THE LATEST NEWS AND RACE RESULTS
MOTOR MOUTH
POWERED BY
TOBY PRICE CLAIMS VICTORY AT THE MOROCCO RALLY
The Red Bull KTM rider has won the fifth and final stage to take out the final round of the 2016 FIM Cross Country Rallies World Championship.
WORDS HAYDEN GREGORY
Price ended the five day rally with an overall lead of nearly eight minutes. It was a dominant display which also saw Chilean rider Pablo Quintanilla crowned 2016 World Champion after finishing the rally in third place. Price was awarded third in the championship standings, after missing the Sealine Rally all but ended his chances of contention. “We always try to push for the wins in the stages and I had a big fight with Sam all week, so it was tough,” Price explained. “Today he got lost around the 140 kilometre mark and lost some time there, but everything is good.” “Sam put up a good flight and he showed he’s ready for the Dakar. Also a big congrats to Pablo (Quintanilla) for the championship. Now its time to move on and get ready for the big one in January.” Red Bull KTM’s Sam Sunderland scored second place for the Morocco overall despite an eighth place finish in the final stage. “It was a good race and I’m happy to arrive at the finish, especially after last year when I hurt my leg here. It was nice to be able to return and fight for the world championship all year," Sunderland said. "Toby was riding really good, so it was always going to be tough. He was always going to catch time on me today, so I expected that. There was nothing too surprising or special today. I made a few navigation mistakes, which made things a bit tricky. But I’m happy. Obviously you want to win, but I have to look at all the things I had to overcome in the last year and I’m grateful to KTM and the team for sticking by me after missing the Dakar with my leg injury. "Now I can repay them, and show them I’m still strong and I can still fight for the world title and for race wins.” Sunderland said he felt he had improved a lot in his riding and in how he thought more about the process of the race. “That’s a good sign. Everybody’s doing well and we’re working towards the Dakar. We’ll keep going like this and we’ll have a good Dakar,” he added. Australian rider Rod Faggotter finished in an impressive tenth place overall. It was his first rally as part of the Factory backed Yamaha Racing Team and a lot of positives can be taken away. "It's been a long day for me but I'm happy I earned a place inside the top 10," Faggotter said, "I wasn't feeling that well since yesterday. I must have caught a kind of virus that made me feel sick. I had trouble sleeping at night and got seriously dehydrated today. I struggled to reach the finish line today but finally I made it. "I'm really happy with the result. It's just been my first rally as part of the team and I've learned so much. The plan is to return home to Australia now and keep working hard for the upcoming Dakar. This rally has been a great taster of what's to come and I can't wait to get at it again on January," he concluded. Toby Price will now shift his focus to the 2017 Dakar Rally where he will be looking to defend his 2016 title.
Final Results OiLibya Morocco 2016 1 Price Toby AUS 2 Sunderland Sam GBR 3 Quintanilla Pablo CHI 4 Rodrigues Helder POR 5 de Soultrait Xavier FRA 6 Van Beveren Adrien FRA 7 Walkner Matthias AUT 8 Pedrero Joan SPA 9 Renet Pierre-Alexandre FRA 10 Faggotter Rodney AUS
RUSSELL CLAIMS FOURTH CONSECUTIVE GNCC CHAMPIONSHIP WORDS HAYDEN GREGORY IMAGE KEN HILL
The FMF/KTM Factory rider has wrapped up the 2016 title in the penultimate round.
As riders hit the Powerline Park track, Australia’s Josh Stang captured the All Balls Racing XC1 Pro Holeshot Award followed by Jordan Ashburn and Ricky Russell. Championship leader Kailub Russell started mid way through the pack before quickly working his way into the race lead. Strang attempted to keep the champion in his sights but soon also fell into the clutches of Thad Duvall. With less than two miles left in the race, Strang suffered a damaged radiator forcing an early exit from the race. The withdrawal allowed Ricky Russell to move into the final podium position. Out in front Kailub Russell would celebrate not only another round victory but also his fourth consecutive GNCC Championship title, wrapping up the series with a round to race. “I didn’t get off to the greatest of the starts, but I made some moves and got into the lead early on,” said Kailub Russell. “I pulled a gap and tried to settle into a pace since it was so slick, but it wasn’t fast enough. Thad and Josh was able to catch up and we rode together until Thad went down. I was so focused on the task at hand that I didn’t realize he went down until I got the pit board a few miles after that. It feels good to get the win and the National Championship.” Duvall enjoyed another strong race keeping in touch of Russell to finish in second place. “I felt good the whole race. I was on the edge of winning, but I wanted to leave it all on the track,” said Duvall. “On the last lap I reached the hill climb around the five-mile marker and we took a new line and I just couldn’t make it over the log at the top. Once I fell I was stuck and by the time I got out I realized there wasn’t anyone real close by so I just maintained my pace to hold onto second.” Ricky Russell was pleased with another podium result as his confidence continues to rise. “I rode a little tight the first few laps and then was able to loosen up,” said Ricky Russell. “I can’t complain with another third place finish. We’ve been making some changes and they definitely are working. I’m completely confident in my setup and can come out here and do what I know I’m capable of doing.” Australian Josh Strang maintains second place in the championship ahead of Trevor Bollinger, Jordan Ashburn and Duvall. Polaris Ace Powerline Park GNCC – St. Clairsville, OH XC1 Pro Event Results: 1. Kailub Russell (KTM) 2. Thad Duvall (HSQ) 3. Ricky Russell (SUZ) 4. Jordan Ashburn (KTM) 5. Grant Baylor (YAM) 6. Steward Baylor Jr. (KTM) 7. Chris Bach (HON) 8. Cory Buttrick (KTM) 9. Russell Bobbitt (KTM) 10. Andrew Delong (HSQ) Overall National Championship Standings: 1. Kailub Russell (316) 2. Josh Strang (236) 3. Trevor Bollinger (166) 4. Jordan Ashburn (161) 5. Thad Duvall (155) 6. Steward Baylor Jr. (148) 7. Ricky Russell (141) 8. Craig Delong (137) 9. Grant Baylor (132) 10. Layne Michael (122)
MOTOR MOUTH
POWERED BY
KTM DOMINATE INAUGURAL SMX CUP
The Austrian manufacturer landed a podium clean sweep with Ryan Dungey, Jeffrey Herlings and Marvin Musquin landing the top three spots.
WORDS HAYDEN GREGORY The stage was set in Germany for the world’s best riders to go head to head in the first ever SMX Riders’ and Manufacturers Cup. With an all star line up many expected KTM to take out top honours and the selected riders did not disappoint. The first of three races, saw Honda’s Tim Gasjer lead start to finish despite Ryan Dungey proving a constant threat in second. Zach Osborne scored third for Husqvarna while Romain Febvre (Yamaha) and Herlings rounded out the top five. Race two started in similar fashion with Gasjer claiming the holeshot ahead of Herlings and Dungey. In a lapse of concentration Herlings went down almost knocking out his teammate in the process before a few laps later Gasjer also hit the dirt, sent flying over his handlebars after locking up his rear wheel. Positions would change a number of times with Febvre eventually pushing ahead to claim the chequered flag ahead of Musquin and Dungey. Kawasaki’s Jordi Tixier finished fourth with Herlings mounting an impressive comeback from dead last to finish in fifth. The third and final race would see Dungey score the holeshot ahead of Gasjer and Musquin. The KTM number five looked confident in the lead and began to build a few seconds gap between himself and the rest of the field. In chase Jeffrey Herlings was showing immense speed to come from near tenth place to just off the rear wheel of Gasjer. The bullet was on a roll, making quick work of the Slovenian to set his eyes on teammate Dungey for the lead. With time running out Herlings continued to apply pressure and a small mistake by Dungey saw the Dutchman take the lead. With KTM looking set for a team 1-2, Marvin Musquin decided to join the party, passing Tim Gasjer in the closing stages to ensure a clean sweep. KTM would celebrate a convincing win in the SMX Cup with all three riders placing top three in the rider’s classification. Ryan Dungey was awarded first place (2,3,2) while Herlings (5,5,1) claimed second ahead of Musquin (6,2,3) in third. “It was kind of nice because the pressure to do it individually was not there but you also wanted to win for the manufacturer," Dungey said. "It was great to be alongside Marvin and Herlings and Prado and good to see the KTM team from Europe here. I’m glad that we could get the Manufacturer’s Cup and go 1-2-3 in the individual. A lot of people looked at the track and said I would have an advantage because it was a supercross track, but it wasn’t. It got a lot rougher than you would want for supercross. We got the bike working well and the boys did a great job. They rode well and were consistent and if there was a mistake, they charged back. I thought we worked well as a team.” Team Honda Gariboldi was awarded second place for the event represented by Romain Febvre who finished fourth overall in the rider’s classification, Evgeny Bobryshev and Gautier Paulin. Kawasaki claimed third place, just edging out Husqvarna thanks to strong performances by Jordi Tixier, Tommy Searle and Vsevolod Brylyakov. Results Race 1 1. Tim Gajser (SLO), Honda, 13:47.253 min, 1 point (15 laps) 2. Ryan Dungey (USA), KTM, +2.041 sec, 2 pts 3. Zachary Osborne (USA), Husqvarna, +8.878, 3pts 4. Romain Febvre (FRA), Yamaha, +13.687, 4 pts 5. Jeffrey Herlings (NED), KTM, +16:628, 5 pts Results Race 2 1. Febvre, 13.58.209 min, 1 pt, (16 laps) 2. Musquin, +3.811 sec, 2 pts 3. Dungey, +4.409, 3 pts 4. Jordi Tixier (FRA), Kawasaki, +8.242, 4 pts 5. Herlings, +12.965, 5 pts Results Race 3 1. Herlings, 14:03.857 min, 1 pt, (16 laps) 2. Dungey, +5.381 sec, 2 pts 3. Musquin, +7.890, 3 pts 4. Tixier, +9.100, 4 pts 5. Gajser, +10.998, 5 pts Final Standings Riders Classification 1. Dungey, 7 pts 2. Herlings, 11 pts 3. Musquin, 11 pts 4. Febvre, 12 pts 5. Tixier, 16 pts Final Standings Manufacturers Classification 1. KTM, 18 pts 2. Honda 43 pts 3. Kawasaki, 61 pts 4. Husqvarna, 71 pts 5. Yamaha, 77 pts
SMX RIDER QUOTES Ryan Dungey: “It was kind of nice because the pressure to do it individually was not there but you also wanted to win for the manufacturer. It was great to be alongside Marvin and Herlings and Prado and good to see the KTM team from Europe here. I’m glad that we could get the Manufacturer’s Cup and go 1-2-3 in the individual. A lot of people looked at the track and said I would have an advantage because it was a supercross track, but it wasn’t. It got a lot rougher than you would want for supercross. We got the bike working well and the boys did a great job. They rode well and were consistent and if there was a mistake, they charged back. I thought we worked well as a team.” Jeffrey Herlings: “KTM had a lot of options and I was surprised that they picked me but I think I showed what I am capable of. I’m very happy to have been second in the individual and its great to win as a team. It was a good experience to ride with Dungey and to pass him in the last moto, well that was pretty cool!” Marvin Musquin: “When Roger (De Coster – Team Manager for this event) called me a month or two ago and asked me to be part of the KTM team I thought wow! I was a bit surprised because we have a lot of good riders at KTM. I was very excited because first I wanted to fight really hard for KTM and to give the best, and also do well myself. For us to be first, second and third on the podium and for me to be third with equal points with Jeffrey was great. It was a good experience and a difficult track because it was like racing outdoors. It’s always fun to do a team race like this.” Pit Beirer, KTM Motorsports Director: “We could clearly show again in the ranking where the manufacturer from Austria should be – on the top, thanks to this fantastic team. It is so nice to see the one strong force that we can make out of our riders from the US and Europe. Its an incredible pleasure to have you guys altogether.” Tim Gajser: “I definitely showed I had pace to run out front today, and to take the first race win and on the new bike was great. To take the pole and the holeshot was amazing, and the new 2017 CRF feels so good to ride and is so fast. I did my best for the team and to finish second with Team Honda is a good result. But I had the pace to win overall today, so I’m disappointed with the crashes. The first one wasn’t so bad and I was able to get going again in fourth, but the second one when I went down was so painful. I landed on the same shoulder I injured in practice before the Nations, and I could barely lift the bike back up at first and to be honest I was struggling a lot with it. But I’m still pleased that we could finish second thanks also to Gautier and Bobby. It was really nice to race indoors in Europe and a really good experience because this is the first time we do this.” Romain Febvre: “The event was good and the track was really good also. We worked on our starts a lot this week so the race starts were strong for us. I was able to always start at the front, which was the key for the races. The track is really small so if you start last it’s very difficult to come back. The first race I was following the leaders looking for a place to pass but made a mistake, and Herlings also. We touched each other and crashed. It could have been better but with a crash it wasn’t too bad. The second race was perfect, I had a good start and was second, then Tim Gasjer had a crash and I took the lead. Second place was elastic, he kept coming back but then I was moving forward so I kept the position. The last race, someone came too fast on the inside and crashed, pushing everyone out and I was stuck behind the bike. I went last but came back to finish seventh which was a bit disappointing. The stadium event is good for the pubic and it was great to be part of a full Yamaha team.”
MOTOR MOUTH
POWERED BY
TREY CANARD JOINS RED BULL KTM FOR 2017
The rider will race a KTM 250 SX-F alongside new teammates Ryan Dungey and Marvin Musquin.
WORDS HAYDEN GREGORY Canard is a former 250SX East and 250MX champion, who will join the team as part of the 450 assault. The Oklahoma native is extremely eager in the move and believes a championship title is not out of the question. “I’m extremely excited to join the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team,” Canard said. “It’s a fresh start for me and I’m hopeful that I can make the most of this great opportunity. I’m excited to work with all the crew at KTM as they have proven to be a championship-winning team. I’m grateful for this opportunity and I will do my very best to make the most of it.” Red Bull KTM will now boast a talented three rider lineup for 2017, a move Team Manager Roger De Coster is very excited about. “We are excited to add Trey to our rider lineup for the upcoming SX and MX seasons,” De Coster said. “Trey is a great guy and I think his dedication to wanting to be the best he can be, coupled with his personality, is a good fit for our team. Trey has always shown a lot of talent and speed in the 450 class. Our goal is to help him fine-tune his skills and give him the additional guidance to win on the KTM 450 SX-F FACTORY EDITION.”
SEEWER EXTENDS WITH SUZUKI UNTIL 2019
The Swiss rider has penned a new two year deal. WORDS HAYDEN GREGORY Jeremy Seewer was contracted with Team World Suzuki MX2 until the end of the 2017 season, yet in a huge boost for both the team and the rider; Seewer has extended a further two years to contest the MXGP class. The 22 year old enjoyed great success in 2016 scoring ten podiums from the first 18 rounds. Seewer attributes the new deal to his relationship with Team Manager Stefan Everts who he really enjoys working with both on and off the track. “For me it actually was a pleasure to know and work with Stefan for my first year,” Seewer shared. “And I knew, I would decide about my future after working together with him. It all worked out great this season, we want to go in the same direction, I feel good in the team so it was clear for me that I wanted to stay with them and that my future was with Suzuki.” Everts also spoke of the new deal and his commitment to securing the long term future of Team World Suzuki. “Working with Jeremy has been a pleasure, we have a good feeling and a good spirit between us,” Everts said. “We have the same goal and same ambition. I’m very pleased that we could come to an agreement with Jeremy for the ’18 and ’19 MXGP seasons. It’s an important phase of my planning for what I want to achieve with the Suzuki Factory Team.” ‘The Legend’ has always stressed the importance of finding young talent and assisting them on their road to the MXGP class. And he is happy that he can take this road together with ‘91’. “Jeremy has a very good image and he is a fantastic ambassador for Suzuki. He is something we like to be connected with,” Everts finished. Seewer’s next point of call for Suzuki will be the inaugural SMX Manufacturers Cup this weekend, October 8th, before taking a much deserved break.
PRODUCT OF THE MONTH AKUBRA CATTLEMAN
We’re not ones to lecture and we’ve ignored more good advice than we’ve taken in the past, but this one’s a no-brainer. The heat is coming, Australia knows how to do heat well and that heat radiates from a powerful sun. According to Cancer Council Australia, two in three Aussies will be diagnosed with skin cancer by the time they’re 70. That’s bloody scary! Wear sunscreen while
you’re riding — on your neck, your face, your shoulders and at least your wrists as well. Top up during the day. When you’re off the bike, wear a hat. Get something that covers all the way around such as the Akubra Cattleman, which was designed in Australia by Australians. This shit’s real — don’t ignore it. End of lecture.
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REASONS WE LOVE BELL MOTO 9
01 03
Bell makes quality helmets. That’s all it does and all it’s ever done since 1954.
Worn by not a bad lineup of athletes, including Cody Webb, Cooper Webb, Robbie Maddison, Adam Cianciarulo and Matt Rebeaud.
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02
Bell started life in a suburban garage and in a world of looking flash before function, Bell says of its helmets: "That they are beautiful in their ultimate aesthetic is secondary. In the end we are creating an essential performance tool. We build it to use it.”
Put a Moto 9 on and you’ll get it straight away. There’s a big difference between an average helmet and a quality lid and a Bell ain’t average.
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Bell Helmets aren’t showpieces for designs that wouldn’t look out of place in a lolly shop. Moto 9 designs look timelessly cool.
FEATURE: ISDE GALLERY
PHOTOGRAPHY JOHN PEARSON
2016 ISDE GALLERY Head behind the scenes as Team Australian prepare for their World title defence.
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FEATURE:
2016 DUCATI MULTISTRADA 1200 ENDURO
BIG
STORY DAMIEN ASHENHURST PHOTOGRAPHY GREG SMITH/IKAPTURE/DUCATI
ADVENTURE DUCATI HAS ENTERED THE ADVENTURE MARKET IN A BIG WAY WITH THE MULTISTRADA ENDURO 1200. IS IT OFF-ROAD READY — OR A ROAD BIKE LOOKING FOR A BETTER LIFE?
Damo took a bit to get used to the Ducati but it all came together soon enough
D
ucati: not the first name that comes to mind when you’re thinking off-road, right? Same with me. The Multistrada Enduro 1200 has arrived in a busy marketplace as something of an outsider and it’s taking aim at the top spot. The Multistrada might be somewhat familiar to you. There are a couple of different models of Multistrada that both look very similar to us dirt monkeys. From a distance, the Multistrada Enduro is almost indistinguishable from the road weapons but up close you can appreciate the many distinct differences — somewhere just short of 300 — that make the Enduro ready for adventure and the many rigours of off-road use. When we travelled to Coffs Harbour (NSW) to try the bike it was to be the first time I’d ever ridden a Ducati. We met at a nice resort by the sea and ate parts of a crocodile for dinner. The folks from Ducati are solid, down to earth and knowledgeable about every aspect
of the product and they were clearly keen to get us on the bike, which is always a good sign. I remember my dad telling me about a launch of a 250F enduro bike back in the day that featured only one test bike for all the assembled journos. The manufacturer’s rep decided to lead the ride out on the single test bike with plans to share it during the day. They’d not gone a few kilometres before he stopped and said something along the lines of, “This is no use. Let’s just call it a day and turn back. You’re not going to like this bike.” And that was the end of that. Nobody rode it. So, when a manufacturer is openly beaming at the prospect of you riding their bike, you know someone must have got something right.
MEET THE DUKE CREW The bike is an aggressive-looking unit that’s clearly from a different school of thought in a number of areas. Ducati is known to do things its own way.
This is a somewhat imposing machine to take in and I must admit I wasn’t sure it wasn’t going to be a road bike dressed in dirt clothes to cash in on the growth of adventure bikes. It’s big and packed with engine and that swingarm is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. I was out of my comfort zone and I needed to be convinced. We were treated to a technical presentation by Ducati Australia CEO Warren Lee who, it turns out, is a motocross/dirt rider from way back and had some great stories from some of the iconic tracks around Australia that have since disappeared. He was clearly pumped that the company he plays such a huge role in is now allowing him to get back into the bush. The tech presentation was interesting and that’s when it became clear that the Enduro is no token effort or rush job. The bike is well thought out and in places an innovative machine that on paper should worry some of the competition — and by “some” we mean the
No doubt this bike will turn heads. It looks even better when it's dirty
This went well... for about 30 metres. Soft, post-storm sands didn’t take well to the six bikes that came to have fun The resort life... someone’s gotta do it
The brake lever rest pulls out and spins around to offer different heights
The Enduro is surprisingly nimble for a 1200
These are epic stoppers with excellent ABS and plenty of feel
THE ENGINE IS INCREDIBLY SMOOTH WITH ALMOST NO VIBES THROUGH THE ’BARS AND THOSE BRAKES ARE MONSTERS very few that can actually offer the full array of features this bike does. As happens every so often these days, the spec sheet on this bike is so long and detailed we couldn’t list it all here but we’ll go through the stuff that spun our beanie and proved to be relevant once the riding started.
THE STUFF THAT GROWLS & BLINKS The engine is a 1198.4cc Testastretta that packs a mighty 160hp and 136Nm of torque. Which is ridiculous, right? We’ll get back to that in a minute. The Multistrada’s electronic package is one of the most impressive and really the only system we’ve seen that can go toe to toe with the mighty BMW R1200GS Adventure. You ride in your choice of one of four modes. Sport is where everything the bike can muster is thrown at the ground and this is a tar-road-only mode without a doubt. Take that onto the dirt and you’ll dig a real big hole. There are also modes labelled Touring and Urban but the one we were all over was the Enduro mode. This sets the power output to 100hp and adjusts the ABS and traction control as well as suspension settings to better suit riding in the dirt. The interface for all of this is supremely simple to use and one of the best we’ve fiddled with. You just make a couple of moves with your left thumb and keep check of it all via the five-inch TFT screen. There’s an insane amount of variation once you start editing the modes but I only did that once when I decided to turn traction control off. Ducati has done a great job of packing crazy control and variability into the Multistrada’s systems
but the real trick was to make it user friendly. Tip of the cap there. As mentioned, the bike has an ABS system: Bosch Cornering ABS to be more precise. It’s a clever setup that not only monitors lean angles but descent angles as well. There’s traction control, which was impressive to ride with in Enduro mode. There’s a brilliant Vehicle Hold Control (VHC) that activates the rear brake for nine seconds or until the clutch is released to assist with hill starts, which is gold when you’re carrying a pillion passenger. Tip into a corner hard enough and the Ducati Cornering Lights (DCL) come on to illuminate the inside line. To top it all off, the Enduro runs a keyless start. As long as the key is within two metres of the bike, it’ll start at the press of the button.
UNLEASH THE PONIES Our ride started with a brisk run up a windy road. Not my thing, really, but I put the bike into Sport mode to find out what 160hp feels like. Essentially it felt how a small fish must feel when it’s reeled in as fast as possible. I was impressed but keen to get onto the dirt and into my comfort zone. Still, 160hp is ludicrous — it makes you smile but your licence would disappear faster than a pig at a bacon convention. Soon enough we hit the brown stuff and after about 20 minutes I was worried I either didn’t like the bike or couldn’t get my head around it. I couldn’t quite figure out what it was, but me and the Duke weren’t gelling. It feels different enough from anything I’ve ridden to
LOADED FOR BEAR The Multistrada is stacked with more goodies than Santa Claus D ucati Testastretta DVT engine I nertial Measurement Unit (IMU) by Bosch B osch-Brembo ABS 9.1ME cornering braking system E lectronic cruise control R iding modes D ucati Multimedia System (DMS) R ide-by-wire Power Modes (PM) D ucati Wheelie Control (DWC) D ucati Traction Control (DTC) V ehicle Hold Control (VHC) S achs semi-active electronic suspension (front & rear): Ducati Skyhook Suspension (DSS) Evolution system S achs steering damper F ull LED headlight with Ducati Cornering Lights (DCL) D ashboard with full-TFT 5-colour screen C entrestand
THE MULTISTRADA IS TRULY A FUN BIKE TO RIDE AND, WHILE OUR LAUNCH RIDE WASN’T ALL THAT LONG, THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT IT LEFT ME WANTING A LOT MORE TIME ON IT
If you go out in the woods today...
warrant early caution but I just didn’t get the feeling the front was planted. This continued for a little while longer until I decided to up the pace and stop being a pussy. If there’s a problem, let’s find out what it is. And this is where things started to make sense. The balance of the Enduro was improved once I recognised I’d been riding with a pretty stiff suspension preload setting on skatey dirt roads; the whole package made more sense and was far more impressive once I let the bike run. The front is in fact planted. The engine is incredibly smooth with almost no vibes through the ’bars and those brakes are monsters. We wound through fairly open tracks. The conditions were excellent for riding with good traction in most parts and good-sized drainage humps to keep you on your toes. The ride-by-wire throttle has a sweet, light feel and the clutch mirrors it with a nice easy pull. The footpegs aren’t too bad — I’d fit wider pegs — but the rear brake lever has a clever height-adjustable footrest that just pulls out and spins around for a low or high setting. There’s a good-sized bashplate fitted standard as well as handguards, so there isn’t much to slow you down except the need to brake for corners or jumps, which often come up faster than you think. The bike is big and carries some weight but it carries it well and I didn’t feel like I was getting tired or that the Enduro was treading where it would rather not. Ducati refers to the Enduro as a Globetrotter and that, aside from being a great basketball player, is an apt name for the Multistrada. It’s a comfortable mount with good ergos and you can finish a long day on two wheels without feeling like you’ve been beaten up by Mike
Tyson with piranhas strapped to his fists. The crucial juncture between the seat and 30-litre tank is well formed for both sitting and standing. In fact, this is a really nice bike to stand on, which is obviously a major drawcard. The true measure of a bike for me is its fun factor. That’s why we ride. The Multistrada is truly a fun bike to ride and, while our launch ride wasn’t all that long, the good news is that it left me wanting a lot more time on it. As an adventure bike it has to be durable and reliable and that’s something of a Ducati hallmark, but we’re looking forward to the chance to test those two facets further — and that might not be far off.
LET’S GO EXPLORING The Multistrada Enduro 1200 is a top-end adventure bike that’s missing only the thousands of real-world miles under its belt that the competition has. Ducati has tested the bike with both pro and average riders over an insane number of kilometres but it’s time for it to be set loose. We reckon the bike will win fans in healthy numbers pretty quickly and, while not all of them will take on the Canning Stock route, it will — and should — see plenty of time off-road. It’s an excellent bike to ride in the dirt. The torque and brilliant suspension make picking over tree roots and rocks and shit like that easy, but when the track opens the Enduro is a friggin’ weapon. There’s an excellent array of genuine parts available along with some quality off-road riding kit all emblazoned in the famous Ducati logo, so you can personalise and customise your bike and kit all you like. Welcome to off-road, Ducati. This is going to be a fun adventure.
PERSONALISATION PACKAGES But wait — there’s more! Touring Pack: Heated grips, Ducati Performance by Touratech aluminium panniers and handlebar bag Sport Pack: Type-approved Ducati Performance by Termignoni exhaust (complies with EU homologation requisites), billet black aluminium water pump cover, billet aluminium front brake fluid & clutch fluid reservoir caps Urban Pack: Ducati Performance by Touratech aluminium top case, tank bag with tank lock & USB hub to charge electronic devices Enduro Pack: Supplementary LED lights, Ducati Performance by Touratech components: crash bars, radiator protection, oil radiator protection, chain guide, rear brake guard
OFF-ROAD HERITAGE In 1971, Ducati released its one and only motocross bike, the 450 R/T. Built only for the American market, the 450 had a powerful engine (36hp) but its handling was poor and details like its fibreglass bodywork and weak frame weren’t popular in comparison to bikes of the day like BSA. So it seems finding power is rarely an issue for Ducati!
FEATURE:
VINTAGE MOTOCROSS
Heaven VMX Inc Presents: State of Origin NSW Vs Queensland PHOTOGRAPHY DAMIEN ASHENHURST
VINTAGE MOTOCROSS
MOTOR MOUTH
POWERED BY
Megan Johnson Isaac Volker Jake & ReeZee
SOCIAL SPACE PHOTOS BY DIRT ACTION READERS SUBMIT YOURS AT WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/DIRTACTIONMAGAZINE
Brad Newman
Carolyn & Klint Rogers Alistair Creed