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Roadrider A U S T R A L I A N
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CONTENTS #108 “Buying a motorbike is a marriage of lust and opportunity.” — Seddo, who reveals his secrets to a lasting relationship on p35 4 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER
54 NEWS FOR ROAD RIDERS 10
Four-wheeled Tesseract for production, a bacon-powered bike, how to talk to your bike, Burt Munro’s new record, and more.
ON THE ROAD 40 46
54 62
72
88 92
96 102
New Zealand Special: How to do it and why you must! NZ Volcano Run: Exploring the roads and rumbles of the Shaky Isles. NZ South Island: A two-up tour of two-wheel nirvana. Tassie Devilment: Fanging some of the best tar and dirt roads on the planet. WIMA in Poland: Riding Europe with women of the world.
GEAR ON TEST 120
121 122
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Honda F6C Valkyrie: A sportstouring cruiser with big balls! Victory Magnum: The factory’s wild take on the custom bagger craze.
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YARNS AND LAUGHS 6 32 35 37 39 145 146
28 30 70 124 128
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Mathochism: New roads, old roads. Charley: Judging the new GS. Seddo: Lust and opportunity. Zoe: Addicted to track. Isaac: Here versus there. Ray Drea: The new Willie G. Last Look: China reviews our Western ways.
MONTHLY MAIL
AXO Adventure Boots: Footwear for tourers, not motocrossers. Emergency Stand: Mini roadside jack for your bike. H-D Triple Vent Jackets: Waterproof leather or textile.
SPECIAL FEATURE
BIKES TO RIDE 78
Harley CVO Street Glide: In your face! And your ear. Suzuki 650 V-Strom: Ready for a learner-approved lap of Australia? Harley LiveWire: Why its shock value is more than a mere pun. The Long List: Victory, Ducati and Moto Guzzi.
Make Your Bike a Tourer: How to turn any motorcycle into a mile-eater. Finance Games: Your best options for buying a bike.
132 138 140 144
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Big Shot: We love Spain. Route 66: Win a US trip! Stay With Us: Rider-friendly places. Whatz New: Not long till Christmas … Readers Rite: Se ling the CG issue? Price Guide: New-bike news and prices. Subscribe Here: Win a Yamaha Bolt! Bike Supermarket: Products, services and other cool stuff. Advertiser Listing: Where’d you see that ad again?
96 AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 5
MATHOCHISM
THE ROAD NOT TRAVELLED? Do you prefer your regular roads or to seek out new ones?
hat’s six times now. Somehow I’ve managed to ride the Pacific Coast Highway between Los Angeles and San Francisco more o en than I’ve ridden some of the best roads in Australia. I didn’t set out to notch up such a run, it just happened. I’ll happily do it a seventh time if I get the chance. It’s one of the great roads. Do you get over-familiar with a road and become bored with it? I wondered about that in the context of my latest Pacific Coast Hwy (PCH) ride. I reckon I could get bored with a road, but it’d take a long time. More likely, I get frustrated that I can’t do it the way I used to, either because of increasing traffic levels, lower speed limits or deteriorating surfaces. I got bored with track days when I figured I’d pre y much maxxed out my own potential. But roads? Nope, I don’t think I’ve ridden any road o en enough to get bored. OK, commuting on Parrama a Rd was boring, but that’s a different story. I haven’t come close to feeling I need to expand my horizons beyond what’s within a day’s ride of home, let alone what’s in Australia. Anything overseas is just a bonus, but why not pursue bonuses too? Then I wondered if I’d really plan another PCH run instead of riding further afield in the USA. The answer was that it wouldn’t ma er. As long as
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the road’s fun, the scenery’s worth it and the bike’s running well, who cares where you ride? In this issue, Austin Rymer talks about avoiding any road he’s previously ridden (see his story on p54) but then discovers that simply reversing the direction makes an old road new again. And why wouldn’t you retrace a road that made you yell with delight the last time? Who’s to say that’s not just as much of a buzz as having a brand-new set of corners unwind in front of you?
“I reckon the novelty of a new road always wins out” Actually, it’s a buzz, but I reckon the novelty of a new road always wins out. Hmm, we could carry on all day about the nuances of it, couldn’t we? In the end, the only correct answer is to get out there and ride. Anywhere. As o en as possible. Who knows where it will take you in the long run?
CELEBRATIONS That brings me to the subject of a couple of people who went for a ride and haven’t come back, so to speak. Congratulations to Mike and Denise Ferris, whose Ferris Wheels Motorcycle Safaris has been going for 20 years.
Mike started out on his own, at age 37, when he fell for motorcycling in spite of coming into it via an Indian Enfield on Himalayan roads. Denise threw away a high-flying corporate career to join him, also with no motorcycle background, just a sense of adventure. Mike’s first advertisement got me in. Ride the Himalayas on an Enfield? Absolutely! It took me almost 15 years to get there and the desire to do it was constant all the while. Having also ridden Iceland with them, I’ll be back for others.
ELECTRIFIED We’ve reported a lot about electric bikes recently, with plenty in the news, but until recently Mark Hinchliffe was the only one of our regular contributors who’d ridden one. I’d been interested but not convinced. However, I’ve now had a reasonable ride on what’s in some ways the most exciting of the new breed, Harley’s LiveWire. I say exciting because it’s the first time an established motorcycle manufacturer has built a “real” bike with electric power (not ignoring BMW’s scooter, which is in production and exciting for that). A development of the LiveWire will go into production too. The ride was equally exciting. The LiveWire was more than enough to turn me on to electric motorcycles. Check out our story on p96. ARR ■ Could you ever get bored with a road like this?
6 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER
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Circulation enquiries to our Sydney head office (02) 9805 0399. Australian Road Rider #108 is published by Australian Publishing, Unit 5, 6–8 Byfield Street, North Ryde NSW 2113. Phone: (02) 9805 0399, Fax: (02) 9805 0714. Melbourne office, Suite 4, Level 1, 150 Albert Road, South Melbourne Vic 3205. Phone (03) 9694 6444 Fax: (03) 9699 7890. Printed by Webstar Sydney, distributed by Network Services, Phone: (02) 9282 8777. This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Enquiries should be addressed to the publishers. The publishers believe all the information supplied in this book to be correct at the time of printing. They are not, however, in a position to make a guarantee to this effect and accept no liability in the event of any information proving inaccurate. Prices, addresses and phone numbers were, after investigation and to the best of our knowledge and belief, up to date at the time of printing, but they may change in some cases. It is not possible for the publishers to ensure that advertisements which appear in this publication comply with the Trade Practices Act, 1974. The responsibility must therefore be on the person, company or advertising agency submitting the advertisements for publication. While every endeavour has been made to ensure complete accuracy, the publishers cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions. * Recommended retail price ISSN 1329 – 1734 Copyright © Australian Publishing Pty Ltd MMXIV ACN 003 609 103 www.universalmagazines.com.au Please pass on or recycle this magazine.
8 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER
R I D E
We are a member of
NEWS
NEWS FOR ROADRIDERS
BY NEWS EDITOR MARK HINCHLIFFE (HINCHM@HOTMAIL.COM)
TESSERACT LEANER FOR PRODUCTION
Yamaha will put its radical four-wheeler onto the road
10 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER
amaha has created a whole new motorcycle category with its upcoming fourwheeler that leans. The hybrid-powered Tesseract was unveiled in 2007 at the Tokyo Motor Show, but it has taken until now for the company to announce production. It will begin selling it in Japan at one million Yen (about $10,500) soon, but there is no word about other markets.
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Yamaha Motor Australia marketing boss Sean Goldhawk says they have no plans to introduce the Tesseract. “But then, if the Tricity (three-wheeled scooter) is warmly welcomed, who knows,” he says. In geometry, a Tesseract is a fourdimensional analogue of a cube. In motorcycling, it’s a whole new bike category. Is it a scooter, an ATV, a motorcycle?
NEWS
“The Tesseract looks like something out of a sci-fi movie, but it’s not CGI, it’s real”
Yamaha claims it’s a motorcycle because it leans. However, because of two patented systems — Dual-Scythe Suspension and a Dual Arm-Lock System, a bit like the gyroscope found in a Segway — it won’t fall over. The mechanism allows a certain amount of lean before it offers resistance and is also speed related, so it supports the bike in an upright position at standstill, much like three-wheeled scooters such as the
Piaggio MP3. That’s what sets it aside from all known motorcycles and ATVs. It is powered by a combination of a liquid-cooled V-twin petrol engine and an electric motor. The Tesseract looks like something out of a sci-fi movie, but it’s not CGI, it’s real. Whether you agree it is a motorcycle or not, it looks like fun to ride, with much more cornering grip than a conventional bike. Just don’t try lane filtering on it!
n a promotion for an American bacon producer, a motorcycle has been specially adapted to ride on bacon fat. The “bacon bike” is based on the rare Track T800 CDI motorcycle from Dutch company EVA Products and is powered by an 800cc three-cylinder diesel engine. It has been modified to run on 100 per cent biodiesel and, of course, features a pigskin seat. The promotion for Hormel Black Label Bacon uses biodiesel produced from bacon grease, so it has a “breakfast” smell from the exhaust. They have taken the bike across America and used social media to get their message across. It’s certainly a cool-looking bike and a great promotional campaign, but beware of the message about biofuels. Even E10 is not good fuel for most motorcycles in the long term. See more at drivenbybacon.com.
WILD HOG RIDES I ON BACON-POWER
■ A bacon-fuelled b bike. Why? “Because we are driven by bacon,” they reckon
AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 11
NEWS
YAMAHA APP “TRANSLATES” ENGINE NOISE o, it’s not a gag. Yamaha has developed an app that supposedly translates engine noise into Japanese. If it’s a success, they will develop an English version. Just download the app, put your phone near your engine and rev it, and the app will come up with a translation in a few seconds. What could your engine possibly say? Well, Yamaha says sample messages will include: “I’ve been alive and kicking since the morning! I’ve been looking forward so much to this moment when I can talk to you. Now I don’t know what to do.” Can you think of some other samples? How about: “Give me fuel, Give me fire, Give me that which I desire” — the lyrics of Metallica’s “Fuel”. Yamaha’s Tetsuya Tadachi says their free Rev Translator app will “translate” engine noises into more than 100 million combinations of words. He says they came up with the app to promote their brand slogan “Revs your Heart”, which is helping sell their new MT range. “We’d like people to get excited and have fun,” he says, adding that he would like people to feel closer to their engines. The app apparently does take into account the time of day, the weather and the “unique personality of the engine. If the engine sound is harsh, the mood of the translated texts will be angry, and if the sound is so er, the mood will be warm and fuzzy,” Tetsuya says.
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■ If a bike could speak: “Get my motor running, head out on the highway and look for some adventure!”
“If the engine sound is harsh, the mood of the translated texts will be angry”
r If a bike could speak: “Nooooo!”
r If a bike could speak: “Faster! Further! Yeehah!”
NO MORE BENCH-RACING LIES Pirelli app logs your rides and keeps you honest he free Pirelli app, Diablo Super Biker, puts an end to the bench-racing lies at the end of a track day or a brisk ride through the hills with your mates. But beware of incriminating yourself! No more can you boast to your mates that you hit a certain speed, or accelerated to 100km/h in 1.5 seconds, or scraped your elbow on the ground through the switchbacks. The Pirelli app supplies all that information and can
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even share it on Facebook. This means insurance companies and police may be able to access information that could incriminate you. You’ve been warned! Since July 2011, more than 300,000 riders have downloaded the free app, which records distances travelled, speed, lean angle and lap times. Now it has been updated with new graphics, the ability to share sessions on Facebook, an updated bike fleet of all the latest models, and synchronisation between your iPhone or Android phone and the dedicated website. Go to pirelli.com/diablosuperbiker and you can create your own profile.
Your smartphone will let the application record the data while riding. Google Maps will also “photograph” the path on a map so you can view your trips. Search for it on iTunes or Google Play.
triumphmotorcycles.com.au
NEWS
INDIAN SUPPORTS CANCER CHARITY ndian Motorcycle donated a 2014 Indian Chief Vintage worth $31,495 to Blue September, which raises money and awareness to fight prostate, testicular, bowel, skin, lung and other cancers affecting Australian men. The classic-styled so -bagger was up for grabs last month through the website blueseptember.com.au, and the Indian dealer network joined the fundraising effort by selling Blue September wristbands for $5 to raise awareness and much-needed funds for the Australian Prostate Cancer Research and Australian Cancer Research Foundation. Blue September has raised around $3 million since its inception six years ago. Peter Harvey, Indian Motorcycle Australia’s country manager, said the company jumped at the opportunity to support the important cause. “Men who are 40-plus are the highest risk group — which also represents most of our customers,” he says. “If we can help get the message out to this demographic while also supporting research and early diagnosis, it is well worth it.” The success of Blue September — the brainchild of Melbourne’s Mike Chapman — has spread across the globe to the UK, Ireland and New
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“The success of Blue September — the brainchild of Melbourne’s Mike Chapman — has spread across the globe to the UK, Ireland and New Zealand”
Zealand. Mike says their campaign has a two-pronged approach: “Firstly, early diagnosis is vital. All too o en men present to the doctor too late with symptoms. Awareness through
PR and media efforts helps change that. Secondly, cancer research is key. Funding ongoing research leads to be er treatment options and outcomes.”
MAX RIDES ON FURY ROAD Bikes are big again in the latest Mad Max movie
ad Max is back and this time he’s riding a motorcycle! Well, at least in one scene. Mad Max Fury Road will hit the cinemas in May, 2015, and the trailer is full of action with plenty of motorcycles, mainly heavily modified off-road bikes. And in a new twist, Max Rockatansky, played by Tom Hardy, gets to ride a motorcycle. Motorcycles have been present since the start of George Miller’s Mad Max trilogy. In the first movie, Max and his family are terrorised by a motorcycle gang led by the Toecu er. They ride 1970s Kawasaki Zeds and Honda Fours on the lonely highways around Broken Hill in outback Australia. The
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chase scenes were phenomenal, with cameramen on the backs of the bikes. In later movies, the action is all set in the Australian desert and the bikes are mainly off-roaders. This time, filming moved to Africa because Australia was too expensive and there was some flooding. The action still seems real, but there is also a lot of computer-generated imagery thrown in, which is a shame as the first movie featured all real stunts.
r Tom Hardy now plays Max, who rides in one scene
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NEWS
BMW MAKES F 800 GS IN THAILAND Another model joins the growing exports from the Detroit of Asia
ow soon before Australia and other countries start receiving BMWs made in Thailand? The German luxury car and motorcycle manufacturer started making the F 800 R in Rayong earlier this year and already has added a second bike, the more popular F 800 GS. How soon before they add the GS Adventure and the GT versions? Although the bikes are being made for local and Asian markets, it must be tempting to start exporting to other markets. Bikes manufactured in Thailand are cheaper to make and therefore cheaper to sell, which makes them more competitive. Another advantage for the Australian market is that we have a free trade agreement with Thailand, which means the bikes will be cheaper again. Already Australia receives most of its dual-cab utes, small Fords and Honda cars from Thailand, as well as some of the Triumph motorcycle line-up and several scooters. There should be no stigma about motorcycles made in Thailand — now called the “Detroit of Asia” — or other South East Asian countries. Most of the factories are new and have the latest technology. In fact, BMW’s Thai factory is more modern than the heritage-listed BMW Berlin motorcycle factory.
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■ Asian adventure: The GS is the second F-series to come out of Thailand
Meanwhile, Australia looks set for more SEA models. Yamaha is thought to be considering some bikes made in Malaysia and Harley is about to start importing the new Street 500 to Australia, offering a choice of bikes from Kansas or India. When Triumph started
making bikes in Thailand, they changed their brand on the engine casings from “Made in England” to “Product of England”. There didn’t seem to be any knee-jerk reaction. In fact, Triumph has continued to grow sales in Australia in recent years.
BURT MUNRO SETS “NEW” RECORD urt Munro has officially claimed another world speed record 36 years a er his death. He owes the record to his son, John, who found a mathematical mistake had robbed his father of a speed record on August 26, 1967, on the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah. Burt’s life and pursuit of world speed records on a 1920s Indian was immortalised in the movie The World’s Fastest Indian starring Anthony
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Hopkins, which has made the revitalised brand a household name. Burt’s record on his Indian 953cc Fuel Streamliner in the AMA Land Speed Record in Class SA 1000 was listed by the American Motorcycle Association as 183.586mph. That was supposed to be the average of his north run of 184.710mph and his south run of 183.463. However, John says the average is actually half-amile-per-hour faster at 184.087mph. The record has now been adjusted.
“So, he’s dead for 36 years and he just broke another record,” says John.
r John Munro (left) has had his father’s speed record corrected
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NEWS
TWENTY YEARS GOING ROUND
r Mike, Denise and their popular partner on the Indian tours, Amar
erris Wheels Motorcycle Safaris celebrated its 20th anniversary recently with an a ernoon’s harbour cruise in Sydney — almost the opposite experience from the three-week motorcycle tours they normally lead in exotic foreign locations. Mike Ferris kicked off the business with his now-famous Himalayan tour on Enfield Bullets at a time when few organisations where offering anything remotely like it, and Farris Wheels quickly became world renowned. Denise Ferris joined Mike about 10 years later,
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r High point: At 5600m in the Himalayas, where it all started 20 years ago
leading tours and allowing the company to expand further. Ferris Wheels now tours the Himalayas, Turkey, Bhutan, the Andes, Morocco, the Dalmatians and Iceland. They’ve also done their own TV series, World on Wheels, which is available on DVD. Mike and Denise both dumped professional careers to live life as motorcycle tour guides and neither has looked back. Between them they’ve ridden to the top of the highest motorable road in the world more than 50 times, and travelled beyond
the destinations they regularly take customers to. In the process they’ve endeared themselves to their customers, many of whom joined them on the celebratory harbour cruise. ARR editor Mick Matheson has become one of the Ferris’s “repeat offenders”, but with only two tours under his belt he’s a long way short of the number some have done — there are those with more than a dozen Ferris trips behind them. One has done 23 tours! To find out more see the website ferriswheels.com.au or call 02 9970 6370.
SAFEGUARD YOUR MOTORCYCLE KEY They steal your key, then your bike worrying trend is occurring where thieves break into houses just to steal keys to a motorcycle or car. According to the Australian National Motor Vehicle The Reduction Council (NMVTRC), vehicle keys are the only property stolen in up to one in four reported burglaries in which a vehicle is taken. The trend is exacerbated by the design of modern houses, which have a locked garage a ached to the house. Motorists tend to have a false sense of security and leave the keys in their vehicles. Offenders have been so
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brazen they are even entering houses when the residents are home. The NMVTRC has decided the trend is so worrying that it is creating a series of TV and cinema commercials to educate the community to safeguard their keys. The ads will screen in late September. The ads will be produced by Melbourne-based NiceBike, which made the “I bought a Jeep” ads. They will use humour to get the point across and will recreate three famous “heist” scenes from popular movies, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Mission Impossible and Entrapment.
Life goes fast-make a lasting impression on the new Victory Magnum, our boldest bike to roll off the line. This big wheeled bagger has the performance to turn heads, along with the style and sound to make people stop, stare and listen. It’s got a 21-inch wheel, slammed back-end, three-tone paint, and our best performing sound system EVER! Even sitting still, the Victory Magnum is never idle.
VictoryMotorcycles.com.au | P: 1300 721 360 |
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NEWS
CHARLEY RETURNS TO AUSTRALIA Compass and Boorman join up for another outback run ong Way star and official top-20 UK motorcycle icon Charley Boorman will return to Australia for his third outback tour with Compass Expeditions in March 2015. Charley and good friend and manager Billy Ward will lead the 10-day ride, which goes from Sydney to Broken Hill, the Flinders Ranges, the Grampians and the Great Ocean Road before ending in Melbourne. ARR tagged along on the first tour last year and we can confirm it is packed with interesting routes, some challenging roads, stunning scenery, professional back-up and some great times listening to Charley and Billy’s banter over dinner and out on the road. Despite Charley’s Long Way fame, his Dakar Rally a empt,
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his exposure on several TV series and his recent inclusion with mate Ewan McGregor in the top 20 motorcycle icons, he really is the down-to-earth guy whose column you read each month in ARR. On the first outback tour he pitched in to help with riders’ flat tyres and other roadside maintenance and rode in the pack, dispensing humorous anecdotes and riding advice. He’s a very competent rider, both onand off-road, and you are bound to come away from the tour with not only some great memories, but improved riding skills. Riders can bring their own bike or hire from Compass Expeditions’ extensive fleet of trusty BMW GS models or a Suzuki DR650. Visit the compassexpeditions.com website for prices, itinerary and inclusions, or call 1300 887 327.
■ He’s back! Charley will lead another outback tour in March, 2015
ELECTRIFYING MOTORCYCLE TRAVEL Edelweiss and Zero unite for unique Alpine tours ustrian motorcycle travel company Edelweiss Bike Travel is the first we have heard of that offers tours on electric bikes. It might sound strange given the limited range of electric bikes, but Edelweiss has teamed with Californian electric motorcycle company Zero, which has some of the longest ranges of any electric bikes. Edelweiss has bought a fleet of four Zero S ZF11.4 and two Zero DS ZF11.4 which come with the optional 2.8kW/h power tank for maximum range. That means total ba ery capacity of 14.2kW/h per bike for
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200km of range for their Alps tours. The motorcycle travel company offers one-week tours from its office in Mieming, Austria, covering more than 1000km, including such alpine highlights as the Stelvio Pass with its many switchbacks, as well as Timmelsjoch, the Silvre a High Alpine Road, Reschensee, Hahntennjoch, Kühtai, Gavia Pass, Dolomites and the Mendel Pass. The quiet-running bikes would be sure to preserve the pristine atmosphere of these beautiful alpine roads. And the instant torque of these machines would provide plenty of fun. Just don’t overdo it or you might find yourself si ing at the side of the road in search of an AC outlet. Check the website for available tours: www.edelweissbike.com.
r Edelweiss has a small fleet of Zero motorcycles you can ride
r Edelweiss: adding zero emissions to the pristine Alpine atmosphere
King of the mountain The Multistrada 1200 S Pikes Peak is a faithful replica of the racing bike that has won the annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb race for three years running since 2010. The S Pikes Peak features superior equipment, extra lightweight forged 3-spoke Marchesini wheels and supplemented by a broad assortment of carbon
components. Offered in red with white stripes inspired by Ducati Corse. To experience a race champion visit your local Authorised Ducati Dealer and book a test ride today! Don’t forget to ask about our current special offers!
NEWS
ISLE OF MAN TT IN GRAN TURISMO 7? This could be the biggest challenge for game creators omputer game programmers are believed to have been to the Isle of Man to study the TT course for the next Gran Turismo game. It would be the first time a motorcycle race has been included in the popular car racing computer game, although programmers Polyphony Digital did release a bike game, Tourist Trophy, for PS2 several years ago. The problem with motorcycle racing games is ge ing the lean and rider angles
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right. No game has ever conquered it the way they have with car racing games. If they get the lean right, they get the rider aspect wrong because a rider keeps their head straight while the bike leans. The famous Isle of Man TT would also have the added aspect of bikes jumping off the ground over some of the humps and bridges on the treacherous course. If Sony Computer Entertainment gets it right for its PS4 release, it would certainly make a challenging game with many exciting obstacles, such as close
stone walls, telephone boxes and hedges, the jumps and fabulous island vistas. The 60.7km (37.73 miles) course would be the longest course on Gran Turismo, eclipsing the 20.8km (13 miles) Nurburgring in Germany. There is no release date yet for Gran Turismo 7, but it could be a while as version 6 only came out last year. We would rather ride a bike than play a computer game, but we would love to see the course from Aussie TT legend Cameron Donald’s viewpoint.
Isle of Man action — can Gran Turismo capture its intensity? (Pics courtesy Rapid Bikes)
TRANSFORMERS ADDS MOTORCYCLES ransformers is the latest media franchise to latch on to motorcycles as the current hot item. Computer games and movies have suddenly found two wheels very interesting. Gran Turismo 7 looks like adding the Isle of Man TT circuit, the new Avengers movie features the electric Harley LiveWire and Mad Max is returning with Max riding a bike. Now Transformers is adding motorcycles to its computer game and possibly the next instalment in the movie series. The new motorcycles are Interceptor-class bots with agility that makes them suitable for hit-and-run tactics. Is this sudden rush of motorcycle mania a good thing or a bad thing? Well, the last time motorcycles featured heavily in mainstream media — the 1970s — it was a golden era of motorcycles. Movies such as On Any Sunday, The Great Escape
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and Easy Rider had millions turned on to bikes. We’re not sure if it was because of this that sales were at record levels or that media followed the sales success. Currently, global motorcycle sales are on an upward trend, although some of Europe is still lagging behind. But it is nowhere near the halcyon days. Perhaps this sudden interest from movies and games may address that.
“The new motorcycles are Interceptor-class bots with agility that makes them suitable for hitand-run tactics”
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NEWS
PROFESSOR DEBUNKS HI-VIS CLOTHING Academic joins growing reactions against Victoria’s hi-vis laws University of Melbourne professor and bike rider who was hit by a car while he was wearing hi-vis clothing has called on the Victorian government to axe its mandatory hi-vis requirement for new riders. Prof Richard Huggins, chair of statistics, has reviewed several studies on motorcycle conspicuity and “look but fail to see” accidents and says there is “sufficient doubt” of the effectiveness of hi-vis to call for a repeal of the mandatory requirement. “I also note that somewhat surprisingly, given its reputation as a leader in road safety, there seems to be li le Victorian research into the effect of cognitive factors on car/motorcycle collisions,” he says. Prof Huggins goes through several examples of how hi-vis research is flawed, but ends with his very own example: “I should add that I regularly
■ Is hi-vis better than black? Is black bad? Despite new laws, Victorian safetycrats haven’t done the research
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wear a hi-visibility jacket when riding and have been hit by a car while wearing this clothing. The driver claimed they didn’t see me, from a distance of less than 2m, as they changed lanes on top
“Modern research shows that people don’t recognise or react to motorcycles, rather than not seeing them at all”
■ Professor Huggins, pictured here on his Kawasaki, has good reason to doubt the effectiveness of hi-vis riding gear
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of me. This adds to my doubts on hivisibility clothing as a panacea.” The Victorian Motorcycle Council has included Prof Huggins’s le er in a further response to the government over the misconceived legislation. In an accompanying document sent to Gary Blackwood, the parliamentary secretary for transport, VMC secretary Jeremy Walton points out how hi-vis is a safety myth and calls for the reversal of the proposal. Among his claims are: • Wearing hi-vis clothing may impart a false sense of security for novice riders; • Modern research shows that people don’t recognise or react to motorcycles, rather than not seeing them at all; • Drivers are more likely to see a bike but make an error in timing; and • All bikes have hard-wired headlights yet no research has been done on how this affects hi-visibility. He asks that if hi-vis is a real safety issue, why are there no greater penalties for drivers who crash into people wearing hi-vis gear? The VMC has instead called for more education for drivers and riders.
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On your itinerary, you will journey the real America, meeting the fair-dinkum folk that call the heartland of this amazing country home, eating in true American diners and staying in historic hotels and motels along the way. Beginning in one of the US’s premier cities, Chicago, you will venture across eight states (Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California), encountering numerous cultures and tackling all sorts of geography, from the magnificence of the Great Lakes to the Corn Belt of Illinois, the rolling hills of the Ozarks, the mesmerising Llano Estacado and the Painted Desert. You’ll be crossing the High Plains, climbing through Alpine regions, the Grand Canyon and dropping into the blistering Mojave Desert, before we reach the Land of Milk and Honey and topping it all off in the light-spangled Las Vegas. You will also visit iconic Route 66 sights such as the Wagon Wheel and Wigwam Motels (Pixars inspiration in the animated movie Cars), the 1929 Chain of Rocks Bridge, St Louis Gateway Arch, Devil’s Elbow Bridge, Gary’s Gay Parita gas station, 4 Women on the Route, 9-foot highway, the Blue Whale of Catoosa, 1933 Texaco Station, Big Texas Steak Ranch, Santa Fe, Cadillac Ranch, Jack Rabbit Trading Post, Apache Death Cave, Twin Arrows … and much, much more!
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■ The perfect way to ride off into the sunset?
MY VERDICT ON THE NEW GS After 7000km across Southern Africa, Charley has learned a thing or two about BMW’s new water-cooled R 1200 GS
CHARLEY BOORMAN ollowing on from my last article describing our adventure from Cape Town to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, it occurred to me that I focused primarily on the “travel” side of the trip — that is, the actual journey and the iconic destination, the Victoria Falls Hotel in Zimbabwe. What I didn’t do was talk much about the new liquid-cooled BMW 1200 GS, my African workhorse and the latest version of the best-selling BMW motorcycle ever. I’m sure by now you’ve all read numerous articles about the latest offering from the iconic German stable.
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You’ve probably had enough of the techy speak, so I thought maybe I could give you more of a “feel” for the new bike, certainly a perspective that’s born out of a 7000km off-road trip — Cape Town to Cape Town via Victoria Falls, Johannesburg and Lesotho. As I write this, we’ve just arrived in Jo’burg so the trip is still underway, with about 5000km le as we meander our way back to Cape Town via Lesotho and the famous Garden Route of South Africa. All in all we will have covered about 12,000km and if this doesn’t test the Beemer, nothing will. The trip le Cape Town on tar through beautiful twisty South African roads. It was August and still in the tail-end of winter, so we had to deal with light rain and chilly mornings for the first couple of days. My new liquid-cooled GS was ready and looking good, ki ed out with wider Touratech footpegs (wider pegs are a must for off-road, in my view), a Garmin Zumo 590 GPS and a Touratech tail pack for
tools and puncture repair kit. The rubber was Karoo 3s, which is a change from our favourite Mitas 09 or 10s. The Mitas tyres are more aggressive than the Karoo and have been my tyre of choice in Africa for many years. But the new Beemer has a wider rear wheel than before and Mitas
AUSTRALIAN MOTOGP PHILLIP ISLAND 2014 If you’ve grabbed this issue as it came on sale, you’ve still got a shot at seeing Charley perform his theatre show, Charley Boorman Live — presented by Spokes, at the MotoGP at Phillip Island this weekend, October 18-19. Come and hear his tales of adventure and meet him. There are two shows — Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are limited. See motogp.com. au for details.
CharlEy
“Looking ahead, weight back and power on, we managed to claw our way through about 90km of sand” simply don’t do them yet. We decided to give the Karoos a try. Their paddle-style tread pa ern is a radical shi away from our usual — but hey, it’s performed well so far on the trip. Selecting the Rain mode on the new bike gives you a certain ‘comfort blanket’ of safety as you navigate through busy, wet South African towns. Riding defensively is the order of the day here and generally you should expect the unexpected. Not going into tech spec, but Rain mode seems to take the harshness out of the power delivery and this, alongside the ABS and traction control, does give you a bit more confidence on wet or damp roads. I really like the new look of the bike. It retains that beaky look of the old GS but somehow they’ve made it look sexier. It actually feels slimmer, even though it has the addition of the radiators. The rear of the bike gives the impression that the swingarm is simply floating. Yes, you may have come to the conclusion that I do love this bike — and you’d be right, it’s the dog’s nuts! Then came the gravel. We inched our way north, hugging the Skeleton Coast of Namibia and on into Botswana and Zimbabwe. I think it was day three or four when I really started to push the bike, taking it to the raggedy edge. Now we’re in Enduro mode most of the time. The computer takes over the key variables and it just works superbly. With the old bike I’d have to stop, pull over and turn off the ABS and traction control before
r 7000km of African odyssey and it’s not even dirty. Or it’s self-cleaning …
AFRICA WITH CHARLEY
hi ing the gravel tracks, but the new bike allows you to just slip into Enduro mode from Road mode while on the move and then straight into the gravel simply by backing off and clutching. Much of the gravel roads in Africa have bone-shaking corrugates where you need to be doing 80-100km/h plus to smooth it all out. Any slower and you’re making it harder for yourself. The new bike just felt so comfortable gliding over the tops of the corrugations. Any surprises like occasional holes, rocks or sandy patches were just dealt with by the bike with no drama. It fills you with confidence, this bike. We were all riding in the basic Enduro mode and not the more advanced Enduro Pro mode. Enduro Pro is activated by plugging in a special chip and is designed for full-on Enduro-type rides. Our trips are adventure rides so standard Enduro mode fits our requirements fine. Power delivery and electronics really work — it’s not just theory or marketing hype. You can feel the power difference from the old bike and the fly-by-wire thro le response is brilliant, though it takes you a day or two to get used to it. Flying through the gravel roads at high speed in sixth gear, thro le off just before the bend and then on again to rail around it. It’s just tremendous and this is all still in sixth. It seems to have an incredible amount of dependable pull in mid-sixth gear. Also, because the Enduro mode is limiting the amount of spin, the so -compound tyres are actually lasting longer.
r We know it’s a big bike but it’s not that big!
Each year, Charley takes a group of people across Southern Africa, riding BMWs from Cape Town into Namibia, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and Lesotho before returning back to Cape Town. This year we added a ride through Zimbabwe and Botswana too. Riders can do the whole adventure or a section of it. Check out the details and learn more at Charley’s website, charleyboorman.com.
We had a fair bit of deep sand to contend with, especially in Botswana. The trick here is to get the tyre pressures way down. Normally we have the front and back at about 2.5 bar, but in the deep sand we get them as low as we can without them peeling off. The difference is incredible. What seems impossible at high pressure is very doable as soon as you’re down below 1.5 bar. Looking ahead, weight back and power on, we managed to claw our way through about 90km of sand. Everyone was under pressure and there were a few spills, but we all managed to get to our destination. I have to say that the difference between the old and the new is impressive and tangible, it’s not just hype. I loved my old GSA but now I’m more than delighted with this incredible new GS. I can ride it like a sports bike on country lanes, chill like a tourer si ing on the motorway for hours, or raz it up a forest track into mud, sand and rocks. It must be the most versatile bike ever produced and I’m proud to be associated with it in — even in a small way. Keep up the good work BMW. ARR
r BMW’s experimental flat-single didn’t stand up to the ride quite as well as the 1200
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SEDDO
LUST AND OPPORTUNITY Buy the bike you love GEOFF SEDDON he golden rules of road testing are to approach each motorcycle with a fresh and open mind, then review it as objectively and comprehensively as possible within the context of its design brief. Road tests help our readers make informed decisions on what may be significant financial commitments. It’s important we take it seriously, even if it bears almost no resemblance to how some of us go about buying our own bikes. For me, buying a motorbike is a marriage of lust and opportunity. A window opens, the planets align and I pounce. It doesn’t happen very o en, so what can be impulse purchases usually end up having long-term consequences. But so far, so good. As with personal relationships, physical a raction is a big part of it. The best advice I ever read in a guitar magazine to someone buying their first axe was to buy the one they liked the look of the most. Forget all the technical stuff and just buy the one that pushes your bu ons, the one you can see yourself playing. It’ll encourage you to learn and inspire you to get be er. I have always loved the look of Ducatis and Nortons, as well as their sound. I could visualise myself riding both long before I sat on either. I’ve owned more Nortons but hung on to the Ducatis for longer periods, and have had one or the other in my shed for most of
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“I sold my bevel-drive 900SS and bought a modified 1974 Sportster, what these days we’d call a bobber. It made no sense then and even less with hindsight” my adult life, sometimes both. As in life, the lust goggles can sometimes lead you down the wrong path. To this day, I think the Z900 Kawasaki is one of the sexiest-looking bikes ever built. I bought one in 1980 but it just didn’t do it for me, like a beautiful woman who was a dud in the bedroom. I sold it within months. On another occasion, I bought a ra y chopped Triumph from a mate because I couldn’t afford anything else. It was plug ugly but had a good heart. When things improved, I traded it on a Commando but still kinda miss it. Sometimes a test bike will make such an impact that I’ll buy one. This was the case a er I tested a Harley Sportster for Two Wheels back in 1986, one of the early Evolution models. I couldn’t afford a new one, so I sold my beveldrive 900SS and bought a modified 1974 Ironhead model, what these days we’d call a bobber. It made no sense then and even less with hindsight, but the Sporty looked and sounded cool and I loved riding it. Another time was in 1992, when I tested the new belt-drive 900SS for Streetbike. I pounced when a modest inheritance came my way a few years later, and this time I was clever enough not to sell it.
Testing bikes within their design briefs is all well and good — I can’t think of a be er way — but how many of us have or even want a bike for each distinct purpose? I’ve spent the last week commuting into Sydney on the long-term ARR Victory CCT, for example. It lane-splits like a snow plough but otherwise has its good points, especially those heated grips and seats on cold winter mornings. If you’re a racted to that style of bike, you’ll happily use it for a lot more things than touring. And while bikes like the Victory do that very well, faced with a long trip and given a choice, I’ll take a sportsbike and a box of Panadol nearly every time. I don’t get away as o en as I’d like, so I’m always looking for the best roads and ge ing the biggest bang from every kilometre. A quick glance around the MotoGP bike parking paddock on Phillip Island will suggest I am not alone. If I can’t have a sportsbike, then I’ll go to the other extreme with a naked big-twin Harley, because they look and sound cool and are almost as much fun to ride as a 1974 Sportster. In both cases there are more sensible alternatives, but truly sensible people drive small economical cars, and where’s the fun in that? ARR
AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 35
zoe
SCHOOLED IN SUPERBIKING ZOE NAYLOR
If you’re going to be told what to do, let it be fun o my mind, most of our childhood is spent with people trying to get us to grow up too quickly. We hear, “don’t make a mess”, “don’t touch that”, “don’t do that”, “chin up”, “stop crying”, “pull yourself together”, “don’t eat that”, “do your homework”, “stop dawdling”, “hurry up”! By the time we become adults it’s like our ability to have fun has been beaten out of us. It’s as if we have actually forgo en how. The stress of adult life then easily takes over — work, mortgage, job, raising kids, bills … life can feel like it’s passing you by with everything going at a hundred miles an hour. Not long ago I participated in the Level 1 day course run by the California Superbike School at Sydney Motorsport Park. I cannot remember the last time I not only had this much fun, but felt so totally invigorated, challenged and alive. The combination of being in such a stimulating learning environment, as well as facing my fears head-on, was like li le I’ve experienced in my life. I loved it! Recently I wrote of my desire for more confidence taking corners. I have also been trialling different motorcycles for this column and for the most part haven’t felt like I’ve had the riding ability to garner the most from the bikes I’ve been lent. It was definitely time to go back to school! To be around adults who are passionate about what they do is infectious. All the people involved in bringing this day to life are incredibly devoted and there is an air of excitement from the moment you arrive. There were five technical classroom sessions coupled with five sessions out on the track. Steve, who runs the school and took our technical classroom sessions, made
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these enthralling. I wish I could remember everything I learnt in that classroom. I’m just hoping it’s embedded somewhere deep in my subconscious and will come to the fore when I need it. The relief about this style of learning is that you simply go and put it into practice on the track. Once on the track, you are assigned your own private on-track instructor. The ratio is about three to one. My instructor had the calmness of Yoda and the looks of Han Solo, and was equally wonderful as a mentor. If only all our teachers at school had been this inspiring!
“To be around adults who are passionate about what they do is infectious” The drills we practised in each track session were simple enough to grasp, yet challenging enough that you felt you could’ve done each one three times over. We practised using less brakes and utilising the thro le; we practised correct lines for taking corners; we practised countersteering, which made everything so much more seamless; we practised relaxing — it’s amazing how much be er the bike responds when you’re not gripping the handlebars for grim life; and so much more. I never managed more than 140km/h down the straight, but speed was not what I wanted to achieve on this day. And to be fair, it took me the first half of the day not to feel totally intimidated by the speeds some people were doing round the track. By the end of the day my confidence had
trebled and I was taking the corners with more speed and assuredness. I had ironed out some bad habits and was starting to feel the bike effortlessly lean as I set the right line, steered, and rolled on the thro le. There are four levels to complete in this training program and I already cannot wait to come back and complete them all. I’m hoping that by the end of this process I’ll have my le knee on the ground as I take Turn 2 and perhaps be able to wind up to 200km/h down the straight. You can bring your own bike or hire a BMW S 1000 RR (new favourite bike), and the school is also run down at Phillip Island. This day is truly one of the best things I’ve ever participated in. I cannot recommend this course highly enough. They said I’d well and truly have caught the motorcycling bug once I’d completed a day on the track and I can honestly say it’s now taken it to another level. To Steve and the team, thank you for making me feel so alive! ARR ■ Zoe at school: totally invigorated, challenged and alive (Tim Munro photo)
AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 37
ISAAC OOSTERLOO
NOTES FROM THE ROAD, PART 2 If you emigrate, can you get better value from your motorcycling? ISAAC OOSTERLOO our well-bred Connemara ponies approach me from across the green field. I wait behind a fewhundred-year-old layered stone wall. They arrive and stand over me. Looking down with deep-brown eyes that question my existence. I move almost too slowly, gently raising my hand so they can all take in my smell. The ponies lower their heads slightly. I pat their flanks and talk to them for a few minutes, until the stallion breaks and they run across the field for no reason. I smile to myself, and keep on walking.” Travel really is the best gi you can ever give to yourself. For the past three weeks now, my lovely lady and I have been road-tripping around Ireland. A er hanging out in Dublin’s character-filled streets for a few days, we drove north to Belfast, a city slowly pulling away from its dark past. Although parts of the town still hold on to the old and segregated ways, it’s a place that is far be er off now than 30 years ago. It was an eye-opening reminder of the human capacity to really mess things up, which we absorbed before driving through Northern Ireland. A er seeing the Giant’s Causeway and camping in the green hills of the north, we drove down to Donegal and Sligo to catch part of the Fleadh Cheoil, which is the country’s largest traditional music festival. Then we went on to bohemian and vibrant Galway, before meeting my girlfriend’s entire family in one hit at her cousin’s 30th birthday in a pub near her home town. Seeing
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that both Irish and Australian family functions revolve around drinking and talking shit, I got along very well and was quickly integrated as a fully fledged member of the clan. So apart from an occasional longing for my bike and leather jacket, which are si ing in a storage locker in Fremantle, it has been
“I have noticed some major differences between Australian and Irish motorbiking culture. The first is that every rider I pass is wearing full wet-weather gear all the time” a rewarding journey. I have, however, noticed some major differences between Australian and Irish motorbiking culture. The first is that every rider I pass is wearing full wet-weather gear all the time. These guys are really up against the elements here. The second is that every road in Ireland seems designed to be the perfect biking road. The third thing is that you can get a 2008 1200cc Harley-Davidson Sportster with very low mileage for about €6000. That’s about AUD8500. In our country, that is easily a $12,500 bike. You see, in Australia it’s a point of pride to have a genuine balls-to-thewall Harley. It is a commitment to the ideal. A lifestyle statement through a representation of an image — and image, as they say, is everything.
But here, that same bike brand is marginally cheaper than the Japanese (and Chinese and Korean. Yeesh …) cruiser bikes that pay it homage, due to the direct shipping and import route from the United States to Ireland across the Atlantic. For the sportier bike lovers among us, those who prefer performance, speed and handling to adding three inches to their penises, you can pick up a BMW F 800 R for €6000. This self-same bike is worth $10,000 in Australia. This makes a glaringly obvious statement to me. That Australia is overpriced in terms of motorbikes and, well, pre y much everything else in comparison to other western countries. The patriots among us will argue that our lifestyle counterbalances this in comparison (and this is something I partially agree with), but these numbers do make a statement in themselves. All of the above leads to a very tempting proposition that my mind is vaguely forming. Move here with your lady. Buy an affordable Harley Sportster and ride these roads and cross over to western Europe whenever you choose. Have this whole ancient and diverse continent as a bike playground. However, to quote an old Grinspoon track, “In the end it’s all the same, people looking at the weather vane,” and the idea of not riding for six months (or doing much else) because of the brutal Irish winters really does not appeal. I’ll have to leave it for now and let future me decide. Knowing that bastard, I’ll probably end up in Swaziland, Mexico or Nepal anyway and the whole question will be irrelevant. The road is calling. Safe travels, wherever you are … ARR AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 39
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PURE MOTO STORY: MICK MATHESON PHOTOS: MM, IN, AR f you only ride one foreign country in your life, make it New Zealand. If you ride two, make them the North Island and the South Island. NZ is your ideal foreign-touring debut destination because it’s cheap, close and everything’s easy for us Australians. But the variety, beauty, differences and sheer joy of riding make it worthwhile for even the most experienced jet-se ing motorcyclists. Here’s a guide to all the basics to help you plan a ride there. Crucially, plan the ride for summer or autumn. The rest is more negotiable.
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Photo: ChameleonsEye/Shutterstock.com 40 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER
FIRST UP: THE BIKE There is one crucial consideration if you’re doing a motorcycle ride in New Zealand: the bike. It won’t be much of a ride without it, eh? Until recently you had two options, to ride someone else’s bike or to ship your own over. At this stage, you can rule out the la er unless you’re prepared to do all the groundwork yourself because noone is offering a regular service. Get Routed has stopped its bike-shipping service to NZ in favour of other destinations and we’re not aware of anyone else doing it. Renting a bike in NZ is very easy and ►
NEW ZEALAND TRAVEL SPECIAL
RCYCLING
AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 41
surprisingly affordable. Prices have come down recently in this very competitive market, in spite of high demand from international tourists. In a handful of cases you can get a 650 single for well under $100 a day, but if you want a ballpark figure think $150–$250 as a median range. That’s Kiwi dollars too, so the rentals are more affordable. Choices cover the full range of twowheelers, most of them close to new, but there are even a couple of companies who rent out classic bikes. BMWs dominate the lists but there are plenty of Triumphs and a good selection of most other brands. Naturally, sports-tourers and adventuretourers are dominant, but you’ll also find tourers, retros and cruisers.
MAKING A PLAN You won’t go far wrong if you grab a map and see where it takes you in NZ. You’ll find good roads but having a bit of a plan helps. If you’re going it alone, there’s lots of info on destinations, tourist a ractions and good roads on the web, and the book Twisting Thro le New Zealand by Mike Hyde features 50 excellent routes throughout NZ (see our review in issue #98).
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It’s hard to beat local knowledge, though, and if you’re renting a bike you might as well get an itinerary or join a full tour by the company you’re renting from. Whether you’ve got a day or a couple of weeks, these people will put you on the right track without any stuffing around. “We know that not everyone can get away for a week or more to do a touring holiday but they could fit in a few days as part of their holiday,” Xen Zambas says, summing it up for all those agencies. “We are expert at providing a great riding experience in just a three-day tour — we call them Epic Rides. We know where to find the best roads so you can enjoy your bike to the full.” Whatever you plan, be flexible along the way. NZ allows for it so you don’t need to push yourself just to stick to a schedule that’s become challenging for any reason.
GETTING THERE Simple. Book a flight and go. You don’t need a visa to visit, just fly in on your Aussie passport. Flight prices vary considerably depending upon the season, the destination and how early you book, but you can get there and back for a few hundred dollars if you find the right fare. Jump online or get a travel agent to chase it for you. Don’t get caught out by excess-baggage charges — the weight of your riding gear adds up so it’s worth pre-packing so you can weigh it all and book a fare with the weight allowance you need.
THE NATIVES Our li le cousins over the ditch are a funny mob, quick with a joke and always eager to take the piss out of Aussies. They’re happy to get as good as they give too, and if you don’t come home with memories full of laughter I’d be surprised.
“You won’t go far wrong if you grab a map and see where it takes you in NZ. You’ll find good roads”
NEW ZEALAND TRAVEL SPECIAL GUIDES AND RENTALS These are just a few of the agencies that offer rentals, itineraries and/or guides. ARR has had experience with each and we recommend them. Most tour companies offer a number of specific itineraries but Kiwi operators seem more flexible than others and are usually willing to talk about options to fit your circumstances. Ask about riding gear and luggage options if you need them, as well as storage of anything you don’t need on the ride. There are a number of things to check before committing to a tour or rental agreement. Always read the fine print in the contract. You need to know where you stand on topics like insurance excesses and exclusions, costs that may be outside the offer, whether you can ride on gravel roads and so on. Just Ride Motorbike Tours Offers: Guided, self-guided, rental and customised tours Bikes: Aprilia, Ducati, Triumph Offices: Auckland Contact: justridemotorbiketours.com, + 64 21 545 534 Motorcycle Rental NZ Offers: Guided, rental and customised tours Bikes: BMW, Honda, Kawasaki, Triumph Offices: Christchurch Contact: motorcyclerental.co.nz Paradise Motorcycle Tours NZ Offers: Guided, self-guided, rental and customised tours Bikes: BMW, Triumph, Can-Am Offices: Auckland, Christchurch Contact: paradisemotorcycletours.co.nz, +64 9 473 9404 South Pacific Motorcycle Tours Offers: Guided, self-guided, rental and customised tours Bikes: BMW, Harley, Honda, Suzuki, Triumph Offices: Christchurch Contact: motorbiketours.co.nz, +64 3 312 0066 Te Waipounamu Motorcycle Tours Offers: Guided, self-guided, rental and customised tours Bikes: BMW, Honda, Suzuki, Triumph Offices: Auckland, Christchurch Contact: motorcycle-hire.co.nz, +64 3 372 3537
It’s great fun to sit in the pub while any Australia-versus-NZ game is on the box. Kiwis are proud and inventive, as you can see from examples like Burt Munro and John Bri en, two men who made outrageously fast motorcycles in their day using li le more than hammers, matches and imagination. New Zealanders speak the same language as us, use dollars and cents that are worth about 90 per cent of ours, ride on the same side of the road, have similar speed limits and do many other things the same way we do, so in reality a visit to NZ is only the next step up from going to Tasmania (or the Big Island if you’re already in Tassie). It’s the ideal first foreign destination for anyone who’s a li le reluctant about the idea, yet it’s also so different from Australia that it’s as good as any overseas adventure.
PAPERWORK AND STUFF Your Aussie rider’s licence is good over there. Your ATM card and credit card will work fine (I always withdraw cash from an ATM over there, reducing the amount of fees the banks get from exchanging currency). Telecommunications tends to be expensive in NZ, so check your phone and data rates before going and consider purchasing a local SIM card when you’re in NZ. Public wireless networks are reasonably common so take advantage of them when using your smartphone or tablet. Coverage in rural areas can be as patchy as back home. Their road rules aren’t very different from ours (they ditched their odd give-way regulations a couple of years ago). You’ll find a guide at nzta.govt.nz, where there’s also a dedicated e-book for motorcyclists. Police are pre y hot on speeding these days. As always, buy travel insurance to get you out of trouble and make sure it covers you for riding motorcycles — many policies exclude it.
DAILY DISTANCES You can ride the full length of either island in a day, but you’d want to be keen. In a week, you could lap one of the islands in a relaxed way, seeing enough of the sights and finding many of the best roads. Even that’s optimistic, believes Nigel Howard of Motorcycle Rentals NZ. Everyone’s advice is to keep the distances modest and to avoid covering too much ground on your trip. ► AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 43
NEW ZEALAND TRAVEL SPECIAL Europeans who go very slowly and o en forget which side of the road they’re meant to be on. Be vigilant. Some roads don’t see much sun because of the forest canopy, and you’ll find damp, slippery patches on these. Heavy rain o en washes debris onto roads and black ice can be an unexpected hazard in cold conditions. You’ll encounter untold one-lane bridges, all with a give-way sign at one end, but Mike Rose of Paradise Motorcycle Tours has o en had car drivers simply fail to see beyond their bonnet and ignore his right of way. “My advice is give way to everyone,” he says. “You’re much more vulnerable on a bike.” NZ’s gravel roads are seriously gravelly and come as a shock to many Aussies. They’re not always hard-packed like ours, but covered with coarse, loose, deep gravel that can be horrible if you’re on fat street tyres. Some rental agencies won’t let you take their bikes anywhere near them while others may give you the option. “We have more accidents on them than anywhere else and it can mean the end of someone’s dream holiday,” Mike says. He’s seen experienced dirt riders end up in hospital a er falling on gravel. “If someone can convince me they have good off-road credentials I’ll say they’re OK to ride them, but generally I say no.”
EATING AND SLEEPING
“Our little cousins over the ditch are a funny mob, quick with a joke and always eager to take the piss out of Aussies” “You will certainly be able to sample many types of spectacular scenery, from pristine beaches to forests and lakes, snow-capped mountains and glaciers,” Nigel says. “The general opinion from both my own experience and from fellow bikers is that 350km in New Zealand is equivalent to 600km in Australia.” This is because NZ roads are slower and the country gives you more reasons to stop regularly to play the tourist, or simply to rest a er another intense run of corners. In many places you won’t get near an average of 100km/h between stops, let alone through the whole day. Ambitious aims to cover longer distances may make 44 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER
your Kiwi holiday less enjoyable, as Xen Zambas of Just Ride implies when he says, “we do pure riding for fun. We don’t aim to do great distances, although sometimes that happens.”
ROAD CONDITIONS NZ’s sealed roads can be as bad as ours, and sometimes worse due to moss growing on them, especially down south, and gravel strewn across apexes. But they are generally pre y good and you’ll feel at home on them — though you’ll spend more time leaning over in corners! The greatest threat comes from the dreaded campervan driven by rubber-necking
Except for a few places in peak season, it’s easy to find accommodation when you need it, so booking ahead isn’t always necessary. Of course, it’s good to know there’s a bed at the end of your day, but many Kiwis say you’re be er off maintaining the flexibility of an open destination — just in case the rain comes down in a big way, you find yourself heading down a different road to the one you planned, or you find somewhere else that you can’t resist. Like Australia, NZ has everything from rough pubs to flash hotels, with excellent B&Bs in between. The bach — Kiwi speak for a holiday house — is almost as common as the Aussie barbecue and they’re o en up for rent, giving you a house at a reasonable rate. As for the food, it’s just like home except for the way they pronounce fish ’n’ chips. The Kiwis know how to cook good food and quality cafes and restaurants have sprung up everywhere. Lamb shanks are a treat, the coffee is as good as ours and the beer’s generally be er. ARR
THE VOLCANO RUN The North Island’s volcanic action almost relegates the awesome roads to second place
STORY: IAN NEUBAUER PHOTOS: GARY FRIEDLAND ast year I rode a motorbike into the heart of a volcanic caldera on Mount Bromo on the Indonesian island of Java, an awesome experience that le me gagging for more. And where be er to do so than the North Island of New Zealand, home to the highest concentration of volcanic features in the world and the world’s newest certified BMW Motorrad Travel Partner, Paradise Motorcycle Tours NZ. Formed in 2008 by two Pommie expats to cater for time-poor riders who want to make the most of their holiday by having experts on the ground create itineraries, book hotels and supply near-new bikes in top mechanical condition, the guys at Paradise didn’t bat an eyelid when I told them about my volcano-motorbike fetish and got to work planning a trip that ticked both boxes at the same time. ►
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AUCKLAND TO ROTORUA: 230KM I’d been dying to ride a BMW R1200GS Adventure ever since reading Long Way Round. So when I saw Paradise Motorcycle Tours had just taken delivery of a 2013 R1200GS, there was never any doubt in my mind about my weapon of choice for the ride. My guide, “Uncle” Trevor Stafford, chooses a 1200GS too, while the third member of our crew, my best mate and photographer Gary Friedland, opts for a smaller and nimbler 2013 G650GS. A er a quick induction, we charge out of Auckland along the Southern Motorway on a route known as the Thermal Highway Explorer. Taking in the most popular hot springs, sprouting geysers, mud pools, lakes, ancient caves and volcanoes of the North Island, it offers a convenient way to see close up the awesome geological forces that created this mystical South Pacific island. My Beemer purrs like magic on the motorway. The twin-cam engine’s thro le responds without fault through every stage of the rev range, while the computer-controlled suspension makes the bike literally leap out of long, 48 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER
“Gary bloody overtakes me on his little yellow 650! I spend the next two hours trying to play catch-up and don’t succeed”
r Volcanoes or not, roads like this are still NZ’s number-one attraction!
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“We walk right up to the rim of the magna chamber, a rumbling portal to hell where superheated gas and steam billow from boiling, hissing pools”
WHO’S RIDING Ian Neubauer — journalist Riding: 2013 BMW R1200GS AKA “the Bus” Pros: Cruise control, sticks to the road, Rain riding mode Cons: Long learning curve, heavy as hell Gary Friedland — photographer Riding: 2013 BMW G650GS AKA “Bumble Bee” Pros: Heated handgrips, idiot-proof Cons: The saddle is still too high for shorties Trevor Stafford — tour leader Riding: 2010 BMW R1200GS AKA “Black Pearl” Pros: Looks, feels and rides like new Cons: Nothing
sweeping bends. But when we divert east along Route 2, an undulating ribbon of a road that cuts through the rolling green countryside NZ is renowned for, I find myself falling behind Uncle Trev as I struggle to manoeuvre the Beemer’s lumbering 250kg mass around tight corners. Then Gary bloody overtakes me on his li le yellow 650! I spend the next two hours trying to play catch-up and don’t succeed until we’re inside the city limits of Rotorua. I’m feeling a li le sorry for myself when a much more serious event — a house fire — snaps me back to reality. There’s so much smoke coming out of the back garden of this property that it’s seeping out of the drains on the street outside. Only when I see smoke rising out of every other drain on the street do I realise it’s not smoke but thermal steam rising out of the ground — a feature
that’s turned this otherwise ordinary lakeside town into a world-famous thermal spa resort. Later that night, I nurse my broken ego back into shape in a relaxing mineral hot pool and hope my riding improves tomorrow.
ROTORUA TO LAKE TAUPO: 80KM Rotorua is the gateway to two of NZ’s most famous volcanoes: Mount Tarawera, a 1100m lava dome that killed 120 people when it last blew its stack in 1886; and White Island, an active marine volcano 50km offshore in the Bay of Plenty. I see the first one at a distance from the inside of a chopper and get to land inside the crater of the second during a Volcanic Air Safari that departs from a je y on Lake Rotorua. Visually, White Island is the geological equivalent of the Mad Ha ers Tea Party,
enlivened with pink, white and green Rorschach blots and deep concentric circles that surround bubbling muddy bogs. We walk right up to the rim of the principal magna chamber, a rumbling portal to hell where superheated gas and steam billow from boiling, hissing Aqua Blue and Emerald Green pools laden with arsenic and pyroclastic material. When it last erupted on August 20, 2013, a 4km-high plume of steam and noxious gases formed over White Island. Our chopper pilot tells us she checked the seismographs before departure and we’re unlikely to see any fireworks today, though I later learn that’s nothing but wishful thinking. “Eruptions similar to those experienced over the last 15 months are possible with no prior warning,” notes Nico Fournier, a volcanologist with Geonet, NZ’s geological hazard monitoring system. ► AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 49
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r The day-long hike was worth it for the incredible volcanic locations
Later that a ernoon, we make a quick 80km dash down the Thermal Explorer Highway to Taupo on the banks of Lake Taupo, a body of water the size of Singapore. There we grab a steak dinner and head to bed early. Tomorrow a minibus will pick us up at 6am to take us to the starting point of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing (TAC), the most famous one-day trekking route in the country.
DIY NZ Paradise Motorcycle Tours NZ offers seven-day self-guided tours of the North Island of NZ that take in the Coromandel Peninsula, Karangahake Gorge, Rotorua, Lake Taupo, as well as Northland from NZ$2128 per head for two people sharing one BMW up to 800cc in B&B accommodation; and up to NZ$5411 per person for one person on a BMW up to 1200cc and staying 4/5 star hotel accommodation. Alternatively, you can hire a Beemer and just venture out on your own from as little as NZ$110 per day. Optional side tours like Volcanic Air Safaris, the Tongariro Alpine Crossing and blackwater rafting start from NZ$65. Visit paradisemotorcycletours.co.nz or call +64 9 473 9404.
LAKE TAUPO TO WAITOMO: 140KM It takes 90 minutes to drive around Lake Taupo to Mangatepopo, a bleak, windswept valley where we follow the challenging 19.4km track that climbs 1886m to the Red Crater — an epic, moonlike plateau underscored by Mount Ngauruhoe, a snow-capped volcano used as a stand-in for the fictional Mount Doom in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. From there the track bypasses emerald lakes and the Blue Lake, craters filled with brilliantly fluorescent waters coloured by minerals leached from the ground. We endure eight hours of steady trekking through sunshine, rain and even snow until we reach the finishing point, where we
r Gary didn’t let a 550cc deficit get in his way. Nor Ian, for that matter
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collapse into a mound of exhausted meat and sweat until our bus picks us up and takes as back to Taupo. We’re too buggered to even contemplate riding to our next stop at Waitomo, and wait it out until morning. But when a storm-front moves in overnight, we find ourselves riding through heavy rain along roads heaving with trucks that scream past at 100km/h, leaving watery wind blasts in their wakes. I come no closer to taming the German monster between my legs, progressing at a snail’s rate around tight corners and bends. I’m cold, miserable and over it when I arrive at Waitomo, the caving capital of NZ. To make ma ers worse, I learn the “blackwater” underground ra ing tour I’d been looking forward to ►
r Volcano and motorcycle fan Ian tries to hide his smile
rUncle Trev: seriously, the man to see for the ride of your life
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“We’re in the midst of a gorgeous ride through Karangahake Gorge when it begins raining like the world’s going to end” has been cancelled because the caves are bloody flooded, the only pub in town burnt down last year, and Gary won’t stop giving me shit about my shi y riding. “There’s this li le lever near your le footrest you should try using,” he suggests. “If you click it up a few times, your bike might go faster.”
WAITOMO TO TAIRUA: 250KM The day starts off pleasantly enough, with clouds giving way to big blue skies for our morning sprint from Waitomo north along Route 3. We stop for lunch at a farm east of Hamilton, where Peter Jackson built the Hobbiton movie set for his 2011 film, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The once middle-class family who owns the land here have made themselves rich beyond their wildest dreams by insisting Jackson le the set standing when filming wrapped up. In the past year alone, 100,000 people visited Hobbiton for tours of the 44 hobbit holes, the old mill, the double-arched bridge and the Party Tree. The tours are more geared towards families and nerds than hardcore bikers like us so we give it a miss, though none of us can resist ordering a Girdley fine grain amber ale from the Green Dragon pub. We’re in the midst of a gorgeous ride through Karangahake Gorge, an old gold 52 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER
mining path that cuts along the banks of the whitewater Ohinemuri River, when it begins raining like the world’s going to end. It continues bucketing down as we painstakingly make our way through the hundreds of hairpin turns of the Karmai Ranges en route to Tairua Bay. I slip the Beemer into Rain mode, which helps the ABS respond more rapidly while at the same time so ening the engine’s dosage and response characteristics. But the sheer weight of this bike on wet, slippery roads in howling rain and blustering wind is akin to driving a bus around a mini-golf course. Gary hangs in my rearview mirror, pestering me like a mosquito to pull over, but with a road this curvy there’s no way he can do it safely until we reach a straight. The moment one appears he dashes out ahead but in his haste rides straight through the middle of a puddle at the next bend in the road. His rear tyre aquaplanes nearly a metre to the right and I’m sure he’s going down, but his bike miraculously corrects itself and disaster is avoided. The incident scares the living crap out of him and he retreats to my rear where he slows to a crawl until we reach Tairua. “In the beginning I was, like, hurry up, hurry up!” he says, eating a mouthful of humble pie. “But a er I aquaplaned I was, like, slow the hell down!”
The spirit of adventure riding changed irrevocably in 1989 with the unveiling of the Magellan NVA 1000, the world’s first commercial handheld GPS receiver. Today, a handheld GPS device or a GPS-enabled smartphone is an essential tool for any long-distance or adventure rider. Paradise Motorcycle Tours NZ offers a pre-programmed Garmin Zumo to every rider on their self-guided and customised tours. And while there’s no denying the convenience factor of knowing exactly where you are at all times, GPS devices are not without drawbacks: they can break, run out of juice or die for no apparent reason. They also tend to make users anti-social. “A few weeks ago we got a call from one of our customers,” says Uncle Trev. “They were very irate because their GPS crapped itself halfway through their trip. But in the end they said it was a blessing in disguise because from that point on, they had to stop and ask directions from people they made friends with and who pointed out interesting landmarks they would’ve otherwise missed.”
TAIRUA TO AUCKLAND: 260KM Tairua is famous for Mount Paku, the core of an extinct volcano that sits like a spinning top between jawdropping Tairua Harbour and Tairua Beach. It’s also the starting point of the Coromandel, a peninsula traced by a 135km two-lane highway. And with the sun now shining and few cars to be seen, the Coromandel turns out to be the stuff a road rider’s dreams are made of — a ceaselessly twisting stretch of road edging a coastline fringed by beaches, forests and quaint li le country towns and fishing villages. About halfway into it I finally find my mojo, arcing confidently into turns and switchbacks with the kind of pegthreatening lean only successive days of riding a new bike can breed. I never want it to end but when it does I rest easy with the knowledge I finally whipped the arse of my smart-arse photographer on the final and most stunning leg of our weeklong ride through NZ’s North Island. ARR
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WORDS: AUSTIN RYMER PHOTOS: AR & ADELE JOHNS pril 1, 2014, was a watershed date for me. I broke a few in-built, non-negotiable rules that needed to be broken. Rule one was to avoid re-running foreign roads I have previously toured. Aotearoa, the land of the long white cloud, has beckoned before — the South Island in 2005 and the North Island in 2013, both sensational experiences on a rented BMW R 1200 GS (brilliant) and a rented Suzuki DR650 (painful) respectfully. The riding
A
and weather surpassed all expectations. Put me down for another trip. Rule two, which I downright demolished, was to never carry a pillion except as a birthday treat for a couple of hours once a year. I like a solo life on a bike. With a BMW lined up at Nigel Howard’s Motorcycle Rentals NZ and a number of planets aligned, I wasn’t squirming out of this ride without sharing it with Adele, who is learning the ways of motorcycling from the pillion seat. This trip was governed by a couple of factors — budget and the fact we’d both ►
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■ For such a small place, New Zealand can feel pretty big
“By detouring onto any roads denoted as sealed with crammed-in wriggly bits, you’re assured of some of the best biking in the world” previously scoured most of the South Island. We chose to take our time, do fewer kilometres, relax and take in the ride at a slower rate. Exploring the northern half of the South Island had appeal, especially as my debutant is a serial art and cra snooper. We flew into Christchurch, which is still recovering from the 2012 earthquakes. In Nigel’s car, as he ferried us to the bike, the roads felt rippled and damaged, like I imagine war-torn Damascus might. The so -riding BMW F700 GS seemed a very logical choice in hindsight. Out of Christchurch we adjusted to a life on the road, living out of two small bags, staying in hostels and 56 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER
cheap hotels, and giving Jack Kerouac a lesson in economy. Still, the hallmarks of our adventure were the “wow” moments from the breathtaking scenery and stunning sweeping roads, even at conservative speeds. You need to build in time for those moments — there are many of them. We’d prepared for NZ’s questionable and changeable weather. Our gear covered everything from potential freezing and torrential rain to the possibility of hot, humid weather. One pannier took the full complement of camera gear. The other pannier housed nibbles, toiletries, books and spare shoes for stepping out. We shared the travelbag — si ing on the rack — and worked on four sets of undies, socks and T-shirts, a jumper and a pair of jeans each. Our riding suits doubled as our day clothes and as jackets for night walks or meals. As Nigel’s packages cover roadside assistance, we only carried a small puncture repair kit and a cable-lock. Nigel’s bikes are all very new and in top condition so tools and spares seemed a waste of space. Smaller all-weather, high-performing cameras these days mean a camera only
needs to be in your jacket pocket. I went overboard in the optical department and this is why I used a makeshi tankbag, which was my handy Zac hydration pack. I needed a camera handy around almost every bend. The vistas are mind-boggling and we soon tired from struggling off to access the Nikon in the pannier for a quick shot. We must have stopped 20 times on the a ernoon run from Christchurch to the
new zealand li le west-coast town of Hokitika, home of dri wood on the beaches. There are superb sunsets over the ocean and rivers that are full of stones which provide jade. The souvenir shopping for jade necklaces for two sets of offspring halved our entire eight-day budget! The weather was closing in so we rode north up the coast and across. Flexibility is useful in NZ. On the way I realised all roads feel entirely different heading in the opposite direction to my original visit. Riding clockwise through Greymouth and Westport produced great views and be er
■ Blue skies, winding roads and dramatic scenery — all in a day’s ride, really
“The weather was closing in so we rode north up the coast and across. Flexibility is useful in NZ”
■ Hokitika driftwood, smoothed by wind and water, glows in the evening sunlight
bends than I remember, and a reminder that mining and fishing during winter on the west coast must be full of hardships. Our mid-sized GS was proving to be very comfortable for our 300km days and we were grateful for the 4.6L/100km fuel-sipping. At $NZ2.14, 95 premium was costing us about $40 a day. The upright riding position and lazy, torquey powerplant made for relaxing touring, and the BMW handled it well loaded. Given the variety of choice Motorcycle Rentals NZ offers, I think we almost stumbled onto the ideal saddle. Buller Gorge is a treat. It carves a slice from the north-western coast up towards Nelson and provides views and roads labelled “please don’t miss”. By detouring onto any roads denoted as sealed with crammed-in wriggly bits, you’re assured of some of the best biking in the world. From the map or at a distance they will look like peg-scratching nirvana, but they’re not quite that good for a couple of traction-robbing reasons. The narrow and relatively unused Kiwi roads have unhealthy deposits of fine white gravel
between wheel tracks in each lane. It is slippery and traction is compromised at lean angles. Cars sweep the mess onto the roads by clipping the verge. Occasionally there is a made-in-motorcycle-heaven stretch of road devoid of crap and with the grip of Mugello, but they are rare. Quaint li le villages and towns feature heavily up north. They are not the rugged mining outposts of down south. Tourism sustains their lifestyle of cra s, organic produce and food outlets. We met people from all around the world who had moved in, set up camp and were running li le business to enjoy the quieter life and the rich reward of simple living. Where do you reckon the best pizza we have ever sampled was made? Adele and I have spent months (not together) ambling around Italy and have never tasted one as good as in the Dangerous Kitchen in Takaka. All the walking and riding meant we could justifiably order two! If calorie shedding is related to riding twisty roads, then load up and enjoy the weight loss across the north from Taraka Hill, following the more circuitous route ► AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 57
new zealand FLEETING MATTERS Motorcycle Rentals NZ offers an amazing array of motorcycles. From classic styled Triumphs to a decent spread of BMWs and big-bore Japanese sports-tourers, they have it covered. Nigel Howard says he has to cover an eclectic and broad range of tastes, from the sensible Americans who, as Nigel says, are “unprepared for the ever-changing landscape on a grand scale and the empty roads” to the wilder Germans, who don’t beat around the bush and go exploring ASAP. Aussies represent the largest slice of his clients. Prices start at $89 per day offseason for a KLR650 up to more than $200 a day for top-shelf larger machinery. Those prices include soft or hard luggage, unlimited distance, full breakdown cover and full comprehensive insurance. For rentals over 14 days, Nigel’s company also provides full motorcycle clothing free of charge for those visitors from overseas who do not wish to fill a suitcase full of motorcycle gear. You can store surplus gear with him. If you mention Australian Road Rider and plan to book a motorcycle for more than eight days, Nigel will cover the first night’s accommodation in a Christchurch B&B.
See motorcyclerental.co.nz or call +64 21 147 5990.
■ Like the world’s best pizza, the rented F 700 GS proved very satisfying
58 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER
via the Motueka Valley, through Nelson and Havelock, Queen Charlo e Drive to Picton. The ride is different to the southern part of the South Island. North is “spectacular”, south is “gigantic”. One of our highlights (there were way too many to list) came a er a meal of local mussels in a pub at Havelock. It was a “don’t miss French Pass” moment. The ride up to the French Pass, which is one of the peninsular fingers that prod into Marlborough Sound, is gigantically spectacular. It will take something very special to top this ride, with its feeling of connection with scenery so expansive and remote even though it’s only a short 60km long. It was bathed in sunlight,
greens, vivid blues from the sky and seas and a ruggedness I’d claim is as good as it gets. It is stunning. (It’s also a gravel road, and in many cases you are not allowed to take a rented motorcycle on unsealed roads, so check the fine print.) From Nelson we decided the smaller back roads heading south looked a ractive. We hugged the east coast from the ferry port to the wine growing district of Blenheim. The predominantly gravel road hugs li le bays and climbs and winds its way up and down picturesque ranges, with views forever. If you like the feeling of solitude and of times gone by, detours like this will give it to you. We joined the people-movement for a ►
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new zealand THE VIEW FROM BEHIND What an amazing opportunity. Wide open spaces, beautiful nature and blessed with fantastic weather. We were both excited for an adventure. We were out to follow the sun, nothing booked except the bike and the flights in and out. I love that kind of travel — it enables the freedom that aligns so nicely with motorcycling. Having both travelled the South Island in the past, I was keen to go where I hadn’t been before, but happy to venture north or south, so the deal was to chase the sun and avoid the rain. We did it very successfully. Each evening we would rock into a town, scan for vacancy signs, then pick a place to stay. It was really that easy. The breathtaking scenery we saw during the day set us up for a great meal, a few tales over a wine and an early night. The photos capture every aspect of the amazing trip, from dirt to tar, from built-up to remote. All we needed was a map, some snacks in the pocket, and a good coffee to start each day of adventure. As the pillion, I felt spoiled. I was able to take in all the breathtaking scenery, New Zealand’s nature at its best. And relax as we took the next turn, only to find more stunning views and endless sights. I daydreamed about who else might like to travel alongside us next time. It was the kind of trip you just want to share, a bit like great chocolate — it’s always good to share the experience. Would I do it again? Too right! When’s the next flight? — ADELE JOHNS
transport section down Highway 1. The Kaikoura Coast is a cracker for views and its sense of freedom, and it’s well known for accessible colonies of seals and possible glimpses of whales. Another couple of days avoiding the main road ticked off some exquisite rural touring through the North Canterbury region. Backtracking north into Hanmer Springs for hot-springs pampering (guys, there were plenty of solo riders there enjoying the hot pools too), we rounded one corner for the postcard photo of a bridge over a well-known bungiejumping location. We stopped for the 60 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER
■ You’ll come across countless little one-lane crossings on the South Island
“Adele and I have spent months ambling around Italy and have never tasted pizza as good as in the Dangerous Kitchen in Takaka” ■ The NZ coast is renowned, especially the South Island’s west coast
obligatory photo, remarking how funny it is when, in an unplanned way, you fall into great locations just by deciding to head that way. One day le and we needed to celebrate and not feel we hadn’t done our best. Away to the east, Akaroa beckoned. We picked the perfect day of sunshine and warmth. The sterling ride to Banks Peninsula and back was like two kids spending their last few dollars on the best ride in the fun park. Roller-coasting around the rim of the harbour and snoozy inlets, and
riding through sea mist with next to zero visibility, time just disappeared. Every day of our trip to the South Island was be er than the last and was as good as the next and equal to the first. It was epic. Next visit to New Zealand I may take in the same roads. I may even take Adele in November and I will definitely hire a bike. And I will go to the town in the Hawke’s Bay region whose name doesn’t fit in one column — Taumatawhakatangihangakoa uauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatah. ARR
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TASMANIA
...the road ad d less ridden idden
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THE SPIRIT OF TASMANIA It’s all about the ride
ST TOR ORY: Y: MIC ICK K MATH MA ATH T ES E ON PHOT PH O OS:: GR OT GREG EG G SMI M TH T & MM hrree day ys in Tasmani niia cr cram am i the equ in quiv i al iv alent off a wee eek’ ks k’ grea gr rea e t ro road adss on the mainllan and. d. Th hey ey’r ’rre al alll th ther ere, e,, one a er a ot an othe h r, wit he itho hout ho out lon ong g di dist s an st ance cess ce betw be twee tw een. ee n It’ n. t’ss al almo most mo s too st o muc u h, h if th ther e e er were we re eve verr su such ch a thi h ng as to oo mu much ch fun un. If you ourr go g al is to rid ide e bu butt yo your ur sch c ed edul ule ul e does do esn’ es ntt pe n’ perm r itt the lux rm xur u y of a wee eekk klong lo ng run up the th he ra ang nges es, bo es book ok k a tri rip p to Tassie Ta Tass sssie and d pre repa pare pa r for one re e of th t e mo most s st in nte tens nse ns e im imm mers rsio i ns io n in mo oto orcyc rccyc ycli l ng li you’ yo u’ve u’ v eve verr ex expe peri pe rien ri en ence nced, d, whe h th ther er
62 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER
yo ou’re a pure ro r ad rid ider er or li like ke a bitt off adve ad venttur u e thro rown wn in. We alll kno now w the e is isla land nd has a every y conv co nvol nv o ut ol uted ed kin ind d of o sea eale ed road d you ou c n im ca imag agin ag ine, in e tur e, urni ning n it into to one n off the wo th orl r d’ d’ss be best s pla st lace cess to rid ce i e e.. If yo you u co oul uld mo oor itt off th the co oastt off so ou uth t ern Q ee Qu eens nsla land nd n d it’ t’d be be a parradis ise e in inha habi b ted by mor o e moto moto torc rcyc rc yccliist ycli s s th han the Isl sle off Man in Ju June ne.. Di ne D d yo y u kn know ow tha h t Tass Ta ssie sie e’s off ff-t -tar -t a acttio ar ion n allso hol olds d all the a rac acti tion o s — sw on swee eepi ee ping pi ng g gra rave ve el ro oad adss th hro roug ugh ug h op o en far a ml mlan and, n , win ndi d ng g dirrt road ro ad ds th thro roug ugh ug h re remo mote mo te e for o es ests ts,, st stee eep p fire r trai tr ails ai ls ful ulll of sur u pr pris ises is es and n mor ore. e.. On
this triip, I learn ned d all abo bout ut Tas asma mani nia’ a’ss d lightf de tful ully dirrty y secrrets ts. Early Ea y thiis year, BMW launche hed d it itss R120 R1 200G 20 0GS 0G S Ad A venture do down wn the h re on an he unusually long and un d int nten ensi nsi sive v rid ve de for a pres pr e s in es ntr t od o uction n. Sh Show ow o win ng ul ultima ate t f itth in fa n the he new mod del el, BM B W’ W’ss Mi M le es Da av viis pl p o o e ed a rout u e that’d sca care re the he pa ant ntss off a no norm rrm mal a com ompa p ny PR ma pa an who’d wa wh w nt to gu g ar a an a tee no noth thin ing co could threaten a bike’s su upposed per erfe fect ctio ion. As you ou rea ad in AR RR iss ssue #10 103, 3 the he tank-like Ad dve vent ntur nt ure e walt l zed th lt thro roug ugh itss de it debu but. t. Now w it’ t s ti time m to shar a e th thiss exce ex cell llen nt ri ride de wit ith h yo y u.
tasmania
AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 63
TASSIE ON THE TAR Almost every time we took a dirt road or forest detour, a road-bike rider would have had two choices: follow us when the unsealed road was easy or take the sealed alternative and meet us in the next town. You can still plot your own ride based on this story even if you don’t want to get dirty, simply by checking out the maps and finding the closest route that suits you. Or just go your own way to anywhere nearby in Tassie — the riding’s always so good you can’t go wrong.
Don’t believe anyone who tells you Bass Strait is rough. I think it’s all a lie made up by land-lubbers to impress us on their return, because yet again the Spirit of Tasmania glided smoothly from Melbourne to Devonport on its overnight run. I’ve never felt a ripple on the water there and in spite of sharing a tiny cabin with another motorcycle journalist, I slept like a log … and not a floating one. We rode the bikes off the ferry, turned right and headed west out of town as Tassie slowly awoke on a beautiful sunny March morning. Just down the road in Forth we hooked le onto Wilmot Rd (C132) and began to get into the swing of things with a nice run beside the River Forth. This is the way I like to warm up — a gently winding road, some nice views 64 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER
and no traffic. It wasn’t long before the first sets of tighter corners livened the pace — it’s never long in Tasmania — and then we took a foray onto dirt with a short detour along Back Rd, which soon took us back to Wilmot Rd. Now we were primed. The road continued through quaint farming country. It wasn’t a fast road, more the kind on which you’re constantly trying to find a rhythm but can’t quite pin it down as the corners keep changing and the hills bring ever-changing grades. Several times the crests hid any hint of which direction the road might go on the other side, and regular damp or gravelly patches kept us on our toes. It was hard to devote much a ention to the sights of rundown old farm buildings, green fields down small gullies and other rustic signs of the quiet but presumably tough life many people live here. Before we hit the Murchison Hwy we turned north onto a gravel road and followed it up around Talbots Lagoon. This white-gravel road was well made but sometimes skaty, a good chance to begin playing with the BMW’s different levels of traction control. Relatively fast and open, it wasn’t hard to get some nice, graceful powerslides happening, but this early in the trip I deemed it prudent to preserve the rear tyre’s knobs for when I’d really want them. We passed the lagoon, crossed the Murchison Hwy and cruised through Waratah onto one of the great sections of the trip, the sandy,
twisting li le road to Corinna and the Pieman River. What a hoot! It started off benignly enough but the closer we got to Corinna the tighter it became, and while our speed didn’t increase, the pace seemed to rise inexorably. We had the big Beemers pushing the front tyres until ABS intervened on the way into corners, the back end swinging out at the same time,
■ Sunset over Macquarie Harbour in Strahan
tasmania
■ Tasmania’s white gravel roads are a recipe for knob-shredding fun r Trip leader Miles Davis forges through a forest gully
followed by big dri s when we hit the gas. Well, in my case the dri s weren’t that big; I was still in one of the GS’s more conservative electronic modes. A er all, it wasn’t even lunchtime on the first day! We ate a great lunch at Corinna and then launched off the vessel a er it took us to the far side to continue our adventure. The narrow sealed road
climbed through thick forest in a series of slow corners, followed by gravel and tar again down toward Zeehan. We scooted through this old town and on to Strahan via the B27. Strahan is small and pre y with some great eateries on the waterfront in Macquarie Harbour, but before we enjoyed its fare we headed west out to the beach — where we could get the bikes down onto the sand.
The track from car park to beach was not for the fainthearted, not so much because most of us had to paddle the bikes through the deep, sandy ruts but for the wild, eroded drop from bank to beach at the end. As I swallowed a brave pill and launched off, I knew gravity would get me down, but how would I get back up? For an hour or so we rode up and down the beach, having a bit of fun ►
“This is the way I like to warm up — a gently winding road, some nice views and no traffic”
■ There weren’t many creek crossings. In fact, we had to detour to do this one
AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 65
tasmania
rThe bush is slowly clawing its way back onto the dead hills around Queenstown
r The poor old knobbies took a beating but were worth having on the dirt roads
and trying not to upset the locals, from whom we kept a considerate distance. Only one red-faced green fundamentalist tried to give us a hard time but we soon calmed him down. None of us got stuck in so sand and all of us had a ball. And as for the climb out again, by this stage I was well warmed up and into the ride so I had no self-doubts as I aimed for the jump-up with no margin for error, powered up and landed safely at the top. I was amazed once again at what’s possible on these enormous GS Adventures. The second day debuted with the winding but short ride to Queenstown and its famous poisoned landscape. You can see the bush is slowly recovering from the effects of conscience-free industry, and one part of you wants the greenery to win out while another wonders if we shouldn’t preserve the damage as both a lesson for the future and to maintain the unique outlook over these big hills. We wound down into town and up the other side — flicking le 66 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER
“The closer we got to Corinna the tighter it became, and while our speed didn’t increase, the pace seemed to rise inexorably”
to right to le to right — and then out along what was to be the most thrilling tarmac section of our entire route. This part of the Lyell Hwy (A10) flies through deep Tassie wilderness. It’s long and uninterrupted, a sensational ride that you take at your own pace; you’re wise not to push your limits here. We passed dozens of bikes going the other way and not nearly as many cars. Slowly our group split as everyone found their comfortable speeds, but four of us couldn’t resist this ultimate trial of GS handling and set a hot pace. Traction control saved a couple of guys from possible highsides on the odd damp bit, but once again my admiration for the BMW grew well above what I’d expected. The Lyell was so frenetic that I was beginning to think about pausing when we eventually broke out of the forest into open country and stopped at a rest area. We needed it! A kay or two a er passing the Marlborough Hwy (B11), we turned le onto another gravel road, taking us past
Dee Lagoon. This was another well-made but sometimes skaty route that rejoined the Lyell at Ouse. On the other side of town we turned off again, taking Tor Hill Rd over rolling farmland toward Bothwell. I couldn’t believe how dry and brown it was thanks to the drought. It was not the way Tassie was meant to look. Still, the riding was, yet again, fantastic on this fast, unsealed road. We didn’t resort to tar a er Bothwell, taking the Dennistoun, Woodspring and Lower Marshes roads as we headed east. I had a very hard time resisting the urge to turn off to the Nant Brewery. We crossed the Midland Hwy south of Oatland, sticking with back roads through farms, forests and pine plantations until we popped out on the Tasman Hwy on the east coast, just down from our overnight destination of Swansea in Great Oyster Bay. The water looked so inviting from our hotel that we couldn’t resist wading out for a very refreshing dip. Bliss! Miles had saved the most dire ►
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Tasmania
“The Lyell Hwy (A10) flies through deep Tassie wilderness. It’s long and uninterrupted, a sensational ride”
■ Bikes lined up while we have an early brekky before a day’s riding commences
challenges for our final day, which shaped up to be one of the most adrenalin-packed rides I’ve done in a long time and proved to be rewarding and great fun too. We rode the coast highway through Bicheno, where motorcycle-loving mayor Bertrand Cadart was heading into the political fight of his life (the elections are being held just a er this issue goes on sale). Between Seymour and Chain of Lagoons we turned up a tiny track that Miles had sniffed out on his recce, and this took us into rough terrain on sometimes abandoned trails. Dirtbike country. On GS Adventures. We plunged through washedout gullies, ducked overhanging ferns and fallen trees, and let the BMs hang out through the twists and turns until we popped out on the famous Elephant Pass
r Crossing the Pieman River on the ferry
68 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER
Rd, backtracked to the renowned Pancake Barn with its elephant-on-a-bike sign, then carried on for more. On the way I nearly fell off the bike laughing. One bloke turned off the traction control on a wet, grassy track, opened the thro le, instantly spun 90 degrees, speared off into the bushes quicker than a rifle shot and fell off in an undignified heap. No damage done except for the ba ering his ego took from our uncontrolled laughter. We crossed the Esk Hwy (A4) at St Marys and stayed in the hills, following Germantown Rd and a succession of other minor tracks to St Helens, then Argonaut Rd and other forest tracks out the other side, keeping ourselves south of the main highway. This could have been
touch-and-go stuff on the Adventures, with sand, holes, washouts and ruts all over the place, and some difficult climbs, but we were into it and confident, having a great time. By now I’d well and truly go en used to an absolutely minimum level of electronic intervention on the bike and even then I only called it into action once or twice, such was the excellent control the BMW permi ed. My vivid memory of the final parts of the ride was five R1200s in a train, sideways in and out of a long series of tight bends on a narrow, unsealed descent from forest into farmland. We moved fluidly in an elegant dance that can only be so perfect when you’re all on the ball a er miles of finely focused practice. It’d been that kind of ride, with no distractions, just continuous, undiluted motorcycling. And perhaps that was the right time to wind it up — on a high, all upright and buzzing. We cruised the last few kays into Launceston on the Tasman Hwy, detouring briefly for lunch at the Pyengana Dairy, owned by keen BMW rider Jon Healey, and enjoying a final fling on the corners leading to the inspiringly named Targa. It’d been three of the most incredible days of biking I’ve ever done. ARR
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234 Wollombi Road, Cessnock NSW 2325 P: (02) 4990 1002 E: info@hotelcessnock.com.au www.hotelcessnock.com.au 458 High Street, Maitland NSW 2320 P: (02) 4933 6566 E: info@shenanigans.com.au www.shenanigans.com.au
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FACILITIES: The Mallacoota Hotel Motel is conveniently situated in Mallacoota’s main street close to shopping, playgrounds, tourist information and easy access to all that Mallacoota and Croajingolong National
51-55 Maurice Avenue, Mallacoota VIC 3892 (PO Box 43) P: (03) 5158 0455 F: (02) 5158 0453 E: inncoota@bigpond.net.au www.mallacootahotel.com.au
Park have to offer.
• • • • • •
Bistro TAB Sky Channel Bottleshop Beer garden Air conditioned rooms • Secure parking • Saltwater pool
Just minutes to the fabulous beaches and
APSLEY ARMS HOTEL 33 N Derby Street, Walcha NSW 2354 Where the Oxley Hwy meets Thunderbolt’s Way
Experience a real Australian bush pub circa 1880. Modern accommodation with self-serve continental breakfast included. Bistro and bar meals. Reviewed and recommended in the Sydney Morning Herald Good Pub Food Guide.
walking tracks of the
P: (02) 6777 2502 www.apsleyarms.com.au
Wilderness Coast.
FACILITIES:
Ellie-cats at
Monkey Creek 227 Bells Line of Road, Bell, NSW 2786 E: ehajwan@gmail.com P: 0435 879 435 www.hattershideout.com.au
Ellie-Cats at Monkey Creek is for every body and anybody. We have a wide range of meal and drink choices. We do our best to accommodate all different diets and tastes. We are a friendly and experienced team who pride ourselves on customer service and presentation. Come for the view, stay for the coffee.
• Discount for group bookings • Clean, modern accommodation • Great food & friendly bars • Garage for bikes • Guest lounge room with TV • Function room • Bistro area & The Green Room wine & cider bar
• Open 7 days from 9am • Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Coffee, Drinks • Walk-ins welcome • Good for groups • Outdoor seating • Parking • Accommodation available - Cave & Lodge, Monkeys in the Attic and Lyre’s Loft.
FACILITIES: Motorcyclist owned motel located centrally to Victorian High country & Yarra Ranges. Ideal stopover to/from Phillip island and great ocean road. Only 1.5 kms off Hume Hwy on the doorstep to great road/adventure riding. Great pubs, cafes, restaurants close by. 53 Clifton st. Euroa 3666 VIC Ring and mention P: 0357952506 E: info@castlecreekmotel.com.au this advert for www.castlecreekmotel.com.au best rates
CASTLE CREEK MOTEL
TO ADVERTISE IN ROADRIDER
CALL JON 02 9887 0341 www.hotelcessnock.com.au
• 17 units • Cooked/continental breakfasts • Single/double/twin & family rooms • Great rates on group bookings • Free Wifi • Bike covers available • Free shuttle to pubs/ restaurants • Most rooms recently refurbished • Tours can be organised
Come stay with us FACILITIES:
FACILITIES:
Omeo Highway, Anglers Rest, VIC P: (03) 5159 7220 E: lana@blueduckinn.com.au www.blueduckinn.com.au
The Blue Duck Inn stands in splendid isolation on the Cobungra River, surrounded by a million acres of National Park. Situated on the Omeo Highway between Mitta and Omeo, the Duck provides perfect accommodation for all the Motor Bike enthusiasts. The Duck is known for its fine local foods and wine. An experience not to be missed.
• Perfect spot to stop for lunch and enjoy a cold one on the verandah overlooking the river • Accommodation in 2 bedroom self contained cabins • Choice of cooked or continental breakfast hamper available on request
HILLTOP HOTEL OMEO 107 Day Avenue Omeo VIC 3898 P: (03) 5159 1303 F: (03) 5159 1304 E: thehilltophotel@gmail.com
Situated at the top of the hill in picturesque Omeo Victoria, The Hilltop Hotel open 7 days, is under new management also new chefs with a mouth-watering menu. Accommodation basic but clean! Keeping prices low so you can make the most of your stay. Entertainment available for group bookings give us a call today.
FACILITIES:
& ACCOMMODATION
26 E Fitzroy Street, Walcha P: (02) 6777 1117 E: royalcaf@bigpond.net.au www.walcharoyalcafe.com.au
A great dining experience with function room, licensed bar and excellent accommodation. With a relaxed & friendly environment we are the perfect spot for a quick bite or to celebrate a night out with a group. Come and see why Royal Cafe is the place that’s got it all ...
• • • • •
Dine in or takeaway Healthy & tasty menu Function room Licensed bar Excellent accommodation • Queen to single rooms to semi self contained cottage • Lock up sheds & drying room available
FACILITIES: Head along to the Great Southern Inn, Eden, known as “that nice pub on the coast”. Drop in and enjoy some drinks at the bar, have a bite to eat and enjoy the relaxing atmosphere. Stop in for a light lunch or delicious 158 Imlay Street, dinner overlooking Eden NSW 2551 Twofold Bay. Eden’s staff buys the freshest E: greatsouth@bigpond.com ingredients from their P: (02) 6496 1515 www.greatsoutherninn.com.au best local suppliers.
Great Southern Inn
FACILITIES:
5557 Omeo Highway Mitta Mitta, VIC 3701 P: (02) 6072 3541 www.mittapub.com
The newly renovated Mitta Pub is situated on the Omeo highway which we are glad to say is finally fully sealed. The historic pub is nestled on the banks of the snowy creek and provides the perfect place to relax and explore the stunning Mitta Valley.
• Open 7 days week lunch/dinner • 3 bars • Extensive beer garden • One cabin that sleeps four • Five queen sized rooms • Dorm room that sleeps seven • Extended food menu Thur - Sun • TVN
• Free wifi • Meals 7 days dinner and lunch • Bike lock up available • Beer Garden • Self-serve continental breakfast • Handmade pizzas Tue/Fri nights • Pool comp every Tuesday night • Accommodation/ meal packages for 2 or more nights stay • Cooked breakfast available on request
• Open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner • Seats up to 150 guests for your function • Daily specials • Accommodation available • We are in the ‘Good Pub Food Guide’ for 2013
FACILITIES:
28 River St, Maclean NSW 2463 P: (02) 6645 2412 E: info@macleanhotel.com.au www.macleanhotel.com.au
Some country pubs choose to blend contemporary style with period features, while others still cling to their history and heritage, an aspect many visitors love and respect. But whether you prefer old-world charm or chic modern, a stylish suite or a cosy room with simple furnishings, our eclectic mix of rooms to stay offer something to suit all tastes, plus each one exhibits a high standard of cleanliness and maintenance.
• 2 mins off Pacific Hwy on the Clarence River • Single, double and bunk rooms • Group bookings • $10 daily meal deals • Breakfast, lunch and dinner packages • Secure bike storage • Recently renovated • Full tab, live music and bottle shop
FACILITIES: Hang loose, hit the juice at the Snow Goose. Situated in
TO ADVERTISE IN ROADRIDER
CALL JON 02 9887 0341
the town centre, close to Mt Selwyn
Snow Goose Hotel Motel
(for snow skiing) and
Cnr Baker & Denison Streets Adaminaby NSW 2629 P: (02) 6454 2202 F: (02) 6454 2608 E: thesnowgoosehotel @bigpond.com
bushwalking. Enjoy a
beautiful Eucumbene for boating, fishing, barbeques and meal in the country style dining room and family bistro with weekend entertainment.
• • • • •
Restaurant Bar Bottle shop Motel/Hotel rooms Backpacker accommodation • Lock up area for bikes • Games/ recreation room
THE POLISH CONNECTIO
STORY: MOIRA STEWART PHOTOS: MS, SHEONAGH RAVENSDALE t’s common enough to escape Melbourne in winter, but most people go to Bali. It’s a nice enough destination but it lacks opportunities for some serious motorcycling so I had to look further for my winter break. I knew the Women’s International Motorcycle Association (WIMA) annual rally would be held in
I
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Poland in August so it seemed like an ideal place for a short holiday: serious riding would be part of the agenda, I could catch up with many friends, it’s summer in Europe and I hadn’t been to Poland before. An “early bird” flight cost $1770 return from Melbourne to Warsaw, a good price for anyone on a tight budget, so I departed the winter weather at the end of July for a dose of warm, sunny days. I arrived in Warsaw with the
intention of staying there for a few days before going south for the rally but changed my mind when my friend and WIMA Poland president, Maura Raniecka, told me the organising team comprised four people including her partner, Jakub, and preparations needed to start the following day at the hotel where it was being held. I volunteered my services, as any good friend does. I’ll admit I wasn’t being entirely selfless because it would give me an inside ►
WIMA IN POLAND
H ON
The annual international women’s motorcycle rally was the perfect reason to go riding in stunning but stormy Poland
AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 73
view and help with the planning for next year’s rally at Phillip Island, to be hosted by WIMA Australia. A er an overnight stay in Krakow, we set off for the far south of Poland. The rally site was the Hotel Rewita in Koscielisko, just outside Zakopane, which is a holiday destination both in summer and winter. In the Communist era, the hotel had served as a place for soldiers and their families to escape the pollution of the cities to the fabulous views and clean air and water of the Tatra Mountains, part of the Carpathian range. There is nothing le at the hotel to invoke past times though, and it has the modern conveniences we expect. A conference room was set up as a registration and enquiry desk and the team set to work to assemble 250 packs containing a torch, maps, pen, wrist band, and individual name tags, labelled travel mugs and appropriately sized T-shirt. The rally logo on the mug had to be replaced a er it was discovered they rubbed off easily and there were problems with the printer, but by Sunday, 15 piles of packs for each of the WIMA countries represented at the rally filled most of the space. The only things that kept us going were the coffee machine, brought from Maura’s home, and the good food and drink at the restaurant Gazdowo Kuznia in Zakopane, which became my favourite a er the first visit. Poland is a place where a few dollars go far. Most of the population is poor by our standards and this is reflected in the price of everyday items. A tasty, filling meal can be bought for between six and 10 Australian dollars and a half-litre of beer or a vodka is about $2 in a cafe or bar. The vodka aisle at the supermarket is massive and a good brand is as li le as
$10. Petrol, however, is $1.90 per litre so a bike is the most economical means of transport and the best way to appreciate the alpine views in the south. Polish food focuses on soups, meat, sausages, potatoes and the local favourite, pierogi — dumplings stuffed with meat, potato or cheese, or with fruit for dessert. I liked the fruit ones best. The most memorable meal I had was roast duck: succulent and delicious and it only cost $11. Strangely enough, the general population appeared to be slim and healthy in spite of the diet, but perhaps it’s all the hiking and cycling done by people of all generations and I only saw a few Maccas on my trip. Registration for the rally opened at 2pm Sunday a ernoon and it was frenzied action for the rally team as the 250 participants came to pick up their packs, sort out problems with room allocations, and the difference between single rooms and single beds. Many had ridden for
r Public transport, Krakow-style. It’s an easy city to get around
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three or four days in severe storms and torrential rain so they looked like the proverbial drowned rats on arrival, but they quickly got into dry clothing and began assembling in the bar for a few drinks with friends from near and far. We listened to their stories about the journeys. The Estonians, especially the newer riders, had been completely unfamiliar with curves and hills because their roads are flat and straight. Two women from England got stranded with a jammed thro le on one of the bikes and were taken in by a local family, fed, given beds for the night and the assistance of a mechanic the next day. The advantages and disadvantages of different routes to Zakopane from all over Europe was a hot topic, as was the comparison of petrol prices across different countries. The party finished late but most were up early the next day to do some alpine
WIMA IN POLAND A BIKE FOR POLAND Renting a bike in Poland is an economical and easy option for a bike holiday and can be done online through admo-tours.com. The Warsaw location has a range of 250-900cc Japanese bikes costing between $300 and $400 a week. There is a seven-day minimum hire. The company also has a branch at Bielsko-Biala near Krakow, which has a three-day minimum rental. The range of bikes there includes a choice of four 650cc bikes, Honda CB750, BMW R 1200 GS and Harley Sportster and Dyna Wide Glide. Rental prices are marginally higher than the selection at Warsaw.
riding around the Tatras. There were three maps provided for rides varying from 100km to 240km and everyone found one to suit their style and needs. The roadsides are sca ered with stalls selling sheepskins, food, cra s and more garden gnomes than I’ve ever seen. I was told that Poland supplies garden gnomes to most of Europe, and Germany in particular. When the clouds li ed, there were spectacular panoramas of the mountains across the border into Slovakia. I was one of the fortunate ones who were back at the hotel when the storms rolled in at 5pm. That evening, a er dinner and a welcome speech from hosting WIMA president Maura, we were entertained by a local Highlander folk group of singers, musicians and dancers. As usual, there were plenty of audience members ready to join in with the fun on stage. The rest sat back and laughed at their antics and were secretly glad it wasn’t them looking silly with underwear or bathers over their clothes. The bar closed at 2am, when most people except the Finns had dri ed off to bed. On Tuesday, about half the rallyists headed off to Krakow for the day and the rest dodged the rain in the mountains. The former capital of Poland, Krakow is a beautiful historic city small enough to walk around or you can hire a horse and carriage. Points of interest include the old town with its market square, medieval churches and architecture, and an imposing castle on the banks of the Vistula River overlooking the city, with the Jewish quarter located further along. WIMA Australia vice-president Kathy
“Poland is a place where a few dollars go far. A tasty, filling meal can be bought for between six and 10 Australian dollars” O’Donnell and I took a cruise on the river ($14) which gave different but interesting views and was a pleasant way to fill in an hour before exploring on foot. Back in Koscielisko that night, the storms shi ed into top gear and torrential rain came down all night. There was an official parade and 70km ride scheduled for Wednesday, including a meeting with the local mayor, but the broken bridges and roads swept away by flooding prevented
his a endance. About 100 riders gathered for the parade — it was very colourful, with many bikes flying the riders’ national flags, and we got lots of waves from people on the roadside. We stopped at a chairli near Bialka Tatranska for a ride to the top, however there were only teasing glimpses of the view through the mist and fog. Lunch was at the Zajazd Bialczanski restaurant, where we were ►
■ Dancing in the rain? Well, you might as well enjoy it!
AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 75
WIMA IN POLAND
“The Estonians, especially the newer riders, had been completely unfamiliar with curves and hills because their roads are flat and straight” entertained by a children’s folk dance group, and by the time we le the rain had finally stopped. Thursday’s activity was a checkpoint ride with nine locations to find and register at. Most of them were near some a raction such as a lake, ancient church or spectacular view and the roads were fairly good, but occasionally I wondered if we’d gone astray because we were on a one-lane track and being chased by barking dogs. Everyone found their way home in the end and all enjoyed the challenge of the ride. On Friday night, we had a special dinner and farewell party that continued in the bar late into the next morning. We all agreed it had been a brilliant rally, despite the bad weather. For a total rally cost of $400 including dinner, bed and breakfast for six nights, it was good value even for those on a tight budget. It’s also a great way to meet inspiring and adventurous women motorcyclists from all over the world. I returned to Krakow for a few days a er the rally and visited the UNESCO heritage-listed salt mines at Wieliczka, where salt has been extracted since the 13th century. It has many chambers with intricate sculptures, chandeliers,
r International dining experience: 15 nations were represented at the WIMA rally
a church, ballroom and hotel all carved into the salt. The first level is 64m below the surface and is reached by 380 steps. The only other building material used is wood, which petrifies over time and becomes as hard as stone. The deepest level is 135m underground, but luckily there’s a li to take you back to the top. It’s a fascinating place and I would put it on the “must see” list. We also cruised around a few bike accessories shops — a few different brands from what we see here and some tempting goodies, but I couldn’t fit anything else in my luggage other than a small elasticised leather patch to protect your foot/boot from the gear lever. I was lucky enough to spend a sunny a ernoon sailing on Lake Rosnowskie, about 70km from Krakow. Maura is not only a very capable motorcyclist but can handle a
20 sailing boat as well. Overall, I would rate Poland as an ideal place for a motorcycle holiday to escape our winter weather, even though we experienced quite a few thunderstorms in the mountains and many WIMA members had to endure more of them on their way home. At least it wasn’t cold and good wet-weather gear is generally part of our essential gear. The country has picturesque scenery, food and drink is good quality and cheap, and the people welcoming. So next time you think about riding in another country, consider Poland — you won’t regret it. ARR
■ WIMA is a strong organisation that has been bringing together female riders together for decades
r The rain failed to dampen the fun in Poland
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HONDA VALKYRIE
FORMER Ground clearance, sticky tyres, fantastic performance — Honda’s new Valkyrie shakes up the custom cruiser market
STORY: JUSTIN LAW PHOTOS: STUART GRANT f you like accelerating — and I mean fast — you might well be interested in Honda’s new F6C Valkyrie. It’s very much like the old one insofar as it’s a stripped-down Goldwing, and is a firm step into what could best be described as the custom/ sports cruiser market. In between the old Valkyrie and this new one was the Rune, an elaborate exercise in design, and then there was the EVO 6 concept that went for the stripped-down streetfighter look. This reintroduction of the F6C Valkyrie appears to have met somewhere in the middle of those concepts. It dispenses with anything amounting to a fairing to the point where you feel like you’re si ing on an old grass-tracker as you peer over the wide handlebars at the road ahead, only the minimal dash and headlight interrupting that view. Of course, walking up to the bike gives you a very different opinion. The shrouding around the side-mounted radiators dominates the view from all angles and was created to solve the issue of how to make them look any good at all on a naked bike. The issue is that it detracts from the engine, which is the centrepiece of the bike and was so wonderfully celebrated in previous incarnations. Instead it’s more paint and plastic — at least on our example, which is the metallic blue. You can also get black or red, which come with chrome touches more in line with the original Valkyrie that was old-school chrome and accentuated the engine configuration. The radiator treatment does give the Valkyrie a solid set of shoulders that work to remind you this is a purposeful machine, or at least give you the impression it’d be at home on the set of a Transformers movie, especially with the modern-style headlight ►
I
AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 79
■ ■A Plenty naked of bike funonon these mountain roads! steroids? A cruiser with brawn? All of the above…
nestled between them. From side on, the lines sweeping down through the tank and seat into a hugger rear end assert it is a street cruiser, but the wheels suggest a different intention. The 19in front and 17in rear are black thin-spoked alloys rather than wires or more solid rims, and they seem at odds with the brawn atop them. These are lightweight offerings and an inch larger at each end than the Goldwing and F6B to improve ground clearance. The running shoes are low-profile Dunlop Sportsmax tyres rather than thick-walled tourers and they remove any doubt that this bike has ambitions beyond the boulevard. The ABS brakes are no single-pot forearm pumpers either — there are four-pot calipers on each 310mm front disc and a bigger 316mm disc down back squeezed by a threepiston caliper. So extra ground clearance, sticky tyres and effective brakes. Yep, the Valk has been to the gym, but hangs onto the cruiser theme with simple 45mm
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cartridge forks, although the preloadonly adjustable Pro-Link rear on a singlesided swingarm is not the average twinshock set-up you get on other cruisers. The sha drive is also quite compact in a further effort to reduce unsprung weight or at least try to get the bulk down — 341kg wet is up there with more elaborately adorned bikes but 41kg lighter than the FB6 and a whole person lighter (81kg) than the Goldwing. This is also achieved with a lighter multi-box aluminium chassis in twinspar configuration and, of course, the complete removal of bodywork over the front end. It’s an odd sensation si ing on the bike for the first time for the sheer lack of anything in front of you. You can alter that with a rummage through the accessories catalogue that offers screens and other bits, but I didn’t mind that this was an exercise in minimising Honda’s touring flagship. The rectangular dash has two small bu ons to scroll through and reset the trip meters, and you can access a
HONDA VALKYRIE QUICKSPECS Model: Honda F6C Valkyrie Price: $20,199 (plus on-road charges) Colours: Blue, red, black Warranty: 24 months Engine: Liquid-cooled 4-stroke 12-valve, SOHC flat-6 Bore x stroke: 74 x 71mm Displacement: 1832cc Compression: 9.8:1 Power: N/A Torque: N/A Transmission: 5-speed, wet clutch Frame: Twin spar aluminium Dimensions: Seat height 734mm, weight 341kg (kerb), fuel capacity 23.2L, wheelbase 1797mm Suspension: 45mm telescopic fork, Pro-Link Pro-Arm with preload adjustment Brakes: Front, 310mm disc with 4-piston calipers. Rear, 316mm disc with 3-piston caliper. ABS Tyres: Front 130/60R19M/C. Rear 180/55R17M/C Fuel consumption: 5.5L/100km Theoretical range: 400km Verdict: Fast, handles, imposing. What’s not to like?
“From side on, the lines sweeping down through the tank and seat into a hugger rear end assert it is a street cruiser” menu that will change the display to a simple greeting when you key on and a “Goodbye” when you switch off the bike. The only other mod con I could find was the indicators cancel themselves a er you’ve leaned through a corner. There’s a small compartment behind the shrouding under the seat on the right-hand side that houses the tool kit and owners’ manual, and has enough room for a couple of pairs of socks. Under the shroud on the other side, both of which easily pull off and press back on, is the knob for the rebound adjustment. These were pointed out by the Honda technician when I asked what there was to know about the bike before I took off. The only other thing was the key hole for the fuel filler cap that’s in front of your le shin, presumably to keep the plastics around the tank (chrome on the other colour schemes) free of clu er. There is precious li le else. No cruise control, traction control or engine mapping or anything other than the switches for
lights (the high beam flashed with a thumb switch rather than trigger), the simple indicator switch and sizeable bu on for the horn that sounds more like a clarion than a beep. On the other side, the one control you will love to use most is the thro le, for it unleashes 1832cc of grunt in a great rush of Newton-metres. The famous horizontally opposed SOHC, two-valve, six-cylinder is the selling point for this bike and while Honda is coy on power figures, I’ve seen published figures of 78kW and 152Nm. It’s fed by PGM-FI controlled fuelinjection with twin 40mm Keihin thro le bodies and a Valkyrie-specific 6.6L airbox and panel-type air filter. So you’d think it’d suck down the go-juice faster than Lance Armstrong but that wasn’t the case — on cruise through the hills, I got back 5.5L/100km but that gets over the 6.0L mark on quicker freeway runs where aerodynamics come into play. I wouldn’t care if it was 8.0 because what you get ►
AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 81
back in performance is fantastic. Simply le ing out the clutch from idle gets you off the mark and when you do tap it open, the LCD bar that measures the revs on the dash doesn’t give you much clue about the violence being imparted on the rear tyre. That’s because the power is so rich and constant through the short rev range that ends all too soon at 6000rpm. By the time you get through the five-speed gearbox, made nice with a light-action hydraulic clutch, you are going ridiculously fast and struggling to hold on. Perhaps that’s why they gave it a more upright seating position with footpegs rather than offering up laidback footboard cruising. At highway speed with the engine ticking over just under 3000rpm, that seating position is comfortable in its neutrality and is made more comfortable by the broad seat. It’s a bit on the firm side but is wide enough to ensure you won’t be wishing you were there yet before fuel stops. The rear bolster holds you nicely in place — especially when you’re finding out just how fast this baby will go — and the pillion seat offers enough padding to
■ You feel the long wheelbase but steering is still good
82 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER
■ For all its size and weight, the Valkyrie is pretty good chasing other bikes in the corners
“The one control you will love to use most is the throttle, for it unleashes 1832cc of grunt in a great rush of Newton-metres” be a reasonable weekender for two. If you’re a solo trekker, the big hand rails provide good anchor points for strap-on luggage or you can remove the rails and seat altogether. Heading into the hills, the F6C starts to show what else it can do. The first corners are a revelation in how light the steering is and how neutrally it goes about its business. There is no extra weight fighting the front end so you can quickly drop into a line and make adjustment without much effort. The wheel size and lengthy 1707mm wheelbase keep the show calm, even through rough corners where the suspension reveals itself to be firm but effective. It crashes a bit through the initial stroke, but the rebound is set about right so you stay planted without the suspension throwing the weight back up too violently. That means you’re not fighting the steering on those crap roads you might be inclined to explore. Backing off the preload will improve the quality of the ride, which is not a bad thing when you’re going somewhere far away, but for that smooth-road weekend blast, keep it firm and you’re rewarded with a bike that surprises you in its ability to explore its cornering clearance. The Dunlops give you loads of confidence and I was soon touching down more
HONDA VALKYRIE
r Well-proven linked braking system works well on the most stripped-down Wing
o en — there isn’t sportsbike clearance, but it’s a damn sight be er than the other cruisers I’ve ridden. The only aspect I wasn’t sure about was the five-speed gearbox. The positive nature of the sha drive made it snappy in the lower gears and I sometimes found myself between ideal ratios. But then I was trying to ride it like it might a sportier bike, rowing through the gears to maximise the fun. When I se led into the torque, it was much easier going — using a gear higher than I would normally and allowing the big six’s power to haul us out of corners. You can let it drop into triple figures and it will still wind out smoothly and willingly. That first run came a er a morning commute up Melbourne’s Monash
r Small headlight is tucked in, emphasising the size of the “shoulders”
r Radiators dictated some styling choices but the treatment is excellent
Freeway, which is choked up with cars most of the time. I found myself negotiating heavy traffic as I would on a much smaller bike, confident in the power and not worried about its girth. You really can live with this bike and not feel compromised in any of the major onroad motorcycling food groups of sport, cruising, touring and commuting. As a touring option, a dip into the accessories catalogue for perhaps a screen (there’s precious li le else) might be the go, but you still get a fantastically capable machine that will make you seek out those winding roads. As a custom/sports cruiser, there are few on the road in this category that will outperform this absolute powerhouse and a great continuation of the famous Valkyrie moniker. ARR
■ The 1800cc flat-six engine is a true gem on the open road
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MAGNUM
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VICTORY MAGNUM STORY: MARK HINCHLIFFE ictory beat Harley-Davidson to the custom bagger market with its radically slammed Magnum, though only by days, ge ing in shortly before H-D revealed a CVO version of the Street Glide would be part of its 2015 range. When I first saw the abundance of wild custom baggers in the show and shine at the Harley-Davidson 110th anniversary in Milwaukee last year, I suspected Harley had been watching this scene and would launch a custom bagger of its own despite being busy with its new Street family and the electric LiveWire. Victory Motorcycles had also been paying a ention to this flourishing trend in customisation, which is bringing younger riders to the motorcycle scene. The company had touched on it with the now-defunct Hard-Ball, the ma black, pinstriped bagger with ape-hanger handlebars that was such a good thing. Now Victory is using the new Magnum in its bid to be bold and different. Victory Motorcycles country manager Peter Harvey says the bagger trend is “gathering strong, real momentum locally and the timing of the Magnum is perfect. Customers have been asking for and custom building this type of bike themselves and for it to be available ex-factory with the largest production bagger wheel on the road coming standard, plus all the other features, should make it irresistible,” Peter says. The Victory Magnum will arrive in Australia from $29,995 ride-away in late November, which parks it price-wise between the Cross Country Tour ($28,495) and the full-dresser Vision ($30,495). But what exactly is a custom bagger? It’s not a term that has a lot of street cred yet in Australia. Custom baggers feature a lowered rear end, o en with air suspension that can be lowered right to the ground when stationary for full effect at custom shows. With the extended panniers that wrap around the exhaust pipes si ing on the ground, it looks so radical. Custom baggers also feature a lowered seat, bright paintwork that includes the dashboard, apehanger bars and super-loud ghe o-blasting stereo systems that o en have pannier-lid speakers. Some even sport massive subwoofers in the top box. Custom baggers are exploding in the US right now and it was the dominant custom trend at this year’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota. Some of them are almost comical ►
V FORCE You’ve got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel audacious?
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with their 24in or even 30in front wheels. However, Victory has managed to make the Magnum a more practical, presentable and acceptable custom bagger with a 21in front and reasonable rear clearance. As I found from a ride through the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota, the 21in front wheel not only looks radical, but it also handles quite well. It doesn’t flop into corners or track on the highway as I thought it might. It steers slowly, as expected, but it steers confidently, and I was able to hustle it along at a brisk pace through the beautifully smooth esses of Spearfish Valley, up into the hills, down through the quaint, but touristy, cowboy town of Deadwood with a loop over several ranges, finishing with a highway blast back to Sturgis. Yes, it scrapes the floorboards,
QUICKSPECS Model: Victory Magnum Price: $29,995 ride-away Colours: Metasheen Black/ Supersteel Grey; Plasma Lime; Sunset Red/Supersteel Grey; Ness Midnight Cherry Warranty: 2 years, unlimited distance Servicing intervals: 8000km Engine: Air/oil-cooled 50° V-twin. SOHC, 4 valves per cylinder. Cruise control Bore x stroke: 101 x 108mm Displacement: 1731cc Compression: 9.4:1 Power: 54kW @ 4800rpm Torque: 127Nm @ 2500rpm Transmission: Wet multiplate clutch, 6-speed gearbox, belt drive Frame: Aluminium alloy backbone Dimensions: Seat height 654mm, weight 345kg (dry), fuel capacity 22L, wheelbase 1670mm, rake 29°, trail 142mm Suspension: Front, 43mm forks, 130mm travel. Rear, monoshock, air adjustable, 113mm travel Brakes: Front, 2 x 300mm discs, 4-piston calipers. Rear, 300m disc, 2-piston caliper. ABS Tyres: Front, 120/70R21. Rear, 180/60R16 Fuel consumption: 5.7L/100km (estimated) Theoretical range: 385km Verdict: A bold factory-custom bagger at a value price
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which are the same massive size as the Cross Country and Cross Roads on which it is based, but it doesn’t scrape the rear panniers as I had anticipated, given the 2.5cm lower rear end. Over the few potholes and surface irregularities we encountered, the minimal travel suspension felt abrupt, but nothing bone ra ling. However, Aussie roads may challenge the ride comfort. Despite the shorty tinted windscreen, the fairing sits up high because of the big front wheel and lower rear suspension, so it actually offers a fair amount of weather protection. At 120km/h on Interstate 90 there was only buffeting at the very top of my helmet and when riding behind big trucks there was minimum high-speed wobble. That buffeting didn’t interfere with the sound from the 100W audio, which blasts through loud and proud. It’s Victory’s most powerful yet, but it’s not quite as clear or distortion-free as the Boom Box on the Harley Touring range. You can also get pannier-mounted speakers among the vast range of factory accessories available. The Victory Magnum also comes with Bluetooth connection and is the first in the Victory range with a USB connector instead of the old iPhone 4 connection. That will gradually flow through to all models with audio systems. Victory has also added to the aural experience with a lovely baritone exhaust that won’t annoy the neighbours, but will certainly let them know you are there and that you have big kahoonas, indeed! The low seat not only gives the Victory Magnum “bad assitude”, but means it will appeal to a wider range of rider heights. Si ing on the bike with my feet on the
ground, my knees are well bent. The mini-ape bars are also within easy reach. I’m 187cm tall and my hands sit just above shoulder height, which is actually illegal in South Dakota, yet I wasn’t stopped by any of the state troopers I saw monitoring the busy rally roads. The mini-apes sit about the same height as the windscreen and surprisingly, they make it very easy to control the bike at low speed, with feet-up U-turns a
■ The Ness Midnight Cherry scheme is the wildest of the Magnums
VICTORY MAGNUM
■ Mark rolls into Sturgis, the only place a bike like this could seem almost subdued
breeze. It also feels quite comfortable on highway rambles, although a er about 10 to 15 minutes you may have to drop one hand at a time to get the circulation flowing to your fingers again. Pillions are only on board for a short time on a boulevard cruiser like this and that’s a good thing, because the ridgeshaped seat is not very comfortable and the only pillion handle is a strap that pulls out from a hole between the front and rear seats. That’s fine on the Cross Country Tour with a top box to lean against, but it’s not very confidenceinspiring for a pillion on a fast strop through the hills. Instead, they will have to wrap their loving arms around you, so that’s a positive! The Magnum is powered by the same Freedom 106ci V-twin as the rest of the fleet, but it feels livelier, even though it weighs virtually the same as the Cross Country. Together with the six-speed transmission and carbon-fibrereinforced belt drive, this drivetrain just gets more and more refined each year. There is li le clunking in shi s and no shuddering or vibration to disturb the view in the mirrors. The gearing may be a bit tall for what
■ The deep droop of the Magnum’s tail exaggerates the lowered rear suspension
“Yes, it scrapes the floorboards but it doesn’t scrape the rear panniers as I had anticipated, given the 2.5cm lower rear end” is essentially a boulevard cruiser, so Australian riders will rarely experience the overdriven sixth gear. It only comes into play well above legal highway speeds. I snicked it at 120km/h on the interstate and it still pulls slowly but surely. We didn’t ride into the night, but I’m assured the LED headlights are brighter with a longer reach than the standard headlights. They look pre y cool in the daylight too. However, the Lime Green — or Plasma Lime, as they call it — colour-matched dashboard glares in the high-noon sun and can be a li le distracting. Perhaps the other three colour schemes, which are darker, would have less glare. All colour schemes are three-tone and intentionally bold, designed to draw a ention. Like the other Victory tourers, it comes standard with cruise control and ABS, something you may have difficulty adding to your DIY custom bagger. There is a vast range of accessories available, including
higher ape-hanger handlebars, Extreme Audio Saddle Bag lids with speakers, and the new Beveled Collection by Arlen Ness (pegs, engine covers, mirrors, brake/ clutch levers, floorboards and ignition and engine covers). Another option is a rearcylinder cut-out that reduces radiated heat onto the rider in slow traffic. No one at Victory seemed to know how or when it operated, except that it is automatic and controlled by the ECU. It’s not like the Harley tourers, where you have to be stopped and roll the thro le the opposite direction to activate it. The cut-out accessory is a good example of the type of thought that has gone into this factory custom bagger. Together with acceptable handling, reliability and a solid warranty, it’s the best and easiest way to join the new custom bagger scene, rather than doing it yourself. And at $29,995 ride away when it arrives in Australia in late November, it’s a lot cheaper than a DIY custom. ARR AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 87
THE BAGMAN Got a swag of coin to drop on a bagger with plenty of flash and dash?
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HARLEY-DAVIDSON CVO STREET GLIDE
STORY: MICK MATHESON t might lack the ape-hangers and massive front wheel of a true custom bagger, and it doesn’t drag its arse like a low rider, but the Street Glide that has come parading out of Harley’s Custom Vehicle Operations workshop for 2015 is loud, luscious and ostentatious. The Motor Company has taken one of our favourite tourers and li ed it to another level altogether, full of custom touches, raw power and a higher-quality sound system. If you want to be seen, few motorcycles can match the impact of the yellow CVO Street Glide I rode. With its black flames and blacked-out components, it’s one of the wildest bikes I’ve ever seen. However, the scheme that I’d like to see in the metal is the silver and black version, which in photos looks starkly monochromatic except for the colour in the safety reflectors on the forks and panniers. Typically of Harley-Davidson, there are two other choices if you prefer something
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“This Hog goes hard, as I discovered overtaking holiday traffic on a winding road with limited passing opportunities” else, but there’s only a limited number of these CVOs so the choices won’t last long. Like all CVOs, the Street Glide package adds extensively to the standard model it’s based on. It also adds exclusivity — you cannot make a CVO equivalent from the parts and accessories catalogue. First is the 110ci engine, up from the standard 103, and in this case it’s the Twin-Cooled version. This means you get the lower fairings as well as a substantial boost in power. H-D doesn’t quote power, but it says torque is increased by 18Nm, or 13 per cent, to 156Nm. This Hog goes hard, as I discovered overtaking holiday traffic on a winding road with limited passing opportunities. Click it down to third or fourth and give it a fistful, and the CVO roars past the tourists. The power’s right through the rev range, too, and builds so cleanly that I twice hit the rev limiter in third gear, not a feat you usually pull on a Harley. The pipes and open intake fi ed to the bike helped by freeing up the big engine’s enlarged lungs, though despite a respectably subdued sound at idle and when cruising, I reckon you might have a hard time convincing a roadside cop that it was a kosher system if he heard you hard on the gas. ►
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HARLEY-DAVIDSON CVO STREET GLIDE You could double the volume with the Boom Box sound system dialled right up. The CVO gets the top-level version, which must surely provide the best sound quality in all of motorcycling. It’s not just the pair of 300W amps providing masses of volume, because the Boom Box 6.5 has an equaliser that does plenty to overcome the effects of wind noise on the various pitches of your music. Additionally, the pair of speakers built into the pannier lids create a surroundsound effect that’s so clear you hear it differently as you turn your head or move back and forward in your seat. The li le kick in the fractionally taller screen on this version of the Street Glide is the final gesture that enables the CVO’s entertainment to be heard vastly more clearly than if you’re on the standard model. It’s almost what you get from the
QUICKSPECS Model: Harley-Davidson CVO Street Glide Price: $46,995 (ride away) Colours: Scorching Yellow/Starfire Black Flames; Ultraviolet Blue/ Molten Lava Flames; Hard Candy Mercury/Smoky Quartz Flames; Starfire Black/Gold Dust Flames Warranty: 2 years, unlimited distance Servicing intervals: 8000km Engine: Liquid/air cooled, twin-cam, OHV, 45° V-twin with 2 valves per cylinder Bore x stroke: 101.6 x 111.1mm Displacement: 1801cc Compression: 9.2:1 Power: Not quoted Torque: 156Nm @ 3750rpm Transmission: Chain primary drive, wet clutch, 6-speed gearbox, belt final drive Frame: Double-cradle steel Dimensions: Seat height 690mm, weight 372kg (curb), fuel capacity 22.7L, wheelbase 1625mm, rake 26º, trail 170mm Suspension: Front, 43mm forks. Rear, twin shocks with remote preload adjustment Brakes: 3 x disc brakes with 4-piston calipers. Electronically linked. ABS Tyres: Front, 130/70B18 (63H). Rear, 180/65B16 (81H) Verdict: Show, go and surroundsound glory, but at a price
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r 1800cc hot-rod engine gives this Harley plenty of grunt
cosse ed luxury of the Ultra Limited. The list of other CVO extras goes on, from classy li le touches like the flushfi ing fuel cap to the Daymaker LED headlights. I like the subtle but effective treatment of the panniers, which in this case sweep down at the rear to wrap around the top of the mufflers. Small custom touches like that don’t go unnoticed, even if sometimes the person doing the admiring isn’t quite sure whether it’s unique or not. I also like the removable pillion seat, which the stock Street Glide doesn’t get, and low-profile rider’s seat. Of course, it wouldn’t be a CVO without its trick-looking chrome wheels. The CVO’s handling is about on par with the stock model, although Aussie Street Glides apparently get an upgraded rear shock anyway. But it’s not the
handling you’re looking to improve with this bike. In fact, if you’re serious, you’d be bolting on a 30in front wheel and dropping the back end a few centimetres. Harley has gone down a different path than Victory has with the Magnum. The Street Glide gets the power and the sound while the Magnum goes for apehangers, a bigger wheel and lower rear. Both are show-offs in their bright paint, and both take you that much closer to your own version of what a custom bagger should be. The CVO will cost you, though. It’s easy to see why: the engine alone is worth thousands. Still, it’s 12 grand above the Street Glide Special and few of us have the fortitude to spend $46,995 on a bike. However, someone will and I guarantee they won’t be shy about it.ARR
“The CVO’s entertainment can be heard vastly more clearly than if you’re on the standard model”
r The CVO signature is obvious in the bold paint and extra styling touches
THE BIg
EASY The LAMS-approved version of Suzuki’s cut-price 650 adventure bike is an easy ride that will suit first-timers STORY: JUSTIN LAW PHOTOS: TIM MUNRO here is a very good reason why Suzuki’s excellent V-Strom range has been a solid market performer since its introduction in 2004. It delivers a solid riding platform without frills that is capable of most on- or off-road applications. These bikes are cheap, too, with this learner-approved 650 with ABS coming in at $11,290 plus on roads, so already you have a pre y good reason to be investigating further, especially if you’ve considered the other options which, while rich in features, won’t beat the Suzuki on value. The trade-off is that there’s nothing particularly flash or — dare I say — exciting in your LAMS V-Strom experience, but that’s the point for many people who are learning the ropes and want to feel like they’re controlling the bike, rather than it controlling them. The current 650 V-Strom, which is also available as a full-power non-LAMS model, was introduced in 2012 and has lost a bit of bulk since earlier incarnations with a more slender look through the 20L tank and into the tail section. The V-twin hangs beneath the aluminium-alloy frame and exposes the oil filter and front exhaust header to rocks during rough riding, so a dip into the a ermarket for a decent bashplate would be a sensible idea for those wanting to take on the road less travelled. Up in the cockpit, there’s a simple blend of analogue tacho with digital speedo and other readouts that are toggled with the trigger bu on on the le handlebar — the one that used
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to be the high-beam flasher. A couple of bikes have gone this way and it makes more sense than taking a hand off the bars. The flasher is now part of the actual light switch. Our introduction came at a Sydney dealership with dark clouds looming above my regular five-hour journey home to the Far South Coast. I had wet weather gear and became thankful for the tall three-way adjustable windscreen when it started to chuck it down, restricting our ride to a soggy cruise on the major roads. The screen keeps most of the rain off your chest, which is where it would gather before running south to soak your crotch, so while it’s not particularly a ractive, I wouldn’t be without it. On that wet ride I was also thankful for the docile engine mapping that sees output reduced from 52kW on the other V-Strom 650 to 35kW to meet LAMS requirements, even though experience had taught caution with the thro le. Beginners developing their relationship with the right twist grip will appreciate this, because one of the great sources of tension is the feeling that being less than precise with it will end in lurid rear-wheel slides. The power from the 645cc V-twin is still spread nicely with a solid midrange and enough torque to make life easy going, and it willingly revs out to the 10,000rpm redline. So once you’ve established the ground rules with your new riding experience, there’s scope to take it to the next level. One thing I’ve always liked about Suzuki is the slickness of its gearboxes and this six-speed is a good example of that. The ratios are reasonably close until you drop into top for highway cruising, so you can row this bike around its power ►
SUZUKI V-STROM DL650L ABS
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peak using the light cable clutch for a bit of bend bashing and you won’t be disappointed. Adventure bikes are predisposed to that kind of riding because they have loads of corner clearance and wide handlebars for leverage to make them easy steerers. The V-Strom is great in this environment and if that’s all you wanted to do, ge ing the suspension tuned would be a good way to maximise the experience. Suzuki has kept things simple in this department and it’s another area where you can feel it wanting a bit more. Bearing in mind that this bike is also designed to tackle off-road, the 43mm telescopic front is initially so before firming through the stroke and that limits the feel and precision when you’re pushing things on the tar. You can adjust the spring preload and firm it up, which is a nice touch and more than adequate for customers of this bike. And at this price point you can afford to go the extra yard in the a ermarket if you want to jazz it up. The rear is similarly so ened, although you
QUICKSPECS Model: Suzuki DL650 V-Strom ABS LAM Price: $11,290 (plus on-road charges) Colours: White, red, grey Warranty: 24 months, unlimited distance Servicing intervals: 12,000km Engine: 90-degree V-twin, 4-stroke, 8-valve DOHC, liquid-cooled Bore x stroke: 81 x 62.6mm Displacement: 645cc Compression: 11.2:1 Power: 35kW Torque: 60Nm Transmission: Wet multiplate clutch, 6-speed gearbox, chain drive Frame: Aluminium twin spar Dimensions: Seat height 835mm, weight 214kg (kerb), fuel capacity 20L, wheelbase 1560mm Suspension: Front, 45mm telescopic fork, preload adjustment, 150mm travel. Rear, monoshock, preload adjustment, 159mm travel Brakes: Front, 2 x 310mm discs with twin-piston calipers. Rear, 260mm disc with single-piston caliper. ABS Tyres: Front, 110/80–19. Rear, 150/70–17 Fuel consumption: 4.6L/100km Theoretical range: 430km Verdict: A great start for any learner
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“The trade-off is that there’s nothing particularly flash or — dare I say — exciting in your LAMS V-Strom experience, but that’s the point for many people who are learning the ropes” can also adjust the rebound as well as wind up the preload if you spend most of your time dodging traffic. The glory of this ilk of bikes is that when the mood strikes, you can shoot off just about anywhere there is a cleared bit of road. When you do dip your toe in the fabulous world of adventure riding, you’ll be thankful for that built-in frontend compliance that’s designed to stop you ski ering across loose surfaces. I explored the powerline trails in the Blue Mountains, which are no place for much other than 4WDs, but found the V-Strom light enough to pick through the rocks and ruts, with that so power curve helping to make it easy going. The riding position is a bit cramped for me. Risers for the handlebars would be the first thing I’d invest in so I could
r Tacho is the only gauge on the simple dash, with speed a large LED display
r Rear brake caliper and ABS sensor are tucked up on top of the swingarm, out of harm's way
SUZUKI V-STROM DL650L ABS ■ The styling update in 2012 still looks right
r High muffler stays out of harm’s way when you’re off the main roads
r Proven 650 engine is a ripper, even in de-tuned LAMS form
r The stylish seat is fine for a good three- to fourhour stint
“Once you’ve established the ground rules with your new riding experience, there’s scope to take it to the next level” comfortably stand on the pegs. The 835mm-high seat is narrow enough for most people to get their feet on the ground and for just over $300 there’s a lower seat option that reduces that by 20mm. The standard seat, that has “V-Strom” nicely embossed on it, is no big tourer as far as comfort goes, but it’s padded well enough to make it fine for a good three or four hours before you start ge ing sore. On that off-road excursion the Bridgestone Trailwing tyres were fine but are more road-orientated because that’s where most riders spend 90 per cent of their time. If you want to get serious about adventure riding, you’d look for other options. They surround 19in front
and 17in rear easy-to-clean alloy wheels, with the rear mounted between a simple box-section swingarm. The headlights are big units on the broad nose of the bike and I found their throw and spread very good for pushing into the night on dark country roads. That’s handy when you want to shoot off for that big adventure, because the 20L tank is good for a comfortable 400km thanks to a frugal 4.6L/100km in normal touring with sensible luggage. My big swag with a sleeping bag and spare clothes rolled up in it and strapped to the generous rear luggage rack via the large grab rails is not sensible luggage. On a trip over the Snowy Mountains to Jingellic from the NSW coast, the thing acted like a sail and reduced the fuel economy to around 6L/100km, but when I did my sums, I was still ahead on accommodation costs. For me, luggage options are the big selling point for bikes. I hate finding myself reaching behind to make sure my bag is still there because I’m nervous the ockie straps aren’t in an ideal spot, so the V-Strom’s solution is welcome and reassuring. You can get a top box but strapping down a bag is easy, with plenty of anchor points under the pillion seat and broad grab rails that are perfect for Velcro straps. That particular trip over the Snowies was instructional. It was a mix of bright sunshine and torrential rain and it wasn’t long before I got soaked through and wished I had a bit more fairing around me. Later research into the lengthy list of useful genuine accessories reveals heated grips and handguards that would have been most welcome in the wet. The sunshiny bits were great and I made good time through the hills, enjoying the ample power and easy cornering. Up Brown Mountain, the gearbox was put into regular service and I really got into a nice rhythm with the easy direction changes thanks to those wide bars. The Bridgestones hung on nicely. The brakes won’t flip you over the handlebars with a single finger, but again, they do their job and the ABS is reassuring. So that journey was a good, easy ride — not dull, but not heart-in-the-mouth either. It revealed that there’s nothing fancy at all about this LAMS-approved V-Strom. It’s just a good, clean, simple bike with the purpose of providing an honest return for your dollar. ARR AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 95
HOG ON A WIRE We ride the LiveWire and ask what it means that the world’s most traditional motorcycle manufacturer has produced such a production-ready concept
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HARLEY-DAVIDSON PROJECT LIVEWIRE
STORY: MARK HINCHLIFFE as the world gone mad? Did hell freeze over and pigs suddenly take flight? Did Harley-Davidson — purveyor of the pushrod potatopotato V-twin — really build a fleet of production-ready electric motorcycles? Yep, they sure did. But typically for the conservative Milwaukee company, they are taking a cautious approach with what they call Project LiveWire. Harley has built a couple of dozen LiveWire bikes as a showcase for the technology and to test the waters to see if their customers — or more
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importantly, new customers — are interested. Of those bikes, two were used in the new Avengers movie for Scarle Johansson (or her stunt double) to ride, while the rest are going on a travelling showcase around the USA this year, followed by Europe and Canada next year and, who knows, maybe Australia. The showcase is designed to give customers the chance to look at the bike, listen to its turbine whistle and even get on board and have a ride on a stationary “rolling road”. Of course, LiveWire was at the world’s largest motorcycle rally at Sturgis, where the
faithful had their allegiances sorely tested and where I straddled the bike for a brief ride. The LiveWire showcase also visited Microso ’s HQ in Sea le, where it is probably more at home among the computer nerds who dig such new technology. This is integral to Harley’s strategy of reaching out to new customers, having secured about 60 per cent of the traditional domestic cruiser market. While this is a giant leap for Harleykind, electric motorcycles are already knocking at the door of the motorcycle market. China is the largest user of electric motorcycles, although most ►
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■ The black bike has bright highlights, hinting at the unusual powerplant
are small scooters. Europe also has a plethora of electric two-wheeled choices available. Most of the early electric two-wheelers have been developed and built by hi-tech companies, electrical manufacturers and start-up specialist companies. Chinese factories have been belting out cheap models, novelties and toys for the past decade. However, most of the development of serious electric two-wheelers has come from America’s “silicon valley” companies such as Zero and Brammo. The traditional manufacturers are now starting to emerge with productionready bikes, not just motorcycle show concepts. BMW has started selling its c-Evolution scooter throughout Europe, Yamaha is about to market its PES1 (Passion Electric Street) road bike and PED1 (Passion Electric Dirt) and other traditional motorcycle companies are ge ing closer to production. When Bultaco announced earlier this year it was returning to production, it was with electric motorcycles. Enter Harley. At the Harley-Davidson 110th anniversary last year, media were
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“While this is a giant leap for Harleykind, electric motorcycles are already knocking at the door of the motorcycle market”
invited to the old factory for a tour and to meet and interview the executive team. It was to be an unprecedented meeting. A er the GFC, Harley reinvented its business model. A new executive team rationalised production methods and staff numbers, je isoned Buell, sold off the rashly acquired MV Agusta at a loss, restructured its finances and consolidated its model line-up. Rather than ba ening down the hatches, the company has reached out to women, youth, Hispanics and African-Americans with new models and undergone a major customer focus-group project called Rushmore, which gave us the brilliant new Touring models. Back at Harley HQ last year, we journalists fired up questions to the executives that we thought would be brushed off with a “no comment” or a laugh. “Will you make a learner model? Will you produce an electric bike?” To our amazement, chief operating officer Ma Levatich was particularly open and frank, and confessed they were already developing a learner bike and were interested in electric power.
THE SOUND OF SILENCE The silence of an electric bike is almost unnerving. All you hear is wind. Blip the throttle and there is no crackle of exhaust or backfiring on the overrun. This lack of noise is a major issue for Harley, whose much-loved and much-loathed “potato-potato” sound is nurtured in the development stage of each model. So it comes as little surprise that the engineers actually built sound into the LiveWire, which is a bit like a turbine airplane. They managed this by meshing the reduction gear. The sound is quite audible without being loud, the high-pitched whine more pronounced as the LiveWire rides away, but clear enough that it should give pedestrians some warning of its approach. As the rider, you can hear it too, up to about the same speeds you’d lose the sound of a regular petrol-powered bike to the wind noise.
HARLEY-DAVIDSON PROJECT LIVEWIRE THE SOUND OF SAFETY?
■ From every angle, the electric bike is uncluttered and tidy
“People would say ‘hell no’. But why not?” he said. “Our engineers are quite intrigued with the idea of what an electric Harley would look like, sound like and feel like. Would it be visceral, would it be emotional, would it be luscious? There’s a way to do that, I believe, and it would be very exciting.” Even so, motorcycle journalists didn’t expect Harley to be so close to either a learner or electric bike, which Ma said would be “10 to 15 years” away. Besides, Harley’s model development has historically been slow. More an evolution than a revolution. The water-cooled V-Rod was a revolutionary model that upset a lot of traditional Harley owners. It’s still not accepted by diehards as a true Harley. Fingers burnt, Harley retreated to caution and even Project Rushmore’s TwinCooled engine has only been offered as an option in the conservative US Harley market while it’s standard on the Australian Ultra. So it came as a massive surprise when Harley announced the new family of water-cooled Street 500 and 750 models and that they would also be built in India — the first time Harleys
Harley may have jumped the gun with its Project LiveWire turbine noise. While most electric vehicles are almost silent running, it might become law in the future for all electric vehicles (EV) to make a noise to warn pedestrians of their approach. The USA National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is testing sounds to be used as alert tones for EVs and several US states are considering legislation to make some sort of sound mandatory. Advocacy groups for pedestrians and blind people say EVs are dangerous stealth machines that are difficult to detect and should be made to have some sort of noise. However, US police and the US Defence Forces are actually buying and developing electric bikes because of their stealth mode. The Pedestrian Council of Australia has called for changes to the Australian Design Rules to set a minimum noise for vehicles powered by an electric motor, but, thankfully, it has fallen on deaf ears (’scuse the pun). It suggested EVs make a beeping sound like that on a
have been produced outside the USA. While we were still reeling from that announcement, just a few months later hell froze over and pigs were spo ed on the air traffic control radar. But LiveWire is just a test flight at the moment. Harley isn’t saying when these bikes will be available for sale. Spokesman Tony Macrito says they won’t launch during the tour, which continues next year. But Harley will produce an electric bike. Whether it’s like the LiveWire remains to be seen. LiveWire is powered by a billet threephase induction motor with 55kW and 70Nm, which is more than the Brammo Empulse R and Zero SR, but less than any of its current fleet. Turn it on and there is also no engine idle noise. Nothing until you twist your wrist and go. There is no V-twin pulse, no transverse four zing, no inline triple vibe. It’s more like riding a vacuum cleaner. Unlike some of the early-model electric cars and bikes, the current generation is more traditional-looking. From a distance, the LiveWire looks like a muscle bike. The big motor block makes it look a li le like a BMW K Series. It’s only when ►
reversing van or truck. Can you imagine how annoying that would be? I’d rather a Screamin’ Eagle Harley any day! However, a 2010 RACQ study conducted in Brisbane found no discernible difference in audible detection of approaching vehicles between petrolelectric hybrid cars and conventional cars from the same manufacturer. Tyre and wind noise were found to be the main audible signals of approaching vehicles, either hybrid or conventional, and the lack of, or reduction in, mechanical noise did not appear to significantly increase the risk factor for pedestrians, the report said. Other surveys from the UK show any alert noise just gets buried in the ambient noise of urban society. Do we really want extra annoying noise anyway? Harley is not alone in producing noises as an aesthetic solution. Lotus Engineering, a division of sports car maker Lotus, has developed a realistic engine sound for electric motors that varies with speed while the world’s first all-electric supercar, the Tesla Roadster, has a “space sound generator” on its Brabus-tuned models.
■ This is an extremely slender bike
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you get close that you notice the lack of plumbing and the block-bulkiness of the motor. The rest of the bike is fairly conventional, even down to the controls, although there is no clutch lever or gear shi pedal. It’s quite a stunning-looking bike, with blinkers integrated into the mirrors which hang under the bars, low-voltage LED lights all round, and a beautiful castalloy frame that weighs only 6kg, keeping overall weight down to 210kg. LiveWire’s mechanical components are very traditional. It has fully adjustable Showa Big Piston upside-down forks and mono shock rear, a single front disc brake with twin-piston caliper, and HarleyDavidson-branded Michelin tyres (120/7018 and 180/55-17). The major difference from a traditional bike is the big touch-screen instrument panel, which looks like an iPad has been stuck on the front as an a erthought. It doesn’t have a tachometer, of course, but features important information such as ba ery charging, remaining range, time to full charge, ba ery temperature etc. It also shows when the ba ery uses kinetic
rSimple: it’s a motor, but not as we know it. However, it’s not quite ready to replace internal combustion engines
■ Electric bikes will overtake our petrolpowered favourites as time marches on
“The traditional manufacturers are now starting to emerge with production-ready bikes, not just motorcycle show concepts” regenerative power to charge up as you decelerate and brake. For traditional bike riders, the LiveWire is a major leap and it will take some effort to get your head around the technology. But Harley isn’t necessarily looking to convince traditional bike riders. For future growth, Harley needs to access young riders whose riding experience is probably confined to an Xbox. Electric motorcycles will also be easier for the novice to learn to ride, because there are no gears to think about. So what’s in it for you and me? Well, for a start there is the green aspect of conserving our dwindling fossil fuels, as long as you get your electricity from a green source, I suppose. Then there is the
The decidedly sporty styling isn’t what we expected from the world’s number-one cruiser manufacturer
r Low-draw LED lighting is one of the technologies crucial to allowing electric bikes to become viable
r No gearbox, just drive to the rear wheel through a reduction gear and belt
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hip-pocket incentive of cheap running compared with wildly inflating petrol prices. There is also the aspect of facing the inevitable. Internal combustion engines have a finite life. The near future is electric with maybe hydrogen power in the distant future. Experienced riders may also enjoy the fact that electric bikes don’t have the distractions of gearing so they can concentrate on other aspects such as cornering and braking. Another advantage is that electric motors have fewer moving parts, less maintenance and repair work. Together with relatively cheap electricity, that makes an electric bike very economical to run. However, this is offset by the high
HARLEY-DAVIDSON PROJECT LIVEWIRE price of electric motorcycles, at least in this initial phase of the technology. Like flat-screen TVs, the price will drop dramatically over time. But high prices for hi-tech have never stopped early adopters who love to show off their status-symbol purchase. The biggest hurdle is a thing called “range anxiety”. Ba ery technology has surged in the past 20 years. Remember the first mobile phones which were the size of a suitcase? They took ages to charge, they ran flat quickly, they were heavy, bulky, expensive and an ecological nightmare to dispose of. Today’s mobile phones are much smaller, lighter, quicker to charge and have longer life, mainly thanks to new ba ery technology. The same goes with electric vehicles. Ba ery size, in particular, has limited the progress of electric motorcycles. Large ba eries can more easily be hidden in a car. While Harley claims they’ll hit 100km/h in just four seconds, these prototypes have a limited range of about 100km. That is if you select the conservative “Range” mode. You can expect only about 50km if you select the higher-performance “Power” mode. The LiveWire’s lithium-ion ba ery takes
RIDING LIVEWIRE As reluctant as I was about the whole idea of a smooth, quiet, potentially characterless electric motorcycle, one five-minute ride put a grin on my face and convinced me that volts were little different to hydrocarbons. It’s still about that two-wheeled experience with the wind on your chest. Turn on the LiveWire and, of course, nothing much happens. Open the throttle, though, and it moves forward.
about three-and-a-half hours to charge with its Level 2, 220-volt input port size. The current technological specifications may change by the time the bike comes to market as ba ery and electric motor technology is developing at a rapid pace. For the moment, electric motorcycles are targeted at commuters, off-roaders and track riders who only want to ride short distances. They are not designed for touring. Harley-Davidson Australia director of marketing Adam Wright believes the bike will appeal to new customers such as young urbanites with an environmental conscience, but also to “some traditional Harley riders who like to not only own their big air-cooled V-twin cruiser or tourer, but also have a sport bike in their garage to a take out for a spin,” he says. In some respects, electric motorcycles are practical. Ride one to work, plug it in during the day and then ride it home. Cheap and easy. On the other hand, they are fresh, new and exciting. As the company’s PR for their travelling showcase says: “Project LiveWire is more like the first electric guitar — not an electric car — an expression of individuality.” ARR
It’s like you’ve let the clutch out perfectly, except there’s no clutch — the bike simply goes, responding exactly to the amount of throttle you give it. Speed builds on linear acceleration that keeps going without gear changes, and except for the odd pointless jab with your left foot, you very soon get used to this idea and forget about gears altogether. Part of that comes from the very strong regenerative braking — engine braking that puts charge back into the batteries and which is far stronger in the
r Your left foot has nothing to do except rest on the peg and put the sidestand down
r Adjustable front end indicates H-D was serious about the entire machine
r The LiveWire is the complete concept, right down to the detailed finish in the wheels
LiveWire than in any regular motorcycle, such that you can coast to a halt without touching a brake. The single disc brakes at each end are necessary, of course, but you use them a little less than you would normally. The LiveWire is quick, zapping through urban and highway speed limits, and that’s in conservative Range mode rather than Power mode. In this chassis, it feels very stable yet nimble. With its slightly sporty riding position, you can flick it quickly into corners, where it steers accurately and easily in spite of the large 18in front wheel. I’m sure its agility has a lot to do with the lack of reciprocating mass, or inertia, that you get in internal combustion engines. This LiveWire feels very small, an impression enhanced by a design so skinny that a Ducati Streetfighter seems portly in comparison. It’s a heap of fun to ride, both easy and exhilarating in power and handling. If this is what we can expect of the future, motorcycling will thrive. — MICK MATHESON
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THE LONG LIST It’s goodbye to the Guzzi, time to take a Peak at a different Ducati, and a return to Gregor for the Victory ■ Bliss is a big Guzzi on the road (Austin Rymer pics)
MOTO GUZZI 1400 CALIFORNIA CUSTOM On my last day with the Moto Guzzi 1400 California Custom, I blasted through the traffic on Melbourne’s Monash Freeway. The thump of the twin-cylinder 1400 was imposing enough to draw looks and encourage drivers to leave a gap for this piece of Moto Guzzi heritage. The factory a ermarket pipes are not as brutal as straight-throughs, but loud enough to firmly announce your presence. Those who cared to look were presented with a bike befi ing that long line of California dreaming, champagne-coloured with a blend of old-school chrome and alloy with modern LED taillights. Something different, but still very cool. The engine mass dominates the midriff and li le has been done to hide it on the Custom — no fairing, screen, panniers, nothing other than a tank treatment over those distinctive square heads protruding on each side of the bike. Hell, I was sorry to let it go when it came time a er a short three months together. The rides around Bermagui and Tathra, the long-distance cruises enjoying that comfortable seat, the thumping through city streets were all part of that brief fling. It’s thirsty — around the high 6L/100km ■ The Guzzi’s too cool to dock it any points for a lack of touring ability
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“You will step off the bike knowing you are one of the few rather than one of the many” range — and impractical as a tourer, but when you’re making your presence felt in an urban environment, you do so with unique Italian style, and that’s the whole point of owning a California Custom. If you want a tourer, get its panniered sibling because this is a no-nonsense machine designed for the poseur.
The engine is an oddity. Below 3000rpm it’s not a willing pu er, but when it gets to that mark it pulls hard as it makes maximum torque, then dips and surges as it climbs through the rev range. I’m surprised they included pillion pegs because the seat behind the rider is so minimal, and my pillion wasn’t filled with confidence that she could safely stay aboard without tightly hanging on. That wasn’t always a bad thing … It has cruise control, albeit as basic a version as you can get in the modern era, but that will only serve you when you venture beyond the design brief. There are more suitable bikes to munch miles on and that will carry your luggage far more willingly, for the Custom offers nothing to strap anything to. But when you pull up outside your favourite cruiser gathering spot a er being heralded in by that magnificent twin-cylinder accompaniment, you will step off the bike knowing you are one of the few rather than one of the many. — JUSTIN LAW
LONG-TERmer tests DUCATI MULTISTRADA The Granturismo is one of four Multistradas. Over the past six months or so I’ve wondered about the rest of them and how they fit in. I love the Granturismo’s practicality with all those bags and other bits and pieces, but my curiosity about the others has got the be er of me. I know the Touring model, which I tested before this long-term trial of the Granturismo began, creates a simple value equation. Do you spend a bit more to buy the be er-equipped Granturismo, which adds a top box, crash bars, fog lights, higher handlebars (yes!) and so on, but is otherwise exactly the same bike underneath? Given the money I’d go for the GT, but if the money wasn’t there I’d be more than happy with the Touring. The base model is, of course, the cheapest, but it lacks the Skyhook semiactive suspension. Before the end of the year I’d like to have a run on it and find out if I’d miss that technology or not. I’ve appreciated this technology on every bike I’d ridden with it, but there’s quite a price a ached to it. Meanwhile, I’ve recently spent some
time on the Pikes Peak (PP), the sporty show-off of the MTS range. At first I thought it felt barely more sporty than the Granturismo, but there’s certainly quicker chassis response and more fun thanks to the lighter-forged Marchesini wheels, which cut 2.7kg of unsprung, rotating mass. The PP is a more aggressive bike without sacrificing that great Multistrada civility. There’s a fruitier, though not loud, note from the Termi pipes too.
“This is the MTS for you if your main priorities are shorter thrashes and ostentatious Italian styling” The Pikes Peak, designed to celebrate the Multistrada’s multiple victories in the famous hill-climb, has all the good technology: the Skyhook legs, the allencompassing electronic adjustability, the Bosch 9ME ABS and the lovely 150hp V-twin engine. I le my Cruis’n Comfort sheepskins
a ached to the GT and rode away on the plain (but very pre y) seat of the Pikes Peak. I think my backside has adapted to the Ducati perches because it didn’t complain much at all on the four-hour ride home. However, my pampered li le fingers nearly panicked when the temperature dropped to single digits and I discovered this model has no heated grips. The good thing was that the wee wind deflector is actually very effective, especially in its raised position. I was impressed. Pikes Peak buyers also get the full-size screen with their bike if they want to use it, but I’d rarely resort to it. You can also get panniers and make this a tourer when you want to go away, but this is the MTS for you if your main priorities are shorter thrashes and ostentatious Italian styling with lots of carbon-fibre and red. The Pikes Peak has all the performance-enhancing equipment, the only downside being that this li s it $1500 above the GT’s price. For me, the Multistrada is quite fast enough so my love for the Granturismo isn’t diminished. You may have different tastes, though. — MICK MATHESON
■ Plenty of flair: paint, pipe and wheels are just some of the PP’s race heritage
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LONG-TERmer tests
■ New for old: the Victory’s mod cons like heated seats were very welcome
VICTORY CROSS COUNTRY TOUR Alas, two a empts to get away for a long jaunt have come to nought due to the weather, not because I hate riding in the rain but because the purpose of each trip was postponed. I did, however, manage to do 1000km using the Cross Country Tour as a commuter and general runabout, much of it on wet roads, which both highlighted the Victory’s strengths and exposed its limitations. First, the good stuff. The heated grips and seat are fantastic, as is the weather protection afforded by the fairing, windscreen and leg guards. It can get
■ Seems Seddo’s dreams of Cross Country miles were pie-in-the-sky ideas
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“The tyres are rock hard, showing little sign of wear after 9000km” cold where I live, especially around dawn as I set off on my 60km commute. I normally dress like the Michelin Man but a single jumper, all-purpose jacket and denim jeans had me as snug as a bug in a rug. If it was raining, cheap plastic overpants kept my bo om half dry, while gloves and boots were damp, not wet. The Pacific Motorway (formerly the F3) is a racetrack in the early morning as thousands of tradies rush nose to tail in ski ish one-tonne utes. They don’t slow down for the conditions and it is no place for the faint-hearted. The Victory is lit up like a Christmas tree and commands serious road presence, and I am allowed a wide birth. The fairing incorporates a large scoop which force-feeds air up the inside of the windscreen and does much to keep that side dry in the rain. It is infinitely be er than, say, the Indian Chief Classic, whose screen is usually covered in droplets on both sides within a few kilometres. I also found if I hunkered down into the seat I could ride in the rain with my visor up. In heavy traffic, the Victory’s car-like dimensions preclude lane-spli ing, nullifying the natural advantage of a motorcycle. It was otherwise competent but never felt safe on wet, greasy roads.
The tyres are rock hard, showing li le sign of wear a er 9000km, and there is very li le feedback with the tripleclamps mounted so far forward of the rider. Fuel consumption is also car-like at up to 6.4L/100km, restricting range to around 250km. Pillion accommodation is very good, if taxing on the rider. My young bloke, all 85kg and 188cm of him, was keen to go for a spin. With a gross vehicle mass in excess of half a tonne, it was fine on the freeway but a challenge in town, especially negotiating tight suburban roundabouts. Having said all that, I have come to terms with the bike’s size and weight, at least in the dry. I am very careful where I park it. I’ve been caught out twice, once when I came to the end of a back lane and couldn’t turn it around, and the other time when I parked on a cambered driveway and couldn’t li it off the sidestand. The Victory is now headed back to Gregor. I regret not having a chance to test it in its preferred environment but won’t otherwise miss it. As an everyday ride, it’s just too damn big for a li le bloke like me. — GEOFF SEDDON
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NO LIMITS Just because your bike isn’t a tourer or adventure machine doesn’t mean you can’t experience the adventure of touring. A few mods and the right gear can turn any bike into a mile-munching beast
VOICE OF EXPERIENCE: Dean Mellor has been there, done that on bikes never meant to tour. This photo shows his old Fireblade, loaded to the hilt and playing in the mud.
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TOURING ON NON-TOURING BIKES
STORY: DEAN MELLOR ne of the great things about motorcycling is its diversity — not just the number of bike brands and models available on the Aussie market, but the genre of bikes. Living in a country as vast as Australia, no ma er whether you ride a sportsbike, naked bike, supermoto, cruiser, adventure bike or tourer, chances are that at some point you’re going to want to travel long distances on it. For those who ride a dedicated tourer or adventure bike, covering long distances is a cinch. Not only are these machines comfortable, they generally offer good weather protection, have plenty of capacity to carry gear and have a decent touring range. For those who ride something other than a tourer or adventure bike, touring will never be as practical, easy or comfortable. But that certainly doesn’t mean it can’t be (or shouldn’t be) done. Probably the greatest spectacle of motorcyclists touring on non-touring bikes in this country takes place whenever there’s a MotoGP or world Superbike round at Phillip Island. For every BMW GS, Honda Goldwing or Yamaha FJR that makes the pilgrimage to the island, there are bound to be several interstate riders covering huge distances on S1000RRs, Fireblades and YZF-R1s, all proving that no ma er a bike’s intended purpose, it is versatile enough to fulfil several roles. Of course, if you intend to go touring on your sportsbike, naked bike or any other genre of inappropriate machine, there are several things you can do to improve its suitability to this seemingly unsuitable role, such as ►
O
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■ Luggage systems like Ventura’s are tailored to overcome the limitations of sports bikes and other styles
TOOLKIT You don’t need to carry tools when you’re lapping the creek, you will need to carry them on a ride to the island. The Bahco S26 mini tool kit from Andy Strapz is a 26-piece tool set that contains hex, Torx and screwdriver bits as well as 6, 7, 8, 10 and 13mm sockets. The tools fit to a spannerstyle ratchet drive and there’s a 60mm magnetic extension. It’s all housed in a tough 100mm x 80mm ABS case.
Bahco’s compact driver kit reduces your need for large luggage options
improving comfort and luggage-carrying capacity. And many Aussie riders do exactly this. “Ventura nearly sells more product in Australia than the rest of the world combined,” says Aussie distributor Peter Lucas from Kenma. “My thinking on the reasons for this is that Ventura are specialists in model-specific luggage for sportsbikes — catering for over 1000 different models all up. Riders in other countries will buy a touring model if that is their thing. Aussies tend to not compromise on performance and are more than willing to pack light.”
COMFORT Probably the first area you want to look at when modifying a bike for a touring role is comfort. Obviously, a sportsbike that is designed to offer the ultimate performance on the track, or a naked bike that’s designed for town riding or weekend blasts, ain’t going to offer the most comfortable riding position or seat. Fortunately there are plenty of options to improve a bike’s comfort without detracting from its raison d’être. 108 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER
Many bikes offer a changeable riding position thanks to adjustable rearsets and adjustable handlebars. The key here is to try to open up the crouched riding position and alleviate some of the weight placed on your wrists from leaning forwards. On many nakeds, cruisers and supermotos, you can simply loosen the bar mounts and roll the handlebar forwards or backwards to be er tailor its position to a comfort se ing. For sportsbikes with clip-ons you can replace the standard items with a set of highrise clip-ons to offer a more relaxed riding position. Another simple way to alleviate the weight on your arms is to fit a tankbag that you can rest your chest on during long stints on the bike. As for footpegs, the tiny alloy units on sportsbikes and many naked bikes aren’t going to distribute weight evenly across your foot, or offer any insulation between road shock, vibrations and feet. Replacing the standard footpegs with a ermarket units that accept rubber inserts will significantly improve touring comfort. If you can’t find anything to suit your bike, you could always get a length of appropriate diameter radiator hose and secure it over your standard alloy pegs with cable-ties. Once you have your riding position sorted you’re going to want to sort out that small, hard perch that bike
manufacturers have the audacity to call a seat. You can modify the original seat, replace it altogether or fit a cover. Dirtbike riders o en remove their bike’s seat cover to modify the shape of the foam underneath by either cu ing away at it or adding “bumps” where needed,
NAVIGATION AND COMMUNICATIONS If you’re on the road for hours at a time you’re going to want to be able to communicate with the outside world, and possibly use your phone/ GPS for navigation or to listen to music. Products such as the Shad Smart Phone Bracket and the Shad GPS Case from Moto National can be mounted to the handlebar or mirror mount of your bike, feature a quickrelease waterproof case, and offer full phone and GPS functionality through the special crystal film window.
Bike-specific mounts for phones and GPSs enable all bikes to be well equipped
TOURING ON NON-TOURING BIKES and then refi ing the cover. And there’s no reason you can’t do this on your road bike. Most tourers offer a wide perch for the rider to sit on, which spreads the load more evenly across the bu ocks, so if you ride a sportsbike, naked or supermoto/ chook-chaser, chances are you’ll need to add foam to improve comfort. Of course, you need to know what you’re doing when you reshape your bike’s seat, so it might be a be er option to opt for an a ermarket seat or a custom-made seat. While Corbin and Mustang, for example, offer a range of off-the-shelf items, companies such as ACM Seats, MJM Custom Motorbike Seats and Guzzler Custom Motorcycle Seats can custom-make a seat to suit your exact requirements, which is ideal considering everyone has a different-shaped posterior. In addition to a ermarket seats for a range of makes and models, companies such as Sargent Cycle Products also offer seat-heater units and foam inserts that can vastly improve comfort over a standard seat. If you don’t want to outlay several hundred dollars for a completely new seat, or the idea of hacking away at your seat foam isn’t appealing, try a seat cover. They range from sheepskin covers and high-tech set-ups such as the products from Airhawk Comfort Seating Systems. Manufacturers of woollen sheepskin seat covers claim that the natural fibres in the wool allow air to circulate between your bum and the synthetic covering of the bike’s seat. The cover also offers an extra layer of cushioning. Two popular Australian brands are Cruis’n Comfort and Good Wool Store, and both offer woollen sheepskin seat covers designed to fit specific makes and models.
KEEPING COOL A holed radiator will ruin any ride, particularly if you’re a long way from help, so you might want to consider fitting a radiator guard to your bike. Companies such as Rad Guard and Sportsbike make a range of guards to suit different makes and models.
r Expandable throw-over panniers can be perfect for many bikes. This one’s a MotoDry unit
r Many mounting ideas are available, some for use with dedicated racks, others that aim to fit without adding hardware
Don’t worry about exposed radiators, just fit a Radguard shield
The Airhawk motorcycle cushions sit on top of the standard seat and feature interconnected air-filled cells in each cushion that are customisable to suit the weight of the rider or pillion. According to Airhawk, the cushion redistributes weight away from pressure points to promote improved blood flow and absorbs shock and vibration.
WEATHER Once you’ve got your riding position and your seat sorted, you’re going to need some weather protection. While sportsbikes have screens and fairings, they’re designed to offer aerodynamic efficiency while you’re in a racing crouch, not to protect you from wind and rain for
r A magnetic tank bag is about the easiest bag of all. Just make sure your tank’s steel!
hours on end. And naked bikes, well … While you’re not going to fit a new fairing for a yearly trip to the island, fi ing a touring screen is definitely a viable option. For sportsbikes there are double-bubble or high-profile replacement screens that be er deflect airflow over and around your body, while there are plenty of screens on the market designed to fit on naked bikes in a variety of shapes and profiles. Manufacturers ►
■ You can be the mule: these two MotoDry packs are a much simpler solution than bolting bags to your bike
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TOURING ON NON-TOURING BIKES ■ Yep, you can tour on a Hypermotard. We bet he has fuel in a pannier
JUST CRUISING The Kaoko throttle control from Cruising Bikers is the ideal solution for those who tire of holding the throttle open on long highway sections. It consists of a friction nut that is integral to a special Kaoko bar-end weight. As you roll on the throttle you twist the friction nut to set the throttle to the desired opening. To disengage, just grip the friction nut as you roll off the throttle. According to Kaoko it cannot lock and the friction is such that you can always disengage the throttle if necessary.
include Eagle Screens Australia, MRA, Screens For Bikes, AJ Plastics, Givi, Oxford and more. While there’s plenty of other gear for your bike to protect you from the elements, including heated grips, handguards and heated seat inserts, none is quite as important as wearing the right clothing, but we’ll leave that for another feature down the road.
LUGGAGE
r Choices: Kreiga 10L, 20L and 30L tank bags demonstrate different ways you can go
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While you’ll still envy the luggagecarrying capacity of a Goldwing or GS, you’ll be surprised at just how much stuff you can carry on your sportsbike or naked bike thanks to the range of luggage options on offer. Obviously, one of the easiest ways to carry gear is in a backpack, and there are certainly plenty of good ones available designed specifically for motorcyclists that include features such as built-in back protectors and waterproof outer shells. But if you’re covering long distances, you’ll be much be er off ge ing your bike to carry the weight of your gear than your body. A tankbag is a great way to carry a small amount of gear. The weight sits within the wheelbase so other than raising the centre of gravity, it won’t overly affect the handling of your bike. And due to its location, it gives you something to lean on while you’re riding, even offering a modicum of weather protection. Features such as map pockets, small sections for your phone and wallet, and waterproof shells add to a tankbag’s
Kaoko’s cruise control takes the constant effort from your right hand
versatility, and there is a number of mounting styles including magnetic, straps, tank covers and even fuel-fillermount systems. If you’re travelling solo, tail-bags are another ideal solution for almost any bike. They fit neatly on the pillion seat so they are well suited to those who don’t like the idea of a tankbag. Like tankbags, good tailbags will keep water out of your gear and feature easy-to-get-at pockets for holding things like wallets and phones. Larger so bags that can fit to the pillion seat and so panniers are ideal for the occasional tourer. There are a variety of styles and sizes and the luggage you select will depend largely on what fits best to your bike. Have your bike with you when you’re looking for luggage and ask the salesperson to show you how it fits to your bike. But be careful: when fi ing any luggage to your pride and joy, make sure it’s not going to scratch any painted surfaces or, more importantly, foul any moving parts like suspension components or the chain, sprocket or wheel. If you intend to do a lot of touring, then fi ing a dedicated luggage system is a good option. With a frame affixed to your bike you’ll be able to quickly fit and remove your luggage without fear of scratching the bike or fouling moving parts, and depending on how much gear ►
MILES BETTER Avon has produced a tyre that compromises little Simon Roots / Fast Bikes Magazine
Sure-footed agility inspires conďŹ dence at all speeds
STORM 3D X- M
Inspires conďŹ dence for serious lean angles
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Stuart Barker / RIDE Magazine
Remarkable level of grip impressive stability at speed Jon Urry / Motor Cycle News
Mike Armitage / Bike Magazine
With a tyre life of over 10,000 miles they sound good to me
A fantastic road tyre that works on the track too
Richard Ashcroft / Rescogs.com
Alan Dowds / SuperBike Magazine
MADE IN BRITAIN www.avon-tyres.co.uk www.proaccessories.com.au
TOURING ON NON-TOURING BIKES you need to haul you can fit a topbox or large bag, hard or so panniers, or a combination. If you opt for hard luggage, then you really have no option but to fit a dedicated luggage system. While hard luggage is the best way to protect your gear — both from the elements and from thieves — it is generally more expensive than so luggage and will not be suited to all styles of bikes, particularly sportsbikes. No ma er what luggage you select, make sure it fits securely to your bike and that it offers decent protection from the elements; the last thing you want is to arrive at your destination with wet clothes and sleeping bag.
LONG DISTANCES One area that’s hard to improve is your bike’s touring range, but look on the bright side: by the time you need to refuel your sportsbike you’ll probably need to stretch your legs anyway. Some companies, however, such as Liquid Containment, make so fuel bladders in eight to 15L capacities that can be stored on your bike. The Liquid Containment models feature a lightweight aluminium filler, a pressure-relief cap design, a durable handle with Velcro to cover the filler cap, a drain fi ing hose, and tail and anchor points. Riders of Aprilia’s RSV4 and Dorsoduro models, or Yamaha’s VMAX, should really check out what’s on offer here, even for shorter rides!
Your sportsbike’s tyres are likely to cop a hammering if you use your bike for long-distance touring. Your new, so -compound rubber that gives you exceptional feel and grip on the track will wear quickly on the road. If you can get them in the correct size, you should consider fi ing sports-touring tyres to your sportsbike or naked bike before a big trip. They will generally have a harder compound in the centre of the tread for be er wear rate but still have so sides to give you the grip and feel that you crave. Sports-touring tyres can also provide be er wet-weather performance and puncture resistance than lightweight tyres designed specifically for racetrack use.
WHERE DO YOU GET IT? Company: Kenma Products: Ventura luggage systems Phone: 1800 251 145 Website: www.kenma.com.au Company: Andy Strapz Products: Andy Strapz luggage systems; Kriega luggage systems; Airhawk seat systems Phone: (03) 9770 2207 Website: www.andystrapz.com Company: Cassons Products: RJays luggage systems Phone: (02) 8882 1900 Website: www.cassons.com.au
JUST DO IT No ma er what sort of bike you ride, you should never let it limit the places it can take you. Some of the most memorable and enjoyable rides are those undertaken on what some would describe as unsuitable bikes — but motorcycles are so versatile, and there’s so much quality gear on the market these days, that you can go touring on just about anything. We know people who’ve ridden from the bo om of South America to the top of North America on Honda CT200s, who’ve crossed Australia on Suzuki GSXR1000s and who’ve tackled the Himalayas on Royal Enfields. Just get out there and do it — you’ll love every minute of it. ARR
Company: Ron Angel Products: Givi luggage systems Phone: (03) 9464 3366 Website: www.ronangel.com.au Company: Motorcycle Adventure Products Products: Luggage racks; Hepco & Becker luggage systems; Rox handlebar risers Phone: (07) 3139 0387 Website: www.motorcycleadventure. com.au Company: Moto National Products: Shad luggage systems; MotoDry soft luggage; Comfort Seats; Shad GPS/phone mounts Phone: (07) 3120 4228 Website: www.motonational.com.au Company: Goodwool Products: Sheepskin seat covers Phone: (02) 4464 2081 Website: goodwool.com.au Company: Cruis’n Comfort Products: Sheepskin seat covers Phone: 0410 786 373 Website: cruisncomfort.com Company: Airhawk Products: Comfort Seating Systems Phone: 1300 783 128 Website: www.airhawk.com.au
■ A city streetfighter like the MT-09 can be transformed with luggage options and suspension set-up
112 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER
Company: Egress Solutions Products: Kriega luggage Phone: 0409 959 737 Website: www.kriega.com.au
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DOLLAR DAZZLERS STORY: MARK HINCHLIFFE our heart is pumping with excitement, your mouth is dry, your hands are itching to get a grip on the bars, and you’d do anything to ride away on that shiny new bike right now. But hang on. Don’t sign anything just yet. If you can afford to pay cash, that’s great, but if you need finance, there are a few things you should have done first before falling in love with a bike on the showroom floor.
Y
TYPE OF LOANS Thankfully, financing a bike is a lot easier than financing your house or even your car. Leases and mortgages are rare in the motorcycle industry, so you are probably only dealing with a personal loan, hire purchase or a secured loan. They are all pre y much the same thing with only slight differences and it may depend on where you get the money. You can get your finance through a bank, financial service such as a broker, loan specialist, credit union or building society, or through the motorcycle company or dealership network. Most motorcycle companies and dealer networks these days offer finance as part of their service. Yamaha Moto Finance (YMF) is the only factory-owned motorcycle finance company in Australia, while most others have a financial services business which is underwri en by a finance company or bank. We will get around to motorcycle company and dealer finance a li le later in this article. But before you head to the showroom you should check with your bank, credit union or building society to see if they will lend you money for a motorcycle. Some of these institutions are pre y conservative and they may look upon a loan for a motorcycle as risky, and a luxury item. And because of the risk, they may insist on loan protection insurance to secure the loan.
BUDGET Finance seems to make anything affordable and it is easy to over-extend yourself by buying the up-spec model when the standard would suit ►
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Easy money or financial servitude? Explore the pros and cons of financing your next motorcycle, and your options
bike finance
AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 115
■ As well as the cost of the bike, factor in the price of accessories and on-road charges before seeking finance
“Because of the risk, they may insist on loan protection insurance to secure the loan”
the lenders. But there can be hidden costs, fees and mandatory insurance that is included in the financial package, so do your homework carefully. You should also research the value of the new or used bike you are interested in buying. It will help you decide whether the finance deal is reasonable.
LOAN PERIOD your needs. RACQ spokesman Steve Spalding suggests se ing a budget and sticking to it. “Don’t be pressured to accept a finance offer you are not comfortable with,” he says. Steve also recommends you look beyond the immediate cost of the bike. “Consider the full range of ownership costs before commi ing to a purchase,” he says. That means factoring in financial costs such as depreciation, registration and insurance; running costs such as fuel, tyres and servicing; as well as riding gear if you need it.
RATES Do your homework on interest rates charged by the various banks and financial services offering loans. Even a decimal point difference in interest rates can end up changing the final repayment amount by hundreds of dollars. The good news is that rates are low at the moment and there isn’t a lot of difference between 116 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER
If your financial institution is prepared to grant you the loan, you also need to work out how long you want your loan period to be. A short period will a ract higher interest rates and, of course, higher repayments, while a longer period will have a lower interest rate and lower repayments. However, you should also ask to see the final cost of the loan at the end of the loan contract. The longer loan will usually cost you more. In fact, you may be surprised just how much the loan will end up costing you. Also, remember that the average period of motorcycle ownership is five years, so you don’t want a loan period beyond that. In fact, you may be the sort of person who likes to change your bike every two or three years and trying to sell or trade in a bike that is still covered by finance can be difficult. Not impossible, but difficult. So consider how long you will own the bike and tailor your loan to suit.
If you are a novice rider and are restricted to a LAMS bike, you should keep the loan even shorter as you are more likely to want to trade up as soon as you graduate to an open licence. Your loan contract may also offer you the opportunity to make repayments in weekly or monthly instalments. It may be easier to pay monthly, but it is usually cheaper in the long term to pay more frequently. Check the final costs of each type of repayment scheme before commi ing.
SPECIAL FEATURE: FINANCE
“Getting a loan through your dealer makes the whole motorcycle shopping business very easy and convenient” PENALTIES Consider that your personal and financial circumstances could change in the next few years and you may need to amend your repayments schedule. For example, you may get a big pay rise or promotion and want to pay off your bike sooner. On the other hand, you could lose your job or work contract and need to lengthen your loan so your repayments are reduced. Check your loan contract to see if there is leeway to lengthen or shorten repayments. If there is, ask if there are any penalty fees for changing the repayment arrangements.
CASH One of the advantages of securing finance before you go to the motorcycle dealership is that you will have a sum of money guaranteed and you can go shopping for the best deal as if you have cash burning in your pocket. Sales staff love to do deals on cash and you could successfully haggle a few hundred dollars off the price or get free services or accessories thrown in to sweeten the deal. Also, if you have a guaranteed loan, you can use the cash to buy from a private owner, rather than a dealership. While there are o en price advantages in private sales, there are also greater risks and issues you should consider, such as
whether the bike is still under finance, who is the rightful owner, the lack of guarantees etc.
BROKERS It is a hassle running around the banks and financial institutions trying to work out how much money you want to spend and organising a loan. There are now several online brokers who specialise in motorcycles, such as Aussie Bike Loans. You can ring them or apply online. Usually you have to supply a lot of personal information, which can be a bit risky these days with identity fraud running rampant. Make sure they are a reputable firm and if you are still worried, make a phone call where you can be er handle the supply of personal information than via an online form. Brokers will do the scouting for you to find the best deal to suit your personal and financial circumstances. However, they charge a commission to the supplier of the finance which is added to your own contract price.
CORPORATE AND DEALER FINANCE Most motorcycle companies have a financial services arm. It may be wholly owned, like YMF, or it may be underwri en by an existing financial
institution such as Suzuki, which is underwri en by GE Automotive, Honda by Bank of Queensland etc. Others, such as Indian and Victory motorcycles, offer finance at their dealerships, independent of corporate ownership or partnership. However, their spokesman Adrian Givoye says finance schemes “are definitely something we are investigating for the future”. KTM is also about to launch KTM Sportmotorcycle Finance. One-make dealers o en offer financial services through the motorcycle company’s financial institution or its third-party partner, while some multi-franchise dealers have their own arrangements with financial institutions. Ge ing a loan through your dealer, whether it’s the motorcycle company, finance company or their own, makes the whole motorcycle shopping business very easy and convenient. Dealers these days are like a one-stop shop. Once you’ve decided on the bike, they can arrange finance, as well as insurance and all the other legal paperwork that seems to take ages and delay you from that golden moment when you throw your leg over your dream machine. Some dealers can even take some of the immediate financial pain out of running your bike by including some services, accessories and maybe even riding gear in your financial package. However, remember that you will end up paying more in the long run so be careful what you include in the loan. Another advantage of corporate or dealer finance is that they can look at the ►
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“It may be easier to pay monthly, but it is usually cheaper in the long term to pay more frequently” life of the vehicle and maybe even offer you a guaranteed buy-back price at the end of your loan so you can trade up to a newer model. Harley-Davidson Financial Services country operations manager Ian Skoyles says their guaranteed buy-back system takes the financial guesswork out of owning a bike. Luxury car brands have been doing this for years to build brand loyalty and it is starting to filter through to the motorcycle industry, especially luxury brands such as BMW and other top-end models. However, you should read the fine print on these deals because they load up the final price of the bike and there are usually a lot of conditions. They can include a limit on the number of kilometres you can rack up on your odometer, the accessories you add, modifications, servicing by an approved dealer and, of course, the trade-in condition of your bike. The BMW Full Circle Guaranteed Future Value (GFV) not only offers variable periods from two to four years, but three options at the end of loan term: sell or trade the bike and take any profit over and above the GFV; hand back the bike and avoid any losses; or refinance and continue ownership. Some customers may be concerned that it locks them into buying from that dealer and maybe locks them into buying a certain brand. It’s great if you have loyalty to a particular marque, but not if you want to try different brands. It could also cost more to finance a bike with a guaranteed buy-back price and you could be risking the whole deal if you damage your bike, even slightly. Some motorcycle companies see these schemes as a way to develop a longterm partnership with their customers. Meanwhile, customers can view it as an essential service that gives them peace of mind. Honda MPE Financial Services dealer finance general manager Greg Stonier sees it as a possible future direction, although more of a marketing gimmick. “Most people don’t take the option and the conditions are fairly 118 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER
complex,” he says. YMF general manager Brad Ryan says their factory-owned business can also combine with Yamaha Moto Insurance to provide customers with “a full suite of products” such as repairs with genuine Yamaha parts, a nil the excess when the bike is fi ed with Yamaha’s DNA the protection system, and a three-year “newfor-old” replacement guarantee. He says YMF is so self-sufficient it is now offering finance products to other brands “with their own logos for their own products”.
ATTRACTIVE RATES Another point about corporate or dealer finance that you should be aware of is the a ractive rates. Dealer finance can sometimes offer finance at low or even zero interest. That is a sales tool that the banks and financial institutions can’t equal because they have to make money on the interest they charge you. The motorcycle manufacturers or dealers, however, can offer low interest rates because they have control over the final price of the motorcycle. A zero per cent loan may look a ractive, but you may also pay more for the bike in the long run. Sometimes it’s a genuine low-interest rate used as an a ractive incentive to push surplus stock, but you should do your sums to work out if the final price really is cheaper or more expensive.
NEW AND USED While some financial institutions will only offer finance on new bikes, dealers may also offer loans on approved used bikes. Harley-Davidson Financial Services is one such company that offers conventional hire purchase loans on approved genuine pre-owned vehicles. The bikes must come from official Harley dealerships, be Australian compliant, have less than 50,000km on the odo and be under five years old. The advantage is the Harleys also come with a oneyear warranty and one-year roadside assistance.
FINAL WARNING Despite all the homework, you may still blunder your way into a loan that rips you off, or where the contractor fails to fulfil their end of the deal, or where your circumstances change. In the worst case scenario the company could repossess your prized possession! Before it gets to that stage, if you have a dispute over your loan or insurance, complain to the supplier first as all reputable firms have a complaints department. If you are still not happy, don’t rush off to your solicitor as that can end up costing you a fortune. Instead, go to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which offers a free service. Visit fos.org.au. ARR
TESTING,TESTING AXO FREEDOM ADVENTURE BOOT REVIEW
■ Freedom: adventure boots without the buckles
The first thing you notice about the new AXO Freedom Adventure boots is the absence of bulky clips and latches typical of most adventure or off-road motorcycle boots. Instead, they feature the Boa latching system which is used in ski and snowboard boots. It consists of a click-knob and wire harnessing system. Instead of latches to get tangled in bushes or caught on your bike frame or levers, there is a ratchet knob on the outside and small steel wires hidden ■ Slim profile adds to the adventure-riding appeal
“I stood the boots and the socks in water for 30 minutes and the insides were completely dry”
■ Inners increase comfort and wick away sweat
■ The inner booties, like the boots, are thoroughly waterproof
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between the inner and outer tongue. To push your foot in, just pull the knob and the wires loosen and the tongue easily pushes open. To tighten, just turn the ratchet clockwise and the wires pull the boot nice and tight for a perfect fit every time. I have a slightly bigger right foot because I broke it in an off-road crash, but these boots fit perfectly on each foot as though they are differentsized boots. The Boa system seems secure and long-lasting. But just to put your mind at rest, Boa Technology guarantees them for the life of the boot. The most important aspects of adventure boots are comfort, ruggedness, protection and waterproof abilities, and the AXO Freedom Adventure has them all. They are a sturdy construction and feel fairly stiff when you put them on, but when you walk around they are surprisingly supple because of the flexible material at the instep and above the heel. AXO makes strong boots and these seem very rugged with a sole you would expect to see on trekking boots. They
also have strong, moulded protective inserts in the shin, heel and calf areas. The Freedom boots are coated outside with a waterproof synthetic material and the tongue has waterproof webbing so water doesn’t seep into the boots through the opening. For added comfort and waterproofing, there are internal booties or socks which are made of a lightweight and waterproof material called Watertech. I stood the boots and the socks in two buckets of water for 30 minutes and the insides were completely dry. Usually waterproof boots make your feet sweat, but the internal Watertech socks are lined with a material that wicks the sweat away from the skin to the outside, where it evaporates. All this for $299.95 is pre y good value! — MARK HINCHLIFFE
DETAILS Price: $299.95 Info: ficeda.com.au, 02 9827 7561
product reviews IB EMERGENCY MINI LIFT IB Bike Li s are well known for their excellent motorcycle stands that are big enough to securely raise the biggest bikes, but small enough to tuck away in a corner of your shed. Fewer riders know of their Emergency Mini Li s, adjustable prop stands that are big enough to jack up the biggest bikes but small enough to fit into a tankbag, pannier or even under some seats. Proudly boasting its status as an Aussie innovation, the IB Emergency Mini Li is a very simple li le thing but it’ll help get you out of trouble if you have a flat tyre out on the road or need to get a wheel off the ground for any other reason. It’s solidly made from stainless steel and the quality is obvious from every angle. Even the li le spring clip that retains the pin is well above the standards you usually see on almost anything. The rubber pad designed to protect your bike’s finish from the steel of the li is very well glued into place, the welds are neat, the finish is flawless. That’s the kind of thing that assures you you’ve bought a good product. The li weighs less than 400g and is just 155mm long, so packing it with your kit isn’t difficult. It’ll stay there with your tools, snug in its own li le pouch, until you need it. The basic idea is that the li forms the
third leg of a tringle made by the bike’s sidestand and the wheel you don’t need to raise. It stands under the right side, resting against the frame or a similar solid point, and from there you can jack up the bike. The Mini Li has two main body pieces, one inside the other. Three holes in the outer section accept a pin which can be set at one of three heights to vary the li ’s height. You set this as close to the frame as possible, and from there a threaded collar and handle allow you to wind it up further. So with the bike propped on the Mini Li , you just turn the handle to raise the bike’s wheel off the ground. When the job’s done, turn the handle the other way and down comes the bike. IB Bike Li s recommends you go through the process with a second person, but I’ve managed it alone without much effort. A lot depends on ge ing a good base on the ground for the bike and the li , with the resting wheel chocked so it can’t roll away. As its name suggests, the Mini Li is for emergency use only. It’ll get you out of trouble but as a longterm solution you’re far be er off with a solid, well-balanced stand that’ll ensure your lovely bike doesn’t get knocked over. Having said that, it can be useful for lubing the chain of a bike with no centrestand. — MICK MATHESON
“With the bike propped on the Mini Lift, you just turn the handle to raise the bike’s wheel off the ground”
■ The stand is compact but very functional
■ Materials and construction are very high quality
■ You’ll rarely need the stand’s full extension
■ A handle and threaded collar allow easy extension
DETAILS Price: $60 Info: ibbikelifts.biz, 02 4955 9269
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H-D EVOLUTION & STREET CANNON I wrote about Harley’s Beginnings jacket a couple of issues ago and since then I’ve had a chance to try out two more of their Triple Vent System jackets, the brandnew Street Cannon textile jacket and the Evolution leather jacket. The Evolution is waterproof in spite of featuring the effective airflow system that H-D now incorporates into a number of men’s and women’s jackets. The Evolution is simply stunning in its design, quality and practicality. It is made from heavy-duty yet ultra-supple leather with a waterproof liner sewn in and a removable quilted liner for warmth. Body armour is included in the shoulders and elbows, and it can be added to the back if you option-up. The eight pockets will just about swallow the contents of a pannier, and one’s a dedicated phone/music player pocket with routing for the earphones’ cable. I found it exceptionally comfortable both on and off the bike, though it is a fairly heavy jacket. The cut is just right for wearing the Evolution on all but race replicas, and I like the tighter dimensions of the cuffs to keep wind out when they’re zipped down. In warm weather,
“I’ve ridden through heavy rain and, yes, it is waterproof, a nice touch in a leather jacket” ■ The Evolution leather jacket is top quality and nicely cut
unzip them to get a bit of air flowing in. Temperatures have ranged from single digits up into the 30s while I’ve used the Evolution. It has been snug in the cold with its lining in; it’s been quite OK in
the heat with the liner out and the vent system opened up. I’ve ridden through heavy rain and, yes, it is waterproof, a nice touch in a leather jacket. The lightweight Street Cannon is the be er bet in the heat. Even with its quilted liner in place it can’t match the Evo’s insulation in the cold, but it doesn’t intend to, being designed for ho er climates. Open up those vents and it’s almost air-conditioned. The 600-denier polyester wouldn’t be as rugged in a crash but it’s still adequate, and backed up by the same armour as in the Evo. Both jackets have obvious, though not exaggerated, Harley-Davidson branding, which limits their appeal, a great pity because they’re both good bits of kit that deserve a wide customer base. That’s where the subtle branding on the Beginnings seemed a be er thing. If you have a Harley, you won’t care, of course. I like the Street Cannon but don’t see it as great value beside some other textile gear. The Evolution does justify its high price with its top quality, construction, design and effectiveness. It’s a beauty. — MICK MATHESON
DETAILS Prices: Street Cannon $650-695, Evolution $754 Info: harley-davidson-motorclothes. com.au
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Whatz new R 1200 RT GUARD EXTENSION
Machineart Moto, designer of specialised products for BMW motorcycles, has released a front mudguard extension for the 2014 liquid-cooled R 1200 RT. It joins the range of extenders that cover the new 650/800/1200 GS range as well as 1200 RT. Adding an extra 15cm of length and 5cm of width to the standard guard, the extender effectively reduces mud, water, tar and rock splashback onto the engine, pipes and surrounding components. Installation requires no modifications as two stainlesssteel compression clamps grip the underside of the stock guard. Made of polypropylene, the surface texture matches that of the standard guard so it doesn’t look out of place. Price: $US79 Visit: machineartmoto.com
SW-MOTECH SKID PLATE The SW-Motech engine guard for BMW’s R nineT gives protection from road debris while not taking away from the machine’s styling. Built of brushed aluminium with a strong wall thickness of 4mm, the plate is rubber mounted and has a hole pattern to ensure both good ventilation of the engine block and to keep in tune with the retro-bike’s styling. The steel mounting brackets fit simply and no drilling, welding or cutting is required. Price: €179.95 (approximately $A250) Visit: sw-motech.com 124 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER
HONDA LUGGAGE
EDELWEISS How does a 63-day riding trip over 14,000km from Moscow to Bangkok sound to you? Well, that’s just the trip the experienced tour operators Edelweiss have completed. Departing Moscow in August, the roads the expedition group took are mostly unknown and unused by motorcycle riders — quite an adventure! The route took them along the Golden Ring, Yekaterinburg, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, across the border into China, along the jungle roads of Laos, down the Mekong and on to Bangkok. This trip may be done and dusted, but Edelweiss does trips like this all the time. Jump on their website to see if there is something to tickle your fancy. Prices: Various Visit: edelweissbike.com
Honda Australia has released two new travel bags that’ll make you look like a factory racer as you jet off on your family holiday. The Honda rolling gear bag and carryon travel bag both feature Honda’s distinctive livery and come packed with features designed specifically to accommodate motorcycle riding gear. Built tough, the rolling gear bag has a whopping 144L of capacity, while the travel bag has features like document pocket and purpose-crafted places for pens, mobile phone and business cards. It also features a padded iPad/ laptop pocket. Prices: Gear bag $184.95, travel bag $109 Visit: merchandise.hondampe.com.au
NEW AND INTERESTING STUFF INDIAN MOTORCYCLE TENT Maker of top-notch outdoor gear Field Candy has collaborated with Indian Motorcycle Company to produce this rustic-styled two-person tent that can withstand the harsh elements of the Aussie outdoors — and look good at the same time! The Explorer tent is fully waterproof, UV-fade-resistant and has a breathable inner tent. Weighing in at just over 5kg, the tent packs up compactly and is easy to tie down on the back of a bike. Price: $745 Visit: fieldcandy.com
GREAT AUSTRALIAN MOTORCYCLE STORIES Full of laconic Aussie humour, this collection of yarns captures the freedom, fun, independence and adventure that come with travelling Australia on a motorcycle. Stories like meeting Tex and his Blue Heeler Bundy, who have ridden over 600,000km together for charity; Neil Collier, who crafted a chopper out of camphor laurel; and the unforgettable paramedic who saved the day and walked away with a great dinner party story. Great Australian Motorcycle Stories is available as a paperback or e-book from Harper Collins. Price: $29.99 Visit: harpercollins.com.au
VENTURA ASTRO Ventura’s range of Astro bike-pack systems is now available for the Ducati Monster 1200S, Honda CB/CBR650F and Aprilia Caponord 1200. Available in a range of soft luggage kits and a hard-case 35L top box, the Astro systems consist of all brackets and mounting hardware to mount the kit to your bike. There are accessories such as grab-handles, sports racks and packs also available. A modular system, Astro kits can be upgraded at any time to accept Ventura bike packs and accessories if your luggage needs a change. Price: Hard-case top box kit $339, softluggage kits start at $359 for the Suzuka 35L Visit: kenma.com.au
VENTZ There’s nothing like a bit of airflow on a stinking hot day, and Ventz is a great way to make that possible without doing away with your protective riding layer. Made from durable plastic and pliable rubber, they slip inside the sleeves of your jacket and provide airflow up your jacket or suit sleeve, removing trapped heat and making your ride cooler and more comfortable. Safe and comfortable to wear, Ventz are effective for both riders and pillions. Price: $29.99 Colours: Black, blue, red, yellow, white Visit: ventzaustralia.com.au
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UGLY FISH ULTIMATE Ugly Fish’s Ultimate polarised sunglasses are the perfect addition to your riding kit for the longer, brighter summer months. The polarised lenses eliminate UV rays and glare while the polycarbonate lenses are shatterproof and impactresistant. There’s an anti-fog and anti-scratch coating on the lenses so they are great for use with an open-face helmet. The lenses can be mated to an adjustable elastic strap that replaces the arms for a more secure fit on a helmet. They can be used for prescription lenses by fitting a prescription RX Gasket, and an array of lens colours is also available. Price: $149.95 Visit: uglyfisheyewear.com
HARLEY-DAVIDSON MOTORCLOTHES The cold is gone and the weather is set to stay warm, making it the perfect time of year to update your wardrobe with Harley-Davidson’s 2014 collection of heritage apparel. Combining classic styling with innovative design, there is a vast range of casual and riding gear specifically designed for men and women. There are no less than 68 items in the men’s collection, ranging from T-shirts and long-sleeve shirts to jackets, hoodies, jumpers, beanies and caps. The women’s collection boasts more than 70 items ranging from all the usual riding gear to T-shirts, tank-tops, hoodies and short-sleeve shirts. From experience we
MUSTANG RUNAROUND FOR DYNA AND FLS Mustang Seats have introduced the lowest, leanest seat in their line-up for Harley-Davidson Dyna and FL models. Made in the USA, the RunAround has a narrow front width of just 24cm for the Dyna (26.5cm for FL) and an ultra-low profile to keep the original styling and profiling. Using controlled-density polyurethane foam allows the seat to be thinner without compromising comfort in the process. Price: Dyna $US229, FL $US259 Visit: mustangseats.com
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know it’s good quality, and not all of it has H-D prominent logos either. Prices: Various Visit: harley-davidson-motorclothes.com.au
PIRELLI SCORPION RALLY The Pirelli Scorpion Rally is now available in sizes 110/80-19 and 150/70-17, the perfect fit for Suzuki’s new V-Strom 1000 and BMW’s R1200GS. Introduced specifically for big-capacity adventure bikes, the tread is an aggressive-looking off-road pattern with bigger knobs on the front for greater directional stability and wider knobs on the rear for better traction. The compound is designed to give high resistance to tearing and cuts and also provide good mileage — something that is always a challenge for tyres on big adventure bikes. Price: $209 front, $275 rear Visit: linkint.com.au
IKON SHOCKS & S FORK SPRINGS
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READERS RITE on’t forget to write! We mean it. We love to hear from you and everyone else does too; these pages are among the most popular in the magazine. Preferably, keep le ers under 300 words so we can fit more in, though we will allow the odd exception without taking to it with the editorial knife. Yes, we will chop ’em when we have to. Do include your real name and some contact details, just in case we need to clarify something. Please write to roadrider@universalmagazines.com.au or send mail to Road Rider, Unit 5, 6–8 Byfield Street, North Ryde NSW 2113 — Matho
D
WIN THIS, LOOK HOT!
Every issue we’re giving away this beaut pack of Motul cleaning gear worth $49.95. All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is write to us. We’ll pick what we think is the best le er every month and the top blokes at Motul will fire out this pack to whoever wrote it. Simple. Pack includes some of the best washing and detailing products on the market: • Wash & Wax, a waterless cleaner that leaves a wax coating • Moto Wash, good for all surfaces • Scratch Remover, a microabrasive cream for painted surfaces • Helmet & Visor Clean, to keep your lid and your view pristine. Email roadrider@ universalmagazines.com.au or mail to ARR at 5/6-8 Byfield St, North Ryde NSW 2113. We’ll do the rest.
WINNER MOTORCYCLE IN A STRANGE PLACE Hello Editor, Talk about finding motorcycles in strange places — how about in a supermarket? The fruit and veg counter in Kununurra’s central supermarket is surmounted by a motorcycle. No kidding — it’s not a model or a cardboard cut-out, nor a replica. It’s a real 100-year-old motorcycle. We asked the shop lady about it and
■
Get your fruit, veg and veterans here…
A LETTER ON LETTERS Hi Mick, Disappointingly, you ran another le er that states in part “… standing … lowers the CG”. What u er crap! Why do you persist in giving copy space to the wrong answer? Thanks for the Dicky Knee Advice (ARR#106) as I also suffer this or something similar and do not like the thought of my choice in motorcycles being limited to cruisers with, it seems, their inherent problems of excessive weight, lack of cornering clearance and 128 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER
she said it had belonged to the father of the current shop owner. They thought it would make a nice talking point for their customers. I reckon the story of how this machine came to the far north of Western Australia would be worth hearing in its own right. Which just goes to show that wandering further than the biscuit aisle sometimes pays off. Anthony Wheeler Mackay Qld
o en poor dynamics. Yes, a Ducati Diavel would address these but not feet forward and, in my view, it is not the most stylish motorcycle. Great magazine, just not sure about some le ers. Greg West Ryde NSW I know, I know, but I do like to stir the pot a bit, Greg, and look at the results! Speaking of Dicky Knee and his cruiser aversion, see his finished product in the sidebar. — Matho
LETTERS CHEERS FOR A GREAT MAG Hi Road Rider team. I was at a loss to think of a birthday gi for my boyfriend. Rubbing a few brain cells together, I came up with the bright idea of a motorcycle magazine subscription. Not sure which one to subscribe to, I purchased 12-month subscriptions to Rapid, Two Wheels and, just to see what it was like, Australian Road Rider. Rapid was OK, but to my disappointment I discovered scantily clad wenches draped over motorbikes on the back page. The sort of female types that are not out of place in People magazine, the place they should remain. Having been an avid reader of Two Wheels in years past I found it to be a disappointment. It was thin, boring and dull, not at all the magazine I remember it to be. I am thankful that at the last minute I decided to add Australian Road Rider to the basket. On first glance it was evident that the magazine is a motorcycle magazine of substance. Great articles, well wri en, discussing all things motorcycling. On further investigation I discovered the editor of this brilliant magazine to be Mick Matheson. Well, that explains why this magazine is so good — Matho is at the helm. Thank you for a fabulous motorcycling magazine. When it comes time for renewal, Australian Road Rider will be the one that makes it to our coffee table (and on occasion the porcelain throne). Trish Vogels Email I am fla ered, Trish, and rapt that you’re enjoying ARR. Oh, and personally, I only buy Rapid for the articles. — Matho
THE COST OF NO DEMO RIDE Hi, last year I decided a er approximately 20 years to get back onto a motorbike and went to a dealer in western Sydney to take a bike I was considering for a run. There was no demo available to ride, so I decided to buy it because I liked the seating position, and I felt comfortable si ing on it. But a er I purchased it, I realised very quickly that I did not like it; in fact, I hated it, and a er six weeks I traded it in on another motorcycle from a different dealer.
This time I took a demo bike for a test ride and bought it — a Suzuki V-Strom 1000 from Western Motorcycles at Penrith. I am quite happy with this ride for the time being. I lost nearly $5000 on the change-over — the first dealer will never get my business again. My next bike will be my last, so I must choose wisely. It was an expensive lesson. Try before you buy. Paul Read Emu Plains NSW Demo rides sure are important. I was down at Westerns the other day, a shop I’ve o en heard good things about, and was pleased to find a couple of guys working there who I’ve known and respected for many, many years. — Matho
DICKY KNEE’S PERSONAL PEGS Hi Mick, The F700GS highway pegs have been completed (ARR #106). See a ached photos, hopefully selfexplanatory. The pegs themselves were purchased from Adventure Designs, while the extenders were fabricated by me, courtesy of steel angle brackets from Bunnings. Wayne Talbot Email
LONG WEEKEND DEMO RIDE Hi guys, Just writing re your article Demo Rides in the September issue (ARR #106). I think a decent demo ride is essential when you consider how much of the hard-earned you’re about to drop. In my case I was looking at a BMW K 1600 GTL, my 40th motorcycle (I have been riding bikes for more than 52 years) priced around $37,000 with all the bells and whistles. I was dealing with BMW Motorrad Daisy Hill, and Morgan and Wacker, both in Brisbane. Without prompting, Daisy Hill offered me a test ride over the weekend and when I pointed out it was a long weekend they said, “No problems, see you Tuesday.” Any demo or test ride is covered by insurance deals and should a bike be dropped or damaged, the dealer does not miss out and the rider usually has to cough up the excess — all fair and reasonable. There was much haggling on price and trade-in value on my FJR1300 by both shops. My loyalty was with BMW Daisy Hill, who really looked a er me on price and customer satisfaction. I could not fault the professional and friendly service provided. They were also magnificent in meeting all my needs a few weeks later when the new bike was wri en off with only 275km on the clock. Driver ran a stop sign and T-boned me … insurance paid for a new bike, but that’s another story for another time. So now I’m on my 41st bike.
Dave Hepburn Tarragindi, Qld Dave suffered bad leg injuries in the crash but tells me he’s on the mend. — Matho
SOLD BY THE MAN WITH A DEMO! Hi Mick, You asked whether a demo ride has ever influenced a decision to buy a motorcycle. Most of the bikes I have bought I did so without having ridden them. In fact, I bought most of them on the basis of pre-launch factory propaganda before the bikes had even ► AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 129
been released to the Australian market. However, three bikes stand out against that trend. A er test-riding a ZXR 750 J1 Kawasaki I wanted one so badly I extended my mortgage and had one at home in the garage within four days. Similarly, a er test riding a ZX-9R on a Saturday, I travelled by train to Singleton the following week to buy the last blue one available in NSW. A few years later I decided I had to have an RSV1000 Aprilia (a er they included Öhlins forks and Brembo radial calipers on the standard model). When it came to actually buying one, I needed to make sure my partner would fit on the pillion seat. Only one dealer was offering a demo ride, so he was the one I bought the bike from. Rob Harden Email
STANDING ON PAGE 1: RAISING THE BAR Standing on the footpegs raises the CG. This is how it works — pay a ention; I will write this slowly as I know you can’t think fast. If you have more than one object, the CG of the combined number of objects is the sum of the mass of all the objects multiplied by the respective distances of their CGs from the ground divided by the total mass of the individual objects. Got that? Example: • Mass of motorbike, 200kg. Distance of CG of bike to ground, 0.5m. • Mass of rider, 120kg (Fat Bastard). Distance of FB CG to ground, 1m. • So, 200kg x 0.5m = 100kgm; 120kg x 1.0m = 120kgm. • Combined effect is 220kgm. • Combined mass of bike + rider = 200kg + 120kg = 320kg. • Distance of combined bike + rider CG to ground = 220/320 = 0.6875m. So if you stand on the pedals: • The rider CG becomes, say, 1.5m so his/her contribution to the equation becomes 120 x 1.5 = 180kgm. • Now the combined effect is 180kgm + 100kgm = 280kgm. • Combined mass of bike + rider is still 200kg + 120kg = 320kg. So the distance of combined CG now becomes 280/320 = 0.875m. It went up by 0.1874m — nearly 7.5 inches in real units. Alex Bowman Principal Engineer MIEAust MIMechE CPEng CEng RPEQ Email 130 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER
STANDING ON PAGE 2: KNOW THE FORCE Esteemed Editor Mick, Herewith a simplified explanation which hopefully will resolve the issue in those minds as yet unresolved. There are three primary concepts involved: 1. Centre of gravity: the geometric property of an object which identifies the average location of its weight. 2. Centre of mass: the unique point where the weighted relative position of the distributed mass sums to zero. 3. Centre of moment: the actual point about which the forces cause rotation. These can be easily calculated in simple objects, but motorcycling is a complex system whereby both the rider and motorcycle can move independently in all three axes. At any one point in time, the relative geometry of the fixed, articulated, and flexible components and their individual masses need to be measured before the centre of gravity or mass can be calculated. For all practical purposes, forget it. Even the best of motorcycle engineers still struggle to get it right: remember when Honda thought pu ing the fuel tank under the engine was a good idea? My advice to motorcyclists is to ignore the technical terminology and instead understand the forces operating and how best to utilise them. It should be obvious that the higher you move the weight, the less stable the system becomes: the point through which the forces operate have nothing to do with the centre of gravity or weight. Once you lean the object from the vertical, the point through which the forces operate becomes the centre of moment, and here we apply the principles of the fulcrum: the further the weight from the centre of moment (fulcrum), the greater the force. Thus the higher you stand on the motorcycle pegs, the greater the turning force as you lean le or right. Now counter intuitively, this is the value of standing up: by raising the centre of gravity, you require less lean angle to achieve the desired effect than had you remained si ing down, and thus you gain finer control. We could go into more detail but hopefully these simple illustrations will clarify the issue. Next we could discuss why when riding in very strong cross winds, you should lean yourself or your
motorcycle with the wind and not into it, but we can leave that for another day should anyone be interested. Wayne Talbot Email
STANDING ON PAGE 3: COMBINED CG Dear Matho, As someone who has earned a living for 40-odd years by understanding how shit works, please allow me to throw in my two cents’ worth on the centre-ofgravity (CG) discussion. You are correct in saying that “if we stand there stifflegged and unmoving, the CG of the combined bike/rider unit is higher than if we’re seated”. If, however, we stand with flexible arms and legs, then we effectively separate the CG of rider from that of bike. This allows a continuously changing combination of the two CGs, leading to endless possibilities for the effective point of balance. The two CGs will of course have their own combined CG, which can then move all over the place if the rider is flexible. A good demonstration of the combined bike/rider unit is seen in road racing, where the rider hangs off the side of the bike on the inside of a turn. This action moves the combined CG towards the direction of turn and allows the bike to remain more upright for a given speed. With the rider standing, weighting one footpeg more than the other will move the combined CG towards the direction of the weighted peg just as hanging off the side of the seat does, but maybe not by so much. Jamie Thomas’s general argument is sort of in the right direction, even if he’s a li le twisted in his logic. Google strikes again, unfortunately. The CG of an object is the point through which gravity (and momentum) effectively acts. It makes no difference if an object is balanced on its point or if it’s lying on its side. Its CG will be in the same place and gravity will always be trying to pull it down. It all comes down to having the tyre contact patch at the point where the combination of gravity and angular momentum passes through the road surface. If it’s not, the bike falls over. David Beauchamp Naracoorte SA
LETTERS STANDING ON PEGS: THE FORCE MAY BE WITH YOU Time to clear up this brainteaser. There are plenty of good reasons why you might want to stand on the pegs, and these have been well covered in recent correspondence on this issue from BMW and others, and as an adventure rider, I agree completely with the reasons given. In their response, BMW dismissed the centre of gravity issue in this context as a bit of a technicality, and that’s probably a fair call, but the question has been asked, so let’s deal with it. The inference here is that lowering the centre of gravity (CG) of an object — in this case a rider on a motorcycle — somehow automatically equates to an increase in overall stability. It doesn’t. What happens to the CG is a distraction and a source of confusion; this issue is all about leverage. How would I know? I’m a civil engineer and this is routine structural analysis. So let’s look at the forces acting on the bike and rider combination. For what it’s worth, standing on the pegs from the seated position actually raises the rider’s CG, not that it ma ers too much. But the rider’s weight comes off the seat and goes directly onto the pegs, which are lower than the seat, aren’t they? Sure they are, but that’s not the point. They are also further away laterally (sideways) from the vertical centreline of the bike, and that’s what ma ers. Standing up produces leverage. The distance between a force and a fulcrum (pivot) is called a lever arm, and a force times its lever arm (if it has one) is a torque or turning moment. That means the rider can now use this principle to his advantage by shi ing his weight from side to side and thus generate turning moments on the bike. These will make the bike rotate and therefore counterbalance the moment produced by the weight of the much heavier bike itself as it moves off the vertical. As anyone who has ever stuck a pipe on the end of a spanner knows, leverage can be very useful. For the unconvinced, you can torque a nut to 50 -lbs using a 50lb force applied to the end of a 1 spanner, but you only need 25lb on a 2 spanner (You young fellas can swap to Newtons and metres if you prefer; the numbers still work —
“What happens to the CG is a distraction and a source of confusion; this issue is all about leverage” Matho). Increasing the lever arm allows a smaller force to produce the same moment at its fulcrum. Picture the bike and rider viewed from end-on, as shown in the diagram. Figure 1 shows the rider seated. His CG and that of the bike both coincide with the vertical axis of symmetry. Newton’s Laws of Motion tell us that for equilibrium, the vertical forces must balance, ie F1 + F2 = R, where F1 is the weight of the bike, F2 is the weight of the rider, and R is the subsequent equal and opposite reaction. There are no lever arms relative to the pivot point P, therefore no moments are produced. The bike remains vertical as long as these forces are balanced. Figure 2 shows the rider standing. This time we can consider the rider’s weight divided equally to each peg. As before, F1 + F2 + F3 must equal R, but this time, there are moments produced, in clockwise and in anticlockwise directions, and they must also balance, so (F2 x distance a) must equal (F3 x distance b). In this case the moments are equal and opposite, so the bike remains vertical. These relationships apply if the bike is stationary or moving in a straight line. Critically, this diagram demonstrates that moving a force along its own directional axis (in this case moving the vertical force due to the rider’s weight or the bike’s weight either
up or down) won’t change its lever arm or the resulting moment it creates one bit. Nor will moving the CG of the bike or rider up or down. Figure 3 shows the bike leaning. Now things start to happen. This time, the weight of the bike (F1, still acting vertically through the CG of the bike) now produces a turning moment equal to F1 times its lever arm, distance c. The rider has to counterbalance this by moving more weight onto the right peg, ie increasing F3 and simultaneously reducing F2. If the bike is cornering as well, centrifugal forces come into play, and produce horizontal forces on the rider and on the bike (F4 and F5 respectively), which are opposed by the force of friction between the tyre and the road, F6. And now F4 and F5 have lever arms relative to P, so also produce moments at the pivot point P. For equilibrium, vertical forces must balance as before. Horizontal forces must balance, so F4 + F5 must equal F6, and moments must balance, so in this case the following applies: (F3 x b) + (F4 x e) + (F5 x d) clockwise = (F1 x c) + (F2 x a) anticlockwise. Note also that the lower the CG of the bike, the smaller is distance c when the bike leans over, so (F1 x c) is minimised, making bike control less of an effort. Mike Green Email
AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 131
ROAD BIKE & SCOOTER PRICE GUIDE N Can I afford it? Is there something better for the money?
ew bike prices can go up and down like the stock market, so in every issue we’ll bring you the sticker prices. To be completely up to date with things like factory discounts and incentives, check the Road Rider website (www.roadrider.com.au) where we will bring you all the special deals, bonus offers and cashback promotions we can find. We have included the importers’ websites, which is the place to go if you’re looking for more information. You’ll see that we haven’t listed every bike on the market (yet) but we aim to get there with
all of them. Sometimes even we struggle to find the details of the smaller, newer importers. Meanwhile, enjoy this most meaningful of Australian bike listings, covering the bikes you’re interested in. The prices are the most up-to-date ones available from the distributors. They may change, of course, subject to specials coming and going. We’ve also made it abundantly clear which prices are ride-away and which don’t include on-road costs; the difference to your final payout can be significant, so don’t compare apples with oranges.
BRAND & MODEL
BENELLI
APRILIA
WE SAY
PRICE www.aprilia.com.au
Aprilia prices are maximum recommended advertised ride-away price. Road Shiver Sport 750 ABS.............. Oh so good ...............................$13,990ra Dorsoduro 750 ABS ................. With ABS ...................................$12,990ra Tuono V4R APRC ...................... Upright sportsbike ...................$21,990ra RSV4 R APRC............................ High tech, high spec ................$23,990ra RSV4 R Factory APRC ABS ..... Racing black ..............................$29,990ra Dorsoduro 1200 ATC/ABS ...... Insane in the brain ...................$14,990ra Adv Touring Caponord 1200 ATC/ABS ........ Truly great all-rounder ............$22,990ra Scooters SR50R Carb SBK ...................... Biaggi replica............................$3990ra SR MT 50 2T ............................. Entry point ................................$2450ra SR MT 125 4T ........................... Cheap commuting ...................$3290ra Scarabeo 200 ie........................ Crisp performer........................$4990ra SR Max 300 .............................. Do it all ......................................$6490ra SR Max 300 .............................. New 2014 Model ......................$7290ra SRV 850 ATC ABS .................... Large with the lot .....................$14,990ra
BMW GOES LOW WITH SCOOTERS The new BMW C650GT Special Edition maxi-scooter that we mentioned last month is also available in a low-suspension model for $16,465+orc. That’s $200 cheaper than the regular model.
www.urbanmotoimports.com.au
Road BN302 ........................................ Expected sometime this year.$TBA BN600i....................................... Base-model mid-sized four.....$8990+orc BN600S LAMS ......................... New LAMS model ...................$8990+orc BN600R ..................................... New sporty naked bike ...........$9990+orc BN600RS LAMS ....................... Another new LAMS model.....$9990+orc BN600GT .................................. Available soon..........................$TBA TNT 899 ..................................... Mid-sized entertainer...............$16,990+orc TNT 1130 ................................... Naked dynamite.......................$19,990+orc TNT 1130R ................................. More explosive ........................$22,690+orc Tre-K 1130.................................. Out of the ordinary ..................$18,490+orc Adv Touring TRE-K Amazonas ..................... Be an individual .......................$19,690+orc
BIMOTA
www.urbanmotoimports.com.au
Road BB3 ............................................ 1000cc BMW, Italian flair ........$TBA DB8 Bi Posto ............................. Sleek and powerful..................$47,990+orc DB8 SP ...................................... The sweetest candy .................$47,990+orc DB8 Oro Nero ........................... Expensive excitement .............$84,990+orc Tesi 3D Evo ............................... Exotica erotica ..........................$50,890+orc Tesi 3D Naked........................... The full skeleton on show.......$55,990+orc DB9 ............................................ Muscle streetfighter ................$44,990+orc DB9S.......................................... Sharper on the street ..............$46,990+orc DB10 .......................................... Sharp style ................................$37,290+orc DB11........................................... Testastretta 11 at last ...............$56,990+orc
BMW
www.bmwmotorrad.com.au
Road F 800 R....................................... BMW’s entry-level road twin ..$13,100+orc S 1000 R .................................... Naked supermodel ..................$19,290+orc S 1000 RR.................................. Still the one to beat .................$22,400+orc HP4 ............................................ Hyper RR ...................................$27,990+orc HP4 Competition...................... For serious sports riders .........$32,450+orc R nineT ...................................... Simplicity with max style .......$21,250+orc R 1200 R .................................... Ever reliable ..............................$20,800+orc R 1200 RT .................................. Have your cake and eat it .......$30,790+orc K 1300 R .................................... Evil Wulf ....................................$21,990+orc K 1300 S .................................... Autobahn eater ........................$23,990+orc K 1300 S Motorsport ............... Flashy sports-tourer for 2015..$28,990+orc K 1600 GT ................................. Power touring...........................$35,990+orc K 1600 GT Sport ....................... Luxury but lighter, sportier .....$36,490+orc K 1600 GTL ............................... Euro luxury touring .................$37,590+orc K 1600 GTL Exclusive.............. VIP ..............................................$42,500+orc Adv Touring G 650 GS ................................... You’ll be surprised ...................$9990+orc G 650 GS Sertao....................... Rough it or not .........................$10,990+orc F 700 GS.................................... Not really a 700 ........................$12,890+orc F 700 GS ................................... Low suspension model ...........$13,140+orc F 800 GS.................................... Great adv tourer.......................$16,690+orc F 800 GS.................................... Low suspension model ...........$16,940+orc F 800 GS Adventure ................ Go further..................................$18,650+orc
132 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER
PRICE GUIDE F 800 GT .................................... Dynamically designed.............$16,300+orc R 1200 GS ................................. All-road master ........................$21,950+orc R 1200 GS Adventure .............. Luxuriously roughing it...........$24,550+orc Scooter C 600 Sport ............................... Sporty maxi ..............................$13,990+orc C 600 Sport Special Edition .... Here in October ........................$15,090+orc C 650 GT.................................... Let’s tour! ..................................$14,990+orc C 650 GT Special Edition ........ Seat heating..............................$16,665+orc C 650 GT SE LS ........................ Low suspension model ...........$16,465+orc
BMW EXPANDS NETWORK BMW has announced another dealer in its network. Bundoora BMW Motorrad is located in Melbourne’s expanding northern suburbs. It is operated by Doncaster BMW, which was 2013 Metropolitan BMW Motorrad Dealer of the Year. Doncaster BMW’s managing director, Ingo Reisch, says the new dealership will deliver the “same excellence” and will service the fastgrowing northern corridor of Melbourne and regional areas of Central Victoria.
BOLLINI
www.motorsportimporters.com.au
Road Speed 200 ................................. Economy ticket ........................$2290+orc Cruiser Retro 200................................... New release ..............................$TBA
CAN-AM (BRP)
www.brp.com
Road Spyder RS SM5........................ The “Spyder” experience .......$19,990+orc Spyder RSS SE5 ...................... Supersports auto .....................$23,990+orc Spyder ST SE5 ......................... The sports-touring Spyder .....$25,490+orc Spyder ST LTD SE5.................. The ST with more ....................$28,990+orc Spyder RT SM6 ........................ New 1330cc triple engine .......$31,490+orc Spyder RTS SE6 ....................... RT plus semi-auto and more ..$39,990+orc Spyder RT Limited SE6.. ......... The full touring triple...............$41,990+orc
CF MOTO
www.cfmoto.com.au
Road VNight ....................................... Great learner ............................$2690+orc Jetmax 250 ............................... Freeway capable scooter ........$4190+orc Leader........................................ Not fussy ...................................$2190+orc 650NK ........................................ May ruffle some feathers .......$6290+orc 650TK......................................... Bargain touring ........................$7749+orc Cruiser V5 ............................................... Where’s the engine? ................$4190+orc
CONFEDERATE
www.urbanmotoimports.com.au
Cruiser X132 Hellcat.............................. Badass .......................................$79,990+orc X132 Hellcat Combat............... American war machine ...........$94,990+orc X135 Wraith .............................. Available soon..........................$TBA
DAELIM
Hypermotard SP ...................... With tricked-up suspension ....$20,990+orc Hyperstrada .............................. Manners & madness ...............$16,990+orc Monster 1200 ........................... The new generation ................$19,990+orc Monster 1200 S ........................ With better bits.........................$23,990+orc Panigale 1199 ABS.................... Updated 2014 Model ...............$26,990+orc Panigale S ABS......................... Electronic Öhlins! ....................$33,990+orc Panigale Tri Colour ................... Make you melt .........................$39,990+orc Panigale R ABS......................... Race passion ............................$42,990+orc Cruiser Diavel Dark................................ A true power-cruiser ................$23,990+orc Diavel Carbon........................... Deal with the devil ...................$29,990+orc Adv Touring Multistrada 1200 ABS.............. 4 in 1 with ABS .........................$22,990+orc Multistrada 1200 S Touring ..... See the world ...........................$28,490+orc Multistrada 1200 S Pikes Pk ... Flashy paint job ........................$31,990+orc
DUCATI ON THE COAST Ducati has added a new dealer on the Sunshine Coast after the Queensland Motolife dealerships in Townsville and Caloundra were bought by luxury automotive dealer Andrew Carmichael. Ducati was one of the models sold at the Townsville dealership and Andrew has added the Italian marque to the line-up in Caloundra at 27 Caloundra Rd, Caloundra West; phone 1300 791 125.
DUCATI UNVEILS NEW HYPERMOTARD Ducati’s new Scrambler was unveiled just after we went to press, so unfortunately we won’t have a pic of it until next month’s issue. Meanwhile, the most aggressive of the Hypermotards, the SP, now comes in a tricolour Corse paintjob. It was unveiled by three-time World Superbike champion Aussie Troy Bayliss and 2011 WSBK champion Carlos Checa. It is powered by the 110hp Testastretta 11° 821cc engine with the three-mode selection from the 1199 Panigale S: Race 110hp (High), Sport 110hp (Medium) and Wet 75hp (Low). It also has the Panigale’s three-level ABS and eight-level traction control. The long-travel suspension consists of Marzocchi USD forks and an Öhlins rear shock and it’s shod with Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa tyres. Other tasty bits include variable-diameter bars, carbon-fibre mudguards and engine cover guards, a radial brake pump with five-way adjustable lever, and a special seat. The Hypermotard weighs just 171kg and will be available later this year, but no prices have yet been released.
www.daelim.com.au
Road VJF250....................................... Adequate style .........................$3990+orc Cruiser Daystar 250 EFI ........................ Fat, feet-forward cruiser ..........$4920+orc Scooter Bbone ........................................ Its clothes are off......................$3490+orc Besbi .......................................... Small and cute .........................$2190+orc S1 ............................................... Nice style...................................$2990+orc
DUCATI
www.ducati.com.au
Road Monster 659 ABS ..................... Monster the LAM .....................$12,990+orc Monster 696 ABS .................... Easy to handle ..........................$13,990+orc Monster 796 ABS ..................... Full sized, adequate power .....$15,990+orc Monster 821 Dark .................... The little beast steps up ..........$15,990+orc Monster 821 Plus ..................... The Monster with more ..........$16,490+orc Streetfighter 848 ...................... Precision fighter .......................$18,990+orc Panigale 899 ............................. Smaller, sweeter superbike ....$19,990+orc Hypermotard ............................ A hooligan on wheels .............$16,990+orc AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 133
Multistrada 1200 Granturismo ............................. Tour perfection .........................$30,490+orc
ERIK BUELL RACING
www.urbanmotoimports.com.au
Road 1190RS Carbon ......................... 175hp, 176kg of joy..................$56,990+orc 1190RX ....................................... Sporting masterpiece ..............$26,490+orc 1190SX ....................................... Superbike basis........................$TBA 1190AX....................................... The adventurous one ..............$TBA
HARLEY-DAVIDSON
www.harley-davidson.com
All H-D prices are ride-away. Cruiser XL883L SuperLow ................... For the shorties ........................$14,750ra XL883N Iron 883 ..................... Iron tough .................................$14,995ra XL1200C Custom ..................... Customary show off ................$18,750ra XL1200X Forty-Eight................ Retro cool..................................$18,995ra XL1200V Seventy-Two ............ Vintage muscle.........................$18,495ra XL1200T Super Low ................ Cool little tourer .......................$19,250ra VRSCDX Night Rod Special.... Drag bike ...................................$27,250ra VRSCF Muscle .......................... Muscle me ................................$26,995ra FXDB Street Bob ...................... Versatile.....................................$22,495ra FXDBB Street Bob Special...... Street smarts ............................$23,995ra FXDL Low Rider ....................... Not laying low ..........................$23,495ra FXDWG Wide Glide ................. Let your hair hang down ........$24,995ra FXDF Fat Bob............................ Lay off the burgers, Bob! ........$25,495ra FLD Dyna Switchback .............. Dress up, dress down..............$26,250ra FLS Softail Slim........................ Slim, yet PH fat! .......................$26,250ra FXST Softail Standard............. The original ride .......................$27,250ra FLSTFB Fat Boy Lo................... Low bruiser...............................$28,750ra FLSTF Fat Boy .......................... Big bruiser ................................$28,995ra FLSTN Softail Deluxe .............. Classy dude ..............................$28,995ra FLSTNSE CVO Softail Deluxe . 110ci, LEDs plus ........................$44,995ra FXSB Breakout ......................... Urban street styling .................$29,495ra FLSTC Heritage S’tail Classic . Visually beautiful .....................$29,995ra FLHRC Road King Classic ....... Be the king ................................$32,495ra FLHXS Street Glide Special .... The original bagger ................$34,995ra FLHXSE CVO Street Glide....... 110ci ripper................................$46,995ra FLTRXS Road Glide Special.... Dynamic, fixed-fairing tourer .$34,495ra FLTRXSE CVO Rd Glide Ultra . Maybe H-D’s best tourer .........$48,995ra FLHTK Electra Glide Ultra Ltd Works burger ............................$37,995ra FLHTKSE CVO Ultra Ltd .......... 110ci mega-tourer ....................$50,995ra
HONDA
www.honda.com.au
Road CB125E ...................................... Cheap commuter .....................$2099+orc CBR125R ................................... The teacher ...............................$4049+orc CBR250R ................................... Fresh and fun ...........................$5510+orc CBR250R ABS........................... With ABS! .................................$6010+orc CBR300...................................... Big H attacks the Ninja 300 .....$5699+orc CBR300 ABS ............................. The anti-lock brake option ......$5999+orc CB400 ....................................... Bulletproof ................................$10,099+orc CB400A ABS ............................. Foolproof...................................$11,199+orc CBR500R ................................... Sporty little twin .......................$7499+orc CBR500R ABS........................... ABS option ...............................$7799+orc CB500F ABS.............................. Sweet as....................................$7799+orc CB650F ABS.............................. New naked four........................$9999+orc CBR600RR................................. Versatile supersport.................$14,390+orc CBR650F ABS ........................... Mid-ranger with torque...........$10,599+orc NC700SA ABS (2013)............... Mr Practical ...............................$8550+orc NC750SA ABS .......................... A little boosted for 2014 ..........$8799+orc CTX700A ................................... A fairing for the open road ....$7399+orc CTX700DA ................................ Dual Clutch Transmission ........$10,899+orc VFR800 ...................................... Tried and true package ............$14,599+orc CBR1000RR............................... Ride what Casey rides.............$16,899+orc CBR1000RR Repsol.................. MotoGP replica ........................$16,890+orc CBR1000RR ABS ...................... Blade with braking backup .....$17,899+orc VFR1200F ABS ......................... For the tech heads ...................$16,999+orc GL1800B F6B ............................ Stripped Wing...........................$25,199+orc GL1800 Goldwing Luxury....... The ultimate luxury tourer......$35,799+orc Cruiser VT400 ........................................ Classic-styled LAM ..................$9399+orc CTX700N ABS .......................... A bike for everything ...............$9099+orc VT750S ...................................... Streetwise appeal ....................$8099+orc VT750C Shadow ...................... Classic appeal...........................$11,749+orc CTX1300.................................... V4 cruiser with unique style ...$18,499+orc VT1300CX Fury ........................ Chopped dragster ....................$15,599+orc GL1800C F6C Valkyrie ............. Valkyrie returns with muscle ..$20,199+orc 134 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER
HARLEY’S 2015 LINE-UP Harley’s range has been revised for 2015, the new models having just hit showrooms. Quite a few models have been dropped from the list, from a couple of XL1200C models up to the CVO Road King and CVO Ultra Ltd. You can, however, say hello to some exciting new models. The basic Street Glide has been replaced by the more impressive Street Glide Special, and there’s a CVO version — see our sort test in this issue. The Road Glide returns to the range in Special spec, and it’ll also come in a CVO version (pictured), a bike that is probably the best tourer H-D has ever made, even if it’s not cheap. We’ll have a review of both Road Glides next issue.
Adv Touring CB500X ABS ............................. Adventure sports .....................$7999+orc VFR1200X Crosstourer ABS ... Smooth and comfy all-roader $17,499+orc Scooter Today 50 .................................... Do it, Today! ..............................$1849+orc Dio 110 ....................................... New kid in town .......................$2549+orc PCX150 ...................................... Stylish and practical ................$4199+orc NSS300 Forza ........................... Sporty and flexible ..................$6999+orc NC700D Integra........................ Motorcycle or scooter? ...........$11,199+orc
HYOSUNG
www.hyosung.com.au
Road GT250 ........................................ Great beginner .........................$2990+orc GT250R...................................... Get started ................................$3790+orc GT650 ........................................ Naked value and style .............$5190+orc GT650R...................................... Easy, sporty, affordable ...........$5890+orc GT650RL.................................... Cheap and cool LAMS ............$5890+orc Cruiser GV250 Aquila............................ Little cutie..................................$3990+orc GV650C Aquila Classic ............ LAMS value ..............................$6790+orc GV650S ..................................... Road worthy .............................$6490+orc GV650SL ................................... Popular learner.........................$6490+orc
INDIAN MOTORCYCLE
www.indianmotorcycle.com.au
Cruiser Scout ......................................... Sportster meets V-Rod?...........$17,995ra Chief .......................................... Leading the tribe back!............$28,995ra Chief Vintage ............................ Signature heritage aesthetic ..$31,495ra Chieftain .................................... First Indian tourer/bagger .......$35,995ra Roadmaster .............................. Full-dress tourer .......................$38,995ra
KAWASAKI
www.kawasaki.com.au
Road Ninja 300 ................................... Even better again!....................$6199+orc Ninja 300 ABS .......................... A LAM with ABS ......................$6699+orc Ninja 300 SE ............................. Tastes like lime .........................$6399+orc Ninja 300 SE ABS..................... Lime LAM with ABS ................$6899+orc ER-6n/nL ABS ........................... Quirky ........................................$9999+orc Ninja 650/L ABS ....................... Mid-sized gem ..........................$10,499+orc Ninja ZX-6R (599) ..................... Striking ......................................$14,999+orc
PRICE GUIDE 1190 Adventure......................... High-tech adventurer...............$19,995+orc 1190 Adventure......................... With EDS ...................................$22,995+orc 1190 Adventure R ..................... Add more adventure ...............$22,995+orc
MEET THE ROADMASTER Historically, the Roadmaster was Indian’s most specced-up model, and the name’s now back again for the company’s new full-dress tourer. This range-topper, starting at $38,990ra, comes with all the bells and whistles, including a high-end infotainment/navigation system, ABS and TPMS, heated grips, three power outlets, adjustable pillion footboards and lots more, all powered by the Thunder Stroke 111 engine we’ve already come to like a lot. Colours will be black, red or two-tone red and cream. The Roadmaster will be unveiled at Motorclassica in Melbourne’s Royal Exhibitions Building on October 24–26.
KYMCO
www.kymco.com.au
Road CK 125 ....................................... No nonsense ............................$2095+orc Cruiser Venox 250 ................................. Value and looks ........................$5295+orc Scooter Like 125 ..................................... Fall in love .................................$2995+orc Super 8 125............................... Cool jigger ................................$2595+orc Espresso 150 ............................ I’ll take a double shot ..............$2799+orc Like 200 ..................................... Classic performer.....................$3395+orc Downtown 300i ABS ............... All-rounder with ABS ..............$7495+orc
LARO
www.laro.com.au
Road V Retro 250 ............................... DT250 clone ..............................$2990+orc Cruiser Cruiser 250................................ Learner’s ride............................$3999+orc
MEGELLI
www.megelli.com
Road 250S ........................................... Nice looker................................$4250+orc 250R ........................................... Italian styling ............................$4850+orc 250SE......................................... Sportsbike handling ................$5650+orc
MOTO GUZZI
www.motoguzzi.com.au
Moto Guzzi prices are maximum recommended advertised ride-away price. Road V7 Stone.................................... Minimalist retro........................$13,490ra V7 Special ................................. Faithful to the original V7 ........$13,990ra V7 Racer SE .............................. Limited edition marvel ............$15,990ra 1200 Sport 4V SE ..................... Grunter ......................................$18,990ra Griso 1200 8V ........................... Grand slam ...............................$20,990ra Cruiser California 1400 Custom........... Kalifornia attitude ....................$22,990ra California 1400 Touring............ All a Cali should be ..................$25,990ra Adv Touring Stelvio 1200 8V NTX ABS ....... Big Brute ...................................$22,990ra
MV AGUSTA Ninja ZX-6R ABS (636) SE ...... Bigger, gruntier, prettier ..........$16,649+orc Z800 ABS .................................. Sharper......................................$12,999+orc W800SE..................................... Nostalgic, relaxed cruising .....$12,499+orc Z1000 ABS ................................ Let it seduce you ......................$16,499+orc Z1000 ABS SE........................... Special edition..........................$16,799+orc Ninja 1000 ABS ....................... A sword with soul ....................$16,999+orc Ninja 1000 ABS ........................ 2014 Model ...............................$16,999+orc Ninja ZX-10R ............................ Non-ABS 30th Anniv model ...$18,999+orc Ninja ZX-10R ABS .................... 30th Anniversary model .........$20,699+orc 1400GTR ABS ........................... Transcontinental ......................$24,999+orc Ninja ZX-14R ABS SE .............. Special edition..........................$20,299+orc Ninja ZX-14R ABS SE Öhlins .. Öhlins, white, gold, scorching $21,999+orc Cruiser Vulcan 900 Classic SE ............. Classically glamorous .............$12,499+orc Vulcan 1700 Classic ABS......... Great blank canvas ..................$19,999+orc Vulcan 1700 Nomad ABS........ Add a bit of bling .....................$22,999+orc Vulcan 1700 Vaquero ABS ...... Go to the dark side ..................$24,499+orc Vulcan 1700 Voyager ABS....... Plush ride ..................................$25,999+orc Adv Touring KLR650 ...................................... Bargain with a capital B ..........$8099+orc Versys 650 ABS ........................ Appealing all-rounder .............$9999+orc Versys 650L ABS ...................... LAMS model ............................$9999+orc Versys 1000 .................................Bitumen burner.......................... $15,999+orc
KTM
www.ktm.com.au
Road 390 Duke ................................... Ninja beater? ............................$6995+orc 390 RC ....................................... All new available soon ............$TBA 690 Duke ................................... Sharp and bright ......................$11,495+orc 690 Duke R ................................ The sportier motard.................$13,495+orc 1190 RC8 R ................................ The orange flash ......................$25,495+orc 1290 Super Duke R .................. Ballsy streetfighter...................$23,495+orc Adv Touring 690 Enduro R ............................ Extreme riders only .................$14,395+orc
www.mvagustaimports.com.au
All MV Agusta prices are ride-away. Road F3 675 ........................................ Sweet.........................................$18,490ra F3 800 ........................................ Track performance ...................$20,490ra F3 800 Ago ................................ Giacomo’s replica ....................$32,990ra Brutale 675 EAS ....................... Bit of oomph at a good price .$15,990ra Brutale 800 EAS ....................... More power ..............................$17,490ra Brutale 800 Dragster ............... Nanananana Batman! .............$20,490ra Rivale 800 ................................. Rivals the best urban motard.$19,990ra Brutale 1090 .............................. More charm ..............................$17,990ra Brutale R 1090 .......................... Raw, yet refined .......................$18,490ra Brutale RR 1090 ........................ Unleash the brute within ........$21,490ra Brutale 1090 Corsa................... Top jock .....................................$28,990ra F4 1000 ...................................... Beauty and the beast within...$22,490ra F4 1000 RR ................................ Exotic weapon ..........................$31,990ra
PGO
www.motorsportimporters.com.au
Scooter Ligero 50 ........................................................................................$1990+orc Ligero 150 ................................. Good, small package ...............$3290+orc X-Hot ......................................... It’s a hottie .................................$3990+orc Gmax ......................................... Go to the max...........................$4700+orc
PIAGGIO
www.piaggio.com.au
Scooter Typhoon 125 ............................. Blow you away.........................$2990+orc Fly 150ie .................................... Buzz around the city ................$3090+orc Liberty 150ie ............................. Big wheel freedom ..................$3690+orc Beverly 350 ............................... Higher performance ................$7990+orc Yourban 300 ............................. Leaning three-wheeler ............$9990+orc X10 500 ..................................... Big features...............................$11,990+orc
ROYAL ENFIELD
www.royalenfieldaustralia.com
Road B5 Bullet 500 ............................ Fire your guns ..........................$6995+orc
AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 135
G5 Deluxe ................................. She’s deluxe..............................$7445+orc C5 Classic/Military ................... Individual style .........................$7995+orc C5 Chrome ................................ Lots of eye candy .....................$8495+orc
SUZUKI
www.suzukimotorcycles.com.au
Road Inazuma 250 ............................. Let your inner zoomer out ......$4990+orc TU250XL3 ................................. Retro learner .............................$5990+orc DR-Z400SM .............................. Everyday motard .....................$8990+orc SFV650/LAMS .......................... Commuting and fun duties ....$10,490+orc GSX650F/LAMS ....................... Silky smooth ............................$10,490+orc GSX-R600 ................................. Angry bee .................................$14,990+orc GSR750 ..................................... Cracker of a motorcycle ..........$12,490+orc GSX-R750 ................................. The legend continues..............$15,990+orc GSX-R1000 ............................... Even lighter and faster ............$18,490+orc GSF1250S Bandit ABS ............ Long-distance ease..................$12,990+orc GSX1250FA .............................. A little bit of everything...........$14,990+orc GSX1300R Hayabusa .............. Soar like an eagle ....................$19,290+orc Cruiser VL250 Intruder.......................... Bang that drum ........................$6690+orc VL800 C50 ................................. Traditional ................................$10,990+orc VL800 C50T............................... All-new class ............................$12,990+orc VZ800 M50................................ Neat bobber..............................$10,990+orc VL1500 C90T............................. Bad boy .....................................$17,490+orc VLR1800 C109R ........................ Classic looks .............................$18,690+orc VLR1800T C109RT.................... Now as a tourer .......................$18,990+orc VZR1800 M109R....................... Beaut and brutal ......................$18,990+orc VZR1800 M109R....................... Black edition .............................$19,490+orc VZR1800Z M109RZ ................. Monster energy........................$19,490+orc VZR1800Z14.............................. Special edition..........................$19,490+orc Adv Touring DL650 V-Strom/LAMS ............. Deservedly a big seller ............$11,290+orc DL1000 V-Strom ....................... Powerfully competent .............$15,490+orc Scooter AN400A Burgman ABS ........... A stylish maxi ...........................$10,090+orc AN650A Burgman ABS ........... Overhauled ...............................$13,590+orc
SYM
www.scoota.com.au
Scooter Classic 150 ................................ Noble ride .................................$2799+orc VS 150 ....................................... Branch away .............................$3199+orc Symphony 150 ......................... Sporty big wheeler ..................$2999+orc HD Evo 200 ............................... Whacko! ....................................$4599+orc Firenze 300................................ Full of features..........................$5999+orc MaxSym 400i ........................... Ride-away price........................$7999ra
TGB
Speed Triple ABS...................... It’s a gem ...................................$16,990+orc Speed Triple R ABS .................. Sex on wheels .........................$19,990+orc Sprint GT................................... All world capabilities ...............$15,990+orc Trophy SE.................................. Superb tourer ...........................$27,490+orc Cruiser America .................................... Easy urban rider.......................$13,090ra Speed Master ........................... All round goodness .................$13,090+orc Thunderbird ABS ..................... Aptly named flyer ....................$19,490+orc Thunderbird Storm ABS ......... Thunderous ..............................$20,990+orc Thunderbird ABS TT ................ Brand New ................................$19,990+orc Thunderbird ABS HAZE .......... Shiny and new ........................$21,990+orc Thunderbird Commander ...... 2014’s tough new T-bird ...........$22,490+orc Thunderbird LT......................... T-bird goes touring ..................$23,490+orc Rocket III Roadster ABS...What’s not to love about 2300cc? ...$21,490+orc Rocket III Touring ABS.............. Reasonably easy to ride..........$23,990+orc Adv Touring Tiger 800 ABS .......................... ABS option ...............................$13,890+orc Tiger 800XC ABS ..................... Bash it hardcore .......................$15,990+orc Tiger 800XC SE ........................ Special Edition .........................$16,990+orc Tiger Sport ABS ....................... More growl for the road .........$15,990+orc Tiger Explorer 1200 ................. True adventure-tourer .............$20,490+orc Tiger Explorer Wire Wheels .... The tougher version ................$20,990+orc
ACE CAFE TRIUMPHS England’s iconic Ace Cafe, the traditional home of rockers and cafe racers, has received a fitting tribute from Triumph, which has produced a special Thruxton model named after the great venue. The Thruxton Ace comes in special colours, has an Oxblood custom-style seat with hump, sports bar-end mirrors and is identified with a special plaque on the handlebars. Underneath it’s a standard Thruxton, the sportiest of Hinckley’s Bonnevilles and a very sweet handler backed by the entertainingly oldfashioned yet modern parallel-twin engine. The Ace was revealed during this year’s annual Brighton Burn Up festival, which attracted 25,000 enthusiasts.
www.tgbscooters.com.au
Scooter Bellavita 125 ............................. Very chic ....................................$3990+orc X-Race 150 ................................ You’ll need knee sliders ..........$2590+orc Bullet 150 .................................. Small-calibre projectile ...........$3390+orc Xmotion 300 ............................. Smooth mover .........................$4990+orc Bellavita 300i ............................ Very chic, and bigger ...............$5490+orc
TORINO
www.torinomotorcycles.com.au
Torino ride-away prices are mostly Sydney-based and may vary elsewhere. Cruiser Veloce 250 ................................. American styled .......................$4695ra Titan 250 ................................... Chop chop.................................$TBA Scooter Galetta Retro............................. Plenty of features .....................$2195ra Aero Sport ................................ Cut the wind .............................$2195ra Famosa ..................................... City chic .....................................$2395ra Messina Classic........................ New retro (Vespa) beauty .......$3495ra
TRIUMPH
www.triumphmotorcycles.com.au
Road Street Triple 660 LAMS ............ Learner-legal thrills ..................$12,490+orc Street Triple 675 ABS ............... Streets ahead ...........................$12,990+orc Street Triple 675 R ABS............ Even further ahead ..................$13,990+orc Daytona 675 ABS ..................... Supersport gem .......................$14,990+orc Daytona 675R ABS................... Track day heaven .....................$16,990+orc Bonneville ................................. Tradition reborn .......................$11,990+orc Bonneville ................................. Two tone ...................................$12,490+orc Bonneville T100 Black .............. Livin’ in the ’70s .......................$12,490+orc Bonneville T100 A2................... Nostalgia rules .........................$13,990+orc Bonneville T100 SE .................. Special Edition .........................$14,990+orc Scrambler ................................. Dirt track racer ..........................$13,990+orc Thruxton ................................... To the café! ...............................$13,990+orc 136 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER
URAL
www.imz-ural.com.au
Road T ................................................. Cult status outfit .......................$18,500+orc Adv Touring Tourist........................................ WWII replica .............................$20,400+orc Bondi Tourist ............................. Beach to bush tourer ...............$20,400+orc Ranger ....................................... Even tougher ............................$21,600+orc Bondi Ranger............................ New 2014 model ......................$21,600+orc
VESPA
www.vespa.com.au
Scooter Primavera LX125 3-Valve ........ For the designer in you ...........$5290+orc Primavera LX150 3-Valve ........ With a bit more oomph...........$5990+orc Sprint 150ie............................... Sporty looks..............................$6290+orc GTS150ie 3V ............................. Practical .....................................$6690+orc GTS250ie................................... Style in a great package ..........$7390+orc
PRICE GUIDE GTS300 Super .......................... Vroom vroom ...........................$8390+orc GTS300 Super Sport ............... Sportier style ............................$8690+orc GTV300ie .................................. Powerful Italian ........................$8990+orc PX150 ........................................ The purist’s ride........................$6490+orc Vespa 946 .................................. History in the making ..............$11,990+orc
VESPA’S NEW 150 DUO Vespa released two new models in September. For its capacity, the GTS150 Super 3V sports larger proportions with more leg room, but Vespa says the engine has the grunt to do the job. It’s available now for $6690+orc. You can also check out the new Sprint 150ie (pictured). Taking inspiration from the iconic 946, this model has a sporty look with plenty of new features. You can pick one up for $6290+orc.
VICTORY
www.victorymotorcycles.com.au
All Victory prices are ride-away. Cruiser Vegas 8 Ball .............................. Sink the 8-ball...........................$19,995ra High-Ball ................................... Ol’ skool cool ............................$19,495ra Hammer 8 Ball ......................... Hammer that 8-ball..................$20,995ra Judge......................................... A younger Victory ....................$20,995ra Gunner ...................................... Very cool bobber......................$19,995ra Hammer S................................. Hammer it! ...............................$22,995ra Hammer LE............................... New limited edition .................$23,495ra Jackpot ...................................... Showroom custom..................$23,995ra Boardwalk Black ....................... Cool classic in black .................$22,495ra Boardwalk Two Tone ................ Cool classic in black and red ..$22,995ra Cross Roads Classic ................ Chromed-up cool .....................$24,995ra Cross Country ......................... Comfortable touring ................$26,495ra Cross Country Tour .................. Ultra-comfortable touring.......$28,495ra Ness Cross Country ................. It’s got attitude ..........................$29,995ra Magnum ................................... Cross Country bling.................$29,995ra Vision Tour................................. Space age looks .......................$30,495ra
VIPER
MT-03 ......................................... Torquey LAMS single ..............$9999+orc MT-07 ......................................... Learner legal thriller ................$8999+orc FZ8N .......................................... Hot all-rounder .........................$12,990+orc FZ8S........................................... Enjoy the road and corners ....$13,990+orc MT-09 ......................................... Three-cylinder thriller ..............$10,999+orc MT-09 Street Rally .................... Limited stock ............................$12,999+orc TDM900..................................... Mixed-up marvel......................$13,599+orc FZ1N .......................................... Ready for anything ..................$15,699+orc FZ1S........................................... With protection ........................$16,499+orc YZF-R1 ....................................... Gimme traction ........................$19,999+orc XJR1300 .................................... Refined cool..............................$13,999+orc FJR1300A Touring Edition ....... Police-spec tourer ....................$23,999+orc FJR1300A .................................. Sophisticated, sporty tourer ...$24,999+orc FJR1300E ................................... Electronic suspension .............$26,999+orc Cruiser XV250 Virago ............................ Great small package ................$6499+orc XVS650 Custom ....................... Popular custom ........................$10,499+orc XVS650A Classic...................... And as a classic ........................$10,990+orc XVS950A ................................... Mighty mid-ranger ..................$13,999+orc XVS950CU Bolt ........................ A younger, hipper cruiser .......$11,999+orc XVS950CUSP Bolt ................... R-Spec with better shocks ......$12,499+orc XVS1300A................................. The pick of the bunch ..............$15,999+orc XVS1300AT Tourer ................... With more features..................$18,299+orc XVS1300 Stryker...................... Mean looking chopper ............$14,999+orc XVS1300 Stryker Special ........ Matte Grey ................................$15,299+orc XV1900A Roadliner ................. Art Deco piece ..........................$21,499+orc XV1900AT Star Tourer ............. Art with flair ..............................$24,099+orc VMAX ........................................ Big, angry animal.....................$31,299+orc Adv Touring XT250R ...................................... New fuel-injected model.........$6299+orc XT660R ...................................... Seamlessly good .....................$11,499+orc XT660Z Ténéré .......................... Freedom machine ....................$13,999ra XT1200Z Super Ténéré ............ Leisurely rider...........................$19,990ra XT1200ZOE Super Ténéré ....... Outback edition ........................$21,890+orc Scooter XC125 Vity ................................. Your new friend........................$2699+orc YW125 ....................................... BW’s ...........................................$3399+orc YP400 Majesty ......................... Fit for royalty ............................$9499+orc TMAX 530 ................................. Tougher, sportier, now ABS....$13,499+orc
YAMAHA MT-07 Yamaha’s new 655cc parallel-twin MT-07 is learner-legal, adding another genuinely exciting entry-level bike to the market beside Triumph’s inspired 660 Street Triple. Yamaha specified the Aussie version for the LAMS market, but says the latest MT model will suit both experienced and new riders. The lightweight model features 58Nm and has, as you’d expect these days, a 270-degree crank layout for better primary balance and character. At $8999+orc, we can see this one doing very well for Yamaha down under, making it a great follow-up to the sales success of the MT-09 triple.
www.urbanmotoimports.com.au
Cruiser Black Diamond ......................... 2500cc of raw grunt.................$54,990+orc Diamondback ........................... Cruising superpower...............$54,990+orc
YAMAHA
www.yamaha-motor.com.au
Road YZF-R15 V2.0 ............................. New version 2.0 .......................$4299+orc SR400 ........................................ The classic single is back!.......$8999+orc XJ6NL........................................ New 2014 model ......................$9799ra XJ6NL SP .................................. White Edition ............................$9999ra FZ6R........................................... Full fairing, LAM model ..........$9999ra FZ6R SP ..................................... Special Edition .........................$10,499+orc YZF-R6 ....................................... WSS champ ..............................$15,999+orc
AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 137
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RAY DREA
FILLING BIG SHOES Meet the new Willie G at Harley ith his goatee, tinted rectangular glasses and wavy grey hair, Ray Drea certainly looks the part as Harley-Davidson’s chief stylist, replacing Willie G Davidson. But he’s still a long way short of Willie G’s personal traits and Ray agrees he’s never going to fill the legendary designer’s shoes. Willie G retired in 2012 as chief stylist, though he still consults, retains an office at Harley HQ in Milwaukee and designs various logos. However, he isn’t involved in bike design. “I have some big shoes to fill,” Ray says. “He was one of a kind. I believe he built a strong design team and is confident he has le it in good hands. Half the design staff have been there more than 10 years.” Ray has known Willie G since he went to high school with his son. “I entered a Sportster tank I’d painted in a school art show. Willie saw it and gave his card to his son and asked him to pass it on to me, and asked me to get in touch,” he says. The rest is history, as they say. Ray says he is currently working on
W
2017/18 bikes and credits his greatest accomplishment as “always the next bike”. He points to the Project LiveWire electric bike as “considerations in style” for the future. “We’re trying different things. It’s just a learning experience at the moment.” Speaking at the launch of the 2015
“It’s important to not just follow a trend without also making sure the bike handles well” models at the world press launch in Northern California, Ray says he was tempted by the current custom bagger trend to put a bigger front wheel on the reintroduced Road Glide model, but thought be er of it. Meanwhile, Victory has jumped on the bandwagon with its Magnum, sporting a reasonably sensible 21in front wheel. Ray believes the trend
■ Ray Drea now heads Harley’s styling department and says the LiveWire’s looks are pointing to future fashions
for ridiculous sizes, such as 24in and 30in, will pass and custom baggers will become more rideable. “When something first comes out, it can be a bit extreme and it takes a bit of time for people to se le down,” he says. “It’s important to not just follow a trend without also making sure the bike handles well.” He says the custom bagger trend will continue to be popular and become refined, a racting a younger demographic who want a styling statement as well as something that is practical with its luggage capacity. Ray also believes the custom bagger trend of fi ing powerful sound systems will continue and he notes that the new models have the new Boom Box 6.5 system and the CVO models come with 12 speakers, including pannier-lid speakers. “Look around and everyone has wires in their ears,” remarks Ray. “They want music wherever they go. Bike audio systems will become more advanced with intelligent infotainment systems.” — MARK HINCHLIFFE
■ Retired guru: Willi G Davidson
AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 145
LAST LOOK We’ve just come back from the launch of the 2015-model Harleys, which was interesting for a number of reasons — not least of which was the presence of the Chinese motorcycle media. While we’re here talking about the arrival of China’s motorcycles, we’ve not given much thought to the country’s domestic motorcycle culture. Not only is the People’s Republic importing a tiny but increasing number of big bikes, they’re coming to the West to ride them and write about them for the aspirational riders of a growing middle class. The world is an ever-changing and unpredictable place, isn’t it? Frankly, we can’t wait until it’s as easy as it should be to go motorcycle touring in China. Right now, the red (pardon the pun) tape is way too difficult.
Pardon? You have to speak up? What’s that you say? Next issue? Oh, heaps of good stuff, including a must-read feature on the health of your hearing as a motorcyclist. Our half-deaf editor has learned some hard lessons and belatedly done the research so that you, we hope, won’t be wounded by wind noise over many years of happy riding. On top of that, we’ll have: • Hits and misses: the good, bad and ugly of motorcycling’s history • Harley’s reintroduced Road Glide, arguably America’s best tourer • Can-Am’s new threecylinder Spyder, a very impressive bit of kit • Yamaha’s radically styled Stryker, as close as you’ll get to a factory chopper • Triumph’s 660cc LAMS-legal Street Triple • Rides on NSW back roads, out to Rockhampton and into the Flinders Ranges And plenty more. See you next month for another dose of Australian Road Rider.
146 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER
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