AusMotorcyclist Issue#36
Let me raise your awareness for a second. Let me demonstrate how awareness should be raised, and then we can all go about our business with grace and dignity, fully cognisant of life’s many ironies. Recently, there was a thing called “Motorcycle Awareness Week” (MAW). You were probably unaware of it. And you cannot be blamed for that. The people running it are not very good at marketing.
ROUGH RALLYING “What,” said Stuart, “is this?” He was referring to the photo above, of a noticeably younger, slimmer and more handsome version of myself steering a postie bike up onto a wooden seesaw. “It is a photo of a younger, slimmer and more handsome version of myself about to disastrously crash a postie bike at one of the Triumph rallies at the Station Resort, Jindabyne,” I replied. “I can see the crash coming by the body English,” Stuart replied. “But what were you doing riding a postie bike on a seesaw in the first place?”
New motorcycle prices go up, they go down. It can be hard to keep track of all the changes. Australian Motorcyclist Magazine supplies you with all the latest up to date prices from all the manufacturers currently in the country. Things like special deals, cashbacks, factory discounts and bonuses are what you’ll find. Bear in mind all prices (unless indicated) exclude dealer and on road costs and some prices may have changed at the last minute as we went to the printer.
WE LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU, the letters are among the most keenly read parts of the magazine. Please try and keep letters down to no more than 300 words. Then you can read many, not just a couple. We do reserve the right to cut them and, unless you identify yourself and at least your town or suburb and state, we will print your email address instead. Please address letters to thebear@ausmotorcyclist.com.au or Australian Motorcyclist Magazine, PO Box 2066, Boronia Park NSW 2111. All opinions published here are those of the writers and we do not vouch for their accuracy or even their sanity! WHO CAN HAZ BAGZ? Time to make a call on who deserves the excellent Andy Strapz Shoulda Bagz bag. In the January issue we gave it to Peter Colwell,who lost his previous bag to airline mishandling. I thought it was only reasonable, then, to give this issue’s Shoulda Bagz to Kevin Jones who spits the dummy, below. I consider that a misfortune, too – for Kevin. Oh, just to make sure we would not be accused of making changes we are reproducing the letter exactly the way it arrived.
LESTER EXTOLS THE VIRTUE OF OLEOS – AND WHAT ARE THEY AGAIN? WORDS LESTER MORRIS If you look closely at heavy trucks, semi-trailers and buses, you might notice that nearly all of them are using various forms of ‘air-bag’ suspension on all wheels these days, and are doing this for a large variety of reasons; mostly in the interests of a more pliable, more comfortable ride no doubt, but also to give the cargo – some of which may be fragile – an easier time as well. But the vendors of these ‘new age’ suspension systems, who are trumpeting their worth as something out of the ordinary might be interested to note that there is nothing new about using air – or other gases like nitrogen – as a highly effective suspension medium.
RIDE THE LAND OF PARADISE Join the next Trip of a Lifetime with MOTORCYCLIST and Paradise Motorcycle Tours NZ. Our 2016 Hiamo South Island tour will run from 26 Jan to 6 Feb 2016 – 11 days of glorious roads and scenery that will knock your socks off. Everyone who came on the 2015 Hiamo Tour was stunned at the amazing sights and even more amazing roads. For 2016 we have more riding, more scenery – Kaikoura, Hanmer Springs Thermal Resort, Lewis Pass and Buller Gorge Road – more of the wild West Coast and a free day to explore the Otago Peninsula.
YEAH, YOU KNOW WHAT WE MEAN! YAMAHA MT-07 The MT-07 has 6500km on it as I type this just before Christmas, and it has run faultlessly. I expected no less, but you never know what could or might happen to any machine. Its next service is due at 10,000km or about March (whichever comes first), however I’ve got some lovely Yamalube oil at home and might give it a quick change during the small amount of time (oh puh-leeze! – the sub) I’ll have off over Christmas.Even bikes deserve presents! SW
What shall I tell you about Zoë Cano’s book? Note that’s not what could I tell you; I could tell you all sorts of things. But what can I tell you that makes sense and gives you a feel for the book? I could be wrong but I think this is the fi rst time I have faced this dilemma, and I have reviewed (and even written) quite a few books. This is not a strange book by any means; it’s pretty straightforward: woman decides to ride across America, makes the arrangements and gets across without any major delays or other problems. Well, except for nearly going blind because she wears her contact lenses for too long.
RIDING ALASKA COULD JUST BE THE ULTIMATE COMBINATION OF NATURE AND A ROAD TRIP WORDS DR JAMES CRANDELL Alaska’s license plates read “The Last Frontier” and for many Americans a trip there is the ride of a lifetime. But the beautiful, natural vistas work for everybody. Alaska is big, really big, and the mountains, glaciers, rivers, and forests can be awe-inspiring. It’s a great place to tour by motorcycle. Most Australians who visit Alaska take a cruise up the Inside Passage in the extreme southeast of the state and miss out on the variety and grandeur of the rest of the state. I rode up the Alaska Highway from my home in Alberta, Canada, a distance of 3240 kilometres to Anchorage. I then joined an organized tour, which went to the Kenai Peninsula, then circumferentially toured the interior with an extension to the Arctic Circle and a trip to the port of Valdez. The scenery was spectacular.
QUICK PICK-ME-UPOggy Knobbs Pick Up Protectors and Stand Pick UpsPrice – $29.95 – $44.95 Designed to protect your investment, the new Pick Up Protectors (PUP) by Oggy are race stand pick ups with built in protection Knobbs. These should be used in conjunction with Oggy Knobbs and are fitted in place of traditional race stand pick up from Knobbs. The PUP Knobbs screw into the threaded holes that the factories provide in many swing arms for just this purpose. If you don’t want the protectors attached, you can go with the range of pick up bobbins available in a wide range of colours and thread sizes 6mm-12mm. They’re suitable only for models with threaded swingarms. Contact your dealer about Axle Oggys if your model does not have the threaded holes in the swingarm. Visit www.kenma.com.au to view the list of models suitable for these pick up bobbins.
