Australian Motorcycle News Vol 67 Issue 24

MY SON OBTAINED his motorcycle L-plates recently. It was entertaining to watch because he has been riding dirtbikes since he was six, and road racing for the past couple of seasons. But to his credit, and despite all the complaining, he went into the two-day course with an open mind and learned a few things that will help him be a better road rider. But what struck me were the numbers. Zane had five other newbies in his class, ranging in age from 17 through to 50 years old. The course is always booked out at least three weeks in advance, and if you want a weekend date, then expect a two-month wait. I don’t believe it’s long-term riders who are deserting this great lifestyle Simple and conservative maths suggests that one school…

THE BIGGEST HINT yet that BMW is preparing to launch a new F900XR sports-tourer came at the recent Villa d’Este event in Italy, when it unveiled the rakish BMW Concept 9cento, which could become a smaller brother to the S1000XR. The name is a take on the Italian for “nine hundred”, a clear indication that its engine is based on the all-new parallel twin that powers the F850GS and F750GS. Edgar Heinrich, BMW Motorrad’s design chief, said: “It brings together the best of the sports, adventure and touring segments to produce an exciting concept in a class which has not seen this kind of model from BMW before. It’s our interpretation of a modern all-rounder for the new mid-range segment.” The sleek concept uses several major chassis components first seen on the F850GS.…

THERE WAS NEVER much doubt that Moto Guzzi’s V85 Concept bike – shown last November – was destined to become a production model. And now we can see what that showroom machine will look like thanks to the early publication of the company’s own patents. The Dakar-inspired styling, which riffs on the firm’s mid-’80s V65 and V75 Baja racers, is fortunately largely untouched. While the front – with its twin, round headlights and prominent frame supporting them – is identical to the concept bike’s, the tank is smaller and smoothed down into the seat, presumably in search of more comfort. The seat itself is also lower, and the side panels beneath are redesigned. At the back, the production bike looks much the same as the concept, with the visible subframe dominating the…

THERE’S BEEN PLENTY of news about autonomous and semi-autonomous cars in recent months, and there’s clearly a lot of interest in taking the strain away from humans behind the wheel. But on the face of it there’s less to be gained from riderless bikes – after all, who wants to be a passenger on a bike? That’s not the point of this new prototype from British firm AB Dynamics, which is not intended to be transport. Instead, its developers hope that the very companies developing autonomous cars and trucks will use its bike as a test vehicle to ensure that their systems accurately detect and safely respond to sharing the road with motorcycles. This isn’t a self-driving machine, more of an oversized radio-controlled vehicle, albeit one that can be programmed to follow…

ROYAL ENFIELD HAS revealed a tribute to its World War II ‘Flying Flea’ paratrooper motorcycle, the limited-edition Classic 500 Pegasus. Based on the stock Classic, the Pegasus is named after the flying horse symbol of the British Army’s Parachute Regiment, which it bears on its tank. Designed in co-operation with the Paras, it pays homage to the lightweight 125cc WD/ RE (War Department Royal Enfield) dropped into combat in Britain’s biggest airborne operation in 1944. Military chic may be the latest inner-city cool, but don’t try throwing the 500cc Pegasus out of a plane. It’s much heavier and larger than the Flying Flea. Just 1000 will be produced, 190 for the UK market and 810 for the rest of the world. Royal Enfield CEO Siddhartha Lal explained the new Pegasus: “The story of the Flying…

THE IDEA OF bolting on the minimum legally required equipment to turn a full-on motocrosser into a street-legal machine has always been appealing. Now Honda has done the job for us, using the CRF450R as the basis for the new CRF450L. Where the smaller CRF250L combines off-road style with a fully road-spec engine from the old CBR250R, the new CRF450L’s motor is directly derived from the CRF450R competition bike. It is detuned to add longevity and meet emissions rules, and Honda says it can run for 32,000km before it needs a major service, which we assume is an internal inspection. While that might all sound good, the modifications take their toll on the performance, at least on paper. Honda claims a peak power of 18.4kW, which is not much more than the smaller…