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APRIL 2016
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WELCOME
April 2016
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IN this edition of Cycle Torque we have possibly the world-first test of the HarleyDavidson CVO Pro Street Breakout, Harley’s straight-line Screamin’ Eagle-powered Softail performance cruiser. The fit and finish of this motorcycle is out of this world but the $42K question is does it live up to the hype? You bet it does. Make sure you check out the video, too. Pickett tasted some of Triumph’s newest flavours at the press launch of the Street Twin, part of the new Bonneville range for 2016. He professes to be the furthest thing away from being a hipster but there is no denying these bikes have custom cool in spades and the torque to match. We also test the Yamaha WR250R with more aftermarket adventure accessories than you can poke a stick at - hell, you could poke a whole rainforest at it. The WR250R is the little engine that would and with the accessories the bike will take you anywhere.
EMAIL US YOUR FEEDBACK
Kawasaki recently launched its 2016 agricultural lineup of Mule side-by-sides, Brute Force quads and the Stockman 250 ag bike. From everyone to primary producers to hobby farmers, the range has a solution for just about any application. We got a great bunch of responses from Kate’s letter last month, too much to fit in the print edition, make sure you check out the letters to read the full range of opinions. The point is we love hearing your feedback. If you enjoyed a test, let us know. Is something grinding your gears? We’d love to hear about it too. Send them to feedback@cycletorque. com.au There’s also great columns, products, news and more.
WWW. NEWSLETTER
If you have any problems with the App, suggestions, bouquets or brickbats, send them to feedback@cycletorque.com.au and we’d really appreciate it if you tell your friends about Cycle Torque and leave a review and five-star rating on iTunes. – Ryan Grubb, Digital Editor
TAP ICONS TO EXPLORE
CONTENTS
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Ridden
29 TEST
YAMAHA WR250R IN ADVENTURE BIKE TRIM
37 LAUNCH
TRIUMPH STREET TWIN
Features 76
BOOK SHOP
66 CUSTOM
TORQUE
48 TEST
HARLEY-DAVIDSON CVO PRO STREET BREAKOUT
62 LAUNCH
KAWASAKI AGRICULTURAL MODELS
Regulars 5
NEWS TORQUE
27
GUNTRIP
20
SMALL TORQUE
70
BIKE STUFF
23
EDITORIAL
73
USED & REVIEWED
24
DIRTY TORQUE
79
TORQUE BACK - LETTERS
26
RACE TORQUE
83
MARKET TORQUE
On the cover: Breakout by Paterson, WR by Dyer
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MEAN STREETS The Victory Gunner has the striking throwback styling riders want, with the ride and handling that comes standard in a Victory cruiser. This bobber features factory custom Suede Titanium paint, white-letter high-profile tyres, blacked out slash-cut exhausts, black beach bars, 24-spoke cast wheels and a low 635mm solo seat. Powered by the Victory Freedom V-Twin 1731cc engine and 6 speed overdrive transmission.
VictoryMotorcycles.com.au | P: 1300 721 360 | * Overseas models shown. ^Facebook速 is a registered trademark of Facebook, Inc.
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New Yamahas arriving MANY OF the hot new Yamaha machines for 2016 are arriving into dealers in the next few months, and we can’t wait to throw a leg over them.
MT-10
MT-03
The biggest and baddest naked, the MT-10, is coming in May. With an engine lifted from the YZF-R1, a short wheelbase for snappy steering and sporty handling, traction control, slipper clutch, ABS and lots of fancy electronics, the MT-10 looks like it will live up to its Transformers-inspired aggressive styling. Before the MT-10 though, we will have the XSR900, an MT-09 machine straight from the hipster playbook. With its upright riding position, ‘neo-retro’ good looks and a huge range of genuine accessories, the XSR should be a big hit. It’s little brother, the LAMsapproved XSR700, will be available in May. Also for the LAMS set is the MT-03, which will be arriving in dealers as this issue of Cycle Torque goes to press. The new MT-03 is based around the popular R3, using a twincylinder 321cc motor, modern sporty styling and an upright riding position. n
XSR900
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Rapid joins Cycle Torque We provide a one- stop shop for all your motorcycle, and ATV needs. Have a browse through our We provide amule onestop shop for all your motorcycle, Virtual Used Bikes Showroom, which displays a cross mule, ATV & jetsection ski needs. Have a browse our of our stock - approx 160 bikesthrough on the floor. We proudly and professionally later model Virtual Used Bikes Showroom, whichservice displays a cross bikes in our onsite service facilities. All types of service section of our stock including - approx 160 bikes on athe floor. is covered fitting tyres. We carry full range of accessories and spare parts. We also have a loan See our professional team of bike service to keep you mobile. technicians for all your service • 9 Buckingham Dr Wangara - p 08 9409 2330 needs. We carry a -full range • 237 Great Eastern Highway Midland 08 p 9250 2522 of accessories, tyres and We. also w w w . m a c spare k 1 . parts. c o m a u have a loan bike service to keep you mobile.
TWO LARGE STORE LOCATIONS • 9 Buckingham Dr Wangara - p 08 9409 2330 • 237 Great Eastern Highway Midland - p 08 9250 2522
w w w. m a c k 1 . c o m . a u
MRB 2253
D/L 19719
AUSTRALIA’S best performance motorcycle magazine, Rapid Bikes, is to be edited by former Cycle Torque editor Chris Pickett, with the magazine being managed and produced by Motorcycle Publishing. With Jeff Ware moving on to new projects, the magazine’s owner, Universal Magazines, were looking for the best way to continue Rapid Bikes without its well-known editor and founder – and found Picko. Pickett has a long history of riding, building, maintaining and bending high performance and racing machinery, so he’s going to slip into the editor’s role really well. “I’m really looking forward to the challenge of producing the best performance bike mag in the country,” Pickett said. “After more than a decade I was tired of the monthly deadlines at Cycle Torque - there never seemed to be time to get anything done. At Rapid Bikes, which is produced every two months, we plan to feature the best bike builds while also testing performance bikes to their limit.” Chris’ son Alex, who is in the UK preparing for his third Isle of Man TT, will also be testing bikes for Rapid Bikes. n
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Ride in aid of Trans-Help Foundation. OVER 100 riders supported the 2016 Trans-Help Foundation Ride on February 27. Organiser, Bruce Dodds said, “It’s our third year with the community of like minded riders giving their support.
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INSPIRING ORIGINALS SINCE 1959.
“We hope it will become a national awareness weekend.” Tex and Bundy also lent their support, with a delighted crowd farewell, the run with the ‘Dog on the bike’ took lead position. “We are happy to help such a worthy cause,” Tex said. Many riders came from interstate or far Northern N.S.W. some saying they enjoyed riding to-and-from the ride as much as the final event on the day. Many truck drivers use motorcycling as a means of stress relief, and riders being a social bunch soon got together to enjoy the run. Starting in Lake Albert, near Wagga Wagga, the route took in the Truckies Memorial at Tarcutta, then wound its way through the Snowy Mountains, via Adelong and Tumut, before heading into the back hills around Junee then back to Wagga Wagga for a total distance of about 300 kilometres. The Trans-Help Foundation was formed to assist and support transport personnel suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and families during times of crisis arising from fatalities. “We want everyone to know about us and never need us, rather than one day, need us and not know about us,” Mr Dodds said. The service offers preventative health measures, using three mobile vans that provide testing for blood pressure and diabetes. Conditions like depression, fatigue, sleep apnoea, and obesity are over represented in the industry and the service also includes support for drivers suffering from them. Wagga Wagga has one of the highest suicide rates in Australia and transport workers are, again, over represented. Trans-Help Foundation offers advice services dealing with representation to insurers, superannuation, counselling, funerals, and grief management. The organisation is privately funded through events like the ride, and a number of major sponsors including B.P., Iveco, and Royans Wagga Wagga. Diane Carroll is the Chief Executive of Trans-Help, she started the organisation after seeing grieving families at a truckie funeral. Carroll lacked support when she lost her husband to a road fatality and decided to make a difference by creating the Trans-Help Foundation. There is an ‘online roadhouse’ for affected drivers to talk, and the 1300 787 996 number as well. “the support is there now.” said Diane. “We’re always, happy to help.” she said. With a fair day, a wonderful turnout and an excellent ride, good work was achieved and everyone had fun doing it. Special thanks to Bruce Dodds and Lesly Court for providing accommodation, food, drink, and great company. Roll on next year! n
IN STORE NOW. CONTACT US TODAY TO TEST RIDE. 262 Keira St, Wollongong (02) 4228 7392 dean@citycoastmotorcycles.com.au www.citycoastmotorcycles.com.au
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Expect carnage – MotoGP 2016 Lorenzo
JORGE Lorenzo (Yamaha) has continued his winning ways in MotoGP, taking victory in the opening round of the MotoGP championship with a strong win. The race itself was good for the first three laps, fairly processional for the middle of the race before it tightened up and got very interesting at the end, but for the podium rather than the win - Lorenzo was simply too strong. Qatar was the opening salvo in what will be a tough, fast and dangerous year for those at the pointy end. While there’s never been much love lost between competitors at the top end of motorcycle racing, the bitterness and rivalry between MotoGP’s top riders is at an all-time high, with Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) hating each other despite riding for the same team, while Honda’s Marc Marquez, who grew up idolising Rossi, now despises the man. Indeed, it was no surprise to see Marquez stuffing it up the inside of Rossi during the Qatar event, with the Italian unable to pay back the compliment. Rossi, who to many is the Greatest of All Time (GOAT), played mind games with his competitors for years, messing in the brains of otherwise great riders like Sete Gibernau, Loris Capirossi, Tady Okada and Alex Criville. But with the rise of The Aliens (a phrase coined by double Superbike World Champ Colin Edwards, who couldn’t win a single GP despite many years of trying) his head-space techniques weren’t as successful – these youngsters have grown into men watching and learning how The Doctor won races, and they are often beating him at his own game.
Rossi
For years many have believed Rossi is past it: too old to move his world championship tally into double figures – it’s been stuck at nine since 2009, Continued on next page
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although he’s signed on with Yamaha until 2017, so he’s still got time.
Pedrosa
But in 2015 he almost achieved that tenth title, blowing his best chance this decade to take a title – and it was mind games which cost him. As the season wound down toward a thrilling climax, Rossi vented his frustration in press conferences and on the track, resulting in anger from his competitors and on-track collisions. While few would lay blame entirely on any single rider, there’s little doubt Rossi, who, as the elder statesman of MotoGP (he’s been involved in GP racing as a rider since the mid 1990s, but the guy basically grew up in Grand Prix paddocks) he should have known better. Rossi had accumulated enough penalty points to be sent to the back of the grid for the final race, a system dumped for 2016 – this year the accumulation of 10 points will result in the disqualification from an event. Starting that final race of the year from the back of the grid meant he couldn’t run with the leaders and lost the championship battle to Lorenzo. Also new for 2016 is a panel of stewards who will review any incident of ‘nondisputable fact’ such as dangerous riding before penalties are handed out. Rossi has sworn vengeance against Marquez, who he believes cost him the 2015 title – and was certainly the man he tangled with to suffer the back-of-the-grid penalty. Lorenzo is trying to stay cool and simply be there to win races and with one down and 17 to go it’s looking good. The grid will be littered with former winners – Rossi with nine titles, Lorenzo five, Marquez four and Dani Pedrosa with three, and here’s a safe bet – Tito Rabat will win the MotoGP Rookie of the Year Award. It shouldn’t be hard for him, he’s the only one. Of the field, nine are Spaniards – but don’t you dare suggest Dorna has anything to do with that. And never mind the competitors, the 2016 champion will have to rise above the technical changes for the new season, which include a different brand of tyres (Michelin) and a resurgent Suzuki.
Continued on next page
Marquez
NEWS TORQUE Maverick Viñales and Aleix Espargaro are Suzuki’s team for 2016, with Viñales putting the new bike on the front row, but he couldn’t recover from a poor start. More likely to trouble the scorers are Ducati’s Andreas, Dovisioso and Iannone. At Qatar, like in 2015, Dovisioso finished second, but it’s a track which suits the bike and its extra horsepower over the rest of the field. Iannone is the more exciting rider and the one who really looks like he could match the front runners, but he crashed out, losing the front end, a fate all to often suffered by the Italian.
Ignitions, tyres and more The three dominant manufacturers in MotoGP (Honda, Yamaha, Ducati) have worked with Magneti Marelli to produce unified software and if the three unanimously request changes, Magneti Marelli is obliged to make them. The confusing ‘Open’ and ‘Prototype’ classes have been abolished, although the manufacturers with less success – Suzuki and Aprilia – still have a few concessions. Fuel capacity, tyre allocations and electronics are the same across the board, but Suzuki and Aprilia have nine engines instead of seven and are unrestricted in engine development and private tests, where Yamaha, Honda and Ducati must freeze engine development and are only allowed five days of private testing. Talking of tyres, Michelin is the provider, replacing Bridgestone, with 10 fronts and 12 rears available to all riders across each race weekend. Wheel sizes are now 17-inch, up from 16.5, and there will be intermediates and wet weather tyres available too.
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The bikes All the MotoGP bikes for 2016 now feature seamless gearboxes, a system which effectively engages the next gear – up or down – before disengaging the previous one, resulting in smoother, faster gearchanges. Powering the beasts are V-Fours in the Aprilia, Ducati and Honda, while Yamaha and Suzuki run inline fours.
Who’s gonna win? Lorenzo. Maybe, well, unless Marquez finds the form he had a couple of years back. Unless Rossi decides he really, really wants that tenth title, or Pedrosa clicks with the new bike and stops being bridesmaid. So we really don’t know, but if you’re picking anyone else, get good odds. Here at Cycle Torque we’re picking the dominant pre-season rider, Lorenzo, but we’re usually wrong. We’ve waited right to the end of the story to mention Jack Miller, our headstrong Aussie talent who came oh-so-close to the 2014 Moto3 title. Jack’s on a decent Honda this year, but has struggled in pre-season testing (including breaking his leg in a motocross accident), so it looks like another tough year – but he’s only 21-years-old, so there’s plenty of time to learn what it takes to be a winner in one of the toughest individual sports there is. n
Jack Miller
NEWS TORQUE
Yamaha of Canberra YAMAHA’S latest Dealership has opened its new showroom doors in the Australian Capital.
With over 1900 square metres of showroom and service area, Yamaha of Canberra offers a comprehensive range of Yamaha road, off road, ATVs, ROVs and scooters. The store is one of a select number of Yamaha’s specialist Sport and Recreation dealers and have the recently released YXZ1000R among other new release models including the 2016 WR450F and the high output MT-07 HO. There is also an extensive range of demonstrator models for test rides. Yamaha of Canberra is open Monday to Saturday and is located at 38 Collie Street Fyshwick.
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HILLS MOTORCYCLE WRECKERS WRECKING JAPANESE AND EUROPEAN BIKES OLD AND NEW MODELS
n Unwanted bikes pickup n Best service
n We buy bikes for cash in any condition
n Blue slip done on premises by appointment.
Yamaha of Canberra offers an extensive array of genuine parts, tyres, accessories, apparel and expert factory trained workshop technicians.
1/47 Prince William Drive, Seven Hills NSW 2147
An experienced team with local knowledge is committed to providing exceptional service to the ACT and surrounding riding community.
Phone : 0296743844 • Mobile : 0428223385 • Fax : 0296743822
The staff are passionate riders of varying experience from commuters, racers and bush bashers can relate to all levels of riders. Yamaha Motor Finance and Insurance options are also available to customers. Contact them on 02 6282 2444 or email sales@yamahaofcanberra.com.au n
• Email : enquiries@hillsmotorcyclewreckers.com.au
www.hillsmotorcyclewreckers.com.au ABN 71 523 226 982 Dealers Licence NO MD 16001
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Repair Kit Explodes A Cycle Torque reader has contacted Cycle Torque to warn riders of the potential dangers of CO2 cartridges being stored in a car. Mick, from the NSW Central Coast, purchased a Torque Motocross Tyre Repair Kit from Aldi and threw it in the rear side pocket of his car. Months later, while parked at a shopping centre it exploded, destroying the kit (four of the five cylinders exploded, although it’s believed the energy from one failing probably caused the others to go). Mick has told Cycle Torque there was nothing on the outside of the packaging to indicate the kit shouldn’t be stored in a car; however, when he contacted Aldi he was told the instructions specifically say they shouldn’t be stored anywhere above 50 degrees. Mick contacted Aldi regarding the damage and was told they wouldn’t bear any responsibility, because the instructions inside the box specifically say the kit shouldn’t be stored in a hot place such as a car – but Mick hadn’t read the instructions because he hadn’t even opened the box. Doing some research on the subject reveals a few things: there are very few reported failures of CO2 cartridges, despite millions being sold every year: the safe storage temperature is around 50-degrees Celsius: the distributor of Twist-n-Go, Kenma Australia, has sold thousands of kits and replacement cartridges with no explosions. “I’ve never heard of cylinders letting go like that,” Peter Lucas from Kenma told Cycle Torque. “We’ve sold thousands of cylinders and no-one has ever come back to tell us one has exploded. However, ours are made in Europe, have the manufacturer’s name on them and a batch number so they can be traced if there is a problem. There are cheap CO2 cartridges available which don’t carry any indemnifying marks, so their quality is obviously unpredictable, but even so, we’ve never heard of any letting go inside a car.” Cycle Torque is unaware where the Aldi kit was made. From the way this incident unfolded, it looks like Mick inadvertently placed the kit right next to the metal skin of his car door, in a side pocket which would trap heat – maybe it would never have happened to the same kit sitting in a conventional boot, and it’s certainly unlikely to get that hot anywhere on a moving motorcycle, although if you have an underseat exhaust I’d stop storing CO2 cartridges anywhere near that.
Email us your feedback
The crew at Cycle Torque will continue to use Cargol Twist-n-Go kits: we believe this to be an isolated incident.
feedback@cycletorque.com.au
– Nigel Paterson
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ST Motor U D & P O cyc T K l AC
eS
Compass does Kyrgyzstan in 2017
BL
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Compass Expeditions has announced it will be offering motorcycle tours of the Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan in July, 2017. Mick McDonald, director of Compass Expeditions said the company is looking forward to making Kyrgyzstan a permanent feature on their tour schedule. “Kyrgyzstan has always been considered the jewel in the 105-day Road of Bones Expedition crown and it is a perfect destination to offer a shorter 14-day ride,” McDonald said.
Sales • Service • Spares
LES C Y C R O T O M LTY SERVICING A I C E P S A LD O S R A E Y 0 OVER 2
Qualified technicians with many years of service across “It’s such an amazing and diverse country that DIRECTLY seemingly has not INSPIRED AND DEVELOPED FROM THE CHAMPIONSHIP WINNING WORLD SUPERBIKES OF TOM SYKES AND all brands including BMW, Ducati, Harley-Davidson, changed in millennia.” JONATHAN REA, THE 2016 NINJA ZX-10R IS THE CLOSEST THING TO A FACTORY SUPERBIKE KAWASAKI HAVE PRODUCED YET. Honda, Triumph, Yamaha, Suzuki and many more. ENHANCED ENGINE DESIGN PUMPS OUT A HUGE 147.1 KW (200 PS) Starting and finishing in the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh the ride facilities and diagnostics for minor to major ADVANCED ‘BALANCE FREEModern FRONT FORK’ DEVELOPED FROM WORLD SUPERBIKE ascends immediately into the towering snowcapped mountains that HORIZONTAL BACK-LINK REAR SUSPENSIONservicing WITH NEW-SPEC SHOWArebuilds. BFRC LITE SHOCK and engine
covers the vast majority of the land, stopping en-route long since HYBRIDatPREDICTIVE/FEEDBACK SPORTS TRACTION CONTROL SYSTEM Kawasaki Launch Control Mode (KLCM) FOR THE ULTIMATE STANDING STARTS abandoned Silk Road Caravanserai’s, 5000mt passes, stunning alpine You can also book you motorcycle on line. www.blacktopanddust.com.au POWERFUL MULTI-SENSING INTELLIGENT ANTI-LOCK BRAKEforSYSTEM valleys, glaciers and high altitude crystal clear lakes. or email service@btdmc.com.au for spares@btdmc.com.au sales@btdmc.com.au
HIGH PERFORMANCE LIGHTWEIGHT TITANIUM HEADER PIPES AND SILENCER For Great Prices On New Motorcycle Sales, Service, Spare Parts ÖHLINS The accommodation is as varied as the ride with hotels,ELECTRONIC homestays STEERING DAMPER INCREASES STABILITY AT HIGH SPEEDS BOSCH IMU MEASURES 5 DEGREES OF FREEDOM PRECISE CHASSIS ORIENTATION and FOR Accessories check out our websiteAWARENESS or call
(in super remote regions), and wonderful yurt camps lakeside and in remote Jailoos (summer pastures).
Your Ninja... Your Kawasaki.
Often described as Central Asia’s Shangri-La, Kyrgyzstan is a rider’s paradise and as yet remains mostly undiscovered. You can check out what Compass Expeditions have to offer at http://www.compassexpeditions.com/ n
02-4721 4439
kawasakiaus www.kawasaki.com.au Trade-Ins Welcome • Spare Parts Trade Customers Welcome
139 Blaikie Road Jamisontown NSW 2750 (Near Penrith)
D/L#:MD056273
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Rea doubles the Island WORLD champion and honorary local, Brit Johnny Rea (Kawasaki), has won the opening two rounds of the Superbike World Championship at Phillip Island, the opening round of the year. Riding the new ZX-10R, Rea was always strong, although his team-mate Tom Sykes qualified on pole. “It’s incredible to get the double,” Rea said. “I want to thank all the local fans who came out and supported me. “The key to my race today was having fixed the bike to really allow me to fight with the other riders in the heavy braking areas. “It was impossible to pull away from the other riders, so I just set my own pace and stay composed.” Rea has scored double wins five times in 2015, but not at Phillip Island, where he celebrated each by stopping with fans on the cool-down lap after each race win. Could he be even stronger in 2016? WorldSBK Podium fun with Rea, Vander mark and Guigliano Michael van der Mark is second overall, scoring 36 points in Australia to Rea’s 50, giving Honda a good result from thee round, especially given former GP champ Nicky Hayden scored a fourth place finish in race 2 in his first weekend on a Superbike in ages. Rea rode consistently and smoothly to take his wins, unlike some of his competitors. Sykes led most of race two until running wide at the hairpin, and Chaz Davies crashed attempting an overtake on the last lap. Van der Mark said, “It’s an amazing way to start the season. I led the race for a couple of laps. On the last lap I wanted to attack Johnny but I made a small mistake.” Aussie Josh Brookes (BMW) scored ten ten results in both races in his first ride on the machine. n
WORLD SBK – Race 2 results – Phillip Island (round one) 1. Jonathan Rea (Nth Ireland) Kawasaki WIN 2. Michael Van der Mark (Netherlands) Honda 0.831 3. Davide Guigliano (Italy) Ducati 1.472 4. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda 1.511 5. Sylvain Guintoli (France) Yamaha 2.439 6. Tom Sykes (Britain) Kawasaki 3.320 7. Jordi Torres (Spain) BMW 13.744 8. Markus Reiterberger (Germany) BMW 15.084 9. Josh Brookes (Australia) BMW 15.106 10. Chaz davies (Britain) Ducati 16.276 Mike Jones (Australia wild card – Brisbane ) Ducati… crashed on turn 4, lap 12 Championship Point Score 1 Jonathan Rea (Nth Ireland ) 2. Michael Van Der Mark (Netherland) 3. Davide Guigliano (ItalY) 4. Chaz Davies (GBritain) 5. Sylvain Guintoli (France) 6. Tom Sykes (GBritain) 7. Nicky Hayden (USA) 8. Jordi Torres (Spain) 9. Josh Brookes (Australia) 10. Leon Camier (GBritain)
50 points 36 points 29 points 26 points 21 points 21 points 20 points 17 points 13 points 9 points
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The future of Zero at Procycles Procycles at Hornsby and St Peters now stock the full range of ZERO electric motorcycles. Demonstrator models will be available in both stores. Electric bikes like the Zero by their design boast great acceleration and torque figures from any rpm, nor does the technology require conventional transmission, vastly reducing mechanical service costs and fluid consumption. The bikes are expensive but Zero use quality components like Showa adjustable suspension, Bosch ABS brakes and they are also belt driven. Procycles Manager Vik Popovski is excited to stock the range, “Imagine the nimble handling and manoeuvrability of a 250 naked bike with the torque of a 1200 V-twin,” he said. “The power is predictable and the more you twist the throttle, the harder it accelerates, no matter how quick you’re going. There are no gears, no powerband, just instant, whooshing acceleration on tap.”
Zero bikes offer a city range of up to 317 kilometres with the optional Power Tank accessory. The 5-year Power Pack comes with a 400,000 kilometre warranty.
Popovski is also impressed by Zero technology, “You can control your riding modes through a Smartphone app that lets you set peak power, top speed, regenerative braking and ‘engine braking’ parameters through your phone.
Procycles will stock the SR and S Naked bike models, plus the DSR and DS Dual Sport bikes, the FX Stealth Fighter and FXS Super Moto.
“A display on the dash shows how much power you’re using when you’re on the throttle, and how much you’re putting back when you are on the brakes.”
For more information, check out www.procycles.com.au or ring the Hornsby store on (02) 9477 5422 or the St Peters store on (02) 9557 1610. n
It’s not where you’re going, It’s how you get there!
http://www.kenma.com.au/motorcycle_luggage.html
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Wild West scores podium finish in WSS ride EVERGREEN Aussie racer Ant West has lit up the opening round of the World Supersport Championship with an incredible ride, leading the race on numerous occasions despite starting from 12th on the grid. “The last few months has been difficult trying to find a ride, putting this team together at the last minute has been a big effort,” West said. “I’m just happy the result we had, you can’t expect more with a private team against all these high levels teams and riders, so it’s a great result. “This is exactly what we came here to do, beat these guys at a World level on a bike which shouldn’t even be here.” West has raced everything from 250cc two-stroke Grand Prix bikes to MotoGP found himself as a World Supersport wildcard at Phillip Island, and looks to have found himself a competitive bike (but we still don’t know if he will be able to keep the ride). Jacques Cluzel ran off at about half race distance and two corners later Kenan Sofuoglu took the lead diving into the hairpin under West, but later in the lap West took the lead back, but at the end of the straight the Turkish multiple world champion got it back again. Sofouglu was on almost unbackable odds after qualifying, but his poor start made it look at lot more open – but once he put a small gap on West he simply started to field behind. West was incredible into the hairpin, diving under the likes of Randy Krummenacher, until he took made a slight break.
WorldSSP Race Results 1.
Randy Krummenacher – Switzerland- Kawasaki
2.
Federico Caricasulo – Italian – Honda
2.747
3.
Anthony West – Australia – Yamaha
2.761
Then Sofogolu crashed out at Sibera with three laps to run, losing the back and careering into the hay bales.
4.
Christian Gamarino – Italian Kawasaki
2.917
The battle for second was then on for young and old. West struggled, but again charged through to second at the hairpin.
5.
Patrick Jacobsen – USA Honda
3.20
Other Australians
And they were doing all this with drops of rain on their visors. Not enough rain to really make a traction difference, it can certainly make a psychological difference.
West was second in the final corner, but was drafted to the line by Frederico Caricasulo to finish third. Krumanacher’s win was stunning, having switched from Moto2 for 2016 – his debut ride. Local Aussies Glenn Scott, Alex Phillis and Mitch Levy all used their wildcard rides to score world championship points. Krummenacher said after the race, “It’s very great to win, I never expected that and I didn’t expect it. Never expected Kenan (Sofogolu) to crash, then I just had to bring it home.” n
WIN
10. Aiden Wagner – Australia – MV Agusta
18.172
12. Glenn Scott – Australia (Central Coast)
18.334
14. Alex Phillis – Australia (Melb/Albury) Honda
38.311
15. Mitch Levy – Australia Yamaha
38.412
21. Lachlan Epis – Australia (Syd) Kawasaki
1 lap
AMERiCAN-MAdE
PERFORMANCE Dyna
Exhaust System:
• Designed and tuned for max torque and increased horsepower • Swept-up muffler for enhanced ground clearance • Carbon fiber end cap • Mandrel bent stainless steel tubing Moto National Accessories
• • • • •
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NEWS TORQUE
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When most people say “why?”, some say “why not”, and for this we can be truly grateful as the nutters at French engineering firm have bolted motorcycle bits onto a 4.7 litre Maserati V8, creating one of the weirdest, most ridiculous and outstanding machines we’ve seen for ages. With leaning four-wheel technology, hub-centre steering and rim-mounted discs there’s plenty of high tech to keep the 470 horsepower and 620 Nm of torque under control, but seriously we’re not convinced this thing has ever actually been ridden. More info at lazareth.fr if you’re interested. n
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• CRUISERS • TOURERS • SPORTS • LEARNER • CLASSICS • ENDURO • SIDECARS • TRIKES •
SMALL TORQUE
cycletorque.com.au APRIL 2016 I 20
125cc Zed Kawasaki has announced it will be introducing a superlight supernaked to its lineup by the middle of 2016. The Z125 PRO looks like it will be Kawasaki’s frugal roadster, perfectly suited to learners with its fuel-injected 125cc single-cylinder engine, sharp handling 12” wheels, conventional 805mm seat height and a feathering 102 kilogram curb weight and will go head to head with the Grom. The Z125 PRO is lighter, yet has more fuel capacity than its competitor, and on face value looks to be more stylish too. Kawasaki is unable to confirm the price of the Z125 PRO at this stage.
Crump inducted
NEW
STREET TWIN COMING SOON
EN NOW D E P O S IT S TA K
THREE-time World Speedway Champion Jason Crump has beeb inducted into the Australian Motorsport Hall of Fame by F1 legend Mark Webber on March 21. Crump is Australia’s most successful speedway rider, joining fellow two-wheeled compatriots Mick Doohan, Casey Stoner and Troy Bayliss. Speedway’s first ever world champion Lionel Van Praag and double world champ Jack Young were also inducted.
Victory Octane enters Guinness Book of World Records VICTORY stunt rider Joe Dryden has recently claimed a Guinness World Record by completing the world’s longest burnout in Orlando, USA. The burnout was completed on the new Victory Octane, smoking up seven laps of a small oval track - over three-and-a-half kilometres long. n
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SMALL TORQUE
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Gloucester Motorcycle Expo Held at Gloucester Showground from April 30th to March 1st. Tickets are $20 per adult, and kids under 16 are free. Camping at the showground is also free. The Heaven VMX Club is hosting a race meeting at the expo, there will also be a swap meet, trade displays, vintage bike displays, café, food, bar and bands. The event is in its eighth year and attracts over 1,000 riders to the city.
Grand opening celebration Andy Strapz is having a Grand Opening Sale to celebrate moving into a new location on Saturday, April 2nd. Now located at 1/95 Brunel Road, Seaford, Victoria, head to the new digs on Saturday, April 2nd between 10am and 1pm for a 10 per cent discount, plus there will be heaps of prizes and raffles to raise money for the Fijian Cyclone Appeal. Riders of all denominations are also welcome to come along for a morning of celebration including a ‘Concourse de RunWotYaBrung’, with prizes awarded for whatever Andy thinks is a cool bike. Every bike is entered by the simple fact that they turn up. Gems, droolers, rats, adventure or shitboxes of all kinds are encouraged. n
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EDITORIAL
Going the Distance I’M really, really glad I didn’t try to work out how far home it would be, for I wouldn’t have done it. 870km in a single day is that little bit crazy – not insane crazy like 1000 mile (1600km) crazy the likes of Auntie Mal Churlin likes to accomplish, but sore-arse, crickedneck, ‘why-are-we-doing-this crazy nonetheless. But we did it, did it easy, did it in under 12 hours. Even did a piece to camera and brief shoot while we were at it. Ryan had it toughest, riding the Cycle Torque Yamaha FZ6 hack bike. Ryan’s nearly two metres tall and over 100kg (yeah, he’s a little overweight, but not much) which is a lot of human to fold into a middleweight like the FZ6. Picko was doing it in relative luxury, leaving his misbehaving Moto Morini Corsaro at home and riding a mate’s Suzuki Bandit 1200, complete with Givi Boxes, while I rode a BMW R 1200 GS Adventure test bike. Then there was Dave, a mate of us all riding an aging Honda VFR750 – because he could. For the big ride back we were joined by everyone’s former adman John Arens, who was riding his Buell Ulysses with about three million kilometres on the clock. What had taken us two decent days in the saddle to complete on the way down we were doing in one to get home. Sure, we were on the Mexican side of the NSW/Vic border and we could have droned up
the freeway, but that would have been a great way to put me to sleep, so we sought out better roads and didn’t avoid small stretches of dirt – so it was twisty roads along the Murray, mountain roads to Tumut, a little bit of freeway toward Yass, rough bitumen north through to Bathurst, the great scratchers’ road through Sofala and on the Ilford then into Rylstone for the start of the Bylong Valley Way toward the Hunter Valley. By the time we hit Newcastle we’d ridden over 850km, although we’d left behind Picket and Dave, who were visiting a friend in Lithgow. None of the bikes had missed a beat. Sure, Picko got a flat on the way down, but that didn’t turn out to be a big deal (Ryan had packed a Cargol Twist-andGo tyre repair kit) and the excellent crew at Monaro Motorcycles and Power Pumps had a variety of tyres in stock to replace the rear boot of the Bandit (Picko had looked at the tyre before departure and thought, “Ah, she’ll be right”). 90 per cent of punctures happen in the last 10 per cent of tyre life, for a bunch of reasons, but this one was entirely down to Picko getting all worried about getting a flat when we hit gravel, so I’m putting down the escape of air from his tyre down to the psychology in his head. Flat tyres aren’t anything like the problem they once were. The vast majority of road bikes run tubeless tyres, which are not only far less prone to getting
cycletorque.com.au APRIL 2016 I 23
It was a long ride home from catching up with this group of scribblers - but it was worth it.
flats, they are viable to repair on the side of the road with kits like the Cargol Twist-n-Go. Indeed, Cycle Torque’s Youtube channel has recorded heaps more views of our video of Dennis demonstrating this kit than any of our other videos – nearly half a million people have watched Dennis playing with tools and rubber. (If he’s on Redtube playing with tools and rubber, it’s not something I want to watch.) The takeaway is, of course, planning – you don’t always have to travel with a repair kit, but it’s not a terrible idea to do so, and if you’re on tour with friends coordinate your emergency gear – repair kit, first aid kit, maybe tools. That way, problems like flats become and inconvenience rather than a time-sucking problem. – Nigel Paterson Email us your feedback feedback@cycletorque.com.au
DIRTY TORQUE
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A Stroke of Genius When KTM’s CEO Stefan Pierer purchased Husqvarna from BMW in 2013 it was seen by many as just another chapter in the iconic brand’s chequered history and eyebrows were raised even higher when the 2014 motocross and enduro Husky range were basically rebadged KTMs – well, here we are just a few years later and the way the marque is being marketed is being seen as a stroke of genius. Despite some road racing success back in the 1930s, Husqvarna really kicked off in 1960 when it started manufacturing and racing light weight two-stroke off-road motorcycles which won 12 World Motocross Championships and several AMA MX titles throughout the 1960s and 1970s with the likes of Kent Howerton, Mark Blackwell, Bill Nilsson, Rolf Tibblin, Torsten Hallman, Bengt Aberg, Heikki Mikkola and Hakan Carlqvist capturing victory and contributing to huge sales across the globe. The 1980s saw Husqvarna flounder in the wake of the success of the Japanese brands so it was no surprise when the company was sold to Italian motorcycle manufacturer Cagiva to become part of MV Agusta Motor in 1987 and it was during this time that the brand found success with its four-stroke TE and TC610 models. Husqvarna racked up 20 World Enduro Championships between 1990 to 2003 and Jacky Martens won the 1993 World 500cc Motocross World Championship while Alessio Chiodi took out two 125cc World Motocross Championships in 1998 and 1999 but despite all of this success the brand still struggled while being part of the MV Augusta group so Husqvarna motorcycles was purchased by BMW in 2007.
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Despite best intentions the brand continued to flounder on and
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off the track under BMW’s guidance and just as huge financial losses were being reported Pierer purchased Husqvarna for an undisclosed sum in 2013 and moved the manufacturing from Varese, Italy to the KTM plant in Austria.
There was an immediate change in the fortunes for Husqvarna by utilising the infrastructure at KTM. The worldwide dealer network was completely revised going into 2014 and with the backing of motocross and enduro race teams in all of the major championships the effect on sales of the new all white machines was a sensation. During the 2014-2016 AMA and FIM motocross, supercross and enduro championshps Husqvarna hired the likes of Jason Anderson, Martin Davalos, Christophe Pourcel, Zach Osbourne, Josh Strang, Andrew Delong, Mike Brown, Dean Ferris, Todd Waters, Nathan Watson, Max Nagl, Pierre Alexandre Renet, Mathias Bellino, Graham Jarvis and Colton Haaker (to name a few) to put the brand in front of the paying public. While all of these riders have had success at one stage or another the highlight has to be Jason Anderson and Martin Davalos racking up a main event win in the 2016 AMA Supercross Championship while Bellino won the 2015 World Enduro Championship and at the time of writing our own Josh Strang is leading the 2016 GNCC. As they say, ‘the proof is in the pudding’ and all of the effort on the race track has paid dividends with 16,337 Husqvarnas being sold worldwide in 2014 before a record 21,513 being sold in 2015 while 2016 is looking to be another record breaker with the new models flying out the door and the return to the road and dualpurpose motorcycle sectors with the launch of the 701 Supermoto and 701 Enduro models.
And to give you an idea of the success that the partnership of KTM and Husqvarna have on the market place, the two brands accounted for 180,801 motorcycles sold in 2015 which is a 14 per cent increase over the 2014 figures. According to Pierer (in a recent interview) the figure of 250,000 sales is the goal. “We have a very ambitious strategic plan for 2020, by which time we want Husqvarna to be the number three European manufacturer and for us to become the global number three among the sports motorcycle manufacturers. That means we have two Japanese to completely overtake - we already passed Suzuki in all developed markets. Kawasaki is still in front of us, but we are coming closer.” For a lot of us older heads it is hard to comprehend that Husqvarna could one day out sell any of the Japanese brands let alone two of them but it just goes to show how times are changing and how a determined team like the crew at KTM and Husqvarna can shake up the industry. – Darren Smart
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RACE TORQUE
cycletorque.com.au APRIL 2016 I 26
Who’s Gonna Ride The Wild Horses? The Australian road racing scene was once the most vibrant in the world. Now it’s in danger of becoming a fringe discipline alongside sidecar trials. There’s no way to sugar-coat it, contemporary road racing across Australia is all but dead at the local club level. If it can’t be resurrected club road racing will be consigned to the hill-climb section of the motorcycle racing museum for long-lost relics. The same generational decline has decimated club-level tennis around Australia. In the 1970s, over a dozen Sydney-based clubs promoted road race events. In the ‘80s that number dropped to eight. Now we have one, St George, which is running its Honda RJAYS series and its part of the ASBK club series. That’s right, Australia’s largest city and capital of the state that has produced many of the most successful international riders has one motorcycle club actively promoting road racing. What happened? Changing demographics is one thing, but how different generations behave is another. What drives them, motivates them, fries their bacon? In the 1980s, non-competition members of motorcycle clubs began raiding club coffers to hire race tracks for one-off ride days. For road riders who always wanted a fang around a real race track, the ride-day caper made perfect sense. With more and more road-going rocket-ships being released in the ‘90s, race schools and private promoters began organising their own ride days, attracting swarming numbers of racetrack wannabes. By the end of the decade, a handful of ride-day devotees started turning up on track-day specials in trailers. Email us your feedback
In the early noughties rideday numbers kept rising, and promoters started a price war that
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saw day fees plummet to an unsustainable $99. Until then just about everybody viewed the track-day rider as completely separate from the road racer; one was the road guy who wanted a race-track experience without the expense and perceived risk of racing, the other was a pure competitor who simply wanted to race.
In the mid-90s, ASC-FX boss Terry O’Neill was a member of the M(NSW) road race committee. He warned his fellow committee members that ride days would eventually pose a serious threat to road racing. Everyone scoffed, including me, because we all believed track days would offer a gentle pathway for wanna-be track-day racers to take up hard-core competition. Maybe they did, but not in the numbers needed to replace the younger baby boomers exiting the sport in the late ‘90s. How things have changed. According to Wayne Clarke from Stay Upright, only a handful of current SU track-day participants ride to the circuit on their road bikes these days. Out of say 160 SU track warriors, around 155 buy or build track-day specials. That’s 155 guys and gals who could be racing but prefer the less expensive, less time consuming and less heartbreaking option of track days. I know a bloke who has a road-going GSX-R750 and a track-day version. He has a big job, a young family, loves road riding, doing track days and many other hedonistic pursuits. He’s a bit old to start racing a modern jigger, but I think you know the older Gen Xer I’m talking about. O’Neill has been proved right, and he introduced his Race Your Mates series over five years ago to transition track-day dudes to racers. He reckons that well over 100 of them have taken up full competition licences.
Ride Days offer the opportunity to go as hard as you like without the hassle of race preparation, but is their popularity hurting racing?
For Gen Y, going racing is a tough choice. Most are either saving to get into the housing market or paying big rents. For those who own property in partnership with a bank, they’re paying off massive mortgages. That means working your arse off and little spare time to go traipsing around the country racing motorcycles. On the flipside some question the passion of Gen Y. I was talking to a long-time Brisbane bike dealer and he said he could always tell a Gen Y’s bike when it came in for service; their bikes had only ever been superficially cleaned – the headers, the inside of the belly-pan and various nooks and crannies were usually hard soiled. Road racing is expensive, it requires enormous devotion to keep it going. If not Gen Y, who’s gonna ride the wild horses? – Darryl Flack
GUNTRIP
cycletorque.com.au APRIL 2016 I 27
Warriors for the working day We were a small but select crowd at Phillip Island for the opening round of the 2016 Superbike World Championship. I’m not quite sure what everybody else found to do that weekend but the modest attendance certainly made viewing easy, with a thin dotted line of spectators right around the fencing and thicker clumps of humanity only at favoured spots: Siberia, Honda, Lukey Heights, Turn 11/12. Whatever your take on the Rossi-Marquez incident at the Malaysian GP last year, there’s little doubt it begrimed an otherwise interesting MotoGP season. And still it rankles, so I went to Victoria last month looking forward to some straightforward, competitive racing, even if it lacked a little of the bigger prestige series’ glitz, to start 2016. I found what I was looking for, too; and although the unrelieved monotony of Kawasaki’s winning streak is now beginning to grate a little, you can hardly blame Team Green for that. So well done particularly to Johnny Rea for having the foresight to do a full race-length run in the official tests the week before the event, and for having the maturity and racecraft on the big day to bide his time and look after his tyres while everyone else took turns at the front. A muffed gearchange at Honda and a coming together with Davide Giugliano’s Ducati kept 2013 champion Tom Sykes in the shadows at a circuit he already seemed to be struggling with.
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And the portents are favourable. The Ten Kate Hondas look competitive, and young Dutchman van der Mark, in his second full SBK season, looks the perfect foil to Nicky Hayden’s wealth of experience.
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Yamaha too seems to be emerging, blinking, into the daylight. 2014 world champ Sylvain Guintoli collected a couple of handy places that seemed more speculative than absolute, and as I write this Alex Lowes is off to a good start in Thailand. Lastly, there’s the abiding irritation of Ducati, whose Panigale Rs claim a 200cc capacity break over the four-cylinder competition and fairly crackle along. Giugliano and Chaz Davies seem to Tom Sykes leads Johnny Rea and Chaz Davies, Thailand WSBK, 2016. me to be unusually reflective riders, Pic Graeme Brown. which I suppose is a good thing given that engine dimensions of but the quality of the racing, and the depth of that their 2016 bikes measure 112 x 60.8mm, presumably quality, ticked all the boxes for me. True, Aprilia isn’t making them the most rev-hungry Ducatis in history. quite the force it was, Suzuki is conspicuous by its Davies, second in last year’s title gallop with five race absence and the BMW boys (our own Josh Brookes wins, looks an interesting prospect. Were I a betting among them) don’t seem to be singing the same tune man I’d have a few bob on him to rain on Kawasaki’s as everybody else, but it’s a long season, with 24 races parade more than once during 2016. still to go. But those are merely the ingredients; the product was The pity of it is, no matter how hard I look at the as exciting as you’d be likely to find anywhere. calendar I can’t see how I could get to another round. The closest I’m likely to come is the German round Part of the credit for that has to go to Phillip Island in September but that would mean tearing up my and its unfailing capacity to produce quality racing. tickets to the Bol d’Or, a prospect that does not fill Otherwise it’s no more than you’d have a right to me with joy. So it looks as if young Chaz Davies and expect when you put together eight or ten blokes of Mr Brookes will have to work their way through a comparable ability on fairly well-matched bikes and long season without me cheering them on from the let them go for it. Certainly, the Supers lack the raw stands. Well, you can’t have everything – though one performance of the higher-profile and much more or other of them might be of a different view come expensive machinery found in MotoGP. The fastest season’s end. anyone got down the chute all weekend was around 315km/h, where MotoGP stuff pulls 340+. Yes, lap – Bob Guntrip times are around three percent slower than MotoGP,
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Yamaha WR250R in Adventure Bike Trim CYCLE TORQUE TEST
THE DETERMINED TRAILBLAZER cycletorque.com.au APRIL 2016 I 29
Yamaha WR250R in Adventure Bike Trim
cycletorque.com.au APRIL 2016 I 30
CYCLE TORQUE TEST
The Determined Trailblazer If eating the distance is more important than setting quick times, the WR250R might be the answer… N TESTED BY BRIAN DYER, PHOTOS BY BRIAN DYER AND SNOWY
Yamaha’s WR250R has proven itself over the years as a dependable, easy to ride, own and maintain trail bike. Although similar in many ways to the better known WR250F competition endure machine, the ‘R’ model is a versatile trail bike with many useful features you won’t find on the ‘F’. Things like an ignition switches and full instrumentation, components which add weight and aren’t needed when you’re racing but are really convenient on a bike which might get used for more than just smashing single track – like commuting and adventure riding, which is what this bike was built for. The WR250R was the first dual purpose engine from Yamaha with fuel-injection and lightweight titanium valves. The engine is built to be reliable while offering low maintenance – there’s fuel injection and titanium valves, but the clearances only need to be checked every 40,000km. This makes the WR250R suitable for tackling trails and dodging trees, hosing off the mud and still being able to commute to work. It’s also no problem to throw on a swag and head off with your mates to explore the best of what Australia offers. The WR250R is reliable performance and versatility on wheels.
Adventure Time The WR250R Yamaha supplied us was dressed up in full adventure trim with a long range fuel tank, bar risers, oversized handlebars, Barkbusters, screen, bash plate, radiator guard, luggage racks, Seat Concepts perch, Pivot Pegz, GYTR pipe and a GPS holder. There have been a few modifications made to the suspension, which was stiffened up a bit. If anything, it makes it more suitable for more serious off-road and adventure riding. Continued on nexton page Continued next page
Yamaha WR250R in Adventure Bike Trim
cycletorque.com.au APRIL 2016 I 31
CYCLE TORQUE TEST My first impression was how much difference the bigger ’bars and bar risers make to the riding position; it really opens up the cockpit over the standard setup. The seating position still felt comfortable and relaxed even with the bigger tank, enabling long days of riding where I never felt tired or fatigued. The Seat Concepts seat on this bike was exceptional for long days in the saddle. The modified suspension worked well and allowed for more confidence on the WR through the bush and also made the bike more stable on the road with the extra weight being carried. It wasn’t until I started encountering some of the more aggressive terrain in the bush that things started to get a bit more interesting and I had to be a bit more cautious.
SPECIFICATIONS: YAMAHA WR250R IN ADVENTURE BIKE TRIM MANUFACTURER: Yamaha MODEL: WR250 YEAR: 2016 ENGINE: Liquid cooled single TRANSMISSION: 6 speed
The fuel-injected engine has a quick, snappy response and has a very usable range of power. Keep up the revs and the WR is a hoot through the bush because the power is so smooth. The GTYR pipe gives the bike a nice note without being too loud.
DRIVE TYPE: Chain drive
It makes bashing through the trails seem effortless, although the 250cc engine will run out of puff in open terrain, but it doesn’t mind being held flat-out for extended periods. It performed better than expected and took more punishment than expected, too.
FRAME: Semi double cradle
I wanted to ride the WR all day, and the 15 litre tank, which is double the size of the stand fuel cell, meant I could, offering a range of around 350km because the little engine gives great fuel economy.
WEIGHT: 127
Maybe riding a 250cc across the Nullabor is a tad optimistic, but the WR is a great bike for a long distance adventure with a mixture of B-roads, forest roads, and with an abundance of bush tracks thrown in for fun. The WR has been ridden across the Simpson Desert and back unsupported in 24 hours, so I reckon it could take on a Nullarbor run too.
FUEL CAPACITY: 7.5 (standard), 15 (accessory) SEAT HEIGHT: 930 FRONT SUSPENSION: Telescopic forks BRAKES: Single disc front and rear PRICE: $7,999
In standard trim the WR is relatively light at 127kg dry, which is a huge weight advantage over your bigger adventure bikes. This not only gives you the benefit of being more nimble and agile through the tighter bush tracks, but it’s a lot easier to manage when you get stuck in mud.
The versatile WR I had a blast on the WR250R for the simple reason it just does its thing, which is anything, without complaint. The WR is an easy bike to ride and has enough power and ability to have a crack at some great off-road adventures. With a few modifications, it is a very capable trail bike and should get ridden more often because it’s just a damn sight easier to get it out of the shed and ride anywhere, anytime. At $7,999 plus on-roads, low running costs, long service schedules and a generous two-year factory warranty, the WR250R great value in my book. n
Yamaha WR250R in Adventure Bike Trim CYCLE TORQUE TEST
GALLERY
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Yamaha WR250R in Adventure Bike Trim CYCLE TORQUE TEST
GALLERY
cycletorque.com.au APRIL 2016 I 33
Yamaha WR250R in Adventure Bike Trim CYCLE TORQUE TEST
GALLERY
cycletorque.com.au APRIL 2016 I 34
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TRIUMPH STREET TWIN
cycletorque.com.au APRIL 2016 I 37
CYCLE TORQUE LAUNCH
More grunt for classic roadster
TRIUMPH STREET TWIN CYCLE TORQUE LAUNCH
More torque makes Bonnie a better ride… cycletorque.com.au APRIL 2016 I 38
TRIUMPH STREET TWIN
cycletorque.com.au APRIL 2016 I 39
CYCLE TORQUE LAUNCH
More grunt for classic roadster N TEST BY CHRIS PICKETT, PHOTOS BY JEFF CROW N RIDING GEAR: SHARK HELMET, XPD BOOTS, ROLAND SANDS GLOVES AND JACKET
Triumph has breathed new life into the Street Twin for 2016 by improving the performance and handling with more grunt, better suspension and updated styling. The Street Twin is part of a wider Bonneville revamp for 2016, and it is a major revamp. You might call the Street Twin the ‘baby’ of the bunch, being only 900cc, as the new T120 Bonneville and Thruxton are 1200cc – and it’s these machines which have been getting all the publicity with their bigger motors and exceptional styling, which is leaving the Street Twin as a bit of a wallflower – which is a shame, because as you’re about to discover, the Street Twin is a very sweet motorcycle.
The powerplant Powering the Street Triple is Triumph’s new 900cc HT (High Torque) liquidcooled 8-valve parallel twin. With 18 per cent more torque than the previous model and delivered at just 3200rpm, the new Street Twin offers spirited performance. Triumph has retained the 270 degree firing order, renowned for making parallel twins sound and feel like V-twins, and it’s better for it. It’s not exactly new technology, and it reminds me of a bloke who back in the 1980s did something similar to an early Triumph classic race bike. His name was Lee Kernich, probably still is, and the bike was pretty successful back in the day. No real relevance to the modern Triumphs just an interesting anecdote for you Trumpy lovers out there.
I already mentioned liquid cooling but there had been plenty of thought into keeping the plumbing as hidden as possible for better ‘old school’ aesthetics. The radiator itself is well hidden between the front frame down tubes. During the press conference I jumped the gun a bit, as I’m unfortunately sometimes known to do, and started asking questions about power out of sequence of the slide show. My mind was thinking power! The slide show was still on the history part. Eventually the slide show caught up but the upshot is there’s one less horsepower than earlier models despite the big increase in torque. What! But the promise was we would love it. The Street Twin might look retro, but there are plenty of modern touches, like switchable traction control, ABS and ride-by-wire technology. There’s also a slip-assist gizmo for better clutch feel and reduced lever effort. It’s not a slipper clutch, and had me wondering why bother but I guess there has been complaints by some riders in the past so changes were needed. All jokes aside, Continued on next page
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that is something Triumph is very good at, responding to design flaws, often only really highlighted after extended use by owners.
More updates The Street Twin rides on an 18-inch front wheel and 17-inch rear, with the wheels kept pointing to the ground via upgraded forks and longer rear shocks with better damping control at both ends. There’s also a new chassis, one designed to provide neutral steering, stable highway riding and confidence in the corners.
Custom Cool Triumph has entered a relationship with renowned American tuning house Vance & Hines to provide a variety of exhaust options for the Street Twin range. There are some 150 new accessories for the Street Twin - pipes, luggage, bling and more. There are three distinct kits available, Triumph is calling them Inspiration Kits. Scrambler: in this kit you get a brushed high level V&H exhaust (for off road use only, yeah as if that’s going to stop you). A rear guard removal kit (think tail tidy and you will know), brown ribbed seat, brown ‘barrel style’ or ‘gum’ hand grips, LED indicators and sump guard. Cost is $3,123 + fitting. Brat Tracker: Brushed low level V&H twin slip on mufflers, rear guard removal kit, black ribbed bench seat, LED indicators, black ‘barrel style’ grips and the sump guard. $2,228 + fitting. Urban: Brushed low level V&H slip on mufflers, wax cotton single pannier for right side of bike, tinted screen, screen mounting kit, LED indicators. It also has lower handlebars. $1,986 + fitting. Now this is a guide really, you can put a scrambler high level exhaust on your bike, with the fly screen of the Urban and the black ribbon seat off the Brat
Tracker if you like. The possibilities are near endless. And I know you’re just itching to ask why the Scrambler kit is dearer than the other two: it’s because the exhaust is a full exhaust, header pipes and all, not just slip on mufflers. Yes it does look nice, but it sounds freakin’ amazing too.
Back Road Boogie So, straight up we were into Melbourne rain, which means slippery tram lines and a myriad of other obstacles. After a quick photo shoot it was into the warmth of a trendy, dare I say it, Hipster, cafe for brekkie. Now this is where I’m going to put something else out there. Triumph is using the new age hipster movement as a bit of a marketing benchmark for the Street Twin, and I get that entirely, the bike really suits that ‘style’ of riding or living. But what I don’t get is why so many people like to bag the hipster thing, seeing them as flash in the pan motorcyclists. I’m no hipster, I’m nearly 50, I’m bald, have a 38-inch waist and no beard for a start, but if they want to dress and style their hair in a certain way then so what? All those people bagging them are doing exactly the same thing, whether it’s a jacket with a heap of patches on it, a grimace when riding their bike, or a full-leathers bound crotch-rocket pilot. We are all trying to fit into some style we never invented in the first place so give them a break. Anyway, the bike as far from just being a city poseur, as I was about too find out. Into the Melbournian wilds we went, roads I am familiar with from numerous bike launches. There’s some fantastic riding on the outskirts of Melbourne, and the Street Twin felt like it was made for them. It didn’t take long to revel in the extra torque of the new donk. Back when we were getting the press spiel the night before, we were told a story about American magazine testers saying it had heaps more power than the previous model, when asked by the Triumph press crew. As I said earlier, it actually has one pony less, but the extra 18 per cent torque makes it feel like it has 20 more. To paraphrase that old rogue Enzo, ‘Horsepower sells cars, torque wins races’. That’s what it’s like in the real world. I’ve seen many race bikes tuned for more top end power only to lose it where Continued Continued on next on page next page
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CYCLE TORQUE LAUNCH it often matters, in the mid range and off the bottom. In the real world the Street Twin feels substantially faster. The gearbox is sweet too, five speeds, with fifth a real overdrive. This had me in fourth most of the time on the twisty roads, giving good punch out of corners.
SPECIFICATIONS: TRIUMPH STREET TWIN
It also handles much better than the previous Bonnie. You can ride this bike hard, ground clearance is good, the single front brake is good enough, the rear shocks are much better and the forks do a good job too. After a few hundred clicks of blasting around the back roads, through the city and freeways I felt great. The seat is better than the previous Bonnie but it’s still not going to get any awards for backside comfort, not like its adventure sibling, the Tiger 800.
ENGINE: Liquid cooled, 8 valve, SOHC, 270° crank angle parallel twin
Other touches I liked were the funky modern speedo (no tacho) and the LED taillight which has a little smiley face lighting up when the rear brake is applied. Sort of naughty and neat at the same time.
FINAL DRIVE: X ring chain
Disappointingly the fuel tank is smaller than on previous models but because of improved fuel consumption Triumph claim the range hasn’t suffered.
CAPACITY: 900cc TRANSMISSION: 5 speed FUEL CAPACITY: 12 Litre FRAME: Tubular steel cradle SEAT HEIGHT: 750 mm
If I bought one, I’d have to have the high level V&H scrambler pipe, it sounds to good to leave off. I’d get the chunky hand grips, the bash plate and maybe even the flyscreen. I’d also keep the standard seat.
WEIGHT: 198 Kg Dry
I loved the way it makes its power and that it’s so easy to ride and enjoy, without doing Mach III everywhere. Top speed is around 160km/h, and that will suit the intended buyer for this bike anyway, where top speeds don’t really matter all that much.
REAR SUSPENSION: Kayaba twin shocks with adjustable preload, 120mm rear wheel travel
As Molly Would Say
TYRES: 100/90-18 Front, 150/70 R17 Rear
Do yourself a favour and check a Street Twin out. Prices at $13,350, without any accessories, and I think that’s a bit of a bargain, especially considering it is a major improvement on the previous Triumph Bonneville. n
FRONT SUSPENSION: Kayaba 41mm forks, 120mm travel
BRAKES: Single disc front and rear with ABS PRICE: $13,350+ORC CALL FOR A QUOTE
1800 24 34 64
Continued on next page
TRIUMPH STREET TWIN CYCLE TORQUE LAUNCH
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HARLEY-DAVIDSON CVO PRO STREET BREAKOUT
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CYCLE TORQUE TEST
Meaner, Tougher, Classier
HARLEY-DAVIDSON CVO PRO STREET BREAKOUT CYCLE TORQUE TEST
With the best motor ever fitted to a Harley and incredible fit and finish, the Pro Street Breakout is a very special motorcycle‌
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Meaner, Tougher, Classier
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N TEST BY NIGEL PATERSON N PHOTOS BY RYAN GRUBB N RIDING GEAR: BOOTS BY MOTODRY, JEANS AND JACKET HARLEY-DAVIDSON, GLOVES SPIDI, HELMET SHARK.
FROM its lustrous paint, drag-race inspired styling, super-fat rear tyre and fastidious attention to detail, the new Harley-Davidson CVO Pro Street Breakout is one very special limited edition motorcycle. It’s none of those things which caught my eye when I first saw the Pro Street Breakout though – it was the air filter, a massive Screaming Eagle pod mounted between the massive cylinders and pointing toward the finish line, a quarter mile away. None of the painted oval or round cans with a conventional filter hidden away inside for the Pro Street Breakout, this bike is serious about performance, with incredible torque developed right off the bottom of the rev range. The bike is Harley’s take on custom American muscle – a machine which can match its high performance looks with high performance grunt. Move in closer to the CVO Pro Street Breakout and you start to notice the details, like the headlight cowl and bellypan scoop, styling details which come from the drag bike world. The ‘Smoked Satin’ handlebars are very much drag-race inspired, and they combine with the forward controls to provide a comfortable, aggressive riding position.
tubes is the single instrument pod with an analogue speedo and selectable LCD readouts – trip, ODO, time, that sort of thing.
From that riding position you’ll notice a pair braided steel lines running from mid-tank forward and over, presumably to free up space under the tank so the designers could get it closer to the engine, which looks better. Above the
You control the instruments through one of the chunky buttons on the left switchblock, which also houses the cruise control selector, another standard feature of the CVO Pro Street Breakout. Continued on next page
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The right hand switchblock starts the bike and controls the Keyless Ignition – the key fob can stay in your pocket, and flipping the kill switch to off kills the ignition, too, but not the steering lock - for that you need the flip-out circular key built into the key fob. What you won’t see coming from the switchblock is a throttle cable, for Harley’s engineers have dumped that in favor of an electronic ride-by-wire system. Harley-Davidson’s alarm system is in place and disarms automatically if you’re nice and close with the key handy.
Grunt, and more grunt Under the tank is Harley-Davidson’s Screaming Eagle Twin-Cam 110B motor – the most powerful air-cooled engine ever fitted to a production Harley. At 1801cc (110 cubic inches), it’s a very big V-Twin, and with 101mm pistons going up and down between your legs you know this is one serious machine. Harley-Davidson doesn’t quote power figures, but the company claims 151Nm of torque – 21Nm more than the standard Breakout and 36 more than the V-Rod muscle, two machines renown for their grunt. However you want to describe it, there will be a smile on your face every time you nail the throttle and rocket off toward the horizon. Harley-Davidson works really, really hard to make its bikes sound as good as they can and still pass the draconian Australian noise laws, so the biggest problem with the sound of the CVO Pro Street Breakout is it’s too quiet, there’s no doubt owners and their dealers will be able to release a few decibels to make the audio experience of the Pro Street Breakout as good as the styling. There’s modern technology inside the 6-Speed Cruise Drive transmission, too. Firstly there’s the light-pull hydraulic slipper clutch, which is easy to use and reduces the propensity of the fat back tyre to lock if you’re aggressive on Continued on next page
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Is it worth it?
the gear lever and lazy on the clutch. The ’box itself is as loud and clunky as all modern big-bore Harleys, but we never missed a shift. Final drive is by toothed belt.
Drag strip style From the Speed Screen to the Blunt-Cut Mufflers, the designers put a lot of effort into making the Pro Street Breakout epitomise American muscle. The machine is available in two colour schemes – the Starfire Black version we tested and White Gold Pearl/Starfire Black. Either way you get gloss black 5-spoke Aggressor wheels with low-profile tyres, a new Smoked Satin chrome finish on many engine and exhaust components, the Speed Screen (headlight cowling) and Chin Spoiler (bellypan), exquisite forward controls from Harley’s Airflow collection, a race-inspired seat with custom badge… the list goes on and on. As a package, it really works. This is one of the best-looking American muscle bikes ever produced – the right silhouette, modern touches, classic lines and incredible attention to detail.
The handling All the power in the world isn’t much use if you can’t control it, so Harley-Davidson has added high-performance upside down forks and dual 4-piston caliper brakes. Compared to the standard Breakout, the front wheel is two inches smaller, a 19 instead of 21. This, combined with the USD forks (and unchanged rake at 35 degrees) have driven the trail out to a very long 196mm, which goes a long way to explaining why the CVO Pro Street Breakout wants to understeer heavily at walking pace before stabilising nicely once you’re out of first gear. As speeds rise, the CVO Pro Street Breakout feels better and better, sitting solidly on the road as stable as a rock at highway speeds. Fast sweeping bends are fun on the CVO Breakout, just push on the ’bars and enjoy the lean over before the footpegs touch down. The suspension works OK, better than I expected although it’s no V-Rod. In slower speed corners you’ll scrape the pegs easily and the fat rear tyre doesn’t Continued on next page
The Harley-Davidson CVO Pro Street Breakout will be available in late April priced at an eyewateringly expensive at $42,495*. That sort of money would buy you Harley’s biggest touring bike, the Ultra, with enough change for a cross-country tour. But that’s not the point. Buying a CVO Pro Street Breakout gives you a custom machine the way the factory’s engineers and designers envisaged it, which makes it pretty special. They haven’t been too concerned about the price, because these limited-edition machines are only produced in small numbers for the people with the passion and budget – they aren’t for everyone. For a similar amount of money you could buy a standard Breakout ($29,750) and build something unique, something very special – but you’d probably struggle to pay for all the engine, suspension and brake work found on the CVO Pro Street Breakout for the difference in the price, and you’d still have a standard Breakout, and while Harleys in general hold their value quite well, you only get a fraction of the money you spend on accessories and modifications back when it’s sold. Buy a CVO and the money is spent up-front and it will retain value based on the whole spend. *All prices are ride-away.
HARLEY-DAVIDSON CVO PRO STREET BREAKOUT CYCLE TORQUE TEST
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want to roll over onto its edge, but it’s not scary or anything – just not really what the Breakout is designed for. Just be very careful the first time you do a U-turn. The USD front end gives confidence under brakes, which themselves are powerful thanks to the twindisc set-up at the front. Harley has been fitting Anti Lock Brakes to most of its bikes for years, and the CVO Breakout is no exception.
On the road With its reach-forward drag-style ’bars and forward foot controls, the CVO Pro Street Breakout is good to ride at freeway speeds. You don’t feel like you’re going to get blasted off the back by the wind, but you’re upright enough that the reach to the ’bars doesn’t feel onerous. That said, if you’re short and have short arms you mightn’t find the CVO Pro Street Breakout as comfortable as I did, but you won’t have trouble getting your feet on the ground, because the seat height isn’t going to be a problem.
MODEL: CVO Pro Street Breakout YEAR: 2016 ENGINE: Screamin’ Eagle 110B: Air-cooled four-stroke Twin-Cam V-Twin TRANSMISSION: 6 speed DRIVE TYPE: Belt drive FUEL CAPACITY: 18.9
The cruise control system is easy to use, positioned well for your left thumb to engage, set, resume and change speed.
FRAME: Steel cradle SEAT HEIGHT: 660 WEIGHT: 332 FRONT SUSPENSION: 43mm USD telescopic REAR SUSPENSION: Softail BRAKES: F: 4-piston calipers, twin discs, R: Disc, twin piston caliper PRICE: $42,495 ride away
Talking of the seat, it’s comfortable and stylish. The pillion perch is quite small and designed for small bums, and is removable of you want to travel solo and show off the beautiful lines of the Breakout. The Screamin’ Eagle motor has incredible grunt right off the bottom of the rev range, with maximum torque reached at just 3500rpm, so you can get to sixth gear pretty quickly and leave it there much of the time. It shakes and vibrates but it’s also balanced, so you know you’re riding a big V-twin without it being too tiring or numbing.
At highway speeds the engine is hardly working at all, running at low revs and eating the miles – so much so Harley claims it uses less fuel on the highway than either the standard Breakout or V-Rod muscle, despite also being the heaviest of the three. The difference is marginal to the Breakout, but over 20 per cent better than the V-Rod, and might be down to the cruise control, because if you let the bike manage the throttle it’ll work as efficiently as it can.
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The fuel injection and ride-by-wire systems worked flawlessly during our test, providing excellent feel and response without hunting or playing up.
You want one, don’t you? The Harley-Davidson CVO Pro Street Breakout isn’t for everyone. In some ways it is too easy to criticise – too expensive, understeers at low speeds, poor cornering clearance even by cruiser standards… but that misses the point. If you want those things, Harley-Davidson has plenty to offer you, as do a myriad of other manufacturers.
What we have here is a beautiful machine which offers excellent performance and kick-arse American attitude, which adds up to an incredible ride, which is much harder to find. n
HARLEY-DAVIDSON CVO PRO STREET BREAKOUT CYCLE TORQUE TEST
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A giant pod lets the CVO Breakout breathe deep.
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Drag-race inspired ‘Speed Screen’.
HARLEY-DAVIDSON CVO PRO STREET BREAKOUT CYCLE TORQUE TEST
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Comfy rider’s seat and easily removed pillion pad.
The first twin-disc Softail front end, and USD forks.
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Dressin’ up the bellypan…
Never mind the price, feel the width…
HARLEY-DAVIDSON CVO PRO STREET BREAKOUT CYCLE TORQUE TEST
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bmwmotorradaus
AG TORQUE KAWASAKI AGRICULTURAL MODEL LAUNCH
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Team Green Farming Kawasaki’s agricultural range might not be as exciting as it’s competition machines, but they still need to be winners… If you’re riding a bike, it should be fun - on the track, through the traffic or across the paddock, if it feels more like a job than recreation, buy a different bike - and Kawasaki’s range of Agricultural machines are designed to help you get the job done, but they are fun to ride while doing so.
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Team Green invited us down to a very, very green turf farm to check out its 2016 range of ag bikes, ATVs and side by sides, and if you work on the land they are definitely worth a look. The star of the show is the imposing Brute Force 750, which is fitted with a punchy 37KW fuel injected 750cc V-Twin engine. This is Kawasaki’s biggest quad, and those of you who have researched ATVs will know the two-cylinder engine is an unusual configuration for the ag market most have larger single pots. In practice this means you have a little less compression and engine braking, but greater performance. This is why Kawasaki label this as dual purpose, suitable for the farm and recreation. In 2016, the steering column and rear suspension stabilisers have been updated - so the handling is even better. The transmission has also been updated making the engine even easier to handle.
The other thing Kawasaki nailed is the variable Electronic Power Steering. It’s not just a fancy gimmick, it really works - you can feel the stiffness at speed on open ground - and it softens nicely in the tighter terrain, which makes your day safer and easier. On top of all this you get trick looking cast alloy wheels, which reduce the overall weight to improve handling. I tested the 2015 model on the farm and I can say Kawasaki had built a great chassis around this engine - which is so important in large ATVs. The suspension is fully independent and adjustable for preload, complimenting the practical and heavy duty carrying capacity of 120kg. Towing is rated at a massive 567kg. If you check out the Brute Force from behind you will notice there is no visible rear disc: it’s fully enclosed out of harm’s way which also makes maintenance less stressful. Although this bike is aimed at both recreational riders and farmers - I would say Continued on next page
AG TORQUE KAWASAKI AGRICULTURAL MODEL LAUNCH it has a sporty lean. It will be particularly attractive to cattle farmers who will like the powerful engine and clean layout around the front and rear racks, making it easy to customise. The Brute Force 750 has a little brother in the Brute Force 300. There are a lot of people who still prefer a smaller ATV because they simply don’t need the power and, of course, they are much cheaper. Having said that, Kawasaki doesn’t skimp on features. It sports triple 180mm disc brakes and it’s styled like a big ATV. It is also fitted with solid foot boards (which may seem like a little thing - but some readers will understand the importance there) and full digital instrumentation. There are big racks on the front and rear and a towing capacity of 227kg – quite a capable machine that is powered by an ever-reliable 270cc water-cooled engine that’s also going to be lighter on fuel. This was the first time I had ridden Kawasaki’s smaller ATV and I am interested in checking it out further. It felt very sturdy over the mini motocross section of the test track and the build quality was very high. To sum it up quickly, if you’re looking for a capable machine but might not have the demands for a large bike, this is going to save you some money. The Brute Force 300 is built for any type of farming on a budget - cost effective but high capability. And don’t be fooled by the small capacity - it will still handle very tough terrain. Kawasaki’s Mule range are work-focussed machines, perfect for a variety of roles from farm to golf course. The Mule 600 is the most versatile of the bunch. It is a no-fuss, lightweight twowheel-drive machine that has low impact on the ground and avoids damaging fine surfaces. The 401cc four-stroke fan-cooled engine has evolved from Kawasaki’s stationary engines, which has developed a long reputation for durability. The 600 can comfortably carries two people, with a 48L storage area up front and the tray is rated for 181 kilograms. On the test track, I found the dual-mode rear differential lock worked well in the sandy sections of track and the continuously variable transmission was seamless. Continued on next page
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AG TORQUE KAWASAKI AGRICULTURAL MODEL LAUNCH The beefed up Mule 610XC is a fourwheel-drive model which features bigger 26 inch tyres on 12 inch wheels for more ground clearance and a wider track for stability. The Mule Pro-DX EPS is a dieselpowered vehicle that offers standout performance for primary producers. The 993cc three-cylinder engine is a workhorse designed to deliver high torque at low rpm - ideal for hauling and towing machinery. The cargo bed is the largest in its class, with a 453 kilogram carrying capacity and the Mule Pro-DX EPS can also tow 907 kilograms. Other features include tilt adjustable steereing, multiple storage compartments, switchable two and four-wheel-drive modes, 212mm discs all round, ultra bright 60 watt lights and a 30 litre fuel tank. When I mentioned the Kawasaki ag bikes to my friends there was unexpected interest in the Stockman 250. If you are on the look out for a new ag bike, the Aussie -designed Stockman has some features definitely worth noting including the lock-out clutch (making it easy to jump on and off for opening gates), side stands on both sides of the bike and the punchy yet nearly indestructible Kawasaki 250cc engine. The agriculture model launch was a good chance to see the entire line up at once, showing that Kawasaki has a workhorse to suit almost any conceivable application. n
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*The interest rate quoted is applicable for new applications for the ëLow Rate Productí from 1 January 2016 and is subject to change without notice. Comparison rate is 0.0% pa calculated on the basis of secured credit of $10,000 over a 3 year term. WARNING: This comparison rate is true only for the examples given and may not include all fees and charges. Different terms, fees or other loan amounts might result in a different comparison rate. Finance provided by Pepper Asset Finance Pty Ltd ACN 165 183 317, Australian Credit Licence 458899. All applications are subject to Pepperís normal credit assessment and loan suitability criteria. Terms, conditions, fees and charges apply. Offer only available on RMX models. Applications must be approved before 31 March 2016 and vehicle must be delivered by 15 April 2016. ^Factory bonus redeemable at point of sale, from participating dealers.
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Andrew Lowis
Café
Culture In the 1960’s, Café Culture was in full swing as cosmopolitan values entered the post war psyche. The humble coffee house infiltrated the West and so began an unlikely blend of coffee and motorcycles.
Imagine London in the 50’s and 60’s where the Rockers and Boppers would hang out in gangs with slick back hairstyles and jackets adorned with badges.
At a time when Honda first made it’s mark at the Isle of Man TT, the motorcycle became an attainable status symbol for the British youth. The TT captured the imagination and evoked the desire to race.
A popular past-time of the era was to race modified motorcycles between the road-side cafés on the weekends and so the legendary Café Racer was created. Truck stops such as the Ace Café in London were popular haunts for these racers.
If your fastest time was beaten one weekend, your bike was off to the workshop for modifying. Weight was a problem and these were heavy bikes by modern standards. Pillion seats and rear sets were the first ‘stock’ items to be removed.
To aid in their pursuit of racing victory, these young, impressionable and rebellious riders were infused with the wisdom of their parents, grandparents and school teachers. A likely hangover from an overabundance of wartime skills and a passion for all that was British.
Next would be a sharp hacksaw to the rear sub-frame followed by the removal of exhaust baffles, carb re-jetting, cylinder porting and engine tuning. The overall objective was to increase the power-toweight ratio by removing unnecessary components. When a set of Continued on next page
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drop-down handlebars are added the familiar ‘Café Racer’ shape begins to appear. The ultimate manifestation of this era was the Triton, which was a blend of technologies by the powerhouse of British motorcycle manufacturing, Norton and Triumph. Norton were renowned for their light and strong Featherbed frame while the strongest engines at the time were built by Triumph. This notable infusion of technologies is majestic and remains a great example of the ultimate consumer act, customisation. Modifying bikes was not restricted to the UK. John Vittorio from Motociclo, tells us that “The Italians were customising their bikes, but more into racing style bikes, and the Germans were doing it too. But it was the English youth that started the whole ‘idea’ of the Café Racer by stripping out their bikes.” In America the Café Racer scene was not as prominent. The café was swapped for the diner. Two wheels were replaced with four and crusin’ in custom hotrods largely replaced café racing. Cheap gas and accessible credit meant that Californian teens would be rolling down their windows while back in England, Nikwax was still to be invented.
John Vittorio
If you drop by the Motociclo store in St Peters you may be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of one of these historical machines. You may also be pleasantly surprised at how the engineering ingenuity of these early motorcycle pioneers influenced modern motorcycle design.
cycletorque.com.au cycletorque.com.au APRIL APRIL 2016 2016 II 68 68
“During this time a Triton represented the ultimate blend between power and control” To order your copy please visit www.customtorque.com
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Spark me up
Clutching at Venhill
1 Custom bike builders should consider Venhill Featherlite control cable universal Throttle and Clutch cable kits containing various fittings are suitable for almost any custom or replacment cable up to 1.3m in length. The Flatwound steel outer conduit gives greater strength and durability, while the ‘bird caging’ process allows solder to penetrate the weave making the bond with the nipple much stronger. Available black, silver and even braided in clutch or throttle, 2 into 1, Fast action billet throttle assemblies in single pull or twin pull. Price: From $36 Get them from: Good bike shops More info: (02) 9484 0877
2 A simple way to think about Pulstar pulse plugs is they are similar to a camera flash, whereas normal spark plugs are more like a flash light. A camera flash is much brighter than a flash light even though they both use the same battery. Pulstar Spark Plugs incorporate a pulse circuit, which stores incoming electrical energy from the ignition system and releases the stored energy in a powerful pulse of power. Instead of 50 watts of peak power typical of normal plugs, pulse plugs deliver up to 1 million watts of peak power. Pulstar Plugs generate a much larger spark than normal plugs, reducing overall burn time and burns fuel more completely. With increased cylinder pressure, the pistons are pushed down with more force, which generates more torque in the crankshaft, more lively throttle and more power to the wheels. Price: $30 each (life expectancy 150,000km). Get them from: 1800 683 466 More info: 07 4038 3102
Racey chic
3 Drayko is a company made up of many female riders, they know that women want to look great and feel great when they ride. Drayko has introduced a women’s stretch skinny leg jean to meet the needs of female riders that want protective jeans with designer appeal. Style matches safety and comfort with the sports liner making them comfortable and more breathable all year round. With their super soft blue wash and stretch skinny leg no one will ever know you are wearing riding jeans. Plus the cute back pocket and hidden seams are details detailing just adds to the fashion feel. Price: $299 Get them from: Good bike shops More info: 03 9646 0377
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Yuasa launches GYZ
Offroad pedigree
1 The new Aventuro Mod from Touratech is the first modular helmet with thoroughbred offroad pedigree, and is a true adventure helmet in appearance and functionality. The helmet shell is made of lightweight special glass fibre laminate. As well, an anti-fog, distortion-free visor that meets European standards, a continuously adjustable sun visor, and washable Coolmax liner, the Aventuro Mod has an aerodynamically optimised helmet shield – with cover caps included – that is easy to fit without tools. Available in seven different sizes and colour variants. Price: $1261 Get them from: Touratech or selected stockists More info: (03) 5929 5529
Better Gixxer guard
2 Rad Guard has vastly improved the GSX-R1000 2009-2016 Radiator Guard for easier fitting. All Rad Guards come with easy to follow written fitting instructions. The Rad Guard is made out of high grade aluminium and designed with a robust frame to support the mesh off your radiator’s core by approximately 10-15mm so even when hit by a rock or other road debris this will not touch or damage you radiator. Cheap insurance and a great peace of mind! Price: SPECIAL $156 (normally $195) Get them from: From Rad Guard More info: 02 6658 0060
3 Yuasa has announced its GYZ range, specifically designed for motorcycle use, is now available in Australia. The GYZ batteries are factory-activated and maintenance-free. The electrolyte is absorbed into a glass mat, eliminating hazardous spills or leaks. Ideal for the most demanding applications that require the highest performance and unmatched reliability, perfect for high-power accessories such as GPS systems and audio systems found in modern touring bikes. Featuring enhanced active material, large heavy-duty flush terminals and built-in-brass nuts for higher conductivity. The Yuasa GYZ range includes a total of six sizes for power hungry accessory laden motorcycles, as well as other power-sports applications including ATVs. Price: Varies Get them from: Good bike shops everywhere More info: Ph 1300 362 287
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Used & Reviewed Carbon Shark
Stealthy Dual Sports
Finished in black, black and more black and made from a mix of leather, elastic fabrics and neoprene with heaps of ventilation and protection, Spidi’s X-GT gloves have become popular around the Cycle Torque office even among those who recoiled at the stealthy rubber-block style. The fact is they have been awesome to wear during the hot summer months, the elastic fabric breathing really well and the main knuckle guard being ventilated. The many protective panels have given us the confidence they won’t fail if we crash test them and the feel at the controls makes them excellent for commuting, touring and adventure bike riding. More than once I’ve gone looking for the X-GTs around the office only to find they’ve been ‘borrowed’ by another staff member because they have proven to be very comfortable on just about any bike. While $125 might seem a bit steep of a set of dual sport gloves, the level of protection offered and the great fit and comfort makes the X-GT good value. Price: $125.00 Get them from: Better Bike Shops everywhere More info: spidi.com.au
Shark’s Evoline Series 3 Pro Carbon helmet is the best pivoting chin piece lid I’ve ever used. Shark has been able to solve the two biggest problems with flip-top helmets with the Pro Carbon, namely weight and wind blast, through great design and smart material choices. Because of the multi-piece construction and linkage mechanisms between chin piece and the rest of the helmet, flip-tops are usually heavy, so Shark used carbon aramid fibre to make the helmet light for its class and strong. Good design has the chin piece pivoting right over the top of the lid and out of the wind, so you can comfortably wear the Pro Carbon in open-face mode even at highway speeds. The other great feature is the integrated tint screen, so you’re always riding with dark and clear visors on board - on bright winter’s days you’ll use both, because the outer clear visor seals down onto the chin piece quite well. The Pro Carbon also has good ventilation… on really hot days at highway speeds I don’t like to ride in open-face mode, because of windburn, sunburn and bugs, but around town flipping the chin piece over the top (which you can do one handed) instantly transforms the helmet into an airy open face. I’ve got very little in the way of criticism of the helmet, it really has been great - I suppose the fact you need to have the clear visor fully open to slide the chin piece over the top and into place can be a little annoying, but really you’ve just got to get used to how it works – and overall at 1600-odd grams it’s still no lightweight lid, but these really are minor quibbles. Shark has simply done a great job of building a convertible helmet. I love wearing an open face helmet in the right conditions - not too fast, in the right weather basically when a full-face is stifling and overkill. With the Pro Carbon, I can have both. Price: $799 RRP (Black/silver, Black matt or Red/silver) Get them from: Better Bike Shops More info: ficeda.com.au
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TORQUING BACK
Letters All the best Picko
I’ve just finished browsing through the March issue of Cycle Torque and had to re-read your Editorial in the Jan/Feb issue before it hit me that you’ve actually hung up your helmet (at least at Cycle Torque). I wanna thank you for all your efforts in producing the mag, having read my first copy at a pub stop at Boonah years ago, and hardly missing an issue since. And the virtual copy on the net kept me sane over the five years I worked in China. Like you, I’ve gone into retirement, having just applied for the Aged Pension, and buying a Sym Maxsym 400i scooter, which I am considering riding wherever the heart (and roads) take me. Best wishes with Rapid, and for the rest of your semiretirement with your family. Best wishes also to Nigel and Ryan - I’m looking forward to remaining a loyal reader, and purchaser of your advertisers’ goodies. I actually bought a pair of Draggin strap-on knee and shin protectors from Australian Motorcycle Accessories at Yatala in Queensland. Mick
The bike you want
Superb article on saving for a bike, 100 rats a week seems so easy! (Jan/Feb 2016.) Keep up the inspiration! Andries Brand
ZX-10R race Kit
Awesome to hear about the clutchless downshifting and how awesome the bike is, although some overseas journos don’t seem to care much for the green beast, but it does make one wonder if the Ninja had a different badge on it if things might be different. Anyway great review. – Peter Cook
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VFR Recall
I wanted to alert owners of the Honda VFR1200 that their bike may be subject to recall for a problem relating to the drive shaft. I found out through a bike forum and subsequently checked it out by going on to ACCC’s website and looking up recalls. My VFR1200 is a 2010 model and was on the recall list. When I contacted Sydney City Motorcycles (Lane Cove) they booked me in immediately and the problem has now been rectified. Dean Thanks for the heads-up! RG
Write a Letter! WIN A GREAT PRIZE This month Mick from Yatala has won an SJS 500amp Smart Start charger which feature a personal power pack and jump starter for the letter of the month. Jump start your bike, car and phone. Thanks to Kenma, www.kenma.com.au
Objectification?
We’ve had lots of responses to last month’s letter from Kate, who considers the use of semi-nude women to be objectification. Here’s a range of the responses. Life is a two-way street Kate. Or it used to be. Now I’m not too sure anymore when I hear the remarks from some female presenters on TV remarking on semi-naked mens’ bodies etc. We have all seen the way that some advertisers belittle men and their contributions to home and family. Some ads have even shown women physically abusing men – remember the one where the woman hits the guy over the head with a spanner Kate? What about the scantily clad women on music videos Kate? Lady Gaga objectifies herself sexually in every video she has ever made. Can Kate show us her emails that she has sent to the TV stations or music publishers complaining about her? When you think about the semi-pornographic music videos young girls are subjected to in this day and age, you realise ads like the one in question from Metro Spares are really not that bad.
Continued on next page
Send your letters (and/or great bike pictures) to The Editor, Cycle Torque, PO Box 687 Warners Bay, NSW 2282 or email letters@cycletorque.com.au
TAP TO SEND LETTER NOW
TORQUING BACK
Letters Don’t start me on the clothes that some mothers delight in dressing their pre-pubescent daughters with. Some look like 8-year old pole-dancers! That two-way street is unfortunately now called Hypocrisy Avenue. Ian Rodger, NSW
The Metro Spares ad is fine. The girls look like sisters and it wouldn’t surprise me if they are related to the owner. Anyway most readers would view the ad for just what it is, a way of attracting attention of the target market. It is marketing/advertising 101. When women become the majority of their customers I’m sure they will change the ad. They have advertised in Cycle Torque for ages so it must be working. All readers need to understand while they like a mag it is not their mag just because they bought it. Learn to turn the page. Kate and others who find the ad distasteful should speak to the girls in the ad not CT. If women want change they need to speak to the modelling industry, the advertising industry (good luck with that), the cinema & porn industries, the department stores that put out catalogues, one after another with people in underwear, some of which is very skimpy. Talk to the source not the end product. But remember a human will do whatever it takes to earn a quid. John Da Rin
I love my Cycle Torque on my iPad delivered every month free of charge. It wasn’t that long ago I would have a 75 kilometre journey to get my hard copy. This is not the first time the wreckers has had someone objecting their style of advertisement, before it was
only one female wearing a very brief piece of clothing, a father didn’t like his young son effected by this ad and his answer was he would not get the magazine anymore until the ad was removed, well it’s his loss more so his son, my solution would be to remove the ad before giving it to his son problem solved. The comments made in the March edition again another objection about this ad. What a waste of time and effort. I live nowhere near Silverwater and never use parts from a wreckers so I just flick past that advertisement. All I can say to people enjoy the relevant parts that interest you. Motorcycles are a very important part of my life and there is no way someone’s ad will stop me enjoying my time spent reading your magazine. If that’s what it takes for the survival of Cycle Torque if I don’t like something I have the power to just ignore it. For the reader who made comments in the March edition. Pop down to your newsagent and see if you can find a motorcycle mag without. Keep up the good work , love Cycle Torque. Kurt
I agree with Kate. I’d prefer not to have that ad in the mag as I also think it objectifies women. I understand the need for advertising revenue. Perhaps if there are enough responses the advertiser could be convinced to change the ad. Paul Grace
I refer to the letter from Kate in March 16 edition under title “Objectification or not” (Mar16). The subject
cycletorque.com.au APRIL 2016 I 80
advertisement was the only one that caught my attention as I read through the various interesting articles. I liked the ad, then I saw the letter from Kate. My suggestion is that there are many other platforms from which like-minded people who habitually become outraged over perceived slights on a daily basis can air their grievances on behalf of the allegedly downtrodden and objectified. We live in a country where both men and women have the leisure time and money to afford expensive luxuries such as motorcycles purely for pleasure. I don’t blame Kate personally for her view . I think over the top political correctness has taken over in our society. Meanwhile, the scale of genuine injustices occurring around the world is incomprehensible. Let’s get things in perspective before over reacting. Bob
I agree with Kate in Torquing back letters regarding the metro spares ad on page 42, having a daughter I can’t freely leave the magazine around the house, it’s not sending the moral message I want to set for my family, I would prefer that picture wasn’t in your magazine. Ken
I agree with Kate and the outdated ad. I get the fact that you need sponsors, however that does not preclude you from bringing reader concerns to your advertisers. They might even welcome the fact that they are perceived as being out of touch. Robert
Continued on next page
TORQUING BACK
Letters The first time I saw the Metro Spares ad I thought ‘what’s the go of this?’ Try as I might, I could find no relevance whatsoever to motorcycling in any form. Don’t get me wrong I don’t mind seeing well placed attractive persons in a photo, or ad, as long as there is some relevance. Pretty much what Kate said, are these guys from the dark ages? If I was thinking of buying used motorcycle parts I would only go there just to see if they live in a cave. It’s out of place and not necessary. Wayne
Hi Ryan, I agree with Kate, scantily clad women have nothing to do with bike ads, they belong in bunny magazines with Hugh Hefner. As for the SJS smart start charger, I could do with a jump start every morning! Wal.
Great response to the letter from Kate regarding the Metro Spares advertisement. As you very rightly point out, there is far more nudity/exposure of flesh on display in so-called ‘artistic’ and ‘cultured’ magazines than in any recent Motorcycle Magazine I have seen. Haven’t we gone past (way past) the politicallycorrect attitudes of the 1980s? Aren’t we now in the ‘post-feminism’ age where a primarily male magazine
is allowed to have the odd advertisement featuring women in bikinis? And likewise magazines whose readership are primarily women are allowed to have advertisements featuring semi-naked men? With women in popular culture (think Miley Cyrus, the Kardashians) simulating sex on stage and displaying virtually every part of their bodies to millions of people on social media, are we really supposed to be offended about two women in bikinis (and fairly conservative bikinis at that) in an advertisement for a motorcycle wrecker? Did Kate write a letter to Bazaar expressing her outrage at the Miranda Kerr cover, or any similar covers which are constantly published? A COVER on a high circulation glossy magazine on prominent display in Newsagents and other retail outlets across the country I might add not a half-page advertisement on page 42 of a 48-page motorcycle magazine. No, I didn’t think so. Dougal, Sydney
I tap on the women to wreck, but nothing happens! LOL. Some people need to grow a thicker skin! Dazza
cycletorque.com.au APRIL 2016 I 81
Write a Letter! WIN A GREAT PRIZE This month Mick from Yatala has won an SJS 500amp Smart Start charger which feature a personal power pack and jump starter for the letter of the month. Jump start your bike, car and phone. Thanks to Kenma, www.kenma.com.au
Send your letters (and/or great bike pictures) to The Editor, Cycle Torque, PO Box 687 Warners Bay, NSW 2282 or email letters@cycletorque.com.au
TAP TO SEND LETTER NOW
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Phone: (02) 9748 7400 parts@motorcyclewreckers.com 90 Silverwater Rd, Silverwater, NSW 2128 Open Mon-Fri 8.30 - 5.00 • Sat 8.30 - 1.00
www.motorcyclewreckers.com
SUZUKI Licenced Dealer Number MD038376
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● For all Motorcycles and Car Applications ● Dont put up with a spongy brake lever! Firm it up and reduce your stopping distance! ● ALL OUR KITS and CUSTOM LINES are manufactured with a high grade Stainless Steel Braided Hose, Stainless Steel Banjo’s and Stainless Steel Bolts with Copper Washers. ● Add this simple upgrade to your system and feel the ATVs braking difference in your stopping power.
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● For all Road Riders, Track Riders, Cruiser Riders, & Dirt Riders. ● All our lines are manufactured in Australia and comply with the Australian Standard ADR 42/04 SAA, SAE, BS, JIS, DIN, ISO, ECE, and FMVSS 106 Approvals and are labeled accordingly. ● Covered With A Life Time Warranty ● From $69.95 per line Delivered
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NOT ENOUGH SPACE? CHECK US OUT NOW!
Formerly Liverpool Bike Wreckers
THE WORLD’S ONLY TRUE FOLDING TRAILER
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w w w. b u l l d o g f o l d i n g t r a i l e r s. c o m . a u s a l e s @ b u l l d o g f o l d i n g t r a i l e r s. c o m . a u Phone: 08 9467 2636
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MOTO TEL 02 4735 7788 NOISEGUARD
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1/3 BROMLEY RD, EMU PLAINS NSW 2750
A Custom Moulded Noise Plug andnMusic Listening info@mooreparts.com.au www.mooreparts.com.au Interface all Built into One. Designed by Motorcyclists, for Motorcyclists. •Acts as high quality custom noise plug when not connected to a music source
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h.co c e t a r u o www.t
ic. 3678 arboor, V on Rd, C rt e v 9 5529 E 2 r7 o 5 rbo Ph: (03) 1933 Ca
•Up to Class 5 or 34 dB(A) attenuation (Deep impression, full concha) •Professional single audio driver (L&R) Effectively a musicians In-Ear-Monitor
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framealign.com.au Phone: 0428214017
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• SERVICE • SPARES •Moulds available in a range of colours (Blue, red, glittered) • REPAIRS
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pparisim@bigpond.net.au
•Standard 3.5mm headphone jackCobar NSW 2835 20 Fredrick Street, •Perfect for plane, train etc....Simply plug into your iPOD and eliminate background noise
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A Custom Moulded Noise Music Listening all Built into One. advertisement in the Cycle Torque iPad edition. Designed by •Acts as high quality custom noise plug when not connected to a music source Motorcyclists, Click here to email Dennis Penzo for for Motorcyclists. •Up to Class 5 or 34 dB(A) attenuation (Deep impression, full concha) more information. An Impression of your ears is required. Turnaround approx. custom NoiseGuard Moto •Professional single audio driver (L&R) Effectively a musicians 1 week. Cost: $435.00 Includes L&R Call Hearlink on with extension (Not pictured), cleaning and maintenance tools, In-Ear-Monitor 6 wax caps, instruction manual and1300 semi-softHEARING carry pouch. Contact: johnny@hearlink.com.au or Call Hearlink on 1300 HEARING •No hollow tubing www.noiseguard.com.au www.noiseguard.com.au •Tangle free, high quality, thick coiled conductive wiring for flexibility and A Custom Moulded Noise Plug and Music Listening Plug and Fully compatible with Jabra BT 3030 bluetooth device all Built into One. Designed by LinkInterface straight to your website from your Interface Receive and re dial phone calls Motorcyclists, for Motorcyclists. Adjust volume, skip, play and pause music straight from the device Jabra bluetooth sold separately
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MOTORCYCLE SERVICES Motorcycle Crash Repairs & Restoration Since 1988
www.nigelmorrellsmotorcycles.com.au ABN:81616249576
jamman@adam.com.au PH. 08 8351 7088 Adelaide’s only specialist motorcycle crash repairer, where unlike most of the dealers and mechanical shops who just do part replacement, we are proud of the fact we actually do repairs and almost all of the work is carried out ‘In House’. Adelaide’s only motorcycle repairer in Suncorp Insurance Group’s ‘Specialist Repairer Network’. We are excited to announce the addition of Paul ‘Bluey’ Harness to our team He brings with him a wealth of technical knowledge with over 35 years of experience and is factory trained on Suzuki, Yamaha and Honda brands up to current models. We look forward to being able to offer a more comprehensive range of mechanical services from minor servicing to major engine work. To celebrate Blue coming on board we are offering a special Flat Rate Service Special for April and May. We will do a Minor Service with the Recommended Penrite Lubricant and a Genuine Oil Filter for $180.00. This is for all road bikes, Super Sport, Sport, Metric Cruisers and Harleys. As seasoned professionals we pride ourselves on our mature approach to repairing and maintaining your motorcycle and look forward to giving your pride and joy the love it deserves
Tank metal finishing, fairing repairs, plastic welding and painting We’ve been doing this for almost 30 years and offer quality second to none
Race replicas are a specialty We also offer a pick up service for your crashed or broken down bike and a valet service to your work or home in the city or surrounding suburbs. 13 ROSSLYN ST. MILE END SOUTH . SA. 5031
Racer
1
SUMMER 2015
RACING: Classic TT Barry Sheene Festival of Speed Island Classic Australian TT HISTORY: Honda V4
Australia’s FIRST classic racing magazine ! w o n e l b a l i a Av $9.95 INCLUDING POSTAGE
www.motobooks.com.au Call 02 4956 9825
N MINNOVAETLIO MARV
AHR RACER TEST
Ducati TTF1
Words by Chris
by Pickett, Photos
an accomp , and has taken being and racer himself nance and race l Seeley frames many origina mainte but there’s care of the these days special race was well campaigned of this very s being TEVE Maney – his preparation a few replica in the UK This more than enough known ed the world. wanted bike. of the bike – for his modifi thrashed around expertise and homeland ’s When the owner t to the best in s but he ando engine bike uses Maney which proved so straigh in one he went Norton Comm quantity ation, based Seeley chassis the unknown ly the Minnov that s, day ation Island the busines was a relative back in the no at the 2010 successful England. Minnov the largely needed the north of when he arrived Island. By the end l design has te bikes and origina comple Phillip for n so to speak. they Racing sell Classic at gn them but modernificatio g he was known Seeley parts to campai of the meetin in house. Both ing speed of his the ment don’t do everyth two things: of this bike ando A HANKERING and his involve the and frame Seeley Comm the engine Commando ation who that saw particular lian up Minnov This to pile d Austra an were supplie in a start line more time ssioned by machine rather was commi rest of the spend rather just to have ed for. then put the Englishman Australia. collector, mainly ly raced. Things than he bargain its foray to Seeley together for in Australia serious fans, Colin with than to be out that way, To classic racing like a ction, and haven’t turned successfully racing ENGINE his needs no introdu builders from the son known for Lyell William classic frame Maney is well number of Seeley e in most major ando based the machin ’70s, the name lia over the 1007cc Comm 1960s and gs in Austra replica race meetin is quite ed on, with has continu classic of years. Lyell the for couple last built frames being be too There won’t racing scene.
S
––– 51 –––
Contents
AUSTRALIAN HISTORIC RACER 18
26
30
4
SNAPSHOT IN TIME
6
IN THE PITS
10
2016 ISLAND CLASSIC PREVIEW
12
RACING TECH
14
2016 BSFOS PREVIEW
16
EDITORIAL
18
RYE DUCATI
Chris Pickett
ADVERTISING
38
Dennis Penzo 0420 319 335 dennis@cycletorque.com.au
DESIGN & PRODUCTION Dionne Hagan dee@cycletorque.com.au
ACCOUNTS
Rebecca Eastment bec@cycletorque.com.au
50
PUBLISHER
Nigel Paterson PO Box 687, Warners Bay, NSW 2282 Ph (02) 4956 9820 Fax (02) 4956 9824 Email: info@cycletorque.com.au
58
REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS:
Darryl Flack, Don Cox, Phil Hall, Goggles Paesano, Brian Dyer, Peter Faragher, wpfotos.co.uk, SDPICS, Buggantar Photos.
Australian Historic Racer is published by Motorcycle Publishing Pty Ltd. ACN 085 871 147, ISSN number 2205-9768 Printed by Rural Press, North Richmond.
66
This work is Copyrighted. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, including electronic, without written permission of the publisher. Please contact the editor before submitting freelance contributions.
RUST NEVER SLEEPS YAMAHA TZ750
36
THE SQUEAKY WHEEL TOM PHILLIS
46
BOOK SHOP
48
RACING GEAR
50
SEELEY COMMANDO
58
HONDA CB500/4
66
HONDA V4
72
1976 AUSTRALIAN TT
76
DENNIS NEILL TRIBUTE
82
2015 BSFOS WRAP UP
86
2015 ISLAND CLASSIC REVIEW
90
CLASSIC TT 2015
94
ON ANY RACEDAY
98
EVENTS
TEST
LIGHT AS A FEATHER
Kel went to great lengths to have the wheels turn freely, using a lighter chain and freer moving wheel bearings. To this day the bike has kept all of Kel’s
Australian Historic Racer
ideas of weight reduction and it can just about push itself along. A 750/4 front end was fitted, with the dual brakes (500s originally had a single caliper), an oil cooler, firstly a regular four-into-one exhaust, and later a trick four-into-one system which could be pulled apart one header at a time. In this form the bike was seriously fast for its time, with Kel wheelstanding it off the front row time after time to take many wins in the unlimited class. The bike was as exotic as an historic racer could be at the time, with Dyna S coils and a rev limiter ensuring the bike was reliable as well as fast. Kel’s shining moment was beating much bigger bikes at Mount Panorama on this big bore 500.
Kel did most of the day to day maintenance of the bike and farmed out the engine for rebuilds when needed. In 1994 Kel took the engine to Mark Woolfrey, noted engine builder and mechanic for Yamaha’s factory team in Australia. Much of the work Masaaki San had done years before was still in good condition and relevant, but Woolfrey tweaked the engine in different areas, in line with current thinking at that time, including a very lightweight knife edged crankshaft. The capacity was brought back to 550cc as Woolfrey believed it would rev harder and make more horsepower at that capacity. Power at this time in its life was believed to be in the low 60s at the rear wheel.
––– 61 –––
Story by Chris Pickett, Photo Pickett and s by Chris Buggantar Photos.
AHR PICTORIA
L
YAMAHA’S TZ75 0 IS ONE OF COLLECTABL THE MOST E FACTORY RAC E BIKES EVER THE OWNER MADE. OF THIS BIKE DECIDED TO EVEN MORE MAKE HIS SPECIAL THA N THE ORIGINAL ACTO
F
TH
TUFF OF LeEgSe nd Australian Historic Racer
RY racing machines generally are built in very doubt the TZ750 small numbers, raced for a excitable handlin had a reputation for in the hands year or so g and power of the best and has few delivery riders and then left to peers as a languish in collectable racing machin sheds. Some bikes e. are like your If you speak grandfather’s to current hammer, with and former owners of and nine handle these machin five heads es, racing s, never has one parts are robbed watered down as you far away from financi and physic for newer al and so on. machines al pain. A They can lose good mine had their identit along the way. a TZ750 powere friend of y d sidecar back in the 1980s and Yamaha’s TZ750 was tells the story of risking a bit like that, with many everything bikes financially import parts to into the hands finding their way from Englan of privateer d to rebuild the engine eventually . After doing riders, becoming practice at Park things uncompetitive Oran and resigne were looking d to being up, until the engine seized ornaments sheds. The on in the warm-up lap last TZ750 the first race to be serious for raced as a of the day. ly modern bike I’ve noticed still has a slight in Australia he was most nervous twitch likely the Gaytho you mentio when TZ ridden rne Yamah n a TZ750 by Michae a to him. l Dowson, with an FJ1100 fitted front end. CLASS ACT They became too expens There has ive to run and too slow been to keep up of TZ750 machin a bit of a resurgence with bikes Yamaha’s es in recent like own FZR10 Australian years in 00. But there’s classic racing circles no generally they but have been ridden –––
31 –––
s
––– 3 –––
26 30
38
this 500/4 leaned up against the fence of a house just near Paul’s place. I knocked on the door and asked if it was for sale, and it was. I checked it out and realised it was my old bike, with all the Masaaki modified gear still on it. The bloke wanted $100, I couldn’t get my wallet out quick enough.” It took some work to breathe racing life back into the little Honda but it wasn’t long before the bike was ready to terrorise more fancied machinery and opponents, just like it did a decade earlier.
s
AHR RACER
EDITOR
Y P O C L A T I G I D A Y OR TAP TO BU TORE FROM THE APP S
This bike was a cuttiung edge historic racer in the late 1980s and still is now. You might think the term ‘Cutting Edge’ is out of place in historic racing but not so. But one area where the bike could be improved is the carburettors. A modern set of Keihin CRs would make more power and be easier to deal with than these Kawasaki based 29mm Smoothbores. And check out the race programs, highlighting the bike’s history as a modern and classic racing machine.
Historic Racer Australian
ON THE COVER: RYE DUCATI PHOTO BY SDR
s YAMAHA TZ750 s SEELEY COMMANDO s HONDA 500/4
STAGER A GIVES AN OLD ON AN OLD IDEA OF LIFE FRESH BREATH builder lished engine
s
RRP: AUS $9.95 NZ $11.95 (Inc.GST)
Pics
A NEW TAKE
A LATIN OBSESSION
PLUS Dennis Neill Tribute – The Racer, The Man
t and SDR Chris Picket
Honda CB500/4
AHR RACER TEST
s
Australian Historic
Historic Racer Australian
ALSO AVAILABLE AT NEWSAGENTS
CREDITS
cycletorque.com.au APRIL 2016 I 87
cycletorque DIGITAL EDITOR RYAN GRUBB
MANAGING EDITOR N I G E L PAT E R S O N publisher@cycletorque.com.au
ADVERTISING DENNIS PENZO, 0420 319 335 dennis@cycletorque.com.au
DESIGN & PRODUCTION DIONNE HAGAN,THE D MEDIA DESIGN dee@cycletorque.com.au
WWW.CYCLETORQUE.COM.AU PO Box 687, Warners Bay, NSW 2282 Ph (02) 4956 9820 • Fax (02) 4956 9824 • info@cycletorque.com.au REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: DARRYL FLACK, BOB GUNTRIP, DAVE MASON, KEITH MUIR, ALEX PICKETT, DARREN SMART, TODD REED, FRIEDEMANN KIRN, WWW.2SNAP.COM, COL WHELAN, ‘AUNTY’ MAL CHERLIN, TONY ‘CARNAGE’ PENFOLD, RYAN GRUBB AND BRIAN DYER. Cycle Torque is published by Motorcycle Publishing Pty Ltd. ABN 91 085 871 147 Cycle Torque is available from bike shops across Australia. If you can’t find our latest issue, call 0420 319 335. Copyright 2012. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, including electronic, without written permission of the publisher. PLEASE CONTACT THE EDITOR BEFORE SUBMITTING FREELANCE CONTRIBUTIONS.
cycletorque.com.au APRIL 2016 I 88
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