Indice dei contenuti per Issue 337 in Motorcycle Trader

The hooligan now knows how and when to use manners > Overhauled engine with 105 new parts (see next page) > Revs harder for longer – redline now 1000rpm higher than the outgoing Speed Triple with changes to the valve springs and hydraulic cam chain tensioner > Spins up faster > Five rider modes (including ‘Track’ and a ‘Rider’ configurable mode) > Overhauled gearbox with optional two-way quickshifter > Full-colour TFT dash > Illuminated switchblocks > Keyless ignition (with keyfob off button to save battery) > Cruise control > 3kg lighter > Cornering ABS and traction control > Higher-spec brakes and suspension > Higher quality finish and detail > Freer-flowing Arrow pipes as standard > Slip-assist clutch > Brembo MCS span and ratio-adjustable brake lever, which allows the rider to…

Say ‘Norvin’ to most folk, and you get a visual image of one of the legendary V-twin Vincent powerplants shoehorned into a Norton Featherbed frame. To some eyes, it’s not actually a natural fit as the Vincent unit looks huge compared with the powerplants that Norton bolted into the same space. But there’s no denying the end result looks muscular. Done right, you end up with a bike with a more contemporary look and improved handling. The machine on these pages, however, is a very different and more ‘natural’ variant – a single-pot Vincent Comet (in Grey Flash-plus spec) squeezed into the engine bay. Now that, for some purists, is potentially a match made in heaven. The Featherbed frame was, after all, made famous by the single-cylinder Manx racers. He…

While testing for the event, I quickly learnt that motocross nylons would not be warm enough and an adventure suit would be too hot and bulky. I discovered the Fox Legion range of pants, jersey, jacket and gloves are specifically designed for the trail. It was light, kept me dry and the vent zips helped to regulate my body temperature in all conditions. Overnight, I had all the zips closed and wore a thermal top, balaclava and handlebar muffs to be comfortable when the air temperature neared zero. The Fox Instinct boots and V3 helmet offer top protection yet are light, which is particularly appreciated on such rides. Oakley Airbrake goggles were comfy and made swapping lenses easy, perfect for switching from day tint lenses to anti-fog clears for the…

The K1’s talents were wasted in Australia If you’re ever invited to a Kraftwerk or Devo revival concert (look them up), buy yourself a K1 – you’ll fit right in. It’s hard to know what happened in the Beemer skunkwerks to produce this, but I’m tipping a really big night on the schnapps. That and a set of crayons. Now before you get offended, I have owned one of these in the full red/yellow clownfish colour scheme and regret selling it. BMW’s issue during the mid-1980s was that it had an image of building solid but essentially dull road bikes. Yes, that’s a sweeping statement. The exception was the GS series, which was just starting to build a reputation. Enter, stage left, the K1. Based on the K100 platform, it…

The Monster was a spectacular example of how similar basic elements could be worked into utter magic If the Paso had legions of Ducatisti going “WTF?”, the Monster was a spectacular example of how similar basic elements, such as the frame and powerplant, could be worked into something that was utter magic. This one was penned by Miguel Angel Galluzi, who has moved on to be influential in several late-model Aprilias and Moto Guzzis. The thinking behind the Monster was simple enough: stuff the biggest possible engine into the smallest possible naked bike and make sure it had the Mecchano-like Ducati ‘look’. And the name? That was genius. Of course we all want a little monster in the shed. This road test from Bike UK magazine in 1993 pretty-well sums…

You can see where they went and where they failed This is a fantastic example of failure coming in several different flavours and for the most unexpected of reasons. Transport yourself back to the early 1980s when one of the most savage model wars of all time was being waged between the Japanese big-four brands and against just about everyone else. It may sound like an exaggeration, but it was real and there were casualties. Ducati was sent to the financial wall and very nearly didn’t survive. Harley-Davidson was heading towards the precipice and was struggling to hold even home market share. For H-D, it got so bad that it successfully applied for tariff protection on the large (750cc-plus) motorcycle sector. In the meantime, the big four were pumping out…

It may seem hard to imagine now, but for several years before the YZF-R1 rolled into view, Yamaha had seemed to lose its way in the litre-bike performance wars. It was still producing some excellent products, but they didn’t quite have the cache of movers and shakers such as Honda’s Fireblade series and Ducati’s 916. It happens. The FZR1000 was in fact a dominant player when it was launched, taking first and second place in the infamous Castrol Six-Hour production race in 1987. That was the event’s final year. The next gen or two of the series did okay, but soon lost market traction as competitors came out with shinier toys. The final FZR series, the Thunderace, was interesting – and fast – but didn’t quite cut the mustard as…

At first glance, I didn’t expect the pillion seat to be as comfortable as the armchairs I’d slumped in before. But, after a few minutes riding, the seat’s width, angle and feet position made for as good a ride as I’ve had on older models. Getting on was easy, and there was enough seat to allow for a little wriggle room over a long run. The grab handles were in the right spot for my long arms – perhaps a little snug for my fingers inside winter gloves. There is no alternative hand-hold position. However, I felt secure when I tried using only my legs to hold on, so I didn’t always use the handles. There’s enough distance away from the rider to not tap helmets under brakes, while the…

BEST STORY YET! Just reading through MT #355 and, as a long-time reader, I must say Roothy’s Keeper was the best story I’ve read in the mag. All your stories/articles are great and I read the mag from cover to cover, but this takes the cake. History of the bike and the man – awesome. I knew he could write really good, but this was great. Thanks, Roothy. Bryan Humby SA Wow, thanks Bryan. In 30-plus years of scribbling, that yarn was the easiest I’ve ever had to do – no research, no thinking, just let it pour out, so I’m glad it was readable, but Mr Harris had a fair bit to do with that. PS: Last weekend Ruby fried her stator and regulator up the New England and…

After 11 years away from motorcycle racing, Mike Hailwood returned to the Isle of Man TT in 1978 and rode an NCR-prepared Ducati 900SS to victory. As Ducati’s semi-official race department, the small company’s philosophy was that everything could be improved, lightened or made more powerful. The mechanics specialised in preparing bikes for TT Formula 1 and FIM Coupe d’Endurance events. Thirty years later, NCR released a super exclusive Hailwood homage to mark the anniversary of that TT victory. All the bikes carried his racing number of 12 and just 12 were produced. But ‘replica’ does not adequately describe this bike. Based on Ducati’s Sport 1000, the NCR Hailwood featured materials and componentry that could only be dreamed of in the 1970s. Engine internals were all from NCR. The long-stroke…

Harley-Davidson introduced the V-Rod, or VRSC (for V-twin Racing Street Custom), in 2001 to a mixed reaction from Harley traditionalists. The V-Rod blatantly broke away break from the iconic American brand’s traditions, and its 1131cc Evolution V-twin was certainly different. Harley teamed with Porsche engineers during the engine’s development, which reconfigured its cylinders at a 60-degree angle instead of the traditional 45 degrees. A further departure from Harley-Davidson tradition was liquid-cooling, although the engine does sport decorative fins. Other features included twin-overhead cams, four valves per cylinder, a forged one-piece crankshaft, Mahle pistons and sequential-port fuel injection. At the end of the project, the beefy engine was subjected to the Düsseldorf endurance test at the Porsche Engineering Group’s Weissach Development Centre. It successfully completed the required 500 hours running without…

Harley-Davidson has shocked the two-wheeled world by revealing a major new-model push that sees it venture into uncharted segments and target a new generation of riders. Dubbed “More Roads to Harley-Davidson”, the growth plan to reinvigorate the brand through to 2022 will see the traditional cruiser brand “compete in many of the largest and fastest-growing segments with a full portfolio of motorcycles across a broad spectrum of price points, power sources, displacements, riding styles and global markets,” the company announced. This includes the introduction of a modular 500-1250cc family of motorcycles that spans three distinct product spaces and four displacements, starting with Harley’s first adventure tourer, the Pan America 1250 (above), a Custom model with the same engine and a 975cc Streetfighter model, all of which are planned to launch…

The Speed Triple’s tried and true 1050cc three-cylinder engine received 105 new parts – that’s on top of the 104 new parts the 2017 bike received. These include: > New cylinder head for a higher compression ratio (up from 12.25:1 to 12.9:1) and higher cylinder pressures – helps to achieve the higher power output > Lighter Nikasil-plated aluminium cylinder liners > Lighter crank gear with revised profile > New profile pistons for higher compression > New valve springs rated for a higher load > New high-lift cam profiles, new hydraulic tensioner and tensioner blade, and new rubbing strip-combined to improve performance and reduced mass > New lighter balancer shaft and optimised balancer drive gear > New sump (lowers oil level in the engine, reducing drag, while a baffled sump gasket…

One bike, one rider, riding competitively for 24 hours, in the oldest motorcycle race in Australia? I had to have a piece of that. I first learned of the 24-Hour Trial years ago from a magazine feature. Looking at the images of enduro bikes with oversized headlights and handlebar muffs, with riders who looked to have been through a war, I knew it was something I had to try. I’ve been lucky enough to race many of the world’s iconic motorcycle races – Isle of Man TT, Suzuka 8 Hour and Le Mans 24 Hour to mention a few – which were all boxes I wanted to tick in my racing career, but racing bikes on bitumen is how I paid the bills. Riding off-road, on the other hand, is…

South Australia has always been a hub of motorcycle sidecar racing, and the 24-Hour Trial is high on the three-wheeled calendar. This year there were 29 sidecar entries. Given the amount of mechanical and cosmetic engineering involved in an off-road outfit, you can appreciate how impressive that number is. There are some specific sidecar routes for the special tests to avoid the ultra-narrow single-rut tracks, but don’t think three wheels is an easier option. After seeing how physically hard rider and swinger had to work to negotiate the course, they can have it. I once entertained the idea of attempting this class, but now have a whole new level of respect for these nutters.…

The 300cc two-stroke segment is a favourite among Aussie riders, with KTM and Husqvarna dominating the sales race. Gas Gas has upped the ante, however, with its 2018 EC300 taking top honours in a recent ADB 300cc two-stroke shootout against rivals, KTM, Husky, Beta and Sherco. So why the often-overlooked EC250 ($11,790)? They might produce a little less torque, but I like the nature of their power delivery. Quicker-revving, with less engine vibration, I also feel their lower flywheel inertia makes them quicker to steer in tight turns. After picking up the EC250, it was straight out for a ride to see what I had to work with. Being a regular test rider on road bikes means you quickly find things that aren’t right with a new model but, after…

With good reason, it quickly established itself as the series to beat It’s funny now when you look back on it, but there was no way we could’ve predicted back in the early ’80s just how successful BMW’s GS series – and the whole adventure-tourer class it helped invent – would be. There were signs of demand for this sort of thing. Scratch the surface of the 1970s and you’ll come across all sorts of interesting tackle. Scramblers based loosely on mid-sized road bikes were a well-established class over several decades. Meanwhile, we saw all sorts of possibly feral optimists turn bigger machinery into things their designers never intended. Think Honda CB750s with long-travel suspension and trail rubber. We’re talking about contraptions that only the brave would consider mud-wrestling, commonly…

Crossover segments were developing in the car world, perhaps they might here too If ever you hear someone refer to a motorcycle as “really interesting” and “much better than you might expect”, run away. It’s like when your allegedly polite niece or nephew tells someone that you’re a lovely ‘character’ when what they really mean is you’re fat and ugly. And possibly stupid. Honda, to its eternal credit, every now and then wanders off into uncharted market waters to see what’s out there. Sometimes it comes back missing a few teeth, and this was one of those times. I seem to recall talking to a senior Honda staffer when picking up the test version back in 2008 and noticing the determined (almost teeth clenched) cheerfulness when I asked them what…

What I like about the ZZ-R1100 tale is that you can trace a direct path back to the first liquid-cooled Kwaka road bike and see where things started off great, wandered seriously off topic for a while, and then got back on track. This story starts with the 1984 GPz900R, which I suspect is a bit of a sleeper in the classic market (though I should declare I own one!) We’re not talking anything radical here, compared to what’s in the showroom today, but it is a forerunner for your current ZX-10R. You have a liquid-cooled 16-valve inline four, with six speeds, housed (for once!) not in a traditional twin-loop steel frame. Instead, there’s a whole new arched-steel ‘diamond’ unit with heavy bracing at the steering head and swingarm pivot.…

APRILIA MOTO 6.5 – 1995 Here we go again: big price and courageous styling, matched to unexceptional performance. Phillipe Starck was better known for his architectural and interior decorating work before he was let loose on a motorcycle. Just as an aside, he kinda lost me as a fan after I discovered a Starck-branded kettle, which looked wonderful but was almost guaranteed to give you second-degree steam burns if you were silly enough to actually use it. No matter, the Aprilia was far safer and was an interesting cultural experiment. The punters stayed away in droves. MOTO GUZZI LE MANS MK IV – 1985 Really the biggest sin for this series was the adoption of the 16-inch front wheel over the more traditional 18-incher (the MkV, by the way, reverted…

A big blue sign on Edmondstone Street points up a driveway to a clean-looking shed full of airhead BMWs, tools and a couple of workbenches. I’m here to meet Mark Morrissey, a legend among the flat-twin fraternity known as ‘Ems’ to his mates, for obvious reasons. But the first bloke I meet at MMM’s BMW Boxerworks is a self-proclaimed refugee from the corporate world, Paul Tierney, who’s looking right at home in work clothes and wielding spanners. “Mark’s out grabbing some morning tea, he’ll be back soon.” So I ask Paul for his story but I kind of know it already. See, there’s a movement going on and I’m seeing it more and more. New bikes and new technology have brought a huge change to the motorcycle scene and the…

SWEET SERVICE I’d like to nominate Riders Motorcycle Garage of 27 Rene St, Noosaville, Queensland, for your Roll of Honour. I called in on the off chance they would have a part for my bike. No, but they could get it to me the next day and went out of their way to have it dropped off on their day off. Now that’s service. Mark Kimmerly, markw49@hotmail.com They have a day off? Sounds like they’re not really trying! I’ll forgive them if it was Sunday. Thanks for the tip, Mark. Anyone else out there recommending Riders Motorcycle Garage? KEEPER SLEEPER I bought a 1985 Yamaha V-Max with 12,250km on the clock. I fell for it after reading an article in MT saying it was the one to buy…

There’s no way you can read this and not think I’m a butcher. Well, I’ll wear that. It’s pretty right. Poor old Hilda, I’ve had her for 44 years and used her senseless all the way. It’s as if the more reliable a machine is, the less care it gets around here. Twenty-four years ago, when the second R60 engine and gearbox ground to a halt, Lucky Kaiser and I squeezed in an R100/7 driveline. That’s literally – the frame was heated and spread, the rest bolted where it’d fit. There were a host of other jobs I should’ve finished, like the rear shocks that ran on angles and the air filters that weren’t filtering, but Ruby needed a rebuild and, with child number one on the way, we needed…

STREET FIGHTER TCX is in the hands of a new Australian distributor so expect to hear a lot more from the Italian motorcycle boot specialist from Montebelluna, about an hour up the road from Venice. As a point of difference, TCX is one of very few manufacturers that offers boots for speedway and trials riders. That’s in addition to the rest of its range comprising 15 off-road boots, 11 road/racing boots, 10 touring/adventure boots, 17 commuter/vintage boots and more. Priced at $399, these waterproof ST-Fighters are the second-tier offering in the road/racing line, above the entry-level SP-Master ($349), both of which are road-oriented boots that blend protection with everyday comfort. You can also get the ST-Fighters without the waterproof liner for the same price. Things get more track-focussed after that,…

During the 1970s automotive manufacturers were experimenting with turbocharged race cars. Porsche’s twin-turbo 917/30 dominated North American Can-Am events and Renault introduced the RS01. During that decade, BMW and Porsche introduced boosted street-legal models to their ranges. It was perhaps inevitable that the technology would find its way into the motorcycle market. Honda was first to add a turbo model to its range with the CX500T in 1982. Naturally, the other Japanese manufacturers followed suit. During 1978, Kawasaki had marketed the Z1R-TC through its dealer network. However, that was a Z1R with a bolted-on American Turbo Pak compressor and not a purpose-built model. A few months after Honda released the CX500T, Yamaha followed with its turbo offering. This was based on the XJ650 Seca – an air-cooled, in-line four-cylinder unit…

Do you know what the best thing is about Triumph’s Speed Triple? It’s not its grunty, charismatic 1050cc triple, distinctive (or polarising) bug eyes or its 24-year lineage. Nup, the best thing about “the original hooligan bike” is the fact that anybody who’s owned or ridden one hasn’t given a shit that it’s never been the most powerful, the most affordable or the most high-tech. It’s so much more than that, hence the cult following. Very few naked bikes are as characterful and cohesive as the Speed Triple. Twenty-four years is a lot of time for evolution and character definition. It’s not what it has or hasn’t got, it’s how it does it that sets it apart. Now in its seventh generation, the 2018 Speed Triple stays true to this…

First run in 1924, the 24-Hour Trial has always been an endurance test for man and machine. In its early years, it started in Adelaide, with the course then taking riders into the nearby hills. These days, the starting point alternates between Kapunda and Eudunda, near the Barossa region, which allows riders to start closer to the closed-course timed sections on private property. Adding another element of difficulty, the event is run in the middle of winter, when heavy rain and sub-zero conditions are common. One can only imagine how tough this event must’ve been in the early days of riding old British bikes. Battling to keep these machines running would have been the greatest challenge in a time long before the luxury of reliable electronics, Gore-Tex or riding gear.…

Maybe it’s not something you lie awake at night thinking about (actually, sometimes I do), but there’s cause to wonder how a motorcycle manufacturer can go from an engineering and marketing triumph to a complete disaster, sometimes in the same year. What is going on there? One of my favourite theories about a few models is that things got out of hand in the design department one night. You know, one too many glasses of giggle juice at the Christmas party, and the wild and crazy kids have penned some monstrosity that, for similar reasons, makes it past the budgeting department. Next thing you know, the damned thing is in production and this hideous orphan is being shipped worldwide. A little harsh? Too simple? Perhaps. Maybe the reality is a…

What you ended up with was a very fast and confidence-inspiring package There are faster 600s, prettier ones, and there are much later ones, but one of my favourite examples of how a middleweight can be developed into something that’s seriously fast and friendly is Honda’s CBR600F4, circa 2000. We’re talking the last of the carburetted models (the F4i turned out to be a stunner, too), and it represented a lineage that could be traced back to the original and very ’80s CBR600F of 1987. Otherwise known as the Hurricane, that first machine was a visual dead-ringer of its one-litre sibling and, as is often the case with middleweights, a far superior sports ride. It was a pretty good thing for its day and more of an all-rounder than some…

I owned one and found it to be remarkable in the wet There are many aspects to the character of motorcyclists that give the impression that they’re adventurous, perhaps courageous and prepared to take a risk. However, one area where we score a big, fat zero is a willingness to take a punt on major technical innovation. Yamaha knows this well as it has stuck its corporate neck out on many occasions over the years only to hear the deafening sound of thousands of people slamming their wallets shut. The GTS1000 is a fabulous example. Its main claim to fame was the single-sided swingarm RADD front end – a design cooked up by and licensed from US inventor James Parker. This was the tail end of a period where every…

If you happen to be a fan of full-sized touring bikes, Honda announcing a new generation (and I mean a remake rather than a freshen-up) is big news. Over the years – and we’re talking since the 1975 model year – it’s become a benchmark for the class. Not everyone has loved them, but there’s no question that to succeed in the sector, this was one of the models you had to measure up to. It’s no accident that, for much of its history, the Goldwing was effectively designed and made in the US. There, its natural enemy was the Harley-Davidson Electra Glide, while heaps of players such as BMW and even Polaris’ Victory brand had a serious crack at this segment. There’s no question Honda desperately needed a comprehensive…

ROOTHY: I heard you’re just back from an island in Thailand. I know you’ve spent plenty of time seeing the real Asia in the back blocks of Vietnam and beyond. From what mates have told me about Thailand, these days it’s more like a cheap version of the Gold Coast than a tropical paradise. What’s the go? SPANNER: Depends where you go, mate. It’s certainly more than cheap drinks and girls. Imagine what a tourist to Australia would think if you just took him to Hay Street in Kalgoorlie or to Kings Cross. Places like Patong are incredibly popular but completely unrepresentative. As usual, the best thing to do is find a bike and go on the roads less travelled. For a pleasant change, I haven’t found pictures of you…

If any manufacturer can legitimately make a claim to selling its customers reasonably faithful replicas of its top-echelon race machinery it’s Ducati. Over the years, we’ve seen some ridiculous assertions from other makers, about how the latest model is influenced by GP engineering, when the whole engine configuration is entirely different and the chassis might as well come from a different planet. They have had the same number of wheels, though… When it comes to Ducati, however, typically fast but sometimes fragile superbike replicas in differing grades have long been available, while bikes as far back as the original 750SS claims clear racing roots. The pinnacle was unquestionably the 2006-07 Desmosedici RR, marketed in earnest during 2007. That was the year Ducati finally snared a MotoGP World Championship with Australian…

Triumph, Norton, and BSA might be the big-three brands of postwar British four-stroke twins, but there are other worthy contenders. AJS and Matchless, which belonged to Associated Motor Cycles, are well-known as being stodgy performers, but their reputation doesn’t do them justice. While it’s difficult to get excited over some of the more mundane versions, there were a handful of performance-oriented models that could mix it with the best of the breed in the mid-1960s. The Matchless G15 CSR and similar AJS Model 33 CSR are two examples. The C15/Model 33 CSR was arguably more Norton than AMC, but that doesn’t detract from its appeal TWIN PEAKS As the British motorcycle manufacturers were obliged to follow the example set by Triumph’s Speed Twin, AMC’s version appeared in 1948 as a…

Hopping on Motorcycle Trader’s longterm BMW R NineT Pure brought back some happy memories. What seems like eons ago in a galaxy far, far away, I had an R 1150 R Rockster long-termer with the Telelever front end. That bike got a reasonable makeover in the Herald Sun Cars Guide’s executive garage (the falling-down asbestos-cement garage at my place) with Ohlins shocks front and rear, a Leo Vince muffler, narrower Renthal handlebars and major cosmetic tweaks. It was run on Victoria’s Broadford circuit and at the Calder drags before making its debut on the show circuit for BMW Australia at the 2004 Ulysses AGM. So the Pure is a bit of a trip down memory lane, minus the unloved Telelever and about 20kg. Other than my 19km commute, we’ve only…

Rapp-Motorenwerke (later Bayerische Motoren Werke GmbH) supplied aero engines for the German war effort during World War I. The Treaty of Versailles, which officially ended hostilities, forbade Germany from manufacturing military aircraft. So, like many other companies, postwar BMW had to change direction and the factory made machinery for various industrial uses. Max Fritz designed a 493cc side-valve, flat-twin engine with some aero features that was supplied to motorcycle makers. BMW management decided to produce a complete motorcycle using its engine and the R32 was shown at the Paris show in 1923. This model had many features, such as the transverse flat-twin engine, unit gearbox and shaft drive, that would continue in BMW models for many decades. In 1928, the 745cc R62 tourer was introduced, with 4355 units being produced…

The release of Yamaha’s two-stroke DT-1 enduro in 1968 opened a new motorcycle segment for a mass-produced, lightweight road/trail bike. Until then, off-road motorcycles were special-purpose bikes that needed to be trailered to an event or circuit. A road/ trail bike, however, was equipped with lights and was road-registerable. Honda’s comparable offerings, the SL 125 and 350, derived from road models, were rapidly being outsold and the factory’s US dealers demanded that a competitive bike be added to the range. Yamaha and Suzuki’s road/trail bikes were two-strokes, but Honda stuck with a four-stroke configuration. Its 248cc single-cylinder engine was a new design with a high-revving short stroke, overhead camshaft, four-valve cylinder head and a 28mm Keihin carburettor. The bike was surprisingly slender, at just 300mm wide, excluding the handlebars. For…