Australian Road Rider Issue 160

Cruisers from BMW and Adventure bikes from Harley-Davidson. If it gets any crazier, nice people will stop riding Hondas. I’ve had plenty of people tell me these brands are nuts, that they should stay with what they are good at and stop trying to reach into genres dominated by other brands. Kind of reminds me of when a Telstra spokesman said “Apple should stick to its knitting”. In 2007, the telco believed the functionality of the iPhone would be eclipsed by the likes of Nokia and Motorola. Younger readers might never have heard of those two once-dominant mobile handset manufacturers. Apple (and later with Google’s Android phones) killed them. I don’t think we’re going to see a repeat of that process in motorcycling, but it’s a smart move by manufacturers not to…

THE NEW HAYABUSA In just its third iteration since being introduced in 1999, the new Suzuki Hayabusa has been brought up to date with new electronics, riding modes, quickshifter, combined braking, traction control, cruise control and more. The new bike will be available in Australia mid year for just $27,690, although demand is expected to outstrip supply for some time. “With high demand and limited supply, reservations for this highly anticipated motorcycle will be exclusively online via Suzuki’s Build and Order feature on suzukimotorcycles.com.au,” says the official information from Suzuki Australia. Firsts for the new model include an active speed limiter that allows the rider to set a maximum speed for the motorcycle and be safe in the knowledge they won’t exceed that speed. Changes to the bike have been partly forced on Suzuki…

In a tiny shared workspace in an inner-Sydney suburb, half a dozen people are building one of the most high-tech safety products in the world. I couldn’t even find Forcite, hidden away deep in the bowels of a former factory, but one of the marvels of modern communication — the telephone — eventually had founder Alfred Boyadgis letting me in. Boyadgis kind of fits the mould of high-tech start-up company founder: casually dressed, softly-spoken, young and smart. And wanting to change the world. “I crashed my bike a few years back,” he said as he told me the story behind Forcite, his high-tech helmet company. “I wanted to know why, with all this great modern technology, I couldn’t have been warned about the oil on the road that I slipped on.”…

Made from carbon-fibre and available in gloss or matt black finish, the Forcite MK1 is the world’s first ECE-approved smart helmet. At the core of the Forcite is its “Raydar” system that connects motorcyclists to roads, communities and cities like never before. It communicates to Forcite’s servers, which are in turn connected to the millions of data points being communicated through mobile applications, GPS and cameras to provide information about traffic, hazards, weather and even police locations. The information is then communicated to riders via a unique low-light LED display mounted on the inside of the helmet’s chin piece, so you know what’s going on without taking your eyes off the road. The camera built in to the chin bar of the Forcite is from Sony, shooting 1080p at 60FPS with a…

I seek out roads that restrict my speed with their corners. Getting the pace right, exploring the cornering clearance available, feeling the lean angle under your wheels is, to many riders, what motorcycling is all about. Many cruisers aren’t built for this, however; they have inadequate suspension – both travel and control – limited clearance, pathetic brakes and a riding position not suited to enthusiastic riding. Which made my introduction to the new BMW R 18, a new cruiser at a time when the cruiser market is on the wane, all the more interesting. BMW has a reputation for fine-handling machines and wouldn’t want to tarnish that reputation. So I took the Old Road rather than the freeway. Lots of twists and turns, a low speed limit but a good surface…

Harley-Davidson Low Rider S, from $27,995 Maybe the Breakout would have been a better comparison bike, but the Low Rider S has mid controls, a solo seat and handles well, so it’s definitely one to consider. Indian Chief Dark Horse, from $25,995 Indian’s range of cruisers has been shrinking, with the nearest machine to the R 18 now the Chief Dark Horse. It offers 116cu engine, classic style, forward controls and a solo saddle. Triumph Rocket 3, from $31,990 In R or GT, either Rocket is a muscle cruiser like nothing else. Big, powerful, heavy and amazing.…