Innholdsfortegnelse for #356 19-02 i Just Bikes

Harley-Davidson have big plans for the next few years. In 2017, The Motor Company announced their intention to develop one hundred new models in the next ten years. Since then, Harley has released further details of their plans to not only expand, but also diversify their range. The ‘Livewire’ electric model has been confirmed for release in 2019, followed by new-to-the-brand entries in the adventure tourer and streetfighter categories in 2020, as well as longer term plans to add a smaller, sub-500cc range to the family. For all these new market initiatives, Harley hasn’t lost sight of their core business – large cruisers. That was first shown over twelve months ago with the release of the Road King Special and Street Rod and, more recently, with the complete revamp of…

A Ducati Panigale V4 S ridden by Troy Bayliss at this year’s World Ducati Week (WDW) in Italy was the top seller at an eBay auction conducted after the event. The Bayliss bike was one of thirteen new Panigale V4s specially prepared and individually-liveried for the ‘Race of Champions’; a race at Misano for WDW with a field made up of past and current Ducati MotoGP and WSBK riders, including Jorge Lorenzo, Andrea Dovizioso, Jack Miller, Danilo Petrucci, Marco Melandri, Michele Pirro and others. Bayliss may have finished last in the race (Pirro won from Tito Rabat and WSBK’s Xavi Fores), but his bike proved to be the most popular in the eBay auction that followed. Conducted from 21 to 28 July, the auction attracted more than 7,000 bids from…

After last year’s switch from a billy cart event to a classic motorcycle show proved to be a massive hit, the Battunga Country Lions Club in the Adelaide hills has confirmed the ‘Lions Classic Bike Show’ will return this November. Fred Keal, the Battunga Country Lions Club President (and owner of a 1961 BSA Shooting Star and 2018 Triumph Tiger 800 XRX), said the response to last year’s show made its return a no-brainer. “When I heard a noise and asked one of the gate marshals what it was, they told me it was the bikes queuing up to come in. We only expected a few hundred and well over a thousand rocked up. That was just brilliant!” More than just a show, last year’s event also included a swap…

After four Australian Off Road Championships and five International Six Day Enduro titles, Jemma Wilson has retired from enduro competition. Last year, the Queenslander said that the 2017 ISDE would be her last and that this year’s AORC season would be her final domestic campaign, but despite initial intentions to see out the full season, Wilson announced her retirement shortly after rounds 5 and 6 at Dungog; five rounds before the end of the 2018 AORC season. “Racing has been a huge part of my life, but this year has been tough for me to find the passion for racing,” Jemma said of her sudden exit. “I hoped that my old competitive self would take over once racing got underway at Dungog, but my heart just wasn’t in it. I…

One championship is an achievement in the MX Nationals, two is impressive, but three is a dynasty. And that’s exactly what Dean Ferris has achieved, wrapping up his third straight MX1 national motocross title. The CDR Yamaha Monster Energy Team rider has been a star since his return to domestic competition in 2016. And it seemed like last year was the perfect season with nine wins from ten rounds. But champions always want more and this year, Ferris took perfection to another level, claiming victory at all ten rounds of the series. “I made a little deal with myself this year to aim to win every round,” Ferris said at the 2018 season finale at Coolum in Queensland. Having secured the title at the Gladstone round a week earlier, Ferris…

Harley-Davidson diversifying their range from the established base of heavyweight cruisers is nothing new. They have scooters, small commuters and even golf carts in their back catalogue, but the next five years will see the most radically different range of models to be offered by The Motor Company in its 115-year history – under the banner of ‘More Roads to Harley- Davidson’. Leading the way is the LiveWire. The electric motorcycle that debuted in concept form in 2014 has now been confirmed for production, with a release scheduled for late 2019. The Livewire will be followed by “additional” electric models through 2022. A modular middleweight platform able to take displacements of 500cc to 1250cc is also under development, with the ‘Pan America 1250’ adventure tourer, a Harley first, to be released…

After an absence of more than four decades, Lambretta is officially back in Australia, with the first models in the all-new Lambretta lineup now available. The product of a joint Swiss and Austrian operation, the new Lambretta was launched at last year’s EICMA show in Italy. Since then, Lambretta Australia Brand Manager Gotz Neugebauer has been working hard to get Lambretta scooters to Australia. That work has paid off, with the Australian return announced in May, followed by confirmation of the locally-available range and Australian dealer network in July. As this issue of JUST BIKES was going to press, the Lambretta Australia launch had been held at dealerships in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia. The Lambretta V and V Special are the two main variants…

I think the success of any new Harley-Davidson model is directly proportional to the amount of screeching that comes out of its traditional customer base when the new bike is launched. I know this because I once owned a Shovelhead. And when the new Evo came out, all of us Shovelhead owners turned into a troop of howler monkeys. “Harley is dead to me!” we honked, waving our schooners in the air. “Look at this plastic rubbish! That’s not a real Harley! How dare they foist this crap on us! I’m never buying another Harley again! I will keep riding my Shovelhead forever! Why don’t they just keep producing the same old crap they’re producing now and which will invariably go home in the back of a ute on Sunday?”…

Your body’s extremities are always the first to feel the effects of riding in cold conditions and that numbness in your hands is no fun when you’re trying to operate your bike’s throttle, front brake and clutch. The best place to start when it comes to keeping warm on the bike is donning top quality riding gear, but your hands can still get cold, even if they’re cosseted in the best winter gloves on the market. Of course, your bike generates plenty of heat, so you can always bend down and hold your hands (one at a time) near the cylinder head to warm them up, but a more effective (and much safer) way of retaining hand warmth and feeling is to equip your machine with a pair of heated…

After establishing a solid market for their ‘Spitfire’ model in the UK, CCM Motorcycles are set to offer their retro-styled model internationally, with Australia on the wishlist of future markets. CCM started by building motocross bikes from the remnants of BSA’s factory competition department in the 1970s. More recently, CCM has been reborn as a manufacturer of adventure tourers, releasing the GP450 in 2014. The Spitfire followed two years later. The product of CCM’s own “SkunkwerX” in-house design department, the Spitfire is described as a dream bike, one created without the usual constraints of design, objectives and bureaucracy. A cool combination of street tracker, café racer and bobber, the original Spitfire featured zero bodywork, a leather and vinyl-trimmed solo saddle and bare metal-look fuel tank, but the most distinctive feature…

With a new look, more power, improved safety and greater convenience, Honda’s 2019 version of their popular PCX150 scooter has arrived. The PCX’s SOHC 149cc powerplant remains, but Honda claims this liquid-cooled two-valve single now offers more power at higher revs - without sacrificing low-down torque - for improved performance at higher speeds. To increase the power, the rear shocks have been moved backward to increase airbox volume by one litre, with the air intake itself repositioned to the left and the location and profile of internal parts revised to deliver the smoothest airflow path possible. Honda’s enhanced Smart Power technology improves efficiency and durability while reducing engine noise. Selectable Idle Stop contributes to fuel efficiency by automatically stopping the engine after three seconds at idle and restarts it once…

An Australian initiative that’s gone global, the 2018 version of The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride (DGR) will be held on 30 September. Marking its sixth year of supporting men’s health initiatives, the 2018 DGR will see more than 120,000 riders across 650 cities in 95 countries - everywhere from the Dominican Republic to Christmas Island - don their most dapper apparel and ride vintage, classic and classically-styled motorcycles for charity. Partnered with the Movember Foundation and supported by Triumph, Zenith watches, Hedon Workshop helmets and new-for-2018 partner REV’IT! motorcycle clothing, the DGR has raised US$13 million for prostate cancer research, suicide prevention and mental health support programs for men since 2013. Across 2016 and 2017, more than US$6 million was raised, but DGR organisers have upped the ante for 2018, with…

Marc Marquez may already have this year’s MotoGP championship in the bag, but there’ll still be plenty of action at the Michelin Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Phillip Island this October 26 to 28, as well as future talent in the Moto2 and Moto3 classes, plus all the local heroes in the national support categories, so it’s a “must-do” for any bona fide motorcyclist. MAIN SHOW This year’s Aussie round will see Marquez arrive as a hot favourite to win the race, given his victory at Phillip Island last year, but a resurgent Jorge Lorenzo and his Ducati team mate Andrea Dovizioso can’t be counted out. Cal Crutchlow’s love for the seaside circuit should see him in the mix, too, along with Johann Zarco before his move to KTM next…

How’s the chorus of that old fiddle classic The Devil Went Down To Georgia go again? Fire on the Mountain, run, boys, run The Devil´s in the House of the Rising Sun Yeah, that’s it. I figure if ol’ Lucifer was heading down to Georgia to visit a legendary knockshop, he’d be riding this Breakout. Not any other Breakout. This one right here. The 2018 model with the mountain-fire-starting 114-cubic-inch engine, rich sin-dark paint, impossibly fat-beaut rear hoop, and an evil new headlight that works as purposefully as it looks. This Breakout is, as far as I am concerned, everything a Harley-Davidson needs to be, has not been, and now is. It handles very well in relative terms. That sexy fat hoop needs to be coaxed to tip in, but once you’re…