Australian Motorcycle News Vol 68 Issue 08

Drafting a stranger into the AMCN test team was a nervous experience WE ARE WELL and truly into the AMCN silly season. Over the past month I’ve been to New Zealand for the launch of the Yamaha Tracer 900 GT, to California for the new Royal Enfield 650 twins, and organised our huge middleweight nakedbike test. By the time you read this, I will be on the road to Phillip Island for the Blessing of the Bikes at San Remo and to get an early start on this year’s Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix. Our annual Motorcycle of the Year shootout will also be in full swing. When fellow motorcycle enthusiasts find out what I do for a living, they claim I have the best job in the world, and at times it’s…

SUZUKI STOLE THE limelight at this year’s Intermot Show in Cologne when it unveiled a modern reinterpretation of what is arguably the firm’s most iconic and recognisable model, the Katana. We had hoped Suzuki would revive the legendary Katana name on a radical turbocharged twin, but it became obvious at Intermot that to get the new model to market quickly, demanded lateral thinking. So, despite promises of a ‘brand new bike’, the new Katana – officially a 2020 model but likely to lob in 2019 – is a rebodied version of the existing GSX-S1000 supernaked. And it’s a good starting point; it has a 110kW, updated version of the legendary 2005 GSX-R1000 K5 engine mounted in a capable aluminium beam frame, fully adjustable KYB upside-down forks, Brembo radial calipers and three-mode traction control.…

THESE BRITISH TWINS have become an affordable blank canvas for customisers, so Triumph isn’t in a hurry to redesign their looks. But it has addressed two important issues – modest power outputs and basic electronics. Both machines get the ‘High Torque’ 900cc parallel twin engine for 2019. New camshafts, balancer shafts and a new clutch add up to a much higher-revving engine producing 48kW at 7500rpm, an increase of almost 20 per cent. Engine electronics are improved, with Rain and Road riding modes added to the switchable traction control. Other updates include Brembo four-pot front calipers and reworked forks. A massive catalogue of aftermarket add-ons sees more than 120 options for the Street Scrambler and 140 for the Street Twin, as well as a couple of ready-to-go pre-selected kits.…

DUCATI IS HOLDING back its biggest 2019 model launches for its home show – EICMA in Milan in November – but still wheeled out the new Scrambler range at Intermot in Cologne. Three revamped versions of the 803cc Scrambler – the Full Throttle, Cafe Racer and Desert Sled – reflect recent updates to the base Icon model. That means they all get cornering ABS for 2019, a revised instrument cluster and a new headlight incorporating a black ‘X’ in the lens to mimic the taped-up lights of classic scramblers. And a hydraulic clutch replaces the outgoing cable-operated system. The biggest visual changes come on the Full Throttle, which has become a real flat track-style machine with a new seat unit and side-mounted number boards. Wire wheels make the Cafe Racer look more retro, while…

WHEN IT COMES to motorcycle sales success, timing is critical. Indian has spent two years winning America’s flat-track championship. Now it wants to turn those victories into a sales winner with the FTR1200, revealed at Intermot. In the past 10 years, flat-track has morphed from an American-only sport to a worldwide cult embracing dirt-track racing and customising. So the time is right for a road-going racer, and Indian has tread a fine line turning last year’s FTR1200 concept into a showroom model without losing the rawness of a typical flat-track racer. It’s a departure for Indian, with its cruisers reputation. The FTR1200 develops a decent 90kW at 8250rpm and a truly impressive 115Nm at only 6000rpm from its 1203cc watercooled DOHC V-twin engine. It might not be superbike power, but it’s a lot…

BMW MIGHT HAVE grabbed headlines by adding variable valve timing and lift to its 2019 R1250 machines but Yamaha is hot on its heels. The 2019 YZF-R125 also gets variable valves as part of the biggest update in its history. The Yamaha system, dubbed VVA, isn’t actually new, as it appears on NMAX scooters in some markets. Like the BMW system, it operates by switching between two different inlet cam profiles, each with its own lift, timing and duration. That sets it aside from previous motorcycle variable valve timing set-ups that alter valve timing but don’t change the actual cam profile. The R125’s variable valve system is part of an entirely new four-valve cylinder head, with shorter valves and a smaller combustion chamber. Peak power is unaltered at 11kW, but the system…