Australian Motorcycle News Vol 68 Issue 13

WELCOME TO 2019, the 69th year of Australia’s most successful motorcycle magazine, and one of the oldest mastheads in the country, second only to the Australian Women’s Weekly which launched in 1933. Like the AWW, AMCN began as a weekly publication. In fact Vol 01 No 01 was called The Victorian Motor Cycle Weekly, though in June 1951, founding editor George Lynn didn’t quite manage to get the second edition off to the printers on time and it’s been a fortnightly ever since. AMCN celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2001 with a 180-page souvenir issue which included a reprint of that first four-page broadsheet edition, as well as a 100-page insert which chronicled the wild ride from its humble beginnings through to the new millennium. It’s truly remarkable what this masthead…

Sales roll on in Oz SUZUKI AUSTRALIA HAS confirmed local sales will continue with new colours for the 2019 model, due in a few month’s time. Meanwhile, the 2018 Hayabusa is available in two colours at a run-out price of $19,450 (ride away) with 12 months registration and 24-month unlimited kilometre warranty. IT’S THE END of the line for Suzuki’s Hayabusa in Europe but Australia and America will continue to receive stock this year. And those fearful Suzuki is saying sayonara to a 20-year legend needn’t have concerns, because our sources tell us a new ’Busa will be launched within the next two years. It will be based on a revamped, enlarged version of the existing ’Busa engine, with more than 150kW from a 1440cc capacity. This powerhouse will be fitted to a…

TRIUMPH WILL BRING back the recently-discontinued Rocket III with a bigger engine and performance-oriented chassis to challenge Ducati’s Diavel range. The 2.3-litre Rocket III, which became a victim of EU4 emissions in 2017 is likely to return late this year. Our spy shots reveal an all-new inline three-cylinder engine that we reckon may be as big as 2500cc. Such an engine should easily match the Diavel and its increased torque, already 221Nm in 2.3-litre form, will demolish virtually any other production motorcycle in a straight line. The new chassis incorporates aluminium castings and has a single-sided swingarm that incorporates the shaft final drive. A superbike-style upside-down fork and Brembo radial brake calipers are matched to a much sportier steering head angle. We’ve briefly seen two versions of the Rocket III, one with a…

AUSTRALIA’S 2016 DAKAR Rally winner Toby Price says a broken right scaphoid won’t stop his determined fight to win his second Dakar Rally this month. The talented Aussie broke the notoriously painful and slow-healing scaphoid in his right wrist in a training accident just three weeks before the 2019 Dakar Rally was due to get underway on 6 January. “I’ve always got to make it difficult, I never take the easy road,” the Red Bull KTM rider posted on social media in December. “A crash seen a small break in my wrist, all is screwed in place, rehab starts in four days and believe me, I’ll still be on that start line come January. I’ve beat the odds before and I’ll do it again.” According to a statement released by KTM Factory…

FINISHING TOUCHES Styling might be more subdued than its stablemates but still includes bar-end mirrors and brushed alloy mudguards, plus a flip-up Monza fuel cap. THE WHEEL DEAL Modern alloy wheels help save weight while their 17in diameter allows resolutely modern tyres: 120/70ZR17 front and 160/60ZR17 rear. FAMOUS NAME The original Speed Twin of 1937 changed motorcycling by providing twin-cylinder performance in a package with the same dimensions as current single-cylinder roadbikes. WAY BACK IN May 2016 we revealed Triumph’s plans to launch a 1200cc Bonneville-based Speed Twin model after it applied for new trademark rights on the name. We said the bike was likely to be a scaled-up version of the Street Twin formula; less retro than the Bonnie and wearing cast-alloy wheels. Now Triumph has matched our predictions exactly with its new 2019 Speed…

A MASSIVE CROWD-funding effort has kickstarted the Curtiss Motorcycle Company to the extent that it predicts it will be building thousands of electric motorcycles by 2023. It also forecasts company revenue will climb from just under $3.5m in 2018-’19 to over $92m in 2023-’24. By 2028-’29, Curtiss forecasts more than $US1 billion in total revenue. They’re ambitious targets intended to be driven by a range of electric bikes, starting next year with two recently revealed models: the $US60,000 Zeus and $US90,000 Hera. But it’s a third new electric bike, the $45,000 Curtiss Hades due to break cover later this year, that’s expected to account for more than 50 percent of sales. The design of that bike, as well as a host of other new models, is revealed in the firm’s crowdfunding documentation. It…