Australian Motorcycle News Vol 67 Issue 25

You don’t try journalism, it tries you. And there’s no turning back ALRIGHT, YOU LOT. Like all great ideas born under the influence of red wine, I’m going to bash out this issue’s Ed’s Desk slightly inebriated. Now I don’t for one minute think I’m the first to attempt such a feat in the 67-year history of the world’s greatest magazine; no self-respecting journalist has earned their stripes without dancing with the boundaries of alcoholism, and god knows I have met a few who have wandered well past it (and no, I’m not making light of the addiction to alcohol that ruins countless lives each year – it’s just a simple fact). As I write this I’m presently at a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet on my way to another motorcycle world…

MORE TANTALISING FACTS are beginning to leak out about Triumph’s eagerly awaited Scrambler 1200, which is expected to hit the market in 2019. This is an important model for the British company, as it will go head-to-head with Ducati’s 1100cc Scrambler, which is being heavily promoted around the world. We first saw this machine being tested in April, but the latest test bikes are getting ever closer to production specification, judging by this prototype that we again spotted at the firm’s secret testing site in Spain. The new pictures also give our first view of the bike’s right-hand side, complete with trademark Scrambler twin stacked exhaust pipes. The pipes show how close the machine is to completion, as they sport a very neatly finished, production-spec heatshield arrangement. As on the smaller 900cc Street Scrambler, that…

WHERE THE EARLIER prototype we busted sported gold-coloured Öhlins forks to match the twin rear shocks from the same supplier, the latest version features more subtle black front suspension. One potential explanation is that this is the expected lower-spec version of the Scrambler. Just as Triumph makes two derivatives of the Thruxton – the base model and the Ohlinssuspended ‘R’– it’s expected to offer two levels for the new Scrambler 1200. At the back it’s still very clear that the prototype is fitted with a pair of remote reservoir Ohlins shocks, with the same dual spring arrangement seen in April. We’d expect the lower-spec Scrambler to use a cheaper version.…

MV Agusta has teamed with US company Rekluse to use its semiautomatic technology MV AGUSTA’S LATEST technology promises to take the embarrassment out of motorcycle riding, for its new semi-auto clutch – revealed for the first time on the Turismo Veloce 800 Lusso SCS model – makes it impossible for the rider to stall. The process of changing gears is undergoing a revolution in motorcycling. Quickshifters, not long ago reserved for racebikes, are becoming widespread. Combined with fly-by-wire throttles, it means clutchless downchanges, complete with rev-matching blips, are joining the traditional quickshifter’s clutchless upshift. So, on many new bikes, you only need to engage the clutch when you’re pulling away or stopping. MV Agusta’s latest SCS (Smart Clutch System) tech means that even those jobs have been automated. The Italian motorcycle company says it has spent…

THE CLEVER BIT of the semi-auto clutch is the ‘CX EXP disc’, which looks like a thicker version of a normal clutch plate. Two discs are held together with sprung bolts and sandwich six ‘wedges’ that are able to slide in and out. As revs rise, the wedges move outwards under centrifugal force, pushing the sides of the CX EXP discs apart and engaging the clutch. At lower revs, the springs holding the discs together overcome the centrifugal force, sliding the wedges back in. The system can be tweaked to alter the revs at which the clutch engages, using different springs and wedge profiles.…

ANOTHER BIKE missing from the 2019 US model list is the Ninja H2, but the cheaper, touring-oriented H2SX and H2SX SE remain. Given that Kawasaki has a special low-volume production line to build the H2 and track-only H2R machines, and its apparent dedication to supercharging, a very different replacement is likely. Kawasaki has previously hinted about other radical supercharged bikes. In 2016 it showed two styling sketches – the SC-01 Spirit Charger and SC-02 Soul Charger. The former was a luxury sports-tourer, perhaps previewing the H2SX that arrived the following year, while the Soul Charger was a naked, neo-retro machine. Given the popularity of naked superbikes at the moment, the Soul Charger idea has wings. If it uses the low-volume approach of the original H2, we can expect a high price, crazy…