benefit of a DNA air filter is it’s reusable - OEM paper air filters are disposable. While prices can vary, the DNA filter for the Grom is $117. Check out the Kenma website to find a DNA filter suitable for your LAM Price $117 Get them from: Better bike shops More info: kenma.com.au

CYCLE TORQUE FEATURE

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Bike Stuff MudBuster for your road bike

MudBuster is a European cleaning product introduced into Australia by 2015 BSB champ and WSBK rider Josh Brookes.

Brookes is a self-confessed clean freak and found the product while racing overseas, it worked so well he decided to bring it to Australia.

MudBuster’s road bike cleaner concentrate and degreaser is a blend of biodegradable liquid raw materials specifically formulated for the cleaning all types of road bikes. There are no solid particles (no matter what size) to drop out or to be left behind after cleaning and rinsing, therefore leaving exceptionally clean uncontaminated surfaces.

MudBuster washes, waxes and removes oil, grease and grime from your road bike, all in one application.

MudBuster Road Bike Cleaner activates when mixed with air and water. Simply Give your bike a hose first, spray on MudBuster, scrub and hose off.

There are about 40 stores across NSW and Victoria which stock the MudBuster range. It’s simply a case of asking your local bike shop to stock it for you.

Price $27.95 Get them from: mudbuster.com.au/stockists More info: MudBuster.com.au

Andy Strapz does Cloudburst overpants

All LAMS should get acquainted with Andy Strapz and Andy Thingz - he understands riders’ needs and he knows the products which are most suitable.

The latest product from Andy Strapz is a really great set of overpants manufactured by a family-owned company in Germany called Held.

The Cloudburst overpants are made from a polyurethane nylon-coated fabric with a reinforced double layer inside the leg area. Special fixing allows clipping of leg to waist hem - this decreases the time it takes to slip them on. Full length side zips make the Cloudbursts easy to put on while wearing boots, plus there is a detachable stirrup to keep them from riding up, as well as an anti-slip seat patch and reflective details for visibility.

If you ride more often than not, you’re gonna get caught out by the weather sooner or later, so grab a set of Cloudburst pants from Andy.

Price $135 plus postage Get them from: andystrapz.com More info: (03) 9786 3445

CYCLE TORQUE FEATURE

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Bike Stuff A French classic

When it comes down to choosing safety gear for casual riders, it’s not about the type of bike you ride, it’s more a case of not wanting to look too much like a leather-suited Mr Fast or a dayglo Mr Always when you get about your business off the bike. Each have their own purposes, which are fair but they don’t really suit everyday, casual riders. This is where companies like Segura come in. This Nomad jacket is Segura’s take on a venerable waxedcotton/canvas. Belstaff make the ones you have seen in the movies, but they are expensive and seem to have moved more towards ‘high fashion’, whatever that means…

Segura has used modern jacket engineering along with textile material and leather to pull off the classic look, making it more breathable than its traditional counterpart, it’s got CE protection in the shoulder and elbows (an optional CE back protector is available for $29.95).

With a removable winter liner and adjusters at the waist and collar, the Nomad is certainly well fitting and toasty warm so far. When Summer rolls into town I will give you an update how suitable the Nomad jacket holds up sans liner for all-seasons use.

Leather is used sparingly for the pockets and the belt is adjustable, while the corduroy inner-collar and knitted cuffs each add nice finishing touches.

There are eight external and three internal pockets, so I am also interested to find out how it holds up in wet weather, too.

Segura’s Nomad looks to be a great multipurpose jacket which although it’s aimed at men, the androgynous style will look good on anybody. If you particularly enjoy modern nakeds to anything retro - Kawasaki Z300s, Harley Street 500s, Yamaha MTs, Triumph Street Triples, Ducati Scramblers, Sol Invictus Nemesis et al. the Segura Nomad is a great jacket to be looking at.

Retailing at $599.95, the Segura Nomad is my jacket pick for spring.

Get them from: Better bike shops More info: ficeda.com.au

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cycletorque.com.au OCTOBER 2016 I 70

Used & Reviewed Earmold's five star custom earplugs

I've been using a set of Earmold custom-made earplugs (with speakers) nearly every time I ride for nearly a year and they make riding more comfortable, more entertaining and also protect my hearing.

They were molded to my ears at the Sydney Motorcycle Show, late last year.

The initial process is simple, Aaron from Earmold Australia cleaned my ears and took an impression of them using a silicone-based substance. Overall it took about 10 minutes. I chose the colour white for my left ear and red for the right because they are the same colours of left and right audio jacks back in the day, but you can choose from a whole range of colours.

From there, the hard work is done by Aaron and a Dremel, drilling the impression to fit the speakers in the moulds and I received them a few days later (they usually do them on the spot, but were swamped with orders on the day).

I have also found they come in handy for a number of different uses.

If you don’t know by now how loud it can be riding a motorcycle, you should.

Each of your ears contain 18,000 microscopic hairs specifically tuned to respond to a frequency and overexposure to noise will damage them permanently.

A report from SafeWork South Australia published in 2011 identifies a lawn mower as 90 dB and a chainsaw at 110 dB loud. The noise most riders are subjected to – mostly wind noise – sits between these two levels.

The SafeWork report states the equivalent exposure time for those two levels are between two hours and two minutes – any longer than this and your hearing could become affected. This is because noise is effectively doubled every 3dB.

When you use regular earphones, music drowns out the wind nose, actually making it louder because you turn the sound level up over the ambient road noise until you can hear the music.

Earmold custom earplugs will reduce this noise by 40dB, which the exposure time is 16 hours before your hearing will suffer. The best part is the earplugs don't render you deaf, you can still hear conversations clearly.

Disposable earplugs have different ratings, most people tend to knock them off from their place of employment. I find they get uncomfortable after extended use, plus reusing them all-day is a bit gross...

Earmold’s silicon in-ear monitors are comfier because they are a custom fit to your ear. This also means you can’t stick your left one in your right ear and they are easy to clean.

I enjoy listening to music when I ride, that’s why I went for the plugs with speakers, but you can get them made up without. Great for noisy partners... I find the absence of ambient noise relaxing, so I now use them when I drive the work van down the M1 and they come in especially handy whenever I fly.

I would like to thank Aaron and the crew at Earmold Australia for making my custom in-ear monitors.

I never leave the home without them and highly recommend anyone who rides to get a set made up to suit their needs.

-Ryan Grubb Price: varies Get them from: Find an Earmold agent through their website More info: earmold.com.au

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www.customtorque.com cycletorque.com.au OCTOBER 2016 I 73

Andrew Lowis

In the 1800’s, Mary Shelley’s character, Dr. Frankenstein, created a monster from different body parts. What would happen if you took that same attitude to creating a custom motorcycle?

You would end up with, Frankenstein, the Bike…

Continued on next page

cycletorque.com.au OCTOBER 2016 I 74

Starting off with the chassis of a 2004 Yamaha R1, Chris Stevens and the Balmain Motorcycle team set to work on creating a terrifying work of monstrous art.

“We were lucky enough to have collected many different motorcycle parts over the years and when we went to make this Frankenstein Bike we just ripped into those spare parts. Throughout the building process the workshop looked like we had raided a motorcycle graveyard. There were parts from Suzuki, Ducati, Honda, Hyusung, basically any motorcycle manufacturer you can name we probably had a part available for the build” remarked Chris.

In Shelly’s Frankenstein she describes the character as being wretchedly deformed. A monster. A blot upon the Earth from which all men fled and whom all men disowned. Motivated by these wicked descriptions, the Balmain Motorcycle team creatively built the monster. Some of the more notable ‘modifications’ include; a pair of inverted FZR side fairings flanking the sides of the beast like the wings of a bat. A hideously oversized rear sprocket completing the drive chain that makes it lethally impossible to use first gear on the litre machine. “In theory you ‘could’ use first gear, but you do so at your own risk.” said a smiling Chris.

Frankenstein was built primarily as a street fighter to be used for stunts and general hooliganism but it has gained just as much notoriety standing still in the Balmain workshop. The bike is a real topic of discussion amongst customers. “With Frankenstein it’s a different reaction every time. People just don’t know what to make of it.” Chris told us how his customers spend their time guessing the origin of the various parts. “The aim was to make a machine that was so wretchedly deformed that you just can’t help

commenting on it.” When you see Frankenstein in the flesh it’s easy to notice the creative engineering skills that went into bringing this filthy demon to life.

“We have a really creative team of mechanics and engineers here at Balmain Motorcycles who just live and breath machines. We are always looking for creative outlets for the amazing talents in this workshop.” Chris explained that the Frankenstein bike is already becoming a blot upon the Sydney motorcycle scene with appearances at various motorcycle shows and events. “We bring Frankenstein to these events to showcase the experience and expertise of the team at Balmain Motorcycles.”

Over a century has passed since Shelly wrote about that infamous wretch. We’re just not really sure if this is the monster that she had in mind.

To see this bike in the flesh get along to Balmain Motorcycles 14 Mansfield St. Rozelle NSW 2039

www.balmainmotorcycles.com.au

cycletorque.com.au cycletorque.com.au SEPTEMBER OCTOBER 2016 2016 II 75 75

“I’m not really sure if this is what Mary Shelly had in mind…”

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BUYING, SELLING, REPAIRING AND RESTORING CLASSICS AND FUTURE CLASSICS.

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1983 DUCATI PANTAH 500 $6,500 Runs great, custom 1 piece tank and seat unit. Great club bike.

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1983 dry clutch. One of the best replicas of Mike Hailwood’s ’78 TT winning bike. See this issue for full story on this bike. Amazing to behold, and comes with all original parts.

Road registrable, not a race bike. Call for full details.

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1967 TRIUMPH TR6 TROPHY $9,999 Older restoration, runs great, nothing to do but enjoy riding it.

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Naked TZR250, goes like stink. A great project to create your own 2-stroke blast from the past. Or, get us to customise it for you. The options are endless. Call Chris for more info.

HONDA CB550 $8,500 Like new. Fire up the time machine and buy a new CB550. This is THAT good.

1994 HONDA VFR750 – $2999. HEAPS OF REGO, GOES UNREAL. 1983 SUZUKI KATANA 1100. $6999. NON ORIGINAL PAINT, 1170 KIT, GREAT BIKE. KAWASAKI GPZ750R PROJECT BIKE. RUNS OK, WILL CLEAN UP NICE, SPARE ENGINE. $1500.

Call Chris on 0404 030 925 or Dave on 0407 362 060 www.classicalgasmotorcycles.com

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cycletorque.com.au OCTOBER 2016 I 78

A $6 million waste?

Yamaha’s entry ATV

Yamaha has expanded its fun bike range even further with an all-new YFZ50 ATV for younger riders aged six years and over.

The YFZ will allow parents to begin mentoring their kids in proper ATV riding technique and safety habits, while introducing them to the fun and exciting world of sport ATVs. Yamaha has integrated parental controls for added peace of mind during supervised riding with adjustable throttle and rev limiters, as well as a tethered kill switch.

With styling based on the championship winning YFZ450R, the new model looks like it will be a great entry point in Yamaha’s kids fun bike range.

The ATV features a 49cc air-cooled four-stroke engine with electric start and a continuously variable transmission.

Yamaha has also made sure the riding position of the YFZ50 is roomy to accommodate growing young guns.

The YFZ50 is priced at $2899 and comes in Team Yamaha Blue and White. n

A report from The Weekly Times states both WorkSafe Victoria and The Victorian Farmers Federation have only received "dozens, not hundreds" of enquiries on the $6 million ATV safety rebate scheme in its first week.

Victorian farmers have access to up to $1200 in rebates under the scheme after purchasing a ROPS-equipped side-byside, or crush protection devices (CPD) for two ATVs. The scheme has been in effect from September 1, but farmers cannot lodge their applications until October 1.

This comes after the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) issued a press release in July saying a more scientific approach is needed.

The FCAI said Victorian taxpayer money could be better spent on the strong promotion of known safety practices such as helmets and rider training.

Chief Executive of the FCAI, Tony Weber, said “we believe the Victorian and NSW governments, in their rush to be seen to be doing something, are ignoring the best evidence available and using farmers to test an unproven and potentially dangerous product."

“Very little research has been carried out by the promoters of [CPDs] to prove their effectiveness, and the work that has been carried out has been independently identified as falling short of being able to be relied upon, as was revealed during a recent Coronial inquest in Queensland."

“Various experts and engineers

debated the pros and cons of fitting CPDs during the Queensland Coronial Inquest into Quad Bike fatalities, and at the conclusion, the deputy state Coroner did not recommend fitting CPDs, but instead said that more work was required."

“The industry’s strong conviction is that, much like the mandatory wearing of helmets for all motorcycle riders, we need a really big promotional push by government and safety authorities to also wear helmets.

"If we can convince quad bike riders to wear helmets, then the scientific evidence indicates we could get as much as a 60 per cent reduction in head injury.”

In the release of its recent 5-Star Safety messaging, the FCAI outlined five known safety practices aimed at improving outcomes.

The FCAI believes that government assistance would be better directed toward providing support for messages around safe riding practices such as preventing children riding adult-sized ATVs, wearing appropriate protective gear, and preventing passengers riding on single seat ATVs. The 5-Star Safe ATV User Guide can be viewed on the FCAI’s website at www. atvsafety.com.au.

Judging by farmers' apparent lack of interest of what's on the table, the FCAI has a fair point.

The FCAI also says Queensland's approach to ATV safety is far more pragmatic and objective than the solution promoted in Victoria. n

cycletorque.com.au OCTOBER 2016 I 79

CYCLE TORQUE STORE

cycletorque.com.au OCTOBER 2016 I 80

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Jim Scaysbrook has enjoyed a rich and varied life in which motorcycles have always been the common theme. Itching to follow his father’s footsteps, he began racing at the age of 16 and has since competed in virtually every form of competition, including both motocross and road racing at international level. He has competed on the American professional motocross scene, at the - infamous Isle of Man TT, and throughout Asia.

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The World’s Leading Grand Prix and Superbike Annual reaches its 38th year as the indisputable leader in its field, covering the world of motorcycle racing like no other publication. The 18-race MotoGP season is covered with its usual meticulous attention to detail as it also includes coverage of the Moto2 and Moto3 classes.

I was Top Gear’s script editor for 13 years and all 22 series. I basically used to check spelling and think of stupid gags about The Stig. I also got to hang around with Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May. Then I realised that I had quite a few stories to tell from behind the scenes on the show. I remembered whose daft idea it was to get a dog. I recalled the

To Order Call 02 4956 9820 Shop online at www.cycletorque.com.au

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This is Australia’s first ever classic motorcycle racing magazine! In this issue we test a Yamaha TZ750, Seeley Commando, Ducati TTF1 and a Honda CB500/4.

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Both visitors to the region and lifetime locals will enjoy and learn from the exciting trips that Hansen has planned and perfected. This book, designed from top to bottom for motorcyclists includes: relief maps for each trip, section, and chapter; photocopy-able spreads with detailed maps and directions for easy placement in a tankbag map window; more than 30 great trips that span 5 states and parts of Canada and include the twistiest, most scenic roads the Northwest has to offer; and the best places to eat, sleep, and pitch your tent.

In this new, updated edition, motojournalist Marty Berke provides detailed routes to the best scenic, curving roads the great American Southwest has to offer. From Pikes Peak Highway, the Million Dollar Highway, and Route 66, to Bryce, Zion, and Grand Canyon National Parks, unforgettable roads and adventures await those wanting to explore Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah on two wheels.

In a thrilling follow-up to Beyond Siberia (2 x 60’), this documentary, presented and narrated by iconic motorcycle advernturer, Charley Boorman (Long Way Round, Long Way Down), follows 16 motorbike riders across 20,000 gruelling kilometres through Africa. For 80 days, they battle blazing heat, treacherous roads, suffocating bureaucracy and bone-crunching crashes, attempting to join a very elite group of people to have conquered this journey. Riding the vast savannahs and witnessing the world’s greatest wildlife spectacle on the African plains, the riding gets tough as they battle through gravel, sand, dirt and spectacular lightning storms across Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.

It’s an incredible journey of vast sandy deserts, high mountain passes and never-ending savannahs on roads and tracks which are amongst the most dangerous in the world.

To Order Call 02 4956 9820 Shop online at www.cycletorque.com.au

TORQUING BACK

Letters

cycletorque.com.au OCTOBER 2016 I 83

Write A Letter!

WIN A GREAT PRIZE

There were two letters this week which were so good, it was hard to pick a winner. So this week… we have two winners!

Mark, I hope you enjoy a copy of Eyes Wide Open and Edsel, I’m sure a copy of Ubuntu will find you well.

We love hearing from you. Has anything in the world of motorcycles wound you up, made you laugh or even made you think? Tell us!

Send your letters (and/or great bike pictures) to The Editor, Cycle Torque, PO Box 687 Warners Bay, NSW 2282 or email ryan@cycletorque.com.au

Bike touring is better

I have returned to road riding for the last 12 months after a 25-year break.

The last 8,000km have taken me to places I would not bother to visit in a car... mainly because I really don’t like sitting inside a tin can, I feel claustrophobic in them. The bike, however, is a pleasure to go on adventures with, I feel like I am so much more into the area I am visiting, not locked away in a cocoon. I have no music, no phone, just the horses’ wail with me.

Stopping the bike on a verge and flipping the visor is all I need to do, to ‘feel’ the spot, I love that.

Anyway, I don’t need to sell my CBR600F4i as I love it on mountain roads and have taken it along pretty rough gravel tracks to reach remote campsites, guys on big GSAs wonder how I get there!

It is a joy to ride, quick, predictable and fun.

But I kind of feel that maybe something like a Ducati Multistrada might be more appropriate as my touring affliction becomes more severe and I decide to cross the country because I can!

I am stuck on the MS as I like Italian stuff, the Germans do things well, a bit too well to my taste.

Character is borne from a flaw in my opinion, I like character.

I do, however, like clip-ons, I think more than raised ‘bars... not sure on this yet.

If you can help me with my considerations or, to just shelve the idea and just keep the Honda, I have no problem with that, it would be very much appreciated.

Great to receive such a fine magazine every month.

– Edsel Falconer

Edsel, jump on a Multistrada and see how you like it.

You will be hard-pressed to find a machine in the Multi’s vein with clip-ons because they make the riding position too uncomfortable for longer distances. After a solid day’s riding, the type of ’bars is an afterthought. At first thought it can be a tough decision because what looks good is subjective... No road adventure or tourer looks ‘good’ when you compare it to the likes of the Panigales and Thruxton Rs of this world. If you want to travel the country on two wheels, an adventure/ tourer is the only way to go. -RG

Long-Haul Ducks

I loved Darryl Flack’s article on the Long-Haul Ducks [September 2016 issue]. I can relate to the tale, my 1978 SS being my ‘bike of adventure’ back in those days. I wasn’t as hard core as Arthur’s lot though - I didn’t race.

I happened to meet Arthur in 1978 when a few of us from the SA Ducati Owners club rode across from Adelaide to join the NSW club at the Tooma Hotel for the January long weekend. I believe that’s Arthur’s Sport at right in the attached photo.

The longest run I did in a day on the SS was when heading from Brisbane to Adelaide. I’d lost time and distance through backtracking to look for my traveling companion after leaving him behind through Cunninghams Gap (he was running in his RS Escort’s rebuilt Cosworth engine, and I couldn’t resist the curves so had left him behind).

We never did find each other again on that trip, but it left me with 1200km to cover on day two.

I got to Broken Hill at about 4pm and thought to myself,

‘Adelaide is just down the road’.

While the summer days were warm, the night air wasn’t and my leathers weren’t keeping me warm and I eventually arrived around midnight, stiff and chilled.

The second photo shows the SS in touring rig a couple of weeks later when I headed off for Albury before returning to Brisbane.

In subsequent years I’ve not bettered that distance on a bike in a day, although have often fallen just short with Canberra-Adelaide runs in recent years, although in somewhat more comfort and on what most would describe as a more suitable mount. But at the end of the day, ‘you run what you brung’.

– Mark Heinrich

cycletorque.com.au OCTOBER 2016 I 84

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Racer

1

SUMMER 2015

RACING: Classic TT Barry Sheene Festival of Speed Island Classic Australian TT HISTORY: Honda V4

Australia’s FIRST classic racing magazine cycletorque.com.au OCTOBER 2016 I 88

! w o n e l b a l i a Av $9.95 INCLUDING POSTAGE

www.motobooks.com.au Call 02 4956 9825

N MINNOVAETLIO MARV

AHR RACER TEST

Ducati TTF1

Words by Chris

by Pickett, Photos

an accomp , and has taken being and racer himself nance and race l Seeley frames many origina mainte but there’s care of the these days special race was well campaigned of this very s being TEVE Maney – his preparation a few replica in the UK This more than enough known ed the world. wanted bike. of the bike – for his modifi thrashed around expertise and homeland ’s When the owner t to the best in s but he ando engine bike uses Maney which proved so straigh in one he went Norton Comm quantity ation, based Seeley chassis the unknown ly the Minnov that s, day ation Island the busines was a relative back in the no at the 2010 successful England. Minnov the largely needed the north of when he arrived Island. By the end l design has te bikes and origina comple Phillip for n so to speak. they Racing sell Classic at gn them but modernificatio g he was known Seeley parts to campai of the meetin in house. Both ing speed of his the ment don’t do everyth two things: of this bike ando A HANKERING and his involve the and frame Seeley Comm the engine Commando ation who that saw particular lian up Minnov This to pile d Austra an were supplie in a start line more time ssioned by machine rather was commi rest of the spend rather just to have ed for. then put the Englishman Australia. collector, mainly ly raced. Things than he bargain its foray to Seeley together for in Australia serious fans, Colin with than to be out that way, To classic racing like a ction, and haven’t turned successfully racing ENGINE his needs no introdu builders from the son known for Lyell William classic frame Maney is well number of Seeley e in most major ando based the machin ’70s, the name lia over the 1007cc Comm 1960s and gs in Austra replica race meetin is quite ed on, with has continu classic of years. Lyell the for couple last built frames being be too There won’t racing scene.

S

––– 51 –––

Contents

AUSTRALIAN HISTORIC RACER 18

26

30

4

SNAPSHOT IN TIME

6

IN THE PITS

10

2016 ISLAND CLASSIC PREVIEW

12

RACING TECH

14

2016 BSFOS PREVIEW

16

EDITORIAL

18

RYE DUCATI

Chris Pickett

ADVERTISING

38

Dennis Penzo 0420 319 335 dennis@cycletorque.com.au

DESIGN & PRODUCTION Dionne Hagan dee@cycletorque.com.au

ACCOUNTS

Rebecca Eastment bec@cycletorque.com.au

50

PUBLISHER

Nigel Paterson PO Box 687, Warners Bay, NSW 2282 Ph (02) 4956 9820 Fax (02) 4956 9824 Email: info@cycletorque.com.au

58

REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS:

Darryl Flack, Don Cox, Phil Hall, Goggles Paesano, Brian Dyer, Peter Faragher, wpfotos.co.uk, SDPICS, Buggantar Photos.

Australian Historic Racer is published by Motorcycle Publishing Pty Ltd. ACN 085 871 147, ISSN number 2205-9768 Printed by Rural Press, North Richmond.

66

This work is Copyrighted. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, including electronic, without written permission of the publisher. Please contact the editor before submitting freelance contributions.

RUST NEVER SLEEPS YAMAHA TZ750

36

THE SQUEAKY WHEEL TOM PHILLIS

46

BOOK SHOP

48

RACING GEAR

50

SEELEY COMMANDO

58

HONDA CB500/4

66

HONDA V4

72

1976 AUSTRALIAN TT

76

DENNIS NEILL TRIBUTE

82

2015 BSFOS WRAP UP

86

2015 ISLAND CLASSIC REVIEW

90

CLASSIC TT 2015

94

ON ANY RACEDAY

98

EVENTS

TEST

LIGHT AS A FEATHER

Kel went to great lengths to have the wheels turn freely, using a lighter chain and freer moving wheel bearings. To this day the bike has kept all of Kel’s

Australian Historic Racer

ideas of weight reduction and it can just about push itself along.

A 750/4 front end was fitted, with the dual brakes (500s originally had a single caliper), an oil cooler, firstly a regular four-into-one exhaust, and later a trick four-into-one system which could be pulled apart one header at a time.

In this form the bike was seriously fast for its time, with Kel wheelstanding it off the front row time after time to take many wins in the unlimited class.

The bike was as exotic as an historic racer could be at the time, with Dyna S coils and a rev limiter ensuring the bike was reliable as well as fast. Kel’s shining moment was beating much bigger bikes at Mount Panorama on this big bore 500.

Kel did most of the day to day maintenance of the bike and farmed out the engine for rebuilds when needed. In 1994 Kel took the engine to Mark Woolfrey, noted engine builder and mechanic for Yamaha’s factory team in Australia. Much of the work Masaaki San had done years before was still in good condition and relevant, but Woolfrey tweaked the engine in different areas, in line with current thinking at that time, including a very lightweight knife edged crankshaft. The capacity was brought back to 550cc as Woolfrey believed it would rev harder and make more horsepower at that capacity. Power at this time in its life was believed to be in the low 60s at the rear wheel.

––– 61 –––

Story by Chris Pickett, Photo Pickett and s by Chris Buggantar Photos.

AHR PICTORIA

L

YAMAHA’S TZ75 0 IS ONE OF COLLECTABL THE MOST E FACTORY RAC E BIKES EVER THE OWNER MADE. OF THIS BIKE DECIDED TO EVEN MORE MAKE HIS SPECIAL THA N THE ORIGINAL ACTO

F

TH

TUFF OF LeEgSe nd Australian Historic Racer

RY racing machines generally are built in very doubt the TZ750 small numbers, raced for a excitable handlin had a reputation for in the hands year or so g and power of the best and has few delivery riders and then left to peers as a languish in collectable racing machin sheds.

Some bikes e. are like your If you speak grandfather’s to current hammer, with and former owners of and nine handle these machin five heads es, racing s, never has one parts are robbed watered down as you far away from financi and physic for newer al and so on. machines al pain. A They can lose good mine had their identit along the way. a TZ750 powere friend of y d sidecar back in the 1980s and Yamaha’s TZ750 was tells the story of risking a bit like that, with many everything bikes financially import parts to into the hands finding their way from Englan of privateer d to rebuild the engine eventually . After doing riders, becoming practice at Park things uncompetitive Oran and resigne were looking d to being up, until the engine seized ornaments sheds. The on in the warm-up lap last TZ750 the first race to be serious for raced as a of the day. ly modern bike I’ve noticed still has a slight in Australia he was most nervous twitch likely the Gaytho you mentio when TZ ridden rne Yamah n a TZ750

by Michae a to him. l Dowson, with an FJ1100 fitted front end.

CLASS ACT They became too expens There has ive to run and too slow been to keep up of TZ750 machin a bit of a resurgence with bikes Yamaha’s es in recent like own FZR10 Australian years in 00. But there’s classic racing circles no generally they but have been ridden –––

31 –––

s

––– 3 –––

26 30

38

this 500/4 leaned up against the fence of a house just near Paul’s place. I knocked on the door and asked if it was for sale, and it was. I checked it out and realised it was my old bike, with all the Masaaki modified gear still on it. The bloke wanted $100, I couldn’t get my wallet out quick enough.”

It took some work to breathe racing life back into the little Honda but it wasn’t long before the bike was ready to terrorise more fancied machinery and opponents, just like it did a decade earlier.

Historic Racer Australian

s

AHR RACER

EDITOR

Y P O C L A T I G I D A Y OR TAP TO BU TORE FROM THE APP S

This bike was a cuttiung edge historic racer in the late 1980s and still is now. You might think the term ‘Cutting Edge’ is out of place in historic racing but not so. But one area where the bike could be improved is the carburettors. A modern set of Keihin CRs would make more power and be easier to deal with than these Kawasaki based 29mm Smoothbores. And check out the race programs, highlighting the bike’s history as a modern and classic racing machine.

Historic Racer Australian

ON THE COVER: RYE DUCATI PHOTO BY SDR

s YAMAHA TZ750 s SEELEY COMMANDO s HONDA 500/4

STAGER A GIVES AN OLD ON AN OLD IDEA OF LIFE FRESH BREATH builder lished engine

s

RRP: AUS $9.95 NZ $11.95 (Inc.GST)

Pics

A NEW TAKE

A LATIN OBSESSION

PLUS Dennis Neill Tribute – The Racer, The Man

t and SDR Chris Picket

Honda CB500/4

AHR RACER TEST

s

Australian Historic

CREDITS

cycletorque.com.au OCTOBER 2016 I 89

cycletorque DIGITAL EDITOR RYAN GRUBB

MANAGING EDITOR N I G E L PAT E R S O N publisher@cycletorque.com.au

ADVERTISING DENNIS PENZO, 0420 319 335 dennis@cycletorque.com.au

DESIGN & PRODUCTION DIONNE HAGAN,THE D MEDIA DESIGN dee@cycletorque.com.au

WWW.CYCLETORQUE.COM.AU PO Box 687, Warners Bay, NSW 2282 Ph (02) 4956 9820 • Fax (02) 4956 9824 • info@cycletorque.com.au REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: DARRYL FLACK, BOB GUNTRIP, DAVE MASON, KEITH MUIR, ALEX PICKETT, DARREN SMART, TODD REED, FRIEDEMANN KIRN, WWW.2SNAP.COM, COL WHELAN, AUNTY MAL, TONY ‘CARNAGE’ PENFOLD, RYAN GRUBB AND BRIAN DYER. Cycle Torque is published by Motorcycle Publishing Pty Ltd. ABN 91 085 871 147 Cycle Torque is available from bike shops across Australia. If you can’t find our latest issue, call 0420 319 335.

Copyright 2012. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, including electronic, without written permission of the publisher.

PLEASE CONTACT THE EDITOR BEFORE SUBMITTING FREELANCE CONTRIBUTIONS.

cycletorque.com.au OCTOBER 2016 I 90

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